The most important ingredients for a post workout protein shake

Remember, when having a protein shake it is important to consider not only the ingredients but also the timing. Your post workout shake should be taken immediately after your workout. Not five minutes later. Not three minutes later. Immediately. You need to give your muscles protein and energy as soon as possible. With that in mind here are some of the important ingredients:

1. Milk
Milk has a lot of protein in it and the type of protein in milk is called casein. Casein is a slow digesting protein and it is one of the best proteins there is for building muscle. It is good to have this protein after your workout and then again before bed as it will provide a few hours of proteins for the body to work with.

Milk is also important for the protein shake to make it taste good! I always use a non-homogenized milk that has not been heated too much as I feel this really impacts on the quality. Some people believe that this is dangerous as it has a lot of germs in it. I am not too sure - make up your own mind.

2. Whey protein powder
We all know how important whey is for bodybuilding. It is a by-product of cheese that comes from milk during the cheese making process. The two main types of whey protein are isolate and concentrate - isolate being higher in protein and lower in calories as it has been purified more. Whey is an essential ingredient to any serious post workout shake.

3. Gatorade
Not many people include Gatorade in their post workout shake and it is a shame. This stuff is designed to hydrate you fast and also has a lot of water in it. The salt in Gatorade helps you hydrate a lot quicker. A dash in a protein shake helps with recovery.

4. Banana
Bananas are full of so many vitamins, minerals, proteins and more that they are truly a super food. I make all of my protein shakes with banana in them as I love the taste and I find it an easy way to get more fruit in my diet. An added bonus of banana is that it causes a mild sugar boost which helps your body release insulin and as such push nutrients in to the muscles. Many bodybuilders believe that this is a key to successful post workout eating.

5. Multivitamins
If you take a multivitamin it is a good idea to have it now while you are getting a lot of other vitamins and minerals. Your body is somewhat depleted after a hard workout so now is a good a time as any to top yourself up.

6. Egg
Eggs are an amazing food for bodybuilders. They are full of all the nutrients that a baby chicken would need to grow had the egg been fertilized and incubated. The protein in egg is the highest quality protein there is as it is raw and uncooked and 100% absorbed by the body. Eggs also have a lot of good fats and cholesterols in them which is essential for healthy bodybuilding. I usually have one or two in a post workout shake.

Homemade are better than store bought

At my gym they sell a wide range of Musashi protein shakes. These are quite expensive and not all that good for you. Sure they have a lot of protein in them but the other ingredients are artificial and they are packed full of poisonous refined sugar.

It is a much better idea to make your protein shakes at home with fresh ingredients. Over time you will save money and you will be doing your body a big favor. I have found from my own experience that muscle gains are a lot bigger when you have fresh ingredients in your cup.

Getting only the best ingredients

I am a firm believer that what we eat has a huge impact on how healthy we are. I also think better quality ingredients mean better quality results. For this reason (and others) you should take some pride in how you select your food. Here are some pointers:

• NEVER buy cage eggs. Always buy free range eggs from chickens on a big farm. They are better for you and much more ethical.
• Buy local bananas. Try to buy bananas that have been grown in your own country to support local trade.
• Carefully select the milk you buy based on how they prepare it and what the companies treatment of the cows is like

These are some of the most important ingredients and tips for making a post workout protein shake. If you have any others we would really like to hear them. Leave a comment as it may help the tens of thousands of people who read this site.

Natural Proteins

Natural proteins (in my book) are proteins that come from all natural sources. Here we are talking about things like:

• Eggs
• Raw Milk
• Meats
• Nuts
• Fruits and vegetables
• Etc

These proteins occur naturally in foods and are not extracted or tampered with. The main thing is that they have not been heated to high temperatures and as such the amino acids are still in tact.

Man-Made Proteins

Man-made proteins are those that come from natural sources but are extracted out and enhanced in some way. Whey protein powder is the perfect example - it is made as by-product of the cheese making process and is heated, watered down, cleaned and so on before it gets into your stomach.

