It is important to choose body building workout with care. If you are getting into body building exercise, it is important that you chose the right body building supplement.
Ordinary people need a certain amount of nutritional supplements whereas body builders need a lot more.
There are many body building supplements available in the market. You have to choose the best body building supplement that is right for you that satisfies your goal.
Everyone has different goals when they start body building workout. Some may be bulk and some may be lean.
Bodybuilders have a different nutritional need, if not higher levels of supplementation, than those who do not lift weights at all, or those who do not engage in any rigorous physical activity.
Bodybuilders And Their Nutritional Needs
1. Carbohydrates for body building workout:
Carbohydrates are overlooked often when planning for body building workout.
Body builders get energy from carbohydrates. Eat complex carbohydrates, as they are slow burning and give long lasting energy. They keep your blood sugar levels constant and reduce fat storage.
Main sources of carbohydrates are brown rice, fresh fruits, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, whole grain bread, whole grains and green leafy vegetables. These are high in fiber which helps in controlling cholesterol and helps in digestion. Avoid fruits which have high levels of sugar.
Carbohydrates are important for body building workout so that your body will not turn to your protein reserves if they no longer have enough carbohydrates as a fuel source. Eat small amounts of carbohydrates more often to keep study flow of insulin into the body.
Don’t binge on refined and processed foods like burger, pastries, cakes, pizzas, and chocolates. These processed foods does not contain any nutritional value and does not benefit your body, instead they increase the body fat. Don’t take excess carbohydrates as excess will be converted into fat.
2. Protein for body building workout:
Protein is composed of various amino acids and it is the building block to build muscles. Proteins are needed by the body for body building workout to repair the tissues. If there is deficiency of proteins in your body, your body will use the proteins for carrying out various functions and there will be no proteins left for the purpose of body building workout.
Body builders must consume one to two grams of protein per pound of lean body weight. One must take all the amino acids from the food to get protein for the body building workout. The food that contains amino acids is eggs, milk, fish, meat, soybeans, and vegetable products.
Whey protein can be used for post body building workout session as it gets quickly digested when your body needs protein. Cold-water fish such as tuna or salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Fats:
Essential fats are needed for body building workout to metabolize and improve immune system function to increase energy. Essential fats are those fats that the body needs but cannot synthesize itself. Fats have some effects on one’s hormones. Thus, going on an absolutely no-fat diet would not be the way to go. One will just be depriving themselves of a necessary nutrient for the body.
One should consume healthy fats for the body. Fats help produce testosterone and helps in producing other anabolic hormones. Fats are the source of energy for low intensity exercises.
Saturated fats are harmful and are found in many types of red meat and dairy products. Partially hydrogenated oils are the worst fats found in snack foods. Avoid saturated and partially hydrogenated fats. The fats to avoid are the trans-fats from margarines, baked goods, shortening and many fried products. These will only contribute to the clogging of arteries, and no dietary benefits can be gained.
Monounsaturated fats are good for ones health. Good sources of monosaturated fat are olive oil and macadamia nuts. Nuts, avocados, canola oils help promote a healthy heart and joints. These foods reduce post-workout soreness.
4. Body building supplements:
Before taking any body building supplement, consult the doctor for your safety. And if you should take the body building supplement, do so as per directions from the manufacturers or from your doctor.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acid: Omega-3 fatty acid is a body building supplement found to reduce insulin resistance. It plays a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development.
- Alpha-lipoic acid: Alpha-lipoic acid is a body building supplement shown to lower and stabilize blood-sugar levels. It is a powerful antioxidant that helps in reducing free radical damage and prevents in muscle damage. This works well with Vitamins C, E and the coenzyme Q10. It is also known to be fat inhibitor and helps facilitate conversion of sugar to energy.
- CoQ10: CoQ10 is a body building supplement called as Coenzyme Q10. This is a nutrient that is important for the production of energy inside the human cells. This helps keep cells healthy and enables for faster exercise recovery. It also boosts mental focus and increases energy as well. . It helps to lower your blood pressure and maintain healthy muscle tissue in your heart.
