How to design a diet for hypertrophy

11 min read
Cómo diseñar una dieta para hipertrofia

We could explain how to develop your own hypertrophy diet, but there are some variables that stand out first. You can already take this as a guide to creating your own hypertrophy diet, what to do after you finish it, and how to integrate this process so that you can adjust and repeat it until you reach the body weight you want and with which you will look phenomenal. Regardless of your goals, body type, and training program, you are different from everyone else. However, when we talk about certain paradigms in designing a diet, things can become clear or obscure. These are the key points of this article, which, although some sections may seem repetitive, it is important to reinforce these concepts so that you can confirm or correct the direction you are taking in the kitchen.

Why aren't you gaining weight?

The only factor that directly regulates body weight is your calorie intake, often referred to as energy balance, which describes the relationship between the total number of calories consumed through food and beverages and the number of calories you expend throughout the day through metabolism and physical activity. Essentially, if you consume more calories than your body burns throughout the day, you will gain weight (this is known as a calorie surplus). But if you consume fewer calories than your body burns throughout the day, you will lose weight, which is not permissible in a hypertrophy diet. This is an important concept to understand because it simplifies things: if you are not gaining weight, regardless of how much you think you are eating, you do not have a calorie surplus. Therefore, the next step is to create a new surplus.

How to determine the right surplus?

The optimal rate of weight gain for a beginner or intermediate bodybuilder is 0.25 to 0.5% of body weight gained each week, while for advanced athletes, this rate will be lower.

This rate of weight gain maximizes lean mass gains and minimizes fat mass accumulation.

A 2019 article titled «Nutritional Recommendations for Off-Season Bodybuilders» suggests introducing a 10 to 20% calorie surplus, meaning increasing maintenance calorie intake by 10 to 20%. Remember that there are many equations for calculating calorie intake, but since all of them are inaccurate to some degree, they are only a starting point for a hypertrophy diet. To establish initial calorie targets, use the following equation: body weight (kg) x 30-40, meaning that if your current body weight is 127 kg, you should multiply it by 35 because it is right in the middle: 127 x 35 = 4,445 kcal. But keep in mind that, evolutionarily speaking, your maintenance energy intake is not always a static number and may actually be a range. So, if you consume any amount of calories within your range every day, your body weight will not fluctuate. Everyone has their own range, and the extent of that range will vary from person to person. Knowing this, you can establish a predetermined schedule for measuring progress before making further adjustments.

It is recommended to increase calories no more than once every four to six weeks.

Timing is crucial—why?

This is partly because most people need time to establish a consistent diet before they begin to see progress. However, it is also because it takes time to determine how your body is responding to the surplus in a hypertrophy diet. Changes should only be made if your body weight stalls for a period of two weeks, to ensure that the lack of progress is not simply the result of a measurement error or reduced adherence. Also, keep in mind that calorie intake within a 24-hour period is important, but so is your weekly calorie load. If you follow your diet throughout the week but fail to meet your calorie requirements over the weekend, you can literally undo the hard work you have done. Therefore, consistency throughout the week is necessary to ensure that you are gaining lean mass.

How to set your macronutrients?

Macronutrients are the primary source of energy you get from your diet and consist of protein, carbohydrates, and fats… YES, you already know… When it comes to losing weight, virtually all diets produce nearly identical results when calories are matched. However, there are significant differences in body composition that can occur when comparing diets that prioritize certain macronutrients over others. Therefore, weight-loss diets involving a high protein intake often increase lean body mass and reduce fat mass to a much greater degree than low-protein interventions. Regarding a hypertrophy diet for building muscle, many of the same rules apply, and the ratio of fat, carbohydrates, and protein is important. Carbohydrates Carbohydrates serve as the primary fuel source for your muscles.

  • Consuming a variety of carbohydrate-rich foods ensures adequate glycogen replenishment in the muscles and liver between demanding pro-hypertrophy training sessions.
  • Basically, what this means is that carbohydrates play an important and complex role in optimizing athletic performance, especially as the intensity of the training program increases.

