Getting the right food is almost as important as the training itself. The more experienced you become, and as you begin to push the boundaries of your own genetics, this statement becomes all the more true.
Pic: enterthepit
The Modern world is hectic and highly competitive. Many people are rushed off of their feet trying to make ends meet and achieve their life and career goals. This can make it extremely hard to provide full attention and dedication to serious hobbies, such as bodybuilding, and let’s face it, that’s a 24-hour pastime!
Get adequate rest and nutrition to supplement the hard work done in the gym, and turn blood, sweat, and tears into optimum gains can be a juggling act verging on the impossible. So what’s the solution? Well, it comes down to one of the most simple and direct mottos known to man.
BE PREPARED!
Preparation and routine are essential to successful bodybuilding in the modern world. Set a time to be in the gym, set a time to be out and on your way home. Set a bedtime, and engineer short nap times whenever possible. Then the final, and most time consuming, factor is adequate nutrition. Your optimum nutrition intake is best achieved with well planned and executed meal prep.
Meal prep is a standard addition to any serious, modern bodybuilder’s lifestyle. Put simply, it involves dividing your food intake into good sized, pre-prepared, scheduled portions, consumed wherever you are throughout your day. Set aside some time and focus your effort in one fell swoop, preparing everything you need, ready to go, and no excuse to give into badly timed, lazy, cheat meals. So, what’s involved?
How Much Do You Need?
Back to basics now. Calories first. To calculate how many calories you need per day, do a few sums based on your body weight. This gives you a rough idea of how much food you need to eat, but it is not 100% accurate since everyone is different. You may need to tweak the final figure for optimum results without laying down excess fat.
Know your weight in kilograms. If you are fairly lean, you can take this figure as is, if you are carrying a little excess baggage, multiply your weight in kilograms by 0.95. Now multiply this figure by 24 to give you your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories your body requires simply to function and maintain weight, without moving. For example, a 100kg man with less than 15% bodyfat would use the following calculation.
100 (kg) x 1 x 24 = 2400 calories BMR
You’ll need to adjust this figure to factor for your daily activities. If your job is not too strenuous, but you hit the gym regularly, multiply your BMR by 1.65. If you have a tough, manual job, this factor could be closer to 2. For example, if our 100kg man is a scaffolder by day, and trains hard most nights of the week.
2400 calories x 2 = 4800 calories per day to maintain weight, accounting for overall energy expenditure.
Now you know your daily maintenance intake requirement. If you are aiming to bulk up right now, add 300-400 calories on top to support muscle growth. If your goal is fat loss, cut 500 calories from this for a one pound per week weight loss program.
Pic: theswoleproject
Now look at your macronutrient ratios (see image). For maintenance and bulking you need roughly 30% of your calories to come from quality protein, with the extra calories being heavy on the carbs. Obviously, for cutting fat, you need to lose a good proportion of your daily carb intake.
Sheer Thermo Thermogenic Fat Burner helps accelerate fat burning potential by boosting your BMR. Each ingredient has been carefully selected, based on scientific research, to optimize the amount of energy your body burns at rest. If your goal is to burn fat, add it to your stack today.
What Equipment Do You Need?
Pic: isolatorfitness
Top Tips
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So now you’re ready to get going. Get your meal prep regime down and reap the rewards by having nutritious meals ready to go, and no excuse for those dreaded midweek cheat meals!
After a hard day training and eating your pre-prepared meals, reach for Sheer Sleep to ensure a great night’s rest and recovery. This great supplement actually contains melatonin, this hormone occurs naturally in your body to promote quality sleep patterns, but sometimes busy schedules interfere with your natural melatonin production, so Sheer Sleep ensures proper rest.
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