Food For Bodybuilders And Athletes

In this article we will be looking at the best bodybuilding foods you can eat. Very few normal people have the willpower, dedication or money to eat like this, and consequently they will suffer from poor results in the gym and poor health. It takes real dedication and passion to be able to eat a clean diet all year round, especially with so many temptations being forced your way everywhere you go. Most of the people around you will see a bodybuilding diet as strange but the reality is that eating a bodybuilding diet will give you a longer, healthier and happier life.

Eating a clean diet is perhaps the most important aspect in gaining muscle, keeping fit and helping prevent all kinds of diseases in later life. I will not go in to too much detail on what to eat and when, but in order to gain muscle or lose fat, you should be eating six or seven small, protein and nutrient rich, meals every two to three hours every day. Along with the six or seven nutrient rich meals, you should also consume between two and three litres of pure water every day.

With so much talk about supplements in the media, it’s easy to understand why many inexperienced bodybuilders, powerlifters and fitness enthusiasts think that supplements are the key to gaining muscle mass, but this could not be further from the truth. The reality is that supplements will do almost nothing at all to add muscle mass to your frame if your diet and training is not good, with the only exception being a good whey protein supplement and anabolic steroids. This is something most of us find out after wasting hundreds of pounds on the latest fad supplement promising rapid muscle gains and getting no real results. Some FDA reports, estimate the health supplement industry alone to be worth 20 billion dollars and growing and so it’s easy to see why there is so much misinformation flying around when it comes to bodybuilding supplements. Not surprisingly many so called experts will be happy to lie to you about the latest supplements when money is involved. Food is far, far more important than any supplement money can buy. If you think top bodybuilders got big by taking the latest creatine supplement then you are very, very mistaken. Professional bodybuilders are paid to endorse supplements that most of them will never use. The freaky physiques you see in muscle magazines were built with a great diet, steroids, almost perfect genetics and years of hard training and discipline.

Diet is probably the most crucial aspect of gaining muscle mass or losing body fat, besides training, and a good knowledge of these essential bodybuilding foods will help you gain the physique you desire. If everyone ate these wonderful foods everyday and nothing else, obesity would be almost non existent and we would see a massive decline in all kinds of diseases around the developed world. A good bodybuilding diet is also one that is extremely good for your overall health and well-being. There is nothing complicated about muscle building nutrition and for the most part it relies on a common sense healthy diet with plenty of protein from lean meat and lots of vegetables and complex carbohydrates.

The Best Foods For Bodybuilders And Powerlifters

The following foods should form the main part of every bodybuilder and powerlifters diet. If you base your diet around these foods you will gain more muscle, stay stronger and feel much healthier.

Oatmeal: Oatmeal is without doubt the carbohydrate of choice for bodybuilders and should be one of your main sources of carbohydrate.

Brown rice: Another really useful complex carbohydrate that should be a stable in your bodybuilding diet.

Egg whites: Egg whites are a fantastic source of protein rich in all the amino acids needed for muscle growth.

Steak: Steak is one of the best sources of protein for anyone looking to build muscle. It is rich in iron, creatine and protein.

Chicken breast: A fantastic source of protein that contains little to no carbohydrate or fat

Salmon and tuna: Both salmon and tuna are full of protein, have very little carbohydrate and are full of heart healthy omega oils.

Turkey breast: Turkey is a great alternative to chicken and it is often significantly cheaper.

Fat free cottage cheese: Fat free cottage cheese is the perfect food to have before going to sleep. It is full of casein protein which is released slowly throughout the night, and contains almost no fat or carbohydrate.

Whey protein: Whey protein is one of the only supplements that you really do need as a bodybuilder. It is the number one choice for post exercise protein and you can consume two or three whey protein shakes throughout the day to easily increase your daily protein intake.

Broccoli: You should try and have at least two servings of these vegetables every day. You can eat broccoli cooked but I prefer to eat it raw.

