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Improving your performance, conditioning or developing a champion physique in my opinion has just as much or more to do with eating as it does with physical training. You can not get good gas mileage on mediocre fuel. Sooner of later your car will pay the price in the body shop.

I became a champion bodybuilding mainly because of one mindset when it came to food, and that was balance. No matter what my calorie count had to be, at the end of the day I needed to have all the food groups in my body working together. I also needed vitamins and supplements to stay protected from injuries and colds.

Bodybuilding is an odd sport in itself and certain rules for competitive bodybuilding may seem extreme to the normal fitness buff. However, the under lying principles apply no matter where your goals fall. For the champion fitness buff eating is not only a science but an art form. You can exercise harder than anyone, you can have the best genetics, but if you do not eat appropriately and smartly, sooner rather than later your body will pay a price.

When it comes to food, the thing you want is for your foods to work in a synergistic fashion. In other words, you what them the work together and build momentum with each other. Here are some do’s and don’ts with food on the road to becoming a champion.

Don’ts

Banking calories:

If you are on a calorie restriction eating plan, saving your calories will end up storing fat and slowing down your metabolism. People who bank calories suffer more from a mind game than a physical need.

Restricting Good Fats:
Be careful in thinking that the less fat you eat the better. Good fats are good fuel resources. Insufficient amounts of fats in your diet may cause cannibalism of the hard earned muscle.

Over Eating:

Monitor your portions of meals. Better to eat often than too much at a sitting.

Late Night Eating:

Keep late night eating to a minimum. Your only exception are foods in the protein category.

Do’s

Food Synergy:

Food balancing is very important. Make sure you have a good amount of all the food types in your diet. They work better together rather than alone.

Eat Often: Bodybuilding requires a lot of fueling the muscles. When blood sugar dips calories are not burned and muscle cells are hindered in their growth process. Supplying the body with consistent streams of nutrients is a must.

Food Windows:

Within two hours after a workout there is a golden opportunity to replenish your body with food. Your body has been rung out similar to a sponge and it needs nutrients. During this time period your body will continue to burn fat at the level of your workouts if you supply it with good food in moderate portions.

Small Pre Workout Meals:

Use some form of quick energy drink or food for pre workouts.

Vitamins:

Minerals and vitamins need to be replenished as much as energy does. Stick with the basic list of vitamins and add a supplement here and there.

Calorie Cycling:

Continue to keep your body off guard by eating different number of calories per day. This keeps your body pushing it’s envelop.

These are just a few helpful hints in helping you become a champion bodybuilder. Each of you are different and require different eating plans. However, do not get too hung up on the details.

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Hello friends,

Welcome once again to your regular healthy living bulletin. This week I want to talk about carbohydrates. While I am working in class and with my clients, I find that there is still a lot of confusion about Carbohydrates. I largely blame this on the Atkins frenzy, which although past its peak, has left many of us wary of this essential food group. We have been lead to view this important nutrient with caution, associating it with weight gain, wheat allergies and bloating. Billion-dollar industries propagated the myth that carbohydrates were bad and caused weight gain, and then sold us diets and foods, and meal-replacement bars etc. These diets and products have been endorsed by celebrities who have lost huge (and often unhealthy) amounts of weight QUICKLY. There are many bizarre products on offer which are low-carbohydrate versions of favorite foods, including low-carb pastas! Many of these are over-processed and crammed with all sorts of rubbish including Hydrogenated fats bulking agents and additives. They are never a healthy option and should be avoided.
The main function of carbohydrate in the body is to provide our cells with energy. Carbohydrates fall into two groups; complex and simple. Complex carbohydrates are found in vegetables, beans, lentils, fruits, wholegrains (rye, wheat, oats, barley, wholemeal flour, pastas and noodles, brown and wild rice). Simple carbohydrates include honey, raw sugar, and refined foods, sugar, flour, pasta, white rice, and refined cereals. The refining process strips the foods of their original vitamin and mineral content, leaving them lower in nutrition.

