Bodybuilders all think that gym time is the most important aspect to bodybuilding.  But it’s not.  Think about this.  If your body doesn’t have the fuel to get through the workout or the nutrients needed to repair itself and to grow, that time you spend pushing around weights will be wasted.  Bodybuilders love to cut corners and rely on supplements to make up for what they are not getting from their meals. But if you spend a little more time focused on your meals, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results you get from those workouts.

I found a great article that talks about which meal is most important to a bodybuilder.  Check it out here:

What Is The Most Important Meal To A Bodybuilder?

You are what you eat. Muscles are made in the kitchen, not in the gym. Eat big to get big.

In case you didn’t get the memo, nutrition is an essential component of fitness. In addition to providing the fuel to lift weight, food also provides the body with energy for the necessary growth and repair. While you should keep your goals in mind every time you sit down to chow down, some meals are more important than others.

If I asked you what you thought the most important meal of the day is, you’d probably either give me the “Mom” answer or the “Bro” answer – namely, breakfast or post workout. However, in my eyes, either way – you’d be wrong.

No, I’m not being crazy, I’m just being logical. The most important meal of your day is your PRE-WORKOUT meal. Why? Simple – the pre-workout meal is the one that determines how hard you can work in the gym. You can’t drive a car without anything in the tank, right? So how is your body any different?

I don’t care how much you bench or how fast you run. While you can push your body to perform near-miraculous feats, there is one thing you can’t do – and that is defy digestion.

Though supplement companies, and yes, even your good bros at the gym, have been pounding the importance of post-workout nutrition into your head, what they fail to realize is that the meal you eat before you workout hasn’t even been fully digested by the time you’re running to your car to slam your whey isolate and dextrose shake.

You can spike your insulin through the roof after lifting, but it’s not going to change what’s already working its way through your digestive system.

And just for clarification – by pre-workout meal, I don’t mean the creatine-caffeine colada you slam while in the locker room. I’m talking about an actual meal, about one and a half hours before you hit the weights.

What Would You Eat For This Meal?

So what’s the magic formula? I guess I’ll admit it now. I don’t have one. The most important thing to do is eat a balanced meal, meaning one consisting of carbohydrates, protein and fats.

I’d suggest making the bulk of the calories in the pre-workout meal from carbohydrates. Because your body relies on glycogen stores to power you through your workout, you’ll need something to fill those stores. And that something is carbohydrates. As you’ll be leaving some time before you workout, choose some low-GI carbohydrates to ensure a steady flow of energy and avoid a crash before you even reach the gym.

You’ll also want to include protein in your pre-workout meal. Why? Because protein contains amino acids, the building blocks of muscle. Choose a slow-digesting protein, such as meat or casein, as this will keep amino acids in your blood throughout and after your workout. And this is where I’m going to directly oppose the post-workout pushers. Source

 

We thought this was a great article to add to our blog because bodybuilding incorporates so many things and we need to look at each and every one of them.

In addition to a great meal, we’d like to suggest you look at including a nitric oxide supplement (contains amino acids) such as Xtreme NO.  You can read about what it can do and why we highly recommend it here:  Xtreme NO