Where do you get your protein

So the big question is: where do you get most of your protein? And, even more importantly, does it make a difference?

top image:photo credit: Melting Mama

Someone contacted me through the Real Muscle Online Facebook Group this week and asked for some ideas about eating healthy at high school. Here is a copy of what they said:

“I was wondering if you guys at RMO could do some stuff about eating healthy in high school? As is, just about every fast food and prepared food company tries to aggressively market to kids and adolescents especially, and at times, even for health conscious people, it can be pretty tough, you know?”

I agree with what the email says 100% and thought it was a great idea for a post. I will try to give some ideas based on my own experience of trying to eat like an athlete while still in high school and all the limitations that it presents.

How to eat healthy at high school

High school can be pretty annoying. You are bound by class times and you only have two breaks to fit in your meals. However, with a bit of planning this structure can actually work in your favor.

1. Trying to eat six healthy meals a day

If you are trying to lose weight or gain muscle it is important to eat about six evenly spaced out meals per day. The reason for this is that you want to keep your metabolism cranking as well as providing your muscles with a constant stream of nutrients.

High school is actually good for this as the two breaks are usually at around 11am and 1pm. This means that you can have breakfast at about 8am, snack at 11am, lunch at 1pm, snack at 4pm and then dinner at 7pm. That is all six meals spaced out perfectly!

Leftovers
The problem with high school is that you need to do a lot of pre-cooking if your school has a bad canteen. I was very luck where I went - the canteen ladies did an amazing job and we always had gourmet foods like sandwiches, healthy pizzas, pasta dishes, salads and so on. It was not difficult to eat healthy or get my protein.

However, not all schools are like this and that means that you have to plan. One of the best things you can do it eat leftovers. If your mom cooks for you then kindly ask her to make extra. If you have an extra chicken breast leftover you can cut it up and throw it into a lunch box with some salad leaves and a bit of mustard for a dressing. Be creative with your leftovers as you can quite often turn some old meal into an awesome new one by simply adding some salad, vegetables or dressing.

Buy food elsewhere
Another thing you can do is spend your lunch money on the way to school. If you have a crappy canteen you can stop off at the local supermarket or a local cafe and buy some take away food which you then eat for lunch. A chicken salad or some healthy equivalent should only cost you about $10. If you can’t afford this everyday once or twice a week is better than none.

Protein shakes
One of the best things you can do is make a protein shake before you go to school and take with with you in a thermos or some other bottle. No one will know what you are drinking and you can get a good healthy meal in a bottle!

All you need to do is add a few eggs, bananas, milk, whey powder and then pack it with ice to keep it cool. This is a perfect 11am recess meal. The great thing about a protein shake is it will not make you feel heavy and tired and as such your studies will benefit too.

Another great thing about protein shakes is that it is cheap. Milk, eggs and bananas cost you next to nothing but give you such a wide spectrum of protein and nutrients. It saves you time and a lot of money.

Turn your backpack into a pantry
Something I used to do in high school to combat the fact that I didn’t have a lot of time was fill my backpack up with plastic bags filled with dried fruits, mixed nuts and other natural foods that would last a long time.

Almost every day after school I would go into China Town in the city for a meal before going home. In China Town you can get a lot of quality produce for a really good price and so I would spend my leftover money at the health food shop buying nuts and so on.

Nuts and dried fruit are a great idea because you can keep them for ages, eat them whenever you want and they are full of protein, good fats, as well as vitamins and minerals.

Some other things you can add to your “back pack pantry” include:

• boiled eggs
• cans of tuna
• cans of fruit
• long life milk
• water

2. Avoiding the temptation to eat junk food

One of the biggest problems with high school is that everyone is eating junk food. Usually a high school lunch consists of chips, hot dogs and a Coke. Not great for a normal person and unacceptable for a bodybuilder.

