Nutrition

Could a multivitamin supplement be the answer to new gains? Read this article to find out which vitamins' reserves are most depleted by your training and the best way to replenish those reserves!

You've seen the headlines. One day it's not necessary for anyone to take vitamins and the next day it turns out that everyone needs extra vitamins.

How important is taking vitamins really and which ones should we use for best results?

If you are a high performance athlete, then you know that you are more susceptible to nutrient deficiencies than the average person.

Bodybuilders and other athletes push their bodies hard and often restrict their consumption of certain nutrients or foods in order to get lean. However, doing this can put a barrier between you and the muscle growth you're after.

So if you're struggling with muscle growth, replenishing your energy reserves and performing at your best, it could simply be because your micronutrient intake is inadequate.

What are micronutrients?

Micronutrients, which include vitamins, minerals and additional co-factors such as coenzymes, are essential for life. Micronutrients make a myriad of biochemical processes possible in the first place. You can eat as much protein and carbohydrates as you want - if your micronutrients are not in the right balance, you can forget about building muscle mass.

Vitamins are regularly neglected by athletes. There are at least 13 important vitamins in the human body:

• 4 fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) that can be stored in the human body over a long period of time.
• 9 water-soluble vitamins (8 B vitamins and vitamin C), which are quickly excreted from the body via the urine.

Many believe that the complete vitamin requirement can be met through a balanced diet that includes a wide range of fruit and vegetables. However, with an ever-growing list of environmental toxins robbing the body of essential nutrients, poor quality farmland, poor food preparation methods and daily stress affecting our health, it is unlikely that adequate vitamin intake can be achieved through whole foods alone.

The need for vitamins is even higher for strength athletes and bodybuilders. The collective stress of hard resistance training and nutrient restrictions (such as pre-competition) combined with environmental factors make the use of a high quality multivitamin supplement a must for muscle building.

Why should you increase your vitamin intake?

In 2009, more than 2 billion people worldwide were affected by micronutrient deficiencies (14). With 50% of the population at risk of vitamin D deficiency (2) and one in four adults with a vitamin B12 deficiency, it quickly becomes clear that achieving the right micronutrient balance can be difficult, even in well-developed Western countries (9).

People who do not suffer from symptoms of vitamin deficiency may believe that they are getting enough vitamins from a balanced diet, but such a diet is in fact often less than optimal.

Over time, a suboptimal intake of vitamins can result in a breakdown of cellular metabolism, which is necessary for proper growth and function of body tissues and organs. Diseases and other ailments can be the result. Physical performance will certainly decline as a result.

Some people have a higher risk of vitamin deficiency than others. Older people, for example, are less able to absorb important nutrients. Athletes also tend to suffer from depletion of their micronutrient reserves due to the rigors of their training.

Those who are more prone to vitamin deficiencies might simply choose to increase their consumption of whole foods. However, while a balanced diet free of processed foods is undoubtedly a solid foundation for good health, such an approach can still lead to subclinical vitamin deficiencies.

Current farming practices and pesticides can significantly reduce the mineral and vitamin content of soils (15, 16). Unripe fruits are also deficient in certain nutrients. In addition, the processing and preservation of fruit and vegetables can also deprive them of valuable vitamins.

Multivitamin products: An essential part of an intensively training athlete's diet

Athletes who train hard are known to look for an edge to optimize their results. More repetitions, longer training sessions, optimal macronutrient intake, targeted supplementation - whatever it takes to gain an edge over the competition, serious athletes will do it. An often overlooked training edge that is also a fundamental key to excellent health and wellbeing is optimal vitamin intake.

As we will see in more detail later, athletes are particularly susceptible to nutrient deficiencies. The problem here is that with the masses of food that athletes eat - especially during the off-season - they have no reason to believe that they are at risk of inadequate nutrient intake.

But by emphasizing protein- and energy-rich foods, athletes often overlook what's most important for turning training efforts into tangible results: a complete array of micronutrients.

Compared to easy to moderate training, intense training (such as training with weights and regular high-intensity cardio) produces large amounts of free radicals (10). Such an increase in free radicals can exceed the body's antioxidant defenses and cause irreparable oxidative damage (or at least severe stress to the body).

Once damaged, the affected cells produce more free radicals and cause further damage to healthy cells. According to research by scientist Harshal R. Patil, heavy and prolonged exercise generates large amounts of free radicals that are likely to exceed the buffering capacity of the responsible body systems, making affected individuals more susceptible to oxidative stress (4).

Although not obvious at first, oxidative stress resulting from intense exercise accumulates while nutrient deficiencies are exacerbated as the body attempts to compensate for this stress by drawing nutrients from other areas. Unfortunately, meanwhile, micro-damage to the tissue continues unchecked.

Such damage increases the risk of heart disease, cancer and early death (1). The normal population may not feel any noticeable effects from accumulated microdamage, but in athletes, any amount of cellular damage will immediately and significantly impair athletic performance (7,11).

Many vitamins - and the B vitamins in particular - are significantly involved in energy metabolism. Although marginal deficiencies in sedentary individuals may have minimal impact, in athletes, even minor impairments in the ability to produce energy and perform at their best can have serious consequences (7).

