3 meals a day enough to build muscle?

[adamgentile]

I know the typical eating plan for gaining mass/muscle is to eat 4 to 6 meals day but been wondering for us older guys if that is really necessary. For some, our metabolism slows down. I was trying the 4 meals a day and honestly it become a headache and expensive. So back to 3 meals a day with some protein, carbs, essential fats, and some healthy snacking in between, honestly I feel so much better back to 3 meals a day. So can 3 meals a day be sufficient for muscle gains?

[ectoBgone]

The vast majority of the potential for building muscle comes from overall energy balance. You can gain muscle on one meal per day if it's big enough, it just wouldn't be ideal.

The latest studies seem to indicate that about four meals per day with 30g+ of protein per meal is ideal for most people for muscle protein synthesis, but again the difference between ideal and sufficient isn't huge if you're not a competitor so don't sweat the small stuff.

[bodyhard]

Of course it could be done if you can fit (whatever your goals are ) into 3 meals. Because i am looming for mass there is no way I could eat the amount of calories I need into 3 meals, they would have to be 3 big ass meals and I woul be too full after each. So I break my down into 6 meals a day.

[tkdnj]

As the previous poster said it is more energy (calorie) balance. Unless you are very new to weight training, or very overweight, most (not all) believe you need to be in a calorie surplus to lay down new muscle. Therefore assuming those three meals, plus your supplements and snacking, put you in at least a slight calorie surplus (I have read 100 calorie surplus for advanced lifters, 200 calorie surplus for intermediate, 300 calorie surplus for newbies), AND you are consuming enough protein (most things I have read suggest at least .8 grams per pound of body weight while in a calories surplus; 1 gram if in a calorie deficit), then the three meals should be fine

[ElrondHubbard]

You could certainly get everything you need out of three meals a day. Personally, I have trouble sticking to that due to my see-food diet.

[drudixon]

Yes. You can gain on just 1 if it's big enough

[OldFartTom]

Yes. You can gain on just 1 if it's big enough

3 meals seems to work fine for most people, even though 1 meal would work as drudixon and others said. But closer to optimal (without going nuts on 6 meals a day or elaborate timings etc) might be something like 3 meals a day as normal and a protein shake (20g protein) just before going to sleep, and another immediately following workout.

Edit: I'm not diligent enough myself to have the bedtime shake, but it's said to be beneficial

[mtpockets]

At the end of the day, what matters is the numbers you have, at the end of the day.

[EjnarKolinkar]

I know the typical eating plan for gaining mass/muscle is to eat 4 to 6 meals day

I pay more attention to progress than what somebody thinks is typical. You find people succeeding at their goals all over this site with greatly different approaches to details.

Focus on the big picture and give yourself permission to be yourself and have your own preferences.

[AD1985]

Protein balance goes up and down throughout the day:



According to Eric helms you are even in a net state right after a meal, during a deep cut. But you tend to stagnate (or even lose) because the day's balance was negative. Remember these things occur at a microscopic level.

A few years ago I probed the forum about this question and the guys said meal timing makes maybe a 10% difference in an optimum spread vs 1 meal per day.

Sean Nal (youtuber who's gained my respect as a no-bs guy) says if you eat 2 meals a day, maybe you get 94% of the gains. And 3 meals a day would get you to 97%. He says that difference is so small its not worth mattering about.

For me a 3-5% difference isn't worth changing my life around. You workout 1 hour a day (well, I do) but the meal schedule is a huge part of life.

[OldFartTom]

Time to post a link to that excellent sticky about the 80/20 rule
Https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=122509811

[BillPhoto]

Time to post a link to that excellent sticky about the 80/20 rule
Https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=122509811

I haven't seen that post before OFT, makes for a great read

[blue9steel]

Lots of good stuff on the nutrition forum about this. The quick summary: 3 Meal is probably fine but if you want to squeeze out a bit of extra gains 4 meals may be somewhat better.

[SilvanaWilliams]

If you feel better eating 3 meals a day and some snacks, then that's probably best for you. Apologies for stating the obvious, but as long as you are getting enough protein for muscle building and enough calories for energy, you should be fine.