Fats Dietary fat is a fundamental macronutrient with a wide range of functions, from supporting cell growth to regulating hormones.

  • The impact on performance of increasing fat intake is neutral in some cases, but more often negative.
  • In other words, from a performance standpoint, it is better to prioritize protein and carbohydrate intake over fat, without eliminating healthy fats such as omega-3.

The hypertrophy diet and protein

Proteins are molecules that act as building blocks for many tissues and metabolic functions. The most notable functions of proteins with respect to muscle development are their roles in building new muscle mass and triggering the muscle protein synthesis response, which is the main driver of muscle growth. According to an interesting article published in 2019, these are the recommendations for macronutrient intake:

  • Protein: 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight per day.
  • Fats: 0.5–1.5 g per kg of body weight per day.
  • Carbohydrates: at least 3–5 g per kg of body weight consumed per day

In the case of high-performance bodybuilders, the hypertrophy diet may vary upward because muscular needs are greater with higher muscle density. As for the NON-macronutrients, they are extremely important, so you should follow these general guidelines:

  • Fiber: 30–40 g per day.
  • Water: 50 ml per kilogram of body weight (including herbal teas and juices).

The hypertrophy diet and meal frequency

Meal timing has gone through phases in which one week it is promoted as the be-all and end-all, only to be completely dismissed the following week instead of considering total protein and calorie intake. Meal timing and frequency in relation to body composition account for approximately 5% of overall results, according to a study conducted by renowned scientists. This gives rise to two very important perspectives: first, since adherence is critically important for the long-term success of a dietary intervention, a tactic that requires a significant investment of time but produces only a 5% improvement may not be worthwhile for some athletes. On the other hand, if you do not find it inconvenient, a 5% improvement is nothing to scoff at, and you could take advantage of this tactic if you are competing, for example. This is a strategy that comes down to the individual, their long-term goals, their level of dedication, and what they are willing to sacrifice.

In the end, both perspectives are correct; it just depends on the circumstances.

Regarding meal frequency, research shows that two meals are better than one, and three meals are better than two when calories and protein are matched. So once again, it comes down to individual preference in a hypertrophy diet;

  • If you feel better eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day, that is fine; however, you are free to choose.
  • Anecdotally, professionals tend to eat seven or more meals a day because they need to consume more than 6,000 kcal per day, and it would be highly impractical to try to consume everything in just three meals.

The diet for hypertrophy and the anabolic window

This is the holy grail of muscle growth for many people, and it evolved as the century progressed. Research conducted in 2017 discovered that, to maximize protein synthesis after training, you only need to consume 20 to 25 g of protein just before and/or after training, which may seem controversial. However, consuming more than 25 g per serving has no downside and, contrary to popular belief, it will not be “wasted” or “excreted.” In fact, a 2017 study found a benefit to consuming up to 70 g of protein in a single serving, both in older adults and in adults who trained hard and had different amounts of muscle mass. Consuming a mixed protein intake, with servings ranging from 25 to 70 g, can positively affect the anabolic response to muscle growth through several direct and indirect mechanisms. This is especially relevant for people with a higher body weight, since it logically makes sense that a 120 kg man would require more protein per serving than a 75 kg woman. It is also important to bear in mind that the anabolic window is not limited to 30 minutes, as most people assume, and this was made clear in several articles published earlier. Therefore, if you forget your protein shake at home, you will not lose any gains because of this delay.

The hypertrophy diet and supplements

Supplements provide nutritional support alongside food to build muscle, but you should remember that they are only there to add a small benefit to an already well-balanced diet, not to fix poor nutritional habits. Supplements can affect overall results on a hypertrophy diet as long as they are used practically. The idea that a magic supplement is the secret to gaining muscle simply is not true, although you should never leave them out.

