Catapult Your Muscle Gains With Proper Post-Workout Nutrition

By Sean Nalewanyj. Natural Bodybuilding Expert & Best-Selling Fitness Author. www.MuscleGainTruth.com. 

The post-workout period is without a doubt the most critical time to take advantage of proper muscle-building nutrition.

We’ll define the post workout period as the 3 hours that immediately follows an intense workout. It is during this time when the body is most primed for nutrient absorption and the muscles will literally act like a sponge, soaking up everything you present them with.

By feeding your body with the proper nutrients from both whole foods and supplements during this all-too important time frame you will greatly increase your muscle gains and improve your recovery time.

Let’s take a quick look at what needs to be accomplished after an intense workout:

1) Muscle breakdown must be minimized and the body must be put back into an anabolic, muscle-building state.

2) Blood sugar and glycogen levels must be restored.

3) Free radicals must be neutralized.

4) The muscles must be fed with proper nutrients to facilitate recovery and growth.

This can be accomplished by consuming 2 special “post-workout meals”.

The first meal should be consumed entirely in liquid form. Your body is in a high state of stress, literally starving for nutrients, and you need to replenish this imbalance in the fastest way possible. A liquid meal will be digested quicker than any other and will allow your body to start rebuilding itself immediately.

This post-workout shake should ideally contain the following:

1) 30-40 grams of whey protein.

2) 70-80 grams of simple sugar. (Dextrose is a great sugar to use)

3) 5 grams of creatine.

4) 5-10 grams of glutamine. (Optional)

All of these ingredients should be mixed in water and consumed within half an hour of completing your workout. I would also suggest taking a high-potency multivitamin along with the shake. This simple liquid meal will go a long way in accelerating the muscle growth process and helping you to recover.

About 45 minutes to an hour after your post-workout shake, you should consume your second post-workout meal, which should come from whole foods. This meal should be rich in protein and high glycemic carbohydrates.

High glycemic carbohydrates are those that are broken down rapidly into the bloodstream. Some examples include, potatoes, white rice or rice cakes. Here are a couple of examples of what your second post-workout meal might look like:

1) 6oz steak, 1 potato, 1 glass of orange juice

2) 1 can of tuna, 100g rice cakes, 1 glass of grapefruit juice

This meal will continue to provide your starving muscles with the nutrients they require in order to synthesize new muscle tissue and restore glycogen levels.

After this second meal there is still about 2 hours or so to take advantage of as best you can. Your goal in this 3-hour window is to consume as much high quality protein and high glycemic carbohydrates as you can.

Most lifters highly underestimate the value of the post-workout period and hinder their gains as a result. One of the biggest mistakes you could possibly make would be to ignore the value of this 3-hour period and to slack off on your protein and carb intake.

Treat the post-workout period with respect and prepare for a noticeable boost in your muscle size and strength gains.

There are also 3 other highly important times throughout the day to pay special attention to the foods and supplements that you consume. Visit www.MuscleGainTruth.com to find out what they are, and how to properly approach these periods for the best possible results.

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert, best-selling fitness author, and creator of the wildly popular online muscle building program, "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

Discover the 1 powerful secret to rapid muscle gains by visiting:www.MuscleGainTruth.com.

Note to the reader: You are free to reprint and redistribute this article as long as the content is not altered in any way, the links remain live and the author resource box (including this message) is left intact.

5 Reasons Why Alcohol Will Destroy Your Muscle Gains

By Sean Nalewanyj. Natural Bodybuilding Expert & Best-Selling Fitness Author. www.MuscleGainTruth.com  

I receive emails every single day from aspiring muscle-builders all over the world, and one of the most common questions I’m asked is... “Does drinking really affect the muscle growth process?”

I’m sorry to say it, but yes, too much alcohol will almost definitely have a significant negative impact on your muscle-building results. Alcohol is far more harmful than most people think, and it’s very important that you understand how this drug (yes, alcohol is a drug) is affecting your progress.

This is not an anti-drug speech, but if you’re serious about achieving a truly impressive physique, you should definitely be aware of the 5 main ways that alcohol is slowing down your gains…

1) It negatively affects protein synthesis.
Protein synthesis is the process where amino acids are joined together to form complete proteins. Excessive alcohol consumption slows this process down by up to 20%, and since your muscles are made up of protein, you can see how this is a problem.

