FST-7 Training Method

**Flathead** · 12-06-2010, 04:02 PM

Natural Bodybuilding#2
Written by TheProCreator
Wednesday, 17 September 2008 21:08

Last month, we discussed ways to optimize your training and recovery to get the best results possible as a natural bodybuilder. As we all know, those are two sides of the pyramid when it comes to success. This month, we conclude the series with an in-depth discussion of nutrition and supplementation ? the fuel your body needs to perform at its best and the catalyst for both muscle gain and fat loss. We will also discuss cardiovascular training, and the role it should play in your program not only pre-contest, but year-round.

Being meticulous with your diet ? essential for success
The very best natural bodybuilders, the ones that have built physiques so impressive that they their natural status is often called into question, are the ones that are incredibly disciplined with their diets. That goes for both the off-season and the contest prep phases of the year. Relying on food rather than drugs means you are doing it the hard way, so you really need to ?cross your t?s and dot your i?s,? so to speak. If you are dieting, you can?t count on being able to have cheat meals. You probably have to adhere to a very strict diet for a very long time to get into contest condition. If you are trying to gain mass, you simply can?t miss meals. Staying in a positive nitrogen balance and keeping your body in an anabolic state requires diligence, determination, and usually a lot of forethought and planning about what you will eat, when, and where. It?s also important that real food comprises the majority of what you eat, particularly when you are dieting. Protein bars are out, and you need to limit shakes to two a day at most. Often I will have natural bodybuilders drinking only one shake a day, or none at all for the final three or four weeks leading up to a contest. That leads me into the next topic.

Finding the best diet for you
Unless you have tried a few different types of diets, you won?t know which one your body responds best to. Most people will simply either dramatically reduce or completely eliminate carbohydrates or fats. The truth is, sometimes your body needs a little bit of both macronutrients. People are different, and other factors such as age, size, and gender can impact the types and quantities of nutrients that a person will do best with. If you are someone that gains a significant amount of bodyfat in the off-season, as many natural bodybuilders do in their quest to increase muscle mass, I usually suggest a ketogenic type of diet for the initial few weeks of any contest prep phase. This allows you to drop a fairly large amount of fat in a short time. It also helps control cravings for sugar so that later on in the diet you won?t constantly be tempted to run out and inhale a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, and it also helps your body process carbs more efficiently when you re-introduce them in your diet. For almost everyone, carbs will have to be brought back into the diet at some point, at least in smaller amounts. Natural bodybuilders need to be wary of any type of extreme diet that eliminates anything completely for extended periods of time.

Making sure you don?t lose muscle while dieting
Maintaining your hard-earned muscle mass while dieting down into contest condition is a true challenge for natural bodybuilders, and many of them lose the battle on the way to the stage. That?s why it is absolutely critical that you keep a close eye on your strength levels. There is a direct correlation between strength and size. If you are getting weaker, chances are good you are also losing lean muscle tissue. I?m not saying that you should be handling your off-season weights when you are getting close to a show. But if you can usually bench press 315 for eight reps, and find yourself only able to manage 135 at four weeks out, there is a serious problem and you have most likely lost an appreciable amount of muscle mass. Either your calories are too low, you are doing too much cardio, or it?s a combination of both factors. When such a drastic situation occurs, I advise that a bodybuilder take a day or two off from all training, meaning no weights or cardio, and eat about double the amount of calories that you have been (clean food, of course). This will give you a break both mentally and physically, and it will also boost your metabolism. Most often this scenario occurs because a bodybuilder is attempting to lose too much fat in too short of a time period, hence the drastic measures in diet and cardio. I always stress to natural bodybuilders that they are better off dieting longer and more gradually to avoid the need to diet on extremely low calories or do a very high volume of cardio. For those that stay lean year-round, shorter diets can be effective. But as I said, most natural bodybuilders don?t stay close enough to contest condition year-round to get away with this, nor should they.

