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Understanding the balance of macronutrients and
how much of each you need
WHEN BODYBUILDERS step onstage, they bring their very best physiques against
their competition. This very best starts with their discipline in monitoring everything
they consume—from total calories to how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and
fats. If you want to become a champion bodybuilder, you need to be as detail oriented
about your food as you are about your exercises and reps. To fuel your training,
promote body-fat loss, and grow and maintain muscle, you will need to plan out every
meal based on the proper mix of macronutrients. Invest in a food scale and measuring
spoons and cups. You’ll need them!
The first step in your contest preparation diet is to determine your starting macronutrient amounts.
These amounts will not remain exactly the same throughout the entire diet and will be changed to
promote greater fat loss and muscle sparing as the dieting process grows.
In order to help you get started I’ll outline how to calculate your protein, carbohydrates, and fats
based upon your body type, body weight, and overall caloric needs.
Protein
Muscle is primarily protein and water. In order to maintain your muscle mass, adequate dietary
protein intake is required. Your rates of muscle protein degradation and synthesis increase in
response to the high intensity of resistance training. In order to spare muscle it is vital that a
bodybuilder consume the proper amounts of protein. Natural bodybuilders, especially, are more
reliant on protein to increase metabolism, promote satiety, muscle growth, lose body fat, maintain
nitrogen balance, and promote a natural increase of testosterone in the body.
The “gold standard” for protein intake for a male bodybuilder is around 1 gram per pound of body
weight, but that can vary based on your body type as you’ll see below. Also, most bodybuilders will
need to increase this number slightly while dieting since protein is a key thermogenic macronutrient
for sparing muscle tissue when in a caloric deficit.
When starting out, you want to set your protein levels high enough but not excessively high. Protein
builds muscle, but protein in excess can be used as energy or converted to body fat. If you ingest too
much protein and it is subsequently used as energy, then this means less body fat is being used as
energy. The goal during the dieting process it to give your body enough protein to maintain muscle but
not enough to hamper body-fat loss.
WHEN BODYBUILDERS step onstage, they bring their very best physiques against
their competition. This very best starts with their discipline in monitoring everything
they consume—from total calories to how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and
fats. If you want to become a champion bodybuilder, you need to be as detail oriented
about your food as you are about your exercises and reps. To fuel your training,
promote body-fat loss, and grow and maintain muscle, you will need to plan out every
meal based on the proper mix of macronutrients. Invest in a food scale and measuring
spoons and cups. You’ll need them!
The first step in your contest preparation diet is to determine your starting macronutrient amounts.
These amounts will not remain exactly the same throughout the entire diet and will be changed to
promote greater fat loss and muscle sparing as the dieting process grows.
In order to help you get started I’ll outline how to calculate your protein, carbohydrates, and fats
based upon your body type, body weight, and overall caloric needs.
Protein
Muscle is primarily protein and water. In order to maintain your muscle mass, adequate dietary
protein intake is required. Your rates of muscle protein degradation and synthesis increase in
response to the high intensity of resistance training. In order to spare muscle it is vital that a
bodybuilder consume the proper amounts of protein. Natural bodybuilders, especially, are more
reliant on protein to increase metabolism, promote satiety, muscle growth, lose body fat, maintain
nitrogen balance, and promote a natural increase of testosterone in the body.
The “gold standard” for protein intake for a male bodybuilder is around 1 gram per pound of body
weight, but that can vary based on your body type as you’ll see below. Also, most bodybuilders will
need to increase this number slightly while dieting since protein is a key thermogenic macronutrient
for sparing muscle tissue when in a caloric deficit.
When starting out, you want to set your protein levels high enough but not excessively high. Protein
builds muscle, but protein in excess can be used as energy or converted to body fat. If you ingest too
much protein and it is subsequently used as energy, then this means less body fat is being used as
energy. The goal during the dieting process it to give your body enough protein to maintain muscle but
not enough to hamper body-fat loss.
