Nutrition Building Muscle Mass - Part 3

Parts 1 & 2 of this series covered ten significant and critical aspects of nutrition building muscle mass. In this part 3 article I will expand on a few of those tips and offer additional suggestions to help you achieve the physique that you desire.

Here are 5 more additional suggestions that you can utilize in your nutritional plan to augment your bodybuilding workouts. These include good fats, cycling protein, creatine, cortisol and overeating.

1. Good fats: As we discussed in a previous article fat is a critical component to your nutritional intake. Consuming fat won't necessarily make you "fat". Our bodies require a certain amount of good fats to function and grow properly. healthy fats will help promote testosterone production. It is recommended that you eat 6 to 8 ounces of lean red meat each day. Also consuming salmon or fish oil capsules is recommended as well to ensure that you are getting enough Omega 3 fatty acids. These will help fight muscle inflammation and encourage glycogen storing.

2. Cycling protein: As suggested it is recommended that you consume 1 gram of protein per bodyweight. This is a general recommendation and of course may have to be adjusted depending on your body type, your metabolism and whether or not you are achieving the results you desire. To help enhance protein synthesis it is recommended or suggested that you cycle your protein once every two weeks or so. This can be done by dropping your protein intake to about 0.7 grams for 2 or 3 days and then increase protein intake up to 2 grams per pound of bodyweight for the next 2 or 3 days. After that you can resume the normal 1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day. This will lead to increased protein generation.

3. Creatine: This is one of the more well-known amino acids in the body and it acts as an energy source by helping to replenish our systems ATP supply. ATP is the basic energy component for muscular contraction. So creatine will help increase strength and improve the quality of muscle contraction in addition to supporting proteitn regeneration. Any serious bodybuilder should be supplementing their workouts with creatine on a daily basis. Their are several suggestions as to how take and how much you should consume but the general recommendation is 5 grams prior to and after training. This will help result in increased strength in addition to increased muscle mass.

4. Cortisol: The normal process in working out will cause muscles to become inflamed as cortisol levels increase in our systems. Their is some research to suggest that if you can control excess buildup of cortisol you may promote better recovery. In addition glycogen formation will improve and testosterone levels will become more stable. You can help control the corticol elevation in your system by taking supplements such as vitamin C, glutamine and phosphatidylserine.

5. Overeating: Most of us when we are implementing a sound nutritional plan to augment our bodybuilding workouts will attempt not to overeat for fear of gaining unnecessary fat or weight. But if you increase your calories every two weeks or so for 1 or 2 meals what will acutally happen this will force your body to increase production of certain growth hormones which can convert those added calories and increased protein into muscle. So if you are consuming meals that consist of 40 grams of protein, 50 to 70 grams of carbs with the remaining balance of fats try increasing your meals to 60 to 70 grams of protein, 100 to 125 grams of carbs and even more dietary fat.