Do you need a caloric surplus to build muscle?

[hrg217]

Bottom line, can you build muscle if you are eating at maintenance, or do you have to be in a surplus/bulk? I feel like I've known many guys who were at a constant weight then started lifting and have continually gotten stronger without eating more.
So can you have strength increases without food increases?

[Trillios]

Yes and yes. Just takes a hell of a lot longer.

[hrg217]

Sry but I'm not quite clear on your answer- do you or do you not need to eat over maintenance to increase strength and build muscle?

[Matt9388]

depends on how much body fat you have really and what you are eating but if the body fat isnt too low then yes the body can create muscle on calorie deficit

[gdLife]

i believe it is possible, when i first started out i was skinny fat, i decided to go on a cut but also noticed increased strength and also seemed to have gained muscle mass. Right now i'm bulking since i'm at a lower BF%.

[Trillios]

You can gain strength and muscle at maintenance but it will take a lot longer than if you were at a surplus.

[wnc817]

Bottom line, can you build muscle if you are eating at maintenance, or do you have to be in a surplus/bulk? I feel like I've known many guys who were at a constant weight then started lifting and have continually gotten stronger without eating more.
So can you have strength increases without food increases?

Do they count calories? They are prob eating more, bc lifting makes them hungry.

[Manzooka]

I gained both strength and muscle while in a calorie deficit, so yes it's techically possible.

However, I'm very overweight and at the time I was pretty new to a consistent heavy-lifting program. I should also note that the muscle gain was pretty minimal considering the length of time I spent lifting while in a deficit.

[dat]

I gained both strength and muscle while in a calorie deficit, so yes it's techically possible.

However, I'm very overweight and at the time I was pretty new to a consistent heavy-lifting program. I should also note that the muscle gain was pretty minimal considering the length of time I spent lifting while in a deficit.

How on earth can you tell if you gained muscle when you were very overweight?

[PuffinMyLye]

I have been wondering this as well. If you are getting plenty of protein say (200+g for my body weight) and are eating at or below maintenance can you still gain muscle mass as you are trimming fat? I guess what I really am trying to understand is what is the difference between eating at maintenance/cutting or above it/bulking if you are getting the same amount of protein (extra cals coming from carbs and healthy fats)?

[LiftHardOrDie22]

To answer your question, if you are a noob to exercising and eating correctly, then yes. You can definitely gain muscle/strength at maintanence even slightly below (I would not recommend doing it tho as it will take much longer). If you are an experienced weight lifter it can still be done, but is very difficult to do.

You will find that most people choose not to take this route due to its difficulty and sloooow process.

[Manzooka]

How on earth can you tell if you gained muscle when you were very overweight?

I tend to carry most of my fat in my upper body with my legs being relatively lean in comparison. While losing inches over the rest of my body I was gaining size in my calfs, quads and hams... as evidenced by tape measure, not by appearance.

[kmac27]

If you are only meeting your caloric needs to maintain how can you expect to gain? If your body has no extra calories to work with it will not grow. It is estimated to gain 1/2 a lb a week of muscle if you are on the right program you need an excess of 200 calories a day for 7 days strait!

[PuffinMyLye]

If you are only meeting your caloric needs to maintain how can you expect to gain? If your body has no extra calories to work with it will not grow. It is estimated to gain 1/2 a lb a week of muscle if you are on the right program you need an excess of 200 calories a day for 7 days strait!

I think the question was can you gain MUSCLE while on a maintenance diet (ie. eating less fats/carbs while still getting in your protein).

[ChecksandGiggles]

Like they said, slow process. You can get stronger though, by improved innervation/CNS efficiency/technique/etc