10 TOP Best Muscle Building Fruits – Workout Tips

10 TOP Best Muscle Building Fruits – Workout Tips

 

Best Recommended Muscle Building Fruits

 

The following 5 fruits are what I consider muscle building power fruits. If your goal is to build strength and muscle mass, add these 5 fruits to your diet and watch your gains explode!

10 Best Muscle Building Fruits

1) Bananas

If there was ever a perfect fruit for building muscle, a simple banana is it. No post workout shake is complete without adding a nutrient packed banana. Known for its abundant potassium content, bananas are packed with calories, fibre and vitamins. The average banana has 150 calories, 2 grams of protein, 5 grams of fibre, 650 milligrams of potassium, 40 grams of carbohydrates and no fat!

What makes it a great muscle builder

What makes bananas such a powerful muscle building fruit is its unique ability to slowly convert sugar to energy. An average sized banana contains about 20 grams of sugar. However, this fruit sugar doesn’t immediately convert to energy as with other sugars (which cause a spike in blood sugar levels). Bananas have a glycemic index rating of 50 which is considered low. Once ingested, the sugar in bananas is slowly absorbed by the body which provides the body with an ongoing energy source.

Why is this important to muscle building?

Bananas have dual energy property that provides the body with immediate and slow releasing sugar uptake. This means that by ingesting one banana before working out and one after provides the body with:

• Immediate energy for an workout;
• Ongoing energy for an intense workout;
• Recovery fuel that was used up in the workout

How to use this fruit for best results

I suggest having two to three bananas daily. Try having one in the morning, one before your workout and one immediately after your workout. Personally, I have my morning banana with a cup of milk and nuts as a mid-morning snack. I will also add one banana to my post workout shake – see this simple shake here:

• One banana
• 1 cup skim milk
• 4 ice cubes
• 2 scoops whey isolate (chocolate or vanilla)
• 1 tsp creatine
• 2 tablespoons honey

If you’re looking to build muscle mass, bananas are a must have food and include it in your diet.

2) Prunes

Prunes are fiber rich and calorie dense. They make the perfect snack for those of you who are trying to build raw muscle mass. A one cup serving of prunes contains the following nutrients:

• 420 calories;
• 12 grams of fibre;
• 4 grams of protein;
• .5 grams fat;
• 1.4 grams of potassium
• 110 grams of carbohydrates

What makes it a great muscle builder

The fact that this calorie dense fruit contains a whopping 12 grams of fibre in a one cup serving makes this a perfect choice for those of us looking to keep our bodies healthy, clean and strong. In addition, a one cup serving provides 1.2 grams of potassium which is about 35% of the daily recommended dose. There is a whopping 110 grams of carbohydrates in a 1 cup serving with about 64 grams coming from sugar. This is a very high sugar count but like bananas, these sugars are low in the glycemic index (due to its high soluble fibre count) which doesn’t cause a huge spike in blood sugar levels. It’s because of this unique property that prunes act as a slow energy releasing agent. It’s perfect for those high intensity workouts.

How to use this fruit for best results

One cup of prunes per day is a perfect way to make sure you stay clean and healthy. Try having two ½ cup servings per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Try adding ½ cup of prunes to one cup of sugar free yogurt, 2 tablespoons of slivered almonds and you have a powerful muscle building snack.

3) Raisins

Raisins are Mother Nature’s little weight gain capsules. These little dried out grapes are loaded with potassium/vitamins/minerals and are high in natural sugars and are calorie dense. A ¾ cup serving of raisins contains

• 310 calories
• 749 milligrams of potassium
• 79 grams of carbohydrates
• 4 grams of fibers
• 3 grams of protein
• .5 grams of fat.

What makes it a great muscle builder

Raisins are high in minerals such as potassium, selenium and phosphorus. Potassium helps to keep the muscles firing on all cylinders and prevents muscle gramps and spasms. Selenium and phosphorus helps to facilitate the absorption of other nutrients and proteins in the body.

The fact that these little muscle builders are packed with natural, low glycemic carbohydrates and high powered calories is enough to start adding them to your diet. However, what I think is its greatest advantage is its usability and portability. You can take raisins anywhere and mix them with just about anything.

You can add raisins to just about anything and it will only enhance its flavour and nutrient count. Add ½ cup of raisins to your cottage cheese, yogurt, or oatmeal and you’ve just supercharged your snack into a real muscle builder.

How to use this fruit for best results

Try having a ½ cup to ¾ cup serving of raisins per day. Personally, I love them first thing in the morning with my oatmeal. Simply add ½ cup of raisins to your oatmeal and top with natural unsweetened yogurt and bam, you have a power packed, muscle building breakfast.

4) Blueberries

Blueberries are Mother Nature’s own version of power pops. These little power packed berries are considered a “super food” and are loaded with anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals. Although not as calorie dense as other muscle building fruits, this little berry offers other important muscle building benefits.

