Posts Tagged ‘muscle building nutrition’

Keeping down two jobs, meetings to attend, kids to pick up from school and such like there are so many distractions, time constraints and pressures that if we are not vigilant can only lead to one thing… {not enough time to plan and organise your meals}. As far as getting correct nutrition for your diet goes this is one of the biggest crimes possible. The main reason is it can often lead to consuming fast food.

Fast food is exactly what you don’t want to eat to build muscle up. Too much fat and very little nutrient value combined with little in the way of decent energy providing nutrition. So, what can we eat for decent muscle building nutrition if we really cannot avoid muscle building nutrition?

Here are a few golden rules for eating at fast food restaurants in order to build muscle up:

Avoid the apparently good value for money drink and fries. A simple portion of medium sized fries will stuff your body full of around 200 calories including around 400 calories with approximately 20 grams of fat and the drink will give you approximately 200 calories with heaps of sugary content!

Choose the grilled version every time. You can save around 80 calories coming mostly from fat by eating a McDonald’s grilled chicken sandwich as opposed to a premium crispy chicken. A simple choice but often overlooked.

Give the dessert a miss. There are so many sugary delights in store for you at fast food joints but if you really must try them go for the kiddies size.

Make sure that you don’t go over the top with the sauces. A good deal of these are extremely high in fat content with not much muscle building nutrition. I am positive that you are very well aware of the fat filled little packages of sauce that I am talking about, mayo tartar sauce and such like. Do yourself a favour and give them a miss.

Is there anything I can eat if a fast food joint really is the only option?

If you want to build muscle food that you could eat at McDonalds would be:

For the bulk of your dinner/lunch a Premium Grilled Chicken Sandwich will nourish you with 10 grams of fat, 51grams of carbohydrates, 420 calories, and 32 grams of protein. A Honey Mustard grilled Snack Wrap would gibe your body 260 calories, 9g fat, 27g carbs and 18g of protein. The Asian Salad Grilled Chicken would give you 390 calories, 12.5g fat, 38g carbs, 33g protein with the Sesame Ginger Dressing that is low in fat. Probably the premium option would be the Caesar Salad Grilled Chicken that, yields 220 calories, 6g fat, 12g carbs and 30g of protein.

If however you reside in Australia the choices might look slightly different as follows:
A Lean Beef Burger: 250 calories, 8g fat, 25g carbs, 18g protein or a Herb Fusion Chicken Salad: 100 calories, 2g fat, 3g carbs 20g protein.

A decent breakfast selection would be: 12 grams of fat, 300 calories, 30g carbs and 18 grams of protein. Possibly a Sausage Burrito including 300 calories, 16g fat, 26g carbs, 12grams of protein or If you are looking for just a snack then how about the Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait which beaks down into 160 calories, 2g fat, 31g carbs, 4g protein.

I hope that gives you some idea of exactly how you can eat relatively healthily even at a fast food joint if you make the correct choices. Of course it would be better to allocate some time for planning decent meals throughout the week but if you can’t do this then the above selections should be a good guide and on some level help you burn the fat feed the muscle.

We hear loads of advice and guidance on what to do to build up muscle but much of it is conflicting. For that very reason we are going to set the record straight on a numberof different issues right here and now. Here we go, 7 things not to do when trying to build muscle up:

1) Train for more than 45 minutes. training longer than this can be counter productive as at this point a hormone is released that actually inhibits the muscle building process, train for less than this and the hormones are at the right level for building muscle.

2) Follow a ‘see food’ diet. Often you hear people say to eat as much of everything as you possibly can. Well of course we need extra calories to add muscle mass but do you really believe that stuffing yourself full of E numbers, fatty red meats, fast food, simple carbs (sugars) and so on is going to be healthy for you long term. Of course not stay with the nutritious muscle building foods and these will then make sure that you develop lean muscle mass and prevent your body suffering long term health problems.

3) exercises that isolate individual muscles. That refers to exercises such as tricep presses that place focus on one individual muscle alone. This is not a very efficient use of either your energy or time. Stick to multi joint exercises like presses, squats, pull ups and so on. Muscle growth is triggered in more than just one muscle at a time.

4) Ignoring cardio-vascular fitness. I’m sure you have heard that you should avoid aerobic stuff as it uses up valuable calories that could be used for burning muscle. yes this is correct but come on there is a sensible balance to be had. Sure get big, but do you really not want to be able to walk up a few flights of stairs without losing your breathe. For long term health include aerobic exercise 2-3 times a week in your program and eat more calories to make up for this energy use-age.

5) Alter your exercises a great deal. You may know that variety keeps the muscles growing, that is true but at the same time not allowing your muscle to establish an exercise groovecan also stop you from making the progress you otherwise could do. Use an exercise for two or thress months before you drop it.

