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Bodybuilding
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Nutrition for Bodybuilders
BODY BUILDING INVOLVES MUCH MORE THAN JUST GOING TO THE GYM AND LIFTING WEIGHTS.
YOU NEED TO BE WILLING TO EAT, TRAIN AND SLEEP BODY BUILDING.
YOU NEED TO BE WILLING TO EAT, TRAIN AND SLEEP BODY BUILDING.
Body Building and eating go hand in hand.
Training provides the stimulus to grow but you can’t build muscle without food.
I’d say that eating correctly contributes some 60%, if not more, towards your overall success in the gym.
Nutrition and diet are vital to achieving a muscular physique.
For a bodybuilder trying to gain muscle mass, proper nutrition involves eating sufficient quantities of the important nutrients on a daily basis to ensure that the body is fully equipped to grow your muscles.
A bodybuilder’s nutritional needs are completely different the needs of a non-weight training individual. Dieticians recommend around 30 grams of protein intake per day for a normal individual. A bodybuilder who eats only this amount will seriously struggle to gain any amount of increase in muscle mass.
Somebody wanting to train hard with weights and stack on some muscle would need to eat:
Protein – approximately 2 grams per kilo of body weight.
Carbohydrate - approximately 6 grams per kilo of body weight
Fat - around 40 – 80 grams per day.
So a 90 kg bodybuilder would need:
Protein: 180 grams
Carbohydrate: 540 grams
Fat: 60 grams
The most commonly eaten foods for bodybuilding are:
· Meat (chicken, red meat, fish, turkey)
· Dairy (low fat cheese, low fat milk, low fat yoghurt and eggs)
· Grains (oats, rice, pasta, wheat products)
· Vegetables
· Fruit
Training provides the stimulus to grow but you can’t build muscle without food.
I’d say that eating correctly contributes some 60%, if not more, towards your overall success in the gym.
Nutrition and diet are vital to achieving a muscular physique.
For a bodybuilder trying to gain muscle mass, proper nutrition involves eating sufficient quantities of the important nutrients on a daily basis to ensure that the body is fully equipped to grow your muscles.
A bodybuilder’s nutritional needs are completely different the needs of a non-weight training individual. Dieticians recommend around 30 grams of protein intake per day for a normal individual. A bodybuilder who eats only this amount will seriously struggle to gain any amount of increase in muscle mass.
Somebody wanting to train hard with weights and stack on some muscle would need to eat:
Protein – approximately 2 grams per kilo of body weight.
Carbohydrate - approximately 6 grams per kilo of body weight
Fat - around 40 – 80 grams per day.
So a 90 kg bodybuilder would need:
Protein: 180 grams
Carbohydrate: 540 grams
Fat: 60 grams
The most commonly eaten foods for bodybuilding are:
· Meat (chicken, red meat, fish, turkey)
· Dairy (low fat cheese, low fat milk, low fat yoghurt and eggs)
· Grains (oats, rice, pasta, wheat products)
· Vegetables
· Fruit
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Should I Eat Before A Workout? YES.
Protein and carbohydrates are essential components of a pre-workout meal. Protein is comprised of Amino Acids and is considered the “building blocks” of muscle. When you lift weights, tiny micro-tears occur in the muscle. By eating a pre-workout meal containing high quality protein, you are providing a steady stream of amino acids going to the muscles and therefore available for the repair and maintenance of the muscle fibres as soon as they are required. Equally, your pre-workout intake of carbohydrates will provide a great sustained source of the energy required for muscle contraction. Ideally these should be complex carbohydrates, such as those found in brown rice, oatmeal, whole grain breads or whole grain pasta, which have a low Glycemic Index (GI) which means they are digested by the body at a slower rate than simple carbohydrates such as those found in many fruits, fruit juices and milk and dairy products which the body is able to digest very rapidly. These complex carbohydrates can then supply a steady flow of energy during your workouts. The timing of your pre-workout meals is also very important. You should not have a heavy meal within 2-3 hours before your workout and any small meals should be consumed 45 -60 minutes before training so that your body has had adequate time to digest the food prior to exercising. A good small sized meal ideally consumed 45 – 60 minutes before training would be a banana and a small tub of low fat yoghurt, a bowl of oatmeal with low fat milk, a fruit smoothie or a couple of slices of wholegrain bread with a little turkey. |
Should I Eat After A Workout? YES.
The post-workout meal would probably be the bodybuilder’s MOST important meal of the day. If you do not get the right nutrients after training, your body can actually enter a catabolic (muscle breakdown) state. It is very important to eat something within 30 minutes of completing your weight workout, and it should be a balanced meal of carbohydrates and protein. The workout depletes your glycogen (energy) stores and if you don’t refuel your body with a good source of carbohydrates your body will turn to your muscle mass for its source of energy. This could lead to muscle breakdown and loss of muscle mass. During a bodybuilding workout, your muscles experience micro tears and need repairing. Protein works as the building blocks necessary for optimal muscle repair and the body needs a dose within 30 minutes of finishing your workout. A high quality whey protein shake is good to take straight after your workout because it provides protein in a very easily digested form and will get to your muscles much quicker than a chicken or tuna meal. Once you’ve completely trashed your muscles, it’s time to refuel then. They need nutrients to grow and the sooner you get them into your body, the sooner the repair can begin. Right after training, your muscles are at their most greedy. They will absorb a much higher percentage of the nutrients you put into your system than they would normally so take advantage of this as soon as possible! |
How Often Should I Eat?
Bodybuilders need to consume vast amounts of calories to enable their body to increase the muscle mass and create the desired physique. This is very difficult to achieve with a standard three-meals-a-day format, so rather than sticking with the traditional style of eating, a bodybuilder should aim to consume 5-6 smaller meals each day.
By doing this, you are also supplying the body with a steady stream of nutrients throughout the day. By having frequent smaller high protein meals you will ensure amino acid concentration in the blood stream throughout the day. Without this steady supply of amino acids in the blood stream, the body may begin to break down lean muscle to supply its amino acid requirements.
Each of these meals should contain 30 – 50 grams of protein. Any more than that is just wasted as the body is generally unable to digest any more than that amount in one meal.
Ideally, as a bodybuilder you should be eating a meal approximately every three hours. This ensures you can get the quantities of nutrient you need and allows enough time for the body to adequately digest each meal before the next one is consumed.
Bodybuilders need to consume vast amounts of calories to enable their body to increase the muscle mass and create the desired physique. This is very difficult to achieve with a standard three-meals-a-day format, so rather than sticking with the traditional style of eating, a bodybuilder should aim to consume 5-6 smaller meals each day.
By doing this, you are also supplying the body with a steady stream of nutrients throughout the day. By having frequent smaller high protein meals you will ensure amino acid concentration in the blood stream throughout the day. Without this steady supply of amino acids in the blood stream, the body may begin to break down lean muscle to supply its amino acid requirements.
Each of these meals should contain 30 – 50 grams of protein. Any more than that is just wasted as the body is generally unable to digest any more than that amount in one meal.
Ideally, as a bodybuilder you should be eating a meal approximately every three hours. This ensures you can get the quantities of nutrient you need and allows enough time for the body to adequately digest each meal before the next one is consumed.
Body Creation - Steve Grigoropoulos 0419 348 838
