Body building
is tough. Not only do body builders have to train hard and have
adequate rest so as to stay in peak form, they also need to pay
proper attention to what they eat and eat about 6 meals a day.
Their bodies need a certain number of calories to stay anabolic
and to preserve their lean muscle mass.
While all
the meals have their value, the most important meal is without
any doubt your post-workout meal which is the meal you take just
after your workout. Why is it so? After your intense training,
your body and muscles are depleted of energy and your muscle tissues
are damaged. A meal after your workout with a proper combination
of carbohydrates, protein and fats will ensure that your body
recovers from your training and that your muscles tissues will
be repaired.
As you might
know, when these tissues are damaged and repaired after, they
grow bigger. This is how you get bigger and stronger muscles.
This post-workout is that fundamental because if you miss it,
it's like you have worked out for nothing, primarily if your goal
is to get lean muscle mass. You can forget about muscle gains.
If you just
want to keep fit, well that's ok. You wouldn't want to be too
serious about nutrition. But for body builders, that's a different
issue. High quality protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy
fats will all play a role in recharging your body. Protein will
repair those damaged muscle tissues, carbohydrates will fuel your
body since your energy level is reduced and fats will help in
the growth.
Immediately
after your workout, you can have a protein shake if you want like
a whey protein powder shake or egg white protein powder shake.
Then say after 30 minutes, have a real meal consisting of protein,
carbohydrates and fats. Be sure to read my article "Gaining
Lean Muscle Mass - Train Hard, Eat Whole Foods and Rest"
where I give you a sample daily nutrition.
Some recommended
high quality protein sources: skinless chicken breast, skinless
turkey breast, white fish fillet, salmon fillet, tuna, herring,
trout, sardine, lean steak, lean pork fillet, cottage cheese,
egg whites, red lentils.
Some recommended
complex carbohydrates sources: oatmeal, potatoes, sweet potatoes,
yams/taro, wholewheat bread, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, brown
bread including fibrous carbs like asparagus, broccoli and green
beans.
Some recommended
healthy fats: olive oil, canola oil and omega-3 fish oil mostly
found in oily fish like sardine, salmon, herring and trout. Also
available in omega-3 pills and capsules.
So everytime
after your workout, pay proper attention to your meals and just
eat quality food focusing on quality protein, complex carbohydrates
and healthy fats. Of course your pre-workout meals have their
importance too to fuel your body before your training. To resume,
nutrition is of paramout importance in body building I would say
60%, training is 20% and sleep is 20%. You can train just 2-3
days per week but if you eat well and don't skip your post-workout
meal, you are sure to make progress guaranteed. There is no magic
formula to building that lean muscle mass. You just need to follow
a special routine and diet and just keep at it. You need consistency,
persistency and a will to attain your objective and that's it.
About the author
Jean Lam is the webmaster of Body
Building Resource which provides articles on weight training,
nutrition and fitness, body building book and DVDs.