Five Simple Ways Men & Women can Build Muscle on a Budget

If you want to gain muscle mass, It’s essential to focus on the quality & quantity of food and perform the right exercises in the gym.

Thankfully there aren’t any lockdowns for the moment, and my recommendations would be to make the best use of the equipment at your disposal.

But, there is no doubt that nutrition is vital — but you can’t gain any muscle without lifting weights. 

No one can bypass the sweat and effort (as well as volume) needed to sculpt and re-shape your body.

Your level of the sculpting will depend on the goals you have. 

For example, many people would like to stay lean and have an excellent shape (from my research).

Bodybuilding is excellent but not that appropriate for the average person.

We can take a lot of the training and nutritional aspects of bodybuilding apply them to our own goals, and it will help supercharge those results.

Here are five simple ways both men and women can still gain excellent shape without spending tons of money at the grocery store. 

I know how expensive food can be. 

Even vegans struggle with the price of veggies. 

However, we can do our best by being creative and applying lifestyle habits that will not require a lot of spare cash.

One: Consume mostly reasonably priced protein sources.

Do your research on this and see what protein sources cost the most money.

Usually, it will be red meats and organic produce.

Organic is great to have sometimes, but it can be costly every day. 

I recommend eating more reasonably priced protein sourced and constantly swapping for variety. 

Suppose you can get organic great. Try grass-fed.

These can be:

• Chicken breast
• Organic eggs
• Egg whites in carton form
• Fresh or frozen seafood
• Yoghurt
• Protein powder — such as whey
• Cottage cheese.
• Vegan protein sources

Plan your meals around these sources.

You are only really limited to your creativity and if you find it challenging, go on a platform like Pinterest to get lots of different ideas of how to use the above sources in other meals.

Try this recipe book if you wish.

Two: Make sure you distribute your protein throughout the day

Eating protein triggers muscle protein synthesis and suppresses protein breakdown for several hours so that you end up with more lean tissue.

A study in The Journal of Nutrition showed that when participants ate 30 grams of protein at each meal, protein synthesis levels were 25 per cent higher than that of people who skewed their consumption by loading up on protein at dinner.

When you spike protein syntheses throughout the day, it will give your body more opportunity to add muscle mass. 

So that’s a very effective strategy in helping you make your protein sources go further.

Three: Eat according to your activity levels and goals

The only way to build muscle mass is to train intensely and frequently and eat!

Your caloric range can be between 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day.

It will differ for everyone, but this is a reasonable estimate.

Use the sources above and spread them out evenly during the day, and you should be able to hit this.

If you find you’re putting on body fat, then taper it down slowly each week until you find your sweet spot.

Four: Put in lots of vegetables with your meals

It will make your feed go further and give your diet some plant protein sources and fibre.

Vegetables are required for better gut health and function — not to mention helping us go to the bathroom without too much stress!

Aim for a lower carb variety, such as leafy greens. 

Eat what’s in season, and opt for some frozen varieties if set on a particular type.

This is still good and possibly a lot more affordable.

Five: Try Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting helps to retain muscle mass, so you won’t risk losing it.

 But the trick is to find a transitional time that works for you.

For example, aim to eat your first meal after training, and try not to fast for long periods.

Through years of trial and error, the best time I have found is the good old 16/8 principle. 

That will allow you enough nutrition to cater for the lack of eating. 

Fasting also triggers HGH, which helps build muscle and keep you lean.

I can’t even begin to tell you just how much more economical fasting is.

 Eliminating one or two meals alone will help your budget.

Unless you are a hard gainer or want a bodybuilder’s physique, most of us can deal with eating less.

Given that we have a sedentary job, it makes sense to skip a meal or two to better health and attain our body re-shaping goals.

It’s worked well for me so far.

Key Take away

I do hope these cost-effective and straightforward tips can help you. It’s a good idea to eat in season, and you can bypass a lot of added costs to your food.

If you feel like strawberries, and they aren’t in season — go for the frozen variety.

They contain fewer chemicals and more nutrients (than buying strawberries from another country).

As always, try to eat organic when you can. It does cost a bit more, but the fewer chemicals you ingest, the better your health will be — in the long term.

And who can argue with making health a top priority in our lives?

If you would like to express gratitude with coffee, send the love via this link.

Originally posted on Medium & my personal blog.