It’s commonly known by people in the bodybuilding world that protein is required to build muscle mass. What’s really important to know is that your protein intake amount is adequate enough to feed your hard working muscles. If it’s not, your muscles will not develop well in contrast to the amount of work you’re putting in.

One way to know how much more protein to eat is to first figure out the overall calories you need to be eating for optimal muscle growth.

Building your muscles is much like gaining weight it takes between 300 – 500 calories to put on extra muscle mass or weight. Eating 500 calories extra every day will have you putting on about one extra pound every week. Keep in mind that you must be working your muscles to burn these extra calories so that they don’t end up as stored fat opposed to built muscle mass.

Now, if your plan is to use these extra consumed calories to build your muscles then you’ll want to convert the 300 – 500 calories into mostly protein. You don’t want to be increasing the amount of fat that your ingesting, although some fat is important. Lean cuts of meat will contain some fat, nuts will contain some fat and well designed protein shakes will contain some fat.

So, at any rate, don’t go overboard thinking you have to avoid fat completely. You do want your protein calories to be the bulk of these additional calories that you are consuming in order to accelerate your muscle building venture.

Work Your Muscles Hard but Ensure Proper Protein Intake When You Do.

Learning the concept of consuming the correct protein intake for building muscle is to understand that protein is the foundational building block for gaining muscle mass. With these protein building blocks in your system, when you train your muscles, you are stimulating your muscle growth cycle to develop your muscles at a much faster pace.

So it makes sense to work your muscles really hard but only if you have good amounts of protein in your body to feed those hungry worked muscles.

Why Building Muscle Mass without Proper Protein Intake is a Bad Idea

You may have heard the saying “Turn fat into muscle” and while it is true that when you workout, you’ll be losing fat and as long as you are maintaining a good protein level in your body, you’ll be gaining muscle. But you’re not actually turning muscle into fat.

The bottom line is that if you don’t consume the right amount of protein based on how rigorously you work your muscles, your muscles will not grow no matter how hard you work them. And on the flip side, you never want to over eat if you’re not burning the calories you consume because you will pack on fat pounds and that’s the exact opposite of what you want to achieve.

Many of the weight training professionals will recommend not eating extra on your rest and recover days even if your body and brain are screaming to be fed more food. Instead, they advocate physically resting up more on your rest days. What this habit will do is create an energy surplus in your body without feeding it more.

The benefit is that when you re-engage in performing an intense workout, your body will draw upon this surplus reducing your body fat stores. And as we all know, the less body fat you have surrounding you, the more your magnificent muscle tone shows itself off. Many times, the muscle tone is there… it’s just hiding.

How to Add More Protein to Your Diet

There are no one-size-fits-all answers to how much protein you should add because it can differ greatly from person to person. While one person might want to simply shape up, the next person may be looking at competition bodybuilding. One might want to get their increased protein intake from food, others may want to supplement; others will want to do both.

Increasing Your Protein Intake with Food

Everyone wanting to build up their muscles will have protein requirements unique to them so it’s a good idea to start slower rather than too fast. Keeping in tune with what was said earlier, you’ll want to start out by adding in an extra 300 calories of protein each day that you workout for three months.

Take a step back and see where you are at. If you’re not seeing the muscle growth you were expecting, increase your protein intake to 500 calories and compare notes in three more months. A local bodybuilding coach can help get you on the road to reaching your goals much faster because they can personalize this task for you and your goals.

Increasing Your Protein Intake with Supplements

Most protein choices contain higher amounts of fat and research has shown that low fat protein choices work just as effectively in building muscle. While you can easily add in low fat dairy items, lean meats like chicken, fish and turkey; a good quality protein supplement is a convenient way to “beef up” your protein intake.

There are many protein supplements to choose from; some good, some great and some that are not so good – even downright bad for you sorry to say. The most important thing to glean from this article is to find a way to increase your protein intake when your goal is to build muscles.

Secondly, your goal is most likely to simultaneously lose fat while building up your muscle tone. So, as logic plays out in our search for a good quality protein supplement you will want to look for low fat, low sugar, no artificial ingredients whatsoever; basically you want as pure of protein you can get in the supplement you choose and avoid all the garbage so many manufacturers throw in their products merely for the sake of marketing buzzwords.

Read the labels and like anything you’re thinking about putting in your body, it there’s a word you don’t understand… find out what the heck it is before you consume it!

You can learn more about whole food protein and protein supplements at http://MyFitnessNut.com but the big takeaway for this article is that you must increase your protein intake if you want to increase your muscle mass. You can lift weights from morning until the sun goes down and still not build muscle mass. That would be sad.

