Just be strategic! Consider incorporating a carb re-feed day, or one cheat meal per week to keep your sanity and generally alleviate the stress of cutting. Cheat meals allow you to relax your psychological white-knuckle grip on your diet, but just as importantly, they can help reboot weight-regulating hormones like leptin that will help continue chipping away at fat. Remember that when losing fat, hunger is normal.
That's part of the adventure, but it doesn't have to be the whole story. It's what you do 90 percent of the time that produces results in the end. Set realistic expectations, and you'll be able to stay committed to the end.
In life, there are few precious things we can control. Luckily, the way our body looks is often one of them. However, all it takes is one setback to rip away that feeling of control and leave us feeling helpless. That's why it's important to anticipate any roadblocks along your path to sun-kissed glory. Look at your calendar.
Perhaps you have a family event, extended travel for business, or some other big obligation that will pry you away from your kitchen and gym. Don't let these well-known enemies sneak up on you! They can make it difficult to stick to a cutting regimen, sure, but that doesn't mean you have to let your previous hard work go down the tubes during this time.
Your success hinges on recognizing the obstacles ahead of time and accounting for them. You might extend your cutting regimen or break it up into four-week cycles. If you're going to travel, it's not uncommon to prepare an extra bag brimming with prepared meals, protein powder , and appropriate muscle-fueling snacks.
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Cook Your Own Meals Most bodybuilders become familiar with their kitchens as a matter of necessity. Avoid Sugar All sugars are sugar, but anything from refined process carbs or fat should be avoided. Drink Caffeine — In Moderation Caffeine helps to increase alertness and improves concentration. Our Products. Related Products. Special Offer. Buy Now. Thermobol 4 x 90 Tablets Bundle — Capsules. Maximuscle Thermobol Tablets - 90 Pack. The trick is to balance bulking and cutting so you can build muscle and lower your body fat percentage without putting on too much pesky fat or cutting so much that your body uses your hard-won muscle gains for its energy needs.
Stressing out over either one is guaranteed to lead to mission failure. So many people wrongly think bulking is an opportunity to gorge on dairy-based protein shakes and greasy high-calorie foods.
The fact is, though, saturating your body with fat and calories is only going to harm your muscle gains. Not all bulking is equal. On the other hand, you have dirty bulking, which some people use to gain weight fast with the mistaken idea that that will be better for building muscle. Too much fat and sugar in your calorie intake will make your body store energy as fat cells. Clean bulking is essential for clean cutting. If you bulk up with junk food and sugary drinks, your cutting will be much harder.
It might even feel like a huge hangover and the odds of you experiencing cravings for the junk food you ate when you were dirty bulking is very high. You should always be counting your macros. You might consider lowering your carb intake during the cutting phase, for example. Your protein intake should always be high so that your body has the building blocks it needs for huge muscle gains. Crash dieting and fad diets like the no-carb trend that completely eliminate a macronutrient will be disastrous for your body in the long run.
Sure, you probably will shed some pounds if your carb intake is at zero, but your body will adjust to that and in all likelihood use muscle mass as an energy source to compensate.
Experts are divided in their opinion of the cheat meal. Some claim it will provide your body with helpful hormones like leptin , which regulates metabolism, neuroendocrine function, and energy homeostasis. Others say it will completely derail an otherwise healthy dieting plan. The key to cheat meals is to have them sparingly. They are important for staying positive and motivated throughout a dieting plan or your cutting phase, but if you gorge yourself on processed junk food you could very well see some undesirable results.
Rather than going whole hog and binging on doughnuts and fast food, try to add indulgent ingredients to meals that would otherwise fit your dieting plan. Add cheese or chocolate, for example. You should also take care not to cheat too often and try to have cheat meals rather than entire days that are open for cheating. Breakfast is incredibly important for your health all the time, not just during the cutting phase.
Your body is in fat-storage mode after all those hours of sleeping without food and a well-balanced breakfast is the perfect way to kick it back into gear. Your weightlifting workouts should be used to help keep your muscle mass as high as possible, not to lose body fat. Your diet and cardio should be enough to help you lose weight and get into the shape you want. Since the usual protein goal is high at least 2g per kg , it might be easier to spread protein over a few meals in the day, to get the most anabolic effect possible promoting muscle growth.
Whilst you could place your carbs around your workout to help perform better, this might not always be the best option. If you do this, you might be hungry at other times when those carbs could be of better use.
The main aim of the diet is to get you lean, and the best way to do this is to combat hunger and eat your foods when you are the hungriest.
Protein might be the exception and there should be a minimum of 2 protein meals and a possible maximum of 6 per day. If you are in good shape and fairly lean, then perhaps your bodybuilding cut should start 16 weeks out. This will give you time to ease into the last few weeks without needing to rush things and lose muscle.
Seek a coach or an experienced bodybuilder to give you an honest opinion of where you currently stand and rather err on the side of giving yourself more time to diet. The result will be worth it. A bodybuilding cut can be one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences you could ever do. It truly becomes a lifestyle diet which requires extreme dedication. You get to see all your hard work in the gym come out on display for all to see.
The most important thing is to set up a calorie deficit and get enough protein in your diet. The number of carbs and fats you get could vary from person to person, depending on dietary preferences. Hunger could become an issue, so choose both foods and timings that keep you full and satisfied. Our articles should be used for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be taken as medical advice.
Chappell, A. Nutritional strategies of high level natural bodybuilders during competition preparation. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition , Hall, K. International Journal of Obesity , 32 3 , — Helms, E. Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition , 11 , Liu, A.
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