Avoiding temptation is even harder than normal when you are in high school because for some unknown reason everyone is trying to be cool and impress each other. If all your friends are drinking Coke it sometimes hard to crank out your home made freshly squeezed juice!

However, if you want to eat healthy you need to overcome those obstacles of temptation.

Eat away from others
One of the best ways to avoid temptation is to eat alone. If you brought your meals from home then head out to a bench somewhere in the school and quickly eat your meal before joining your mates for a game of lunch time football or whatever it is you do on your break. This helps you focus on your own goals without being swayed by the opinions of others.

Be your own person
I never really bought into the peer pressure thing in high school. If I wanted to eat bean shoots at lunch time I would (and I did, I’m sure one of my high school mates reading will attest to it). At first your mates might give you a bit of a hard time but it is only because they are jealous of you being strong enough to be different. They are afraid of your independence because it threatens their “group” mentality.

Take what you want to school and eat it with pride. You are looking after your body and your example will encourage others to do the same. I remember in my final year of high school a few of my other friends started bringing in mixed nuts and dried fruit from the local health food store and we all sat and shared with each other in physics class.

Don’t beat yourself up
One thing I had to learn in high school is that you can’t eat perfectly all the time. If you ask my friends they will tell you that I never ate any junk food, sugar, saturated fats, etc. because I was so health conscious and wanted to be fit for my sports. However, this meant that I missed out on a lot of good social events because I wouldn’t eat at KFC or go out for a Coke after training. Do the best that you can but don’t be upset if you eat junk food once in a while.

Look at the marketing for what it is
The question above mentioned that fast food companies market to kids very heavily and it can be tough to avoid their products. This is very true and as such you need to learn to look at their marketing for what it is - a trap.

I know a very wise buddhist master in India who once said:

“Marketing is designed to test how gullible you are.”

If you realize this you will see all the foods and their commercials as nothing more than a scheme to make money. When you see that junk food is marketed in the same way as every other product you will realize that you don’t need it to be happy or satiated.

Conclusion on eating healthy in high school

Eating healthy is a choice. It will not happen by accident so you need to plan ahead and make it happen. High school might be limiting in some ways but it also gives you a rigid structure where you can create some pretty useful habits that will last a lifetime.

If anyone has any other tips I would love to hear them.

Why do we skip breakfast?

In my personal view I think there are four reasons why people skip breakfast. Of course there are other reasons but in my view these are the main ones.

1. Laziness
If we are honest we don’t eat breakfast because we are too lazy. It would be much easier to pretend we don’t have enough time and rush out the door to work as fast as we can. At least that way we can buy a midmorning snack from the local fast food joint!

We are also lazy because we don’t take the time to think ahead and plan our meals the day before. When we wake up and stumble into the kitchen we see that there isn’t much to choose from and opt to skip it.

2. Weather changes
Ok so this might sound a little strange but in my own experience I have noticed that the weather affects what I have for breakfast. If it is hot I want something cold like fruit salad or a smoothie but if the weather is cold I want something hot like eggs or a toasted sandwich. I think these weather changes throw us off a little and it takes time to change our habits from one season to the next.

3. Hunger
Sometimes I don’t eat breakfast because I simply am not hungry in the morning. It takes me a few hours to feel even the slightest bit hungry. I know that I SHOULD eat breakfast but I really don’t feel like it. So, I skip it.

4. Not sure what to have
The last reason I think is that a lot of people are unsure about what a good bodybuilding breakfast looks like. One one hand they want eggs for the protein but on the other hand are worried that the eggs will give them cholesterol problems. One one hand they want a high energy breakfast but on the other hand are worried about too many carbs.

One of the best ways to avoid skipping breakfast is to give yourself a few options and plan ahead so when you wake up they are ready to go.

What is the best bodybuilding breakfast?

Now I want to look at what the best bodybuilding breakfast looks like. When I say bodybuilding I am really talking about anyone who is doing a lot of intense weight training or sport and wants to eat for muscle growth, energy, strength and fat management.

