Nutrition for muscle building. Sports diet for muscles

If you decide to pump up muscles, sign up for a fitness club and work out with a persistent desire, this article is for you. In addition to desire, you also need to know how to eat right. Nutrition plays a big role in exercise gym if you don't follow it, it won't. good results at best, at worst, you risk undermining your immune system and overall health. Here are a few tips to help you eat right while exercising.

1. The basis of everything is protein

Proteins are part of all human tissues: blood, brain, eyes, internal organs and also muscles. These proteins in the body are constantly replaced by new ones, and the old ones are excreted from the body, so a person (not swinging) needs to consume 100-150 grams of protein per day. When we're doing physical activity, and especially with a large weight, protein intake almost doubles. Principle of muscle growth in that when we swing, a micro-rupture of the muscle fiber occurs, and at the site of the gap, a new tissue is formed even thicker. If the body is long time not to get protein, then as we see from the above, this will not lead to anything good.

Proteins (amino acids) are divided into two groups synthesized by man and not synthesized (not replaceable). Not synthesized are found in meat, milk and fish. Look for information on how much protein is in the product (reference books, labels) and count 200-300 grams per day. It should be borne in mind that a person can absorb only 30-40 grams in 3 hours, there is no point in eating more. I had a friend, he set the alarm for 3 o'clock in the morning to eat. Meat is expensive to eat, so many people buy the so-called “ protein“, it also needs to be consumed 30 grams for 3 hours. Protein needs energy to digest. For 1 gram of protein you need to eat 3 grams of carbohydrates(porridge is best) and 3 grams of water because muscles are 75 percent water. You can use multivitamins (complivit, etc.).

2. Eat more carbs

AT proper nutrition during training, the main source of carbohydrates should be vegetables, cereals and fruits, as well as carbohydrate powder concentrates. If there is a chronic lack of carbohydrates in the diet, the body uses your muscle tissue as "fuel". It is clear that all training goes down the drain.

3. Calories are a growth factor

Scientists measure the amount of food in special units - calories. They also measure the expenditure of forces by a person. It would seem that how many calories you have spent, the same amount must be reimbursed at the kitchen table. No, you need to “eat” more calories! Remember, muscle growth itself needs an influx of energy. So, if your diet gives exactly as many calories as you expend, nothing falls into the muscles, and they do not grow. The effect after training growth, on the contrary, is based on excess calorie intake. The illustrious "Mr. Olympia" Dorian Yates offers the following formula: "Start with 350-500 grams of carbohydrates per day, and then focus on the weights. If you train hard, but the mass does not grow, then you do not get enough calories. Then you can safely" throw "Another 100 grams of carbs per day. And so on until the scale shows a confident weight gain."

4. Food should be varied

What if instead natural products take protein and carbohydrate powder, fish fat- teaspoons, and vitamins and minerals - in tablets? Is it possible to grow up on such a diet? Unlikely. Today, nutritionists have discovered about fifty fundamentally new compounds in “live” plant foods, called phytosubstances. They have the properties of powerful antioxidants, are able to prevent the development of serious diseases, strengthen immune system, neutralize pathogenic microorganisms, and generally make us stronger and healthier. There are almost no such phytochemicals in sublimated store products. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that urban residents are rampantly ill with cancer, tuberculosis, skin and nervous diseases. Bodybuilding experience shows that on a diet poor in natural vegetables and fruits, muscles refuse to grow. Your daily menu should include at least 3 servings of fruits and the same number of vegetables. In winter, freshly frozen blueberries, currants, strawberries or melon pieces can be added to yogurt, oatmeal or protein shake. Chopped stewed cabbage, mushrooms and finely chopped onions with sweet peppers go well with rice or pasta. At least once a day (preferably 2) eat a large portion vegetable salad, preferably with seasoning based on natural vegetable oil. In winter, such salads can be prepared from fresh cabbage, adding pre-cooked beans to it, green onion and chopped bell pepper.

