Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

20. Your How-To of Practical
Bodybuilding Nutrition
The percentage factor
20.1 ere is a lot of hokum about nutrition being 50% or as much as 80% of
bodybuilding success. Would you rather train very hard, including going
through the near agony to get the final few reps of an intensive set of squats
or deadlifts, or sit down in comfort and eat a nutritious meal of food that
you enjoy? Which of these two is really most responsible for weight-training
success.
20.2 Even though nutrition is not 80% or even 50% of weight-training success,
do not become casual about its role. Good nutrition is vital! Some trainees
have their training in good order but persistently short-change themselves
with their nutrition. It is a total package that delivers gains for hard gainers.
You need to be methodical and conscientious about all the components that
contribute to weight-training success.
20.3 If you cannot be bothered to keep tabs on your total caloric intake, your
training will suffer. If, for example, you need to average 3,100 calories a day
to gain muscle (assuming you are training and resting adequately) but do
not get them, do not blame your training when you start to lose size and
strength.
20.4 Nutrition matters a heck of a lot if you are on a poor diet while training well.
You can give your all to squats, deadlifts and a few other great exercises, but
if you are not adequately consuming the building materials your body needs,
you can forget about adding iron to the bar every week or two, and making
good gains. Some easy gainers progress well despite following an appalling
diet; but for hard gainers a good diet is critical. If you are living on a deficient
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