Ok, so you're over fifty, you've got a slow metabolism and a fast-paced career schedule (long hours, travel, inconsistent meals and exercise). Are you destined to be fat and tired, or can you have a successful career and vitality too? The latter is possible as long as you apply sound nutrition and exercise principles to the reality of your life style.
Avoiding body fat deposition (or losing it) is primarily a matter of ingesting fewer calories than you use. As you grow older, your metabolism slows down and, for most of us, your activity level declines as well. Thus, we typically are burning fewer calories at rest at a time in our lives when we are "at rest" more of the time. The challenge for a "Fifty and Fit" diet and supplement plan, then, is to not only provide the right level of calories, but also the nutrients that will stimulate the older metabolism to operate at an optimum level, promoting energy and vigor along with a slim appearance.
There is no substitute for a balanced diet. Powders, liquids or pills cannot substitute for solid food and yield permanent, healthful results (if God had meant us to live on supplements, we would have been born with a blender in our mouths instead of teeth). A balanced diet should consist of 2500 to 3000 calories a day (more depending on athletic activities) split up into proper proportions of protein (23 to 30%), fat (20 to 25%) and carbohydrates (45 to 55%). Note, that while the "zone" diet, recommending 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbohydrate, is currently getting a lot of publicity, that level of fat is probably not appropriate for the over 50 metabolism. These nutrients should come from a variety of foods spread throughout the day. In fact, it is important to eat often to spur your metabolism. If possible, five small meals a day (compared with two or three) would result in both decreased transit time (going to the bathroom more often) and increased metabolism (burning calories more quickly since your body knows it will be fed again soon). By eating often, we process food faster and more efficiently. When you eat once or twice a day, the body slows down and stores as many calories as possible in fat.
Too busy to eat three meals a day, let alone four or five? This is where recognizing the logistics of your life style comes in and planning to compensate for it. Cut up carrot sticks, celery sticks and apple slices and bring them with you in Tupperware containers for between meal snacking. Similarly, carry the 3 1/2 ounce, easy opening cans of Albacore tuna with you, available at most grocery stores; or keep a blender at work and utilize a good quality protein powder between meals. If it is difficult for you to find the time for breakfast in the morning (easily the most important meal of the day, since it is preceded by an eight hour fast), cook up a large batch of oatmeal (not instant) once a week and heat up a small portion in the microwave every morning (add yogurt or a protein shake if you don't have time for eggs as a protein source).
In addition to eating often, it is even more important to drink water often to keep your metabolism up. In fact, this is the single most important (and least expensive) diet aid available. Frequent hydration promotes elimination, allows optimum absorption of nutrients and maintains a feeling of fullness (thus suppressing appetite). Here again, a busy lifestyle may make it difficult to take in enough water. You need at least half a gallon a day (more if exposed to heat and exercise - professional bodybuilder's typically down three gallons a day). Don't count on yourself to visit the drinking fountain for your "8 glasses a day". Instead, carry those 1 1/2 liter bottles of water, found in all grocery stores, with you wherever you go (in the car, at work, on the plane); make sure you down at least two of them a day (you can always refill them if you are concerned about expense).
The attached sample menu includes choices for each food group based on how different types of proteins, fats and carbohydrates impact our metabolism.
Proteins build muscle and provide the necessary amino acids for metabolic functions. They are harder to digest than fats or carbs, so we use calories in metabolizing them. Most vegetable sources of protein aren't complete (don't contain all the necessary amino acids we require, especially the branched chain aminos), and many animal sources are also high in fat. The best sources for a "Fifty and Fit" diet are egg whites, fish and white meat of poultry (turkey or chicken breast without the skin). You can estimate protein by figuring six grams of protein per ounce of meat or fish, nine grams per ounce of chicken or turkey breast and four ounces per large egg white. Try to get about 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal, not to exceed one gram per pound body weight in the course of a day. Your body will probably not be able to utilize much more protein than this at one time, and any excess will be stored as fat in addition to being hard on the liver and kidneys.
Fats provide a secondary source of energy (after carbohydrates), are easily absorbed and stored (usually in places and quantities not to our liking), but are important in brain and hormone functions and as transport intermediaries in a variety of metabolic processes. Since a gram of fat weighs 9 calories (versus 4 for a grain of protein or carbohydrate), a goal of any diet is to limit fat consumption. Just as important, though, is picking the right fats to consume. Recent research indicates that small amounts of "good" fats lower both insulin resistance and the glycemic index of carbohydrates, avoiding insulin surges and allowing us to burn fat as fuel while encouraging storage of carbohydrates as glycogen instead of fat (kind of like stoking a furnace to get the fuel to burn properly). Fats in the "good" category include mono - unsaturated fats such as olive oil use in cooking and salad dressings); poly-unsaturated fats such as canola or safflower oil (also good for cooking); and fish oils (which provide Omega 3 essential fatty acids, notably linolenic acid, EPA and DHA, necessary for good health) found in salmon, herring and Ahi tuna; and flax seed oil (which provides Omega 6 essential fatty acids, most notably linolcic acid) best talcen as a supplement (liquid or capsule). One other "good" fat related to linoleic acid is CLA (conjugated linoleic acid ) which has been found in animal studies to enhance immune function, support lean body growth and have anticarcinogenic properties (available as a supplement). Fats to avoid (as much as possible) are animal fats, dairy fats, tropical oils (palm and coconut) and any hydrogenated (solid) oils (margarine, shortenings, etc - if it is solid on your table, chances are it will be solid in your veins).
Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy and provide glucose (blood sugar) for immediate energy and glycogen (stored in muscle cells and the liver) for a stand-by energy source. Simple carbohydrates (sugars) from candy, processed foods, fruits and some vegetables, give a boom and bust, yo-yo sugar curve, while complex carbohydrates offer long- term energy because they are broken down more slowly for a longer blood sugar curve. More importantly, large amounts of simple carbohydrates cause sugars in insulin, a condition in which you can't burn fat as fuel. Plus, as we get older, our cells become insulin resistant (insulin normally signals our muscle cells to store carbohydrates as glycogen), resulting in ever larger proportions of carbohydrates to be stored as fat! Clearly, as we get older, we must limit carbohydrate intake and be choosy about which forms we ingest, especially in this fat-free processed food era we live in (the "Snackwell" age) - the fat has been taken out of foods and replaced with sugar. Just remember that the insulin resistance syndrome we experience as we age, if not influenced and controlled by diet and exercise, can lead to Diabetes and an early grave. Sugar Kills!
Strive to use complex carbohydrates in their high fiber forms: oatmeal (thick flakes, not instant), brown rice (not white rice), baked potato with the skin (not mashed potatoes, and no butter on either), barley, corn, celery, figs, prunes, etc. The more fiber, the harder it is to digest and the more calories you will burn in the process. A high fiber diet imparts a feeling of fullness (appetite suppression), provides bulk for decreased transit time and better elimination, while increasing our metabolism to burn more calories. Finally, soluble fiber yields phytochemicals that act as antioxidants and protect against heart disease, such as Betaglucan. Many vegetables contain phytochemicals as well, such as broccoli (sufurafane) and tomatoes (lupein). If you're on the road and cannot get enough fiber, then consider a fiber supplement such as Metamucil, but try to make sure you have some combination of grains, vegetables and fruits at every meal (no, french fries don't count).
For an older, career-oriented individual (short on the time for a perfect nutrition program), supplementation with vitamins and minerals makes good sense. Far from being expensive, consider it cheap health insurance. Since vitamins and minerals are catalysts working in conjunction with proteins, fats and carbohydrates, it makes sense to take them with food. For the sake of convenience, I suggest taking supplements with your morning and evening meal (if your first full meal isn't until lunch, take your morning supplements with lunch).
In addition to a good quality multivitamin / mineral pill, I suggest taking additional antioxidants including COQ 10 and grapeseed extract, along with increased amounts of vitamin E (800 to 1000 I.U per day) and vitamin C (1500 to 2000 Mg per day).
Supplemental herbs should include saw-palmetto (prostate protection), ginkgo biloba (mental acuity) and garcinia cambogia (taken first thing in the morning with Chromium picolinate and L-Carnitine to stimulate fat metabolism). While MaHuang is an effective thermogenic agent, it may be too strong in nervous side effects to be included for inclusion in this diet plan.
A final "supplement" to discuss is booze. To keep heart-healthy, some alcohol is a good thing (keeping the blood thin, etc). But forget beer (all that stuff about a beer belly is true) and go for wine, especially red wine. Grape skins (which make wine red) contain proanthicyanidins and salicylates, both shown to protect against heart disease. As an adjunct for health, we're talking a glass a day, not a bottle a day.
Exercise is obviously important in keeping our metabolism stimulated and should be balanced between cardiovascular (aerobic) training and resistance (anaerobic) training. While the former will burn fat while the aerobic pace is maintained, the latter will cause you to burn fat after resistance training is over, as the muscles repair themselves. Both are necessary to be "Fifty and Fit."' Fat burning training is based on low intensity, long duration aerobic activity. To determine the correct level of intensity (whether on a stationary bicycle, jogging or on a stair stepper), one must bring his heart rate up to 65% to 70% of aerobic capacity. The standard formula to determine that heart rate is to subtract your age from 220 and multiply by 70% (220-30=170 x 7O% = 119 beats per minute). The accurate and prudent way to determine your aerobic capacity is to have your doctor run a stress test, along with a complete physical to determine your limits, not just aerobically, but in all health aspects. Once your aerobic capacity is determined, you should attempt to maintain that heartbeat level for at least 30 minutes at a time, preferably in the morning before eating to maximize your fat burning potential (since most glucose would have been used while you were sleeping). The heart rate may be approximated by occasionally checking your pulse or by employing a heart rate monitor. One other benefit of aerobic fat burning training in the morning; is that you "turn up" your metabolic set point for the rest of the day.
Resistance training should be done a minimum of 3 times a week for between 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours per session. Exercises will be done in sets of 8-12 repetitions emphasizing compound exercises (exercises using a combination of large muscle groups) that will stimulate your endocrine gland system to release anabolic hormones resulting in increased muscle and decreased fat. Curls for the girls does very little compared to squats or pullups. The following program assumes one hour of weight training three times a week and 45 minutes of aerobics four times a week (alternate days).
The following are sample Workout Programs and sample Nutrition Plan..
