Increasing muscle mass and hypertrophy are probably two more difficult goals than losing fat. This is because they require an increase in caloric intake, and incorrect calculations can lead to the accumulation of more fat than necessary.
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And if we add to this the great myths that continue to spread today, the consequences can be catastrophic.
“You have to eat 5 or 6 times every 3 hours.”
One of the great myths is that if you want to gain muscle mass or hypertrophy you must eat at least every 2-3 hours, so you should eat 5-7 times a day.
If our goal is to increase muscle mass, then it is clear that we need to eat more calories than we consume. The question is that most of the time you should be supervised by a specialist. If it is not possible for you to eat every three hours, you will generate a stress condition in your body with uncertain results.
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What you have to do is organize yourself on a schedule and distribute the total calories you consume between the number of meals that you can “assume” daily. The most important account you have to keep is the total calories ingested in a day. Keep in mind that if you stay hungry between meals, you may end up eating things you don’t want between meals.
“You need to take 20 grams of protein per serving.”
Another myth is that each intake requires 20 grams of protein. This means that both a person who weighs 60kg and another who weighs 90kg should take 20 grams of protein for each meal they eat at the end of the day. As you can understand this does not make sense since the maximum, the minimum and the personalization of the dose will depend on each individual.
A “normal” value for protein intake is approximately 1.8-2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, so for an average adult weighing around 80 kilograms, protein intake per day is 144-200 grams. Assuming a maximum protein intake of 200 grams per day, if for every meal you eat 20 grams of protein, you must eat 10 meals with that amount of protein to reach your goal.
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“You have to burn 20% more calories.”
Another oft-repeated statement is that caloric intake should be 20% higher than maintenance calories. Once again, they have ignored the phrase “each person is the world”, inviting the cliché of not individualizing the intake of each one.
Remember that the total number of additional calories consumed is 20% of those burned. In this way, the excess calories we consume to gain muscle mass is 10-20%.
Also, remember that by consuming more calories than you consume, the proportion of these excess calories eaten is partially stored as fat (it’s impossible for all calories to be stored as muscle). The higher the percentage of calories we eat, the higher the percentage that is stored as fat.
“The supplement is mandatory”
And here is one of the star myths. “Supplements are essential to gain muscle mass.” Supplements are just that: supplements and their purpose are macronutrients, vitamins, or amino acids that may be needed to complete the diet or daily physical activity.
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If you’re following the advice of a registered dietitian and don’t have a food intolerance, it’s unlikely you’ll need any kind of supplement.
Note, this does not mean that the supplement is useless. There are certain supplements such as whey protein, creatine and omega-3 that help in certain situations.
