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It is a well-known fact that following training your body ability to synthesis protein is enhanced. It is also pretty well known that post training muscle tissue becomes more insulin sensitive and simple carbohydrates are more likely to replenish glycogen than be stored as body fat at this time.

This knowledge is in itself a great thing but it has lead bodybuilders into the habit of eating after the event and ignoring their nutrient needs at other times. For example, you need carbs well before you train in order to get through the session. You need a high blood pool of aminos DURING training to get the growth process off to the best possible start. These aminos will come from the protein you ate hours before you trained.

Make sure you eat those radical nasty goodies prior to training though so they are actually present and working in your blood stream at the point of greatest oxidative stress (during and straight after training) rather than having them hanging around in your stomach digesting while your over trained body is shouting out for help after training.

A firm eating schedule should be worked out depending on your daily routine. Let’s say that you are sat by a computer for several hours in the morning, and then your carb intake should be reduced while your protein intake should be increased. If your afternoon consists of a punishing workout, then your complex carb intake should be increased as well as fluids and antioxidants, and you will also need a mix of proteins. Post workout nutrition should be supplemented strategically based on your requirements for the coming hours.

It doesn’t happen very often that a competing bodybuilder owns up to being outclassed by his fellow competitors. Nine times out of ten you will hear all sorts of back stabbing comments and low life conspiracy theories regarding the judges or the event organizers. Competitors will come up with virtually anything as an excuse for their own pathetic looking physiques that just weren’t up for it on the big day.

Once again this stems from the subjective way in which bodybuilding is judged, but it could be helped out a lot if judges were forced to take written notes on each physique along with scoring in each round. The competitors could then view these documents after the show and see what was lacking. If every judge at the table writes “Followed the Homer Simpson pre-contest diet” next to your name in the posing round then you know what the problem was, right?

You can always rely on a bodybuilder to mislead himself on what his own growth progress really is. Unfortunately the answer to this problem is a real concern for the sport as no actual guide exists for judges to at act upon regarding muscle gains. A good tip on training to overcome this void in bodybuilding competition is to have a couple of photos taken each year of your best pose in similar light conditions to keep a personal track on growth and don’t forget to thrown in a fat content test for good measure.

Just to sum up then, lean mass gains and/or body fat losses lead to muscular girth increases although the waist will hardly change. If can’t manage to loose fat or gain muscle, the question arises… “What the hell are you training for?” Bodybuilding means lean and large muscles, so if you aren’t making any progress then you are not bodybuilding and that is what it is all about.

It always annoys me when I hear this and know straight away that the competitor has tripped up on nutrition and training and that’ the real reason behind zero gains. You won’t often see on a bodybuilding contest judging sheet that a competitor has lost marks for being too muscular or lean, so what are the main objectives? Well I’ll tell you…ALWAYS more muscle and better condition.

Most bodybuilders are actually insane. Albert Einstein defined insanity as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. This perfectly describes the dogmatic training and eating habits of most bodybuilders. Many times you will see a bodybuilder in the gym who has not changed his / her appearance one bit in several years and yet is perfectly content to continue on with the same training practices, nutrition habits etc.

If you don’t seem to be progressing in the gym, then consider a drastic change in something now or you could end up looking the same five years down the road. The most likely bet is that your training routine needs some changes made to it, but if you have been giving it your best for a while then have a serious look at your eating habits.

Ever heard someone say they have “crap genetics for bodybuilding” when they don’t even look like they have ever been near a weight? This bothers me greatly. The truth is usually that these guys don’t train sensibly, don’t eat right and don’t pay enough attention to recovery so how can they possibly expect to fulfill whatever potential they may or may not have? These guys seem to think that because they are tall / skinny / fat / lanky / whatever NOW that they will always be that way. Not true!

Tags: Health & Fitness //