How many Calories should I be eating to gain some muscle?

[tjvette2001]

As ya'll know football season is here. And the coaches have us working our asses off. I was just wondering how many calories should I be eating to get some good muscle out of this.
I weigh about 185. I'm about 5'8. Heres my typical schedule
Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays/
Weights 7:25-8:15ish than run from 8:20 to 8:30/ School from 9-3:20/ Practice from 3:35 to 6:45ish
Tuesdays/Thursday/: Just school and practice and conditioning in the afternoon.
I just want to get some muslce. And I feel like I'm not eating enough, because sometimes on tuesdays and thursdays, I'll get really lightheaded and dizzy after conditioning. But sometimes thats probally because its hot out. I live in Texas. Lol.

[desteph]

Calories don't build muscle. Protein does. Consume your bodyweight in grams of protein a day, ex. your bodyweight in your stats says you weight 199lbs therefore try to take about 200 grams of protein a day. But you shouldn't try to gain muscle during the season, save that for the offseason. If you lift durring the season just do so to maintain strength. As for calories, you want to increase them because of your excess of activities being performed, which means your body will need more than the normal amount of calories to function properly. Try to eat 3,500 calories, spread out over the day. Such as three main meals and two snacks durring the day.

[desteph]

Calories don't build muscle?? So what does? Aren't there calories in protein?
You are doing a lot of activity and you are still young so you need to eat...ALOT!!
Don't think that you can't build muscle during the season. You definitely can since you are a newer lifter. Just make sure you're eating. Although, chances are, you probably won't gain a whole lot of weight...but you could get stronger if you're lifting right. Use a website like fitday.com to help you figure out how many calories you are consuming. It takes a 2,500 calorie surplus to gain one pound of muscle. So if you're burning, say, 3,500 calories a day on M,W,F you would need to eat 3,500 cals just to break even and 4,000 to create a 500 cal surplus. Add 500 cals over the course of 5 days and there's a 2,500 cal surplus.
Bottom line is, you're a football player. So get better at your sport first and foremost.

haha yes there are calories in protein, but you must differentiate. you don't want to tell him to just consume a number of calories to gain muscle. He could go and start eating bags of potato chips to reach that number. A number of grams of protein must be known for proper consumption to be able to build muscle. Do you plan to gain muscle from carbs or amino acids?

[DocHollidy]

Calories don't build muscle. Protein does. Consume your bodyweight in grams of protein a day, ex. your bodyweight in your stats says you weight 199lbs therefore try to take about 200 grams of protein a day. But you shouldn't try to gain muscle during the season, save that for the offseason. If you lift durring the season just do so to maintain strength. As for calories, you want to increase them because of your excess of activities being performed, which means your body will need more than the normal amount of calories to function properly. Try to eat 3,500 calories, spread out over the day. Such as three main meals and two snacks durring the day.

LOL worst post ever... "Calories don't build muscle"... Protein does... what? Eat as much as you can man, your young, try to eat as clean as possible, take in alot of complex carbs (wheat breads, oatmeal, grains, pasta) and of course protein does help too... and you can gain muscle during the season, but lower the volume and just lift heavy a couple times a week

[kenzo242]

As ya'll know football season is here. And the coaches have us working our asses off. I was just wondering how many calories should I be eating to get some good muscle out of this.
I weigh about 185. I'm about 5'8. Heres my typical schedule
Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays/
Weights 7:25-8:15ish than run from 8:20 to 8:30/ School from 9-3:20/ Practice from 3:35 to 6:45ish
Tuesdays/Thursday/: Just school and practice and conditioning in the afternoon.
I just want to get some muslce. And I feel like I'm not eating enough, because sometimes on tuesdays and thursdays, I'll get really lightheaded and dizzy after conditioning. But sometimes thats probally because its hot out. I live in Texas. Lol.

To build muscle you need to consume more calories than you burn. Clean calories and around 1-1.5 grams of protein/lb of bodyweight. The rest of your calories should be good sources of carbs and fats.

I would venture a guess that you probably burn around 3500-4000+ cal/day. So try to eat more than that. Supplement a weight gainer shake 2x/day for more easy calories.

Back to my first point: The reason you need to consume more calories to build muscle is simply because that calories surplus fuels the muscle repair process. Granted you do need enough protein present in your diet but protein alone won't accelerate the process. Plus too much protein can be harmful.

[desteph]

LOL worst post ever... "Calories don't build muscle"... Protein does... what? Eat as much as you can man, your young, try to eat as clean as possible, take in alot of complex carbs (wheat breads, oatmeal, grains, pasta) and of course protein does help too... and you can gain muscle during the season, but lower the volume and just lift heavy a couple times a week

Do explain