Healthy Eating Diet Tips

• Ample Consumption Of Protein: The lowest common denominator of any muscle building program is protein. If you want to add muscles without unwanted fat you have to maintain a high protein healthy eating diet. Often people wonder what the correct amount of protein intake is for a particular body type. If your body type is one which tends to be lean then you require 1.2g of protein for every half a kilo of body weight. In other words if your body weight is 80kg then you require 192g of protein. On the other hand if you are a hardgainer and you require 1.5g of protein for every half kilo of body weight. Hence if you are 80kg and you require 240g of protein everyday.
• Several Small Meals: If the ultimate goal is to gain muscle, then it will be beneficial if you have several small meals a day as part of your healthy eating plan. Unlike previous misconceptions that three square meals a day, as long as they are  sufficiently large, would suffice, modern day bodybuilding has proven that having several smaller meals throughout the day gets your body to react better by providing  it with timely and constant nutrition.
• Carbohydrates: One common misconception in a lot of healthy eating diet plans is minimizing carbohydrates. When eating to gain mass you must bump up your carbs. When broken down, carbohydrates form glucose, which fuels your body and helps you power through hard hitting workouts during your off-season training. In addition when you are not training, the excess glucose is stored in your liver as muscle glycogen. Without a doubt glycogen has a massive effect on muscle growth.

Healthy Eating Diet Tips: Pre & Post Workout

Pre-workout Nutrition: A lot of bodybuilders believe that eating before a training session could be harmful. This however is not true. One must understand that body building and weight training are catabolic activities. A healthy eating tip to keep in mind is that in order to avoid unnecessary muscle breakdown make sure you have ample food 45 minutes to one hour prior to hitting the gym. This is done in order to spike insulin in your body. Insulin is a potent hormone that shuts down any activity that could be potentially negative to your body.

Post-workout Nutrition: In addition to having a protein shake as part of your post-workout healthy eating plan, you also must have a substantial meal of after your workout. It is imperative to remember that your body releases your growth hormone between ten and 45 minutes after your workout. You must grab this opportunity and feed your body to gain maximum results from your workout.

These are some easy to remember and simple healthy diet tips that you should follow if you were looking to gain quality mass.

Tips For Good Abs

An Everyday Program
An important lesson in muscle building is knowing that you cannot keep working out the same muscle group every single day. However, with smaller muscle groups such as abs, you can work out every single day, especially if you are trying to build a six pack as quick as possible. Follow your routines for abs workouts for about 8 weeks with maximum intensity and once your abs muscle group adapts to the program, gradually tune it down to less intensity.

Short & Sweet
A common mistake a newbie makes is assuming the longer a workout is the more they can gain from it. Truth is, if you want to build a six pack, your workouts need to be intense rather than long. 30 minutes of intensive abs workouts and you will be able to build a six pack faster than you can imagine.

The Right Posture
As with any exercise, getting your posture right is absolutely essential for your abs workouts. The wrong posture will not give you the results you expect

Cardio Is Essential
Skipping the cardio is very tempting especially because a full cardiovascular workout often requires more energy than some abs crunches. However, crunches and sit ups will tone your abs but your body fat is not about to disappear on its own. At least 30 minutes a day, 3 to 5 times a week of regular cardio should form an essential part of your abs workouts to build a six pack.

Diet Is Important
All the crunches in the world will not help if you do not eat right. A good diet is very important if you want to build a six pack quick. Eat healthy and stop gorging on junk so combined with your abs workouts, you will have the midsection you want in no time.

High Protein
If you want to really want to build six-pack and display a formidable midsection you have to introduce a lot of protein into your diet. Certain bodybuilding pros consume as much as 70g of protein per meal. However if you find it difficult to consume these amounts protein through the intake of meat and eggs whites, try replacing some of these meals with protein shakes.

All Angles
Last but not the least, when training your abdominals, make sure you consider targeting your abdominals from every angle. While training your abdominals make sure your target your lower abs, upper abs and obliques. Use a varied range of motion to attack all the areas of your abdominals.

These are some of the ways in which you can build a great mid-section. However as always remember training alone cannot get you there. Remember to clean up your diet and introduce an adequate amount of cardio to achieve the desired results.