Workout Program
Monday: Chest / Back
1 Cable Lat Pulldowns (alternate sets below)
Behind neck wide grip
Narrow grip to chest
2 x 10
2 x 10
2 Bent over Barbell Rows 3 x 10
3 Seated Row Machine 3 x 10
4 Dummbell Pullover (superset with) Dembbell Flys
Pullover
Flys
3 x 10
3 x 10
5 Bench Press 3 x 10
6 Pec Deck Chest Machine 3 x 10
Tuesday
Aerobics for 45 minutes
Wednesday: Legs / Abs
1 Squats 3 x 10
2 Barbells Step Ups (alt legs) 3 x 10
3 Leg Extension Machine 3 x 10
4 Leg Curl Machine 3 x 10
5 Stiff Legged Deadlift 3 x 10
6 Hanging Knee-ups 3 x 10
7 Crunch / hip-ups 3 x 10
8 Negative Lying Knee-ups
Buddy Exercise Resist Partner Pushing Knees Down
3 x 10
9 Bar Behind Neck Trunk Twists
Seated
Standing
3 x 50
3 x 50
Thursday
Aerobics for 45 minutes
Friday: Shoulders / Arms
1 Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press (Alternate Sets Below)
Palms Forward
Palms Reverse (twisting)
2 x 10
2 x 10
2 Barbell Shurgs 3 x 10
3 Dumbbells Deltoid Flys (Superset Sets Below
Lateral (arms to side
Front (one arm at a time)
3 x 10
3 x 10
4 Lying Triceps Curlbar Extension 3 x 10
5 Standing Cable Triceps Extension 3 x 10
6 Seated One Arm Scott Curls 3 x 10
7 Seated Curl Machine 3 x 10
Saturday
Aerobics for 45 minutes
Sunday
Aerobics for 45 minutes
Fifty & Fit Nutrition Plan
Morning
8 oz of water, 1000 mg HCA, 400 mcg Chromium Picolinate, 200 mg L-Carnitine, 30 mg COQ10, 50 mg DHEA, 250 mg Ginkgo Bilboa.
Ride stationary bycycle for 45 minutes or one hour of weight training approx.
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
Grapefruit juice 8oz 70 0 17 0
Water 8oz
Breakfast
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
Oatmeal w/skim milk & 1 cup 140 2 24 9
Raspberries 1/2 cups 40 0 8 0
Egg Whites (scrambled) w/one yolk 4 129 5 2 18
Whole Wheat Toast (Dry) 2 140 2 24 6
with Honey 1 tbsp 60 0 16 0
Coffee cup 4 0 0 0
Also: 8oz water, 2 multivitamins, 500 mg vitamin C, 400 IU Vitamin E, 1000 mg flaxseed oil, 200 mg grapeseed extract.
Mid Morning Snack
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
Apple 1 81 .5 21 0
Brown Rice 1/2 cup 110 0 23 2
Albacore Tuna 3 1/2 oz can 85 2 0 21
water 8 oz
Lunch
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
grilled chicken 1/2 breast (Skinless) 4 oz 196 5 0 36
sandwich on whole wheat 130 2 22 5
w/lettuce and tomato 20 0 5 0
pasta salad vinagrette 1/2 cup 140 4 4 5
water 8oz
Mid Afternoon Snack
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
Bran Muffin 1 140 3 29 4
Non Fat Yogurt w/fruit 8oz 190 1 35 12
Also: 8oz water, 400 mcg chromium, 1000 mg HCA and 200 mg of L-Carnitine
Early Evening Snack
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
Apple Slice with carrots & celery sticks 4 oz 105 .5 27 1
water 16 oz
Dinner
Food Amount Cal Fat Carbs Protein
Swordfish (Broiled) 5 oz 220 6 0 30
Brown RIce 1/2 cups 110 0 23 2
Broccoli 6oz 55 0 9 5
Red Wine (Cabernet, etc) 8oz 160 0 9 0
Whole wheat roll 1 130 2 22 5
Before Bed
8 oz of water, 1 multivitamiin pill, 500 mg vitamin C, 400 IU Vitamin E, 1000 mg CLA, 200 mg grapeseed extract, 1 mg melatonin, 50 mg DHEA, 30 mg CoQl0, 400 mg saw palmatto, 500 mg calcium, 100 mg magnesium.
Totals
Calories Fat Grams Carb Grams Protein Grams
2453 35 340 60
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=59B036EB66B488D3
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Saturday, 30 May 2009
10 Quick Tips to Build Mass
Muscle mass is the straw that stirs the drink in the sport of bodybuilding. Talk all you want about symmetry, shape and definition, but in the final analysis, muscle mass is the defining element of a physique. The mass building equation has three components: a correct diet strategy, hardcore training and high tech supplementation. It;s not rocket science, but there are tricks to it, nonetheless.
To save you time and trouble, I've complied 10 tips to jump start anabolism and create a positive nitrogen balance - to pack on muscle mass, you need to take in more nitrogen via protein and training than you excrete through the natural metabolic process.
1. Emphasize the Negative
Muscle growth is the logical byproduct of muscle contraction. Much emphasis is placed on the concentric phase of a lift where the muscle shortens as it contracts. But the stretching of the muscle during the eccentric, or negative, phase where the muscle lengthens while maintaining tension can directly cause muscle hypertrophy, too. Emphasizing the negative is an easy technique to overload muscles and promote radical gains in mass.
2. Eat Fish
Fish containing higher amounts of fat - salmon, for instance - provide us with the ever popular omega-3 fatty acids. Why is this important? The omega-3s make the muscle more sensitive to insulin; hence, they fuel glycogen storage and amino acid entry into muscles while also preserving glutamine stores.
