In this article I am going to lay out what I feel is the best way to go about eating for muscle, however, I would be doing you a disservice if I did not add this point—read as much about nutrition as you can and experiment with different approaches until you find one that works best for you.

THINK PROTEIN

Back-in-the-day before all of the fancy supplements bodybuilders knew what worked and that was protein, plenty of protein in fact.

They ate plenty of protein from high quality sources like, whole eggs, whole milk, and steak—along with the combo of steak and eggs.

Of course we have made advances in our understanding of nutrition since back in the fifties and sixties; however that does not change the fact that focusing on getting your protein in first is still the way to go.

Shoot for a minimum of one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, so that means if you weight one-hundred and fifty pounds you would need to eat one-hundred and fifty grams of protein.

This is just a starting point though, so do not be afraid to increase (or even decrease) the amount you take in to fit your unique situation.

GOOD FATS

Next up is healthy fats, like those found in nuts and seeds and fatty fish like sardines and salmon.

Try and either eat a couple of servings of fatty fish per week or take fish oil supplements along with having a couple of servings of various nuts and seeds per week.

On a side note, if you are trying to gain weight nuts are a great snack to grab throughout the day.

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates or carbs have gotten a bad rap and that really is a shame because just like fats there are carbs that will help fuel you through intense workouts and there are carbs that provide nothing but empty calories and should be avoided.

Good carbs choices would be  brown rice, sweet potatoes, quality whole grain bread (the kind that has at least five grams of fiber per slice), quality high fiber cereals, along with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

I know just about everyone likes junk food (myself included) just try and keep it to a minimum—especially when you are really trying to gain lean muscle, as consuming empty calories will do nothing to help you achieve your goal.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

O.K., so we talked about protein, healthy fats, and good carbs, but how should you go about putting all the above info together to help you in your quest to build muscle.

Simple.

First, you must commit to eating every two to three hours, next, focus on eating your protein first, then balance out the meal with some quality fats and quality carbs, and you will be fine.

Couple the above eating plan with some solid workouts and chances are your dreams of gaining muscle will start to come true.

CONCLUSION

Muscle building nutrition may not be the new hot topic of the month, but if you are looking to pack on some serious muscle, it is nothing short of vital.

Of course, the above is just my opinion and should be thought of mainly as a starting point, one that will need to be constantly tweaked and changed to fit your changing needs.

I know however, that if you do this, your body will thank you in the form of more muscle looking back at you in the mirror sooner than you think.

ALWAYS WORK HARD

My friend is into yoga and he likes to kayak along with other things.

While he knows that I am big time into bodybuilding.

He mentioned skateboarding and I said something like, there is no way I would be doing that.

But to him skateboarding is fun—and here is the secret.

To me bodybuilding is fun—it is what I love to do.

To him skateboarding is not exercise, it is fun.

And that to me is the key.

I mentioned to him that a lot of people find bodybuilding to be on the disgusting side—but again to me it is great—I would not trade these last twenty five years or so for nothing.

So, if you are looking to get in shape—or simply are in shape but sick of your current routine—break out of the rut you are in and do something that you love.

I know some of you might be thinking, yea, but what about all-around conditioning and working all your muscles evenly and all of that kind of stuff.

The above is valid, but again, I would rather see somebody go out for a hike everyday—because that is what he or she loves to do—than get so confused by all of the exercise routines on the market today—that they end up doing nothing.

They are up, they are exercising—what is wrong with that.

Plus as people get into better shape they can always integrate things like bodybuilding to help build up strength for what they love to do.

So I urge you, if you have been avoiding exercise like the plague because you simply do not like any of it.

Forget about all the rules and simply go out and do what you love.

Your body will thank you.

Until Next Time

WORK HARD