Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Bodybuilding Diet Plans For Skinny Males



If you have a high metabolism rate, you may have trouble adding mass to your body. Obviously you need to consume more calories than you use in order to gain weight. However, pigging out on ice cream and potato chips will put that weight straight onto your gut. The trick is to eat sufficient quantities of the right foods, while maintaining a high level of activity.

Food can be broadly categorized into three groups – carbohydrates, proteins and fats. These, combined with nutrients (vitamins and minerals) and water, form the majority of your nutritional needs. Carbohydrates are materials that the body can break down easily for energy.
They consist of starches and sugars. Unlike what some diet plans would tell you, carbohydrates are essential and should not be eliminated from your diet. Fats contain some essential nutrients as well, and a portion of the right fats, mainly unsaturated and omega 3 fatty acids, are necessary for good health.

Protein forms the main building blocks of muscles. It is important when bodybuilding to consume enough protein to allow the muscles to repair themselves. The body is able to produce many, but not all of the amino acids that make up proteins.
Many bodybuilders believe that a diet high in protein is necessary to build muscle mass. However, consuming high levels of protein without doing sufficient exercise will cause the body to convert the protein to fat, which the body uses for long term energy storage.
In order to gain muscle mass you should consume just enough calories to satisfy your body’s metabolic needs and muscle growth requirements. The best way to do this is to carefully monitor your weight, body fat index, exercise level and calorie intake. What you want is a gradual increase in your body weight while maintaining a healthy body fat index.
There are no specific foods for gaining weight while body building. The best solution is just to eat more of the healthy foods that all bodybuilders eat. Conversely, bodybuilders trying to lose weight should still eat the same foods, just less of them.

Good sources of protein include:
- Egg whites
- Fish
- Chicken
- Beans and lentils
- Whey protein powder

Protein shakes are very popular among bodybuilders. They can be bought pre-made, or you can make them yourself by adding protein powder to a smoothy. Protein powder is available in many forms, with the two most popular being whey or milk based protein and soy based protein. Whey protein is generally considered superior due to its content of essential amino acids and the body’s ability to absorb it.

Bodybuilding Diet Plans For Male Beginners

For those just starting out doing bodybuilding workouts, it may seem tempting to start a hard core diet just like what you would see a bodybuilder on TV eat, complete with raw eggs or nutritional supplements. However, in the beginning, it is best to stick to a simple, healthy diet which is high in carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, while low in processed foods.Some foods you might eat include eggs, lean meats, skim milk, and other lean sources of protein such as soy or fish. For more protein, you might add protein powder to a shake, but this is not necessary for a beginner.
For carbohydrates, eat fruits, vegetables, multigrain bread, and pasta. Avoid taking in too much fat, but you will still want some. If you are working out, you use up a lot of energy, and fat contains a lot of energy to feed the growing muscles. The fats in foods will also make them taste better. Peanuts and olive oils are good examples of healthy fats that you can take. These healthy fats are good for the heart, too, if taken in moderation. It is best to eat a variety of foods with each meal. Having a good diet means avoiding processed foods such as white bread, potato chips, peanut butter (except all natural peanut butter) and canned soups. Also, avoid too much fried foods.

The best way to ensure that you are efficiently using all the energy possible from the food is to eat multiple equal sized meals throughout the day. Many people tend to eat small meals for breakfast and lunch, and a large dinner. However, it is better to eat a large breakfast, and an average meal enough to fill you three more times per day making a total of four meals. Remember that it can take up to 20 minutes for your brain to realize that you are full, so eat slowly. As you increase your workout, you can slowly increase the amount of your protein intake, in order to allow more muscles to build. However, you do not need an excessive amount of protein to build muscle; your body will naturally build the muscle. In any exercise program, a lot of water must be consumed. Bodybuilders should drink about a gallon of water each day. For beginners, just start with the amount you normally drink and increase as you increase your workouts. Be sure to drink throughout the day. Avoid fruit juices which are not freshly squeezed, as they are generally very high in sugar. Just as you will have lapses in your exercise routine, you will probably have the occasional lapse in your diet. If you do, enjoy that meal or snack, and then try again for the next meal.

