Guest blog Allard: How can I build muscle mass effectively?

We are on a mission: to make healthy sports nutrition available to everyone, in a simple and quick way. We like to share this mission with our partners, the Muscle Meals Athletes. Every month, one of them shares their story. This month it's the turn of Allard Gooshouwer, owner of the fitness community Train & Gain. He shares his tips for building muscle mass effectively.

Building muscle mass is a goal for many athletes. There are plenty of claims about the best way to do it. But how do you really build muscle mass effectively, and what should you look out for? In this blog, we explain it from A to Z!

HOW CAN I BUILD MUSCLE MASS?

Let's start with the macros. What do protein, fat and carbs add to building muscle mass for an individual?

Protein is the building block of muscle tissue. It helps muscles recover and grow, so you can build more muscle mass. Protein contains amino acids, which are essential for building, repairing and maintaining muscle mass.

That's why it's important to eat enough foods with high-quality protein to build muscle mass, such as lean meat, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, tofu and legumes.

Fat is an underrated source of nutrition for building muscle mass, because the right fats help feed the muscle fibres so they can grow. Fat also helps absorb the nutrients needed for muscle recovery after a workout. On top of that, the right fats help regulate hormones that are essential for muscle growth.

To build muscle mass, though, it's important not to eat too much fat, because this can slow down your muscle growth.

Carbs help you hold on to more muscle mass, because they replenish the glycogen stores your muscles use for energy during your workout. Carbs also help improve your recovery after a workout by replenishing your glycogen stores, so you can build more muscle mass.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION, TRAINING AND REST

Okay, we now know why macros matter when building muscle mass. But what is the added value of nutrition, training and rest?

NUTRITION

Nutrition is essential for building muscle mass because it provides the building materials needed to repair and build muscle tissue. Your body needs protein, carbs, fat, vitamins, minerals and water to make muscles grow. Protein is responsible for building and repairing muscle tissue. We covered the macros earlier.

Vitamins and minerals, on the other hand, are important because they help your body process nutrients. Water is also essential because it helps your body transport nutrients to your muscles. You need all these nutrients to keep your muscles strong and healthy. A meal plan can help you find the right balance in your diet.

TRAINING

Training the right way is important for building muscle mass, because it helps increase resistance and strengthen the muscles. Through resistance training, muscles gain more strength and mass, so they can perform better during physical activities.

Resistance training also has a positive effect on the composition of the skeleton, giving it more strength and stability. If you train regularly, your bones get stronger and can perform better.

Training also stimulates the production of nitric oxide, which improves blood circulation. This means the muscles get more nutrients and oxygen, which they need to grow and recover. It also helps burn excess fat and increase muscle mass.

REST

Rest is essential for building muscle mass, because your body needs time to recover and grow after a workout. During training, muscles are literally broken down by causing microtears in the muscle fibres. Afterwards, the muscles have to recover and adapt to the training, which makes them stronger and bigger. During the recovery process, muscles need plenty of rest to recover as well as possible.

Rest is also important because it helps lower your cortisol level. Cortisol is a substance that increases muscle breakdown, which can cause you to lose muscle mass. If you get enough rest, your body can put more energy into recovery and into building muscle mass.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT BUILDING MUSCLE MASS?

At Muscle Meals, we specialise in quality sports meals. Our macros are balanced for every sports goal, so you can get the best results with our sports meals.
Take a look at them here and choose healthy, quick meal preps.