HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

In the world of bodybuilding, there is one thing that everybody wants, and that is muscle, more and more muscle.

Sure, shape and proportion are nice, but at the end of the day, it always comes down to muscle.

In fact, I don’t think there is young man out there who went to the gym for the first time wanting a better shape.

Nope, they go to the gym for one reason, to get massive.

With that thought in mind, I give you three tips that will help you build muscle.

POST WORKOUT NUTRTION

First on our list is post workout nutrition, and it is first for a reason, because it is very important.

Can you add muscle without paying attention to your post workout nutrition, sure, but who wants to grow slowly, when you can help speed up the process?

Contrary to popular opinion you do not need to go out and by one of those fancy post workout mixes, a simple whey protein isolate shake will get the job done, especially if you are looking to gain mostly muscle.

If you don’t care if you can some fat along with the muscle, you can mix your whey protein isolate shake in some juice and if you have the funds you can toss in some creatine as well.

STRENGTH LEADS SIZE

In my opinion, most young bodybuilders miss the mark when it comes to getting stronger.

I know that bodybuilding is not power lifting, however, when you get stronger on the basic lifts, like squats, dead lifts, overhead presses with dumbbells, and the like this translates into being able to use more weight when you transition back into a more traditional bodybuilding style routine.

And it is for this reason, that I recommend bodybuilders go on a mini power cycle every year for six to eight weeks where the sole focus is to get stronger on the basic lifts.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO EAT

Most bodybuilders looking to gain muscle are young, usually in there late teens or early twenties, and this is the ideal time for people to gain muscle because hormone levels as well as metabolism is high, which is the ideal time to gain some muscle.

How so?

Simple.

By eating, yes eating, too many young bodybuilders are scared of getting fat, when at this point that is the last thing they should worry about.

With their metabolisms raging combined with heavy training, most if not all of the food they take in, will either be burned off, or used to build muscle.

So if you are a young man looking to pack on some serious size, eat.

By eating I am not referring to stuffing your face with junk food, no, I mean you should eat six to seven meals per day.

Meals loaded with protein, healthy carbs, and healthy fats.

Foods like lean beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, should make up the bulk of your protein choices and things like, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and plenty of fruits and vegetables of all kinds should make up the bulk of your carbohydrates.

For fats, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish like sardines, should make up your healthy fat sources.

And of course, a few stops at your favorite fast food place are O.K., but just don’t over-do-it.

CONCLUSION

Gaining muscle, even when you do everything right, is not easy, but I know if you follow the above three tips, you will gain muscle faster and easier than every before.

TAKE CARE

It’s Friday and that means another RANDOM THOUGHTS OF THE WEEK POST

Up first we have a question we found about if you can eat pasta while dieting.

Sure,

You can eat anything while you are dieting.

I know, a calorie is not a calorie and that not all calories are treated the same by the body, but by the same token, if you don’t go absolutely nuts and wolf down ten pounds of pasta, then yes, you can have pasta while dieting.

Another factor in this is when you have it,

By this I mean, if you indulge in your pasta right after a hard workout, then most, if not all, of this meal will help replenish your muscles after the hard workout, meaning it will not end up being stored as fat.

Also, age and metabolism play a role here.

If you are a young buck in his teens or early twenties and have a fast metabolism, plus, if you are training hard and doing aerobics, then eating pasta while dieting, more-than-likely, will not be a problem.

Up next:

We found a question regarding could Branch Warren win the Olympia in 2010.

And I must say, Branch surprised me this year, so yes I definitely think he can win it in 2010.

Continuing…

We saw a question about cardio before training.

I don’t like this approach because if you do a really hard cardio session how can you expect to have anything left for your weight workout.

Kind of like training your hamstrings after you just gave it everything on squats, sure you might want to put in a good workout, but can you do it.

I don’t think so, but again, you have to look at all of the factors.

How hard of a cardio session did you do?

Because if you just did forty-five minutes of very easy cardio, then, I think that you can have a good workout.

But like a said before if you really gave it your all during your cardio, how can you possibly expect to have much left for your weight work.

Another thing to consider is age, because if you are a teenager, then simply going to the bathroom after you finish your cardio might give you enough time to recover for your weight workout.

However, if you are older, this might not work out good for you.

Lastly,

I want to touch on eating before bed.

I think we sometimes go overboard on this stuff,

Back-in-the-day, people just worked hard, busted their butts on the basics and grew.

Along with having plenty of good old-fashioned food.

Nothing fancy or exotic.

But today we have pre-workout stuff, intra-workout stuff, and post-workout stuff.

O.K.