Firstly, a good bodybuilding breakfast should not be too heavy. You do not want a fatty meal that weighs you down and makes you tired as soon as you eat it. It seems that foods with animal fats are the worst offenders here.

Secondly, you want to make sure your breakfast is giving you a good amount of protein after your long protein-gap (sleep).

Thirdly, your breakfast should have enough energy, nutrients and vitamins to help you get off to work or training as well as keep you healthy and well in the long term.

In short - your breakfast should contain a bit of everything that you would want from your diet overall. Here are some suggestions:

1. Protein shake
The more I think about it the more I think a homemade protein shake is the best option for a bodybuilder’s breakfast.

The reason for this is that you can customized the ingredients that you use in order to get all of the right vitamins and minerals. You can also eat a lot more when you blend it and this allows you to get more protein and nutrients in one sitting.

Try and include natural foods in your protein shake and make it as healthy as possible. In the link above I show you what I put in my protein shakes when I make them at home.

2. Fruit salad
Many people do not realize that fruit has a good amount of protein in it. However, the main reason for eating fruit for breakfast is that it is one of the best things you can do for your long term healthy and wellbeing.

In high school I decided that I was only going to eat fruit for breakfast and up until midday. I was surprised to see that a lot of extra fat I had melted off and I didn’t catch the local flu that was going around. I looked and felt a lot healthier. I also noticed that my exercise intensity was a lot better.

Eating a mixture of different fruits for breakfast is not everyone’s cup of tea but it really is worth trying. Fruits are a wonderful thing; cheap and natural as well as being extremely tasty and good for you. Bodybuilders might scoff at this thinking that they need their 8 egg whites and protein powder to stay big. If that really concerns you then have a whey shake with your fruit salad. Real Muscle is about healthy muscles, not just big ones.

Conclusion on bodybuilding breakfasts

Try to eat breakfast. I know it can be hard sometimes. Make it easy on yourself and prepare as much of it as you can in advance so that you don’t have to think too hard at 7am in the morning. Keep it healthy but keep it tasty.

I would like to share a little personal story of pain, agony and a lot of diarreah. The photo above is a Tandoori Hut in India that I used to go to when I was on holiday. It nearly killed me. However, in my near death experience I realized something very important - you are what you eat.

Why food will cause your early death

Now, my experience in India was one of food poisoning. I ate bad food and it had a severe effect on my body. I was dehydrated for many days and after about a week of sitting on the toilet I had lost close to ten kilograms of body weight.

However, food does not have to be poisoned to be deadly.

Think about what you eat everyday. Do you know what is in it? Do you know who made it? Do you know whether it is clean? Do you really know what effect the ingredients have on your body?

Good food gone bad

In today’s world of fast food and pre cooked meals you can be forgiven for thinking that some bad food is good for you. They sell it like that. People read “low fat” and they think it means it is good for them. What they fail to realize is that low fat foods are full of sugar, preservatives and other nasties that will make you sick.

And you eat them everyday.

So how can something you consume on a daily basis not have an effect on your health? Well, it does have an effect on your health and quite often you will develop diabetes, heart problems or even cancer from bad and unhealthy food.

The Buddha on food

The Buddha actually listed hundreds of ways that you can die from your food. These reasons ranged from choking to poisoning to developing bad habits. I think we need to look at the essence of what the Buddha was saying - we need to be careful what we eat and how we eat it.

Some guidelines for avoiding a food related death

Here are some simple rules to follow if you want to avoid getting killed by food:

- eat natural foods
- avoid man made foods
- avoid sugar
- avoid salt
- avoid friend foods
- avoid cooking too much (keep things fresh)

These simple rules will help you keep your body clean and your health on track.

I get pretty sick of the same old sugary protein shakes that you buy at the gym. Here are some ideas for an all natural protein shake that will help you pack on muscle and stay healthy.

A natural protein shake recipe

When you are bodybuilding it is pretty tempting to put muscle gain and fat loss ahead of your health. However, here at Real Muscle Online we are about staying healthy while achieving our goals and as such do not buy into a lot of the typical bodybuilding weight loss and mass gain crap.

