True Natural Bodybuilding eBook

The Personal Story of a TRUE Natural BodyBuilder

True-Natural-BodyBuilding.com January 2012

What is True Natural BodyBuilding about? On this website I describe how I have built my physique through TRUE natural bodybuilding. Because of the vast (ab)use of performance enhancing drugs and food supplements by bodybuilders and so-called natural bodybuilders, I unfortunately have to introduce and define a new term "TRUE Natural BodyBuilding" (short: TN bodybuilding), which basically means bodybuilding without EVER having used any performance enhancing drugs or supplements that do not occur in a normal healthy daily diet. I describe on this website everything about my personal training and diet, and I explain my vision on many aspects of bodybuilding such as training, exercises, equipment, nutrition, supplements, losing body fat, doping, and injuries. Please note that anything on this website is only my personal opinion, based on over 20 years of experience as a true natural bodybuilder and my understanding as a scientist with a Ph.D. in biophysics/biochemistry. I don't claim that everything on this website is 100% correct or that it is the only correct approach. It is not the intention of this website to thoroughly explain every aspect of bodybuilding or to become very scientific. If you want to know more about one specific subject, I recommend you to search the internet, which is full of detailed information. I also recommend you to use the free encyclopedia wikipedia.org as a general source of information. Some of the main goals of this website are to promote TRUE natural bodybuilding, to tell you how I have built my true natural physique, to explain some differences between true natural and drugged bodybuilding in terms of nutrition and training, to help you figure out what is really important to reach your bodybuilding goals, what is not important, and what is total nonsense. And believe me, there are lots of nonsense and irrelevant things being told and written in the world of bodybuilding. As you will notice while reading this website, I am a strong believer in the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. Building a great physique through true natural bodybuilding is much simpler than you might expect. It does however require very strong dedication and persistence, and the art to figure out what is essential and what not.

How to Get Big - all Secrets Revealed For your convenience I have concisely summarized all you need to know about true natural bodybuilding, including training, nutrition and supplementation, on a single webpage: how to get big - all secrets revealed. This webpage is a great starting point in case you want to read through the site and discover step by step everything you need to know in order to be able to develop your physique as efficiently as possible without using anabolic steroids or unnatural performance enhancing supplements.

1

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

About Me

My name is Jos. I am a TRUE natural bodybuilder, which basically means that I have NEVER used any performance enhancing drugs or unnatural sports supplements in my life. I currently have about 20 years of experience with true natural bodybuilding, and I have never participated in any bodybuilding contest. I have a master's degree in physics and one in computer sciences. I obtained my Ph.D. in the field of biophysics/biochemistry. I have worked a couple of years in an investment bank as financial and technological analyst of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and as a stock fund manager of pharma and biotech companies. Currently I work since 2003 in one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies of the world, where I am happy to contribute to the development of new medicines for all kinds of serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, HIV, hepatitis C, etc.

The Early Years I was born in the year that Arnold Schwarzenegger won his third Mr. Olympia contest. I came to the world at a mind blowing body weight of 9 lbs ripped (well, "ripped" may be slightly exaggerated ;-) ). Before I started true natural bodybuilding, I have been practicing judo for about 8 years. From childhood on, I always wanted to be the strongest and most muscular man of the world, and I was convinced that I would get there one day (at the age of 8, I didn't know about the existence of Arnold yet). I probably started doing some simple strength exercises such as sit-ups and push-ups already before I started practicing judo at the age of 8. Soon, however, I realized that judo was not going to make from me the strongest and most muscular man of the world. I needed something else, dumbbells. It took me till the age of 14 before I was successful in convincing my parents that they should allow me to buy a pair of dumbbells. Since that day on I started to work out like crazy, six days per week, over 2 hours per day. My goal was clear, and nothing was going to stop me.

