If you’ve been looking for a muscle building meal plan to go along with your workout program, read on. The role of nutrition for muscle building is crucial. It plays a very important role in the body’s growth and recovery processes. To extract as much as possible from your meals they should be well balanced and well spaced throughout the day. Structuring meals like this allows the body to better absorb the nutrients and there is less stress on the digestive system.
Protein is vital for muscle growth. It’s a well known fact that if you are weight lifting you will need to consume more protein. It plays a crucial role in the recovery and building of muscle tissue. It is absolutely required by the body to repair and build new muscle tissue. Physiological stresses caused by intense weight training leads to nitrogen loss. To grow and get stronger the body must be in a positive nitrogen balance. This means eating protein every 2-3 hours. For optimum growth you should be ingesting approximately 30-50 grams of protein, 4-7 times a day. This is dependent upon your present weight and the quality of the protein you are ingesting.
Good sources of protein are lean red meat, whole eggs, dairy products, fish and chicken. A high quality protein supplement can also be used, such as whey protein or a good milk and egg mix. High quality protein supplements are absorbed well by the body and do not take as long to digest. In addition to protein, add a multivitamin and creatine to your diet.
Here’s an example of a 1-day muscle building meal plan which I can recommend:
Meal #1 Oatmeal or shredded wheat w/milk, 2-6 Eggs – use 1/2 yolks, 2 Slices of Whole grain toast
Meal #2 Protein drink, 8-12 ounces milk, 1/2 – 1 banana, 1-2 scoops protein powder
Meal #3 Lean Red meat, Baked potato or rice, 8-12 ounces of milk
Meal #4 1-2 cans of Tuna, 2-4 slices whole grain bread, Lite or no-fat mayonnaise, 1 banana, 8-12 ounces milk
Meal #5 Large plate of pasta 3-4 ounces, lean ground beef, small salad w/oil and vinegar dressing, 8-12 ounces of milk
Meal #6 Lean red meat or chicken, 1-3 baked potatoes, 1 serving of mixed vegetables, 8-12 ounces of milk
This diet will provide roughly between 3500-5500 calories depending on the size of the portions. You may need to adjust the calories upwards or downwards, depending on your present weight and training program.
Here are some general tips to increase calories:
1) Eat larger portions
2) Use a weight gain supplement
3) Use 2% or whole milk
4) Eat more red meat
5) Focus on high calorie foods
It cannot be stressed enough the importance of being as consistent as possible about your diet. Do not skip meals, or eat poorly. Your workouts will suffer with poor nutrition. If you are a hardgainer struggling to build muscle and put on weight, then this muscle building meal plan is a good starting point. If you have muscle building meal plans which has worked well for you, feel free to share it in the comments below. It’s always good having variety with your meals.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Good advice. Thanks
I am 21yrs old, 5ft 9″ and 138lbs. How many calories do i need? I don’t want to be a body builder but gain weight to be average good looking body. I know how to work out but am really confused on the food. Can u give me a 5 meal plan, preferably less eggs and less milk. And is chicken breast good too? Is a dinner of 200g chicken/beef/salmon enough with the meats since it’s too expensive to eat meats three times a day.
Here’s my diet plan of around 4000 calories which will also help the above poster…
When rising – 30g Protein, 50g porrage oats, banana nesquick in a shake with water – calories approx 300
9am – Breakfast – two slices of wholemeal toast, multi vitamin, omega 3 tablet, – calories approx 220, optional 2 eggs
1030am – Preworkout – 1 banana
1200pm – Post workout – 30g protein + 40g Dextrose with water, plus weight gain shake (50g powdered milk, 25g banana nesquick, 100g porrage oats in water) calories approx 1200
2pm – 100g chicken breast, 100g wholemeal pasta/rice, mixed veg, cashew nuts – calories approx 680
5pm – 100g salmon, 100g baby/sweet potatoes, mixed veg, brazilian nuts – calories approx 850
8pm – 1 slice of wholemean toast with peanutbutter or beans, almonds – calories 390
10pm – wholemeal roll with ham slices or tuna, calories approx 200
Just before bed – Protein shake, calories approx 120
approx 4000 calories
Protein – 260g
Carbs – 410g
Fat – 105g
I also have flaxseed oil or grape seed oil to cook the salmon in foil in the oven, cud also use a sauce with the chicken & pasta! this this meal plan your only having 2 main meals, others are snacks! Hope this helped!
