Top 8 Foods Highest in Protein for Muscle Building

What is PROTEIN?

Proteins are long chains of amino acids, which are probably the most important nutrients that we get from our diet. 

Why we need PROTEIN?

We need to eat plenty of protein foods every day to keep metabolism running, our energy up and our blood levels stable. Athletes need to consume more protein than average people, especially athletes that are lifting weights.

Why athletes need to consume more PROTEIN?

Athletes spend more energy than the average person and they need additional nutrients to recover from intense physical activity. Protein plays a very important role in every athlete's diet, whether running sprints, swimming or lifting weights. Most famous nutrient, protein, helps repair and strengthen muscle tissue.

What can happen if you eat too little protein?


- Low energy and fatigue
- Poor concentration
- Mood swings
- Trouble building muscle mass
- Trouble losing weight
- Low immunity







How much protein athletes need?

The recommended daily intake of protein for an average person is 46 grams for women, and 56 grams for men. If you want to gain muscle that wouldn't be enough to fuel your muscles for growth.

The Complete Guide to Build Muscle Mass

Many fitness experts say that 2 grams of protein per one pound of body weight are necessary for muscle gain, some say even more but they are all wrong. You won't build more muscle if you consume more protein that your muscles need. 

The recommended daily intake for athletes is 1.2 grams of protein per 1 pound of bodyweight. That is enough to build muscle and you won't have an excess of protein that will be stored as fat. 

You also need to focus on other nutrients, like carbs and fats so if you consume 1.2 grams of protein per 1 pound of your body weight every day, believe me, you have it enough to make your muscles grow. Just focus on other nutrients, on your training and rest. Proteins don't build muscles all alone.

Best Exercises to Build Muscle Mass Fast







What are the best sources of protein?



1. FISH 

      Fish that are high in   protein per one fillet (85 g):

Tuna (22g), Salmon (22g), Halibut (22g, Perch (21g), Cod (20g).



Seafood is an excellent source of protein because it is low in fat. Fish like salmon is little higher in fat but is heart-healthy kind of fat - omega 3 acids.






2. WHITE MEAT

Turkey and chicken breasts are probably the best source of lean protein. Darker meats are also good but they are higher in fat than white meat. 


100 grams of chicken and turkey contain about 30 grams of protein.





3. LOW-FAT CHEESE

Cheese high in protein per ounce (28g):


Parmesan (10g), Low-fat Swiss Cheese (8g), Low-fat Cheddar (6g), Low-fat Cottage Cheese (5g).





4. LEAN BEEF AND VEAL


Beef and veal are the meats that are higher in calories than white meat but they are still very good sources of protein. Per 100 grams of lean beef or veal equals about 36 grams of protein.





5. EGGS (Especially Egg Whites)

1 Large Egg contains about 7 grams of protein. Whole eggs are high in protein, but egg whites are almost pure protein. They are also loaded with healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.








6. NUTS


Peanuts are the highest in protein in comparison with all other nuts. They are also loaded with healthy fats and they are very rich in calories. One ounce (28 g) contains 7 grams of protein, with 159 calories. You can also try peanut butter, it is very delicious and very good for muscle growth with quality nutrients and a high number of calories.




7. SHRIMPS


Shrimps are low in calories but loaded with many nutrients including selenium and vitamin B 12. Like fish, they also contain plenty of omega-3 fatty acids. A 3 ounce (85 g) serving contains 18 grams of protein with 84 calories. Very good source of lean protein and also very healthy food.




8. WHEY PROTEIN


Whey is a type of high-quality protein and it is very effective at building muscle mass. Only one serving (30  or 35 grams) of Whey Protein Powder can contain about 27 - 30 grams of protein. Great source of fast-digesting protein very useful as a post-workout meal. 



Check out more about Whey Protein Supplements and other great muscle-building supplements in another article:


Best Muscle-Building Supplements to Build Muscle Mass Fast

Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mass-Building Workout Routine - 'The Golden Six'

I have written many times about benefits of full-body workouts for building strength and muscle and 'The Golden Six' is the routine that got 'The Austrian Oak' started in bodybuilding. 

It is certainly one of the best workout routines for muscle growth that I recommend to all beginners and to lifters that are looking to change their routine that stopped producing new muscle gains.

Same as his idol and mentor Reg Park, Arnold Schwarzenegger also built his impressive foundation on full-body workouts. Many years later Arnold became famous as a fan of the high volume body part split routines, but honestly, I think that he gained most of his muscles by following  Reg Park's 5x5 Workout Program and his own full-body routine 'The Golden Six'. And he started favoring these high volume split routines in the time when he was experimenting with anabolic steroids.

This workout program was nicknamed 'The Golden Six' for its straightforward focus on six of the most basic exercises. This may not be a routine that you will use forever but it is great for beginning lifters and those who want to get back to basics with one of the simplest workouts. Also, one of the good things is that you only need to visit gym three times per week.

EXERCISE	SETS	REPS
Barbell Squat	4	10
Wide Grip Bench Press	3	10
Chin Up	3	Max
Behind The Neck Press	4	10
Barbell Curl	3	10
Bent Knee Sit Up	3-4	Max

Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended performing "The Golden Six" workout routine 3 times per week for a 3-month cycle. Once you become able to do 2 or more reps above the reps given in this workout plan increase the weight. It is very important to add more weight plates whenever possible to force your muscles to adapt and grow.

This classic full-body routine is ideal for beginners and hardgainers that are looking to gain muscle mass fast. It is simple and effective like most full-body workouts and doesn't leave any muscle group unattended.

How to Increase Your Bench Press - Build a Bigger Chest Fast

Nobody can't deny that Bench Press is the king of all upper-body exercises and it is the best chest exercise for mass including all its variations (incline bench press, decline bench press, flat bench press). The best way to build a bigger chest is to increase and improve your bench press.

Of course, it is very important to lift heavy in order to build muscle mass but it isn't as helpful if you perform the exercise with the bad form. Bench press, as one of the hardest compound movements, can be very dangerous and if you perform it with bad form can lead to injury. 

Improve your bench press form

Proper bench press form is very important for building your chest and also because it prevents injuries. By preventing injuries you will be able to increase your bench press power faster and develop your chest.

Here are some of the most important tips you should know to improve your bench press form:

- Tuck your elbows in at the bottom of the movement to decrease the shoulder rotation and stress from the shoulder joint. Many lifters are ruining their shoulders with one big mistake that they make - flaring their elbows out while pushing the barbell off their chest.

- Using medium, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip is the best way to protect your shoulders. You may also include some wider and narrower grip work, but make sure that majority of your bench pressing is done with a medium grip.

- Keep your shoulders back on the bench and drive yourself into the bench while pressing. You don't have to touch your chest with the bar if the barbell is going to get below 90 degrees because you will move stress from your chest to shoulders which can cause injury.

Check out this YouTube video and learn how to improve your bench press form:

Perform Bench Press more often

If you do like many other lifters and bench press only on Monday, switch from bench pressing once a week to twice a week. By increasing your bench press frequency you will practice this movement more. This will also improve your bench press form and increase your strength.

If you want to get better in something you have to do it more often, so bench pressing with more frequency will get you better results.

Lift Heavier

You can't increase your bench press if you lift the same weight week after week. Lifting the same weight every time will not increase your bench press and will not give your chest a reason to grow. So, to build stronger and bigger pecs try to add 5lb (or less) in every other workout. Try to add more weight whenever you are able to, even if it is only 2lb it doesn't matter. What is important is the progress you make.

Also, check out some basic principles of muscle building to learn how to build muscle mass fast:

How to Gain Muscle Mass - Tips for Beginners and Hardgainers

The 10 Rules of Muscle Building

The Ultimate Chest Workout for Mass

How to Gain Muscle Mass - Tips for Beginners and Hardgainers

Gaining weight is easy for many people. On the other side, building lean muscle mass can be very hard, especially for people that have a fast metabolism, often referred as hardgainers. 

Like many of the people in the world that are fighting with a body fat, there are also many people that are struggling to gain weight and build muscle mass. If you are one of those from the second group, continue reading this article. I strongly believe it will help you to gain a few pounds of muscle in a couple of weeks. 

