NUTRITIONAL NEEDS
The dietary requirements, already explained in SPORTS NUTRITION, are the following:
Water: Whether you are looking for definition or muscle development, hydration is essential. It should be drunk before, during and after exercise. It is necessary 1ml / kcal consumed.
Electrolytes: Sweating involves more waste of water than salts. To reduce sweating, a teaspoon of salt per litre of water is sufficient during an intense workout. Lemonade (water and lemon), with a pinch of honey and salt, is the best drink. Salty foods are interesting.
Vitamins and minerals: Regulatory nutrient needs can be met with a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Energy: The energy to consume depends on the age, sex, height, weight and type of physical activity (frequency, duration and intensity).
Carbohydrates: The 1st fuel used by the body for exercise is glucose, from glycogen. Complex carbohydrates are required for the formation of the glycogen depot. Sweets should not exceed 10-20% of the total ingested. It will help if you consume between 50-55% carbohydrates concerning the total calories consumed for the day.
LIPIDS: A lipid consumption of 30%, concerning the total calories consumed, is sufficient. Saturated fats (animal origin) should be limited in favour of vegetable origin, which with exceptions (coconut oil also recommended), are unsaturated.
Proteins: Its primary sources are foods of animal origin and legumes; the latter also provide carbohydrates.
You need to increase your protein intake just after training to promote muscle recovery and development.
To achieve this purpose, the use of protein supplements is every day. Creatine can provide the body with high-dose proteins that are the building blocks of muscles. Its consumption is safe as long as the recommended dose on the container is respected.
In reality, the protein requirements are the same as those of the general population (12-15% of the total calories consumed in the day). If its consumption is abused, exceeding 15%, its use as an energy source is encouraged, which leads to abnormal combustion that can lead to ketosis, dehydration, loss of minerals, increased uric acid in the blood and kidney effort.
What is the best workout to build muscle mass?
If you want to use hypertrophy to increase the size of your muscles, you need a lot of information and a well-structured training plan.
A good program should be based on the seven principles for mastering loads: the amount of weight in each workout has to be a challenge, and you have to increase it regularly. To do this, vary the exercises from time to time, integrate new movements into the sessions and give yourself the necessary rest to recover properly. Also, you have to train regularly and for a long time.
To stimulate muscle growth, you can also resort to the following strategies: metabolic stress, mechanical tension, and muscle damage. You will get results both by combining all three techniques and by focusing on one of them. We explain how:
Metabolic stress
Have you ever felt like you don’t have enough strength to do one last push-up? Or that your muscles burn during or after a session? Well, those are the typical indications of metabolic stress.
The more repetitions and sets you do, the more the muscles will grow since the blood vessels constrict and less oxygen reaches the muscle fibres. As a result, the body manufactures metabolic by-products such as lactate and creatine, and a burning sensation occurs.
Fortunately, this suffering does help because metabolic stress has been shown to affect muscle development positively.
Helpful Tip: Do a good number of reps (15-20 per exercise) with an intensity between 60-70% of your maximum strength.
Mechanical stress
Mechanical stress has to do with the resistance of the load. Using more resources to hold the bar or kettlebell, the hypertrophied muscle is forced to adapt and stimulate itself.
Helpful tip: it is advisable to perform a low number of repetitions (8 to 12 per exercise) at a higher intensity, between 60 and 80% of your maximum strength. Increase the load more and more so that you do not exceed eight repetitions in the last set.
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