Enough calories, plenty of protein, quality carbohydrates, a sensible amount of fat, a recovery drink after training, regular eating, the right supplements, creatine, glutamine and L-leucine, fat quality and omega-3 — that list sounds long and complicated. In reality, nutrition in bodybuilding is simpler than it first appears once you break it down into clear principles.
Nutrition is a whole, and controlling it requires understanding the whole. It is made up of many individual factors, some of them overrated and some underrated. In the scientific world, every new idea has a probation period before it becomes accepted as established truth — the same goes for athletes’ nutrition. The following 10 + 1 principles are partly ones that no longer need arguing about and partly ones that are still serving their probation period.
Why nutrition determines results more than training
The hours you spend in the gym provide the stimulus, but the body grows in the kitchen. If your energy balance, protein or meal rhythm is off, no program will save you from spinning your wheels. That is exactly why it is worth going through these principles one by one and seeing what is falling short in your own menu.
First principle — energy balance sets the direction
Muscle mass does not grow without an energy intake greater than your expenditure. Conversely, when burning fat, your calorie intake has to be lower than what you need. This simple fact stands in the way of many young lifters’ dream of becoming Schwarzenegger. If you start out soft and on low calories, the long-awaited muscles show through the skin within the first couple of months. But better muscle definition does not mean you are actually gaining muscle mass.
With prolonged undereating (more than half a year), results decline. When you lose weight, the body always loses some muscle too. If you don’t have enough muscle mass going into the hunt for definition, in the worst case only fat mass and bones are left. Bodybuilding is a periodic alternation of overeating and dieting — but only if the body genuinely grows and develops with each cycle.
Second principle — you need more protein than the average person
Gym training combined with enough energy and protein ensures anabolic protein synthesis in the body. Protein is needed to repair the tissue damage caused by training and to keep the processes indirectly linked to growth running. The body uses part of dietary protein for energy, which is why your supply has to be ample. The recommended daily amount is 1.4–2 g of protein per kilogram of body weight (slightly less for women than for men).
If you can’t get enough protein from food alone, protein powders and bars help you reach the full dose without effort. There is nothing scary about that — it is simply a matter of the form the raw material comes in.
Third principle — carbohydrates regulate the whole picture
Carbohydrates are the lever a bodybuilder uses to steer energy. In a bulking phase, when you eat, say, 500 kcal above your needs, the easiest way to add the extra amount is through carbohydrates. When reducing fat mass, on the other hand, carbohydrate intake is the first thing worth cutting.
The rule is simple: the fewer carbohydrates you eat per day, the higher their quality has to be. Carbohydrate sources provide dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals — as the amount shrinks, quality has to rise. Whole grains, berries, fruits and vegetables are the first choice.
Fourth principle — fat is not the enemy
In aesthetic sports, fat is often seen as enemy number one. Frankly, without good reason. No athlete should lower the share of fat below 20% of total calories, except briefly when preparing for a competition. The cholesterol that comes from dietary fat is the raw material for sex hormones. If the share of fat falls too low, testosterone and estrogen secretion can drop so much that training no longer triggers a growth stimulus.
In numbers: 20% of, for example, a 3000 kcal daily intake means 67 g of pure fat. That is the minimum, not a target.
Nutrition around training: the recovery drink and meal rhythm
Fifth principle — a recovery drink is not optional
Recovery drinks and bars after training are practically unavoidable if you want to channel the training stimulus into muscle growth. For the best growth response and to prevent muscle loss during the workout, you can have a recovery drink before the workout, continue during it and have another afterwards. A good option contains hydrolyzed protein and/or free amino acids, such as branched-chain amino acids (L-leucine, isoleucine, valine). Creatine and glutamine also come in handy. A recovery drink should contain at least 15 g of protein and 30 g of carbohydrates.
Sixth principle — eating every three hours
Regular eating is just as important as everything above. How quickly food is digested in the stomach and moves on to the liver and bloodstream is highly individual. For muscle growth, it is worth eating roughly every three hours, snacks included. Meals should be balanced in terms of energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates alike.
The calorie and protein content of snacks is a chapter of its own. A coffee roll or a banana contains no protein at all. In such a situation, protein-rich bars or ready-to-drink shakes put the day right. Dairy products — milk, yogurt, quark and smoothies — raise the protein content of a snack to the level you want.
