Gaining muscle mass requires a serious commitment not only to exercise but to your diet as well. While you might associate bulking up with eating masses of protein and increasing calories without discriminating between food sources, you will achieve optimal results by giving your body a proper mix of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. They all play a unique role in muscle growth and repair.
Calorie Needs
Gaining muscle requires you to take in more calories than you burn; your body can only build muscle with proper energy stores. You need to find the right balance however; taking in too many calories beyond what you need for muscle will also increase your fat stores. The amount of calories you need to take in depends on several factors, including weight, height, activity level and basal metabolic rate--the minimum number of calories you need to sustain basic bodily functions like breathing and digestion. You might need to experiment with your diet as you go along.
Several websites offer free calculating tools for your BMR and you might find tests at fitness centers as well. Professional bodybuilder, author and fitness trainer Anthony Ellis recommends eating at least 18 to 20 times your current weight in calories to build muscle. For example a 180-lb. man would eat between 3,200 and 3,600 calories. According to Dr. Steve Fleck, sports medicine professor of Colorado College, you can only put on about 1/2 lb. of muscle per week and eating too many calories will cause your body to store them as fat. You should aim to eat about 250 to 500 calories beyond what you need to maintain your current weight.
Recommended Protein Intake
Protein forms the building block of all tissue, making adequate intake vital for building muscle. Professional natural bodybuilder Dustin Elliot, writing for Bodybuilding.com, recommends eating about 1 g per pound of body weight while Fleck recommends about 1.2. An average person only needs about .08. According to Fleck, research has shown consuming lean protein about 15 to 20 minutes before a workout as well as during and within one hour of completion might help increase muscle mass. He advises against consuming more than 1.5 g per pound unless you are a serious bodybuilder who spends hours and hours at the gym. Stick to lean sources like skinless poultry, low-fat dairy, lean meats and fish.
Make sure to drink plenty of water, at least six to eight glasses daily while increasing protein consumption. During breakdown, it produces toxic byproducts and dehydration will interfere with elimination from the body.
Carbohydrate Consumption Guidelines
Your body uses carbohydrates to create glycogen, a form of sugar your muscles use for energy. When it comes to bodybuilding, the type you eat and the timing of consumption take on more importance. Stick to healthy carbohydrates like whole grain breads, rice and pastas, oatmeal and potatoes as well as fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. Elliot recommends bulking up on carbs first thing in the morning, about 60 to 90 minutes before a workout session and post-exercise to replenish depleted glycogen stores. Avoid eating carbohydrates later in the evening; your reduced activity level means that your body will not immediately draw on glucose for energy and it will most likely end up stored as fat.
Importance of Healthy Fats
Ellis advises against low-fat diets for bodybuilding as your body uses this nutrient to produce hormones vital to muscle growth and increased strength. Depriving your body of fat will also lead it to store whatever it does get more readily since your body does not know when it will get more. Stick to healthy sources of unsaturated fats such as nuts, seeds, avocados, fish and cooking oils like olive and canola.
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