There are 3 main ways to make your muscles grow:

1. Force muscles to grow with the right training

2. Feed your muscles with enough healthy calories

3. Rest, recover your muscles, let them grow

Those are only three general rules for muscle gain, now continue reading to learn five principles of muscle growth.

1. Multi-Joint Movements

In order to gain muscle mass faster, you need to place emphasis on the compound, multi-joint movements. Compound exercises are much better for building muscle mass than single-joint, isolation exercises. That is because exercises like squat and bench press allow bigger loads of weight and involve more muscle groups which lead to more muscle gains.


Bigger load and heavier exercises stimulate the bigger release of the muscle-building hormone. 

It is very important to do one of the hardest exercises - Squats. The squat is a great mass builder and it is probably the movement that involves the most muscle groups at the same time. 


Best Exercises to Build Muscle Mass Fast





2. Progressive Overload


The progressive overload is one of the most important muscle-building principles. Lifting the same weight with a same number of reps won't help you build muscles. Muscles can quickly adapt to the weight and you need to put some more load in order to force your muscles to grow. 


Mass-Building Full-Body Workout Routine for Beginners


The key of muscle gain is to leave your comfort zone, give your muscles a reason to grow. If you lift heavier weights from week to week you won't let your muscles time to adapt and you will force them to grow.


By performing compound movements in every workout and consuming enough calories you will become stronger and that will make you able to lift heavier which will lead to more muscle gains.




3. Caloric Surplus 


To gain muscle mass you need to eat a lot. And that means you need to spend a lot of your time in the kitchen. One of the biggest mistakes that lifters make while trying to build muscle mass is that they don't consume enough calories or macronutrients. 


20 Foods You Should Eat to Gain Muscle Mass


You need to consume 18 calories per pound of your bodyweight to build muscle and at least 1 gr of protein per pound of bodyweight. On training days, try to consume more proteins because your muscles need it to repair and grow. 


Foods that are Best Sources of Protein




Consume enough calories and all three macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats) and in a combination with resistance training your muscles will start to grow. 




4. Rest Your Muscles


This is how it goes, you give your muscles a reason to grow in the gym, build them in the kitchen and they grow while you sleep. Lack of rest can decrease the chance of muscle growth.


Also, don't overtrain your muscles. Don't train same muscles for two days in a row or you will overtrain them and prevent them from growing. To build muscle you need a short and intense workout and long periods of rest. 




5. Supplements Selection


Many supplements ads promise you results. A lot of them are actually unnecessary and just a waste of your money. The best muscle building supplements that you need to buy are Creatine and Whey Protein. They can be a great support for building muscle mass. 


You can check the list of 5 best muscle-building supplements, but you must know there are no better supplements for building muscle mass than Whey Powder and Creatine. 


Top 5 Muscle-Building Supplements




If you start following these five principles right now, you have a big chance to build your muscles for less than one month. Applying these rules could make the most benefits for beginners because in the starting phase, first two to three months, you can build most muscle mass. 


It is very important to start doing it right from the beginning, so don't lose your time following wrong workout plans and wasting money on unnecessary supplements. 

How Many Calories per Day to Gain Muscle Mass?

How many reps I should do to build muscle? How many calories should I consume to gain muscle mass? There are many different answers and different opinions on these questions, but one is sure - you need to consume more calories than you burn every day. You need to constantly be in caloric surplus.

DO YOU WANT TO GAIN LEAN MUSCLE MASS?

But, that isn't so easy and it doesn't mean that if you eat twice more calories than you need that you will build muscle faster. Also, that doesn't mean that you should eat anything. By the way, check out the list of muscle-building foods you should include in your diet:

20 Foods You Should Eat to Gain Lean Muscle Mass

There is an upper limit of nutrients that you can consume and turn into muscle which means that there is no point in eating calories that would just be stored as fat. Of course, it is very common that you will gain some fat while trying to build muscle mass but that doesn't mean that you should eat more than it is enough for the muscle to grow. 

Now you are probably thinking something like this:

But those big guys on YouTube say that I need to consume at least 5000 calories to gain muscle mass.

Your muscles need enough calories and enough proteins to grow, you don't need to consume 5000 calories every day if you weigh about 170 pounds. That would be too much and many nutrients will be stored as fat. Protein also, if you consume more proteins that you need that excess of proteins will be stored as fat and nothing else. 

