Building muscle demands great efforts both in the gym and in the kitchen and meal table as proper nutrition will account for your bodybuilding success or lack thereof. Always think of the bicycle analogy. The two wheels of a bicycle represent training and nutrition. If one of the wheels is faulty or inadequate, the bicycle will be dysfunctional. Likewise, training and nutrition are intimately related.
We know too many people who train really hard but fail to progress. In 99.9% of the time it is simply because their nutrition is inadequate.
We have been asked many nutrition questions by group membes, friends and customers alike, which has prompted me to write this article to enlighten readers on some of what we believe to be the golden rules of bodybuilding nutrition. There can, of course, be many other important nutrition tips but the ones that I will elaborate on are those I feel are among the most important.
THE PERCENTAGE RULE
Very often we have heard or read about the contribution of nutrition to bodybuilding and sporting progress. You will hear that nutrition is 60 or 80% of bodybuilding and the rest is divided into training and resting. We do not know how this percentage has been determined but it is grossly inaccurate. Its purpose is, however, to highlight the great importance that nutrition plays in determining progress.
We would rather say that bodybuilding is giving 100% in your training and giving 100% in your nutrition.
In other words, “train like a horse, eat like a horse and sleep like a baby”
v S Solid food first, then Supplements
As a rule, most of your calories should come from solid meals. The rest can come from nutritional supplements. Too many novice bodybuilders get carried away by nutritional supplements. Afterall, all magazines nowadays are filled with dozens of advertisement from nutrition companies featuring Mr. Olympia and IFBB Pros. The unaware bodybuilder gets easily misled by these colourful ads and hardcore sounding products.
Nitrotech Hardcore, Gold Standard Whey, Syntha-6, Myofusion all represent innovations in sports nutrition, true. Some time back, Whey was not even on the market. As a side note, Arnold Schwarzenegger did not have access to Whey protein, Glutamine, Creatine, Pre-workout or BCAAS. So think of how lucky modern bodybuilders are. Arnold and old time greats obtained most of their protein from solid food and some milkshakes prepared from milk and eggs.
Do not think that supplements can make up for poor eating. Your body can process protein from food better than supplements. Even if you use the best supplements but you don’t eat, you will never make progress, period. That is why food is called food and supplements are called supplements.
“You cannot get away by skipping a good solid balanced meal even if you drink Nitrotech, Mass Tech or Serious Mass.”
Part Two
v Combine solid food and supplements
Use supplements in combination with solid meals to ensure that you are getting your daily macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, fat) quota. In general this represents 5-6 small meals and 2-3 shakes. Put small amounts of food in your body every 3 hours. Protein should be consumed at an amount representing 2-3grams per kilogram of bodyweight. If you weigh 80kgs, you should aim to get 160-240grams of protein per day. Around 70% should come from solid food and the rest can come from supplements.h 80kgs, you should aim to get 160-240grams of protein per day. Around 70%
should come from solid food and the rest can come from supplements.
Protein is king
As you all know protein is a very essential macronutrient for bodybuilding. Ingested proteins are digested into amino acids which are then used up by the body to make body proteins (enzymes, hormones, muscle tissue etc). As mentioned above, for hard training athletes, the minimum amount of protein is 2-3g/kg of bodyweight per day. This daily protein amount should be spread into 6-7 small intakes. Dot not make the mistake of consuming too much protein at one go as the body has a limit to how much protein it can absorb and assimilate in a meal. Aim roughly for 30-40grams of protein per meal.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Most amino acids can be synthesized by the body and are thus called “non-essential” amino acids. Some amino acids cannot be made by the body and thus should be obtained from the diet. They are called “Essential” amino acids.
Vegetable proteins (low Biological Value) have been considered “inferior” to animal proteins (High Biological Value) because they do not supply the full spectrum of amino acids. Some essential amino acids are lacking in vegetable proteins. For example, soy protein lacks the essential amino acid methionine. Vegetarian bodybuilders therefore do not rely on only one protein source and rather combine different (complementary) protein sources. This ensures that they are getting the full spectrum of essential amino acids. Lacto-vegetarians can use milk and dairy products to obtain their protein. Lacto-Vegetarian bodybuilders also have a very strong ally by their side in the form of Whey and Casein protein which are dairy proteins of very high biological value. Notable vegetarian bodybuilders include Mr. Universe Bill Pearl, former IFBB Pros Steve Brisbois, Andreas Cahling, India’s new IFBB Pro Varinder Ghuman and also numerous impressive natural bodybuilders recently showcased on our page, representing the Sunwarrior brand. Our friends who have more experience with vegeterian bodybuilding are most welcome to enlighten us more on this topic.
Good animal sources of protein for the bodybuilder include chicken, meat, fish and eggs. The sports supplement market is loaded with protein supplements of all types and brands, each claiming to be superior to the other. The amazing variety of protein supplements can be confusing to the unaware bodybuilder but to help matters I have prepared a guide that lists the various protein supplement types.
BODYBUILDING WITH VEGETERIAN DIET
The word vegetarian is one that has become somewhat vague among the general population because too many people have inappropriately adopted it as a label for their lifestyle. For instance, I have personally known 3 types of "vegetarians" in my life: those who don't eat chicken, beef or pork (but will eat fish), those who don't eat meat of any kind, and people who won't eat anything that contains or is derived from animal sources.
Of these three definitions, the only one describing a true and sincere vegetarian is the last. This article is written for these people, so I am operating under the assumption that you are extremely sincere about not ingesting any and all animal products.
Adhering to a strict vegetarian diet takes work and conscious attention and building muscles takes work and conscious attention, so putting them together certainly doesn't make either one easier.
The first challenge goes back to the way muscles build in our bodies. To increase the amount of muscle mass and improve the tone of muscles, the body needs protein. Our body uses protein for repairing and building new muscles. The challenge is because the most common source of protein is meat and other animal products.
According to one system for measuring the protein in food, the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, soy is equal to whey and superior to beef in protein content. Realistically, soy provides all 8 essential amino acids required for growing and repairing muscles. For the strict vegetarian, soy is an excellent option for getting the protein so desperately needed for building muscles.
In addition to protein, soy is also a fantastic source of glutamine which many bodybuilders already take in supplemental form, so soy is sort of a double-whammy for the bodybuilder.
Soy is available in many different forms and types, so you have many options. Low-fat tofu, tempeh, seitan, miso, textured soy protein, soy powder and soy milk. The soy milk is especially helpful because it can be utilized as a replacement for cow's milk in any recipe you come across.
Aside from protein, the vegetarian bodybuilder needs to work at ensuring they get enough quality fat. Almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pistachio nuts are all excellent sources of both protein and fat. You can also add a tablespoon or so of flaxseed oil, as flax seed is one of the very best sources for the essential fatty acid alpha linolenic acid.
With the protein and fat questions taken care of, we need to find suitable sources of vitamins. The meal-replacement shakes which are incredibly popular with bodybuilders tend to be bursting at the seams with many vitamins and minerals. You may have to hunt specifically for one containing B12, or find an additional B12 supplement, because vitamin B12 is only found in animal products.With these three areas covered, you will have enough of the natural building blocks for creating and improving muscle mass and tone. Being a vegetarian bodybuilder isn't nearly as unlikely as it may sound at first.
There are many vegeterian bodybuilders in the world and they can build good solid muscles.If you are a vegeterian and want to build your body no problem at all,go for it
