You are regular in the gym and performing every possible exercise but you are not observing any significant gain in the muscle. After doing some research, you get to know that eating a healthy diet is equally important as what you do at the gym for muscle building. Therefore, you are looking for an Indian bodybuilding diet plan which can help you to gain muscle.
Besides, sometimes sorting out your meal plan is a bit confusing because you don’t know where to start. That is why we have created this Indian diet plan for bodybuilding to help you achieve your muscle-building goal.
How to Create an Indian Bodybuilding Diet Plan?
1. Find Your Daily Calorie Requirement
You should understand that getting the right amount of calories per day is the key to build muscle. If you don’t consume the daily required calorie, your body will use the existing muscle and fat for the energy resulting in losing the muscles you have gained.
However, you can calculate your daily calorie requirement by using the basal metabolism rate (BMR). BMR is the total number of calories your body needs to perform the most basic life-sustaining functions. That means if you are consuming calories per day exactly to your BMR without doing any physical activity, then you can maintain your existing muscles.
To calculate your BMR you can use the following formulae:
- Male – 88.362 + 4.799 x (length) + 13.397 x (weight) – 5.677 x (age).
- Female – 447.593 + 3.098 x (length) + 9.247 x (weight) – 4.330 x (age).
Any addition of physical activity such as exercise, walking, running, or cycling will increase your BMR. So, to avoid being in a calorie deficit you have to eat calories beyond your BMR to gain muscles.
If you are a beginner or intermediate bodybuilder, you should consume enough calories to target a weight gain in the range of 0.25% – 0.5% of body weight per week. To achieve this, you should increase your energy intake by approximately 15% during building muscles. When you will start cutting your fat you should decrease your energy intake by 15%.
Although, as a recommendation, during the non-competition phase male bodybuilders should consume equivalent to 3800 calories per day, and females should consume equivalent to 2000 calories per day. In the competition phase calories should be equivalent to 1600 per day for both genders.
2. Set Out the Macronutrients Intake
Proper nutrition is an essential element to gain muscles. The macro-nutrient intake of bodybuilders should consist of a high-protein, high-carbohydrate, and low-fat diet. While calculating total calories, you should know 1 gram of carbohydrates and proteins contains 4 calories and 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories.
Below is the macro-nutrient breakdown for muscle gain. During the cutting phase, you need to adjust the amount of foods by keeping the percentage of macro-nutrients the same.
Carbohydrates
Bodybuilding requires high-intensity training which increases energy demand in the body. To support energy demands, carbohydrates can help you to fuel up and can supply the required energy to maintain high-intensity training. So, it is important to get 55-60% of the total calories from carbohydrates. As well as you should focus on a bodybuilding diet with 4 complex carbs and 2 simple carbs daily.
Protein
Protein will help you to maintain or build strong muscle mass. The daily recommendation is to consume 25 – 30% of the total calories from protein. Although, the daily total protein intake will also depend on your weight. Consuming 1.6–2.2 g/kg/day of protein will be sufficient if you are at or above your daily energy needs. During caloric restriction, a range of 2.3-3.1 g/kg/day will be enough to avoid lean body mass loss.
Fat
Fat is a crucial component for anabolic hormone concentrations, proper cell functioning, regulating healthy temperature, and nutrients absorption in the body. Thus, an intake of 15-20% of calories from fat or targeting a range of 0.5–1.5 g/kg/day of dietary fat would be appropriate for getting various benefits during bodybuilding.
3. Add Vitamins and Minerals
Taking care of total calories, protein, carbohydrate, and fat will determine changes in your body composition. Including vitamins and minerals in your bodybuilding diet will help you to enhance overall health and to avoid diseases and infections.
Vitamins act as coenzymes in chemical reactions and play an important role to enhance the immune system, and growth. Additionally, they are also crucial to convert nutrients into energy, process carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
Whereas minerals are useful in coordinating the activity of muscles and nerves, building and regulating cells, proper growth and development of the entire body.
Therefore, you have to ensure that the following vitamins and mineral should present in your Indian bodybuilding diet plan:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin B3
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Biotin
- Folic Acid
- Magnesium
- Potassium
- Iron
- Zinc
- Calcium
4. Drink Adequate Water
Water is one of the essential things you need to add for bodybuilding. If you are training hard, water is required for reducing fatigue, flushing out toxins, protein synthesis, muscle growth, and to prevent muscle cramp.
Therefore, aim for drinking at least 3 – 4 liters of water per day. Intake 600 ml of water before exercise and at least 750 ml water during the workout for proper hydration.
5. Expand Your Meal Frequency
One of the simplest things you can do is to increase the frequency of your meal. Instead of loading all calories in three meals, you can divide into 6 – 8 small meals to get a regular supply of energy. Eating less and more often is the key to packing in bulk.