Combine this with the fact that depletion of vitamin reserves in athletes is greater than normal due to the intense nature of their training and intentional dietary restrictions and it becomes obvious that adequate vitamin intake is particularly important in athletes.

As we already know, vitamin deficiencies can result in cellular damage. Since vitamins are critical to ensuring systemic function of the body, it follows that those at higher risk of oxidative stress need an insurance policy in the form of a high-dose vitamin product.

Differences between vitamin products

Today, you can find many common multivitamin products on the internet, drug stores and sporting goods stores that try to lure the masses of health-conscious people with fancy labels and exaggerated claims. Many of these products do provide the recommended daily amounts of the vitamins they contain, but that's about it. Others provide a single source of a given nutrient in small amounts to keep profits high. Many of these products are inefficient for hard-training athletes.

Many multivitamin products provide a full spectrum of supplemental ingredients, while others contain only a few select co-factors. For those who are routinely exposed to significant amounts of oxidative stress and depletion of their vitamin reserves, a product with high dosages of ingredients and a full spectrum of co-factors may provide superior benefits.

To work optimally, vitamins must be taken in adequate amounts and in conjunction with complementary co-factors, as vitamins and other micronutrients work together synergistically. Many vitamins can only help to promote health and well-being if they are included in a comprehensive formula together with all the other micronutrients required.

B Vitamins

You don't need a degree in biology to know that all 8 B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12) should be taken together for maximum effect. Each B vitamin plays a specific role in the body and all B vitamins work together to ensure that the food we eat can be converted into energy.

Tissue growth - including muscle tissue - and the formation of red blood cells will only occur at optimal levels if all B vitamins are on board. However, even a product that contains the full spectrum of B vitamins may be less than optimal. One B vitamin that is considered very important for health and tissue growth is vitamin B9 - also known as folic acid or folate. Folic acid is absolutely essential for the vital biological process of methylation.

Systemic methylation - the transfer of methyl groups that modifies DNA and occurs billions of times every day - underpins all biological functions. Methylation is essential for health. Without sufficient intake and absorption of folic acid, methylation is severely impaired.

Unfortunately, folic acid must undergo several biological transformations in the body before it becomes 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), its biologically active form. This is an inefficient process that can limit the absorption of folic acid (3). Folic acid absorption is problematic for many. However, by supplementing directly with 5-MTHF, your body can benefit directly and fully from all the benefits of folic acid. (3)

Another B vitamin - vitamin B12 - is considered the most important energy nutrient of all. Vitamin B12 protects RNA and DNA, supports immune function, protects nerve and brain cells, helps with serotonin production and contributes to the formation of red blood cells.

Similar to vitamin B9, different forms of B12 found in multivitamin products must go through a multi-step conversion process before they can be converted into their naturally occurring coenzyme form called methylcobalamin. (5)

This process is metabolically costly and very inefficient. However, direct ingestion of methylcobalamin eliminates the need for this conversion. In addition, methylcobalamin is more stable and bioavailable than other forms of vitamin B12. (5)

Vitamin E

The fat-soluble vitamin E penetrates the body's fatty tissues to neutralize toxic oxidants, thereby protecting membranes susceptible to oxidation. Vitamin E is one of the most effective antioxidants, not only neutralizing oxygen-based free radicals to protect cells, but also helping to fight inflammation and protect nerve cells from overproduction of the neurotransmitter glutamate.

By neglecting most forms of vitamin E in favor of the most commonly used form in supplements called alpha-tocopherol, supplement manufacturers are taking advantage of the customer. To work synergistically and deliver all the benefits of vitamin E, eight different forms of vitamin E need to be present: 4 tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta) and 4 tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma and delta)(12).

Each form of vitamin E fulfills different functions and all of these forms are important for health and well-being. For example, if the body tends to store more alpha tocopherol, then the different tocotrienols can penetrate cell membranes more easily due to their unsaturated bonds. Gamma tocotrienol has a particularly strong protective effect.

Vitamin C: repair and detoxification

Vitamin C is of such crucial importance for health that a vitamin C deficiency can quickly lead to illness. Water-soluble and known for its strong antioxidant effects, vitamin C is also important for numerous detoxification processes in the body and is crucial for the growth of many body tissues, ranging from collagen to blood vessels and skin.

Similar to vitamin E, vitamin C works best when several forms are taken in combination (6). Sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate and ascorbic acid are the three effective forms of vitamin C that should be included in a good multivitamin product. However, most products will only contain one of these forms of vitamin C.

Nutrient absorption

Vitamin supplementation should always accompany a balanced diet. But it is still not guaranteed that all nutrients - from food and supplements - will be properly absorbed. In fact, many people are deficient in the digestive enzymes needed to properly digest and absorb the food we eat.

A good multivitamin can help with this dilemma by providing the full range of digestive enzymes. Of the 6 key enzymes (lipase, amylase, protease, bromelain, papain and serrapeptase) needed for optimal nutrient absorption, proteases are crucial for breaking down proteins into amino acids to support muscle growth, while amylase is needed to convert carbohydrates into glucose, which is needed as energy for your workouts (17).

Determining the requirements

In terms of needs for specific performance requirements, all vitamins need to be prioritized regardless of athletic goals. While antioxidants such as vitamins E and C are great for combating oxidative stress and the B vitamins are essential for energy production, each individual vitamin (including the often overlooked vitamins D, K and A) plays a specific role in health, well-being, performance and tissue growth.

