The more often you eat, the better your bodybuilding progress. Find out how bodybuilders eat by the hour to maximize muscle growth. For muscle growth, athletes must provide their bodies with all the nutrients they need. It should be noted that in order to increase the effectiveness of training, athletes need nutrition for weight by the hour in bodybuilding.
As you know, after awakening in the body, catabolic reactions actively proceed. To prevent the loss of muscle mass, it is necessary to reduce the catabolic background and raise the anabolic one as soon as possible. This will help you high-calorie weight gain by the hour in bodybuilding.
Cortisol and other stress hormones are scared of calories and must be utilized. For this reason, recommendations are made about eating by the hour. The bodybuilder should not starve, as this again intensifies the catabolic response. After consumption, all food products are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract into amino acid compounds, vitamins, trace elements, monosaccharides and fat molecules. We can say that the abdominal cavity is a large reservoir of blood in which the intestines are located. In it, all the nutrients are absorbed and then enter the bloodstream, through which they are delivered to the tissues of the body.
If you do not take food for a long period of time, then the blood is gradually deprived of all nutrients and starvation begins. If this continues for a long time, then there is a disruption in the performance of all body systems. In order to survive, the body begins to intensively synthesize cortisol, which then begins to destroy muscle tissue, thereby obtaining food for the main organs.
Someone might say that the main thing is to eat more and everything will be all right. In practice, however, the situation is different. You should eat by the hour and your first meal should take place immediately after waking up in the morning. Before starting a workout, it is necessary to give the body protein compounds and carbohydrates, and then take food after the workout. At the same time, one should not forget about nutrition before going to bed.
Morning meal
When you wake up, your body has been without food for at least eight hours up to this point. Surely everyone knows the sensations when it was not possible to have a snack for 3 or 4 hours. Now imagine what happens in the body in a time that is twice the above.
Simply put, such starvation is a real disaster for the body. You need to take fast proteins and fructose as soon as possible. If most athletes understand everything about protein, then questions may arise regarding the need to consume fructose. And everything is quite simple - the liver "complains" about night fasting first, and you should feed it first. The liver processes fructose best and fastest.
After waking up, you should consume 20 grams of protein compounds and 20 to 40 grams of carbohydrates. If you don't have much time to cook, then a protein-carbohydrate bar will do. It is also possible to consume 2 cups of milk to meet the nutrient requirements of the body.
Eating 30 minutes before class
Let's assume you had a good lunch, about two or two and a half hours before your workout, but in the locker room you should eat 20 grams of whey bar and 20 to 40 grams of slow carbs. For muscle growth after training, you must first saturate the blood with amino acid compounds of BCAAs. In turn, slow-digesting carbohydrates are a great source of energy during your workout.
Thus, you can consume 150 grams of canned tuna and two slices of whole grain bread before starting the lesson. Another food option during this period is 20 grams of whey protein and one apple or other fruit.
Nutrition after completing the training
Exercising the body is a powerful stress and to combat it, it increases the nutrition of the muscle tissue cells. To do this, it is necessary to pump a large volume of blood in which amino acid compounds, hormones, sugar and oxygen are dissolved.
However, after completing the last rep in the final exercise, blood continues to pump through the muscles. This process takes about 30 minutes more. And here it is very important to give the body whey protein and casein, as well as fast carbohydrates. This will allow muscle tissue cells to continue to receive all the necessary substances, which will subsequently lead to muscle growth. During this period, you should consume 40 grams of protein compounds and 40 to 80 grams of fast carbohydrates.
You must remember that you have a maximum of half an hour at your disposal to provide your body with all the nutrients it needs after completing your workout. After that, the carbohydrate window will be closed and food intake will no longer be as effective and you will not be able to accelerate the growth of your muscles, and this is exactly what all bodybuilders strive for.
Eating before bed
To protect your body from nighttime catabolic reactions, you should take 20 grams of casein protein before going to bed. It is a slow protein that will be absorbed overnight and will provide the body with essential amino acid compounds.
Once in the gastrointestinal tract, casein sticks together into lumps, which gradually melt away. But do not use carbohydrates. Since the body consumes little energy during sleep, most of this nutrient is converted into subcutaneous fat. Then you can eat healthy fats. Thanks to them, the absorption of casein will slow down even more. Therefore, you should consume 20 grams of casein and a small amount of unsaturated fat before going to bed. This can be one cup of homemade cheese. If we talk about a quick snack at night, then two slices of low-fat cheese will be enough.
For more information on the athlete's diet, see this video: