I promise this won’t be an anti alcohol speech. I’m not anti alcohol at all. I enjoy having some drinks sometimes.

If you’re trying to build muscle, consuming a lot of alcohol will have a bad impact.

Here are 5 ways that drinking alcohol can slow your muscle gains…

#1 It Slows Protein Synthesis

Amino acids have to band together to form proteins. This is called protein synthesis. Drinking too much can slow this process down by 20%.

Your muscles are made mostly of protein and water, so you can see how this is a concern!

#2 It Drops Testosterone

If you want to gain muscle, testosterone is your best friend!

#3 It Dehydrates You

To break down the alcohol, your kidneys must filter large amounts of water. This can cause major dehydration

Your muscles are about 70% water, so even slight dehydration is a problem.

#4 It Depletes Your Body Of Vitamins And Minerals

Excessive drinking causes vitamins A, C, B, calcium, and other minerals to be drained at fast rates.

This adversely affects many functions within your body, including repair and growth of muscle tissue.

#5 It Causes Fat Storage

Alcohol can also be fattening. For one, the calories contain no value nutritionally. Two, alcohol disrupts the Krebs Cycle. The Krebs Cycle plays a role in fat burning processes. If you gain body fat, your muscle will be less visible.

If you want to build muscle fast, monitor your alcohol intake and drink in moderation.

Having some drinks sometimes won’t hurt too much. If you like to get drunk every weekend, just know that it’s probably going to slow down your ability to gain muscle mass.

Before drinking alcohol, drink loads of water, eat a meal high in protein and swallow down a good multi vitamin.

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Alcohol & Muscle – 5 Ways Alcohol Affects Muscle Gains

To lose excess pounds requires you to do certain things that are totally contrasting from the things you must do in order to build muscles. To be able to build muscles, one has to take up more calories compared to what your body can burn in one day, while fewer calorie-intake is needed to lose weight.

Despite the different requirements between burning fat and building muscles, there is a very fine link that exists between these two. To be able to achieve stronger muscles, you have to take on different training exercises that will boost your strength and endurance. Your muscles would become bigger and stronger in time as you exercise. As your muscles continue to grow strong and big, they would have a need for more nutrients and rest. The process of fat burning grows to be more effective as muscle tissues develop that brings about the enhancement of the metabolic rate of the body, since muscles are metabolically active. Accordingly, you are inclined to shake off excess weight and achieve lean muscle mass in your body.

It is wise that you should be very cautious about preserving your lean body mass as you try to shake off unwanted body fat. The Proactol fat binder can get you there. Since you will surely lose protein and carbohydrates while working out and going on a low-calorie diet, it is important to compensate for these lost nutrients in order to preserve one’s lean muscle mass and energy levels.

A high-calorie, protein-rich diet is not the only thing necessary if you want to build great muscles, you have to undertake certain workouts and strength training exercises and you also have to allow your muscles to rest for a sufficient period of time to let it recover and grow.

For best results, every bodybuilder should concentrate on exerting the muscles more compared to the last session of workout either by increasing the amount of weights used, or by doing more number of repetitions. These ways of exerting the muscles harder than before are known as taking progressive overloads.

Never train your muscles too much as it can have negative effects on the process of muscle building. Ideally, you need to workout at least three times a week and alternate it with two days of rest period to allow repair and growth of damaged muscles.

If you want to concentrate on losing weight and building muscles, you have to lose as much fat as possible and try to preserve your muscle mass as well. For this, you will have to boost up the intensity of your workouts as well as your protein intake considerably (at least 2 gm/kg of body weight). Schedule the time when you should take in the amount of protein you need in such a way that you consume the recommended quantity within two hours of completion of a rigorous workout session in order to facilitate the ready availability of proteins for muscle tissue repair.

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Burn out Fat and Develop Muscles Simultaneously

The muscle tissue tends to break down after an intense workout session. To counter this, you should have an easily digestible meal immediately post workouts helping the muscles recover sooner than usual.

The post-workout meal is often skipped by people. This meal, however, is most important when it comes to recouping the muscles and achieving the desired results in the shortest period of time.