Foods to Incorporate in Indian Bodybuilding Diet Plan
Bodybuilding requires eating healthy foods that can provide you essential nutrients and can help to achieve daily calories need. The following Indian foods you can include while building muscle or even in the cutting phase:
- Meats, Poultry, and Fish: Chicken Breast, Fish, Eggs, Mutton.
- Dairy: Low-Fat Milk, Yogurt, Greek Yogurt, and Paneer.
- Grains: Bread, Cereal, Millet, Oatmeal, Quinoa, Soy, Popcorn, and Rice.
- Fruits: Oranges, Apples, Bananas, Grapes, Pears, and Watermelon.
- Starchy Vegetables: Sweet Potatoes, White Potatoes, Corn, Green Peas, and Beans.
- Vegetables: Broccoli, Spinach, Leafy Green Salad, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Peppers, and Mushrooms.
- Nuts and Seeds: Peanuts, Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Peanut Butter, Flaxseeds, Chia seeds, and Sunflower seeds.
- Beans and Legumes: Chickpeas, Lentils, Kidney Beans, Black Beans, and Pinto Beans.
- Oils: Olive Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Coconut Oil, and Avocado Oil.
Foods to Avoid
To get a good result from the training, you need to focus on your diet, as well as you must know which foods to avoid. The following are those foods:
Alcohol
Alcohol is a high-calorie drink and has zero nutrition value. That means if you consume in excess will increase the daily calorie intake without providing any beneficial nutrients. Besides, alcohol absorbed in the body quicker than other nutrients which as a result can hinder muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth.
Sugar-Sweetened Foods and Drinks
These foods and drinks mainly provide empty calories that mean lots of calories with few or no nutrients. Furthermore, sugar digests quickly that can raise blood sugar levels and then a sudden drop. So, no extra energy for your workout. Extra sugar can draw fluid from the body into the gastrointestinal tract that can lead to dehydration, cramping, nausea, and diarrhea. Foods high in added sugars include candy, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, cake, soda, and sports drinks.
Deep-Fried Foods
Deep-fried foods come with lots of added calories which can drastically increase your daily calorie intake. Additionally, the oil used for the frying process mainly includes saturated fat which on regular consumption can negatively impact your health. Deep-fried foods include fried fish, fried chicken, french fries, onion rings, cutlets, banana chips, pakoras etc.
Pre-Made Smoothies
Smoothies are a convenient way to load good nutrition. But all smoothies are not the same especially the pre-made smoothies sold in the market. They come with a very high-calorie content and overloaded with sugar. Instead, you can make your smoothies at home so that you have control over the ingredients.
Bodybuilding Supplements
It is not easy to get all essential nutrients and required calories from the foods itself. So, there can be a need to add supplements to meet the daily required nutrition in the journey of bodybuilding.
The best bodybuilding supplements you can include are as follows:
Whey Protein
The easiest way to meet your daily protein intake need is through whey protein. It comes in three different forms – isolate, concentrate, and hydrolysates. Buy whey protein from a trustworthy and established brand.
To check the price of whey protein on Amazon – click here.
Creatine Monohydrate
Creatine is one of the effective supplements to enhance exercise performance. It will help you to increase strength, power, and lean body mass during training. A typical dosage of 3–5 g/day for 5 – 7 days is recommended before or after workouts.
Caffeine
An effective supplement to increase mental and physical performance. Caffeine will help you to use stored fat for energy instead of glycogen during the workout. It, as a result, will increase your fat-burning process. For optimal performance, consume caffeine a dose of 5–6 mg per kg 30 minutes before exercise.
Omega 3 Fish oil
Adding fish oil is one of the easiest ways to gain important fatty acids EPA and DHA into your diet. Omega 3 fatty acids will help you to enhance recovery after an intense workout by decreasing inflammation and reducing delayed-onset muscle soreness.
To check the price of fish oil on Amazon – click here.
1 Week Indian Bodybuilding Diet Plan
Below is the 1-week Indian diet plan for muscle building. You can use the given diet plan both for bulking and cutting. During the cutting phase, the only difference you have to follow is to consume the same meal combination in less quantity.
Although, you will find the meal plan consists mostly of non-vegetarian foods such as chicken and fish for protein intake. If you are a vegetarian then you can replace chicken, fish, and egg with paneer, chickpeas, rajma, beans, quinoa, horse gram, and nuts.
Or you can also check – protein rich foods for vegetarians in India
Additionally, during making bodybuilding diet plans there are chances you could exclude some essential vitamins and minerals that can lead to nutritional deficiency. Hence, you have to ensure that you eat a variety of foods to avoid nutritional deficiency.
Here’s a weekly Indian meal plan for gaining muscle.
