Bodybuilding Beginner's Diet

As a bodybuilding beginner you’ve probably watched the strongman competitions and so will be more than familiar with the pictures generally associated with the genre.  You know the sort of thing.  A bronzed superman stands by a table displaying a typical week’s strongman fodder; fruit, vegetables, chickens, energy drinks and a good handful of burgers and the like.  You may take this as an indication that these men can eat what they like.  They probably can.  As a body building beginner, you can’t.  So, what should you eat?

The fact is that, as a body building beginner, you are in no condition to treat yourself with fast food.  Perhaps later, when your body is working more efficiently, you can indulge yourself with the odd junk food, but, to start off, you need to be disciplined.  A good healthy start to your regime is important.  You can treat yourself when you’ve earned it.

So what should you eat?  Protein, in the form of meat, fish and diary products, should be eaten in small portions several times a day.  Meat should be lean and white meat and fish is generally better for you.  Protein helps you to build muscle mass.  Carbohydrates come in the form of rice, potatoes, bread and pasta.  Carbohydrates or carbs are energy food and it is this that allows you to maintain your muscle mass workouts.  Fruit and vegetables are also very important and give you natural sugars and many essential vitamins and minerals.  Your body also needs fat, but only a small amount and only the “good fats” such as olive oil and the oils from nuts and oily fish.  Finally, one of the most important elements in your diet is water – drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Burgers, fries and sugar-filled drinks should be avoided.  If you want your body to perform properly, then you need to give it the right fuel, particularly if you are a bodybuilding beginner.  If you want to build muscle mass, you must feed your body properly.  Fast food will fill you full of fat and sugar and consequently will drain you of energy.  You will not feel like doing your bodybuilding workouts and so will put on weight.  Stick to your muscle mass workout diet and succeed in progressing from being a bodybuilding beginner to a bodybuilder with a body you are proud of.

Like a high performance car or a pedigree racehorse, your body needs the right kind of fuel for building muscle mass.  Your muscle mass diet must, therefore, include the right kind of food, in the right quantities in order to achieve optimum performance and muscle definition.  If you give your body what it needs, you will give yourself every chance of successfully building muscle mass fast.

You don’t feed a horse on bananas and expect it to win.  Your body is the same. Give it what it needs.  Remember how well you looked after your first car?  Do the same for your body.  If you’ve strained a muscle, take a break and sort it out. Pain usually means that there’s something wrong.  Look after it.  There is no point exercising through the pain – you will not be building muscle because your muscles will be working inefficiently and you may, in fact, cause more damage.  Bear in mind that body building exercise has at lease three stages: preparation, activity and recovery.  Good planning is fundamental to good exercise and it starts with your food.

The ‘petrol’ your body needs, what is termed ‘energy-giving food’, mainly comes from carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, potatoes and rice.  These foods are used by the body to produce energy, but if this energy is not used, then the calories in these foods are turned to fat and stored in your fat cells.  Therefore, if you are not exercising regularly you will put on weight, so make sure that you stick to your body building routine.

Proteins come in the form of meat, fish, eggs and other diary products.  These are the foods that help you to build muscle and allow you to work for longer periods of time.  The meat should be lean and proteins should be consumed in small quantities several times a day.

Your body also needs fats in order to function properly, but these must be “good fats” which are found in fish, nuts, flax seed oil, avocados, etc.  Essential fatty acids are vital for muscle growth and repair and so you must ensure that you incorporate them into your muscle mass diet.

Your body is a complex and sensitive instrument.  To build muscle mass fast you must eat the right kind of food, in the right quantity several times a day.  The best way to achieve this is to create a muscle mass diet plan and stick to it.  And don’t forget that during and after exercise your body needs proper rest.  Treat your body with respect and you will not only feel good, but you’ll look good and achieve your goals faster.