When we begin to weight train to build muscles we need to know it does not stop when you had your shower after your work out. Building of muscle has just started when you are walking home and we need to understand that nutrition is more important than the actual lifting of weights.
Nutrition can be broken down to calories, protein, carbohydrates and fats, see below for more details:
Calories
We require an increase of calories when we exercise no matter which form of exercise we take up. When building muscle we require a large increase to fuel of bodies and our muscles. It is estimated we require 50 calories per kg of body mass which can easily reach 4500 calories a day.
Protein
Protein is important as it is the one that actually builds muscle and a body builder will have a higher need for protein than others. We require about 1.5grams of protein to every kg of body mass. We need extra protein to build muscle and repair them , so ensure you have enough calories per day else the protein will be used for energy.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are used for energy, and we require plenty due to the intense bursts when lifting weights. Carbohydrates are converted to glucose and stored in our muscles as glycogen. We require approximately 55% of our calories from Carbohydrates which works out to around 2000 over calories. Based on one gram contains 4 calories we require around 500 grams of carbohydrates per day.
Fat
Fat is required for healthy cell membranes but of course too much fat is not good for us. We will require approximately 20% of calories from fats which works out to be around 90 grams of fats per day.