American bodybuilder Hunter Labrada rose to prominence for his insane muscle mass, size, and posing skills. In a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Labrada shared the two golden rules of meal timing and frequency.
Hunter Labrada has carved out a promising Men’s Open career in the IFBB Pro League. As the son of Hall of Famer Lee Labrada, Hunter entered the sport with huge expectations on his shoulders to live up to the family name and the high standard set by his father.
Hunter dominated the competition at the 2020 Tampa Pro and took home the top prize. The win earned him an entry into the 2020 Mr. Olympia contest, where he placed eighth in his first appearance. His next showing saw him secure the title at the 2021 Chicago Pro and return for the most prestigious fitness showcase in the world. He improved his standing and edged out fellow standout Nick Walker to finish fourth at the 2021 Mr. Olympia.
He’s coming off a lackluster performance at the 2022 Mr. Olympia last December. He came in looking noticeably off and dropped from fourth to seventh place. Following the outcome, Labrada opened up on his frustrations at missing the mark but assured fans he would be back. Since he placed out of the top five, he will need to earn an invite for the upcoming edition of the contest by winning a pro show as the point system has been removed this year.
Labrada admitted to problems with timing his peak, which resulted in a flat appearance. He declared his ambitions to compete in two shows this season. A few days later, Labrada shared the changes he made to his diet and training regimen in the wake of the disappointing performance.
The 30-year-old is focused on cutting down his waistline. He’s been practicing vacuum poses and consuming more whole foods in the off-season. While he’s confident about his size, Labrada intends to work on building thickness in his lower back.
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Last month, Hunter tweaked his diet and workout routine further based on the results he was getting. He tipped the scales at a huge 280 pounds fasted in the morning and added 20 minutes of daily fasted cardio. He’s determined to figure out his peak this season and isn’t solely eyeing the Olympia throne.
Hunter Labrada shares 2 golden rules of meal timing & frequency
In a recent YouTube video, Hunter Labrada shared his two golden rules of meal timing and frequency. He started by stressing the importance of total daily nutrition over following a program set in stone.
“I’m a much bigger believer in your total daily nutrition is much more important than each individual meal. If it works better for you to have a bigger breakfast and then a couple smaller meals and then a bigger dinner, more power to you,” Labrada said. “If it works better in your mind, and this is the way my mind works to optimize your food around training. Consuming a large portion, upwards of fifty percent of your daily carbohydrate intake around training time and then lowering it, tapering it off as the day goes on, that’s awesome too.”
Hunter recommends spacing your meals out at least two hours and argued against going more than four hours without one. For his second rule, he encouraged setting a cap on the amount of protein per meal.
“The big things with meal timing and frequency, there’s a couple golden rules that I never ever want to break. First, I never want to go longer than four hours without eating. I also never want to stack another meal on top of a meal any closer than two hours. This comes down to digestion and maintaining a good balance of nutrients in your body. So, first golden rule is never sooner than two hours and never later than four hours. My next big rule is don’t eat too much protein in a single sitting.
In my opinion, more than 60 grams in one sitting is an overkill. That’s based off of my personal experience, people I’ve talked to, and research I’ve been privy to. You’re going to start to experience a lot of digestion issue symptoms such as gas, bloating, irregular bowel movements, the list goes on and on. The second golden rule is no more than 60 grams of protein per serving.”
“Once you gets past those two rules, it comes down to what fits your day the best. You should have what you’re trying to hit for the total day in terms of macros and then break them out into the amount of meals you want to have.”
Labrada added the caveat that things may work differently for the more advanced bodybuilders or for those who are far into their preps.
“The only exception would be for those that are really advanced and far into prep. Everything gets magnified in prep. Little things make a big difference. You need to be more consistent with your meal timing. As you get deeper into prep, meal timing becomes much more important.”
Labrada regularly educates his followers on a range of topics related to bodybuilding. Two weeks ago, he encouraged them to take advantage of A/B split variations to power through plateaus.
Hunter Labrada gave fans a look into his full day of eating along with the supplements he utilized to maximize the 2023 off-season. He followed up with his take on whether you should weigh your food raw or cooked to keep a track of your macronutrients and calorie intake.
You can watch the full video below:
RELATED: Hunter Labrada Plans to ‘Minimize’ Waistline in 2023 Off-Season: ‘I Don’t Need to Be Chasing Size’
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