A complete protein in addition to being a slow-digesting carb, quinoa has been linked with an increase in insulin-like growth factor-1 IGF-1 levels, an important factor associated with lean muscle and strength gains. The specific polyphenols in apples help to increase muscle strength and prevent muscle fatigue, allowing you to train harder for longer.

Other research also shows that these polyphenols can increase fat burning as well. That's why it's a good idea to make apples a pre-workout carb source.

Like plain yogurt, Greek yogurt starts from the same source: milk. Greek yogurt, however, has more protein a whopping 20 grams per cup and fewer carbs 9 grams per cup than regular yogurt 16 grams protein and 16 grams carbs per cup.

It's also a good source of casein protein. Ezekiel bread is made from organic sprouted whole grains. Because it contains grains and legumes, the bread is a complete protein, which means it contains all nine of the amino acids your body can't produce on its own—the ones needed for lean muscle growth.

Wheat germ is rich in zinc, iron, selenium, potassium, and B vitamins, high in fiber and protein, with a good amount of branched-chain amino acids BCAAs , arginine and glutamine. This makes wheat germ a great source of slow-digesting carbohydrates and a quality protein that's a perfect food before workouts.

The following plan is designed for a person weighing pounds. When trying to gain lean muscle during a rigorous exercise program, a good rule of thumb is to shoot for an intake of about calories per pound of bodyweight, so adjust up or down depending on your weight.

So for a pound individual, total daily calories would be between 1, to 1,; for a pound individual, about 1, to 2, Tweak the amounts in the meal plan to hit your desired macronutrient targets, which you can identify using this calculator.

Recipe PDF. View all articles by this author. Nutrition Eat To Build Lean Muscle. Beef From Grass-Fed Cattle Beef is important for building lean muscle due to its protein content, cholesterol, zinc, B vitamins and iron content. Breakfast 1. Protein Powder whey. Cantaloupe small or medium.

Breakfast 2 min after B1. Oatmeal cooked. Late-Morning Snack. Greek Yogurt reduced-fat. Blueberries mixed with yogurt.

Ground Beef lean. Hamburger Bun whole-wheat. Mixed Greens including spinach. Olive Oil. Balsamic Vinegar. Midday Snack. Chicken canned. Mayonnaise light. Crackers whole-wheat, mix mayo in chicken, eat on crackers.

Broccoli chopped. Nighttime Snack. Cottage Cheese. Salsa mix salsa in cottage cheese. Breakfast 2. Egg Whites make scrambled eggs.

Waffles whole-grain. Syrup maple. Wheat Germ mix wheat germ in whey shake. Deli Turkey. Ezekiel Bread make turkey sandwich. Cottage Cheese low-fat. Pineapple mix pineapple in cottage cheese.

Casein Protein. Walnuts halves. Peanut Butter dip walnuts in peanut butter. Apple small. Eggs cooked as a frittata. Lat-Morning Snack. Strawberries sliced. Stir Fry. Mandarin Oranges canned. Your co-workers may not thank you, but your biceps will.

In a study published in The Journal of Nutrition , garlic was shown to increase testosterone and lower cortisol in rats on a high-protein diet. Cortisol competes with testosterone in your muscle cells, so essentially less stress results in better gains. We're all well aware of the high protein content that turkey possesses, at 29 grams of protein per g, turkey is another big protein hitter.

But this lean meat has another superpower in relation to the special mineral it contains. Turkey contains 30mg of magnesium per grams making it an impressive addition to your health promoting meal plan.

Low levels of magnesium can cause muscle cramps and have been linked to depression according to a review published by Pharmacological Reports. Being higher in carbohydrates, beans and legumes are often overlooked for their leaner cousins. But these fibrous foods are essential for a healthy gut — something you depend on to absorb the nutrients, minerals and supplements required to carve lean muscle.

Kidney beans contain the most, with around 8 grams of protein per g serve and around 10 grams of fibre! Pair them with a whole grain such as brown rice to make a complete protein. Inexpensive and versatile, tuna packs around 25 grams of protein per g serve, making it hearty muscle-building fare — with the added benefit of those essential omega-3 fatty acids.

Like mercury poisoning. Muscle food of the bovine variety has come under fire in recent years, but enjoyed in moderation, it can make meaningful gym fuel.

As well as 26 grams of protein per g, which is around the size of a hamburger patty, lean beef contains high levels of zinc.

