How To Eat To Gain Muscle (THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT RULES!)

[00:00] even if you straight up ignore everything else okay every other little muscle building nutrition tip and all these other youtube videos that you find and you just focus on these three things you will build muscle at or near your maximum potential not to mention that it's going to make your life a hell of a lot simpler in the process as well

[00:22] what's up guys sean aliwani realscienceathletics.com and today we're talking about effective muscle building nutrition and specifically we're going to cut through the bs and boil things down to the three most important steps that you need to follow okay the three nutritional steps that truly matter in the real world and that are going to be responsible for the vast majority of your gains now nutrition is a subject that can be overanalyzed and over complicated to

[00:44] death and that's exactly what so many of these experts here on youtube try to do they give you a million different little guidelines and hacks that you supposedly must follow in order to get results and all it does is confuse people create more dietary anxiety and make the process that much more difficult and a lot of the time these experts don't even truly understand the terms they're using in the first place and they're basically just reading them off a teleprompter in order to sound

[01:05] intelligent ketones are also what is called a histone d-acetylase inhibitor insulin is anti-catabolic because it decreases what is called the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome activity that's just simple that just has to do with something called the s-glute one transporter a20 directly prevents the modulation of nuclear factor kappa b so check this out first of all you throwing too many big words at me okay now because i don't understand them i'm going to take them as disrespect

[01:29] foods you must eat foods you must avoid foods you must combine foods you must never combine the perfect macronutrient ratio the exact time of day to eat the times of day when you must never eat etc etc etc it sounds compelling um that this stuff is delivered using the right terminology and supposed scientific references but in reality most of this stuff is just unnecessary over complication and the more complicated you make things the higher your chances for long-term failure are going to be

[01:55] because the less likely it'll be that you'll actually stick to your diet long term not to mention that it will just make your day-to-day life a more stressful experience because you're constantly trying to micromanage every little thing that you consume the goal should be to make things only as complex as they absolutely need to be before i dive into it if you enjoy my content then please just do me one small favor and hit that like button below because it really helps get this video

[02:16] out to more people so that they can get the proper guidance they need as well and it also keeps me motivated to keep on producing this free content so spank that like button and let's get started okay number one on the list the most important factor for effective muscle building nutrition is consuming sufficient protein yes i know that's not the groundbreaking advice that most people want to hear it's not very exciting but this here isn't about giving people

[02:38] what they want to hear it's about giving them what they actually need to hear okay number one is protein now if your goal is to lose body fat then total calories would be the number one factor because you can't lose fat without being in a calorie deficit but when it comes to muscle growth technically it is possible to build muscle whether you're in a calorie deficit or a calorie surplus as long as you have a proper training stimulus in place and you're eating enough protein and so

[03:01] that's why i would consider protein as the primary factor if there's one thing you absolutely must do it's to consume enough high quality protein to support muscle recovery and growth and fortunately this is actually pretty easy to do i've mentioned this guideline a million times before but around 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day is all you're going to need to gain muscle at your full potential if you want to go higher than that just out of preference that's totally fine

[03:25] but 0.8 grams is a safe minimum when it comes to maximizing your gains and as long as you're basing uh your main meals around some sort of central protein source like most people already do you know a basic protein and carb pairing and then maybe some optional vegetables are optional healthy fats depending on how you're choosing to lay things out if you're doing that then hitting that 0.8 gram figure is usually pretty easy to do for a 125 pound person that's 100 grams of protein daily

[03:51] for 150 pounds it's 120 grams 175 pounds is 140 grams and then 200 pounds would be 160 grams and since protein needs are technically based on lean mass if you're more on the overweight side then you can go even lower at around 0.7 or even 0.6 grams per pound of body weight depending on just how much body fat you're carrying and if hitting those numbers is difficult for you for whatever reason then you can just add some protein powder in to very easily increase your protein intake you know if

[04:19] you're having one to two scoops of protein powder a day in combination with your regular solid food sources then hitting that 0.8 gram figure should not be a problem at all for me i just put one scoop in my oatmeal in the morning and then one scoop in my yogurt at night combine that with two solid food sources during the day and getting enough protein is a complete non-issue forget about all these crazy guidelines some people give you telling you that you have to consume

