Calorie Surplus Calculator
Daily calories to eat to build weight and muscle. Free, private and instant.
How to use the Calorie Surplus
- Pick metric (cm, kg) or imperial (ft, in, lb) units.
- Choose sex: Male or Female.
- Enter age.
- Enter height.
- Enter weight.
- Choose activity level: Sedentary (little or no exercise), Lightly active (1-3 days/week), Moderately active (3-5 days/week), Very active (6-7 days/week) and more.
- Enter daily calorie surplus (kcal/day).
- Press Calculate to get an instant result with a colour scale, chart and plain-English explanation.
About the Calorie Surplus
A calorie surplus means eating more than you burn so your body has extra energy to build tissue. This calculator turns your surplus into expected weekly gain and shows whether it is a lean, moderate or aggressive bulk.
Also known as: lean bulk calculator, bulking calories calculator, calorie surplus for muscle gain, surplus calculator.
Worked example
- Sex: Male
- Age: 30 years
- Height: 170 cm
- Weight: 70 kg
- Activity level: Lightly active (1-3 days/week)
- Daily calorie surplus: 300 kcal/day
Daily calories to eat: 2,524 kcal/day (13% above maintenance). A 300 kcal daily surplus adds about 0.3 kg per week, or 1.2 kg per month, if all of it is stored.
- Maintenance (TDEE): 2,224 kcal
- Daily surplus: 300 kcal
- Gain per week: 0.3 kg
- Weight in 12 weeks: 73.1 kg
Formula and cut-offs
Surplus % = surplus / TDEE x 100. Weekly gain = surplus x 7 / 7,700 kg. TDEE = Mifflin-St Jeor BMR x activity factor.
Frequently asked questions
How big should a calorie surplus be?
A 5 to 15% surplus, about 200 to 400 kcal a day, supports muscle gain with limited fat gain.
Will all surplus calories become muscle?
No. Training and protein decide how much is muscle; the rest is stored as fat.
How long should I stay in a surplus?
Many lifters run 8 to 16 week phases, then maintain or cut. Track weight and strength to decide.
What are the daily calories to eat for a 30-year-old man, 170 cm, 70 kg and a daily calorie surplus of 300 kcal/day?
Daily calories to eat: 2,524 kcal/day (13% above maintenance). A 300 kcal daily surplus adds about 0.3 kg per week, or 1.2 kg per month, if all of it is stored. Enter your own numbers above for a personal result.
Sources and references
- World Health Organization - Obesity and overweight fact sheet
- World Health Organization - Healthy diet fact sheet
- NHS - BMI healthy weight calculator
Written and checked by the MediHub editorial team against the sources above. Read how we build and review our calculators.
More health calculators
- Weight Loss Calculator
- Weight Gain Calculator
- Calorie Deficit Calculator
- Anemia Risk Screening Tool for Women
- IVF Pregnancy Due Date Calculator
- Fetal Movement Log
- More Weight management calculators
- All health calculators
- Compare medicine prices in 32 countries
Last updated . This calculator is for education only and is not medical advice. See the medical disclaimer.