2

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

I started growing, and it didn't take long before I needed bigger dumbbells. Fortunately, my father was working in a steel company, and wanted to help me out. Soon my bedroom was completely filled with steel dumbbells and I was literally sleeping between them. In the mean time I had been watching any video and reading any book about bodybuilding that I could find. I probably watched Arnold Schwarzenegger's Pumping Iron more than a dozen times. At the age of 18, when I entered university, my parents allowed me for the first time to go to a real gym. Luckily for me, Gold's Gym Hasselt, probably one of the best hard core gyms Belgium has ever had, was only 4 miles away from home. Studying physics at the university and going to the gym 5 times per week was a tough combination. But "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going", and I was getting some very good results at university and in the gym. The muscles grew, and the boy became stronger, squatting 10 reps with 120 kg (265 lbs) and benching 10 reps with 100 kg (220 lbs), at a body weight of about 87 kg (192 lbs) and 183 cm (6 feet) tall, after only 4 months. Life was becoming too bright and fate turned itself against me. The heavy leg workouts took revenge and I got a severe lower back injury, a spinal disc herniation, about the worst injury you can get as a weight lifter.

Life after the Lower Back Injury Many doctor visits and a deep depression later, the conclusion of the medical professionals was clear and unanimous: I would never be able to lift weights again. As my lower back injury was so debilitation that I could hardly walk for months, I decided to change my dumbbells for a darts board. I learned to live the life of a lower back patient and avoided any stress on my spine, because any wrong movement caused the pain to come back. Two years and a half later, at the age of 21, I coincidently read somewhere that 8 times Mr. Olympia Lee Haney was going to give a seminar in a gym at walking distance of where I lived at that time. I decided to attend the seminar. The next day I bought my first new gym membership since my back injury 2.5 years ago. As my lower back was still very vulnerable, I decided for the rest of my life only to do those exercises that put no stress on my intervertebral discs, and today I am still loyal to that decision. I also changed my focus from heavy weights to intense muscle contraction, and experienced that this actually works very well for me. Although I missed two and a half of my best years (I believe that 18 till 26 are the most productive years to build muscle as a true natural athlete, because your natural 3

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

testosterone levels are at their maximum in those years), it took less than 6 months of training to pass my previous level and cross the psychological barrier of 90 kg (200 lbs) of bodyweight. I gradually improved, and by the age of 25 I reached my peak condition as a true natural bodybuilder. Today, more than 10 years later, I can fairly say that I am still in the best condition of my life. When I am in my best condition, and that is about all year round unless I didn't work out for awhile because of one reason or the other, my body weight is about 100 kg (220 lbs) at a length of 183 cm (6 feet) and a body fat percentage of about 12%. This corresponds with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30. My arms are 50 cm (20"), my legs 68 cm (27"), my calves 45 cm (18"), my waist is 80 cm (31"), and my chest 122 cm (48"). I have never tried to get my body fat percentage below 10% because I don't compete, and because I think 12% is quite a good number for a true natural bodybuilder to look okay and at the same time provide the body with enough energy to allow intense workouts and to promote muscle growth.

The photos of me that you find on this website are obviously unaltered. All photos are taken at the age of 35 except the back shot on the home page, which was taken at the age of 25. All photos were taken without pumping up. I've also made a slide show of my photos. Would my physique have been much better today if I had never had my severe back injury? How would my physique have been evolved if I had taken the decision to start using doping (anabolic steroids, growth hormone, insulin)? Unfortunately, we will never know the answers to these questions. Jos TN True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

4

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

What is TRUE Natural BodyBuilding? It is very sad that it has come so far with the sport that we have to define a term such as "TRUE Natural BodyBuilding". However, we have to face reality and acknowledge that there is lots of drug use among bodybuilders and so-called natural bodybuilders. Especially hormonal drugs such as testosterone, anabolic steroids, growth hormone, IGF and insulin are very popular among bodybuilders because they are extremely effective in building muscle mass. Let's take a look at my personal definitions and interpretations.

