Workout to build muscle :- Eat 3 of your main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) high in complex carbs (high fiber grains: whole grain bread, quinoa, oats, etc) and good quality protein (whole eggs, baked chicken, fish, etc). Incorporate 3 calorie dense snacks in between (nut butter with celery sticks, trail mix, avocados on a whole grain toast, etc).
Pre-Workout meal to build muscle
- 1-2 hours prior to your workout, have some complex carbs (piece of fruit, whole grain crackers with hummus, etc)
- Eat protein and carbs e.g. chicken and rice or salmon or egg whites and bread. Protein so you don’t lose the muscle mass and carbs to give your energy to lift heavy.
- No fat before and after workout, fat slow down the digesting system and you need to provide quick protein to your body before and after.
- 2 scrambled eggs mixed with spinach (it worked for Popeye)
- Whole wheat toast with jam and fig bars
- Grilled chicken sandwich
- Fish
- Carbohydrates (honey on toast, banana)
- Eat carbohydrates such as oatmeal or fruit, this will give you the energy your body needs to push through the workout.
Post-Workout meal to build muscle
- Good quality protein (peanut butter w/banana, eggs, etc).
- Drink quick protein shake and banana or white bread and jelly so you spike your insulin to get protein shake quickly in your muscles.
- Good quality protein shake (30g of protein, almond milk, chia sees, flax oil, blueberries, banana)
- Avocado, Almonds, Green tea
- High protein (steak salad)
- All you need is protein, sugar, milk, egg after workout
Protein drink after strength training at night (before going to bed) would help gain muscle mass as well.
Workout to Build Muscle
Hydration is very important because even losing 2% of your body weight in water can cause a drop in workout performance, Drink atleast 5 – 6 litres of water a day.
You workout a lot, you sleep a lot, but do you eat a lot? You need to eat. Not just proteins, but you need to eat a healthy combination of fats, protein and carbohydrates. It’s not only what you eat, it’s definitely how much you eat.
You need rice, chicken, vegetables, eggs, milk and peanut butter in your diet. Learn to calorie count, figure out how many calories you eat everyday and up that number by 500.
I maintain my weight at 2400 calories and gain 1 kilo a month at 2650 calories. Trust me, if you want to gain muscle, you’re going to have to do it slowly. Or else you’re going to get fat.
Good luck and happy lifting!
