With some fame as a bodybuilder himself, “The Iron Guru,” as
he became known, was more famous for helping a newcomer to the USA, Arnold
Schwartzenegger move rapidly up the road to become one of the greatest
bodybuilders of all time.
His acolytes list reads like a who’s who in bodybuilding of
the 1950s through 1997.
Vince was convinced that a bodybuilding diet was the key to
muscle-building success, and he was fundamental in convincing other people of
this principle in his multi-decade career as a trainer of champions.
In a nutshell, a bodybuilding diet should focus on the best
useable sources of protein, natural carbohydrates in the form of fresh
vegetables and fruits, fats and oils, and finally, nuts. Bodybuilders also need
to include supplements that help grow muscle tissue and reduce the subcutaneous
fat on the body.
Renowned biologist, Bernard Beverley, stated that human tissue
is 100% biological. What that means for bodybuilders is that eating foods that
are very high in biological content is very important for developing that tissue
as far as possible. Lots of people confuse foods high in biological content
with foods high in protein, but this isn’t entirely the case as not all protein
is the same. Biological content means food that contains protein of a structure
that is very similar to the protein contained in human tissue.
This might come as a surprise to some, but the food with the
highest biological content is the humble egg! Other foods high in biological
content include raw milk, organ meats (heart, liver, kidneys and sweetbreads), steak,
lamb, poultry and fish. Beans, legumes and some other vegetables are also good
sources of protein, so it’s really important to include them in your diet as
well.
On the other hand, soybeans, although famously high in protein,
are only 22% biological. Thus you would have to eat huge amounts of soy to
equal the amino acid content of the higher quality protein previously listed.
For contest preparation, the Iron Guru recommended avoiding anabolic steroids
in favor of eating as many as three dozen eggs per day!
The idea is that this gives your muscles a huge influx of
biological protein so that they can reach new levels of strength and quickly
repair any damage. After six to eight weeks, you should then reduce this amount
to one or two per day, as you would have achieved your goal.
On the other hand, other bodybuilding diets focus on red
meat and fresh vegetables, or one high in dairy products and fish. Each of
these approaches serves a particular goal, that of loading the system with
protein to replace and rebuild muscle tissue torn down by heavy workout
sessions. They are not long-term diet plans however. Bodybuilding supplements
that Gironda recommended were: Kelp tablets, desiccated liver, lipotropic amino
acids(inositol, choline, methionine, betain that aid in the metabolism and
assimilation of protein) and wheat germ oil. Another diet method the Iron Guru
developed was putting his students on a special bodybuilding diet cycle in
preparation for contests, to get rid of that last bit of subcutaneous fat.
This was composed of four days of zero carbohydrates, then
on the fifth day eat normally. For the next four days eat zero carbs, and on
the tenth day eat normally. The students would keep this up for between three
and eight weeks, until every muscle separation and vein popped out on the
surface.
In summary, a good bodybuilding diet should be focused on protein, fats, good carbohydrates and fiber. The breakdown should be 24% protein, 40% natural carbs (no refined starches or sugars) and the balance in fat and fiber.
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