What are the Cornerstones of a Bodybuilder’s Diet?

Training hard means you need a nutritionally adequate diet to see you through your all-important gym sessions. If you don’t eat well while you’re exercising you’re simply not going to get the results you crave. 

What are the cornerstones of an optimum diet to build muscle mass and create a buff silhouette? 

Proper supplementation and calorie control

First, let’s look at your calories ¹and how you can supplement your diet. When you’re beginning your bodybuilding journey you’ll need to increase your calorific intake by about 15%. This is so you can start to bulk up.

So, for instance, if you were eating 3000 calories per day – you’ll need to find an extra 450 to take it to 3450 in every 24 hours. It should be easy to do with high-quality protein sources and healthy fats added to your diet. 

Consider some supplementation, and ensure you’re getting a good balance of Omega 3²,6, and 9 for muscle health and growth alongside protein powders. There’s evidence to suggest that talking to a healthcare professional about Canadian anabolics to help you gain some bulk can work too – as part of a well-planned, balanced diet and exercise plan. 

What foods to eat?

This will give you a rough idea about how to construct your meals and snacks and what they should include when thinking in terms of all the right food groups:

Ensure you take in roughly 30% of calories from protein. Follow this with 50% or so from carbohydrate-rich foods and ensure that the last 20% comes from healthy fats. 

Good foods to include are lean cuts of all meat, poultry, and fish. Dairy is vital – good sources of calcium include full-fat milk, hard cheeses, and yogurt. You should aim to eat whole grain bread, cereal, crackers, oatmeal, quinoa, and rice as your carbs. 

Don’t forget fruits and veggies – super important for vitamins and minerals (and energy). Fruits including berry and citrus varieties are perfect and will provide the necessary dietary sugars. Including leafy greens like cabbage and iron-rich veggies like spinach and broccoli are vital too. Starchy carbs such as potatoes and sweet potatoes offer vital fuel for your muscles. 

Snacking is essential – and think about eating nuts and seeds for healthy fats and protein. Almonds, pecans, and walnuts are brilliant for this, as are chia and flax seeds – perfect for adding to a healthy bowl of oatmeal porridge.

Are there foods to avoid?

As with any dietary plan, there are foods and drinks to avoid or minimize to help you achieve your goals. 

It’s important to cut right down or ideally cut out alcohol, as this can inhibit your chances of building lean muscle and increase your body fat. Also, look to avoid foods with lots of added sugar. Anything ultra-processed like chocolate and candy bars, donuts and cookies. In this, you can also include sodas and diet sodas too. 

Calories are important, but they must come from good sources of protein and healthy fats and therefore this means that deep-fried foods need to be avoided. French fries, burgers and fried chicken are fine as a one-off treat very occasionally but should not form any part of your regular diet. 

1. Duregon, Eleonora, et al. “Intermittent fasting: from calories to time restriction.” Geroscience 43 (2021): 1083-1092. ↩︎
2. Djuricic, Ivana, and Philip C. Calder. “Beneficial outcomes of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on human health: An update for 2021.” Nutrients 13.7 (2021): 2421. ↩︎

Last Updated on March 28, 2024 by Suchi