Here are some late night snack ideas for lean muscle gains:
COTTAGE CHEESE Cottage cheese is a staple in any bodybuilder’s diet. One cup has only 163 calories and six grams of carbs. It also provides a whopping 28 grams of protein and large amounts of calcium, iron, selenium, and vitamin A. Getting enough calcium in your diet will strengthen your bones, improve cardiovascular health, and promote fat loss. Low fat cottage cheese contains all the essential amino acids required for muscle growth. This healthy snack goes well with avocados, cucumbers, tuna, almonds, and greens.
EGG OMELET Eggs are packed with protein and amino acids. If you’re hungry at night or want to have a quick snack, make yourself an omelet. Add some mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, or chicken breast
CASEIN PROTEIN Casein is a slow digesting protein that promotes muscle growth and fat loss. It is higher in calcium than other types of rotein and allows for a steady release of nutrients into the bloodstream. Recent studies have shown that casein helps promote colon health better than soy and meat. It’s also one of the highest quality sources of protein available. Most bodybuilders drink casein shakes or use casein powder for preparing healthy snacks and desserts such as protein pancakes or ice cream.
Late Night Snack Ideas for Lean Muscle Gains
GREEK YOGURT WITH NUTS OR FLAXSEEDS
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Greek yogurt is rich in probiotics and contains twice as much protein as regular yogurt. It also has a thicker, creamier texture and a delicious flavor. Due to its high content of protein, Greek yogurt makes a great snack. It also promotes digestive health and keeps you full longer. You can mix it with almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, and even peanut butter. This type of yogurt contains less lactose than other dairy products, so it’s safe for those with lactose intolerance.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. If you want to get bigger or preserve muscle mass, it’s a good idea to have a protein-rich snack before bedtime. However, this doesn’t necessarily apply to those who want to lose fat.
Looking for more healthy late night snack ideas? Try low fat peanut butter, celery sticks and cottage cheese, protein pancakes, veggie sticks, or low carb protein bars. Avoid eating carbs before bedtime. Unless you’re on a ketogenic diet, limit your fat intake in the evening. Choose high-protein snacks that provide your muscles with a steady flow of nutrients.
hen you are training to gain muscle shape & tone, it’s important to eat the right foods. How you snack throughout the day can make or break your workout progress. So what snacks work best for muscle growth? Should you eat something light before bedtime? In the fitness industry, there’s a lot of controversy about late night eating. Some claim that eating before bed is essential for muscle gain, while others say that this habit leads to fat gain.
Late Night Snack Ideas for Lean Muscle Gains W
hen you are training to gain muscle shape & tone, it’s important to eat the right foods. How you snack throughout the day can make or break your workout progress. So what snacks work best for muscle growth? Should you eat something light before bedtime? In the fitness industry, there’s a lot of controversy about late night eating. Some claim that eating before bed is essential for muscle gain, while others say that this habit leads to fat gain. The truth is somewhere in the middle. If you want to get bigger or preserve muscle mass, it’s a good idea to have a protein-rich snack before bedtime. However, this doesn’t necessarily apply to those who want to lose fat. Here are some late night snack ideas for lean muscle gains:
COTTAGE CHEESE Cottage cheese is a staple in any bodybuilder’s diet. One cup has only 163 calories and six grams of carbs. It also provides a whopping 28 grams of protein and large amounts of calcium, iron, selenium, and vitamin A. Getting enough calcium in your diet will strengthen your bones, improve cardiovascular health, and promote fat loss. Low fat cottage cheese contains all the essential amino acids required for muscle growth. This healthy snack goes well with avocados, cucumbers, tuna, almonds, and greens.
EGG OMELET Eggs are packed with protein and amino acids. If you’re hungry at night or want to have a quick snack, make yourself an omelet. Add some mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, or chicken breast
CASEIN PROTEIN Casein is a slow digesting protein that promotes muscle growth and fat loss. It is higher in calcium than other types of protein and allows for a steady release of nutrients into the bloodstream. Recent studies have shown that casein helps promote colon health better than soy and meat. It’s also one of the highest quality sources of protein available. Most bodybuilders drink casein shakes or use casein powder for preparing healthy snacks and desserts such as protein pancakes or ice cream.
