Bulking up - eating lots of the right kind of stuff
As I mentioned in one of my previous articles, at the age of 16 I weighed 9 stone (126lbs) at a height of 5'9" (175cm) and I developed a complex because I was thinner, smaller and weaker than everybody else at my age. In this first instance I went to the gym religiously, but didn't have any success whatsoever. It was only a year or so later that I had learnt that I simply wasn't giving my body the raw materials that it needed to grow. I realised that in order to get big, I had to eat big.
So I had one of those lightbulb moments. I decided to eat huge amounts of food, because you can't get too much of a good thing right?! Well for the first two weeks it worked beautifully - for the first time in my life I started to gain some serious weight, up almost half a stone at the end of 14 days. I was delighted, and it encouraged me to eat even more.
My next problem only really became evident to me when I came back from university. I had 7 weeks of eating like a horse, trying to bulk up and had managed to put on 3 stone of weight in that time. I was getting much stronger in my weights and I really felt like I had achieved something. at the end of the term I went back home to my parents and to my job at the local hotel. I was expecting comments along the lines of "wow, you've gained so much muslce, you're looking great" or something similar. The reality - my mum told me I was fat and my old colleages laughed at me. I had been so engrossed in gaining weight that I didn't really stop to consider what kind of weight I was putting on. My next lesson was clear - it's not enough to eat in excess, if you're eating the wrong stuff!
In order to make sure that you gain muscle as opposed to the wobbly stuff that keeps you warm in Winter you really need to take a close look at what your body needs. At a high level, you need to follow these basic guidelines:
- Eat in excess - if you want to grow this is fundamental. It is impossible to grow if you don't eat more calories than you use.
- Don't eat large meals three times a day, instead try and eat a five to six medium, balanced meals every day. Doing this gives your body a steady supply of nutrients and building blocks that it needs to grow without putting your internal environment in a state where it is prone to putting on body fat.
- Eat plenty of carbohyrdates, but make sure they are mainly low G.I carbs. G.I stands for Glycemic Index and it is basically a scale of rating foods in terms of their sugar content. Low G.I is better than High G.I because the energy is released slowly and steadily over a period of time and your insulin levels aren't increased (a high level of insulin is bad because it means you're susceptable to putting on fat). Some examples of low G.I carbs are: Breads, Wholewheat pasta, Rice, Nuts, Potatos and natural cereals.
- The only time when you should have a high G.I carb meal is post workout. Most serious trainers will have a post workout shake that consists of whey protein and a simple carbohydrate like glucose. After a tiring, hard workout your body is crying out for nutrients and simple carbohyrdates are absorbed quickly into the blood stream, supplying your body with what it needs.
- Make sure each meal contains a good source of protein. Protein and amino acids are the building blocks of muscles. You should be consuming somewhere around 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight. White meat, red meat, eggs, nuts, fish, whey protein shakes and soya are all great sources of protein.
If you follow these principles, you'll have your diet nailed and assuming you're training is correct, you'll grow.
By: SpittinFlicks
The author has produced a free 20 page Bulkin up guide that you can download for free at Bulking-up.co.uk |
