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Understanding Proper Carbohydrate Consumption

getanabolics — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Carbohydrate manipulation is perhaps the most important nutritional aspect of the bodybuilding diet, in all phases of bodybuilding competition and growth. Let’s learn more about the body’s carbohydrate needs during off-season, pre-contest, and post-contest recovery periods.

Off-season
All bodybuilders start in this phase. When the decision is made to gain muscle, a decision is made to seriously bump up the calories. Carbohydrates play a major role in this process. You can’t let your fat levels get too high, because you don’t want to get fat, and because you wish to preserve your cardiovascular health. Likewise, you can’t let your protein levels get too high (500 grams daily or above) without placing your kidneys and other organs at serious risk. For this reason, the only remaining source of calories (needed for growth) is carbohydrates. In the off-season, depending upon your bodyweight, metabolism, and body fat levels, carbohydrate levels can get as high as 3000 calories (750 grams of carbohydrates daily).

Pre-contest
Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy used by the body. When the body is faced with some tough task – say, 45 minutes of cardiovascular training – it will automatically burn any local carbohydrate (sugar) sources first. This includes the food in your stomach and the glycogen stored in your muscle cells. It is only after these sources of carbohydrate are no longer available that stored body fat is burned for energy. This is why most bodybuilding diets involve restricted carbohydrates and cardio completed on an empty stomach upon rising in the morning.

“The Bounce”
Following a bodybuilding competition, it’s definitely time to give the body some much-needed rest. Since you’ve probably deprived yourself of a desired level of carbohydrates for several months, there is a fairly good chance you will want to gorge yourself on some delicious foods following the show. This can be dangerous for several reasons. Some bodybuilders gain 15 to 35 pounds in only one week following bodybuilding shows, thanks to massive binging. Additionally, several of the body’s systems can be adversely affected by spiked sugar levels. Have a nice delicious meal, but don’t overdo it.

A word about protein
Protein levels should remain constant throughout the year. You need approximately 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. If you’re a 220-pound bodybuilder, you should be consuming 350 to 450 grams of protein per day. This applies in all phases – off-season, pre-contest, the bounce, and any other lay-offs. Carbohydrate intake is manipulated for energy requirements and to manipulate body fat levels. Protein should remain constant all year, if you wish for your muscle levels to remain constant as well.

If you’re using a Ketogenic diet for pre-contest nutrition, your requirements will change accordingly. Additionally, those bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids will be able to assimilate 100 to 150 grams more protein daily, based upon bodyweight and receptor response. Any bodybuilder introducing the potentially dangerous use of insulin to his AAS cycle should complete additional research on carbohydrate levels and requirements, as going too low on carb intake while taking insulin can result in death.

Dane Fletcher is the world-wide authority on bodybuilding and steroids. He has coached countless athletes all over the world. To read more of his work, please visit either http://www.BodybuildingToday.com or http://www.SteroidsToday.com

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The Guide To Successful Off-season Bulking

getanabolics — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

We all know the eternal off-season, forever bulking bodybuilder who is constantly talking about how he’ll crush the competition, once he diets down and gets in shape. Very often, this bodybuilder will just talk about it for years and never actually follow through with the diet. However, when he does, he often does well in his first show, as those years of carrying that much bulk have led to a pretty solid foundation of muscle. If you’re one of those “permabulkers”, or guy in the gym carrying twenty extra pounds of “bulk”, it might be time to check out your body fat levels to determine if you’re carrying too much fat, and possible hampering your progress.

Optimal body fat/hormone range
Most experts agree that 10 to 12% body fat is the most effective range for managing the highest testosterone levels with the lowest estrogen levels. Hitting 20% body fat and beyond often leads to a nasty case of gyno which could require surgery to correct.

Quality of diet
Twenty grams of fat consumed in the course of eating a steak is going to be much better for muscle building purposes than 20 grams of fat consumed from a pack of Twinkies. Eat a lot of food to bulk up – but make it clean food! Steak, chicken, fish, pasta, rice, and vegetables are all good bodybuilding foods. And don’t forget about milk – nothing adds muscle to the body like milk!