5. The more the better

You need a lot of carbohydrates to recover the huge energy expenditure of training. And this means that you need to choose foods that have the most carbohydrates. Such "mass-gathering" foods include: mashed potatoes, pasta, rice, raisins, honey, pancakes, oatmeal cookies, muffins, apples and ripe bananas. These products will allow you to reach the daily "norm" of carbohydrates, without the risk of filling the stomach to the point of breathlessness.

6. Eat slow-acting carbs before your workout

There are two types of carbohydrates: "fast" and "slow". Some are digested almost instantly. Others lie in the intestines, gradually releasing energy from themselves. How to distinguish one from the other? Foods with "fast" carbohydrates are usually sweet. Here are examples: jam, cakes, cakes, sweets ... Oatmeal, rice, potatoes are "slow" carbohydrates. They do not have a sweet taste. These carbs are perfect for pre-workout fueling. They gradually “feed” the blood with glucose. As a result, the level of glucose in the blood remains stable, and this is a condition for an even mood and high muscle tone. If you, on the contrary, eat something desperately sweet before training, then glucose will “burn out” quickly. The body will be left without "fuel" and will take up the consumption of glycogen - emergency reserves of carbohydrates in the liver. As a result, the rest interval between workouts will be delayed. Until the body restores what has been spent, you will feel overwhelmed.

7. Focus on Post-Workout Nutrition

Superintense training causes an increase in the secretion of cortisol, glucagon and catecholamines, hormones that can provoke a chain reaction of muscle tissue destruction. These hormones are always released in response to stress, whether physical or nervous. (That's why hassle usually leads to weight loss.) Your task is to immediately after training to refresh yourself with "fast" carbohydrates. They will provoke the secretion of insulin, and he is the first enemy of the evil trinity and neutralizes its destructive influence. Excellent sources of "fast" carbohydrates are bagels, raisins, honey, etc. You can try Jay Cutler's Mr. Olympia formula for yourself. He advises eating 1.5 g of carbohydrates per kilogram of your body weight while still in the locker room. Jay himself takes a box of rice with him to training, in which raisins and honey are added. As for the protein, he recommends whey, in the form of a powder - such a protein is quickly “absorbed” by tired muscles.

8. Use your weight

The readings of your floor scales are directly related to the amount of carbohydrates you consume. How? It's very simple: if the scale shows that you are gaining between 200 and 500 grams per week, then you are eating enough carbohydrates. If your weight is not growing, then the carbohydrates you eat are probably not enough.

It is necessary to aim at a daily intake of 4-6 g of carbohydrates per kilogram of its own weight. If the weight does not increase, add another gram per kilogram of your weight. Simply put, if you honestly eat 4-6 years. carbohydrates, but there is no result, try to bring this number to 5-7 years. True, here you can no longer do without powdered carbohydrate concentrates.

9. Drink more water

You will not drink water in the right amount - you will remain at your previous weight. Why? Yes, because your body is 75% water, and no growth without it is simply impossible. When the body is dehydrated, water leaves the muscle cells and thereby triggers the mechanism of destruction of muscle tissue.

Do not forget, by the way, that the action of creatine and glutamine is largely based on the effect of "swelling" the muscles, that is, filling them with fluid. By “pulling” water into muscle cells, creatine and glutamine push the muscles to further growth.

In addition, you need to additionally eat and count food calories so that they coincide with the energy expended in training.

If you want to pump up - sign up for a gym and swing. It would seem that everything is elementary simple. However, very often in men, whose body is in principle adapted to building muscle mass(due to male hormones), with increased training, muscle growth is practically not observed. It just means he doesn't know when you're swinging yet.

Fractional nutrition

For every kilogram of your weight, you need 2 grams of protein to build muscle. However, at one meal, no more than 40 grams of protein is absorbed. From this it is concluded that you cannot take all the daily protein at once, you need 5-6 meals. Fractional nutrition should be the first item on the list of how to eat right when exercising.

