If there's one thing about building muscle that's both the most important and most misunderstood piece of the puzzle, it's bodybuilding nutrition. As you might know, what you eat basically determines how good your gains will be - you can train your heart out in the weight room, but without the proper building blocks, you won't gain an ounce of muscle. However, most people that lift weights, whether they want to be huge or just gain a few extra pounds, have NO CLUE how to actually eat for optimal muscle gains and minimal body fat.
The real "secrets" to eating for muscular gains are actually pretty simple. For some reason, though, nobody is actually following good advice and optimizing their nutrition. Read on to find out how the big guys actually ate to gain their size and strength.
From fat loss to muscle building to general fitness and health, protein is all the rage these days. That's really a good trend to see, since just a decade ago most nutritionists were telling people to load up on carbs and avoid high amounts of protein or fats (even olive oil)! However, most people that try to build muscle still just don't seem to get it when it comes to eating large amounts of quality protein.
The first thing you need to do in your quest for optimal bodybuilding nutrition is to figure out about how much protein you should be eating every day. The advice you see in magazines and hear from trainers tends to be on the low size, very low at times. I've heard trainers recommending as low as a half a gram per pound of bodyweight to decent-size guys trying to get big! That's not enough!
The rule of thumb I like to follow is to multiply your bodyweight by 2 to find the number of protein grams you should be eating per day. For instance, a 150 pound guy would need 300 grams of protein to grow optimally. And no, this does NOT include the incidental amounts in bread, pasta, and the like. You need to focus on getting quality, complete proteins, the kinds that come from meat, eggs, a limited amount of dairy, and any other animal products. Sorry, vegans, but you're not going to be getting huge any time soon.
The one objection to this recommendation I most often hear is "you can't digest that much protein!" I don't care how many studies have been done on this, that advice is just plain wrong. I know from personal experience, as well as from talking to other big guys, that muscular gains come MUCH more quickly with this high protein intake. If the body isn't digesting and USING that protein for muscle growth, where is it going?
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