Bodybuilding Nutrition FAQs

Five of the top asked questions about Bodybuilding Nutrition

1. How Key Is Protein To My Muscle-Building Efforts?

You can’t construct a building without adequate raw materials, and it’s pretty much the same in building muscle. Amino acids, the small components of protein, are commonly referred to as “building blocks” because they’re used to build and add new muscle tissue.

Lower-fat sources of protein include poultry (skinless white meat), fish, flank steak, top sirloin steak, protein powders and low-fat dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and milk.

2. How Many Calories Do I Need Daily?

In addition to protein and carbs, you need adequate calories to grow. Muscle growth requires energy: if you don’t provide enough energy in the form of calories, you won’t grow. As a general rule, you need about 20 calories per pound of bodyweight per day to put on muscle. That’s 4,000 calories for a 200-pound bodybuilder. But everybody’s biochemistry is different. If this doesn’t pack on the mass, up the calories. If you’re packing on mass along with too much bodyfat, lower the calories.

3. How Much Water Do I Need?

Failing to drink adequate liquid can affect your gains in mass. How so? Water comprises up to 75% of the body, and maintaining a hydrated body aids growth. When the body becomes dehydrated, water leaves muscle cells and can initiate a trigger that sends the body into a muscle-wasting state. Research also shows that even slight dehydration decreases muscle strength. In fact, one way that creatine and glutamine work is by hyperswelling the muscles with fluid. They push water into muscles to facilitate an anabolic or growth state. Be sure to drink about a gallon of water each day.

4. What’s The Best Thing To Eat First Thing In The Morning?

As soon as you wake up and before you cook breakfast, down about 20-40 g of fast digesting whey protein and 20-40 g of fast-digesting carbs such as white bread or sugar. You wake up in a catabolic state due to the long night of fasting. To stop the catabolism (muscle breakdown), getting in fast-digesting protein and carbs will quickly put you into an anabolic state.

5. What Should I Eat Before Bed To Fuel Bodybuilding Gains?

Before you go to bed, you need to consume 20-40 g of a slow-digesting protein such as casein or cottage cheese. While you sleep, you fast for seven to nine hours. During this time, your body will turn to your muscles to break them down for fuel, because the amino acids that make up muscle protein can be converted into glucose. If you ingest a slow-digesting protein that delivers a steady supply of amino acids throughout the night, these aminos will be converted to fuel, sparing your muscle mass.

To get your fill, aim for at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body-weight and upward of 1½ g, spread over six to eight meals each day. This can maximize absorption while minimizing bloating. A 200-pound bodybuilder, for example, would need 200-300 g a day.

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