How to Eat to Build Lean Muscle and Maintain Top Racing Speed
Building lean muscle and still being able to race at a respectable pace is a tricky balance. Fitness model, online coach, and Trifecta Nutrition athlete Michael Dean learned this first-hand when training for his first two Spartan races.
“Training to get lean can be very different from training for a race, and keeping your macronutrients in line with your goals is essential,” he says. “For performance-based goals, like training for a Spartan race, you need a nutrition plan that promotes fast recovery and includes calorically-dense food to fuel your running.
"Trifecta Nutrition's macro-balanced meals are delivered straight to my door, so it's easy to stay on top of my race-day prep."
Related: How Michael Dean Puts His Lean, Muscular Physique to the Spartan Test
Here’s what Dean eats in a day to sculpt his lean physique while also giving him enough calories and the appropriate to fuel his workouts and recovery.
The Michael Dean Nutrition Plan: How He Stays Lean AND Fast
8 a.m.: Breakfast
350 calories
- 2 eggs
- ½-cup of oatmeal
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
- A small handful of strawberries
- A dash of honey
10 a.m.: Snack
200 calories
- Protein bar
12 p.m.: Lunch
450 calories
-
BBQ turkey meatballs with white beans (a Trifecta Nutrition meal with 32 grams of protein, 31 grams of carbs, and 15 grams of fat)
2 p.m.: Pre-Workout Snack
200 calories
- 2 rice cakes
- 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
6 p.m.: Dinner
450 calories
-
Beef stew with veggies and brown rice (another Trifecta Nutrition meal that has 33 grams of protein, 32 grams of carbs, and 16 grams of fat)
8 p.m.: Evening Snack
300 calories
- 1 Halo Top ice cream
How to Personalize Michael Dean's Nutrition for Yourself
Dean is 5’11” and 195 pounds. He required about 1,950 calories per day, 150 grams of protein, 155 grams of carbs, and 81 grams of fat. Since everyone is built differently, your total intake will need to vary from Dean's. Here’s how to personalize it for yourself, according to him:
- Use Trifecta Nutrition’s Calorie and Macro Calculator to find out what your needs are and start designing your own meal plan around what you learn.
- If you’re struggling to lose a bit more weight or fat, your macros will need tweaking, or you could be eating a bit too many total calories.
- If you’re sluggish on your runs, you might not be consuming enough carbohydrates to fuel them.
- If you’re not building muscle or losing too much weight, you might not be getting enough protein or total calories.
- Take the guesswork out of everything by using the Trifecta Nutrition app to track your meals and signing up for one of their meal services to start hitting your macros.
Put your new Spartan x Trifecta Nutrition meal plan to use by following Michael Dean’s 4-Week Spartan Lean Muscle Training Plan!
