How Many Calories Should I Eat to Bulk?

You hit the gym five days a week. You lift heavy. You eat a ton. But somehow, you’re gaining more belly fat than muscle.

Does that sound familiar?

First of all: we get it! It’s frustrating to feel like you’re not gaining muscle even when you seem to be doing everything right. You’re lifting and eating and lifting more and eating more. So why aren’t your muscles growing as fast as YouTubers and other experienced lifters tell you they should?

The truth is that bulking isn’t just about eating more, more, more…but also about eating right. And that starts with knowing exactly how many calories your body needs to grow without packing on unnecessary fat.

A lot of lifters make the same mistake: they overshoot their calorie surplus and think that more food equals more gains. But that extra food often turns into fat, not muscle.

In this blog, we’ll explain exactly how to calculate your ideal calorie intake for bulking. You’ll learn:

• What an ideal surplus looks like

• How to estimate your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

• And how many calories you really need to build lean mass

Let’s answer the big question: How many calories should I eat to bulk, without blowing up my waistline? 

Shop & Save on Creatine Supplements 

To gain muscle, your body needs fuel…more than it burns. That’s why a calorie surplus is needed. You probably know this much already. But let’s take a look at how you can figure out how many calories your body actually burns.

Let’s start with the basics. Your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the number of calories your body uses in a day. This includes:

• Your metabolism (just staying alive)

• Daily movement (housework, walking around, running errands)

• And your workouts (cardio, strength training, or even a good yoga session)

If you eat exactly your TDEE, you’ll maintain your current weight. If you eat below it, you’ll lose weight. But to build muscle? You’ve got to go above it.

That’s your calorie surplus. You’re eating slightly more than your body burns, so it has extra energy to build new tissue. Not just any tissue, though. The goal is muscle, not fat.

Here’s one way to think about it:

When you train hard, you send a signal to your body: “These muscles aren’t cutting it. We need stronger ones.” Inside your body, it’s like little construction workers show up. They start breaking down the old muscle (your workout creates those microtears), and then they get ready to rebuild it: stronger, thicker, better.

But here’s the issue: no construction site can run without materials. If you’re not eating enough, those little workers won’t get the bricks, beams, and cement they need. Your body will use its energy (calories) for essential functions first (like keeping your heart beating and your brain sharp). Muscle repair is lower on the priority list.

Now, they don’t need truckloads of materials either.

You don’t have to eat thousands of calories over maintenance. That just leaves you with a lot of leftover material (a.k.a. fat). Your workers only need a little extra to do their job right. The trick is figuring out roughly how much energy your body uses each day, and then giving it a bit more. Not too much. Just enough to fuel growth without excess.

Bottom line: If you want real gains, you need to feed the process. A small, controlled surplus helps you grow lean mass, not just eat big and hope for the best. 

Now, let’s get into the numbers.

To figure out how many calories you should eat to bulk, you need to go step by step: 

That’s your Basal Metabolic Rate, or how many calories your body burns at rest.

You can use a simple online BMR calculator like the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to get a good estimate based on your age, sex, weight, and height. 

Now multiply your BMR by an activity factor based on how often you train:

• Sedentary (rarely active): BMR × 1.2

• Moderate (3–5 workouts/week): BMR × 1.55

• Very active (5–6 intense sessions/week): BMR × 1.725

That gives you your TDEE, the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight.

There are calculators online that will do all the work for you as well. Just make sure to verify they are using the right formulas and don’t just give you a random estimate (that might be very off). 

To bulk, you need to add calories on top of your TDEE. Here’s a simple range to follow:

• Beginner or lean bulk: +250 kcal/day

• Experienced lifter or hardgainer: +300–500 kcal/day

This range gives your body enough extra fuel to grow muscle without going overboard.

Example:

Let’s say your TDEE is 2,700 kcal.

Add a 300 kcal surplus.

Your bulking target would be around 3,000 kcal/day. 

Here’s something that might not seem connected to your calorie intake at first, but actually makes a huge difference: how you hit your calories.

Technically, you could hit 3,000 calories a day with grilled chicken, rice, and avocado… or you could hit that calorie goal with pizza, donuts, and fast food.

Same numbers, very different outcomes. Some people think it doesn’t matter, but it does.

