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Fitness Tips for Teens

By admin on September 15, 2009

By Pamela Micks
Personal Fitness Trainer

Physical fitness is important for all of us and our teens are no exception. In fact, fitness that begins in childhood can create an investment of the greatest value to our children. Studies have shown that children who participate in fitness activities continue to stay active throughout their lives. However, research also shows that between the ages of 13 to 18 teens exhibit a steady downward trend in fitness levels. There are many reasons why this may be, but it is very important to realize our impact as role models so it is important to stay fit as parents and adults.

Teens can stay fit by engaging in any activity that they enjoy. There are many choices in addition to competitive and noncompetitive sports including skateboarding, rock climbing, dancing, gymnastics and skating. Weight training, with knowledgeable supervision, can build muscle and help prevent other sports injuries.

Teenagers should exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes at a time and maintain an active lifestyle. This is especially important in a day and age where children and teens are more and more sedentary both in their entertainment choices of computers, television and video games as well as their homework demands at a desk and computer.

Here are some practical tips for teens and their parents:

* If your child/teen refuses to participate in any fitness activities, it may be a sign of a physical or psychological problem. A doctor should probably be consulted.

* Injuries may occur due to overuse and the growth of muscles, ligaments and tendons. Stretching should be encouraged to help prevent tears and strains.

* Teens going through puberty may become less coordinated. An appropriate warm up and cool down is always in order and injuries attended to.

* Watch for signs of eating disorders and possible steroid use. Early intervention is vital for both of these very serious circumstances.

* Teenagers should continue to wear safety helmets and appropriate knee and elbow pads if their fitness activity warrants it.

* Parents, coaches and trainers should know the signs of a concussion and the what to do if they suspect one.

* Sunscreen should always be applied when doing fitness activities outdoors.

* Weight training should be taught or supervised by a knowledgeable trainer or adult. This is especially important due to the teen’s proneness to injury at this time of major growth. When teens experience a growth spurt, their bones may grow faster than the muscles and tendons making them more vulnerable to injury. Proper form and duration should be adhered to.

* Trampolines are not recommended due to the large number of injuries to participants of all ages.

* Teens and their parents should incorporate a nutritious diet into their lifestyle.

For more information and fitness support, please contact Pamela through her personal fitness training website at: www.RealBodyFitness.com

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How To Get Six Pack Abs Fast

By admin on August 24, 2009

How To Get Six Pack Abs Fast

Even a decade back, six-pack abs was not sought after in the manner it is today. Men with a chiseled body structure are considered extremely attractive by women as a rule! If you too are looking for some female adulation, it is high time that you achieve those praiseworthy six-pack abs as fast as possible. Here are a few tips that might come handy-

Apart from regular exercise, keep an eye on you daily food intake. It is as important as hitting a gym, I assure you. You must eat a balanced diet and start resistance training. This shall increase your metabolism, which shall soon lead to the six-pack abs. These are the basics you must remember before enrolling yourself in a gym and sweating it out.

Firstly, try to reduce the fat content present in your body- once the overall fat composition reduces considerably, your six-pack abs will become more prominent. This means that the strenuous workouts must utilize the fat stored in your system as a source of energy.

I must repeat that a proper diet system is instrumental in your plan to achieve those six-pack abs. Eat regularly and properly- this shall enable you maintain the required energy levels for various activities. Keep a check on your blood sugar level so that it does not fluctuate.

Steer clear of junk food and processed food products that use too much sugar. Maintaining a steady blood sugar level is of utmost importance because it will affect the overall results derived from weight training. The solution is to eat small portions of food throughout the day, which stabilizes blood sugar level-, and this shall help in burning most of the stored fat during your exercise routines.

Next, you must consider taking resistance training that aid in developing six pack abs quickly. Body fat levels drop very fast and one soon acquires a sculpted look after a few weeks of resistance training. Your lean body mass will be increased by what is known as the multi joint exercises. Your metabolism will greatly increase, leading to further burning of stored fat. These are exercises that specifically target your abdominal region so that they are rendered prominent.

Decreased fat content and increased lean body mass are both a direct result of resistance training. This also leads to an increase in the metabolic rate of your system. In the process of developing a perfect six-pack abs you shall be successfully cutting down on the fat storage in your body, which continues burning not only during exercises, but much after.

Remember the basic tenets of achieving your desired body structure- exercise regularly, and eat properly. This shall influence not only your overall metabolic rate, but also the fat content of your body. Your body shall gain muscularity and the abdominal structure shall become clearer as days go by. You must remember that there are no alternatives to a healthy diet and resistance training when it comes to achieving a six-pack abdomen!

