You MUST be eating these muscle building foods if you want to build muscle.
Building muscle is a mystery to most people.
One of the reasons people fail in building muscle is they eat all the wrong foods.
You need the perfect diet and nutrition plan.
You must make sure your body has everything it needs to build muscle. You can't build a house without the right materials, and you can't build muscle without the right materials.
Let's take a look at what we call the muscle building cycle.
Here's how the muscle building process works:
- Eat plenty sources of muscle gaining foods.
- Provide the proper muscle building stimulus through weight lifting.
- Rest and recover from the weight training workout.
- Repeat the process.
Now, we're going to look at etep 1 above in detail.
We're going to focus on the best muscle building foods, why you need them, and how to get plenty of them to ensure you are gaining muscle 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We'll show you how to combine the best muscle building foods to form an unstoppable muscle building diet.
Are you ready to skyrocket your muscle gains? We sure hope so…
Step 1: Pack Your Muscle Building Diet with Powerful Muscle Building Foods Like These:
You need to focus on 3 nutrients if you want to build muscle. All 3 of these nutrients are VERY, VERY important for building muscle:
- Lean Protein
- Natural Carbohydrates
- Essential Fats
Many people focus on protein only BUT that is a HUGE mistake. Protein is the building block for new muscle mass, but there's more to building muscle than just protein.
Protein, carbohydrates, and fat all play VERY important roles in the muscle building process. Let's take a look at each one in detail and show you the best sources of each.
Protein: The Building Block For Construction of Lean Muscle Mass
Protein must be readily available to your body in order to build muscle mass. Protein in the muscle building process is comparable to lumber in the home building process. Without lumber, you won't be building a home. Without protein, you won't be building muscle.
Your body cannot store protein within your body as it can with carbohydrates and fats. Protein can stay in your bloodstream for about 3 hours at most.
That's why you need to feed your body a good source of protein every 3 hours while you're awake. That's why we recommend you eat a FULL MEAL every 3 hours for a total of about 6 meals per day. Each meal should have a good source of protein.
What are some good sources of protein? Here's a list of the best muscle building foods that contain protein:
| Extra Lean Beef 96% | Lean Beef 92% |
| Lean Steak Cuts | Pork Tenderloin |
| Whole Eggs | Egg Whites |
| Cottage Cheese | Real Milk |
| Yogurt | Whey Protein |
| Casein Protein | Venison |
| Mutton | Chicken |
| Turkey | Duck |
| Salmon | Tuna |
| Tilapia | Any Fish |
| Shrimp | Crab |
| Lobster | Any Lean Meats |
| Mackerel | Bison |
| Sardines | BCAA's |
You should have a source of lean protein with every meal that you eat throughout the day. This ensures you build muscle whenever your body is ready to build muscle.
Carbohydrates: The Fuel for the Muscle Building Fire
Everyone forgets about carbohydrates because they've gotten such a bad reputation lately with all the BS low carb stuff out there.
Let us tell you the truth right now: ‘Carbohydrates are NOT bad for you. The right carbohydrates are VERY healthy for you and are essential for building muscle AND burning fat.'
Why are carbohydrates muscle building foods?
You MUST lift weights if you want to build muscle. BUT even more importantly, you MUST make progress lifting weights. You must lift heavier weights and push yourself in the gym in order to build muscle.
Every time you go to the gym… You must provide your body with the proper muscle building stimulus. This means you MUST lift heavier weight than the previous workout.
How are you going to really push yourself in the gym without the BEST fuel for your workouts? The best carbohydrates are PREMIUM FUEL for your workouts. Without premium fuel, you're really going to have trouble building muscle.
