Nutrition for Muscle Building

Welcome back to BETTER, the email series that provides tools, strategies, and knowledge to help you progress toward a healthier and fitter future.

This week, we are providing strategies to help your muscle-building efforts.

Today's installment covers nutrition strategies to enhance your muscle mass!

1. Eating more calories than you burn is your biggest weapon. Can you build muscle without an energy surplus? Yes, but it takes perfect conditions, and even then, you won't see nearly as much progress as if you stayed in a caloric surplus while trying to build muscle. I recommend a conservative approach of eating 250-300 more than you burn a day. Eating more than you burn will minimize fat gain while providing your body with the necessary muscle-building resources. 

2. Eat enough protein. Eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you consistently hit this number, you'll have enough protein to support hard training sessions and the repair process needed to keep you progressing. 

*If you focus on the two steps above, you will see at least 80% of the progress you can make from nutrition in a muscle-building sense. If you want to maximize your potential for muscle mass gain, add in the following two steps:

3. Eat whole foods at least 80% of the time. Whole foods will optimize all the processes and reactions that need to happen in your body for muscle building, health, vitality, and energy. Ensure your diet has a strong foundation of protein from lean meats, fish, and high-quality dairy like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and protein powder. If you don't eat meat, ensure you eat lots of beans, tofu, and tempeh. Focus on consuming quality fats like olives, olive oil, nuts and seeds, nut butter, and avocadoes. Excellent sources of carbs include fruit, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, quinoa, rice, sourdough bread, and oatmeal. Add plenty of veggies into the mix, and you will have a fantastic dietary foundation to build muscle and health.

4. Eat smaller, more frequent meals with a source of protein. Giving your body small amounts of protein several times a day will ensure you always have the anabolic building blocks to support your muscle mass journey. Shoot to eat 4-6 times a day. Small, protein-filled meals are helpful but not the linchpin for building muscle mass. Focus on the total calories and overall protein you consume daily, and you'll give yourself the best shot at muscle mass gains.

Put these principles into practice consistently, and you'll set yourself up for muscle mass-building success!