Coaches who guess client numbers lose clients. Calculators turn vague advice into a programme with milestones.
Google this topic and you will get a hundred answers, half of them wrong. Here is the version that holds up. Coaches who guess client numbers lose clients. Calculators turn vague advice into a programme with milestones.
Maintenance calories for diet planning.
Cross-check before pulling the trigger on a cut.
US Navy tape method when callipers aren't available.
Estimated max from sub-max sets — program intensity.
Protein, fat, carb targets matched to TDEE.
Build cardio plans around aerobic base.
Indirect fitness benchmark, useful for tracking progression.
Are calculators substitutes for testing? No — they're approximations. DEXA, VO2 lab tests are gold standard.
What's the most common coaching mistake with calculators? Treating outputs as exact. They're starting points, then adjust on real results.
If you only remember one thing from this post, make it that the inputs matter more than the calculator.