Women’s Body Building Supplement

Bodybuilding is considered as a man’s sport only. Do you know that it’s a woman’s sport as well? You heard it right – these days, bodybuilding has grown its popularity among female population.

Female bodybuilding is not exclusively about muscle build-up. Women do it for many different reasons such as achieving a desired size, increasing in strength, and of course boosting confidence.

Women’s bodybuilding supplements used by male species are not the same as the supplements consumed by women. For example, testosterone booster is not taken by women since it may cause women to deepen their voice and grow their hair more. Here are some women’s body building supplements which you may consider adding in your diet.

1. Creatine

There is creatine especially designed for women. One example is the “Femme Advantage Creatine” which comes in liquid form. This is different from the usual creatine because it is known to get rid of the known side effects of creatine such as muscle cramps, irritated stomah, dehydration, and loose bowel movement.

1. Vitamin B Supplements

This bodybuilding supplement aids in proper and healthy metabolic process of fats, protein, and carbohydrates. In addition, vitamin B supplements are important to keep your hair, skin, and eyes healthy.

1. Calcium Supplements

In female bodybuilding, you should have robust and strong bones to help you keep up with precise and rigorous training. This is why you need to take in more calcium. Calcium is a very important factor that maintains the proper and healthy functioning of bones. There are many calcium supplements available in the market these days. Alternatively, you should consume more natural calcium sources, such as seaweeds, dairy products, and broccoli.

1. Essential Fatty Acids

The consumption of essential fatty acids (EFA) brings a lot of benefits to female bodybuilders since:

• It produces more energy;
• It can diffuse oxygen in your bloodstream;
• It can reduce water retention;
• It can calm and normalize your mood;
• It can help in the metabolic and transport process of cholesterol and triglycerides;
• Most plant and fish oils are high in EFAs.

1. Protein Supplements

Protein is said to be the building block of muscles. It helps in proper functioning of muscles through growth and repair. Protein supplements are usually in power form. Protein supplements come in four major types: 1) Whey; 2) Casein; 3) Egg whites; and 4) Soy.

The use of different female body building supplements must first be consulted with your body building trainer or instructor so that you can be guided properly. To achieve a really good female or woman bodybuilder’s physique, it is important that you have the discipline and persistence. You should not only consume such supplements, you also need to do proper trainings and workouts, maintain a proper diet, and obtain proper rest.

BodyBuilding Diet Overview

The saying “You are what you eat” is especially true for body builders.

Bodybuilding involve strict training routines and special diets to provide nutrients and energy to your body.

Our bodies are complex living machines – it’s ability to transform itself from a 98 pound weaking to muscular, ripping muscles with 6-pack abs hunk is simply amazing. But of course, you need to give your body the right nutrients – otherwise, no amount of training is going to make any difference.

Before we dive into the nitty gritty of bodybuilding diets, you need to be aware of the 2 main cycles of bodybuilding: Bulking Phase and Cutting phase.

Cycle #1: Bulking Phase

In this bulking phase, your goal is to build up your muscles, i.e. bulk up.

You will need more than what you’re currently eating now. Start with a “muscle bulking journal” and note down everything you eat. Calculate the totals for calories, proteins, carbs and fat. Ideally, you should be eating about 1.5g x your bodyweight in protein daily. This is to ensure you have sufficient protein for muscle growth. Your carbohydrate intake should be slightly above normal to ensure you have sufficient energy during your training and workouts.

Cycle #2: Cutting Phase

In this phase, your goal is to remove excess fat. Again, start with “fat loss journal” and note the amount of calories, protein, carb and fat you take each day. This time, your daily protein intake should be around 0.9g x your bodyweight. In this phase, your carb intake will be lower, and you may find yourself getting tired more easily during your training. This normal, so don’t worry too much about it.

These are the 2 bodybuilding cycles which you will cycle over time. The reason is because it is very difficult to put on muscles and remove fat at the same time.

So, adjust your diet accordingly to the bodybuilding phase you’re currently in. Remember to keep your ‘muscle bulking journal’ and the ‘fat loss journal’ so that you can keep track of your progress.

Bodybuilding Diet Plans

A good bodybuilding diet plan is essential if you want develop those muscles and trim those fats. All the workouts and weight lifting will come to naught without a proper diet plan which is key to supplying your body with the essential nutrients to build the muscle mass.

