3 Nutrients You Need More Of To Maximize Lean Muscle and Minimize Fat - Part 1
This is not going to be the most glamorous article. Nor is it going to be “cutting edge” or open your eyes to a new pill or powder that is going to get you as big as Jay Cutler or as lean as Dexter Jackson. In my next series of articles, I am going to open your eyes to 3 vital nutrients that many of you ignore. And if you don’t ignore them, you probably are certain to be one of many not paying the due attention to these nutrients. Attention that not only these nutrients deserve, but you deserve in order to reap the full benefits of your workout and quest towards a lean and muscular body. These 3 little nutritional gems in the fitness and bodybuilding world are:
1. water,
and
WAIT!!! Before you click to the next page, do yourself a favor and read on. I am sure many of you may find the subject matter boring or insignificant. You couldn’t be further from the truth. Read on. Or maybe you feel you get enough of these in your diet? Do you? Read on. Or maybe you feel you give them enough attention and importance? Do you? Read on. Do you give more thought to - creatine of water intake? Whatever you answer, you guessed it…do yourself a favor and read on.
Water is Vital!
Water is an essential part of life and a very integral part of building muscle. Check out this fact:
1. Your body is 2/3's water
and
2. Your muscles are approximately 70% water.
With these stats, it’s easy to see that water is the most abundant element in your body. Not only is it the most abundant element in are make up, but it is responsible for many of the activities that go on within us. Many of our bodies organs and processes are dependent on water.
- Nutrient digestion, transport, and absorption are dependent on proper fluid intake
- Water effects cellular nutrient uptake and circulation
- Water is critical for flushing toxins from the body
- Every physiological activity is negatively effected when hydration is compromised
- Water helps properly regulate body temperature
- Water is responsible for the utilization of all the water soluble vitamins your body needs to survive.
Water is essential, cheap, and can have a very big impact on how well your body is able to build muscle!
Water helps prevent injuries while training by cushioning joints and other critical soft tissue areas. I can't stress enough the importance of drinking abundant amounts of clear, clean water.
And one important thing about water is that it's non-caloric. You can drink as much as you want and it will not add to your caloric intake. It will not make you fat. There is no downside to water so drink it in abundance.
I highly recommend drinking at least 1 gallon of pure water every day.
It's not as difficult to drink a gallon a day as you may think. People have different ways of doing this. One simple thing you can do is keep a quart of bottled water at all the places you spend most of your time:
- In your car
- At your desk at work
- Carry one with you when you travel
- Definitely keep one next to you on your night stand for nighttime consumption
This allows you to have continual access to water all the time and you can drink continually throughout the entire day and even night.
I actually keep a Brita Pitcher (filtering picture that improves taste and odor, reduces common contaminants) at my desk that allows me to have filtered water at arms reach all day long. I know I need to empty this pitcher each day and this allows me to visually see where I'm at any point during the day. You can get these through me and I would certainly recommend getting one for both at home and work.
If you are not convinced that water should be number one on your list of things to take in to make progress, take this into account…Without water, all of the creatine, glutamine, and other things are worth nothing. They need water to be effective and so do you!
This may sound redundant, but I have to reiterate it…I highly recommend drinking at least 1 gallon of water every day. And yes it most definitely does matter. Start upping your fluid intake and watch how gains in muscle mass start coming a bit easier. You'll be amazed.
A Word On Sports Drinks:
Is water better than sport drinks for sports and working out?
Water is better than most sports drinks on the market but it has its limitations. A properly formulated sports or hydration drink is better but only if it's designed correctly. Most are not.
In the wacky world of sports nutrition, "more is better" appears to be the current trend in what drives most companies product formulations. You see it in the silly marketing that many companies do these days claiming superiority because their product has more of this or more of that. 99 times out of 100 these formulas are totally bogus.
For sports drinks the idea is to replace fluid and minerals lost during training so that your body will not dehydrate and will function optimally from a hydration-fluid balance standpoint. Water is great for hydration but lacks the energy provisions and electrolyte content. This is where sports drinks come into play.
The small intestine is where fluid and nutrient absorption happens. From the small intestine, fluids and nutrients are circulated by the bloodstream to the body's muscles, organs, etc.
Glucose and sodium have been shown to enhance fluid absorption in the small intestine. Beverages with fructose as the sole source of carbohydrate have been reported to cause gastrointestinal distress because fructose is absorbed too slowly.
Properly formulated sports beverages are the only fluids for complete and fast re-hydration during and after exercise.
The speed at which a beverage travels from the stomach into the small intestine (the gastric emptying rate) depends on the energy content (calories) and volume (amount) of beverage consumed. A low concentration of carbohydrate will encourage rapid absorption. But too much carbohydrate will slow gastric emptying and can result in gastrointestinal distress. Research has shown a 6% carbohydrate solution to be the most rapidly absorbed fluid.
Sports drinks that boast high carbohydrates can actually hurt performance by delaying fluid absorption and causing gastrointestinal distress. Though more may sound better, this is clearly a case where it is not.
Most drinks sold by the sports nutrition companies are not designed correctly and will decrease your body's performance ability. Just the opposite of what you are looking for. Best sports drink to use - Gatorade's G2. It's been around for years, is used by Olympic and Professional athletes, and is still the quiet hydration standard.
James Cipriani, ISSA-CPT
Cutting Edge Personal Training
(203)775-5128
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Article Of The Month
10/10/2006
James Cipriani
Cutting Edge Personal Training
