Muscle Building Foods

As we saw in the last blog when came to muscle building diet is as important as exercise because without the proper diet and calorie intake your already muscle building potential would be limited a,d that is bad news my friend. Just picture yourself grinding through a 90 days muscle building trainer  working hard day in and day out just to discover that after those 90 day you gain very little muscle mass because you weren’ eating the right foods for your goal .

So in this article we will run through the best muscle building foods you can add to your arsenal the next time you are trying to build slabs of lean meat on your physique.

1- Eggs:

Nature greatest gift, those little protein packed with balls that would require little to no time to prepare and be ready on your plate. Eggs contain about 80 calories per egg with about 6 grams of protein and 5 grams of healthy fat. Egg’s protein is one of the highest quality proteins that there is with a net utilisation of 94 , which is the highest among all natural sources.

Also they contain a load of l vitamins like vitamin a, vitamin b12 and selenium which all happen to be very essential for immune system functioning. 

So in summary eggs :

-have a high amount of high quality protein

-rich with healthy fats

-contain essential vitamin and mineral

-they are a calorie dense food , I mean eating a 6 whole eggs omelet will give you about 500 calories of muscle building calories.

2- Lean Beef:

"Wanna get buff , then you gotta eat beef" , that is what my gym trainer used to tell us when we first started working out , and even though I doubt that he have any nutritional knowledge back then he definitely was right.

Beef is naturally loaded with muscle building creatine and notorious amounts of zinc which happen to be the mineral responsible for your testosterone levels optimisation and it is no wonder that back in the day legendary bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger ate a lot of beef during their mass gaining phases.

A 100 gram of lean beef offers about 250 calories with 26 grams of protein and around 15 grams of fat , while its higher calorie high fat profile may be inconvenient during cutting phases it is just what you needed during your mass gaining phase . Personally I like to have at least one beef containing meal per day and it does work for muscle building so go cook some meat.

3- Oats:

Oats have been a staple in bodybuilders diet right from the beginning and it is for a good reason, they are a gluten free whole grain and they are packed with fibers , minerals , vitamins and antioxidants. Each half a cup (around 78 grams for my non American friends) cover 190% from your manganese rdi, 41% of your phosphorus RDI, 34% or your magnesium RDI and 20% from both your zinc and iron RDI. Oh for those of you wondering about what the fuc* is this RDI is the recommended daily intake of a certain micronutrient.

Also oats contain a special kind of fiber called beta-glucan that is known to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) ,reduce blood sugar and insulin response which is essential to maintain a high insulin sensitivity,increase the feeling of fullness and increase the growth of good bacteria in the gut which is great for your digestive health which as we discussed in the muscle building keys article is very essential for muscle building.

Each cup of oats contain about 303 calories , 51 gram of carbs , 1” grams of proteins , 5 grams of fats and a whole 8 gram of fibers. I mean common isn’t like the perfect food composition , now add in some egg withes to this mix and you will have one of the best muscle building meals you can possibly have and if you are not about that egg withes in oats hardcore bodybuilder stuff and you want something a little bit more tasty than all you need is to add one scoop of flavoured whey protein and voila , a tasty sweet muscle building healthy meal.

4- Fish:

Fish is among the planet’s healthiest foods and it should be among your shopping list next time you go to the market . Why ? Because it is amazing , it is loaded with vitamin d , which most people happen to have a deficiency in that vitamin , also it is one of the richest sources of the infamous omega 3s fatty acids.

You see if you want to build muscle and keep fat gain at bay you need omega 3s end of story  because they help fight inflammation and improve your insulin sensitivity, because when you are inflamed and insulin resistant good luck in trying to build lean muscle mass without the fat gain. So here we are left with two choices , either you buy a fish oil supplement or simply eat more fish , I ‘ll go with the later.

Also , fish are packed with protein and healthy fats , they generally contain about 22-24 grams of protein per 100 gram and about 8-12 grams of fat depending on the fish species. I would recommend you to get fish that are lower in the food chain like : salmon , sardines and trout.