6) Over train. A major cause of limited muscle building progress is over training. One to two workouts a week for each muscle group should sufficient fro most people.

7) Give in. Too may people give in when there muscle growth diminishes. This is the exact time when you should be rising to the challenge and training with more intensity, paying attention to muscle building nutrition and showing determination.

Go get em!

We hear loads of advice and guidance on what to do to build up muscle but much of it is conflicting. For that reason we are going to clear up a few things right now about what not to do to build up muscles. Here we go, 7 things not to do when trying to build muscle up:

1) Train for more than 45 minutes. training longer than this can actually inhibit muscle gains because at this point a hormone is produced that limits the muscle building process, train for less than 45 minutes and the hormones level is about correct for building muscle.

2) Eat lots of all types of food. Often you hear people say to eat as much of everything as you possibly can. Well of course we need extra calories to add muscle mass but do you really believe that stuffing yourself full of E numbers, fatty red meats, fast food, simple carbs (sugars) and so on is going to be healthy for you long term. Of course not, stick to sensible nutritious foods and you will put on lean muscle mass and save your body from long term health problems too.

3) Isolation muscle building exercises. That refers to exercises such as tricep presses that place focus on one individual muscle alone. This is not a very efficient use of either your energy or time. Stick to multi joint exercises like presses, squats, pull ups and so on. Muscle growth is triggered in more than just one muscle at a time.

4) Do not ignore aerobic exercise. I’m sure you have heard that you should steer clear of aerobic stuff as it consumes valuable calories that could be put towards building muscle. yes this is true but come on there is a sensible balance here. Sure get big but do you want to be huge and not be able to walk up a few flights of stairs without panting. For long term health include aerobic exercise 2-3 times a week in your program and eat more calories to make up for this energy use-age.

5) Change exercises too much. You may know that variety ensures muscles keep growing, that is correct but naturally at the same time not letting your muscles establish an exercise rhythm can also limit your progress that you might otherwise make. train with a new exercise for at least 8 weeks before changing it.

6) Over train. A major cause of limited muscle building progress is over training. The majority of people will make good gains from just two workouts a week.

7) Give in. Too many people give up when their muscle growth slows down. This is the exact time when you should be rising to the challenge and training with more intensity, paying attention to muscle building nutrition and showing determination.

Go get massive!

A typical dilemma for any active sportsmen who lifts weights and wants to gain muscle mass is that they know there goal to build muscle up conflicts with the fact that they do a lot of cardio-vascular work. How can someone like this build muscle fastest whilst still doing cardio, indeed is it even possible?

Quite often it is recommended that to build muscles fastest you ought to keep aerobic training down to as little as possible. This is regularly stated because of the fact that aerobic training does two particular things that may restrict muscle growth, they are: 1) burn an abundance of calories 2) speed up your metabolism. Both of these two things contribute to the same problem, namely, not getting enough calories on board. This takes us to the question of exactly what amount of calories should I therefore be taking on?

Well, to keep at the same weight every day you would be required to consume enough calories to cover the energy usage of your body as if it were resting (basal metabolic rate), then eat enough extra calories to provide energy for your workouts. Each day you need to eat a further 500 calories if you wish to build muscle mass.

Is there a way to figure out this total?

Yes, one way to do this is using the Katch-McArdle formula (BMR based on lean body weight). Here it is:

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wght in kg) + (5 X hght in cm) – (6.8 X age in years)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X hght in cm) – (4.7 X age in years)

Once you have gotten this figure you should then multiply it by one of the following to allow for your daily activity levels:

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (desk job, little or no exercise)
Lightly active equals BMR X 1.375 (sports/light exercise 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.{9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i}.e marathon, contest etc

So, should you be doing cardio and weights frequently then you should multiply this by at least 1.725. This will give you the figure that will cover your daily energy needs. To suit your specific goals you should then adjust this total. Presuming it is muscle building, you would need to add at least a further 500 calories per day.

So, let’s say your final number is 3000 calories then you ought to be trying to eat 6 meals/day of 500 calories. To follow this strategy one snack or meal would be based around 11 gram coming from fat, 62 grams coming from carbohydrate and 37 grams coming from protein. This is calculated as so because one gram of fat equals 9 calories as opposed to one gram of protein or carbohydrate which is worth 4 grams.

Correct muscle building nutrition and working out your calorie needs like this is what is going to ensure you build muscles fastest, not any miracle new exercise!

 It is a well known fact nowadays that to build muscle diet is a key component that will determine whether you are successful or not. If you don’t have good muscle building nutrition then no matter how much you lift you won’t progress. So we will briefly outline some basic guidelines for a ‘build muscle diet’ and then we will take a look at some awesome bodybuilding foods.

