Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?

Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?
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Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?

When it comes to formulating a bodybuilding diet, you are going to have to pay attention to where your calories are coming from, not just take a 'free-for-all' approach and eat whatever you are in the mood for.

Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?

While you will gain weight if you just focus on getting more calories in, there is a greater chance that this weight gain will tend towards being fat gain rather than muscle gain - which is not what you're after.

Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?
Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?
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A better approach is to calculate your target calorie intake, and then from there, determine how many calories from carbohydrates you should be eating.

Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?
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Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?

Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?

Your Needed Calorie Intake

First figure out how many calories you need to successfully add muscle mass to your body. A good guideline to go by is to take your current body weight (in pounds) and multiple this by 16 calories if all you are doing is lifting weights and are pretty sedentary the rest of the time, or 18 calories if you are performing more cardio activity or have an active lifestyle (have a job where you are moving around much more).

Once you've got that number, then you can figure out your carbohydrate needs.

Figuring Out How Many Carbohydrates To Eat To Gain Muscle

In order to gain muscle then, you're going to have to supply your body with more energy than it needs just to sustain itself so that it has this extra energy to put forth to building new muscle mass tissue.

Since carbohydrates are the preferred source of fuel by the working muscle tissues, it only makes sense to eat more carbohydrates, rather than getting the extra calories from protein or fat (although some do prefer fat, however this is an entirely different diet approach).

It's a good idea to aim for at least 1.5 to two grams of carbs per pound of body weight, however this can easily be raised up to three or four depending on your calorie needs. For those of you who have an extremely fast metabolism, you're likely going to find that you simply require huge amounts of carbs if you hope to achieve the calorie target you're aiming for.

Where To Place The Carbs

Next you need to decide where you should place the carbohydrates in your day.

Ideally you want a very large portion of these extra carbs to come right around the workout period as this is when your muscles will really suck them up into the cells and create the greatest muscle gain possible.

Aim for at least 200 calories worth of carbs (there are four calories per gram) before your workout and another 300-400 immediately after. Again, this can be increased depending on your own individual needs, but this should be used as a good guideline for minimum amounts.

After that, eating them during the portion of the day where you are most active is a good idea, however don't fall for the myth that if you eat carbs right before bed they will automatically turn into body fat, because this simply is just not the case.

Getting in your daily carbohydrate total is important so if this means having some right before you go to sleep, so be it.

So, have a look at your current diet and determine whether you might be falling short. Not eating enough carbohydrates is a surefire way to derail your progress fast - and cause you to pretty much waste away your time spent in the gym.

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Bodybuilding, How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need To Build Muscle?