Picking A Gym: Points To Consider

1. Location: One of the main reasons why people stop going to a gym is the location. Don’t choose a gym just because all your friends go there, or just because you think you’d like to be just like some guy who trains at the gym. Joining a gym should mean that you are committed to going. Depending on whether you are going to train after work or when you come home, choose a gym accordingly. If the location is inconvenient it could very easily throw you off your fitness regimen.
2. Payment Methods: When you join a gym make sure that you ask the gym representative to clearly explain your payment options. You might want to know whether you’re able to pay and upfront free or will the amount be direct debited from your bank account. You may also want to ask whether there is any joining fee or additional administration and miscellaneous charges. Sometimes there could be hidden charges that have not clearly been disclosed and get charged to your bank account on a monthly your fortnightly basis. Make sure that you have confirmed all costs.
3. Crowd: Before considering the gym check the gym out at the times when you will be working out. Just because the gym looks empty on a Sunday afternoon and does not necessarily mean it’ll be just as empty on a weekday. Go in and see the gym at the times you intend to work out.
4. Equipment: This could be another major consideration when choosing a gym. Depending on what kind of training program you are following, the gym should be adequately equipped. Apart from having all the regular machines check whether it has a good weight rack, a smith machine and sufficient free weights. To many machines and no free weights can be a bad combination. A good gym a good mixture of both.
5. Cleanliness: Although a gym is a place where people work out and sweat, it does not mean that the gym should be dirty and untidy. Untidy surroundings are quick to gather dirt and infection. The last thing you want is to fall sick every time you visit a gym. Some gyms are air-conditioned and so it may be beneficial to ask the management how often are the air-conditioning ducts cleaned. In addition to this you may also want to find out how often are the facilities cleaned. When choosing a gym it is important to take personal hygiene and general hygiene into consideration. Do not join the gym if you can clearly see that the facility has not been cleaned in a long time.

These are some of the facts that you must take into consideration before choosing a gym.

Normally the first giveaway about the fact that a person has been working out is a noticeable change in the size of their arms. Everyone wants to pack a pair of cannons in their arsenal and a as a result of this, the desire to build bigger arms.  When we talk about building arms, lets remember one thing that your biceps and triceps, in comparison to your other muscles groups, like, chest, back; shoulders or legs are much smaller. As a result they do not require too many exercises to grow. In addition you should also remember that even while working out other body parts, like for instance your chest or back or even shoulder, you are using your arms and hence they are getting a work out. So when you dedicate a separate day or days to work them out, you might actually be over training them.

Tips For Building Arm Muscles

Working out any muscle group 4-5 times per week in even the most simplistic view is over working. Your chest and triceps are complimentary muscles, as they both require a pushing motion to make them grow. On the other hand your back and bicep are complimentary, as they both require pulling motions or motions, which require working against gravity to make them grow. In short, when you work your chest, you’re working your triceps and the same goes for your back and biceps.

Having established that you may be overworking them, the question is “How Do you Build Bigger Arms?”. Well, for starters you need to remember that if you are overworking yourself, you will need to cut back on a few sets. In addition to get bigger arms, biceps in particular, make sure that you are working on your grip and your forearms. If you cannot hold the weight, there is no way you will be able to pull it and consequently will suffer from diminished arm size.

Bigger Arm Muscles

As you may have noticed that, we are presently stressing on 2 things. One is the fact that you may be over training and the other, you may need to strengthen your grip. It’s been noticed that numerous trainers recommend that to strengthen your grip, you should use a heavy gripper. It is known for a fact that while they can be beneficial they can also cause you issues like tendonitis and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, in addition to other complications.

Instead of using grippers, try simpler techniques like hanging from a chin-up bar and as your strength increases, weight yourself down. You could also try weight pinches.  In a weight pinch, try and grip a couple of weight plates by merely pinching them. Start with a very light weight and work way up. Try and grip the plates for 10-15 seconds before moving up in weight.

Remember when trying to build strength and size in your arms, avoid swinging the weight or doing cheat curls. If you have a22-inchers and want to go to failure, then go ahead by all means, in which case this article would be useless to you anyway, but if you are trying to pack on the mass and are strength, then be sure to avoid them.