The meal should contain carbohydrates and protein in the ratio 3:1 making it easily digestible. The nutrients are quickly absorbed into the body and the meal is easily digested. Such a post-workout meal should consist anywhere between 350 to 500 calories depending upon the individual. This is essential for muscle growth and faster muscle recovery.

Fat is usually difficult to be digested. So, be sure to avoid a fatty meal. Including fat in your post-workout meal will slow down the digestion and absorption processes. Trust me, you do not want this to happen. Have a quickly digestible meal, therefore, to help faster muscle growth. Muscle building burns more fat, however.

Here are some ingredients that you can include in your post-workout meal:

-Whey protein isolate – this is an easily digestible protein

-Pineapples

-Raisins

-Maple Syrup (Natural)

-Yogurt (Fat free or low fat)

-Frozen fruits

A smoothie can be a good post-workout meal. Use a blender to blend 2 frozen bananas and about ½ a cup of berries, along with some skimmed milk and a scoop of protein powder (any flavor), until smooth. Use your personal preferences to pick and choose the ingredients.

If you do not want to take whole foods after your post workout meal, you can take supplements as an alternative. This is because consuming whole foods immediately after an intensive workout session can sometimes be too heavy for some individuals. A sample post workout diet supplement is as follows:

Sugar – 50 grams

Whey Protein – 40 grams

Glutamine – 10 grams

Creatine – 5 grams

Arginine – 5 grams

Add about 32 ounces of water and mix all of the above together.

During your workout, keep sipping a bit of the mixture at regular intervals. Add another 16 ounces of water when you’re half way through your workout. Since body fluids add more volume to the blood, they will help pump more blood during workouts.

People who don’t like to eat immediately after a workout can opt for the protein rich smoothie. Immediately after your workout, consume the refrigerated smoothie. You can refrigerate it for about 40 minutes.

Since the post-workout meal serves a specific purpose – treating the body muscles soon after workout and helping them recover faster – it’s natural for you to have noticed ingredients that are otherwise uncommon in our regular meals. Although rich, this meal helps regain the lost energy but not add any additional calories since all that you consume is quickly absorbed to compensate the loss.

If not more, the post-workout meal is at least as important as any other regular meal of the day. When you skip this meal, you will delay muscle repair thereby, also delaying muscle growth. Post workout nutrition is, therefore, extremely essential to effective and safe body building.

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Post Workout Nutrition

Weeks 1 to 4

Start your muscle building program by working out four days a week. We are going to start with two exercises for each body part and four sets for each exercise. The rep sequence you will be doing is 15, 12, 10 and 8. We will use this first set as a warm up to help you to learn how to control the weight and to make sure your muscles are totally warmed up.

Light weight is ok to use on the first set. Consider this set a warm up exercise. The next three sets you will increase the weight you are using each time until you can perform only the amount of reps recommended. We are not going to failure at this point so make sure that when you have completed the last rep you still could do another one.

There are many customized muscle building programs that you can use to help you to get big and cut.

There are others out there that suggest your muscle building program should have you doing a complete body workout each day for three days a week. This is one way to do it, but I would rather reduce the different body parts worked out each day to one in order to help reduce the chance of injury and to help you stay motivated. Training your muscles without the proper attention will make it hard for your muscles to get big and ripped. You have to be focused on training only one muscle group at a time.

Sample Muscle Building Workout

4 sets of 15, 12, 10, 8 repetitions

Monday: Chest
Bench Press
Dips

These two weight lifting exercises are an effective way to get a full chest workout. Not just that but this will also exercise your core and arm muscles. These are compound exercises and are meant to give you an overall workout experience.

Tuesday: Legs
Squats
Lunges

Squats are a great compound exercise that will build great leg mass, release your body’s natural hormones and also increase your oxygen absorption. Lunges are important to you overall workout success because they will increase your balance and leg strength. To reduce injury and reach our weight lifting goals we must concentrate on these stabilizing groups of muscles.

Wednesday: Back
Dead Lift
Bent Over Rows

Dead lifts make people run for cover. If you’re like me I felt the same way at first until I started doing them as a main stay of my back workout. There aren’t any better exercises to add to your muscle building program. Let me ask you a question. When have you ever seen a skinny guy who power lifts? These guys are huge and you know what exercise they do on a regular basis? Bingo, the Dead Lift.

