'm going to try and answer a pretty common question today. It's a pretty straight forward issue, but so many people get it wrong and hurt their results as a consequence. So lets not waste any time!
If you remember one of my previous posts, I mentioned that in order to build lean muscle, you have to eat well. May seem obvious, but not everyone knows this. And even less actually live by this. So what are the foods that build lean muscle? I'll break this into three main groups: Protein, Carbs and fats.
Everyone who knows (Or thinks they know) anything about building lean muscle knows that protein is important. But not all protein is created equal. The key is to focus on high quality proteins. Sources for this include chicken, turkey, lean beef, lean ground beef, whey protein/protein shakes, tuna, salmon. While that certainly isn't an exhaustive list, if you can stick to those foods, you are on your way to muscle building success.
Carbs are an area shrouded in mystery. Everything at the moment is "no carb this, no carb that" and it's sad that so many people are misinformed about what is really going on. So lets set things straight. Carbs are good. If you are on a low carb diet, forget about building any lean muscle. It's just not gonna happen. Also forget about eating all those sugary, high GI based carbs. They aren't going to build lean muscle, they'll just help you put on fat. You need to concentrate on eating high quality, low GI carbs. Some of my favourites are oats, brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholemeal english muffins and pita bread. Once again, if you can stick to these carbs, you'll be showing improvements all the time.
The final piece of the puzzle is fat. Another poor, misunderstood nutrient. For years, we have been taught that fat is bad, so you shouldn't eat it. In fact, this is only half true. You see, there are good fats and bad fats. If you can eat the good fats and stop eating the bad fats, you'll boost your testosterone which will help you build what you want. As far as what to eat, I recommend staying away from animal fats, instead, you want oils, nuts, even peanut butter is great. However, fats are very calorie dense, so you must be careful to not eat too much.
Alright, I've cleared up a few myths and pointed you in the right direction to be heading in. So next time you're at the supermarket, have a think about what you're putting in your trolley. It will definitely have a profound affect on your lean muscle building.
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