I am 34yrs old, 6ft 6? and 193lbs. How many calories do i need? I don’t want to be a body builder but gain weight to be normal good looking body. I know how to work out but am really confused on the food. Can u give me a 5 meal plan ? Dinner of 200g chicken/beef/salmon enough with the meats since it’s too expensive to eat meats three times a day.
I’m 19, 6ft, and about 160 lb. I need a good meal plan for gaining weight/mass. Im a hardgainer and can’t seem to pack on any muscle, just a little. I eat fruits and vegetables and carbs and meat, but i need to know how much and when? like its hard to always get chicken breast and stuff because im a college student and am on a tight budget and busy. I want to put on some considerable mass and size but i need help!
I’m about 5’4 and 138lbs 29 years old. I need a good and practical meal plan for weight/mass gain. I work Monday to Friday 8:30 to 5:30pm, so I have to have most of my meals at work. I have a fridge and a microwave in my office. I’m straggling on my belly. No matter what I do my belly doesn’t seem to go down. Thank you for your help.
im 18 yrs old, and have a problem in increasing weight, i’ll try out the six meals and tell u how it worked after 2 months. thanks 4 the advice
im 46 yo, 5’6″, wanna start a weight gain and workout program, is it to late for me to bulk up?
Everyone on here seems to be asking how much they need to eat or how many calories they need. If you are looking for your BMR (Base Metobolic Rate) which will tell you how many calories you need just to live and breath start from there. Then add in how many calories you burn in your normal daily function. That will be how many calories you need for a normal day. To gain weight you will then add on the calories needed to reach your goals. To get a BMR calculator and to do this math try a body building website like bodybuilding.com there are plenty of calculators to help you determine how much you need or should be taking. As for asking about making a meal plan and how much you need to eat, just do the research nobody online is going to know what you need by your height and weight. There are other factors than that. I am 5’10″ 155lbs with a body fat of 13% I burn roughly 2200 calories in a day based on my lifestyle and for me to gain weight I would need to up my caloric intake about 500-800 more a day on top of going to the gym 3-5 times a week.
I’ve done alot of research online and I have found the hardest thing for myself to be commiting to a healthy diet. But you just gotta put your best foot forward and keep trying!
sean, your a jerk, start eating your ass, you jerk, mr knowitall!!!
@ Larry, I am not at all trying to sound like a know it all. I don’t quite understand why you think that. I was just giving the information that I have found, I by no means am super fit in fact I’m far from my personal goal. I appologize honestly. Also @ 46yrs old you should probably act your age and not your shoe size….
sorry sean, having a bad day, keep motivated an let me know how its going all info is helpful,
p.s. sean ,u seriously need to update ur prince collection, ‘ act your age not ur shoe size’, thats funny,….lol…..
p.s. sean ,u seriously need to update ur prince collection, ‘ act your age not ur shoe size’, thats funny,….lol….. u wear purple panties too,!!!
lol! That is just a saying my parents used to tell me when I was younger. Can’t say I am a fan of Prince he’s befor my time….
ive done alot of research online and i have found the hardest thing for myself to be commiting to a healty diet but you gotta put your best foot forward,..
sean, my friend ,bill phillips ,former eas ceo, would disagree with you,….
i m hearing that heaps of protein is the go in the morning . i have 2 kangaroo sausages , 4 egg whites mixed with 1/4 cup cottage cheese on 2 wholemeal toast . then i wash it all down with my protein shake . my question is , is the protein shake overkill ? i m worried i m having too much protein in 1 meal , should i save the shake for the next meal ?( its a hard gainer shake , 40g protein , 200g carbs)
sounds like you really like kangaroo sausage steve, you should try tube steak for extra protein
tube steak ? never heard of it , i ll check it out . i only like the kanga bangers cause they re really low in fat and high in protein , the taste is not so good . the mince is good though cause you can use it in a chilli con carne or a bolognaise . way less fat and higher protein than beef mince . u should get onto it .
does anyone know a great bulking powder that doesn t require you to consume 350g of powder per serving . i m using inner armour at the moment and its a joke . surely you dont need to consume that much powder per serving .
Jeez. I’m LMAO @ the tube steak thing. Holy hell. That made my day – thanks. :-)
LOL! I would also like to know where to look for tube steak. I have looked in all the grocery stores and asked around but to no avail. Tell me if you ever find one steven..
im 18 and enlisting in the military out of highschool, im 5 ft 6inches,i weigh 137 lbs and havent had much progress after doing regular weightlifting every other day, any tips on calorie intake or types of workouts i should be doing for best results, as well as diet i have a hard time putting together a decent plan