Bent over rows and dead lifts are all you really need to do right now to build a very impressive physique.

Thursday: Cardio Workout

Today you can choose what cardio exercises you want to do. Try using a stationary bike. You can either do aerobics or swim. The reason we include this is to stimulate your fat burning, increase your wind and power your muscle building program. Neglect this and you are limiting your chances of success.

Be sure to take the next three days off. Give your body a chance to recuperate and to grow. Your body doesn’t grow while you’re lifting you’re body grows while you’re resting.

You may have noticed that this muscle building program doesn’t include any arm training. One reason is that doing compound exercises also workout your biceps and triceps. Right now you don’t need to do any isolation exercises. We are trying to build a big solid core of muscle and help insure our success. Your arms will get big. I can guarantee it. It’s imperative that you remember to workout for no more than thirty minutes.

This muscle building program has worked for me in the past and will continue to work for me in the future. The truth is that there are muscle building programs that work well and they allow you to tailor them to fit your body type. Don’t be afraid to try different things. Shock and confuse your muscles for optimum growth.

Good luck and great training!

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Quick Start Muscle Building Program

Protein is good and effective body building supplement and it is recommended by many muscle building experts. Protein helps bring all the necessary muscle building enzymes to where they need to be. Your energy level will also be increased by protein for more working out.

Wait, before reading the next paragraph, I want to let you know the best protein supplement we recommended is Syntha 6.

Anyway, let’s continue of what bodybuilding supplement is all about…

Whey protein can help you a lot in your muscle building process and it is also one of the best protein supplements. It’s all natural and can give the best results when it’s taken in the right doses and the right amounts.

Creatine is another bodybuilding supplement you should take into account. Creatine can let you have improved working out exercises and stay energized. Increasing the level of creatine, which was generated in your body naturally, is a great way to have improved results in your muscle building progress.

Regarding creatine supplement, I want to let you know the best creatine supplement we recommended is Cell Tech.

Anyway, back to what bodybuilding supplement is all about…

When you are lifting weights in your body building workout, your muscles are under a certain amount of stress. Your body has to produce a chemical called nitric oxide to fight with this pressure or stress. Bodybuilding supplement is a good nitric oxide source if you are doing some highly pressured training exercises. Nitric oxide would also have some side effects with sexual health; so if you think this is the best body building supplement for you, by all means, choose it.

You should consider another good supplement – glutamine in your workout routine if you want to achieve the best results. The required nutrients for building muscle need to be taken to muscles for functional. And glutamine can do that for growing bigger and more toned muscles.

Choosing the best body building supplement has to be a personal decision. While picking supplement, you have to take your goal into consideration and select one to help you accomplish the goals. Because each supplement has different functions. And this is important to select a right supplement to help you do the most effective working out exercises.

Research different brands and pick a company that has proven results. Some companies who claim that their products are effective. But they just provide supplements that do nothing at all. Before taking action to buy supplement, remember to check out user reviews. Picking the best body building supplement can truly enhance your workout regimen and contribute to a beautiful body as an end result.

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Best Legal Muscle Building Supplements

Diet

The primary thing we need to consider is our diet. As a direct influence of the foods we eat our health can seriously suffer. High fat low nutrient food will adversely effect the quality of our workouts It can’t be any easier. Stop consuming the processed low nutrient foods. You will notice your body responding with an increased measure of vitality and vigor as you start eating more fresh vegetables and fruits. By accepting this healthy alternative to eating you will remain healthy for a long time.

Start your muscle building workout.

Warm up Your Body

You must begin slowly once you have made up your mind to begin working out. Any muscle building routine must include plenty of warm up time and plenty of rest time. Spend 10 minutes before each workout warming up. I choose to ride the stationary bike for ten minutes so my body and muscles are warmed up and less inclined to injury. After your muscle building workout it is necessary to rest so your body can recoup. When we were young we could go out at night and be fine the next day, that’s not true anymore. These are facts we have to live with if we are going to be productive.

