How Much Protein, Carbs & Fats Do I Need to Build Muscle?

Protein

Many studies verify You ONLY need .64-to-.82 grams of protein per pound or 1.4-to-1.8 grams per kilogram to build muscle. Your muscles are made up of mostly protein & water. Protein repairs and rebuilds your muscles into bigger and stronger ones.

• Eating more than .82 grams will not help you build muscle any faster (here's the proof). The claims made by supplement companies wanting you to spend more money stating you need 1-to-3 grams of protein per pound are completely false.
• No matter how much protein you take You Will Not Build Muscle UNLESS you're using the progressive overload trick

Important! Forget about creatine, carbs, fats or any other supplements. Protein is the only thing you can take that is going to actually build muscle. Steroids only work because they help your body synthesize more protein so,

Do you really need carbs & fats?

Carbs and fats aren't required to build muscle but it's easier to build muscle with them for 4 reasons.

1. Energy

Carbs are stored in your muscles as glycogen. Glycogen is your muscles MAIN source of energy for lifting heavier weights, doing more reps, and/or sets. IF you don't eat enough carbs,

You may not have the energy to lift enough weight, do as many reps and/or sets to get enough progressive overload to build muscle.

Please Note → Not being able to lift heavier weights, do more reps and/or sets can also be due to other factors like not getting enough rest between sets, not enough recovery time between workouts, not drinking enough water and/or lack of motivation

2. Your Muscles Will Look Bigger

Carbs actually make your muscles look bigger. Carbs attract more water into your muscles blowing them up like a balloon and after water and muscle protein,

 Muscle glycogen is one of the largest contributors to muscle mass in your body. If you don't eat enough carbs… Your muscles wont look as big as they actually could.

3. Carbs Are a Poor Man's Creatine

• Creatine (just like carbs did in #1) gives you more energy for your workouts.
• Creatine (just like carbs did in #2) draws more water into your muscles to make them look bigger so,
• Simply eat enough carbs if you can't afford Creatine

4. Testosterone

At least 15% of your diet needs to be fat so your body can naturally produce more testosterone

Exactly how many carbs do you need?

There is no magic number of carbs required to build muscle (the guys in this study built muscle on an almost ZERO carb diet) → Use trial & error to see what works best for you while following these basic guidelines,

• Eat More or Less Carbs depending on how you workout. The more intense your workouts are, the longer your workouts are & the more often you workout = the more carbs you'll need.
• Eat More Carbs if you're moody, feeling irritable, sluggish or… You don't have the energy to lift heavier weights, do enough reps and/or sets to build muscle.
• Eat More Carbs along with drinking more water if your muscles look smaller, flat or deflated → How to make your muscles look bigger without lifting weights
• Eat Less Carbs if you want to Lose Fat & Build Muscle at the same time.

Use this tool to see exactly how many carbs, protein & fats you need

When you're using this tool,

• Make sure the protein ratio is equal to or greater than the amount of protein you need to build muscle
• Make sure fat is at least 15% of your diet.
• See how many calories you need to build muscle without losing weight or,
• See how many calories you need to build muscle & burn fat at the same time.

More Tips

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• 26 Fast Muscle Building Tips
• 14 Benefits Of A Low Carb Diet