1. Protein supplements
Without protein - YOU CAN'T Build Muscle because... Your muscles are made up of mostly protein & water and...
If at least 30% of the calories you eat everyday is not protein - You can expect NOT to build a lot of muscle so...
Make sure you eat a variety of high protein muscle building foods like Lean beef, fish (canned tuna & salmon) , lean chicken or turkey, eggs & egg whites, cottage cheese + Protein shakes & Meal Replacements and...
The reason why you want to eat a variety of high protein foods is so you can get all the amino acids your body needs to build muscle and...
Although Muscle is made up of Protein - Protein is made up of amino acids so really... Amino acids are the basic building blocks of muscle and...
Since there's *20 different types of amino acids - you want to try to eat a different source of protein in each of your meals or at least you should try changing your protein sources daily.
*You can probably still build muscle by eating the same protein food source all the time but if you ever hit a muscle building plateau - Eating a different Protein food source can definitely help you break out of that muscle building plateau and build more muscle.
2. Protein Shakes & Meal Replacements
Protein shakes & Meal Replacements come in handy when you don't have time to prepare a meal or cook a high protein steak for example and...
There's basically 3 types of protein shakes you can take...
1. Fast acting Whey Protein shakes
Whey protein is quickly absorbed or digested by your body and this is what makes whey protein perfect to have within 2 hours after working out so your body can quickly get the protein it needs to help you recovery and build muscle faster after working out.
2. Slow acting Casein & Egg Protein shakes
These are usually called night-time proteins because they are digested slowly (Casien & egg protein shakes take about 4-to-8 hours to digest) and the slow digestion makes it best to take at nighttime or in your last daily meal so your muscles can still get a steady supply of protein even while you sleep.
3. Blended Protein shakes
These are just protein shakes that have a combination of whey, casein and egg in them and usually.. Most Meal Replacements (MRP's) like Labrada Lean Body For Men are made up of blended proteins.
Remember: You only need PROTEIN to build muscle so You don't need Protein shakes & Meal Replacements to build muscle but...
You may find it very hard to make & eat 5-to-6 different protein food sources everyday in each of your 5-to-6 meals to build muscle so...
It's best that you try to consume 2-to-3 quick & easy to make protein shakes and/or MRP's daily to save time.
3. Water
Your muscles are estimated to be somewhere between 70-to-80% water and 25% Protein so You should try to drink at least 1 liter of water everyday.
4. L-Glutamine supplement
L-Glutamine or Glutamine is an amino acid and you already know that amino acids are the building blocks of protein and your muscle is made up of protein & water but of all the 20 amino acids that make up the muscle building proteins in your body...
Glutamine makes up more than 60% of those amino acids in your muscles which makes it a very important muscle building supplement and...
If you eat foods high in protein along with Protein shakes & Meal Replacements - You'll get enough Glutamine to build muscles and...
To help you recovery and build muscle faster - you can supplement with 10-to-20 grams of L-Glutamine powder daily.
Fact: Hospitals give trauma and post surgical patients about 20-to-40 grams of Glutamine a day via an intravenous solutions to help their muscles recovery & grow faster.
5. Complex Carbs (carbohydrates) & Healthy Fat
Before you think about going on an ultra-high protein only diet - You must know that YOU CAN'T Build Muscle without eating enough Carbs and fats so really...
About 45-to-65% of the total daily calories you eat should be from carbs & healthy fats and the rest protein and here's why carbs & fats are important for building muscle...
If you don't eat enough carbs - your body will breakdown and burn muscle for energy causing you to lose muscle and...
You need to eat carbs to stay energized so you can workout longer and lift heavier weights to build bigger muscles because... Carbohydrates are what your body uses for energy and more importantly...
Without enough healthy fats in your diet like monounsaturated fats & Omega-3's - your body can't produce testosterone which is a MAJOR muscle building hormone .
Source : nowloss.com