Superior Athletes.

Today more than ever there is a mad rush for steroids and performance enhancement supplements. Several of latest supplements for bodybuilding and sports are illegal in many different countries. Why? Because they can cause a number of different harmful side effects. Sure, they might stimulate muscles, but in the process they also throw off the balance of hormones in the body; can cause damage to organs especially the liver as it trys to sort out an unnatural overload of certain substances; can cause nerve damage and a paragraph of other uncomfortable side effects.

If you follow the laws of nature and eat natural foods your body will gain superior strength over your competitors. Most people eat the “normal” foods and then try and buy the latest supplement that has the coolest sales pitch selling them the dream of being strong or ripped. By eating foods in their proper form you will easily digest and use all of the nutrients. Then there is no need for any crazy supplements. The body will definitely become stronger and recovery time for muscles happens much faster when clean foods are assimilated properly.

When you take supplements they are mostly in an isolated form. On the back of supplement boxes you may see ingredients that have several different vitamins, minerals, and proteins but these were all pulled out of whole foods in an isolated form and then mixed back together. I know these supplement companies have cool labels that sell you the idea of being strong and ripped but no company can mimic the complex yet balanced structure of our true natural foods. Only whole foods supply all the nutrients you need to perform at your physical peak.

A common question by several athletes is “Can a diet of only whole grains, fruits, vegetable, an nuts allow me to perform at my physical maximum endurance, strength, and speed? The answer is, Yes! But this is the wrong question. They should be asking, “Can I reach my full athletic potential on a diet to which my body was not biologically adapted, that leads away from fresh whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds? And the answer is certainly, “No.”

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To gain your full strength and power for optimum performance you must delete from your diet any foods with negative effects.
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Gaining Weight.

Many guys have contacted me about gaining weight.  The simple answer is to simply eat more calories BUT highly nutritious calories an not empty calories from refined sugar and starch products.

Now, what I am about to tell you is going to sound weird but you have to keep in mind that everyone is a little bit different. 

When trying to maintane a healthy diet, I have definately fallen off the wagon several times in my life.  My "kryptonite" (or weakness) was always for the sweet sugary foods.  I would notice that I got skinnier and weaker when I would eat lots of chocolate and other sugar laced foods.  I know the ladies are probably hating me for this right now but that is just what I noticed everytime.

So what was happening?  My metabolism was really speeding up to get rid of the acids produced by these sugars.  These sugars were weakening my body so much that I had a hard time growing muscle.

On the other hand, there are those whose bodies store this extra sugar as fat.  And for those people, if you want to lose the excess fat, get off the refined sugar and starch products and you will see the weight start to disappear.

And for thinner guys who have a hard time gaining weight here are my suggestions.

Get rid of anything that has any type of man made sugar or sweetener.

Make sure to eat proper grains and legumes mentioned in the previous sections.

And what always helped add a few more pounds of solid weight on me was drinking one to two glasses of kefir a day. 

I saw a documentary about a tribe in Africa.  I don't remember the name of the exact tribe but they were very tall and skinny.  A group of the men were trying to put on extra weight to have some kind of competion so that they could get a female companion.

And what did they do?  They started drinking these large vats of milk to gain weight.  If your a hard gainer, you could do the same but, you've got to make sure you have a quality source of milk (organic or Raw).  Some people have a hard time digesting milk.  This is why I would highly recommend kefir.  The good bacteria in kefir will help to break everything down so that your body can absorb all the nutrients much better.

If you’re an athlete, eat the same meals as mentioned in the previous sections. The only difference is that maybe you need more calories because of more physical output. You can also try adding more or dried fruit to your diet. Just be careful not to over do it on the dried fruit. When fruit is dehydrated the sugars become more concentrated and eating too much of this can cause insulin spikes in your blood sugar.

Here is a look at Mr. Olypia's Diet of 2008.  Click Here.

The idea being that this protein will help with faster muscle recovery. Even though protein does play a role in cell growth and development this is not the main factor you should be searching for.

When we begin activity, the body first uses muscle glycogen (sugars) with a small amount of blood sugar to fuel the muscles. As we train, these sugars are burned up until they run dry or are replenished, just like gasoline being burned in a running car.

For the most efficient and effective recovery, re-establishing blood sugar levels to normal and replenishing muscle glycogen are vital. This can easily be done by eating fruit or sprouted grains shortly after training.

During exercise, and at an ever-reducing rate for about two hours afterwards, the blood is flooded with the enzyme glycogenase. This enzyme doubles the body’s ability to convert blood sugar into muscle glycogen. So if sugars are available within this two-hour period immediately following exercise then it is possible to replenish muscle glycogen at double the normal rate giving you a more speedy recovery. This is truly a crucial time for athletes.

When this window of opportunity directly following exercise is missed, recovery can take twice as long. If training is long enough or intense enough to seriously drain the supply of muscle glycogen then it can take up to 24 hours to bring these glycogen levels back to normal, even with an optimal source of replenishment. And even up to 48 hours if you miss the 2-hour window of opportunity to replenish blood sugar levels and muscle glycogen stores. This greatly reduces possibility of faster recovery. Because of this you should always make sure you have a good carbohydrate source that will get you through a long or intense workout and quickly replenish the lost sugars with easily absorbable fruits or sprouted grains.

