Body Building and Nutrition: What You Need to Know Before Starting Your Body Building Routine

Nutrition is vital for everyone beginning a workout routine. If you are considering a body building routine, the first thing you must analyze is your nutrition. Body building and nutrition go hand in hand. Two of the most important facets of body building nutrition are frequency of meals and meal ratios.

Frequency Of Meals

One of the goals of body building nutrition is to keep the metabolism going to promote the growth of lean muscle and the depletion of fats and reduction of water retention. One way to do this is to increase your meal intake to smaller, more frequent meals. This means eating smaller meals every two and a half to three hours. Eating more frequently keeps your body's motor running and your metabolism up. The composition of the meals is also important, and will be discussed later in this article.

In addition to eating more frequently, meals need to be placed strategically throughout the day. Body building and nutrition go hand in hand also when the nutrients should be taken in. Calories should be focused around times of activity and decreased during times of inactivity. If your workouts are focused toward the beginning of the day, so then should the meals you ingest.

Composition Of Meals

Body building and nutrition are related not only in the frequency of meals, but also in what goes into those meals. The key here is ratios. This relates mostly to carbohydrates and proteins. The ratios should be 40% carbohydrates, 40% proteins, and 20% fats. The fats should be lean fats found in lean meats or plant oils. The proteins are essential in the absorptions of amino acids needed to build muscles within the body. The carbohydrates provide the energy needed to get through the workouts. Fats, though they have been given a bad rap, are also essential. They are important in insulating and coating nerves, as well as providing cushioning for vital organs. For this reason, it is essential to obtain fats into your diet as a body builder.

Water, Water, Water

One of the most essential aspects of body building and nutrition is water. Water is vital to your body building success. Water serves many purposes to the body builder. It cools you down after a hard workout. Water helps flush out the toxins that build up in the body. Drinking plenty of water can help control the appetite, and it is suggested that cold water also helps increase metabolism.