How to Eat for Muscle Mass and Strength

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Your diet is an important factor in leading a healthy lifestyle. It dictates whether or not you’re going to maintain a good weight, or have better gains in your workouts. They basically feed your body with the nutrients it needs. That said, your workouts almost mean nothing without a good nutrition plan.

But what can you do to use food as a fuel for your strength? How can it help your body to grow? Read this very informative article on how to eat for muscle mass on Flex:

70 Ways to Eat for Muscle

No matter your genetics or the goals you’ve set for yourself, you need to follow the rules of bodybuilding nutrition if your hard training is going to pay off. Read more…

As mentioned, water is very important. It helps digest the food you consume, therefore boosting your metabolism.

In addition to that, fitness expert Jim Stoppani explains how you can boost your strength through your diet on Muscle and Fitness:

5 WAYS TO EAT FOR STRENGTH

You’d probably like to think that lifting big weight is simply a matter of big muscles—that if you have hulking lats, you can row a barbell loaded with clanking plates until next Thursday. However, if you’re not fuelling your body properly, you’ll find out in a hurry just how shortsighted that philosophy is. You’ve probably heard the analogy before: your musculature is like a car—if you fuel it with junk, it’ll perform like junk. That is absolutely true when it comes to training for strength. Read more…

Lastly, here are the foods that you may want to incorporate into your diet because they promote BOTH muscle gains and strength, as written by Michael Martin on Eat This:

BEST FOODS TO EAT FOR MUSCLE AND STRENGTH

Don’t get distracted by this protein powder propaganda. You can get plenty of muscle-building nutrients by adding the right foods to your diet. These 11 basics are foundational elements for every meal of the day, ideal for boosting energy and speeding muscle recovery before and after the gym. (What you wear there is still up to you.) Read more…

In conclusion, the best way to eat for muscle mass and strength is to have a balanced diet, and nothing in restriction. This means you also need to take healthy fats and carbs, fibre, potassium, among other nutrients, and not just protein.

Eat more whole foods. Aside from animal meat, there are plant foods that promote more muscle, such as flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp, lentils, quinoa, nuts, beans, and more. They are rich in protein, fibre, water, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

The only food group you really have to restrict yourself of is processed foods. Some examples are soda, packaged chips, and processed meat (including bacon!). They are usually full of chemicals and harmful additives that will keep your tummy bloated and sluggish, while increasing your risk of a variety of diseases and conditions.

You also have to note that timing is important. It’s better to eat small meals during the course of the day than to eat heavy meals for only thrice a day. Avoid eating foods rich in carbohydrates late at night because they take time to digest. These foods will only get stuck in your body, hence the fats in the most unwanted parts.

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