Bodybuilding Supplements - The Science Behind A Better Body

These days, it is very common to use bodybuilding supplements to improve your appearance. With all the scientific research into nutrition, the benefits of supplements for building muscles are becoming more accepted. Maybe you are looking to add supplements to your bodybuilding regime. If so, some knowledge is necessary to prevent you from wasting money as there are numerous bodybuilding supplements and it can be difficult to know exactly where to get started.

Firstly, you need to understand that no amount of bodybuilding supplements will automatically build muscles. No, you're not going to wake up one morning with rippling muscles due to supplements! However, they will work with your current dietary intake to create a process that is more favorable in building muscle. So, with no magic about to happen, you need three things: a nutritious, well-balanced diet, regular workouts, and body-building supplements.

These supplements are often found in different forms like bars, tablets, powders, and shakes. How they get into your system isn't the most important consideration; it's what the bodybuilding supplements consist of that really matters. If you really want to ensure a good regimen, go for all types as each one is most suited to a particular type of supplement.

Understandably, men are the main group marketed for bodybuilding supplements. However, women can also benefit from them, except for possibly the ones that have high amounts of complex carbohydrates. These are often the weight gain bars and shakes and people with a body fat percentage above 10% shouldn't use these.

A healthy woman has about 20% body fat and most men starting body building rarely have body fat below 10%. So, only a highly skilled female bodybuilder should consider the use of these weight gain supplements. Male bodybuilders should use these sparingly to start with also. The reason being is that these weight gain supplements don't work well with beginners because their metabolic rate doesn't have the capacity to utilize the extra carbohydrates and the body ends up storing them as fat.

It's all about lean muscle mass. Bodybuilders should use bodybuilding supplements that are protein based so that more lean muscle mass can be achieved. Protein supplements have no steroidal effect at all as they allow you to gain muscles faster without the need to take six balanced meals per day to get the best nutritional balance.

If you're planning to buy bodybuilding supplements buy in bulk to save yourself some cash and make sure you follow usage directions.

Summary:

Bodybuilding supplements won't magically build you rippling muscles! You need to use them as a supplement to a well-balanced diet and regular exercise. If you're a beginner, stay away from ones with complex carbohydrates unless you need the weight gain.

Brooke Hayles
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How To Properly Diet For A Bodybuilding Contest

Although you may NOT ever compete, most will find this helpful and take some information from it and incorporate it into your own diet when you decide to cut down for whatever reason.

This diet isn?t specifically designed for anyone in particular; this isn?t even the diet that I follow, but a variation of it. Its simply a skeletal structure of a bodybuilding diet.

NOTE: This is for the natural competitor

Depending on your body fat percentage and your body type you generally want to give yourself about 10-15 weeks out to start your diet. I have been very blessed and only have to diet roughly 10 weeks out. Its not rare to see some competitors start dieting as far as 22 weeks out from a show, to help reserve muscle. Also a note on the sodium load, its a risky endeavor but I have found it to be a very beneficial tool if used properly, however I would NOT recommend a sodium load on your first couple shows.

For the sake of argument we?ll do a 12 week diet.

Weeks 12-10 You want to start your diet by eliminating all kinds of crappy foods and only take in clean foods, such as beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, milk, protein shakes, rice, potatoes, pasta, fruit, vegetables, etc. Your water intake should also be increased to a gallon to gallon/half.

Cardio work should be started gradually, roughly about 20 minutes 3 times a week. Targeted heart rate should be between 150-170BPM for 20 minutes. Not jump on the bike for 20 minutes and realize your HR was only in the targeted zone for 11 minutes. Make sure its 20 minutes.

Supplementation: A good assistance in fat loss, as everyone knows is ECA stack or a good weight loss supplement on the market. I benefited nicely from the ephedra or Hydroxycut. I don?t believe in appetite suppressants as you should be eating and anything that is going to curb your appetite is no good. Especially for a critical diet like this. So, a 200mg of caffeine and 25mg of Ephedrine and 300mg of aspirin 3-4 times a day on empty stomach is recommended.

Week 9

Diet is starting to get a little tighter and you?re now starting to play around with your ratio?s c/p/f. A typical day will look something like this:

-Oatmeal (25-35 grams of carbs)
-Zero -low carb protein shake (40 grams)

-5 egg whites or can of tuna (I hate tuna so I have eggs)
-Any veggie, salad, broccoli, carrots, etc.

-2 chicken breasts
-1 plain baked potato

-Protein shake (40 grams) low carb

-Pork, steak, chicken, beef, etc
-Veggies and/or rice (brown)

-Casein whey protein

Cardio: It?s kicked up to 30 minutes 4 times a week and its done before breakfast. Target HR is the same as it was before.

Supplementation: same

Week 8-6: Tightening the diet

Diet: Start eliminating most of the starches. Start taking in more veggies. You are now taking in more lean meats, fish, etc.

Cardio: Is kicked up to 6 times a week for 30 minutes before breakfast or after workout.

Supplementation is same

You should definitely start seeing more definition and can start evaluating your diet based on how you look. If you?re holding too much water, start upping the water and you may even want to start sodium loading at this point. Its still far enough out from a show to play around with sodium in your diet. If the carbs are too high or your body isn?t burning up the carbs as you thought, start cutting the carbs a little more.

Week 5-4 What are some of the better types of carbs for me to eat? What Low GI and High GI? Well, the low GI carbs have nearly zero effect on your blood sugars. Foods like broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, etc will have low GI levels. For the high GI, It is more of an impact on your blood sugars obviously. I am not certain but there is a myth that the low and high GI foods had to do with digestion. I think that is false. Anyways any other foods high in GI are all that I had listed.

Diet: As strict as its going to get from here on out. Carbs are extremely low. I usually target about 20 per meal with about 6 meals in a day. Protein is still kept high about 1.5 for 1lb of BW. Fats are now at an all time low of 20-30 a day. How does one get only 20-30 grams of fats in a day. Well, if you?re monitoring your meats, fish, etc and making sure they are nearly fat free you can control your fat intake by eating nuts (polyunsaturated); almonds are a fan favorite?about 5 or 6 almonds a meal should do the trick.

Different types of fats FYI:

Saturated fats: found primarily in foods coming from animals and some veggies as well, those are saturated veggie fats that are in bakery goods and nondairy milk or cream products. When you?re doing your shopping you can see the saturated fats that are solid in room temp. This is the most harmful fat to any diet

Polyunsaturated Fats - these are the fats you want to take in for a contest. They are found in almonds, fish, and various oils.

Monounsaturated - pretty much the same as the poly as they both reduce cholesterol levels but they aren?t as effective as the poly?s. This fat is found in olives, cashews, avocado and other various oils that stem from plants.

Trans Fats - This is the veggie want be butter shit they use to extend the life of a shelved food, these increase cholesterol levels.

Fats are important in a diet, during a critical diet such as this they help to lube the joints during resistance training. You?re going to find a lot of achy bones and ligaments and soreness you?re not used to because of this diet. I know I did. So the fats help with the joints

Cardio: is now everyday for 30 minutes before breakfast or after workout.

Posing is also 3-4 times a week but you guys don?t need to do that.

Supplementation: You want to start taking in potassium to prevent the cramping. Also along with your multi you should have more C and B6 as well. Glutamine is upped from 10 grams a day to 15-20.

Week 3-2

Diet: Increased sodium, put it on everything?Even drop a little in your protein shake. Load load load. Water should be 1.5-2 gallons. Carbs are now under 100 a day, mostly taken in the morning and protein is still 1.5 to a pound. Fats are kept at 20-30.

Cardio is now 40 minutes 7 days a week.

Workout: should be light and reps should be high (10-15)

Posing: 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes

Supplementation: same

Day 14-7

Diet: Carbs are now between 50-80. Protein is the same and water is 2 gallons a day. Sodium is still loading. Fats 20-30 grams

Cardio: same

Supplementation: potassium, calcium, multi, C, B6, ECA, milk thistle.

Day 7-4

Carbs are extremely low, preparing for the carb load the last 72 hours. Sodium is now cut out completely and water is increased to 2.5 gallons.

Cardio is the same:

Workout: very light, minimal. Your energy should be so low that you?re doing 2 sets per isolated movement. No compound movements concentrate on pulling out muscles. Start to control the muscle?your primary workout should be posing anyways and controlling each muscle.

Supplementation: POTASSIUM! POTASSIUM! POTASSIUM! It?s high because the cramping is a SOB!

Day 3-1

Diet: 400-500 grams of Carbs, Clean clean clean. Rice, potato, rice cakes, etc. I eat baby food because of the vit. and potassium in them and I can eat them all day long. Water is cut completely. Fats are same, protein is same..maybe drop it depending on how you?re feeling.

Stay away from the gym

pose pose pose pose.

Supplementation: Diuretics, anything and everything. Get that water out of you!!!

Day of Show:

Moderate carbs, go on feeling. If you need energy for the pre-judge then eat some chocolate or rice cakes?sip some pedialyte to prevent complete dehydration and cramping.

For a first time competitor; the entire battle is against yourself. We all want to win the show or place decently, first overcome the battle of getting to know what your body is all about and how it can respond positively to a diet such as this first.

Again, most of you don?t have the intentions of competing, however maybe some have thought about it but never knew how to properly prepare. I hope that this will not only encourage you but at least help you diet for anything else. Keep in mind that this is a strict bodybuilding diet (although some are A LOT stricter) and you can take little info from here to construct a diet suitable for your own goals.

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Best Bodybuilding Workouts - Reviews Of Routine That Work!

Do you want to build muscle, but find that no matter how hard you train, you don't seem to get the results?

Well if this is you, then pay attention to this article.

You see, the biggest problem with most people when they work out and want to gain muscle is that they're working out the wrong way.

What do I mean?

I mean, these are the telltale signs of not using the right bodybuilding workout routine;

1. Going to the gym 6 or 7 hours a week and getting little or no results.

2. Taking supplements but finding that these aren't really helping (with ineffective workouts they don't work well. In fact, with the best bodybuilding workouts, you don't need supplements anyway)

3. Training consistently for 3 but seeing no results.

Well, when I started I was just the same. I went to the gym 6-7 hours a week for 9 months and my body was about the same as before.

I found it really hard to pack on muscle.

It wasn't that I wasn't working hard. I was. But I realised that my bodybuilding routine must have been wrong as I simply wasn't getting results.

That's when I started looking for the bodybuilding routines that worked.

And yes, they work.

Within 2 weeks I saw a difference already, and by 12 weeks, I gain significant muscle and did it with:

1. half the time at the gym (on average 2.5 to 3 hours a week)

2. enjoying the training much more as I could see the results

3. enjoying the benefits of a good looking body with muscle : )

Which means you get results while spending half the time at the gym. And without relying on expensive supplements either.

You see the bodybuilding routines that work are great as they:

1. uses the principles of bodybuilding to stimulate muscle growth without getting into the 'overtraining' zone.

These principles are used by natural bodybuilders but most people don't even know about.

2. Uses sets and 'supersets' in such a way that the muscles get great stimulation for growth over the next 7 days after each time the muscles are exercised.

And these feel great as they give your muscles a proper workout, yet in half the time.

3. How to specifically change the amount of protein in your diet to get maximum muscle growth. And no, it doesn't involve a high protein diet all the time.

So there you have it.

You can build a good looking body that the girls notice by getting the most important thing right: the bodybuilding workout. Without it, you'll be working out for months and months (or 9 months like I did!) and getting no results.

So if you get the workouts that simply work, you'll see results in half the time at the gym.

And yes, it's wonderful to have a great body, and to see the results of your workouts day by day.

For the bodybuilding workouts that work, see he website in the resource box below.

Lucas Ryan helps you to gain muscle and lose fat so that you can show off your bodybuilding efforts and look ripped in no time. For more valuable tips visit his site to learn how to build muscle fast with the best bodybuilding workout routines, and get real results with your training.