How to Build Muscle with Diet

Best Muscle Building Foods

Visit our FREE eBooks downloads to learn more on the best muscle building foods, exercises, techniques, and supplements to speed your bodybuilding results. Also, visit my Muscle Building Foods blog. Be sure to download the 2 FREE bodybuilding nutrition eBooks while you're there... and check out Will Brinks' great muscle building nutrition eBook.

One of the best muscle building foods is whey protein, which is part of our Muscle growth Ultra Packs for building muscle & losing fat at the same time.

Top bodybuilder and former Mr. Olympia winner, Larry Scott, always used to say that nutrition was more than half the battle in adding muscle mass. I agree. If you have a fast metabolism, and eat like a sparrow, you will look like a sparrow!

The basic fact is that we are what we eat, and if we want to be bigger... we need to eat more. Training and exercise stimulates the muscles to grow, but unless you put in the building blocks (food) for growth to occur, you won't grow much. In fact, there's nothing more frustrating for a beginner bodybuilder than to train like an animal but not grow. Very unmotivating and debilitating. In fact, it's the reason why many fail before they really even get started. Well, that's not going to happen to you, because you know better now. Follow my advice and in place of frustration, you'll get jubilation! This is especially true for the hard gainer, who can't afford not to do everything optimally... eating all the best muscle building foods... otherwise he/she won't get anywhere fast.

Maintaining an Anabolic State

Your goal is to keep your body in what's known as a positive nitrogen balance, or anabolic state. Only by doing this can you ever hope to achieve your maximum muscle growth goals. To accomplish this, you must eat every three hours... that means six to seven meals per day. Now some of these will be snacks... but it doesn't matter what you call them, the important thing is that you eat on a very regular basis to keep a continuous flow of nutrients feeding your muscles.

The faster that your metabolism is (i.e., the skinnier you are), the larger these meals must be. I took my own bodyweight up from a skinny 67 kilograms to a bulked 107 kilograms over a six-year span... and if I didn't adhere to the eating every three-hour rule... I didn't grow. As simple as that.

Sample Eating Plan for a Hard Gainer

(If you are an easy gainer, or a bit overweight (fat!), use water in your protein shakes rather than milk.)

• Meal One: Bowl of cereal (e.g., muesli or oats) with low-fat milk. Protein shake (3 scoops of protein powder, 1 banana, low-fat milk, blended). If you can't afford protein powder, preferably WPC or WPI, use skim milk powder.
• Meal Two: Protein shake (3 scoops of protein powder, 1 banana, low-fat milk, blended).
• Meal Three: Serve of solid protein (e.g., beef, chicken, or fish) with vegetables or rice, piece of fruit (e.g., apple or orange).
• Meal Four: Protein shake (3 scoops of protein powder, 1 banana, low-fat milk, blended).
• Meal Five: Serve of solid protein (e.g., beef, chicken, or fish) with vegetables or rice, fruit salad.
• Meal Six: Protein shake (3 scoops of protein powder, 1 banana, low-fat milk, blended).
• Meal Seven (Optional): Protein shake (3 scoops of protein powder, 1 banana, low-fat milk, blended).

Drink at least 2 litres of water throughout the day... more if you live in a warm climate.

If you are really overweight, lose fat first by following the Super fat burner eating plan: click here

If you want to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, follow the 8-week Muscle-Up program eating plan: click here

If you just want to tone up a bit, follow my long-term eating plan: click here

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is very hard for most people to gain substantial muscle and lose fat at the same time... unless you are using my synergistic ultrapacks. If you try it without these packs, you will be more successful cycling your training between phases of adding muscle... then losing fat. Not trying to do the two things at the same time. Without the help of the supplements in the ultra packs, you may find you get nowhere fast. The whey protein contained within Ironpower's SynStack is one of the best muscle building foods.