Spinach: Spinach is a great tasting addition to a healthy diet.

Asparagus: Asparagus is one of the best green vegetables to eat if you are a powerlifter or bodybuilder.

Water: An often neglected aspect of a healthy diet. You should aim to consume around two to three litres of pure water every day

Low fat milk: Milk is full of calcium and contains a mixture of whey and casein protein.

Flaxseed oil: Flaxseed oil is a great addition to a healthy bodybuilding diet.

If you focus your diet around a good selection of the foods above you will find your progress in the gym improves dramatically. A healthy nutrient rich diet is perhaps the most important aspect of gaining serious muscle or losing fat and is what really separates the men from the boys when it comes to serious strength and muscle gains.

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Hanging Leg Raise

1. Hang from a chin-up bar with both arms extended at arms length in top of you using either a wide grip or a medium grip. The legs should be straight down with the pelvis rolled slightly backwards. This will be your starting position.


2. Raise your legs until the torso makes a 90-degree angle with the legs. Exhale as you perform this movement and hold the contraction for a second or so.


3. Go back slowly to the starting position as you breathe in.


4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Caution: Perform this exercise slowly and deliberately as it takes some getting used to. Also, do not be hasty and try to use weights on the first time; you'll have enough in your hands by holding your weight and also learning how to balance yourself so that you avoid swinging your torso. As you get more advanced you can hold a dumbbell in between your feet. However, you have to be very careful when adding weight to this exercise as if you add too much too quickly you could get a hernia.

Variations: This exercise can also be performed using a vertical bench that makes the exercise easier by supporting your upper back in place and by allowing you to hold yourself by placing your elbows and arms on the side pads.

Exercise Ball Crunch

1. Lie on an exercise ball with your lower back curvature pressed against the spherical surface of the ball. Your feet should be bent at the knee and pressed firmly against the floor. The upper torso should be hanging off the top of the ball. The arms should either be kept alongside the body or crossed on top of your chest as these positions avoid neck strains (as opposed to the hands behind the back of the head position).


2. Lower your torso into a stretch position keeping the neck stationary at all times. This will be your starting position.


3. With the hips stationary, flex the waist by contracting the abdominals and curl the shoulders and trunk upward until you feel a nice contraction on your abdominals. The arms should simply slide up the side of your legs if you have them at the side or just stay on top of your chest if you have them crossed. The lower back should always stay in contact with the ball. Exhale as you perform this movement and hold the contraction for a second.


4. As you inhale, go back to the starting position.


5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Caution: Perform this exercise slowly and deliberately as it takes some getting used to. Also, do not be hasty and try to use weights on the first time; you'll have enough on your hands learning how to balance yourself. Also, if balance is an issue I recommend having a spotter next to you and also placing each of your feet under a 100-lb dumbbell for added stability. As you get more advanced you can hold a dumbbell or a weight plate (held at arms length) on top of your chest. However, you have to be very careful when adding weight to this exercise, because if you add too much too quickly you could get a hernia.

Variations: You can perform this exercise with a low pulley behind you with a rope attached on its end. In this manner you can go ahead and add resistance easier. For this variation, you will need to hold on to the sides of the rope throughout the movement. I like to bring my arms forward to the point that the upper arms are almost parallel to my torso and the lower arms are facing back holding the rope.

Cable Crunch

1. Kneel below a high pulley that contains a rope attachment.


2. Grasp cable rope attachment and lower the rope until your hands are placed next to your face.


3. Flex your hips slightly and allow the weight to hyperextend the lower back. This will be your starting position.


4. With the hips stationary, flex the waist as you contract the abs so that the elbows travel towards the middle of the thighs. Exhale as you perform this portion of the movement and hold the contraction for a second.


5. Slowly return to the starting position as you inhale. Tip: Make sure that you keep constant tension on the abs throughout the movement. Also, do not choose a weight so heavy that the lower back handles the brunt of the work.


6. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Variations: You can perform this exercise with a handle instead so that you can concentrate on each side of the abs separately by performing the exercise to the side.

Ab Roller

1. Hold the Ab Roller with both hands and kneel on the floor.


2. Now place the ab roller on the floor in front of you so that you are on all your hands and knees (as in a kneeling push up position). This will be your starting position.


3. Slowly roll the ab roller straight forward, stretching your body into a straight position. Tip: Go down as far as you can without touching the floor with your body. Breathe in during this portion of the movement.


4. After a pause at the stretched position, start pulling yourself back to the starting position as you breathe out. Tip: Go slowly and keep your abs tight at all times.

Caution: This exercise is not advised for people with lower back problems or hernias.

Variations: If you are advanced you can perform the exercise moving the ab roller to the sides in a diagonal fashion as opposed to straight forward. This version places more emphasis on the obliques.

Ab Crunch Machine

1. Select a light resistance and sit down on the ab machine placing your feet under the pads provided and grabbing the top handles. Your arms should be bent at a 90 degree angle as you rest the triceps on the pads provided. This will be your starting position.


2. At the same time, begin to lift the legs up as you crunch your upper torso. Breathe out as you perform this movement. Tip: Be sure to use a slow and controlled motion. Concentrate on using your abs to move the weight while relaxing your legs and feet.


3. After a second pause, slowly return to the starting position as you breathe in.


4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

Caution:

• For this exercise, always select a weight that you can easily handle as using too much weight can easily lead to injury.

Crunches

1. Lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground, or resting on a bench with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle. If you are resting your feet on a bench, place them three to four inches apart and point your toes inward so they touch.


2. Now place your hands lightly on either side of your head keeping your elbows in. Tip: Don't lock your fingers behind your head.


3. While pushing the small of your back down in the floor to better isolate your abdominal muscles, begin to roll your shoulders off the floor.


4. Continue to push down as hard as you can with your lower back as you contract your abdominals and exhale. Your shoulders should come up off the floor only about four inches, and your lower back should remain on the floor. At the top of the movement, contract your abdominals hard and keep the contraction for a second. Tip: Focus on slow, controlled movement - don't cheat yourself by using momentum.


5. After the one second contraction, begin to come down slowly again to the starting position as you inhale.


6. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Variations: There are many variations for the crunch. You can perform the exercise with weights, or on top of an exercise ball or on a decline bench.

Female Bodybuilding Tips For Building Muscle While Remaining Feminine

 
Men are not the only creatures interested in building muscle, which is why we have compiled a list of effective female body building tips. It is important that women seek the proper techniques and tips to help them build an adequate amount of muscle before beginning any sort of workout regimen.

Women should especially pay attention to the amount of muscle they have because it can also help them keep fat to a minimum. One pound of muscle burns up to nine times more fat than aerobic activity alone. Having an adequate amount of muscle comes in handy particularly later in life when women become more susceptible to bone diseases such as osteoporosis.

Given below are a list of female bodybuilding tips you will find very useful when trying to build and sustain muscle mass:

1. Always eat before and after a workout. These two meals are called the pre-workout meal and post-workout meal. They are the two most important meals of the day when it comes to the female bodybuilder. They should both consist of an adequate source of protein and carbohydrates. The pre-workout meal should be eaten no more than one hour prior to a workout and the post-workout meal should be eaten no later than 90 minutes after a workout.

2. Of all of the female bodybuilding tips, the one that you should make yourself extremely familiar with is to avoid overdoing it. If you are trying to build muscle, you need to make sure that your total amount of weight lifting time does not exceed 45 minutes of active lifting per session. Anything over that amount will only cause your body to become completely depleted and resort to muscle for energy.

