If you’re looking to pack on as much lean muscle mass to your frame as possible and are already on a well-designed weight lifting program that has you placing that overloading stimulus on the body, then the next step to look at is your nutrition.
Far too many people approach their muscle building program with only half the equation in place. They search and search and come up with the absolute best workout around but then fail to consider anything on the nutritional side of things.
If this truth is told, nutrition is over half the game of adding more lean muscle mass to your frame so it’s not something you can easily just do without.
On the topic of nutrition, the single most vital nutrient that you will be taking in for muscle growth is protein. Protein is essentially going to form the structural building block that your muscle mass is made out of so if you’re not taking in enough, you’re not growing – plain and simple.
Let’s have a look at a few of the most vital points to know when it comes to maximizing your muscle building with a perfect protein intake.
When To Eat Your Protein
The very first thing to consider when coming up with your diet plan to pack on muscle mass is when to be eating your protein. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you just need protein around your workout period.
While you definitely do want to be consuming a bulk of protein both before and after you hit the gym as this is when your muscles will be most likely to take it up into their cells, it’s also critical that you’re supplying it over the course of the entire day.
After you leave the gym your muscles are going to continue along with the repair and regeneration process so having a constant stream of amino acids to utilize will help speed the process along.
You should be aiming to take in about 25-50 grams of protein every 3-4 hours according to your overall requirements. Many people fall for the myth that your body can only digest 30 grams of protein max per meal but this simply isn’t true.
If you need the protein, your body will use it – even if it is over 60 grams. Heavier individuals will always require more protein over the course of the day so they very likely could be eating 60 grams per meal.
How Much Protein To Consume
When it comes to how much protein to consume, there are a lot of misconceptions in this area. Some people mistakenly believe that the more protein you’ll eat, the more muscle you’ll build. Not so.
The thing to keep in mind here is that the body can only build so much muscle over the course of the day and once that muscle has been built, any excess protein eaten will either be used as a fuel source or converted to body fat. There is no storage capacity in the body for protein so it has to be shuttled off and utilized for some purpose one way or another.
In fact, eating too much protein could even be detrimental to your muscle building efforts because since protein takes so much energy to break down, it’s a very expensive source of fuel. You’d be far better off taking in your calories from carbohydrates than protein once your basic requirements are met.
So for the purposes of muscle building, assuming you are consuming a higher calorie diet (which is required for adding muscle mass), aim for one to one and a half grams of protein per day. One gram is usually enough but some people do find they feel better and get slightly better results from taking it a little bit higher.
Going beyond that one and a half grams, however, is simply unnecessary so always keep that in mind.
Should You Use Protein Powders?
Finally, the last question that may be on your mind is whether you should use protein powders. The thing to remember here is that here’s nothing ‘magical’ about protein powders that will make you build muscle.
All they simple are is a fast way to get in more protein. It is true that they will digest much more quickly in the body so in that sense they are ideal for before and after a workout, but they alone won’t help you pack on mass.
If they mean the difference between meeting your protein requirements or not though, then yes, protein powders are a wise decision. Most people should be using these around the workout but then if you can, focus on getting your protein from whole food sources during the rest of the day.
Typically this is slightly better since there are added nutrients in real food that you won’t get from supplements. But, if you need protein in a hurry, protein powder fits the bill perfectly.
So keep these points in mind when it comes to protein and muscle mass building. It’s definitely not something you want to overlook if you’re looking to bump up your results and make the most out of all the effort you put in at the gym.