So what do I think?

If you really are desperate for gains then yes having some form of slow digesting protein like cottage cheese before bed wouldn’t be a bad idea.

However, I think this is optional, as you would do better to focus on eating six meals per day and getting in enough rest along with giving it your all in the gym.

THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

STAY FOCUSED

With another Friday comes another Random Thoughts Of The Week post, and this week on want to touch on two topics.

First up, I noticed that www.bodybuilding.com has a question up regarding fruit and if it is a good post-workout meal.

I think fruit makes a great post workout meal, but on two conditions.

First, you must combine some protein with your fruit of choice for it to truly be a good post workout choice.

And second, I think that for anyone who is in off-season mode and is bulking fruit does make a good choice post-workout.

Or if you happen to be one of those guys or gals that has an ultra-fast metabolism, fruit would be a good choice.

But if you are trying to lean out for summer, going with the fruit could hinder your fat loss.

So if you are looking to get extra lean, I would avoid fruit post workout and stick with a straight weight isolate shake or even a mixed blend type of protein.

As-far-as what kind of fruit to choose post workout, if you are into eating fruit post-workout.

I would have to go with bananas as they digest very easily and they are pretty portable although if I had my choice and could have any kind of fruit, I think I would go with strawberries.

Topic number two for the week is courtesy of www.getbig.com, they have a question regarding who has he best delts in bodybuilding history.

I think there are two ways you can look at this question, first are you looking at it as who has the widest shoulders or who has the best delts.

There have been guys on the pro stage over the years that have had some massive delts but I think I would have to go with Kevin Levrone.

Lastly, I would like to bring something up about Jay Cutler.

There are guys out there with more Mr. Olympia’s than Jay has, but where do you think Jay stands right now.

If he never wins it again, do you think him coming back and winning the Mr. Olympia, after losing it, as the defending champion, gives him the edge over all the other Mr. Olympia’s in history.

For my money, I have to give Jay credit, the guy could have retired and said heck with this, I have two Mr. Olympia’s to my name, and I proved that I was the best.

But no, he came back this year and gabbed yet another title.

That’s all for this week.

Until Next Friday

KEEP TRAINING

A couple of weeks back I was talking to a friend of mind, who knows that I am a bodybuilder.

And she said that she could never do what I do.

Meaning workout on my own.

Her way around this is to enroll in classes at our local park district.

So this is my little nudge for the week.

If you simply cannot stomach the thought of working out on your own, either with weights or walking or any other form of exercise.

Check out what your local park district has to offer.

Not only will it (hopefully) give you the incentive to exercise regularly —which in-and-of-itself is great, but you will also be out and about with other people and this is never a bad thing.

So that is your little nudge for the week.

Check out your local park district—and give a class a whirl

Who knows—you might find something you really enjoy doing and will stick with even when the class is over.

Until Next Week

KEEP MOTIVATED

I am a big believer in reducing stress—and in terms of getting more fit and staying healthy—having less stress in your life—gets you going in the right direction.

So my little nudge for this week is—

Finding little things that you can do everyday that will help reduce your stress.

For example, play with your kids—toss a ball around—play tag—does not matter what you do—just play with your kids.

This serves two purposes—first it will take your mind off stressful things (very important) like bills and work and,

Two, it will increase your activity—which kind of adds onto my first nudge which was to do more of the activity that you love—and who doesn’t like playing with their kids.

My next example might seem a little strange for things that are supposed to help you get fit, but here me out.

Go out to eat with family or friends.

I know, I know, it seems counterproductive—let’s go out to eat to help us get more fit.

But most of us (me included) eat WAY to fast—literary chomping are food down.

So when you go out with family or friends—relax andeat slowly—take your time—and enjoy not only the food but the company as well.

CONCLUSION

Stress can get to you—if you let it.

So the next time you feel your self getting stressed out—give this Little Nudge a try—

Who knows, you may find your self feeling less stressed before you know it.

Until Next Time

STAY COOL

You have probably heard the phrase garbage in garbage out, and for my money nothing is truer than that statement when it comes to bodybuilding or working out.

Most people know that you can do cardio all day and all night, but if you do nothing but eat junk food you will never lose weight.

However, what most people miss is this,

The same holds true for what you do in the gym, if you constantly look for ways to make life easier for yourself while you are in there your results will speak for themselves.

Meaning you will not see much in the way of progress.

You might be thinking,

What the heck do you mean make things easier for yourself?

Well, for instance, it is all too easy to pump out endless sets of curls for your biceps—but what about grinding out some heavy dead lifts?

