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Bodybuilding can be defined as the pursuit of lean muscle mass. The importance of a proper diet to accomplish this goal cannot be understated. In fact, many experts argue that diet can account for up to 90% of a person's success at building their body. Fortunately, there is an easy-to-follow meal plan that works like magic to burn fat and gain muscle.

In this day and age of fad diets and trendy diets and so on, it is important to note that bodybuilding involves a lifestyle. Regular, intense and goal-oriented training sessions combined with an intelligent approach to eating will promote the development of a muscular physique that most trainees desire. What is required is discipline, patience, persistence and consistency. All of these attributes are favourable and can lead one to success in not only physique goals, but also in personal and professional pursuits.

When an individual adopts bodybuilding as a lifestyle, the physique improvements can be maintained over the long term. A steady, consistent and daily approach will prevent the agony of short-term weight loss followed by a quick regain of weight and the accompanying depression and feeling of hopelessness. Training and eating like a bodybuilder works, becomes habit-forming and eventually gives one a real sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

We like to adhere to the KISS (keep it simple, smart guy) principle when it comes to meal plans. So lets not going to get too technical. Were just going to lay it out for you. First of all, you should eat smaller meals, 5-6 times per day, 2 -3 hours apart. This will keep your metabolism going and provide your muscles (stimulated by short, intense workouts) fed with nutrients required for growth. These meals will consist of protein, carbohydrates and fats.

Proper protein intake will vary according to age, gender, goals and so on. Generally speaking, each meal should contain between 25-50 grams of protein. A rule of thumb is that a healthy male trying to promote lean muscle mass should ingest 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Therefore, if your body weight is 200 pounds, a daily intake of 300 grams of protein (6 meals with 50 grams of protein each) would be required. The key is that if you are training hard, you need protein.

Sources for protein include lean meats, fish, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese and whey protein. Avoid fatty meats and try to grill your meats and do not fry them in fat. Remember to include a protein selection at each meal.

When discussing carbohydrates, it is vital to distinguish between the different types of carbs. For this discussion we will identify 3 different types of carbs: complex carbs include potatoes, yams, bread, cereals, grains, pasta and rice; simple carbs include most fruit and veggie carbs which include most vegetables and leafy greens.

Fats are also a necessity but should come from the following sources: extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, nuts (almonds are best) and fish oil. The diet is very simple. For every meal, choose a portion from the protein group, the complex carb group and the veggie carb group. A good rule of thumb is that a serving size for your protein and carbs should be about the size of your fist. Have a serving of fats at 2-3 meals per day and only have simple carbs first thing in the morning at breakfast and immediately following your workout. Actually, it's critical to have a post workout shake with whey protein and a simple carb like a banana. Bring it to the gym with you and have it while the sweat is still on your body.

Now to fine tune this diet you can do this: if you are trying to increase muscle mass and not worried too much about losing fat, eat as above. However, if you wish to accelerate fat burning, do not eat complex carbs at your last 2-3 meals of the day. Lean protein (chicken breast or fish) and salads or chunky veggies (broccoli and asparagus are excellent choices) will do the trick.

Let's take this one step further. Here is a magic formula for extreme lean muscle mass and fat burning. For three days in a row, come hell or high water, only eat complex carbs first thing in the morning (a serving of oatmeal will do it) and immediately after your workout. On the fourth day, eat a ton of carbs. Actually cheat on this day. Eat whatever you want, but ensure that you eat sufficient protein and lots of complex carbs. This is the time to eat pizza, pasta, cake and so on.

This three day off, one day on carbs has produced fantastic results in many bodybuilders. We like it because any cravings we can put off until our "carb" day (which isn't really that far off in the future) and then indulge at that time. The secret is to remain strict on the low carb days. This takes planning, preparation and discipline. You can do it. Once you start to see the results you get from this carbohydrate manipulation, you will find it much easier to stick to it.

This meal plan should produce such dramatic results so quickly that your friends will be asking you what you are "on". The real secret is daily discipline. Take it one day at a time. Eat right according to the principles outlined above, manipulate your cab intake and train with intensity focusing on basic, heavy movements. This is the bodybuilding lifestyle. Engage in it and change your life, long-term and for the better.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Body Building

# posted by 26146 : 10:24 AM  0 comments

Are you looking at gaining some serious mass? Well this article is going to take you through how to do this and show you how to gain quality mass rather than just fat!