When getting your daily protein it is important to do it smartly. Too much protein is not good for you. Too much protein from unhealthy sources is not good for you. Lets keep it clean.

Ingredients:

• Banana
• Free range eggs
• Raw milk
• Uncooked honey
• Whey protein if you want

As you can see the ingredients all have a common theme. They are natural. They are uncooked. You see when you cook a food you destroy a lot of the enzymes that make up the proteins and so on. This means they are less effective in your body. What good is a protein if it is unable to do its job?

Just blend all of these suckers together and drink straight after your workout. You probably wouldn’t want to have this shake everyday if you are using a lot of eggs but you could always reduce the amount you put in.

These natural ingredients are a lot more effective than the dead protein powders you buy on the shelf.

Is your diet spoiling your six pack?

Everyone wants a nice lean six pack with minimal fat to cover them. However, the fact of the matter is the stomach is the first place you put on weight and the last place you lose it. It is genetic. It is unavoidable. It is annoying.

The reason it is annoying is because if you allow your diet to slip up for a few weeks it will be your abs that suffer. Your biceps and triceps will still look lean and ripped but you will start to feel a bit soft around the middle.

But abdominal fat can actually be helpful

I actually think I might be the first human being to ever say that abdominal fat can be helpful. The reason I think this is because it is like a warning sign; if you start to see your abs fading it means your diet is not going so well. It means you are eating more calories and possibly more unhealthy foods.

So how do I diet for better six pack abs?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” I can hear you say. “The abs are hard to develop. My diet is crap. Thanks. I could have told myself that!”

Well, there is hope.

Dieting to get better abs is not that difficult. It might seem difficult but once you get into a routine and know what you are doing you will find that fat melts away and you are left with some pretty defined abs. Here are some important tips:

1. Eat six small meals a day
You need to eat more often. Make sure you read that carefully. Eating more often does not mean eating MORE. It means eating smaller meals more frequently.

The reason this is so important is because digesting food takes a lot of energy to do. It actually burns calories. If you eat six small meals every day you will keep your metabolism revving and as such you will prevent your body from storing food as fat. The traditional three meals a day is a bad idea because we tend to eat more than we need. And then the stuff we ate but didn’t need gets stored on our abs.

2. Make fruit and vegetables whole meals
Do not be afraid to make a massive bowl a fruit a whole meal in itself. Do not be afraid to have a massive vegetable soup for dinner. We do not need as much meat as people would have you believe. We do not need breads and cereals and rice and pasta. Fruit can make a really good breakfast. Vegetables can make a really nutritious dinner or lunch. You have to get away from the idea that fruit and vegetables are side dishes and start to see them as whole meals with massive amounts of vitamins and minerals.

3. Don’t eat dinner late
Try and make sure you have an early dinner. The reason for this is that if you have a late dinner your body will have no immediate use for the energy in the food and it will be stored as fat while you sleep.

This is a bigger problem than people think.

Many people think that eating dinner right before bed isn’t that bad an idea. They are in a habit. They read advice like number three and sort of ignore it. Bad idea. Some people I know who have shifted dinner to earlier in the night have lost fat like they didn’t believe. And if you are having trouble burning the final few grams of fat off of your abs this might be the solution you need.

Conclusion on dieting for abs

You can do all the crunches in the world but if your diet is crap your abs will be as well. If you start to see your belly getting a little bit bigger then it is probably because your diet is slipping. If you fix this, your abs will thank you. Make a healthy diet your number one priority.

There are some foods that you really should never eat. They have a negative effect on your body and can lead to health problems, weight gain or even disease.

The question is: how many have you eaten this week?

1. French Fries
These deep fried treats are the favorite of many. They taste damn good but are one of the worst things you can put in your body. They have too much salt, saturated fat and many times trans fat. Too many of these and you will make yourself sick.