Protein

Even children know that muscles are built from protein. We have already mentioned the daily dose. Now let's talk about products. Every meal should include protein. Best Sources Protein is a food of animal origin. For example: milk, cheese, beef, cottage cheese, egg white. Vegetable protein is less digestible, so it will be more difficult for a vegetarian bodybuilder to determine how to eat properly. In any case, plant foods will not provide him with sufficient protein, which means that you will have to turn to sports supplements.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the fuel of our body. With a lack of carbohydrates, you simply will not have the strength to train. The best sources of carbohydrates:

• cereal crops;
• vegetables;
• fruits;
• dried fruits and nuts;
• pasta and bakery products made from wholemeal flour.

Carbohydrates save our muscle tissue from self-devouring the body. After strength training, the body needs energy to recover and grow. If you don’t have reserves, muscle tissue will begin to split, and this only means that your entire workout is down the drain, because you not only didn’t add muscle, you also “eat” them !!! That is why the question is very important like after a workout. Men do not need to be afraid of fast carbohydrates, unlike women, it does not turn into fat so quickly, and after training, quickly split energy is just what you need. As for pre-workout meals, opt for slow carbohydrates here.

Water

Last important point is the amount of liquid. Since we are 3/4 water, our muscles cannot grow without enough water. Do you want fast muscle growth? Drink more pure non-carbonated water.

Professional athletes know that nutrition is key factor in gaining muscle mass. At the same time, a diet for muscle growth is not just taking sports supplements (even the most effective and expensive ones). Without enough conventional foods, muscles will not grow, no matter how frequent and correct strength training is.

In addition, it is a mistake to consider nutrition for gaining muscle mass solely in the form of increased consumption of protein foods. Despite the fact that proteins are really necessary for muscle growth, carbohydrates are an equally important component of the diet for weight gain - recall that it is carbohydrates that act.

Sports diet: Calorie calculation

Drawing up a diet for gaining muscle mass begins with determining the optimal calorie intake of all consumed foods. FitSeven has already written that muscle growth requires an excess of about 15-20% - a man aged 25-30 years old, about 180 cm tall and weighing 70-73 kg daily needs at least 2700-3000 kcal.

Separately, we note that the sources of carbohydrates and fats in the diet for gaining muscle mass should be as “correct” as possible - otherwise, the excess caloric content of the diet will easily lead to a set of predominantly fat mass, and not muscle at all. In fact, for muscle growth you need to eat not just fast food, but as many natural products as possible.

What is needed for muscle growth? BJU!

At the same time, in the evening (especially 3-4 hours before bedtime), in order to gain “dry” mass, it is recommended to minimize the amount of foods with simple carbohydrates. This will help minimize the set of unwanted fat mass, since during sleep, the body needs proteins rather than carbohydrates to repair and grow muscles.

***

The main rule of nutrition for gaining muscle mass is a 15-20% increase in daily caloric intake. The next important point of the diet for muscle growth is glycemic index carbohydrates consumed and the time of their intake: fast carbohydrates are needed immediately after the gym, and slow carbohydrates ( various vegetables) - for dinner.

Each newcomer, having come to the gym, thinks that by lifting the “iron” a couple of times, he will immediately get pumped up and will be able to surprise his friends and relatives with a gorgeous body. It's not like that at all. For bodybuilding, it’s not enough just to perform exercises that develop your strength abilities. In addition to hard work, the athlete must eat right, observe water regime, sleep 7-8 hours a day, and exercise regularly so that the muscles do not have time to "relax". In this article, we will talk about bodybuilding nutrition.

How to eat right when you swing? Food on the "mass"

This question worries those who have decided to seriously engage in bodybuilding. First, while exercising in the gym, the athlete must always maintain one of two modes: building mass or "drying" the muscles. How should you eat when you swing to the mass? So, the initial condition - the number of calories consumed must exceed the costs of your body. However, this does not mean at all that you need to eat everything. Your diet should be low in saturated fat, but high in carbohydrates (55-60% of total number calories consumed), which should consist of 80% slow (various cereals, wholemeal pasta, etc.) and 20% fast (sweets, fruits). Of course, every bodybuilder must absorb a lot of protein, which is the basis of human muscle. The proportion of protein should be about 30%. And finally, fats. Remember! It is forbidden to completely exclude fats. This can disrupt metabolism and negatively affect your body. Fats should be 10-15%. Do not forget about sports nutrition.

