When you’re trying to gain muscle, it’s important that you make sure you’re getting in the nutrients you need on a daily basis. Without the right nutrition, you’re going to find it a lot more difficult to even recover from a strenuous workout, let alone promote the growth of your muscle tissue.
This is one of the reasons why meal planning and following a nutritionally dense diet is so important, considering that it can really make or break your fitness progress.
To help you ensure that you’re getting in the sustenance that you need to aid muscle growth, here are a variety of easy, healthy snacks that should be your go-tos when trying to up your fitness game.
Oatmeal
One of the most well-known dietary staples of those trying to gain muscle is oatmeal, and for good reason. Oats are a vastly nutritious whole-grain food which also contain a variety of important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
The reason that this is such a good meal or snack when trying to gain muscle is due to the fact that oatmeal is packed full of complex carbohydrates, which the body takes a longer amount of time to digest.
This provides your body with a continuous source of energy for a longer period of time, meaning that you’ll have more fuel to get you through your workouts.
Start off your morning right with a bowl of oatmeal or round off a fitness session with an extra serving of oats.
If you want to boost up the nutritional value even more, add powdered peanut butter for protein or a helping of berries for a sweat taste.
If you're looking for a delicious and high-protein oatmeal snack, be sure to check out our blueberry cobbler protein oats.
Devilled Eggs
Eggs are an excellent source of protein, with a single egg containing an impressive 6 grams. They’re highly recommended as both a diet food and a post-workout food as they’re also packed full of vitamins which help ensure that your body has all the minerals that it needs to support workout recovery.
While eggs are not necessarily high in calories, they have a huge amount of nutritional value, which makes them the perfect snack when you’re trying to build muscle.
The protein will help provide your body with the fuel it needs to recover, while the vitamins and minerals help promote the repair of your muscle tissue.
Devilled eggs are a fun, delicious way to experiment with boiled eggs and make them into an exciting snack.
You can make your own devilled eggs by cutting boiled eggs in half and mixing up the yolk with mayonnaise and your choice of spices.
Protein Cookies
These snack food items should be a staple in anybody’s diet, no matter whether you’re trying to get fit or just trying to live in a healthier manner. However, if you’re trying to gain muscle, then protein-rich cookies can help you stay on track for macros while also enjoying your snack.
Convenient, adaptable, and packed full of nutrition, these cookies make for ideal snacks before, after, and even during a workout.
The high amount of protein in a single serving will keep you fuelled up and get you ready to combat any fitness session, no matter how intense it may be.
Studies have actually shown that protein snacks have even more benefits than you might initially think.
They provide your body with the protein that it needs to aid the recovery of your muscles after a workout, but they’ve also been proven to improve body composition and promote weight loss.
Dried Edamame Beans
Soybeans in general are a great source of nutrition considering that they contain high amounts of protein, unsaturated fats, and lots of vitamins and minerals.
However, dried edamame is a great food to snack on when you’re trying to gain muscle as you can take a bag of dried edamame with you while you’re on-the-go.
Dried edamame provides high levels of both protein and fiber, which is going to give you the energy you need to keep going and keep you feeling satisfied at the same time. As well as packing in a lot of protein, edamame is also rich in folate, which helps your body process amino acids.
Generally, amino acids are largely needed for protein synthesis, which is the process that your body undergoes during workout recovery to aid the growth of your muscles.
Trail-Mix
If you’re trying to gain muscle, a great way of making sure that you get the nutrition that you need is to start incorporating nuts into your daily diet.
One way to do this is to start snacking on healthy trail mix as it usually includes a range of nuts that are only going to work to benefit your health. Trail mix is easy, versatile, and majorly convenient, as it’s often sold in snack sized bags and can be kept in your car or in your bag.
More specifically, you should be focusing on making sure that you’re eating nuts such as almonds as they have an abundance of health benefits.
Almonds are high in protein, vitamins, and healthy fats, which are all largely important to support a state of good health.
They provide you with the fuel that you need to keep going, while also providing antioxidants to protect your cells from damage done by free radicals.
Cottage Cheese
While it may not be the most obvious choice of snack, cottage cheese is actually a wonderful way of getting in the protein you need to aid the growth of your muscle tissue.
All cheese is a good source of protein, but cottage cheese is notably healthier for you as it is lower in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Photo by Jules Clancy - thestonesoup.com
As well as being high in protein, cottage cheese supplies a range of amino acids, including that of glutamine. Some studies that have been carried out indicate that glutamine may actually improve workout recovery and decrease the soreness that you’ll experience after an intense exercise session.
Cottage cheese can even benefit your bone health, as it’s also a good source of calcium. Maintaining an adequate calcium intake when heavily training will help reduce potential bone fractures and increase your general bone strength.
While partaking in high-intensity exercise is one of the best ways to build muscle, it’s important that you also maintain a balanced, healthy diet. Without the right nutrition, you’re not going to be able to see a notable change in your physique.
By incorporating some of these snacks into your daily diet, you’re going to see a difference and feel better for it too.