General lethargy, which is not limited to exercise, can be a sign of a vitamin deficiency. Cravings for processed foods can also be the result of a lack of nutrients. Such cravings can also result from low-calorie diets.

More obvious signs of a vitamin deficiency include cracking of the skin at the corners of the mouth, a red, scaly rash on the face, hair loss, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, muscle cramps (which in most cases can be attributed to an electrolyte imbalance) and red or white bumps resembling acne on the arms, thighs, buttocks and cheeks. (8)

Rather than choosing specific vitamins to treat specific ailments, it may be better to ensure an optimal balance of all vitamins (meaning adequate amounts to promote health).

Hard-training strength athletes, including bodybuilders, need a multivitamin product specifically tailored to this target group to provide the additional nutrients required for progress in the gym.

Vitalize yourself with vitamins

A good multivitamin needs to be used all year round - even during the off-season, when people often don't pay as much attention to their diet. While you can neglect certain other supplements and foods during certain times, a good multivitamin must always be at the center of a serious exerciser's training plan.

Building muscle and immense strength is not simply a matter of maintaining a balanced macronutrient intake. The regulation of every chemical process that occurs in the human body is a combined interplay of a full spectrum of micronutrients, of which the vitamins described in this article are a large part.

So before you grab that protein shake or those high-performance carbohydrates, make sure you've got all the important aspects of nutrition covered.

References:

1. Ames, B., DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer. Mutat Res. 2001 Apr 18;475(1-2):7-20.
2. Ceglia L. Vitamin D and skeletal muscle tissue and function. Mole Aspects Med. 2008;29:407-414.
3. Debe, J., L-5-MTHF: New supplement that could save your life [Online] http://www.drdebe.com/articles/l-5-mthf-new-supplement-that-could-save-y... - retrieved on 4/15/16
4. Fisher-Wellman K, Bloomer RJ. Acute exercise and oxidative stress: a 30 year history. Dyn Med. 2009 Jan 13;8:1.
5. Kikuchi M, Kashii S, Honda Y, et al. Protective effects of methylcobalamin, a vitamin B12 analog, against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in retinal cell culture. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1997 Apr;38(5): 848-54.
6. Levy, T., The Many Faces of Vitamin C. [Online] http://www.peakenergy.com/health_ebytes/issue_9.php -retrieved on 14.4.16
7. Maughan, R., Role of micronutrients in sport and physical activity. British Medical Bulletin 1999; 55 (No. 3): 683-690
8. Mercola, J., How to Recognize Nutrient Deficiencies. [Online] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/11/03/nutrient-d... - retrieved on 15.4.16
9. Mercola, J., 11 Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies. [Online] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/19/most-commo... - retrieved on 15.4.16
10. Patil H, R., O'keefe J. H., Lavie CJ, et al. Cardiovascular damage resulting from chronic excessive endurance exercise. Mo Med. 2012 Jul-Aug;109(4):312-21
11. Powers et al. Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress: Cellular Mechanisms and Impact on Muscle Force Production. Physiol Rev. 2008 Oct; 88(4): 1243-1276.
12. Treadwell, B., Eight Faces of Vitamin E. [Online] http://www.juvenon.com/the-eight-faces-of-vitamin-e-0903/- retrieved on 15.4.16
13. Xionga, A., Distinct roles of different forms of vitamin E in DHA-induced apoptosis in triple-negative breast cancer cells. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2012 Jun;56(6):923-34
14. Investing in the Future: A United Call to Action of Micronutrient Deficiencies. Global Report 2006. [Online] http://www.unitedcalltoaction.org/ - retrieved on 2.9.16
15. Horrigan, L., Lawrence, R. S., & Walker, P. (2002). How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110 (5).
16. Pimentel, D. (2006). Soil erosion: A food and environmental threat. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 8(1).
17. University of Michigan. Health system. Digestive Enzymes. [Online] http://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hn-2840008 - retrieved on 1.9.16

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/taking-vitamins-to-increase-gains

Are you off track?

Your training and nutrition should reflect your goals. And your workouts and your nutritional choices should work synergistically together to make it easier for you to reach your goals. This seems pretty obvious, but many people still fail to achieve this.

For example, you always see people trying to compensate for a poor diet by exercising when their goal is fat loss. Or, if they want to build muscle, they train with extremely heavy weights, low volume and avoid carbohydrates. In both cases, they will achieve sub-optimal results and waste a lot of time and energy for poor value for their efforts.

But with a little planning, you can avoid these common mistakes. Balancing your diet and training isn't that complicated. By determining your goals and what it takes to achieve them, you can put together a successful diet and know how to adjust it as you progress through the different phases of training.

The 3 phases

When it comes to body composition goals, there are three traditional phases of training:

• Mass building phase
• Fat loss phase (definition phase)
• Maintenance phase

These phases should be combined with the right nutrition plan to maximize your results. Create a nutrition plan that works synergistically with each phase of training. Start by asking yourself the following questions:

1. What is my primary goal?
2. What type of training is best suited to this goal?
3. What type of nutrition plan will support this type of training?