3. Increase Sodium Intake
I'm not kidding. Sodium is an essential mineral that is an absolute must for muscle growth. Sodium has a bad rap because it can cause water retention - anathema to contest ready bodybuilders. On the plus side, sodium enhances carbohydrate storage and amino acid absorption while also improving the muscle's responsiveness to insulin.
4. Stop All Aerobics
Aerobic exercise has a detrimental effect on mass building. Aerobics interfere with strength gains and recovery while burning up valuable glycogen and branched chain amino acids (BCAA). Adding mass is the best way to upgrade your resting metabolic rate (RMR); is the RMR is elevated, more calories are burned and it is easier to stay lean.
5. Lift Explosively
The amount of force a muscle generates is proportional to the amount of muscle growth you'll be able to create. Force is defined as mass (the weight you use) multiplied by acceleration (the speed at which you push a weight against resistance). To generate more force, then, progressively increase your poundages while lifting explosively - in this context, you actually increase speed during the second half of the rep.
6. Dramatically increase your calories for three days
You will never achieve a positive nitrogen balance with a low calorie diet. It takes raw materials - carbs, protein and fats - to build new muscle mass and support recovery. Increasing your calories by 50% (from 3,0000 to 4,500 per day, for instance) for three days can spur growth while adding little if any bodyfat. The key is to limit the increased calories to a designated three day period; you'll be able to stimulate growth by improving muscle sensitivity to insulin and by providing more carbs for glycogen storage. If you are in a overtrained state - and if you're not gaining any new muscle mass, this is probably the case - the additional calories will promote anabolism before fat storage is able to kick in. That's why you want to limit the 50% increase to a three day period. After that time, return to your typical intake of daily calories; you'll have stimulated new growth without adding unwanted fat.
7. Rest
Many bodybuilders are unable to pack on mass because they are always training and, therefore, always recovering from those grueling workouts. Taking a couple of days off can restore glycogen, increase anabolism and allow hormonal indexes such as testosterone and cortisol to return to optimal levels.
8. Eat in the Middle of the Night
Anabolism depends on an excess of calories. As you are well aware, bodybuilders eat four to six times per day to increase the absorption of nutrients and to provide a steady influx of carbs, protein and fat. Expanding on the four to six meals per day plan is to include a protein drink in the middle of the night that can encourage additional growth. Glutamine EFX, providing 30 grams of protein and carbs along with the 'big three' (see tip #10), is a good option for this late at night infusion of nutrients.
9. Increase Strength Through Powerlifting
Your muscles respond to training in three ways. When you train with high reps (more than 15), there is an increase in endurance with no substantive improvement in size or strength. The six to twelve rep range - the range that all big bodybuilders rely on - promotes an increase in both size and strength. Powerlifters generally stay with low reps, two to four per set, which supplements strength with slight variances in size. However, if you set aside one week of training to pile on the weights with low reps the subsequent improvement in strength will make you stronger when you return to the six to twelve rep routine. Here's the formula: More strength equals more tension on the muscle equals more growth.
10. Supplement with the Big Three:
Glutamine, Creatine and BCAA
Glutamine is known as the immunity amino. If you are overly stressed from dieting or training, the immune system kicks in, releasing glutamine into the bloodstream. Having low levels of glutamine will inhibit muscle growth - that's why supplementing with glutamine is important.
Creatine is associate with added power and the ability to produce more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - the chemical fuel source for training and growth. Supplementing with creatine allows bodybuilders to raise creatine levels in the muscle - therefore enhancing strength and ATP - without the unwanted fat that you'd be saddled with by getting all your creatine exclusively from food.
Branched chain amino acids act as a handy fuel source when glycogen stores are low. Adding BCAA to your nutritional program will increase your nitrogen balance while preventing the dreaded catabolic state that derives from overtraining or overdieting.
Muscle mass is the straw that stirs the drink in the sport of bodybuilding. Talk all you want about symmetry, shape and definition, but in the final analysis, muscle mass is the defining element of a physique. The mass building equation has three components: a correct diet strategy, hardcore training and high tech supplementation. It;s not rocket science, but there are tricks to it, nonetheless.
To save you time and trouble, I've complied 10 tips to jump start anabolism and create a positive nitrogen balance - to pack on muscle mass, you need to take in more nitrogen via protein and training than you excrete through the natural metabolic process.
1. Emphasize the Negative
Muscle growth is the logical byproduct of muscle contraction. Much emphasis is placed on the concentric phase of a lift where the muscle shortens as it contracts. But the stretching of the muscle during the eccentric, or negative, phase where the muscle lengthens while maintaining tension can directly cause muscle hypertrophy, too. Emphasizing the negative is an easy technique to overload muscles and promote radical gains in mass.
2. Eat Fish
Fish containing higher amounts of fat - salmon, for instance - provide us with the ever popular omega-3 fatty acids. Why is this important? The omega-3s make the muscle more sensitive to insulin; hence, they fuel glycogen storage and amino acid entry into muscles while also preserving glutamine stores.
3. Increase Sodium Intake
I'm not kidding. Sodium is an essential mineral that is an absolute must for muscle growth. Sodium has a bad rap because it can cause water retention - anathema to contest ready bodybuilders. On the plus side, sodium enhances carbohydrate storage and amino acid absorption while also improving the muscle's responsiveness to insulin.
