Bodybuilding Nutrition: Growth Season - Part #2

By: MuscleSports.net

This is the second installment of the Growth Season program. This program is designed for those who want extreme mass and power!

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The single most important thing most trainers lack in their pursuit of mass and power is a understanding of what nutritional requirements are needed. Hey, nutrition is the key to this whole shit we call bodybuilding, powerlifting, weightlifting or whatever. You don't eat right you can kiss that workout you performed today, yesterday, and the immediate future good bye. Yeah we said yesterday and the immediate future because feeding your body is a constant thing that has a ripple effect on your growth and strength developement. What you eat today effects your recovery today, as well as your workout tommorrow. Here is an example:

“You eat great on sunday your day off and have a excellent workout on monday but due to curcumstances at work had to miss lunch or had a quick bite instaed of your usual lunch. Then later in the evening with other things on your mind you miss a meal due to things out of your control. The next morning your pushing hard as ever but the strength isn't there. The will is there but the body isn't. Then you start thinking I can't possbly come back later in the day I am already spent.”

Why are you thinking “I can't make it back today”, I am to tired, to weak and so forth because of your nutritional lapse. It will probably take a day or two of consistent eating practices to make that time up and get you back on track. Lets look at that - 1 day bad eating = 2 days catch up. Thats three days of training and diet you can't recover. Those 3 days are gone forever! Now multiply that by the number of times people mess up on their diet a year. Now you start to see why professional athletes and organizations have nutritionist and trainers monitoring their progress every step of they way. This is not easy shit! Its not fucking rocket science either! The simple fact is that most don't realize how important its is to stay as consistent as possible through out the year if you plan to achieve your goals. This shit equates for anything in life not just training and nutrition, but all aspects (enough of the self help crap).

Growth Season Eating Plan

Eating for Power Bodybuilding:

When eating for power and strength you should keep your protein intake high with enough carbohydrates to help support your workout energy. When your working with lower reps say 5X5 reps and sets, your body is relying on muscle ATP and creatine stores more than stored muscle glycogen. During this type of training its more advantages for you to raise your protein intake to between 40-45% of your daily calorie intake. With fat intake going up to about 30% of your total calorie intake. So your ratio should look like this: Protein 40-45%, Carbohydrates 30-25%, Fat 30%.

Make sure all your fat increases come from healthy sources like, Olive oil (73 per cent) grapeseed oil (60 per cent) hazelnuts (50 per cent) almonds (35 per cent) Brazil nuts (26 per cent) cashews (28 per cent) avocado (12 per cent) sesame seeds (20 per cent) pumpkin seeds (16 per cent), these are monounsaturated fat which are high in vitamin E and anti-oxidants. Also from polyunsaturated fat includes a special family of essential fatty acids (which the human body cannot manufacture for itself) called omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Fish fats which are high in essential fatty acids. Ideally, look for polyunsaturates that contain the omega-3 essential fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid, LNA), like flax oil, hemp oil, pumpkin seeds, walnuts or oily fish. Be weary of consuming high quantities of omega 6 fatty acids, because as they do lower bad cholesterol, lipid known as low-density-lipoprotein (LDL), they also lower good cholesterol lipid, known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

When eating for size you should keep your carbohydrates and protein intake high with your fat at moderate to low levels. During this higher rep phase in your training your muscles feed more on muscle glycogen then ATP and creatine phosphates. You can tell this because of the burn you feel in your muscles is the burning of that glycogen within the cells. You carbohydrates should account for 45-50% of your calorie intake. Your nutrient ratio should look something like the following: Protein 30%, Carbohydrates 50%, fats 20%. Your carbohydrates can go as high as 55% depending on fat storage. This is the best ratio for anyone looking to gain size.

There you have it. Your power bodybuilding eating guidelines. These guide lines work. There is no gimmicky BS involved just straight forward knowledge. Below is listed a complete diet which follows these guidelines. Just substitute like food for like being sure to adhere to the nutritional guidelines.

