I am both amazed and appalled at how many people on this board actually believe the completely unsubstantiated claims that human beings might need more than 2,500 calories per day to "maintain" weight. Let me break this down for all of you, since it seems as though none of you have attended a university level nutrition or exercise science class let alone a post-graduate human physiology class.
While humans come in all shapes and sizes, our internal organs are relatively the same with various hormonal and slight size differences depending on danger. There is no such thing as maintenance calories, lean mass is maintained by macronutrients, fat is stored as a result of excess caloric values and un-utilized macronutrients. The only necessary caloric value is the amount needed to maintain simple biological functions. This number is rarely ever more than 1,100-1,500. Anyone that claims they need 3,000+ calories to maintain their weight is most likely at 15-20 percent bodyfat and really are storing about 500-700 of their excess calories as fat and another 300-600 burned during resistance training. It is often difficult for the untrained eye to notice 0.25-0.5lbs of fat gained per week, furthermore, most people following these absurd high calorie diets are under 30 years old or on anabolic drugs. The high levels of testosterone increase nitrogen reuptake and divert fat storage and direct a greater percentage of nutrients to muscle building.
Hopefully this simplified synopsis helps you guys understand how the natural bodybuilder's physiology works and thus creates the nutritional demands that I have outlined in previous posts.
- HR