Nutrition Made Simple
By Trevor L. Smith
Pizza, chocolate, cheeseburgers, french-fries, kentucky fried chicken, chinese food, ice-cream and soda. No, no, this is not the food list for my next holiday party. This is, in fact, what I have come to learn is the mainstay of most succesful and huge pro s diets in the off-season.
Clenbuterol, lasix, cytomel, E.C.A., DNP. These are,in fact, the tools a lot of Pro s use to insure that what they eat in the off-season doesn t result in spare tires, tits and a gut.
I apologize if I shattered anyone s misconception about what the Pro s eat. The fact is, the metabolism of the average high level amateur or pro is kicking at a higher level than your average Ed. Because of this, they can get away with eating whatever the **** they want pretty much all year long with the exception being contest prep time.
Personally I feel that, unless you are holding quite a bit of bodyfat, it is fool hardy to eat clean all the time. You need look no further than all the big-boys in the sport to find out if this theory holds any water (and fat too!)
You look at someone like Shawn Ray. Great bodybuilder no doubt, but great for circa 1987 where his physique seems to have been stuck in the past 12 years. "Eating Clean" has resulted in a number of pro s who s physiques have remained stagnent and unchanged.I remember a conversation I had with Ian about the difference between the non-american bodybuilders and their american counterparts. He said the one thing he could never understand about the american bodybuilders was their delusion that they had to eat chicken breasts and baked potatoes 24/7 365 days a year. Aside from making dieting even harder than it already is come contest time, it tends to keep the metabolism stuck in neutral. Shocking the system every now and again always keeps the metabolic rate high and in doing this allows more muscle mass to be built, which the last time I checked was the reason bodybuilding became a sport in the first place!
How many pro s started their careers eating chicken breasts broccoli and potatos, only to make zero progress until they started eating everything and anything in site! You don t pack on size eating like a gymnast.
I feel that the smart move to make for an off-season bodybuilder looking to acquire new size is to make sure they get in 450-500 grams of protein per day and then eat whatever the hell they want within reason. I m not suggesting a diet of twinkies and ice cream, but if you desire a little snack after you get in all your nutritional needs go for it. If controlling fat is a concern, you can always cut back on the carbs.
Following this rule has resulted in more freaks than you can imagine. Why is it that someone like Lee Priest carries 20lbs more tissue than Shawn Ray and is a good 2 inches shorter? It s in the eating I guarantee it! Both use steroids, and in fact, Shawn has used them for a longer time period as he is both older and has been around longer. For those who think that the difference lies in the amounts I say simply that you would be surprised how far some pro s get on training and eating like a ****ing animal. People like to chalk steroids and gear use up as the deciding factor on why they don t look like the Pro s when the reality of the situation is that there are multiple factors at play. But it s always easier to point the finger and say "he s a total juice monster and uses a gram of test every day that s why he s a pro and I m only 215lbs" "I m not willing to do that to my body!" Yet these same people take offense when they hear the whispers and assinine comments from the general public who think "I could look like that guy, all I have to do is gobble up lots of steroids everyday".
In conclusion, I would suggest and offseason program that relies heavily on protein (450-500 grams a day) and then eat basic, high calorie foods. Things such as milk, whole eggs, steaks and pasta have resulted in more mass then broiled chicken and broccoli every have. Remember, fat can always be stripped off, muscle is a little harder to put on. Pack on the muscle and let the fat come along for the ride then give yourself time to tighten things up and burn off the fat. Concerning yourself with appearance all year long is a sure fire way to keep your physique from causing heads to turn. There is a time and a place for everything and as the Zen monks say "You cannot serve two masters at once."