4. Stop All Aerobics
Aerobic exercise has a detrimental effect on mass building. Aerobics interfere with strength gains and recovery while burning up valuable glycogen and branched chain amino acids (BCAA). Adding mass is the best way to upgrade your resting metabolic rate (RMR); is the RMR is elevated, more calories are burned and it is easier to stay lean.
5. Lift Explosively
The amount of force a muscle generates is proportional to the amount of muscle growth you'll be able to create. Force is defined as mass (the weight you use) multiplied by acceleration (the speed at which you push a weight against resistance). To generate more force, then, progressively increase your poundages while lifting explosively - in this context, you actually increase speed during the second half of the rep.
6. Dramatically increase your calories for three days
You will never achieve a positive nitrogen balance with a low calorie diet. It takes raw materials - carbs, protein and fats - to build new muscle mass and support recovery. Increasing your calories by 50% (from 3,0000 to 4,500 per day, for instance) for three days can spur growth while adding little if any bodyfat. The key is to limit the increased calories to a designated three day period; you'll be able to stimulate growth by improving muscle sensitivity to insulin and by providing more carbs for glycogen storage. If you are in a overtrained state - and if you're not gaining any new muscle mass, this is probably the case - the additional calories will promote anabolism before fat storage is able to kick in. That's why you want to limit the 50% increase to a three day period. After that time, return to your typical intake of daily calories; you'll have stimulated new growth without adding unwanted fat.
7. Rest
Many bodybuilders are unable to pack on mass because they are always training and, therefore, always recovering from those grueling workouts. Taking a couple of days off can restore glycogen, increase anabolism and allow hormonal indexes such as testosterone and cortisol to return to optimal levels.
8. Eat in the Middle of the Night
Anabolism depends on an excess of calories. As you are well aware, bodybuilders eat four to six times per day to increase the absorption of nutrients and to provide a steady influx of carbs, protein and fat. Expanding on the four to six meals per day plan is to include a protein drink in the middle of the night that can encourage additional growth. Glutamine EFX, providing 30 grams of protein and carbs along with the 'big three' (see tip #10), is a good option for this late at night infusion of nutrients.
9. Increase Strength Through Powerlifting
Your muscles respond to training in three ways. When you train with high reps (more than 15), there is an increase in endurance with no substantive improvement in size or strength. The six to twelve rep range - the range that all big bodybuilders rely on - promotes an increase in both size and strength. Powerlifters generally stay with low reps, two to four per set, which supplements strength with slight variances in size. However, if you set aside one week of training to pile on the weights with low reps the subsequent improvement in strength will make you stronger when you return to the six to twelve rep routine. Here's the formula: More strength equals more tension on the muscle equals more growth.
10. Supplement with the Big Three:
Glutamine, Creatine and BCAA
Glutamine is known as the immunity amino. If you are overly stressed from dieting or training, the immune system kicks in, releasing glutamine into the bloodstream. Having low levels of glutamine will inhibit muscle growth - that's why supplementing with glutamine is important.
Creatine is associate with added power and the ability to produce more adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - the chemical fuel source for training and growth. Supplementing with creatine allows bodybuilders to raise creatine levels in the muscle - therefore enhancing strength and ATP - without the unwanted fat that you'd be saddled with by getting all your creatine exclusively from food.
Branched chain amino acids act as a handy fuel source when glycogen stores are low. Adding BCAA to your nutritional program will increase your nitrogen balance while preventing the dreaded catabolic state that derives from overtraining or overdieting.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Bodybuilding for Real People and Real Life Results
Introduction
In my first article, I discussed training and the importance of generating high intensity while utilizing proper form and getting adequate rest. As important as training is, it is only a small piece of the overall pie that delivers success and progression in Real Life Bodybuilding. A much larger percentage of that pie is Nutrition. Nutrition is by far the most important factor and is almost always responsible for both success and failure in bodybuilding, and for that matter any and all fitness programs. In the following article, I'll lay out a basic nutrition program. With this program, you'll be able to figure out your daily Protein, Carbohydrate, Fat and Calorie needs. I'll also include some key tips on nutritional timing, metabolic enhancement and preferred food and supplement choices. So get ready! Bodybuilding for real people and real life results Nutrition 101 is about to begin
Daily Caloric Intake
This is an area that has been used and abused a lot over the past several years. At one point, high calorie diets are in and a year later low calorie diets are back in fashion. The same holds true for Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats. Opinions seem like they're changing on a daily basis and they are! The following formula is tried and true. lf you follow it and make adjustments where they're needed, you can't help but to achieve nutritional nirvana. Many complex formula's for figuring daily caloric needs have been introduced. My formula is a simplified and effective version.
Take your current body weight or a realistic body weight goal (Up or Down), and multiply it by your desired factor (either 12, 15, or 18). If you want to lose weight or have a slower metabolism, multiply your weight by 12. For maintaining your current weight, multiply your weight by 15. And for hardgainers or those looking to gain weight, multiply your weight or desired weight by 18. This is a starting point for figuring out your daily caloric needs. (Example: Male who is 200lbs x 15 = 3000 calories per day, Female wh is 130 lbs x 15 = 1950 calories per day). You may need to adjust your caloric need by 50 - 100 calories per day should you stagnate and not be achieving your desired goals. This formula also works as a nice starting point for a bodybuilder looking to figure out the different caloric needs over the course of a year.