This nutrient is important for testosterone production and also helps your body to recover quicker from exercise. What DOMs? The monounsaturated fats in olive oil stimulate protein production for muscle growth and prevent tissue breakdown, but the Mediterranean favourite also has some hidden muscle benefits.

It increases insulin sensitivity in your muscles, allowing them to make optimal use of glucose, amino acids and nutrients. Olive oil also contains oleuropein — a phenolic compound that causes white fat cells to act like brown fat cells, according to researchers at Kobe Women's University in Japan.

Cottage cheese contains the slow-digesting protein casein, which explains why people like to eat it before bed. Sleep repairs your muscles up to a point; after a few hours a fasting element kicks in, and your body begins breaking muscles down to use as energy.

Cottage cheese allows for a sustained release of amino acids throughout the night. Let us offer you some pearls of wisdom. Oysters may not be the best-known muscle food, but being packed with upwards of 20 grams of protein and just five grams of fat in every g, they have an impressive nutritional profile.

Compared to chicken , oysters contain more than eight times more iron, and almost 50 times the amount of zinc — around 5. Load up your shaker with the whey variety, which naturally contains all 20 amino acids, for an easy-to-digest post-workout protein hit.

Plant-based alternatives are also a dependable choice — when it comes to packing on muscle, switching whey protein for rice protein yields identical results, according to a study published in the journal EC Nutrition.

Whilst many would prefer to swerve their side of broccoli, it could play a part in muscle recovery. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli are full of zinc, which according to an article published by Redox Biology , may play a role supporting muscle repair after exercise. Hate broccoli?

Sub in kale, sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy or cabbage. Quinoa is one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids, with the added benefit of fibre, magnesium, B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E, potassium, iron… the list goes on.

There are around 5 grams of protein in every g of cooked quinoa. Not half bad for a seed. As snacks go, almonds are among the most muscle-friendly. One serving 23 almonds, to be precise contains 35 per cent of your RDA, along with six grams of protein.

As a plant-based complete protein, buckwheat boasts around 13 grams of the stuff per g serve, along with manganese, magnesium, niacin, zinc, phosphorus, folate, as well as vitamin B6 — which your body needs to absorb amino acids from the foods you eat.

Pork tenderloin is a boneless cut of meat from the loin, which runs from the hip to the shoulder of the pig. One serve contains around a third of your daily vitamin B2 requirements, which is essential for breaking down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

A bodybuilding classic in our list of best muscle building foods, skinless cooked chicken breast around g contains approximately 55 grams of complete protein. It also contains approximately 2 grams of saturated fat, making it a leaner choice than thighs or drumsticks and is also high in selenium, which protects cells from free radical damage caused by your workout.

Eating two medium-sized beets an hour and fifteen minutes prior to exercise boosts performance, reduces perceived exertion, and decreases the amount of oxygen you need to complete your workout, according to research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This means you can train more intensely and for longer.

Peas are an underrated source of muscle building protein and muscle fuelling starch. With 14 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein per grams, the impressive protein and carb combo sets the perfect muscle gain environment post workout.

According to an article published by the Cambridge University Press, the vitamin and mineral contents of peas may play important roles in the prevention of illnesses. Pair them with rice and beans and you have a full spectrum of amino acids the building blocks for building muscle.

Even if it includes Cheesy Gordita Crunches. Here's a shortcut: If the food doesn't have an ingredient list, it's a safe bet. Steak, apples, quinoa, eggplant, salmon—they're all single-ingredient foods. With packaged foods, each additional ingredient signals an extra step in processing, which may have stripped away some of the good stuff.

And often, to make up for lost flavor, food manufacturers pump processed foods with sugar and fat. These foods also tend to be higher in calories. On this plan, you won't find any rules about foods you must eat.

Nor will you find a list of foods you should never eat. Just about anything you already enjoy can fit into the plan, although perhaps not in the quantities you're used to eating. Nutritionists refer to protein, carbs, and fat as "macros.

The circles above show the stats for three good protein sources. On our plan, you'll eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of your target body weight, or 25 percent to 35 percent of your daily diet.

But protein also increases satiation feeling full at the end of a meal and satiety feeling less hungry between meals. So protein pulls triple duty: It speeds your metabolism, slows your appetite, and maintains muscle. What about the other macros?

You'll eat 0. If you have a good chunk of body fat to lose, use the higher end of that scale. It's not that fat calories have any magical properties; a higher percentage of fat simply means fewer carbs. That tends to work better for heavier guys, who often are less sensitive to insulin, a hormone triggered by high-carbohydrate meals.