Tons and tons of protein?
Bodybuilders definitely have protein requirements far and above that of the average inactive individual, or even compared to athletes in other sports that aren?t attempting to gain extreme amounts of muscle mass. That being said, there is only so much protein that your body will be able to absorb and utilize. That?s especially true for natural bodybuilders that aren?t using any substances that can enhance protein synthesis. There is no need for outrageous amounts of protein, as much of that would simply be wasted. So how much do you really need? I advise an intake of between 1.5 to 2 grams of protein a day per pound of lean body mass, not total weight. Most people mistakenly base their protein needs on total weight, when they really should be going by lean mass. So if you are 200 pounds with 20% bodyfat, you don?t need 300-400 grams of protein a day. Your lean body mass is 160 pounds, so your actual daily protein requirements will range from 240 to 320 grams. As far as protein sources, you can?t go wrong with eggs, chicken, turkey, and fish. But if I had to choose the very best protein source for natural bodybuilders, I would have to go with lean red meat. Red meat is your friend! Eaten at the proper times in the proper amounts, there is no food that is more effective at both promoting muscle gain and retaining muscle while dieting. It?s loaded with creatine, iron, and B-vitamins, and also fat. The fat is important for another reason we?ll get to in a minute, but the fact that it slows the digestion process down is significant. Essentially, that means that red meat is the perfect sustained-release protein source, trickling amino acids into your system for many hours after eating it. Supplement companies have been coming out with various delivery systems for protein powders to get this time-release effect, when here it is occurring naturally in red meat. Of course, I don?t suggest eating the fattier red meat sources like cheap hamburger meat. Instead, opt for filet mignon, London broil, flank steak, or ground sirloin.

Why avoiding fats is a terrible idea for natural bodybuilders
When many athletes are trying to lose bodyfat, they cut fat out of their daily diets. This is particularly true if they are continuing to eat carbohydrates. Their rationale is that you can have one or the other in your diet, but not both. While it?s true that eating large amounts of fat and carbs in the same meals together will indeed make getting lean far more difficult, taking fats out of your diet completely is a very bad idea, especially for natural bodybuilders. Cholesterol has become a dirty word in today?s society, but anyone that has ever studied human biology knows that it?s a precursor in the body for many hormones ? even an obscure one you may have heard of called testosterone. That?s right. If you fail to consume adequate dietary fat, your body will not have the raw materials it needs to produce normal amounts of testosterone. Without enough of the big T in your bloodstream, you can forget about ever gaining enough muscle and losing enough fat to have a physique to be proud of. This doesn?t mean you should go out and eat at Burger King, Taco Bell, and KFC three times a day. Avoid the saturated fats found in fast food and eat healthier fat sources like whole eggs, lean red meat, lean pork, chicken thighs, raw nuts, and salmon. But whatever you do, don?t cut fat out of your diet completely, or you can kiss your dreams of being a natural bodybuilding champion goodbye.

Using supplements successfully
Before I get into discussing which types of supplements you should consider, I want to state up front that you should never expect too much from supplements. By that, I mean that they are meant to compliment a good nutrition plan, not replace it. Many bodybuilders skip meals or fail to eat the right types of foods; or don?t train hard and consistently, and then look to supplements to make up for their laziness. To those people I say good luck, because you?re gonna need it. You also need to be realistic in your expectations and not expect supplements to work like drugs. Drugs have very powerful effects on the human body and can be potentially dangerous, which is why they are so closely regulated by the FDA, and most require a prescription to use. Supplements can also be effective, of course. Many natural bodybuilders use them to increase the results they experience from proper training and nutrition programs.

Supplements can also be somewhat of a gray area for natural bodybuilders. Some will use anything they can purchase legally, while others draw the line at certain types of products, such as those that can alter your own body?s hormone levels. I will leave that area alone, as it merits its own discussion somewhere else. For now, I will touch on the key supplements that you should include in your program based on your needs, goals, and budget.

Protein powders are extremely useful, because a couple shakes a day can easily help you reach your daily requirement of this very important macronutrient. In the off-season, your best bet is a product that combines casein with whey isolate and whey concentrate. These are known as ?blended? proteins. The casein digests slower, which helps give you that ?time-released? effect we discussed with red meat. If you are going to have a protein shake before bedtime, make sure there is casein in it so that the amino acids are being trickled into your body all night long. Whey protein absorbs faster, which makes it a better choice for your post-workout shake. When you are dieting, I advise natural bodybuilders to have whey isolate shakes because they are processed more efficiently. One thing I want to mention is that if any product is causing you discomfort such as stomachaches, cramps, gas, or diarrhea, for God?s sake stop using that product! Your body is clearly rejecting it. It never ceases to amaze me when people complain to me about such horrible reactions to certain products, then in the next breath tell me they are still using it. That goes for other products such as creatine, or anything. Try different types and brands and see if you can find one that agrees with your system better. Otherwise, you are just hurting yourself by putting your digestive system through such continual abuse. In the case of protein powders, a common culprit in digestion problems is lactose intolerance. Try to find a powder that?s made from egg albumin or a pure whey isolate that does not contain lactose. You may find that no matter what brand or type of protein powder or creatine or what have you that you try, your stomach just can?t handle it. Some people simply have extremely sensitive systems. In a situation like this, you just can?t use that product. Trust me, if your body is reacting so strongly to any product in a bad way, it?s not doing you any good.