These are some basic and simple pointer to help you on the way to adding quality mass and strength to your arms.

Gaining weight is something that is not easy for every person, especially a skinny person whose body is prone to remaining on the thinner side. To gain weight, a person has to eat a lot of foods that contain protein, fat, vitamins, carbohydrates and calcium.

The number of calories that a person eats in his or her daily diet plays an important role in the rapid weight gain process. A person has to eat at least 500 calories more than he or she eats on a normal day. A person also has to eat 5-6 small meals within a time span of 2 and a half hours or 3 hours to have the required amount needed for rapid weight gain. Consumption of more calories in the diet is very important for rapid weight gain.

How to gain weight is a topic on the minds of many people, especially those who are underweight or aspiring to become a body builder. There is a Guide to rapid weight gain that requires individuals to follow certain steps on a regular basis. Such people should always eat a healthy balanced diet containing complex carbohydrates, fat and proteins. Food and calorie intake have to be increased. All of the meals should be taken on a regular basis. Special attention should be payed to breakfast, which should be considered the main meal. After each meal, time should be spent relaxing. This is required for the human digestive system to function in a proper way. Drinking plenty of fluids that supply a lot of calories, such as milk, juice, milkshakes and beverages, is important along with consuming food.

Some of the foods to gain weight rapidly include dairy products, meats, grains, fruits and vegetables. In the dairy product category, there are foods like yogurt, cheese, milk and cottage cheese. Drinking plenty of milk every day keeps a person healthy. When the amount of milk intake is doubled, the person automatically gains weight in a short span of time. In the meat category, there are fish, eggs, poultry, and other meats, including mutton, pork, and beef. These meats contain a lot of fat and protein, which help in rapid weight gain. There are many types of vegetables, such as peas, dried beans, fresh green leafy vegetables and legumes. These vegetables are healthy because they are rich in iron, protein, and vitamins. The consumption of fresh green leafy vegetables is also very good for health because it provides the body with many nutrients. Although vegetables do not cause direct weight gain, they keep the body healthy.

Different types of fruit can be eaten directly or consumed in the form of juice. Fruits are also available in dried forms that are tasty and give strength to the body. There are cereals rich in carbohydrates. The intake of such foods on a regular basis gives energy to the body and leads to weight gain in a short period of time. Non-vegetarian food, dairy products, and a balanced intake of food from other categories helps in gaining rapid weight in a healthy manner.

Bodybuilding is an art form and a sport that requires intense practice and a good sense of common knowledge, it isn’t a sport you can just walk into and pick up the heaviest weight you can possibly lift and swing it about. It’s a sport which requires good technique or form; this form should be practiced again and again until you know it off by heart.

Correct form simply means knowing the exercise you are performing, what muscle groups it works and how to perform the exercise correctly in itself. Ideal form is defined as a movement of the limbs in the widest range of motion possible, using slow movement and making sure the muscle contracts.

If you don’t have the correct form then you will simply not succeed and worse still you risk causing yourself a severe injury which could end your career in bodybuilding before you even get it off the ground.

Top 10 tips

• Always perform a warm up routine – it doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out or have been training for a long time you should always perform a 10 to 15 minutes aerobic routine before beginning lifting weights. Your first set of weights should be a low weight to prepare your muscles for your routine.
• Good form is essential – as mentioned above the correct form is essential, without it you are not only wasting your time and wont achieve maximum muscle mass or strength but you also face injury.
• Use a spotter for heavier weights – when moving up to a heavier weight than you are used to always have a spotter by your side, this can prevent serious injury especially when doing exercises such as the bench press.
• Never work out alone – not only should you have a spotter when lifting heavier weights it is also wise never to work out alone, bodybuilders have been known to get severe injuries from losing balance and dropping weights onto themselves, getting trapped under barbells and even tripping over misplaced equipment causing severe injury.
• Make sure you breathe correctly – the body builder can pass out when correct breathing isn’t maintained as holding the breath slows down the flow of blood from and to the brain. As a general rule exhale when lifting the weight and inhale on releasing.
• Use general common sense at all times – never leave weights out where someone could trip over them, always make sure collars are tightened on dumbbells, use a weight lifting belt when exercising and use wrist straps for support, basically just use good common sense at all times.
• Don’t include un-natural exercises in your routine – forget about exercises such as behind the neck chin ups, neck presses or any exercise which puts unnecessary stress upon the body.
• Find out as much as you can about bodybuilding – do a little research into bodybuilding watch others at the gym, watch DVD’s, learn the correct form of the exercise. The more you know about bodybuilding the less likely you are to injury yourself.
• Use the correct weight – never use weights which you cannot manage easily, aim for 12 reps with a weight where you can manage the correct form up to the 12th rep.
• Always use safety racks – when using equipment such as the squat rack, get one with a safety rack built in, this of course mainly applies to those training at home.