A Pre-Contest bodybuilder would use their desired body weight multiplied by 12. An off-season bodybuilder would use their weight or desired weight multiplied by 15 or 18 depending on how fast their metabolism is and how lean they want to stay in the off-season. I personally use my body weight multiplied by 15. This allows me to grow and stay very lean in the off-season. This formula works equally well for both men and women.
After figuring your daily caloric needs, you now need to figure out how many grams of protein, carbohydrates and fat you'll take in per day. Roughly 30-35% of your calories should come from protein, 50-60% from carbohydrates and 10-15% from fats. Each gram of protein or carbohydrate is equal to 4 calories. Each gram of fat is equal to 9 calories. Your calories should be partitioned somewhat equally throughout 5-6 meals or more per day. Higher calorie post workout meals are encouraged and will be discussed later in this article. Although vitamins and minerals will not be discussed in detail in this article, I do recommend everyone use some type of Mega Multi Vitamins or Vitamin Pack on a daily basis. Such supplementation provides daily insurance and eliminates the worry of meeting required needs for general health and recovery.
Protein
Protein is essential for the repair and growth of muscle tissues. The amino acids derived from proteins form the building blocks for all cells in the human body. Without protein, your organs, hair, nails, immune system and every other part of your body would not survive. Those who work out need to supply their bodies with enough protein to carry out the bodies regular day to day functions along with recovering from your daily workouts. Daily protein requirements for active people have been disputed for years between sports medicine professionals and those who decide on the US RDA's. My personal opinion and that supported and accepted by most sports nutritionists and bodybuilding experts is 1 - 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. This is a perfectly safe and very effective amount. Any less and your recovery and growth will suffer. Higher amounts of protein don't seem to be any more beneficial, either.
Your protein intake should be approximately 30 - 35% of your total caloric intake. A 200 lbs male eating 3000 calories per day would want to consume 250 grams of protein per day, this would be 33% of his total calories. A 130 lb female eating 1950 calories per day would want to consume roughly 160 grams of protein per day, this would be 33% of her total calories. Your protein intake should be divided somewhat equally throughout all of your meals. If our 200 lbs male consumed 6 meals per day, he would want to consume 35-43 grams of protein per meal. If our 130 lb female were eating 6 meals per day, she would want to consume 20-30 grams per meal.
Best Protein Sources: Protein Powders and Supplements, Turkey, Chicken, Fish (White), Lean Red Meat, Egg Whites.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the bodies preferred energy source. For the purpose of this article, I will break them down into two categories: Simple carbohydrates and Complex carbohydrates, Complex carbohydrates are carbohydrates that are broken down slowly and elicit a mild blood sugar response. With the exception of post workout meals, complex carbohydrates should represent the majority of the carbohydrates in your diet.
Simple carbohydrates are only recommended during the first two hours following your workout. The reason for this is simple carbohydrates elicit a rapid rise and fall in your blood sugar levels. This not only causes you to feel sluggish and tired but it also causes such an insulin spike that the body begins to convert and store those simple carbohydrates as fat, sometimes even before the simple carbohydrates leave the liver. Needless to say you've triggered hormones that are more conducive to fat storage than they are to fat burning and muscle building.
However during that two hour period following your workout, often considered the post workout window of opportunity, your body and your muscles are very receptive to simple sugars. Spiking your insulin levels at this time will not only help to begin refilling all your depleted glycogen stores but will also help you recover and feel revived from your intense workout. It is believed that 60 - 80% of your glycogen replenishment (carbohydrate storage & replacement) needs to take place within two hours after training. In other words, the quicker you can get the carbohydrates into those hungry muscles, the better your chances of having a great workout the next time out. It only makes sense that simple carbohydrates would work the quickest and get the job done with no drawbacks. But remember this is really the only ideal time for simple carbohydrates in your diet. During all other time frames, complex carbohydrates will help you to sustain a nice steady energy level that delivers a steady flow of carbohydrates to the muscle.
Carbohydrates should make up 50-60% of the calories in your diet. As with proteins, you need to space your carbohydrates throughout your meals for the day. A good ratio would be 1 - 1.5 grams of carbohydrates per gram of protein in all your regular meals and 2-3 grams of carbohydrates per gram of protein in your two post workout meals. I mention two because one should come immediately at the gym usually in the form of a drink or bar or both depending on your size, and the other should come about 60-90 minutes later in the form of a meal at your home, office or other destination. These two meals should represent 30-45% of your total calories and carbohydrates for the day. If you use a higher carbohydrate pro workout meal (60-90 minutes prior to training), its perfectly fine to make adjustments in your other meals ratio's to balance out your daily percentages.
If you do eat foods that contain simple sugars, an easy way to combat the insulin spike is to simply make sure your eating complete meals. In other words, taking in protein with simple sugars, or for that matter any carbohydrates will slow down the absorption rate for a much more favorable and growth promoting blood sugar profile.
Best Complex Carbohydrate Sources: Oatmeal, Brown Rice, Beans, Hot Air Pop Corn, Green & Yellow Vegetables, Shredded Wheat, Yams, Sweet Potatoes.
