Sure everybody knows that if you workout that you can gain muscle, but most of us don't really know how the muscle itself is gained.
Well for starters, muscle is gained from breaking down the muscle through exercise or weight lifting, once the muscle is broken down then the body uses its available resources to repair and fix the muscle.
Since our bodies try to adapt to the stress that we put on it, our bodies will adapt to the stress of working out by increasing strength and size to accommodate.
In order for our bodies to repair our muscle and for growth to occur, it is absolutely essential to eat to gain.
Recovery is the most important and most overlooked process of muscle growth.
Our body starts to recover as soon as we get out of the gym, and in order to repair muscles, our body will need an adequate amount of protein for the construction process.
Along with protein, our muscles also need carbohydrates to fill up glycogen stores that were used up from working out.
The best time to eat carbohydrates after a workout is with the protein so that both get transferred quickly to the muscles where it is greatly needed.
Muscle growth is as simple as this, if you aren't getting enough protein, then your muscles are not going to grow bigger.
The best way to get enough protein in your diet is to shoot for at least 1g per pound of body weight that you have.
Now, this may seem like a lot, but it won't be hard to get to if you know what to eat.
Some valuable sources of protein are foods such as lean beef, chicken, and fish.
These should be your main sources of protein as they are very rich sources and contain very little fat or carbs.
Protein shakes should also be considered as a supplement to eating protein, but don't treat a protein shake as your main source.
Another important factor to building muscle is by eating regularly throughout the day.
Try not to eat big meals, it will make it hard for your body to digest all the food and you won't get a steady stream of protein into your system.
Try to eat small meals spread out throughout the day so your body can maintain digestion levels and so you have a steady stream of nutrients entering your body which will keep your metabolism cranking.