This is Natural Bodybuilding!
Upcoming Local Competitions
5.19.12 NANBF Mr./Mrs. Natural MN (Pro-Qualifier)- Bloomington, MN
1/22/2012
Congrats Jocelyn!
One of our clients proved to be a force in her 1st competition and has a bright future ahead in Figure!
11/15/2011
Congrats Liz!
One of our clients made a fabulous transformation and a 3rd Place Open Figure finish in her first competition!
8/17/2011
Slow-burning Carbs: Why They are Important
Sweet potatoes, Oatmeal, Brown Rice all have one thing in common, there is essential to a great physique athlete!
6/26/2011
Grocery List for the Figure or Bodybuilder Competitor
This should make your trip to the grocery store much easier as we have laid out the core foods in one list.
Bodybuilders/Figure Athlete Need to Eat Meat?
- Plant based foods are higher in carbs, thus I felt like I had more energy than the higher meat diet
I've been competing as a Natural Bodybuilder since 2008, and when my coach began to prepare me for my 1st contest, he immediately changed my diet. One of the biggest changes was a large increase in lean meat consumption. Since then, I consumed about 1 1/2 pounds of lean meat or egg whites on a daily basis. That's over 500 pounds of meat/year! Meanwhile, I had done some research around this meat consumption and whether I could gain the same advantages of the high meat diet with a plant-based diet. I tried this from six months, and here are my findings while on the plant-based (vegan) diet:
- My recovery time between intense weight training sessions was slower with the plant-based diet versus meat diet. **not good for the competitive athlete**
- Plant-based diet is less expensive than meat based
- My strength after about two months decreased around 5%-10% while on the plant-based diet. **not good for the competitive athlete**
If you are a competitive bodybuilder/figure competitor, the protein composition of meat is essential to maximizing lean muscle mass.
There is a lot more to it, so if you have any questions on diet, please contact me. For the general population (outside of highly competitive athletes), I feel that there should be an increase of plant-based foods, especially more vegetables and removal of all processed foods - to get to more of a whole food diet. Research of long term health, especially cancers rates, have been linked to a diet high in processed foods along with animals products. Bottom line, everyone is different and has different nutritional needs, and a thorough evaluation needs to be done to ensure a healthy lifestyle.
