By now, most men understand the importance of protein in building muscle. When working out, the stress of weight lifting damages muscle fibers. This damage activates a special repair process that eventually forces individual muscle cells to grow. All of this growth requires loads of amino acids, the basic building blocks of life.
But the process of muscle growth requires more than just protein. Weight lifting burns fat and energy in the form of muscle glycogen, so your diet also needs to include a healthy serving of carbs to both replenish muscle glycogen stores and to boost insulin, a hormone that helps shuttle amino acids into the muscles. This means you should not only focus on incorporating protein into your diet, but also pay just as much attention to avoiding unhealthy foods – this combination of attention to your diet will be a winning combo.