2) It lowers testosterone levels and increases estrogen.
Testosterone is the most important muscle-building hormone in your body. One of the limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can gain is their level of free-flowing testosterone.

3) It causes dehydration.
The kidneys must filter very large amounts of water in order to break down the alcohol, and this can result in severe dehydration within the body. Water plays an absolutely crucial role in the muscle-building process, and being even slightly dehydrated is a recipe for disaster. The muscles alone are comprised of 70% water.

4) It depletes the body of vitamins and minerals.
Alcohol consumption causes vitamins A, C, the B's, calcium, zinc and phosphorus to all be drained at rapid rates. Vitamins and minerals keep every little process in your body functioning properly, and many of these processes involve muscle growth and maintenance.

5) It increases fat storage.
With 7 empty calories per gram, alcohol can actually be quite fattening. Alcohol also disrupts the Kreb’s Cycle, which plays an important role in fat burning.

It’s important to have fun in life, but too much fun can lead to problems. If you’re serious about achieving significant muscle-building results, you definitely need to monitor your intake of alcohol and make sure that you are consuming it in moderation.

A few drinks here and there shouldn’t be a problem, but if you find yourself drinking every weekend you can almost certainly kiss your muscle gains goodbye.

If you do decide to go out and party, make sure to drink plenty of water and to properly nourish yourself with vitamins/minerals and a protein rich meal.

I don’t recommend revolving your entire life around your muscle-building program, so don’t be afraid to go out and have a good time once in a while. Just make sure to keep your drinking nights infrequent (no more than once a month) and properly nourish yourself to lessen its effects.

As long as you monitor what you’re doing you can achieve an impressive physique and have a social life at the same time.

Learn how to avoid other common, counterproductive mistakes both in and out of the gym by visiting www.MuscleGainTruth.com. You can sign up for my free 8-part muscle building email course to help get you on the path to the powerful, head-turning body you deserve.

About The Author



Once an awkward, pencil-necked "social reject", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert, best-selling fitness author, and creator of the wildly popular online muscle building program, "The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System".

Discover the 1 powerful secret to rapid muscle gains by visiting: www.MuscleGainTruth.com.

Easy Way To Burn Fat: Drink Less Alcohol

Reducing your alcohol intake is one of the most basic steps you can take when you’re searching for an easy way to burn fat. While it is true that alcohol can be beneficial when consumed in moderation (given that it is made from all natural ingredients), excessive intake of alcohol can be extremely detrimental to your efforts to burn fat and build muscle. 

Consuming alcohol has a significant negative effect not only on your workout performance but also on your body’s ability to burn fat and build muscle.

Protein synthesis, a process that is critical for the development of new muscle tissue, is hindered by the consumption of alcohol; in other words, alcohol negatively impacts muscle gains. Muscle growth is slowed down when protein synthesis is hampered.

Another very harmful effect of alcohol is that it lowers the body’s testosterone levels. Research has indicated that the body’s testosterone levels drop by up to 25% when under intoxication; remember that testosterone plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to build muscle and burn fat. Apart from its effect on testosterone levels, alcohol is also known to reduce IGF-1, a powerful fat burning hormone.

Well-balanced hormonal levels are important to your bottom line results, and an easy way to burn fat is to control these levels by limiting your intake of alcohol.

Drinking enough water is the key to properly hydrating the body as well as keeping the fat burning processes optimally working. The body requires water to process alcohol, and this is why the body is easily dehydrated when you drink in excess.

Alcohol not only affects the hydration levels of your body but also interferes with your sleep patterns. While alcohol has been regarded as a sedative, it disturbs the quality of sleep, thereby impeding its benefits.

An easy way to burn fat is to reduce your alcohol intake so that your body remains properly hydrated and gets sufficient restful sleep, both of which are essential when transforming your physique.

Moreover, if you’re aiming to burn fat and build muscle, remember that the absorption of both vitamins and minerals is critical. Alcohol use has an unfavorable effect on the body’s ability to absorb important minerals and vitamins; this is one more reason why alcohol consumption should be closely checked.