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No Nonsense Muscle Building Review

By admin on August 23, 2009

I’ve seen someone sweating away for hours a day, drinking weird concoctions and following crazy diets all in a quest to turn his skinny scrawny body into a solid muscular one.  No, he hasn’t been successful but he doesn’t quit trying. (Okay. don’t tell anyone but that person is me.)

That’s why Vince DelMonte’s No-Nonsense Muscle Building Program caught my eye.  It’s the #1 Rated Muscle Program on the Internet.

My first thoughts when I read the sales page and saw the pictures?  “Who Decided This Program Was Rated #1” and “A Photoshop Expert Did A Great Job With Those Pictures!”
Vince claims: An “embarrassingly scrawny 149 twerp shot up to an impressive 190 pounds of rock solid, ripped muscle mass in under 6 months?” I thought “Sure.  I bet this guy has some oceanfront property in Arizona he wants to sell me too!”
To make me even more skeptical Vince DelMonte claimed other people could do it too with:

  • “no dangerous steroids”

  • “no expensive supplements”

  • “no long hours at the gym”

Who was he kidding?

Nobody – the pictures on his website haven’t been subjected to a long session with “Photoshop” and he’s not lying about his transformation.

Plus he wants to share what he’s learned and the program he’s developed to help other skinny guys build muscle, but not in an unhealthy way.

Vince’s workout methods are based on 9 growth principles that need to be understood and implemented correctly into every workout in order to achieve big gains in rock solid muscle.  They’re not too complicated to learn or impossible to do.  Vince does a great job of explaining each of the 9 principles and showing how to implement them.

Almost any person will tell you that it’s a lot easier to make progress if you know what you are supposed to be doing.  After all it’s hard to get somewhere you’ve never been before without a map, right?  With the purchase of Vince’s program he includes access to a member’s area on his website with a 52 week workout plan.  You just click on the date and your workout is mapped out for you.  You still have to do the work, but you’ll know what work to do and how to do it. But if you’re reading this, then you probably don’t mind a bit of work, you just want to finally get some real results.

Plus, it comes with an 8 week unconditional guarantee.  If you aren’t happy and request a refund within 8 week you get all your money back without any questions or hassle.

So yes, I’d highly recommend taking a serious look at No Nonsense Muscle Building if “getting ripped” is what you’re looking to do.

no nonsense muscle building - skinny guy secrets

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Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Review – Does It Work?

By admin on August 23, 2009


Is Burn the Fat a program that will help you lose weight and get a great body fit for the beach?

That’s what I wanted to know.

Reviewed: Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle By Tom Venuto

Let’s face it, in the world of weight loss, there are a lot of myths, half truths, and ineffective products out there.

Heck, if all these products worked half as well as they claimed, they’d be out of business because no one would be fat anymore.

So when it came time for me to review the Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle Program, I was less than thrilled since most of them are being peddled by people who are just trying to make a quick buck.

However, from the very beginning of the book, it was something completely different. Instead of starting out like all diet books do by proclaiming that every other gimmick diet doesn’t work, this one takes a very different approach. It starts out by having you set weight loss and fitness goals.

As I read further, I realized that this book wasn’t another “fad diet” just trying to get my money. This book was researched and tested over a period of years on thousands of different people by a personal trainer who’s in great shape (just look at his picture on the site) instead of by some fat doctor (Atkin’s anyone?)

But just reading about setting goals wasn’t enough for me to proclaim it to be worth purchasing, not yet.

Fortunately, I was just getting started.

This book also covered one of the biggest problems that so may people who are trying to lose weight have.

Motivation!

I’ve seen a lot of products that really do work if you follow them. The only problem is that they’re so hard to follow, that unless you have an iron will, you’ll never follow through and see results. It’s just too hard to find the motivation to stick with these programs.

This is where Burn The Fat started to separate itself from the rest of the pack. You see, the author understands that motivation and self discipline are really the most important aspects of any weight loss program.

Getting your mind and body on the same page is covered in detail. And without this aspect of the program, you wouldn’t see nearly the same level of results.
And it’s not just a weight loss product. That’s the beauty of it. Part of the “side effect” of following this program is that you’ll end up with a great looking toned, maybe even ripped, body!

You see, this program doesn’t just teach you how to diet, but how to work new lifestyle changes into your life that will result not only in a leaner healthier you, but one that will have you making up excuses to wear walk around without a shirt on or wear that bikini to the beach. With Burn the Fat, you’ll find that your body looks great underneath and you’ll want to show it off whenever you get the chance.

