If you are wondering why you are not getting the desired results even after working so hard every day at the gym, you must ask yourself if you are following a balanced diet, with proper nutritional value. Also, check out if you are consuming the best pre-workout shakes before starting exercises. Having proper food before, during as well as after exercising is important for achieving muscle growth at a fast pace. While eating for muscle gain is completely different than that of weight loss, eating for workout performance, too, is different.
And to be true, there is no standard diet for all those who are aiming at bodybuilding. You need to figure out what works for you the best through a trial and error method and then, customize your diet accordingly. However, there are certain basic guidelines that will help you avoid making guesses and will also enable you to fuel your body properly during your workout sessions, some of which are listed below–
Don’t eliminate carbohydrates from your diet – There is a tendency among most of the athletes to eliminate carbohydrates completely from their diet, but this is not of much help. In fact, if you are not taking enough amounts of carbohydrates regularly, your performance will suffer a lot. Make sure that you are eating lots of carbohydrates, especially if you are doing high intensity exercises, and try to get it from the most natural sources possible. You can also have some dietary supplements to achieve better results.
Drink enough fluids during exercising – There is a lot of misconception regarding hydration during workouts. But you must know the correct method as lack of hydration might cause damage to your muscles, and then muscle recovery may take a lot of time. Again, over hydration can cause coma as well as death. Usually, most athletes drink 20-25 ounces of fluid per hour, which is roughly equal to the size of a large or small water bottle. This might vary from 16 to 18 ounces of water per hour during cool weather. However, a fluid intake of 30-34 ounces per hour, daily, might cause health problems and severe performance issues. Hence, before you gulp down excessive amounts of fluid, just check out the required amount of daily fluid intake and stick to it.
Eat around workout – While aiming to build muscle mass and gain weight, you must be careful about what you are eating during your workouts. If you don’t fuel yourself well, before or during the exercises, it would be difficult for you to perform according to your expectation. Hence, consider having the best pre-workout supplement before you start working out. Again, if you won’t take in enough nutrition after working out, you won’t be able to recover quickly enough. To ensure this, you can opt for a good and high quality sports supplement.
Have proteins during exercise – Though this might sound a bit cliché, you need to check whether you are taking the right kind of protein, in the right amount. For instance, whey protein will do wonders for you if you take them after exercise. But using it before or during exercise won’t be of much help as the added glutamine will quickly degrade to ammonia, which would cause muscle fatigue. If you are aiming at bodybuilding, you would surely like to lose all those stubborn fats, and some effective weight loss supplements available in the market can help you in your endeavor.
Manage your body weight carefully – While focusing on exercise and diets, you must also ensure that you are managing your present weight the right way. It won’t be good if you gain weight, and then follow a diet, in order to reduce the excess weight. Instead, consider following the diet right from the very beginning and you can also opt for some kind of fat burners to initiate quicker and more effective results. Always be careful about what food you are having and in what quantity, so that you get the desired results from your workout.
Improving your workout performance would become easy when you follow these tips and stick to your daily exercise and diet regimen.