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The Best Muscle Building Diets

The best muscle building diets are those that increase overall calories, keep protein levels high and keep fats relatively low. In addition, the most important aspect of muscle building diets is that they can be maintained or are livable because if they aren’t, gains will be temporary.

  1. Body Type

    • Understanding one’s body type is the first step to understanding nutrient proportion. A simplified account of samatotyping allows one to determine his body type:

      Ectomorphs tend to be skinny, with fast metabolisms. They can handle higher fat percentages.

      Endomorphs are muscular yet heavyset. They tend to have slower metabolisms and need to restrict their fat intakes drastically.

      Mesomorphs are the naturally athletic type, are muscular and relatively lean. They simply need to increase protein intake to make muscular gains with only a slight concern with fat content.

    Calories

    • Discover your basic metabolic rate to understand how many calories are needed to maintain current weight (BMI link below). Consume 500 more calories than the maintenance amount daily. Add another 100 calories a day if a pound is not gained after one week. Stick to slight increases so that the extra foods can be tolerated and maintained by the system.

    Protein

    • Building muscle requires additional protein; consume 2 grams per pound of body weight daily. Choose lean sources of beef, fish and chicken as primary protein sources. Combine beans with grains or soy to make usable proteins for vegetarian meals.

    Putting It All Together

    • Eat small- to medium-size meals five to seven a day. Simply divide total calorie and protein requirements by the number of meals to know how much to eat at each meal. Separate meal times by two to three hours to ensure digestion thus preventing accumulation of fat.

    Supplementing Protein

    • Consuming enough protein can be difficult and expensive. Protein powder is the answer. The two to consider are whey and casein based. Whey digests quickly while casein is slow.

      Consume a protein shake immediately upon rising in the morning followed by a normal breakfast 30 to 60 minutes later. While sleeping, the body is in a basal metabolic state. Upon rising it will go into a state of catabolism (using tissue for fuel) because protein is unavailable.

      Take whey protein a half hour before weight lifting along with a slow burning carbohydrate such as oatmeal, brown rice or sweet potato. Supplement whey protein within one hour after weightlifting with a fast burning carbohydrate such as Gatorade or PowerAde.

      Use casein protein between meals if possible and especially before sleeping. It is less filling so it will not prevent eating between meals and since it is slow digesting it will provide nutrients throughout the night. Cottage cheese is an excellent source of casein protein if food is preferred to shakes.

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