There are many different diet plans – but here are 4 quick widely accepted fundamentals of a proper bodybuilding diet plan. Use these tips to tailor your own custom diet plan.

Fundamental Tip #1

Decide which phase you are working on (bulking phase or cutting phase) and then determine how many calories you should consume each day. If you’re in the bulking phase, you need to consume more than you burn in order to gain muscles. Your journals (muscle bulking journal and fat loss journal) will come in very handy for this.

Fundamental Tip #2

Keep your metabolism and energy level up throughout the day by eating 5-6 small meals each day. This will consistently give your body sufficient energy provide and nutrients to encourage muscle growth and food cravings down. A good ratio of nutrients are:

- 40% protein

- 40% carbs

- 20% fat*

* yes, you still need to consume fat, contrary to popular belief, but the right kind of fat. I’ll talk more about eating the right kind of fat for body builders in another article.

Fundamental Tip #3.

Get 10% of your target calorie intake in grams of protein. For example, if you’re on a 2500 calorie diet, try to eat 250 grams of protein each day. If you’re taking 5 meals a day, that would be about 50g of protein in each mean.

Fundamental Tip #4

Water is essential for bodybuilding. When you workout, a lot of water is lost in sweat. Your muscles will lose some of their water as well. Therefore you need to drink lots of water to keep your body hydrated. Your body and muscles will become stressed if the water level is not replenished.

A good rule of thumb is this: Consume water (in oz) equal to 60% of your body weight in pounds. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, then drink at least 108 oz. (3.2 liters) each day.

*note: the above is just a rule of thumb. Some people have extremely high metabolic rate, and may sweat more than others. So, if you’re still thirsty after a good workout, please drink more.

Below is a typical 6-Meal BodyBuilding Diet Plan to help you get started.

Meal 1 (Pre-workout): 6 egg whites, 1 egg yolk, 1 cup of instant oatmeal, 1 glass of juice

Meal 2 (Breakfast): High Energy Meal replacement bar (or shake) and flaxseed oil. Make sure the replacement bar/shake has high protein.

Meal 3 (Mid-morning): 8 oz. lean meat, 2 cups green vegetables, 1 cup brown rice, 1 glass of water

Meal 4 (Lunch): Tuna in water, leafy salad (avoid mayonnaise), 2 slices of wheat bread.

Meal 5 (Tea/Snack): Meal replacement packet, flaxseed oil, 1 glass of water.

Meal 6 (Dinner): 1 baked boneless chicken breast, or salmon steak. (8oz of lean meat), 2 cups green vegetables, 1 baked potato, 1 serving of green beans, 1 glass of water. * Just before bed, you may want to drink a glass of protein shake.

Take your time to tweak the sample meal plan above according to your needs. It will take some time getting used to eating the same thing every day, but persevere and follow a proven system, you’ll be rewarded with bulging muscles and 6-pack abs.

“You are what you eat…”

The Truth about Carbs

Carbohydrate is an essential food for all bodybuilders. It is the main energy source for the human body. We get our energy by breaking down (metabolism) the carbohydrates we consume.

Carbohydrates also plays a very important role in the way your body uses protein. When you have sufficient carbs, your body will use protein to build and repair muscles. If you do not have sufficient carbs, then your body will metabolize (break down) protein for energy. It’s a process called glycogenesis and it takes take place when your body is running low on carbs.

When this happens, you will lose muscle mass and strength. Therefore, it is very important that you have a solid understanding of the roles carbohydrate plays in bodybuilding.

There are two types of carbohydrates – simple carbs and complex carbs.

Simple carbohydrates (small molecules of sugar such as glucose and fructose)are often called “empty calories”. The reason for this is because simple carbs are easily digested and releases an over abundance of energy rapidly. This extra energy is converted to glycogen and fat in our bodies. Food like cakes, ice-cream, pastry, chocolates falls into this category.

On the other hand, complex carbohydrates are simple sugars (glucose and fructose) that are bonded together to form a chain. It takes a longer time for digestive enzymes to break/metabolize the chain into individual sugars for absorption by your body.

For this reason, digestion and absorption of complex carb takes longer. This provides the body with a steady supply of energy and limits the amount of sugar converted into fat. This is also the main reason why bodybuilders are advised to take complex carbs as the main part of their bodybuilding diet.

Another key point to note is the energy requirements of a training program. The intensity of your workout and the duration will help quantify the amount of calories your body needs to keep itself in a balanced nutritional state.

