How are some people able to make gains and progress without tracking macros?

I'm a little lost as to how some people are able to make consistent progress without tracking their calories for bulking,cutting...etc I have an older brother who believes bulking and cutting or just "bs" guy has made consistent progress bulking and cutting. I don't even think he gets enough protein per lb I really doubt it.Not sure what his workouts are like but says he works out from 430pm to 10pm not trolling can provide the text. He also is in relatively decent shape. All this has me questioning bulking and cutting and forever tracking my calories nonstop.

I made good progress in the gym before I ever counted calories.

Eventually I learned about needing enough protein so I did some number crunching to make sure I met that recommendation.

Years later I tracked calories (everything I put in my body) for like a year or more.

As I progressed in the ways I mentioned I was able to better control my physique. Instead of being just lean with little muscle, once I learned about protein requirements I started to gain more my muscle. Once I learned about calories (and eating enough of them) I was able to grow bigger muscles and look better than ever before in my life.

But I didn’t want to track calories forever so I stopped. But once you stop you still retain all the knowledge you learned from tracking so you’re not the same as before you started. You still know what portions of protein, carbs, and fats look like and now you’re able to eat “intuitively”.

Now before I ever tracked calories I still got in good shape like I mentioned. But the more you know the better off you are in my opinion. It’s better to know why you are making the decision you are then just guessing. This is why in G.I. Joe they say “knowing is half the battle”.

But listening to your body is a tried and true method, too. And I think that's how people who don’t track get in good shape. If you’re full all the time, you’re likely to gain weight. If you’re starving you’re going to be losing weight.

Hope this helps.

I made my most gains in the last year of grad school. Probably had 5000-6000 cals a day, 200 grams of protein, lifted and ran every day. 1500 of those daily calories were probably from beer though.