Bodybuilding A bodybuilder is someone who tries to induce muscle growth, and simultaneously tries to keep his body fat to a minimum, usually by a combination of weight training, proper diet, food supplements, doping, and sometimes cardiovascular exercises. Doping plays, unfortunately, a very important role in bodybuilding as the effects of modern doping products are really amazing. Testosterone and anabolic steroids are by far the most popular, and massively used by recreational, amateur, competitive, and professional bodybuilders. My estimate is that about 99% of the bodybuilders that you see in bodybuilding contests have used anabolic steroids at least sometime in their life, and most probably during the last months and weeks before the contest. The 1% who have never used anabolic steroids in their life are very easy to recognize as they usually end at the last place in the contest results. What professional bodybuilders concerns, my estimate is that 100% of the pros of the last 50 years have systematically used anabolic steroids throughout their career. Since the 1990's, many bodybuilders have started to add growth hormone, and shortly thereafter insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), to their doping regimen. Currently, probably more than 90% of the top bodybuilders are using growth hormones and insulin. In the near future new muscle growth promoting drugs are expected to become popular, such as: selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), myostatin inhibitors, and even gene doping. Clenbuterol is another frequently used product that promotes muscle growth and body fat reduction. We also have of course thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), ephedrine and caffeine that are frequently used to burn body fat and increase energy levels. Close to contest time, many competitive bodybuilders also use diuretics to reduce the remaining water under their skin.

Natural Bodybuilding Natural bodybuilding was introduced around the mid 1990's, and it was probably intended to be bodybuilding without doping. Or at least it was intended to inspire people who don't want to become as big as a Mr. Olympia competitor, but want to improve their 5

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

physique by bodybuilding without using drugs. In order to create a profitable business for this big new market segment magazines where published and contests were organized with so-called "natural bodybuilders". In practice it appeared that there was not much difference between bodybuilders and natural bodybuilders. Some of the less massive bodybuilders of yesterday, just started to call themselves natural bodybuilders. They accepted the fact that they may have a small chance of being tested for a limited number of prohibited drugs on the day of the contest. However, by slightly changing their doping regimen they could easily find a way around. So basically, most competing natural bodybuilders use the same kinds of drugs, and sometimes similar amounts as the other bodybuilders, or at least they have used them in the past.

TRUE Natural Bodybuilding My definition of "True Natural BodyBuilding" (short: TN bodybuilding) is: bodybuilding without EVER having used any performance enhancing drugs or supplements that do not occur in a normal healthy daily diet. For example, someone who has used a small amount of anabolic steroids 10 years ago for a period of 1 week is NOT a true natural bodybuilder. It is clear that for any of the hormonal drugs (testosterone, anabolic steroids, growth hormone, IGFs, and insulin), it is very important to use this very strict definition because they really can alter your body composition permanently. Although the effects of ephedrine, and its natural equivalent ephedra, which are often used in supplements (so-called fat burners), may not have permanent effects on your body composition, I strongly believe they do not belong in a true natural bodybuilding lifestyle. Let me try to provide a MINIMAL list of products that a bodybuilder should NEVER have used in his entire life to qualify as a true natural bodybuilder: any muscle growth promoting hormones such as for example: o testosterone o anabolic steroids (AS) o human growth hormone (HGH) o insulin o insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) such as IGF-1 and IGF-2 o any anabolic prohormones, prosteroids or precursor steroids thyroid hormones such as T3 and T4 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) clenbuterol erythropoietin (EPO) norephedrine, ephedrine, ephedra, and ma huang stimulants such as amphetamines diuretics synthol experimental muscle growth promoting products such as: o selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) o myostatin inhibitors o gene doping o muscle stem cells 6

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

I didn't mention corticosteroids as they are really often used for all kinds of therapeutic reasons such as allergy, asthma and inflammation, and because they have no anabolic effect. I also didn't mention nicotine, alcohol and caffeine as they are not really performance enhancing for bodybuilders and because they are very commonly used in daily life by most people. I also didn't mention protein powder, amino acids, glucose, vitamins, minerals and creatine because they naturally occur in food products that are part of a normal healthy daily diet, and because they are not prohibited by any antidoping organization. Please note that the list above is only a minimal list of prohibited products that contains mainly those products that are best known and most frequently used by bodybuilders. I'm sure that there are many other products in the anti-doping lists of sport federations that should also be included (see for example the Prohibited List of the World AntiDoping Agency). Finally, true natural bodybuilding is not about using exotic plant extracts, new drugs not yet prohibited by the anti-doping agencies, or high-tech supplements that promote muscle growth. True natural bodybuilding is a healthy lifestyle in which you develop your muscles by hard and smart training, and by a targeted but healthy and natural diet, optionally supplemented with natural nutrients.

