What are The Most Important Meals for Hardgainers?

Having a sound diet is the key element to putting on muscle mass. The majority of us don’t have a problem finding a resistance program and sleep is usually not hard to come by this is why our diets are often the determining factor as to how well we do.

Eating several small meals per day seems to be the generally accepted method when bulking up but are there meals that are more important than others? If so what are they and why is this so?

There are in fact 3 important meals we must consume each and every day to give ourselves the best chance at building lean muscle mass.

Breakfast – The most important meal of the day

You’ve been sleeping anywhere from 6-8 hours and during that time our bodies have not received any nourishment. While we sleep our body are actually doing a lot of dirty work including repairing the muscle you destroyed the day before. Cell repair uses any available fuel left in our bodies to function. Obviously since we are sleeping we cannot refuel the energy used by all the chemical reactions that take place in our bodies until we wake up.

Not eating for 8 hours is similar to fasting that is why we need to Break-the-Fast with Breakfast.

When we wake up we are in a catabolic state. What this means is since our bodies have not been “fueled” for 8 hours it starts to break down nutrients within the body to create energy.

What does this mean?

Due to insufficient amounts of energy our body essentially eats its self up to sustain resting functions and our muscles are not spared at all.

Eating a balanced breakfast with a sufficient amount of carbs, protein and fat is the most effective way to help keep the effects of catabolism at the minimum (unless you’re a keener and you wake up at night to have a protein shake). Additionally eating breakfast helps replenish our muscle glycogen stores and delivers protein to our starving muscles.

Eating our breakfast not only keeps us from going catabolic but its also:

• Keeps us energized for the rest of the day
• Helps with our ability to concentrate
• Helps decrease fatigue

Bulking up is VERY grueling and it requires that our body be constantly fueled. The energy needed during a bulk is extreme because we are not only eating a lot but we are also working hard in the gym trying to build muscle mass. Having breakfast gives us the energy boost in the morning and prepares our bodies for the worst.

Pre-workout Meal – The forgotten Meal

What you eat an hour and a half to two hours before you workout will determine how efficient you’ll be in the gym. Without fuel (food) in the tank our bodies will not perform at optimal levels no matter what your fitness level.

Eating a meal high in Carbohydrates and Protein will effectively prepare your body for the workout ahead. This is so because the carbohydrates you ingest will help refill your muscle glycogen stores giving you a full tank before you workout and having Proteins in your system will jump start muscle protein synthesis.

Post-workout Meal – Critical to Growth and Recovery

This meal is probably the most hyped up meal in the world of bodybuilding and deservingly so. The reason why such an emphasis is put on post workout nutrition is because after resistance exercise the muscles that were worked intake glucose anywhere from 7-20 times faster than at rest.

What does this mean?

After a workout we have the ability to feed nutrients into our muscles almost directly.

Resistance exercise usually results in several micro tears in the muscle that will be repaired by our bodies at a slow rate, having a post work meal/shake 0-30 minutes after a workout helps to feed that muscles which will in turn aid in recovery and repair. Additionally, glycogen is the main fuel used during resistance exercise. It is usually depleted after a workout. Having a post workout meal restores the glycogen that was used up.

9 out of 10 times we workout hard enough and we sleep well enough but that is still not enough to grow. What separates big guys from the skinny guys is attention to nutrition. Having a great diet is key to gaining muscle mass but keying in on the 3 most important meals of the day can very much be the deciding factor as to whether you’ll end up scrawny or brawny.

First picture provided by: ex.libris