ABOUT THE BOOK Planning on weight training to build serious muscle? Then take a second before you hit the gym. Working out is only half the story. You can lift all the weights you want, but if your diet isn’t crafted to build muscle, your gains will look more like toning. Sure, you’ll see muscle more easily, but you won’t see any increase in size. For real gains, you need to start eating the right foods, too. A Google search for muscle-building diets will yeild hundreds of different examples. Many do not work, while many others exist mostly to make money. Fortunately, nutritionists, trainers, and physical therapists have been working on power foods for many years now, so they have some proven facts. Make no mistake: the most important element of your diet is you. Always tailor meals to your own habits, your current goals, and your health. But as you customize, pick what works. With a steady regimen of the right foods at the right times, you can pack on muscle and make every trip to the gym worth it. Here are some popular diet ideas, with tips on how you can get the most muscle and energy. MEET THE AUTHOR Tyler Lacoma writes on business, environmental, and fitness topics, but squeezes in some time for fiction, too. He graduated from George Fox University and lives in beautiful Oregon, where he fills spaces between writing with outdoor fun, loud music, and time with family and friends. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Does this sound like strange advice? Not for a muscle diet. Your body needs a steady flow of caloric energy to keep on repairing the small rips your muscles develop every time you work out. Cutting calories cuts fat, but it also keeps you from growing more muscle, so get ready to eat a little more than you do right now. However, your body also needs the right building blocks to repair muscles with, and this means including a lot of protein in your diet. Take your current body weight and assign one gram of protein for every pound. This is a handy guideline for daily protein intake. A little less protein (0.8 grams per pound) works for lighter workouts, while a little more (1.5 grams or more) works well if you prefer intense, high-weight and low-repetition workouts most days of the week. The moment you start searching online or in your bookstore, you’ll run into lists of power foods to help hit your protein target while giving you energy. Generally, good diets include meats, fruits, vegetables, carbohydrate sources, and healthy fats. This leaves a lot of leeway in specific foods groups, so feel free to experiment. Buy a copy to keep reading!