Once you have answered these questions, everything will crystallize and a basic framework of nutrition will become apparent. From here, it's just a matter of fine-tuning the details to tailor this plan to your needs. Let's look at each of these phases in detail:

1 - Mass building phase

What is the goal? Increased muscle mass. What training is the best way to achieve this? High volume training, primarily performed in the 6 to 12 repetition range.

What type of diet best supports this goal?

• A calorie surplus
• Adequate protein intake to maximize muscle protein synthesis
• Adequate fat intake to optimize hormone levels
• A high carbohydrate intake to support high volume training

Total calories

To build muscle, you need a calorie surplus. Eat enough to gain 0.25 to 0.5% of your body weight per week. For most people, this will amount to roughly 200 to 500 kcal above your maintenance calorie intake.

A good rule of thumb to start with is to multiply your body weight in kilos by 35 to get the amount of calories. However, this is only a rough figure. Many people will need 37 to 42 times their weight in calories. If you start at 35 and don't gain any weight, then increase the calories to 38 times your weight and see what happens. Keep adjusting your calorie intake upwards until you gain the desired amount of weight.

Your body is an infinitely complex system with countless feedback loops. Your needs will change based on a number of different factors, so you will need to make adjustments to your calorie intake over the course of your mass-building phase. Continue to monitor your weight on the scales and adjust your calorie intake based on this. Not gaining weight fast enough? Increase your calorie intake by 250 to 500 kcal per day (with lighter exercisers at the lower end of the range and heavier exercisers at the higher end).

Once this has been clarified, we can move on to your macronutrient needs.

Protein

Muscle protein synthesis is undoubtedly the most important physiological factor when it comes to building muscle. Consuming protein stimulates muscle protein synthesis. Muscle growth can only occur if your muscle protein synthesis exceeds your protein breakdown.

For this reason, it is imperative that you eat enough protein to maximize your muscle protein synthesis throughout the day. Interestingly, scientific research suggests that there is a certain amount of protein that will allow you to achieve this and that more protein does not provide any additional muscle building benefits.

To build muscle, you should consume 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean muscle mass. Since not everyone has access to a DEXA machine to accurately measure their body fat percentage, we'll keep it simple and recommend a protein intake of 2 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Divide this amount of protein into 4 to 6 meals per day based on your preferences and daily routine.

Fat

The consumption of fat is important for regular hormone function, particularly the production of androgenic, muscle-building male hormones. For this reason, fat should never be eliminated from the diet. It is less about optimal fat intake and more about a minimum for normal hormone function. Science tells us that fat intake should be between 20 and 30% of total calorie intake for optimal hormone production.

Once a threshold of 0.8 grams of fat per kilogram of body weight is exceeded, no further significant benefits in terms of hormone production can be observed. With an intake that exceeds what is needed for hormone function, structural and chemical processes, the body simply uses fat as an energy source. It is advisable not to exceed the 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight threshold during the mass building phase.

Carbohydrates

Once the amount of protein and fat has been determined, carbohydrates make up the rest of your total calorie intake. Just like fats, carbohydrates have a positive influence on certain hormones. They are also the dominant source of energy for the central nervous system (CNS) and high-intensity activities such as training with weights. In addition, they provide you with energy for strenuous training sessions and support your regeneration.

About 80% of the energy used for your weight training comes from your glycogen stores (carbohydrates). Low glycogen stores will affect your training and recovery. Consuming adequate amounts of carbohydrates will allow you to train at a higher intensity and volume and recover faster after training. Carbohydrates have anti-catabolic and anabolic effects and are hugely beneficial for people who train hard, especially if they want to build muscle.

Your carbohydrate requirements are based on your activity level. If you are training at a high volume during a mass-building phase, your carbohydrate requirements will be correspondingly high. A recent study review recommends a daily carbohydrate intake of 4 to 7 grams per kilogram of body weight for strength athletes. Most hard-training recreational athletes will fall into the lower end of this range. For most, 4 to 5 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight is perfectly adequate. (An 80 kilogram athlete would roughly need 320 to 400 grams of carbohydrates per day).

How to monitor your progress during a mass-building phase

• Aim for a weekly weight gain of 0.25 to 0.5% of your body weight. In the real world, an 80 kilo exerciser should aim for roughly 0.5 to 1 kilo every two weeks, but don't let the exact numbers drive you crazy. A lot of things can affect the weight on the scales, so these figures are just a rough guide.
• If your progress is stagnating, increase your calorie intake by 250 to 500 kcal per day - lighter exercisers should aim for the lower end and heavier/slimmer exercisers should aim for the upper end of the range.
• Adjust your calorie intake based on your weight on the scale, with most of the extra calories coming from carbohydrates.
• Your strength in the 6 to 12 repetition range should increase consistently.

2 - Diet/definition phase

What is the goal? A reduction in body fat. Which training is best suited to achieve this? The maximum volume you can recover from. This will be less than during the mass building phase.

Being in a calorie deficit means that your recovery ability will not be as good as during the mass building phase, but you should strive to do as much as possible to give your body the strongest signal to maintain its muscle mass. A high training volume also helps to create a calorie deficit. You can also use some form of cardio training to increase the calorie deficit.

What type of diet is best suited to support this goal?

