Eat frequently, every 3-4 hours, and aim for 6 small meals during the day. Try not to lump your calories into 3 big meals, as it will make you feel sluggish. Eat a minimum of 20-30 grams of protein at each meal. Eat simple carbohydrates directly before/after training ssessions.
If you eat 3 meals a day and pay careful attention to the distribution of your daily protein intake and food quality, you can probably stimulate maximum muscle growth.
More Meals = Muscle Growth
Although you need protein, you really don't have to spread it and eat it over six or seven meals. The aim is to reach the daily intake without fail and this will help you develop muscle. An average man needs about 4-6 meals a day plus the right amount of exercise for steady muscle growth.
Eat More Meals More Often
If you're active and train hard, you likely burn a lot of calories each day. It's very difficult to eat clean foods that replace all the energy you've spent in just three meals. That's why bodybuilders—competitive and recreational alike—eat 5-8 meals per day to support mass-building.
The best diet to build muscle should add 500–1,000 calories per day on top of your current dietary intake.
There is literally no difference. Multiple studies have compared eating many smaller versus fewer larger meals and concluded that there is no significant effect on either metabolic rate or the total amount of fat lost ( 1 , 2 ).
A dirty bulk refers to a period of aggressive weight gain used to promote muscle and strength gains in strength sports and certain team sports.
A bulking phase can last anywhere from 1 month to over 6 months or longer, depending on your goals. To start bulking, add a given number of calories to your typical daily calorie intake.
Rice: White rice has been arguably considered one of the best foods for adding muscle. It provides a high volume of carbohydrates per serving and is an easy filler. Combine rice with some veggies and protein for a perfect post-workout meal.
Your ripped-body diet plan should include three to six meals a day. The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends spacing your protein intake throughout the day, eating about every three hours.
They found that the muscle building potential (also known as the net protein balance) of men who ate protein every 3 hours was moderately greater than the 6-hour group, and slightly better than the 1.5-hour group.
To make gains you have to have the right nutrients in your body to construct muscle. This means that what you eat, and how much, is essential in making muscle gains. Lifting and doing strength training without adequate nutrition, especially without enough protein, can actually lead to loss of muscle tissue.
"Across all peer-reviewed research and health practices, three meals a day is a general recommendation to encourage consistent, adequate energy intake," Miluk said.
In order to bulk up and gain lean muscle mass, you need to be in a state of positive nitrogen balance — this is when muscle synthesis (building) is greater than muscle breakdown. To do this, try to eat some protein (about 20 g) every 3-4 hours — key times are with breakfast, post-workout, and before bed.
When bulking, be sure to include a variety of nutrient-dense foods in your diet to support muscle growth and overall health. You should limit alcohol, added sugars, and fried foods, though certain supplements can be useful.
This easy-to-use and easy-to-eat food can be used in a variety of recipes from smoothies to on-the-go snacks. Just one tablespoon of peanut butter has four grams of protein, making it a good source of protein for building muscle.
The Theory: Nutrition experts tend to recommend eating 3 balanced meals (350 to 600 calories each) and 1 to 3 snacks per day (between 150 and 200 calories each). The calories for each meal and snack depend on a variety of factors including, height, weight, age, gender and activity level.
Most people are brought up thinking that dinner should be the biggest meal of the day, meaning they opt for a light breakfast and lunch. However, research has found that a smaller dinner and larger lunch could be the key to helping you shift those weight.
For most people, there are no serious dangers involved in eating one meal a day, other than the discomforts of feeling hungry. That said, there are some risks for people with cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Eating one meal a day can increase your blood pressure and cholesterol.