Get
fit exercises
Muscle
and fitness
Strength
training - how
women build muscle
Getting
fit
Getting
lean boils down to one thing: creating an energy
deficit. Besides doing aerobic exercise, many
pre-contest bodybuilders follow fairly strict
low-calorie diets, most of which stress lean protein
like skinless chicken breasts, egg whites, tuna
and protein powders.
In
addition, many dieting bodybuilders improve their
muscle and fitness by limiting their carbohydrate
intake to 200-350 grams a day, depending on their
size, metabolism and level of activity. Keeping
carbs low increases the energy deficit and helps
control insulin, a hormone that stimulates hunger
and plays a role in fat storage. It's believed
that lower insulin levels facilitate the burning
of body fat.
But the downside to creating
an energy deficit is that the body often adapts
to the shortfall in calories by burning fewer
of them. A break from a low-calorie diet (i.e.,
a cheat day) can interrupt this slowdown.
Fat-busting
diets can cause a decline in levels of thyroid
hormones and leptin (which directly affect fat-burning)
and IGF (insulinlike growth factor, which supports
muscle growth). Splurging a bit can bring them
back to normal.
Getting
your diet right for muscle and fitness
Most bodybuilders diet
strictly enough, along with doing added cardio,
to create a weekly energy deficit of at least
3,500 calories and sometimes as much as 5,000
calories a week. So adding one cheat meal a week
(a typical splurge may consist of 500-800 calories,
which, in the big picture, isn't that enormous)
won't affect the overall fat-burning process.
In fact, says IFBB pro
King Kamali, cheating actually helps. Known for
always coming into a contest in superb shape,
King cheats about once every 10 days. "My
precontest cheat meal will primarily be a McDonald's
Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese or a Big Mac."
That's about 600-770 calories, though he might
go even higher. "If I'm ahead of the game,
I'll have both!"
King feels the cheat meal
provides a much-needed mental break from dieting
while jump-starting his metabolism. "This
meal gives my metabolism a good kick in the ass,"
he says, adding, "I'll make sure to drink
a lot of water to prevent fluid retention from
the salt in the fast food."
A
cheat meal can help muscle and fitness
Like all bodybuilders,
Troy Alves, just off a sensational rookie season
on the IFBB circuit, relies heavily on nutrition
to help hone his physique. But he, too, believes
in cheating and splurges every third day. "I
like to go with something like a cheeseburger,
no bun, wrapped in lettuce. If I want a carb meal,
I'll eat an extra-large sweet potato with a little
butter and brown sugar. Believe it or not, my
body always seems to look harder the next day."
Keep
in mind, when trying to strip off bodyfat, a cheat
meal -- not an all-out gorge-fest -- can be part
of the overall picture. As long as you're eating
5-6 times a day and controlling your calorie and
fat amounts while increasing your protein somewhat,
a cheat meal shouldn't set you back.
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