Building Muscle on a Budget

Tips to Build Muscle but not Break the Bank

A lot of people this new year will be feeling the squeeze on their finances. I for one have noticed how fast the price of food is rising particularly meat and vegetables. Everything that gym goers need will undoubtedly have seen a price rise over the last few months and I’m sure it will continue to do so.

If you want to build muscle you need to eat more. A lot of this extra food is going to have to be protein, probably the most expensive type of food. Beef, Chicken and fish are certainly more expensive than bread and pasta and adding this protein to every meal can cause costs to shoot up.

When building muscle on a budget the last thing you can be is fussy. I speak on behalf of the UK when it comes to the different options of meat available in our supermarkets. You can either buy the basics range, this is usually chicken breast in a variety of sizes and can still have the fat and skin left on. The next option is the supermarkets own brand, the breast will be slightly better quality aesthetically but at the end of the day came from the same farm. Finally the organic range tops the list as being the most expensive.

Buying organic chicken is simply not a viable option instead buy the basics chicken. It may have some fat you need to trim off but at the end of the day it’s not going to poison you otherwise they would not be allowed to sell it. You will get exactly the same amount of nutrients as you would get from the organic breasts but at a fraction of the price.

Buy in Bulk

Everything you buy should be in bulk. It goes without saying for non perishables like pasta, rice, tuna. Ideally you want to get to a wholesale supermarket such as costco or bookers. You will also be able to buy frozen chicken, beef etc. As long as you have space to store this you can buy 3 months worth of chicken at a time and then simply defrost it when you need it. This is going to take up a lot of fridge space but will save you hundreds maybe even thousands a year.

Get to know your local farmers and suppliers

There is nothing better than getting to know the local chicken farmer. You can first of all cut out the middleman (aka supermarkets) you can also probably get a further discounted, ‘mates rate’. I eat 6 eggs without fail daily, this costs just under 9 pounds a week from sainsbury’s buying from a local farmer I was able to source 24 eggs for £4, incredible value. I then went on to have chickens which laid daily but alas a fox decided to ruin that for me. This goes for fishermen, as well basically anyone in the farming industry.

Use Supplements

Supplements are not expensive, if you work out the equivalent cost per scoop of protein usually around 40p this contains 25g of protein. The is so much cheaper than you are ever going to get from solid food. It does start to get expensive when you buy pre workout shakes, amino acids, weight gainers etc. Stick to the basics large bags of whey protein and some creatine and carbohydrate. Below is a picture of my current supply with a few more in the wardrobe which I bought before the VAT rise in october last year.

Invest in serious amounts of tupperware and a cool bag 

You’re going to need to carry everything you need to eat with and have had it prepared in advance, restaurants are not an option as they are expensive and you will never get enough protein. So when you next take a girl to dinner either 1) make her pay or 2) which is the preferable option. Take a cool box of meat and vegetables and sweet potato. Ask the waiter for 2 plates, then serve accordingly. She is going to be so impressed. Be sure to add an extra 2000 calories or so to account for the cardio that is going to be happening at your place later.

Other tips

• Pay your gym membership up front
• Walk everywhere and think of it as free cardio
• Earn more money

I hope that helped you if you’re looking to build muscle with little money.

Keep on lifting!

 

 

 

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