Muscle Building Diet Breakdown

When it comes to building muscle what you eat is just as important as when you eat it.

Remember in order to build muscle FAST you need to consume extra calories FAST.

Since it takes 3500 EXTRA calories to gain 1lb of new muscle mass your goal should be consuming 3500 EXTRA as fast as possible.

So think about it, If you can consume 500 extra calories a day that's 3500 calories in 1 week , it's simple math.

But the real goal is to consume these extra calories without the excess fat gain. Believe it or not, but since fat gain goes hand in hand with building muscle.

Why?

it's pretty simple, In order to build muscle you need to consume excess calories, well that's the same environment fat gains thrive in.

So to help you pack on the most muscle but the least amount of fat, here's a run down of what you should eat and when you should eat it to get the best results possible.

Sample Muscle Building Diet Breakdown

Meal 1: Breakfast [7am] For Jimmy breakfast is typically his largest meal of the day and it might be your largest meal of the day as well.

So for this meal you’re going to have a high amount of protein, you’re going to really need your simply sugars to get your body going for the day, you’re also going to need to your complex sugars to keep it going. And that’s basically it for your breakfast.

Meal 2: Post Workout [9:30am] This “meal” is just going to be a workout shake. This is when you definitely want to take Whey Protein, because it hits your muscles faster than any other type of protein. (This’ll be discussed more in the supplements section)

Meal 3: 1hr after your workout [12pm] For this meal you’re going to want to load up on your complex carbs at this time, again a good amount of protein and also a good amount of fatty acids, this should be a pretty well balanced meal, this is typically my largest meal of the day.

Meal 4: Weight Gainer shake[2:30pm] This is an ideal time to be consuming your weight gainer shake (if you choose to use one) because it’s in the middle of the day while you’re still active which means less calories that turn into fat.

If you don’t want to use a weight gainer for this meal, then you should look to consume another well balanced meal high in complex carbs, protein and Essential Fatty Acids.

Meal 5: Cutting the carbs [5pm] For Meal 5, you want to start cutting your carbs a little bit.

Because even though we’re not on a cutting diet [trying to lose body fat] personally I don’t like to be ingesting a lot of carbs during the evening hours because I’m primarily just sitting around not doing much, which can lead to unnecessary fat gains if you ingest too many carbs during this time.

This is probably the last meal where you have a good amount of carbs.

Meal 6: Large snack without the carbs [7pm] This can be something like a salad, a steak, maybe some All Natural Organic Peanut butter [not the Jif’s and Skippy’s] the real stuff.

This meal should primarily consist of protein and EFA’s.

Meal 7: 45 min before bed [9pm] This meal could be something like a casein protein shake.

Why casein?

Because casein protein is kind of like soy protein, in essence it’s a slow digesting protein. And what that does, is it prevents your body from eating away at itself while you’re sleeping and without nutrients for the next 8 hours while you’re resting.

I hope this quick muscle building diet breakdown helps you because nutrition is very very very important.

And when you know how to consume massive amounts of calories without all the excess fat gains will be able to build a lot of pure lean muscle mass and ultimately change your physique that much quicker.

If you're struggling to cook muscle building meals (as in you don't really have a clue) and you want some "quick" and easy recipes for some pretty tasty meals that'll SPARK your Muscle Gains I highly recommend you checkout Anabolic Cooking

Click Here to learn how to make quick and easy muscle building meals

Train hard,

Rich

Can You “Really” Build Muscle Without a Gym?

Question: What type of workouts can you do if you don’t have access to a gym, to gain extra weight and build muscle?

Now here's the problem - You NEED heavy weights to build a significant amount of muscle if you're a hardgainer, or someone who hasn't touched a weight before in their life then you can get away for sure while in the beginning with just bodyweight exercises.

But your body will adapt to those exercises fairly quickly, and it'll be time for you to start exercising with heavier weight (heavier than your bodyweight)

I remember back in high school, I didn't understand this concept that you need to lift heavy weights in order to build muscle.

I remember doing some crazy things like doing a gazillion push-ups every morning and every night, and curling water jugs thinking I was going to get big and buff.

Boy was I wrong!!!

So why wasn't this enough...

Why do You Need to Lift Heavy Weights to Build Muscle?

And to answer this question we need to look at your muscle fibers. Your muscles consists of two main types of muscle fibers, and they are your Type 1 and Type 2 muscle fibers.

