Best app for a lean bulk: food and strength in one place

The best app for a lean bulk shows whether your trend weight is rising slowly while your lifts climb, because that's the difference between building muscle and just gaining weight. Arrow tracks lifts, food and trend weight in one iPhone app with calorie targets that adapt to your weigh-ins. MacroFactor has the most established adaptive nutrition algorithm, with a separate workout app that doesn't adjust it. Hevy is the popular free lifting log, usually paired with MyFitnessPal or MacroFactor for food.

Most lean bulks go wrong in one of two ways: the surplus is too small and nothing happens, or it's too big and you spend the next cut losing fat you didn't need to gain. Both are visible early if your scale trend and your strength trend sit side by side.

Disclosure: we make Arrow. We've tried to be specific about where other apps are the better choice. Every competitor price and feature below was checked against the company's own site, help center or App Store listing on October 17, 2026. Sources are at the end.

01TL;DR

• Want food, lifts and trend weight in one app: Arrow. Adaptive calorie targets, Smart Scan photo logging, a full lifting log and a weekly recap that covers both.
• Want the most established nutrition algorithm: MacroFactor. $71.99/yr per app; MacroFactor says its nutrition and workout apps don't adjust each other.
• Want the best free gym log: Hevy. Pro is $23.99/yr. No food logging found, so you'll need a second app.
• Want $0 total: Hevy free + MyFitnessPal free. You do the weekly comparison yourself.

02How big should a lean bulk surplus be?

Most evidence-based guidance lands on a small surplus. These are starting points, not prescriptions.

Rate of gain. Iraki and colleagues' 2019 review of off-season bodybuilding nutrition suggests a surplus that produces roughly 0.25–0.5% of bodyweight gained per week, with slower rates for more experienced lifters. For intermediates, many coaches aim lower still, around 0.25–0.5% per month to about 1% per month, because muscle gain slows as you get more trained. For a 170 lb (77 kg) intermediate, 0.5% a month is under a pound.

Calories. That usually means about 5–10% above maintenance, often 150–300 kcal a day to start for intermediate and advanced lifters. Beginners can usually gain faster and use the upper end.

Protein. About 1.6–2.2 g/kg of bodyweight a day is a common target. Morton et al.'s meta-analysis found gains in muscle mass from extra protein plateaued around 1.6 g/kg/day on average, with the upper confidence bound near 2.2 g/kg.

How many calories to bulk and track strength?

Start at estimated maintenance plus 5–10%, weigh in most mornings and log your main lifts. After 2–3 weeks, compare the trend weight change to your target rate and adjust by 100–200 kcal. An adaptive app does the maintenance math for you from your real intake and weigh-ins.

03Signs your surplus is too big (or too small)

Check these weekly:

• Trend weight up faster than planned, lifts flat: surplus is probably too big. Trim 100–200 kcal.
• Waist measurement rising quickly: most of the gain may be fat. Slow down.
• Trend weight flat for 3+ weeks, lifts stalling: you're at maintenance. Add 100–200 kcal.
• Trend weight up slowly, lifts up: this is the target. Leave it alone.
• Ignore the first week's jump. More food and carbs mean more water and glycogen, so a quick 1–3 lb rise early on isn't all tissue.

04What a lean bulk app should do

• Trend weight. A smoothed line so you can see a 0.25 lb a week change through daily water swings.
• Adaptive calories. Your maintenance estimate updated from real weigh-ins and intake, so the surplus stays small as your weight goes up.
• Fast food logging. Bulking means eating more, often more often. Saved meals, barcode, photo and voice logging help.
• A real lifting log. Per-exercise history and PRs so you can tell whether strength is actually climbing.
• Both on one screen. The point of a lean bulk is the ratio of strength gained to weight gained. You need to see both.

05The apps for a lean bulk, compared

Prices are US list prices on October 17, 2026, from each company's own site or help center.

How to read it: Hevy, Fitbod and Alpha Progression are built to drive your training. MacroFactor is built to drive your calories. A lean bulk needs both, so either pair them and compare weekly, or use one app that holds both logs.

