Beginner's Guide to Gym Nutrition | What is Bulking and Cutting? | Building Muscle and Losing Fa
Nutrition is probably the most important factor, when looking to improve your fitness or your physique. You can train for as many hours as you want in the gym, but if your nutrition is not on point then progress will definitely not be maximised.
When choosing what nutrition plan you want to follow, you firstly must decide upon what is your fitness goal. Is it to build muscle? (Bulking), lose fat? (Cutting), or pretty much maintain your current physique (Maintenance). People often get lost in trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, and this is almost impossible and certainly not optimal, so it is best top chose just one. Whichever you choose as your goal, your overall health should be the first priority, thus making sure you are eating enough carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals, to stay in good health.
Bulking- Building Muscle:
So if you are looking to build some serious muscle mass, then you are going to want to start a bulking cycle. This means you are eating above your maintenance calorie
s and therefore supplying your body with all the nutrients that it needs to grow. So those calories are made up of three essential macronutrients which are, Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats.
1 Protein - The Building Blocks for GAINS!
For your body to build muscle it firstly requires adequate amounts of protein, as this is what muscles are formed from. Estimates vary from source to source as to what is the optimal amount of protein to consume in a day but most suggest at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. This estimate usually goes all the way up to 2 gram per pound of bodyweight.
A general rule I tend to follow is as long as you are eating a good protein source with every meal, (and typically gym goers supplement this with protein shakes), then you should be consuming enough protein. This would take you somewhere above the 1 gram per pound rule, although if you weigh a lot then you will have to concentrate on eating higher amounts of protein!
Best sources of protein:
Lean meats, eggs, fish, nuts, beans, whey, milk, cheese, Quorn.
2 Carbs - The energy behind your workouts and GAINS!
So in order to build as much as possible your body also wants to be in a caloric surplus i.e. consuming more calories than you are burning. This means you will be consuming plenty of carbohydrates and healthy fats to fuel your body for its workouts and to build muscle. So after you have accounted for your protein the remaining calories need to be made up of carbs and fats. The split between these is up to you and your personal preference really depending on if you prefer a higher carb diet or a higher fat diet. I know that for me I prefer I higher carb intake.
Aim to have the majority of your carbohydrates either side of your workout as this is when your muscles need nutrients the most and so need an insulin spike to get nutrients and protein directly into the muscles. To understand insulin sensitivity check out my blog on it.
Best sources of carbohydrates:
Wholemeal bread, brown pasta, brown rice, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables.
3. Fats - Your Slow Release of Energy
The final macronutrient then is fat, which should make up the rest of your caloric intake. Fats are essential for muscle growth, but you need to be careful as they are the most calorically dense of all the macronutrients, hence why they get a bad reputation! So you want to make sure you are getting in adequate amounts without going over on your calories.
Some of the Best sources of fats are:
Animal fats, avocado, olive oil, nuts, milk, cheese.
Micro Nutrients
Outside of your macro nutrients, you also need to make sure your micro nutrient intake is adequate as these are vital for maintain good general health and therefore allowing your body to build muscle. The best source of micro nutrients is vegetables (especially green, leafy) and fruits. You should be trying to make sure you eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, with at least 3 of those coming from vegetable sources.
"But wait... What if I've built a decent amount of muscle, but I just want to lose some fat to get shredded?"
Cutting- Losing Fat:
Well... In this case you are going to want to start what is known as a Cutting cycle. This is where through your diet and/or cardio, you create a caloric
deficit, so that your body is burning more calories then it is consuming, therefore has to dig in to its fat stores.
The easiest and best way in my opinion is to use dieting to consume fewer calories. It just makes more sense to consume fewer calories, because then you don’t have to spend hours every week on the treadmill! However if you do enjoy doing cardio, then increasing your cardio could be the best approach for you. So how should your diet be adapted?
Protein: Well in this case where you are looking to maintain muscle and lose fat, then you still want to be keeping your protein intake as high as you would when you are bulking. This has many benefits with maintaining muscle mass but also in reducing appetite and slowing digestion of food.
Carbs and Fats: The reduction in calories then is mainly going to come from reducing your carbohydrate and fat intake. Whilst cutting I personally try to restrict carbohydrates to only the two meals either side of the workout as this is when the muscles need carbohydrates most. By keeping carbohydrates low throughout the rest of the day, you keep your insulin levels low, thus increasing insulin sensitivity, which is beneficial for losing fat and trying to maintain muscle.
The rest of your calories then for the day should mainly come from good fat sources. Fats get a bad name for themselves but they are actually essential in building muscle and also maintaining it. For this reason it is important to keep decent level of fats in your diet, just make sure you are within a calorie deficit.
This is all whilst making sure micronutrients are high, this can be especially beneficial for people who are seriously cutting as your immune system is weaker when the body is in a caloric deficit.
Maintenance- Maintaining Physique:
This is for people whose goal is to simply maintain current physique or just in general to increase their fitness.
So you want to make sure yet again that you’re getting a good split of macronutrients, a large portion of which should still be protein if working out multiple times a week. Your caloric intake will be somewhere in between the two previous regimes mentioned. You can work out your maintenance calories online,
Once again you should be making sure you are taking in plenty of vitamins and minerals through fruit and vegetables.
Working out your macros and tracking them is a great way to start:
The most precise way of either Bulking, Cutting, or Maintaining, is by
accurately working out and tracking your macros. Here at Evolve Muscle we like to show that there is a way of getting the physique you want without taking those measures. If you are just starting to take nutrition seriously though, it is the perfect way to learn what kind of amounts of different foods you need to be eating to hit your macro nutrient needs.
So if you would like to track your macros then I would suggest calculating your macros using the calculator below and then get tracking the food you eat everyday using the MyFitnessPal app as it is so easy to use as you can simply scan the bar code of the foods you are eating and enter them in for the day.
That’s a simple overview to nutrition there for you. If you want to take things to the next level, then please email us evolvemusclefitness@gmail.com for a detailed nutritional/ training plan, and you will be one step closer to Achieving Greatness...
Useful Links:
Our Training Plans: evolvemuscle.co.uk/training-plans
MyProtein For Supplements: MyProtein
To Calculate your Macros: IIFYM
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