Drinking alcohol directly inhibits the body’s fat burning ability by disrupting The Kreb’s Cycle; moreover, it accelerates the storage of fat by inhibiting the production of fat burning enzymes.

Moreover, alcohol has many empty calories with little nutritional value. Removing these empty calories from your diet is an easy way to burn fat.

Based on these reasons, it can be concluded that an easy way to burn fat is to limit alcohol consumption or abstain from it altogether. Enjoying a few drinks over the weekend will not be harmful; however, intoxication should be completely avoided.

Your fat burning progress will be compromised in a significant way if you drink to the point of inebriation more that one time in a month. If you really want serious results and are looking for every easy way to burn fat, you will have to put your alcohol consumption on hold.

Moderation is the key, and this is true for all things in life.

Eat More Protein for Fat Loss

If you want to change the composition of your body by building lean muscle and burning fat, one of the most effective ways to succeed is to eat more protein for fat loss. Truth be told, eating more protein for fat loss should be an integral part of your daily diet.

What Makes Complete Proteins Essential?
“Complete proteins” should be your main choice of protein when eating protein for fat loss. Foods that contain complete proteins have all the 8 essential amino acids that are not manufactured by the body.

When you eat incomplete proteins for fat loss, the body is forced to break down muscle mass so as to obtain the additional amino acids that it needs; thus, it is not as effective as eating complete proteins. Since muscle is regarded as a metabolically active tissue that can burn calories on its own, this is clearly not a good thing.

It is important to find out which foods contain all the 8 amino acids, and then focus on incorporating those sources into your diet. Skinless poultry, seafood, egg whites, and lean red meat are just some of the foods that contain complete proteins.

It is important to carefully select the food you eat if you want to benefit from the technique of eating more protein for fat loss. Unlike fats and carbohydrates, protein is not stored in the body for future use, and so it is important to restore the body’s requirements on a daily basis.

You’ll observe that most of the sources for complete proteins come from animals. Since the intake of animal protein involves the simultaneous intake of saturated fats, many experts advise avoiding them. However, in reality, this fact has been exaggerated. The amount of saturated fats in lean proteins like poultry, fish, lean red meats, and egg whites is minimal when compared to the benefits of eating more protein for fat loss.

While protein does have extremely positive effects on the maintenance and growth of muscle tissue, eating protein for fat loss should also be taken into consideration. Other foods cannot trigger the body’s internal fat burning mechanisms in the same way as high protein foods can. They say that not all calories are “created equal,” and this is true. Proteins are more beneficial than fats or carbohydrates when it comes to positively influencing your body composition.

Protein and Fat Loss.
Protein burns fat in two ways. The first is that it suppresses your feeling of hunger. The other is that it causes an increase in “thermogenesis.”.

Eating lean proteins keeps you feeling full for longer by telling your body that you are not hungry. This helps to keep you away from unwanted calories. Eating protein for fat loss actually reduces your appetite, thereby helping you to lose weight. Eating protein for fat loss will help you achieve success in sticking to your weight loss diet plan, and at the same time, it will help you build lean muscle. You will find that you will start feeling full shortly after eating and that you’ll not want to eat more.

Eating protein increases thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is essentially the increase in the internal body temperature and metabolism when the body works harder to digest the amino acids in the protein. This ensures that you burn more calories during digestion.

The above-mentioned advantages provide 2 more reasons to consider eating protein for fat loss. Eat a lean protein source at every meal if you are committed to transforming your body as quickly as possible.

Weight Loss Info: How Calories Work

If you’re looking for some free weight loss info that can help you lose body fat, continue reading to learn about how calories work. 

The body needs energy to perform everyday tasks. What’s more, a certain amount of energy is also needed for the routine functions of our internal organs. Every day, all the little things that we do, from simple tasks like brushing our teeth to intense sports, use up a little more energy from our body.

The energy that we need to perform everyday tasks comes from the calories that we take in when we eat. Think of your body as a car; the food or calories that you consume are like the fuel that drives the car. If we don’t have gas, we don’t have the energy we need to perform even simple daily tasks. On the flip side, putting in too much gas can cause the tank to overflow.