Protein Ranges Depending on Body Type
Ectomorph: 1.3g/lb–1.6g/lb
Mesomorph: 1.2g/lb–1.5g/lb
Endomorph: 1.4g/lb–1.7g/lb
Sample Subject
Let’s take a man with a mesomorph body type and a body weight of 180 pounds whose daily
calorie goal is 2,100 calories. To find the optimum grams of protein, multiply body weight by
1.2 grams and 1.5 grams and take the average.
180 x 1.2 = 216
180 x 1.5 = 270
For our sample bodybuilder this gives us a protein range of 216 to 270 grams per day, and so to
start he will consume the average 243, which we will round off to 240 grams per day to make
things easier. If he is someone who considers himself to be carb sensitive, we could set his
protein intake higher, leaving fewer calories dedicated to carbohydrates, once fat intake is
determined.
Average = 243 grams per day
(Round this to 240, for the sake of easier tracking.)
Protein = 240 grams per day
Those 240 grams would take up 960 calories of his 2,100-calorie daily goal because there are 4
calories to every 1 gram of protein. The subject is left with 1,140 calories for his remaining fat
and carbohydrate intake.
Fat
Dietary fat is still the most misunderstood macronutrient. Some lifters still believe that it’s to be
avoided, fearing that it will increase body fat. Others believe they can eat as much fat as they want
and that eliminating carbs is the key to losing body fat. Both are wrong. Carbs are important and fat is
necessary. The trick is to strategically manage intake of both, and to do that it’s critical that a
bodybuilder understands how his body metabolizes fat.
Any fat intake discussion in the bodybuilding world needs to include the discussion of ketogenic
diets, that is, diets in which one consumes super-high amounts of protein and fat while eliminating the
carbohydrates. If we eliminate all carbohydrates, then our stored body fat will be released at a rapid
rate, but this process can cause problems. You need some carbohydrate; it’s the body’s preferred fuel
source! Not too much; not too little. Your body also uses fat for energy. Your adipose cells release fat
in the form of glycerol and fatty acids. The body’s cells then metabolize them to use as fuel.
Ketogenic dieting phases of dieting can be effective when fat intake isn’t too excessive. But it can be
a slippery slope as your adipose cells are waiting to bring in new triglycerides to store after your
meals, and if your carbohydrate levels are too low for too long, you’ll eventually lower your
testosterone levels and lose valuable muscle, regardless of how much protein you consume.
Look at reducing fat intake enough to decrease calories and keep testosterone production humming.
Is there a optimal number or standard? Not specifically. Generally, a bodybuilder wants to keep his
diet low in carbohydrates without increasing fat intake too much. A typical bodybuilder can take in
anywhere between 15 to 30 percent of his total calories from fat depending on overall caloric intake
and body composition.
As a general guide, here’s the percentage of total calories that you should designate to fat intake
when starting your dieting process.
Ectomorph: 15–20 percent
Mesomorph: 16–21 percent
Endomorph: 18–23 percent
SAMPLE SUBJECT:
Again, using our 180-pound mesomorph as an example with a 2,100-calorie daily goal, we would
multiply 2,100 calories by 16 percent and 21 percent to arrive at an average.
2,100 x .16 = 336 calories from fat
2,100 x .21 = 441 calories from fat
336 + 441 ÷ 2 = 388.5
Since there are 9 calories in every gram of fat, we would divide total calories from fat by 9 to get
total grams.
388.5 calories ÷ 9 calories = 43 grams fat per day
(Round this to 45 grams for easier tracking)
Fat: 45 grams (405 calories per day)
Protein: 240 grams (960 calories per day)
Carbohydrates
Figuring out the optimal carbohydrate intake for bodybuilders is about as easy as getting Congress to
agree on how to balance the budget. And like a congress member’s opinion, your carb needs can
change day to day, hour to hour during the dieting process.
