Quote (TempoONE @ Oct 24 2013 10:29am)
Raynor you have been such a great help over the years. I love you bro. #nohomo ofc.
Do you have advices on steps I should take on tweaking my own macros for optimum efficiency? I hired a pretty good trainer for 6 months and his macros seemed to do the trick for me.
Thank you for the kind words.
The best way to determine macros is to first find the extent of your sensitivity to carbs. If you are a pure mesomorph for example, and you can handle copious amounts of carbs, that would be your best primary macro (ie the macro that gives you the most calories for the day). If you tend to be hypersensitive to carbs, ie: you tend to feel bloated after eating them, and also tend to put on bodyfat during period of eating large amounts of carbs, you need to taper them down in terms of macro loadout, or just go full keto if cutting. For carb sensitive people, 1g per pound of bodyweight is the high point on a bulk, and completely eliminating them on a cut (for keto). However, for average or typically lean individuals, 1.5-2g of carbs per pound of bodyweight, on a bulk, would be fine.
So, assuming you figure out how sensitive you are to carbs, your next rule of thumb is that protein needs to be in the area of 1-1.5g per lb of bodyweight. That means, no matter what, a minimum of that amount of protein, in grams, needs to be consumed. Protein then becomes a wildcard, in the sense that you can consume extra to fill in caloric gaps if your other macros are already met. It should, however, be noted that extremely high intake of protein is absolutely not recommended. I would put a cap at the 2.2 g per lb of bodyweight mark.
Lastly, fat. Your body needs a certain amount of fat in order to keep producing testosterone (mostly from high cholesterol foods) properly and also to regulate the endocrine system, among other things. No-fat or extremely low fat diets are horrible across the board. Fat can also be a wildcard, although you must be careful with what type of fat you are eating. You want to strive for at least 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of UNSATURATED Fats to saturated fats. Some ideas include olive oil (which is typically a 7:1 ratio), avocados, fatty fish, etc. It's a good idea to get at LEAST 40-60g of fat per day, regardless of cutting or bulking. You can also increase fat to fill the caloric void if your protein/carb threshold has been reached. Around 0.3-0.6g per pound of bodyweight is a good rule of thumb for fats (unless doing keto, which would require 60+% macros from fats).
Now, putting it all together.
First start with protein, assume you are 200 lbs, on a lean bulking cycle, which would mean you need around 3,000 calories per day on workout days, and 2,500 cals on non-workout days. This would also mean you need at least 200-300g of protein per day, with closer to 300 on workout days (minimum). From there, calculate how many cals you have left (1200 cals from protein already leaves 1,800 for carbs/fat on the 3,000 cal workout day). Now, calculate at least 60g worth from fat, and see how many cals you have left in total. Assume you take the 60g of fat, for a total of 540 cals, you are now at 1740 cals with 1,260 remaining. Instead of taking in another 315g of just carbs alone to fill that 1,260 cal gap, you can now make adjustments.
On cutting, you will add additional protein and fat.
On clean bulking, you can add all of the carbs on workout days, and on non-workout days you can add some additional carbs/fat, and the balance in carbs
On dirty bulking, add whatever you want as long as you have a minimum of 1.5g per lb protein and 0.3-0.6 per lb of fat.
Remember, as you go, you can add additional macros as needed. If you need help in recovery, more protein. If you need more energy, carbs. If you need more testosterone, fats.