Reason; if you don’t feed your muscles protein when they’re being worked, your muscles will tear down and feed upon their very own protein leaving your muscle building goals stuck in the mud. Increase your protein intake to the amount that works for you and you’ll be smiling at the results of your efforts instead of wondering why your workouts aren’t working as well as you like.

Do I Need Protein Shakes and Supplements To Get Six Pack Abs?

The muscle magazines and supplement manufacturers will have you believing that by taking the latest supplements, you will become a fat burning machine with bulging biceps, pulsating pectorals and tree trunk thighs and fully defined six pack abs. Words like ‘breakthrough discovery’, ‘scientific formula’, ‘serum’, etc. are used to hype up their claims.

So the big question is if you need to buy these costly supplements? No. That’s it. A simple no.

Six pack abs are not defined by supplements or hype. They can only be achieved with hard work, correct nutrition, determination, discipline and patience. Yes, this sounds boring when compared to the supplements’ sales pitch. It’s so boring that you know it’s true.

If you have watched documentaries of farmers or laborers in Africa slogging it out in the heat, you will notice that many of them are ripped. They have the ‘onion skin’ look. They look ripped and have abs. They are not on supplements. So how did they get abs?

Body fat percentage. That’s how. These farmers are on a diet that is low in carbs and most of them do not eat the processed junk food that we normally do. Their manual labor burns off their calories and fat stores.

Since, they have such a low body fat percentage, their six pack abs show in all their full glory. This is what you need to aim for. To bring your body fat percentage to 10 percent or below. Once you do that, by diet and exercise you will be ripped too.

Good Diet and Workouts for Six Pack Ab Success

While on your six pack abs quest, your diet will have to be clean. All your calories will need to come from wholesome, healthy foods. Your protein sources will come from tuna, chicken breast, turkey meat, etc. Your carbs will come from vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, asparagus, etc. Your fats will come from sources such as olive oil, peanut butter, etc.

You will want to avoid sodas, junk food, white bread, white rice and other foods with a high GI index.

Protein Shakes Helpful but Not Necessary to Build Six Pack Abs

While protein shakes are not necessary, if you can afford them, they will make things convenient. For example, if you need to eat some protein and you do not have the time or energy to steam or cook a chicken breast, then making a quick protein shake will deliver the same amount of protein.

They are just a quick substitute for a normal meal. These shakes are a means to an end and not an end itself. The ads will have you believing that the shakes and serums will burn your fat off and put on slabs of muscle on your body. That is not true.

Only hard training and a proper diet can give you the abs you want. The shakes are just there to make life a little simpler. There is no shake that can give you benefits that normal food can’t. The only difference is that protein powders and other supplements are more expensive.

My advice would be to get your diet and training spot on. Once you are going with the flow, then you may take your time and consider if these supplements are really necessary. Most often, your results from good training and nutrition will be so good that you will not even think about forking out money on supplements.

Learn More about Fitness and Getting Those Six Pack Abs You Really Want

To help you create the six-pack abs that you would like to call your own, get a free subscription to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at http://MyFitnessNut.com and receive a full body workout video series to help get you into shape fast. Get yours now while we’re still giving them away.

Supplements for Building Muscle

The best supplements for building muscle will vary depending on what you want to accomplish and at what point you are starting from. One thing is for certain though and a starting point for anyone that works out and wants to build muscle needs to include a source of protein in their muscle building plans.

For the hard core fitness nuts, you’ll want lots of quality and digestible protein. You probably knew that already but the key phrase for you here is “quality and digestible protein”.

Protein Tops the List of Best Supplements for Building Muscle

So, the best supplement for building muscle has to start with a well made protein shake. The right protein shakes are a great way to load up on easy to digest protein without having to consume large amounts of unwanted and unhealthy fats. Many weight lifters and fitness trainers recommend the use of protein shakes with other supplements to assist in building muscle.

When you are searching for the very best supplements for building your muscles you’ll want to pay close attention to the ingredients and reputation of the manufacturer. Many supplements for building muscles feature different ingredient combinations and all manufacturers will give you all of the right reasons as to why theirs is the best.

Names Associated With the “Best Supplements for Building Muscle”:

• Protein
• Glutamine
• Nitric Oxide

If you’ve been involved with muscle building for any length of time you’ve probably heard of most if not all of those names above. A few are even questionable when considering safety and ethics. Whatever type of supplement you are considering, you’ll need to look at the different types of ingredients, delivery systems and effectiveness for what you want to accomplish.

For example and at the top of our list for good reason is protein. Protein comes in so many forms and it’s important to understand that each will digest differently and you’ll need to time its consumption as a part of your muscle building routine. Egg, Whey, Casein, Soy, Pea, Chia, Hemp, Rice and the list goes on and they all digest differently.

