Torwen:
Hello and welcome back to the Ideal Nutrition podcast. I’m Torwen Eerkins and I’m joined today with my co-host Aidan Muir. Today we are touching on what we hope is a super applicable topic. Nutrition for maximising gym progress on a budget. We’re going to run through some background. We’ll cover cost-effective sources for macros. We’ll also cover supplements and other ways to save money on your gym journey.
Aidan:
We’ll start with a brief overview of nutrition for muscle gain. I think that’s important because it adds context for why we’re talking about these things.
The first thing we want to talk about is sufficient calories. That means having enough calories, whether that is maintenance or a surplus. Also, I think a cost-effective bulk would favour a small surplus. That’s what I recommend anyway. I was at an event on the weekend with friends. I don’t talk about nutrition with friends.
Someone was telling me they’re a very skinny guy. They said they aren’t going to bulk because they don’t have the money. When you think about the difference between maintenance and a lean bulk. It’s like 5% of calories. It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter that much. Anyway, you need sufficient calories. Being in a deficit would not favour muscle growth.
You also need sufficient protein. I would consider that often 1.6 grams per kilo of protein or higher for building muscle. An appropriate amount of carbs and fats is a good idea as well. We could go into more detail if we want to. Supplements aren’t a high priority, but some can help. We’ll talk about them as well. Micronutrients still matter because they can help with performance and recovery.
Torwen:
Let’s talk about some cost-effective sources for each macro. It makes sense to start with protein. Like you said, it’s important to get 1.6 grams per kilo body weight or higher. That can be a significant amount, especially if you’re already at a higher body weight. In terms of cost-effective sources in the shops, we’ll talk about whole foods first.
Then we can chat about supplements after. Chicken breast is typically pretty affordable. It’s between $1.50 and $2 for 30 grams of protein. Bassa white fish fillets are pretty cheap as well. They’re also between $1 and $2 for 30 grams of protein. Canned tuna, low-fat cottage cheese, and lean beef mince can be good options too.
Aidan:
I would also consider a minimum effective dose for protein. Protein is the most expensive macronutrient. So I would lean towards around that 1.6 grams per kilo mark.
Going higher might lead to a tiny bit more muscle growth. However, it’s very much diminishing returns. You can get almost exactly the same progress just by doing that. Once we talk about the other macros, you will see the price difference. That’s why I’m referring to that. Dried lentils per 30 grams of protein comes out as 60 to 80 cents.
That’s super cheap. But that brings up the plant versus animal protein debate. When we look at plant-based proteins, we consider a few things. We look at the amino acid profile. We also look at digestibility and bioavailability. A lot of those things stop mattering once you get up to 1.6 grams per kilo of protein. This is especially true if you have a mix of animal and plant-based protein sources. There are a few reasons for that.
One is that with that much protein, you typically end up with an abundance of all amino acids. Even if one food doesn’t have the perfect amino acid profile, other foods can cover the gaps. You end up with an abundance of all of them. The second is bioavailability. Once your intake is high, even with slightly lower absorption, you still get more than enough. Other quick notes on options. Eggs used to be one of the most cost-effective sources.
Now it’s about $2.50 to $3. I’ve been doing charts on this for over five years. I used to copy and paste the old charts and update the prices. Eggs have skyrocketed. Lean beef mince is $2.50 to $3 per 30 grams of protein. It comes out pretty comparable to high-fat mince. It might even be cheaper because there’s more protein.
Don’t quote me on that one. I won’t go too deep on that. Lean beef mince is probably what I’m recommending anyway. For less cost-effective options, rump steak is about $4 per 30 grams of protein. I feel it is about $8. Certain forms of steak get a lot more expensive. Protein bars are about $5. It depends on what ones you pick to get 30 grams of protein.
Torwen:
Amazing. Should we talk about healthy fats then. This is another one where I would say a minimum effective dose matters. Making sure you have healthy fats can support hormones. That can also help with gym progress. Having about 0.5 grams per kilo of body weight is a pretty good guide.
If you need more to fill up calories, that’s an option too. In terms of cost-effective foods, peanut butter is more cost-effective. Olive oil is a fantastic source of healthy fats. However, it’s probably not as cost-effective if we look at it that way.
Aidan:
I did the same per 30-gram comparison here. Peanut butter comes out as 55 to 70 cents per 30 grams of fat. Per 30 grams of fat is a weirder comparison than protein. Still, it gives a comparison. It shows protein is the most expensive macronutrient. Olive oil comes out as 50 cents if you choose regular olive oil. The moment you go to extra virgin olive oil, it comes out as 90 cents. Extra virgin is what I recommend.