Rocket Fuel

Athletes that eat a lot of processed cooked starches for fuel drain their own body’s energy trying to digest these foods. Starchy foods especially in their refined state, for example white flour, have little fiber and are very low in vitaminsan minerals. For these calories to be converted into fuel the body will drain its own enzymes and vitamins which leads to nutritional bankruptcy and the eventual breakdown of a healthy body.

For the best source of carbohydrates stick to whole sprouted grains that are properly prepared. If you choose to eat brown rice, soak it over night in water then slowly cook it at low temperatures or steam it. Preparing your complex carbs like this will be rocket fuel compared to a pile of empty calories.

A little known secret.
One hundred grams of sprouted wheat contains about 200 calories and 100 grams of regular cooked wheat contains about 100 calories. As you can see sprouted grains have twice the calories as 100 grams of cooked grains. This can be a great benefit for athletes.

By eating sprouted grains you can eat half the amount of normal cooked grains and still have the same amount of calories to burn for energy. You simply get more for less. It’s like having a new super fuel in your car that would burn twice as long as regular gas.

And trust me, it doesn’t take much of this stuff to fill you up. Why would this be a benefit?

1. Your body can now carry half the weight leaving you lighter to move faster

and

2. These calories are used more efficiently because the enzymes that are activated during the sprouting process have helped to predigest the grains, which drastically releases the work load of digestion and allows for optimal
assimilation of all nutrients.

Power Bars

Forget all those power bars you see in the gym and supplement stores. They are just basically sugared candy bars “fortified” with isolated nutrients. I have to admit, the marketing is great with there shiny rappers and cool logos but in reality...don’t waist your time or money with these things. Unless you like indigestion and stomach pains.

If a group of scientist got together to design the perfect power bar they would  come up with a banana! Although many consider bananas as a fruit they are actually from the grass family. They are one of the world’s finest foods for providing fuel for energy.

Their unique blend of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and enzymes allow for a quick and efficient conversion to usable fuel.

Containing two types of sugars, glucose and fructose bananas are good for a quick release of energy or a long-lasting supply of energy. The glucose is easily digested and can be rapidly absorbed into the blood stream for a quick burst of energy. The fructose is absorbed more slowly and provides a more lasting fuel release. Neither of these natural sugars causes the adrenaline surge associated with the consumption of sucrose (table sugar).

Digestion can require a considerable amount of energy as the body works to convert all food matter into simple carbohydrates (sugars) to use as fuel. Ripe bananas contain carbohydrates that are already broken down into their simplest form that can be digested with a minimum of energy loss.

If you’re an endurance athlete it is wise to eat bananas before, during, and after long bouts of training. They contain twice as much carbohydrates as other fruits. If you have short more intense training sesions bananas are also a good choice afterwards.

For anyone who wishes to improve their nutrition and athletic performance bananas have the best possible mix of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes for fuelling activity. Their high potassium content is optimum for powerful muscle contraction. (Why do you think a gorilla could toss you across the room?)

Bananas are the perfect food for athletes. They are tasty, self-contained, easy to eat, satiating, available year round and inexpensive.

The world’s top endurance athletes, runners, cyclist, and swimmers have been eating bananas for years. But with fancy advertisement and false information many of today's athletes are turning to fake foods wrapped in pretty shiny paper with cool names. Don’t fall for this, remember, man cannot duplicate the perfect balance of Mother Nature, so stick with bananas or other fruits as your power bars.

Fluid loss:

Sun, wind, heat, high elevation, and strenuous exercise can cause dramatic water loss. Once again, people today are fooled into drinking these crazy new sports drinks. These drinks are nothing but sugar-water with some isolated nutrients added. To truly add back lost water and electrolytes after a sweaty workout go for watery fruits such as grapes, pineapple, berries, melons, or coconut water.

These fruits are perfect for rehydrating and they give you a good source of water, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals. They also contain a natural source of sugars to replenish low blood sugar and lost muscle glycogen. Try different kinds to see which ones suit you the best.

Watermelon or celery are one of the best sources for replenishing lost sodium in the body. This is great to use in the summer on hot days or after really sweaty workouts.

Coconut Water reigns king when it comes to electrolytes. It has the highest amount of electrolytes than any other food. Coconut water would put sports drinks out of business if a company could bottle its superior nutrients. The problem is that the juice inside is too volatile and cannot sit for weeks on the shelves in a store. The only way to capture its full potential is by drinking it fresh from the coconut. The water also contains beneficial medium chain fatty acids. These MFCA’s go straight to the liver and are used directly for energy.

If you are a triathlete and you ever train or compete in the Ironman, fill your
water bottles up with coconut water. This fresh living water dominates over any sports drink with a flashy label. You’ll find that the water, electrolytes, essential fats, and other nutrients are absorbed much better than some of those florescent green mystery waters.

