Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Bodybuilding Nutrition

People involved in bodybuilding often need to approach nutrition from a different point of view then the rest of us. While most people need to be concerned about limiting the amount of calories they consume per day, bodybuilders must ensure that they take in enough calories to compensate for those that they burn off during their workouts.

Because of this, many bodybuilders find that eating 5-6 meals spread out over the day works better for them then 3 larger meals. But how much should be eaten during each meal? Contrary to popular belief – just because bodybuilders need more calories daily doesn’t mean that they don’t have to count too!

The key to establishing a beneficial diet to advance bodybuilding goals is simply to eat in moderation at every meal. One of the best ways to do this is with the Mediterranean diet.

The key benefit to the Mediterranean diet is rooted in the fact that it is balanced and draws energy in appropriate proportions from these three dietary sources. Because the diet is balanced by definition, your body does not end up trying to function while being completely “out of whack.”

With the Mediterranean diet you can obtain the extra energy boosts necessary for body building without causing your overall caloric and energy levels to end up out of balance.

Of course, it’s useful to keep in mind that eating a proper diet with lean meat, fruits and vegetables, and no junk food probably won't get the results you are looking for because it's hard to consume what it takes to build muscle from just food. This is where bodybuilding supplements come in.

The top bodybuilding supplements used by the best athletes are whey protein shakes, creatine monohydrate, L-Glutamine, prohormones and a vitamin/mineral supplement.

Other nutritional products designed to keep you healthy and looking great are meal replacement shakes, nutritional bars and low carb snacks.

These items are merely scratching the surface of the many complex layers of healthy nutrition and supplementation for bodybuilders, but it certainly gives you a head start!

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