Pros and Cons of True Natural BodyBuilding It is not always easy to be a true natural bodybuilder, and certainly not glamorous. In fact it is often quite frustrating as you have to deal with the following challenges: It will take very hard work and lots of patience to reach your goals. You will never get the same results as bodybuilders who use drugs. You will never be able to compete in contests at a serious level. You will never get lots of compliments in the gym because there will always be a doped bodybuilder who is bigger and more muscular. As soon as you start getting serious results, people automatically think that you are on drugs. If you say that you are not, they may think that you are a liar. You will always have to deal with the temptation of the quick results that you could get by using drugs. You will never know how successful you would have been as a doped bodybuilder. Fortunately there are also some attractive advantages of being a true natural bodybuilder as compared to being a doped bodybuilder: You don't have to buy and use illegal drugs. You are not taking any health risks. In fact, you are significantly improving your health. You are saving lots of money. You won't have to lie about using drugs. Most women prefer men with natural bodies. 7

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

You can really be proud of your results because they exist only thanks to your own efforts, and not as a result of some pills or injections.

Fitness Fitness is the little sister of bodybuilding. It is becoming very popular in Europe. It basically is bodybuilding without results. People who practise fitness have usually no idea about what they are doing. They like to chat with each other in the fitness club. Some of them dream about getting a better physique because the sales people of the fitness club promised them that they would get results automatically as long as they continue to pay their membership in time. :)

Strength Training The purpose of bodybuilding is to increase the body's muscle mass by developing all its skeletal muscles as much as possible. Although some bodybuilders are very strong, this is rather a side effect of the big muscles and the lifting of heavy weights. Other sports such as powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman competitions have as main goal to be as strong as possible rather than being muscular. Developing muscular strength requires very different training methods and exercises than developing muscle mass. To build muscular strength, you mainly do basic compound power exercises, such as squat, deadlift, bench press, barbell press and row, with very heavy weights for a low number of repetitions (1-6) per set, and long rest periods (>3 minutes) between your sets. Each muscle group is trained once or twice per week to get optimal results. This way of training totally differs from typical bodybuilding training. To avoid any confusing, this website is all about bodybuilding, not about developing muscle strength.

The Future of Bodybuilding One day, gene doping will be a fact. Together with other increasingly effective drugs, gene doping will make it possible for people to be as muscular as a bodybuilder without ever having been inside a gym. I believe this is an unavoidable future that is coming to us within one or two decades. I have no problem with accepting this fact. And if people want to use these drugs, that's okay for me. However, I don't think these people should be called bodybuilders. Let's preserve the term "bodybuilder" for those people who have actually built their body by means of weight training. In fact, I personally think that the only real bodybuilders are the true natural bodybuilders, who didn't use any drugs to build their physiques. Does that make sense to you?

Concluding Note Although most bodybuilders claim to be true natural, true natural bodybuilders are in fact rare. However, true natural bodybuilders do exist. I am one of them, and I am proud of it. As far as I know there exist no magazines nor contests for true natural bodybuilders. I believe there are 2 main reasons for this: it is impossible to test whether a bodybuilder is 8

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

TRUE natural, and true natural bodybuilders simply don't look impressive enough, especially when you are used to see doped bodybuilders.

9

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

Pictures of a True Natural BodyBuilder Below you find some recent pictures of myself. I've also included a few pictures of myself next to Arnold Schwarzenegger. This kind of gives you an idea about how a true natural physique compares to a Mr. Olympia physique of the 1970's.

10

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

11

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

12

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

13

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

My Abs While many bodybuilders train their abs multiple times per week with many sets and high reps, my abs seem to respond best if I train them like any other muscle. I train them once per week with 2 exercises, each consisting of 4 sets of 10 - 16 reps. I always do one exercise for the upper abs (crunches), and one for the lower part of the abs (leg raises), changing their order every workout.

