Gaining Muscle Mass – Diet & Nutrition When mummy and daddy Einstein gave birth to a baby Albert they didn’t immediately send the bambino off to university to learn about advanced theoretical physics. And when mummy and daddy Knievel produced a young Evel they didn’t stick the little lad on a rocket powered bike and send him flying over a few dozen cars in the hope he’s a quick learner. No sirey this is not good parenting and nor is it good teaching hence why I thought it best to begin with the very basics of increasing muscle mass and then as the weeks progress my articles will get increasingly more complex in content. So permit me to start with what I like to call, ‘Ross’ 5 Key Nutritional Points for a Mahoosive Muscley you!’ 1.6g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day Very important this point… 1.6g of protein per kg of bodyweight must be put into your chops everyday. Example: Paddy McDoogle a retired Irish champion jockey has ended his lucrative 10-year career and now wishes to become Mr Olympia. So he logged onto sixpacknow.com and upon reading a fantastic article written by that all knowing fitness guru Ross Edgley, haha, he discovered he needed to work out how much protein he should eat to increase his muscle mass. Paddy’s calculations are shown below: Paddy’s weight: 55 kg 55 x 1.6 = 88 Note: This is a rough calculation of the minimum amount of protein Paddy McDoogle should be consuming if he wants to increases muscle mass, protein intake will obviously increase if his training intensity, frequency or duration increases. And so according to his calculations paddy knows he needs 88 grams of protein per day, combined with a good strength training program and then in no time he will be crowned Mr Olympia… CHAMPION!! 15-30g of Protein every 2 hours (depending on your calculated daily consumption) Keeping with our example of our retired jockey champion turned pro bodybuilder Paddy; we stated our Irish friend needed 88 grams of protein per day. This is not to say the little guy chows down on 88 grams in one sitting, no, no, no. Since this is too much for the little fellas body to digest in one sitting and the excess protein would turn into toxins in the body and (without trying to sound crude) he would be trumping like a brass band. The key is to spread the 88 grams out throughout the day, consuming it all over 6-7 meals. Low GI/ Slow Releasing Carbohydrates 1.5 g – 2g per kg of bodyweight per day Once again very important this point… 1.5 grams – 2 grams of Low GI/ Slow Releasing carbohydrates per kg of bodyweight must be put into your chops everyday. Example: Grandma Molly was the National Embroidery and Knitting Champion 4 years running; however after her 4 consecutive win she found she had lost the desire, the love she once had for the game. And so she decided, that now she had conquered the world of Embroidery and Knitting, she would now try and conquer the world of American Football. But weighing in at 45 kg Grandma Molly knows she has to put on some muscle, so she logged onto sixpacknow.com and upon reading a fantastic article written by that all knowing fitness guru Ross Edgley, haha, she discovered she needed to work out how many carbohydrates she should eat to increase her muscle mass. Grandma Molly’s calculations are shown below: Grandma Molly’s weight: 45 kg 45 x 1.5 = 67.5 grams 45 x 2 = 90 grams Note: This is a rough calculation of the minimum amount of carbohydrates Grandma Molly should be consuming if she wants to increases muscle mass, carbohydrate intake will obviously increase if her training intensity, frequency or duration increases. And so according to the calculations of Grandma Molly if she eats between 67.5 – 90 grams of carbohydrates a day combined with a good strength training routine, she will be executing bone-crunching tackles in the NFL in no time. 500 Surplus Calories needed per day  Perhaps quite obvious however I thought it needed stating, you need to be putting 500 more calories down your pie hole than you ‘burn off’ per day if your body’s muscles are to have any chance of repairing and growing. Aliken it to the building of a house, you wouldn’t trying constructing yourself an abode with only 4 bricks, a cup of cement, 2 roof tiles and some Paper Mache, well at least I hope you wouldn’t. Then don’t try building yourself a bigger and better body if you don’t put enough ‘materials’ down your chops. Good fats Now that we have mentioned the quantity of ‘materials’/ food you need to construct yourself a mahoosive muscley body, permit to talk about the quality of grub you should be chowing down on, more specifically Essential Fatty Acids or Good Fats. These can be found in nuts, fish, flax seed oil, udo’s oil and avocados and are vital to muscle growth and repair so ensure you get a good supply in your diet (should roughly make up 10-15% of your diet.) Trying to increase muscle mass with a diet absent from quality EFA’s is like trying to build an extension on your house only using Blue tak, prick stick (maybe superglue for the really hard jobs) and some sticky tape, alas tis not going to happen. So there you have it good people, ‘Ross’ 5 Key Nutritional Points for a Mahoosive Muscley you!’ read, learn, enjoy and be merry : ) Till next time!