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Free Bodybuilding Meal Plan Shows You Exactly What To Eat!

bodybuilding meal plan

This free bodybuilding meal plan shows you what to eat on workout days as well as rest days so you can maximise your results with lots of tasty food!

Knowing what to eat is something a lot of people struggle with so this article provides sample meal plans to illustrate the types of foods I eat when gaining muscle.

In The Food For Building Muscle is Key if You Want To Grow I explained how to set up your muscle building diet so it provides enough calories and protein to make you grow.

We then looked at the types of foods you should be eating in The Foods That Build Muscle: Choosing The Right Foods.

The sample bodybuilding meal plan on this page will now help you get an idea of what to eat so you can ensure you’re eating enough and that you’re eating the right type of foods.

Your Bodybuilding Meal Plan Targets

For the purposes of this article we’re using the dietary targets we created in The Food For Building Muscle is Key if You Want To Grow which were based on a 170 pound dieter:

Daily Calorie Intake: 3050
Daily Protein Intake: 255g
Daily Carb Intake: 340g
Daily Fat Intake: 74g

If you don’t eat enough calories you simply won’t grow so focus on meeting these targets daily and guarantees you’ll succeed.

If you want your own targets check out that article and it’ll walk you through the steps needed to calculate your personal muscle building diet targets.

Once you’ve got your numbers you may be struggling to see how you can eat this many calories, especially if you have a small appetite.

How Many Meals Do You Need?

My recommendation for people with small appetites is to eat more meals, try eating 5-7 meals during a day and you won’t have to eat so much in one sitting.

For people with big appetites like me, you can eat fewer meals if you wish.

Despite what every other bodybuilding meal plan may have made you believe, you don’t gain any advantage by eating small and often. It doesn’t speed up your metabolism so there is no benefit to choosing more meals for this reason.

My advice is to eat however many meals your schedule can allow and how ever many you prefer.

Try not to eat more than 7 meals as there is some research to suggest this can have a detrimental effect on your progress. Also try to eat at least 3 meals otherwise you may struggle to get all the food in.

Bottom Line: Meal frequency is largely irrelevant; the most important thing about your bodybuilding meal plan is to get all the food in and meet your targets every day.


Rest Day Meal Plan

If you read The Foods That Build Muscle: Choosing The Right Foods you’ll recall that there are particular times when one type of food is superior to another.

This is why our bodybuilding meal plan starts with a fast digesting whey protein shake and end the day with the slower casein based cottage cheese.

Food Name

Amount

Calories

Protein (g)

Carbs (g)

Fat (g)

         

Breakfast


         
Bread, whole wheat 2 slices (medium thickness) 138 7 23 2
Egg Whites 5 85 30 3 0
Whole Egg 1 63 6 0 4
Pepper half a medium pepper 12 1 3 0
Cheese 15g 52 3 1 4
Whey Protein Shake 2 scoops (40g) 198 38 2 3
         

Meal Total

548
85

32

13

         

Snack


         
Almonds 25 145 5 5 13
Bagel, Whole Wheat 1 187 11 42 2
Turkey 100g 187 29 0 7
Cranberry Sauce 1 TBSP 39 0 10 0

         

Meal Total
558 45 57 22

         

Lunch


         
Chicken Breast 225g 180 38 0 1
Brown Rice Boiled 150g (raw) 555 12 116 4
Olive Oil Half TBSP 60 0 0 7
Stir Fry Veg Prepack 1 128 5 7 9
         

Meal Total
923 55 123 21

         

Dinner


         
Whole wheat Pasta 125g 395 16 78 3
Tuna in Spingwater 165g 140 33 0 1
Low Fat Pasta Sauce half jar (175g) 60 3 10 1
Cheese 15g 52 3 1 4

         

Meal Total
647 55 89 9
         

Before Bed


         
Cottage Cheese 120g 119 13 4 6
Raspberries 75g 39 1 9 0
Splenda 10g 39 0 10 0
Blueberries 75g 43 1 11 0
Whole Milk 125ml 75 4 6 4

         

Meal Total
315 19 40 10
         

Daily Total
2991 259 341 75

         

Did We Hit Our Targets?

