If you want the biggest, best, and fastest gains possible – you need to ensure that you can check off all 6 points on this list.
No matter what diet you choose for your muscle-building campaign, there are certain fundamentals that you should adhere to.
It could be a carb-cycling diet like my MANS diet, a higher-carb diet like my GLAD diet, a vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, wheat-free, or whatever! There are certain recommendations that apply to them all!
Take a look at the following and make sure you can check them all off your list.
(1) Get Enough Protein Every Day
Get Enough Protein To Build Muscle. To get your daily protein, multiply your lean body mass (LBM) in kilograms by 2.75.
LBM (kg) x 2.75
Or more simply, take 1g protein for every pound of body weight: 180lbs = 180g.
If you don’t know your LBM, use the body fat percentage calculator in the sidebar of this site to help you.
Do you NEED to split it up into 6 separate servings? No, not necessarily. The body can and will absorb more than 30g of protein in 1 sitting. However, if you believe that you are carb-sensitive and want to control your insulin levels, you should eat smaller, more frequent meals for that purpose (especially on a higher-carb diet like GLAD).
Get a high-quality protein like Whey Isolate from MyProtein, or Isopure or Optimum Nutrition Whey.
(2) Get Enough Calories Every Day
Your Calorie-level depends on your goals. When on a Gain Cycle, the key word I always stress is “SUFFICIENT”, not “surplus”.
A workout does not “produce” muscular growth. It merely “stimulates” it. From there the body goes to work repairing, compensating, and then over-compensating for the damage done. At no point does a “surplus” come into the equation. But you do need sufficient or adequate nutrition for sure.
I recommend you figure out your maintenance calories and add on 200-300 to ascertain your Gain Calories. See this post on gaining 12 pounds of muscle in a year for more.
Note: Cutting is a whole different animal, and yes, my Total Six Pack Abs program is the way to go for fast fat loss. If any readers haven’t yet seen MuscleHacker Brandi McAtee’s article in here local paper about her recent triumph, go here (there’s a nice shout-out to MuscleHack there too).
(3) Use Creatine
Creatine is one of the very few supplements proven to work. And yes it is safe.
A lot of people fall into the ‘more is better’ mentality with creatine. More is not better with this supplement. By taking too much it is possible to cause creatine saturation outside the cell. This can prevent effective muscle uptake of creatine. 5g per day is the dosage I recommend. I also recommend taking this AFTER your workout.
Remember that creatine is NOT a pre-workout “energy” supplement. It doesn’t give you a buzz; that’s not the purpose of creatine. See here for more on that. A great and cheap creatine supplement for my US readers here.
(4) Eat Carbs
Yes, carbs are necessary for optimal workouts. I often get referred to as the “low-carb guy”, but that’s obviously by people who don’t know the full scope of my work.
Even MANS has a 36 hr carb-up, and the option of another carb-load during the week. Carbs are simply required to fill the muscles with glycogen, which is the energy the body will start to tap into once your training crosses a certain threshold of intensity.
(5) Eat Fat
Fat IS necessary in your diet. Especially relevant for bodybuilders is the requirement of fat for the production of testosterone. A diet low in natural fats (both saturated and unsaturated) is a disaster for the natural bodybuilder.
But additionally, fat:
- Supplies essential fatty acids (and they are essential). EFA’s must be obtained from diet as the body cannot manufacture them
- Forms the structure of cell membranes
- Is required for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K).
(6) Take Intra or Post-Workout Protein
Intense training is a catabolic activity. Like I stated above, a workout does not actually “produce” growth. It stimulates it. This is because anabolism is stimulated by catabolism.
The body works with these type of “negative-feedback loops” that signal an opposing mechanism to kick into gear when something goes too far in one direction. Another example of this is the regulation of blood sugar.
Many people seem to be under the idea that catabolism is some evil to be avoided at all costs. The truth is that you need it to stimulate its opposite: anabolism. This is exactly what we do during a THT bodybuilding workout.
The process of recovery and growth will start to kick in after the workout. Since protein synthesis is what we are after, it only makes sense to supply the body with a fresh batch of the building blocks of muscle: protein.