Natural vs. AAS user
If you use anabolic steroids, you are probably already aware of just how easy it is to maintain “low-ish” body fat levels when on AAS. With many steroids, your body becomes a furnace, more efficiently burning up calories. Additionally, new muscle fibers require more maintenance calories. Guys like Jay Cutler – at 280+ pounds of muscle – need 4000 calories per day just to maintain the muscle they have. Granted, your needs will be less. But the more muscle you gain, the most calories you will burn without doing any activity.

Stimulants
While you may enjoy the high levels of energy and focus (and great 6-pack abs) that the use stimulants like Clenbuterol or the ECA stack (ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin) deliver, they also limit muscle growth. Limit their use to short cycles in the pre-contest cycles. If you are currently addicted to caffeine for workouts (either using caffeine pills or energy drinks) the time is now to cut back their use. Your gains will increase as your body’s cortisol levels decrease.

Sleep
Seven hours of sleep is an absolute minimum for bodybuilders looking to add mass in the off-season. A nap of 30 to 60 minutes, following a workout and a nice big meal, is even more optimal for releasing natural growth hormone while giving the body time to recover. Remember, we don’t grow in the gym. We get a pump in the gym, but that’s just blood flowing and muscle fibers tearing. It’s during the night – when sleeping – that the body releases growth hormone and the muscles are able to develop.

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How To Properly Manage Your Bodybuilding Injuries

getanabolics — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Ask any bodybuilder who has sustained a leg injury – intermediate or professional – and they’ll all likely tell you the same thing. There was a small warning sign. Perhaps some soreness or stiffness in the region was present. Or, maybe they felt something just not feeling right. Many major leg injuries are precipitated by smaller pains. If a bodybuilder is able to recognize these signals and immediately halt the workout – and seek medical attention if necessary.

Soreness in the region during warm-up
If a muscle group is sore during warm-up, think back to the activities you were involved in earlier that week which may have led to this soreness. If it’s just stiffness, you should be able to work through it. Perhaps you had to sit in a boring seminar for eight hours the day before. Or, perhaps your legs aren’t quite healed from the cardio 2 or 3 days before. Soreness isn’t a huge problem, and you can usually work through it with extra stretching and a medium-intensity workout.

Immediate “crick” in knee
There are times in the gym where you just don’t warm up adequately, and upon completing your first set of squats, you feel a small ‘crick’ in the knee. These pains are often warning signs that something is out of place and you are about to sustain a much larger injury, if you place maximum weight load upon the joint. Step back, train another body part, and return to train legs in 2 to 4 days.

Shooting pain in muscle group at any time during workout
If at any time during your workout you experience any kid of shooting pain, it’s time to end the workout. You may have punched a nerve, or you may have simply strained something. Whatever the cause of the shooting pain, further lifting will only make it worse.

The Snap
Two years ago, Arnold Classic winner Victor Martinez was training chest when he felt a small tear in his pectoral muscle. For most bodybuilders, a torn pec is almost a career-ender. And most bodybuilders tend to pray, ignore, and pretend the pec isn’t torn, hoping their career isn’t over. Instead of taking that path, Vic Martinez immediately sought medical attention from industry professional Heather Green, who was able to fix the very small pectoral tear before it developed into something which harmed the visual appearance of his pectoral. If you feel something ‘snap’ or ‘pop’ during a workout, it should be obvious that your workout for the day is over. Don’t try to test the muscle group. Don’t try to work through it. Slowly walk to your car, making an assessment of what has happened to what muscle group in your leg. Remember that since many injuries start small, you may be about to trigger a much larger injury.

Dedication and devotion to the gym is one thing. Injuring yourself further by ignoring signs of a serious injury is quite another. Don’t derail yourself from weeks or months of training by sustaining an avoidable injury. Train smart, and at the first sign of an injury, halt the workout and consider medical attention.

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