Bodybuilding Supplements


Working out as a bodybuilder, your diet should contain 55-65% carbohydrates, 20-25% protein, and 15-20% fat. A great way to ensure your body gets the nutritional requirements needed when bodybuilding is to take nutritional supplements.They should not be used to replace foods, but to enhance your diet and provide extra protein, minerals, and vitamins. Most dietary supplements available for muscle growth are protein enhanced supplements, since protein is the building block muscle.

Once you've learned the basics of all around nutrition, meal content, and timing, you can progress further by directing some of your efforts towards targeted supplementation. Supplement your diet with purpose.
Decide what it is that you want to accomplish as far as physical goals or performance and direct your eating and supplement program towards that objective. Don’t just pop a handful of pills hoping they’ll do some good.

Amino acids are the building block of proteins. They aid in repair, growth, and maintenance of muscle tissue. These supplements will enhance your muscle growth results more than any other supplements available on the market. There are twenty-two amino acids that build protein. Not all are essential to your daily diet. The best forms of amino acids can be found naturally in meat, fish, dairy products, and vegetables such as legumes, peas, and grains. The eight essential amino acids are: phenylalanine, lysine, isoleucine, leucine, threonine, methionine, valine and tryptophan. Our bodies need twenty different amino acids, but we are able to make the other twelve kinds from these eight, which we must get from food. Protein-based drinks are also an available supplementation to people looking to enhance their diet and build the most muscle possible, along with weight training. You can also find protein supplements that are rich in amino acids and protein. There are two types of protein-based powder drinks available to bodybuilders. They can usually be found at your local nutritional center store.
Which protein base is right for you, egg based or dairy based? Egg based protein drinks are great for people that are lactose intolerant, and usually contain more protein levels than dairy based supplement powders.
One good supplement is made by Worldwide Sport Center, and called “Whey Supreme”. It’s L-Glutamine Enriched, high protein at 24 grams per serving, a low carbohydrate formula, mineral enhanced and only 120 calories per serving. Depending on your diet and nutritional needs, the correct formula for you need vary greatly.Keep in track with the forthcoming articles,they for sure are genuine information as this one.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Nutritional Supplements for Bodybuilding

Advantages of Vitamin & Protein Supplements
When I first started seriously lifting weights I thought supplements were a waste of time and money. And, to some degree, I was right! However, as I learned more and experimented with my body I realised there was much to be gained from using vitamin and protein supplements.Bodybuilding SupplementsI have used heavy weight training for many years in order to improve other aspects of my life such as my martial arts and soccer training. So, even if you just weight train or bodybuild part time, you should be using a supplement of some kind to help support your natural diet.One factor we can take into consideration is that every single professional bodybuilder uses supplements of different kinds. And, all of them are huge! So, lets take a bit of a leaf out of their book.

High Protein, Healthy Diet is King
Let me start by saying that no matter how good your supplement is, if you have a rubbish diet your progress is going to be rubbish. It is so important to have a diet filled with high quality, natural proteins and other vitamins and minerals. Try to decrease the amount of man made food you eat each day and replace it with fruits, vegatables, milk, eggs and meats. Your health and your muscle gains will thank you later.
Protein Powder Supplements
There are so many different protein powders out there and many of them are way over priced. However, they can be important for the athelete/bodybuilder so it is worth taking the time to find the good ones and research the proper way to take them.
Advantages of Protein Powder:
1)You can get a high protein, low calorie meal which is good for fat loss
2)It is fast in terms of preparation time
3)It tastes like junk food
Disadvantages of Protein Powder:
1)It is heated during production so the protein molecules are not in tact. Many pure health professionals believe that damaged amino acids (heat changes their shape) are not as good as fresh proteins
2)You miss out on other nutrient that you would otherwise get from natural foods
3)It is expensive
Fat Loss Supplements
Most of the time fat loss supplements are a waste of time and money. They are full of junk you dont need and they can give you stomach irratation and leave you with an unhealthy appetite. For the most part, fat loss supplements are just appetite suppressions and just stop you wanting to eat as much. It could be said that this is counterproductive to losing fat as it slows down your metabolism! Again, I will leave the details for a future dedicated post.
Vitamin Supplements
Vitamin supplements, as I have said many times before, are a MUST for anyone who trains at all. With the modern world of take away, fast food and over produced junk snacks we are getting less and less vitamins and minerals from our daily meals. Everyone should be taking a good multi vitamin each day.