There is no nutrition that is different from ordinary fitness (fitness food) and exercise (sports food). It is difficult to build muscles like steel poured into iron (iron food), because the development of muscles is based on special nutrients. Sports nutritionists believe that bodybuilders and their enthusiasts must understand the latest nutritional knowledge related to bodybuilding and need to update their nutritional concepts in a timely manner.

　1. Need a longer nap than usual

In addition to night sleep (sleep food), if you exercise in the morning, it is best to have a nap of about three hours. The purpose is not just to rest, but to give sufficient time for growth hormone to be produced.

Experts say that all high-intensity training causes greater damage to muscle tissue. In addition to the loss of muscle protein, muscles also have a large influx of oxygen and myoglobin stored in them into the blood during training. As a result, the red blood cells in the muscles reduce their hemoglobin, and their oxygen supply capacity decreases. Muscle strength will also be reduced due to oxygen metabolism. decreases as the force decreases. Therefore, damaged muscles urgently need to be repaired.

In the past, people only paid attention to the protein needed to repair damage, but did not pay attention to the fact that what the human body needs more is the growth hormone that can increase the synthesis of this protein (protein food). It is now known that growth hormone production is not only accelerated during exercise but is also active during sleep. Therefore, people who engage in bodybuilding exercises in the morning need to take more nap time than ordinary people to facilitate the production of growth hormone during sleep. Because the hormones produced need to reach their peak in 2 hours, the nap time cannot be too short. In addition, it takes about 2-3 hours to replenish the liver glycogen consumed during exercise, otherwise fatigue cannot be recovered.

2. High-calorie diet needs to be supplemented before going to bed

For general fitness athletes, it is not recommended to eat a high-calorie diet before going to bed, because the low consumption of energy (energy food) during sleep will convert excess calories into fat., easily lead to obesity or hyperlipidemia. This is not the case for bodybuilders. Lunch and dinner before nap and before going to bed should take in enough nutrients such as meat, fish, eggs, cheese, iron-rich lean meat, broccoli, etc. This type of highly nutritious diet before going to bed mainly allows damaged muscles to have sufficient raw materials to use growth hormone to synthesize muscle protein during sleep. Otherwise, damaged muscle cells will not be repaired as quickly as possible, which will affect exercise performance.

3. Eat immediately after half an hour of training

Experiments show that two hours of intense exercise a day requires 1.5 times more protein per kilogram of body weight than those who do not exercise much.

However, these require a large increase in protein and other nutrients, and it is not always too late to replenish them. It is known from experiments that the secretion of hormones that promote protein synthesis into the blood reaches its peak 2 hours after exercise. Experts asked a group of athletes to perform high-intensity cycling training for 70 minutes, and then divided them into a group that ate within 30 minutes after exercise and a group that ate within 2 hours. Then, after the exercise, various nutrients in their blood were quantitatively analyzed. As a result, the amount of glycogen accumulated in the muscles of those who ate within 2 hours was less than half that of those who ate within 30 minutes. This shows that the timing of eating is related to whether hormone levels are synchronized. If you eat when hormone levels reach their peak, it will significantly affect the synthesis and utilization of nutrients.

4. Fat is the “hard” nutrition for endurance sports

In the past, people used to believe that glycogen was the “protagonist” of energy for athletes. Therefore, many people advocate eating cereals (cereal foods), potatoes, citrus fruits (fruit foods), etc. 3 hours before exercise so that energy can be stored in the liver in the form of glycogen for later use.

The latest view is that in terms of exerting basic physical strength and endurance, storing fat in muscles is more important than storing glycogen. Experiments show that the ratio of sugar, fat, and protein consumed by a person training at maximum intensity is: 47, 49, and 3 for male athletes; 33, 61, and 2 for female athletes. It can be seen from this that when both men and women perform heavy exercise, they consume the most fat rather than sugar, so they should pay more attention to fat supplementation. With the help of estrogen, women (female food) can easily convert fat into energy. Therefore, under the same conditions, female athletes with high fat metabolism are more capable of endurance sports.

In addition, when engaging in heavy exercise, people have a more unique mechanism for fat metabolism. For example, the fat consumed by ordinary people turns into fat globules in the blood and is absorbed by the heart, muscles and adipose tissue. This is because the insulin in their blood reaches the peak first, and after the glycogen is consumed the earliest, the fat is used when it is too late (or not needed). , and are stored in adipose tissue. Bodybuilders are different. Their insulin levels are often temporarily suppressed, and the fat in the blood can be eliminated as quickly as possible.Muscles take in, store, and participate in metabolism first, instead of being stored in adipose tissue first. For bodybuilders, fat is first and foremost a high-quality energy source, not a burden on the body.

In response to this special rule, experts reviewed the history of world sports and found that the reason why most of the top players in competitive sports are not Easterners but Westerners has a lot to do with their eating habits. Easterners eat mainly carbohydrates, while Westerners eat mainly fats. This will affect people's sports performance to a certain extent, because athletes who staple cereals lack the "hard" nutrition-fat that is urgently needed for strong exercise. Therefore, the nutrition that improves endurance in such athletes is "fat loading," making fat the primary energy source.

Bodybuilders are committed to developing muscles. They must not only pay attention to scientific training methods, but also provide the energy needed for muscle cell growth and repair. Therefore, continuing the old nutrition and sleep patterns will undoubtedly affect the rapid improvement of sports performance.