There is this guy at the gym who has been working out pretty regularly the last six months. He seems serious enough in his workout and probably has a great workout routine too. The thing is, he has not gained enough muscle mass in spite of his dedication. Curious to know why?
The guy is not eating enough and he's not eating the right kind of food.
See, building muscle is 40% training BUT 60% good nutrition, so a solid diet is vital. "How vital?", I hear you ask. Well even if Arnold Schwarzenegger himself gave you his body building workout routine, everything would be a waste without the right kind of food.
So, if you ever thought "Can't I just follow a workout routine on a regular basis and get six-pack abs WITHOUT changing my diet and lifestyle?", the answer is NO! You would still have sorry-looking muscles after a year of hard training.
It is important you learn to "feed" your muscles correctly! A poor diet will just lead to poor performance and poor muscle growth. There is just no way around it.
Here are some bodybuilding nutrition tips I would like to share with you for better results.
Eat 5-6 Meals Per Day, And East Big
Forget about the 3-square-meals a day. Bodybuilders need 5 to 6 nutritionally balanced yet fairly large meals to bulk up. This prevents muscle breakdown, and provides enough calories for muscle growth!
For a regular person, preparing this many meals a day is torture so for someone who works out on a daily basis this can be difficult? The answer is bulk cooking and casein protein powder shakes, for meal replacement. However nothing beats a natural well-balanced diet made of solid food.
Load on lean protein and complex carbohydrates.
Both protein and complex carbohydrates are extremely important to your muscle gain effort. Protein builds your muscles back larger, whilst carbohydrates prevents muscle break down! So what do you eat?
You can get protein from skinless chicken breast, turkey breast, eggs, lean red meat and fish. Soy and nuts are good sources too. You should look to eat at least 1.5 grams of protein for every pound of your body weight for best results.
When it comes to Complex carbohydrates, look at potatoes, wholemeal rice, oats, wholemeal breads and pasta. Try not to eat cakes, cookies and sweets as they are not good for you and are more likely to pack on fat, rather than muscle mass!
Cook Healthily And Settle for a low saturated fats and low salt diet.
Grill, bake, and steam your food to avoid using oil (fat) in your meal. But If you must, use corn, sunflower, canola or soy oil. Also look to avoid animal and vegetable fat or butter, which contain unhealthy saturated fats. And when it comes to salt, only lightly salt your food.
In addition, you have to stop eating junk food and drinking sodas. Drink lots of water every day and eat fresh fruits and vegetables too.
There We Have It...
Follow these small simple tips and you'll see a massive improvement in results!