- A calorie deficit
- Adequate protein intake to maintain existing muscle mass (this may be slightly higher than during the mass gain and maintenance phases)
- Increased fat intake compared to the mass phase. The risk of hormonal imbalances is higher in a calorie deficit
- Carbohydrate intake should remain high enough to support high volume training. Keep your carbohydrate intake as high as possible while you continue to lose fat. As fat loss requires a calorie deficit, carbohydrate intake will be lower than during the mass building phase.

Protein

Protein protects lean body tissue during the diet and is the most satiating of all macronutrients. These are two good reasons to consume slightly more protein during a diet. Scientific research suggests that anything between 2 and 3.1 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is effective during a fat loss phase. Most people do best with 2.2 to 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

The exact amount should be based on your dietary preferences. The key to a successful diet is your ability to stick to the plan.

Fat

The risk of hormonal imbalances is increased during a prolonged calorie-restricted diet. To mitigate this, you should increase your fat intake compared to the bulking phase. Now this doesn't mean you should go on an Atkins diet and eat avocados smothered in bacon and butter. Just be aware of the fact that even during a calorie deficit you need to eat enough fat to avoid feeling sh...eid all the time. Eat about 1 gram of fat per kilogram of body weight per day.

Carbohydrates

Any calories you have left over will be consumed in the form of carbohydrates. Maintain a carbohydrate intake of 2 grams per kilogram of body weight for as long as possible to allow for productive training.

How to monitor your progress during a diet/definition phase

• Aim to lose about 0.5 to 1% of your body weight per week. For a 100 kilo person, this means a weight loss of 0.5 to 1 kilo per week.
• Reduce your calorie intake by 250 to 500 kcal per day if your weight loss starts to stagnate (use the lower end of the scale if you are lighter and/or leaner).
• Use scales, progress pictures and body composition measurements such as skinfold measurements to estimate the necessary adjustments.

3 - Maintenance, transition or preparation phase

Let's address the topic of maintenance training first. Why should you do this? Hypertrophy requires you to train hard and at high volume while progressively overloading your body. More is better, but you can't train harder and longer forever. At some point, the law of diminishing returns will kick in: the longer and more often you do something, the less it will do for you. To overcome this, you need to periodize your training. You need to train at a lower volume.

For example, you should incorporate periods of strength or maintenance training into your long-term training regimen to allow your body to fully recover and be ready for the next block of hard muscle-building training. By lowering your training volume to a maintenance level for a month or so, you can make your body receptive to a high training volume again. You then increase the volume again during your next bulking phase.

These maintenance phases allow your body to firm up, re-energize and prepare for the next muscle-building phase. After a long bulking phase, you will have accumulated a lot of fatigue and your body will have a lower insulin sensitivity. In addition, your body will get used to the high volume and you will need more and more volume and intensity to overload your body. This increases the likelihood of fat gain, overtraining and injury.

Properly timed unloading phases can help reduce these risks for a while, but they can't compensate for a month of hard training. A maintenance phase at some point is what the doctor ordered.

Another reason for maintenance phases is that they help the body to maintain and stabilize the muscle mass it has built up during the last mass-building phase. Give your body a chance to get used to its new, more muscular set point.

Use the maintenance phase at the end of your mass building phase, when calorie intake and training volume are at their highest level. During this phase you try to maintain your body weight. This allows your body to find its new normal weight. As a result, it will maintain the muscle mass you built up during the mass gain phase.

But I could bet that this whole "maintenance phase" thing still kind of bugs you, right? Who wants to train at a maintenance level. It's all about beast mode - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, right?

That's why I like to refer to the maintenance phase as the preparation phase. This phase literally prepares you for future growth. Or think of this phase as the transition phase between the mass building and definition phase - or the strength phase.

Even if this is nothing more than semantics, the vocabulary used can make a big psychological difference and improve adherence to this phase. So choose the term that suits you best and then do what is necessary: low-volume strength training with a maintenance-level diet.

Maintenance phase training and nutrition

Train for strength - lower frequency, lower volume, lower reps, but heavier weights than during the mass building and definition phase. For example, 3 sets of 5 repetitions (3x5) would be a suitable set and repetition scheme. This works because it is much easier to maintain muscle than to build muscle, so the stimulus from training can be much lower.

In terms of diet, an isocaloric diet is best - maintain your body weight and eat maintenance calories.

If you are eating for weight maintenance and training hard, then there is not much risk of muscle loss. Protein intake can remain in the same range as during the mass-building phase. Carbohydrate intake can be reduced as the training volume is lower. Fat intake can be increased slightly to compensate for the reduction in carbohydrates and to ensure hormone levels are maintained.

This phase allows you to restore your insulin sensitivity after your carbohydrate-rich mass-building phase. In addition, a maintenance phase will also give you some psychological relief. After you've done a high-carb, relatively low-fat mass-building phase, you probably won't be able to see foods like rice, oatmeal and potatoes in combination with low-fat protein sources. As a result, the opportunity to eat some higher fat foods with a few carbohydrates will help wash away any fatigue and prepare you for the next diet phase.