Let’s take a look at the amount of food we’ve eaten using this meal plan and compare it to our targets to see how successful we’ve been:


 

Consumed

Target

% of target met
Calories 2991 3050 98%
Protein 259 255 102%
Carbs 341 340 100%
Fat 75 74 101%
     

You can see that whilst I didn’t hit 100% on everything (you never will) I can damn close! I always allow myself a 5% tolerance on everything except protein intake which should always be at least 100%.

This summary table clearly illustrates that on the whole we’ve done well and we’ve met our target for the day. Nail this every day and the rest will take care of itself.


Workout Day Meal Plan

You know there are times when one type of food is superior to another and on workout days this is even more important.

Around workouts is one of those times and that’s why you want a fast digesting protein source such as whey protein.

Before your workout it’s digested quickly so it doesn’t sit in your stomach and distract you and post workout it gets to your muscles quickly to aid recovery (which is where the muscles grow!).

You also need simple carbs post workout; this is this bodybuilding meal plan allows Jelly Babies at this time (not a mistake I assure you!) which are perfect after a workout as they’re pure sugar.


Food Name

Amount

Calories

Protein (g)

Carbs (g)

Fat (g)

         
Breakfast


         
Whey Protein (Strawberry) 2 scoops (40g) 198 38 2 3
Quark 150g 104 20 5 1
Raspberries 75g 39 1 9 0
Splenda 10g 39 0 10 0
Blueberries 75g 43 1 11 0
Skimmed Milk half pint 100 10 15 1
Ice Cubes 5 0 0 0 0
         
Meal Total 523 70 52 5
         
Snack


         
         
Bread, whole wheat 2 slices (medium thickness) 138 7 23 2
Ham 125g 138 28 0 3
Mayonaise 1 TBSP 99 0 1 11
Lettuce 2 medium leafs 1 0 0 0
         
Meal Total 376 35 24 16
         
Lunch


         
Chicken Breast 240g 192 41 0 1
Sweet Potato 250g 286 5 50 8
Olive Oil 1 TBSP 120 0 0 14
Brocolli 100g 34 3 7 0
         
Meal Total 632 49 57 23
         
Pre Workout


         
         
Bagel, Whole Wheat 1 187 11 42 2
Strawberry Jam 1TBSP 56 0 14 0
Whey Protein (Strawberry) 1 scoop (20g) 99 19 1 1.5
         
Meal Total 342 30 57 3.5
         
Post Workout


         
         
Whey Protein (Strawberry) 2 scoops (40g) 198 38 2 3
Jelly Babies 10 200 0 50 0
         
Meal Total 398 38 52 3
         
Dinner


         
         
Venison Burgers 2 burgers (110g) 154 21 7 4
Wholemeal Burger Bap 2 235 7 40 5
Tomato Ketchup 2 TBSP 30 0 8 0
Homemade Oven Fries 200g 241 0 45 5
Olive Oil Half TBSP 60 0 0 7
         
Meal Total 720 28 100 21
         
Daily Total 2991 250 342 71.5
         

Did We Hit Our Targets?

Now, moving on from the types of foods, let’s take a look at how much we’ve eaten using this bodybuilding meal plan and compare it to our targets to see how successful we’ve been:


 

Consumed

Target

% of target met
Calories 2991 3050 98%
Protein 259 255 102%
Carbs 341 340 100%
Fat 75 74 101%
     

Overall we adhered to the bodybuilding meal plan so a good result despite protein intake being a tad on the low side.

Next Steps

If you’re serious about wanting to gain muscle fast there’s no escaping the fact that you have to eat enough and you have to do so consistently.

The bodybuilding meal plan you see on this page are merely examples, you can switch out the foods for others and eat however often you like.

Just make sure that no matter what you always track your diet every single day to ensure you meet your targets.

Without hitting these targets everyday for weeks on end you’re likely to stay the same size as you are now or even get smaller.

Stop looking for magic supplements or a new workout routine, in the grand scheme of things none of these things matter.

Eat enough every single day, follow one of my non-retarded free workout routines and let the rest take care of itself!

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