3. The third tip consists of the actual workout that you engage in. You want to be certain that you are challenging yourself at all times. Remember not to overdo it because you do not want to hurt yourself and potentially ruin your chances of excelling. You are the judge of what is comfortable and what is not. If you are straining, then lighten the load. If you are trying to build muscle, you must stay away from doing too many repetitions. Doing too many repetitions will result in more of a cardio-like workout and tone your muscle, not build it. Practice doing no more than about 10 to 12 repetitions per set as well as no more than five sets per exercise. If what you are doing does not feel challenging, boost the weight up a pound or two. Always remember to breath in when lowering the weight as well, and breath out on the way up.

4. The fourth has to do with avoiding the dreaded plateau. When people come to a plateau, they can no longer excel. The only way to get over the hump is to switch up your workout routine. The human body usually comes to a plateau once every five weeks. Once you hit that five-week mark, come up with a new set of exercises.

5. The fifth female bodybuilding tip has to do with another one of the most important aspects of all, resting. This is where the muscle building really comes in. You need to rest each of your muscle groups for at least 48 hours before working them again. Muscles cannot grow when they are constantly being worked; it is only during the recovery process that your muscles experience the most growth.

There are plenty of women who shy away from the weights at the gym because they are scared they will bulk up and lose their feminine appeal. This could not be further from the truth. What makes men bulk up is their higher testosterone levels, which women naturally have less of.

With weight training, women have the ability to appear curvier and transform their entire figure into something much more beautiful than they could have ever imagined. The best part about it all is that lifting weights provides strength, which is something everyone needs.

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Romanian Deadlift

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aJ6F-ge-dUw]

1. Put a barbell in front of you on the ground and grab it using a pronated (palms facing down) grip that a little wider than shoulder width. Tip: Depending on the weight used, you may need wrist wraps to perform the exercise and also a raised platform in order to allow for better range of motion.


2. Bend the knees slightly and keep the shins vertical, hips back and back straight. This will be your starting position.


3. Keeping your back and arms completely straight at all times, use your hips to lift the bar as you exhale. Tip: The movement should not be fast but steady and under control.


4. Once you are standing completely straight up, lower the bar by pushing the hips back, only slightly bending the knees, unlike when squatting. Tip: Take a deep breath at the start of the movement and keep your chest up. Hold your breath as you lower and exhale as you complete the movement.


5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Caution: This is not an exercise that is recommended for people with lower back problems. Also, it needs to be treated with the utmost respect paying special attention not to round the back forward too much as you move the torso. Finally, jerking motions or doing too much weight can injure your back.

Variation: The exercise can also be performed with dumbbells in each hand.

Lying Leg Curls

1. Adjust the machine lever to fit your height and lie face down on the leg curl machine with the pad of the lever on the back of your legs (just a few inches under the calves). Tip: Preferably use a leg curl machine that is angled as opposed to flat since an angled position is more favorable for hamstrings recruitment.


2. Keeping the torso flat on the bench, ensure your legs are fully stretched and grab the side handles of the machine. Position your toes straight (or you can also use any of the other two stances described on the foot positioning section). This will be your starting position.


3. As you exhale, curl your legs up as far as possible without lifting the upper legs from the pad. Once you hit the fully contracted position, hold it for a second.


4. As you inhale, bring the legs back to the initial position. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Caution: Do not ever use so much weight on the exercise that you start using swinging and jerking as you can risk both lower back injury and also a hamstring injury.

Variations: Since you have three foot positions you have in reality three exercises. The movement can also be performed with a dumbbell held in between your feet (a partner needs to place it properly). This latter exercise though is only suitable for advanced trainees. Finally, it is also possible to just use one leg at a time for better isolation.

Barbell Lunge

1. This exercise is best performed inside a squat rack for safety purposes. To begin, first set the bar on a rack just below shoulder level. Once the correct height is chosen and the bar is loaded, step under the bar and place the back of your shoulders (slightly below the neck) across it.


2. Hold on to the bar using both arms at each side and lift it off the rack by first pushing with your legs and at the same time straightening your torso.


