What should you pay attention to when eating a muscle-building diet?

Increasing muscle size is an art. Training and scientific nutrition work together to promote muscle recovery and growth. "Practice" must be done scientifically, and "eating" must be done reasonably. So what is a reasonable way to eat? Based on our years of follow-up surveys and practical experience on bodybuilding trainers, we have come up with a daily muscle-building diet guide for bodybuilding trainers, which is moderate protein plus a low content of fat, plus High-content carbohydrates, and at the same time, reasonable supplementation of "anabolic factors" that promote synthesis and prevent decomposition to ensure muscle growth.

 1. Supplement sufficient heat energy

The human body needs to consume a certain amount of heat energy to maintain life and perform various activities. During bodybuilding training, the energy consumed by the human body increases greatly. The growth of muscles requires sufficient calories, because for every 0.45 kilogram (about 1 pound) of muscle added, the body requires approximately 2,500 kcal of calories. In order to promote muscle growth, the caloric intake of bodybuilders must reach more than 50 kcal/kg of body weight/day. For example, a person weighing 60 kilograms needs to eat food that can provide 3,000 kcal of energy every day to gain 1 pound of muscle. If you eat less calories than you burn, you won't be able to gain weight. Therefore, you need to eat more calories to maintain the muscle gain.

 2. Add enough carbohydrates

Energy during bodybuilding training is mainly provided by glycogen. Glycogen is the form of carbohydrates stored in the liver and muscles, called liver glycogen and muscle glycogen. The most effective way to replenish glycogen is to consume a carbohydrate-rich meal before training or competition or at breakfast to provide sufficient energy for training. In order to obtain good training results, you must also pay attention to supplementing sports drinks before, during and after exercise. In addition, the meal after training is equally important for bodybuilders. Intake of appropriate carbohydrates can convert the muscle breakdown energy supply state caused by training into the synthesis state of increasing muscle size. Chris Eckert, a nutrition expert from the International Federation of Health and Welfare, recommends that carbohydrate intake is generally: 2 to 2.5 grams per pound of body weight per day for women and 2.5 to 3.5 grams for men. Don't just eat simple carbohydrates, because they will be digested quickly and cause insulin secretion to peak and fall quickly, causing blood sugar to drop. The side effect is to cause terrible catabolism. Because in order to prevent the rapid drop in insulin levels, the body will secrete another hormone, glucagon, which can cause catabolism and destroy muscle tissue.

In addition, another reason why carbohydrates are used as the main source of energy during bodybuilding training is toSave protein to prevent muscle breakdown for energy due to insufficient sugar supply.

 3. Supplement high-quality protein

Bodybuilding training increases muscle thickness through "supercompensation" caused by "overload". To achieve "overload", there must be a sufficient source of energy. To achieve "super compensation", abundant repair materials are required. Bodybuilding expert Joe Wade said: "For bodybuilders, it is better to make the mistake of eating more protein than to make the mistake of eating less." Although this statement is somewhat biased, it still makes sense. For most bodybuilding enthusiasts, I am afraid that they are not allowed to "eat more protein by mistake" on a regular basis, but should consume protein scientifically and rationally. Our recommended protein intake is 1.6 to 2.0 grams/kg of body weight/day. Whey protein is currently the best protein source for muscle growth. It is not only rich in amino acids, but its amino acid composition is easier for the body to utilize than other proteins to build its own muscle protein.

It needs to be reminded that excessive intake of protein will not promote muscle growth more effectively, but will increase the burden on the liver and kidneys, causing dehydration, calcium loss and other side effects. Therefore, although protein is good, it is better to have an appropriate amount. .

 4. Promote synthesis and reduce decomposition

Muscle proteins are always in an alternating process of renewal and destruction: new proteins are synthesized and old proteins are broken down. The rate of protein synthesis and breakdown determines the size of muscle mass. Anabolic factors are like glue, tightly gathering the raw materials of muscle synthesis together to help muscles become stronger and stronger. The so-called anabolic factors are safe and effective "anabolic and anti-catabolic" sports nutrition foods. Common anabolic factors include creatine, glutamine, glutamine peptides, casein, ovalbumin hydrolysates (containing dipeptides, tripeptides, and free amino acids), ornithine complex (OKG), branched-chain amino acids, and β-Hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMβ), etc. Creatine is currently internationally recognized as a powerful muscle-building supplement. It can not only effectively increase strength and exercise endurance, but also increase muscle and reduce body fat percentage. However, creatine must be used correctly, and sugar, water and protein must be replenished at the same time during use.