As I’ve said many times before, a major goal of any dieting bodybuilder is to maintain muscle mass
while trimming body fat. Retaining muscle is ultra important to your long-term metabolic function and
to maintaining strength levels and energy levels. Carbohydrates after all are a very anabolic
macronutrient and have been shown to be protein sparing. That’s important because dieting and
training with weights breaks down tissue and puts you at greater risk of catabolism. Proper
management of your carb intake will maximize fat loss by keeping your metabolic rate high and spare
your muscle.
Your body burns calories in two ways, through glucose metabolism (using carbs for energy) and
ketogenic metabolism (using dietary or stored fat for energy). The balancing act is to keep your fat
intake low enough to allow you to eat more carbohydrates and benefit from their musclesparing
properties.
To start you off in the right direction I’ve suggested percentages of calories from carbohydrates
according to body type:
Ectomorph: 30–45 percent
Mesomorph: 25–40 percent
Endomorph: 20–35 percent
Again, using the example of the mesomorph weighing 180 pounds and consuming 2,100 calories per
day, you can determine specific calories from carbs by adding the calories from fat and protein
(calculated in those sections above and subtracting from the daily calorie goal):
388 (protein calories) + 960 (fat calories) = 1,348 calories
2,100 – 1,348 = 752 calories from carbohydrates, or, because there are 4 calories per gram of
carbohydrate, 188 grams. (Round this down to 185 for easier tracking.)
Here’s the full macronutrient breakdown by grams and calories:
Protein: 240 grams (960 calories from protein per day)
Carbs: 185 grams (740 calories from carbohydrate per day)
Fat: 45 grams (405 calories from fat per day)
These are broad guidelines. Carbohydrate tolerance can differ from one person to the next. I once
trained two bodybuilders of roughly the same weight, height, and age, and one dieted on 55 grams of
carbs while the other was able to consume 350 grams of carbs and still lose body fat.
New rules to lose body fat
A brief history of muscle-making culture and sports
The art of building a program and body sculpting at 24 weeks - the first week
Motivated to build muscle
how much of each you need
WHEN BODYBUILDERS step onstage, they bring their very best physiques against
their competition. This very best starts with their discipline in monitoring everything
they consume—from total calories to how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and
fats. If you want to become a champion bodybuilder, you need to be as detail oriented
about your food as you are about your exercises and reps. To fuel your training,
promote body-fat loss, and grow and maintain muscle, you will need to plan out every
meal based on the proper mix of macronutrients. Invest in a food scale and measuring
spoons and cups. You’ll need them!
The first step in your contest preparation diet is to determine your starting macronutrient amounts.
These amounts will not remain exactly the same throughout the entire diet and will be changed to
promote greater fat loss and muscle sparing as the dieting process grows.
In order to help you get started I’ll outline how to calculate your protein, carbohydrates, and fats
based upon your body type, body weight, and overall caloric needs.
Protein
Muscle is primarily protein and water. In order to maintain your muscle mass, adequate dietary
protein intake is required. Your rates of muscle protein degradation and synthesis increase in
response to the high intensity of resistance training. In order to spare muscle it is vital that a
bodybuilder consume the proper amounts of protein. Natural bodybuilders, especially, are more
reliant on protein to increase metabolism, promote satiety, muscle growth, lose body fat, maintain
nitrogen balance, and promote a natural increase of testosterone in the body.
The “gold standard” for protein intake for a male bodybuilder is around 1 gram per pound of body
weight, but that can vary based on your body type as you’ll see below. Also, most bodybuilders will
need to increase this number slightly while dieting since protein is a key thermogenic macronutrient
for sparing muscle tissue when in a caloric deficit.
When starting out, you want to set your protein levels high enough but not excessively high. Protein
builds muscle, but protein in excess can be used as energy or converted to body fat. If you ingest too
much protein and it is subsequently used as energy, then this means less body fat is being used as
energy. The goal during the dieting process it to give your body enough protein to maintain muscle but
not enough to hamper body-fat loss.