My abs at the age of 35 at 12% body fat

14

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

The Magic Recipe Sorry to disappoint you, but there really exists no magic recipe that can guarantee you to become a successful true natural bodybuilder. However, there certainly is a list of very important ingredients: sound knowledge and understanding about training and nutrition favorable genetics and good health in terms of skeleton, joints, muscles, tendons, digestive system and metabolism very strong motivation, dedication and persistence winner's mentality in the gym (no pain, no gain) healthy and effective diet effective training routine good gym equipment healthy lifestyle enough time and money to follow your diet and training program ability to learn from your experience and to find out what really works for yourself a strong personality to say NO to doping I hope that reading this website contributes at least to the first item of this list.

15

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

How to Get Big All Secrets Revealed The goal of this page is to provide a concise summary of everything you have to do in order to get bigger, stronger and more muscular without having to use anabolic steroids or other drugs. After having read this summary on nutrition, supplements and training, true natural bodybuilding will have no more secrets for you. I promise you, if you do everything described on this page correctly for a period of about 5 years, the results will be amazing and your body will have developed nearly to its maximum natural potential.

Nutrition In order to make it possible for your muscles to grow you need to provide your body with enough energy and building blocks throughout the day; and this every day of the year. The energy is expressed as the total calories that you eat and drink. If you don't eat enough calories every day you will not get bigger. If you eat too many calories per day you will become fat. Therefore it is very important to get a good idea about the right amount of calories that you need. You can use my calculator to get an estimate of your maintenance level. In order to allow muscle growth you should eat a few hundreds of calories more per day. The main building blocks for your muscles are water and protein. Therefore you should eat at least 1 gram of animal protein for each pound of your body weight (1 kg = 2.2 lbs). The best protein sources are milk, eggs, meat, fish and poultry. A good rule of thumb is to get 30% of your calories from proteins, 50% from carbohydrates, and 20% from fats. Drink at least 3 liters of water per day. To get optimal results you should eat at least 6 meals per day. Each of these meals should contain more or less the same amount of calories, protein, carbs and fat. Use my diet plan excel sheet to determine your caloric need and to design your nutrition plan.

Supplements Sports supplements are not a requirement to get maximal bodybuilding results, but they are very handy in helping you to get all nutrients you need every day. Especially milk protein powder and creatine monohydrate are very handy and affordable substitutes for meat and fish. Whey protein powder is a fast source of protein, ideal for in the morning and right after your workout. Casein protein powder is a slow protein source that should be taken right before going to bed. Creatine monohydrate is best taken in 3 serving of 2 grams per day. Carbohydrates do not really have to be supplemented as they are abundantly present in many natural food products. However, if you want to add them to your protein shakes I recommend you to use fine milled oats, which is a great source of slowly digesting carbohydrates that also contains lots of vitamins and minerals. Glucose (also called 16

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

dextrose), on the other hand, is a great source of fast absorbing carbohydrates that is recommended for your post workout shake as it is ideal for rapidly replenishing your glycogen stores. In summary, drink a casein protein shake with skimmed milk right before going to bed and a whey protein shake with skimmed milk right after waking up. This ensures enough protein supply for your muscles throughout the night and morning. Right after your workout drink a glass of orange juice with 40 grams of added dextrose. Fifteen minutes later you drink a whey protein shake with 50 grams of whey, 20 grams of dextrose, 300 ml of orange juice and 300 ml of skimmed milk. In each of these 3 shakes you add 2 g of creatine monohydrate.

Training First of all you need to get a membership to a well equipped gym. Use a 4- or better 5day split routine in which you train each of your muscle groups once per week. For each of your big muscle groups you do 3 or 4 exercises and for the smaller muscle groups you do 1 or 2 exercises. Every week you change your workout slightly by picking a couple of different exercises or at least by varying their order. Limit yourself to the basic bodybuilding exercises that have proven to be great muscle mass builders. For each exercise do 4 sets of about 10 quality reps with the heaviest possible weight that you can lift without scarifying good form. Don't rest longer than 1 minute between subsequent sets for the same muscle group. Perform your repetitions with continuous tension and full range of motion. After the first 1 or 2 warm-up sets make sure you train to failure and add some forced or partial reps at the end of your last set to optimize training intensity and muscle overload. If you are rather new to bodybuilding, gradually build up your condition by starting with some beginner routines. Learn how to perform the basic exercises correctly by watching the exercise video clips at muscleandstrength.com and reading my advanced tips. After a year or so you should be able to follow the advanced 4- or 5-day split routines. In order to reach your goals it is very important to take every workout very seriously. Never skip a workout and always train with optimal intensity to reach total muscular exhaustion by the end of your workout. Try to train harder and more intense every workout by progressively using heavier weights as you get stronger. Only by pushing your limits every workout again your body will be sufficiently challenged to continue growing. Allow yourself 2 or 3 weeks off after every 6 months of training in order to give yourself a chance to recharge mentally and to let your body fully recover from any physical stress accumulated during the past 6 months of heavy training.