Sugars are the simplest form of carbohydrates. They are an essential source of energy, and the simplest form is glucose. The body uses pure glucose, but our digestive system is designed to break down complex carbohydrates from plant materials in order to gain energy from glucose. This process takes time and releases the glucose sugars into our blood stream slowly. Obtaining sugars from grains, fruits and vegetables ensures that the body also receives high levels of vitamins, minerals, proteins and fibre, where as simple sugars provide- only sugar. This is known as ‘empty calories.’

60% of your daily calories should come from mainly complex carbohydrates. This may sound like a lot. Research has shown that people with healthy weights and people who are overweight often eat the same amount of carbohydrate, but it is the type of carbohydrates that cause weight gain. Individuals who eat a diet rich in complex carbohydrate tend to be of a healthy weight, individuals whose diet is rich in simple carbohydrates tend to be overweight.

The constant modern consumption of simple carbohydrates (white breads, sugar, cakes, biscuits, high-sugar breakfast cereals, chips) confuses the body leading to energy dips, tiredness, food cravings, weight gain, inefficient metabolism and in some cases Type 2 or Maturity Onset Diabetes. Risks of which include; vascular disease, heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, reduced life-expectancy and death.

Spot the hidden sugar

Sugar can be hard to spot, as it’s called many different things. All the following are forms of sugar, which is only needed in small amounts and offers little, except empty calories:

sucrose
glucose
fructose
maltose
dextrose
fruit syrup
molasses

Look for “no added sugar” on the packet. If you can’t see that on a label then read the Nutritional Information panel and look under “Carbohydrates - of which Sugar “.

Always check labels, there will be a section which says Carbohydrates…….. Of which sugars…..
The sugars are what you need to look out for, as this usually means added sugar.

DID YOU KNOW?

It takes 2 quarts of air-popped popcorn, an unrefined carbohydrate, to equal the calories in just 20 crisps.

Carbohydrates are an essential source of energy for the body. The greater part of the diet should be complex carbohydrates. This will keep blood sugar levels even, give sustained energy and avoid fatigue. Carbohydrates are also necessary to help the body burn fat, and so if you are trying to loose weight it is important to eat complex carbohydrates. When the body has no carbohydrates available it cannot use our fat reserves as energy, and must turn to breaking down body tissue- protein- to use as energy. This is why it is important to eat some complex carbohydrates a couple of hours before you exercise, or some fruit or yoghurt an hour before exercising for more immediate energy. This allows the body to burn off fat as you exercise. Many people make the mistake of not eating before they exercise, because they believe that they will loose more weight. Unfortunately, these people will not burn fat, and will struggle through the class feeling tired and unable to work to their full potential. To get the most out of exercise always eat the right things before and after your work out.

Eating a healthy diet is rich in wholegrains, lots of fruit and vegetables and unprocessed foods will give you more energy, supply the body with plenty of vitamins and minerals, promote bowel health, and avoid certain cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

Ignore the media and the diet industries, they only want your money, and they simply cannot make any if you ignore them and eat lots of wholefoods. Do not follow the low-carb diet of the unfortunate Dr Atkins. On February 10, 2004, The Wall Street Journal published excerpts from the New York City Medical Examiner’s report on Atkins’ death. The report indicated that Atkins weighed 258 pounds at his death, making the diet-guru clinically obese, and that he had a history of heart disease, congestive heart failure, and hypertension. It seems that his diet did not impact well on his own health. The moral of this tale? Don’t be scared of carbs just make sure that you are eating the right ones, you will be healthier and happier for it.

Stay healthy- Vikki.

Do you have any friends and family who could benefit from getting fitter and feeling better? If you do, then treat them to free copy of this newsletter, forward it to them, and get them to e-mail me with a request. E-mail getfitter@yahoo.co.uk subject: newsletter request. Would you like to bring health into the workplace? Getfitter now offers a corporate package, including yoga classes/courses, Nutrition seminars, conference breaks, Company Wellness days and Healthy Friday a monthly wellness event.