If your energy level is low, your body may begin to metabolize body fats and proteins for its energy. This will result in both fat loss and muscle loss. By ensuring that you have adequate supply of energy (complex carbs), you can ensure that your workouts will lead to muscle gain and not muscle loss.

*Important note: Post workout Window.

This is the first 120 minutes following an intensive workout. During this time, your body is depleted of energy and require simple sugars to replace the deleted glycogen. It is therefore very important that you consume simple carbs immediately after a good workout. This is the only time that simple carbs are suitable for the bodybuilder.

A proper bodybuilding diet plan, whether it’s for mass gaining purposes or leaning out, should consist mostly of complex carbs. Complex carbs are digested slowly and released into the bloodstream steadily over a period of time. This provides a steady source of energy for muscles throughout the day. With complex carbs there are no highs and lows in energy as they stay steady throughout the day.

To summarize, consume appropriate amount of complex carbs according to the energy requirements of your training program, and consume simple carbs during the first 120 minutes after vigorous workout to replenish your body’s glycogen (energy) store to prevent the breaking down of muscles.

9 Bodybuilding Diet Tips

Here are 9 essential bodybuilding diet tips to help you jump start your diet plan.

1) Eating the wrong types of carbs.

Carbohydrate is very important in your diet. If your body does not have enough carbs for energy, it will start to break down the muscle proteins, i.e. your body will enter a catabolic state and your metabolism will slow down significantly. This will result in lost of muscle mass.

So, what type of carbohydrates should you eat? There are basically 2 types of carbohydrates – complex carbs and simple carbs.

Complex carbs is what you should eat as it releases energy constantly over a period of time. This will give you sustainable energy throughout the day as you do your workouts.

On the other hand, simple carbs are will give you energy spikes – often, your body will receive more energy than it require at any given time. This may result in the extra energy being converted into fat for storage. Also, you will usually feel lethargic once the sugar level falls.

For more info, please read the article on the truth about carbohydrates here

2) How Much Protein?

Protein is the core nutrient in any bodybuilding diet plan. It is the main nutrient required to build muscle mass. Many bodybuilding experts recommend 1g of protein per pound of lean bodyweight to start with.

The actual amount of protein you need will vary from individual to individual – e.g. depending on one’s metabolic rate, the intensity of your training sessions and your bodybuilding goals. If you want to build more muscles mass in a shorter period, you may need to slowly increase your protein intake to 1.1g or 1.2g per pound of lean bodyweight.

3) To cheat or not to cheat?

Actually, that’s not the question. The real question how often should you cheat on your diet and what you should cheat on.

Like it or not, cheating in any bodybuilding diet is un-avoidable. I cannot imagine myself eating the same type of food, day in, day out, 365 days a year, for 20-30 years. Yuck!

So, how often should you cheat on your bodybuilding diet? It really depends on your bodybuilding goals – are you in it for competition or just trying to put on some extra muscle mass?

Here’s a good rule of thumb:

• If you’re into competition, then limit your cheat meal to once a week or once a fortnight.

• If you’re just looking to gain extra muscle mass, then 2-3 times a week is permissible.

However, do cheat sensibly and don’t go overboard by eating too much wrong foods. A huge tub of ice-cream in one sitting will probably undo 2 weeks of training and workout.

4) Facts about Fats!

Contrary to popular belief, you as a bodybuilder, should eat some fat! Really, not all fat is not created equal. You actually need some fat to help you gain muscle mass the keep your body healthy and strong.

Some fats are required by the body for healthy metabolism and hormone production. Stay away from saturated fats and trans fatty acids, but do take the following – egg yolks, flaxseed oil, virgin olive oil, canola oil, natural peanut butter and fish oils. They are all excellent sources of healthy fats.

5) Variety in your diet is GOOD!

Have you ever eaten so much tuna that you can’t even stand to look at it anymore? I have. Following the same diet every day can be unbearable – and I’m here to tell you that you CAN and SHOULD vary your bodybuilding diet.

Use this bodybuilding diet plan as a guide as you vary your meal plans. As long as you have sufficient intake of protein, complex carbs, green vegs, it does not really matter whether you decide to skip tuna for a week.

Remember, a bodybuilding diet is first and foremost a healthy diet. Variety is very important to help you follow through your bodybuilding commitment.

It will also help you enjoy your bodybuilding diet program for years to come and you will also tend cheat less.