Conclusion As said in the introduction of this page, you now know all secrets on how to get big and muscular without using steroids. If you follow the nutrition and training tips and tricks listed on this page you can expect to gain between 5 and 10 pounds of lean muscle 17

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

mass every year. After 5 years of training that's up to a total of 50 pounds of muscle, which is enough to transform you from a skinny guy into a real powerful athlete. Whether or not you will be one of the lucky 50 lbs gainers depends on only two things: how well you adhere to the principles summarized above and your genetic potential. Wish you good luck!

18

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

Nutrition Nutrition is extremely important in bodybuilding, but fortunately it is also very simple. Basically a good bodybuilding diet equals a normal healthy diet plus three big protein shakes per day. Can it be any simpler? For those of you who didn't learn at school how a normal healthy diet looks like, I recommend you to do some research on the internet. I also advise you to take a look at my section on losing body fat.

Calories The total number or calories that you daily eat and drink is very important. If you take in more calories than your body burns, you will gain weight. If you take in fewer calories than your body burns, you will lose weight. The number of calories that you burn during a typical day (= daily caloric need) depends on your gender, age, body weight, lean body mass, length and physical activity. You can try out my calculator to estimate your daily caloric need or a more advanced formula on the internet. If you want to build muscle mass, your calorie intake should be equal to or a few hundred calories higher than your daily caloric need. If you want to lose body fat your calorie intake should be equal to or a few hundred calories lower than your daily caloric need. I personally eat about 3,500 calories per day when I train 5 days per week. Bodybuilders who are using anabolic steroids consume much more calories; they burn usually about twice as many calories. The really big bodybuilders who use steroids often eat between 6,000 and 9,000 calories per day without gaining any body fat. Note: one gram of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, and alcohol contain 4, 4, 9, and 7 calories, respectively. One kilogram (2.2 lbs) of body fat contains about 7,700 cals.

Healthy Diet If you want to learn some general things about a healthy diet, please search the internet. Below I provide some of my personal opinions on the most important nutrients, and I say something about their relevance in a bodybuilding diet.

Water Water is the most important nutrient for almost any living organism. Drinking a lot is healthy, especially for the kidneys. Drink about 3 liters of water per day (milk and juice contain about 90% water). Don't drink too much alcohol, caffeine and sugar containing drinks. Unless your workouts take longer than 1 hour, there is no real need to drink or eat during your workouts.

Protein Protein is without any doubt the most important nutrient for any bodybuilder. Eat at least 1 gram of animal protein for each pound of your body weight (1 kg = 2.2 lbs). I 19

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

personally eat about 300 grams of protein per day. A high daily intake of protein is an absolute requirement to make muscle growth possible, and protein is excellent in reducing the hunger feeling during a low calorie diet. Good sources of protein are milk, eggs, poultry, meat and fish.

Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are the best source of energy for bodybuilders as they are easily converted into glycogen, the main form of stored energy in the muscles. Avoid sugars and other carbohydrates with a high glycemic index (blood glucose levels increase fast after ingestion, causing an insulin peak). Good sources of carbohydrates are vegetables, fruit, milk, pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, and cereals such as oats, wheat and barley.

Fat Keep your fat intake limited. Avoid saturated fats, which are usually from animal origin. Good sources of fat are fat fish, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils such as flaxseed oil (rich in omega-3 fatty acids that may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease), olive oil (rich in monounsaturated fatty acids that may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease) or sunflower oil (rich in vitamin E which is a strong antioxidant that prevents the celldamaging effects of free radicals).

