Gaining Muscle


Guidelines

  • Incorporate a diet with adequate energy (calories) and protein with a well-designed resistance training programme
  • You need to add about 1000-2100KJ of energy to your daily eating plan. It is best to spread this over several meals during the day (See Table below for foods which contain 500KJ to add to your meals.
  • A realistic increase in body weight is about 0.25-0.5kg per week. If you gain more weight than this you may also be gaining body fat
  • Your protein intake should be about 1.3-1.7g of protein per kg of body weight per day.

Increasing energy density

The most important dietary factor for gaining muscle mass is energy. Use the following tips to increase the energy density of your diet:

  • Increase your meal frequency. You may find it beneficial to have your 3 main meals with snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon
  • Use energy and protein-dense drinks such as protein shakes, milkshakes, fruit smoothies
  • Add skim/trim milk powder to homemade milk drinks and foods such as smoothies, milk shakes, soups and casseroles

NB. Do not overeat. Keep an eye on your body composition. Measure your muscle girths and skin folds to make sure that you are gaining muscle mass and not body fat.

Examples of food containing approximately 500KJ

2 slices bread 2 apples
homemade fruit smoothie 5 dried dates
1 small scone 100g lean beef, pork, chicken
1/2 small muffin 30g raw peanuts
1 muesli bar 1 glass orange juice
1 scone 1 cup trim milk
3/4 cup cooked pasta 1 serve protein shake
1/2 packet instant noodles 100g tuna in spring water
1/2 cup cooked rice 1/2 can spaghetti
1/2 can of tinned fruit in natural fruit 1 cup cereal flakes
juice1 banana 40g sultanas7 prunes
1/2 cup creamed rice 3 Ryvita crackers
1/2 cup custard 30g low fat cheese
1 1/2 eggs 150g pottle yoghurt

 

Snacks

Choosing appropriate snacks throughout the day will help you reach your nutrition goals.

Examples of Snacks

Snack Energy Content(KJ) Carbohydrate Content (g)
1/2 cup apricots and 20g peanuts 1110 34
1 large Muffin 1510 46
6 water crackers with low fat cheese 730 16
6 cream crackers with low fat cheese 1029 19
Homemade fruit smoothie (250ml) 500 17
Commercial fruit smoothie (300ml) 1012 50
Banana 550 31
Fruit (av serve) 220 8-16
Mother Earth bars 720 32
Yoghurt covered muesli bar 584 22
Fruit juice 474 28
10 almonds and 1/4 cup sultanas 710 30
Yoghurt 534 19
6 cream crackers and 3 tbsp hummus 1050 27
Fruit bun (80g) 978 40
4 Gingernuts 852 40
4 Plain biscuits 620 26
Pita bread crisp (1 large pita) 710 35

Post-Training Considerations

Following each training session you should look at consuming some source of protein and carbohydrate as soon as is practical (i.e. within half an hour of exercise). This is the time when your body is better able to take protein into the cells for muscle synthesis. Muscle breakdown is also reduced. The carbohydrate content of your snack will increase insulin levels which aid the uptake of protein into the muscle.

Examples

  • Red8 Protein shake with fruit
  • Banana and yoghurt
  • Fruit yoghurt
  • Cereal and milk
  • Fruit Smoothie with fruit eg. Banana, berries, apricots Chicken sandwich
  • Chicken Bagel
  • Dried fruit and nut mix
  • Tetrapak of UHT flavoured milk

Supplementation

Creatine and HMB are the supplements with the most anabolic potential.