WHEN BODYBUILDERS step onstage, they bring their very best physiques against
their competition. This very best starts with their discipline in monitoring everything
they consume—from total calories to how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and
fats. If you want to become a champion bodybuilder, you need to be as detail oriented
about your food as you are about your exercises and reps. To fuel your training,
promote body-fat loss, and grow and maintain muscle, you will need to plan out every
meal based on the proper mix of macronutrients. Invest in a food scale and measuring
spoons and cups. You’ll need them!
The first step in your contest preparation diet is to determine your starting macronutrient amounts.
These amounts will not remain exactly the same throughout the entire diet and will be changed to
promote greater fat loss and muscle sparing as the dieting process grows.
In order to help you get started I’ll outline how to calculate your protein, carbohydrates, and fats
based upon your body type, body weight, and overall caloric needs.
Protein
Muscle is primarily protein and water. In order to maintain your muscle mass, adequate dietary
protein intake is required. Your rates of muscle protein degradation and synthesis increase in
response to the high intensity of resistance training. In order to spare muscle it is vital that a
bodybuilder consume the proper amounts of protein. Natural bodybuilders, especially, are more
reliant on protein to increase metabolism, promote satiety, muscle growth, lose body fat, maintain
nitrogen balance, and promote a natural increase of testosterone in the body.
The “gold standard” for protein intake for a male bodybuilder is around 1 gram per pound of body
weight, but that can vary based on your body type as you’ll see below. Also, most bodybuilders will
need to increase this number slightly while dieting since protein is a key thermogenic macronutrient
for sparing muscle tissue when in a caloric deficit.
When starting out, you want to set your protein levels high enough but not excessively high. Protein
builds muscle, but protein in excess can be used as energy or converted to body fat. If you ingest too
much protein and it is subsequently used as energy, then this means less body fat is being used as
energy. The goal during the dieting process it to give your body enough protein to maintain muscle but
not enough to hamper body-fat loss.
Protein Ranges Depending on Body Type
Ectomorph: 1.3g/lb–1.6g/lb
Mesomorph: 1.2g/lb–1.5g/lb
Endomorph: 1.4g/lb–1.7g/lb
Sample Subject
Let’s take a man with a mesomorph body type and a body weight of 180 pounds whose daily
calorie goal is 2,100 calories. To find the optimum grams of protein, multiply body weight by
1.2 grams and 1.5 grams and take the average.
180 x 1.2 = 216
180 x 1.5 = 270
For our sample bodybuilder this gives us a protein range of 216 to 270 grams per day, and so to
start he will consume the average 243, which we will round off to 240 grams per day to make
things easier. If he is someone who considers himself to be carb sensitive, we could set his
protein intake higher, leaving fewer calories dedicated to carbohydrates, once fat intake is
determined.
Average = 243 grams per day
(Round this to 240, for the sake of easier tracking.)
Protein = 240 grams per day
Those 240 grams would take up 960 calories of his 2,100-calorie daily goal because there are 4
calories to every 1 gram of protein. The subject is left with 1,140 calories for his remaining fat
and carbohydrate intake.
Fat
Dietary fat is still the most misunderstood macronutrient. Some lifters still believe that it’s to be
avoided, fearing that it will increase body fat. Others believe they can eat as much fat as they want
and that eliminating carbs is the key to losing body fat. Both are wrong. Carbs are important and fat is
necessary. The trick is to strategically manage intake of both, and to do that it’s critical that a
bodybuilder understands how his body metabolizes fat.
Any fat intake discussion in the bodybuilding world needs to include the discussion of ketogenic
diets, that is, diets in which one consumes super-high amounts of protein and fat while eliminating the
carbohydrates. If we eliminate all carbohydrates, then our stored body fat will be released at a rapid
rate, but this process can cause problems. You need some carbohydrate; it’s the body’s preferred fuel
source! Not too much; not too little. Your body also uses fat for energy. Your adipose cells release fat
in the form of glycerol and fatty acids. The body’s cells then metabolize them to use as fuel.