Look around for some healthy bodybuilding recipe cookbooks that will give you choices, ideas and healthy alternatives to the staples of chicken, tuna and brown rice.

6) Nutritional Supplement Fallacy

“Take this Miracle Protein Powder and You’ll make the Incredible Hulk look like a 98 pound weakling”

Rubbish! Nutritional supplements are exactly what they are – “supplements” to your basic diet in case you have insufficient nutrients from natural foods.

Nothing can substitute the nutrients and metabolic effects of natural foods., so don’t let the all the marketing gimmicks sway you.

Nutritional supplements will only help IF you have a proper diet & training program in place. Otherwise, you’ll just be throwing good money down the drain.

7) Track Your Calories!

If you want to make real progress in bodybuilding, you need to track how your body is reacting to your specific diet. You need to track the proteins and calories you consume. This will allow you to make the necessary changes if you’re not seeing the results you desire.

Keep a journal of your daily calories can be tedious process, but after a while, you’ll get used to it and you’ll find it to be an indispensable tool in achieving those muscles and the 6-pack abs.

Rome was not built in a day …

In our modern microwave culture, it’s tempting to want to change our diet immediately and see results next week. Unfortunately, this will not work in bodybuilding. Your current body shape is the result of many years of your current diet and lifestyle. You can’t simply throw everything out and follow a strict bodybuilding diet and expect miracles next week. It just don’t work that way.

You’ll probably end up with more body fat. Start by either slowly increasing or decreasing your calories over a period of time (depending on whether you’re in the bulking phase or cutting phase).

For example, you could start by increasing an additional 100 calories every 3-5 days until you have reached the desired caloric intake. Then keep track of your body weight and fat percentage and re-assess your diet plan again. Remember, Rome wasn’t build in a day.

9) Water, water and water …

80% of our body is made of water. Over 70% of our muscles consist of water. Water is required for all metabolic processes, including protein synthesis. Water is used to rid our bodies of toxins, plays in important role in fat metabolism and maintain a healthy immune system.

A simple rule of thumb is to drink 8-10 cups of water per day (or about 60% of your body weight in pounds. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, then drink at least 108 oz. (3.2 liters) each day.

Increase your water intake during the summer, and during vigorous training sessions. Dehydration will make you sluggish and slow down your training sessions.

Organic Diet for Bodybuilders

Let me ask you a question – if you’re the proud owner of a Chevrolet Camaro, would you put the cheapest fuel in your brand new car? I guess probably not.

However, have you ever noticed how many luxury cars (Merc, BMWs, Jaguars, etc) pull up to the Mcdonald’s or Burger King drive through window for a $2 hamburgers?

Those drivers has no problems forking out $1000+ monthly car payment, but would wince when asked to buy “premium fuel” (quality, organic food) into his own body. Something is wrong somewhere J

The US FDA lists more than 3,000+ chemicals that are allowed to be added to our food. One billion pounds of pesticides and farming chemicals are used on our crops every year. It is estimated that an average American consumes as much as 150 pounds of chemicals and food additives each year!

Is this good for you? I don’t think so.

Going organic or semi-organic is one way to cut down these chemicals. Organic foods is not just for bodybuilders – it’s for everyone who’s concern about their health.

Food grown on certified organic farms does not contain pesticides, herbicides, Fungicides, hormones, antibiotics or chemical fertilizers and it’s also not genetically modified.

Let’s get back to bodybuilding – our number #1 nutrient is protein. Let’s look at some benefits of “organic” grass fed beef and free range chicken and eggs.

These protein sources have distinct advantages of not having those potentially dangerous chemicals, antibiotics and hormones.

What about costs you say?

Well, all I can say is that if you can afford it, then why not? Why put “junk” into your body when you can afford the real good stuff? As a natural bodybuilder, you would avoid steroids and other performance enhancement drugs – so why expose your body to other chemicals if you can help it? You can be confident in spending the extra money on grass fed beef and free range chicken because you’ll be avoiding the chemical toxins, antibiotics, etc.

If cost is a big factor, don’t sweat it too much. Read the labels and wash your vegetables thoroughly. Drink lots of water. Focus on nutrition and lifestyle improvement, and not worry too much about going organic or not.

While I’ve begun to consume organic food where possible, I’ve not gone totally organic. Don’t sweat the small stuff – eat right, follow a proper diet and do your workouts