Best Simple Carbohydrate Sources: (Post Workout). American Body Buildlng's Critical Mass, XXL, Bulk Force, Amino Force, Carho Force, Steel Bar's, Amino Power, Super Shakes (The product of choice depends on your size and caloric needs). Foods include Boboli Pizza with Fat Free Cheese, Whole Wheat or Buckwheat Pancakes, Whole Wheat Pasta's, Syrian Bread sandwiches with real turkey or chicken, etc.
Best Meal Replacements: American Body Building's High Voltage.
Fats
All the fat you need should occur naturally in your everyday diet. However, if your fat intake is extremely low (below 10%), I would recommend supplementing a tablespoon of flaxseed oil, olive oil or even a serving of peanuts just to make sure you get your essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acids do play a role in growth, recovery and day to day well being. My recommendation is your daily caloric intake consist of 10-15% fat.
Mid Night Meals
At one time or another you've probably been warned not to cat anything before bed or in the middle of the night because it will turn immediately to fat. This is Dead Wrong! One of the biggest mistakes a bodybuilder can make is to go 10 or more hours without eating. If you eat every 2 - 4 hours during the day to prevent catabolism, what logic could convince you to fast every night for 10 - 12 hours. This might be the easiest way to interrupt recovery and growth on a daily basis. The following recommendation might be the most important growth promoting tip you've ever received. Eat 1 - 2 times during the course of the evening. I'm not talking about a full meal but rather a small protein based meal. Carbohydrates are not all that important during the middle of the night simply because you're not doing anything but sleeping. However, protein will help to prevent catabolism and, during the all important Growth Hormone releasing sleep, promote anabolism. l'd recommend either drinking a protein shake, taking some amino's, eating 3 - 4 egg whites or having a cup of cottage cheese just before bed and then once again in the middle of the night when you get up to go to the bathroom. All you need is about 75 - 125 calories in each meal and don't forget to include them in your daily counts. Start eating in the middle of the night and you'll be growing around the clock, and don't worry, I guarantee you won't get fat.
Summary
As I stated in the beginning of the article, nutrition is by far the most important factor and is almost always responsible for either success or failure in bodybuilding and most fitness programs. Although very complex, a basic understanding can guide anyone in the right direction. As you progress in your bodybuilding and fitness programs and gain further understanding of the relationship between performance, recovery and nutrition, you'll be able to find certain nutritional strategies and manipulations that will help drive you to new heights. In future articles, we'll discuss such strategies and manipulations. Until the next issue, good luck to all and hopefully bodybuilding's nutritional jigsaw puzzle is a little easier for you to understand now. By Dave Picard
The Seven Sacred Rules for Packing on Muscle Weight You Should Never Break
- Eat at least five times a day, every two to three hours. You must keep your system saturated with amino acids and glycogen from protein and carb sources, respectively, if you want to push muscle growth to abnormal levels. You never know when your body will need these precious nutrients. What's more, not eating every few hours can cause the starvation mechanism to kick in, which signals your body to begin consuming its own muscle tissue.
- Center your bodybuilding program around the big compound movements, such as squats and presses. You should strive for maximum efficiency of effort, or to work as many muscle groups as possible with as few sets as possible. Squats, for example, train not only your quads but also your lower back and glutes, so direct work for the muscles that assist during the squat should be minimal. This leaves more of your recovery ability to help in the growth process when you're out of the gym.
- Don't do more than 30 all-out work sets at any workout, and less is usually better. Overtraining is the number one reason most bodybuilders can't pack on muscle weight.
- Don't train more than two days in a row. Your muscles aren't the only things that have to recover after a heavy workout; your entire nervous system needs a rest too.
- Have a protein drink immediately after every traning session. Research indicates that boosting insulin levels right after an intense workout promotes muscle protein synthesis, which leads to faster growth.
- Take a break after four to six weeks of high intensity training. Either take a full week off or downshift your intensity for two weeks. This lets you recuperate fully and in many cases promotes a new growth spurt.
- Keep your cruise control on. Try to keep your cool during the day no matter what. Getting overly excited can stress you out and cause excessive energy burn, energy your body could be using to fuel extraordinary muscle growth.
Monday, 25 May 2009
Chest (1 Super Set): Perform two warm up sets of bent arm flies. The first set should be very light and the second should be moderate (approximately 60% of the weight you'll use for your all out set). For the Super Set, choose either Flat Bench Flies, Incline Flies or Seated Fly Machine Flies (whichever one you warmed up with) and work 1 set to absolute failure. Immediately super set to either the Flat Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, or the Decline Bench Press, and with a narrow grip (shoulder width), perform 1 set to failure with your shoulders and elbows flared parallel.
This is the only exercise you'll do for chest. When you've completed this set, your chest will be completely stimulated. Any further movements or exercises would be considered overtraining and will eat into your recovery time.
Triceps (1 Drop Set): Choose 1 Triceps exercise. Pick a weight you feel you'll be able to perform 6 - 10 perfect reps, and work 1 set to failure. Immediately drop the weight by 50% and continue to work to complete failure. As with all sets, you should work every set to failure, however when you are able to perform 10 reps or more on any set, you should increase the amount of weight you are using at the next workout. In other words, for all exercises and set, 10 repetitions should be your graduating point. Just remember to always work every set to failure regardless of the rep count.
Now take one full days rest!