Working out the whole body is a smarter alternative than just working out individual muscles. I prefer to use machines and body weight exercises because I feel it gives me the best chance of success without fear of injuring myself. This decision should be based on your overall physical condition. Your program can include free weights if you so desire. I advocate only working out three times a week in the beginning. To help build stamina and endurance you should also do cardio when you can. Get off the couch and start doing some cardio as a regular part of your weekly routine.

Record Your Progress

Do you require a real incentive? Start your weight lifting by recording your progress using a before and after picture. Keep these as a reminder of where you were and where you are heading. This will motivate the people around you to get into shape as well. You will be overwhelmed when you notice how your body can change in such a brief amount of time. If you stick to it and stay motivated you can change your body for the better.

You want to make sure you use a muscle building program that targets your age and body type. The program i have been using meets all the criterion for my particular needs. At 40 years of age I am in the best shape of my life. You can do it there is nothing stopping you.

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Muscle Building Workout Designed For Us Older Folks

Many of us believe that to succeed as a bodybuilder you need to eat meat. However, this is not the case and most vegetarian bodybuilders are not the typical skinny, gaunt figures portrayed by the media. Many meat eating bodybuilders are now turning to natural bodybuilding and creating a diet that will support their muscle building ambitions. One of the perceived problems is: how do you build muscle if you are lacking in proteins? well lets look at this next.

Are Proteins a Problem? 

Many people believe that without eating the meat of an animal, you will not be able to get enough protein and other essential nutrients for a normal healthy diet. This has proved simply not true and when it comes to vegetarian bodybuilders you can easily get the proteins necessary from other food sources such as soy products, beans, various grains, eggs and dairy products which provide plenty of muscle building proteins.

Indeed, many vegetarian athletes drink supplemental drinks with whey protein as well as other important vitamins and minerals like vitamin B12, zinc, and iron. It is true that meat provides these essentials but the daily allowances are simply not enough for vegetarian bodybuilders and this applies to other foods too. Supplements are important to get enough of the essentials that are lacking in any diet, whether it is a vegetarian one or not.

Can Vegetarian Bodybuilders Build Muscle?

Most vegetarians actually have a better chance of growing muscle and building strength on a meat free diet. Vegetarian body building means exactly that – building muscle mass and strength based on a diet filled with fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Eating meats can actually slow down your metabolism because it takes so much energy to digest it, whereas with a vegetarian diet, your body actually speeds up its digestion.

Vegetarian body building means being creative with meals to ensure that you have plenty of vitamins and minerals represented in the foods you eat. Many body builders who abstain from meat have consulted with nutritionists to ensure that their diet as well as supplements provides what is needed to maintain and grow muscle mass.

Are Vegetarian Bodybuilders Healthy?

I hope you have seen that being a vegetarian is actually quite healthy, reducing cholesterol and blood sugar levels that many vegetarian body building athletes (like Carl Lewis) can attest to! It is now known that many meats, even the lean ones, have the presence of “bad” cholesterol or LDL which can raise cholesterol levels and therefore, your blood pressure. By dropping meat from the menu you are also able to eliminate trans fats and saturated fats. In fact, all the foods that vegetarians eat along with some supplemental items can more than provide the vitamins and minerals needed to succeed at vegetarian body building.

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The Vegetarian Body Builder

If you have ever studied the effects of fish oil supplements you know the many benefits. Krill Oil offers all that and more, without the after taste. Antarctic Krill Oil provides protection for a healthy heart and joints. Recent studies have shown that it also helps with anti-aging and makes women not only feel younger but relieves many of the usual PMS symptoms.

Omega3 fatty acids as well as phospholipids and antioxidants are packed into Neptune Krill Oil. These work in tandom to increase muscle growth, better joints, and a strong cardiovascular systom.

Krill are the small shrimp like animals so prevalent in the Antartic ocean. It is the only known animal to contain phospholipids that are rich in omega3 fatty acids. They help protect and maintain the cell membrane and can all be supplied by Neptune krill oil.  Acting as an emulsifing agent, the phospholipids can be distributed to the cells faster.  Krill oil will result in stronger and well protected cell membranes.