Now don’t make the mistake of thinking that this program is designed only for guys who want to be bulky bodybuilders. This program is designed to work equally well for males and females.

While the author does mention the differences in diet and training you’ll need to undertake, you’ll find that a lot of the specialized diets you see out there for men and women are nothing but marketing fluff. Instead, you’ll focus on listening to your body to learn how to best lose weight and get in better shape.

For me this program has been instrumental in taking a new approach to losing weight and finally reshaping my body. I’ve already lost 5 pounds in just a few weeks, but the amazing thing is the new muscle tone I’m starting to see on my body even though I haven’t been on this program for very long. I’m seeing results that you just don’t get from following those fad diets and magic pills.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this program to anyone who’s looking to shed a few pounds and get in the best shape of their life.

So if you’re ready to succeed even if you’ve failed in the past, then you should really give Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle a chance to get you the body of your dreams.

Click Here to Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

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The Truth About Six Pack Abs Review – Is It A Scam?

By admin on August 23, 2009


I’ve Been Burned So Many Times By Those Miracle “Get Six Pack Abs” Programs… Is The Truth About Six Pack Abs Just Another Scam?

The Truth About Six Pack Abs

Click Here to Visit The Truth About Abs Website and Decide for Yourself

Is “The Truth About Six Pack Abs” really the truth or just another hyped up claim that only makes your pocketbook lean?

You know you do it. When you’re on the beach and a pretty girl (or guy) walks by, you suck in your stomach hoping you won’t look like a fat slob. But you hope they don’t look at you too long because then you’ll pass out because you’re holding your breath at the same time you’re holding your stomach in.

You’re not alone. If you live in the United States you are probably well aware that over half of the population is overweight. If you don’t believe that, go to a local mall or busy street corner and see for yourself. The United States is becoming a nation of “fat piggies.”

Is it any wonder that program after program about weight loss, muscle building, and – that elusive thing most of want but can’t seem to get – sculpted and well defined abs, come on the market nearly every day?

“The Truth About Abs” says:

“The main focus of this program is NOT on abdominal exercises”
“This program consistently gets BETTER results by NOT focusing on abs exercises.”
“This program uses none of your typical boring monotonous cardio routines.”
“This program does not revolve around using any fancy abdominizer machines or ab gadgets.”
“This program does not include some sort of fad diet or gimmicky diet trend.”

I wondered what it did do then? Does the program consist of a latex bodysuit with abs sculpted on it for people to wear when they wanted to show off their abs?

Then I decided I really had nothing to lose, except all that fat that is covering up the abs I have hiding somewhere because the program has a 100% unconditional money back guarantee. So, if I think it’s a load of crap I know I can get my money back.

The program does deliver what it promises. The only catch is that you actually have to follow it if you want it work. Sitting and looking at the book every day won’t make your body look any better.

Yes, There’s Exercise

It will even make you sweat! But it’s broken down into several levels from beginner to advanced which is great for a beginner like me. Other programs I’ve looked at have a “one level for everyone” mentality that is just too hard for most people to start with, which means they give up and quit almost before they start. The exercises are fun too (and “fun” and “exercise” are two words I NEVER thought I would put in the same sentence).

Become Lean, Not Mean

Remember earlier when I said I had nothing to lose except the fat that was covering the abs I have hiding somewhere? That’s the biggest problem most people face when they want to build their abs and why all those ab gadgets don’t work. Most of us have layers of fat covering our abs so unless we lose that fat our abs won’t show.

This program teaches how to get a lean, healthy body without eating weird foods or following an impossible diet plan.

Age doesn’t matter and gender doesn’t matter. This program can work for everyone if you let it.

Remember, it comes with an 8 week unconditional guarantee which means you get your money back without any hassles whatsoever if you aren’t happy with “The Truth About Six Pack Abs” program.

What do you have to lose besides that fat and flab that’s keeping your abs hidden from you and the rest of the world?

Click Here to Visit The Truth About Abs Website and Decide for Yourself

the truth about six pack abs

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Female Bodybuilding

By admin on August 23, 2009

Women and Bodybuilding

In general, bodybuilding still isn’t something readily associated with women. The cultural stereotype still exists that women work out to get smaller and men work out to get bigger. While the stereotype does still have some basis in reality for the general public, there is certainly a large population of female bodybuilders.

