Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Junk food won't build muscle

By Jon Cardozo

You're probably tired of hearing this, but it never hurts to repeat an important concept. If you're serious about building large amounts of muscle, you need to increase your calories in order to give the body the necessary raw materials.

This simple formula is that you have to take in more calories than your body is currently using. If not, your body simply doesn't have the resources to add to your muscle mass.

You may think that you simply need to eat more to gain more muscle. However, what you eat is very important for your muscle building efforts.

Seriously though, did you really expect to be able to hang out at your local Baskin Robbins all day and still build muscle like crazy? Well, you need to make much healthier choices in order to get the proper food in your diet. In addition to protein, you need healthy sources of carbohydrates and fats.

Also, when you make your food choices you should think about your overall health and not just your desire to build muscle. Spending all day at a fast food restaurant will load your body up with Trans fatty acids (or hydrogenated oils). If you end up clogging your arteries, not building muscle will be the least of your problems.

Foods high in refined sugar will also hamper your muscle building efforts. Excess sugar only has three possible outcomes in your body: it is burned immediately as fuel, it is stored as glycogen in the liver and the muscles, or it is converted to fat.

Because your body cannot store very much glucose, you will most likely end up with a nice chunk of extra body fat. This can make it a lot tougher to see those six packs.

If you want to maximize your muscle gaining efforts, stick to whole nutritious foods like lean protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Stay away from the junk food, and you'll be doing your muscles a favor. - 16004

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