How to Eat to Build Muscle
Read Time: 8-12 minutes
When it comes to building muscle, exercise is just one piece of the puzzle. Proper nutrition also plays a crucial role in supporting muscle growth and recovery.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can optimize your diet for muscle-building.m
Eat a Calorie Surplus
Muscle-building is a calorie-expensive process for the body.
When you engage in resistance training or intense workouts to build muscle, your muscles undergo microscopic damage.
This damage stimulates a process called muscle protein synthesis–where your body repairs and rebuilds the damaged muscle fibers, leading to muscle growth and increased strength.
This process uses a lot of energy, though, and that’s why many coaches recommend being in a calorie surplus while trying to build muscle. Being in a calorie surplus means that you eat more calories than what your body normally spends (i.e., your “maintenance” level of calories).
There are times when you can build muscle while eating a calorie deficit (i.e., below your maintenance level of calories). If you’re brand new to training, your “newbie gains” will allow you to build muscle and burn fat at the same time during the first 6-12 months of your fitness journey.
Seasoned lifters can also build muscle while in a caloric deficit, however, they usually have to keep their deficits small–which results in much slower fat loss and muscle gains.
The most efficient way to build muscle, however, is to eat a calorie surplus. To build muscle most efficiently, experts recommend eating 10–20% above your maintenance level of calories every day.[1, 2]
People who don’t eat enough calories often experience slow muscle gains because their bodies don’t have the energy needed to train optimally or to repair and fortify muscle tissue.
Finding Your Maintenance Calories
To maximize your gains, first figure out what your maintenance level of calories is so that you can plan your surplus.
To figure out your maintenance level of calories, weigh yourself and then track everything that you eat and drink for 7 days, and then weigh yourself again at the end of the 7 days.
↔️ If your weight stays the same, then your average calorie intake is roughly the same as your maintenance level of calories.
⬆️ If your body weight went up, then you probably ate above your maintenance level of calories. Repeat another week of tracking everything you eat and drink, but this time try to eat more calories. Check your weight again at the end of another week. Keep adjusting until your weight stabilizes (i.e., stays the same).
⬇️ If your body weight goes down, then you probably ate below your maintenance level of calories. Repeat another week of tracking everything you eat and drink, but this time try to eat fewer calories. Check your weight again at the end of another week. Keep adjusting until your weight stabilizes (i.e., stays the same).
Another way to figure out your maintenance level of calories is to use an online calculator to get an estimate. I recommend using the Bodybuilding.com calorie calculator. Follow the steps below to get an estimate of what your maintenance level of calories should be:
>>Click here<< to use the Bodybuilding.com calorie calculator.
Enter your age, sex, height, weight, and current activity levels.
For “GOAL,” select “Maintain Current Weight.”
Select “CALCULATE.”
Test this number out by tracking what you eat and drink every day in a tracking app like MyFitnessPal, the Trainerize Fitness App, or in a food journal. Weigh yourself once per week and adjust your calories as needed until you reach your maintenance level of calories.
Once you know your maintenance level of calories, plan to eat a calorie surplus of about 10-20% above that number.
Eat Lots of Protein
Your muscles are made up mostly of protein, so in order to build more muscle and grow stronger–you need to eat a high-protein diet.
Aim to have between 20% and 35% of your daily calories coming from protein to eat a high-protein diet.
Alternatively, you can base your protein intake on your weight–aiming to eat between 0.7 and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (1.5 - 2.2 grams per kilogram).[3, 4]
Good sources of protein include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, and some vegetables (soy and black beans).
Aim for the majority of your protein to come from lean sources–meaning the foods are low in saturated fats.
Lean sources of protein include low-fat cuts of meat, white meat (like chicken breast or turkey breast), fish, egg whites, low-fat dairy products (like Greek yogurt & cottage cheese), and vegetables like soybeans, lentils, and black beans.
Try to reduce your intake of saturated fats, which come mainly from animal products (such as high-fat cuts of meat, dairy cream, egg yolks, and skin).
After protein, the remaining calories you eat every day should come from carbohydrates and dietary fat (mainly unsaturated fat).
Carbohydrates (“carbs”) provide energy for your workouts and replenish glycogen stores in your muscles. They should make up about 45-65% of your daily calories. Opt for complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. They provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Healthy fats are vital for hormone production and overall health. Your dietary fat intake should mainly come from unsaturated fats, which come from sources like avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish in your diet. Limit saturated and trans fats, commonly found in fried and processed foods. Your total fat intake should make up 15-35% of your daily calories.[5]
Track and Plan Your Meals
The best way to ensure that you’re getting the right amount of calories, protein, carbs, and fats every day is to track what you eat and plan your meals.
