Diet | Natural Bodybuilding – what is that?

Diet

Anyone who wants to go on a diet before a competition or just like that should make sure that their muscles are sufficiently protected and that no muscle mass is lost or metabolized during the diet. The following sentence says what a diet in Natural Bodybuilding should be like: “Dieting is like landing on an airplane: slow, smooth and controlled”. This should always be kept in mind when dieting before a competition.

First you should roughly calculate your calorie intake per day (see: Strength training and calories). You can do this roughly by multiplying your body weight by 44.44 (fast metabolism), 33.33 (medium metabolism) or 26.66 (slow metabolism). With a fast metabolism this can be about 4000 calories for a 90 kilogram athlete.

A diet takes place six days a week (the seventh is a cheatday). The distribution of nutrients should be around 50-30-20 at the beginning (50% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 20% fat). Approximately every four weeks the carbohydrates are reduced by 50 grams and the protein to be added is increased.

This is done until four days before the competition. Then you go back to the initial distribution of nutrients (50-30-20) and increase the carbohydrate intake to almost 700 grams. Training should be short and intense during the diet phase so that the body does not use muscle protein for energy production.

Training is done five days a week and two days are scheduled for recovery and regeneration. A cardio session is also included in the program, but this is omitted towards the end of the diet, as less and less carbohydrates are supplied. Such a diet before a competition for bodybuilders goes about five to six months and requires a good portion of stamina.