When your goal is to build muscle, nutrition holds the key. If you are struggling with muscle growth despite being active in the gym, your problem isn’t your workout but more related to diet and lifestyle. Building muscle is an art and coalescence of exercise and nutrition. But are you eating enough food in terms of protein and calories? Keeping a check on your nutrition will be the cornerstone of building strong muscle. Let’s understand how.
How does nutrition matter?
If your body is not getting enough diet, then it is time to keep a close watch on your meals. Your diet must be choreographed strategically to accelerate and repair your muscle growth after a heavy workout session. Many people think that building muscle is all about proteins, but instead, it is the right mix of proteins, carbs, and fat. One should note that the number of protein consumed shall have an impact on your muscle growth. If you don’t take carbs, you will feel sluggish, and if fats are reduced, it will reflect on your energy levels and health. Let’s understand how you can achieve the proper nutrition in your diet.
Importance of Calories in muscle building
Most dietary advice revolves around how to lose weight. But not many know that a healthy body needs to have toned muscles along with getting rid of excess body fat. Many people think consuming fewer calories will help gain both, but you need to finish a suitable number of calories when you want to gain muscle. It is because calories help in the regrowth of damaged muscle tissue after a workout. However, muscle growth also depends on your current muscle mass, body weight, and metabolic rate. The general thumb rule is that consuming around 2k to 3k calories is essential for gaining muscle for the average exerciser.
What nutrition helps in building muscular growth?
Proteins, fats, and carbs are equally important for building muscles. Your muscle tissue is made of amino acids and proteins, so additional calories from proteins are necessary.
- Protein: When cells rush to rebuild your body muscles, proteins are of paramount importance. As per recommendations, you must consume gram protein equivalent to your body weight; for example, if your body weight is 80kg, you must drink 80 gm of protein. You can include eggs, beans, soybeans, turkey, or chicken breast in your diet to get maximum protein.
- Fats: It has a bad reputation, but it is essential to understand two types of fats – Saturated and unsaturated fats and their impact on our body. Saturated and mono-saturated fats can harm your health, but unsaturated fats help make your body healthy and gain muscle. Healthy fats help improve your body immunity, blood flow, and heart rhythm that helps in muscle building diet. Avocados, Greek yogurt, olives, nuts, and chia seeds are critical sources of healthy fat.
- Carbohydrates: Along with fats, carbohydrates enhance your health and primary source of glycogen in your body that provides energy during workouts and muscle gain. Carbs can be consumed in the natural form of fruits and vegetables, thus enabling individuals to become healthy.
Conclusion
Muscle gain happens slowly, and keeping a close watch on your diet and nutrition is an integral part of achieving the best muscle growth. Along with a hard workout, the right blend of proteins, carbs, and fats can make it happen. We hope following the above tips shall help you follow a healthy diet and achieve your muscle growth goals.