Weight Loss Info: What happens to the calories that we take in?

When we consume calories, the following two things happen:.

The first is that the calories are immediately converted into energy and used to fuel the body.

The other is that the calories are stored for future use.

Overfilling the tank all the time leads to a large surplus, and this has to be stored somewhere, ending up at places such as the hips, thighs, and stomach. If you can resist the temptation to fill the tank up every day, only then can you begin using the excess amounts already stored in the body.

If you use just a little bit of that excess each day, you will eventually be able to achieve your desired levels of body fat by means of constant reduction. In other words, in order to use up the excess calories that are stored as fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn as energy each day.

The trouble is that if you are used to “filling up” every day, this can take a lot of willpower. It should be noted that this has nothing to do with the type of gas that you’re using; it’s just simple math.

So, it doesn’t matter where the excess calories from, it could be spinach or French fries, the body will store it is as fat if it does not need it to function.

Free Weight Loss Info: How much of a calorie deficit is enough?
It’s true that calorie deficits are important. However, keep in mind that going overboard will trigger your body’s “famine response.”. If you cut down on too many calories, as a natural survival response to conserve energy, your body will slow down the rate at which it burns fat. So, you’ll in effect end up burning less fat and storing more at the same time. A slight deficit in your caloric intake will stimulate fat burning without triggering the natural survival responses of your body.

The most ideal measure is to consume about 300–500 calories less than what your body needs to maintain its current weight. Moreover, this is much easier than you might expect it to be. Many of us can eliminate 200–400 unnecessary calories just by cutting out soda and fruit juices from our diets, skipping the trip to Starbucks, or reducing portion sizes at meals. This is the simplest piece of free weight loss info that you’ll ever hear.

By reducing your daily caloric intake in small amounts, as you’ve learned in this free weight loss info, you will be able to retain more muscle and lose more fat than you would if you tried a restrictive “crash” diet.

Free weight loss info: In conclusion.
You can burn more calories than you consume by increasing your activity level and slightly cutting the number of calories you consume each day. You’ll start losing the pounds if you can achieve this on a regular basis.

While there is a lot of free weight loss info available to us, understanding how to create a proper calorie deficit is the most important piece of the puzzle.

12 Foods That Burn Fat Fast

A properly structured nutrition plan is essential for those who wish to begin a fat-loss or muscle-building program. 

According to experts, your daily nutrition plan is more important than your exercise routine. What you eat determines about three-quarters of the end result of your muscle-building or fat-loss program.

By focusing on the best foods that burn fat fast, this article provides an easy method for structuring an effective eating plan.

Below, I have listed twelve foods that burn fat fast and shown you how to utilize them in your daily eating plan.

1) One of the top twelve foods that burn fat fast are lean red meats.
Enriched with high quality protein, lean red meat helps in building lean muscle mass, which in turn aids in burning fat. To boost muscle growth and aid recovery between workouts, it is important to include lean red meats such as sirloin in your diet as these contain high amounts of zinc, B vitamins, and creatine.

2) Skinless turkey or chicken breasts are one of the twelve foods that burn fat fast.
Since skinless turkey and chicken breasts have very low amounts of fat and preservatives, but are rich in protein, they help in building muscle and stimulating fat loss. It’s important to remove the skin of such meats whenever possible since most of the fat is contained in it.

3) Add healthy omega 3 fatty acids to your diet by incorporating fish or seafood into your daily diet plan. Fish has extremely low quantities of saturated fat and is packed with protein that helps in building muscle and burning fat.

4) Egg whites are included among the foods that burn fat fast because they are completely fat-free.
A good addition to any meal or snack at any time of the day, egg whites have the highest quality whole-food protein available.

5) With almost no fat, skim milk is an excellent source of protein, providing eight grams per cup.
Low-fat dairy products like skim milk are loaded with calcium, and research has shown that calcium has fat burning properties. Casein, a slow-digesting protein, ensures that you feel full for a longer period of time; casein can be found in skim milk.

6) One of the foods that burn fat fast is low-fat cottage cheese.
Packed with 15 grams of protein per half cup serving, low-fat cottage cheese has all the healthy vitamins and minerals that are contained in skim milk. Low-fat cottage cheese makes you feel full for longer because it contains casein, a protein that is absorbed gradually.