While strictly speaking you could just eat food, you aren’t normally in the mood to eat a meal straight after a workout. Also, taking protein in the form of whey will supply the fuel a lot quicker than eating a chicken breast for example.
Take about 40g whey protein after training to give your body what it needs for optimal growth.
Take about 40g whey protein after training to give your body what it needs for optimal growth Share on X
Also, read my recent post about why I switched my post-workout shake to an “intra” (during) workout shake.
I’m hoping y’all can check all 6 off your list, especially if you’ve been coming to MuscleHack for a while!
If you’ve any questions or need help, just ask me below. I’m always happy to help.
If you want muscle gains in the fastest way possible, download THT training below. After inputting your email, you will be taken directly to the download page for instant access to the workout. You don’t need to log into your email to click on any confirmation link.
Train With Intensity & Eat Intelligently!
Mark
Just wondering about the amount of protein… in an earlier article it was stated that the body could only absorb a maximum of 5g of protein in an hour. So 24 x 5 = a maximum of 124g of protein a day.
@Andrew. Whey with water will absorb at about 10g/hr. After a workout I normally drive about 40-50g into me 🙂
About creatine, one of the articles you wrote suggested trying out 4 servings (20g total) of creatine per day for 3 days on 4 days off right?
@Neal. Yes. I had about 3 positive reports of this method on facebook recently. I personally didn’t note any difference with this method, but I would encourage people who see themselves as non-responders to at least try it.
Mark,
I’m finding out that all the veggies and beans I eat aren’t adding up to the 60-100 grs for my TSPA diet. I was thinking—and I believe you when you say one doesn’t need carbs in the workout shake—that maybe I could put the extra carbs I need into my workout shake, just so I get above 60 or so.
Other reason(s) for this are that I’m doing my workout at 4:30-5:30am in the morning, as opposed to afternoon/evening like most Musclehackers including you. So I didn’t have any carbs in my meals like you sometime before my workout.
Another reason is that it might reduce the coritisol in my system, which is the enemy of testosterone. And people that have lousy sleep (ME!!!) have more cortisol.
@John. Yes there’s no problem with that. It’s all about those macro targets at the end of the day.
6 out of 6! Can’t wait for the book. Keep up the good work Mark
A good read Mark. Just gotta start watching my carbs again. Should be easier with summer over, i’m an ice cream junkie!! Can’t wait for MuscleHack Chow either. I Know It’s Gonna Be Good!! Thanks Mark!!
@Mike Huber
Hey Mike,
I love ice cream too.
I just ordered an ice cream maker and I’m going to make non-fat frozen yogurt using Splenda!! And on my carb day I’m going to use dextrose instead of Splenda. And probably load both versions with protein powder.
Not interested in discussion about how ice cream tastes better whatever.
@Dan. @Mike. Thanks!
@john. You gotta let us all know how that turns out. I want all the details on taste, texture, the lot!
@Mark
10-4
I’m hoping to be eating this stuff all day long!!!
Your shipments for Order #xxxxxx
Ordered on October 01, 2011
Shipment 1 – Delivery Estimate: October 07, 2011
Hamilton Beach 68330R 4-Quart Automatic Ice-Cream Maker
Shipped
Shipment 2 – Delivery Estimate: October 11, 2011
Rival 5-Pound Bag of Rock Salt
Shipped
Mark, can consuming TOO much protein hinder results? I average about 200-250g per day (i eat a lot of chicken per day, with 30g or Optimum Nutrition Pro Complex in the morning, and 60g at night right after my workouts). I wasn’t sure if this was working against me. Plus, I do cardio or HIIT 3x a week (mentioning that because I assumed that higher protein intake would offset any muscle metabolism from the cardio/HIIT).
OH, I weight about 200lbs. with about 177lbs lean muscle (key info i forgot to mention).
hi Mark, sorry, off the topic here but my HIT routine mon-wed is taking me an hour and a half to complete as i have to wait for people to finish their sets and im completey and utterly knackerd by the time im half way through and its only 10 sets. i have 5 weeks left of this cycle is it possible and would i benefit from doing half the routine on monday and then the rest on wed and keeping the consolidation the same on friday. if i keep it as is and take longer breaks to re-charge i could be there for 2 hours and thats outside the 1hour time line? does anyone else have this problem? thanx mark!!
