Nutrition

Maintaining optimum nutrition is essential to building a strong, massive physique, yet it is the most neglected element in the average lifter’s program. Without super nutrition, all training efforts are a waste of time. Nutrition also has an impact on the efficiency of steroid cycles. If you want to get big; you have got to eat eat eat! Food plays a major role in the acquisition of muscle mass. A person must really be motivated to eat super nutrition or it just wont happen!

I won’t give specific diet plans here (you can find expert nutritional advice by doing a search on google.com or any search engine) but I will repeat some basic tips that every fitness expert can tell you:

Increase your protein intake (30 to 50 grams with every meal every 3 hours) – this prevents the body burning muscle tissue whilst you are dieting. Good protein sources include lean red meat, chicken, turkey fish and whey protein. For those protein shakes – always try to consume high quality whey protein – not cheaper milk or casein proteins! Research shows that whey protein leads to over a 100% greater increase in protein synthesis (the fancy term for muscle growth) than the cheap milk protein found in many protein powders. In addition, whey protein halts the muscle-wasting hormone ‘cortisol’ . Whey protein heads straight into the bloodstream – ready for delivery to your protein-starved muscles. And always try to consume a protein shake immediately after a workout – this is when your muscles need it most!

Try to eat 5 to 6 times a day. This means working out your total calorie requirement and splitting it up in 5 to 6 meals. This will speed up your metabolism (helping to keep fat levels down) and keep your energy levels up. 6 times a day may sound a lot, but you can make it easier by consuming a good quality protein shake in between your main meals

Drink lots of water – around 3 litres a day if you can manage it! My advice here is to start early in the the day! Drinking large amounts of water is very important if you are taking a course of steroids. You need to flush out those internal organs and supply the water your mucles need to grow.

Cut down on your salt as it reduces the ability of your stomach to digest protein. Added to this, salt may lead to water retention, heart disease and high blood pressure

Reduce your intake of fats from dairy and animal products – but ‘high fat’ cold water fish such as salmon, herring, sardines and mackerel are good for your system and should be on your shopping list.

Make sure you eat nutrient rich foods (tuna, chicken, salads, pasta, beans, pulses) and try to cut down on your sugars, salts and fats! Empty calories (sweets, chocolates, fried food) won’t provide the fuel you need but they may make you fat.

Go for complex carbohydrates (bananas, brown rice, green vegetables) and cut down on simple carbohydrates (chocolate, cakes, chips, white bread – even carrots!). Basically, complex carbs are harder to break down and they keep your insulin levels on a more even plateau. Simple carbs will give you a short term boost but make you feel more lethargic when the boost disappears!

type Intense workouts require much higher doses of vitamins and your local bodybuilding or health food store will be able to supply the packs of pills you will need to eat! From what is on the market today, a daily dose of vitamins and minerals could mean a 6 or 7 tablets!

In summary you should:

• Eat regularly during the day (5 or 6 times if you can)
• Increase your protein intake and drink a protein shake immediately after your workout
• Eat carbs half an hour after exercising
• Avoid sugar — it contains empty calories; eat fruits and vegetables for carbs instead
• Avoid salt – it reduces the bodies efficiency for processing protein.
• Rest (from exercise) at least 3 days a week
• Sleep 8 hours a day
• Drink around 3 litres of water a day