If you read articles pertaining to putting on mass from any of the muscle comics, they usually tell you that you need to eat, and eat BIG! Read enough of these and you’ll be brainwashed to the point of pile driving the plate into your mouth at the end of your meal!

Before loading up on Maalox and Pepto Bismol on your next visit to the grocery store, have comfort in knowing you don’t need to eat till you have food coming out of your ears. Yes, you do need to eat more calories than you burn in a day to put on muscle, however, there comes a certain point you’re just going to be wasting time and money eating foods that will go to waste and add junk to yer trunk.

It’s true that one of the main aspects for optimal muscle gains is to be in a state of daily caloric surplus, i.e., consistently eat more calories than you burn in a day. The problem is that the ambiguity of the statement causes most people to confuse it for a green light to become a buffet molester.

So, the problem here isn’t so much that this point is untrue as much as it’s an excuse for people to get sloppy with their nutrition plan.

Your body can only grow at a certain speed. It can only use a finite amount of macronutrients to repair and build up your body. Over feeding past this point doesn’t cause you to build more muscle, you’ll simply store the excess calories as fat – I like to call this “The Point of Expanding Returns.”

The point isn’t to put anything into your system to try and reach your daily caloric requirement. It’s important that a mass building nutrition plan is made up of quality foods consisting of the proper ratio of macronutrients

If you want to have that “hard look” from training, gaining what amounts to a blanket of flab surrounding your body is going to ultimately hide the results from your hard work.

It’s true that to optimize muscle gains you need to eat more calories than you need in a day which will lead to putting on some fat. However, it’s also important to watch the calories so it’s your muscles, and not your waistline, that’s stretching the measuring tape a month or two down the road.

While a few actually do want to gain extra fat for various reasons, if you don’t watch your body fat levels when adding mass, blindly terrorizing the buffet table is going to cause you grief down the road.

Yes you’ll gain all sorts of muscle and strength if you’re training and resting properly, however, if you want to lose body fat, you’ll have to shift your focus off of gaining muscle mass, strength and performance, and on to losing fat. Depending on the amount of fat you want to lose, and the rate at which you want to lose it, there’s a good chance you may sacrifice some muscle

The truth is your body only needs proper resistance training, sufficient rest and a properly balanced nutrition plan that includes about 300-500 more calories than your daily caloric requirement to gain muscle. Individual difference may mean some people will require more or less, and yes, there are a few people who seem to do better with 1000 or more extra calories. Start off with a smaller amount and slowly build up until you find your ideal amount of excess calories. However, remember that eating more than you require for optimal muscle growth doesn’t force your body to grow more muscle than what it’s naturally capable of.

By keeping an eye on your nutrition plan and body composition you won’t be in for a rude awakening a month or two down the road.

Action Steps

Choose a body fat limit Avoid the consequences of a sloppy mass building nutrition plan by watching your body fat percentage. Many get lazy about this, but the smart one’s keep an eye on things and make adjustments to make sure their body fat levels don’t get out of hand.

Check things weekly and adjust your nutrition plan and/or level of activity appropriately. Remember the caloric intake required when trying to maximize strength and especially size gain, will lead to an increase of fat levels. If you limit calories too severely you will limit your gains as well.

Body fat Scale There are many scales on the market that can read your body fat percentage; Tanita is one of the leaders in this field.

Measuring tape A cheaper, but less accurate way, to track your body fat levels is to use a tape measure to measure your waist. Take the measurement at your belly button level without a shirt, and ideally at the same time of day each time you measure.

I recommend using both methods at the same time if possible. Record your measurements in a notepad, and limit this to once a week.

Adjust caloric intake and/or activity levels when BF levels get too high If you notice your BF% is climbing too high, adjust your caloric intake or expenditure (i.e. activity level) appropriately to bring it back to a satisfactory level. By doing this you minimize the amount of fat you’ll accumulate, and the amount of time you’ll spend having to lose it if you choose to.