2. Meat
This is going to cause some debate, I can see it now. However, there is evidence to show that too much meat has a bad effect on the body. It has also been shown that if you eat meat everyday you are more likely to get cancer than if you lived on a vegetarian diet. Meat now-a-days has a lot of added hormones and chemicals that are used to make the animal grow faster so production can increase. It is not good for you at all.

The world has such a dependance on meat and it has become unhealthy. Many people eat meat three times a day and this is too much for the human body.

3. Coke
Coke is, for a lot of people, like water. However, it is high in sugar, sodium and is very bad for you. It causes a massive sugar rush and as such your body’s insulin levels get screwed around.

4. Doughnuts
Have you ever thought about how a doughnut is made? It is basically sugar mixed with flour, fried in saturated fats and then sprinked with mroe sugar! Far out. This is one food that really shouldn’t even be eaten as a treat and yet we see people (especially in the USA) eating them on a daily basis.

5. Deli meat
While I am not big on any meat the meats that you buy at the deli are particularly bad. They have been sitting in that cooled cabinet for a long time and are laced with preservatives and other additives. I always laugh when bodybuilders tell me they get their lunchtime protein by having a sandwhich with some compound turkey. That stuff is sugary and very bad for your health.

6. Chinese food
I love Chinese food. It is my favorite. However, you have to find that right place to eat it. Usually it is full of MSG and other dodgey substances. Usually the places that cook it in five minutes and pack it into a little box are pretty bad. Try to find a traditional place that is run by a small family. Generally they cook according to the family custom and this is much better for you.

7. KFC
If you made a promise to pick one fast food joint to never visit again it should be KFC. The chicken is terribly bad for your body. They chickens are given hormones and raised in terrible conditions. Most of the food is fried in fat and served with salt and other spices we don’t know the origin of. After all, they are secret! Don’t get me started on the mashed “potatoe”.

8. Beer
How many beers do you have per week? Beer is basically empty calories with carbs. Not good for weight control. However, the process that your body uses to get rid of the beer also can cause some problems.

This is Part 3 of our series on Basic Bodybuilding Tools. Here we will be taking a look at the basic elements of a bodybuilders diet. The full series is Part 1 and Part 2.

Basic Bodybuilding Tools - Diet for Bodybuilding

There is an old saying in bodybuilding circles:

Bodybuilding is 25% weight training, 25% rest and 50% diet.

This couldn’t be more true. Without a solid diet you will never make any real bodybuilding gains. Diet is the most important aspect of bodybuilding yet it seems that many of us overlook it when trying to get big. This is a big mistake. In this article I will give you a brief overview of everything that you need to know about your diet as a bodybuilder.

The importance of protein

If you want to get big muscles you need to eat protein. You need to eat a lot of it and you need to eat it often. There is no way around it. Protein is the building block of muscle gain and you cannot grow muscles without it.

However, knowing what protein to eat can be difficult for a beginner. There are so many different types around and there is so much conflicting information about them. For example, should you get your protein from food or fomr supplements? Should you take whey supplements or soy supplements? How much should you have? Can you have too much? These are all valid questions that a new bodybuilder will face.

Here are a few points about protein that should clear up a few things for you:

1. Fresh is best
If you can get protein from raw and fresh sources it is much better than the cooked stuff you find in supplements. A protein molecule is made up of many smaller amino acids that fit together like nice little building blocks. When you heat these protein molecules (as occurs when we cook food, etc) the amino acids change shape and the protein no longer works how it should.

For this reason it is important to get as much of your protein as possible from fresh sources. For example, fresh free range eggs that you eat raw in a milkshake, raw milk that hasn’t been heated, etc. These food sources are far more effective than a cooked and overproduced powder.

2. Whey is the best powder
Now that I have said “fresh is best” I also need to say that protein powders are pretty essential. Unless you are eating a whole cow everyday it is hard to get your required protein. Protein powder is good because it is lean (not many calories) and it is rich in protein in that you don’t need much of it to get the right amount. It is important to use a quality protein powder (for the reasons already mentioned) and the best one, in my opinion, is this one here. These protein powder with free floating BCAAs are also very good for your overall health and wellbeing.

