Vitamins & Minerals To Gain Muscle Mass
It is true that extravagant vitamin & mineral supplements offer greater potency than their drug store counterparts, yet, I recommend purchasing less expensive alternatives, since the nutrient overload offered in common bodybuilding vitamin and mineral packs can actually harm health. Since the body cannot effectively implement excessive quantities of vitamins or minerals, the majority of name brand vitamin & mineral packs are either excreted in urine, or can disrupt normal body processes, so my recommendation in the MuscleNOW bodybuilding program is far safer and equally effective at building muscle mass.
In short, avoid overly hyped, expensive vitamin and mineral packs, as they will not help you to gain muscle mass, and may actually damage health, as well as unnecessarily lightening your wallet. Remember, gaining muscle mass results from proper weight lifting and diet methods, and no available bodybuilding supplement (including vitamins) will lead you towards physical improvement.
I have gained over 60 lbs of muscle mass naturally, and have guided men and women around the world towards achieving amazing results (as you will see by the hundreds of muscle building testimonials here at MuscleNOW.com). Now, I will show you how to improve your body using proper weight training workout and diet techniques alone, without bodybuilding supplements or steroids.
High Fat Diet Plan
Carbohydrates (carbs) are the body’s preferred energy source during high intensity (anaerobic) training (such as weight lifting), and when carbs are low, the body not only reduces its ability to generate sufficient intensity for high output activities, but also experiences a significant energy decline. When you consume carbohydrates at adequate levels, the body not only stores these carbohydrates in muscle tissue which, along with the accompanying water, provides for a pumping effect (thus larger muscles), but also enhances strength during your weight training sessions. What does greater strength equal? More overload during your workouts, and consequently, an improved level of muscle mass.
Dietary fat, in the absence of carbohydrates, is used as an energy source, but never with the efficiency of carbohydrate consumption. In fact, to steer the body towards dietary fat as a primary energy source, you need to reduce carbohydrates dramatically, and thus the diet becomes predominantly fat and protein, with very little carbohydrates to provide the advantages I mentioned earlier. Therefore, you achieve no carbohydrate loading in muscle tissue (and thus both strength and energy decline), no pumping of muscle tissue (smaller muscles), a reduction in metabolism (which occurs when carbohydrates are absent), and a greatly increased chance for physical ailments as you age if using saturated fat food sources as a large part of each day’s meal plan.
Believe me, high fat, low carbohydrate diet plans are not only ineffective at building muscle mass, but also extremely dangerous in the long run, and such an eating strategy can actually destroy metabolism, forcing an individual to consume very small amounts of food in order to maintain a healthy body weight (which is one of the most important reasons to never consider such a strategy!). Much of the yo-yo dieting that occurs is due to experimentation with diet techniques that rob the body of needed carbohydrates, therefore slowing metabolism and increasing the chance for quick weight regain.
A diet focused on proper carbohydrate, protein and fat ratios (which differ depending on the meal) provides the body with a perfect blend of nutrients to consistently build muscle mass, and allows for maximum weight training performance. If your goal is to achieve the best muscle mass gains possible, then keep in mind that you will experience disastrous energy levels and a reduction in both strength and muscle size by following the high fat diet routine.
Remember, a potent bodybuilding diet and weight training workout plan leads to dramatic increases in muscle mass, and no radical philosophy (such as the high fat diet plan) will provide positive results (evidenced by the millions who glide from one fad diet to the next). I have achieved tremendous success (over 60 lbs of muscle mass gained), and am now teaching men and women around the world exactly how to gain muscle mass without supplements by using my MuscleNOW bodybuilding program.
Whey Protein Powder
You may turn to protein powder for convenience, but such products do not provide a biological advantage over complete protein sources that are available in your local supermarket (regardless of what the bodybuilding supplement pushers claim). If you need a protein powder for convenience or portability, I suggest avoiding whey protein powder and using an egg based product instead, since whey protein powders have been said to contain MSG, which may be cancer-causing, and most whey protein powders also add other dangerous artificial sweeteners and additives to their products. Since MSG is often a byproduct of whey protein powder, I suggest using egg based products instead (not to mention you can pay less for egg protein, while avoiding MSG or the additional additives many whey powders contain).
I can recommend a specific egg based protein powder that I personally use for convenience and portability, as the product contains no artificial sweeteners or additives of any kind, and is farm fresh. But please remember that no protein powder is superior to complete protein foods such as chicken, fish, etc (the potency is identical), and should only be used for convenience or portability.
One of the biggest misconceptions in bodybuilding is that certain overpriced protein powders offer a more potent form of nutrients, and thus bodybuilders find themselves spending far more than necessary for protein powder simply because a company claims their product is slower digesting, or offers a higher biological value, when per gram, their protein powder is no more effective than any complete protein food, or egg protein powder. Beware of this false advertising gimmick claiming superior potency, which is used by bodybuilding supplement companies to try and rank their protein powder above the competition.
You should avoid ALL protein powders that contain additives or artificial sweetening (such as aspartame, sucralose, splenda, Acesulfame K, which is also called Acesulfame Potassium, etc) due to their adverse impact on health, and use egg protein powder to avoid potential health issues with whey supplements (if you own the MuscleNOW bodybuilding program, you will learn of my specific egg protein powder recommendations, and can contact me anytime with questions).
Remember, you will gain muscle mass by using a potent weight training workout plan and bodybuilding diet routine, with NO supposed band-aid (such as protein powder supplementation) serving as a valid substitute. I have achieved tremendous success (over 60 lbs of muscle mass gained), and am now teaching men and women around the world how to produce natural muscle gains through my MuscleNOW bodybuilding program, without supplements or steroids.