5- With Rice:

With rice and chicken breast, what a typical bodybuilding meal, and why is that? Because withe rice is your natural healthier mass gainer , I mean like really it is a cheaper and healthier version of your typical mass gainer , it is rich with carbohydrates , easy to digest and it has a very high glycemic index which make it perfect in post workout meals or whenever you want a quick instant energy.

A 100 gram of uncooked rice contain about 358 calories, 79 grams of carbohydrates , 0.5 gram of fat and 6.5 grams of protein. Mix that with few ounces of chicken breast and you have a meal with over 500 calories loaded with carbs and protein .

6- Nuts and Seeds:

Nuts and seeds are really under appreciated in the bodybuilding world , but those snacky little bastards are an easy tasty way to add lots of nutritious calories to your diet without the need to meal prep, I mean 2 ounces of almonds (50 grams) contain roughly 288 calories ,10 grams of protein and 6 grams of fibers.

Some good nuts to consume are :

-walnuts : very rich in omega 3s and protein

-almonds: very rich in important vitamin and minerals

-pumpkin seeds : a natural source for important minerals like magnesium and zinc

-sunflower seeds : very rich in healthy fats and they are really cheap

7- Dried Fruits:

If you are a skinny guy who always have a trouble gaining muscle you should stock on those , dried fruits like dried grapes ( aka raisins) , dried apricots and oh my favourite fruit the dried figs , those foods are delicious and nutritious , they are very high in both calories and carbs , for instance a serving of 4 of dried figs is about 84 calories and I doubt that you will eat only 4 of those I mean common they are dried figs nature’s most delicious food.

Also , dried fruits conserve all the vitamins and minerals that fresh fruits have so you get more calories for less volume of food and you don’t go short on your vitamins , that is what they call a double win situation, also here is a trick I use whenever I need to get in high amounts of calories : I like to take a little plastic bag in my pocket and I will fill it with dried fruits , nuts and some dark chocolate, this will give you roughly a pain free 500 calories to snack on if you are trapped outside and cant get to the kitchen to prep something healthy.

8- Milk:

Okey I know I will get lots of objections on that because people in the bodybuilding industry seems to dislike milk , they say it cause digestion problem and result in water gain. While that may be true for people with lactose intolerance , it is completely fine for other people with enough tolerance.

1 cup of milk is about 120 calories and 7.5 grams of protein , which mean 1 litre , which is if you are like me a one time sip , is about 480 calories and around 30-32 grams of protein, want to make more of it , make your own chocolate milk with unsweetened cocoa and plain sugar , that way you will have a cheaper healthier version than the commercial one.

Also chocolate milk is an amazing food post workout , it will provide you with protein , fast digesting carbs and electrolytes to rehydrate your body and replenish your electrolytes stores.

9- Chicken Breast:

Of course you saw that one coming didn’t’t you , I mean it is obviously that chicken breasts are a staple in both muscle building and fat burning diets because you couldn’t be asking for more than what chicken and turkey breasts can offer you : they are rich protein (around 24 grams per 100 gram), low in calories (only 110 calories for 100 gram) and they taste good .

I personally like to grill my chicken breasts on a tablespoon of coconut oil when I am bulking to get some extra calories and I also like to use spices and it will make a world of difference in the taste.

10- Sweat Potatoes:

In its both varieties , orange and with skinned sweat potatoes offer a ton of health benefits , they are rich in beta-carotene which will be turned into vitamin a inside the body. Sweat potatoes support the immune system and eye health and they promote proper cell growth (including new muscle tissue).

And while they are not as rich in calories and carbs like previous foods , sweat potatoes still offer enough calories  to assist in the muscle growth process with about 160 calories in an average sized potato. Also whenever I included sweat potatoes in my diet I tend to store less water weight and maintain somewhat drier look , don’t really know the reason but it is something that I discovered with me and since then I always make sure to include this sweetheart food into my lean muscle building diet.

Here you have it guys , those are the top 10 foods to assist you in your muscle building endeavour and give you the best results possible. Also don’t forget to check my muscle building keys article because without nailing all of those keys it is hard to make some serious gains.

If you want to know about the keys of muscle building check  Muscle Building Keys