3. Timing is vital
The most important thing you can learn if you want to grow big muscles is that the post workout meal is the most important meal of the day. It is the time when your muscles are starving for nutrients and if you down a protein milkshake straight after your workout you will increase your growing potential by up to 20%. And when I say straight away I mean straight away. Have your protein shake ready before you hit the gym and the moment you do your last set you should drink it all up. Make sure your muscles have the protein they need.

The importance of water

The next thing you new little bodybuilders need to know is that water is going to become your new best friend. You are going to have to start drinking a lot of water.

As you are going to be eating a lot of protein it is important that you flush out your system with lots of water. Your kidneys in particular need to be helped out as it is very difficult for them to process so much protein. Protein is a large molecule and the water helps things to move along.

There are many different schools of thought on how much water a bodybuilder should be drinking. And it differs for everyone. For example, if you are working out everyday and sweating lots you will need to drink more than someone who only works out occasionally. I eat six meals a day and have a tall glass of water with every meal as well as drinking while I work out and this seems to work well for me.

The importance of fruit and vegetables

Many bodybuilders think that if they eat a few steaks and a few nice chicken breasts their diet will be taken care of. This is what I call “protein overload” where the bodybuilder thinks that all they need to eat is protein. It is incorrect and it is dangerous.

A bodybuilder is still a human. And while protein is important to them this does not mean that all the other things that make up a healthy diet should go out the window. Fruits and vegetables are two things that seem to get scrapped when people start lifting weights. In actual fact it should be the opposite; you should start eating more.

The human body needs the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are in fruits and vegetables. Bright colored fruits, green leafy vegetables as well as red and orange vegetables are of particular importance. They contain masses of fiber, folate, vitamin C and other things that will keep your system healthy.

Bodybuilding puts a lot of stress on your body and you need to make sure you are keeping it healthy with a good solid diet that consists of more than just protein.

The importance of six meals a day

Eating six small meals a day every three hours is a very important part of the bodybuilding diet. It is time to do away with the traditional three square meals a day.

Eating smaller meals more often means that your body is getting more nutrients at regular intervals. This is important for building muscles. It also keeps your metabolism cranking over which will stop you storing a lot of your food as fat.

Each meal should be high in protein as well as have a serve of fruits or vegetables. For example, when I have a protein shake for my 4pm meal I always include two bananas and some strawberries to make sure I am getting more than just milk, protein powder and eggs. This turns it into a more complete meal.

The importance of vitamin supplements

My brother is a bio-medical scientist. He knows a lot about the body. And we often have debates about whether vitamin supplements are useful. He will tell me that they are a waste of time and money. I tell him that they play a crucial role in staying healthy. I don’t know who is right so I will give you the information and you can make up your own mind.

A lot of the food we eat today is over processed and lacking in nutritional content. This is especially true in America where the food really is poor. Now if you are a bodybuilder who is training six times per week you need to make sure you are getting the right amount of nutrients and vitamins.

This is why I think vitamin supplements are important.

You see I do not believe that you can get enough nutrients from food alone anymore. This is especially true if you are busy and have to eat out more than once a week. Vitamins help you compliment your food by giving you a little extra that you otherwise would have missed out on. I think they are a long term solution that will help you stay healthy well into your older years.

At the very minimum I think a bodybuilder should take a multivitamin everyday. They are cheap as hell and may help you stay healthy. The multivitamin I take, which is also used by the Australian Institue of Sport, you can purchase here.

Conclusion
These are some very basic aspects of a bodybuilders diet. As you become more expert you will find that the tricks and skills used by bodybuilder in regards to their diet is quite complex. They time their protein and carbohydrate intake down to the letter and keep some really amazing diet logs. However, for now you only need to be concerned with eating healthy while you are trying to gain muscle. The fact that you now know that diet is the most important aspect of bodybuilding is the most important thing.