Nutritional guidelines for the maintenance phase

• Protein: 2 grams per kilogram of body weight
• Carbohydrates: 2.3 to 3 grams per kilogram of body weight (about half the maximum amount during the mass-building phase)
• Fat: The rest (about 1.25 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight)

How to monitor your progress during the maintenance phase

• Just maintain your weight!
• If your weight fluctuates by more than plus or minus half a kilo, adjust your calorie intake up or down by 250 to 500 kcal per day (lighter people should aim at the lower end of the range and heavier people at the upper end)

Let's summarize everything

Here's a good structure that can give you an overview of how to do these phases sequentially one after the other, assuming you are relatively lean or have a body fat percentage of around 10%:

• Mass building phase: weeks until April arrives
• Maintenance phase: 4 weeks
• Definition phase: 3-8 weeks until you reach a body fat percentage of 8 to 10%
• Repeat until you are muscular and defined

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/the-complete-guide-to-bulking-and-cutting

From Tom MacCormick

Having looked at the physiological processes that take place in response to training and food intake in the first part, in this second part of this article I will look at the individual macronutrients and the optimum nutrient intake before, during and after training.

Part II: The individual macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates and fats

The source of protein - does it matter?

For now, we are mainly concerned with what we can do from a nutritional perspective to promote the signals necessary for protein synthesis to occur. Since amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, amino acid levels within the cell act as regulators for the mTOR protein complexes (10). Even in a positive energy state, protein synthesis will remain inhibited if the cell does not have the necessary amino acid stores.

A study conducted by Norton and colleagues concluded that the inherent leucine content of different protein sources (egg, wheat, soy and whey) resulted in different postprandial (i.e. after a food intake) plasma leucine levels and a different stimulation of muscle protein synthesis: only the groups consuming egg protein or whey protein showed a stimulation of protein synthesis beyond what could be observed in the control group without food intake (11). Therefore, we naturally want to consume a sufficient amount of amino acids and, more importantly, amino acids that activate mTOR protein complexes (such as leucine) (12).

To date, scientific research has shown that as long as a protein source has the necessary leucine content (and other essential amino acids), there are no significant differences in muscle protein synthesis between protein sources (e.g. milk, animal protein, egg protein, etc.) (13, 14).

The conclusion at this point is that the protein source is indeed important - but only in the sense that the protein source contains sufficient amounts of leucine and the essential amino acids. The difference in muscle protein synthesis rates is not significant if the leucine / EAA content is sufficient to maximize the muscle protein synthesis reaction. We will talk about the exact amounts later.

The amount of protein - is there a limit?

There seems to be a theory in the bodybuilding myth and legend world that the body can only digest X amount of protein per meal (for some reason this amount is supposed to be around 50 grams and apply to our entire species). Well, for lack of a more appropriate term, this theory is unfounded. The body can process significantly larger amounts of any macronutrient at a given meal, but the question we should be concerned with is how much of that dose results in a sustained rate of muscle protein synthesis. In addition, it would be interesting to know if there is an upper limit to postprandial muscle protein synthesis.

The last few years of scientific research have shed light on this. One example of this is the discovery that a combination of whey protein with supplemental leucine did not result in a significant difference in protein turnover compared to subjects who drank only whey protein (15). The caveat to these results is that they looked at total body-wide protein turnover and not just skeletal muscle protein turnover (for the purposes of body composition change, we are obviously not interested in hypertrophy of other body tissues such as liver or digestive tract).

Furthermore, another study concluded that the maximal activation (but not the duration) of muscle protein synthesis was proportional to the leucine content of a complete meal (i.e. a meal containing fat, carbohydrate and protein) (16). However, it has been found that one way to extend the duration of muscle protein synthesis is to supplement leucine (and/or carbohydrate) between meals (as long as the meals are spaced far enough apart to allow muscle protein synthesis to drop to its baseline, which is generally 4 to 6 hours after eating a large enough meal) (17).

It appears that a conservative estimate based on the available data is that 30+ grams of a leucine-rich protein source (such as most animal protein sources and whey protein) is sufficient to increase muscle protein synthesis rates for a good 3 to 4 hours (31). However, this is only a minimum baseline for active people and is by no means a strict rule.

Carbohydrates and the role of insulin

Many people seem to tend to go to extremes when it comes to carbohydrate intake, either advocating high carbohydrate intake or advocating a carbohydrate-free diet. Furthermore, there seems to be a lot of misconceptions about what exactly insulin does and how it affects fat loss and muscle hypertrophy.

First of all, even if you eat a carbohydrate-free diet, you will still secrete insulin - even amino acids are insulinogenic to some degree. In addition to this, a chronic low-carbohydrate diet does not appear to offer any metabolic benefits compared to a diet with moderate carbohydrate intake (21) and most studies have only shown benefits when very low-carbohydrate diets were used for short periods (22).

Secondly, insulin is indeed a storage hormone, but this is also the reason why it is highly anabolic. People seem to have this terrible fear of insulin and think that even the smallest amounts of this hormone will be enough to turn them into a Michelin Man. Don't be afraid of insulin! In fact, it's your ally when it comes to optimizing your muscle hypertrophy. Numerous studies have confirmed that the muscle protein synthesis response to a nominal dose of amino acids can be enhanced by the presence of sufficient amounts of carbohydrates (and thus an increased insulin response) (20, 23).

