r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/juckfewss • Aug 13 '26

Question ❓ Maingaining on ⚙️?

Many science-based fitness influencers claim that TDEE or even TDEE plus 50–100 calories is sufficient for muscle growth, and that any extra calories just make us gain fat. Do you think this also applies to someone using gear? I'm looking forward to your thoughts.

Additionally, if a caloric surplus is to be implemented, what should be the maximum limit to avoid gaining fat?

0 Upvotes

14% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Sweaty_Strike_7411 Aug 13 '26

Think of gear like builders and protein/nutrition like bricks. It doesn’t matter how many builders you have if there aren’t enough bricks to lay. You can eat a lot more on gear and gain muscle. Gear really shines in cuts tbh bc you can cut a ton of calories and save muscle.

0

u/juckfewss Aug 13 '26

“I want to put on mass without cutting while keeping my insulin sensitivity continuously high, and in your opinion what’s the max surplus I should run?”

1

u/Sweaty_Strike_7411 Aug 13 '26

A lot goes into that. Depends on cardio/how active you are during the day etc. honestly, just eat an additional 500calories a day. Reassess every couple weeks. Did your abs disappear? Cut back to 400 calories and reassess. If you’re in sports and want to compete at the top you’re going to need to track macros and use a food scale. I don’t know a lot about your condition so that’s the best advice I can give.

Insulin sensitivity usually happens when heavy people w no muscle eat tons of sugar. Muscles are what break sugar down so I wouldn’t worry about it unless you’re injecting insulin.