Monday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 -3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
1 cup oats + 5 – 6 white eggs + 2 whole eggs
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 AM)
2 slices of wheat bread + 2sp peanut butter + 1 orange
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
120g grilled chicken breast or 100g paneer bhurji + 1 cup brown rice + salad
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Whey protein + 1 banana
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
Chicken egg scramble + brown rice + green peas + beans
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein shake
Tuesday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 – 3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
2 slices of wheat bread + 5 – 6 scrambled eggs whites + 2 whole eggs
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 AM)
1 cup low fat milk + 1 apple + 1 banana
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
100g tuna/fish + 1 cup wheat pasta + 1 cup steamed vegetables
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Sweet potato + Whey protein
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
120 g chicken breast + 1 cup brown rice + Salad
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein shake
Wednesday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 – 3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
1 cup quinoa + 5 – 6 eggs whites + 1 cup low-fat milk
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 AM)
Smoothie – banana + 1 cup milk + 2sp Peanut butter + whey protein
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
120g chicken + multigrain chapatti + salad
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Sprouted Salad + handful of nuts
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
1 cup brown/white rice + ½ cooked lentil + chicken + salad
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein Shake
Thursday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 – 3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
1 whole-wheat toast + 5 – 6 eggs whites + 1 cup low-fat milk
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 AM)
Sprouted Salad + handful of nuts + 1 apple
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
½ cup cooked lentil + 1 cup brown/white rice + salad
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Sweet potato + Whey protein
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
120 g chicken breast + 1 cup brown rice + Salad
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein shake
Friday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 -3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
1 Cup Oats + 5 – 6 Eggs Whites + Greek Yogurt
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 AM)
2 Slice Wheat Bread + 2sp Peanut Butter + grapes
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
120g grilled chicken breast or 100g paneer bhurji + 1 cup brown rice + salad
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Sweet potato + Whey protein
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
120 g chicken/100g Fish + 1 Cup Brown Rice + Salad
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein shake
Saturday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 – 3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
1 whole-wheat toast + 5 – 6 eggs whites + 1 cup low-fat milk
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 AM)
Greek Yogurt + Almonds + Walnut + Seeds
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
½ cup cooked lentil + 1 cup brown/white rice + salad
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Whey protein + 1 banana
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
120 g chicken breast + 1 cup brown rice + Salad
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein shake
Sunday
After Awakening
Coffee/Green Tea + 2 -3 multigrain biscuits
Meal 1 – Break Fast (Time: 7 AM – 8 AM)
2 slices of wheat bread + 5 – 6 eggs whites + 1 cup low-fat milk
Meal 2 – Mid Morning Snack (Time: 10 AM – 11 PM)
Sprouted Salad + handful of nuts + 1 banana
Meal 3 – Lunch (Time: 1 PM – 2 PM)
120g chicken + multigrain chapatti + salad
Meal 4 – Evening (Time: 4 PM – 5 PM)
Sweet Potato + 1 – 2 scoop whey
Meal 5 – Dinner (Time: 7 PM – 8 PM)
1 cup brown/white rice + ½ cooked lentil + chicken + salad
Meal 6 – Bed Time (Time: 9 PM – 10 PM)
Protein shake
Download 1 Week Indian Diet Chart for Muscle Gain
Some Important Guidance
Take Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is very important for your muscle growth and performance. During sleep, the body stores blood glucose in the muscle as muscle glycogen so that the body can effectively use glycogen during training.
The growth hormone is another compound that our body produces during sleep. It allows our body to recover as well as helps to grow.
Without proper sleep, your body can not perform the above functions well. Therefore, it is essential to sleep soundly for at least 8 -9 hours daily.
Consume Protein Regularly
Protein provides the body with amino acids which are the building blocks for muscle growth. Regular intake, as a result, helps to maximize muscle protein synthesis while minimizing muscle protein breakdown which can help you to build maximum muscle. So, aim for consuming at least 0.40–0.55 g/kg of protein per meal for optimal muscle protein synthesis.
Intake Ample Carbohydrate after Exercise
After an intense exercise, if you don’t provide enough carbohydrates then the body will start using protein. This can hinder proper protein synthesis in the body. So, to avoid this complication you need to provide sufficient carbohydrates after the workout. Try to intake 1.2 g/kg/hour of carbohydrates at 30-minute intervals for 4 hours after a training session. Plus the carbohydrate should be of a high glycemic index.
Don’t Ever Use Anabolic Steroid
Anabolic steroids are prescription drugs used to treat medical conditions. But sometimes they are encouraged to use as a supplement without medical advice to increase muscle mass, athletic performance, and to decrease fat. This could lead to serious side effects and addiction.
Continuous use of injected or oral steroids can cause the body to develop the risk of heart disease, infertility, baldness, testicles shrink, severe acne, and depression. So, taking anabolic steroids can be dangerous for your body.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30695621/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11817239/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15107010/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680710/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4033492/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7052702/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2048496/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737804/
