Building your muscle mass involves more than just lifting heavy weights all day, every day, as there are more essential factors involved. One such factor is what you eat, precisely, how much you eat.
As a result, many fitness enthusiasts have carved out the squats and oats mantra, implying that eating (a lot of) oats before or after squatting is optimal for developing those leg muscles. This article looks to figure out what the deal is anyway.
The general relationship between food and workout
Generally, regular exercise and healthy eating go hand in hand toward living a productive and happy
life. Furthermore, diet is essential for any type of body composition change, including gaining muscles or losing fat.
In terms of building your muscles, your body cannot develop new muscle tissue out of nothing. As a result, to make muscle gains, you need to have the suitable nutrients in your body to build muscles. Because of this, your food intake is vital in making muscle gains. This relationship is so important that weightlifting without sufficient nutrition can lead to losing muscle tissue.
The energy from food is measured in calories, and calories are essential for changing your body composition. In this case, developing your muscles requires increasing your calorie intake so that your body has excess calories after using what it needs. It is these extra calories that your body uses to develop your muscles.
Eating well is also necessary for the act of weightlifting itself, as you will require energy to lift those heavy metals. This is because while being the fuel for muscle growth after your workout, food is also a fuel for your working out.
Squats and Oats
Squats and oats is a food and exercise mixture that has become a mantra for some fitness enthusiasts. The idea behind the mantra is that eating oats is an excellent way to optimize your squats and develop top-notch leg muscles faster.
Squats
Squats are a popular exercise that primarily targets the muscles in the legs. However, an excellent squat also targets the lower back and core muscles. Squats also help people develop their muscles and burn fat.
How to perform squats
There are several ways to perform a squat with varying benefits. However, a traditional squat includes these steps:
- Stand with your feet at shoulder-width apart with your toes pointing slightly outward. Your arms should also be straight out in front.
- Bend your knees to push your hips backward, keeping your torso upright and your back straight and the torso upright. You can imagine sitting in a chair to understand this motion.
- Use your feet to push back up and straighten the legs as soon as the knees get to a 90-degree angle or lower.
Weightless squats use your upper body weight as resistance to work your leg and back muscles. However, muscle building requires a progressive overload of resistance, and as a result, most weightlifters squat with weights to increase resistance and, consequently, their gain.
Benefit of squats
Squats are considered a compound movement, as they work several muscle groups across several joints. The primary muscles worked in the squatting motion are your quadriceps and glutes. You also work your hamstrings and your hip flexors when you squat. Squats also target the muscles around the knee, assisting in strength building and injury prevention.
Oats
Oats are also important sources of dietary nutrients due to their constitution. The food also assists in reducing blood cholesterol, managing blood glucose and preventing heart diseases. Furthermore, during weight training, oats' carbohydrates offer the necessary energy to lift heavy weights.
For bodybuilders during their cutting phase, Oat’s high fiber content also provides satiety which is essential when cutting calories. On the flipside, oatmeal’s high-protein carb helps repair and enable muscle growth. You can also improve your protein intake from oat by combining them with legumes like beans.
Benefits of eating oats
Because oatmeal has no particular taste, it is a very versatile food. As a result, you can have it either in savory or sweet recipes. Additionally, this versatility lets you have oats at any time of the day, including as a snack. Furthermore, oats simplify your diet as it is available everywhere, allowing you to reach your total carb intake. Oats are also gluten-free, making them suitable for bodybuilders who have this intolerance.
Combination of squats and oats
While squats and oats have independent benefits to weightlifting, it does not seem as though combining them results in some form of cheat code that accelerates muscle development. Some dieticians have noted that the squats and oats mantra is simply an internet gimmick that does not translate to related gains.
Regardless of the absence of any magic potion, oats and squats – or any other weight training – is an excellent combination. You can eat the oatmeal about an hour or two before your workout session because of its high fiber content. This is because carb sources that contain high fiber amounts, like oatmeal, may take a while to digest. As a result, it may be a while before you feel energized.
Oats are also good as an after-workout meal essentially because of its antioxidant and potent anti-inflammatory properties. However, adding extra protein and healthy fats may be necessary to create a balanced meal because oatmeal is low in protein.
Other workout tips
Working out is an excellent way to develop a long, happy and productive life. It is essential that you eat well and rest well to benefit from working out. If you register in a gym, ensure they have adequate facilities and equipment such as an excellent squat rack.
Alternatively, you may set up a home gym if you prefer to work out alone and have more control over the circumstances of your exercises. You can get basic squat racks, doorway pull-up bars, cable pulley systems and squat stands for your home gym at affordable costs.
A home gym offers several benefits, including setting your own rules and avoiding wait times before you use a piece of particular equipment. You can also develop a more flexible workout approach as you can go into your home gym anytime.
