To Perfect Body

  Traditionally, protein-rich foods have been synonymous with muscular athletes. The (misguided) theory is that if you eat a lot of protein, you will build a lot of muscle. The truth is that heavy weightlifting, push-ups, and other forms of resistance exercise—not excess protein—build and strengthen muscles. If you consume more protein than you need, you will simply burn more protein as a fuel source (Bolster et al. 2005).

  Confusion exists about the best diet for building muscles. When you work out in the weight room at the gym, you likely hear you need to consume lots of chicken breasts and egg whites and drink protein shakes between meals to be stronger. But when you hang around in the cardio area, you hear that carbohydrate-rich pasta, cereal, and grains should be the foundation of your meals. And you are left wondering, what’s the right balance?
 
  Carbohydrate-rich grains, fruits, and vegetables are indeed the best foundation for every type of training program. Even bodybuilders need a carbohydrate-based diet because carbohydrate is stored in the muscles for energy. You can’t lift weights and demand a lot from your workout sessions if your muscles are carbohydrate depleted. Protein-based diets low in carbohydrate provide inadequate muscle fuel for you to exercise hard enough to build to your potential. The best sports diet contains adequate, but not excessive, protein to build and repair muscle tissue, grow hair and fingernails, produce hormones, boost your immune system, and replace red blood cells. Most people who eat moderate portions of protein-rich foods daily get more protein than they need. Any excess protein is burned for energy or, as a last resort, stored as glycogen or fat. Humans do not store excess protein as muscle, protein, or amino acids, so we need to consume adequate protein each day. Daily protein is particularly important for dieters who are restricting calories, because protein is burned for energy when carbohydrate and calories are scarce.
 
  When it comes to protein intake, athletes seem to fall into two categories. First are those who eat too much—the bodybuilders, weightlifters, and football players who can’t seem to get enough of the stuff. Those in the second group eat too little—the runners, dancers, and weight-conscious athletes who never touch meat and trade most protein calories for more salads and vegetables. Individuals in either group can perform poorly because of dietary imbalances. Josh, for example, was a protein pusher. A college hockey player, he routinely snacked after practice on a big protein bar and a protein shake. That one snack satisfied more than half his protein needs for the whole day. As an athlete, he has a slightly higher protein need than a sedentary person, but he overcompensated for that need with the generous servings of chicken and fish he devoured at meals, never mind his high-protein snack.

  Paulo, a vegetarian marathon runner who ate spaghetti with tomato sauce seven nights a week, downplayed his need for protein. “Most Americans get way too much protein; I’m sure I get plenty, too.” He consumed few protein-rich foods of any types—plant or animal products. He was humbled when he learned that his food intake was deficient not only in protein but also in iron (for red blood cells), zinc (for healing), calcium (for bones), and several other nutrients. No wonder he became anemic, suffered a lingering cold and flu, and performed poorly despite consistent training.

Defining Protein Needs

  Research has yet to define the exact protein requirements of sports-active people because individual needs vary. People in the following groups have the highest protein needs:

• Endurance athletes and others doing intense exercise. About 5 percent of energy can come from protein during endurance exercise, particularly if muscle glycogen stores are depleted and blood glucose is low.
• Dieters consuming too few calories. The protein is converted into glucose and burned for energy instead of being used to build and repair muscles.
• Growing teenage athletes. Protein is essential for both growth and muscular development.
• Untrained people starting an exercise program. They need extra protein to build muscles.

  In scrutinizing the protein needs of athletes, exercise scientists have found that athletes need slightly more protein than other people do to repair the small amounts of muscle damage that occur with training, to provide energy (in very small amounts) for exercise, and to support the building of new muscle tissue.

  In general, pinpointing exact protein requirements is almost a moot point because many athletes eat more protein than they require just through standard meals. That is, a 150-pound (68 kg) recreational athlete who burns 3,000 calories can easily consume 300 to 450 protein calories, or 75 to 112 grams of protein. This equates to 0.5 to 0.7 gram of protein per pound (1 to 1.5 g of protein per kg), which is more than the RDA of0.4 gram per pound (0.8 g per kg). These recommendations include a margin of safety and are not minimal amounts. If you are overfat, base your protein needs on your ideal body weight.

  In contrast to the belief that a little more protein is good so a lot more will be better, no scientific evidence to date suggests that protein intakes exceeding 0.9 gram of protein per pound (2.0 g per kg) will provide an additional advantage (Lemon 1995). Nor is there evidence that taking a protein supplement on top of an adequate diet (with about 0.5 g of protein per pound, or 1 g per kg) will enhance muscle strength or size (Godard, Williamson, and Trappe 2002). And don’t fret about how the protein is packaged—as whey powder, chicken, egg whites, or chocolate milk; all protein can build muscles. The advantage of getting protein from natural foods (as opposed to supplements) is that natural foods contain protein the way nature intended as well as yet-unknown bioactive compounds that might influence muscle growth.