One problematic result of this stereotype is the lack of readily available information. Disturbingly, the top three or four links after a Google search on “female bodybuilding” will take you to sites that have fitness information, supplement information, erotic chat and nude photographs. Many women who want to compete in bodybuilding end up nearly forced to sell risqué or nude products because they aren’t as supported financially as male bodybuilders.

Two questions are commonly asked by women looking into bodybuilding: should they exercise differently than men and are they genetically predisposed to building muscle in the same way men do?

Before delving into anything genetic, the first consideration relates to sociology and psychology. Aside from professional bodybuilding, which isn’t what we’re discussing, the goals of men and women are likely to be quite different when it comes to working out. The main reason for this is society and the ideals of attractiveness we’ve created.

I’m neither agreeing with nor condemning this; I’m simply stating it as a fact. While an argument can easily be made, and I fully support the argument, that everyone should improve their health and physique for themselves alone, the reality is that many people do it with the desire to be attractive to the opposite sex.

Thus, the goal of someone working out is going to be at least somewhat dependant on the culturally accepted stereotype of sexiness. In our current society, this means that many women are deeply concerned with becoming too muscular for fear of not being desirable any longer.

There is very little difference in the way men and women build and develop muscles. The main difference is due to women producing less testosterone than men. One effect of this is that women won’t naturally get as large and bulky as men, regardless of their training regimen.

This hormonal difference also has an impact on the level of intensity a woman should put her body through. Although the general public doesn’t seem to know this, we develop larger muscles because working out inflicts microscopic “tears” in the muscle tissue. The muscles grow in size and strength as the body rebuilds them, which is why proper recuperation after working out is so important.

Because testosterone is important to the rebuilding of muscles, and women naturally have less of it, it is estimated that women should only work out at eighty-five to ninety percent of the intensity of their male counterparts. Scientific examination and testing has repeatedly proven that women and men both burn fat equally well.

The concept of burning fat does present one potential downside for women working out. The act of increasing muscle mass and tone does not decrease the size of a woman’s breasts; in fact, increasing the size of the pectoral muscles can actually make them appear larger. However, greatly reducing overall body fat through either diet or exercise can reduce a woman’s breast size. In my opinion, your overall health should be more important than the size of your chest, but it’s a personal decision.

Pregnancy may be a concern for women who work out seriously, but then again it may not. Experts don’t seem able to reach a consensus. Most sport science and medical people believe that the individual can make her own determination regarding appropriate levels of working out while many obstetricians and gynecologists have a much more conservative attitude. As always when experts disagree, the final decision rests with the individual.

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Why You Should Weight Train

By admin on August 23, 2009

Why You Should Weight Train

I am continually shocked by the fact by the fact that so few people incorporate weight training into their exercise regimen. The best that I’ve been able to determine, this is because of a very common misunderstanding regarding the benefits of weight training. I say this because, if you ask someone why they don’t weight train, they tend to tell you that they don’t want to be a bodybuilder and/or they don’t want get “big and bulky.”

Now, the reality of the situation is that weight training is extremely beneficial for everyone, regardless of their ambitions in health or life. Also, consistent weight training doesn’t have to develop “big and bulky” muscles. The reasons that everyone should weight train are the same reasons why everyone should exercise.

The first and most obvious answer is staring you in the face every time you look in the mirror. Muscle is generally more attractive than fat. While it would be nice if everyone went to the gym and worked out because they truly wanted to be healthy, the fact is that many people simply want to look better. Toned muscle seems to be almost universally accepted as better looking on both men and women.

Regarding appearance, women tend to be the ones who object to getting too “big and bulky” with muscles and, therefore, avoid weight training. It’s actually much easier to weight train and not get large. By working with medium weights and more repetitions, you won’t bulk up; instead, you’ll tone your existing muscles and build them in a leaner way.

Having strong and toned muscles, regardless of their size, is important in preventing injuries. For instance, back injuries are extremely common and the main reason for this is weak back muscles. Research is also indicating that building and strengthening your muscles improves your immune system and will help keep you safe from illness and disease as well.

Increasing muscle mass is also one of the greatest possible ways to lose weight. Muscles require more calories than fat does for its survival. As I’m sure you are aware, the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. You’re actually burning calories while you sit there, reading this because our bodies are constantly burning calories. Muscle is an extremely active part of our body and, on average, a pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day just by existing.

A pound of fat burns…no calories.

