Muscle Building Diets Explained!

Within the fitness and bodybuilding communities, the topic of muscle building diets is a hot bed of debate and the wealth of information available is phenomenal.

For many people the amount of information and misinformation available can lead to confusion and is often compounded by the supplement companies who often tout their latest wonder supplement as essential and promise to take you from scrawny to brawny within a few weeks!

The good news is that muscle building diets need not be complex affairs, once the basic principles are understood.

First Get Your Training Right!

Once this is in place, the next piece of the jigsaw is getting your muscle building diet in order.

So, what elements should all muscle building diets have?

Protein

As a good general rule of thumb, assuming drug free training, 2 - 2.5g of protein per Kg bodyweight covers most trainee's needs providing sufficient carbohydrates are consumed - more on this shortly!

In addition, consideration should be given to the quality of protein consumed. Quality proteins are protein foods which supply a broad spectrum of ALL amino acids. The types of muscle building food which best meet these requirements include eggs, protein powders, chicken, turkey, fish and beef, along with milk and dairy produce.

Finally, some understanding of protein digestibility is also useful. Fast digesting proteins such as whey protein shakes should be consumed immediately post workout, with slower digesting proteins consumed throughout the day and evening. Remember to vary your protein sources as much as possible!

Carbohydrates

Try to use complex carb sources such as oats, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, potatoes and granary bread for the bulk of your carb intake. These digest more slowly and ensure a more even blood sugar level.

Simple carbohydrates such as glucose powder or bananas have their place too, and should be consumed prior to and immediately after working out to help supply fast energy and speed recovery (ideally with a protein shake post workout.)

Carbohydrate requirements vary hugely depending on activity levels, but a general guideline is to aim for 4 - 8g of carbs per Kg body weight over a day.

Healthy Fats

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Eat Little and Often

You see, the type of training required to build muscle is incredibly demanding on the body. If small amounts of muscle building foods are eaten regularly (as opposed to the traditional 3 square meals per day) the body receives a continuous drip feed of nutrients over the day which means that the food consumed is used more completely = less being excreted as waste.

Each meal should ideally contain protein, with 40g per meal being towards the top end of the spectrum.

Eat An Excess Of Calories

That's right, in order to gain muscle, your body weight MUST increase over time.

Despite this fact, DON'T follow the pattern which many do and say "Right, I’m on a bulking diet!" and then proceed to eat everything placed in front of you.

Many trainee's looking to gain muscle make this mistake and often end up gaining muscle and a fair amount of fat to boot!

It's a fine balancing act which can be hard to achieve, but my suggestion is to establish a calorie consumption that allows maintenance of current body weight, and then add 250kcal to your daily consumption.

This intake should be maintained for 7 days, after which body weight is measured to see if an increase has occurred. If an increase is seen, remain on this intake until body weight plateaus and then repeat the process adding a further 250kcal.

By adopting this method, fat gain can be kept under control, while maintaining a diet that is high in good quality nutrients.

Water

Our bodies are made up of approximately 60% water, and so it stands to reason that for optimal performance, sufficient water should be consumed to maintain hydration.

It is noteworthy that a 2% reduction on body weight due to fluid loss can significantly affect performance and recovery!

Aim for a minimum of 2 litres per day, with this requirement rising on training days, in hot weather and if you choose to use a supplement such as creatine (more on this in another future article!)

When it comes to muscle building diets, think of the body as a formula one race car and the fuel that it runs on needs to be of the highest possibly quality!

That just about covers the basic principles behind muscle building diets. Keep an eye out for future articles about the use of supplements and which are worth buying and which are a waste of money!

You can also read about which foods I consider to be the very BEST for Building Muscle HERE!

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Read about the Best Muscle Building Foods Here

For Further Nutritional Information About Proteins, Fats and Carbs See My Nutrition Articles

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