Top Muscle Building Foods You Can’t Grow Without

In less than two weeks I’ll be attending my first Mr. Olympia showdown in Las Vegas, and I’m extremely excited to watch the most prestigious bodybuilding contest in the world. To get the inside scoop on the top muscle building foods, I went directly to the top contenders, the athletes themselves, who have provided their pre-training diet below.Below you will find Jay Cutlers’s, Branch Warren’s and Victor Martinez’s pre-training diets and I would like to look for the overlapping food choices – consequently, you must conclude these are the top muscle building foods you can’t grow without.The famous motivational speaker, Tony Robbins would tell you, “Success leaves clues.” That’s powerful. This means you can learn that methods that someone is using to succeed, then you can do the same thing! Modeling and duplicating their food choices is a great place to begin when experimenting with different food options to build your physique.

Tony Robbins also says, “If you want to achieve success, all you need to do is find a way to model those who have already succeeded.” I ask you to look past the anabolic steroids and drugs these athletes take and study the food selection below. Even if Jay, Branch and Victor did not use steroids to support their training, I will bet a million dollars that they would still eat the same food choices below, the only modification would be the amounts.

Jay Cutler’s Sample 10 Weeks Out:

Wake Up: Fat burning pills, 40 minutes cardio

Meal 1: 15 egg whites, 6 oz. steak, 1/2 avocado, 4 packs of grits, 1/2 gallon water

Meal 2: 12-16 oz. chicken breast, 12 oz. sweet potato

Meal 3: 12-16 oz. steak, 12 oz. red potato

Workout

Meal 5: Whey protein

Meal 6: 12-16 oz. chicken, 1 and 1/2 cups white rice

Meal 7: 15 egg whites, 6 oz. steak, 1/2 avocado

Branch Warren Sample Diet 10 Weeks Out:

Wake Up: coffee, 20-30 minute walk around neighborhood with dogs

Meal 1: 10 oz. buffalo, 2 2hole eggs, 2 slices whole wheat toast, cup of oatmeal

Meal 2: 10 oz. chicken breast, 2 and 1/2 cups white rice

Train

Meal 3: Whey protein and Gatorade

Meal 4: 10 oz. chicken breast, 10-12 oz. white potato, 10-12 oz. white potato

Meal 5: 10 oz. chicken breast, 10-12 oz. white potato, 10-12 oz. sweet potato

Meal 6: 6 oz. steak, 6 oz. tilapia

Victor Martinez Sample Diet 10 Weeks Out:

9:30 a.m. Whey protein and water

9:45 a.m. Cardio: 45 minutes

10:45 a.m. 10 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 cup of oatmeal

1:30 p.m. 10 oz. steak, 1 cup of brown rice

4 p.m. 10 oz. chicken, 10 oz. potato

5:30 p.m. Pre-workout drink, BCAA

Train

8 p.m. 10 oz. salmon, 1 cup of steamed broccoli

1 a.m. 8 oz. steak, 1 cup of steamed broccoli

Clue #1: Did you notice a lot of supplements?

According to this, no. The top bodybuilders in the world know that supplements are not replacements. I have nothing against using certain supplements as an aid, but relying on them to build your muscle is only going to end with one result, no muscle gains and a lighter wallet.

Supplements are just to add in the muscle building foods you’ll rely on. Supplements contribute a small percentage to your results and not anywhere close to being a replacement. So put your efforts toward training and diet before supplements.

Clue #2: Top muscle buildings from protein?

Salmon, steak, egg whites, whole eggs, whey protein and tilapia. Pretty short list, right?

Interestingly, you didn’t see any yogurt, milk or cottage cheese. Remember, success leaves clues. The purpose of this article is for you to pick up clues, not to critique their meal plans. I want you to simply pick up clues from three of the best bodybuilders int the world. Notice the high amount of protein as well, don’t judge, just say, “Interesting.”

Clue #3: Top muscle building foods from carbohydrates?

Oatmeal, white rice, brown rice, white potato, whole wheat broccoli, sweat potato. Another short and exciting list, right? Don’t analyze the food list, simple take note of the overlapping food selection. To ignore the evidence that these foods must work would be insane and completely stupid.

It’s lacking variety? Absolutely, I won’t disagree with you. Lacking vegetables and fruits? Absolutely but isn’t that interesting? You must consider that all three of these guys are already eating a ton of food as it is. They eat up to a pound of meat per meal, along with a 12 oz. potato. Right there you’re looking at close to a two pounds of food already! If these guys tried to eat vegetables on top of that, it would probably play havoc with their stomachs. Nobody likes to feel stuff and bloated.

I’m not endorsing a low-vegetable diet, it’s just fascinating to see the different compromises elite bodybuilders make in their diets to achieve their goal calories. I do know each of these guys would take multi-vitamin to get all the vitamins and minerals they need.

The fact is, carbohydrates keeps muscles full and restore glycogen to the muscles and give us energy. Very few bodybuilders can build muscle on low-carbs and to recover and maintain muscle fullness, it’s critical to include the top muscle building carbohydrates Jay, Branch and Victor consume every day.

Clue #4: Meal frequency

The debate will never end on whether to eat every 2-3 hours, 3 square meals or when you feel like it. Before I come to any conclusions of my own, I experiment with a model that the top bodybuilders follow – high meal frequency – and find out how my own body reacts. Notice that, on average, these guys consume up to 7 meals a day. Once again, I’m not saying you need to eat 7 meals a day but you may want to consider a higher frequency of meals if aesthetic muscle is your goal. You must ask, “Is this a coincidence or perhaps there is truth to maintaining a regular meal cadence?” I doubt it’s a coincidence.

Clue #5: Quality fats

I can’t tell you if the sample diet plans are 100% accurate but I will admit that their diets were lower in fats than I would suggest or expect. I won’t judge, because I’m a student of success, so I’ll simply take more notes. I will make sure I bring a few avocado’s home from the grocery store and include more of them in my diet, since avocado was a top choice.

If I meet Jay, Branch or Victor in two-weeks at the Olympia I’ll be sure to ask them why they don’t include as many mixed nuts, flaxseed oil, fish oil and olive oil into their diets.

If you haven’t heard of the “healthy fats” known as omega 3-6-9s, those are the essential fatty acids in your body which you need. By taking them in a correct amount it actually can help to lose bad fat off your body by boosting your metabolism and many other benefits including heart function and decreasing inflammation in your body.

Conclusion

I encourage you to take the philosophy of, “Success leaves clues” when considering the top muscle building foods you can’t live without. It’s very powerful and can lead you down the path of success rather than modeling a system that does not include as many obvious clues.

I see too many people getting their head stuck in a book and enter into meaningless debates on nutrition when many of the answers are right in front of their eyes in the real world. You must become a student of examining the clues, taking action and seeing what works and what doesn’t. This is how you’ll achieve the body you deserve.

Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at www.VinceDelMonteFitness.comHe specializes in teaching skinny guys how to build muscle and gain weight quickly without drugs, supplements and training less than before.

For Vince DelMonte’s Complete
No Non-Sense Muscle Building System CLICK HERE!

—————————————————————————
About the Author: