Muscle Building Diets
Why are Muscle Building Diets Important ?
Building muscle is important because muscle is metabolically active. As
opposed to body fat which is used primarily as an energy store.
The muscle mass you carry on your body causes your body to burn extra
calories throughout the day at rest. Your body's muscle mass is maintained
by your diet.
Weight Training does Not Build Muscle!
You never have and never will gain muscle during weight training.
Weight training is only a stimulus for your body to build muscle mass.
Weight training actually breaks down your muscle mass.
Your body builds muscle mass when you are not training.
Your
body builds muscle while you sleep, work, and sit on the couch watching the
television.
The best way to gain muscle mass is weight training along with a healthy,
balanced muscle building diet.
What is the Fastest way to Build Muscle ?
If you Want to Build Muscle Fast, you may be in for a Rude Awakening
Building muscle fast is a common goal for many people. All of a sudden
you may feel as if you need to put on 10+ pounds of muscle and you want to do it
as fast as possible.
For whatever reason you want to build muscle fast, you should rethink and
take a slow methodical approach rather than an all out approach.
Building Muscle too Fast has Undesirable Side Effects
Fat Gain
People who want fast results go on muscle building diets with extremely high
amounts of calories. Rather than eating around 500 extra calories a day in
hopes of putting on muscle mass, they eat 1000s of extra calories.
Another mistake is neglecting to measure. Measuring your body
composition is very important during muscle building diets.
If you attempt build muscle fast and eat way too much food, you will gain
muscle along with fat.
Most people who want to build muscle fast are skinny with a low body fat
percentage. If you fall in this group you will be most effected when you
put on fat along with the muscle you want. Use a slow methodical approach
and you will put on solid muscle rather than a combination of fat and muscle.
Stretch Marks
Like some women who cannot control their diet after they become pregnant, or
obese individuals, building muscle fast can cause stretch marks.
If you get bigger too fast with muscle building diets of extremely high amounts
of calories your muscle growth may exceed your skins elasticity and cause
stretch marks.
Stretch marks are not physically harmful. Stretch marks are permanent
scars which never disappear. If you don't want stretch marks you should
try to build muscle with a healthy balanced diet and smart weight training.
Some people don't mind but to others they can be unsightly.
If you build muscle too fast, stretch marks are a very likely possibility.
What is the Best Diet to Build Muscle ?
The best muscle building diets vary from individual to individual. If
you are looking to build muscle there is one thing you need to keep in mind.
A Muscle Building Diet Requires a Caloric Surplus
Without consuming excess calories in your diet you will not be able to build
muscle efficiently. If you are overweight, muscle building diets are not
recommended because you will most likely add to your fat stores which cover up
your muscle.
If you are overweight and want to build muscle, you need to prioritize your
goals. You should use Fat loss diets
to accomplish your weight loss goals first before you attempt to build a
significant amount of muscle mass.
If you are not overweight, muscle building is a matter of mathematics.
If you do not consume enough calories you will not be able to gain weight in the
form of muscle.
There is No Single "Best Diet" for Everyone
This is a recurring theme throughout this website. You should not rely
on cookie cutter, one size fits all diets and nutrition plans if you are serious
about achieving results.
Your muscle building diet should have a caloric surplus of around 500 extra
calories per day. You can measure and assess your diet's effectiveness
over time.
Use proven knowledge and common sense and you will be able to accomplish your
goals effectively over time. In order to build muscle you must consume a
diet rich in all 3 major nutrients, fat, carbohydrates and protein.
Do Muscle Building Diets Require more Protein ?
Protein should Never be your Primary Nutrient in your Diet
Regardless of your fitness goals, carbohydrates should always be the nutrient in
which you consume the most of in your diet. On the right is the
recommended food intake by the United States Dietetics Association (USDA).
If 15% protein sounds like too little consider how many grams it would be if you
consumed a 3,000 calorie diet. You would consume 112.5 grams of protein
for 15% of 3,000 calories.
Whether or not 15% of your calories from protein is the right amount for you,
your protein intake should never be more than your carbohydrate intake for
building muscle.
The most effective way to determine your protein needs is through trial and
error. Even if you go to a $300 / hour dietician of Hollywood celebrities,
you will have to use trial and error to find out which protein intake is right
for you.
Carbohydrates provide the Energy used to Build Muscle
In order to have the most effective weight training workouts and muscle sparing
cardiovascular workouts you must consume enough carbohydrates. Dietary
carbohydrates break down into blood sugar.
Blood sugar is used for energy or stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver
for future use. Dietary carbohydrate can also be stored as body fat, but
costs the body energy to do so and is unlikely in non-overweight/obese
individuals.
