Nutrient Timing - When You Eat Is As Important As What You Eat
Most of the bodybuilding magazines and experts out there will tell you that to gain muscle mass you need to eat a load of calories per day to feed your muscle tissue and help you bulk up.
Unfortunately, this only really tells half the story...
and anyone who's tried this kind of method will quickly realise that more information is needed not only on what to eat, but when to eat it.
Going out and eating anything that is going to increase your daily calorie load whenever you want is only going to cause you to get fat and possibly cause long term damage to your body.
Therefore we need to be a bit smarter about when we eat to ensure we optimize our muscle building potential as well as minimize the excess fat gain.
Nutrient Timing For Muscle Growth The science of nutrient timing (basically timing when you eat), is relatively new especially in the field of bodybuilding.
It relies on the understanding that our bodies are constantly in flux and nobody builds muscle in a linear fashion - some times we need certain nutrients more than other times.
Ignoring this aspect of your diet plan will mean that you are more likely to gain excess body fat and/or lose muscle mass since you are filling your body with calories at times when they are effectively useless - and things that your body cannot use right now either get flushed out or stored as fat to be used as energy later.
Bear in mind though, that if your body cannot find sufficient energy stores when it needs it, it won't go straight for your fat stores, it will go for the muscle tissue first since it is essentially in a kind of "starvation mode".
So, you can see that eating at the right time is extremely important if you want to gain lean muscle quickly.
Timing Out Your Meals - When Is Best? The most important meal times for lean muscle growth are the following: When you wake - you've just been through a very long period without eating, so now it is vitally important to set your body up for the day ahead.
Complex carbs like oatmeal for slow-release energy, and a good source of protein like eggs and/or a protein shake will put you in good stead.
Pre-workout meal - get some high-energy foods and solid protein sources here to give you sufficient energy to max out your workout session and give your muscles the amino acids so that they are there when they need them.
Post-workout meal - possibly the most important for lean muscle building.
Your muscles are fatigued from the workout so need the building blocks to help them grow.
A quickly absorbed protein shake immediately after your workout will help, followed by a good hearty meal of carbs, protein and fats no more than 45 minutes - 1 hour after your session.
Before bedtime - a light meal here is necessary since you don't want to stress out your digestive system which can lead to disturbed sleep.
Your metabolism slows down when you sleep so there is no need to pack on loads of calories here to get you through the next 7 to 9 hours.
Unfortunately, this only really tells half the story...
and anyone who's tried this kind of method will quickly realise that more information is needed not only on what to eat, but when to eat it.
Going out and eating anything that is going to increase your daily calorie load whenever you want is only going to cause you to get fat and possibly cause long term damage to your body.
Therefore we need to be a bit smarter about when we eat to ensure we optimize our muscle building potential as well as minimize the excess fat gain.
Nutrient Timing For Muscle Growth The science of nutrient timing (basically timing when you eat), is relatively new especially in the field of bodybuilding.
It relies on the understanding that our bodies are constantly in flux and nobody builds muscle in a linear fashion - some times we need certain nutrients more than other times.
Ignoring this aspect of your diet plan will mean that you are more likely to gain excess body fat and/or lose muscle mass since you are filling your body with calories at times when they are effectively useless - and things that your body cannot use right now either get flushed out or stored as fat to be used as energy later.
Bear in mind though, that if your body cannot find sufficient energy stores when it needs it, it won't go straight for your fat stores, it will go for the muscle tissue first since it is essentially in a kind of "starvation mode".
So, you can see that eating at the right time is extremely important if you want to gain lean muscle quickly.
Timing Out Your Meals - When Is Best? The most important meal times for lean muscle growth are the following: When you wake - you've just been through a very long period without eating, so now it is vitally important to set your body up for the day ahead.
Complex carbs like oatmeal for slow-release energy, and a good source of protein like eggs and/or a protein shake will put you in good stead.
Pre-workout meal - get some high-energy foods and solid protein sources here to give you sufficient energy to max out your workout session and give your muscles the amino acids so that they are there when they need them.
Post-workout meal - possibly the most important for lean muscle building.
Your muscles are fatigued from the workout so need the building blocks to help them grow.
A quickly absorbed protein shake immediately after your workout will help, followed by a good hearty meal of carbs, protein and fats no more than 45 minutes - 1 hour after your session.
Before bedtime - a light meal here is necessary since you don't want to stress out your digestive system which can lead to disturbed sleep.
Your metabolism slows down when you sleep so there is no need to pack on loads of calories here to get you through the next 7 to 9 hours.
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