Quote:
Originally Posted by Mastashake
Do any of you totally pig out after your workouts? I've heard if you want to gain muscle its best to eat something both high in protein and high in carbohydrates. So your body can quickly recover from your workout. But I don't know if I could work out and then go eat pizza or something. My coworker used to do this, but he'd go a few months of focusing on getting bigger (and fatter), then spend another month or so cutting down. He'd do phases instead of both at the same time.
Supposedly its a good idea to eat some cottage cheese right before bed, too. It has a protein called Casein which is one of the slowest acting proteins. This helps your body build muscle overnight. It seems silly to me that eating a certain food can help you get more muscle but a guy I used to work with was one of those natural bodybuilders and he swore by it.
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Bulking and cutting are silly concepts if you're just doing them back and forth. If you want to bulk and stay bulky, fine... pig out. But the body builds muscle as a defense mechanism. As long as it has the necessary components to build muscle, it will do so if you give a reason to.
So, no, I don't pig out. I strictly control what I eat because it's simply not necessary for me to yo-yo up and down to gain weight and fat and then cut out the muscle and the fat. If you control what you eat and exercise, then the body will adapt to whatever caloric levels you're at. If those caloric levels are too high for your activity level, you'll gain fat, even if you're working out a lot. Some bodybuilders consider this a good thing. If you're eating below your caloric requirement levels, you will have a more difficult time building muscle unless your body already has spare energy in the form of excess fat. IMO, it's just easier to pick a caloric level, get adequate amounts of protein and lift heavy weights many times. If you want to continue to grow muscle and aren't getting fat, up the calories. If you start gaining fat with your muscle after that, then you're probably at your natural peak and will have to use steroids to get any bigger... but I don't know why you'd want to if you're that big.
Casein is a great protein to eat at all times of day, not just before bed. It keeps you fuller for longer, which is great at night. The reason for eating casein at night isn't necessarily for muscle building, but for metabolic purposes to keep your body out of ketosis for as long as possible. But really, it's just taking in protein period that will give your body what it needs to build muscle.