Lifting weights builds muscle. But, without the right diet, you will be wasting your workouts.
Training is only part of the battle. Even if you are training hard, you are leaving gains on the table if your nutrition is not dialed in for your goals. There are three important nutritional keys that will allow you to build a leaner body.
1) Your Caloric Intake Must Match Your Goal
Are you skinny?
If your goal is to gain muscle mass and strength, why are you eating so little? Why are you eating like a bird and wasting your workouts?
On the other side of the coin, maybe you are fat. If your goal is to drop body fat and lose excess weight, why are you eating so much? Why are your portion sizes enough for two grown men?
In both of these cases, the caloric intake does not match the goal. You will not build muscle or lose fat on the wrong diet. I’ve seen this movie many times during my career in the iron game, and it always gets lousy reviews.
An app like MyFitnessPal can help you track your food intake. You don’t have to track your calories forever. But it helps to see what changes you need to make in your diet.
2) Your Macros Must Also Match Your Goals
Once you determine how many calories you need to eat, it is time to break them down by the macronutrient.
Your macronutrients are your carbohydrates, your proteins, and your fats. Your carbs and fats are your body’s fuel. Protein builds your muscles. Your macro profile must be in line with what you are trying to accomplish.
You should start to look at your body as a gas tank. When you overfill a gas tank the excess spills over. A diet too high in carbs, fats, and calories will cause unsightly body fat. This may boost sales of compression wear and similar products. But, I don’t think you want to look like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
A calorie is not just a calorie. Eating 2000 calories of sugar and fat will wreck your body and diminish your performance. Eating 2000 calories of high protein, moderate carbs, and healthy fats will improve your body and performance.
3) You Must Prioritize Your Pre And Post-Workout Nutrition
Have you ever tried to use your cell phone throughout the day on a low battery?
What always happens? The phone always dies and runs out of juice.
Many lifters are like that cell phone. These lifters show up to the gym with little to no food in their system. They usually end the workout early. They feel lightheaded and want to go home. Or they slog through the session because they have no energy to burn.
Before you train, eating a combination of carbohydrates and protein will do the trick. Complex carbs, like oats and brown rice, provide more energy during workouts. They will sustain you better. Simple carbs, like jasmine rice or Russet potatoes, also work. But your energy may fade faster during the workout. And the protein will allow you to avoid muscle breakdown during the training session.
After you train, a combination of simple carbohydrates and lean protein will do the trick. The simple carbs will replenish your muscle glycogen (fuel). The protein will kick-start muscle recovery.
Your fat content during these meals will be much lower than the carbs and protein because fat slows digestion a bit. You want to get the carbs and protein into your system as fast as possible.
Conclusion
Stop wasting your workouts and put the focus on mastering your pre and post-workout meals.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman
