For many people starting out in weight training, the most difficult thing is figuring out what to eat to support muscle growth. With so many conflicting methods and everyone seemingly giving conflicting advice, plus the numerous complex strategies to really optimise muscle growth, it is easy to not even know where to start. So we’ll tell you!
There are only three things you need to consider when you first start out, get these three things right and you will be on the right path to muscle growth - the more complex stuff can come later.
Number 1: Consume enough quality protein.
By quality protein we mean those that provide a full spectrum of amino acids that will support muscle growth. Eggs, meat and dairy products and supplements such as whey will give you everything you need in this regard.
Most people know this but struggle to understand that simply having a protein shake after training will not be enough to support muscle growth, especially if that is all the protein you take in during the day. You need to be consuming around 2g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day (or around 1g per lb. if you work in old money!).
Number 2: Eat fairly frequently.
Eat four or five meals a day every 4-6 hours apart, preferably including a meal within a few hours after training. This one is slightly more complex as it takes time to adjust to eating regularly. If you struggle to eat frequently due to lifestyle or work factors, the use of shakes can help, but whole foods are always preferable because of the increased vitamin and mineral content.
In order to really ‘optimise’ muscle growth, take your total protein intake you have calculated for your body weight and divide it by four or five and eat that much protein at each meal. For example, if you weigh 100kg, that equates to 200g of protein, and that equals 40/50g of protein per meal.
Number 3: Consume enough calories.
Many people worry about the amounts of carbs and fats that they should consume in their diet. The truth is it doesn’t really matter as long as you are eating enough to support muscle growth. It is probably wise to consume some carbs in the diet with AT LEAST 2g per kilogram of body weight, with fat having an amount of 1g per kg. So, for our 100kg person, they need at least 200g of carbs and 100g of fat in the diet.
Now, this may not be enough calories to support muscle growth, so amounts of each can be increased accordingly if muscle gain is not taking place. Try not to be too excessive, increasing 300-500kcal per week is more than enough, getting too overweight is NOT a good idea in the long term!
If you are starting training and healthy eating from being overweight, it is always a good idea to keep calories on the low side and focus on fat loss first, as this will actually improve long term muscle gain, and yes, you can build fat and lose muscle at the same time, so there’s no need to worry that you are missing out on ‘gains’.
Carbs should be consumed from mostly complex sources, such as rice, potatoes and even pasta and bread in moderation, With the inclusion of some fruits and veg. There’s nothing wrong with a few sugars, especially around training to help fuel recovery (and curb that sweet tooth if you have one!). Fats should be from mostly unsaturated sources such as nuts, seeds and plant oils, with enough saturated fats coming from animal fats that are associated with meat and dairy in the diet.
The real challenge is now putting this altogether. Fortunately, there are now smart phone or online food logging/tracking apps where you can simply add foods into the ‘diary’ (or even simply scan the barcode) and it calculates exactly how many calories, carbs, fats and proteins you have consumed. This can take some getting used to but within a few days you can start to easily see if you are reaching your goals, alongside beginning to understand the nutrient content of foods and how much of what foods you should be eating - this really takes the guess work out of making sure you are eating the right amount of food.
Paul Rimmer (BSc, MSc, PhD).
