Why Do Bodybuilders Eat So Much?

Q: I started dating a bodybuilder and he sometimes mixes food with sex. Unfortunately, it’s not in the fun way of eating strawberries off my body during foreplay or using a cucumber to double penetrate me as we have intercourse. NOPE!!! Instead, he’ll have an entire meal while we’re fucking because he apparently has to eat every 2-3 hours and will do so no matter what’s going on. That’s happened on more than a handful of occasions now but he also eats at other inopportune times for a normal human being. So yeah, why do bodybuilders eat so much?

A: For the physiques that bodybuilders have that are characterized by slabs of muscle, a lot of food is required for the amount of calories and nutrients that are needed to support the intense workouts and ensuing recovery process that make the body gain and maintain an extreme level of muscularity. That right there is why bodybuilders eat so much, which is because their total daily calorie and nutrient requirements are generally higher than the average person’s.

Bodybuilders eat a lot of food because they have to. However, instead of eating the typical three meals a day that are evenly spaced out between waking and sleeping, bodybuilders often eat several meals throughout the day at the rate of every 2-3 hours. In fact, bodybuilders eat with such regimented frequency that it’s not uncommon for them to travel with prepared food in Tupperware everywhere they go so they always have something nearby for when they’re scheduled to eat. So why do bodybuilders eat so much in terms of frequency?

Well, one of the reasons why bodybuilders eat as often as they do is because of the belief that there’s a limit on the amount of nutrients that the body can process and absorb at a time.¹ It’s on the basis of this belief that bodybuilders not only eat relatively small meals but also eat them frequently so the body is provided with a steady stream of materials it can better absorb and utilize to stop muscle breakdown and promote muscle building.

Physiological restrictions are among the reasons why some bodybuilders eat multiple small meals at frequent intervals. That claim that nutrients have a ceiling on the amount that can be processed and made use of isn’t grounded in reality, though. Instead, the truth of the matter is that the body can metabolize and absorb a virtually unlimited amount of each macronutrient in a single meal. That said that there isn’t a threshold on how much of a nutrient can be utilized at any given feeding, there is a cap on how fast the body can digest and move nutrients from the gut into the bloodstream for absorption into the cells for use. However, while a larger amount of food extends the time it takes for all the nutrients to become available, it isn’t to the point that the body feeds on muscle tissue for fuel to any appreciable degree. It’s for both of these reasons that studies haven’t found a significant difference in muscle growth and repair between larger meals and smaller ones.

Meal size and regularity aren’t that important when it comes to the muscle side of things. But building and maintaining muscle isn’t the only aspect of physical appearance that bodybuilders care about, as there’s also weight loss and the prevention of its accumulation. Along this front, another reason why some bodybuilders eat more often than the average person is because of the prevailing idea that frequent feedings contribute to weight management by helping the body increase the metabolism so it burns a greater number of calories.

The act of digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing food, and converting it into energy, waste products, and building blocks for growth and repair all burn calories. So the logic follows that the more times you eat, the more opportunities there are for the burning of calories through the metabolic process. Unfortunately, the evidence doesn’t back that up, as whatever calorie burn there is from increased meal frequency isn’t enough to have a significant effect on the metabolism to turn the body into a calorie-burning machine.

Based on the facts, meal size and frequency mean nothing for body composition and training adaptations. All that matters is the satisfying of one’s total requirements of calories and nutrients on a consistent basis. It’s on that point of meeting one’s daily food needs that the most valid explanation for the meal frequency of bodybuilders can be found. See, if a bodybuilder is in the bulking phase of their dietary intake, for example, then they can be called on to eat anywhere from 3000-6000 calories per day depending on factors such as their height, weight, age, and activity level. Given the sheer magnitude of calories and corresponding nutrients that have to be consumed, the reason should be clear why bodybuilders eat as often as they do. Yup, bodybuilders eat with such regularity because it’s much easier to break their total food intake down into a handful of smaller meals throughout the day than to have to sit down and eat two or three sizable meals.

Bodybuilders have to eat a lot of food to fuel the muscle growth they’re after. How they go about consuming all the food that’s required of them is by eating often for a reason centered around pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo when the most cogent one is because spreading out their calories and nutrients across several meals is more manageable than concentrating them into fewer but larger meals.

I hope you found the preceding helpful in better understanding your bodybuilder boyfriend and his multitasking in the bedroom. In exchange for that information, I hope you can return the favor by answering something for me in kind. As for what I want to know, your boyfriend’s eating of meals during sex has left me a little curious about if he’s also tried to add TV to the equation in attempt of the “Costanza Trifecta”.² So has he tried to fly too close to the sun?!?!³ Inquiring minds want to know!

Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?

Glossary: bodybuilder, calories, fitness, food, macronutrients, metabolism, muscle, nutrition, physique, workout

Author
Recent Posts

Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer and online coach in San Diego. He's helped hundreds of people lose weight, build muscle, and become more attractive to their loved one so they don't have as strong of a desire to cheat on them anymore. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys making fun of Drake and people who like the guy.

Why Do Bodybuilders Eat So Much?

Related Articles: