FAT: FRIEND OR FOE

Q: Why do bodybuilders need to consume fats and what are the best forms to take?

A: This is a confusing subject to many. Fat, after all, is the enemy of the lean, muscular physique. And yet, we’re told that we need certain types of fat. The truth of the matter is that not all fats are created equal. According to Dr. Udo Erasmus, an expert on dietary fat, there are ‘fats that heal’ and ‘fats that kill’.

The effects of the bad fats are the things we associate with fat in general; high cholesterol, unsightly body fat, clogged arteries and decreased life prospects. But what about the good fats? Consuming these will increase your energy levels, accelerate your fat burning potential and enhance insulin function. Would bodybuilders benefit from these effects? You bet.

So, the key to success here is to rid ourselves of the hatred of fats in general that society has ingrained into us, and replace it with a selective hatred of ‘bad fats’. Cutting out all fats is never a good idea. It actually puts your body into ‘starvation mode’ (a similar response comes from low calorie dieting) where it begins hording and storing calories. In addition, a zero fat diet will lead to blood sugar spikes, increased insulin release leading to more fat storage and, the horror of horrors, suppress the release of testosterone.

There are actually three types of fatty acids; saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Saturated fats are the bad guys. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, however, contain healthy essential fatty acids (EFA’s) like omega 3 and omega 6. These fatty acids are called essential because they cannot be manufactured by the body. Saturated fats are lacking in EFA’s.

Foods like butter, cheese, egg yolk and chocolate are all saturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats can be found in foods like fish, flax and various oils (sunflower, safflower, and soybean). However, be aware that most oils available in supermarkets have been through a process called hydrogenation which, in effect, turns them into saturated fats. Monounsaturated fats can be found in the likes of avocados, peanuts, cashews and olive oil.

To build a lean, muscular physique, keep your fat intake to between 15 and 20% of your daily caloric intake (of course your saturated fat intake should be zero). How do you figure out how many fat calories are in a certain food? Read the label, focusing on the total number of calories and the total number of fat grams. Multiply the fat grams by 9 to get the total number of fat calories.

Finally, divide that number by the total number of calories to get the fat percentage in that food. Focus on the following fats to enhance testosterone uptake and speed up the body’s thermic activity; flaxseed oil, nuts and seeds, olive oil, canola oil, natural peanut butter and fish fats.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

BODYBUILDING FOR LIFE

Q: I’m what you could call a life-style bodybuilder. I’ll never compete but, being over 30, I really need to watch what I eat. With a busy lifestyle, this is no easy thing. Any advice on how I can construct a lifestyle diet plan that’s practical for a busy guy?

A: What we’re talking about here are lifestyle modifications that will stick with you for the rest of your life. There are a number of principles that need to be applied in order to achieve a healthy life-time bodybuilding eating regimen. Of course, it also requires a hell of a lot of discipline, especially at the outset. So, if you’re prepared to supply that, then here’s what you have to do . . .

1. Devise a simple menu adjustment and repeat it: Rather than going hell for leather and burning out early, simply introduce one positive dietary adjustment at a time. For instance, start taking a protein drink with you to the gym and take it straight after your workout. Keep at this until it becomes a habit, then move on to another positive dietary modification, like carrying healthy snacks in the car with you to prevent junk food splurges.
2. Keep a nutritional journal: In it you should plan your daily meals for the next week (that’s 42 meals – 6 x 7). Also jot down your strategies to avoid making bad food choices when you’re in a hurry, stressed or out of your natural environment. Such forward planning will do wonders in helping you stick to your goals. Also, write down how you feel on those inevitable occasions when you do slip off the rails. More than likely your body will not react well to the intake of junk. Remind yourself of the bloated, lethargic feeling you had and you’re less likely to want to repeat the experience.
3. Do the following to remain on track when life gets a little crazy: If you absolutely have to grab something quick, get a cooked chicken from the grocery store. Remove the skin and dig into the white breast meat. On a spare evening hard boil a whole batch of eggs. Store a half dozen in the car with the shell removed for a quick protein fix whenever you get the urge. Keep a small travel cooler in the car and stock it with the likes of skim milk, protein drinks, cottage cheese and whole grain sandwiches containing white chicken meat or tuna.

When grocery shopping, look for foods that can be consumed and prepared in quick time. The likes of microwave oatmeal, small tubs of yogurt, muesli bars, breakfast protein drinks and plenty of fruit are great choices. Instead of ice-cream choose sugar-free, low-fat frozen yogurt. Grabbing some light, air popped microwave popcorn is always a good idea, too. Cook your meals in bulk on a Sunday afternoon (or whenever you have the time) and store them in meal portion size containers in the refrigerator. Get yourself a good grill that will cook your meats, fish and chicken quickly, while removing the fats.

Introduce these three adaptations over the next few months. Remember that you don’t want to make a radical change that will fall flat. What you’re after are gradual lifestyle changes that will stay with you forever. The discipline required to do just that will be rewarded with the kind of lean, muscular physique that you’ll be proud of at any age.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

MOM WAS RIGHT, VITAMIN C IS KING

Q: Is there any benefit for bodybuilders to up their intake of vitamin C?

A: There is no other vitamin that has as many beneficial effects on the human body as vitamin C. Because our bodies cannot manufacture it, we need to replenish our supplies of vitamin C daily. And because much of our agricultural soil has been depleted of its minerals and vitamins, the foods we buy are not as rich in vitamin C as they once were. As a result, most people don’t get enough vitamin C in their daily diet. Without the requisite amount of vitamin C we cannot adequately combat infections, diseases and colds. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning that it protects the fluids of the body such as blood as well as muscle cells from damage by free radicals. Vitamin C has also been proven to reduce bronchial restriction, ease upper respiratory restrictions and help alleviate the effects of asthma.

So, this vitamin is essential for overall good health. But what about it’s extra benefits for bodybuilders? Well, high levels of vitamin C restrict the release of cortisone. We release cortisone when we are under stress and it has the effect of lowering the levels of testosterone in our bodies, and too much cortisone can put us in a catabolic state. Vitamin C’s effect as a cortisone suppressant, then, is very significant.

Vitamin C can also reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery from muscle damage. In addition, it is involved in the formation of collagen. Collagen is the primary constituent of connective tissue and that has got to be a good thing for hard training bodybuilders. As if that’s not enough to get you reaching for your fruit bowl, vitamin C also helps in the absorption of iron.

Finally, vitamin C is water soluble, meaning that it diffuses very rapidly in water. Since a muscle cell is mostly water, the more muscular an athlete becomes, the more vitamin C disperses and the lower the concentration of this critical substance becomes in body tissues. So vitamin C requirements are greatly increased for bodybuilders

So, how much vitamin C do we need? For a bodybuilder, between three to five grams twice per day would seem to be ideal. Vitamin C’s half-life is 3 to 4 hours. This means you need to take Vitamin C every 4 to 6 hours to keep your levels elevated. The most important times to take Vitamin C are one hour prior to training and two hours after your workout is completed.

When it comes to supplementing with vitamin C, there are a lot of options. Rose hip, ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate and ascerola are all efficient sources of this vitamin. The best natural sources of vitamin C are fruits like kiwifruit, strawberries, cantaloupes, oranges, lemons and grapefruit. As a final note, do not use chewable vitamin C tablets, as they are likely to wreak havoc on your teeth.


About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

CALORIE COUNTING

Q: Is it really necessary for bodybuilders to count calories?

A: Yes – in fact, the failure to do so may well be what is stopping many people from reaching their goals. That’s not exactly what you want to hear – counting calories can be a real hassle. So, let me explain why you simply must count calories in order to succeed in losing fat and gaining muscle.

A calorie is a measure of heat energy. So, the fat stored on your body is a reserve store of energy. It’s just like money in the bank. We deposit money (consume calories) to build up our balance. We withdraw funds (burn calories) and deplete our balance. If our calories consumed are equal to the calories expended, there is no change in our caloric balance. Now, how long do you go without checking your bank balance? Not very long, right? So, if we aren’t keeping a close eye on our caloric bank account, we’re not going to know if our balance is increasing, decreasing or staying the same. We’ll be operating blindly and our results will reflect that.


The bank account analogy helps us to appreciate the fundamental law of fat loss which tells us that weight loss will occur if we burn more calories than we consume each day. That weight loss will come from stored calories. You probably already knew that. The point is, though, that you cannot stay on the right side of the ledger with guess work. You need to have precise figures to deal with. To accomplish this you should keep a nutrition journal. Every top level bodybuilder in the world does this (or has done for so long that they know what the break-downs of their foods are). Keep this journal religiously for three months and then you will have the ability to estimate the total caloric content as well as the protein, carbohydrate and fat break-downs of the foods you eat.

Calorie counting is actually not that difficult. That’s because you should be planning out what you’re eating in advance and your meal plan should be basically the same from day to day. So spend some time on the computer setting out a spreadsheet that lists the items on your menu. Then find some sites that provide caloric and nutrient values (for example www.caloriecountercharts.com) and fill these in on your spreadsheet. Of course you don’t want to eat the same thing every day, so have three or four different menus worked out along with their break-downs and you’ve already done 90% of the work.

The biggest mistake that most people make in counting calories is that they try to guess at their portions. To avoid this pitfall get into the habit of measuring your portions. You’ll need a good food measuring scale (ideally an electronic one) and measuring spoons and cups. This will be annoying at first, but it will show that you’re serious about achieving that lean, muscular look. After all, is it any harder than getting under that plate loaded squat bar? Of course not. So take that same discipline that you use in the gym and bring it into the kitchen. After a while it will become automatic – and so will your ability to manipulate the look of your body by controlling your caloric bank balance.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

THE LOWDOWN ON CARBS

Since society first started focusing on proper nutrition and weight loss, the emphasis has always been on cutting calories, and cutting fat. Fat was seen as the nemesis of anyone looking to shed excess bodyfat. This led to a boom in the low-fat and diet food industry. Before long, you could get just about any type of food you wanted in a low-fat form. But something was wrong. In spite of the billions of dollars spent each year on low-fat diets, society as a whole was getting fatter. People were exercising less, eating out a lot more, and leading less active lifestyles. However, the one factor not given much thought was the skyrocketing volume of carbohydrates being consumed, not to mention the amount of sodium that was added. After all, they said it was the fat that was the enemy, not the carbs. Or was it???

Nothing New

The known danger of eating too many carbs is nothing new. In fact the knowledge has been around for more than 50 years. From early on in his career, Dr. Atkins taught that carbs were an even bigger nemesis than fat. The problem was, it had been universally accepted that fat alone was the perpetrator leading to obesity. The idea of cutting back on carbs in order to lose bodyfat was blown off as another extreme fad. The majority of the health industry ridiculed Dr. Atkins. His eating strategies were stereotyped as ineffective and dangerous. Now, studies are starting to show that perhaps Dr. Atkins’ theory concerning carbohydrates was right after all.

The Real Threats of Excess Carbs

Ok, so maybe you are one of those who are blessed with the type of genetics that allows you to eat junk food and not gain a pound. You can eat whatever you want and still be healthy, right? Think again! Eating too many carbs can lead to other serious health problems besides obesity. The foremost of these are diabetes and blocked arteries to your heart from plaque build up.

Diabetes Cause and Effects

We’ve all heard about complex carbs; breads, pastas, rice, etc., and simple carbs (sugars). The bottom line is, regardless of what types of carbs are being ingested, the body responds to them the same way. All carbs are broken down into glucose, to be used as energy. The pancreas produces insulin, which is what allows glucose to enter the body’s cells to be utilized. The more glucose that is in the bloodstream, the more insulin the body must produce. If the body is unable to produce enough insulin, blood sugar levels start to rise. The pancreas will go into overdrive, trying to produce enough insulin. Pretty soon the body will say, “enough!” and no matter how much insulin is produced, it will not allow any more glucose to enter its cells. This is called Insulin Resistance, which affects more than 60 million Americans. Of these, one in four will eventually end up with type-2 Diabetes. This can lead to dependency on insulin and other medications. Over time, diabetes can lead to serious problems in your eyes, kidneys, nerves, gums and teeth. But the most serious problem caused by diabetes is heart disease. Diabetes doubles your chances of having heart disease or a stroke. Once you have diabetes, your risk of a heart attack is the same as someone who has already had a heart attack.

Carbs and Advertising

Advertising has been the number one weapon used by the makers of high carb foods. It is effective, and the bombardment is continuous. Children are a special favorite for advertisers. Every day they are bombarded with candy and cereal advertisements. Cereals for kids are usually about 80% sugar, and have little to no nutritional value whatsoever. One can’t take their kid to the supermarket without being pestered to buy the newest fudge-packed, syrup-smothered, marshmallow-infused sugar bombs that feature their favorite comic superhero or cartoon aquatic beast on the box. Think about this the next time you go grocery shopping: go down the cereal aisle, and look to see where all the high-sugar cereals are placed. You’ll notice that the vast majorities are placed at about waist high on an average adult. In other words, eye level with the average child. The child makes the most decisions on what the parent will buy, and the advertising marketers know this. Most of the time, the parent will appease their child’s carrying on and not think about the consequence and lack of nutrient value the product contains.

The “Low-Fat” Dilemma

Adults are also subject to the perils of advertising, as well as misinformation. There are several issues when it comes to choosing foods that are advertised as “low-fat.” The biggest of these is consumers not reading the labels completely. If a label says “98% fat free,” we automatically assume it’s healthy. One thing to keep in mind is that foods that are naturally high in fat will still have a significant amount of fat, even if 98% is removed.

A serious problem that came with the first generation of low-fat foods was the taste. Anyone who tried the first ever fat-free cheese will understand. Low-fat foods did not sell well initially because they lacked taste. To combat this, food manufacturers started to increase the sugars and other carbs in each type of food. After all, fat was the enemy, not carbs. Because of this public perception, advertisers were still able to make their foods at least sound healthy, and not lose their taste and market value to the consumer.

The other issue to plague individuals, who try to eat low-fat, and more recently low-carb foods, is human nature. A number of low-fat and low-carb foods contain serving sizes much smaller than their “normal” counterparts. We’ve all seen the “healthy” bread that looks like it’s full of holes, and is about half the size of a normal slice. The natural reaction is to eat twice as much as we did before. The majority of people will think, “Well it’s low-fat (or low-carb), so it’s ok if I eat twice as much!” Wrong answer. This totally defeats the purpose of buying such foods in the first place, not to mention the cost of the product can be 1½ times the amount of the regular product.

A number of well-meaning adults end up hurting themselves, even when they have good intentions to eat better. Example, they may eat lots of cereal or oatmeal for breakfast instead of bacon and eggs. Trouble with that is the excess number of carbs found in these types of foods. Dr. Atkins stated that it is better for you to have the bacon and eggs than to have that bowl of cereal due to the sugar and complex carbs that are making you fat. Think about it, children were a lot healthier and not obese when there was only meat on the table to eat. Sugar was available, but it was expensive. As economy expanded, so did the quantity and portion size of meals. Sugar is now affordable and comes in many disguises. (Hence, the sugar bombs mentioned previously).

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

The Inner Critic

The Inner Critic is that little demon in your head that compares your 14” biceps with Mr. Universe’s 22’s. You can’t compete, so why bother? Wrong! Negative thinking creates performance anxiety that shuts down your drive to compete. If you can free yourself of self-doubt you can find the energy to bulk up with the best of them.

Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter, author of Your Performance Edge (Pulgas Ridge Press, 2004) says, “Your mind is a thought factory: it produces 50,000 thoughts per day. Where your mind goes your energy follows.” Dahlkoetter believes it is possible to direct your mind so that your thoughts create the reality you desire.

Guy Grundy, Mr. Australia, agrees. “The best method is knowing what you wish to attain. If you don’t know what you want, you go through life as someone who is led, rather than being the leader.” So Grundy sets goals for his top three priorities in life: family, acting, and bodybuilding. “Once you know what you want,” says Grundy, “you can plan for achieving those goals.” When things aren’t going his way, Grundy thinks about what he wants to achieve. He realizes it’s tough to be continuously positive. “We all get kicked down on our ass from time to time, but that doesn’t matter. “All that matters is that we get back up and continue on towards our dreams.”
Dahlkoetter is aware of inner demons.

She says, “Within every athlete resides a negative inner voice that is primed to attack and judge you.” This little voice can make you nervous before important events interrupting your focus and keeping you from doing your absolute best.

It is hard to believe that Grundy, world Champion 2001 and the only person to ever hold both national titles for JFBB and NABBA to have negative thoughts. Grundy says, “The first time I competed at the World Championships in Vienna, Austria I felt overwhelmed by the size of the guys I was competing against. My inner critic was on fire.” Grundy took 2nd by one point that day. He knew he could have done better.

To learn how to put the Inner Critic’s voice to rest, Dahlkoetter suggests making a chart with three columns. The first column is for the negative thoughts. Write them down as they arise. In the second column, note the time of day the negative thoughts occur. In the third column write a positive reconstruction. This is your idea to fight that inner demon. For example, you may think, “I’m never going to get bigger, look at those guys.” A positive reconstruction might be, “Wait a second! My journal shows I gained two inches in my chest.I am making progress.” Through this awareness you can stop the cycle of negative thinking and develop a more positive attitude.

Once aware of the Inner Critic and its negative mind set you can develop effective ways to talk back to this inner demon. For example, when the Critic pops its ugly thoughts at you and says, “You can’t win!” you simply say to yourself, “Stop this garbage!” or “Shut up.” Then do something physical such as slapping your hand or punching your thigh. Dahlkoetter says, “The combination of physical movement and verbal expression wakes you up and makes thought interruption more likely breaking the chain of negative thoughts.”

ACE certified trainer, Steve Morris says, “When the Inner Critic torments me I say, ‘I know what you’re trying to do, and you can’t come in.’ It’s almost like being a bouncer at a night club. You don’t need logic. You just need to tell the voice, ‘I know who you are, and I’m not going to argue with you. You don’t get access, period. And I’m throwing you out.”

Another way to disarm the Inner Critic is to think about the price it costs you when you permit it to open its big mouth. Athletes report that when the Inner Critic starts bad mouthing them they don’t push themselves as hard during training, they become defensive with their coaches, or avoid trying new workout routines for fear of doing poorly.

To stop these flows of negative thinking assess the personal cost. Develop a list that shows how the inner demon has affected your training, work, and sex life. Then come up with a catchy phrase the next time that negative guy attacks. When it says, “You’re not good enough,” you come back with, “I’m not listening. You cost me two titles and the hottest babe at Bally’s.”

Now that the Inner Critic is quiet, replace its voice with a positive affirmation of your own self-worth. Dahlkoetter says, “The critic would have you believe that you need to always prove your value in life.” For example, the trophies you acquired and notches on your weight belt. “In reality,” she says, “our true value lies in our existence as human beings.” Just the pleasure obtained from a good workout should prove our self-worth rather than trying to justify that we are stronger or have bigger biceps than the next guy. “This is our self-worth, our humanness.”

So get back out there and pump iron next to Mr. Universe. And if that Inner Critic opens its mouth, tell it to “SHUSH!” You’re too busy improving yourself to listen to such nonsense.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

DIET/ NUTRITION: Common Mistakes We Make with Nutrition and How it Can Hinder Growth

You're doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach...Check. You've cut out all but 75 grams of carbs per day...Check. You've added two additional protein meals to help retain muscle...Check. You're changing course every five days out of frustration???? Hey, wait just a darned second!!!

You may find yourself bewildered as to why you're not getting the results you desire out of your diet, but the answers may be much easier to find than you think. In fact, if you actually wrote out what it is you are doing, each week, in some form, you might be surprised at what you find.

It's actually quite common to be doing things differently than you imagine or truly believe you are in your head. In your mind's eye, you're taking one course, but in your daily life, you're taking another. Keeping all of the facts you believe to be true up in your head isn't the path to progress, it's the path to disaster. Take the time to assess what it is you are actually doing not what you believe yourself to be doing and you may be surprised at what you find.

What a good start toward seeing what might be going awry? Here it is....

1. Getting fixated on one kind of protein - Many aspiring bodybuilders make the mistake of eating just one kind of protein all the time. Chicken breasts are the most common, because they're cheap and easy to fix and keep in the refrigerator in quantity. The problem is, the body becomes accustomed to foods that it processes often. Protein is crucial for growth, so if the body begins to ignore or reject it (by way of food allergies) it can mean curtains for mass building. Try to vary protein sources and include 2-3 different proteins in your diet daily.
2. Viewing supplements as a cure-all or mop up for poor eating - Supplements, especially fat burners, aren't meant to be mop-up for overeating and bad food choices. Neither is chitosan, carb blockers, or other supplements that were created to tweak the diet.
3. Eliminating all fat in diet - Ridding the body of body fat is one thing, but ridding your diet of all fat can spell trouble. Sure, you'll get ripped by cutting either carbs or fat, but you can make yourself sick cutting out dietary fat. Looking stringy is the visual side effect of a diet too long without fat, but ill health is what lies ahead when you cut fat out of your diet for too long. And low fat may be making a comeback in preparations. For 10 years it's been cycling carbs, but prior to that, it was low fat. Every season has its favorite. Just don't get caught up in this one!
4. Making enormous dietary changes all at once - The mistake a lot of wannabe competitors make is making all the changes they need to make at once. Not only does this shock the body, but it sets you up for failure. Going from pizza and burgers to what you might eat at the end of your 12-14 week diet (fish and broccoli) in one felled swoop is probably going to end you. Not only that though... Jumping from dietary Shangri-la to dietary concentration camp is not going to leave you anyplace to go when you need to tweak your physique with small changes each week. Leave yourself both room and sanity.
5. Eating haphazardly and inconsistently - This is something a lot of people do and don't realize it: They will eat well for 4 or 5 days, and make strides toward change, and then have a totally off the hook day of bingeing. They're back on it within a day or two, but have taken 4 steps backward and don't even realize it. You must remain on a diet for longer than 4 days to see results. Also, if you keep a daily log, you would see when you slip and not wonder two months down the road why you don't look like you've been dieting consistently!
6. Gauging progress by the mirror or scale alone - Scale readings alone don't indicate progress, but in combination with the mirror, a scale can be helpful. What's even more helpful is a body fat test using calipers, at least 3-4 times during a contest diet cycle. Body fat and muscle mass, in ratio with one another, are the only indicators of progress and success. And let's face it, the mirror never lies...it's just a matter of whether you do or not!
7. Not tracking calories when going low carb - Cycling carbs is fine, and probably works for 85% of the people out there trying to cut body fat and get in shape for a competition, but it's a big mistake not to count calories while cutting carbs. The mistaken assumption about low carb is that it's open season on eating as much fat and protein you can eat.
8. Overeating in between seasons - One of the biggest problems for bodybuilders who cannot seem to get into hard, ripped condition, is that they overeat in the off season. Since the off season is often the majority of the year, the body becomes accustomed to being in poor condition much more often than it does in good condition. For crisp cuts and creases, that's a problem! Try eating about like you do in the first phase of a contest diet. You keep the calories high, but keep the food clean. Give yourself a cheat meal once a week, and then get back on it . We guarantee that you'll look better than you ever imagined.
9. Changing dietary course out of impatience prior to seeing results - This goes hand in hand with eating haphazardly, but it comes from a different motivation. Whereas overeating is just plain lazy or compulsive, changing course, and being inconsistent as a result, stems from impatience and unrealistic expectations about what a diet can do within a given period of time. Can't be said any plainer: You need to stick with something until you see results. If they are miniscule, then change to something else, but you won't know until you see what happens. Stick with something long enough to find out!

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

MORE THAN JUST A PIPE CLEANER: THE HIGH-FIBER WAY OF LIFE

During the past 100,000 years man hasn’t changed much. The size of his brain and the physiology of his body are just about the same as the ancients who invented the wheel and built the pyramids.

But our diets have changed. A lot! During the early part of the last century our great grandparents ate 500 grams of carbohydrates per day. By the end of the century we were eating 360 grams. The intake of complex carbohydrates rich in fiber has decreased enormously resulting in a lack of fiber in the American diet.

Everywhere you look nowadays, from supermarket shelves to fast food window advertisements, the low carb diet is on display. Step back from the hype and read a few articles and books on diet and nutrition. Every study conducted in the past few decades has shown that eating carbohydrates in the form of fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and beans is like a magic bullet for good health and weight loss.

Clarence Bass, bodybuilding champion and owner of Ripped Enterprises says, “Hard training athletes, including bodybuilders, need plenty of carbs to supply energy to muscles and brain. Do you think Lance Armstrong eats a low carb diet?” Bass recommends a balanced diet, which includes plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

That means fiber. In their book, 20/30 Fat Fiber Diet Plan, Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and Barry Fox, Ph.D. write, “Large amounts of dietary fiber are absolutely essential for good health.” The dietary fiber you’d find in baked beans, chick peas, or lentils is made up of substances found only in the walls of plant cells. The body cannot digest these dietary fibers. They simply go in one end and out the other. But, while these fibers move through your system, they provide your body with the health and vitality it needs.

Scientific research shows us that most human diseases are caused by poor nutrition. Illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and digestive problems are caused by an inappropriate diet. Eating foods rich in high fiber promote health and reduces weight.

Here’s what fiber does for you:

• Fiber absorbs water making your feces softer and elimination easier. It helps prevent hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and constipation.
• It prevents colon cancer.
• Helps stop diverticulosis, an inflammation of the colon, which occurs in 10 to 25 percent of the population. It’s thought to be caused by a diet rich in processed foods.
• Guards against heart disease, high blood pressure, sky high cholesterol levels, and obesity.

Fiber can only be found in plants, and these plant cells are rich in phytochemicals. In their book, Mirkin and Fox write, “Numerous foods contain powerful substances that fight deadly diseases, control free radical damage, lessen the body’s inflammation response, and strengthen the immune system.” These phytochemicals help us become fit and maintain that special healthy glow.

Here are a few of the twenty-five phytochemicals mentioned in The 20/30 Fat & Fiber Plan:

• Adenosine, found in garlic, black mushrooms, and onions, acts as a blood thinner. It helps to prevent the formation of unnecessary blood clots, and helps in the fight against heart disease and strokes. Recent studies show that adenosine fights insomnia.
• Bioflavonoids are the natural pigments in fruits and vegetables providing our bodies with antioxidants that ward off cancer and heart disease. Recent studies have shown it to strengthen the walls of capillaries. It helps blood clot, reduces bruising, brain and retinal hemorrhages, bleeding gums and other abnormalities. Green tea, which has catechins, a bioflavonoid, is thought to slow the aging process.
• Genistein helps fight against cancers of the breast and uterus by blocking the flow of blood to tumors. Tofu and other soy products have this phytochemical.
• Glutathione, an antioxidant, fights cancer, heart disease, and delays the symptoms of aging. Tomatoes, watermelon, and strawberries have this free radical fighter.
• Phenols are found in garlic, soybeans, potatoes, and citrus fruit. Phenol compounds fight viruses, neutralizes carcinogens, and controls excessive bleeding.

It’s a known fact that protein builds muscles. However, too much of it causes our bodies to excrete calcium, which increases the loss of bone tissue. This has the disheartening effect of encouraging osteoporosis. According to a report in the June 1994 New England Journal of Medicine, researchers discovered by eating less protein, the problem is reversible.

Bass says, “Athletes that train hard at both strength and endurance need the most protein. However, it’s usually more than they need. Most would do better eating more unrefined carbs and good fat.” Translation: high fiber diets.
High protein consumption with large amounts of animal products made from beef, lamb, and pork slows the digestive process. Non-complex carbohydrates--cookies, pastries, most breads, and sauces, have the same effect.

In his book Dr Tooshi’s High Fiber Diet, Dr. Alan M. Tooshi says, “We need a diet high in dietary fiber to move food quickly through the digestive system.” Dr. Tooshi explains what happens when the digestive system slows down in an effort to digest proteins, fats, and non-complex carbohydrates:

1. Blood has more time to sponge up calories into the body causing a weight gain.
2. Food slowed while passing through the small intestine permits the body to absorb more cholesterol and salt from the digestible foods. This results in higher blood pressure and increased levels of cholesterol.
3. In the digestive tract, bacteria have plenty of time to feed off these foods producing toxic materials, which can damage colon tissue leading to colon cancer.
4. In the large intestine, slow moving feces lose it water content. It becomes dry and hard causing constipation.
5. Diets high in animal fats also slow the digestive process. The fat remains in the digestive tract longer than high fiber foods, thus attracting more bacteria. This bacterium has plenty of time to produce large amounts of gas, which causes individuals to experience pain and bloating.

Dietary fiber found in fruits, vegetables, and legumes behave like a sponge absorbing water, slipping through the digestive tract quickly making feces soft and loose.

So push away that steak and shove aside that loaf of white bread. Reach for the beans, green salad, and fruit. A high fiber diet helps the digestive system, fights cancer, and slows the aging process. It’s that magic bullet that will help you maintain your youth and health. What could be better than that?!

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

KETOGENIC DIETS: The 3 Types and What They Can Do For You

Though you may know it simply as a “low carb” diet, ketogenic diets are the hottest properties on the market right now. As a matter of fact in the last few years there have been “over 1500 low carb/ low glycemic products introduced into the marketplace” that will account for “over $30 billion dollars in expected sales this year alone”. That’s staggering support for a diet concept that, not so long ago, was lambasted and demonized as totally unhealthy! But even more staggering, is the fact that “26 million Americans are currently on a hardcore low carb diet right now”.

In the past, the medical community balked at this sort of diet. They claimed that while it was beneficial for those who were diabetic and forced into watching insulin, and useful for some who were epileptic and required seizure control through dietary means, it was hardly beneficial for all people. But can 26 million Americans be wrong about the benefits of ketogenic diets? Time will certainly tell, but the results seem already to be far more positive than anyone expected.

Okay, now let’s get real…

The bodybuilding community has been able to say one thing, for sure, for many years: Ketogenic diets do work and produce some spectacular results. We’ve been able to say this for years and years—ever since the days of Joe Gold, Bill Pearl and others drank cream by the pint, along with tuna from a can, to get ripped—because the competitor’s physique cannot tell a lie.

But while bodybuilders aren’t anti-carb like many who understand ketogenic diets only in the sense that carbs = bad foods and fats = good foods that deliver them from obesity, or at least that they don’t mix well within an isolated day, it is becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way it’s implemented for aesthetic purposes in our sport. Hopefully, after a few years of experience with ketogenic diets, the general public will begin to understand how to make it work as a mainstay in their lives. We think it’s probably one of the most pivotal, meaningful and important discoveries of 20th century nutrition.

Net Carbs

A certain amount of how these ketogenic diets can be utilized as a means for actual ongoing maintenance, has been introduced to the public, but only in a rudimentary manner that supports a general disinterest in hardcore discipline and actual lofty physique goals. Enter “net carbs”. That’s something that bodybuilders just don’t think about. Sure, it’s important to understand how the body actually reads carbohydrates and which ones count and which ones don’t, but mostly, these Spartan goal-driven folks could sit down to a meal of plain tuna and steamed broccoli, every 2 hours, day in and day out, and rarely complain. That’s because food is a means to an end, not the end itself or a reason for living. It’s all about input, output, and causing the body to act in a way that you want it to, when you want it to.

Net carbs are a way for the general public to include some carbs in their diets, depending upon their maintenance tolerance, and feel like a normal person. What counts as a net carb is anything that is sugar or starch in a particular food. What doesn’t count is sugar alcohol and fiber. One is naturally occurring and one is not. These engineered foods are enabling the general public to maintain their 20-30 pound weight loss, while feeling like real human beings.

How Bodybuilders Have Used Ketogenic Diets

Early pioneers of bodybuilding knew that fat and protein definitely did mix and used it to their advantage during the beach blanket bingo hey-day of bodybuilding. Arnold was a part of that, and then ushered in a new era where carbohydrates were king of the jungle gym and were seen as more important to a bodybuilder’s ultimate growth—along with protein—than fat ever could be. Neither were wrong, exactly, but carbs were always a point of trickiness in terms of depletion and loading and many more mistakes were made as a result of manipulating carbohydrates than fats. Still, we saw incredible conditioning in both eras.

When diets like Dr. Barry Sears’ glycemic based “Enter The Zone” became popular in 1995, and Atkins revamped his earlier book into a combinative ketogenic diet called “Atkins New Diet Revolution”, ketogenic diets made a comeback and resurgence onto the scene, and bodybuilders slowly began adopting the theory once again. But this time, it was more livable and adapted to the needs of an aesthetic athlete who wanted to drop just fat, not muscle, and take it to the nth degree! It was no longer the old 4:1 ratio of 1930’s ketogenic diets—where 80% of calories came from fats and 20% from proteins. It was more like a balance of 2:3 (40% fat and 60% protein).

But in this day and age, ketogenic diets are much better understood and are used much more correctly than in the days of meat and lettuce and cream. Ketogenic diets can be implemented in a healthy manner, provided the person understands what it’s all about, what the various forms accomplish, and how to use ketogenic diets to best serve dietary and physique goals.

Types of Ketogenic Diets

Ketogenic diets are a Godsend to those who must get their body into cosmetic shape relatively rapidly. By rapidly, we don’t mean within 3-5 days. However, a strict induction phase—the likes of which you would find in Atkins or the South Beach Diet—could actually make an appreciable difference in anyone’s weight within 10-14 days.

But within the scheme of things and given how overweight many bodybuilders began to be in the off season in the early 90’s, it was just in the nick of time that ketogenic eating came back into the picture and to the rescue. Truth is, as a result, we don’t really see many truly fat bodybuilders in the off season any longer. We may see bloated ones, but that’s an entirely different issue and cause.

The whole point of starting a ketogenic diet, as a bodybuilder, is to kick off a diet by bringing you from insulin resistance more into the realm of insulin sensitivity, depending upon your initial condition. Once you begin returning to more normal responses to food, it’s essential to change your game. Luckily, there are a few options within the ketogenic realm to satisfy this need…

There are three types of ketogenic diets:

SKD (Standard Ketogenic Diet) – This is the sort of diet that Atkins represents in its first induction phase, and to some extent, in the sense that only products with low “net carbs” are eaten to maintain. This is still low carb as a lifestyle and doesn’t include days where carbs and high, then low, then high again.

CKD (Cyclical Ketogenic Diet) – This type of ketogenic diet loads and unloads carbs in a cyclical pattern. This can be done one of two ways. The most common is to go low carb (unload carbs and glycogen) for 2-3 days at a time, then load with carbs for one to two days and repeat the cycle. Or, it can mean a cyclical pattern over the course of one whole day, where carbs are loaded until 2pm and then unloaded the rest of the day and evening.

TKD (Targeted Ketogenic Diet) – This type of ketogenic diet targets specific times during the day when carbs can be consumed. That means that carbs are usually only ingested around the time of exercise only so that they are quickly utilized and not allowed to spike insulin or be circulating within the body to cause fat storage.

The SKD is the type of diet that most of those 26 million Americans are following, to some degree, according to Time Magazine. It’s the most sensible for the average person who is prone to insulin resistance, has obesity or high body fat levels in their history, or is fairly realistic about their eating habits and knows that a low fat lifestyle isn’t for them.

But is a low fat lifestyle good for anyone? Some who follow it might say that it is, but studies have proven that fat, provided it doesn’t originate from a source such as trans-fatty acids or purely saturated fat, is beneficial to body function, metabolic health and overall well-being. The side effect, if eaten in healthy proportions is both energy and weight loss/ maintenance.

How a Ketogenic Diet Works

The aim in a ketogenic diet is to switch the primary fuel used by the body from carbohydrates (sugar, breads, etc) to fats (such as olive oil, fish oils or flax oil, preferably). When this happens within certain ratios of fat to protein to carbohydrate, the body is thrown into a state of ketosis.

Ketones are the by-products of fats being metabolized. In fact, when fats are metabolized, they throw off 90% ketones and 10% glucose. When carbohydrates are eaten, 100% of the by-product becomes glucose. With protein, it’s 46% ketones and 54% glucose. Protein, then, is the neutral macronutrient.

When ketones begin circulating in the blood, their presence interrupts the normal Krebs energy cycle (which relies heavily upon glucose) and forces the body into choosing stored fat as a source of energy to burn, rather than glucose in the diet as a by-product of having just eaten carbohydrates, or glycogen stored in the muscles, or even muscle tissue.
The body also begins to rely upon dietary fat as the mainstay of its energy. Because it is twice as calorie dense, and therefore twice as efficient an energy source, and doesn’t stimulate the release of insulin [which signals the storage of fat], the body adapts well to fat as its source of energy. Nothing is lost in mental capacity and levels of well-being are high. If you still think it’s odd, just remember, man evolved by eating this diet from the dawn of time. There was no white flour, no grain of any kind, no sugar, no processed foods—just high protein, fatty animal flesh, and legume shoots and berries.

But switching from carbs to fats sounds scary to most people unfamiliar and inexperienced with the diet. They fear that their arteries will clog overnight and they’ll die of a heart attack. But recent studies done on excessive carbohydrate and sugar intake indicate that they are just as likely, in abundance, to cause a build up of unhealthy (LDL-Low Density Lipoproteins) blood lipids and elevated levels of cholesterol. There’s also a choice between good and bad fats. If you were to eat a slab of salmon, a green salad with olive oil and vinegar and 8 spears of aparagus for dinner every night, or chicken breast, broccoli and a half an avocado for lunch, you’d be lean and healthier than any human you could ever imagine. Understanding this is half the battle.

Can Fat Make You Fat?

What makes people fat, is not fats themselves. What makes people fat in this day and age is complex. Most of all, in the U.S. portion control is the real culprit. Whole populations in other countries that are unfettered by a “big” complex (bigger house, bigger car, bigger portion) can eat just about anything, in moderation, and seem to maintain better health and a more appropriate weight-to-height ratio than we do here in America. But the processing we’ve come to rely upon for preservation, longer shelf life, better taste and increased convenience also contributes to the staggering rates of obesity in this country.

Ketogenic diets can help in this effort, and are aiding, many millions of people who currently have adopted some form of the ketogenic diet. Fat never made anyone fat. In fact, the body burns its own fat in the presence of fat. That is what ketogenesis is based on. But if that’s true, how can we demonize carbohydrates? No one is demonizing them, just being selective about which ones to eat in certain phases where they are allowed, and being exclusive of them in phases where it’s called for.

Here’s How to Use Each Type of Ketogenic Diet

The SKD is the sort of diet that anyone who hasn’t been dieting should adopt in the first phase of any diet, only because it’s so capable of jump-starting and putting the body back into a place where it reacts more normally, believe it or not. Just as one may switch routines in the gym, or change things up in terms of exercises, intensity or rep and set schemes, so too can the dieter shake things up by using phases to cause change within the metabolism of the body.

Technically, like Atkins induction phase of 2+ weeks, carbohydrates should number about 20 grams daily. That’s hard to do, considering that even high fat nuts have carbohydrates. It usually represents about 2 servings of green vegetables and two moderate sized green salads over the course of one day, along with protein. Sound appealing? Probably not so much. But an SKD isn’t the sort of diet you should remain on for long periods either. Physically, it’s deficient of the important low-glycemic carbohydrates that you may be able to have in the future, depending upon your body type and history, and is boring and difficult to follow mentally for much longer than a few weeks.

Many on Atkins would identify this as their diet, but it really isn’t. In fact, Atkins doesn’t really fit into any of these categories in its next phase. But once it reaches the phase of maintenance, it’s much more like a CKD than anything else, though it may be isolated into one day as opposed to a 3 days on/ 1 day off cycle as bodybuilders tend to follow.

The CKD is probably the most interesting diet because it leaves a lot of flexibility for many different kind of approaches. The first is a true cycling of carbs over the course of a few days, as we mentioned. The second would be to cycle the carbs within one given day. For example, only eat low glycemic complex carbs until noon, and then eat only green vegetables for the remainder of the day. This is for people who have sorted out just how many carbs they can tolerate throughout any given day, and how much fat is necessary to keep things in balance. Too much of one and not enough of the other can throw things off kilter.

Some even use the CKD as a means to dip in and out of an SKD for weeks at a time. The CKD/SKD connection is the most logical, of course. That’s when you go for 2 weeks on the SKD, then gradually introduce personally ‘safe’ lower glycemic carbs into the mix in some form, on a regular basis for another few weeks, and then go right back into the SKD again. This is truly effective body manipulation for bodybuilders, and probably what most do during a contest phase.

After a long food-abusive off season, the metabolism starts out poor and sluggish, gets better when the metabolism begins to burn like a wildfire, carbs are reintroduced, and then are removed again to shock the body into even better condition by delving deep into ketosis for about a week. The final days are typically a filling period where carbs and fats are coupled for maximum muscle fullness and a tight skinned, ripped to the bone look.

The final ketogenic diet is the TKD and is used by some bodybuilders in the off season or pre-season, to support training while weaning themselves off heavy carb meals. This can be an effective pre-induction phase, or for those who burn calories fairly easily through activity, can act as a way to boost workouts with glucose, then resume a low glycemic carb ingestion schedule. Personally, we would say this is the least effective type of ketogenic diet for most people because it’s really not allowing the body to ever dip into ketosis at all. Truly, this is just carb control, rather than ketogenic.

How to Know if You Are in Ketosis

There are these neat little test strips that you can purchase at any pharmacy, that tell the tale of whether you are in ketosis or not. They are extremely useful because they not only can tell you if you are in ketosis, they can tell you if you are too far, not far enough or just where you want to be. They are a scientific, quantifiable means by which anyone can determine where they are and where they need to be, and enable anyone to tweak their diets to meet their needs. They are used during urination and are run through the stream quickly. They read out in seconds.

If you find that you are following an SKD and are not getting the fast results you expect (which you ought to using an SKD) then you should buy some test strips and monitor yourself throughout this first phase. It’s essential to allow yourself to dip fairly far into ketosis during an induction phase.

Is Ketosis Right for You?

That depends who you are and why you’re using it, but in general, we happen to believe that it can be useful for anyone who needs to shed pounds. If you look at most theories of diet and training, and you treat them as tools by which you can achieve what you’re after, then you’ll use them correctly by adapting them to your individual needs. Nothing says you have to follow an induction phase of an SKD type for just 2 weeks. Maybe you need 2 months of it! Some people who are extremely overweight do actually need a lot more metabolic repair as a result of months or years of reckless eating practices.

Whatever you choose, the reality is, ketogenic diets are highly useful for many different purposes. And let’s face it, we could never say that about low fat diets or high fiber diets or any of the rest of the diets that we saw come and go in the 90’s.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

#4 - Extreme Diet - Transform Your Contest Physique from Ready to Ripped in One Week

This isn't for the person who hasn't begun a contest diet. Nor is it for the person who is just a poor dieter. This is for someone who already had a modicum of success in the field of bodybuilding - someone who has actually done well and looked respectable up on the stage, but who cannot seem to get that little extra off the lower back, the abs, the quads or the glutes and hamstrings.

For those who have eating issues, get fat in the off season and can't recover in 12 weeks, or those who are looking for how to do an entire contest diet for the first time, this is NOT for you! We might also caution that this is not for those who are looking to do a quick mop up of weeks of slips. This isn't catch up for poor dieting, it's about taking something that is already good and making it that much better!

So let's say you're 9 or 10 days out from your show. You look mostly ready and you reason, "I know I'll make it...after all, I have 9 days!" Well, you may or may not. In fact, if you're like 60% of amateur bodybuilders, the possibility of you actually looking worse in 9 days is very high. Some come in ready about 1-2 weeks in advance and then blow it the last few days. Why? Well, not for the reasons you think.

Many people, upon contest failure, claim, "Well, I came in ready way too early. I'll shave a week off of my next contest diet and come in right on the mark." This is just ignorant, plain and simple! The truth is, coming in early isn't such a bad thing. And it isn't a matter of this magic window of time in which you can hold your condition, and if you go outside of that window, you're screwed. It's much more about what you do to change things to not only maintain that condition, but take it to a new level.

Is it true that the more weeks you diet, the better you'll be? It depends. Some people can improve the quality of their physique with each week and others just fritter that time away and actually deteriorate in condition. It's all about knowing what to do to maintain momentum, and create a sharper generation of condition within that last week.

Here's a great recipe for success and further tightening:

8 to 9 days out: Eat a hamburger and fries for your last meal. In preceding meals, eat steak and eggs. Eat a lot of calories on this day. You've been dieting for a long time and this will actually make you look like a million bucks. Don't be afraid.

7 days out: Eat 8 oz of steak, grilled and fresh (don't save it in the refrigerator, it strips it of all its nutrients, heat and creatine) 5 meals a day, alternating meals with a small baked potato with some butter

4, 5 & 6 days out: Eat just steak, 10 - 12 oz. per meal, 5-6 meals per day. No potatoes, just some green vegetables, such as steamed broccoli, with 2 of the meals. Drink TONS of water throughout the day and night. A gallon is minimum.

3 days out: Eat as above, but during the last meal of the day, eat a baked potato with butter, or fries.

2 days out: Depending upon how dry you are, include a baked potato, or two, dry.

1 day out: All day is steak, but last meal is steak, baked potato and butter.

Day of the contest: Get up and eat a hamburger and fries, and drink moderately - sips until you get on stage. Have a gatorade about 15 minutes before stage if you look great.

Diuretics or Not?
Diuretics have become verboten in the pro and national ranks, because of testing. We're not advocating using or not, but the truth is, this program works even better, and the results are even more dramatic, with Aldactazide during days 4-7 and Aldactone days 1-3 and the day of the show. Aldactazide and Aldactone are both diuretics and aldosterone inhibitors. Aldosterone is a hormone that is associated with stress. Stress is a killer on a day of a show, because condition can be compromised. Supressing aldosterone, in addition to removing water and keeping dry, is a great addition to any physique on the day of the show.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

NUTRITION - The Six Food Groups for Bodybuilding Success

Everyone knows that nutrition is about the most important element in the scheme of things for a bodybuilder. The quality and quantity of the food that you eat - and the times that you choose to eat it - makes a significant difference in the way that you look, feel and develop. Food is also crucial to energy in the gym, and is often the unnamed culprit in a bad workout session.

But barring sticking with cans of tuna and cooked yams, or chicken breasts and brown rice, nutrition can be a mystery to a lot of newbies and seasoned competitors alike. Most stick with just a few staples in order to simplify, but it may not be serving their every need - either in the gym or up on the stage.

The 6 Food Groups

Usually, nutritional bibles will show a pyramid with grains/cereals, proteins, dairy and fruits and vegetables as the 4 food groups. For bodybuilders, it's a bit different and probably looks more like this:

• Meats/ Proteins
• Cereals/ Grains
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Dairy Products
• Oils/ Nuts

A bodybuilder's food intake for peak performance and peak condition should include something from each of these groups, but the ratios are greatly skewed from what is typically espoused by nutrition bibles.

Ratios are approximately:

Off Season:

• 40% Meats/ Proteins
• 10% Grains/ Cereals
• 20% Vegetables (Starchy and unstarchy)
• 10% Fruit
• 10% Dairy
• 10% Oils/ Nuts

Pre-Contest:

• 40% Meats/ Proteins
• 5% Grains/ Cereals
• 30% Vegetables (10% starchy and 20% unstarchy, leafy green vegetables)
• 30% Oils/ Nuts

Fruits typically are cut out in the last 5 or 6 weeks. As long as vitamin supplementation occurs, it's not an appreciable deficit.

Typically, we are told that 60% of our diets should come from carbs, 20% from protein and 20% from fat. But let's face it... eating like this is a sure-fire recipe for bodybuilding failure! Following the above plan is much more likely to create the kind of physique you want, and provide the energy you need to succeed in the gym and up on the stage.

Calories - Do they Count?

In this age of low carb diets (and bodybuilders have been cycling carbs for much longer than it's been in fashion) it's easy to think that calories don't count! But, in fact, they do. Don't ignore calories - it's one of the biggest mistakes that a bodybuilder can make! That means, don't ignore the fact that what you take in, carb-free/ carb-light or not, still counts. Sure, it counts much more when you include complex carbs back into the picture during an off season phase, but calories count anytime. Fail to count them and you set yourself up for bad habits that spill over into the off season.

Get in the habit of counting calories during a pre-contest phase, and you'll probably be fine. Once you add starchy vegetables, such as potatoes and additional grains, such as rice, you won't go astray.

For a 200 pound bodybuilder, here's how calories should look:

Off season (growth): 3000
Off season (maint.): 2500
Pre-contest (fat loss): 1800

Eating Quality and Quantity in the Off Season

Off season and mass building aren't synonymous with Burger King or McDonald's. Occasionally, this kind of food is okay, but in general, they are not their own food group and are not the best quality food to feed your body.

It merits mentioning that eating a large quantity of calories during an off season phase is crucial to success. But it should also be mentioned that the quantity must also include quality. Simply shoveling 3000 calories of any kind of food into your mouth isn't the way to address mass building.

Think of feeding your body in the same way you would a new home project. Do you want linoleum in your kitchen, or ceramic tile? Would you build your home with recycled lumber and expect it to last for 30 years, or would you be better off using brand new lumber? Would you want to use sandpaper on your roof, or wood shake or ceramic tile? These are all important decisions in what your final product looks like, and how enduring it will be.

Think of food and feeding your body during a mass phase in the same way. Eat steak, chicken, and other quality protein, good carbs like potatoes, yams, oatmeal, and fats such as olive oil and nuts. Just eat more of it than you would during a pre-contest phase.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

Body Rhythms and the Future of Bodybuilding

The future of bodybuilding may not be in the weight room of your local gym, but in a researcher’s laboratory. Scientists are listening to your body rhythms to help you enhance your performance tomorrow.

There are a few body rhythms affecting our bodies. Seasonal rhythms are felt at a specific time of year. We’ve all had “spring fever” and some of us get seasonal affective disorder, which causes depression during the shortened days of winter. Infradian rhythms last longer than a twenty-four hour cycle. The menstruation in women is a perfect example. Then there’s the Circadian rhythm, which follows a twenty-four hour cycle such as wakefulness and sleep.

Scientists are studying these rhythms. That research will eventually help bodybuilders to enhance their performance. You see, our biological clocks take their cue from the environment and the pulse of our planet as day turns to night and winter becomes spring. This internal clock is also affected by our genetic make-up, age, and gender influencing how our bodies change from morning to night. It affects our blood pressure, body fat, weight, blood flow, as well as other vital functions.

As night turns to day our bodies react. Heart rates quicken and blood pressure increases all in anticipation of increased physical activity. All these functions are regulated by our biological clocks located in the brain, and these biological rhythms are genetically programmed into our cells, tissues, and organs.

In the future, when we have a deeper understanding of these rhythms, we will eventually be able to take advantage of our biorhythms to improve our workouts and retain excellent health.

There are a handful of researchers looking into body rhythms and its affect on bodybuilding. T Reilly studied the influence of circadian rhythms on exercise. He’s noted that the effects of these rhythms on body temperature, cortical arousal, endocrine factors, and muscular peak torque are all enhanced in the PM hours. Therefore, his studies show that greater training loads would be better tolerated in the evening than morning.

However, the jury is still out on this one. Are you a morning or night person? Humans have individual differences in the timing of their behaviors that determine their circadian typology. Some people prefer daytime activities—the morning person. Others prefer the nightlife—evening person. At one extreme is the lark and the other end the owl.

Most of us fit someplace in between. The lark/owl differ in sleep-wake patterns and biological rhythms as well as preferences for physical and mental activities. Morning people prefer to rise between 5 AM and 7 AM and retire between 9 PM and 11 PM. Evening people prefer to wake up later than their morning brothers. You’ll catch them in the kitchen for breakfast around 9 AM to 11 AM and they don’t crash for the night until 11 PM to 3 AM. Naturally, this difference in sleep cycle affects training schedules.

Various hormones produced by our bodies are affected by circadian rhythms. For example, testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) exhibit circadian rhythm with peak concentrations in the morning and reduced concentrations in the evening and while we sleep. Researchers are discovering that bodybuilders can maximize optimal training responses if they can alter the hormonal environment, for hormonal events play a significant role in signaling the cellular remodeling process of skeletal muscle protein.

Here’s where things get really technical. Anabolic hormones, hormones, which stimulate muscle growth, such as T and growth hormones, regulate protein synthesis. Catabolic hormones, on the other hand, such as C, regulate protein degradation. The balance between these anabolic/catabolic hormones influences protein turnover. The net result of this complex process is muscle mass.

Circadian time structures on hormonal events can depend greatly on an individual’s morning-evening preference. Researchers Stephen P. Bird and Kyle M. Tarpenning at Charles Sturt University, Australia investigated the influence of circadian rhythms on hormonal responses to heavy resistance exercises in bodybuilders. They used two different exercise periods on separate occasions, 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM. They wanted to see how hormones responded to a specific weight lifting session.

Bird and Tarpenning formed two groups of weight lifters based on their morning or evening preferences. The morning group showed a reduction of C levels during their exercise period finishing 47% below their pre-exercise value. In contrast, C levels for the evening group increased by as much as 32%. Since C has a catabolic role in the breaking down of tissue, body builders have an invested interest in its potential as a tissue break down agent. Also, an increase in T indicates tissue growth or anabolism.

Bird and Tarpenning compared the AM resistance-training group to the PM group and reported a significant increase in post exercise T/C ratio. They concluded that this ratio in monitoring overall anabolic/catabolic status may affect the growth of muscle mass.

In the future, when there is a deeper understanding of the effect of hormones on our bodies in relation to our body rhythms we could possibly harness this information to mold ourselves into godlike. One little pill at night and we wake up looking like Mr. Universe without pumping an ounce of iron. But until that day happens, back to the weight room.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

POUND FOR POUND: Beef Will Always Be The Ultimate Source For Protein

What do Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, And Gunter Schlierkamp have in common besides being the top 3 Mr. Olympia competitors and weighing in at over 300 pounds a piece? Aside from being some of the biggest boys in bodybuilding, Ronnie, Jay, and Gunter know a little something about what it takes to grow. Not surprisingly, each of them consumes beef in their off-season diets.

Big & Beefy

Beef and bodybuilding have a long-standing relationship that goes all the way back to the shoreline of Muscle Beach when muscle-makers stood around chomping on beef liver tablets in between meals of ground beef, milk, and raw eggs. These golden era beach boys may not have known the all the particulars about nutritional science or had access to the advanced supplementation like bodybuilders today do, but they knew one thing- you eat big, lift big, you grow big. Does that sound too simple?

What’s So Big About Beef?

Bodybuilding nutrition has come a long way. From what we’ve now learned through scientific study, it turns out our bodybuilding forefathers made a smart choice by eating so many big steaks. Beef is more than simply a protein choice, it’s an anabolic food that contains many of the nutritional building blocks that are critical to muscular growth, athletic performance, and recovery from hardcore training. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that some of the things you’ve been buying in a bottle can come from what you can put on your plate!

Beef, An Anabolic Food?

It should come as no surprise that one of the primary reasons why beef contributes to an anabolic growth state is because it is mainly comprised of protein. How much protein will depend on how lean the cut is that you select and there are so many it can be really confusing to pick one. A 4-ounce portion of beef will contain anywhere from 20-26 grams of protein. The best choices are cuts with “loin” or “round” in the name such as eye of round, top round, top sirloin, or tenderloin. The very leanest beef brands will be labeled “lite”, “natural”, or “grass-fed” and may have the American Heart Association’s “healthy heart” symbol on the package.

Bodybuilders and other men looking to add lean muscle to their frames should consume at least the minimum recommended protein intake for athletes of 1.7-1.8 grams protein per kilogram bodyweight. You can round the recommended protein allowance up to a gram per pound of bodyweight. Many competitive or serious bodybuilders aim for 2 grams per pound, so experiment to find what works the best for your body. Most people seem to find it difficult to meet their body weight in protein consistently but if you’re looking to grow, it’s something you need to commit to doing (this is where protein shakes and good MRPs come in handy). Heavy resistance training tears your muscle tissue to shreds and the only way it’s going to grow back bigger and stronger is if you provide it with adequate protein.

CLA

One recent hot supplement to hit the shelves has been Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). CLA is currently marketed as a supplement that promotes fat-loss and the growth of lean body tissue but there are some studies that suggest CLA also has anti-carcinogenic properties and can be useful in combating arteriosclerosis and preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes. There is some evidence though that seems to point to synthetically produced CLA metabolizing differently from naturally occurring CLA.

CLA is naturally occurring in grazing animals so consuming beef and milk products is a way to obtain CLA through diet. Omega-3 “essential fats”, produced only in the green leaves of plants, are higher and CLA levels are 30-40% higher in free-range cattle, consuming “grass fed” beef may be your best bet for maximizing CLA intake through diet.

Zinc

Zinc is another important mineral needed by hardcore trainees. Zinc intake plays a critical role in tissue growth and repair as well as metabolism. And while most of the world’s population is chronically low on zinc intake, consuming beef will mean consuming the food with the highest amount of bio-available zinc. In fact, the inclusion of beef in your diet will help your body absorb the zinc from other foods you are consuming.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

BODYBUILDER BREAKFAST

It is a well-known fact that breakfast is one of, if not THE most important meal of the day. Yet strangely enough, most people either skip breakfast altogether, or they go about it half-heartedly. A donut and a cup of coffee is the all too common breakfast of most individuals. As a bodybuilder, having a good powerful breakfast to kick-start the day is crucial for building muscle, as well as maintaining energy levels and motivation.

Why Breakfast is Crucial

Let’s look at what the word “breakfast” actually means. It literally means the breaking of fasting caused by a night of sleep. Think about it, as a bodybuilder it is crucial to eat every four to six hours, yet when you first wake up in the morning your body has not had any food for approximately 8-12 hours. By this point your muscles are screaming for some kind of sustenance, and that coffee and donut are not going to cut it!

The one exception to eating breakfast right after you wake up is if you do cardio first thing in the morning. Early morning, on an empty stomach is the best time for doing cardio, as the body will immediately call upon its fat stores for fuel. This does not negate the need for breakfast, though. If anything, doing early morning cardio makes it even more crucial that you get a good breakfast upon completion. Breakfast is also important to improving one’s metabolism. Just by eating a sound breakfast, you can raise your metabolism significantly.

From a bodybuilder’s perspective, let’s take a look at what a lack of breakfast will do to all your hard work at the gym. The body, through the consumption of protein, absorbs nitrogen, a key to muscle gain. Your body also naturally excretes nitrogen throughout the day. When a person’s daily intake of nitrogen from protein equals the daily excretion of nitrogen that is called “Nitrogen Balance.” A negative nitrogen balance occurs when the excretion of nitrogen exceeds the daily intake. This contributes to muscle loss due to the fact that the muscles are being torn down, with not enough material being supplied to rebuild them.

On the other hand, the consumption of more nitrogen than what is being expended, or “positive nitrogen balance” can lead to muscle growth. While sleeping, our bodies almost always go into a negative nitrogen balance. This in turn causes our metabolisms to turn catabolic, which is the breakdown of muscle tissue for energy. This is normal, and not something to panic about. What it should do is make you to think twice before skipping breakfast. Skipping this crucial meal only makes your hard work and dedication a waste of time. Remember, the key to a sound body is about 35% training, 65% nutrition.

Critical Timing

One thing to keep in mind is that breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day. Unfortunately, most people have it backwards when it comes to the portion sizes of their meals throughout the day. They skimp on breakfast, and they end up eating a huge dinner. When you think about it logically, breakfast should be your biggest meal because the majority of the calories consumed will get burned up throughout the day. If you skip or short-change yourself on breakfast, your energy levels will suffer, and you will be ravenously hungry by the end of the day.

A big reason why people who “cut calories” still get fat is because their timing is atrocious. Because they neglected their fuel tanks early in the day, they are so hungry by the end of it that they end up eating a huge dinner. This is immediately followed by sitting on the couch all evening watching TV, and then off to bed. Problem is almost none of those calories consumed at dinner are being utilized. And if they ate a lot of carbs and fats, guess what? They will go straight to the waistline! Kind of defeats the whole purpose, doesn’t it?

What to Eat

Like your vehicle, in order to keep the body functioning at its maximum potential, it needs the highest quality of fuel. And the wrong kinds of fuel can be damaging. You wouldn’t put diesel into a standard car engine, would you? So why would you suck down a cup of coffee with extra sugar and creamer, along with a glaze-covered jelly donut and call that “breakfast?” Especially since breakfast is where you get the majority of your fuel for the day. A good breakfast must include sufficient levels of protein, carbohydrates, fiber and fat.

Whether you are on a low-carb diet or not, the majority of the carbs that you are consuming should be eaten at breakfast. Dinner should focus mostly on protein. Since your body rebuilds itself while resting, it only makes sense to fuel it with ample protein so that it has something to rebuild with. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the foods that can turn breakfast into a sound source of power and energy!

Meat and Poultry

Ah, the mighty protein! A bodybuilder’s best friend! The quickest way to restore nitrogen levels to a positive balance is to give your body a shot of protein first thing in the morning. If you are looking for some high-protein food of the traditional breakfast fare, the standard ham and eggs are a sound choice. Many so-called “health food experts” may cringe at hearing that, but it’s true. Pork and poultry products such as eggs and ham are excellent sources of protein.

People may say, “but it’s high in fat!” Believe it or not, a certain amount of fat is essential for good health. One of the main reasons why fat is so crucial at breakfast is that a lot of vitamins are fat soluble, meaning they require fat in order to be absorbed by the body. By cutting fat completely from your diet, these vitamins will go straight through your body without being utilized. If you are conscious about cholesterol, there are yolk-free eggs available at your local grocer.

Grains and Cereals

Remember, most of your daily carbs should be consumed at breakfast. Grains and cereals are a great source of supply for this. Some examples include oatmeal, whole grain breads and dry cereal. Try to avoid cereals high in sugar, as you will go overboard on carbs by consuming them. Grains and cereals are also high in fiber, which is crucial for “keeping the plumbing in order,” so to speak.

Dairy Products

Along with being an excellent source of protein, dairy products such as milk and cheese are high in nutrients such as calcium. When buying milk, stick to skim, 1% or 2% fat. Whole milk is excessively high in fat and does not provide any more nutrients than those lower in fat.

Fruits and Vegetables

Keeping up on your fruits and vegetables will give help your body get the right amount of vitamins necessary to sustain itself and remain healthy. Though green beans and corn may not sound appealing at breakfast, a glass of orange juice is a prime way to give your body a sound “vitamin shot” first thing in the morning. Vegetable juices are also good first thing in the morning, however be cautious because a number of them are high in sodium.

Multivitamins

As much as we try and eat healthy and get all our vitamins, the sheer volume of vitamins and minerals that bodybuilders deplete at the gym makes this nearly impossible. Therefore it is a good idea to take a multivitamin supplement once a day.

Hydration

This cannot be stressed enough. A good habit to get into is to start off each day by drinking a full glass of water as soon as you wake up. Staying properly hydrated will help keep the muscles from cramping, and will also help the body process food.
Now that we know what we need to eat, let’s put together some sample meals to get an idea of just what makes a sound breakfast.

Day 1: Calories Protein Fat Carbs

1 Cup Raisin Branwith ½ cup 1% milk 230 8 2.5 50
1 Cup Orange Juice 109 2 .6 25
2 Poached Eggs 149 12 10 1
3 Slices Bacon 109 5 9 0
Protein Shake 140 34 0 1
Total: 737 Calories, 61 grams Protein, 22.1 grams Fat, 77 grams Carbs

Day 2:

Ham and Cheese Omelet (3 Eggs) 655 53 32 3.7
1 Cup Orange Juice 109 2 .6 25
Total: 764 Calories, 55 grams Protein, 32.6 grams Fat, 28.7 grams Carbs

Day 3:

Bowl Instant Oatmeal 128 3.2 1.4 27
Sliced Banana(Medium Sized) 108 1.5 .5 26.7
1 Cup Vegetable Juice 46 1.5 .2 1
Protein Shake 140 34 0 1
2 Egg Whites 32 6.8 0 .6
3 Slices Bacon 109 5 9 0
Total: 563 Calories, 51.7 grams Protein, 11.1 grams Fat, 67.2 grams Carbs

Day 4:

3 Eggs Over Easy 274 18.6 20.7 1.9
½ Grapefruit 45 .6 .1 11.9
2 Cups Skim Milk 181 17.5 1.2 24.6
2 Slices Wheat Toast (Plain) 130 4.3 1.9 24.8
Total: 630 Calories, 41 grams Protein, 23.9 grams Fat, 63.2 grams Carbs

Day 5: Calories Protein Fat Carbs

Protein Shake 140 34 0 1
1 Cup Vegetable Juice 46 1.5 .2 11
1 Cup Wheatieswith 1/2 Cup 1% Milk 157 17.5 2.2 30.1
1 Large Apple 125 .4 .7 32.3
2 Hardboiled Eggs 155 12.6 10.6 1.1
Total: 623 Calories, 55.5 grams Protein, 13.7 grams Fat, 75.5 grams Carbs

Day 6:

6 oz Extra Lean Ham 280 37.3 13.2 .8
Bowl Instant Oatmeal 128 3.2 1.4 27
Sliced Banana(Medium Sized) 108 1.2 .5 27.6
Protein Shake 140 34 0 1
Total: 656 Calories, 75.7 grams Protein, 15.1 grams Fat, 56.4 grams Carbs

Day 7:

2 Hardboiled Eggs 155 12.6 10.6 1.1
½ Grapefruit 45 .6 .1 11.9
2 Slices Wheat Toast(Plain) 130 4.3 1.9 24.8
3 Slices Bacon 109 5 9 0
2 Cups Skim Milk 181 17.5 1.2 24.6
Total: 620 Calories, 40 grams Protein, 22.8 grams Fat, 62.4 grams Carbs

Bottom line, a good solid breakfast will not only help jump-start the metabolism and give you the energy needed to face the day, it is also vital to salvaging all the hard work we put into the gym every day. If you go skimpy on your breakfast, you can expect skimpy muscle gains in the long run.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

CONTEST COUNTDOWN - A GUIDE TO REALIZING YOUR GOALS

Preparing for a competition usually propels many a gym-goer into the realm of HardCore training. After all, when you went to your first competition and sat in the audience, didn’t it make you want to jump up out of your seat and rush to the gym to replicate all that you saw on stage? Of course! That’s why seeing a physique in perfect condition is so motivating. You see that it’s actually possible to achieve what’s in your mind’s eye.

However, as most people who train know, getting from that seat in the audience as a spectator and up onto the stage as a competitor requires a lot of footwork and planning in between time. Now, no one is suggesting that the first thing a newbie gym rat should do is to jump into the next competition on the NPC calendar. Actually, that’s a sure set- up for failure and has caused a great many people to quit doing something that could really enhance their life for year’s to come.

However, one of the greatest motivating factors and best methods for getting the results you want, is to set goals and attach some form of a time frame to when you would like to achieve them. To some, that means carefully outlining goals that satisfy only them. To others, that means training for an actual competition.

Regardless of whether or not you want to seriously endeavor bodybuilding as a sport, the fact is, it’s always a great way to push yourself into action. Action is half the battle. Whether you fall slightly short or come in right on the money, the point is that you actually took yourself from Point A and went to Point B in a methodical fashion. This can be just the ticket to teaching you how to get into shape.

Remember those motivational speakers in the 80’s and 90’s who used to say, “The best way to achieve a goal is to write it down”? Well, that’s truer than you may imagine. Writing down what we eat on a daily basis, for instance, not only keeps us honest, it keeps us from deviating from our plan to reach our goals. This simple tool allows us to know exactly what is going on with our bodies and what is working or not working. We think to ourselves, ‘I don’t have to write it down because I lived it’, but then why can’t you remember how a particular meal affected you from 4 days prior? Or, why can’t you explain the fact that you’re not losing any body fat even though you’re “dieting”?

Planning is virtually everything when it comes to bodybuilding success. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t alter your plans during a workout or diet meal, if it will suit you better for that day—you can! However, starting off without any kind of plan at all can be disastrous and lead to aimless training or dieting that amounts to very little by year’s end. Having a goal prevents this from happening. Just remember that goals are living, flexible things and can accommodate life in the process.

When people gripe about not getting the results they want out of a weight training program, it’s usually for one of four reasons, or perhaps a combination: Either they aren’t working out hard enough, they’re overtraining and failing to get the rest they need, they aren’t supporting their workouts nutritionally, or they simply were never shown how to work out! But there’s an underlying reason that is a foundation for all of these reasons for failure: Not having a plan!

Even if you were to choose to transform your body and diet using the principles explored in last issue’s article, “The Body-Type Training Regimen”, you need to understand what your particular body type holds in store for you, and what you need to do in order to work within that modality, otherwise, you would surely fail. It’s the same with setting a time-related goal for your physique. You need to be measured and planned about it, otherwise, why waste another moment in the gym? Why eat another chicken breast, if all you’re going to do is mindlessly chase it with a Hershey Bar?

Will forging a plan ensure success? Not in and of itself. However, provided it’s a sound, realistic plan and you actually follow it, one day at a time, in a combination of days that total at least 12-14 weeks, yes it will!

So let’s pretend you’re entering a bodybuilding competition. It’s 15 weeks until the big day and you have been training for a little over 2 years with some good results and some mediocre results or plateaus. Forget all that. We’re going to take you through the entire process; from planning, to execution, to success on the day of the show. Follow this, and you won’t have a problem seeing big changes in your physique using a frame of time and a few well outlined goals.

Week 15:

• Outline goals
• Define what an effective diet is for you.
• Rid your home of anything that will not support that.
• Start ridding your diet of junk food (candy, fast food, sugars).
• Enlist the aid of a workout partner who’ll be in it for the long haul.

You aren’t going to begin your diet yet, but you are going to outline what a good diet consists of for you. Check in with a nutritionist, but somebody who has direct contest prep experience. You need to know what works best. Next, you’re going to actually decide what it is you want to look like. Do you even know what you look like beneath that layer of fat? Are you lean, but need to pack on some size between now and then? It’s beneficial to know your direction so that you can start walking! Oh yeah, and find a friend or training partner who will push you for the next 12 or 13 weeks in the gym.

You’ll likely also want to rid your body of its taste for fast food and junk food. You’ll be thankful you took a few weeks to do this before actually beginning a diet.

Week 14:

• Buy all stored/ frozen food for diet.
• Purchase supplements and protein powder.
• Outline your training regimen for the entire 13 weeks.
• Start building endurance by including cardio if you have been inactive aerobically.

This is the week prior to starting your diet, so you need to be prepared on the morning it starts. Buy all the food you can that stores or freezes, so that on that Monday morning, you are prepared. Frozen chicken, cans of tuna, yams, oatmeal, protein powder, supplements (both for dieting and recovery) and anything else you may need apart from fresh fare.

Remember, think ahead about the type of person you are... do you get hungry at night? What will you do when hunger strikes? Outfit your cupboards with small snacks that are almost calorie free so you can munch on things to tide you over into the next day. Cheating isn’t an option!

The last thing is, you should start to do cardio work, maybe 2-3 times per week within this week prior to hitting it hard. You’ll be thankful you did. Start with the treadmill and up the ante each day you do cardio so you’re pushing yourself into aerobic fitness. Purchase one of those small lunch coolers so that you can pack all of your food for the day. If it’s there, it’s a no-brainer and you won’t need to tempt yourself going into a fast food restaurant or grocery store. Pack baggies of protein, or scoop protein into empty 12 oz water bottles, ready to fill.

Week 13:

• Cook the night before, pack the next morning.
• Start writing down everything you eat.
• Write down your workouts and details about them.
• Get extra rest this week.

This is your start week. On the day prior to this, (usually a Sunday night) you should have cooked a few chicken breasts, some yams, perhaps a little rice, etc. so that you aren’t rushing around trying to put it all together in time. A lot of people buy those Rubbermaid storage tubs, in various sizes, to accommodate salad lettuce and cabbage, cooked chicken breasts, and hard boiled eggs, in order to always have something prepared and on hand when hunger strikes. Keep replenishing these in the refrigerator so that it’s easy to just grab and put together your meals for the day. Once in the gym, make sure that you bring a small spiral notebook to record what you’ve done and basically, what your set and rep scheme was. Make comments about how it went once you arrive home so that you can assess what’s working and what isn’t.