Here's a great list of the best muscle building foods containing premium fuel for your workouts:
Natural Starchy Carbohydrate Sources
| Oats | Barley |
| Bran | Rye |
| Wheat | Lima Beans |
| Kidney Beans | Garbanzo Beans |
| Butter Beans | Yams |
| Quinoa | Navy Beans |
| Chick Peas | Sweet Peas |
| Black Eyed Peas | Sweet Potatoes |
| White Potatoes | Red Potatoes |
| Brown Rice | Black Beans |
| Pinto Beans | White Beans |
| Whole Grain Bread | High Fiber Cereals |
Natural Sugary Carbohydrate Sources
| Apples | Bananas |
| Grapefruit | Grapes |
| Oranges | Tangerines |
| Pears | Honeydew |
| Nectarine | Papaya |
| Plums | Apricots |
| Strawberries | Blackberries |
| Any Berries | Prunes |
| Raisins | Blueberries |
| Peaches | Lemons |
| Lime | Kiwi |
| Watermelon | Melon |
| Pineapple | Cherries |
| Mangoes | Cantaloupe |
| Cranberries | Raspberries |
Natural Fibrous Carbohydrate Sources
| Romaine Lettuce | Cabbage |
| Spinach | Kale |
| Collard Greens | Mustard Greens |
| Broccoli | Celery |
| Cucumbers | Squash |
| Zucchini | Tomatoes |
| Artichokes | Eggplant |
| Turnips | Leeks |
| Asparagus | Brussel Sprouts |
| Green Beans | Cauliflower |
| Bell Peppers | Green Peppers |
| Red Peppers | Carrots |
| Okra | Mushrooms |
| Alfalfa Sprouts | Onions |
| Radishes | Peppers |
| Hot Peppers | Bell Peppers |
Essential Fats: Creating The Optimal Muscle Building Environment
Did you know that higher fat intake increases testosterone levels? When you increase your testosterone levels, you create the optimal environment inside your body for building muscle.
This makes food that contains essential fats one of the MOST POWERFUL muscle building foods in existence. Many, many people still try to build muscle with low fat diets. And they continue to fail.
A good muscle building diet will include plenty of sources of essential fats. Let's take a look at the muscle building foods that contain essential fats:
| Fatty Fish | Fish Oil |
| Flaxseed | Flax Oil |
| Walnuts | Sesame Oil |
| Various Dressings | Safflower Oil |
| Sunflower Oil | Soybean Oil |
| Almonds | Pecans |
| Seeds | Sunflower Seeds |
| Olives | Olive Oil |
| Peanuts | Peanut Oil |
| Natural Peanut Butter | Avocados |
| Cashews | Pumpkin Seeds |
| Hempseeds | Hempseed Oil |
| Brazil Nuts | Soybean Oil |
| Sesame Seeds | Wheat Germ Oil |
| Grapeseed Oil | Pistachios |
| Macadamia Nuts | Krill Oil |
Make sure you get plenty of essential fats each day. We recommend you have a source of essentail fats with every meal. In fact, we recommend that you have a balanced meal each time you eat: Lean Protein, Natural Carbs, and Essential Fats.
Every meal should only contain the best muscle building foods if you really want to make great progress.
Here's How You Build Your Very Own Muscle Building Diet Plan… Use Our Free Tools
Most people are awake for about 16 hours each day and we sleep about 8 hours each day… or that's what you should be doing if you want to build muscle fast. Your body must rest and recover from each workout.
