Calorie Goal and Rate of Increase

[RobbieMack12]

Hi Robert,

I've had a great time reading through your replies on the forum, they're incredibly informative and a great help to someone who has a little experience from 5 years of fairly unfocused weight lifting.

I'm looking to dive straight into dedicated strength training at the end of the Summer for the considerable future, only reason I'm waiting till the end of Summer is I'll be away a lot and can't guarantee the regular training I would like.

For the past 6-9 months, I've been consuming approx 2600 calories a day (195P 101F 228C). Obviously some days I will go slightly above, some slightly below. I log the vast majority of what I eat and would say that I eat relatively clean and train 3-4 days a week.

On a recent reading, I was as follows:
Height: 5'9"
Weight 192lbs
BF: 18.6

My question(s) is, based on these numbers:
A) Do you think I should drop some more body fat before beginning dedicated strength training?
B) What sort of calorie intake should I be looking to achieve during a 4 workout a week strength program where strength gains are prioritised but would keep the weight gain moderately clean?
C) What is a good rate of increase to reach the calorie goal?

Many thanks for your expertise!

[Robert Santana]

Hi Robert,

I've had a great time reading through your replies on the forum, they're incredibly informative and a great help to someone who has a little experience from 5 years of fairly unfocused weight lifting.

I'm looking to dive straight into dedicated strength training at the end of the Summer for the considerable future, only reason I'm waiting till the end of Summer is I'll be away a lot and can't guarantee the regular training I would like.

For the past 6-9 months, I've been consuming approx 2600 calories a day (195P 101F 228C). Obviously some days I will go slightly above, some slightly below. I log the vast majority of what I eat and would say that I eat relatively clean and train 3-4 days a week.

On a recent reading, I was as follows:
Height: 5'9"
Weight 192lbs
BF: 18.6

My question(s) is, based on these numbers:
A) Do you think I should drop some more body fat before beginning dedicated strength training?
B) What sort of calorie intake should I be looking to achieve during a 4 workout a week strength program where strength gains are prioritised but would keep the weight gain moderately clean?
C) What is a good rate of increase to reach the calorie goal?

Many thanks for your expertise!

Thanks for the kind words buddy and thanks for reaching out. To answer your questions:

A) If it's an honest 18.6% then you are probably fine. If you want to drop back to 185 to give yourself a buffer that's fine but don't go lower than that.
B) Without knowing your history I can't give you anything specific but what i will say is most males do well on at least 300 carbohydrates and 180 grams of protein. Your remaining calories can come from fat.
C) I wouldn't worry about this too much. Focus on PRs, that is your main metric of progress.