“If you are willing to take up a muscle-building regime, chances are you will be feeling more confident, strong, and hungry.”
This is what Jerry’s gym bros told him after he shared about his change in fitness goals.
So, he asked me if he is supposed to feel hungrier after starting to build muscle or if it’s different for everyone.
While workout and appetite are connected, the increase and decrease in your hunger depends on a lot of factors.
This includes the type of exercise you’re doing, intensity, current diet, and physiology.
So, does building muscle make you hungrier?
If yes, then what can you do to tame it? Don’t worry, I got you covered.
Here’s what I found and shared with Jerry who recently started working out and is always hungry.
Key Insights:
- Building muscles results in depleting glycogen stores, hormonal imbalance, muscle repair and growth, and an increase in metabolic rate.
- Doing resistance exercises for building muscle has some link to hunger.
- You can control hunger after a workout by eating enough macronutrients, keeping yourself hydrated, eating on time, and including post and pre-workout meals.
For a more detailed insight into the subject, keep on reading.
Does Building Muscle Make You Hungrier?
Yes, building muscle can make you hungrier. The muscle-building process requires you to engage in resistance activities.
This makes your body undergo numerous metabolic and hormonal changes increasing hunger pangs.
A study published by Purdue University evaluated the appetitive and dietary intake responses to resistance exercise and compared these responses with those of aerobic exercise. Notably, aerobic exercise elicited a decrease in hunger while non-exercise and resistance exercise caused a slight increase.
Results show that 30 minutes after resistance exercise and aerobic exercise, food intake was 18% higher in the group who performed resistance exercise. Therefore, on the basis of the findings, the study concludes that for resistance exercise, food intake is relatively more.
Now before we lead further to understand in detail how it happens, make sure you know that hunger and appetite are not the same.
Hunger is the physical reaction caused by the hormones when your body “needs” more food.
On the other hand, appetite is a psychological reaction and could be the result of boredom, emotions, or seeing or smelling tempting foods.
So, even though both of these words are used interchangeably, their functions are different.
Moving on, talking about does building muscle makes you “hungrier”, the answer is still affirmative.
Building muscle increases your body’s requirement for more food and here’s how it happens.
Why Does Building Muscle Make You Hungrier?
Building muscle is a continuous process of repair and growth. Thus, the body needs more energy and nutrients to support muscle growth.
Adding to it, building muscle also leads to hormonal changes impacting appetite. Here’s how it all happens.
#1. Increase in Metabolic Rate
Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue. As a result, your body burns more calories even at rest to maintain muscle.
Therefore, as you start to build muscle your resting metabolic rate increases making you hungrier.
#2. Muscle Repair and Growth
Building muscles requires more calories to build and maintain more muscle mass. The body uses protein, energy, and other nutrients to repair and rebuild these muscle fibers.
This results in an increase in metabolic activity which signals your body for additional energy to support muscle growth and repair.
#3. Change in Hormone Levels
Engaging in resistance training leads to fluctuation in levels of different hormones namely testosterone, growth hormone, leptin, and ghrelin.
While leptin is produced by fat cells, ghrelin is produced in the stomach and signals a fuller feeling. Lifting weight produces more ghrelin and decreases leptin resulting in making you hungrier.
#4. Glycogen Depletion
Glycogen is stored in the form of carbohydrates in muscles and the liver and serves as a readily available source of energy during physical exercise. So when you do muscle-building exercises, the body’s glycogen stores deplete therefore body signals for replenishment and thus there is a feeling of hunger.
That’s how building muscle makes you hungrier. Now if this happens to you personally you might end up questioning if feeling weak and hungry after exercise is normal.
Feeling hungrier is the common response of the body to several changes while building muscles and it’s absolutely normal as well.
However, if you’re feeling weak and hungrier, should you stop working out? Not at all.
Rather you can make necessary changes and take the required steps to fuel your workout and body for better results.