Sports nutrition and anabolics - yes or no?

When working in bulk, this is very important. Add proteins, gainers, creatine, BCAAs, L-Glutamine and vitamins to your daily diet. Anabolic steroids should be taken only by professional bodybuilders who earn money from this sport and "live" it. The rest will only harm them.

How to eat right when you swing while "drying" muscles? Work on relief

Your the main objective- Reducing the number of calories eaten. Their consumption should be lower than we spend throughout the day. During this regime, the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats should change radically. The first should be in the diet of about 20-30% (as the drying progresses, the percentage should gradually fall), proteins - 60-70%, the rest - fats. As with mass nutrition, they cannot be completely eliminated from your diet. Among the products you should fall in love with various cereals (buckwheat, rice, oatmeal), vegetables, dairy products and nuts. Flour and other sweet foods should be completely excluded. Sports nutrition should also be present, but it is better not to use gainers, which are a high-carbohydrate supplement.

Nutrition during SW classes and at home

Well, how to eat right when you swing to the mass or "drying," we figured out. But after all, in addition to gyms, Street Workout is now gaining high popularity among young people. SW is a street sport that includes exercises on horizontal bars, uneven bars, street wall bars, etc. How to eat right when you swing on horizontal bars and uneven bars? There is no definite answer here. As a rule, this is a combination of "bodybuilding" diets for mass and "drying". The fact is that when exercising on outdoor devices, the athlete chooses a more mobile way of doing the exercise, which increases dexterity and speeds up metabolism. When doing Street Workot, you need to eat plenty of protein for building muscle, carbohydrates for energy and unsaturated fats for the normal functioning of your body.

We think that the article will be useful to our readers. We have analyzed in detail how to eat when you swing, so there should be no additional questions.

If you have a fast metabolism and a lean body, gaining muscle can be very difficult. If you want to build muscle quickly, you will have to make a few compromises, such as gaining fat mass in addition to muscle mass and cutting out other forms of fat. physical activity(for example, from running) so that your body concentrates on gaining muscle mass. You will need to eat more, use the right strategy strength training and perform exercises aimed at increasing muscle volume. Keep reading and you will learn how to turn into a jock in a few weeks.

Steps

Strength exercises for muscle building

Start with basic strength training. Most core body exercises should start with a basic, multi-joint strength workout that will allow you to lift more total weight, including bench presses for chest, overhead presses for deltoids, bent-over rows for back, and squats for legs. This will allow you to lift more weight when exercising, and still be fresh and have enough energy to better stimulate muscle growth.

Give it your all. The key to building muscle is doing the exercises at high intensity. Exercises performed at low intensity, even if they are performed for a long time, cannot come close to achieving the conditions under which the muscles are destroyed and then restored. Plan 30-45 minute workouts 3-4 times a week (every other day). This may seem surprisingly doable, but remember that during each workout you should work as hard as possible. Do not worry, you will definitely feel pain in the muscles and soon see the result, and the pain will pass.

• In each workout, lift as much weight as possible using proper form. Experiment to find out how much weight you need to lift with different sets. You should be able to do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps without lowering the dumbbells or barbell. If you can't perform, then reduce the weight. As a general rule, sets of 6-12 reps will promote bulky muscle growth, while lower reps will be endurance work at the expense of muscle volume.
• If you can do more than 10 reps without burning, add weight. You will not increase muscle if you do not strive to give all your best.

1. Do the exercises correctly. To develop precise technique, do each rep in the correct form. Beginners, aim to keep your target reps within your strength limits. Find a rhythm for each exercise. Don't reinforce the wrong technique from the start.

   • You should complete each movement without feeling the need to bend over or change position. If you can't, then you need to use less weight.
   • In most cases, you start the exercise with your arms and legs extended.
   • Before doing the exercises on your own, practice several times with a trainer and learn the correct forms of various exercises.