Ok, quick guidelines for a diet to build muscle:

1) Eat 5-7 meals per day. This will allow you to comfortably take on board enough calories to grow. {It will ensure your body has high energy levels throughout the entire day}. 

2) Divide your meals up in to approximate portions of 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein and the remainder can come from fats.

3) Eat about an hour half to two hours before your workout and eat immediately or at least within an hour after your workout. The post workout meal should be high in protein and may be a meal replacement powder drink. taking a energy drink or eating a snack before retiring to bed is a good idea also as this means your body will have enough calories to support growth throughout the night. Also eat as soon as you can upon waking as your muscle will be short on energy at this time.

4) Take supplements if you can afford it. You may wish to try: essential fatty acids, whey protein, multi-vitamin pills and creatine. Supplements can be added to your diet if you wish to build muscle even more easily.

5) Take on board water in small amounts regularly. water is critical to many reactions in the body. They take place much better in the presence of ample supplies of water. Muscle growth requires water so drink it. Drinking too much water at once will however leave you feeling bloated and full.

Well, we have gone through the basic points then. Now what food precisely is good for building muscle. Here are some great foods for your to try:

Protein is needed for growth and repair of muscles. Naturally this will be an important factor for those wishing to stack on mass.Excellent sources of protein are: Chicken Breast, Egg Whites, Turkey Breast, Salmon, Tuna Cottage Cheese, Lean Beef, Whey Protein.

carbohydrate provide the calories to support muscle growth and also the energy for workouts and other day to day activities.In your diet to aid muscle growth and provide energy try to include the following foods: Brown Rice, Baked Potatoes, Whole Wheat Pasta, Sweet Potatoes, Bagels, Oatmeal, Fat Free Yogurt and Beans.

Build muscle diets often neglect to mention that fats are important too. Fats are required by the body to sustain it’s metabolic functions. For fats that build muscle try to include in your diet: Avocado, Olive Oil, Nuts, Flax Seed Oil, Natural Peanut Butter and Fish Oil

Vitamins and minerals play a wide variety of roles in all of the important reactions in the body including muscle growth. Great source of vitamins and minerals are: Broccoli, Cauliflower, Asparagus, Green Beans, Peas, Carrots and Spinach.

With those few points in mind there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to pack on muscle mass relatively quickly. Just remember that you need to eat a lot of calories to both give you energy for training but also so that you have excess calories that can be used for muscle growth. If you do not eat enough calories then you aren’t going to grow. Follow these above rules and a sensible ‘build muscle diet‘ containing these types of foods and you should have no problems building muscle.

Just before I tackle the main purpose of this article which is to show how to build muscle vegetarian style I will briefly outline the different types of vegetarians. Vegans won’t eat dairy products or any other products of animals, pesco-vegetarians will cosume fish and other dairy products whereas lacto-ovo vegetarians will both consume milk and eat eggs but won’t eat meat. There are a few more sub categories but that is enough detail for the purposes of this article.

Why be vegetarian?

Well because of the nature of the food vegetarians do not eat, things like red meat and so on they have a lower risk of certain diseases including but not limited to hypertension, coronary artery diseaese, a variety of cancers and diabetes mellitus. As you may agree the reasons for changing to be vegetarian are compelling indeed and that is before we even discuss the idealistic side of things such as being less cruel to animals, saving food for others, preserving the rainforest, becoming more enviromentally friendly and such like.

Ok, so if I am vegetarian how on earth am I going to get adequate supplies of protein?

The answer to this question very simply is Soy. Soy contains all eight essential amino acids and in fact has higher levels of protein than beef. Particularly good sources of soy include: seitan, miso, soy milk, tempeh, textured soy protein and of course tofu. A variety of delicous tasting dishes can be made from these ingredients. Beans, rice, seeds, legumes, nuts and even vegetables are another great supply of amino acids which together should ensure you never get short on protein.

Ok so straight away that is protein deficiency taken off the myth list now what about vitamins and minerals like: calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin B12?

Well vegans would be wise to take a supplement for this. vitamin B12 is found in dairy products so is not an area of concern for other types of vegetarians. A good meal replacement powder will see that you get adequate amounts of the other. Of course however many minerals and vitamins are easily available in the form of leafy green vegetables and fruit that you should not overlook if you wish to build muscle vegetarian style. 

So, overall there are many health benefits to being a vegetarian and being a vegetarian need not prevent you from achieving your bodybuilding goals. As ever planning is the key and this is just as important for meat eating bodybuilders too. With the above guidelines in mind go ahead and build muscle vegetarian style!!