At this point, however, we must be careful not to overdo it. The key is to consume a sufficient dose of carbohydrates to promote a nominal insulin response, but not to try to stuff insane amounts of simple carbohydrates into you to increase insulin levels as much as possible. Insulin does not increase muscle protein synthesis in the physiological range in response to a meal in a linear fashion as many people seem to believe (24).

Pharmacological doses of insulin can indeed increase the muscle protein synthesis response beyond the normal physiological range, but this is not relevant in this context as it requires the use of exogenous insulin, which can quickly become very dangerous for inexperienced exercisers.

The bottom line at this point is that carbohydrates (and insulin) are your ally when it comes to optimizing muscle protein synthesis, but you should not overdo it and consume excessive amounts of carbohydrates, as the synergistic effect of insulin (in the physiological range) is not linear. You should consume a moderate amount of carbohydrates to efficiently stimulate insulin release (the specific amount per meal will depend on a number of factors, but there is no need to concentrate all your carbohydrates in one meal - not even after training).

Carbohydrate sources and glycemic load

For the majority of individuals who eat complete meals (i.e. meals that include fats, proteins and carbohydrates), the source of carbohydrate is less important than the total carbohydrate intake. The one exception would be individuals who consume excessive amounts of pure sugar (dextrose) at one time to maximize insulin levels, as indicated above.

There is no need to use pure high-glycemic carbohydrates to bring insulin levels up (and ultimately has minimal, if any, benefits). However, this does not mean that you need to avoid all simple sugars and high-glycemic carbohydrates, but simply reiterates the previously mentioned fact that a maximal increase in insulin levels (in the physiological range) does not increase muscle protein synthesis more than a moderate increase in insulin levels, as can be observed after consuming lower glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes or other complex carbohydrates (24).

Another point to keep in mind is that the glycemic index (and ultimately glycemic load) of carbohydrates can be altered by consuming other food sources at the same time. Eating a full meal with a high-glycemic carbohydrate source will reduce the glycemic load of those carbohydrates as fat and fiber slow digestion.

As with most things in the world of nutrition, you should practice restraint and moderation when it comes to carbohydrates. Try to split your carbohydrate intake between different sources and don't exclusively eat sugar and other high-glycemic carbohydrates. Of course, it's okay to eat some sugar and other high-glycemic carbohydrates - but in reasonable amounts.

Dietary fats

Fats are unique in that they have a very high energy density (9 kcal per gram) and tend to be very satiating. They are essential for cellular integrity and play a role in a variety of cellular mechanisms. For these reasons, active people in particular should not consume too little fat.

Sources of saturated fats

Fatty acids consist of chains of hydrocarbons and when all carbon atoms are saturated with hydrogen atoms, these fats are called saturated fats. Saturated fats are usually demonized by the media and people who want to lose body fat, but they, like most other nutrients, have their rightful place in a healthy diet.

Coconut oil, for example, is made up almost entirely of saturated fat, but it is largely composed of medium-chain triglycerides, which are a form of fat that can easily be used by the body as an energy source instead of being stored. In addition, saturated fat intake appears to correlate with the production of sex hormones (androgens) in men (25).

But again, the key (just as with the insulin dilemma mentioned earlier) is that just because a nominal dose of something has benefits does not necessarily mean that a large dose is better. In fact, chronically high saturated fat intake is associated with insulin resistance and an increased risk of a number of metabolic disorders (26, 28).

Depending on your total fat intake and your goals, your saturated fat intake may fluctuate accordingly. A conservative estimate for the majority of active individuals is that at least 25% of total fat intake should consist of saturated fat. An imbalance of saturated and unsaturated fats is not desirable.

Sources of unsaturated fats

In contrast to saturated fats, unsaturated fatty acids contain either one (monounsaturated fatty acids) or several (polyunsaturated fatty acids) carbon double bonds (i.e. the carbon atoms are not saturated with hydrogen atoms). Monounsaturated fats are primarily found in nuts and vegetable oils. The popular omega-3 fatty acids are all polyunsaturated and are primarily found in fresh fish.

Numerous metabolic disorders have been linked to a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids (27), which is why we should consume sufficient amounts of these specific fatty acids. The general consensus is that supplementation with 3.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (with a DHA:EPA ratio of 2:1) is sufficient for maintaining good health, although active people may require higher amounts (29).

Due to the overall health and metabolic benefits of unsaturated fatty acids, it is recommended that you consume the majority of your fats in the form of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (30).

Part III: Optimizing the Peri-Workout Nutrition Plan

Prepare. Perform. Replenish.

There are three relevant goals you should consider when putting together your training nutrition plan:

• Preparing the body for training
• Nourishing the body during training
• Replenishing the body's reserves and stores after training

Sure, these three goals seem pretty straightforward, but there are still multiple theories as to what constitutes the optimal approach in each of these situations. Of course, the growth and repair of muscle tissue is heavily dependent on proper nutrient intake.

As previously noted, it is difficult to give specific nutritional advice to a broad audience as each individual will have their own variables that may alter what is best for their performance and body development. Scientific research and anecdotal experience can give us general direction and guidance and personal customization will add the final touches.

It is important to remember that we are talking about optimizing the aforementioned three goals (prepare, perform, replenish.) that pertain to the individual in question. Thus, the optimal training diet will be relative to the individual and their specific needs/training goals.

