The best body fat percentage for anyone who wants a great physic is around 8 %. Don’t take my word for it, Arnold Schwarzenegger always competed at around 8% body fat. 8% will allow you to see the definition in your muscles and your abs will be defined, but your body won’t be in a state of starvation and you will look healthy.

Many people think they can reach a very low percentage of body fat by lifting weights, doing cardio and doing lots of ab exercises. It is true that all of those things can lower your body fat percentage, however, it is nearly impossible to have a bodybuilder type physique without understanding diet. Your diet is what will make you or break you. In the sport of bodybuilding, it is very common to hear bodybuilders say it breaks down to diet 70% and training 30%.

One of the most crucial things to avoid while trying to achieve a low body fat percentage is sugar. Sugar is a simple form of carbohydrates that causes an insulin response. When your body releases insulin fat is stored. Essentially, when you eat sugar, if those calories are not burned off almost immediately, they are stored as body fat.

Eliminating carbohydrates is not an option because they are the main source of fuel for your body. However, you can almost eliminate sugar without any negative effects on your body. Checking food labels is important. You’d be surprised at how many foods have sugar. Slow burning carbohydrates like vegetables, oats and quinoa are the best way to incorporate carbs into your diet. Even though foods like bread and pasta don’t contain sugar, they do contain processed carbohydrates, which rank high on the glycemic index. The glycemic index is a scale that rates the body’s insulin response. The higher a food is on the glycemic index, the more it raises your blood sugar levels and the more likely it will be stored as fat. Shoot for foods under 50 on the glycemic index.

You do need to lower your carbohydrate intake overall and increase your protein intake. You should try to split up your calories 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fats. That, again, is straight from Arnold himself.

The next two things you want to avoid are saturated fat and sodium. Both these items are usually present in high amounts in fast foods and store-bought, prepackaged foods. Even nice restaurants also use lots of sodium to make their food taste better. Sodium causes your body to retain water and a can also make it harder for you to lose fat. Taking into much sodium also leads to high blood pressure and other health risks. Fats are necessary in your diet, however you want to make sure that the majority of them are unsaturated. Unsaturated Omega three fats have lots of health benefits and can actually help you lose body fat. Avocados are a good example of these.

Drinking lots of water will flush toxins out of your body, allowing it to operate more efficiently. There is a long list of benefits to drinking water, but it is necessary for achieving low body fat.

Fiber is important because it can help slow the rate at which your body burns carbohydrates. The slower you burn the carbohydrates the less likely they are to be stored as body fat. Fiber is also an important part of a balanced diet and has many other health benefits. Beans are an example of a food that is high in fiber, protein and ranks low on the GI.

You need to eat small meals throughout the day. The purpose of this is to keep your metabolism up and to avoid excess intake of calories that cannot be burned off before they are stored as fat. Keep in mind that all macro-nutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) can be stored as fat when taken in excess. That is why 6 smaller meals a day is much better than 3 large meals.

Finally, you do need to exercise at least 2-3 times per week to achieve 8% body fat. Diet is your most important tool, but exercise is necessary as well to get down to 8% while still keeping a muscular physique.

The #1, absolute best exercise for obliterating body fat is sprints. Sprints are both a power exercise (anaerobic) and a cardio (aerobic) exercise. When the body is at 100% intensity it sheds body fat very quickly. If you like jogging or bodybuilding that’s great, but I still recommend working sprints into the schedule at least once a week to reach your goals that much faster.

If you’re really serious about getting your body fat down to 8%, you’ll need to start preparing your meals at home. I’m going to give you a list of foods to eat and also a list of foods not to eat, to help you with your shopping. Chilli or stew is probably the easiest way to combine most of the good foods on this list into one meal. I guarantee that, the more strict you are with following this list, the better results you’ll get.

Foods to Eat

Proteins
Chicken breast
Turkey (sliced or ground)
90% lean ground beef or steak (no more than 2 times per week)
Fish (Tilapia, Wild Alaskan salmon, or any other types of fish low in mercury)
Eggs
Protein powder
Cottage cheese

Good Carbs

Brown rice
Quinoa (slow burning carb high in protein, containing all essential amino acids)

Beans –black, pinto, white, garbonzo, lentils, (wash them first to get rid of sodium)
Vegetables (main source of carbs) (steamed or raw keeps the most vitamins)
Fruit (no more than 1 piece per day)
Old fashioned or steel cut oats

Good Fats That Help You Get Lean
Nuts- almonds, walnuts, brazil-nuts, pistachios, cashews, macadamia
Peanut butter
Avocado
Coconut oil (ok to cook), uncooked olive oil, uncooked peanut oil, uncooked canola oil, uncooked sesame seed oil (can be used for dressings)

Foods to Avoid
Breads
Milk (too much sugar)
Fried foods
Candy
All baked goods
Pasta
Soda
Fruit juices
Cheese
Pre-packaged store bought food (very high in sodium and usually saturated fat)
Any food or drinks that contain sugar

Things to avoid

Sugar
Sodium
Saturated fat

Good Things

Drink lots of water
Foods high in fiber

Byline: John McKiernan is a personal trainer who enjoys researching information on bodybuilding, supplements, diets, health tips and more. He is the owner of Supplementhelper.com where he shares knowledge and advice about popular bodybuilding and health supplements.

