Water, Fats & Calories

This week I am going to elaborate some of the commonly misunderstood factors in bodybuilding. Let us straight away go into the topic without wasting time.

Drink plenty of water

Lack of water immediately transforms in a less effective nutrition plan. When on a diet water is the most important ingredient you need to look at and so few people understand this. Many individuals start counting calories, fat grams, protein grams etc., but fail to know how much water they drink. It is very important in nutrition and bodybuilding in general to know how much water you consume.

Your body is about 80% water and it goes into stress rapidly if you dehydrate. You can live for weeks without food but for only few days without water. Water is required for every process that takes place in the body. No mater how much protein you eat, your system cannot break it down into amino acids without water. Without enough water, your body simply cannot utilize all of the nutrients you consume.

In addition to water's role in digestion, it also protects and lubricates your joints. It acts as a cushion to absorb shock. Water is also required for the fluid that lubricates the sheath surrounding and protecting the tendons. Without water, your joints and muscles would "freeze up" just like any precision machine without lubrication.

The minimum amount of water you should drink per day is 8 large cups and even more when you are doing a strenuous exercise routine, when you are working out you perspire lot and through this you lose on an average around 4 cups every hour.

This of course will depend on several factors such as your body weight, size and how vigorous your routine is, that is in a moderate climate, if you are working out in a hot climate you will of course lose much more than this.

There is a myth about water which is most misunderstood. When you feel thirsty, you need to drink water or else you will go into dehydration....... Is this true???

Fact: Your body is already into a state of dehydration when you feel thirsty.

Signs of dehydration:

• Your throat begins to feel sore and your voice may turn hoarse.
• A burning sensation in your stomach.
• Muscle cramps.
• You develop a headache.
• You feel tired.
• Your hands may feel cold.
• Your skin feels dry.

If you get any of these feeling during your workout or even during any other activity, just refresh yourself with some water and then continue your work. To make sure that you do not reach the state of dehydration, drink a plenty of water throughout the day.

Eat More Fat

Yep, eat more fat.

We know that the zero fat programs introduced in USA did not make people healthy, but made them fat. So don’t stay under the illusion that cutting fat out of diet is going to do good. Our body needs fats in order to support some internal organs and to digest fat soluble vitamins.

Essential Fatty Acids are extremely anabolic and increase your testosterone levels. Studies have shown that low fat diets (less than 20 percent of calories coming from fat) show lowered testosterone levels. But don’t mistake my point. I am not suggesting you to eat loads of junk food. Eat essential fatty acids on a regular basis.

EFA Supplements are not created equal. Not by a long shot. Be choosey in the brands that you select. But let me list some of the best natural sources of EFA’s so that you can include them in your diet rather than completely relying on EFA supplements

• Fish oil
• Falxseed oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Almonds
  

Eat More

Sounds obvious, right? You'd be amazed how many people complain about not being able to add muscle and they are only eating two or three meals a day and only getting about 2000 calories a day.

This isn't going to cut it. Your body needs more calories to grow. This doesn't mean stuff your face with junk food but make sure you eat six high quality meals a day with a good dose of carbs, protein and essential fats.

If you are skinny and find it very difficult to gain weight you can start by multiplying your bodyweight (in pounds/lbs)by 20 to get the number of calories you need to eat in a day. But the count of calories fully depends on your specific goals and body type.