Energy and macros

Calorie Target for Bulk and Cut

Decide how fast you want to gain or lose weight. The calculator turns that into your daily calorie target.

Goal

Don't know it? Calculate calorie needs

Typical in a Lean Bulk: 0.25 to 0.5 percent of body weight per week.

Fill in the fields and the result appears right away.

Check your pace after two to three weeks using trend weight, not daily weight. Go to the weight trend calculator

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How it works

You enter your total daily needs, your body weight and your desired pace as a percentage of body weight per week. The calculator converts the pace into kilograms per week.

From the kilograms, it uses the rule of thumb of roughly 7,700 kcal per kg of body weight to get a daily surplus or deficit. In a Lean Bulk it is added to your total needs, in a Cut it is subtracted.

How to use your result

The result is a starting point. The 7,700 kcal rule is a simplification: how much energy is in a kilogram of gain or loss depends on how much of it is fat, muscle and water, and your expenditure adapts over time (Hall 2008).

That is why trend weight counts. Daily weights fluctuate with water, salt and gut contents, often more than your weekly pace, and the smoothed trend shows the real pace. If the trend is off your goal after two to three weeks, adjust your calories in small steps.

A slow Lean Bulk keeps fat gain small. A Cut at 0.5 to 1 percent per week protects muscle better than a crash diet.

Formula and source

Change (kg/week) = body weight (kg) × pace (%) ÷ 100
Surplus or deficit (kcal/day) = change (kg/week) × 7,700 ÷ 7
Calorie target = total daily needs ± surplus or deficit

Lean Bulk: Iraki J et al. (2019): Nutrition Recommendations for Bodybuilders in the Off-Season: A Narrative Review. Sports 7(7). Cut: Helms ER, Aragon AA, Fitschen PJ (2014): Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 11. On the limits of the 7,700 kcal rule: Hall KD (2008): What is the required energy deficit per unit weight loss? International Journal of Obesity 32.

Frequently asked questions

Common recommendations are 0.25 to 0.5 percent of body weight per week (Iraki et al. 2019). Advanced lifters tend to stay at the lower end because they build muscle more slowly. Anyone gaining faster mostly builds more fat.

For strength athletes, 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight per week is considered a good framework (Helms et al. 2014). If you are already lean, it is better to lose more slowly, because the risk of muscle loss rises as body fat drops.

Your total needs are estimated, the 7,700 kcal rule is simplified, and water masks fat loss, especially in the first weeks. What matters is your trend weight over several weeks. If it deviates, you adjust your calories.

Yes. Your needs change along with your weight. Recalculate after a few kilograms of change, or steer directly by your trend weight.

All results are estimates and do not replace advice from a doctor or dietitian.

Related calculators

TDEE calculator Basal metabolic rate and total daily energy expenditure using Mifflin-St Jeor. Weight trend calculator Smooth daily weigh-ins and see your trend and weekly rate. Macro calculator Protein, fat and carbs from your calorie target.