Originally Posted by
leftkz
I hate to say it, but the app is more geared toward the average gym-goer or just fitness person in general. It's not geared for people... well.. on gear. Those generic gain, maintain and lose numbers they come up with based on your weight are more or less based on a very broad spectrum of people so that they can appease to the masses. On top of that, when you look at the macro split they recommend, it's not even close to being ideal for bodybuilders. If I were to use their numbers, I'd end up eating like 110g of protein every day which is almost half of what I would need to build muscle efficiently.
The principles I use for caloric targets and macros are more or less based on experience and experimentation.
I've found that I prefer a higher carb diet, rather than a low carb diet, and respond better with moderate fats. I always keep the 1g-1.5g of protein per pound of lean body mass. Which usually ends up at around 200g for me. For fats, I vary between 70-100g of fats depending if I am cutting or bulking. I will fill in the rest of the calories with carbs.
The only thing left to do is to figure out how much your daily caloric intake should be which is based on TDEE. When using the online calculators, be modest. If you think you train heavy and intense, I would input "moderate" on these calculators as from my experience, they tend to be quite generous. You probably noticed that when using the MFP app.
Personally, I use my TDEE and add or subtract ~10% in incremental steps. I never add all my calories in 1 go. So for example.. My maintenance caloric target comes out to around 2650. If I were to cut, I would start at 2450 and slowly work myself down when I start to plateau. I wouldn't dive straight down to 2000.