Bodybuilders eat a lot of food. This cannot be denied. If you have what it takes to use 40 pounds of new muscle, then you have what it takes to eat the right calories to reach this goal. Bodybuilders are known for frequent and heavy feedings. Jay Cutler is a famous example. In his first three years of bodybuilding, he claims to have added 70 pounds to his body. As it did? Cutler ate 8 to 9 meals a day. He ate constantly. He would even set his alarm once or twice a night and force himself to eat protein and then go back to sleep. It worked? Of course yes. The man has two Sandow trophies on his mantle!
There is a price that comes with consuming so much food. The human digestive system was not designed to handle 5,000 to 8,000 calories per day, and it was never intended to store 400 or more grams of protein per day. The net result of all this food consumption is that the bodybuilder’s digestive system has to work harder than that of his untrained counterparts. Here are some tips to aid and aid the digestive process of men and women who train big and eat big!
Two salads a day
This practice is advertised by many bodybuilders. A large garden or Caesar salad with lunch and dinner generally provides more than enough fiber to keep food flowing and the bodybuilder feeling good. Do not allow food to accumulate in the intestine; use leafy greens to get them out quickly.
Consider a colonoscopy
Several top professional bodybuilders (and thousands of people in the “real” world) rely on this invasive technique as a method to remove waste from the small intestine and colon and help keep the body strong and healthy. While this practice is not a permanent solution to waste build-up in the gut, it certainly helps keep an eye out for health issues and keep the midsection in that ab / thigh posture. Get over your mental aversion to one and give it a try.
Smaller meals, more often
Remember how disgusting you felt after consuming that huge pile of food on Thanksgiving? That feeling is counterproductive for bodybuilding goals. Aside from the insulin nightmare that occurs when your livers have to digest all of that food, you run the very real risk of ruining your ability to consume protein at another meal within three hours each time you gorge yourself on food. Keep your meals small and frequent, and your digestive system will work much more efficiently!
Five fruits or vegetables a day
This is the rule for all Americans, and it should be the absolute minimum for those people called bodybuilders who consume more than twice as much food as most Americans on a 2,000 calorie diet each day. Add 1-2 fruits or vegetables to each meal. Get in the habit and you’ll look better, feel better, and live longer.