Fueling Your Muscles...How And When To Eat...

Just as important as what you eat is "when you eat" and "how much you eat". In my last post, I discussed different types of foods that fuel and Empower your training.

We must understand that it is important to understand that eating at certain times of the day, as well as how much you eat is vitally important...first of all to your overall health, but to maximize your training results. This is Empowering!

You want bigger, stronger, leaner muscles. The key ingredient for this is protein. The body breaks protein down to amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscle repair and growth. What should your eating habits be in order to maximize muscle growth? They should be frequent and small...ideally eating 6-7 per day, comprising of moderate amounts of complex carbohydrates, high level proteins, and minimal amounts of fat, during your waking hours. Essentially that breaks down to eating approximately every 3 hours. Eating smaller, more frequent meals keeps your energy level at a consistently higher level. This also enables your body to burn fat calories...thus building lean muscle mass. When you eat too much at one time, the body has to go into overdrive...glucose levels spike, higher levels of insulin are secreted...and more fat is stored.

An important concept to understand is that if an essential amino acid is missing when it is needed, the body must break down its own tissues to obtain it. In order to prevent this breakdown of much needed muscle cells, it is necessary to eat a diet rich in amino acids. If the diet is lacking in any essential amino acids, the synthesis of protein will be inhibited, and you may be unable to achieve the fitness results you seek.

It is important to understand the differences between protein and carbohydrates in the body. Carbohydrates can be stored in the body as glycogen. This glycogen is stored in the liver and in the muscles. These stored supplies can be drawn on whenever energy is required.

Proteins cannot be stored in the body. There is only a small, temporary pool of amino acids present in the bloodstream at any one time. In order to maintain the best muscle growth, it is necessary to provide the body with a diet rich in foods that will build muscle. Eating muscle building foods means eating complete proteins with every meal. Eating these muscle building foods with every meal will help ensure that all needed amino acids are available whenever you make demands on your body during a workout.

It is important to remember that muscle building foods such as meats, eggs, and milk are not the only sources of protein, as non-animal derived foods can also be rich sources of protein. However, protein derived from plant sources is considered poorer quality than animal-derived proteins. This is largely due in part to the fact that plant-derived proteins do not typically contain all the essential amino acids. If you are a vegan, consider getting a high quality protein powder that fits your dietary qualifications to supplement your diet. Empower Yourself!

When you decide to add a protein supplement to your diet make sure the 9 essential amino acids are included and preferable the 11 non-essential ones as well.

The 9 essential amino acids are:

A.] Histidine
B.] Isoleucine
C.] Leucine
D.] Valine
E.] Lysine
F.] Methionine
G.] Phenylalanine
H.] Threonine
I.] Tryptophan

The 11 non-essential amino acids are

A.] Alanine
B.] Arginine
C.] Asparagine
D.] Aspartic Acid
E.] Cysteine
F.] Glutamic Acid
G.] Glutamine
H.] Glycine
I.] Proline
J.] Serine
K.] Tyrosine

Remember one thing...as important as supplements are, they should not replace foods. The backbone of your diet should be a selection of the best muscle building foods. The human digestive system was designed to process foods, not supplements.

Maintaining high quality foods, eating frequent smaller meals comprising of complex carbohydrates and balanced proteins 6-7 times per day will give your muscles the fuel it needs to repair and grow. It will also support your overall health...it will Empower your training...