If you want to change your body composition so you have more lean muscle mass, look at your diet. To do so requires a combination of adequate calorie and nutrient intake with a solid muscle strengthening program. Here are the nutritional building blocks to encourage muscle gain.
Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate is the predominant energy source used during a strength training workout. Stored as glycogen in the muscles, it is the fuel used to supply energy for short, intense bursts of power. The harder and longer you work out, the more glycogen your muscles require. Once these stores of glycogen are gone your energy level will drop and you will run out of fuel to power muscle contractions. For this reason, athletes doing strength training exercises in the hopes of building lean muscle need to have adequate carbohydrates intake to fuel the workout.
Carbohydrate needs vary depending upon the intensity and length of your training sessions. For those doing moderate workouts of less than an hour, you may only require 2 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight per day. Those doing long, intense training two hours or more, may require 3-4 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight each day. This may seem like a lot but, if you don’t consume enough carbs, your body will burn muscle to fuel your workout efforts (and that is just the opposite of what you want to do, right?)
Personal carbohydrate requirements vary based upon the intensity and length of workouts as well as your body size.
To keep muscle glycogen stores high, sports nutrition experts recommend up to 400 to 600 grams of carbohydrate per day for the average male performing regular, intense exercise and strength training workouts.
Protein
All athletes need protein after vigorous exercise. Protein helps repair and rebuild muscle tissue that is broken down during hard exercise. Because protein is the basic building material for muscle tissue, if you strength train, or want to increase muscle size, you need to consume more protein than sedentary individuals or non-athletes.
The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), recommends that the average person requires about 0.4 grams per pound per day. Sports nutritionists recommend that strength athletes consume about 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, not to exceed 2 g/pound/day. For an athlete weighing 90 kg (200 pounds) that is a total of 108 to 154 grams of protein a day.
Many strength athletes overestimate their protein needs. Doubling protein intake to 2.2 grams per pound of bodyweight daily had no effect on body composition in resistance-trained individuals who otherwise maintained the same training regimen, according to research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your body can only absorb so much protein at one time—no more than 30 grams of protein to be exact. So instead of trying to pound your daily protein intake into one meal, it is best to spread it out across five or six feedings.
You can get adequate protein by eating a healthy diet that includes low-fat dairy, eggs, lean meats such as fish and chicken, and a variety of fruits, nuts, and legumes. Some athletes find that a protein drink or bar is another convenient way to increase daily protein intake.
Fat
Fat is an essential nutrient and you require a certain amount of it to remain healthy. About 30 percent of your total daily calories can come from healthy fats, such as olive oil, lean meats and fish, nuts, seeds, and avocados.
Water
In addition to the regular eight glasses of water every day, you need to drink to replace fluids that are lost during exercise. To be confident that you are well hydrated before workouts, drink 2 cups of fluid 2 hours before exercise. During your workout, drink 4 to 8 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes. After exercise, replace any further fluid losses with 16 ounces of water. If you want to be precise, you can weigh yourself before and after workouts. For each pound lost during exercise, you should drink 16 ounces of fluid.
Eating After Exercise
To some extent, your post-exercise meal depends on your goals and the type of exercise you are doing. There is nothing in the scientific literature that says what your proportions and amount should be. Sorry, there is no magical formula. This is where your common sense comes to play.
Think about it: by going long and hard on the treadmill, say for over an hour, recovery or post-exercise nutrition needs to concentrate on replenishing the muscles’ energy reserves. In this case, your recovery nutrition would contain a large amount of carbohydrates, but you don’t want to ignore the protein. Chocolate milk has gained some popularity as a post-workout snack because it is a great mixture of carbohydrates and protein in one package.
On the other hand, going long and strong in the weight room, is a recipe for a protein-rich post-exercise meal since those glycogen energy stores are not being taxed and the calorie burn is less. The goal is to eat for muscle repair.
Eating protein helps build and repair muscles. But carbohydrates stimulate an insulin response. Insulin is the hormone that prepares the muscle cells to absorb the protein.
Consult a registered nutritionist, physician, or other health care provider for personal nutritional counseling. This information is not intended as a substitute for appropriate medical treatment.
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