How to Boost Nutrition and Feed Your Muscles

How to Boost Nutrition?

Did you know the time period that directly follows exercise is one of the most important for post-workout recovery?

So if the goal is to build muscle, you should be wondering how to boost nutrition and feed your muscles. By giving your body the raw materials it needs, you can get better results faster and perform better during future weight training sessions.

However, the online body building makes figuring out which fitness supplements to take a little complicated. That’s why we’ve narrowed it down to a handful of no-brainer supplements to consider—and put together some additional tips for muscle building

Whey Protein

Essential for any body builder or fitness enthusiast, whey is a fast-digesting soluble protein that gets into your muscles quickly and helps spark recovery.

Believe it or not, scientists have confirmed that a post-exercise window of improvement appears after you train. It’s believed that you have about 45 to 60 minutes after a workout (more for some people) to take in nutrients that will boost recovery.

During this post-exercise window, your body is more able to rapidly digest muscle for protein synthesis. It’s also capable of using large amounts of carbs to replenish glycogen in your muscles.

Therefore, some combination of whey and a carb like waxy maize after a workout is a great foundation to boost nutrition around.

Peptides

The peptides vs Sarms debate has gotten hot in recent years. But both offer amazing muscle building benefits that you should consider for your training.

Peptides are especially effective. Taking them has been shown to stimulate the release of key hormones your body needs to produce muscle and shred fat. (If you’re competing in bodybuilding or aspire to, keeping a low body-fat percentage is essential.)

Peptides also contain the amino acids that proteins are composed of. Your body needs these to replenish damaged tissue and rebuild stronger muscles than before.

Creatine Monohydrate

There’s a reason creatine has been used for so long by bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. It’s one of the most studied fitness supplements, and it gets results!

Creatine helps create an ideal condition in your mucles for growth and performance enhancement. In the gym, it can often help you grind through the last few reps of a hard set of an exercise to stimulate muscle growth.

The raw monohydrate variation also promotes water retention. While your scale weight might go up a bit, a well-hydrated body is conducive to anabolic gains. Plus, you might notice you start looking more muscular after regular use.

Hydration

Speaking of hydration, drinking plenty of water is important for muscle growth. Even slight dehydration severely impacts exercise performance, meaning you need plenty of water when you exercise and throughout the day.

Currently, guidelines suggest that adult males consume 120oz of water per day (women should consume 91oz). If you live in a hot or humid climate or exercise for more than an hour per day, you should increase this by 15 to 30 ounces. 

Staying hydrated also gives you more energy and helps boost your mood. Whether you’re new to the fitness game or an experienced pro, you may know it’s hard to sometimes show up and lift heavy when you aren’t feeling it. Drinking enough water is one of those sly habits that can really make a difference.

Counting Macronutrients

Achieving a nutrition boost isn’t just about what you eat; it’s about how much you eat, too. Today, many fitness nutrition experts rely on counting macronutrients to help you eat the optimal amount of protein, fat, and carbs.

Each macro contains a specific number of calories: fat contains 9 calories per gram, protein and carbs contain 4. By establishing a specific number of calories per day and dividing your macros into a split (40p/40c/20f is popular for bodybuilders) you can get great results.

Not sure how to find out your macros? Use a BMR calculator to determine how many calories your body burns each day without exercise. Add on 500 calories to that number, then plug your macro split in. Try that for 2 to 4 weeks and see how it goes.

Macros provide flexibility in terms of what foods you eat, but stick to whole food sources if you want to grow muscle and improve strength. Lean proteins, healthy carbs like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice, and lots of veggies and fruit should be the base of your diet.

Sleep

Taking supplements for muscle building is a great idea, but one should never discount sleep on the path to their goals. Sleep is a pivotal time where your body repairs and restores itself. Key hormones are also released during deep sleep that can help boost muscle gains.

The current recommendations suggest adults get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. This is a good baseline, but also be sure to factor in quality of sleep, too.

Easy ways to get more restful shut-eye include sleeping in a cool room, eliminating distractions, and ceasing water intake an hour or two before bed. (That way you’re not up all night using the restroom.)

For what it’s worth, sleep is the only free performance enhancer you always have available to you. Don’t overlook it!

Boost Nutrition for Muscle Growth

Today’s fitness industry can make it hard to know how to boost nutrition. But sticking to staples like whey protein, healthy carbs, and creatine, as well as newer supplements like peptides, can really help drive gains in the gym.

Remember it’s not all about the supplements you take, though. Key habits like eating the right amount of food and sleeping enough also play a huge role in you getting results.

For more health tips, check out the rest of our blog!