Healthy Eating for Muscle Building
To build and maintain a great body and muscles you need to work out regularly, rest and sleep well and have a healthy diet- make a habit of eating better and healthier foods regularly and although every single one of these three factors is important, many fitness experts claim that 70 to 80 percent of your success in fitness is nutrition and a major mistake many gym goers do is focusing mostly on their workouts and ignoring healthy eating. And even if when they do realise the importance of eating well, their attention is again on something else: Supplements, which by the way can have a positive impact on your progress, but caring more about supplements before learning how to eat well and putting it into practice is not the right thing to do. On this page we will point out the main ideas of right nutrition to achieve muscle building fast, losing fat and becoming more toned, fit and muscled.
Many fitness people would argue that you should eat multiple small meals a day (ore more like three mains and three snacks) rather than three large meals but it really is about eating what you need on that day. Firstly have plenty of water to keep rehydrated and water is probably the major drink you should worry about and it includes the essential minerals and water intake should be during and after you workout and throughout the day and you’re looking at drinking not less than 2 litres a day. Amino acids in protein are the building blocks of your muscles and if you do not consume enough you will progress slower in your muscle building efforts and as a general guideline you’re looking at eating 2 grams of protein per kg of body weight and your body may require more when you are more muscled. There is no point in avoiding fats and quite the contrary more than 30 percent of your total calories should come from fats and from saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats equally and you do need enough of Omega 3 and Omega 6 but people tend to consume more of Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3’s without realising Omega 3 will improve their performance and protect them from inflammation.
After getting it right with proteins and fats, you must also make the right type of carbohydrates that are low in glycemic index a good part of your diet for energy throughout the day and during your workout as low GI foods will not cause a sudden spike in your blood glucose levels and you will feel fuller longer and be less likely to develop diabetes and be more prone to other diseases. Fruits and veggies as great sources of vitamins, minerals and healthy enzymes also should be an important part of your diet as they reduce the amount of acidity in your body as muscle building exercises also tend to act as acidifiers so you need to consume adequate amount of veggies and fruits. Try and eat your largest meal after your workout and if you’re taking protein powder or amino acid tablets, take them straight after your workout or within 45 minutes as your muscles will be in reconstruction and recovery. You may be tempted to quickly increase your calorie intake by eating whatever you can and that is usually fine at first but it is always better to focus on healthier foods that are low in glycemic index and it is best to make a habit of almost always eating well, with occasional treats here and there.