2. Alternate muscle groups. You don't have to train the same muscle groups every workout or you'll end up damaging your muscles. Alternate muscle groups so that you work on each group for an hour in each workout. If you train three times a week, try something like this:

   Avoid so-called plateau periods. If you do the same exercise for a long period of time, you will not notice progress. You need to add weight, and when you reach a plateau with the new weight, switch to another exercise. Be aware of your accomplishments and notice when your muscles seem to be the same for a while. This may be a sign that it's time for you to add more weight.

   Rest between workouts. For people with fast metabolisms, the rest period is as important as the workout itself. Your body needs time to build muscle tissue without burning mountains of calories during other activities. Running and other aerobic exercise can slow down muscle growth. Relax between workouts. Get a good night's sleep so you're fresh before your next trip to the gym.

   Establish a connection between thoughts and muscles. Research confirms that developing a mind-to-muscle connection helps improve workout results in the gym. Instead of thinking about the past day or the blonde next to you, to improve your achievements, try to focus on muscle growth. You can do it like this:

   • Performing each repetition, imagine in front of you the muscle group that you are pumping.
   • If you're doing sets with one hand, place your other hand on the muscle you want to improve. This will help you feel exactly where your muscle is tensing and refocus your efforts.
   • Remember that it's not the weight you lift that matters, it's the effect of that weight on the muscle that results in size and strength gains. It has a lot to do with what you think about and what you focus on.

   Nutrition for gaining muscle mass

   1. Eat high-calorie natural foods. You should get calories from whole and natural foods that will provide the body with fuel for rapid muscle building. Foods rich in sugar, high-grade flour, trans fats and additives are characterized large quantity calories, but they lack nutrients - they contribute to the growth of fat, not muscle. If you want your muscles to grow and look lean, you need to eat foods from every food group.

      • Eat protein-rich foods such as steaks and roast beef, fried chicken (with skin and dark meat), trout, eggs, and pork. Proteins are very important for muscle growth. Avoid bacon, sausages, and other types of smoked meats that contain additives that are harmful when consumed in large quantities.
      • Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits of all kinds. They provide your body with fiber and essential nutrients, as well as water.
      • Eat whole grains: oats, wheat and buckwheat instead white bread, cookies, muffins, pancakes, waffles and so on.
      • Eat legumes and nuts such as black beans, kidney beans, lima beans, walnuts, peanuts and almonds.

   2. Eat more than you think you need. Do you eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full? This sounds quite normal, but not when your goal is to build muscle. In this case, you must eat much more than usual. Take a supplement to your usual portion, and even more if you can handle it. The point is simple: your body needs fuel to build muscle.

      • A good muscle-building breakfast might include a bowl of oatmeal, 4 eggs, two or more pieces of roast beef, an apple, an orange, and a banana.
      • For lunch, you can have a chicken sandwich with whole wheat bread, a few handfuls of nuts, 2 avocados, and coleslaw with tomatoes.
      • For dinner, cook a big steak or other protein food, potatoes, vegetables, and feel free to take a supplement.

   3. Eat at least five meals a day. Don't wait for your stomach to crave food, because when you're in the muscle building phase, you need to constantly replenish your body's reserves. It won't last forever so try to have fun! In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, eat two extra meals a day.

   4. Take nutritional supplements, but don't rely on them entirely. Don't rely on muscle-building protein milkshakes to do all the work for you. To build muscle, you will need to get the lion's share of calories from whole, high-calorie foods. As mentioned earlier, you can help speed up the process by taking certain nutritional supplements that won't harm your body.

      • Creatine is a protein supplement that helps build muscle. It is sold in powder form, mixed with water and drunk several times a day.
      • Protein milkshakes like Ensure are acceptable supplements to have with you if you're having trouble getting enough calories between meals.
   5. If in this moment you don't have dumbbells or barbells and you haven't done strength exercises Start with push-ups or pull-ups. At first they will be quite effective.
   6. Do reverse push-ups: start at the top and slowly lower. Get down as low as possible without touching the floor with your chest and stomach. Then get up and start again. This is a good option if you are not strong enough to do regular push-ups.

   Warnings

   • Too much intense workout may harm your health. Monitor your health and limit your efforts to avoid injury.