7) Whey protein is sometimes classified as a supplement, but since it is derived from 100% natural sources, it can be categorized under the twelve foods that burn fat fast.

An excellent source of the highest quality protein, whey accelerates muscle growth and fat loss. Whey is absorbed very quickly, and so it should be consumed soon after a workout.

8) Green fibrous vegetables are one of the best foods that burn fat fast.
Since green fibrous vegetables are high in bulk but low in calories, they can be eaten in large amounts without fearing the excess intake of calories. If you’re wondering which green fibrous vegetables to include in your diet, consider broccoli, lettuce, green beans, celery, and cauliflower. Eating these green vegetables at the majority of your meals will help you obtain the best possible fat burning results.

9) Every fat burning diet should include one of the healthiest carbohydrates that you can eat—brown rice.
Brown rice not only contains large amounts of fiber and essential nutrients but also has a slow absorption rate, making it one of the most ideal foods that burn fat fast.

10) Among the best foods that burn fat fast, oatmeal should be an essential ingredient in any fat-loss nutrition plan.
Oatmeal provides a perfect balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats; moreover, it reduces the risk of colon cancer and lowers bad cholesterol levels.

11) While large amounts of fruit should be avoided when on a fat burning nutrition plan, one to three pieces of fruit per day help in keeping refined sugars and high calorie snacks at bay.

12) You might be surprised when I tell you that avocado is among the best foods that burn fat fast. Avocado is a rich source of unsaturated fat, making it extremely beneficial to your health. Avocado is an excellent source of potassium, B vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin K, so adding small amounts to your fat burning diet will definitely have positive results.

Choosing the Right Bodybuilding Carbs

Carbohydrates give you nutrients that essential to the muscle-building process.

The purpose of carbohydrates is to fuel your body and mind, and to help your body maintain an optimal internal environment by increasing levels of hormones like insulin, IGF-1, and testosterone.

Choosing the right bodybuilding carbs is essential as carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for the body.

You should include them in every meal because they help in the absorption of protein and help prevent catabolism.

When you eat high glycemic carbohydrates, your insulin levels rise.

After a workout or in the morning, this insulin spike plays an important role, but it should be avoided at other times.

At any other time of the day, an insulin spike causes your body to deposit excess blood sugar into your fat cells.

Most of the carbohydrates in your diet should be of the low glycemic type.

Such bodybuilding carbs break down slowly and provide your body with a slow, sustained release of sugar.

The supply of sugar that low glycemic carbohydrates provide is slow and steady, and it lasts throughout the day.

By doing this, they moderate your insulin and blood sugar levels, which keeps you from storing excess fat and also maintains energy levels.

Using the Glycemic Index (GI) is a good way to tell if a carbohydrate is high glycemic or low glycemic.

This is one of the most accurate ways of telling if you’re eating the right bodybuilding carbs.

Based on how quickly or slowly carbohydrates increase blood sugar levels within a two hour period, the Glycemic Index is a chart that ranks them.

These rankings vary from 0 to 100.

While natural carbohydrates with low GI rankings are normally the best bodybuilding carbs, my overall view of the glycemic index is that high GI ranking foods aren’t necessarily bad for you.

This is because when you eat high GI foods in combination with other foods, it does not make your insulin levels spike.

What really changes the GI effects in your body is eating carbohydrates with other food sources like proteins and fats.

Therefore, it’s not always the best option to blindly follow the Glycemic Index when choosing carbohydrates for your diet plan.

To be able to get the right bodybuilding carbs, you need to eat foods that contain natural, unrefined starchy carbohydrates; these are found in foods like brown rice, potatoes, oatmeal, yams, and any whole grain.

As part of a full meal, these foods break down gradually, and their effect on your blood sugar levels is almost negligible.

Low fat dairy products and fresh fruits are other bodybuilding carbs that you should eat.

Vegetables are also good, but they’re not the best choice when you want to maximize your calorific intake without eating too much because they’re not as high in calories.

You should only eat refined carbohydrates on very rare occasions.