Healthy cell membranes offer a layer of protection surrounding your cells. Every part of your body, from your skin to your brain and heart is made of various types of cells. Your body made of cells, that if not nurtured, can be attacked which speeds up the aging process. Krill oil can slow the aging process thus giving you youthful looks and more energy. Unlike fish oil, Neptune Krill Oil does not have unhealthy levels of mercury, it has a longer shelf life and has a clean, fresh taste. Krill oil is also over 40 times more effective than fish oil and over 30 times more so than Coenzyme Q10.

Krill oil is also high in natural antioxidants, which protect the cell membrane.  In one serving of Krill oil you get 100 IU of vitamin A, 1.5 mg of astazanthin, an immune supporting carotenoid.  With aging comes disease and loss of strength and mobility, but a healthy living diet rich in antioxidants available in fresh fruits and vegetables can alleviate this occurance. Antioxidant filled Neptune krill oil supplements can aid in the treatment of arthritis pain, enhance vigor and stamina, boost the immune system, reduce the risk of heart disease and protect the eyes and skin.

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Krill Oil Promotes a Strong Immune System

There are tons of opinions about body building techniques. Every bodybuilder has his or her own weight training program. While you’re going to have to focus on your body to deliver the serious gains you’re looking for, I’m going to share with you one of the most powerful body building techniques you’ll ever encounter. I’m calling this a secret, but it isn’t such a secret after all.

Do you want to see the killer results typically only achieved by serious body builders? This means you need to focus on your mental prepration and you mental approach to your workout. Prepare your mind before you start lifting. Prepare your mind, then develop your body.

The first mental body building technique is a simple one: create a positive attitude. Your mind and your body will suffer from negativity. Don’t let a negative outlook affect your focus and concentration. Approach your body building regiment with a positive attitude for the best results. Approach each workout with a positive attitude. If you find yourself feeling negative, take a moment to reassess and turn those thoughts to more positive ones.

Visualization is the next technique we will tackle once you have the positive frame of mind technique down. Like a classic sculptor who had the finished design of his masterpiece in mind before he ever chipped away a single bit of marble, you should visualize the completed masterpiece that will be your physique when you’ve finally reached your goals. Picture what your body will look like when you achieve your goals. Study your mental image and apply the body building techniques that will best deliver that chiseled body you desire. You are who you think you are.

Finally, your mental preparation should include my third technique: exercise the mind as well as exercising the body. Engage yourself in mind-stimulating activities when you’re outside the gym. Don’t focus intently on building your body and then allow your brain to turn into mush! Stay mentally sharp and study body building techniques, nutrition and other issues that might help you enhance your mind building activities.

You are selling yourself short if you don’t prepare mentally. Without good mental preparation, you’ll never be able to perform to your fullest potential. Make every session your most important session ever. Practice the three mental body building techniques: positive attitude, visualization, and mental agility so that you’re certain to make the most out of your workouts.

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Secret Body Building Technique that Delivers Killer Results

The main way your body restores itself is through sound sleep each night. You need to get plenty of sleep and rest so your body will be able to properly recuperate and recover between training sessions. The correct amount of sleep can vary from individual to individual, but 8-10 hours is the normal amount. Whatever your ideal length of rest may be, the goal is to sleep long enough every night so you feel completely rested the following morning.

Over training will damage your bodies muscle recovery cycle. Two factors that contribute to over training are: excessively frequent training sessions and long workouts. Here are the main symptoms of over training: lack of enthusiasm for training, persistently sore joints, nervousness, lack of energy, sleeplessness, frequent illness, elevated morning blood pressure and elevated morning pulse. If you are experiencing two or more of these symptoms, you are without a doubt over training.

Watch how many sets you are performing and your training frequency. If you’re just starting out or new to weightlifting, start with a 3 days a week workout. Your body will tell you when it is time to graduate to a more advanced workout. Recovery is just as important as training and following a proper diet. Because many muscle builders ignore recovery, they end up wasting their time sick or sore instead of gaining quality muscle mass. Don’t try to follow the same workout that the professionals use. You have to understand that these professionals have spent decades lifting weights and improving their recuperative abilities. If you try to copy one of their bodybuilding workouts you will make very little gains in muscle mass.

These are just a couple of reasons why having an understanding of muscle recovery will enable you to achieve your weight lifting goals.  Visit Muscle Building Programs For more information on bodybuilding and muscle recovery.

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Discover Muscle Recovery