Fitness Needs

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Bodybuilding Tips: Eat Right to Build Muscle
by Bernie Latton
http://www.rhonebodybuilding.com

After a number of bouts with the press about the use of
steroids and other drug enhancers to help build and define
muscle, the bodybuilding world is on a crusade. There's a
renewed emphasis on 'all natural' bodybuilding - the art
of sculpting bodies and building muscle without using
drugs.

Instead, they focus on the important role of diet and all
natural supplements in bodybuilding. And when they speak of
diet, they're including changes in when and how much you
eat as well as the proportions of various nutrients in your
meals. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has
taken a serious interest in competitive bodybuilding. Diet
advice has been a stock in trade of personal trainers since
the very start.

While the importance of protein in a bulking up diet hasn't
changed, it's now only one of many recommendations for diet
and nutrition while you're trying to build your body. The
focus these days is on total nutrition - a healthy balance
of proteins, carbohydrates and other essential nutrients.

The essential bodybuilder's diet emphasizes a WAY of eating
as much as it does a group of foods. The idea is to keep
the body working at optimal levels, and part of the way to
do that is to feed your body small amounts of food
frequently. This is the way that bodies were meant to be
fed. When training, you should eat six small meals per
day, the last about 1 hour before bedtime. Each meal should
include one portion of protein and one portion of
carbohydrate. For easy reference, one portion is about the
size of your fist. That's YOUR fist. If you're small, your
portion will be smaller. If you're a big bruiser, you need
more food - your portion will be bigger.

Your body needs six basic groups of nutrients:
Protein is the basic building block of cells for your body.
In bodybuilding, it helps repair cells, builds and repairs
muscle and tissue, provides energy and helps regulate the
metabolic processes of your body. While training, you need
to eat at least one portion of protein with every meal, but
red meat is no longer the favored protein source. Whey,
chicken, fish and other seafood provide complete proteins
that are easily digested by the body and translated into
lean muscle mass.

Your protein should come from a low-fat, high quality
source. While red meat is fine on occasion, the added
calories and saturated fats can play havoc with some of
your bodily systems. Plan on fish - tuna fish is fine, as
is shrimp or scallops - at least three times a week. Eat
chicken, cheese, eggs or legumes as well. Don't forget that
peanut butter is an excellent source of protein, too!

Low carb diets are all the rage, but they're not the best
choice for bulking up on muscle. The trick is in eating the
right carbs. Whole grain products, fresh vegetables and
fresh fruits should all have a major role in your diet.
You'll get your vitamins and minerals, as well as a healthy
portion of essential nutrients to help your body create new
cells.

Another vital indredient your body needs when you're trying
to bulk up and define those muscles is plain, old ordinary
water. You need just about 1/2 ounce of water for every
pound of your body weight daily to stay healthy and build
new tissues. The bigger you are, the more water you need.
An easy way to be sure you get plenty of water (and yes,
you can drink those fancy new fruity waters if you want) is
to drink 2-3 8 ounce glases of water with each meal.

Vitamins are organic compounds found in fruit, grains,
vegetables and meat. Your body requires a balance of many
vitamins and minerals in order to stay healthy. Many
doctors recommend a daily multivitamin supplement to be
sure that you're getting the proper mix.

One last thing your body craves isn't officially a
'nutrient'. It's water, the substance that makes up almost
2/3rds of your body's mass. There is a formula to determine
exactly how much water your body needs daily for optimal
performance, but you don't have to get that involved.
Simply drink 2-3 8 ounce glasses of water with each meal.
And speaking of meals, you should be eating six of them per
day rather than three. By splitting your caloric intake
over the entire day, you keep your body working all the
time.

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