One cup of blueberries contains the following nutritional values:

• 85 calories;
• 21 grams carbohydrates;
• 3.6 grams fiber;
• 15 grams sugar;
• 1.1 grams of protein;
• 120 milligrams of potassium;
• .5 grams of fat

What makes it a great muscle builder

Considered a “super food” blueberries provides the body with a super high concentration of free radical fighting anti-oxidants. In fact, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center examined 100 common foods and found that among fruits, blueberries topped the list for the highest total anti-oxidant capacity.

Why is this important for building muscle? Weight training breaks the body down and because of this; we open up our bodies to free radical attacks. After a super intense workout our bodies are in a weakened state and very vulnerable to free radical damage which affects how fast we recover from weight training. As we all know, the key to building muscle and strength is recovery – The faster we can recover the faster we can grow muscle.

To combat these unwanted affects, we need to reduce free radical production and protect against exercise-induced tissue damage. Since blueberries are super high in anti-oxidants it only makes sense to optimize the consumption of these little berries.

In addition, blueberries contain a high amount of insoluble fibre which helps in optimizing the digestive process – In with the good out with the bad.

How to use this fruit for best results

Like raisins, blueberries are very portable and convenient. You can add blueberries to your favourite snack and it instantly becomes are power food. Try adding blueberries to your protein shakes, yogurt or cottage cheese for added taste and boost the nutritional content.

I suggest that you take in at least one cup of blueberries per day to ensure maximum benefit.

Try this power snack once in the morning and one at night;

• 1 cup of low fat cottage cheese;
• 1 tablespoons slivered almonds;
• ½ cup of fresh blueberries;
• ¼ cup of fresh sliced peaches

5) Avocados

If there was ever a bodybuilding fruit, this would be it. Avocados are very nutritionally dense and loaded with vitamins/minerals and packed with potassium. One medium sized (150 grams) avocado has the following nutritional values:

• 250 calories;
• 22 grams fat;
• 10 grams dietary fiber;
• 13 grams carbohydrates;
• 700 milligrams potassium
• 5 grams protein

What makes it a great muscle builder

Avocados are natures very own lean mass muscle builder. It’s the perfect choice for those of you who want to seriously pack on muscle. If I was to pick two fruits that I consider the ultimate muscle building fruits, one would be bananas and the other an avocado.

One medium sized avocado provides 22 grams of fat, most of which is made up of mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats. These fats are considered heart healthy fats and provide the body with numerous benefits including:

• Helping to reduce blood cholesterol levels for a happy and healthy heart;
• Anti-inflammatory properties;
• Helping to reduce blood sugar properties;
• Helping to regulate blood pressure;
• Helping to improve digestion

In addition, there is about 3 grams of saturated fat which makes it the perfect balance of fats for a very high anabolic response. This is probably the biggest benefit to building muscle. The combination of its fat content provides the perfect anabolic precursor and helps set the stage for some serous muscle growth.

How to use this fruit for best results

Avocado has a unique flavour that makes it perfect as a part of a sandwich, salad dressing or as guacamole. I personally enjoy mixing up my avocado and using it as a salad dressing or in a sandwich. For best results, have one Avocado per day. Try this fantastic tasting turkey and avocado sandwich:

• 2 slices of sourdough bread (preferably fresh)
• 1 fresh avocado – peeled and seeded. Divide into chunks
• 1 Tbsp. salsa
• ¼ cup of roasted red pepper
• 4 ounces of thinly sliced smoked turkey
• Couple of slices onions – Keep as onion rings
• 1 oz. slices low fat cheddar
• 1 romaine lettuce leaves

Instructions:

Mash the avocado and mix it with the salsa. Spread the mixture on each of the slices of bread. Add the pepper strips, onions, turkey and cheese to one piece of bread. Top with lettuce.

Muscle Building Fruit Strategy
The following sample schedule will give you some ideas of when to take these fruits for the best results:

Upon waking up

Protein Shake:

• One banana;
• 1 cup skim milk;
• 4 ice cubes;
• 2 scoops whey isolate;
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. oat powder

Blend ice and milk. Once ice is crushed, add the banana and mix. Add protein powder, oat powder and honey.

Breakfast

• 1 cup steel cut oats;
• 2 cups skim milk;
• ¼ cup raisins;
• ½ cup yogurt
• ½ cup sliced apple

Cook oats according to package directions. As the oatmeal is cooking add raisins and apple slices. Let cool for 5 minutes and top with yogurt.

Mid-morning snack

• 1 ½ cup low fat cottage cheese;
• ½ cup blueberries;
• ½ cup sliced peaches;
• 1 Tbsp. slivered almonds

Lunch

Avocado sandwich (see above)

Mid afternoon snack

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup prunes
• ½ cup mixed nuts

Post workout shake

• One banana;
• 1 cup skim milk;
• 4 ice cubes;
• 2 scoops whey isolate;
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. oat powder

Snack

• ½ cup of organic nuts mixed with ½ cup of raisins

The key to optimizing the benefits of these fruits is consistency. Having the odd piece of fruit every other day will NOT produce the results you’re looking for. To optimize the muscle building benefits, include these fruits into your daily diet. Once you start to eat these fruits on a consistent basis, I’m 100% confident you’ll look and feel 100% better.