If you look at extra virgin olive oil in the supermarket, it looks expensive upfront. Once you do the per 30 grams of fat comparison, it comes out relatively cheap. You’re also probably not having 30 grams of fat in a single sitting from olive oil. Mixed nuts comes out as $1 to $1.50. If you’re trying to be super cheap, not my preference.
It’s not what I recommend. I also don’t want to get into the seed oils debate. Canola oil and vegetable oil come out as 10 to 15 cents per 30 grams of fat. Not my recommendation. It’s interesting to know how cheap that is. It also shows why a lot of people go towards that angle. As a non-cost-effective option, avocado is $4 to $5.50 for the same 30 grams of fat.
Torwen:
Cool. With carbs, this would make up most of the rest of your calories. I don’t think there’s a minimum effective dose. It makes sense to have enough carbs. That could look like three to six grams per kilo of body weight across a day. Depending on your calorie requirements, that will change.
Carbs are the most cost-effective macro because you can buy in bulk. Rice, oats, pasta, potatoes, and bread can be relatively cheap. This is especially true if you buy home-brand.
Aidan:
Rice and pasta come in around 20 to 30 cents per 30 grams of carbs. Once again, you can see why a minimum effective dose for protein matters. Then putting the rest towards carbs is super cheap. Oats are 30 to 45 cents. Bread is 60 to 80 cents. I’m using averages here. Some will be more expensive and some cheaper.
Bananas are 90 cents to $1.20. Potatoes are $1 to $1.30. Microwave rice is a more expensive example. It is more convenient for some people. Microwave rice is $1.40 to $1.80. You can see it’s gone from 20 to 25 cents up to $1.40 to $1.80. That’s the cost of convenience.
Torwen:
If you prep your rice, you can save yourself a dollar.
Aidan:
There you go. If you’re at three grams per kilo, it gets way higher too. Do we want to talk about cost-effective supplements. Or supplements that are worth taking.
Torwen:
Yeah, let’s do it. Let’s start with creatine. I think that’s an important one. Creatine is very well supported in research. It is a cheap supplement to take. It helps with training adaptations. It saturates in the muscles. That helps create extra muscle energy. That often means you can give more in training.
That leads to better returns. Three to five grams a day is what we would typically recommend. If you take that dose, it takes about 30 days to saturate muscle stores. If you want to do that quicker, take four or five-gram doses across a seven-day period. That will saturate stores more quickly.
Aidan:
If we go down the minimum effective dose route, once you hit saturation. For somebody around 80 kilos, it takes about three grams per day to maintain optimal stores. The cognitive stuff is probably a lot higher. For maintaining maximum stores in muscle, it’s about three grams.
If you are smaller, scale it down a little. If you are larger, scale it up a little. If someone who is 80 kilos takes five grams per day. They take 40% more than they need. They get through the bag 40% quicker. You can make it cheaper by adjusting the dose.
Buying in bulk is also way cheaper. I personally recommend buying from places like Bulk Nutrients if you’re in Australia. I’m not sponsored by anything, so it’s easy for me to say. In-store locations cannot compete. They have to rent the space. They have to pay staff. They have to do all these things. They have to make it look nice. Bulk Nutrients is probably a warehouse. They ship it out from there. They don’t have to make it look nice.
It is so much cheaper. You can buy in bulk and get it way cheaper. There are many other online options that are super cheap. That’s the one I typically recommend. I would recommend buying in bulk to make it way cheaper. On that topic, protein powder is a supplement worth taking. Specifically, whey protein concentrate. That’s assuming you have no issues with whey. It comes out as about $1.60 per 30 grams of protein.
That’s if you buy it in bulk from somewhere like Bulk Nutrients. The cost comparison is more expensive if you buy small amounts. I often see other nutrition professionals hating on protein powder. They call it an expensive waste of money. If we use $1.60 per 30 grams of protein. Chicken breast comes out around that price. That’s one of the cheapest options. Protein powder is one of the cheapest options if you do it this way.
Torwen:
Absolutely. For anyone listening, whey isolate versus concentrate matters too. The difference is often very small. If you have issues with lactose, isolate makes sense. It has less carbs and less lactose. Otherwise, there is not a huge difference. Concentrate is much cheaper than isolate.
Aidan:
I would also say it matters more if you are really sensitive to lactose. It also matters if you are double scooping. From memory, it’s about two to three grams of lactose in a scoop of whey concentrate. Some people will be fine with that. Some won’t. The more you take, the more relevant that becomes.
If you were living really cheap, a multivitamin and or a fibre supplement could cover gaps. Those gaps could arise in your diet. It feels weird to spend money on a supplement in that case. Some people take bulking on a budget to an extreme. They might not buy vegetables like I would like them to. Sometimes a multivitamin or fibre could help with that too.