Less sensitivity means more insulin; more insulin means your body will use less fat for energy. For everyone else, it's personal preference. Whatever calories are left after your calculations will come from carbs.

Who knew math could be so tasty? One risk of popular low-calorie diets: nutrient deficiency. That's because the less food you eat, the harder it is to cover the basics.

A multivitamin may help, but it probably won't contain enough immunity-fortifying magnesium or bone-building vitamin D. Research shows that eating a wide variety of foods provides the greatest benefit for overall health.

To collect those key nutrients, dust off the old-fashioned idea of food groups. Meat and other protein-rich foods , including eggs and protein powder. Fat-rich foods , such as nuts and seeds, oil used for cooking or salad dressing, butter and nut butters , olives, and avocados.

Fibrous vegetables , including just about anything your mother said you had to eat if you wanted dessert. Starchy foods , such as grains bread, cereal, pasta , legumes beans and peas , and tubers potatoes and other root vegetables. Milk and other dairy products , which includes all varieties of cheese, yogurt, and, yes, even chocolate milk.

Fruits , fresh or dried. And no, Starbursts don't count. Aim to include at least one food from each category every day, with some variety in fruits and vegetables, and you'll hit the full range of micronutrients you need to look good and feel great.

For more great grub, check out the 14 New Muscle Foods. We know what you're thinking: What about my beer? Moderate drinking won't likely affect your weight in either direction as long as the calories from alcohol replace something else.

If not, you'll probably gain fat. So swap out your carbs for alcohol. If you know you're going to have two beers out at the bar later, just eat fewer carbohydrate calories or 75 grams that day. So now that you understand the nutrition principles, let's move on to the first step in the plan: calculating how much food you'll eat each day.

Mechanical tension—created by loads that are taxing to your muscles, connective tissue, and bones—is the most important stimulus for building muscle.

But you can't grow your guns if you lift the same amount of weight every workout. By incrementally increasing your loads over the course of the program, you challenge your muscles to become stronger in order to handle subsequent heavier weights. It should be hard to complete the final reps on your final set with good form.

Most guys have this flipped, investing their gym hours on their biceps, triceps, and deltoids. Those muscles are important, but they're smaller for a reason: to help larger muscles during basic actions such as pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying, and throwing.

Smaller muscles also won't grow out of proportion to the larger muscles they're designed to assist. On the Lean Muscle Diet workout plan, you do your heavy lifts first.

And that means to see big gains, you'll need to work the big muscles with squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, chinups, and pullups. Though you'll devote the majority of your session targeting your back, chest, and legs, you still won't ignore your assisting muscles.

As with big-muscle lifts, you'll want to increase the amount of weight you use when necessary, but more often you'll use the same weights with the goal of piling up more reps.

When trying to gain lean muscle during a rigorous exercise program, a good rule of thumb is to shoot for an intake of about calories per pound of bodyweight, so adjust up or down depending on your weight.

So for a pound individual, total daily calories would be between 1, to 1,; for a pound individual, about 1, to 2, Tweak the amounts in the meal plan to hit your desired macronutrient targets, which you can identify using this calculator.

Recipe PDF. View all articles by this author. Nutrition Eat To Build Lean Muscle. Beef From Grass-Fed Cattle Beef is important for building lean muscle due to its protein content, cholesterol, zinc, B vitamins and iron content.

Breakfast 1. Protein Powder whey. Cantaloupe small or medium. Breakfast 2 min after B1. Oatmeal cooked. Late-Morning Snack. Greek Yogurt reduced-fat.

Blueberries mixed with yogurt. Ground Beef lean. Hamburger Bun whole-wheat. Mixed Greens including spinach. Olive Oil. Balsamic Vinegar. Midday Snack. Chicken canned. Mayonnaise light. Crackers whole-wheat, mix mayo in chicken, eat on crackers.

Broccoli chopped. Nighttime Snack. Cottage Cheese. Salsa mix salsa in cottage cheese. Breakfast 2. Egg Whites make scrambled eggs.

Waffles whole-grain. Syrup maple. Wheat Germ mix wheat germ in whey shake. Deli Turkey. Ezekiel Bread make turkey sandwich. Cottage Cheese low-fat. Pineapple mix pineapple in cottage cheese. Casein Protein. Each 3-ounce gram serving contains about Chicken breasts also contain generous amounts of the B vitamins niacin and B6, which may be particularly important if you are active 7.

