There's a teenager at my gym who's been coming there for at least the last two years. I usually hit the gym about 3x/week and he's usually there. His routine looks decent enough, meaning he does more than just triceps kickbacks and biceps curls, yet he has not grown one iota muscle-wise. When I'm in the gym I usually stick to myself, keeping conversation to a minimum, but I recently asked him the other day about his progress, trying not to sound judgemental or condescending, and he conveyed his frustration at his supposed inability to grow. The first follow up question that I asked was about his diet: 5 meals a day, consisting of cereal, a lean chicken breast, a turkey sandwich on white bread and an apple, a protein shake, and another chicken breast. "That's all you eat," I asked, trying to mask my astonishment. "Yup," he replied, and with obvious pride added, "and I eat hardly any fat!" slapping his narrow belly.
This is a very common diet for teenage bodybuilders who have absolutely no idea of how to eat. To give you an idea of how he should have been eating, if everything he had rattled off had been one of his meals instead of all of them, he would be about 20 lbs more muscular and immeasurably stronger than the emaciated boy standing before me.
5 Common Diet Mistakes
1. You don't consume enough food
When it comes to gaining weight, quantity and quality are equally important. You can be eating the healthiest, most nutritionally dense food in the world, but if you aren't eating enough of it, you will not grow. The untrained body requires a set amount of calories to maintain equilibrium (to stay the same), the body in training requires that same amount plus the number of calories that were burned to maintain equilibrium. That means if Johnny Noob's body burns 2000 cals per day just sitting on its' ass, and it burns 2500 cals when you add in an hour long workout, then eating 2500 will only succeed in keeping John the same size, regardless of how he eats. The rule of thumb goes, if you want to gain 1 lb of bodyweight in a week you must increase your caloric intake by 500 cals. per day. So if Johnny wants to gain 1 lb by Sunday, he'll need to eat 3000 cals. per day starting Monday. If Sunday comes and Johnny still weighs the same, he needs to eat another 500 cals. per day.
2. You don't consume enough (any) fats
Newsflash: Fat does not make you fat. (Eating too much while doing too little does that). Fat is absolutely crucial if you want to add muscular bodyweight. Fat is responsible for delivering essential vitamins (A, D, E and K) throughout the body and in rebuilding cell walls, and there are essential fatty acids that our body cannot produce on it's own and must be ingested to maintain vitality. Plus it is an easy way to dramatically increase your calories intake (remember: quantity=quality) and getting enough cals to promote growth without them would be difficult. That said, you should be ingesting predominantly healthy fats and avoid Trans fats at all costs. Fatty foods that you should be consuming everyday, or rotating throughout the week include: nuts, seeds, avocados, peanut butter, eggs, whole milk, fish oil and olive oil.
3. You don't consume enough protein
Protein is what your body needs to synthesize muscle, if you get too little of it, you're curtailing your muscle gains. A pretty safe way to estimate how much protein you need is to calculate 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. Say Johnny Noob weighs 150 lbs, that's 150 grams. To give you some idea of how much that is in terms of food, it would take a 19 oz sirloin strip steak, or 25 large eggs, or just over half a gallon of whole milk for Johnny to get enough protein. When you consider everything you eat throughout the course of a day, and the limitless combination of food, 150 grams is really quite doable. But even so, it could be difficult. It's for this reason I recommend everyone have at least 1 protein shake a day. Most protein powders contain about 20-25 grams of protein per scoop, so 2 scoops in milk will knock out a considerable chunk of your protein requirements for the day. Add in plenty of dead animal, eggs, and a few handfuls of nuts, and you'll be well on your way.
4. You consume too much protein
Wait, didn't I just say that the problem was too little protein? Yes, but here's the thing. For every novice trainee that gets too little protein there is another who consumes nothing but protein, usually in the form of the aforementioned protein shake. Many trainees are of the mindset that when it comes to protein, more=better. They go for 2x or even 3x the "1 gram per 1 pound of protein" suggestion with the impression that they will gain 2x or 3x the muscle. Truth is that the human body cannot assimilate unlimited amounts of protein, and anything above that is converted to simple carbs and fatty acids and either burned or stored as fat. In the process of converting the protein, the kidneys kick into overdrive to filter out any waste products that are left behind, which are subsequently pissed or crapped out. There is some evidence that this process can deplete the bodies stores of calcium or could over strain the kidneys of an individual with kidney problems! It is certainly better to get a little too much protein than way too little, but anything beyond 1.5xbodyweight of protein will be a crap shot.
Another problem is getting too much protein from one source. If you're getting the majority of your protein from powder for example, you're severely limiting the variety of proteins that you should be consuming. Every source of protein, whether it's soy, milk, yogurt, beef, fish, nuts or eggs is not equal and each offers a variation in both what it offers, how it is digested, and how well it is synthesised by the body. Your best bet is not to have all your eggs in one basket, and instead get an assortment of proteins from a variety of food sources. This will ensure you get a more balanced diet and a well rounded muscle building effect.
5. You're not drinking Whole Milk
Whole milk is truly amazing stuff. It is affordable, readily available, requires no special preparation, contains everything that a body needs for growth, and despite everything bad that you may associate with it, it is unparalleled for muscle building and overall development. Mammals are the most evolved class of animal on the planet, and it is no mistake that the one trait we all seem to share is the consumption of whole milk. I won't say much about it now because I intend to write a longer entry about it in the future, but take my word for it; Drink at least 2 cups a day of honest to goodness whole milk and rest assured your muscles will thank you.