For most people when choosing the best supplement for building muscle will gravitate towards using whey with vegans being the exception. Whey can be digested by your body in about thirty minutes and that’s important for the muscle builder after a workout.

However, the best protein supplement for building muscle is a combination of different types of protein that all digest at different rates creating a time-released protein feed delivered to your muscles. When you look at egg protein, digestion runs into 1 – 3 hours and with Casein it’s 2 – 7 hours. See what I mean? 

Putting it all together in the right amounts of what’s best, how much to take and when to take it can be a challenge for many people. For most of us, our best option is to pick up a quality protein supplement that is already scientifically formulated to provide what we need to achieve our goals.

The Next Best Supplements for Building Muscle

After settling in with the best protein supplement for what you want to do (e.g. spending half an hour working out vs. climbing Mount Kilimanjaro) Glutamine and Nitric Oxide are next at the top of our list.

There are many of these types of products on the market and both Glutamine and Nitric Oxide are used in special formulations to assist us with increased energy, stamina and recovery. When choosing these type products, stick with a company that has a good reputation and adheres to quality manufacturing processes. Then pay attention to the directions for best results.

You can find more articles like this on a variety of fitness topics at http://MyFitnessNut.com and if you would like to know what we think are the best supplements for building muscle simply send us and email at http://myfitnessnut.com/contact-us/ and ask Frank or Anna.

Tips to Build Muscle Mass Faster and Larger

You’ve probably already learned that eating more protein helps your body to build muscle mass more effectively and efficiently. So if you’re looking to build muscle mass, eating more protein becomes a great asset in your workouts. Note that the protein you consume does not have to be animal protein because there are many other types of foods that work even better in some people than protein from animals.

Vegetarians Can Sometimes Build Muscle Mass Faster

Many vegetarians for instance manage to build muscle mass without ever putting animal protein in their body. The protein best suited for vegetarians needs to come from plant or dairy sources like beans, peas, nuts, rice and protein supplements that contain whey, rice protein, pea protein and if you choose soy protein.

The advantage to using plant and dairy sources to build muscle mass is that the fat content is less than in animals. Additionally, the fats found in plants are generally the “good fats” that your body needs and are less likely to pack on body fat, contribute to high blood pressure and cholesterol like animal fat can.

 Combine Meat and Protein Supplements to Build Muscle Mass

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys eating meat and eggs but do not like to consume large amounts every day then using protein supplements to build muscle mass is a great addition to your diet. If you’re trying to lose fat while building up muscle mass you can mix your protein supplements with water. If you want to gain weight then use milk for some added fat and calories or even opt for a complete protein meal replacement shake.

Keep in mind that it takes more energy (calories) for your digestive system to break down meat protein. Because of this, eating meat will sustain your body for a longer period of time than drinking a protein shake that digests much easier and faster. Using a good quality protein supplement can speed up your metabolism and you can be building muscle mass at a faster rate than the muscle builder who eats primarily animal protein.

Build Muscle Mass with Proper Nutrients and Doing Weight Training Correctly

What’s important to remember is that to build muscle mass and maintain a healthy body, getting proper nutrition is extremely important but so is doing weight training correctly. For example, many people believe that the harder and more often they work out the faster they’ll build muscle mass. This thinking can lead to failure because over-training can tear down your muscles and your muscles require rest in order to build back up.

Did you catch that important tip? Your muscles heal, build and grow during rest after your workouts. If you don’t let your muscles rest the muscle tissues can’t repair and build back up resulting in the failure of your muscle building plans. For this reason, when you do your weight training you’ll want to alternate days like one day on and one day off.

If you want to workout everyday your best bet is to alternate working different muscle groups such as work on your arms one day, your legs the next day and your chest, back and shoulder muscles all on different days. This does the same thing because as you are building up your muscle mass each muscle group gets the rest they need to be able to repair and grow.

The Best Way to Build Muscle Mass Effectively

1. Be consistent but don’t overdo your workouts.
2. Alternate workout days or alternate working different muscle groups.
3. Your muscles need rest time to repair and build.
4. Eat high protein foods, use protein supplements or do both.

Probably the most important thing is to avoid disappointment from trying to do too much too quickly. You now know that rest is important to build muscle mass but if you overdo it, it could lead to injury. If you injure yourself you’ll not be able to weight train for weeks, possibly months and while resting for that long the muscle mass you’ve built up so far will become lost.

If you’re just starting on your journey to building muscle mass you may not have equipment yet then the article Build Muscle Mass without Weights might be helpful and new or not Building Muscles for Men and Women may be an interesting read.