Many successful bodybuilders started off working out at home even those who went on to successfully win championship bodybuilding competitions. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune when you are starting out, you don’t necessarily have to buy the most expensive equipment or the best and many times you can start out with bargains from eBay or your local free ads paper.

There are advantages to starting out working out at home, for a start you won’t be surrounded by muscle bound hunks that could make you nervous, so you will be able to slowly gain the confidence in your own time without feeling under any pressure.

Basic equipment you could start out with

• One adjustable bench with an squat rack if possible.
• 200lbs of free weights.
• 1 barbell.
• 1 chin up/pull up bar.

This of course is just the very basic set and should you wish you could purchase any other equipment that you feel you could use.

Some important points to consider

In order to make any progress you will have to have enough weight to challenge your muscles, if you buy 200lbs of weights then these should be enough to last you through several months but then you will need to buy additional weights as you progress through training.

Having a full length mirror in the area where you train could be an advantage because this way you can practice posing if you are looking to go into professional bodybuilding, you can also watch when you lift the weights to make sure you are practicing correct form.

When you progress to a heavier weight it could be wise to have a training partner or spotter as they are called, lifting a weight heavier than what you are used to for the first few times can be dangerous should you find you can’t manage the weight and result in injury.

It is wise to start out with a written account of your routine and this should include your current weight when starting out, the size of your muscles and your diet. This way when achievements have been successfully noted you will know exactly what you did in that week, which weights you used and the type of exercises you performed and the diet you ate for that week, you should also note how many reps and sets of each exercise you do per week.

When you have progressed noticeably and have got to the 200lb weight mark it is time to move onto lifting higher weights, you can continue at home but it is now perhaps the time when you should think of purchasing gym membership if you haven’t already done so.

Being part of a gym will have advantages for you now and will perhaps benefit you more than training yourself, you will be able to refine what you have already achieved and move onto greater heights in your quest for the perfect body.

A lot of bodybuilders choose to go into the sport while in their teenage years; this could be for several reasons such as getting picked on in school because they are too skinny or they are keen on sports already and want to improve on their shape and body build. We as people are all different shapes and sizes but there are basically 3 different categories of body shape which we all fall under.

Determining which body shape category you fall under is the first hurdle to cross before committing yourself to bodybuilding. The three main types of body shape are ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph.

Young teenagers around the age of 14 should be aware however that their bones are not yet fully developed and lifting very heavy weights is not advisable as this could lead to damage. You can also do permanent damage to joints at this early age as they too aren’t yet fully developed.

The ectomorph

If your arms and legs are long and thin and your chest and shoulders are narrow and you don’t have much fat storage then you fall into the ectomorph category. Your muscles may already be defined but they are long and thin as are the fingers, hands and feet.

If you fall into this category then the first thing you need to concentrate on is gaining some much needed weight by way of muscle, the ectomorph will find it extremely difficult to gain fat but this however is good news. The ectomorph will usually not have the strength that is needed to perform long workouts therefore building formations of solid muscle will be a very slow process and patience is needed to get there.

The endomorph

The endomorph will have a plump face with a short neck and be wide around the waist area with a high fat storage and an undefined muscle structure.

If you have this body type you will find it very easy to build muscle mass but the problem is you will have to be very strict with your diet as you will also gain fat which will hide those muscles.

The mesomorph

Of all the body types this is perhaps the best for those wishing to take up bodybuilding, the mesomorph will already have shape, solid muscle structure and a large chest from which to build upon.

