Building muscle requires a positive energy balance, which means that you must take in more calories than you burn. You need roughly 2,800 calories to build a pound of muscle, largely to support protein turnover, which can be elevated with training. By following these eight tips, you’ll be able to build muscle mass more efficiently and quickly.
Your body can build at most around about 227g of muscle each week, so if you eat too many extra calories trying to build more muscle, you will gain excess fat, too. We would suggest consuming an extra 250 to 500 calories per day. If you gain fat easily, stay on the lower end of the range, and if you find it difficult to gain weight in general, aim for the higher end of the range. It will take a bit of trial and error to find the right amount of additional calories to build muscle and stay lean.
In addition, research suggests that consuming lean protein 15 to 20 minutes before, during and within one hour of working out may help improve muscle gain. Since you are probably not going to be eating a steak or chicken breast at the gym, a protein drink or supplement may be beneficial immediately before, during or after workouts, but is not necessary.
However, it’s not all about protein. It’s about eating many meals that meet your calorific expenditure and provide you with the nutrition as part of a healthy, balanced diet that will help you to build muscle, lose fat and get stronger. Here are eight simple tips to help you get on track…
1. EAT BREAKFAST TO HELP BUILD MUSCLE MASS
This gives you an immediate burst of energy and helps you to stay full until your next meal or snack. It also sets the trend: you’ll tend to eat healthier if your day starts with a strong and healthy breakfast. Your best bets if your trying to build muscle mass are omelettes, smoothies and cottage cheese.
2. EAT EVERY THREE HOURS
Eating the right thing at the right time is crucial for helping you boost your muscle mass. The easiest way is to eat your breakfast, lunch and dinner as usual, interspersed with meals post workout, pre-bed and with two snacks in between. By keeping your food intake up, it will mean you won’t be as hungry, because eating smaller meals more often versus a few big meals will decrease your stomach size. You’ll feel full more quickly and your waist will trim, while you’ll also have fewer cravings. Not eating for long periods can cause you to over-eat at the next meal or topping yourself up with unhealthy snacks from the vending machine. So to stop any cravings, eat at fixed times every day and your body will get hungry at those fixed times.
3. EAT PROTEIN WITH EACH MEAL TO BOOST YOUR MUSCLE MASS
You need protein to build and maintain muscle. To achieve this, you should be looking to eat at least 1g per 454g of body-weight. That’s 200g/day if you weigh 91kg. The easiest way to get this amount is to eat a whole protein source with each meal. These include:
• Red meat. Beef, pork, lamb, etc.
• Poultry. Chicken, turkey, duck, etc.
• Fish. Tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel, etc.
• Eggs. Don’t believe the cholesterol myths. Eat the yolk.
• Dairy. Milk, cheese, cottage cheese, quark, yogurt, etc.
• Whey. Not necessary but great for easy post workout shakes.
• Try vegan options too, such as lentils, tofu, seeds and nuts.
4. EAT FRUIT AND VEGETABLES WITH EACH MEAL
Most of them (not all) are low calorie: you can eat your stomach full without gaining fat or weight. Fruit and vegetables are also full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre which helps digestion, but just be careful to check the sugar content of some fruits.
5. EAT CARBS ONLY AFTER YOUR WORKOUT
While you need carbs for energy, most people eat more than they need. Limit your carbohydrate intake to after your workout only.
• Eat fruit and vegetables with all meals. These contain few carbohydrates compared to whole grains with the exception of corn, carrots and raisins.
• Another Carbs Post Workout Only. This is rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, quinoa, oats, etc. Avoid white carbs and eat whole grain.
6. EAT HEALTHY FATS
Healthy fats improve fat loss and health as they digest slowly. Make sure you balance your fat intake, eat healthy fats with every meal and avoid artificial trans-fats and margarine.
7. DRINK WATER TO HELP YOU BUILD MUSCLE MASS
Strength training causes water loss through sweating which can impair muscle recovery and thus, it won’t help you increase your muscle mass. Drinking water prevents dehydration but also hunger since an empty stomach can make you think you’re hungry.
8. EAT WHOLE FOODS 90% OF THE TIME
To really get the results you want and to boost your muscle mass significantly, 90% of your food intake should consist of whole foods.
• Whole foods. These are unprocessed and unrefined (or little refined) foods that come as close as possible to their natural state. Examples: fresh meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, pulses, fruits, rice, oats, quinoa etc.
• Processed foods Usually contain added sugars, trans-fats, nitrates, corn syrup, sodium and more chemicals. Examples: bagels, fruit bars, cereals, pizza, cookies, sausages, frozen meals, supplements
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Healthy-Meal-Passing-Dishes.
It’s a Numbers Game
Beginners often make the mistake of either following nutrition plans geared toward advanced bodybuilders or bodybuilders that are getting ready for a contest; these nutrition plans and practices simply won’t apply to you.
One thing you should get straight is that in order to build muscle, the body needs more energy (calories) than it burns each day. Skimping on carbohydrates, and even small amounts of dietary fat, would be a big mistake. That said, you also need to understand that no one—not even Mr. Olympia—adds only muscle and no fat. Manage your expectation that you will gain some body fat.
But as long as you’re gaining more muscle than fat, you’re heading in the right direction.
Muscular-Chef-Seasoning-Raw-Meat
Set Your Protein Mark
Protein requirements are higher for bodybuilders than the average Joe because protein molecules repair damaged muscle fibers in the body and support hormones in the body.
If you hope to pack on some serious muscle mass, you need to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. For a 180-pound individual, that means 180 grams a day is the floor, but this figure can rise depending on several factors.
If you fail to grow on 1 gram per pound, or if you’re sore for more than a couple of days after training, bump that up to 1.3 grams—234 grams of protein per day for the 180-pounder.
Most of that should come from whole-food sources , but it’s also a good idea to supplement with two or three protein shakes a day.
Man dieting eating a meal prepped meal from a tupperware in the gym
Spread Out Your Protein Intake
Eating six meals a day (as opposed to two or three) is a requirement.
The more you spread out your protein intake each day, the easier it is to digest. You can’t expect to hit the protein mark (1-1.3 grams per pound of bodyweight per day) and gain significant amounts of mass if you neglect how much of the protein you eat actually makes its way into your muscles.
A constant delivery of protein from eating every 2½-3 hours also helps keep levels of cortisol (a muscle-wasting hormone) in check, which can maintain adequate levels of testosterone, the powerful hormone that influences muscle repair.
Make Meat a Staple
Talk to a dieting bodybuilder and he’ll tell you how difficult it can be to hold onto muscle mass when red meat is completely off the menu. Red meat such as steak and lean ground beef tend to build muscle better than white meat like chicken or turkey.
Some say it’s the greater vitamin and mineral content, while others point out that red meat is dense in creatine (which boosts strength in the gym) and carnitine (which helps elevate testosterone levels). Or, it could be that a diet rich in red meat tends to provide adequate dietary fat, which also supports testosterone production in the body.
Eating a lower-fat diet over a prolonged period—even if it’s abundant in protein, carbs, and total calories—may not support testosterone levels to the degree necessary for growth.
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