Follow these 7 mass building nutrition rules to guarantee your body is getting the nutrition it needs to pack on lean muscle.
If you want to get big, you have to eat big. Great! But how much?
Truth is, it varies from person to person, but there are some rock-solid guidelines that everyone can follow, and through some simple tracking, you can quickly make any adjustments you need to dial in a diet that’s right for you!
So if building big muscle fast is your goal, then follow these 7 simple mass building nutrition rules to make sure your body is getting the nutrition it needs to pack on the size you want.
Rule #1: Eat Plenty of Protein
When you’re lifting weights and breaking down muscle tissue, your body will have a greater demand for protein. But how much protein do you really need to build lean muscle? This is a topic of hot debate. And what you’ll find is this. The scientific literature supports ranges from 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, all the way up to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight.
So as a general rule of thumb, start on the lower end. Begin by eating at 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Give it a month. See how your body responds to that amount. If you’re gaining lean muscle and strength, great! You’re giving your body the protein it needs.
If you’re not, then consider bumping your protein intake up to 1.25 grams per pound of bodyweight. Track that for a month, before deciding if 1.5 grams if right for you.
Rule #2: Fuel Your Body with Enough Carbs
When it comes to carbohydrates, start by consuming 1.5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight.
For example, if you weigh 200 lbs, you’ll be eating 300 grams of carbs per day. For most, 1.5 is an ideal level of carbohydrates to fuel tough workouts, growth, and recovery.
Now, if after a few weeks you discover you’re adding a bit of body fat, you can always dial your carbs down to 1.25 or 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. For people whose metabolisms naturally burn a little slower, or whose bodies aren’t as efficient at processing carbohydrates, 1.25 – 1 gram is a great range to build lean muscle while minimizing fat gain.
If you have a naturally fast metabolism and stay very lean, or you happen to work a very physically demanding job, 2…and sometimes as high as 3 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight…will likely be the ideal range of carbs for you.
Just like with your protein, you will need to experiment and find the level that works best for your own unique metabolism. More on that when we cover Rule #5.
Rule #3: Don’t Forget Your Fats
With so much emphasis placed on protein and carbs, it’s easy to forget about your fats. But adequate dietary fat intake is essential to building big muscle.
For one, there are essential fats your body needs. Like the omega-3 fats found in salmon and fatty fish. These fats are essential because your body cannot make them its own. And, research shows they play a crucial role in helping to turn on genes that build muscle and burn fat, protect your joints, help decrease inflammation, and support healthy brain function.
Other fats, such as saturated and monounsaturated fats help support higher testosterone levels, which your body needs to maximize mass gain and fat loss.
So how much fat do you need? You’ll want to aim for 0.4 to 0.5 grams of fat per pound of body weight every day. For a 200 lb guy, he would consume roughly 80 – 100 grams of fat per day.
Rule #4: Eat Frequently.
To get enough protein, carbs, and fats for the day, you’ll need to eat frequently. For most people, eating once every 2 ½ – 3 hours works great, which generally works about to about 6-7 small meals during the day.
Rule #5: Track Your Macros
I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you track your macros. Whether you use a macronutrient tracking app on your phone, or you go old-school and write it down in a notebook, tracking your macros is the ONLY way to make sure you’re getting enough food.
Remember, great bodies are the result of people consistently doing a whole bunch of little things right, over and over…and over and over and over again. Tracking macros is one of those little things that people with great bodies consistently do right.
Rule #6: Use a Mass Gainer
Eating big is hard work. And not everyone enjoys have to stop what they’re doing to eat food every few hours. So if you struggle to eat enough food throughout the day, or you just don’t have time to sit and eat, drink it instead. Using a premium mass gainer like Mass Muscle Gainer™ is a quick and easy way to get the high quality calories your body needs.
Rule #7: Find What Works Best for You.
At the end of the day, everyone is different. Some people grow better with more protein, others grow just fine with less. Same goes for carbohydrates. And this is where tracking your macros becomes so important.
Keeping an accurate macro log will allow you to know where you can make the necessary tweaks to your diet should you be gaining too much fat, or not enough muscle.
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all hard number that works for everyone. So follow the rules and ranges above, make adjustments as you go, and you’ll be growing in no time!
