So I will try and explain this as best i can.
As I understand it your BMR is the calorie count you need to maintain you current weight assuming no exercise and living a sedentary lifestyle. According to most calculators mine is 2000 calories.
To gain weight (more muscle less fat) in a controlled and consistent manner you need to add +100-200Kcal over your maintenance calorie count ASSUMING a certain number of workouts a week.
So say for arguments sake I was working out 5 days a week.
Let us assume I have conducted a calorie calibration where I have calculated my calorie requirements for maintaining weight whilst working out 5 days a week. It amounts to say 3500 calories.
If I want to gain weight does this mean I take in 3600-3700 calories a day on the days I WORK OUT ONLY? Or does it include my off days also???
Also, unfortunately because of my work lifestyle (working on the ship every other month so calorie counting is impossible) there are inevitably weeks where I won't work out at all. If I want to maintain the muscle mass/weight I already have and I am not working out should I only ingest the BMR baseline calorie intake (in my case 2000 calories)?
I understand this is very complex and a response to this would be very much appreciated. You can't imagine how much this is bugging me. I like to do things properly or not at all.
My ultimate plan is to have a 'baseline' meal plan - say my BMR baseline (say 2000 calories). The idea is to simply adjust this baseline for workout days to the 3600-3700 or whatever. I have other priorities in life and I really don't want to waste hours a day trying to work this shit out.
As I understand it your BMR is the calorie count you need to maintain you current weight assuming no exercise and living a sedentary lifestyle. According to most calculators mine is 2000 calories.
To gain weight (more muscle less fat) in a controlled and consistent manner you need to add +100-200Kcal over your maintenance calorie count ASSUMING a certain number of workouts a week.
So say for arguments sake I was working out 5 days a week.
Let us assume I have conducted a calorie calibration where I have calculated my calorie requirements for maintaining weight whilst working out 5 days a week. It amounts to say 3500 calories.
If I want to gain weight does this mean I take in 3600-3700 calories a day on the days I WORK OUT ONLY? Or does it include my off days also???
Also, unfortunately because of my work lifestyle (working on the ship every other month so calorie counting is impossible) there are inevitably weeks where I won't work out at all. If I want to maintain the muscle mass/weight I already have and I am not working out should I only ingest the BMR baseline calorie intake (in my case 2000 calories)?
I understand this is very complex and a response to this would be very much appreciated. You can't imagine how much this is bugging me. I like to do things properly or not at all.
My ultimate plan is to have a 'baseline' meal plan - say my BMR baseline (say 2000 calories). The idea is to simply adjust this baseline for workout days to the 3600-3700 or whatever. I have other priorities in life and I really don't want to waste hours a day trying to work this shit out.