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NOTE: The eating plan was designed for an athlete of 222lbs competing in both powerlifting and bodybuilding. So it is a good example for anyone looking for a starting point. Rotate your foods keeping to the claories and nutrient amounts. DON'T CUT CALORIES OR NITRIENT AMOUNTS. INCREASE CALORIES BY 500 FOR EVERY 10 POUNDS IN BODYWEIGHT OVER 222lbs.

5 Day Power Bodybuilding Meal Plan
	Calories	Protein*	Carbs*	Fats*
Breakfast
4 Whole Large Eggs	296	24g	2g	20g
1 Scoop Whey Protein	85	22g	1g	0g
1 English Muffin (Whole Wheat)	134	6g	27g	1g
1 tbls Peanut Butter	94	4g	3g	8g

Mid Morning Snack
2 Scoops Whey Protein*	170	44g	2g	<1g
1 oz. Mixed Nuts	168	5g	7g	16g

Lunch
1 Can of Water Packed Tuna	220	41g	0g	5g
2 Cups Salad Mix	44	3g	8g	0g
1 tbls of Fat Free Mayo/Salad Dressing (Miracle Whip Light)	11/37	0g/0g	0g/0g	0g/3.5g
1 Cup Unsweeten Apple Sauce (Motts)	100	0g	28g	0g
1-2 Protein Bars	180	15g	3g	12g

Afternoon Snack
1 Protein Bar (Universal HI-Protein Bar)	302	34g	31g	6.5g

Preworkout Snack (30 Minutes Before)
1 Scoop Whey Protein*	85	20g	1g	0g
5-10 Grams Creatine Monohydrate*	0	0g	0g	0g
5-10 Grams Glutamine*	0	0g	0g	0g
1 Large Orange	86	2g	22g	0g

Postworkout Snack (Wihtin 30 Minutes After)
2 Scoop Whey Protein*	170	42g	2g	<1g
5-10 Grams Creatine Monohydrate*	0	0g	0g	0g
5-10 Grams Glutamine*	0	0g	0g	0g
1 Plain Bagel	289	11g	56g	2g
2 tbls Jelly	112	0g	28g	0g

Dinner
Ground Beef, 95% Lean Meat (8 0z Raw Meat)	280	43.2g	0g	11g
1 Cups Brown Rice - Cooked	216	5g	45g	4g
1 Cup Mixed Vetables - Frozen	118	5g	24g	0.2g
½ Cup Coleslaw	41	1g	7.5g	1.6g
2 tbsp Kraft Free Fat Free Ranch Dressing	48	0g	11g	0.5g
1 Can Diet Soda 12 oz (Diet Coke)	4	0g	0g	0g

Night Time Snack
2 Scoops Casien Protein*	240	46g	8g	2g
12 oz. low-fat Milk	153	12g	18g	3g
2 tbls Peanut Butter	188	8g	6g	16g

TOTALS	3823 Calories	391.0g Pro.	340.5g Carbs	93.5g Fat
This eating plan is not meant for those with blood sugar disorders because its carbohydrate demands are very high and will add stress to the hardest raining athletes system. The plan should be followed for periods of 6-8 weeks when you are building toward competition and need those extra calories and higher than normal nutrient content.
Offseason: Adjusting the plan fro a more offseason approach would require you to adding more carbohydrates. As is the plan has a high protein utilization ratio because we are trying to preserve mass as contest time approaches and only include small portions of rice and allot more fibrous carbohydrates to keep the gut moving and burning calorie and fat. Add maybe 50-60 grams of carbs a week till your abs start to blur then hold right there until your body adjust. Thats your offseason maintenance level and you can move up or down from there to suit your training needs.

* Whey Protein supplements calories and protein grams will vary slightly from brand to brand.
* Casien Protein supplements calories and protein grams will vary slightly from brand to brand.
* Creatine supplements calories and protein grams will vary slightly from brand to brand.
* Glutamine supplements calories and protein grams will vary slightly from brand to brand.