Vitamins and minerals Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients for a good health. However, if you follow a normal healthy diet, especially if you regularly include some grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, you will have plenty of all vitamins and minerals. Extra vitamins or minerals will certainly not stimulate muscle growth or body fat reduction.

Nicotine, alcohol, caffeine and other addictive drugs I don't believe it is possible to be a successful true natural bodybuilder if you are addicted to any of these drugs, especially nicotine (tobacco).

Protein Shakes Protein shakes are the simplest, least expensive, and most effective way to turn your normal healthy diet into an effective bodybuilding diet. I recommend you to drink three big protein shakes per day in between your other meals. Blend about 60 grams of milk protein powder (= about 50 grams of pure protein) with 0.5 liter of non-fat milk. Each protein shake will then contain about 66 grams of high quality protein, 25 grams of lactose (which is a very good carbohydrate with a low glycemic index), maximum a few grams of fat, and a total of about 375 calories. Adjust the size of your shakes to your personal needs. For those who are lactose intolerant I recommend to use egg protein powder and soy milk, juice or plain water to prepare your protein shakes. There also exist protein 20

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

powders that are very low in lactose, very interesting for lactose intolerant people who have difficulties digesting milk sugar. When I was still studying at the university and didn't have access to protein powder, I used to drink a gallon (3.8 liters) of non-fat milk per day, eat three eggs per day, and lots of turkey, chicken breasts and tuna instead of protein shakes. In the mean time I have tried many brands and kinds of protein powder, and I find all of them equally effective.

Meal Replacement Shake Let me also present how I make my favorite whole meal shakes that are rich in high quality proteins and carbohydrates, high in fiber, low in fat, full of all necessary vitamins and minerals, and free of chemical additives. Add the following ingredients into your blender: 1 banana 500 mL of (skimmed) milk 250 mL of fruit juice (apple, orange, pineapple or grapes) 60 grams of Milk Protein Smooth (100% natural and free of chemicals) 35 grams of done whole grain wheat flour (Brinta Classic) or ultra fine oat powder After blending for 30 seconds you get a delicious shake of 700 calories containing 100 gram carbs, 70 gram protein, 2 gram fat, and 750 mL water. Note that apple juice, orange juice, pineapple juice and grape juice contain 46, 47, 53 and 60 calories per 100 g, respectively. Orange juice is contains by far the most vitamin B and C. If you want an extra thick shake that digests more slowly and kills the hunger for a longer time, you can add a small amount (95), it is stored as body fat very easily as soon as there is too much glucose in the blood, and you become hungry again very fast. Products that contain lots of glucose should be avoided if you want to lose body fat.

136

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

Sucrose Sucrose (table sugar) tastes about 33% sweeter than glucose and occurs in products such as white table sugar, honey, candy, jam, biscuits, chocolate, soft drinks, etc. Sucrose is a disaccharide that is split into glucose and fructose during digestion, and has a GI of about 75. Avoid products that contain lots of sucrose as much as possible. If you like soft drinks, pick the artificially sweetened ones that are sugar-free and contain zero calories.

Fructose Fructose is the sweetest carbohydrate (about 70% sweeter than sucrose) and is the most important carb in fruits and some vegetables. This monosaccharide is converted into glucose very slowly and has a GI of about 20. Unfortunately, fructose is rather easily converted into fat by the liver, and therefore its consumption should remain moderate. Because fresh fruits mainly contain water and lots of fiber, it is fine to eat a few pieces of fruit every day. Do not eat dried fruit and jam because they contain too much sugar per gram. Also don't drink any fruit juices as they get absorbed very fast.

Lactose Lactose is the carb that occurs in milk and milk products, and it does not have a sweet taste. Lactose is a disaccharide that is split by the enzyme lactase into glucose and galactose during digestion. Lactose is a very good carb because it digests very slowly and has a low GI of about 45. This way, it is unlikely that is will be stored as body fat, and it takes a long time before you become hungry again. Drink only zero-fat milk and eat low-fat yogurt and cheese. Be careful, most cheese contains lots of fat.