Its really important how many calories you are taking in when trying to bulk up so you must set an eating plan and stick to it as you can easily lose track of your food. What you need to determine is how much carbohydrates, protein and fats should you be getting from your diet. A very popular ratio is a 50/30/20 ratio where you are in taking 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 20% fats in your diet. As far as the calories go you need to be taking in more calories then you are burning off. If you are not then obviously you are going to be losing weight no matter what!

A good starting method with your diet is to track your calories for a couple of weeks which involves writing down everything that you have eaten within that time period. You then need to determine the calories of each meal and find out the average number of calories you are consuming per day. Once you find out the average calories you have been consuming you are going to add 300-500 calories to your current diet for the first two weeks. For the next at least 8 weeks you are going to add 300 calories to your daily intake each week.

As far as how often you should be eating it really depends on how fast your metabolism is. If you have a really fast metabolism then you should eat every 2 to 3 hours so that all your fuel isnt being burnt so quickly.

Carbohydrates -

Carbohydrates are essential for energy in your diet and you need a lot of carbohydrates as stated earlier, up to 50% of your diet must consist of carbs. For the weight gaining diet there are two types of carbohydrates you will be consuming, simple and complex carbs. You should only eat simple carbs which consist of sugars/dextrose after your workout only as they will provide a large insulin spike in your body and this can cause you to store more fat. Complex carbohydrates on the other hand are great for bulking because the energy is released slowly into your body and do not create a spike. Therefore you will focus your diet on more complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates include:

Dextrose
Fruits
Sugar
Sports drinks
Candy

Complex carbohydrates include:

Brown rice
100% whole wheat bread
Oats
Pasta
Spaghetti
Beans
Vegetables in particular the greens

Protein -

Protein is very important because it builds lean muscle tissue and thats how you get big. As we stated earlier your weight gaining diet should roughly consist of about 30% of protein and you should be getting about 1-2 grams of protein per pound of your body weight. You will find that your recovery after each workout with a good intake of protein is going to be a lot faster. Besides the food sources for protein sometimes time can be short and you may not be able to cook the food you need for you weight gaining diet as often. Therefore whey protein supplementation is very popular as you can drink a protein shake that gives you about 40 grams of protein and only takes a few minutes to prepare. These shakes are not to be the sole source of your diet as obviously they dont contain all the other nutrients found in other food sources. Its just that its very important when you are sticking to a strict weight gaining diet that you are getting your necessary protein and dont fall behind. Important foods that contain protein include:

Tuna
Salmon
Chicken breast
Beef
Pork
Chops
Turkey
Egg whites

Fats -

The final 20% of your weight gaining diet should consist of fats. Most people today who are training seriously overlook the necessity of fats in their diet. In recent times fats have got a bad reputation and people are trying to avoid it no matter what. Supposedly everyone feels that fat equals fat around your belly. There are two types of fat and thats the most important factor. You have saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are the fats that should be avoided at all cost as they are the bad fats and have no benefit what so ever. The unsaturated fats such as poly and monounsaturated fats are helpful and help the body and have been proven to raise natural testosterone. Salmon and fish are excellent sources of protein and the fat that we want. Theres virtually no saturated fat in fish and that is good to keep your bulk diet clean. Be sure to consume a lot of nuts and cook with olive oil. Good fats include:

Olive oil
Sunflower oil
Safflower oil
Flaxseed oil
Walnuts
Avocados

Michael Ward is the business owner of Australias leading fitness equipment store called Unbeatablefitness.com.au. If you visit http://www.unbeatablefitness.com.au you will find one of Australias largest fitness product range and all at the best prices money can buy. http://www.unbeatablefitness.com.au aims to provide fitness equipment for everybody no matter on their budget at hand. Not only do we provide equipment but also fitness advice as the team at http://www.unbeatablefitness.com.au all have long term experience in the fitness sector ranging from weightlifting, cardiovcascular training to the martial arts! Check out our prices and you wont be disappointed. For more information contact us at admin@unbeatablefitness.com.au

# posted by 26146 : 6:16 AM  0 comments