Rest days are either the bane or the joy of fitness enthusiasts. The biggest question that everyone asks is: What are the best foods to consume in order to stay on track and build muscle?
Protein is the single most important factor in building muscle. Protein turnover is constant in the body (building and breaking down muscles), but in order to achieve a positive balance of protein (building muscle), one needs to consume sources of exogenous proteins.
Carbohydrates are another food that's important for building muscle. It is much more effective to consume carbohydrates and protein together than either protein or carbohydrates on their own. Many of you may be concerned about carbohydrate consumption on rest days.
What are some easy strategies and foods you can eat to keep on track even if you don't spend hours at the gym?

Start your day with a rich source of protein

Within the first hour of waking, you should consume between 30 and 40 grams of protein. Sleeping is your longest period of fasting. During this time, your body is primarily in a breakdown state to support your basic physiological functions. Your muscles are a part of this breakdown!

You must consume a high-protein diet to tip the scales in a POSITIVE way. A study on the effects of protein-pacing found that eating a protein-rich meal within 60 minutes after waking up increased strength and power among exercised individuals.
A rich source of proteins is a food that has both essential and non-essential amino acids. Dairy products, eggs and whey proteins, health bacon are all examples.

CONSUME 30G PROTEIN ABOUT EVERY 3-4 HOURS

Remember protein turnover? The balance between building and breaking down muscles fluctuates throughout the day. To maintain a healthy protein balance, it is best to consume 25-30g every 3-4 hour to stimulate muscle protein syntheses.
Studies comparing the protein intake throughout the day showed that 20g every 3-4 hour doses produced more protein than 80g every 12 hours or even 10g every 90 minutes.

Focus on the 1:1 ratio

Carbohydrates, the best friend of protein! On rest days, you do not need to consume as many carbohydrates than you would during your active days. To stimulate muscle growth, we need to combine carbohydrates and protein. The 1:1 ratio (using the 30g of protein for reference) can be used to reduce carbohydrate consumption while still building muscle.

FOCUS ON VITAMIN D-RICH FOODS!

Vitamin D increases muscle protein synthesis, ATP concentration and cellular energy! On rest days, be aware of its importance. Vitamin D-deficient mice showed higher levels of atrophy and lower lean mass in rats. They also had poorer aerobic capacity.
Vitamin D is essential for muscle health and recovery. Salmon, herrings, sardines and whole eggs are all rich in Vitamin D.

How Clients Struggle with Old Habits

There are many reasons why people have trouble making lasting changes in their lives. You can easily fall back into old habits which do not match your intentions, whether it is sedentary behaviour, poor eating habits or lack of sleep. There may also be environmental and relationship factors that make it harder to change.
In some cases, obstacles, such as a lack of support, environmental or social factors, or barriers, can hinder their progress. Ineffective goal-setting can hamper client efforts on an intrapersonal basis. Even clients with a high motivation to change may not know the best goal-setting techniques.
The goal is either too broad or too focused on the end result, rather than the process.
Mindset is also a factor when clients struggle with old habits. First, the client may not have an attitude of growth and become discouraged. It takes time to change and you need to know what works or doesn't work along the way. It can be difficult to see challenges as opportunities for learning if someone doesn't have a growth mind-set.
It can be much easier to continue with the old behaviors than to do the hard work required to change behavior for good. A client's mindset can be affected by negative self-talk and low self-efficacy due to previous unsuccessful attempts at changing their behavior. Self-efficacy refers to a person's confidence in their ability change their behavior.
According to the Self-Efficacy theory, people often try things they think they are capable of and will not attempt anything they don't believe they are. Clients can also "get in the way", which will derail their efforts. Personal trainers and coaches are able to intervene, regardless of the barrier. This can have a positive impact on client outcomes. This can be achieved by using behavior change concepts when working with clients.

Do you want to know how to bring wellness into your life? Our Certified Wellness Coach Course will teach you more.

INVITING CLIENTS TO CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR

Start small when introducing behavior changes to clients. Open-ended, discovery-oriented questions will help you gain more insight about the motivations of your clients. What do they hope to achieve by taking part in personal training? It is important to ask clients additional questions to help them narrow their focus on specific actions.
This is a great way to get the client to identify specific health they'll start or increase in frequency to achieve their goals. This action could be to walk three times per week, do weight training twice a month, or engage in mobility exercises every day to reduce back pain. Before training, as a trainer we want to assist our clients in personalizing these specific actions.
After identifying the details of your client's goal, you can help them set a SMART goal (specific, measurable and attainable realistic time-specific goal). Set this goal in collaboration with your client to make them feel like they are part of the process. This will help to increase buy-in and accountability. Consider the baseline of your client's current habits when setting these SMART Goals. Help them set a realistic and attainable step forward. Make sure you meet the person where they are.

CONSUME PRE-SLEEP PROTEIN SHAKE

Overeating at night has been the subject of a long-running controversy. Recent research shows that 40g of proteins 30 minutes before bedtime can increase muscle protein synthesis overnight.
Casein is the best protein to consume at night as it is more slowly digested. Casein is found in dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, and yogurt.
What is the overall message? Proteine is the best food to consume, whether you're exercising or resting. To maintain muscle, rich sources like turkey, chicken and beef, eggs, dairy products, fish, and milk are good.
Consuming 40g of casein 30 minutes before going to bed will keep you in an active state, even as you sleep. Don't forget that protein is the king!