Most people think that you only build muscle in the gym. This is however, not true. You may only be in the gym for an hour or two out of a day; it’s during the other 22 or 23 hours outside of the gym where you reap the benefits of your workout. As such, optimizing your nutrient intake, meal timing, and eating habits can be extremely beneficial for muscle and strength gain, as your body needs consistent, proper fuel to build itself.
One aspect of optimal eating habits is, as mentioned above, meal timing. Yet, there is some controversy around this topic; many people and places will give wildly differing answers. Ultimately, the best meal timing for muscle growth depends on your goals, and what foods you’re planning on using.
Sustainability
The sustainability of a meal plan is incredibly important. You’re much more likely to stick to it if you aren’t running around trying to cook some complicated slow roasted steak meal on your lunch break. Lowering your risk of “modifying” your meal plan because you have a conflict with a meal is crucial for keeping on your meal plan.
On the flip side, it’s a good idea to make sure you don’t have meals spaced many hours apart. For example, if you work an 8-hour shift, come up with a meal you can prepare on your lunch break if you have one, or pre-make a meal to take with you if needed. The same goes for the early morning; don’t plan an overly complicated breakfast that you won’t want to prepare as soon as you wake up. Instead, keep your breakfast preparation simple, or pre-make a meal before you go to sleep.
What meals when?
There are quite a few types of meals, to put it simply. Some take more preparation than others, and knowing when to make certain meals can make a huge difference in how sustainable your meal plan is. Some good options for breakfast, for example, are things such as oatmeal, sandwiches, or even leftovers from your last meal! In fact, cooking extra the night before so that you have leftovers for the morning isn’t a bad idea. The goal is to avoid having to make a meal that’ll take more than 10ish minutes, as that can lead to skipping a meal. Save these meals for later in the day.
How complex is too complex?
Your meals don’t have to be overly complex to be good. Oftentimes people try to cram all of their nutrients into one meal that they have a lot of time to prepare, so as to not have to worry so much about making meals as soon as they wake up, or eating one while at work. As I’ll explain later, this is typically a suboptimal approach. To put it simply, a meal should be as complex as you can consistently make it. That is, complexity in a meal can be useful as it does provide more options for taste and nutrition, but that does no good if you’re only occasionally going to put in the effort to make the meal.
Meal Timing
So, meal timing. This is an extremely important part of your meal plan, and has some of the most profound impacts on how much you get out of your workouts. I’ll talk about the timing of nutrients shortly (here’s the link to that), which is often what people think most about when thinking about meal timing. However, the number of meals a day, and the amount of time between them is also crucial.
How many a day?
The right amount of meals in a day is a topic that everyone has an opinion on. Some say 2 meals a day, some say 8. First, lets get one thing out of the way; the number of meals is usually determined by your schedule. It would be almost impossible to get 8 meals a day in if you work 9-5 and have a young child, for instance. In that scenario, 3 or 4 meals might be a better option. On the flip side, if you work from home or freelance, you likely have more times you can eat.
Ultimately, it takes a number of hours to digest food, so if you wait 4 hours between meals or 2, you’re not likely to suffer serious complications from not having nutrients for those extra 2 hours. You will still be digesting and receiving nutrients for around 6-8 hours after eating.
Now, hunger. Your stomach usually empties 1-2 hours after eating, which can cause some people to start feeling hungry a couple hours after eating. For those individuals, making an effort to eat smaller meals more frequently is a good idea. Some people may not notice this, and prefer to eat larger meals fewer times a day. Put simply, the number of meals you eat in a day is whatever works best for you and your schedule.
Nutrient timing
When you get your nutrients in a day is not nearly as important as actually getting the nutrients, but it is still very important. It’s especially important when it relates to timing around working out (which I cover more here). Your macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats), are arguably the most important to time properly. But first, it’s important to understand a bit about how your body breaks down these nutrients.
What are the macros?
Carbohydrates and fats are both your main sources of energy from food. Carbs give you significant energy for a couple hours (with variation based on simple or complex carbs), and fats give less energy, but over a much longer time period. Generally, simple carbs give all of their energy in a short, roughly hour long burst, complex carbs provide energy for 2-4 hours, while fats sustain you for 6-8 hours. As such, it’s smart to load up on your fats in the morning and early afternoon. This way, you can benefit from their sustained energy throughout the day. If you plan on working out that day, load up on carbs on both sides of your workout.
Simple carbs aren’t a bad idea to have about half an hour to an hour before a workout to give a small burst of energy beforehand. Similarly, a small amount of simple carbs immediately afterwards can help replenish your glycogen stores. You could also benefit from a meal loaded with complex carbs a couple of hours before your workout, and alongside the simple carbs right after. Remember that many studies show that people consuming too many simple carbs can be harmful to their health.
Protein plays a critically important role in musclebuilding. Slightly less so in energy compared to carbs and fats (though it typically plays a role in satiety). Timing your protein intake, especially surrounding your workout, is very important.
How should you time protein intake?
Protein’s function in muscle building can be slightly complicated, and as such, I’m going to talk specifically about protein timing a bit more here. First, it’s important to understand what Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) is. Simply put, it’s the process of protein being used to build muscle. There’s a bit more to it than that, but that’s the very rough gist of it.
Consuming above a certain amount of protein can “trigger” MPS, as can working out. These are arguably the two most common ways to trigger MPS into this heightened state. Additionally, while MPS is increased from a workout, having adequate protein intake is especially crucial. It’s beneficial to have a high protein meal before and after your workout, in order to maximize the process of MPS. Further, the consumption of certain amino acids, namely Leucine, through supplements is often used as a way to trigger MPS prior to a workout. You can find a bit more information on Leucine as a supplement here. As always though, remember that it’s better to get nutrients from whole foods as opposed to supplements.
Typically, about 25-35 grams of protein is required to optimally trigger MPS. That is very much achievable to eat both before and after a workout. In fact, a piece of chicken breast roughly the size of a (newer) IPhone and a small amount of pasta or similar will contain more than enough protein for one of these meals. Note that it’s not a good idea to load up all of your protein intake around your workouts and have no protein any other time of day; it’s more optimal to spread protein intake out. Just really make sure to hit that 25-35 gram amount before and after your workout.
Overview
Ultimately, actually getting your nutrients is far more important than how you time them. Additionally, making sure that you keep your meal plan sustainable, and plan it well, is important as well. Remember to work with your schedule when planning your meal timing, and to take your workouts into consideration.