No matter how hard you work in the gym, a disciplined diet is the key to reaching your physique goals. You know that dining out isn’t great for your diet, but the foods you keep on hand at home are just as important. Your refrigerator alone can either be a minefield of temptations or a stockpile of all the ammo you need for building muscle, depending on how you fill it.
If you keep these nine essential items on hand, you’ll never be scrambling to put together a muscle-friendly pre- or post-workout meal.
Besides offering a complete amino acid profile, cottage cheese contains a solid amount of whey and casein protein, says certified sports nutritionist Tony Ricci, PsyDc, FISSN, CSCS, PES, CDN.
“Its higher casein levels help to slow protein kinetics, which can help to keep a positive nitrogen status for a longer duration,” he says. This creates the ideal environment to grow new muscle tissue.
Eggs are cheap (as low as 25 cents each) nutritional powerhouses containing all nine essential amino acids and about 8 grams of protein. They also have a good amount of vitamin B-12, which is necessary for fat breakdown and helps your brain and muscles communicate for better contraction during lifts.
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Avocados
Eating half an avocado can lower your a desire to snack afterward by 40 percent, according to a study in the Nutrition Journal. They also have plenty of ALA, a precursor to Omega-3s, which can help reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.
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Berries
Berries are a low glycemic food, which curbs cravings and blood sugar crashes. They are also a top antioxidant, helping repair damaged muscle tissue and calm inflammation to speed up recovery. Any berry will do: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are always winners.
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Plain Greek Yogurt
This healthy dairy product has twice the protein of regular yogurt to help with muscle repair as well as lower levels of sugar and salt. Skip the fruit-flavored brands and add your own berries and nuts.
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Salmon
To build bigger muscles, you need to feed them protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s can improve recovery because they help increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis, according to a 2011 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Wild salmon also delivers a solid punch of vitamin D—988 IU per 3.5 oz. serving, which is almost two-thirds (65 percent) more than the RDA of 600 IU.
Vitamin D can promote strength as well as fuel weight loss. One study found that vitamin D improved peak power after just four weeks of resistance training and helped reduce waist-to-hip ratio among overweight men after 12 weeks.
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Spinach
Popeye was right—spinach packs a wallop. Swedish scientists have found that nitrate, a compound abundant in spinach, can build and tone muscle. Spinach also is a great source of folic acid, which repairs DNA and helps to produce new red blood cells, and is rich in magnesium, which is needed to maintain normal muscle and nerve function.
Always choose raw spinach; cooked spinach loses some of its nutrients.
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Milk
Milk is the ideal beverage to boost mass and aid with recovery. It contains both casein and whey proteins, which when combined can increase the muscle protein synthesis needed to promote growth.
Research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking post-workout milk produced more lean muscle mass than either soy protein or carbohydrates.
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Hummus
“You need a near equal balance of protein and carbs after workouts to support recovery, and hummus (made from chickpeas) delivers”, says Ricci. “The combination of protein and carbs in hummus may be particularly beneficial for slow steady carbohydrates release into bloodstream, which is really good to consume for a window of about two hours and more before training and two hours or more post training,” he says.