Or when was the last time you busted out the last five seriously hard reps—with some serious weight on the bar—for deep back squats?

SOME POINTS

The two above exercises will do more for your physique goals than most others; yet, those exercises will be avoided like the plague.

I know those infomercials that are all over the T.V. late at night promise quick results—from a minimum amount of work—but we all know deep down that the only way to get stronger or to totally reshape our bodies is to work for it—really work for it—and that requires hard and heavy work on the basics.

CONCLUSION

If you have found yourself making excuses in the gym as-of-late as to why you do not have to do the hard stuff, like squats, dead lifts, and heavy rowing and pressing movements—

The next time you find yourself in the gym, either a commercial gym or a home gym, force yourself to look for ways to work harder—not easier.

The resultant soreness you will feel for the next few days—will be well worth it.

Until Next Time

WORK HARD

I am always on the lookout for more information about nutrition and eating well, so when I came across a book called The Jungle Effect, I must admit I was intrigued.

The Jungle Effect penned by Daphne Miller M. D. (and very nicely I might add) deals with diets and nutrition in a different way than most nutrition books that I’ve read.

She talks about cold spots (which means that a particular area has a particularly low instance of a certain disease-like the Copper Canyon in Mexico which is a cold spot for diabetes.)

In the book she travels to the aforementioned Copper Canyon, Create, Iceland, Cameroon, and Okinawa.

Each of these areas is a cold spot for a specific disease.

One central theme that runs through Dr. Miller’s book is this—her patients think that they are eating the way their parents and grandparents did, but in reality they are eating a “westernized” version of their parents and grandparents traditional diet.

Which is no where nearly as healthy, whereas their parents and grandparents food was unrefined, and still as nature intended—hence still loaded with all its natural health protecting goodness.

Throughout the book she shows her patients (and the readers of her book) how to prepare meals like the meals their parents and grandparents prepared.

CONCLUSION

Dr. Miller if you happen to (I hope!) stumble onto my review of your wonderful book, I apologize—as I know I did not do it justice.

I will end this review and post by saying this—if you want to read a fascinating book that will teach you tons about eating right—and enjoy the read in the process (as Dr. Miller writers very well) The Jungle Effect fits the bill.

The Jungle Effect can be found (I am sure) at most book stores—also you might want to check your local library.

I’ve also linked to it on barnesandnoble.com—you can check it out by going here The Jungle Effect

Like nutrition and training everyone has an opinion on what is the ideal way to handle the post-workout period.

Some feel you need to buy one of those specialized post-workout drinks.

Others feel that solid food is fine.

So what is the ideal approach?

Or is there even an ideal approach.

For my money, I feel it comes back to your current goals and genetics.

First, from all the reading I’ve done on the subject, I’m convinced that a straight whey protein shake—can get the job done—and is effective if you are not carb tolerant and are worried about gaining fat.

But you must realize one thing, there is a chance you are throwing away some gains by not having carbs in there post-workout.

Again, to me it comes down to your goals, are you willing to forgo some gains to stay more lean, or do you want all the gains you can possibly get.

Myself personally, I prefer to stay on the lean side so I am fine with just going with a protein shake after most of my workouts—sometimes it is a straight whey shake at others it is a mixed blend.

Also, of course, it comes down to genetics, the ultra hard gainers, the guys with super fast metabolisms that cannot gain a pound even from throwing back nothing but junk food are the ones that really need to pay attention to the post workout period.

SOME POINTS

Another approach to consider is your goals, once winter starts creeping in and you are less worried about showing ripped abs and more concerned with gaining some solid muscular weight—switch away from a straight whey shake after your workout to a shake that contains protein and carbs.

Then when winter starts coming to a close switch back to a straight whey shake while you are trying to lean out for summer.

It would be at this point in this post that I would like to be able to recommend a high quality post workout product—but I cannot because the one I liked—well lets just say I’ve read something about the company that I didn’t like so I’ve stopped recommending their product.

As far as a straight whey product I have no trouble recommending Optimum Nutrition’s 100% whey gold standard—as I feel it is a good product.

If you feel that a mixed blend works best—I like Beverly International’s Muscle Provider and Dave Draper’s Bomber Blend.

Note: I am going to be picking up a can of a mixed blend protein powder than I have not tried before—so stay tuned for a review!

CONCLUSION

Post-workout nutrition is something that I realize a lot of people have very strong opinions about.

To me though, it comes down to your current goals, what you put the most emphasis on—either leanness or maximum muscle—and of course your genetics.

By choosing the right product at the right time—you can maximize the potential benefits and minimize the negative.

STAY FOCUSED