Nutrition is almost always
THE neglected factor when someone isn't
making any progress with their fitness training. And why shouldn't
it be? It can be quite confusing.
But understand that without a grasp of proper muscle building
and/or fat burning nutrition, you won't be able to make the progress
that you desire, and you won't reach your potential.
With a well implemented nutrition plan, you'll be
on your way toward achieving your fitness goals.
Why does nutrition seem so confusing? For
starters, there are too many choices.
This makes it very difficult to decide the appropriate course
of action.
We have the Hollywood diet, the cabbage diet, the
grapefruit diet, the juice diet, the zone diet, high carb, low carb,
no carb, high protein, low protein, no protein (okay, maybe not but
it wouldn't surprise me), high protein foods, high fat, low fat,
slim fast, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri-System, etc, etc.
Obviously, nutrition is big
business.
It can become very frustrating trying to sort
through all this information.
I've read hundreds of articles, books, and
medical journals on nutrition, and I've come to decide on some
fundamental principles that all nutrition programs do include.
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Remember, we are all different, but all
essentially the same. What this means is that
the principles of proper nutrition apply to all of us, but we
will need to make certain adjustments for the individual.
The important thing is to understand the general
principles of a nutrition program so that you can tailor it to your
specific needs, whether it be to build muscle, burn fat, get
stronger, or nutrition for your specific sport.
Let's take a look at some general principles of a
proper nutrition program.
We'll start with a brief introductory look at the
three macronutrients - carbohydrates, protein, and fat. All play an
important role in your sports nutrition program.
And YES...there are only three
macronutrients!!! Vegetables
ARE
carbohydrates!
Carbohydrates -
Carbs are your muscles preferred energy source for short, intense
muscular contractions, i.e. weight training. They supply the energy
for these sessions as well as play a crucial role in recuperation
and muscle growth.
Ingesting carbs signals your body to release
insulin, which transports the amino acids (the building blocks of
protein) and the carbs into your muscle cells. This absorption by
your muscles is a very important part of the muscle growth and
repair factor.
Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in your
body's muscles, and it's this glycogen storage that gives the
muscles their fullness.
This is the basis of the idea of carb depleting
and then loading before a bodybuilding contest, the idea that when
you deplete your body of glycogen and then "carb up," your body will
store even more glycogen then before in the muscles, making you look
larger, tighter, and more ripped than ever.
In addition, the
consumption of carbs creates a "protein sparing" effect,
in that more of your protein will be used for the muscle
building process instead of being burned as energy. As you'll see
below, this "protein sparing" is a key element
in your nutrition program.
Some important rules to keep in mind with regard
to carbohydrate consumption are...
Avoid all processed foods.
Processed foods are 'empty'
calories that do nothing for your health or your fitness. By
dropping them from your sports nutrition program, you'll go far in
improving your results - building muscle, losing fat, improving
sports performance, increasing energy - not to mention vastly
improving your health.
Processed foods include things like cookies,
chips, donuts, pastries, soda, candy - your basic junk food. But
beware, processed foods can be dressed up in "healthy" packaging.
Read labels.
Stay away from these foods, especially one's that contain high
fructose corn syrup
That low fat muffin you're about to eat... put it
back. It's loaded with unhealthy sugar. The regular muffin would
actually be a better choice.
Processed foods should never be a part of your nutrition program, no matter what your fitness goals are.
Instead of processed foods and high fructose corn
syrup, get the carbohydrates in your nutrition program from whole
grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Protein - Protein,
as most of you know, is the building block of muscles.
Without adequate protein consumption, you will
be spinning your wheels with regard to your resistance training
program. No nutrition program is complete without proper
adequate protein intake.
You should consume a
MINIMUM
of 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass every day.
And you may find better results taking in up to 2
grams per day per pound of body weight. At 225 pounds, I've found
that roughly 400-450 grams of protein per day works very well for
me, which is about 2 grams per pound of body weight.
Fats - Yes, fats. A
macronutrient that is more misunderstood than carbohydrates, if
that's possible.
Here's a neat little factoid for you. The United
States went on a low fat, high carb craze in the 80's and began to
get fatter and fatter as a nation.
Fat is not your enemy.
Good or "healthy" fats such as omega 3's and omega 6's are essential
to good health and a properly functioning body.
Hey, maybe that's why they are known as
Essential Fatty Acids.
Here's the problem with most people's nutrition.
They are taking in enough fat but they
are taking in the wrong fats by consuming too many trans fatty acids
and saturated fats, and not enough good fats.
Try and eliminate the bad fats (in things such as
margarine, shortening, snack foods, and most fast foods).
Consume more of the good fats, such as cold-water
fish (salmon), walnuts, ground flax seeds of flax seed oil, hempseed
oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, fish oils, and olive oil.
In addition, taking in enough EFA's (essential
fatty acids) is imperative when trying to put on muscle.
Low fat diets suppress the body's ability to
produce testosterone, a cardinal sin
when trying to build muscle.
Fats also supply chemical substrates that are
necessary for proper hormonal production, as well as protect our
vital organs and carry the fat-soluble vitamins to where they are
needed.
Fats are an important part of your sports
nutrition program to develop muscle, burn fat (yes, burn fat) and
get fit and healthy.
Water -
Drink it...Drink lot of it...And drink it often.
Seriously, you should be consuming at least 8 -
10 eight ounce glasses of water every day.
Our bodies are made up of 75 percent water. It's not
uncommon for people to dehydrate by 2 percent to 6 percent of their
body weight during exercise. The result isn't good. Cell function
is disrupted, muscle growth stops, you become mentally and
physically sluggish, have a general sense of fatigue and can no way
be on the top of your game.
There you have it. Sound
nutrition includes ALL
of the macronutrients. It does
not eliminate any of them like most of the "fad" diets do. Keep
that in mind the next time you want to start eliminating
carbohydrates or fats from your nutrition program.
Do you see the point here? There is nothing
magical to it. Just a little common sense will yield results like
the pros.