THE CYCLES OF CONTEST PREP

Look at a contest prep cycle as a series of four 3 week periods of time. Within each three week cycle, there are certain things you need to do in order to push yourself into the next realm of fitness. We’ve been clear about how to begin to prepare, now we’ll get more into the fine points of actual tips for training and dieting that will point you in the right direction. It’s pretty methodical, and definitely isn’t rocket science. Just follow the plan and path that thousands before you have taken and you’ll end up successful.

Weeks 10, 11 & 12:

Diet: Each meal in your daily diet should contain some form of protein. Whether you get that from protein powders or from actual meat, poultry, eggs or fish, the protein is crucial for repair and building, as well as speeding up your metabolism to lose body fat. Your diet should also include 1-2 meals that have some kind of substantial carbohydrate, such as yam or brown rice. Try to quit eating those things by 3-4pm in the beginning. You’ll also include 1 cup of cooked oatmeal for breakfast with egg whites, etc. during this phase. Your last couple of meals should consist of quality protein and vegetable carbohydrates, such as broccoli or spinach. Record everything, including amount and gram count. If you don’t know, go buy a book that lists the food values of common portions. Your protein can include some red meat, but make sure it’s lean. You can also have a yolk or two with your egg whites. Keep calories up, but make sure the food you eat is all good food and not junk!

Recap: Record every bit, take in protein at every meal, go easy on the starches after 3pm, don’t cut calories down too far.

Training: Training during the first few weeks should include the weights you always use, but the repetitions should increase slightly. You’ll be howling at night from the extra soreness, but you’ll speed up your metabolic rate, keep your strength and begin shaping muscles in ways you usually never see because you don’t push yourself to this point. Try to take less rest between sets, and trade out one exercise for each body part with a new one that you haven’t done very often. Keep great form, despite fatiguing your muscles much more in these three weeks.

Recap: Move rapidly, less rest between sets, keep weights heavy, increase variety.

Cardio: Your calories have dropped slightly, despite best efforts, because you’re now eating good food and probably don’t know how to eat the same number of calories and have them all be good for you. That’s okay. During this phase, you’re going to really bump up your cardio fast. Add 10 minutes to each session and make sure you get 4-5 sessions this week. (Don’t do cardio on leg days). Use only the treadmill this week and start with 30 minutes, go to 40, then 50, then 60 and start back at the beginning at the first part of the week. Really play with intensity here too. Lots of ways to do this, considering that on a treadmill, you can play with pace, incline, program, time and interval work. Push yourself to do at least two 2-3 minute sprint-like runs in the midst of each session. And elevate the treadmill a few times.

Recap: Use only the treadmill these first 3 weeks, add 10 minutes each session, vary intensity.

Weeks 7, 8, & 9

This is where the fun begins!

Diet: These are the weeks that try men’s souls. You’ll cut back to one starch (Example: 1 cup of brown rice, or 1 yam), and will cut your oatmeal in half in the mornings. Eat extra protein and have steamed vegetables or a salad to add fiber. Make sure you finish that one starch by 2pm. You’ll be eating about 6 times per day and increasing your protein to make up for the lack of the one starch. You’ll also add a little flax seed oil in with a protein shake or with your afternoon/ evening meals. This will also take up the slack for the lack of that carb and give you energy to go on. Remember to keep writing this all down each day.

Recap: Cut oatmeal in half, cut down to one starch, increase vegetable intake, increase protein intake, and supplement with a few well-placed teaspoons of flax oil over 2 meals.

Training: Training should intensify during these weeks. The weight you have been able to use is likely waning a bit. To make up for that, increase your number of sets, or keep the number of sets stable and increase repetitions. Add in the occasional super set. You’ll be trying to take less rest between sets. If you feel yourself not getting a pump, use glutamine in 4-5 gram doses a couple of times a day, along with a small amount of creatine, mixed in with about 6 oz of Gatorade and 6 oz of water just prior to workouts.

Drop compound movements such as bench press and start using dumbbells, still trying to keep the weight up as much as possible, while set and rep numbers go up. Begin to pick up the pace and train faster.

Recap: Intensify training, increase set or rep numbers, add super sets, use more dumbbells than bars, train slightly faster.

Cardio: This is where things get tricky. You can keep a constant time of 40-45 minutes for each session, rather than continually adding, but you need to keep intensity high. Use a variety of equipment during this phase, including treadmill, elliptical trainer, stepper, etc., but do interval training on each apparatus. Speed up with less resistance, slow down with greater resistance. Wear a heart rate monitor and dip into the anaerobic zone 4-5 times during a session.

Recap: Keep time constant, keep intensity high, increase variety of apparatus, use interval training, wear heart rate monitor and dip into anaerobic zone several times.

Weeks 4, 5, & 6

Diet: This is where you’ll begin to cycle your macronutrient groups. You’ll move in a 3 day cycle, similar to a training cycle, when you do this. It will look something like this:

Day 1: Low fat protein sources, 2 grams protein per body weight, no added fat and 2 starches for the day, along with lots of vegetables.
Day 2: Moderate protein (1 gram per pound of body weight) both lean and semi-lean sources, (lean beef okay), 1 starch, multiple vegetables, and 1 tbsp flax oil
Day 3: High protein, variety of sources, (egg whites + yolk, chicken, steak, fish), high vegetable intake, including a salad at each meal, 2-3 tbsp of flax oil (spread out over a few meals), or 2 meals with flax and one with 1/2 cup walnuts.

This will define for you how fast your body can change.

Recap: Follow this exactly, and keep cycling through the 3 day plan over the course of 21 days.

Training: Training sessions for each body part should include fewer exercises, less sets, and higher repetitions. Because you’re doing less overall volume in your workouts during this phase, try to increase the weight again in some exercises. Still use dumbbells and any attachment that lends itself well to full range of motion in each movement. Vary the exercises you do each time so you’re never doing the same exercise twice in one week. Keep the pace as quick as you can, but take appropriate rest when you need it. The variance in diet will likely throw you for a loop! Take in plenty of glutamine in the morning, afternoon and evening.

Recap: Include fewer exercises, less overall sets, but more repetitions. Try to increase weight, and increase the glutamine intake

Cardio: Do 8 sessions of cardio this week - one in the morning and one in the evening - over 4 days, avoiding leg days. Vary apparatus. Also, vary times throughout the week, randomly. One morning, do 30 minutes, and at night, do 25. The next day do 50 in the morning, then do 25 in the evening, going by how you feel that day. Throw in one good intensity based session during the week, but make sure it’s in the morning.

Recap: 8 split sessions, vary apparatus, vary time randomly, throw in one session geared toward intensity.

Weeks 2 & 3

Diet: Bump your meals up to 7 or 8 each day, and decrease the overall food volume in every other one. Keep protein intake very, very high, eating at least 2 grams per pound of body weight. All carbs should come from vegetables, but you may have either ¾ cup of oatmeal or ½ yam, if you feel you need it, on odd days. On even days, have extra fat from sources like flax oil or olive oil, if you feel you need it. Keep vitamin supplementation high. When you start your second week, you’ll be cutting out whey protein powder. This is a sad day for anyone, but necessary in order to get that last bit of film off the abs, legs or lower back - where ever you have a problem. Replace this with 3-4 egg whites per normal protein shake meal. Drink extra water this week if you haven’t been. Try to get ½ to full gallon per day.

Recap: Double protein, all carbs from vegetables except on odd days when you may have a small amount of carb (low glycemic: ½ yam or ½ cup of oatmeal cooked). At start of second week, cut out all protein powder and replace with egg whites.

Training: Training should be fast and furious and supersets should be the norm for you for the first two days of each week. Then, take a rest day and hit it again for one day of supersets on the fourth day. Train at normal pace for another day and take 2 days off.

Try to do as much ab work as you can in these last 3 weeks. It’s crucial to your appearance. Calf work should also be stepped up slightly. Giant set abs, superset calves, and use interesting attachments for all other body parts (ropes for triceps, hands on high cables for biceps curls, etc.).

Recap: Fast and furious for the first two days, one day off, then supersets and intensity again on the fourth day, train at a normal pace the next day and then take two days off. Do this for two weeks. Use interesting attachments and step up ab training

Cardio: Cardio sessions should be about 25 to 30 minutes, 4-5 days per week. Vary equipment and keep the pace totally fat burning. Keep track of that by wearing a heart rate monitor.

FINAL WEEK - Week 1

You should be tired, but you shouldn’t feel like dropping either. If you do, take 1-2 days off from training during weeks 2-3. During week 1, you’ll only train for the first 2 days and then take 3-4 off. The fourth is a contest Saturday, usually.

Diet: Drop meals back to 5 or 6, and make sure that you alternate chicken and steak as protein sources in each meal. So, if you’re eating 6 meals total, you’ll be taking in 3 chicken breast meals and 3 steak meals. Be encouraged that you can cook Ribeye steaks on the grill during the first few days, and eat plenty of vegetables with it. Drink plenty of water, up to about ½ gallon or less. About Wednesday, cut that amount in half, and then keep your water there. Don’t cut it down to nothing. You’re not eating starch so it doesn’t matter.

Toward the end of the week, about the last few meals of Thursday, you’ll throw in a yam with your steak or chicken and then go to bed. Wake up on Friday and have 3 meals only of steak and baked potato. Go easy on the butter, but you can have some. This should fill you out in plenty of time for the next day. Don’t go jamming M&M’s and candy bars into you. Eat only things that have plenty of fat with them too... french fries are a good choice, steak is good, and so is Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream (just about ½ to full cup only). Come Saturday you’ll look like a million bucks!

Training: Do detail work this week, for the first three days only. Then rest.

Cardio: Only 2 sessions this week - Monday and Tuesday.

It’s unlikely that after following this plan, you’ll look like anything but a superstar compared to the person who started. Training using a time frame can be one of the most rewarding because you’re giving 110% every day, over the course of several weeks. That’s because you know it’s for a finite period of time. It becomes much more difficult when you try to apply that to life.

It’s impossible to keep up a contest prep pace forever, but you can find some kind of moderate way of living, employing these principles, by just altering your concept of time frames and by continuing to refresh your goals. The best way, of course, is to have a lot of shorter term, less frenzied goals, such as I’m going to lose 10 pounds in 2 months...or... I’m going to increase the weight I use in squat workouts by 20% in 6 weeks”. String those all together and you end up with a way of living that never becomes stale or boring and always finds you achieving some goal or end result.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com