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The diet to increase muscle mass includes strategies such as consuming more calories than you expend, increasing the amount of protein during the day and consuming good fats. In addition to the reinforced diet, it is also important to do regular workouts that require a lot of muscle mass, as the hypertrophy stimulus is passed on to the body.
It is also important to remember that in order to gain lean and lose fat at the same time, one must avoid the consumption of sugar, white flour and processed products, as they are the main stimulators of fat production in the body.
Here are 7 steps to increase your results:
1. Consume more calories than you spend
Consuming more calories than you expend is essential to gaining muscle mass faster, as the excess calories, along with your workouts, will allow the muscles to grow. To find out how many calories you need to consume per day, test on the following calculator:
2. Don't skip meals
Avoiding skipping meals is important so that it is possible to reach all the necessary calories during the day, without stimulating possible loss of lean mass during a prolonged fast.Ideally, 5 to 6 meals a day should be made, with extra attention at breakfast, pre- and post-workout.
3. Consume more protein
Increasing the consumption of proteins is necessary to allow muscle growth, and it is important that protein-source foods are well distributed throughout the day, and not concentrated in just 2 or 3 meals. These foods are mainly those of animal origin, such as meat, fish, chicken, cheese, eggs and milk and dairy products, but proteins can also be found in good amounts in foods such as beans, peas, lentils, peanuts and chickpeas. .
In addition, it may sometimes be necessary to use protein-based supplements, such as whey protein and casein, especially used in post-workout or to increase the nutritional value of low protein meals throughout the day. See the 10 best supplements to gain muscle mass.
4. Consume good fats
Contrary to popular belief, consuming good fats helps to reduce the accumulation of fat in the body and also facilitates the increase of calories in the diet to gain muscle mass. These fats are present in foods such as avocado, olive oil, olives, peanuts, peanut butter, flaxseed, chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, fish such as tuna, sardines and salmon.
Throughout the day, these foods can be added to snacks such as crepe recipes, fit cookies, yogurts, vitamins and main meals.
5. Drink plenty of water
Drinking plenty of water is very important to stimulate hypertrophy, because for muscle cells to grow, more water is needed to fill their larger size. If there is not enough water intake, the gain in muscle mass will be slower and more difficult.
A healthy adult should consume at least 35 ml of water for every kg of weight. Thus, a person weighing 70 kg would need to consume at least 2450 ml of water per day, it is important to remember that artificial or sugary drinks do not count in this account, such as soft drinks and alcoholic beverages.
6. Consume at least 2 fruits a day
Consuming at least 2 fruits a day is important to gain vitamins and minerals that favor muscle recovery after training, favoring a faster and more hypertrophied muscle mass regeneration.
In addition, the vitamins and minerals present in fruits and vegetables are important for muscle contraction, reducing the feeling of fatigue during training and for strengthening the immune system.
7. Avoid sugar and processed foods
Avoiding sugary and highly processed foods is important to avoid stimulating fat gain in the body, especially since the diet to gain mass already has excess calories. Thus, to prevent weight gain from being made from fat, it is necessary to remove from the diet foods such as sweets, cookies, cakes, toast, fast food, sausage, sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese and ham or ham.
These foods should be exchanged for whole grain bread, biscuits and whole grain cakes, cheeses such as rennet, mines and mozzarella, eggs, meat and fish.
Menu to increase muscle mass
The menu for increasing muscle mass varies according to the intensity of physical exercise and the size, sex and age of each person, but the following table provides an example of a menu for hypertrophy:
Meal: | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
Breakfast | 2 slices of brown bread with egg and cheese + 1 cup of coffee with milk | 1 chicken and cheese tapioca + 1 glass of cocoa milk | 1 glass of sugar-free juice + 1 omelet with 2 eggs and chicken |
Morning snack | 1 fruit + 10 chestnuts or peanuts | 1 natural yogurt with honey and chia seed | 1 mashed banana with oats and 1 col of peanut butter |
Lunch dinner | 4 col of rice soup + 3 col of beans + 150 g of grilled duckling + raw salad of cabbage, carrots and peppers | 1 salmon steak + boiled sweet potatoes + sautéed salad with olive oil | Ground beef pasta with wholegrain pasta and tomato sauce + 1 glass of juice |
Afternoon snack | 1 yogurt + 1 whole chicken sandwich with curd | fruit smoothie with 1 col of peanut butter + 2 col of oats | 1 cup of coffee with milk + 1 crepe filled with 1/3 can of tuna |
It is important to remember that only after an evaluation with the nutritionist is it possible to know whether or not it is necessary to add any supplement to gain muscle mass, as the excessive use of these products can harm health.
Watch the video below and learn how to add protein-rich foods to your diet.
Bibliography>
- MOLFINO, Alession et al. The Role for Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation in Older Adults . 2014. Vol 06. 4058-4072, 2014
- LIAO, Chun-De et al. Effects of protein supplementation combined with resistance exercise on body composition and physical function in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vol 106. 1078-1091, 2017
- OLIVEIRA, Romário A. Effects of a high-carbohydrate diet on muscle hypertrophy in strength training practitioners. Brazilian Journal of Prescription and Exercise Physiology. Vol 8. 47 ed; 435-444, 2014