IS 500 CALORIE SURPLUS TOO MUCH?

IS 500 CALORIE SURPLUS TOO MUCH?

by | May 20, 2022 | Calorie Surplus

calories Restriction illustrationA calorie surplus is when you are eating more calories than you burn over a period of 24 hours. If you stay in a calorie surplus for a long period, your body will store the extra calories as fat, which can result in Gaining weight.

If you notice the bathroom scale reading rise significantly over a short period of time, like 2 weeks. Chances are high that you are on a caloric surplus

If this happens, just know that the calories you have been taking during that period have surpassed the number of calories your body needs within a 24-hour period. Generally, having a calorie surplus of between 500 and 1000 in a day can lead to you gaining about 1 to 1,5 pounds of fat every week.

The amount of weight you will gain during this period will depend on several factors like lean body weight, age, physical activities, and gender. On average, people who are physically active with more lean body mass will add less amount of weight as compared to the sedentary people.

The 500-calorie surplus is however important for people who wish to add more body muscles. Taking more calories, a day will help in providing the body with energy hence more strength to go through weight lifting and cardio exercises for building muscles.

Apart from training more than usual, the calorie surplus will help in faster recovery and reduction of the levels of cortisol.

It is good to know that one can gain an equal number of muscles whether on a calorie surplus or a calorie deficit. It is recommended for one to go on a 500-calorie surplus since it can make a huge difference in the intensity of your physical workouts which can result in greater hypertrophy.

An average person needs about 2000 calories per day. When on a 500-calorie surplus, you will consume an extra 500 calories making it a total of 2500 calories a day. This can be considered too many calories that can lead to weight gain or other health complications. Consult with your doctor before engaging in the 500 calories surplus diet.

WILL 500 CALORIE SURPLUS MAKE YOU FAT?

A huge calorie surplus might lead to gaining more fat and create an unconducive ratio of muscle and fat gain. This will make you spend more time than expected burning the extra fats and calories.

In addition, it will reduce the time you can be in a calorie surplus before dropping back to calorie maintenance.

If you take more than 500 calories a day than the calories you burn, then this will lead to a new pound of body mass a week. Generally, ensure you take more food often, and eat more proteins and fats.

CAN YOU LOSE BELLY FAT IN A CALORIE SURPLUS?

When in a calorie surplus, it will be very hard to lose belly fat. A calorie surplus will mostly make you gain fats combined with muscles. In the calorie surplus, you will be consuming more calories than your energy use and any extra calories that are not needed by the body will be stored as fats.

To lose belly fat, you need to have a relatively low-fat percentage in the body therefore you need to be in a calorie deficit and not a calorie surplus to lose fat.

For you to lose belly fat, you need to of course be in a calorie deficit, engage in low-density cardio, take a well-balanced diet with high amounts of proteins and ensure you engage in resistance training like weight lifting with cardio.

ARE 500 CALORIES ENOUGH FOR BULK?

Man in the gym lifting heavy weights

Bulking is a process that involves the increase of muscles and body strength in combination with increased calories taken beyond what your body needs.

To be in the bulk phase, you need a calorie surplus whereby you need to consume more calories in a day than you are utilizing.

You need to calculate the number of calories you need per day by using a calorie calculator through a fitness tracker. Once you get the number of calories, add to any figure between 400 and 600 calories then that will be your daily calories to take in a day. This said, then the 500-calorie surplus is enough for bulking.

If you need to build a huge number of muscles, then the calorie surplus is the way to go. When on a calorie surplus, you will be able to get enough energy which will push you to train even harder without getting tired easily.

There are foods recommended to take when you want to bulk and they include;

As much as there are foods to include in the diet for bulking, there are some that need to be removed and they include;

  • Added sugars: Sugars give a lot of calories with very minimal nutrients to the body. Some of the food that has added sugars and should be avoided include cookies, ice cream, candy, doughnuts, cake, and sugar-sweetened beverages like soda and energy drink.
  • Alcohol: If alcohol is taken in excess, it can lead to the inability to build muscles and get rid of fats.
  • Deep-fried foods: When consumes in excess, they may lead to diseases and inflammation. Some of the deep-fried foods include chicken stripes, fried fish, cheese curds, French fries, and onion rings.

It is also important to avoid some foods before going to the gym as they may cause stomach problems and slow digestion hence destructing your workout session they include;

  • High-fat foods: They include creams,high-fat meats, heavy sauces, and buttery foods.
  • High-fiber foods: Beans, cauliflower, and broccoli.
  • Carbonated beverages: Diet soda or sparkling water.