Hamstrings (1 Drop Set): Choose one hamstring exercise. Perform two warm up sets. The first should be very light and the second should be moderate (approximately 60% of the weight you'll use on your all out set.) Next, pick a weight you'll be able to perform 6 - 10 perfect repetitions and work to failure. Immediately, drop the weight by 50% and continue to work to complete failure. That's all you need to do for hamstrings. Any zip you may have left in your hamstring you'll need for your compound quadriceps set. Just remember to write everything down and follow all the basic principles.
Quads (1 Super Set): For quads, you'll always super set using the leg extension first, followed by one compound exercise (either leg press, squats, hack squats, or smith machine squats). The idea is to pre-exhaust the quads with the leg extension, and then you'll be positive its your quads reaching failure first on your compound exercise, and not your glutes, back or other muscle groups. This is the main principle behind every super set in this entire workout. You should perform one light to moderate set of leg extensions and the compound exercise of your choice before you begin your all out set. Good luck, this one's a killer.
Now take one full days rest!
Calves (1 Drop Set): Choose one calve exercise. Do two warm up sets. The first warm up set should be very light. The second warm up set should be moderate (approximately 60% of the weight you'll use on your all out set). Next, choose a weight you can perform 6 - 10 repetitions with perfect form and work to failure. Immediately, drop the weight by 50% and work to complete failure. The purpose of drop sets here and throughout the workout is to stimulate every muscle fiber possible without overtraining. Believe it or not, your calves are finished.
Shoulders (1 Super set and 1 Set to Failure): For shoulders, your going to train your front and side delts first with a super set, and then you'll do one straight set to failure for your rear delts. Before starting, choose one type of lateral raise and choose one type of compound overhead pressing movement (like the Seated Frontal Barbell, or Dumbbell Presses). Warm up by doing one light to moderate set of each. Choose a weight for lateral raise that you can perform 6 - 10 perfect repetitions and work to failure. Immediately super set to the compound pressing movement and work to complete failure. You've completed front and side delts. Rest about 1 - 2 minutes, then choose a read delt raise, either machine or dumbbell. Perform one straight set to complete failure. Congratulations, you've completed your shoulders. They should be pumped and fried.
Now take one full days rest।
Back (3 Straight Sets, Includes Traps): The reasoning behind doing only straight sets for back is simple. The back is a large muscle group and to work it, you must recruit a lot of arm, in particular bicep help. Therefore, you most drop sets and super sets will guarantee bicep failure but won't guarantee total back failure. The answer to attacking the back is carefully thought out straight set pulldown. Perform two warm up sets before beginning your all out set. The first warm up set should be very light. The second warm up set should be moderate (approximately 60% of the weight you'll use on your all out set). Next, perform one straight set to complete failure. You should be able to perform 6 - 10 repetitions.
Your next back exercise will either be a bent over reverse grip row or a machine row. Choose one. Perform one straight set of 6 - 10 repetitions to complete failure. Form is of the utmost importance and you should also be very aware of holding your static contraction for at least one second on every rep.
The final back exercise is the shrug for your traps. Choose either cable, dumbbell, barbell or machine shrugs. One light warm up set is advised on this exercise. Once you've completed your warm up, perform one straight set of 6 - 10 perfect repetitions to complete failure. Your back is finished.
Biceps (1 Drop Set): By this point, your biceps should be somewhat pre-exhausted from your back workout. Choose one bicep exercise and perform one set of 6 - 10 perfect repetitions to complete failure. Immediately drop the weight by 50% and finish the biceps off by working to complete failure. Your biceps are finished, they should feel like they're about to blow through your skin.
Take one to two days off (Judged by how you feel).
This workout is based on the 'more is not better' philosophy. High intensity, low volume, and increased rest are the principles behind this workout. Any and all who've tried it have experienced success. Bodybuilding doesn't have to be a long and tedious process which yields little and slow gains. With this type of workout, you'll begin making progress as early as day one. Dorian Yates, Mike Mentzer, Arthur Jones and others have all written and talked about similar programs. Give this workout a try. I'm sure you'll see size and strength increases like you've never seen before. Add good nutrition, rest and supplementation (all of which we'll talk about in future issues) to the program, and your progress could be infinite. Until next time, training intense and smart, and drink your Critical Mass as soon as your done training
Are you satisfied with your current workout and nutritional progress. Do you see progress each and every week? Have you tried various training and nutritional programs and only find yourself tired, overtrained and no further ahead then when you started?
If you answered yes to either of the first two questions or can't relate to the last, then you've either just started training or your part of a very small minority. The fact is most people have grown to accept the fact that growth is either very slow or non-existent, maintenance instead of progress becomes the goal. This just doesn't have to be. Lack a good sound knowledge is the culprit. In the following series, I'll try and address all of the variables that effect progress. I'll discuss training, nutrition, supplementation and other topics. I'll help you develop a blue print for Bodybuilding success for Real people and Real Life Results.
The topic we'll discuss in this first series will be TRAINING. This could quite possibly be the most abused and misunderstood area in all of Bodybuilding. There is more bogus information floating around out there than there are McDonald's. Almost everyone overtrains. In the following paragraphs, I will outline a workout that will seem unrealistic and definitely out of the norm in comparison to mostly all of today's workout programs. However, if you opt to follow it and give it a try, you'll see results like you've never seen before. You'll actually begin making progress immediately and your goal will no longer be just maintenance. So keep an open mind and get ready to absorb some of the best workout information you've ever been given.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