We just touched on creatine, and that?s another very effective supplement. Creatine has been proven in many studies to improve muscle strength and endurance, and it also helps you gain weight by drawing more water into the muscle cells. There are many types to choose from today. Cell Mass is the best-selling creatine product on the market now and contains a very advanced formula, but there are also other good brands. But if your budget only allows for a basic creatine monohydrate powder and you get results from it, go for it.

Nitric oxide products can also help you get better pumps and enhance your training intensity and endurance. All have some type of arginine in them, and many also have creatine or caffeine included. NO Xplode is the most popular product of this type. If you are looking for a fat-burner, products with synephrine and caffeine are quite effective, though ingredients like green tea extract and L-carnitine are also beneficial. Another multi-purpose supplement suitable for both the off-season and pre-contest periods is L-glutamine. L-glutamine helps boost the immune system and enhances recovery, which is why many natural bodybuilders find it particularly effective during periods of dieting, when calories drop and cardio is increased. Obviously if one has deep pockets, there are such a wide array of supplements on the market today that you could easily spend thousands of dollars a month. There is a lot of hocus-pocus stuff out there, so be an educated consumer and do your best to stick with what?s tried and true. Stick to reputable brands rather than taking a chance on some fly-by-night company you?ve never heard of, and that might be gone tomorrow.

Cardio ? not just for contest prep
Unless you have a very fast metabolism and stay naturally lean all the time with no special effort, cardio belongs in a natural bodybuilder?s training program all year long. Not only will regular cardio keep your bodyfat in check, but it will make sure that your heart, lungs, and circulatory system are strong and healthy. Even though natural bodybuilding is a healthy pursuit, the fact of the matter is that according to the BMI index, anyone with a significant amount of muscle mass is technically overweight. Your heart still has to work harder to pump blood throughout your body, even though the extra mass is muscle instead of fat. Cardio also helps strengthen the immune system. And all that red meat I told you about? As good as it is for building muscle, it still can contribute to blocked arteries unless you are diligent with doing regular cardio to keep the pipes running smoothly. In the off-season, the average natural bodybuilder should do three to five weekly sessions of thirty minutes. If you are prone to gaining bodyfat, you would want to be on the high end of that or even do more, while if you are a genuine hardgainer with a lightning-fast metabolism, the lower end is for you. Mix up the machines you use as well as the intensity levels. This will keep your cardio more interesting and prevent your body from becoming ?too good? at any one type. You don?t want that adaptation to take place, because that?s when fat loss grinds to a halt. Unlike the pre-contest phase, it?s okay to do cardio in the off-season with some carbs in your system. You still experience all the health benefits, and maximum fat loss is not the goal at this time.

The pre-contest phase is a different story. This is when you want to try and do most of your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach for optimal fat-loss results. The amount of cardio you will have to do varies from person to person, but the two most important factors are your starting bodyfat point and your metabolism. The more fat you have to lose and the slower your body sheds fat, obviously the more cardio you will have to do. Most bodybuilders find that as they age, more cardio is required to get in shape. Often, it could double from age 23 to 33. But how much you will have to do could be anywhere from five weekly sessions of thirty minutes all the way up to twice-daily sessions of forty-five minutes. Anything beyond that is treading on dangerous, catabolic ground for a natural bodybuilder. I would much rather see the diet be longer than to have anyone doing more than ninety minutes of cardio a day. It?s just a much safer bet in terms of maintaining your muscle mass.

Conclusion
You now have all the basics necessary to make the most of your physique as a natural bodybuilder. The path you have chosen is not an easy one, but in the end you will have the satisfaction of knowing your results are purely the product of your hard work and determination. Natural bodybuilding is a healthier approach to the sport, and the gains you make are yours to keep. Stay consistent and focused, and you will be well on your way to building an impressive physique that anyone would be proud of.