Marathon Runner

Type I Muscle Fibers (Slow Twitch)

These muscle fibers have a slow contraction, produce very low-power, but these muscle fibers can be used for a duration of hours. The size of the motor neuron: Small (they don't get that larger.

When you think slow twitch think of a long-distance runner.

Marathon runners probably have the most developed slow twitch muscles in the world, yet they aren't that big and muscular, and it's because the size of type 1 muscle fibers are very small compared to other muscle fibers within your body.

Type I I Muscle Fibers (FAST Twitch)

These muscle fibers have a fast contraction rate, they produce a very high amount of power, but these muscle fibers can only be used for a duration of one minute to a maximum of 30 minutes. The size of the motor neuron: Large to Very Large (compared to Type I Muscle Fibers).

Usain Bolt

Think of a world-class sprinter like Usain Bolt. A lot of power (Type II Muscle Fibers) is needed within the sport of sprinting.

And since Type II muscle fibers grow very large compared to Type I Muscle Fibers that's why sprinters always look bigger than Marathon runners.

With that said you need some type of way to progressively overload your muscle with heavier weight, because it's heavier weight that targets your Type II muscle fibers, which are the muscle fibers that grow the largest.

So if you don't have access to a gym you'll have to find another way to target your Type II muscle fibers. You can use such things as:

  • Resistance Bands
  • Kettlebells / Free weights
  • Home Gym
  • Do some backyard "strong man" stuff (IMPROVISE)

Remember, in order to build muscle or ultimately change your physique you need to build your Type II muscle fibers and to do that you need to lift heavier weight.

If you don't have access to a gym I strongly suggest you invest in a home gym or you can try one of the other alternative I mentioned.

All the best,

Rich

Why You Need to Workout Your Legs to Build Muscle

Today, we’re gonna be talking about the most important, yet most neglected body part in all of weight training: the legs.

This topic is so important that I feel the need to dedicate an entire article to just convincing you that training legs, and training them hard, is a MUST.

I could go on and on about why having big legs is not only good for your physique, but will also help you push past weight plateaus that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

However, seeing as we don’t have all day and you most likely don’t want to be reading 10 pages of ranting and raving, I’m going to list a couple of the top reasons for training legs and talk about each of them in a bit of detail. So without further ado:

You want to train legs because:

  1. You don’t want chicken legs
  2. Your legs support the rest of your body
  3. Training legs increases Testosterone (Your BIG DADDY Muscle Building Hormone)
  4. Leg strength is a major part of every compound exercise

So let’s dive right in and talk about number 1 on the list.

Reason #1: You're NOT BIG Without BIG LEGS

I can’t even count the number of times I go to a gym and see a bunch of guys working on chest, back, biceps, triceps, etc.

And they walk around, thinking their big and tough… except they’re all wearing pants… and when the AC blows… you can tell they’ve never trained legs a day in their life.

You think you’re big without big legs? You’re not. Your legs are LITERALLY HALF YOUR BODY.

So no matter how much you can bench, no matter how many pounds you can curl, no one is impressed if you have stick-figure legs.

Reason #2: Your Legs Support the Rest of Your Body

As a wise man once told me, your legs have to support all of your body weight. So if you’re legs aren’t big and strong, it’s going to be hard for your body to pack on mass. Your base just won’t be strong enough to support it. Makes sense right?

Reason #3: More TESTOSTERONE!!!

When someone tells me that they’ve hit a plateau and either they can’t gain weight or they’ve hit a sticking point in their bench press or deadlift, or what-have-you, the first thing I ask them is if they squat. Squatting regularly will increase your testosterone, making it:

1) more likely for you to get stronger
2) more likely for you to gain weight

And if you’re reading this right now, you don’t need any more than the two reasons listed above to start hitting the rack.

Reason #4: You Need Your Legs More Than You Think!

Finally, your legs are an essential part of every compound exercise that you do. And as we’ve learned previously, compound exercises are the best way to not only get stronger, but also to build more muscle and gain more weight.

Some food for thought: When you bench, you’re always told to keep a stable base and put your legs firmly and in a comfortable position on the floor.

Why is that? (because you drive with your legs even when you’re working your chest… that’s why its called a COMPOUND exercise).

Again, when you deadlift, why is it that you’re told to drive through your heels? (the power is primarily coming from your legs).

And finally, when you clean and press, why do you explode with your legs on the clean portion, squat down a bit, and then drive again with your legs in a fluid motion on the press portion? (because your legs generate the most power here).

"Be a Man...WORKOUT YOUR LEGS"

You can thank me later.

Until next time,

Jim