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When you get your carbs right, they will help fuel muscle growth at the fastest rate possible. Cool! But…
Get them wrong and they’ll make you fat – destroying any chance of having that beautiful aesthetic physique you want (I know – I used to make this mistake all the time many years ago).
So to make sure you don’t make the same errors that I did, here’s a list of all the best sources of carbohydrate for building building muscle (59 items in total). Then I follow this up at the bottom of the post with an actual meal plan you can use.
Combine this eating plan with my free Targeted Hypertrophy Training program (click here) for the best gains of your life.
NOTE. If you don’t have a solid bodybuilding diet and/or are clueless as to how many calories and how much protein you need, I’ll give you my diet and a free calculator to work out your calorie and protein needs below…
You don’t have to go to your email to click a confirm link; the info you need will appear immediately after you enter your email. Enjoy!
WHAT CARBS TO EAT TO BUILD MUSCLE
Bread
Rye kernel (pumpernickel) bread- Volkenbrot (wholemeal rye bread)
- Wholemeal Rye Bread
- Rough Oatcakes
- Cheese Oatcakes
- Fine Oatcakes
- Wholemeal Pita
- Wholewheat Tortilla Wrap
Cereals
- Rolled Oats Cooked
- Original Granola
- All-Bran™
Cereal Grains
- Quinoa
- Kamut
Rice
- Brown Basmati Rice
Vegetables
- New Potato
- Sweet Potato
- Avocado
- Green beans
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Onion
- Tomato (technically a fruit)
- Pumpkin
- Carrots
- Green peas
Legumes & Nuts
- Soy beans (limit your intake of soy)
- Hummus (chickpea dip)
- Peas, dried, boiled
- Pinto beans
- Borlotti beans
- Lentils
- Split peas boiled
- Butter beans
- Kidney beans
Spaghetti & Pasta
- Pasta, wholemeal, boiled
- Spaghetti, wholemeal, boiled
Soups
- Minestrone
- Lentil
Spreads
Natural Peanut butter, no sugar- Blueberry spread, no sugar (1 dessertspoon)
- Quark (a protein source more than a carb but awesome)
Fruits (berries contain the least sugar)
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Strawberries, fresh, raw
Cherries- Grapefruit, raw (1/2 medium grapefruit)
- Pear
- Plum
- Oranges
- Peaches
- Apricots
- Apples
Sweeteners
- stevia
- truvia
- erythritol
- xylitol
- splenda (if you don’t mind artificial sweeteners)
A Sample Daily Menu To Build Muscle
Here I’ve also detailed a sample meal plan to make this way of eating as smooth as possible for you:
Breakfast (meal 1) – Cereal & Shake
50g Granola in 150ml full-fat milk- 35g Whey Protein Isolate in 200ml full-fat milk
- 1g (1 capsule) fish oil
- TOTAL CALORIES – 680
(Meal 2) – Chicken Pita
- Wholemeal Pita
- 100g chicken
- 30g full-fat cheese
- 2 x tablespoons salsa
- TOTAL CALORIES – 550
Post-Workout Shake (in water for the fastest absorption)
- 40g Whey Protein
- 5g Creatine Monohydrate
- 5g L-Glutamine (optional)
- TOTAL CALORIES – 160
(Meal 3) – Rice, Broccoli, & Beef
- 100g Broccoli
- 160g Brown Basmati Rice
- 15g Butter (melted into the rice)
- 120g Minced Beef
- TOTAL CALORIES – 800
(Meal 4) – Proats & Yogurt
- 1 serving ‘Proats‘ (Protein Oats)
- 200g Natural Yogurt with 120g Blueberries
- TOTAL CALORIES – 570
TOTAL CALORIES – 2760
Click here for a healthy meal plan to build #muscle Share on X
If it’s a workout day, make sure you include that post-workout shake in there.
As far as Post-Workout Carbs are concerned, research suggests that they do nothing to increase protein synthesis beyond that which protein can do by itself. I take no carbs in my post-workout shake…and I haven’t for many years. However, if you are determined for some reason to chug some glucose after a workout, use this formula to calculate how much to take so you don’t overdo it…
0.8 x lean bodyweight in kilograms (Kg = pounds /2.2)
This list was not meant to be exhaustive, so if you think I missed any of your favorite carbs, let me know in the comments below.
P.S. The new MuscleHack forums are only 28days from launching 🙂 Remember we’ll be doing our free 4-week muscle challenges called ‘Month of Mass’. I’ll keep you posted on the progress!
And I just noticed that MyProtein USA is offering 70% off their best sellers for the new year. Use this link, there is no discount code to use. But the offer expires midnight January 4th 2017.
Hope this helped!
Mark McManus
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HERE ARE THE SUPPLEMENTS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND
I highly recommend MyProtein for all your supplement needs.
GO TO MYPROTEIN UK/EUROPE
GO TO MYPROTEIN USA
- I also recommend to US readers this Optimum Nutrition whey (and here's a low-carb whey)
- And this quality, inexpensive creatine ~ Mark McManus
Good to know I eat like you Mark. Ditched the white flour a year ago and I have eaten like this since!
YUM! Thank you so much for the menu Mark! That’s my biggest challenge, boredom. Your menus and ideas are a constant inspiration! Thanks again!
@Dave. Thanks for the kind words, Dave. Much appreciated 🙂
Good stuff for my TSPA allocation, I’m assuming sprouted (non-wheat) bread is good also?
But geez, Mark…Why in the world suggest SPLENDA which actually now has been shown to possibly INCREASE body weight? In case you or your readers aren’t up on the latest research published in the Journal of Toxicology – https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/10/new-study-of-splenda-reveals-shocking-information-about-potential-harmful-effects.aspx
Mark, if you haven’t discovered farro yet, it’s a great grain to add. High protein, good net carbs, and yummy IMHO.
@Tim. Cool! I haven’t heard of it, but I’ll look into that 🙂
@Jim. I recommend natural sweeteners in the article too, and only say splenda (if you’re ok with artificial sweeteners). There are conflicting studies as to its healthfulness. But there is no proof that it causes you to gain weight. There is no energy value, so it can’t possibly make you fat. Anyone who gains weight is simply eating more – perhaps the sweetener stimulates appetite for more sweet stuff – but of ofcourse sugar would do the same thing (as would stevia). But sugar would be worse since then you’d have the extra calories from the sugar you just consumed too. I take splenda all the time when cutting. No problem. Many of my clients do too, and they get ripped. If you stick to your target cals and macros, there is absolutely no way that splenda can make you gain weight.