Complex carbs Complex carbs are basically long chains of glucose molecules, that mainly occur in products such as starch, maltodextrin, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, cereals, and vegetables. Complex carbs don't taste sweet. They digest rather fast into glucose (GI>80), especially when the products are cooked (not eaten raw) and/or contain little fiber. Don't eat too much bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta. It is better to eat uncooked vegetables because they contain lots of fiber that slows down the digestion.

Protein Proteins are without doubt the best nutrient to eat for people who want to lose body fat. Eat as much as 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (1 kg = 2.2 lbs). Proteins digest very slowly, they slow down the uptake of glucose in the blood, and they reduce the hunger feeling significantly. Proteins do not easily convert into body fat (the body burns about 1 calorie to convert 1 gram of protein into body fat. Therefore, 1 gram of protein can only be converted into 0.4 gram of fat). Protein is also an essential nutrient for maintaining your muscle mass during a low calorie diet. Be careful, egg yolks, cheese, milk, nuts, fish, and meat can contain lots of fat. Therefore it is better to chose products that are high in protein and low in fat, such as 137

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

chicken and turkey breast, egg whites, non-fat milk, non-fat cheese and yogurt, low-fat fish and low-fat meat. Avoid chicken skin, sausages, hamburgers, and other meat products that are prepared with lots of fat or oil. Grill you meat and boil your eggs instead of baking them in butter or oil.

Eat slowly digesting food It is important to eat mainly products that digest slowly (low glycemic index) because of two reasons. Because their nutrients are released more slowly into the blood stream, they are less likely to be converted into body fat. Secondly, it will take longer before you become hungry again. Protein, lactose and fructose are the best nutrients for a slow digestion. Foods that contain lots of fiber (dark bread, brown rice, fresh fruit, raw vegetables), and uncooked products also slow down the digestion. The longer you cook your products, the faster they will digest.

Meals It is very important to eat at least 4 small meals per day, rather than 1 or 2 big meals. A couple of hours after a meal all food will be digested and all its nutrients are entered into the blood stream. If your blood is overloaded with nutrients (glucose, protein, fat) from a big meal, the body will start storing it as body fat. Moreover, by eating big meals, your stomach will become larger, resulting in a stronger hunger feeling. There are basically two things that result in a hunger feeling: an empty stomach and a low level of blood glucose (or other nutrients). Several small meals spread over the day keep your stomach smaller and keep your blood glucose level high enough throughout the day. Each of your meals should contain some protein and some carbs. Avoid fats, oils, sugar, and alcohol as much as possible. I would recommend you to eat at least 4 small meals per day, each of the same size. In the middle between each meal, drink a protein shake containing zero-fat milk and milk protein (casein) powder. Try to eat every day 2 grams of protein per kg of body weight, less than 30 grams of fat and oil, no sugar, and no alcohol. Drink at least 2 liter of water per day (the water in your tea, milk, and juice, obviously also counts).

Recommended food products zero-fat milk, non-fat yogurt, non-fat quark and cheese low-fat meat such as beef and horse low-fat fish such as tuna turkey and chicken breast without skin egg whites fresh fruits un-cooked vegetables, peas, and beans dark bread, brown rice, potatoes, dark pasta milk protein (calcium caseinate) powder water, sugar-free tea, zero calorie drinks

138

True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com

© Copyright 2008 True Natural Bodybuilding. All content is copyright protected.

Food products to be avoided fruit juice, dried fruit, grapes, honey, jam candy, cakes, biscuits, nuts, chips, nachos, fries fat meat, fat fish, egg yolks, sausages, hamburgers fat sauces, chocolate, sugar, butter, cream, oil white bread, white rice, white pasta alcoholic drinks such as wine, beer, vodka sugar containing drinks such as lemonade, cola

Hunger Control These are some ways to manage the hunger feeling during a low calorie diet. Eat at least 4 small meals instead of 1 or 2 big meals. Eat foods that digest slowly (high in protein, lactose, fiber, raw vegetables and fruits). Drink and eat foods with a low caloric density (low number of calories per serving or per 100 grams). They fill your stomach while keeping your calorie intake low. Drink a zero-fat milk protein (casein) shake between your meals. Add some (