The good news is that despite the inherent individuality of the nutrition aspect, there are some general protocols that are applicable to almost any person striving to improve their efforts in the gym. This guide will look at the basic principles of exercise nutrition and what scientific research considers to be optimal.

After establishing these fundamental points, this guide will provide guidance for further fine-tuning training nutrition based on the aforementioned individual factors that come into play. With this information in mind, we can now turn our attention to training nutrition protocols.

Phase I: Preparation

If you prefer to train on an empty stomach/fasting state, then there is no reason why you can't do this and still achieve excellent results. Whether training in a fasted state offers any significant metabolic benefits over training in a non-fasted state is highly debatable, but the anecdotal evidence I've seen from people following such a protocol is certainly promising. Training in a fasted state obviously involves not eating during the pre-workout phase, so feel free to move on to the next section of this guide.

Intuitively, many people believe that they should load up on carbohydrates before and during training as our bodies burn glucose for energy production. This is the basis of the conventional carbohydrate loading routine of endurance athletes the day before a sporting event, as the athlete wants to replenish their glycogen stores. If you look at the primary ingredient in the popular sports drink Gatorade, you'll notice it's dextrose (or another form of simple sugars). They throw a few electrolytes into the mix and voila, there's your energy in a bottle (metaphorically speaking).

Scientifically/theoretically speaking, loading up on carbs before an endurance event is a sound intention, but that protocol gets skewed when you throw other goals like maximizing muscle hypertrophy (as well as minimizing muscle catabolism), stimulating lipolysis, and increasing performance into the mix. And last time I checked, most figure class bodybuilders/athletes wanted to get as defined and muscular as possible - not become the next Steve Prefontaine.

The phase before training (or an important match) is ultimately the time to mentally prepare for the training (or competition) ahead. I would advise exercisers to eat food that is easy to digest and doesn't make them sluggish. How you perform after eating a meal is just as important - if not more important - than the physiological effect of that meal.

Think of it this way: if you're not able to perform well in the gym (or at your athletic competition) because you thought you'd have to choke down a bunch of food in hopes of accelerating your muscle growth (or improving your athletic performance), then you're actually doing more damage than if you ate a smaller meal and had an excellent training session (or a good competition).

Exactly what this smaller meal should look like varies from one person to the next. This meal should consist of foods that the individual can tolerate well so that they can maximize performance while stimulating an increase in muscle protein synthesis rates.

So the primary guideline at this point would be to make sure to eat a 20 to 30+ gram serving of leucine-rich protein and fill up the carbohydrate and fat portion of the meal according to your preferences.

Phase II: Perform

During your training sessions (or your competition) you may feel the need to consume some nutrients to keep your body in an "anabolic" or "anti-catabolic" state, but the reality is that if you have eaten an adequate pre-workout meal (1 to 3 hours before), you will not need to consume nutrients during your workout.

Some endurance athletes (and other athletes) may benefit from a simple carbohydrate solution (e.g. Gatorade) to replenish their glycogen stores. In addition, exercise promotes catabolism of EAAs (and specifically BCAAs), so the exerciser may benefit from consuming some EAAs/BCAAs during exercise, especially if they are exercising in a fasted state or if a significant amount of time (approximately 4 to 6 hours) has passed since their last pre-exercise meal (32).

A combination of carbohydrates and EAAs/BCAAs or whey protein would therefore be a viable option - but not a necessity unless the training session is very long.

Phase III: Replenishment

The theory regarding the "anabolic window" seems to send most exercisers into a rush to find the nearest protein shake as soon as they've shed the weight after their last set. However, the post-workout anabolic window is nowhere near as acute as most people seem to believe and, moreover, is not really as physiologically beneficial in the short term as many people think.

This doesn't mean that you don't need to eat after training. The industry seems to breed extremists, so I don't want you to get the idea that training intensely for 2 hours and then fasting for a day is in any way beneficial for muscle growth - because it's not.

Just think practically and use your head - try to eat your next post-workout meal when it fits into your schedule. If this happens 1 to 2 hours after your workout, you're fine - and no, you won't suddenly crumble into a pile of bone meal just because you didn't choke down a protein shake within 15 nanoseconds of your workout.

As for the spike in insulin levels during this period, it's not a necessity, nor does it provide any great additional benefits. If you don't have time to eat a solid meal within the first few hours after training, then take a protein shake and some carbs/fats with you on the go. Another option is to take some EAAs/BCAAs after your workout to tide you over until your next meal. This is particularly advisable for those who train on an empty stomach and can't eat for several hours after training.

Final thoughts

Some readers may be a little annoyed to have read this entire guide without finding any of the typical quantitative recommendations regarding the perfect pre-workout ratio of carbs : protein : fat or whatever. If you still don't understand why I've refrained from making such sweeping statements, let me reiterate that there is no such thing as a predetermined universally perfect diet. The permutations of perfect dietary protocols are infinite, so I wouldn't even know where to start with sample plans.

My goal with this guide was to give the reader a basic knowledge of how the body responds physiologically to training and nutritional intake so that you can apply what you learn to your own life/training. The possibilities are truly endless and you will eventually find out for yourself what is optimal for your lifestyle and diet.

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