So even if your sole goal for exercising is to lose weight, you will still be better off incorporating weight training because the muscle you build will help you lose weight 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you’re not working to build and maintain your muscles, you run the risk of burning off muscle tissue while you burn off fat. This will reduce your ongoing ability to burn calories on a daily basis which will make you put on more weight in the future and…I think you see the cycle here. This is one of the reasons that crash diets don’t work and the dieter ends up bouncing back up to their original weight and, usually, higher. They decrease caloric intake, but don’t exercise properly, and therefore burn muscle. When they inevitably come off the diet, their metabolism is lower and they have less muscle to burn calories. And, snap, they bounce up.

The act of weight training isn’t going to turn you into the next Mr. or Ms. Universe (much to the displeasure of thousands who are trying to do just that). Proper weight training will simply make you a healthier, stronger, sexier calorie burning machine.

So, why aren’t you weight training again?

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Weight Training The Right Way

By admin on August 23, 2009

Weight Training the Right Way

Weight training is exercising with the specific aim of developing strength and muscle tone. If you’re ready to make a commitment to seriously weight train, then it makes sense to make an equally serious commitment to doing it the right way, every time. Weight training is difficult enough when done the right way; do not make it any more difficult by doing it the wrong way!

The first step has to be developing an actual, definable and measurable goal. You need a destination before you can plot a course. Decide exactly what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it and give yourself a realistic time frame for doing so.

People develop a weight training regimen, generally, for one of the following reasons:
To increase strength;
To increase endurance;
To increase and/or tone muscles; or
Some combination of the previous three goals.

Decide what it is you want to accomplish and then write it down. Writing it down is incredibly important. Writing it down makes it more real and makes you more likely to accomplish it. Refer to this regularly, to check your progress and make any adjustments that are necessary. You will probably find that your goals were too easy to achieve or too difficult. Either way, adjust your schedule accordingly.

Keep in mind that you are adjusting your schedule, not your goal. You can never have a goal that is too lofty though you can have a schedule that is unrealistic. Never lose sight of your goal and never compromise your goal, just allow yourself to be realistic.

The schedule of weight training is probably the biggest mistake people make. Far too often, people set out a schedule of weight training that is simply too intense. Weight training, when done properly, is going to be intense enough. If you push yourself too hard and too fast, too often you will give up and burn out or injure yourself.

Plan to set aside no less than 30 minutes for each session and no more than 60 minutes, which should be your absolute limit. The number of sessions a week depends, somewhat, on the intensity of each workout and the overall goal you have in mind. Just keep in mind that, if you’re going to be doing a fully maximized regimen, you should have a fully maximized recuperation regimen as well.

Just to define two important terms: a repetition is the act of lifting and lowering a weight one time utilizing proper form and a set consists of a given number of repetitions done repeatedly, with no break.

As you schedule out your weight training, you need to base your sets and reps on the overall goal of your regimen. The following guidelines are loosely defined suggestions for developing a schedule that will lead you to your goal.

If you want to focus purely on strength, do sets of one to five repetitions. This provides the greatest focus on strength with some muscle building benefit but nearly no endurance training.

If you want to focus on endurance, do sets of thirteen to twenty repetitions. Following this schedule will increase your endurance and provide some muscle building benefit but will have a minimal impact on strength.

If you want to focus on building muscle, do sets of ten to twelve repetitions at maximum weight loads. Following this schedule will increase your muscle mass, with some benefit on endurance and strength.

Finally, if you want a schedule for balanced training of strength, endurance and muscle size, do sets of six to twelve repetitions.

Regardless of your schedule, the determining factor of your success is going to be your consistency. Make this commitment to yourself, for your reasons and don’t let anything take you off of the path.

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Weight Training To Failure

By admin on August 23, 2009

Weight Training Controversy – Training To Failure

There is an ongoing controversial debate going on with regards to the proper way to train with weights. The aim of this article is to give you some information on both sides so that you can make a determination for yourself.

The concept of training to failure is a fairly simple one: you continue doing repetitions of a particular exercise until you cannot do another repetition properly. This doesn’t mean that you continue repetitions until you don’t think you can do another repetition; you continue until you don’t have adequate muscle strength to actually complete another repetition.

To effectively weight train, it’s understood that you must push yourself. If you want to see increased improvement, then you have to operate under increased opposition. If you never read anything but first-grade level books, you’ll never learn to read at a level beyond the first grade. This is obviously common sense and there is no argument against it.

It’s the implementation of this concept that causes controversy. For ongoing improvement in weight training, you’re going to increase the number of repetitions you do or increase the amount of weight you use at the same number of repetitions. Increased repetitions are advocated for developing a leaner, more toned physique while increased weight is advocated for developing increased muscle mass.