A lot more people today are getting involved in bodybuilding. Some do it as a hobby however some are serious professionals. Regardless of whether you’re just trying to enhance your physique or if you’re planning on taking part in competitions with the long term plan of going into bodybuilding professionally. The information I’m going to provide you here will outline some fundamental tips you will need to flourish in the activity of bodybuilding.

If you begin any lengthy project that takes just as much time and energy as bodybuilding does, you will want to create identifiable and measurable goals. For example: How large would you like your arms to be? How big do you want your chest size to be? How about your upper thighs? Will you be able to get those sexy abs?

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Once you’ve got your goals planned out, you’re ready to focus your time and effort. Creating a muscular physique takes a lot of time and hard work. You will need to schedule some time each week to go to the gym. Having a vague idea of when you’re going to go to the gym each week won’t be enough to get the body you’re truly wanting. You must make time in your schedule if you’re serious about your training.

You should also make adjustments on what type of meals you would eat regularly. Could what you eat now be adequate to support a powerful, muscular, lean body that’s constantly growing and getting even stronger? It probably won’t be so you will need to make significant changes to improve your diet. You should be prepared to eat lots of lean protein and low fat meals to ensure you get the body you desire. Once you have all this in place you must be ready as this will become a little mundane and repetitive as you’ll be repeating this for many weeks and months.

You should think about using bodybuilding supplements to help with your training. Supplements are great for people at all fitness levels and there are many different types of supplements that people use throughout their training, these range from fat burners to meal replacements. One of the more common reasons people use bodybuilding supplements is to help with speeding up the recovery and repair of their muscles after a big workout.

Supplements can get a little bit expensive and you might want to add the cost to your weekly food budget. There’s also the medical factor to take into account, you should consult with a Doctor on two counts. The first is that you should call your doctor before beginning any exercise and diet program and secondly be certain to ask a family doctor about how diet supplements, like protein powder, will affect you. Many people don’t do this all important step and these people only end up doing damage to themselves.

On top of checking with your Doctor how much your body will be able to handle such a change like bodybuilding you should always buy your supplements from a reputable and well established retailer. You’re investing in your body so you want to make sure that what you’re putting in is safe.

I hope these tips will help you with your new found hobby and that you completely understand that you have to look after your body properly. Make sure you speak to a professional about your health and make sure that any form of nutrition you consume has all the quality stamps and meets all the safety laws for your Country.

When discussing with athletes what they are looking to gain from their exercise regime, their answers often include maintaining and improving fitness and increasing muscle mass. A vital ingredient to enable the body to do this is protein, as it is high in the amino acids which are necessary for building muscles quickly. Protein is found in many foods such as eggs, fish and meat. However, taking a protein powder supplements in addition to a healthy diet is a great way of boosting the results of a high intensity fitness program.

Out of the myriad of protein supplements available today, one of the best places to start is with whey protein. It is easily absorbed compared to many other protein powder supplements and goes straight to the muscles where it is needed. Whey Protein is also high in antioxidants and increases strength and endurance levels making it an essential ingredient when embarking on an intensive training schedule.

Used by athletes from many different disciplines, whey protein remains one of the most popular nutritional supplements on the market because of the direct effect it has on the body. Not only does it help to build muscles in a shorter amount of time, it is also beneficial in reducing recovery time after working out. When it is taken in addition to a supplement such as creatine the effects are even more profound.

Creatine helps to delay lactic acid production and is easily mixed with protein shakes such as whey powder to increase the effects of strength and endurance training. It is used by a number of athletes from various disciplines giving the body the extra reserves of fuel it needs when embarking on a rigorous training program.

Vital for improving anabolic performance, creatine increases protein absorption and rapidly converts it into lean muscle mass. It occurs naturally in the body and can also be found in fish and meat but for maximum results it is helpful to take creatine as a supplement in addition to a healthy diet.

This is because many of the foods which are naturally high in creatine also contain high levels of carbohydrate and saturated fats. Not only can these kinds of foods result in long term health problems, they are also not ideal for anyone who is trying to reduce body fat and increase lean muscles. Taking supplements alongside a healthy diet can provide all of the benefits and minimise the health risks associated with a diet which contains excessive amounts of meat.

There are other advantages to taking supplements such as creatine and protein powder. Not only can athletes enjoy a healthier diet, they can also time the ingestion of nutrients to coincide exactly with when they need them most. By taking a nutritional supplement just before or after working out, they get the maximum benefit to achieve good results every time.

