Diet is a major factor in bodybuilding. Your muscles will not grow without suitable nutrition, no matter how intensely you train or how suited your genetics are to bodybuilding. Making appropriate adjustments to your diet, and consuming the correct amount of total energy, will allow you to develop muscle mass, even during the off-season, and help you get lean during contest preparation.
Macronutrients
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats make up the group of nutrients known as the macronutrients, which provide energy in your diet, and managing your intake is especially important if you are a bodybuilder. If you regularly train with resistance exercises, your requirements for macronutrients are different from the rest of the population. According to a study published in "Sports Medicine," if you are a bodybuilder, the composition of your diet should be 55 to 60 percent carbohydrates, 25 to 30 percent protein and 15 to 20 percent fat.
Bulking Up
The definition of bulking up has changed in recent years. The old school of bodybuilding says consume vast amounts of foods to gain weight. This practice will allow you to build muscle mass, but will also cause you to gain body fat. These days, it is common to follow a more moderate form of bulking up, and when you are training for muscle size during the off season, you should only increase your total energy intake to a level of around 15 percent higher than your maintenance requirement.
Cutting Up
Cutting up refers to the process of reducing body fat to increase muscle definition prior to contests. To preserve muscle mass while cutting up, you should aim to lose weight gradually and give yourself enough time to sufficiently reduce your body fat level. The composition of your diet should not change during the cutting-up phase of training, but you should reduce your overall energy intake by around 15 percent. Set yourself a goal of losing no more than 1 or 2 lbs. of fat per week.
Eating Plan
Regardless of the phase of your training, you should eat smaller meals more frequently while bodybuilding. This pattern of eating ensures that your body has a constant supply of nutrients it needs to synthesize new muscle and doesn't have to use any muscle tissue for fuel. It also favorably affects the levels of insulin, which is an important hormone in bodybuilding. Consuming a good quality protein, such as whey protein, with some carbs before and soon after training might aid recovery and further help you develop muscle mass.
References
- "Sports Medicine"; "Macronutrient Considerations For The Sport Of Bodybuilding"; C.P. Lambert et al; 2004
- "Encyclopedia Of Bodybuilding"; "Robert Kennedy; 2008
- "New Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding"; Aronld Schwarzenegger; 1998
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