Sunday, October 18, 2009

Foods that Build Muscle Fast

By Harley Radowski

Eating to build muscle is an important part of your bodybuilding program. Eating food that helps build muscle will ensure that you are not wasting all that hard work you are doing in the gym.

Working your muscles utilizes considerable energy. And the only way to replace that energy is with food! So what happens if you fail to eat the right type of food to build muscle mass? It will take longer to build muscle, and it may even prevent effect muscle building altogether once you reach a certain point.

A diet that is low in fat goes without saying with any serious bodybuilder. Even if you do not carry extra flab or fat, it is important to keep it that way. And if you do have some fat you want to get rid of, eating foods that build muscle in the form of low fat food is important. But what about protein? Is it important or not? You bet it is. Protein provides the building blocks to build that muscle. What types of protein are best? Chicken, eggs, steak (with the fat cut off), fish, cheese (especially cottage cheese), and nuts are all great sources of protein.

Finding out how much protein to eat when you are interested in building muscle fast is actually not difficult. First, you will need to find out your lean body mass weight in kilos, and then you simply multiply that figure by 2.75 to determine your daily protein requirement. Calculating your lean body mass uses some complex formulae, so ask a professional at the gym if you do not already have this figure.

Foods that build muscle include carbohydrates. Many uninformed people believe that all carbohydrates should be eliminated in order to obtain a fit, lean body. Nothing could be further from the truth. So long as the carbohydrates you ingest include plenty of fibre, carbs will contribute to building muscle mass - not body fat. Great carbohydrate based foods include rice, oatmeal, bananas and other types of fruit such as apples and pears.

Fats need to be reduced when you are consider what foods build muscle mass. Fat can never be eliminated completely (and nor should you try to do this), but reducing fat can have a healthy effect on your attempts to build muscle mass. Most foods that contain protein also contains fat, so when choosing your proteins, providing you opt for the ones that are low in fat, you will be on the right track.

When eating to build muscle, make sure you drink water. Liquid is important for hydration, and a dehydrated body is sluggish, and can even make you sick. This is not a recipe for obtaining the healthy, fit physique you are striving for.

Drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water a day (even 12 glasses) is absolutely essential to allow your body to properly digest all the good food you are eating. For those who just cannot stomach the taste (or lack of taste) of so much water, other types of liquid although not quite as good are still acceptable as water substitutes ? fruit juice and even soft drinks can suffice as long as you (preferably) drink some of your liquid intake in water form.

Regular bodybuilding workouts are also essential to maximise the effects of good bodybuilding diets. It is all very well knowing what to eat to build muscle, but if you do not combine this great new diet by building muscle mass with weight lifting exercises or other bodybuilding routines, you will not be able to build muscle fast. So do both - eat foods that build muscle, and undertake bodybuilding workouts, and you will end up with a body you will be proud of.

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