Without the presence of carbohydrates (blood sugar), your body will not produce
the insulin needed to shuttle your dietary protein to your muscles for growth.
Carbohydrates and protein work together.
In order to build muscle, eat a variety of the highest quality foods as part of
a balanced training and nutrition program. Constantly measure your
body fat percentage to see if you are
gaining muscle, fat, or both.
How Many Calories do you Need to Take in ?
The Amount of Necessary Calories for Building Muscle Varies for Each Individual
If everybody knew exactly how many calories they burned each day, building
muscle would be a matter of simply counting calories. Too bad it is not
that easy.
To figure out exactly how many calories you burn in a day accurately, you would
have to stay in a plastic bubble where all variables and temperatures are
recorded. Obviously this is not something 99% of people would consider so
there are a few more real-world options.
The Most Practical Way to Determine Daily Caloric Needs is to Use a Formula
There are many formulas which determine your daily metabolic rate. The
formula which you use by plugging in your data on the
Best Fitness Tools will give you an
estimate of your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is how many calories your body
needs to function, at rest for a 24 hour period.
There are other ways to determine your daily calories burned but using a formula
will most likely give you an estimation consistent with these devices.
Many of these devices are based on formulas themselves so a simple, cheap,
formula is probably your best option to finding your daily calories burned.
You will then need to add the calories you burn with physical activity such as
exercise, work, and any other form of physical activity. You can use
charts to determine how many calories your various daily activities burn which
you can also determine using the Best
Fitness Tools.
Add your BMR to your Daily Activity Calories to Determine your Daily Caloric
Needs
In order to gain muscle mass you should
consume about 500 calories above your daily needs each day, every day.
This will allow you to create an infinite number of muscle building diets to
attempt to gain quality lean muscle and minimal fat. If you constantly
consume a small amount of calories over your daily requirement you will be less
likely to gain fat and hopefully add some muscle mass to your frame.
What Foods Should be Included in Muscle Building
Diets ?
Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates are the most important nutrient to include in any active
person's diet. Complex has to do with the organic chemistry structure.
To keep it simple, you can think of complex carbohydrates as starches.
Complex carbohydrates are broken down more slowly over time when compared to
simple sugars. This is why they are better to include in your diet along
with the fact they contain more fiber and B-Vitamins.
Each gram of carbohydrate is worth 4 calories. The rate of which your
dietary carbohydrates is broken down varies.
Good Sources of Carbohydrate to Include in Muscle Building Diets Include
Oats | Sweet Potatoes Squash | Yams |
Beans | Legumes | Whole Grain Rice | Whole
Grain Bread | Pasts
Proteins
Protein is what your muscles are made of. When you ingest protein it is
broken down into it's 20+ amino acids. During anabolic muscle building
diets you hope your body takes the amino acids to repair and build new protein
(muscle) with them.
Each gram of protein is worth 4 calories. Proteins are broken down in your
stomach slowly. Protein takes longer to break down than carbohydrates.
During the digestion of protein, your body expends more energy than other
nutrients.
Good Sources of Proteins to Include in Your Muscle Building Diet Include
Lean Red Meat | Egg Whites | Whey Protein |
Cottage Cheese | Fish | Chicken | Turkey |
Lean Pork | Nuts | Seeds
Fats
Fats are very important for any muscle building diet. Fats serve many
metabolic functions including the formation of some hormones.
Fat also plays a role in providing satiety for meals. When you eat fat, it
fills your stomach because it is digested in the small intestine. Eating
fat with meals slows down your digestion which can be good for some people with
an extremely fast metabolism.
Each gram of fat has twice the calories than that of protein or carbohydrates.
Fat can be burned for energy but is easily stored by the body as body fat.
The Best Dietary Sources of Fats for Muscle Building Diets Include
Walnuts | Almonds | Salmon | Flax Seeds |
Medium Chain Triglycerides
More Information
about the Muscle Building Diets and Nutrition
Muscle
Building
Find out how to build muscle the most efficient
way.
Nutrition Myths
If 100 people tell you the same thing will you believe it? Most people
would, that is what created all the misinformation about diet and nutrition that
is everywhere from the gossip in the locker room to newspapers, TV and
magazines.
Fat Loss Diets
Learn why a
muscle building diet and and a fat loss diet can include the same foods.
Your training and nutrition goals should be consistent with each other.
Best Selling Diet Books
Do you think an expert knows more about your best
diet for you than yourself? Find information from the best selling books
on diet.
Exercise Information
The best stimulus to build muscle along with
muscle building diets is weight
training. Learn exercises for each body part and the anatomy, physiology,
and kinesiology behind them. Click on any body part to find the
information.
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