A very important concept to keep in mind is where you want your blood sugar to be during your workout. This is very much overlooked and is as important as anything else when it comes to proper nutrition and getting the most out of your workout routine.

Many people have the perception that you should eat before a workout to get proper energy. This is false. When you eat a meal before a workout what happens is you feel sluggish and weaker because your muscles and digestive system are competing for energy resources. You should eat 2-3 hours before starting your workout. This also makes your pre-workout supplements much more effective as it will now be the only substance in your system. Most people will ask, ” Won’t you be more tired since you have not eaten in hours?” Your body uses energy from food for much longer than that. This is why it is so important to not skip meals.

When the body is short of glycogen it will use two other fuels (amino acids and fats) to produce energy. Bodybuilders are typically trying to retain/spare as much protein as possible, which is why most of them avoid working out on an empty stomach. However, when the primary goal is losing fat, a few studies show that a moderate intensity workout first thing in the morning can help boost a fat burning furnace even if at a price of losing some protein for energy. A workout upon waking up is the best time to train if you are trying to lose body fat. By not eating anything and not messing with your blood sugar levels from your overnight of sleeping, you are now forcing your body to start burning your fat for energy.

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This is a subject not many worry about nor take the time to care about. This is very unfortunate as blood sugar plays a vital role in your weight gain or weight loss. Studies have reported that even in healthy people high blood sugar after meals can over time damage the body. Blood sugar effects everyone. It should concern you even if you are thin and healthy, and especially if you don’t get enough exercise or carry extra weight around your middle.

When you eat a big meal, especially one with a lot of starchy or sugary foods, the food makes its way through your stomach and intestines and then is converted into glucose, the main fuel for your muscles and even your brain. Boom! You now created instant energy. However, a big starchy meal can give the body more glucose than it needs. In fact, it can raise blood sugar levels twice as much as another, healthier meal would.

What happens if your body reacts by pumping out too much insulin?

Soda has become a drink that has gotten out of control in our society. When Soda was first introduced it was supposed to be a dessert item or a celebration drink. It was intended to be a drink that was only drank on rare occasions. It was also supposed to be drank around 6-8oz. However, none of the above is the case anymore. Our society drinks soda in the same manner we are supposed to drink water. Even a single can of soda is 12oz. The normal can is slowly fading away. We now consume 20oz bottles and even buy 1 liter bottles of soda to drink as a single serving. Fast food restaurants had to do even one better and now sell soda that comes in 64oz cups. This is ridiculous!

The high amount of calories itself should steer you away from drinking soda. The average soda has about 150-160 calories per can. The average American consumes over 53 gallons of soda per year. This is close to a little over a gallon of soda a week. With current nutritional information suggesting each person drink 8 glasses of water a day, it becomes increasingly concerning when, according to a Beverage Marketing Press Release, one in every four beverages consumed in America today is a soft drink. In fact Americans drink more soda than they do water on a daily basis. Soft drinks are the best-selling product today in our grocery stores. Soda outsells basic food items including fruits and vegetables, taking in over $11.7 billion in sales annually. With these sales figures, Soda ranks as the #3 leading beverage and offers absolutely no benefit to its drinkers over other beverages (including water) besides containing excess sugar.

Does soda offer any benefits to your nutrition?

Many bodybuilders do not gain the amount of muscle mass they are striving for because they simply don’t recognize the importance of getting enough protein. Protein is one of the key nutrients that need to be present in the diet of a bodybuilder at all times in order for muscle gain to take place. It is amazing how a great deal of people purchase hundreds and hundreds of dollars on that “miracle” supplement and they do not get even half the amount of protein their body needs to gain any muscle. These people are wasting their money. All the supplements in the world do not make up for lack of nutrition and protein.

Building muscle is about protein balance. If you make more muscle protein than you break down, your muscles will increase in size and strength. However, if you make less muscle protein than you break down, your muscles will tend to get weaker and smaller. Thus, a positive protein balance indicates an anabolic state. Since protein contains nitrogen, protein balance can be estimated by measuring nitrogen balance.

Learn about the steps that can help make your body in a massive muscle building state