I'll post it in a minute,but whats the big news here its just a regular diet right?
The Perfect Supplement
UST read!
(It does exist, I found it!)
As bodybuilders, powerlifters, fitness or figure athletes, we‘re constantly traveling down the trail of pursuit for the “perfect supplement”. Just what is the “perfect supplement” and does it currently exist on the market with no ban in sight? The answer to both of those questions is YES!
To begin with you should know immediately that it’s formulated to build lean mass and burn stored body fat. It provides all the essential and protective nutrients you body needs for optimum health and peak performance including protein, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and antioxidants.
One point of perfection with this is that it is a slow-release energy source, one that builds and re-builds muscle glycogen stores for endurance and stamina as well as for repair, recovery and ultimately growth. It also has the unique ability to increase your metabolism and it contains fiber to keep your digestive system in good working order.
This supplement also contains amino acids including the branched chain aminos and other essential amino acids to help synthesize protein for muscular growth. What’s more, it helps prevent sports anemia, electrolyte imbalances and plain old over training which is too common place.
Is there really such a thing Todd? Honestly, come on now, one that does it all, one that will transform my physique and boost my performance to levels that I’ve only dreamed of until now? You bet, it’s called FOOD! That’s right good old food! Think about it.
For starters, it does build mass and keep you lean, as long as you choose foods that partition to muscle and energy stores and not to fat deposits. Your food should come from lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates and fibrous carbohydrates. During the growth phase of your training, you need at least 1 to 1.5 grams of lean protein from things like egg whites, white meat chicken/turkey, or fish. You’ll get an extra ¼ to ½ gram of protein per pound of bodyweight from the carbohydrates you consume. Protein supplies amino acids for growth and they are the building blocks for every cell in the body.
Starchy carbohydrates include oatmeal, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown or wild rice, corn, beans, peas and other unrefined grains. In addition to supplying vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, these foods give you energy to train and the ability to recover quickly.
Fibrous carbs include asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, spinach and any other type of “salad” vegetable. Besides providing fiber in abundance, these foods also supply an abundant amount of vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and antioxidants. During pre-contest training or time to lean out, you should adjust your intake of starchy carbs and fibrous carbs to help burn more stored body fat.
Next on the lists of musts are Essential Fatty Acids. Each day something as simple as one teaspoon up to a tablespoon of unsaturated oil will be fine. Personally I like a blended EFA oil that provides Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids. Muscle is about a 4 to 1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 and skin has no Omega 3’s. Be sure you’re getting enough GLA. These nutrients are involved in many biological functions.
Its one thing to select the right foods and yet another to know how to properly combine them to build your metabolism. Each meal should contain at least one lean protein source, one or two starchy carbs and one or two fibrous carbs. Vary your foods. You don’t do the same workout each time you visit the gym do you? Why? Because your body will adapt and stop responding. Why then eat the same food at the same time of day each day? That’s like wiping before you poop, just don’t make no sense!
You should structure your meal plan so that you eat at least 5 good meals per day and up to 7 depending on your schedule. Space your meals at two to three hour intervals and you’ll be amazed at how much food you can eat! By eating multiple meals in this manner you give yourself a constant flow of nutrients so your body can repair itself, recover from you efforts in the gym, and therefore grow and get big!
I’ve seen some pretty hardcore guys use my method of multiple meals and the principles we’ve established on nutrient partitioning and push their calories to in excess of 10,000 per day while stay lean AND getting leaner. Some great female athletes I’ve been privileged to know and work with have pushed over 4,000 per day with a couple I can recall pushing near 6,000! Now they didn’t start there, they started slowly and then weekly we slowly added a couple of bites per meal and over a period of a few months it’s incredible what can happen. If you’re not making gains, then you aren’t eating enough to grow. If you’re losing muscle and not stored body fat you aren’t eating enough and have slowed your metabolism. My way of breaking any plateau is to eat more. Simple, try it.
The bottom line is this, food is foundation for everything else you do. There’s no magic pill, potion, snake oil or elixir. There’s no supplement that has ever come remotely close to providing you with everything you get from food. That’s not to say that you cannot get results from supplements, you can and probably do. But you gotta have the food right first. When you add your supplements on top of a maxed out meal plan, you will literally be bowled over by the progress you can make!
Todd Swinney
Sports Nutritionis
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