Dietary supplements such as creatine and whey protein are an effective way to improve performance. They have minimal side effects when they are used correctly. Taking a dietary supplement is a great way to provide the body with the nutrients it needs to get the maximum benefit out of a high intensity workout regime.

Whether if you have been working out for some time now or you’re just starting out with a bodybuilding training program, there are many things said from advertisements, friends and family, and even personal trainers from the gym that are usually incorrect and are just myths. They may sound believable, but in reality these so called myths probably won’t help you in the way they are proposed.

For adding muscle mass, here are two myths that are usually stated by sources the incorrect way:

1. You have to take supplements to gain muscle mass!

This is far from truth as you do not need any supplements to gain muscle mass. It’s the training you do in the weight room and the foods you eat in the kitchen that gives you true muscle mass. Although the advertisements of today promote supplements like they are supposed to be your main course of nutrition when in fact it’s the exact opposite. The purpose of nutritional supplements is to “supplement” your training and workouts. They are there to aid you as the last resort when getting specific key nutrients into your body. Not to totally bash supplements, some can be a waste of money while some are actually really beneficial for your training. Such as a protein supplement. Right after a workout, you need key specific nutrients to feed your body in a timely manner as catabolism occurs after you workout. Whey protein is usually my choice as it is the fastest type of protein that the body can absorb. The faster your body can absorb key nutrients right after a workout, the better.

2. Alternating between low-intensity workouts to high intensity workouts.

Your muscles will only gain in overall size when you are applying unaccustomed stress to a specific muscle group and putting high physical demands on them. Your muscles are not going to grow if you are using low intensity workouts for a long period of time. You should only use low intensity workouts for a short period of time for the muscle to recover properly, and THEN overload your muscles with high intensity training. In a sense, you have to alternate the intensity of your training in order to gain maximum muscle mass and power. Because if you’re only applying high-intensity variables to your training, you will over train your body. Over training your body happens when you train to the point where you don’t give your body enough time to recover.

The vast majority of supplements are total junk, and that’s pretty much the sad truth of most of them. Although, there are still quality products out there that live to their promise to an extent. Some of these supplements might not be considered the magic bullet of all things, but they definitely “supplement” your training.

Here listed are 5 supplements that will help you on your bodybuilding journey. These are pretty much the only supplements worth spending money on and can prove to be beneficial during your training cycle.

1. Whey Protein Powder
Above all, the main supplement for any type of training is protein powder if not the best bodybuilding supplement you can get. Whey protein powder is the fastest digesting protein you can get. And after a an hour’s worth of working out in the gym, whey protein is what you need to get into your system before your body starts going into catabolism. Just when you thought trying to eat 5 cans of tuna in one serving was tough, you can get 50 grams of protein in just two scoops. If you haven’t already got a protein supplement, do so now.

2. Creatine
Of all supplements, this has probably been one of the most hyped up supplements in all history. But believe it or not, it actually lives up to its word. Creatine is used by all different regions in the sports world via football, rugby, basketball, powerlifting and last but not least bodybuilding. Creatine has the ability to replenish and give boost to your creatine phosphate stores. So when you’re in the squat rack lifting 400lbs and you’re on your 4th rep, you’re going to want to wish you had more creatine to push out more repetitions. Creatine is also highly used by track athletes and sprinters alike. It doesn’t really benefit the endurance aspect, but it can definitely help out with short explosive bursts of exercise.

3. Branched Chain Amino Acids
So you thought protein just appeared out of thin air? Absolutely not. What makes up protein are amino acids. Without amino acids, there is no protein. No protein, no muscle. Get it? But on the safe side, if you are already consuming a large amount of protein, then you probably won’t need to supplement with all the amino acids. Although, one set of amino acids are called the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) There’s a lot of branched amino acids in fish oil and tuna. When you go out and buy your next protein supplement, try to keep an eye out and make sure your protein supplement has these BCAAs. They are essential to protein production.

4. Dextrose
Even though dextrose might prove just to be a sugar, the best time to consume dextrose is right when you’re done working out. Because when your muscles are sore and they are exhausted, they will pretty much consume any nutrients you throw at them. Combining dextrose with other supplements can prove vital such as protein powders, creatine, and amino acids to make a great post workout shake.

5. Fish Oil
And last on the list that I would like to discuss is fish oil. This is one of the best supplements you can take if you’re into hardcore exercising. It might lack the hype and might not help you build muscle, but it’s still vital to your overall health. What I would like to point out about fish oil are its capabilities as a anti-inflammatory. It’s good for joint pain and helps improve your circulatory system.

Also, when you go out to buy your supplements, I would recommend you to go online instead of fetching to your nearest gnc. If you go look at GNC’s prices and internet prices and compare them, you’ll very much see the huge price difference.