Whether you’re looking to build muscle, lose weight, or (ideally) both, making sure you get the right nutrition can be a complicated process. Everyone’s body is different, and what works well for some might be disastrously counterproductive for others. The trick is to do a good amount of research and make sure that whatever nutritional plan you follow is designed for someone with your specific fitness goals and body type in mind.
Because the subject of fitness is so broad and nuanced, we will only be talking about the nutritional aspect here in this article, as well as pointing you towards some excellent supplements which can help you meet your goals. But by no means is nutrition the only facet of your weight loss transformation that you should be focusing on. Your exercise regime, the morphology of your specific body type, and your nutritional intake all work dynamically together to determine how your body gains muscle, burns fat, and produces the energy you need to get through your day. Take our nutritional advice in stride with whatever exercise program will help your particular body type meet your specific fitness goal. And if something doesn’t work at first, don’t be afraid to experiment and tweak your approach.
Without further ado, let’s scratch the surface of this complicated subject by talking about what you need in order to maximize your muscle gains!
Nutrition for Building Muscle
When it comes to proper nutrition for building muscle, you will hear a lot of experts talk about a concept called “macronutrients”. Understanding macronutrients is fairly simple. But finding a good macronutrient balance is the real challenge when it comes to any fitness goal, whether it’s building muscle or burning fat (or both at the same time).
There are three basic macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Depending on your body type and your fitness goal, your calories should come from a predesignated ratio of protein/fat/carbs. The simplest starting point is a 30/30/40 ratio (30% protein, 30% fats, and 40% carbs) for anyone who is new to bodybuilding. Track your progress for a couple of weeks, including measurements, weight, and body fat %, and adjust the ratio as necessary. For example, if you gain weight on a 30/30/40 diet, but your body fat % goes up, you may need to adjust your protein and carb ratios in order to make sure you’re gaining the lean muscle you want instead of any unwanted extra body fat.
There are two very important concepts to remember when designing a nutritional program for building muscle: you need lots of protein, and you need to consume more calories than you burn off throughout the day. Following those basic rules, in addition to adding a rigorous, heavy weight training workout to your daily routine, are essential for achieving the gains you want.
Additionally, you’ll want to consider incorporating a pre-workout supplement into your nutritional program. These supplements can be especially helpful if you’ve been working out for a while and feel that you’ve hit a plateau.
Nutrition for Burning Body Fat
When it comes to losing weight, however, the old adage “calories in, calories out” comes much more heavily into play than anything else. Ideally, you should still be aiming for a healthy macronutrient balance, as well as adding a daily vitamin supplement to make sure you aren’t losing any vital nutrition from cutting your caloric intake. The crazy thing is, however, that as long as you are careful, you can lose weight eating virtually anything – even a 100% “junk food” diet – as long as you keep your ingested calories lower than your daily caloric expenditure.
If you’re still shooting for a good macronutrient balance, though, you’ll want to lower your carbs and increase your protein intake. This prompts several different body processes to conserve muscle and burn off excess fat stores for energy once you hit your caloric deficit. And this is exactly what you want to happen when trying to meet your fat loss goals.
You don’t necessarily need to exercise in order to burn fat, but doing so, especially interval cardio, will drastically improve your results. And to take your weight loss to the ultimate level, you’re going to want a fat-burning, appetite-curbing diet pill. By far, the best supplement for this is Ultimate Garcinia. Thanks to its natural botanical extracts, it will help you burn fat, feel fuller longer, and give you the energy you need in order to make it through your day!