Since you are awake for about 16 hours each day, here's what your muscle building diet plan should look like:
- Meal 1: Within 30 Minutes of Waking Up
Lean Protein Source
Natural Starchy Carb Source
Natural Sugary Carb Source
Essential Fat Source
- Meal 2: About 3 Hours After Meal 1
Lean Protein Source
Natural Starchy Carb Source
Natural Sugary Carb Source
Essential Fat Source
- Meal 3: About 3 Hours After Meal 2
Lean Protein Source
Natural Starchy Carb Source
Natural Fibrous Carb Source
Essential Fat Source
- Meal 4: About 3 Hours After Meal 3
Lean Protein Source
Natural Starchy Carb Source
Natural Fibrous Carb Source
Essential Fat Source
- Meal 5: About 3 Hours After Meal 4
Lean Protein Source
Natural Starchy Carb Source
Natural Fibrous Carb Source
Essential Fat Source
- Meal 6: About 3 Hours After Meal 5
Lean Protein Source
Natural Fibrous Carb Source
Essential Fat Source
Print Out This Quick Reference Guide To The Best Muscle Building Foods… It's Free
Now, all you have to do is use this Quick Reference Guide to the Best Muscle Building Foods…
Best Muscle Building Foods GuideBest Muscle Building Foods GuidePrint it out and put together your muscle building diet plan using the meal plan layout above.
We hope you've enjoyed this page on muscle building foods. We decided to build this page because there just isn't any good information out there on how to build muscle with the right foods. Most sites tell you that you need more protein and that's about it.
Here at Weight Lifting Complete, we take everything to the next level.
If you want to really skyrocket your results, you should get a copy of the WLC System. It's the most powerful muscle building and fat burning system in existence.
Emily says
Hi josh,
Hope you don’t mind me asking another question. How big would you say the meal sizes need to be for the plan above. I understand its not going to be a roast chicken dinner at every meal but what kind of quantities are we talking? I am a 105lbs female, petite build, 5’3″ that find it difficult to build muscle.
Thanks in advance for any advice,
Emily.
Josh from WLC says
Hello again Emily,
I definitely don’t mind you asking questions. I encourage as many questions as possible. If you have a question, then others will have that same question. You are helping others by asking questions. So please… ask away =)
I am very glad that you asked this question because I think some people get the wrong idea about how much food to be eating.
Each person is going to have to find the amount of food they need to make the progress they want. I can give you a good starting point, but when following the WLC System guidelines you will take body measurements each week to measure your progress. Your measurements will tell you what to do next. That might be increasing the amount of food you are eating, decreasing the amount of food you are eating, changing the types of food you are eating, or even keeping everything the same if progress is going in the right direction that you want.
The WLC System teaches you how to find the perfect amount of food for you as an individual.
Every person is completely different and will react differently to different types of foods and diet plans. That is why the WLC System works so well… it adapts to you. You aren’t forced to continue with a specific diet plan that doesn’t work for you as the many other diet plans and programs force you to do. Those days of no progress and spinning your wheels are over.
For you, I would probably start out with 1600 calories or so with at least 30% of that coming from protein. This is a guess as I don’t know your current body composition, how much you’ve been eating, or anything else about you. So again, that’s just a guess. I know that might seem like a lot of protein, but I would try to get about 100 grams or so each day if I were you at a minimum. That may or may not seem like a lot of protein to you depending on where you are coming from.
From the 1600 calorie point, you would measure your progress each week and adjust up or down from there.
You would measure your waist, body weight, other body measurements that interest you, and take fat skinfold measurements with a body fat caliper to ensure you’re not gaining fat or that you’re losing fat in the right places. You want to make sure your lean body mass is increasing while your body fat is staying the same or decreasing.
To find the size of each meal, you would simply take the total number of calories and divide by the number of meals you are eating each day. And then take that calorie number for each meal, take 30% of that number, and divide by 4 to get a good protein target for that meal.
For example…
400 calorie meal
30% of 400 = 40×3 = 120 calories
Protein has 4 calories per gram
So 120 / 4 = 30 grams of protein for that meal
Another example…
250 Calorie meal
30% of 250 = 25×3 = 75 calories
Protein has 4 calories per gram
So 75 / 4 = 19 grams of protein for that meal
Now also remember that every little thing doesn’t have to be perfect. As long as you eating nutrient dense foods at every meal with no junk foods, you will do awesome. Try to get a decent amount of complete proteins at every meal with other nutrient dense foods like nuts, berries, and pack your diet full of organic veggies.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks again Emily for your questions.