If you have this body type then you are already ahead, the mesomorph will find it very easy to build muscle mass but in order to build good definition they will have to do a wide variety of exercises.

We all know the key to sticking to and maintaining a successful healthy diet is to eat food which is not only good for us but is also quick to make and tastes good too. Diet for a body builder is no different, to build muscle mass successfully a good healthy protein rich diet is essential, food which is high in calories, carbohydrates and some fat is what should be on the menu.

A sensible diet aimed at building muscle should consist of around 30% protein, 55% carbohydrates and 20% fat of course this is only a very rough guide; everyone is different so to find your optimal nutritional requirements you will have to experiment a little. Once you have figured out the correct nutritional requirements for you then the next step is devising a menu, in order to build muscle you should aim to eat about 6 meals a day.

• Breakfast.
• A mid morning meal.
• Lunch.
• A mid afternoon meal.
• A post workout meal.
• Dinner.

Listed below are a few examples for meals which of course you can modify to your liking:

Breakfast

Granola crunch

¼ cup of granola.

1 and ½ cups of yogurt low in fat.

A cup of sliced strawberries of fruit of choice.

1 tbsp of brown sugar.

2oz of your favourite protein powder.

Put the yogurt into a medium sized serving dish and add the granola and protein powder, mix this together well then add the brown sugar. Top it off with the sliced strawberries or fruit of your choice and enjoy.

Lunch

Roast beef sub

A 6″ or 8″ French loaf or similar.

4oz of lean roast beef.

Lettuce leaves.

1 tomato.

½ oz of low fat cheese.

2 tbsp of mustard.

Slice the bread length ways almost to the bottom, fill with meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese and top with mustard.

Dinner

Glazed pork chop

4oz of lean pork chop.

½ cup of white rice.

1 tsp of mustard.

2 tbsp of brown sugar.

½ tsp of cinnamon.

½ tsp of basil.

8 baby carrots.

Pre heat the oven to broil then broil the meat until it is white, cook the rice and mix the carrots, spices and ¼ of water in a medium pan. Remove the chops and turn them over reducing the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, mix the mustard, sugar, cinnamon and basil then spread this over the chops. Return the chops to the oven slightly reducing the temperature while you boil the vegetables and the rice is cooked. Serve the chops with the rice and vegetables.

The person with the ectomorph body shape will have a struggle with putting on weight and keeping that weight at the desired level, this is always going to be the main concern of the ectomorph body builder. A well balanced diet and the proper nutritional requirements are essential for the bodybuilder’s success but more so when you have this body type.

What is an ectomorph body shape?

The ectomorph body won’t have a spare ounce of fat on it, with the arms and legs being long and thin as are the feet, fingers and hands. The ectomorph will also have a very narrow chest and shoulders.

What type of training is best for the ectomorph?

Once the correct diet has been established then the routine has to be developed, due to the ectomorph not being able to easily put on weight and mass then power moves which are aimed at building up muscle mass should be included more than any other form of exercise in the routine. A person with this type of body will also need more time to recover in-between workouts to give their body time to adjust to this vigorous new routine they are putting their body through.

The diet

The person with this type of body shape will find that they have to eat a lot more than they would normally do, this will be extremely hard to do at first but as you progress in your training routine you will find it becomes easier. You might also want to consider using weight gain supplements to help build up your bulk as these can be effective when used correctly, the average weight gain drink will hold over 1,000 calories per serving and are a good way of gaining those additional calories needed.

Other supplements which might be helpful are creatine and glutamine along with a protein supplement. You should be aiming to eat around 6 meals per day in order to gain the calories needed for a vigorous body building routine, of course plenty of protein should be eaten in these meals any less than 6 and you will probably be burning off more calories than you are consuming and therefore not building muscle. Water is also an essential part of your diet and you should aim to drink around 8 large cups per day and more during strenuous exercise.

Points to remember

• Lift heavy weights and be consistent.
• Incorporate basic compound exercises such as squat, bench press and Deadlift into your routine.
• Get enough protein around 1 to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight.
• Try to aim for 6 meals per day.
• Increase your overall calorie intake enough to meet the demands of your routine.
• Water is necessary for muscle growth so drink plenty of it.