Ketogenic dieting phases of dieting can be effective when fat intake isn’t too excessive. But it can be
a slippery slope as your adipose cells are waiting to bring in new triglycerides to store after your
meals, and if your carbohydrate levels are too low for too long, you’ll eventually lower your
testosterone levels and lose valuable muscle, regardless of how much protein you consume.
Look at reducing fat intake enough to decrease calories and keep testosterone production humming.
Is there a optimal number or standard? Not specifically. Generally, a bodybuilder wants to keep his
diet low in carbohydrates without increasing fat intake too much. A typical bodybuilder can take in
anywhere between 15 to 30 percent of his total calories from fat depending on overall caloric intake
and body composition.
As a general guide, here’s the percentage of total calories that you should designate to fat intake
when starting your dieting process.
Ectomorph: 15–20 percent
Mesomorph: 16–21 percent
Endomorph: 18–23 percent
SAMPLE SUBJECT:
Again, using our 180-pound mesomorph as an example with a 2,100-calorie daily goal, we would
multiply 2,100 calories by 16 percent and 21 percent to arrive at an average.
2,100 x .16 = 336 calories from fat
2,100 x .21 = 441 calories from fat
336 + 441 ÷ 2 = 388.5
Since there are 9 calories in every gram of fat, we would divide total calories from fat by 9 to get
total grams.
388.5 calories ÷ 9 calories = 43 grams fat per day
(Round this to 45 grams for easier tracking)
Fat: 45 grams (405 calories per day)
Protein: 240 grams (960 calories per day)
Carbohydrates
Figuring out the optimal carbohydrate intake for bodybuilders is about as easy as getting Congress to
agree on how to balance the budget. And like a congress member’s opinion, your carb needs can
change day to day, hour to hour during the dieting process.
As I’ve said many times before, a major goal of any dieting bodybuilder is to maintain muscle mass
while trimming body fat. Retaining muscle is ultra important to your long-term metabolic function and
to maintaining strength levels and energy levels. Carbohydrates after all are a very anabolic
macronutrient and have been shown to be protein sparing. That’s important because dieting and
training with weights breaks down tissue and puts you at greater risk of catabolism. Proper
management of your carb intake will maximize fat loss by keeping your metabolic rate high and spare
your muscle.
Your body burns calories in two ways, through glucose metabolism (using carbs for energy) and
ketogenic metabolism (using dietary or stored fat for energy). The balancing act is to keep your fat
intake low enough to allow you to eat more carbohydrates and benefit from their musclesparing
properties.
To start you off in the right direction I’ve suggested percentages of calories from carbohydrates
according to body type:
Ectomorph: 30–45 percent
Mesomorph: 25–40 percent
Endomorph: 20–35 percent
Again, using the example of the mesomorph weighing 180 pounds and consuming 2,100 calories per
day, you can determine specific calories from carbs by adding the calories from fat and protein
(calculated in those sections above and subtracting from the daily calorie goal):
388 (protein calories) + 960 (fat calories) = 1,348 calories
2,100 – 1,348 = 752 calories from carbohydrates, or, because there are 4 calories per gram of
carbohydrate, 188 grams. (Round this down to 185 for easier tracking.)
Here’s the full macronutrient breakdown by grams and calories:
Protein: 240 grams (960 calories from protein per day)
Carbs: 185 grams (740 calories from carbohydrate per day)
Fat: 45 grams (405 calories from fat per day)
These are broad guidelines. Carbohydrate tolerance can differ from one person to the next. I once
trained two bodybuilders of roughly the same weight, height, and age, and one dieted on 55 grams of
carbs while the other was able to consume 350 grams of carbs and still lose body fat.
New rules to lose body fat
A brief history of muscle-making culture and sports
The art of building a program and body sculpting at 24 weeks - the first week
Motivated to build muscle
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