Dairy not only contains high quality protein but also a mixture of fast-digesting whey protein and slow-digesting casein protein 8. Some research has shown that people experience increases in lean mass when they consume a combination of fast- and slow-digesting dairy proteins 9.

But not all dairy is created equal. For example, Greek yogurt often contains approximately double the amount of protein as regular yogurt 10 , While Greek yogurt is a good snack anytime, eating it after a workout or before bed may be beneficial, due to its mixture of fast- and slow-digesting proteins 9 , In addition to 20 grams of protein per 3-ounce gram serving, tuna contains high amounts of vitamin A and several B vitamins, including B12, niacin, and B6.

These nutrients are important for optimal health, energy, and exercise performance 4 , 13 , Additionally, tuna provides large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids , which may support muscle health 6 , This may be particularly important for older adults.

Research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids can slow the loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with age Beef is packed with high quality protein, B vitamins, minerals, and creatine 16 , Some research has even shown that consuming lean red meat can increase the amount of lean mass gained with weight training Shrimp are almost pure protein.

Each 3-ounce gram serving contains 19 grams of protein, 1. While healthy fats and carbs are important in your overall diet, adding some shrimp is an easy way to get muscle building protein without too many additional calories.

Like many other animal proteins, shrimp contains a high amount of the amino acid leucine, which is necessary for optimal muscle growth 21 , Half a cup 86 grams of cooked soybeans contains 16 grams of protein, healthy unsaturated fats, and several vitamins and minerals Soybeans are a particularly good source of vitamin K, iron, and phosphorus Iron is used to store and transport oxygen in your blood and muscles, and a deficiency can impair these functions 24 , People who menstruate may be particularly at risk of iron deficiency due to blood loss during their cycle One cup grams of low fat cottage cheese packs 28 grams of protein, including a hearty dose of the important muscle building amino acid leucine Like other dairy products, cottage cheese can be purchased with varying fat contents.

High fat versions like creamed cottage cheese have more calories. Choosing which type of cottage cheese is best simply depends on how many extra calories you want to add to your diet. A 3-ounce gram serving of turkey breast contains around 26 grams of protein and almost no fat or carbs Turkey is also a good source of the B vitamin niacin , which helps process fats and carbohydrates in your body A single gram fillet provides around 23 grams of protein, along with good amounts of vitamin B12 and selenium Vitamin B12 is important for the health of your blood cells and nerves, which allows you to perform the exercise you need to gain muscle Popular varieties — such as black, pinto, and kidney beans — contain around 15 grams of protein per cup about grams of cooked beans 33 , 34 , For these reasons, beans are a good source of plant-based protein to add to your diet.

While any good diet should focus on whole foods, there are times when dietary supplements can be beneficial If you have trouble getting enough protein from foods alone, you could consider adding protein shakes to your daily routine.

Dairy protein powders, such as whey and casein , are some of the most popular. Other protein powders use soy, pea, beef, or chicken protein. You can find a variety of protein powders online. Edamame is the term for immature soybeans. These developing beans are found in pods and served in a variety of dishes, particularly those of Japanese origin.

One cup grams of frozen edamame provides around 18 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. It also contains large amounts of folate, vitamin K, and manganese Among other functions, folate helps your body process amino acids, the building blocks of protein In fact, folate may be important for optimal muscle mass and strength, particularly in older adults Foods with carbohydrates can help provide this energy Cooked quinoa contains about 40 grams of carbs per cup grams , along with 8 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and hearty amounts of magnesium and phosphorus Magnesium plays an important role in the function of your muscles and nerves, both of which are used every time you move If you are looking to add protein to your diet without consuming too many calories, these very lean sources of protein may be good choices.

Three ounces 85 grams of scallops provide around 17 grams of protein and fewer than calories Many different types of meat can be made into jerky, so the nutrition facts vary. Most fat is removed from lean jerky during processing, so almost all calories in jerky come directly from protein.

These animal sources of protein are high in quality and stimulate muscle growth Each 1-cup gram serving of canned chickpeas contains around 15 grams of protein and 45 grams of carbs, including 13 grams of fiber As with many plants, the protein in chickpeas is considered lower quality than that in animal sources.

However, it can still be part of a balanced muscle building diet Peanuts contain a mix of protein, fat, and carbs. A 1-ounce gram serving contains 7 grams of protein, 6 grams of carbs, and large amounts of unsaturated fat