According to Catherine Ratzin Jackson, author of the book “Nutrition for the Recreational Athlete”, the eating habits of bodybuilders aren’t always based on sound nutritional advice. She explains that many bodybuilders base their diet strategies on tips they’ve read in bodybuilding magazines or from ‘experts’ at nutrition stores. Unfortunately, much of this advice is usually one-sided and does not provide the complete picture of the essentials of calorie intake, protein requirements, and specific types of food to eat for weight loss. Here are some essential rules of nutrition guidelines used by professional bodybuilders that you need to know to get the right start with body building:

1. Avoid rapid weight loss. You will have a difficult time increasing muscle size and strength when you lose weight rapidly because it can result in loss of lean body tissue. Extreme weight loss often results from starvation or low-calorie diets, and may result in electrolyte imbalances, loss of water and important lean body mass. High protein, low-fat diets can be harmful to your health and may prevent you from achieving your ideal body weight.

2. Use calculations to determine your protein requirements. Protein is essential for building strength, but you won’t be able to achieve any results with your bodybuilding routine if you’re eating too much or too little protein; the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of protein is 0.8g/ kg per day for sedentary individuals, and 1.0-1.5 g/kg for athletes. You will need to start reading the nutrition labels of different foods to make sure you are getting enough protein in the diet.

3. Quality counts. An vital part of your bodybuilding program is to consume quality food which are unprocessed and wholesome. Eating nutrient-rich foods from plant and animal sources will help you achieve your goals faster. Use only quality meal replacements and a high quality supplement like Stemulite to help you get rid of unwanted body fat.

4. Select your supplements wisely. Using supplements is a widespread practice among bodybuilders and athletes; taking a high quality supplement like Stemulite Fitness Formula will give you energy, encourage muscle gains and provide you with essential vitamins and minerals. Beware of low quality supplements becaus they can have adverse side effects. A sound nutrition program combined with a high quality supplement like Stemulite, and a consistent exercise regimen will get you to achieve your desired goals.

5. Pay attention to the foods you eat before and after your workout session. These are your primetime muscle building periods, so it’s essential to keep track of what and when you’re eating. So that you can get the timing right and make you become more conscientious about your food choices, you may choose to maintain a food log. When you use a high quality supplement like Stemulite, you will be able to maximize the results of your workout routine.

Athletes are encourage to perform many repetitions against a given resistance for an extended period of time in order to increase muscular endurance, as recommended by  Tudor Bompa and Michael Carrera, expert authors of the book “Periodization Training for Sports”. When your goal is to increase power and stamina, focus on explosive movement to push your muscles to the max and challenge several core group muscles at the same time. The authors also encourage athletes to focus on the following key essentials for training:  coordination; flexibility; agility; mobility; and aerobic endurance. Increasing agility is important for bodybuilders because it increases range of motion in all of the core muscle groups and joints, and also helps the athlete build endurance in cardiovascular exercises. Gymnastics, football, figure skating and soccer are some of the exercises and routines that can increase agility. All of these sports and activities require using a combination of speed, flexibility and power at irregular intervals, which challenges the body and conditions the heart and lungs for optimal performance. Increasing endurance is accomplished with exercises that require sustaining movement at a relatively high intensity. So that you will be able to perform the high intensity workouts, give yourself the energy that you need by regularly taking a high quality supplement like Stemulite Fitness Formula.

Sprinting, cycling, kickboxing and rowing are other ways to perform endurance exercises. Exercises like these condition the heart but it requires you to have a significant amount of power at intervals that are regular. Exercises like these may complement a standard weight training routine and help increase endurance in a very short time.

Increasing flexibility can be difficult for most bodybuilders who are usually very focused on lifting. Intensive stretching routines and activities that require using both large and small muscle groups in short bursts are typically involved in flexibility training programs. The goal of flexibility training is to extend core muscle groups through their full range of motion. It will allow for easier energy flow throughout the entire body during the workout session which will help a bodybuilder improve muscle strength over time.

Another element of fitness that may pose a difficulty to the average bodybuilder is improving coordination. Bodybuilders may not be as well-coordinated in performing stepping routines during an aerobic workout session or executing simple dance sequences even if most have ample coordination abilities for lifting weights. Bodybuilders who incorporate a wide range of activities into their workout routine and achieve their fitness goals with ease, being able to improve coordination will help with muscle flexibility, strength and agility, and taking part in activities that improve coordination will help. Achieve your bodybuilding goals by improving coordination and giving yourself the energy that you need for the endurance exercises by taking Stemulite supplements twice a day.

After this phase, bodybuilders go through several phases that involve changing the amount of carbohydrate-rich foods, lean proteins and supplements like Stemulite that support the training program at each stage. It is possible to create a highly effective training program that will help you attain your goals by understanding what is involved in each phase.

The Off Season – Your goal for this phase is to build as much muscle as you can. According to Louise Burke, author of the book “Practical Sports Nutrition”, bodybuilders support their performance outcome by eating high amounts of protein and healthy carbs throughout the day. They typically follow a consistent schedule of these foods to make sure they’re meeting their protein requirements and may design their eating plan around their workouts to further enhance results.

Hypertrophy Phase – During this phase, it is common practice to follow a very rigid eating plan that means eating every 2-3 hours – even overnight. The goal here is to eat just enough food to maintain weight and allow the body to increase strength. This may be reached with the right selection of foods that build up muscle and carbs that provide sustainable energy.

Competition Prep – 6 to 16 weeks before the event is when most body builders begin to prepare for a competition. This period requires a bodybuilder to maintain a schedule of sustained weight loss up to the event and involves severe calorie restriction to to help get rid of body fat. Losing body fat, and not muscle that was built up over the off-season is the primary goal here. To be able to attain this, eating low-fat, high protein meals, or replacing a meal with a complete nutritional supplement like Stemulite Fitness Formula, and coordinate meals with a consistent workout regimen.

Cutting Phase – This phase typically occurs right before the competitive event, and involves severe calorie restriction to stimulate rapid fat loss. Many bodybuilders rely on supplements to achieve nutritional balance as they drastically reduce their calorie intake. So that the body can recover easily, this phase includes intensive circuit training routines and more rest.

Post Competition – Since bodybuilders have been on a strict diet for up to 6 months before a competition, several of them go on an eating binge immediately after the competition. This can be a health hazard for many, especially for those that end up gaining a lot of weight in a very short period of time. To avoid compromising their health in the during this stage and to maintain some of the results they have worked hard for, bodybuilders should ease themselves into a healthier diet program.

Maintaining a steady nutrition program is difficult with the different phases that most bodybuilders go through. Increase your chances of long term success with sound nutritional principles, using a supplement like Stemulite, and work with a nutritionist or dietitian throughout training.