Torwen:
Any others you feel are worth it? Or should we move to things that are maybe not worth your money?
Aidan:
Last one on my list is fish oil supplementation. When we talked about healthy fats, I used avocado as an example. I didn’t do the numbers on salmon. Salmon would be a very expensive source. Omega-3s have a lot of benefits for a lot of people. The benefits are greater if you come from a very low baseline intake.
If you’re living on a budget, you probably don’t get many omega-3s through food. You are probably more likely to benefit from fish oil supplementation than the average person. I would possibly recommend that. It will come out noticeably cheaper. It’s cheaper than getting the same omega-3s through salmon.
Torwen:
That makes a lot of sense. In terms of things that may not be worth your money. I’m going to roll off protein powders just to cut that off the list. Things like collagen protein waters are 100% collagen peptides. That will not give you the same return for muscle gain as whey isolate or whey concentrate. Save your money. Don’t buy those. There are whey protein waters out there as well. Double check what the protein is.
Aidan:
Any protein water is almost always more expensive if you buy it in a bottle. Powder is better. Other ones on my list are amino acids. I think they are not worth it. We have a lot of research showing that once you have sufficient total protein intake. It won’t further help muscle growth. If someone disagreed with that claim.
I would say the research shows this. Beyond that, logic shows this too. If you have a high protein intake, you end up with an abundance of all amino acids anyway. As an example, a standard serve of branched chain amino acids has around the same amount as one scoop of whey protein. One scoop of whey protein is also 23, 24, or 25 grams of total protein.
That’s total amino acids. It has those BCAAs and other amino acids. You can see why that leads to better results. Have you got much on your list.
Torwen:
Things like fat burners are potentially not supported by research. I think save your money there as well.
Aidan:
The last one, and I don’t know how people would view this. Testosterone boosters can have benefit sometimes. That is particularly if they address low magnesium and low zinc intake. You can address those in other ways. You can probably address them cheaper ways as well. It’s unlikely to move the needle if you have sufficient intake. The other things in testosterone boosters often don’t translate to noticeable muscle growth.
Torwen:
Another one is pre-workout supplements. If you’re trying to save money, you can save money there. You can go for coffee. That works if you take it mainly for caffeine.
Aidan:
Yeah, absolutely. I had that on my list as an optional thing. I don’t want to take pre-workout from people no matter how cheap they live.
Torwen:
Agreed.
Aidan:
Okay, other general tips. One thing we covered with supplements is buying in bulk. It depends on the amount you’re buying. If you buy chicken breast in bulk, you might get it slightly cheaper. Many other things work that way too. If you buy a massive bag of oats versus a small bag, it will last longer.
Something we both have on our list is frozen vegetables and frozen berries. I don’t know if I’ve spoken about this much in the podcast. I was pretty obsessed with saving when I first went to uni. I came from a relatively low-income family. I viewed having a buffer of savings as independence. It was the ability to be free. I valued that incredibly highly. People make fun of me for this. When I was in uni, I used to get frozen veg, chicken, and rice.
I would have those and not add anything to it. Because I didn’t spend money on seasonings. I lived that way for a few years. I probably wouldn’t do it again. But one reason I used frozen veg is price. If you buy the same vegetables frozen instead of fresh, it’s a huge difference. It added up over a few years. It made a big difference.
Torwen:
People often think frozen veg isn’t as nutritious. In fact, it is. It’s frozen at peak ripeness. It’s stored in the freezer. It stays at ripeness rather than going bad. That also reduces waste. It is an easy addition if you are conscious of your budget. Along those lines, meal prepping makes sense.
It also helps if you’re trying to save money. Cook your protein in bulk. Base meals around cheaper carbs like rice and potatoes. Repeat meals during the week. That makes it less likely you eat out. Then you don’t spend money that way.
Aidan:
Then there’s Aldi versus Woolies and Coles.
Torwen:
This is a bit of a debate, hey.
Aidan:
Yeah. It’s funny going from my family thing. My parents did shop at Aldi. It was the one thing I was like, no, I’m not going to do that. After a few years, I tried Aldi. I was like, this is so much cheaper. Why did I not do this?
Torwen:
It’s a lot cheaper, especially for staples. If you’re on a budget, it makes sense. This may just be a phase of your life. It might be like Aidan had with his rice and frozen veg. Aldi makes a lot of sense. You can get so many staples there. It’s definitely worth having a look.
Aidan:
Cool. We will wrap up there. Hopefully, you got at least one useful thing out of this. That’s if you’re interested in this topic. Either way, we’re going to wrap up. This is episode 245. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed listening. If you found value, we would massively appreciate a rating and review. Thank you.