In this post we will not only talk about a diet to gain muscle mass , since muscle is much more than something aesthetic. In both women and men, having good muscle mass and strength is associated with better health.
I’m not just talking about quantity or volume, but also quality , that is, a functional muscle mass that allows you greater ease when performing daily movements in a well-nourished body.
How to gain muscle mass
If you want to increase your muscle mass, whatever the initial motivation or your final goal, you will have to pay attention to two things:
Training
Feeding
This post is aimed at the food and nutrition part, so here are our tips based on scientific evidence.
Calorie Consumption
The first step is to ensure a higher caloric intake . Your muscle is going to need more energy.
because you will spend more if you start training
because it’s going to have to synthesize new tissue and that takes energy.
In general, there is talk of contributing 300-500 kcal more than what you spend , although this increase may be greater or less, as well as making it suddenly or progressively depending on your objectives, the years you have been training or how your body responds. Body.
protein to gain muscle
The second step is to provide a sufficient amount of protein.
One of the most common questions in this case is how many grams of protein per day should be consumed.
Specifically, the latest meta -analysis (study of studies) published in 2022 says that in people under 65 years of age, an intake of 1.6g of protein/kg weight/day together with resistance exercise significantly improves the increase in lean mass.
If you are over 65 years old, 1.2-1.59g of protein/kg weight/day is enough.
Higher amounts (2.3-3.1g of protein/kg weight/day) are used in subsequent phases of a diet to gain muscle mass where the aim is to lose fat and gain muscle.
In these phases, more restrictive diets in calories and carbohydrates are carried out, so a greater amount of protein helps not to lose the muscle mass gained so far.
The best protein to increase muscle mass
Another meta -analysis published last year compared the effect of the type of protein (vegetable vs. animal) on increasing muscle mass and increasing strength.
The conclusions come to say that both types of proteins are capable of producing a significant increase in strength and increase in muscle mass in a very similar way.
Consume Carbohydrates on a diet to gain muscle mass?
We talk about healthy and natural foods such as:
potato
whole wheat bread or pasta
rice or other cereals
legumes
fruits etc
This nutrient is the cause of the increase in insulin , a hormone that our pancreas produces and that is anabolic.
In the presence of a healthy diet, with a sufficient amount of protein and adequate training, insulin favors muscle synthesis and therefore muscle growth.
The guidelines speak of consuming between 4-7g of carbohydrate/kg of weight/day in strength sports.
How long does it take to see the results?
If you manage to carry out what was said in the previous paragraphs, the results will come. When to eat it or how to space it out during the day does not play as essential a role as many say, but rather it is something that allows us to optimize.
For example, eating 20g of protein post exercise optimizes muscle synthesis, but this has no effect if you are not eating enough calories or are restricting carbohydrates.
There is also talk of the distribution of total daily protein in intakes of 0.3g/kg weight every 3-5 hours. That can be translated into making 3 main meals and 2 protein snacks.