Gain Muscle Fast By Eating Right

07 March 2009 | Bodybuilding Nutrition Tips

This is a follow up article to my first posting for this category, How Much Protein Should I Eat To Gain Muscle, and builds on the nutrition tips in that article.

My reasoning for coming back to this topic was that I’ve been reading a fascinating book about sports nutrition, Sports Nutrition, by Anita Bean which has been (from what I can see) very well researched, and gives the lowdown on exactly what nutrition you should be taking if you are doing sports, and more specifically for the readers of this site, bodybuilding.

One of the important tips that I’ve taken from reading this book, is the amount of simple carbohydrates that should be consumed immediately post-workout. If you are looking to pack on lean muscle mass, you need to consume enough carbohydrate to achieve a high muscle glycogen state. To achieve this, the recommended amount of carbohydrates is 1 gram per kilogram of body weight, immediately after exercise.

This should be in the form of simple carbohydrates and not complex carbohydrates, so either maltodextrin or dextrose as these are absorbed by the body very quickly. This needs to be mixed with protein so that the protein and carbohydrates in the blood stream, along with the hormones generated during weight training, thus creating an ideal anabolic state that will aid muscle growth.

For muscles to grow, you need a lot of energy, in fact you need an energy surplus (ie, more energy than your body needs for maintenance and activity), so it’s not uncommon to put on muscle and body fat. However, you can minimise the amount of extra body fat that is gained by following some fairly strict calorie counting.

Take you resting metabolic rate RMR (see What Is My Resting Metabolic Rate).

Then multiply by a multiple of 1.4, 1.7 or 2 depending on how active you are in a typical day (1.4 = fairly inactive, 1.7 = moderately active, 2 = very active).

Then add on the amount of calories you burn whilst exercising, for a typical weights training session, this would be about 500 calories (more for bigger than average guys, less for smaller than average guys). Add on the amount of exercise calories per week divided by seven to give a daily figure.

Lastly, multiply your figure by 120%, this is to give your body that energy surplus it needs to fuel the muscle growth.

I will show you my workings so that you can get an idea for how this works, here it is:

  1. Sex = Male
  2. Age = 29
  3. Weight = 90kg
  4. Resting Metabolic Rate: (90 x 15.3) + 679 = 2,056
  5. Activity level is sedentary (I do an office job): 2,056 x 1.4 = 2,878
  6. Exercise calories (4 weights workouts, 2 cardio workouts): (3,000 / 7) + 2,878 = 3,306
  7. Add 20% to give an energy surplus: 1.2 x 3,306 = 3,967

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