You can use a food tracking app like MyFitnessPal, the FitBit app, or the Trainerize Fitness App to track what you eat every day (for a reminder of how to track your meals in the Trainerize App, go back and read the Introduction message).
If you’re too busy or you find it tedious to track your food, you may find it helpful to follow a meal plan. Check out the library of downloadable meal plans on my website:
Eat a Nutrient-Dense Diet
Now that we have an idea of how many calories you should eat every day, let’s talk more in detail about what foods you should put on your plate.
In general, you should prioritize eating nutrient-dense foods and avoid eating what we call “empty calories.”
Nutrient-dense foods are things that have vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that our bodies need to stay healthy. Eating plenty of nutrient-dense foods can help you to reduce the risk of getting sick or experiencing gastrointestinal problems.
“Empty calories” are foods that are high in sugars and fats–which makes them high in calories. They don’t really offer the body much more nutritious benefit other than that. These often include deep-fried food, desserts, chips, candy, and many highly processed and packaged foods.
Healthy Plate Model
The easiest way to eat nutrient-dense foods and avoid empty calories is to follow what I call the Healthy Plate Model. This is a modified version of the USDA’s MyPlate model that was published in 2015, and it shows what your plate should generally look like at meal times:
The Healthy Plate model is centered around 4 major food groups:
Protein
On at least a quarter of your plate, include a lean source of protein. Protein is both a source of energy for your body and a building block for your body tissues (like muscle). Eating a high-protein diet will help your body to more efficiently build muscle and keep your metabolism boosted. Prioritize lean sources of protein–items that come with little to no saturated fat like white meat (chicken breast & turkey breast), egg whites, fish, plant protein sources (tofu, tempeh, & edamame), and lean cuts of red meat.
Veggies
On half of your plate, include 1-2 servings of veggies. Veggies (or vegetables) are plants (or parts of plants) that you can eat. Fruits and grains are also plants, but we usually reserve the term “vegetable” for specific parts of the plant like the roots (like carrots and turnips), leaves (like lettuce and spinach), stems (like celery), bulbs (like garlic and onion), and flowers (like broccoli). Veggies are a great source of carbohydrates and healthy fats (i.e., unsaturated fats).
Grains/Starches:
On the remaining quarter of your plate, include a grain or starchy food. Grains are essentially seeds and include foods made from wheat (bread & pasta), rice, quinoa, and oats. Try to include whole grains as much as possible (things like brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat, quinoa, etc.) in place of refined grains (white wheat, white bread, or white rice). Whole grains are generally more nutritious, having more vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber than refined grains.
Some vegetables (like potatoes, corn, yuca, and plantains) are high in Starches (complex carbohydrates). Starchy vegetables tend to be high-calorie, and may not be suitable for every diet (for example, people with Type II Diabetes may want to avoid them). These kinds of vegetables should be limited to no more than a quarter of your plate, especially if you are trying to burn fat.
Fruit
Fruits are plant products that tend to be higher in sugar content, giving them a sweet taste. This group is optional and can take up 1 portion of the vegetable side of your plate. They include things like berries, cherries, apples, grapes, pears, and mangoes. The higher sugar and calorie content of fruits make them a food to be eaten in moderation–no more than a quarter of your plate at meal times.
The Healthy Plate standard is a good rule of thumb to ensure that you’re staying roughly within a healthy calorie range. However, it’s still important to track what you eat in your Nutrition Log to stay within your calories.
ABOUT JAYD HARRISON
Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:
RefERENCEs
[1] Iraki J, Fitschen P, Espinar S, Helms E. Nutrition Recommendations for Bodybuilders in the Off-Season: A Narrative Review. Sports (Basel). 2019 Jun 26;7(7):154. doi: 10.3390/sports7070154. PMID: 31247944; PMCID: PMC6680710. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680710/
[2] Van De Walle, G. What Is Bulking? Steps, Diet, and More. Healthline.com. February 6, 2020. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bulking
[3] Phillips SM, Van Loon LJ. Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to optimum adaptation. J Sports Sci. 2011;29 Suppl 1:S29-38. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2011.619204. PMID: 22150425. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22150425/
[4] Schoenfeld BJ, Aragon AA. How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018 Feb 27;15:10. doi: 10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1. PMID: 29497353; PMCID: PMC5828430. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29497353/
[5] Manore MM. Exercise and the Institute of Medicine recommendations for nutrition. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2005 Aug;4(4):193-8. doi: 10.1097/01.csmr.0000306206.72186.00. PMID: 16004827. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16004827/