06Tracking macros while bulking

Hit protein first, then calories. Protein is the fixed part. Carbs and fat can flex around training and preference.

Make calories easy. Calorie-dense foods (oats, rice, olive oil, nut butter, whole milk) help if you struggle to eat enough. Log saved meals instead of building each one from scratch.

Carbs around training. Most lifters perform better with carbs before and after sessions. It's a preference more than a rule.

Don't overcorrect. One week above target won't ruin a bulk. Look at 2–3 week averages.

In Arrow, the adaptive TDEE unlocks after about 7 complete logged days and 2 weigh-ins at least 7 days apart. Each weekly check-in moves your calorie target by no more than 150 kcal, so the surplus creeps up with you instead of jumping around. The weight chart shows your estimated daily surplus and a four-week projection, and your PRs and per-exercise history live in the same app. Smart Scan returns foods, calories and macros from a photo, and asks about cooking oil when a meal was likely cooked in it, which is an easy place for bulk calories to go uncounted.

In Arrow: set your goal to "build muscle" and Arrow Score weights strength, nutrition and consistency for a bulk, so rising lifts count more than a rising scale.

Not sure a bulk is right? Compare body recomposition apps or read what's the best app to track a cut. For the bigger picture, see Is there one app that tracks both workouts and macros?

07When another app is the better choice

• You follow a set program and want set-by-set weight suggestions: Alpha Progression, Fitbod or Hevy Trainer.
• You want the most established adaptive nutrition algorithm: MacroFactor.
• You want to pay $0: Hevy free plus MyFitnessPal free. Smart Scan, Arrow Coach and other AI features need an Arrow Diamond subscription.
• You're on Android: Arrow is iPhone-first. Hevy, MacroFactor and MyFitnessPal are on Android.
• You care about micronutrients: Cronometer (Gold $59.99/yr).

08FAQ

What's the best app for a lean bulk that tracks lifts and food?

Arrow logs lifts and food in one app, adapts calories from your weigh-ins and shows strength next to trend weight. MacroFactor plus MacroFactor Workouts covers both on one account, but the two apps don't adjust each other.

How many calories should I eat to lean bulk?

A common starting point is 5–10% above maintenance, often about 150–300 kcal a day for intermediate lifters. Adjust after 2–3 weeks based on your trend weight.

How fast should I gain weight on a lean bulk?

Beginners can often gain around 0.25–0.5% of bodyweight per week. Intermediate and advanced lifters usually aim slower, roughly 0.25–1% per month.

How do I know if my bulk is too fast?

If your trend weight is rising faster than planned while your lifts are flat, or your waist is growing quickly, the surplus is probably too big. Trim 100–200 kcal and recheck in two weeks.

Does Hevy track calories?

No food or calorie logging was found on Hevy's official pages. Most lifters who use Hevy pair it with a food app like MyFitnessPal or MacroFactor.

How much protein do I need on a bulk?

About 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight a day is a common target. Research suggests muscle-building benefit from extra protein levels off around 1.6 g/kg on average.

09Sources

Accessed October 17, 2026.

• Off-season surplus and rate of gain: Iraki et al. 2019, Sports (Basel), PubMed 31247944
• Protein and resistance training gains: Morton et al. 2018 meta-analysis, Br J Sports Med, PubMed 28698222
• Protein needs for active people: ISSN position stand, Jäger et al. 2017, PubMed 28642676
• MacroFactor: prices, help center · Check-Ins, help center · Smart Progression, help center · apps don't cross-adjust, help center
• Hevy: prices, pricing comparison · free limits, help center · Hevy Trainer, help center · features, hevyapp.com
• MyFitnessPal: prices, membership tiers · myfitnesspal.com/premium
• Fitbod: prices, help center · recommendations, help center
• Alpha Progression: prices and recommendations, alphaprogression.com
• Cronometer Gold: cronometer.com/gold
• Arrow: App Store listing