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EATING to build muscle is equally, if not more important than WORKING OUT. If you have been working HARDER than anybody else in the gym, and not seen the results you wanted, maybe eating is where you can turn things around.
I know this for a fact, because I spent 2 years working out VERY HARD only to put on 8 pounds, but the moment I started EATING TO BUILD MUSCLE, I went on to gain 20+ pounds of muscle in under a year. I had more confidence in my own body. For the first time in my life I was happy to take my shirt off at the beach or pool. I wasn’t the skinny one anymore in my circle of friends and the compliments from my friends came almost as much as the people asking for advice on how to build muscle.
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Since then I realized that more importantly than what exercise you’re doing for your chest, or how much you’re bicep curling, it is what you eat that is going to affect your mass gains more than anything else.
Now let me tell you how I started eating to build muscles, and the concepts I followed to make my daily meal plan.
Eating to build muscles is not an indiscriminate process of gobbling everything in sight. It is a careful method of nutrient consumption that focuses on both the QUANTITY and QUALITY of foods you consume.
Caloric intake – This is the first thing you need to change. Your caloric intake must match and then surpass your energy requirements. Since your work out routines are so demanding and the process of building muscle itself requires energy, your caloric intake must be in surplus of this. Below is a rule of thumb to know what your caloric intake should be.
20 X body weight (lbs) = daily caloric intake.
Protein intake. Eating to build muscles involves consuming a very large amount of proteins. Most people advocate the following protein consumption.
1.5 X body weight (lbs) = daily protein intake (grams)
I recommend that if you notice no significant changes then you can increase both these quantities in little steps until you do notice some muscle gains.
Eating to build muscles also requires a large amount of carbohydrates as these are the most ready source of energy for your body. even certain good oils like coconut and olive oil are great for your body, because they help your body produce more testosterone.
Remember that there are some carbohydrates that aren’t as good for you like simple sugars, while oats, whole grain foods, fruits and veggies are great sources of good carbs. The same applies to oils. Do note that when eating to build muscles however, you can consume almost anything you want (sugars included) around your workouts because your body will suck it up before it even has time to move through your GI tract. That is a bit of an exaggeration. don’t mind me.
Finally, make sure you have loads of water, because this will help detoxify your body environment and keep you well hydrated. Unfortunate side effect is you will need to use the restroom a lot more often.
Now that you know all the components in the eating to build muscles diet plan, you should know how to time these meals. Have a big easy to absorb breakfast, and have a very easy to absorb post-work out meal. All other meals made of good natural foods should be had very regularly. Spaced a maximum of 3-4 hours between each other.
I apologize that this article is so packed with information that it seems a little rushed, but eating to build muscles is a broad topic and I don’t want to bore you into reading one page for too long.
On another note i guarantee that if you start eating to build muscles and follow the tips in this article, you will notice huge differences in your muscle gains. Trust me on this one. This is the MAIN reason why I look and feel the way I do now.