Mark,
I work out the THT routine from 12:15 to 12:45am because of my work timing; So I am having a whey protein shaker around 11:30 or 11:45 and my lunch around 1:10 Do u believe it’s a good way to grow muscles?
Mark, regarding the upcoming Chow! book, will there be a chapter on vitamins? I’m getting more and more convinced that not being deficient in certain vitamins is another BB diet fundamental, especially since your vitamin D post.
@Mr Lowe. Wouldn’t hurt growth but it will make you fat as it will just be converted to sugar. But you need about 220g anyway.
@Jason. I couldn’t recommend that, buddy. Tough it out, man 🙂
@George. Nothing wrong with that.
@Wouter. Not a chapter but I do recommend a good all-round multi-vitamin, and additional vitamin D. 10,000 IU per day for average adult.
Mark I am on the glads diet at the moment and my protein needs are 190 grams but my diet consists of around 237 grams thant,s around 47 grams over my Lean Body Mass requierment?
Question is how much protein can one go over his or her,s Lean Body Mass requierment
Well it depends on whether or not it’s pushing you over your total cals for the day too. If so, those 47g = 188 cal surplus every day. It’ll soon add to be fat gain. You don’t need any more protein than you need, but that’s kinda stating the obvious.
Mark I’m actually about 68 calories short of my daily diet. My protein levels are higher is that going cause me problems or if I keep within my calorie target will that be ok?
It’s ok, bud. A slice of cheese would sort out that 68 cals for you too 😉
Thanks mark I have that bit of cheese too 🙂
Mark, how do you measure the effectiveness of a workout cycle, and how do you compare one workout/diet cycle to another? With so many variables (diet, routine, supplements, rest, stress, life,etc) taking place over a lengthy period of time, along with the body’s natural cycling, how do you know which combination is giving the best results? I know it could be different for everyone, but I’m just wondering what metric you use to measure. Personally, I don’t take many tape measurements because they’re so easily influenced by water. I track my numbers as I should to make sure I’m going in the right direction. And of course I spend plenty of time checking in the mirror, but that’s a tough gauge and also influenced by many things. In the big picture its easy to see the positive results, but it’s a lot harder to sort out the results of the finer variations/manipulations of each element of any given combination.
@Jason when I find myself in that situation I just move on to the next available exercise without rest. Maybe it’s less than optimal, and it can really drain you, but my numbers keep going up and I have experienced what I believe to be an improvement in cardiovascular health DUE to intense gym workouts,
@Dan. It’s all about progressive overload. If I can do more reps or use more weight with good form over the weeks, then I can be sure that positive changes are taking place in my body.
Additionally, you can take body weight but it must be in conjunction with a body fat reading so you know what your lean and fat mass are. You should only take these once every week or 2 and always at the same time of day eg. Every other Saturday morning before breakfast.
Hi Mark, with regards the point about eating carbs, after years of getting nowhere, I’ve recently started with a personal trainer who’s got me on 230g of Carbohydrate a day. In four weeks my body fat has gone up nearly 2% and I’ve put on 2kg, very little of which to my eye is lean mass. I really didn’t want to go down the bulking / cutting route as I’m already unhappy with how I’m looking so am now trying to keep to less than 50g of carbs per day. Is that enough do you think?
I am 180 lbs and can’t find out exactly how many cals. I need per day. I tried down loading ur calorie calculator but for some reason can’t.
@Travis. In that case, use the web version here, buddy: https://www.freebodybuildingworkoutprogram.com/calorieproteincalc/
@Phil Ness. It just depends on the total calories he put you on. Use my calculator here
https://www.freebodybuildingworkoutprogram.com/calorieproteincalc/
Also, if you need to lose fat, do consider my TSPA program as it’s the best way to go about it, but in short, 50g net carbs is a good start, but there are other issues to consider.