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Warrior Diet & Gaining Muscle

While some people are in the gym working up a sweat to lose excess pounds, others work hard to gain weight--more specifically, muscle. There are a slew of dietary approaches for gaining muscle effectively, but one of the most interesting is the concept of the Warrior Diet, a nutritional strategy invented by Ori Hofmekler. Although it counters the traditional bodybuilding and athletic dogma of six small meals per day, proper adherence to the Warrior Diet can result in rapid muscle gain if done properly. Consult a doctor before embarking on this or any other weight or diet program.

  1. Warrior Diet

    • Be prepared to not eat until the evening. The Warrior Diet is patterned after the general eating patterns of prehistoric and primitive individuals. Whereas in the "civilized" world, three square meals provided at regular intervals is the norm, living in the wild provides no such guarantees. One feast in the evening was usually all that could be expected. According to Hofmekler, fasting throughout the day promotes increased energy and alertness as the body ramps up into overdrive to deal with a perceived condition of starvation.

    Fasting Period

    • Fast from the time you wake up until 7 p.m. If you're making the transition to the Warrior Diet from a more conventional method of eating, you may intersperse your fasting with small meals until you become wholly accustomed to the concept of not eating throughout the day. After a couple weeks on the plan, you should be able to make it through the day with nothing more than water.

    Scheduling your Training

    • Train hard in the gym, with the optimal time to schedule your training being immediately prior to your evening fast. Muscle growth is stimulated by first breaking down existing muscle tissue with exercise, followed by a period of regrowth fueled by ample caloric ingestion. So scheduling your workout right before your evening meal allows for the shortest possible time between the phases of muscle breakdown (the training) and muscle regrowth (stimulated by eating). Aim to get to the gym by 5:30 or 6 p.m. so that you'll be finished exercising by the time of your daily feeding.

    Evening Feast

    • Begin eating at 7 p.m. During that period, begin with a meal consisting of entirely healthy, natural foods such as a large garden salad with olive oil dressing, lean protein (beef, chicken, or fish), vegetables, steamed brown rice and fresh fruit. Eat as much as you want until you are stuffed. An hour after your primary feast, if you're still hungry you can resort to consumption of anything you want--pizzas, some candies, even ice cream. Just be honest with yourself with the first meal and eat until you are completely satisfied. Don't leave some room so that you can indulge excessively during the second hour. Finally, if you're still hungry an hour after the second feeding, you can eat one final time. Ideally, you'll consume 2,000 to 3,000 calories during this period, which should be more than ideal to fuel muscle growth endeavors.

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