[04:42] 250 or 300 grams plus of protein per day at least 40 of your calories have to come from protein i drink a shitload of shakes i do three sometimes four shakes a day if you want to consume that much and it fits into your total calories then that's fine but it's not a must and we've got plenty of data now to support uh that more moderate protein intakes are enough to maximize protein synthesis and we have more than enough real world evidence for this as well now keep in mind that you can only

[05:07] stimulate protein synthesis up to a certain limit after a single protein feeding and so for the very best results you ideally don't want to be lumping all of your protein down into one single meal but this usually is not an issue since very very few people would even want to do that in the first place i'd say that two separate protein feedings per day should be the minimum some people who are doing intermittent fasting might fall into that category and that for fully optimal muscle

[05:30] building nutrition you should try to space your protein out into three or more individual feedings now total protein intake for the day as a whole is by far the most important thing so even if you did only eat one single meal or two meals you're still going to achieve great results don't get me wrong but if maximum muscle growth is your goal then go for three or more separate protein feedings per day so that you're stimulating protein synthesis multiple times from there the rest of your

[05:54] macronutrient breakdown is really just going to be a matter of personal preference there's no magical carb to fat ratio that you must follow you know if you want to eat a bit more carbs and a bit less fat or a bit more fat and a bit less carbs that's fine as long as the total calorie content is the same then the specific way that you lay your macronutrients out is not going to matter at the end of the day just make sure that you're getting in enough protein trying to micromanage

[06:16] things down to the exact macro is totally unnecessary for most people it'll just create more stress and increase the chances for dietary burnout okay if you want to roughly estimate that's fine but as long as the total protein is there then the rest should just be laid out based on your own individual preference and by the way if you're tired of all the confusing and conflicting nutrition advice out there and you want to grab a free step-by-step program that will show you how to

[06:39] structure not just your diet but also your training as well for the very best results based on your goals and your current condition then after this video is over you can head over to seanow.comcustom fill out the form on that page and i'll send you back a free custom plan that you can follow the link is up here and down in the description box below all right step number two involves calories once again nothing special or groundbreaking here but what we're doing here is simplifying

[07:01] things down to what truly matters in the real world and not just over complicating things for the sake of it now like i said before if you're eating enough protein and you're training properly and your calories aren't excessively low then whether you're in a deficit or a surplus you're still ultimately going to gain muscle to some degree gaining muscle in a deficit is especially doable if you're starting out more on the overweight side and you've got a lot of stored fat

[07:23] that can be used as extra muscle building fuel or if you're a beginner and weight training is a novel stimulus or if you are a more experienced lifter and you're returning from a training layoff however if your body fat is already within a low to moderate range and you're past that newbie phase then you do need to be in a calorie surplus if your goal is to put on muscle and gain strength at your maximum potential yes you can still gain muscle at maintenance or in a deficit to some extent

[07:47] even if you are more experienced but just because you can gain muscle in a deficit it doesn't mean that it's going to be optimal and i think a lot of people overlook that you know they just hear this idea that you can gain muscle without a surplus and they just take it at face value without considering that yes you can gain muscle without a surplus but with a surplus you're going to gain muscle more effectively if you're training hard in the gym and you're trying to pack overall size and

[08:10] strength onto your frame at the fastest rate you need those extra calories to enhance your recovery and give your body all the raw materials that it needs to build muscle at its maximum potential you are not going to build muscle at your maximum potential if you're in a deficit and you're already relatively lean however just like with protein you really don't need that much okay you don't need a huge surplus where you're force feeding yourself all day long and slamming weight gain shakes and

[08:34] trying to cram in extra calories at every possible opportunity

[08:44] [Applause] 200 to 300 calories above maintenance per day is enough to gain muscle at your full potential and as i've said so many times before going beyond that amount is not necessary and it's actually counterproductive because the extra calories are just going to be stored as fat now 200 to 300 calories is obviously not a huge amount so you don't necessarily need to be tracking this precisely you know for a lot of people out there the weight training that they do is just

[09:10] going to naturally spike their appetite up a bit and then they'll just automatically eat a bit more during the day without even really thinking about it and as long as they don't go overboard on total calories they'll still consistently gain muscle without putting on excessive fat and without having to specifically track their calories however the main point here is to just be aware that if you want to gain muscle optimally you do need to be eating in a calorie surplus and that that calorie

