Muscle Maintenance: Feeding the Gain

When transitioning over to maintenance, you will notice that your nutrition recommendations will change. This is because once you've reached your goal, you do not want to overshoot unless you choose to pursue further gain. Here’s what to do…

So, you hit your muscle gain goals. First, a major congratulations is in order! Now we can focus on what is going to keep this progress long-term. This stage is called maintenance and is the transition from a diet focused on muscle building, to one that is going to feed and keep this muscle on without further changes in body size or weight.

Diet for Muscle Gain

When thinking about what needs to happen for maintenance of muscle, it can be helpful to look at what aspects of your diet contributed to this progress and to understand what might need to be tweaked in maintenance. Two key nutrition factors when you were gaining muscle were increased calorie and protein intake.

Calorie needs are higher when you are working to build muscle because calories are needed to fuel your workouts. Along with this, for any weight gain to happen, you need to consume more than you are burning, so nutrient and calorie-dense options are essential in this step.

Protein consumption will also be higher when building muscle in the body. This is because protein provides the building blocks for muscle synthesis.

But Now for Maintenance...

When transitioning over to maintenance, you will notice that the two recommendations above are likely to change. This is because once you've reached your goal, you do not want to overshoot unless you choose to pursue further gain.

A modified diet plan is essential for weight maintenance, and as mentioned before focuses on macronutrient changes that influence total calorie recommendation. Firstly, you will see your calorie needs drop. This is simply because you might not be exercising at the rate you were to get to your goal and because you no longer need to be in a calorie surplus.

Additionally, your protein needs might drop. This is because it takes less protein to maintain muscle than build it. That said, protein is essential for a muscle maintaining diet, so make sure you don’t decrease your intake too much. A general recommendation is to consume 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day but speak with your dietitian for personalized needs! And as always, spread your protein across the day!

You’ll also need to reflect on your daily habits as you modify your nutrition plan. This is an area that might be the trickiest when maintaining muscle. You reached your goal (yay!), but now, how are you going to sustain your progress? Since you are no longer working towards a specific goal, how will you stay motivated? For lifelong success, it is essential to stick with the habits you have worked hard to create.

• Continue following a progressive exercise program that you enjoy.

• Continue to follow a nutrition plan that meets your current needs.

• Continue with routines like meal planning and following a meal/snack schedule to help you meet your nutrition needs.

While the routine might not be the same, both in exercise and diet, sticking to what got you here is key in keeping this lifestyle!

Note, muscle maintenance is a plan that might not be applicable to everyone. Some might choose to build upon their goals to progress further. This does not have to be related to body composition! Maybe this is the time to work on a health-related goal, focus on improving one aspect of your diet, or try out a new activity. No matter the goal, our Nutriworks team is here to guide you every step of the way!