I'm going to tell you exactly how and why food is a critical factor for increasing muscle strength, size and burning fat. I think it's safe to say that everyone who reads this article knows that food is important for achieving their training goals, whether to build muscle, lose fat or both. Everybody knows you need carbohydrate energy for workouts and you need protein for muscle recovery and repair. However, what most people don't know is that you can't just haphazardly go about about your muscle building nutrition. For example... What to eat, how much to eat, in what combinations, pre workout eating, post workout eating and meal timing can be tricky until you learn how to do it automatically. With this in mind, here are five expert nutrition tips for building muscle and burning fat fast:
1) Eat Enough Quality Food
Food is anabolic by nature's design, meaning it builds, repairs and nourishes body tissue. According to new research studies, just eating enough of the right foods will help you build new muscle - even without working out. How great is that? You will need to eat approximately 500 extra calories per day over your daily caloric maintenance requirement to add a pound of muscle per week. Similarly, to lose one pound of fat per week you will need to eat 500 less calories per day. Keep in mind that when you add a pound or lose a pound, it's going to be a mix of both fat and lean muscle tissue. The human body does not exclusively lose or gain fat and lean muscle. It's almost always a mix. Your goal is to minimize lean tissue loss when losing fat and minimize the fat gained when building muscle. By consuming most of your extra calories in protein and complex carbohydrates you put the odds in your favor for muscle building. Similarly, when trying to lose fat, make sure you have ample protein in your diet to minimize lean muscle loss.
2) Eat 5-6 Smaller Meals a Day
You should eat your first meal or snack within 1 hour of rising. better yet, eat as soon as you rise. After that, space your meals and snacks 2-3 hours apart throughout your day. This is the most efficient way of eating because you feed your body just the right amount of calories to stay energized and in an anabolic state - to build muscle and burn fat. Your meals should be about 3/4 the size (calories) of a standard meal. Snacks are a little smaller than meals and are typically convenience-oriented, such as protein shakes, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, cheese, whole-grain snack bars & cereals, fruits and vegetables.
3) Center Meals & Snacks Around Quality Protein
I hate counting calories, carbohydrates and protein. By simply centering your meals and snacks around a solid portion of quality protein, your body will be more forgiving if you eattoo much or too little food. For example, some excess "good food" calories will be used to build muscle along with a little bit of fat. When you gain muscle, you always gain some fat too. This is a FACT no matter what the other gurus say. The human body cannot efficiently build muscle and burn fat simultaneously.
While carbohydrates are important, you don't need them in every snack or meal. They are most important in the first half or two thirds of your day and before and after training. However, your body does need protein every 2-3 hours while you're awake and before and after training if it is expected to grow muscle. According to the Journal of Applied Physiology, you should consume 1.0 gram of protein per pound of body weight. That ensures you have a good pool of amino acids for your muscles to use for repair and growth.
4) Don't Fear Fat!
When I was a competitive fitness athlete and natural bodybuilder in the 1990's, I subscribed to the "low fat" theory of weight management. Back then fat was the enemy. I did everything to avoid it. And though I did reduce my body fat percentage to an insane level -- 3.5% -- I did so at a cost to my health and muscle size.3.5% body fat is not healthy for a couple of reasons: First, your body needs more fat to cushion organs. Second, fat is needed for various biological processes that rely on it -- such as absorbing fat-soluble vitamins and releasing testosterone and growth hormone.
With regard to building muscle, I was cheating myself out of bigger gains by following the low fat eating theory. That's because your body needs fat to release testosterone and growth hormone to levels required for muscle building. Don't make the mistake I made years ago with ultra low fat dieting. Depending on your goals, shoot for approximately 25-30% fat in your diet with the rest coming from protein, carbohydrates and fiber.
5) Glycemic Index Made Easy
For most of your meals and snacks you should be eating a mix of protein, carbohydrates, fats and fiber. This will promote an even flow of calories into your bloodstream for sustained energy throughout the day. It will also ensure that your blood sugar does not spike, which will prevent you from gaining fat. And because you're centering meals around protein, you raise your metabolism. That's because protein has a high thermic value... That means your body must use more calories (energy) to digest proteins compared to what it uses to digest carbohydrates and fats. The mere, involuntary act of digestion is calorie-dependent and much more so when you eat protein.
So there you have it... Five important nutrition tips for building muscle and burningfat fast.
Bob Thomson is a Certified Personal Trainer and natural bodybuilder. He is the owner/operator of Straight Line Fitness http://www.straightlinefitness.com/ and Bootcamp at Tymor http://www.tymorbootcamp.com/ in Lagrangeville, New York. Visit his sites and blog for the latest tips, strategies and articles about getting fit, losing weight and building muscle. While you're there, sign up for a FREE Lifetime subscription to his "Get Fit" newsletter -- filled with the latest ideas and research for building muscle and burning fat, including tips and strategies for fast body transformation. He is available for Online training, lifestyle coaching and body transformation coaching.
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