Let’s define the two terms real quick for those who might not be familiar:

• A clean bulk focuses on whole foods. These are things like lean proteins, complex carbs, healthy fats, all made with minimal processing. You’re fueling your body with quality materials (the kind that supports recovery, hormones, digestion, and performance).

• A dirty bulk is a “whatever it takes” approach. Ice cream, soda, fast food… if it gets you to your calorie goal, it’s fair game.

Dirty bulking might sound like fun. You don’t have to change your diet much. You can eat whatever’s easiest or tastiest. But the truth is: it usually leads to fat gain, energy crashes, and regret.

A dirty bulk often means eating far past your actual surplus, and oftentimes you’re not tracking calories that closely during a dirty bulk. It’s also harder on digestion, your skin, and your energy levels. You’re more likely to feel bloated, sluggish, and uncomfortable. And once it’s time to cut, it’s harder to dial things back when you’ve built habits around overeating or processed foods.

Your muscles will actually respond better to clean fuel. Just like you wouldn’t build a house with rotting wood and soggy drywall, your body builds better, stronger muscle with real food.

But what if you’re a hard gainer

If you're struggling to hit your calorie target with clean foods alone, there is a middle ground. The first thing you should do is add healthy calorie-dense foods like:

• Natural peanut butter or almond butter (there are even more alternatives like walnut butter, cashew butter, etc.)

• Whole eggs

• Avocado

• Olive oil drizzled on meals

• Homemade smoothies with oats, frozen banana, and protein powder

• Full-fat Greek yogurt with granola and berries

• Trail mix or dried fruit

• Use a high-quality mass gainer (more on that later)

And if you still need a little help, having one higher-calorie, less “clean” snack or meal each day is totally fine. Just keep your base diet clean and consistent. Think of the fun stuff like the 10% margin, not the main plan.

The quality of your food matters just as much as the quantity. Clean bulking takes more effort, but it pays off in leaner gains, fewer digestion issues, and an easier transition when you decide to cut. 

No matter how well you’ve estimated your TDEE, it’s still just an estimate. On some days, you might burn more, on others you might burn less. So how do you actually do a clean bulk properly?

Here’s how to keep your bulk clean and on track:

• Track your progress every 2–3 weeks: Don’t just guess. Use the scale, take progress photos, and track your lifts. If you're not gaining weight (or if you're gaining too fast) it’s time to adjust your calories.

• Prioritize whole foods: Like we mentioned: you can hit 3,000 calories with junk… or with real fuel. Stick to lean meats, eggs, rice, oats, potatoes, veggies, nut butters, and olive oil. These foods support muscle growth without wrecking your digestion or energy.

• Go for 0.25–0.5 lb per week: That’s the sweet spot. It may sound slow, but slow gains = more muscle, less fat. If you go faster than that, you’re probably storing more body fat than you want. 

Shop for Protein Powder with Creatine 

Even with the best plan, your progress might stall.

If you’ve been eating in a surplus but your weight hasn’t changed in 2–3 weeks (or your lifts aren’t improving) it might be time to bump things up.

How do you know by how much to increase your calorie intake? You might still be wondering “How many calories should I eat to bulk when I don’t know my exact expenditure and the weight isn’t going up?”

The solution is small adjustments.

Add 100–200 calories per day and monitor your progress. That could be as simple as an extra tablespoon of peanut butter, a banana, or a cup of rice.

Avoid big jumps like 500+ calories at once. That often leads to unnecessary fat gain and makes it harder to tell what’s really working.

Your body adapts. As your weight goes up, so will your maintenance needs. The goal is to stay one step ahead without overdoing it. 

Once your calories are dialed in, the right supplements can give you an extra edge. If your training is intense, recovery with the right nutrients matters even more.

A few tried-and-true options worth stacking:

• EAAs: Our Platinum 100% EAA+  supports muscle protein synthesis and recovery, especially around your workouts. It also delivers electrolytes for hydration, which is really important when you’re training hard and eating in a surplus.

• Creatine: Creatine is one of the most researched supplements out there. It helps improve strength, power, and muscle volume. That’s great for progressive overload during a bulk.

• Mass Gainer (if needed): For lifters who struggle to eat enough, a clean mass gainer like our 100% Mass Gainer can help hit calorie goals without stuffing yourself with food all day.

These can help support your training, recovery, and daily intake. But don’t forget that they’re most effective when paired with consistent eating and lifting. Supplements never replace hard work but rather back it up. 

Shop & Save on Mass Gainers