Supplements in a bodybuilder’s nutrition
Principle seven — vitamins, and vitamin D as a story of its own
Supplements are part of a trainee’s everyday life. Multivitamins, antioxidants and fish oil round out the menu, especially during a diet phase, when protective nutrients shrink along with calorie intake. During the loading phase, with high calorie intake, there’s no need to worry about vitamin and mineral deficiencies, provided the menu is balanced.
Training causes oxidative stress and micro-tears in the muscles, which increases the need for antioxidants. Colorful vegetables, fruit and berries should appear on an athlete’s plate often. Vitamin D has been much talked about lately. In the dark Nordic countries, getting enough of this vitamin is a particular concern. In summer the body produces vitamin D under sunlight, but in winter the stores run down. The recommended vitamin D dose for adults is 7.5 µg; international experts recommend as much as 25 µg a day. Good vitamin D levels are associated with a lower cancer risk, a healthy skeleton, and a lower incidence of diabetes, MS and psoriasis.
Principle eight — creatine before everything else
Creatine, L-leucine (and other branched-chain amino acids) and glutamine are the most important supplements for athletes. Their effects have been proven in several studies. Bodybuilding is an expensive sport — food, protein powder and recovery drinks eat into the budget. If money is tight, the order of priorities is this: first enough energy, then enough protein, then supplements — and among the supplements, creatine first, then L-leucine and the other branched-chain amino acids, and glutamine last.
The reverse order is a classic beginner’s mistake: the money goes on a much-advertised tub while the food stays meagre. When you’re undernourished, even the most expensive powder won’t produce progress. The recommended amount of creatine is 2–5 g a day, and of L-leucine and the other branched-chain amino acids and glutamine about a gram a day.
Fat quality and omega-3 in nutrition
Principle nine — plant oils alongside animal fats
A bodybuilder gets plenty of animal fat from meat and dairy products. For balance, it’s worth including as many plant oils in the menu as possible — rapeseed and olive oil are the best. Over the years, quite a few athletes have had to call time on their sporting careers because of cholesterol deposits on the walls of their blood vessels. Saturated, or solid, fat is very easy to consume in hidden form — in potato chips, baked goods and breaded products. It’s precisely the amount of these that is worth limiting.
Principle ten — omega-3 deserves a principle of its own
The main sources of omega-3 fatty acids are fatty fish and, to a lesser extent, freshwater fish. Bodybuilding as a training style causes mild foci of inflammation in the body, which affect the condition of the blood vessels. Omega-3 reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and eases the inflammation caused by muscle micro-tears — in other words, it speeds up recovery. If you can’t gauge the share of omega-3 in your menu, supplements come to the rescue. The recommended amount is 1–3 g a day.
Bonus principle — food quality is the foundation of a bodybuilder’s nutrition
Bun-eaters can forget about bodybuilding. You won’t get far in this sport on buns, sweets and Coke. Food quality is so important that looks and taste can’t come first when you make your choices. Not everything of high quality tastes heavenly — during a diet many foods are fat- and salt-free, and even protein drinks are often drunk without sugar or other carbohydrate sources. You can make an effort to make things tasty, but if you don’t have the time, you have to settle for something blander.
In the bulking phase, the large amount of protein makes eating a chore — you have to eat even when you don’t want to. In the diet phase, you’d do the opposite — anything at all — to be able to eat a fatty cutlet with potatoes. Bodybuilding demands, above all, a strong character to cope with all the obstacles that come your way. Train yourself to read the labels on food packaging too — then you’ll know what you’re really putting in your mouth.
FAQ — questions about bodybuilding nutrition
How much protein a day should a bodybuilder eat?
1.4–2 g of protein per kilo of body weight. Women should aim closer to the lower end, men closer to the upper. If you can’t reach it with food, powders and bars top up the dose with no effort.
What’s the most important supplement for a beginner?
Creatine. 2–5 g a day, every day. Only after that is it worth thinking about L-leucine and glutamine. The costliest mistake is to put your money into supplements and skimp on food — even the best powder doesn’t help when you’re undernourished.
How often should you eat during the day?
About every three hours, snacks included. Every meal should contain protein — a coffee and a pastry or a banana on its own doesn’t qualify.
Check how many of the principles are in place for you. If several things are off, consider whether they could be the bottleneck on your path to progress. Take yourself in hand and fix the mistakes — with proper training and nutrition, you can make progress again.
Translated from Body magazine; Author: Timo Kosonen
Author: Greta
Source: WHO – healthy eating.
Come and train! ArtGym
