Dieting for Muscle Gains
Whether you are trying to gain muscle, or just get as strong as possible it’s important to eat towards your goals. There is a saying “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have” and this applies to dieting for your fitness goals. Diet is one of the main factors that determine the success of your fitness routine. If you are trying to gain muscle, but are not eating enough it is very hard for your body to create that muscle.
Most guys, and some women that go to the gym are there to build muscle. Muscle is what makes a body look good, and also adds to the strength and ability of that person. For practical purposes if you are trying to gain muscle, you need to be gaining weight on a steady basis. A lot of people worry about gaining fat when trying to add muscle and this can be avoided by finely tuning your diet. It’s not realistic to expect to gain 2-3lbs of muscle per week, and this must be considered when determining how much you are going to eat. A good starting point is to try to gain around 1lb of bodyweight per week. While this may not be ALL muscle, a good portion will. If you are not currently gaining any weight, try adding around 200-300 calories to your diet, EVERY DAY. This can be anything, maybe an extra peanut butter sandwich, or a few glasses of milk. Stick to that plan for a week or two and reevaluate your progress, if you are still not gaining, adds a little more. This process should be repeated constantly, monitoring your weight gain and adjusting your diet. If at some point, you are gaining over 1lb, maybe even 2lbs a week then you should do the opposite, and decrease your calories slowly until you reach your desired rate of progress. Try to stick to a normal diet, and avoid fads. See my Ideal Protein Reviews
April 18 2010 02:04 pm | Exercises and Featured and Fitness