Bottom line: Your diet is solely responsible for weight gain/loss.
Only then is your training responsible for whether your gain/loss is muscle or fat.
This is a very common diet for teenage bodybuilders who have absolutely no idea of how to eat. To give you an idea of how he should have been eating, if everything he had rattled off had been one of his meals instead of all of them, he would be about 20 lbs more muscular and immeasurably stronger than the emaciated boy standing before me.
5 Common Diet Mistakes
1. You don't consume enough food
When it comes to gaining weight, quantity and quality are equally important. You can be eating the healthiest, most nutritionally dense food in the world, but if you aren't eating enough of it, you will not grow. The untrained body requires a set amount of calories to maintain equilibrium (to stay the same), the body in training requires that same amount plus the number of calories that were burned to maintain equilibrium. That means if Johnny Noob's body burns 2000 cals per day just sitting on its' ass, and it burns 2500 cals when you add in an hour long workout, then eating 2500 will only succeed in keeping John the same size, regardless of how he eats. The rule of thumb goes, if you want to gain 1 lb of bodyweight in a week you must increase your caloric intake by 500 cals. per day. So if Johnny wants to gain 1 lb by Sunday, he'll need to eat 3000 cals. per day starting Monday. If Sunday comes and Johnny still weighs the same, he needs to eat another 500 cals. per day.
2. You don't consume enough (any) fats
Newsflash: Fat does not make you fat. (Eating too much while doing too little does that). Fat is absolutely crucial if you want to add muscular bodyweight. Fat is responsible for delivering essential vitamins (A, D, E and K) throughout the body and in rebuilding cell walls, and there are essential fatty acids that our body cannot produce on it's own and must be ingested to maintain vitality. Plus it is an easy way to dramatically increase your calories intake (remember: quantity=quality) and getting enough cals to promote growth without them would be difficult. That said, you should be ingesting predominantly healthy fats and avoid Trans fats at all costs. Fatty foods that you should be consuming everyday, or rotating throughout the week include: nuts, seeds, avocados, peanut butter, eggs, whole milk, fish oil and olive oil.
3. You don't consume enough protein
Protein is what your body needs to synthesize muscle, if you get too little of it, you're curtailing your muscle gains. A pretty safe way to estimate how much protein you need is to calculate 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. Say Johnny Noob weighs 150 lbs, that's 150 grams. To give you some idea of how much that is in terms of food, it would take a 19 oz sirloin strip steak, or 25 large eggs, or just over half a gallon of whole milk for Johnny to get enough protein. When you consider everything you eat throughout the course of a day, and the limitless combination of food, 150 grams is really quite doable. But even so, it could be difficult. It's for this reason I recommend everyone have at least 1 protein shake a day. Most protein powders contain about 20-25 grams of protein per scoop, so 2 scoops in milk will knock out a considerable chunk of your protein requirements for the day. Add in plenty of dead animal, eggs, and a few handfuls of nuts, and you'll be well on your way.
4. You consume too much protein
Wait, didn't I just say that the problem was too little protein? Yes, but here's the thing. For every novice trainee that gets too little protein there is another who consumes nothing but protein, usually in the form of the aforementioned protein shake. Many trainees are of the mindset that when it comes to protein, more=better. They go for 2x or even 3x the "1 gram per 1 pound of protein" suggestion with the impression that they will gain 2x or 3x the muscle. Truth is that the human body cannot assimilate unlimited amounts of protein, and anything above that is converted to simple carbs and fatty acids and either burned or stored as fat. In the process of converting the protein, the kidneys kick into overdrive to filter out any waste products that are left behind, which are subsequently pissed or crapped out. There is some evidence that this process can deplete the bodies stores of calcium or could over strain the kidneys of an individual with kidney problems! It is certainly better to get a little too much protein than way too little, but anything beyond 1.5xbodyweight of protein will be a crap shot.
Another problem is getting too much protein from one source. If you're getting the majority of your protein from powder for example, you're severely limiting the variety of proteins that you should be consuming. Every source of protein, whether it's soy, milk, yogurt, beef, fish, nuts or eggs is not equal and each offers a variation in both what it offers, how it is digested, and how well it is synthesised by the body. Your best bet is not to have all your eggs in one basket, and instead get an assortment of proteins from a variety of food sources. This will ensure you get a more balanced diet and a well rounded muscle building effect.
5. You're not drinking Whole Milk
Whole milk is truly amazing stuff. It is affordable, readily available, requires no special preparation, contains everything that a body needs for growth, and despite everything bad that you may associate with it, it is unparalleled for muscle building and overall development. Mammals are the most evolved class of animal on the planet, and it is no mistake that the one trait we all seem to share is the consumption of whole milk. I won't say much about it now because I intend to write a longer entry about it in the future, but take my word for it; Drink at least 2 cups a day of honest to goodness whole milk and rest assured your muscles will thank you.
Bottom line: Your diet is solely responsible for weight gain/loss.
Only then is your training responsible for whether your gain/loss is muscle or fat.
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