A huge amount of information that has recently fallen on the heads of people who are seriously engaged in fitness in the hope of acquiring a slender, toned and embossed body, often confused, sometimes controversial and drowning in contradictions. Meanwhile, there is nothing complicated:
- Regular exercise in sports / fitness / other type of physical activity with emphasis on strength exercises.
- Proper nutrition for gaining muscle mass.
These are the basic and obligatory pillars of building not just a slender body, but bodies with elastic and elastic muscles. If the issue with fitness is more or less clear, then nutrition is most perplexing.
Strictly speaking, a diet for gaining muscle mass is an individual concept and it should be adjusted for each person. Of course, there are basic provisions that it is desirable to comply with:
- Frequent fractional nutrition. The usual regimen of three meals a day should be replaced by eating 5-6 times a day with medium-sized portions (3 fists). This method is good in that the nutrients are quickly absorbed and go only to the needs of the body, not deposited on the buttocks, arms and stomach.
- Junk food. A person working in the gym on a set of muscle mass spends an average of 15% more energy than the average. Therefore, he needs more energy, which should be obtained from food.
- The basis of nutrition is carbohydrates. Moreover, carbohydrates are complex. Rice, oatmeal, potatoes, pasta, buckwheat. As you can see, a diet for building muscle is fundamentally different from a diet for weight loss. However, their goals are also slightly different.
- High protein foods should be present at every meal. It can be chicken breasts, fish, beef, seafood, cottage cheese, etc. Low-fat foods (excluding fish) are preferred. Pork is best excluded from the diet. The amount of protein needed per day is calculated as follows: 2 g of protein per 1 kg of weight.
- The ratio of proteins of fats and carbohydrates in the diet of daily nutrition: 30-10-60 %%, respectively.
- Avoid fats of animal origin, preferring fatty nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds. Just not peanuts as a snack. The main thing is to enter the amount of fat in a 10 percent corridor.
- The most dense meal - after training. A diet for gaining muscle mass suggests the presence of exhausting workouts, after which the body needs the lion's share of energy. It should be taken from carbohydrates. 40 minutes after a workout is the right time to take diet-recommended foods. In this case, intense muscle growth occurs.
- Individual approach. Only on our own experience and trial and error can you bring out the "ideal diet". Each organism, within the framework of the norm, reacts differently to the introduction of a product into the diet. A diet for gaining muscle mass, like any other diet, simply cannot be copied from someone else's experience. There are general rules that you should adhere to, but building your own diet is much more important.
- Water. Without water, even (and especially) the athlete is nowhere. A dry diet for gaining muscle mass coupled with strength training is a sufficient load on the body. The body does not need dehydration and stress at all, so you should drink at least 3 liters of water per day.
Some more recommendations for gaining muscle mass.
- Nutritional supplements: protein, gainer. In principle, if the food is built correctly, which is possible only by experience, then there is no need for additives. If you feel that you are missing protein for some reason: the chicken does not climb, the cheese is tired, then in one meal you can replace the protein product with a protein shake. The need for a gainer is even more dubious. There can be only two options: either you are a serious bodybuilder preparing for the competition, or your nutrition is not built.
- Another important point of the diet for gaining muscle mass: intensive training should be preceded by the intake of complex carbohydrates, which are more slowly broken down and give energy as slowly, which is the key to energy during exercise.