There may be reasons to add other compounds, such as micronutrients or even turmeric or resveratrol for recovery, but this depends on each person and their personal experience, without overlooking a powerful breakfast accompanied by one antioxidant or another or a multivitamin.

Monitoring your progress on a hypertrophy diet

When it comes to building muscle, having a measurement system is absolutely essential for two important reasons:

  • If you do not monitor your rate of weight gain, you may be gaining weight too quickly, leading to higher levels of fat accumulation.
  • If you do not monitor your progress, you may subjectively appear more muscular, but after three months, you have not actually gained a noticeable amount of size.

Although measurements are important, it is equally important to understand the usefulness and limitations of different forms of measurement. If your primary goal is to gain muscle and minimize fat accumulation, you can use the body-weight scale; photos, calipers, and DEXA can also be useful, but they are certainly not necessary. Body weight fluctuates throughout the day, and the time of day when you measure it can make a difference of 2 to 5 kg. These fluctuations mainly result from differences in hydration and the food in your system, and they are also observed in women during menstruation. Therefore, ensuring a consistent measurement time can eliminate most inconsistencies: Measure your bare body weight first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom and before eating or drinking anything, every day, and at the end of each week calculate the average for effective tracking. For example, if your weekly average increases more slowly than the recommended 0.25 to 0.55% per week, it means you need to increase your calories, but if the average increases by more than 0.5% per week, you may need to reduce your calorie intake. After making the necessary adjustments, repeat the process until you gain weight at the recommended rate.

Maintenance phases in a hypertrophy diet

A maintenance phase with regard to dieting is when you intentionally maintain your body weight for a predetermined period of time. The word maintenance is generally not associated with progress, but maintenance phases play a fundamental role in dietary interventions in a successful hypertrophy diet. Your body is resistant to weight fluctuations and, in many cases, will adapt to prevent fluctuations that deviate too far from baseline. Maintaining a new body weight allows your body to reset its homeostatic baseline; essentially, it accepts its new weight as its baseline, minimizing fluctuations upward or downward. This is also important because it improves muscle retention during a cutting phase, when you are at greater risk of muscle loss. There are also several psychological benefits to a maintenance phase, as knowing there is an end date tends to make the difficult process of dieting more manageable. During a maintenance phase (60% of a diet), the goal is to maintain your body weight intuitively. You can do this by weighing yourself every day and ensuring that your weight does not fluctuate more than one to three pounds from your baseline. This reduction in tracking multiple metrics can be a welcome break for dieters.

Intuitive eating consistently predicts lower levels of eating disorders

Additionally, neuroticism is often associated with eating disorders, and maintenance phases allow relief from tracking and other behaviors that are sometimes associated with neurotic perfectionism, a predictor of eating disorders.

Considerations in a hypertrophy diet

The theory of self-determination recognizes that there is consideration of the innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Each of these is a type of intrinsic motivation, and rather than focusing on how much motivation you have, it is essential to understand the types of motivation. This means that when evaluating the effectiveness of any dietary intervention, the individual’s experience and the final outcome outweigh most other things. For example, if you absolutely hate dieting, even if you achieve your goals, there is a high probability that your adherence will decline and you will return to your previous state, but when you enjoy the process, long-term maintenance becomes much more realistic. One of the main reasons the failure rate of diets is 85% is that the people dieting in question do not have the proper education and experience in this area. Knowing this, it is important to accurately assess your starting point in a hypertrophy diet: the difficulty of the task, the variables involved, and the time required to reach the goal. Then, having a clear understanding of what things will look like better prepares you for the challenges you will inevitably face. Dieting is a skill, and the lifestyle to which you adapt your diet, along with the methods and strategies you implement, combine to form a fairly complex system, but one that can be adapted to an improved, stress-free quality of life. Adopting an 80/20 rule in which your diet consists of 80% healthy, clean foods and 20% fun foods can be very helpful, among other strategies.

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