3. Step away from the rack and step forward with your right leg and squat down through your hips, while keeping the torso upright and maintaining balance. Inhale as you go down. Note: Do not allow your knee to go forward beyond your toes as you come down, as this will put undue stress on the knee joint.


4. Using mainly the heel of your foot, push up and go back to the starting position as you exhale.


5. Repeat the movement for the recommended amount of repetitions and then perform with the left leg.

Caution: This is a movement that requires a great deal of balance so if you suffer from balance problems you may wish to either avoid it or just use your own bodyweight while holding on to a fixed object. Definitely never perform with a barbell on your back if you suffer from balance issues.

Variations: There are several ways to perform the exercise.

• One way is to alternate each leg. For instance do one repetition with the right, then the left, then the right and so on.


• The other way is to do what I call a static lunge where your starting position is with one of your feet already forward. In this case, you just go up and down from that starting position until you are done with the recommended amount of repetitions. Then you switch legs and do the same.


• A more challenging version is the walking lunges where you walk across the room but in a lunging fashion. For walking lunges the leg being left back has to be brought forward after the lunging action has happened in order to continue moving ahead. This version is reserved for the most advanced athletes.

Getting a Smart Start in Bodybuilding - Tips For Teen Bodybuilders

Bodybuilding is, without doubt, one of the most demanding sports out there and it is easy to get disillusioned and depressed when results are slow in showing. This is particularly true when teens take on bodybuilding for the first time. Not only do they have to contend with the reality that building a good physique is generally a slow process, but they have to figure the changes in their own bodies into the equation as well. This process can be made a little easier for teen bodybuilders if a couple of basic tips are followed as part of their workout routines right from the start.

The main pitfall that any new bodybuilder faces, and this is particularly true of teen bodybuilders, is having unrealistic expectations. This is a slow process particularly in the beginning. If you are dedicated enough to stay the course during that difficult first year then success will surely follow. The simple fact of the matter is that you are unlikely to gain more than 10 or 15 Lbs of muscle through the first 12 months.

One way of staying positive during this process is to keep a really good record of your progress. Digital photographs and notes kept on weights and measurements. The digital photos are particularly valuable as a graphic record speaks volumes. This is also generally handy for tracking progress with the view to keeping your diet and routines on track.

Maintaining pace is also a major issue for most teen bodybuilders. Consistency is a mainstay of any bodybuilder's routine, and this can be particularly hard for teens as they tend to have far more variable and demanding social and study schedules. However, without sustained input there will be no progress, so consistency is perhaps one of the biggest allies of teen bodybuilders.

One of the most appealing features of teenagers is their unflappable faith in their own abilities. Unfortunately this is often not tempered with practicality. This has been the downfall of many teen bodybuilders as they try to push the envelope way beyond reasonable limits. Not only do they run the risk of burn out but the every present spectre of injury looms in the absence of restraint. A serious injury at this point can either put the teen bodybuilder out of commission for so long that all gains are lost or put an end to their career altogether.

Two the most difficult things for teen bodybuilders to stick to are diet and rest. Thing is, those are two of the most critical parts of successful bodybuilding. Muscle regeneration takes place during sleep periods when your natural steroid production kicks in. Simple fact - no sleep, no muscle gain. Diets also play a fundamental role in effective bodybuilding. Follow the basics and you will be fuelling the machine for maximum performance. The 3 main meals should be complimented with three smaller in betweeners. Concentrate on good, complex carbohydrates, lean protein and good fat. In between meals can be protein shakes or meal replacement bars. Whatever you do, don't skimp.

Finally, teen bodybuilders should try and keep it real. Don't try and follow fads and believe in unrealistic product promises. You will simple never "Put on 20 Lbs in 30 days". Get pro advice on your routines and diet and follow it, don't try and be a hero in the gym and plug away consistently. There just isn't any other way to get that ripped bod, simple as that. The rewards are just too great to pack it in when the going gets tough, so give it stick and good luck!

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