- Folic Acid: Folic acid is used to make new cells. This helps in the regeneration of muscle tissue, skin and bone marrow.
- Chromium Picolinate: Chromium picolinate is a body building supplement which enhances insulin function and help in controlling blood-sugar levels. It increases your energy. It also helps in preventing sugar cravings. This enhances carbohydrate, protein & fat metabolism. It improves weight control.
- Conjugated linoleic Acid (CLA): Conjugated linoleic acid body building supplement is a fatty acid found in milk and meat. It cannot be produced by the human body. This helps in weight loss, and enhances muscle growth as well. It enhances the immune system and lowers insulin resistance.
- Creatine: Creatine is a body building supplement which works by raising the levels of creatine phosphate in the muscle cells. It means increasing the ATP (adenosine triphosphate – high-energy molecule) levels that is used as an energy source for the muscles.
- Glutamine: Glutamine body building supplement replenishes amino acid stores and used for recuperation after a hard workout. It speeds recovery and aids in repairing cells.
- Arginine: This is a protein amino acid which provides muscle strength. Arginine is converted to nitric oxide in our body which causes blood vessels to increase in diameter. Because of this capability, it can aid in muscle growth with efficient delivery of nutrients to the muscles.
- Zinc: This plays an important role in glucose regulation. It also aids in insulin function. It supports healthy immune system and is needed for wound healing.
- Biotin: Biotin helps in metabolizing carbohydrates and fat. It aids in cell growth as well. It helps in the utilization of other B vitamins.
- Vitamin B Complex:
- Vitamin B-1 or Thiamin helps in the metabolism of carbohydrate and branched-chain amino acids (BCAA). It helps with conversion of nutrients to energy and enhances mental function and mood.
- Vitamin B-2 or Riboflavin helps break down dietary fat, protein and carbohydrate. It is required for cell respiration. It is also responsible for helping with nutrient conversion to energy.
- Vitamin B-3 or Niacin – It promotes appetite and helps in using fat and carbs into energy. It also allows oxygen to flow into the body tissues. It helps in hormone manufacturing energy production.
- Vitamin B-5 or Pantothenic acid – This facilitates the conversion of fat and carbohydrates into energy. It plays a supporting role in hormone production and red blood cell manufacturing. It enhances immune function.
- Vitamin B-6 or Pyridoxine – This plays an important role in the metabolism of protein and amino acids. Athletes are known to have higher requirements for this vitamin as compared to sedentary individuals. It helps for strong immune system and a healthy heart.
- Vitamin B-12 or Cobalamin – This increases performance. It also helps in new cell growth and folate metabolism. It also assists with energy production.
Pre-workout and Post-workout body building Supplement
1. Pre-workout diet:
Before starting your body building workout, it is necessary to have the right meal. During your exercise, you feel strong and will have the energy to do your body building workout with full intensity.
You can take meal replacement powder instead of solid food as food takes longer time to digest. Meal replacement powders, used as body building supplement can be made into shake which can be absorbed by the body easily and fuel your workout till the end of the session.
Include whey protein in the shake since it has a large amount of branched chain amino acids that can be quickly absorbed by the body. Drink the shake 30 minutes to 60 minutes prior a workout.
2. Recuperative post-workout diet:
You can also drink protein shake after the body building workout. Protein will help your body to grow. You can take the drink in thirty to sixty minutes after the workout as the body will be depleted of nutrients after the workout.
Another protein that is slowly absorbed by the body is casein. A glass of casein before bed would be helpful since it will reduce protein breakdown and at the same time prolong protein synthesis.
Getting the right nutrition for optimum body building workout
Without proper nutrition, a body builder would not have optimum energy to be able to go on for training. His performance affects without the right nutrition. Body builder should eat right food and take appropriate body building supplement.
Natural foods provide the energy necessary to carry out the body building workout for longer hours. The right nutrition from natural foods will help the body function better and repair tissues which are injured during exercise.
Along with the right supplementation of multivitamins & minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and the like will prove to increase a bodybuilder’s performance to higher levels.
Fatigue and toxic levels will be minimized with right diet. If you are serious in body building workout, you follow the right nutrition and body building supplement to get the optimum results desired.