[09:32] surplus should be relatively modest to prevent excessive fat gain you shouldn't be putting on any more than about two to three pounds per month at the most and about half that amount for females if your progress has stalled um you're not gaining body weight your strength is plateaued in the gym then it means that you're not in a calorie surplus and you need to bump your food intake up slightly and as a side note if you're not putting on weight and you're finding it hard to get in

[09:54] all the calories that you need each day aside from just eating more food in general one simple thing you can do is to just increase your fat intake fats have more than twice the caloric value of protein and carbs and they have the lowest thermic effect as well and so adding in some more fat to your diet is a very easy way to bump your calories up without having to consume very large volumes of food nuts nut butters seeds healthy oils coconut oil dark chocolate these are all really

[10:20] good sources that you can add in for some easy extra calories and if you want to get some ideas in terms of calculating your current calorie maintenance level then i'll link an older video of mine down in the description box which explains how you can get an initial starting point in place for yourself if you're getting value from this video so far and you're new to the channel don't forget to subscribe to stay in the loop on all of my future uploads and lastly we've got point number three

[10:43] the third muscle building nutrition guideline on the list this is just something that i recommend in general to anybody on a fitness plan of any kind just for the sake of optimal overall health and performance and that is to base the bulk of your diet around nutrient dense minimally processed whole foods you don't need to obsess over this idea of eating clean 24 7. okay you can still have your favorite treat foods in moderation you can still have cheat meals or even

[11:06] full cheat days here and there as long as you don't go overboard but the majority of your diet try to get that from whole foods there are no individual foods you must eat there are no muscle building superfoods okay none of that nonsense just focus on whatever minimally processed whole foods you most prefer i mean if you do sign up for the custom program over at shawnell.com custom i'll provide you with a sample meal plan and a list of foods that you can use as a reference

[11:31] now if your primary goal is fat loss then this guideline is especially important because whole foods are going to help to keep you satiated while you're in a calorie deficit but for most people who are actively focusing on gaining muscle and they're eating in a surplus generally that isn't going to be a big factor it might be for some people but the main reason for this guideline for eating whole foods is to make sure that you're getting in the fiber and the vitamins and the

[11:53] minerals that you need for maximum health and performance and recovery and as an estimation something like 80 to 90 percent clean food and then 10 to 20 treat food that's a good realistic breakdown that will cover all of your general health needs while giving you the dietary flexibility to live a normal life and enjoy your favorite foods and go out and you know have a restaurant meal with your friends without worrying about it maybe have a few drinks here and there

[12:17] if you desire okay you don't need to be perfect with your nutrition that's only going to create unnecessary stress and it's not going to get you better results anyway and if you want to fully round this out and make sure that your micronutrient needs and your omega-3 needs are being fully met then i would recommend checking out microcore and o3 prime these are from my sports nutrition line real science athletics and i personally use them every day to make sure that my nutrition is 100

[12:39] on point microcore is our multivitamin that was tailored specifically to hard training lifters with the most important vitamins and minerals they require in the highest quality forms and optimal dosages and then o3 prime is our re-esterified triglyceride fish oil which is the highest quality form you can get to ensure that your epa and dha levels are in the ideal range and these are two compounds that have pretty much an endless list of different benefits in the body so this is a really

[13:03] solid pairing to round out your overall eating plan and you can visit realscienceathletics.com for those you can click up here for that or use the link in the description box and you can use coupon code youtube15 to save 15 off your first order so when it comes to the question of how to eat to gain muscle effectively as unsexy as those steps might be they really are the main things that you need to focus on even if you straight up ignore everything else okay every other little

[13:27] muscle building nutrition tip and all these other youtube videos that you find and you just focus on these three things you will build muscle at or near your maximum potential not to mention that it's going to make your life a hell of a lot simpler in the process as well consume enough daily protein eat in a small calorie surplus and base your diet mainly around minimally processed whole foods that is the vast vast majority of the nutrition side of things right there i'm not saying that those

[13:52] are the only contributing factors and that you can't tweak things further and experiment a bit to find what is absolutely ideal for you as an individual but no matter how you slice it these are the primary factors that are going to be responsible for the vast majority of your results in the real world so thanks for watching guys make sure to hit the like button if you found this advice helpful don't forget to subscribe to the channel to stay up to date on all of my latest videos

[14:14] leave a comment down below and let me know what you want to see me cover next and you can also follow me over on instagram as well for more daily tips at sean nalawani thanks again guys and i will see you in the next video [Music]

[14:35] [Music] you