The bottom line when it comes to gaining muscle mass and bulking up is the need to keep your body in an anabolic state by stimulating the muscles to grow and consuming more calories than you’re burning.

Track what you eat on a daily basis and add 500 calories. This can mean an extra two-three glasses of milk a day (easy, right?!) and/or a few hard-boiled eggs.

Alternatively, there’s plenty of protein powders and shakes available that can help you up your intake of protein (most are either vegetable or milk based).

Read more about bulking up and building muscle mass naturally on the rest of the site.

Especially of note is the mention of oily fish, which are also packed with protein.  Anyone looking to bulk up or simply maintain their muscle mass should be eating a diet heavy in protein and fish are a healthy food that is an excellent source of protein as well.

Oily fish
Fling fresh sardines under the grill, or have them from a can; either way, like mackerel, salmon and anchovies, they are great for omega-3 oils, which seem to make platelets in the blood less likely to clump together and cause a clot.

I like to buy packs of individually wrapped tilapia from my supermarket and either bake, grill or saute them.  Whichever way I make them, it comes out great.  Pour a little pack of sazon or just some salt, pepper and whatever other seasoning you like, cook it for roughly 10 minutes and you’re good to go.  You can eat it by itself, with a loaf of bread, with some rice, or some pasta (whole wheat pasta even).

The article also brings up wholewheat pasta, whose flavor I’m not particularly fond of.  So what I do is mix some wholewheat pasta with regular pasta with a hybrid dish that’s more palatable.

Wholewheat pasta
The ultimate filling — and so easy to cook. The wholewheat variety has a lower glycaemic index than plain and releases energy slowly. Good for sportsmen who need muscles packed with energy.

Here’s to getting big, getting lean and being healthy.

well i’m pretty keen to start drinking some protein shakes, but i don’t want to over use it coz i’m scared it will cause me kidney problems now or in the future so i only want to use it a couple of times a week. here’s what i’m thinking.

Option 1. Have it twice a week. Have 1 cup before netball, (which i have wednesday and saturday,) or after, whatevers best.

Option 2. Have it 3 times a week. When i do weight lifting, have half a cup before weightlifting, then the other half after.

Option 3. Have it 4-5 times a week. Get up early in the mornings, have half a cup before weightlifting or cardio then the other half after.
if i do this one. should i still have breakfast??

Just a couple more things.. promise.
is it best to drink the shakes before cardio training, or weightlifting. or can you do either..
how much protein powder should i take.. 15 years old, (female) somewhere between 50-55kg.

and last thing. can someone pleeeeeaase help with a healthy diet to help with the protein shake. one of your ideas, or a cool website.
Breakfast, recess, lunch tea.
Remember i do go to school. so recess and lunch can’t be anything cooked, or that goes soggy in a lunch box and stuff like that.
unless you have something to prevent that from happening. Much appreciated. x

Answer:

First, you need to consider how the protein shakes fit into your overall workout plan.

Are you trying to bulk up? Gain muscle mass? You said you’re a girl and most simply try to tone their muscles, not increase their muscle mass. What are you looking to do exactly?

The point of protein shakes is to supply your body with enough protein to allow it to rebuild (bigger) the muscles you break down from working out. Bodybuilders need a lot of protein because they’re trying to increase the size of their muscles. Your average layperson may not need nearly as much. So keep that in mind. In general, if you WANT to gain weight/bulk up, you want to have no more than a gram of protein per pound of body weight on a daily basis.

It is best to have protein shakes AFTER your workouts. That’s when your body needs the protein most. There’s different types of protein that go through your body as quickly as possible, and there’s slow release proteins. You’re best off having a shake that mixes the two so that your body is never short on protein supply.

If you’re looking to diet, I’d minimize my protein shake intake and cut out any fried foods or desserts. Lower your fat intake and try to eat a lot of fruits.

Breakfast ideas could be cereal with 2% or less fatty milk, low fat cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, fruit, egg whites. Lunch you can eat a banana, apple, yogurt, tuna sandwich. If you’re dieting, try to eat 5-6 small meals a day (your protein shakes can count as one).

Good luck, and if you can provide some more information about your specific goals I can answer your question better.