Please visit www.corporatechill.com

Vikki Scovell BA(hons) PG DIP is a fully qualified Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach. She is a qualified Nutrition Adviser and runs successful Community Exercise classes. Vikki is a consultant in Healthy Eating and Exercise initiatives to schools in the independent sector and publishes School and General Healthy Living newsletters.

Many of us go through this at our local gym or fitness centre on a regular basis, we become increasingly frustrated as a group of trainees chat away their experiences of the day on a bench or on at a piece of equipment for fifteen minutes while you are waiting to use it. Or someone is standing directly in front of the barbell rack doing tiny lateral raises when you want to get at the really big weights. Or casuals using equipment favoured by the regulars and often looked at like pieces of personal furniture for their own use.

All this builds up stress especially between the months of January and April when the newcomers hit the gyms and fitness centres in an attempt to lose the weight gained over the Christmas and New Year period. In trying to realise their New Years resolutions they overcrowd the aerobics area and take over the weight room leaving weights lying around and causing queues for equipment. Regulars of the gym experience these problems and tempers start to flare in a phenomenon becoming known as “Gym Rage”

During this testing time, all gym-goers, both new and experienced and the employees of the fitness clubs know that the newcomers usually only last until April and after that their good intentions run out. To help you through this stressful time have a look at and follow some of the hints below:

 Stand at the back of the aerobics class when you first start, as you will usually find the hard-core regulars will be down the front.

 Their are no rules that govern how many members a gym can sign up, causing some fitness centres to become overcrowded with everybody wanting to use them in the morning and afternoon on their way to and from work. So try to plan your visit to the gym a little earlier than usual or later in the day or evening. There is only one effective way to beat the January to April rush and that is to workout out late at night after 7.00pm

 Talking on your cell phone whilst you are working out, this will tie up a machine or piece of equipment for a long time causing problems. It’s recommended that you turn off your cell phone whilst at the gym.

 Don’t hog the machines; try not to go over the time limits set on the particular machine you are using. If there is a time limit please stick to it. The thing that annoys most people is the way people sit on a machine knocking out set after set. By performing one set to muscular failure and moving on will free up the machines for use by the next person.

 Wipe the machines down after use, try not to leave your sweat on the piece of equipment you have just used, use a towel to separate yourself from the machine while you make use of it and wipe it down thoroughly after use.

 Don’t drop the weights onto the ground and don’t clang them loudly as this is very off-putting to the other members. Make sure you return the weights to there correct place on the racks when you’re finished with them even though you might have found them lying on the floor.

 One thing you don’t want to do is constantly ask people if they’ve finished using a machine when they’re obviously still exercising on it. If anything the trainee will try to sit on it longer just to annoy you. Be patient; don’t interrupt them while they are lifting, wait until they finish their set first.

 A gym isn’t a social club don’t stand around in large groups chatting especially if you have a machine in use, do your talking in the locker room or at reception.

 Don’t leave your towel or other personal items lying around on a bench or piece of equipment if you are not using it. Leave your training space as clean as the way you found it. If the equipment is unattended for more than five minutes go ahead and use it, but be prepared to share also, let people work in with you if the difference in weight is not too large. Leave enough space around you so that other people can approach the weight rack and get the equipment they need.

 Don’t scream when you are going for that personal best lift, remember that the others around you are concentrating on their own work out to and don’t need to hear you screaming out for attention. Exhaling loudly as you contract the muscles during your set is fine.

 Don’t hog the water fountain, only take a few mouthfuls of water and then move away, don’t fill up your huge water bottle with cold water and leave warm drinking water for the rest of the members.

 Follow the gyms code of conduct usually seen on the walls of the gym or fitness centre, if trainees are not following the code report it to management don’t take it into your own hands.

Gary is the author of several ebooks, including “Maximum Weight Loss in Ten Weeks” - the complete ebook and time-saving solution for burning away unwanted fat, and “Maximum Weight Gain in Ten Weeks” - easy-to-use and follow techniques that serve as a guide to muscle growth without having to “live in the gym”.

Visit Gary’s website at www.maximumfitness.com/