Give it a try and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

I’ve flown many many times in my life. Every time I’m on an airplane my sinuses and sometimes my skin get very dried out no matter how much water I seem to drink. One time I filled up two water bottles of fresh coconut water for a flight. Drinking the coconut water throughout the flight I noticed I had no problems with dry sinuses or skin and I felt much better when I landed. If you are ever flying back from a tropical place do this and I guarantee you’ll feel much better and more hydrated throughout your flight. The fats in coconut water keep the body hydrated longer than just drinking regular water.

Gel Packs

These are also pretty popular these days among endurance athletes. They are basically packets of processed refined sugar syrups that are heinous on the human body when consumed. Many endurance athletes suck down these packets of artificial gel in hopes to replenish lost muscle glycogen and blood sugars. These high concentrated artificial gels put lots of stress on the body, I personally know triathletes who have puked shortly after consuming these packets. Why? The body simply purges itself when something is swallowed that it does not like. And these gel packs are terrible!

For a wiser more nutritious gel pack that contains living enzymes, quickly and easily assimilated sugars, and has more vitamins and minerals, make yourself the same size packets only fill them with Raw Honey! You’ll even have more calories to burn with the same amount. As I mentioned earlier a tablespoon of honey contains 65 calories and a tablespoon of refined sugar has 50 calories. Another bonus of raw honey is that it’s loaded with anti-oxidants which will help get rid of lactic acid build up.

Real sports drinks:

Forget all those crazy colored sports drinks you see in the gym, you can easily make your own sports drink that far superior to any laboratory concoction. This can easily be done with fruits and water.

Take two to four bananas and blend them in some water.

• First break the bananas up by hand and toss them in the blender.
• Next, pour water in just until it covers the top of the bananas.
• Then blend.

And Viola you now have one of the simplest, healthiest, and most effective sports drink.

This supplies water, sugar (glucose and fructose), electrolytic minerals with enough vitamins and enzymes to properly metabolize them.

You can very the ratio between bananas and water if you like. Maybe add more water and a stick of celery when you train outside in hot weather. (The celery will supply more sodium and electrolytes.) An indoor strength workout may demand more sugar and less water. Adding a couple teaspoons of spirulina to the mix is also good. This will add a more concentrated source of nutrients and rich chlorophyll that will help clean and clear the body from lactic acid and free radicals that may be swimming around. It also just simply
tastes great.

Other fruits are good to use also such as strawberries and grapes. But remember, simplicity is the key here. Keep the ingredients as simple as possible this will allow for maximum absorption and assimilation

Don’t think your going to skate off easy by buying some natural fruit juices from the store. These are also pasteurised and their enzymes, which are used for proper absorption, have been destroyed. Yes, they contain the sugars but without the living enzymes to help them absorb properly you end up with high sugar spikes in the blood. Not Good.

Stimulants rob your energy!

Not just athletes but even the everyday average-Joe grabs for stimulants thinking they give the body energy. When you step back and look at the whole picture you’ll see that these actually rob the body of energy. Coffee, cigarettes, tea, cola, refined sugars, chocolate, spices, meat, amphetamine-type drugs and many other substances are all stimulants that actually increase the bodys’ work load and drain its energy supplies.

How does this happen? Stimulants are simply substances that cause stimulation through irritation. They irritate nervous tissues that run throughout the muscle fibers causing the muscles to be more tense. Then the body has to release some of its stored energy trying to do the job of soothing this tension. So you receive a short burst of stimulation or should I say irritation but after the body has went into overdrive trying to rebalance itself much of its stored energy is depleted making it harder for you to keep going.

Many people drink coffee thinking it will give them energy to wake up. But the funny thing is that the energy released from the body, during the time it was trying to deal with the chemicals in coffee, was stored energy that is now wasted. Coffee is not an energy supplier for the body, it is more of an energy drainer. And just like other drugs, over time the body adapts to a stimulant requiring more and more of the substance to generate the same response.

For you to perform at your best with the most energy, there is only one simple answer, enough rest. If you get a sufficient amount of rest your body will recover giving you tons of energy to take on the day. In the long run, stimulants will just end up draining your health, happiness, energy and motivation, robbing you of your precious vitality.

With sufficient sleep the use of stimulants becomes unnecessary.

Summary:

In these days and times it is hard to remember the power of Mother Nature because we are constantly being bombarded with crazy advertisements of the latest sports drink, shake, powder, or power bar that promises super human effects on the body. I’m just going to have to be brutally honest here, all these supplements, drinks, and fancy shakes are a heap of garbage!

If they really did work how come we don’t see a bunch of little muscular body builders walking around? If you’ve been dropping about $60 every time you walk into a supplement store can you really tell a difference in your body? except for a bloated gut, indigestion, and maybe thicker puffier skin loaded with pimples that just covers up your muscles underneath.

If you’re an athlete looking to gain muscle forget the supplements and save the cash. These companies are only trying to sell you a more expensive version of what they stole from whole foods in the first place!
If you purchase bodybuilding supplements, try this, for next three to six months, don’t take any supplements, and train with the whole foods I have mentioned. I guarantee you will be stronger more ripped and have extra money in your pockets. Don’t believe me, try it.