When you’ve been in bodybuilding awhile, you learn to make all the right moves. This is not only in weight training, but also in fine-tuning a nutritious diet to get plenty of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats and applying high quality exercises supplements. The question then becomes, can you tweak your diet further in order to get even more muscle gains? Fortunately, the answer to such a question is affirmative. By focusing on the timing of when you eat your meals, you can ingest nutrients at the most beneficial times of the day to provide optimum results for your bodybuilding program. Ongoing research suggests that utilizing meal timing during training programs can significantly improve muscle mass and strength as well as achieve greater losses of body fat. So, let’s take a look at how to better manipulate your nutritious diet to provide the best results in bodybuilding.

Provide Protein First Thing

When you awake in the morning, you have to realize that your body has just been through an extensive fasting period of around 7 to 8 hours. Since muscle growth and repair occurs overnight, most of the protein in your body has been depleted and needs to be replenished first thing in the morning. Supplemental isolated whey protein is the best choice for that early morning protein boost because it digests rapidly and balances your body’s amino acid supply, reducing the effects of catabolism. Add a scoop of whey protein to a glass of low-fat milk or non-fat milk for a whopping 30+ grams of protein power to start your day.

Have a Breakfast Bowl of Complex Carbs

Consider a breakfast that is high in complex carbs. Just like protein, your body’s glycogen energy reserves are running on fumes after a long night’s rest and need to be replenished. Chowing down on a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal with added raisins or nuts, or a heaping portion of Ezekiel cereal, will provide around 50 grams of complex carbs to recharge your batteries. By refueling your glycogen stores through a breakfast rich in complex carbs, you ensure that you have a good supply of slow-burning fuel to get your day off to a powerful start and to tackle a late morning exercise session. Not only does a high complex carb breakfast boost energy levels, it also increases your metabolism so that you burn fat more efficiently throughout the rest of the day.

Avoid the Late Morning Crash

Many times, hectic schedules can prevent you from eating late morning meals due to a whirlwind of events which lead to late morning energy crashes. In order to solve this problem, pre-pack a scoop of whey protein to mix with a glass of water and a handful of almonds or other nuts to munch down at a moment’s notice. By being prepared with a quick meal of healthy fats, you will keep your blood sugar balanced and prevent those annoying energy crashes. Besides that, you will give your muscles an extra boost of protein and keep your body running efficiently until lunch.

Load Up for Pre-Workout

Loading up on critical nutrients such as protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats pre-workout will give you a huge advantage. By consuming at least 30-40 grams of protein via a meal or whey protein shake 1-2 hours beforehand, you will give your muscles the building blocks they need to begin the recovery process before a single pound has been pressed. To add an energy kick, consume around 50 grams of complex carbs with your meal or whey protein shake. Complex carbs are broken down much slower than their sugary simple carb cousins and provide a long lasting source of fuel to get you through your grueling workout.

Add a Post-Workout Recovery Session Slam

If you’ve been bodybuilding awhile then you know that your post-workout nutrition is extremely important to both muscle growth and recovery. What’s more, you only have a small window of around an hour or less to ingest these vital nutrients in order to get maximum results. When you’ve completed your weight training program, slam a whey protein shake and get almost 40 grams to get those amino acid building blocks rushing to your pumped muscles. While you’re at it, boost your depleted insulin levels with a simple carb snack. By boosting your insulin, you keep your hormone levels balanced and your nutrient absorption at peak performance, both of which are necessary for optimum muscle mass gains.