Bodybuilding Nutrition Guides
Eat for growth: protein, calories, bulking, cutting, body composition and supplements.
Training creates the signal for growth; nutrition supplies the material. For most lifters, three numbers matter most: total calories relative to maintenance, daily protein, and the rate at which bodyweight is changing. Supplements come a distant fourth.
Start with protein, then set calories for a lean bulk or a cut. The TDEE and protein calculators turn these guides into personal numbers in a few seconds.
Learning path
Protein and Nutrition for Lifters: Targets, Timing and Real Food
To build muscle, aim for about 1.6 g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day; going up to 2.2 g/kg is a reasonable upper target. Spread it across 3–5 meals of roughly 0.4 g/kg each. Daily total matters far more than exact timing.
Bulking and Cutting: How to Gain Muscle and Lose Fat the Right Way
Lean bulk on a surplus of about 10–20% above maintenance and aim to gain roughly 0.25–0.5% of bodyweight per week. Cut at about 0.5–1% of bodyweight per week with high protein. If you are unsure which to do first, the decision table below helps.
Body Composition Explained: Muscle, Fat and How to Change It
Body composition is the split of your weight between fat mass and lean mass. Training builds lean mass and calorie balance controls fat mass. Track trends over weeks with the same method rather than trusting any single reading.
Supplements for Lifters: What Works, What Doesn’t, What to Skip
Only a few supplements have strong evidence for lifters: creatine monohydrate (3–5 g per day), caffeine (3–6 mg per kg before training) and protein powder as a convenient way to reach your daily protein target. Most others are optional at best.
Contest Prep Basics: How Physique Competitors Get Stage-Ready
Natural contest prep is a long, gradual diet. Evidence-based recommendations suggest losing about 0.5–1% of bodyweight per week with high protein, which for most people means a prep of several months rather than weeks.
| Target | Evidence-based range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 1.6 g/kg/day, up to about 2.2 g/kg | Morton et al., 2018 |
| Lean-bulk surplus | About 10–20% above maintenance | Iraki et al., 2019 |
| Gain rate | 0.25–0.5% of bodyweight per week | Iraki et al., 2019 |
| Cut rate | 0.5–1% of bodyweight per week | Helms et al., 2014 |
| Creatine | 3–5 g/day | Kreider et al., 2017 |