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Bodybuilding Nutrition

The key to achieving your ideal body is nutrition, without the right diet your body will never reach its full potential. There are three main keys to achieving a good nutrition program.

Smaller more frequent meals. The right balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat. Drink Plenty of water.

Lets take a look at each one of these keys in more detail.

Smaller more frequent meals. The main purpose of this is to increase your metabolism, this in turn helps your body to burn more fat, also by having frequent meals less than 4 hours apart helps to prevent your body from entering its catabolic state where you begin to lose muscle and gain fat. The catabolic state is when your body starts to think it is starving and begins storing calories as fat and using your lean muscle to feed itself. With most nutritional programs you will need to eat around 6 meals a day spaced about 21/2 to 3 hours apart.

The right balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat. Firstly lets look at what the right balance is. Each meal should consist of 40% Carbohydrates, 40% Protein and 20% Fat. This combination is important for your body to get the best results from each macronutrient, without the Carbohydrates your body won't absorb the protein effectively to build muscle and without the protein your body will burn out quickly and use any left over Carbohydrates to store as fat.

Lets take a closer look at the role of each macronutrient.

Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are our body's main source of energy, without Carbohydrates your body won't have the energy it needs to train effectively. There are two types of Carbohydrates, complex Carbohydrates and simple Carbohydrates. Complex Carbohydrates are released slowly into the body while simple Carbohydrates are released quickly. Most of the time we need complex Carbohydrates to substain our body between meals, the exception to this is just after training when we need simple Carbohydrates to replenish our glycogen levels which help our body to recover faster and rebuild muscle. Complex Carbohydrates come from whole grain breads and cereals, starchy vegetables and legumes. Simple Carbohydrates are found naturally in fruit, milk and milk products and vegetables and are also found in processed foods such as sugar, lollies and soft drinks.

Protein. It's estimated that over 50 % of the dry weight of your body is protein. Proteins are everywhere in the body - in muscle, bone, brain cells, blood cells, genetic matter, skin, hair, fingernails, etc. Without protein our muscles would not be able to grow. Maintenance, repair and growth of body tissue is accomplished by the digestion of protein into subunits called amino acids. Our body's utilize 20 amino acids, 11 of which our body makes called non essential amino acids, these are ALANINE, ARGININE, ASPARTIC ACID, CYSTEINE & CYSTINE, GLUTAMIC ACID & GLUTAMINE, GLYCINE, ORNITHINE, PROLINE, SERINE, TAURINE & TYROSINE and 9 of which we need to get from our food which are HISTIDINE, ISOLEUCINE, LEUCINE, LYSINE, METHIONINE, PHENYLALANINE, THREONINE, TRYPTOPHAN & VALINE, to find out more about each amino acid and its role see our amino acid guide. It is important to eat protein to provide our body with the essential amino acids it needs, as without them all our muscles would not grow.

So what foods provide the best protein and how much do you need. Some of the best sources are eggs, egg substitute , chicken breast, turkey, lean red meats and tuna. How much you need depends on your body, the basic rule is to eat 1 – 2 grams of protein per kg of lean body mass a day. To work this out you will need to know your body fat percentage, say your body fat is 12% and you weigh 100kg that leaves your lean body mass at 88kg so you would need to consume somewhere between 88 – 176g of protein a day.

Fat. All the cells in the body have some fat in them. Hormones are manufactured from fats. Also fats lubricate your joints. So if you eliminate the fat from your diet, then your hormonal production will go down. Your body will then start accumulating more body fat than usual so that it has enough fat to keep on functioning. Since testosterone production is halted, so is muscle building. Therefore, in order to have an efficient metabolism we need healthy fats. 20% of your calories should come from healthy fats, Any less than 20% and your hormonal production goes down, Any more than 20% and you start accumulating plenty of fat.

There are three types of fats: Saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated.

Saturated Fats: Saturated fats are associated with heart disease and high cholesterol levels. They are found to a large extent in products of animal origin.However, some vegetable fats are altered in a way that increases the amount of saturated fats in them by a chemical process known as hydrogenation. Hydrogenated vegetable oils are generally found in packaged foods. In addition, coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil, which are also frequently used in packaged foods are also highly saturated.

Polyunsaturated Fats: Fats that do not have an effect in cholesterol levels. Most of the fats in vegetable oils, such as corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, and sunflower oil are polyunsaturated.

Monounsaturated Fats: Fats that have a positive effect on the good cholesterol levels. These fats are usually high on the essential fatty acids and may have antioxidant properties. Sources of these fats are Fish Oils, Virgin Olive Oil, Canola Oil, and Flaxseed Oil. We like to refer to these type of fats as good fats.

Some good sources of fat are canola oil, natural peanut butter, olive oil, flaxseed oil and fish oils.

Drink Plenty of water. Why is water so important, our body's are made mostly of water, so it only makes sense that we need a lot of it for our body's to function. High protein diets require a lot of water. The extra water is needed to reduce stress on kidneys and liver. Bodybuilders who take creatine will require even more water intake. Another reason is hydrated muscle cells are more anabolic. Adequate water also aids in fat loss, digestion, and nutrient uptake. 8 glasses a day is what is recommended to the general public. However, bodybuilders require much more water due to our diet and active lifestyle. How much water you require will depend on your weight, what supplements or drugs you are taking, and if it’s a rest or workout day. The general recommendation for bodybuilders is at least 28mls per kg of bodyweight, so a 100kg guy would need at least 2.8L per day.