Bodybuilding on a budget

This next article comes from Adam Foster of Shreddybrek and is all focused on bodybuilding on a budget. Most people think that it costs a lot to eat healthily in general and usually use that as an excuse to binge on less expensive, less nutritionally dense foods. This article should change your mind a little, so without further ado, take it away Adam...

“Eat Big To Get Big” what a cliché.

We’ve all heard it, and as cliché as it sounds…. It’s true. You can’t gain weight without eating “big”.

But for the “casual” gym goer eating big means eating expensive…. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Seriously, I’m speaking from experience.

I’m 25 now, but I was once an 18 year old, going to Uni, working part time, paying for bus passes, University books, gym membership, and food.

Whilst I don’t eat like this now, when I was on a tight budget, it worked so well for me.

As a competitive bodybuilder, blogger and YouTube video maker, I get asked the same questions from blog comments, emails, YouTube comments and from guys in the gym.

“How do you afford to eat!?”

“I can’t afford to eat like you, what should I do?”

Truth is, these people just make assumptions about what I eat. Heck, they make assumptions about what all bodybuilders eat.

These assumptions are probably made up from “pro bodybuilders” and what magazines publish.

This is a far cry from the reality of me and you hitting the gym and trying to make some gains.

We don’t have the luxury of having no job. Being paid by a supplement company to train, and compete.

That’s just life.

We need to make the most of our situation. Whether we’re earning £3,000 a year, £30,000 a year or £300,000 a year – there is a way we can all eat, supplement, and workout.

Here are my top tips for eating like a bodybuilder on a budget. All based from my experiences from Uni and beyond!

1.    There’s more to gaining muscle than protein

2.       Buy in bulk

3.       Protein powder is your cheap ass friend – embrace it

4.       Prep in advance, and don’t buy pre-prepared anything

More Than Protein

People often think “to gain muscle eat all protein” completely forgetting about carbs and fats.

My macro breakdown is roughly

50-55% carbs

30-35% protein

10-20% fat

That somehow adds up to 100%....

Anyways, as you can see, carbs makes up a large part of my overall macro and calorie intake.

The best thing is …. Carbs are cheap!

Here are my recommendations for cheap carbs

·         Rice

·         Potato

·         Oatmeal

Aaaand that’s it.

If you’re having 5/6 meals a day – alternate these carb sources so you’re having 2 meals of each.

If 3 carb sources aren’t quite enough for you then you can also throw in these slightly more expensive options;

·         Sweet Potato

·         Ground Rice

·        Cereal

      Cornflakes

      Rice Crispies

·         Rice Cakes

·         Bananas

All are relatively cheap, all are easy to prepare.

Cheap Fats

This is sooooo easy!

Peanut Butter!

A 1kg tub from somewhere like Myprotein is just £4.99.

1kg is “bulk buying” but that leads onto a point I’ll cover later.

You can go for almond butter, cashew butter, or just straight up nuts BUT!

Peanut butter is cheaper, and tastes nicer.

Cheap Protein Sources

The cheapest protein source by far, is whey protein powder. A lot of people think supplements are expensive, and those people buy them from Tesco or Asda.

Seriously, if you’re clued up – you would never ever buy supplements from a supermarket.

You can easily pick up 1kg of whey protein concentrate powder for just under £10.

1kg of whey will give you around 40 servings – each one packing around 20g of protein. BUT if you buy in bulk (which I’ll cover later) then you get them even cheaper. It makes sense – and you know it does.

Protein powder isn’t anything special though. It doesn’t make you gain muscle quicker, or make you stronger. It’s just a source of protein. Think of it as nothing more than this.

Other cheap protein sources include;

·         Whole eggs

·         Tuna

·         Chicken Breast – Don’t buy from the supermarkets. Musclefood sells it for cheap, but you can get it for even cheaper (usually) by striking a deal with a local butcher – if you buy in bulk.

·         Milk

·         Cottage Cheese

·         Ground Turkey

·         Ground Beef

Plenty to pick from there, so you should never get bored.

Buy In Bulk

I cannot stress this enough….. BUY IN BULK!

Chicken breast from Tesco is £8.17 for 1 kg. Here it is: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=288879417

I get 1kg of chicken from my local butchers for £4.33 …. Almost half the price. BUT to get it for this cheap I have to buy 15kg of it at once, for £65.

I easily get 5 meals out of 1kg. So I get 75 meals for £65. That’s just £0.87 a meal.

You can always go halves with a friend, or just save your cash up, and buy it in 1 go.

You’re going to need it.

The same goes for protein powder.

Lets use Myprotein Impact whey as an example. Its RRP is £12.69 for 1kg here http://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/impact-whey-protein/10530943.html

So for 5kg that would be £63.45

Buy a 5kg pouch and it costs just £46.79. Combine this with a http://cheapproteindiscountcodes.co.uk my protein discount code, and you can get at least an extra 10% off. Sometimes, you can get 30% off. That would make 5kg of impact whey from Myprotein just £32.78.

Again, using the 25g serving size, this means each serving of 20g of protein will cost you under £0.17 a scoop. Lets say you need 2 servings for meal…. You’re getting 1 meals worth of protein for under £0.35.

Butttttttttttttt, if you wanna keep heading to Tesco buying their brands… go ahead ;)

By no means do you have to use MyProtein. I’m simply using them as an example.

I would personally however recommend one of the big, cheap, UK protein bulk suppliers. The following are all well known within the UK, reputable, and offer cheap protein, especially when buying in bulk

·         Myprotein

·         Protein Dynamix

·         Bulk Powders

·         Go Nutrition

·         The Protein Works

·         Bodybuilding Warehouse

All of these companies offer a very similar level of quality, at similar price points. Shop around to find the best discounts, offers or prices, and then stick with a brand.

(Note from Alex - JBC Nutrition is also a great bulk protein supplier, use the code JBCALEX04 at checkout for 10% off)

Prep

In the words of Chris Jericho

“Never Ev….ev….eeeevvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr” buy pre prepared food. Microwave rice is £1.50-£20 for 1 pack which will do you 1 meal.

1 kg of raw, uncooked rice in comparison, can be picked up for around £1.50 – and easily give you 10 meals minimum.

1 of my rice meals is only 70g raw rice. This means a 1kg bag is giving me 14 servings. Assume a £1.50 price tag, and that means im getting each rice meal for around £0.11

But preparing goes beyond food prep.

You should;

·         Establish macros

·         Draw up a meal plan

·         Write a shopping list

·         Stick to this

This means you won’t deviate from the plan, buy food and waste it.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, this article has shown you can bodybuilding on the cheap.

It has contained no fancy, expensive supplements. Hell, the only supplement it contains is a protein powder.

It contains no expensive or extravagant foods. Just basics.

Apply these tips to your own diet, and start fueling the gain train, with the cheapest, but best fuel, available.

You can follow me at

http://www.facebook.com/shreddybreklol

http://www.twitter.com/shreddybrekgym

http://www.youtube.com/shreddybrek