GREEK YOGURT WITH NUTS OR FLAXSEEDS Greek yogurt is rich in probiotics and contains twice as much protein as regular yogurt. It also has a thicker, creamier texture and a delicious flavor. Due to its high content of protein, Greek yogurt makes a great snack. It also promotes digestive health and keeps you full longer. You can mix it with almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, and even peanut butter. This type of yogurt contains less lactose than other dairy products, so it’s safe for those with lactose intolerance. Looking for more healthy late night snack ideas? Try low fat peanut butter, celery sticks and cottage cheese, protein pancakes, veggie sticks, or low carb protein bars. Avoid eating carbs before bedtime. Unless you’re on a ketogenic diet, limit your fat intake in the evening. Choose high-protein snacks that provide your muscles with a steady flow of nutrients.
The best time TO TRAIN YOUR ABS Just about every exerciser wants a firm, flat, toned abdomen. Many want to go a step further and develop that fitness trademark; a six pack while others are content with maintaining a small waist size. Whatever your ab-conditioning goal, there is a lot of information and misinformation about training this particular area – especially on the internet. Firstly, it’s important to realise that a lean and welldefined six-pack is as much a product of nutrition as it is exercise. Being able to SEE your abs means you need to be lean; for men, this normally means body fat levels of 10% or less and 16% or less for women.
There is an old expression in bodybuilding that states “six-packs are made in the kitchen” so make sure that, along with your ab training routine, your diet is in order too. You also need to consider your choice of exercises. Crunches, sit ups and other spinal flexion exercises are fine but as your spine moves in a variety of directions, you need to select a variety of exercises if you want to maximise your abdominal development. If you can do 20 or more reps of an ab exercise, chances are it is too easy. No self-respecting fitness buff would do sets of 50 squats or triceps pushdowns to sculpt and hone their muscles and yet that’s exactly what many people do for their ab training. When selecting ab training exercises, think multi-planar and train using demanding exercises that keep your repetitions below 20 per set.
Keep your back, elbows and shoulders still.
Rest about 60 seconds to let your abs recover so you can complete your next set.
In summary – there is more than one “best time” for ab training – it very much depends on what you need and what your personal trainer thinks is best for you. Here are a few options to consider:
AB TRAINING AT THE END OF YOUR STRENGTH OR CARDIO WORKOUT The main advantage of performing your ab exercises last is that, in terms of energy expenditure, ab exercises are easier than compound exercises like squats and deadlifts. This means that despite having worked hard, you should still have sufficient energy left to finish your workout with some effective ab exercises.
Repeat for 10–20 sets.
AB TRAINING DURING DURING YOUR STRENGTH OR CARDIO WORKOUT A great way to get plenty of ab work done in a very time efficient way is to perform your ab exercises during your breaks from your main exercises; for example by doing a set of planks between sets of pat pull downs. This makes your workout much more time efficient and also ensures your heart rate stays elevated throughout your workout. As well as being time efficient, this is also a great way to burn more calories.
AB TRAINING AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR STRENGTH OR CARDIO WORKOUT Ab exercises generally involve movement of your spine and your spine is a large and complex joint consisting of 33 individual bones called vertebrae. By doing some ab work near the beginning of your workout, you loosen up and mobilize your spine which can help make sure your back is thoroughly warmed up before you begin your main workout. On the downside, overusing your abs early in your workout can reduce spinal stability for safe performance of key exercises such as squats and deadlifts so although this is a viable option for some exercisers.
AB TRAINING ON A SEPERATE DAY TO YOUR MAIN WORKOUTS This is a great option if you are serious about your ab work. Squeezing in ab work before or after your main session is okay but time and energy can be limiting factors. Dedicating a couple of mini-training sessions per week to your abs can a) leave you with more time for your main workouts and b) allow you to concentrate 100% on developing your abs. If you choose to do this, make sure you spend a couple of minutes warming up before your ab workout to ensure that you minimize your risk of injury.
Finally, and the title of this article, when is the best time to train your abs? Opinions vary because there is no simple answer. Like so many fitness-related questions; the answer is: it depends!
Use a slow and strict motion.