Some people advocate a schedule of increases of either the number of repetitions and/or the amount of weight used. Following this train of thought, for example, you plan to increase the amount of weight you use by five pounds every two weeks. Or you plan to add five repetitions of the same weight every two weeks.

The key to this plan is that you determine the number of repetitions in advance, knowing that you could go further but opting not to push yourself. The ongoing increase in either weight or reps ensures that you will continue to develop your strength and muscles.

On the other side of the camp, we have the folks who endorse training to failure. Following this method, you generally still have an incremental schedule for increasing the amount of weight used, but the number of reps varies. You do it until you can’t do it any longer.

The controversy ensues, obviously, because training to failure increases the chance of overtraining and injury. Various studies have been done, showing that training to failure does not substantially improve muscle development, but many thousands of hardcore weight trainers disagree based on their experience.

For many weight trainers, they compromise in some way. If they are doing three sets of a particular exercise during their workout, they only train to failure on the final set. In some ways, this compromise is a bit illogical. If training to failure is worth doing, why only do it once? If training to failure isn’t worth doing, why do it at all?

Ultimately it’s a personal decision that each weight trainer must decide for him or herself.

With that in mind, I offer only two suggestions, one for each camp:

If you’re training to failure, ensure that you are doing so as safely as possible. Failure should be defined as the time when you cannot do another rep properly. If you know you can squeeze out another few reps, but only by sacrificing proper stance, grip or movement…don’t do it!

If you’re not training to failure, ensure that you have set up a schedule that is sufficiently challenging. An increase of two pounds every three weeks certainly keeps you safe from overtraining, but you’re not going to see much of a benefit. You still need to push yourself and challenge yourself consistently.

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Vegetarian Bodybuilding – Is It Possible?

By admin on August 23, 2009

Vegetarian Bodybuilding: Is It Possible?

The word vegetarian is one that has become somewhat vague among the general population because too many people have inappropriately adopted it as a label for their lifestyle. For instance, I have personally known 3 types of “vegetarians” in my life: those who don’t eat chicken, beef or pork (but will eat fish), those who don’t eat meat of any kind, and people who won’t eat anything that contains or is derived from animal sources (vegan).

Of these three definitions, the only one describing a true and sincere vegetarian is the last. This article is written for these people, so I am operating under the assumption that you are extremely sincere about not ingesting any and all animal products.

Adhering to a strict vegetarian diet takes work and conscious attention and building muscles takes work and conscious attention, so putting them together certainly doesn’t make either one easier.

The first challenge goes back to the way muscles build in our bodies. To increase the amount of muscle mass and improve the tone of muscles, the body needs protein. Our body uses protein for repairing and building new muscles. The challenge is because the most common source of protein is meat and other animal products.

According to one system for measuring the protein in food, the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, soy is equal to whey and superior to beef in protein content. Realistically, soy provides all 8 essential amino acids required for growing and repairing muscles. For the strict vegetarian, soy is an excellent option for getting the protein so desperately needed for building muscles.

In addition to protein, soy is also a fantastic source of glutamine which many bodybuilders already take in supplemental form, so soy is sort of a double-whammy for the bodybuilder.

Soy is available in many different forms and types, so you have many options. Low-fat tofu, tempeh, seitan, miso, textured soy protein, soy powder and soy milk. The soy milk is especially helpful because it can be utilized as a replacement for cow’s milk in any recipe you come across.

Aside from protein, the vegetarian bodybuilder needs to work at ensuring they get enough quality fat. Almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pistachio nuts are all excellent sources of both protein and fat. You can also add a tablespoon or so of flaxseed oil, as flax seed is one of the very best sources for the essential fatty acid alpha linolenic acid.

With the protein and fat questions taken care of, we need to find suitable sources of vitamins. The meal-replacement shakes which are incredibly popular with bodybuilders tend to be bursting at the seams with many vitamins and minerals. You may have to hunt specifically for one containing B12, or find an additional B12 supplement, because vitamin B12 is only found in animal products.

With these three areas covered, you will have enough of the natural building blocks for creating and improving muscle mass and tone. Being a vegetarian bodybuilder isn’t nearly as unlikely as it may sound at first.

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How to Build Muscle and Gain Weight Fast
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The Truth About Abs

Truth About Abs - 5 Tips to Lose Your Belly Fat

No Nonsense Muscle Building

no nonsense muscle building - skinny guy secrets