  The physiques of bodybuilders are not attributable to the excessively high protein diet they commonly consume but rather to their intense training. Bodybuilders work incredibly hard. They prefer a high-protein diet because protein not only builds and protects their muscles but also keeps them from feeling hungry when they are cutting calories—lean protein is harder to overconsume.

Your Protein Needs

  To learn if you are meeting your protein needs in your current diet, follow two easy steps. First, using table 7.1, identify which category you belong to. For example, if you are a 140-pound (64 kg) bike racer, you would fit the category of an “endurance athlete, adult” and would need about 85 to 100 grams of protein per day :
140 lb * 0.6 g/lb = 84 g protein
140 lb * 0.7 g/lb = 98 g protein
Second, keep track of your protein intake by listing everything you eat and drink for one 24-hour period. The information on food labels provides protein information, and table 7.2 lists the amount of protein in some common foods. You can also use a variety of Web sites (see Dietary Analysis in appendix A) to analyze your diet and assess your protein intake. Note that you need to eat a generous portion (more calories) of beans
and other forms of plant protein to equal the protein in animal foods.

Learn how to plan your diet and nutrition for your fitness goals. Nutrition for muscle building, fat loss and health.



Emphasize The Negative

  Muscle growth is the logical byproduct of muscle contraction. Much emphasis is placed on the concentric phase of a lift where the muscle shortens as it contracts. But the stretching of the muscle during the eccentric, or negative, phase where the muscle lengthens while maintaining tension can directly cause muscle hypertrophy, too. Emphasizing the negative is an easy technique to overload muscles and promote radical gains in mass.

Set Short Term Goals

  Short term goals are important for developing a solid muscle building program. By setting short term goals, you will have the framework to follow so you can make small changes in your daily routine which will develop into healthy habits to last a lifetime. Focus on a weekly goal of gaining 1-2 pounds lean mass. This is the healthiest amount of weight gain per week and is the correct level to make sure you're not packing on body fat. To reach this 1 pound weight gain per week, focus on creating a 500 calorie surplus in your overall calories every day.

Learn how to plan your diet and nutrition for your fitness goals. Nutrition for muscle building, fat loss and health.

Eat Plenty of Carbohydrates

  Carbohydrates are needed to fuel your body during exercise. The storage form of carbohydrates is glycogen. The idea here is to super saturate glycogen levels so that the body never has to dip into protein for energy production.
  The higher the level of carbs in the body, the more likely you are going to remain in an anabolic environment. Carbs also play a role in the release of insulin. Insulin is the body's most potent anabolic hormone. It promotes gluconeogenesis, protein synthesis, and the formation of adipocytes. In short, the release of insulin is required to promote an anabolic environment and carbs help by releasing insulin.

Learn how to plan your diet and nutrition for your fitness goals. Nutrition for muscle building, fat loss and health.


Rest for Muscle Growth

  One of the best pieces of exercise advice is to understand that your muscles grow when you’re resting not
training. That's right; you don't actually get bigger and stronger when you're in the gym. It's what you do after your
workout that's the real key to muscle growth. If you don't let your muscles recover correctly, you're body will
become over trained and it will be in a state of constant "catch up". This is far from the ideal state that you want
your body in. What you want is to truly prime your body for your next workout and give it enough rest and
recuperation to fully optimize your training. The worst thing you can do is not help your body recover. This will lead to muscle atrophy (breaking down muscle) and you may experience the flu because of this. Take care of business and start your recuperation. When you get back from your workout, you might also try sitting in an ice tub or sauna to really relax and let your muscles recover. Rest is extremely important when training hard, so make sure to take the time to recover and grow from your training sessions.

  If you have been trying to gain muscle for any length of time, you have probably figured out that training is only half of the equation. To gain quality muscular weight, you must take in more calories than you burn, with a significant portion of them coming from protein. This large food intake can be a huge drain on your wallet, especially when you already have monthly gym and other team related expenses. Here are 10, nutrient-dense, muscle-building foods that will help you get the protein and calories you need without breaking the bank.


1. Eggs
  With 5-6 grams of both protein and fat in each little egg, and with prices as low as a dollar per dozen in some grocery stores, this is a muscle building food that cannot be beat. If you're in serious need of calories to grow, you would do well to eat the whole egg. The yolk contains healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats, half of the egg's protein, and several essential amino acids and vitamins that you will not find in the white.

Learn how to plan your diet and nutrition for your fitness goals. Nutrition for muscle building, fat loss and health.

Stimulate your appetite for breakfast

  In the morning drink a small glass of orange or grapefruit juice. Cold appetizers such as refrigerated hard boiled eggs, celery, fruit and vegetables can also increase appetite. Deficiencies in B-vitamins are also causes of low appetite. Take a multi-vitamin in capsule or liquid form, tablets tend to not get broken down as well and much of the vitamin is wasted. Herbs such as Gentian root, Fennel seeds, Cardammon, Muira Puama and Rhodiola rosea also stimulate hunger.