EAT BIG, BUT HEALTHY!

There is no natural way to build 10 pounds of muscle every week, it doesn't exist. You need to focus on steady lean muscle gains. The whole point of muscle growth is to pursue progressive overload every week and to be in caloric surplus every day.

SO, HOW MANY CALORIES DO YOU NEED TO GAIN MUSCLE?

Some people say that one needs to multiply his body weight in pounds by 16 - 17, well I recommend you to multiply your body weight by 20. You might gain some fat along the way but if your diet is perfect there is nothing special to worry about. You can always shred one or two pounds of fat after you reach the size that you always desired.

Let's do some calculation for all you lazy people over there:

If you weigh about 160 pounds, for example, you need to multiply that number by 20 as I already mentioned which will be equal to 3200. You can add about 100 calories more if you want to be sure that you consumed enough, but I think that 3200 calories will be enough for your muscles to grow. Now, as you gain more and more muscle mass every week, you are going to need more calories and more proteins. If you reach the 170 pounds weight then multiply that number by 20 and the result is - 3400 calories. 

I know that there are many recommendations that differ from mine and that is mostly because I recommend more calories than some people or less than other but you can adopt this advice and see if it works for you. I believe that it does, especially if you are just starting your bulking phase.

How to Get Bigger Biceps Fast - Tips and Exercises

Biceps brachii mostly referred only as Biceps, is a two-headed muscle that is placed between shoulder and elbow. Every exercise that involves some sort of a curl has an effect on a biceps. More precisely, every exercise that involves any sort of pulling will hit your biceps.

If you want to know how to get bigger biceps you must learn some tips and exercises that promote bigger and stronger biceps.

TIP 1: Focus on slowing down the negative portion of the movement

This is probably the best training tip for you to build bigger biceps. You need to start focusing on the negative of every rep of curls you perform. The negative portion of biceps curl is the part where you lower the bar (or dumbbells) back down from the top of the curl to your thighs. 

Many lifters ignore this simple tips and that is a huge mistake. They allow the weight to drop too much quickly instead to slow down to fully hit their biceps. You should lower the barbell or dumbbells down slowly and it should take 3 to 4 seconds. Believe me, if you never tried it, you will see a difference in your biceps training. Your curls will be harder and you will probably have to lower the weight until you get used to this change.  

TIP 2:   Don't train your biceps every day

You might think that training your biceps every day will get you a bigger biceps fast, but that is wrong because your muscles actually get stronger and bigger during the resting period between the workouts. You shouldn't train your biceps more than twice a week if you want better results.

This rule applies to all muscle groups, not only to biceps. Training the same muscle too much, without letting your muscle to fully rest and recover, will only lead to muscle overtraining. 

TIP 3: Use the right form

I guess that I don't need to explain so much why this rule is so important for muscle building. Lifting too much weight without a proper form can get your biceps injured or slower your muscle growth. 

It is totally true that you need to lift heavy to build stronger and bigger muscles but that means that you still have to use the right form while doing it. Start with a lighter weight and build up your strength. Try not to use the momentum to lift weights and use controlled movements. 

EXERCISE 1: Chin-ups

Performing chin-ups is an excellent way to increase the size of your biceps. Grip a bar with your hands placed shoulder-width apart and your palms facing your head then lift your body up until your chin is higher than the bar.

Hint: Try pausing for five seconds when you pull yourself on the bar then slowly lower your body back.

EXERCISE 2: Barbell/Dumbbell Biceps Curls 

Barbell Curls will allow you to overload your biceps with more weights than you can with dumbbells. Hold a barbell/dumbbells and in slowly and controlled manner lift it up to your chest and slowly return it back to starting position with your arms fully extended for a better stretch of your biceps. 

EXERCISE 3: Incline Dumbbell Curls

This exercise is a very good biceps builder because it allows you to achieve a full range of motion while getting a maximal stretch at the bottom of the movement. 

EXERCISE 4: Concentration Curls

Grab a dumbbell, sit on a workout chair and put your elbow on the inside of your knee with arm fully extended. Lift a dumbbell up to your chest while keeping the elbow in the same place.