What to Do When Working Out Makes You Hungry All the Time? 5 Top Tips
If working out makes you hungrier and this pisses you off and you don’t want to feel like that anymore, listen to the signals your body sends and make the changes.
Adding to it, don’t also go overboard and start stuffing yourself in response to the hunger pangs. Take these tips and guide yourself to tame hunger while building muscles.
#1. Get Enough Macronutrients
More than just eating, it’s important to focus on what you are eating. Consider including carbs and protein in your recovery diet. The body needs protein to build muscles and carbs for more energy. Aim for a 3:1 to 4:1 ratio of carbs-to-protein.
#2. Add Some Pre and Post-Workout Snacks
Eating a snack before and after doing your muscle-building exercise will fuel your body accurately. This will ensure you have enough energy to exercise well and even replenish to recover.
#3. Don’t Ignore the Meal-Timing
If you have been questioning why am i so hungry after working out in the morning, make sure you feed yourself well. Focus on your meal timing and eat your first post-workout meal 30-60 minutes after finishing your workout.
Make sure you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals on time. Eat the majority of your calories in the day to control hunger later in the day.
#4. Increase Your Fluid Intake
Hydration is the key. Most of the time when you are “feeling” hungry, you’re actually thirsty. Therefore, make sure to drink enough water before, during, and after exercise.
If you are feeling hungry even after 1 hour of post-workout meal, try drinking water and reassess your hungry feelings. If you continue to feel the same then only proceed to eat.
#5. Make Mindful Food Choices
Building muscle does make you hungrier but hold on, don’t make foolish food choices in the fit of hunger. Try to include nutritious food only. Eat enough protein, carbs, and fiber. Avoid fast food, too many calories, and alcoholic beverages.
Also, try to focus only on eating and avoid distractions like watching TV or using the phone. This helps drive more satisfaction from meals and makes you feel less hungry throughout the day.
So, feeling hungrier when starting to work to build muscle is normal.
However, it can be irritating and soon change into an unhealthy snacking habit if you don’t take the required immediate actions.
While you may think about quitting, focus on making changes and adopting healthy habits for taming it properly and building muscles. If you are still willing to build muscle, here is some more information.
FAQs
Muscle building is not as easy as it looks you constantly have to tackle the hungry wolf inside you but can’t overdo it as well. Therefore, to do it well, make sure you’re aware of everything in detail.
1. Why am I hungrier on rest days?
On the rest days, your body needs energy to recover and repair. Therefore, the body responds in the form of hunger to metabolic needs and hormonal changes.
2. Is it OK to eat more on rest days?
Yes, it’s ok to eat more on rest days. And as long as you are maintaining a balanced diet, focusing on nutrient-rich food, adding protein and healthy fats, and considering enough energy expenditure, you’re good to go.
3. How long does temporary weight gain after exercise last?
Temporary weight gain after exercise is often due to water retention, muscle inflammation, and glycogen replenishment. This typically goes away in a few days.
4. Does weight training make you hungrier than cardio?
Yes, as per the research, in comparison to cardiovascular exercises, strength training causes more damage to muscles.
This requires you to fuel them with more nutrients to turn them into muscle mass. Therefore, in comparison to cardio, weight training makes you more hungrier.
5. Why am I gaining weight if I’m counting calories and working out?
It might be due to water retention, muscle gain with denser fat, or due to miscalculation in your calorie tracking. Try to consult a professional dietitian.
You are all set to build muscle without getting hungrier.
Conclusion
Exercise is an excellent addition to the everyday lifestyle. However, if the goal is to build muscle, get ready to fill your pantry with enough food.
Building muscles makes you hungrier but you can easily control it with strategic planning and professional consultation.
Just don’t ignore the signals from your body and keep making changes according to its needs by staying on the healthy alternatives.
Don’t overdo or you might end up ruining your regime for the sake of fulfilling your temporary needs. Feeling hungry is not a bad thing but quitting your fitness goals for some extra cheeseburger is.