Muscle Building Foods
You know that training sets that stage for muscle growth. You know you can’t simply bulk up without a consistent and balanced nutritional attack. But did you know that if your nutritional attack does not include a small food scale, a calculator, notepad and pencil on hand, 24/7, then your doomed?
Of course, I’m kidding.
Although many of the great bodybuilders from the 1980s and ’90s were always into the details and it wasn’t uncommon to find world famous bodybuilders weighing and measuring what they were about to eat and scribbling down numbers onto their pad.
Their results spoke for themselves.
Of course, you may not have the desire, drive or determination to be as dedicated as some of these mass-loving bodybuilders.
That’s okay.
I can relate more to you anyways.
Today, I would prefer a nutrition plan that is quick, convenient and demands as little fuss and measuring as possible.
This scale-free, stress-free and effective nutrition strategy requires zero accountlike accuracies employed by many top bodybuilders.
All you need are a few visuals, my list of top muscle building foods and an old fashioned measuring cup.
Before we discuss the best muscle building foods lets reviews my top five no nonsense bulk-up nutrition principles you’ll need to follow to get your body to grow, grow and grow.
Eat often – 5-6 meals a day
Some muscle gurus promote eating as frequent as every 2 hours.
I consider that stupid and too extreme.
But I will agree your muscle growth will feel like moving icebergs if you’re not eating every 3-4 hours setting you up for 5-6 meals a day.
Eating anything less will stall your chances of gaining quality muscle mass without any body fat.
Relying on only 3-4 meals a day sets you up for huge meals that often lead to fatigue, bloating, gas and unwanted body fat that covers up your growing muscles.
A more frequent meal cadence provides a steady supply of carbohydrates and proteins, the two core ingredients needed for growth and repair.
Eat quality
Focus on high quality muscle building foods (we’ll discuss in a moment) from a variety of lean proteins and complex carbohydrates plus an assortment of fruits and veggies and fats.
Eating white bread and jelly every 3-4 hours results in a completely different hormonal response and body appearance than eating a veggie omelet with fruit every 3-4 hours.
Before you increase your calories and meal cadence, focus on switching out lower quality foods with the list of muscle building foods below.
Quality is always better than quantity.
Don’t ignore your hunger
Let your body tell you if you should be eating every 2, 3 or 4 hours based on your hunger signals. You should be aiming for every 3-hours but this is not a cold-hard rule. It’s a guideline to start with.
If you’re still full after 3-hours than schedule a meal cadence every 4-hours. If you’re starving after 2-hours it’s time to eat again.
Ensure you’re using the best muscle building foods to so you don’t end up stuffing yourself with empty calories. Increasing your fats and veggies will combat against a hunger attack.
Eat enough
The bottom line is quality calories made up of the best muscle building foods. To gain weight you need more calories than you expend. Make sure you are not avoiding fats either. Very-low-fat-diets can put the breaks on muscle growth by lowering testosterone levels and dropping your caloric intake. Fat is not the enemy.
The best muscle building foods for fat are olive oil, salmon, mixed nuts, moderate portions of red meat, avocados, natural peanut butter, fish oil supplements and coconut oil.
Read the tale of the scale
The scale is your friend so weigh in. Trying to build muscle without a scale is like a runner trying to get faster without a stop watch. (That goes for fat loss training too).
You should be gaining 1 pound of bodyweight each week or around 5 pounds each month. Anything more than 5 pounds of body weight each month will probably be excess fat.
If you’re not meeting this standards, please re-evaluate the previous principles. If you’re not gaining weight the easiest way to move out of the “skinny guy ranks” is to add more carbohydrates.
An extra 500 calories a day or an extra 100 calories each meal will put your body into a more muscular state.
Look in the mirror
Believe it or not, mirrors work! That’s really you looking back at you – I’m not kidding. Use the mirror to confirm that you are gaining muscle, not fat.
If you’re waist is growing faster than your muscles, you’re likely gaining body fat faster than muscle, so double check you’re consuming the muscle building foods listed below and try to train harder.
You could also cut your carbohydrate intake after 6pm, even if you train in the evening time, and that will help.
Filling Your Plate With The Best Muscle Building Foods
If you’re having trouble gaining weight, do yourself a favor, and stop counting calories. It’s not necessary to count calories or grams. Just make sure you are getting a good amount of protein at each meal, lots of clean carbohydrates for energy, and fruits and veggies for absorption and health benefits.
Use the following guidelines as your new “meal plan”:
Protein:
For each meal, chose one of the portion sizes such as the following:
- 4 eggs
- 1 can of tuna
- 1/2 a container (250 ml) of cottage cheese
- 4 cups of whole milk
- a fist size of meat (chicken, beef, fish)
- 2 scoops of protein powder
Carbohydrates:
For each meal, choose 1 of the following if your less than 200 lbs and 2 of the following if you’re more than 200 lbs:
- 3 slices of whole wheat bread
- medium bowel of oatmeal
- 1 cup of rice (cooked)
- 1 full sized baked potato
- 2 large bananas (or any 2 large fruits)
- 1 big bowl of cereal (lower sugar like Shreddies)
- 4 cups of milk
- 2 whole wheat bagels
- 1 plate of pasta
Fruits and Vegetables:
Aim to get 2 serving of the following with each meal but don’t fill up on the lower calorie veggies. Fruit juice is a really easy way to boost your calories but preference the options below instead:
Higher Carbohydrate
- Apples
- Oranges
- Bananas
- Grapes
- Berries
- Melons
Lower Carbohydrates:
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Cabbage
- Tomatoes
- Green beans
- Cauliflower
- Asparagus
Oils and Fats:
Enjoy healthy fats, such as olive oil, nuts and oil found in fish. Minimize your intake from saturated fat and trans fatty acids. That means you should avoid anything that is fried, boxed, packaged or served in a fast food restaurant.
While in the grocery store, a good rule is to avoid buying anything in the middle aisles and shop on the perimeter of the grocery store.
A little extra fat can tip the scales towards muscle growth but the wrong kinds will ruin your health and waistline. Here are the best muscle building foods for fat choices:
- Olive oil
- Olives
- Flaxseed oil
- Avocado
- Mixed nuts
- Natural peanut butter and almond butter
- Fish oil cups
- Coconut oil for cooking
Vince Del Monte