ARE 500 CALORIES ENOUGH TO BUILD MUSCLES?

As a whole, you do not need to use the calorie surplus to gain muscle. The growth and increase of body muscle cells are stimulated by the sufficient amount of protein taken and enough resistance training with continuous overload. As compared to thicker people, thinner people may require added calories of more than 500 to experience significant muscle gain.

Generally, you can gain muscles while on a calorie deficit and you don’t need more calories to do that. Gaining muscles requires you to just eat enough proteins in your diet daily. When you are in a calorie surplus, you will experience increased levels of hunger and appetite, reduced levels of melatonin, low energy expenditure, increased cortisol levels, and reduced testosterone and IGF-1.

While on a 500-calorie surplus, you will also build muscles but understand that you will also gain fats in the process. The 500-calorie surplus on its own is enough for building muscles. However, some bodybuilders generally eat more than the 500-caloric surplus.

To build muscles, you need energy and strength to push you through intense training sessions and the 500 -calorie surplus provides that. It will give you more fuel to workout harder and for longer periods.

Adding muscles for some people is their main goal. The thought of gaining fat and having to again create a caloric deficit to lose the extra fat is the main reason most people do not subscribe to the 500 surplus calorie plan.

You can as well gain muscles through other slower and methodical approaches to gaining muscles. It is good to know that the number of calories required to gain muscles will be directed by the speed you take to build muscles and your training regime.

It is also good for you to have a target in mind and monitor the muscles you are gaining for you to know if you are making any progress or not.

Related Post: 500 CALORIE SURPLUS FOR MUSCLE GAIN

SUMMARY

Adding the 500-calorie surplus to favor muscle gain is not that necessary except if your main goal is to gain muscles and are okay with adding some fats. The 500-calorie surplus may be beneficial to those people who have a hard time gaining extra muscle mass and also those who have a hard time with their performance while on a calorie deficit.

You can gain muscles through other processes that are slower and methodical and still not add any fats. Also, it is very vital to know that the number of calories taken to gain muscles will be directed by the speed you take to build muscles. It is also good for you to have a target in mind and monitor the muscles you are gaining for you to know if you are making any progress or not.

Therefore, you need to add nutrient-rich foods to your diet together with weight lifting and cardio exercise for muscle growth. Keep away from or reduce the intake of alcohol, deep-fried foods, and foods with added sugars.

500 CALORIE SURPLUS FOR MUSCLE GAIN

500 CALORIE SURPLUS FOR MUSCLE GAIN

by | May 7, 2022 | Calorie Surplus

Woman gym back muscles
The 500-calorie surplus is of great benefit to people who struggle with muscle gain. Adding extra calories of about 500 does not add extra muscles but it allows you to increase your level of training, faster recovery, and reduction of levels of cortisol.

You can gain the same amount of muscle mass when you are on a calorie surplus or calorie deficit. Therefore, the only reason it is recommended for someone to go overboard with extra 500 calories, is that it can make a great difference to your workout intensity which will lead to a greater increase and growth of muscle cells.

A calorie deficit is very good when it comes to lowering body fats. The calories surplus helps you go for like 120% overboard with your workouts. This makes sure that your performance is rising leading you to gain more muscle mass.

The 500-calorie surplus is a great way to begin promoting massive muscle gain. Majorly, this diet is made up of nutrient and calorie-dense foods like nuts, salmon, red meats, fruits like avocados, nuts, rice, whole eggs, and cereals that are healthy and full-fatty dairy products.

Ensure that as much as you are on a calorie surplus you must closely monitor your calorie intake as excess calorie surplus will  results in fats being stored in the body, leading to an imbalance between the fats gained and the muscles built.

Before you start the 500-calorie surplus journey, consider your stress levels, sleep patterns, your genetic limits and how close you are to them, the average amount of muscles gained over time, your training frequency and volume, your age, the period you will be on this plan, and the general quality of your diet.

When on a 500-calorie surplus, it is very important to check your progress to know if it is appreciating and at what speed or declining and at what speed. Check if you are adding some inches on your body parts that need muscle gain like the waistline, hands, legs, butt, and shoulders.

check if your body weight is rising, and monitor your energy levels throughout the week if you are feeling energized or fatigued, the time your soreness lasts from one training to another, and if the soreness is capable of limiting you to training.

IS A CALORIE SURPLUS NEEDED TO GAIN MUSCLES?

In general, a calorie surplus is not needed to gain muscles. The increase and growth in muscles, referred to as hypertrophy, is stimulated by enough consumed protein and optimal resistance training with progressive overload.