There are certain foods that should be part of every bodybuilding diet. If you miss out on these you miss out on big gains.

11 Foods essentail to a healthy bodybuilding diet

Lets take a look at some foods that I feel are essential to a bodybuilding diet. Some of them are fod health reasons whilst others are there for their anabolic muscle building properties.

1. Fresh milk
Milk has got to be the heart and sole of my bodybuilding diet. I attribute a lot of my gains to it. However, I don’t just drink ordinary milk from the supermarket. I really feel that a good quality raw milk from the health food store is a much better option if you are trying to get big. The proteins are still intact as the milk has not been heated.

2. Eggs
Eggs are like a powerhouse of protein and essential fats. Eggs have got a bad wrap in recent years from people who are worried about cholesterol and for this reason they reccomend you do not eat too many egg yolks. I am not sure this information is correct but it is better to err on the side of caution. One thing is for sure though; eggs are a must for any bodybuilders diet. Try and eat them raw in a protein shake with some milk and fruit. Perfect.

3. Water
If you are eating large amounts of protein you need to keep your kidneys healthy by drinking lots of water. This helps flush out a lot of the junk and makes your body’s cells function a lot better. Many bodybuilders say you should drink up to four litres a day.

4. Bananas
Although this is not a typical “bodybuilding food” I have found them to be quite special. Bananas are full of potassium as well as a whole host of other nutrients. They are probably the most beneficial fruit that exists and they should be eaten daily. Keeping your body healthy is very important.

5. Spinach and other green leaft vegetables
As more and more scientific research is done we are increasingly hearing about the benefits of green leafy vegetables. This stuff is dirt cheap to buy at a good food market and you can put it with just about everything. I have them in soup, pasta, salads, steamed vegetables, vegetable juices, etc. They are full of Vitamins A, C and contain a lot of calcium, folate and fiber. It is said that these foods also help to prevent cancer and clean out the blood. This is perhaps important for bodybuilders where a lot of lactic acid builds up in the body on a daily basis.

6. Yogurt
Again, go to the health food store and get some real yogurt - not the stuff in the supermarket that is full of sugar and salt. You might only be able to find it in its original form which tastes pretty crap in which case you can just add berries and other fruits to it. Yogurt is great for some extra protein as well as calcium and Vitamin B12. Make sure your yogurt has an active live culture strain in it as this helps your immune system fight off bacteria and can keep your body healthy during your bulking up phase where you are eating a lot of “heavy foods”.

7. Nuts
Every different type of nut is hailed by some group as being an amazing health food. They contain protein, Vitamin E, essential fatty acids, fiber, etc. The best types of nuts for your health are almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, walnuts and pistachios. Try and eat a handful of mixed nuts everyday.

8. A good whey protein powder
Many old school bodybuilder think that you do not need supplements to get big. I am not so sure. I grew when I started taking a quality whey protein powder as my post workout meal. However, the most impressive benefit about whey protein is that it is now being hailed as an amazing food for improving your immune system and increasing your body’s ability to fight disease. The brands with lots of free floating amino acids are said to be particularly good and are even being used on cancer patients.

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9. Potatoes
These are a bulk food. They are full of carbs and are great for energy. However, they also have more Vitamin C in them than an orange as as such can be very good for your health. I eat them almost everyday in soups and vegetable dishes.

10. Cereals
Again, these are good energy foods but they also contain a lot of fiber, folate and calcium which you need to keep your stomach and blood healthy.

11. Multivitamins
Vitamin E, A, C and B12 are pretty important for bodybuilders. Invest in a good multivitamin. They are cheap and easy to use.

Conclusion
Bodybuilding is not just about getting big; it is about getting healthy. Many bodybuilders get big at the expense of their health but this is not the real way to do it. Unhealthy bodybuilding is short term and stupid. Make sure your diet is balanced and not only will you grow, you will continue to grow long into the future.