Are You Eating for Muscle Growth?

Nutrition for Your Muscle Growth

Medically reviewed by

Updated on January 13, 2020

Building muscle mass and definition is hard work and requires a proper diet to make it happen. Optimize your nutrition for muscle growth and avoid common mistakes, such as restricting calories.

Optimizing Nutrition for Muscle Growth

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When building muscle, it is necessary to eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods with the right blend of proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Dietary protein sources provide the body with essential amino acids for building new muscle tissue after vigorous exercise.

Dietary carbohydrate sources provide the body with energy for tough workouts and replenish energy stores in muscles in the form of glycogen.

Dietary fat sources supply at least 70 percent of the body's energy at rest, aid in metabolism of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and help maintain testosterone levels for increased muscle mass.

Each of these types of nutrients plays an important role in building muscle and none can be left out of a healthy diet.

Avoiding Common Nutrition Mistakes When Trying to Build Muscle

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When trying to build muscle, people often make the mistake of restricting caloric intake from a particular type of nutrient or restricting total calories. Make sure you are meeting all of the nutritional requirements for muscle growth.

Eat More Protein

Choose quality, high-protein sources that help build muscle before and after workouts. Select real food over protein powders and shakes, such as:

Eggs
Chicken and turkey breast
Salmon and tuna
Lean meats
Soybeans and tofu
Beans and legumes

Even more protein is needed in your diet when changing to an exercise routine designed to build muscle. When you are sedentary, you may only need 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight (or roughly 54 grams for a 150-pound woman and 72 grams for a 200-pound man). If you are trying to grow muscle, increase your intake to 0.55 to 0.77 grams of protein per pound.

Eat More Carbs
Opt for nutrient-dense sources that sustain the glycogen stores necessary for you to be able to exercise longer and more effectively, such as:

Sweet potatoes
Legumes
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Root vegetables
Winter squash

As popular as low-carb diets may be, they may diminish your athletic performance and leave your muscles aching for nutrients necessary for muscle protein synthesis.

Eat More Fats

While it may help to cut the saturated and trans fats, you still need an appropriate amount of healthy fats to boost metabolism and maintain hormonal function. A fat-free diet can impede muscle growth in a person who vigorously exercises. Keep fats in the ballpark of roughly 15 percent to 20 percent of your daily caloric intake.

Healthy fats include more than just olive oil. There are a number of other sources, both for cooking and for eating, including:

Avocados
Greek yogurt
Nuts and chia seeds
Olives
Dark chocolate
Ghee

Eat More, Not Less

Muscle is the fuel your body will turn to when your calories are low. When you don't eat enough to sustain muscle growth, your body will go into starvation mode and increase rather than decrease fat stores.

If you are exercising to build muscle, there is no need to simultaneously restrict calories to lose weight. Maintain a balanced diet of requisite proteins, carbs, and fats, and your body composition will improve over time.

A Word From Verywell

Restrictive dietary fads go in and out of style and are often not the best choice for building muscle. If you need help in putting together an appropriate diet plan for muscle growth, speak to a registered dietitian or qualified sports nutritionist.