Thin people need more calories for muscle gain as compared to people who are thicker. If you need to add to your muscle mass, it is not a must you go overboard with the calories you consume daily.

You can still gain more muscles on a calorie deficit by consuming enough proteins. The problem is that it is very difficult for one to be consistent in taking the recommended number of proteins daily as it might bring irregularities in your diet.

This is because one is required to consume between 200 to 300 grams of proteins per day which is in the calorie deficit this might sound easy but in reality, when out in action it is not that easy.

HOW MUCH OF A CALORIE SURPLUS IS TOO MUCH?

When you have over 500  calories surplus added to your diet in a day, it can lead to you gaining fats of between 1 to 1.5 pounds per week. This is majorly dependent on the sex, age, physical activities you are involved in, and your lean body weight. Those people who are very active physically and have more lean muscle mass will add less weight as compared to those people who are sedentary.

You should ensure that you consume just engouh calories that you need to build muscles. The number of calories that your body needs to gain muscles should be guided by the speed at which you build your muscles.

HOW MANY CALORIES SHOULD I EAT TO GAIN LEAN MUSCLES?

To gain lean body muscles and have muscular strength, you should be consuming 2 grams of proteins per 1 kilogram of body weight in a day. For a higher limit that should apply to people who are well adapted and highly trained should consume 3.5 grams of proteins per 1 kilogram of body weight. From these, you will be able to calculate the overall calories you need from proteins in a day for your own body weight.

Some studies show that the rate of recovery is influenced by the number of carbohydrates consumed. To improve the recovery rate, one should take at least a carbohydrate drink when working out as it helps shuttle glucose into muscles. Nevertheless, this does not have any impact on the synthesis of proteins. Therefore, this shows that it is all about proteins and not calories.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU EAT 500 EXTRA CALORIES?

In general, when you consume 500 extra calories, your body moves the calories that are in surplus to be stored in form of fats, and this results in weight gain. The rate at which you will gain weight will depend on several factors like lean body mass, physical activities you engage in, and the period of the calorie surplus.

Some people will consume the 500 surplus calories and still not gain weight instead they loseweight.

It is important to know that people who struggle to gain muscles overestimate the amount of food they take in and those who struggle to lose weight underestimate the amount of food they consume.

CALORIE SURPLUS TO BUILD MUSCLE MYTH

This myth of building muscles when at a calorie surplus was brought to action by the bodybuilders in the 1980s and 1990s when they used to consume twice the food, they consume daily and this is during the phase of bulking. They then reduce the intake of calories during the phase of cutting. This approach had a problem since all the calories consumed ended up in the body to be stored as fats.

This way, the body burns only extra fats daily. It is important to know that to lose weight and even build muscles you need to be in a calorie neutral or deficit. As you gain muscles, you will lose some weight in small amounts.

It is very important to monitor the proteins you eat on a surplus as most people find it tempting to just eat what they want for that period and this will not give you the results you need.

Related Post: CAN YOU LIFT WEIGHTS ON A CALORIE DEFICIT?

SUMMARY

A 500-calorie surplus is only important when your final goal is to gain muscles and you don’t mind having extra fats in your body. Those people who have difficulty performing while on a calorie deficit and those with a hard time adding some muscles are the ones who can benefit from the 500-calorie surplus.

The number of calories you consume in surplus must be guided by the number of muscles you can build naturally.

Also, it is important to know that it is not a must for you to be in a calorie surplus to build muscles. This is because, if your body has enough energy stored for use and the right training plan, it will automatically be able to build muscles at calorie preservation and calorie deficit.

The myth about calorie surplus to build muscles had a problem since all the calories consumed ended up in the body to be stored as fats. This way, the body was able to burn only extra fats daily. t instead they gain more weight. It is important to know that people who struggle to gain muscles overestimate the amount of food they take in and those who struggle to lose weight underestimate the amount of food they consume.

Therefore, it is of great significance for you to monitor your weight by making sure that it does not shoot up quickly, monitor your protein intake to make sure you are consuming the recommended amounts, and finally monitor your lifts to ensure that you are putting in place the progressive overload.

In addition, before beginning the 500-calorie surplus plan to build muscles, regulate your stress levels, and sleep levels to be okay, consider your genetic limits, the average amount of muscles gained over time, your training frequency, your age and sex, the period you will be on a 500-surplus plan, and the general quality of your diet.

Related Post: IS 500 CALORIE SURPLUS TOO MUCH?