One of the greatest bodybuilding trainers of his era (Vince Gironda) stated that “bodybuilding is 80% diet” Although he enjoyed some fame as a bodybuilder himself, Vince Gironda (also known as “the Iron Guru”) became most famous for helping to introduce Arnold Schwartzenegger to the bodybuilding scene. Arnold started out as a newcomer in the USA but rapidly became of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.

From the 1950s to 1997 Vince’s acolyte’s list reads like a who’s who in bodybuilding.

Vince Gironda was convinced that proper bodybuilding food was the absolute key to muscle-building success. This was a fundamental principle to Vince that he helped to convince people throughout his multi-decade career as a trainer of champions.

He believed the best bodybuilding food should focus on the best and most useable sources of protein, natural carbohydrates in the form of fresh vegetables, fruits, fats, oils, and nuts. He also felt that nutritional supplementation was an important part of a bodybuilder’s diet to help grow muscle tissue and reduce body fat. Get More Info here on how you can also improve your body and get effective and long-lasting results.

Bernard Beverley (famous biologist) demonstrated that human tissue is 100% biological. This is important for bodybuilders to know because it underscores the importance of eating foods that are very high in biological content. The key here is eating foods that contain a protein structure that’s very similar to the protein structure contained in human tissue. In other words, not all protein sources are the same and provide the same benefit when trying to build muscle.

Any idea which food has the highest biological content? It’s actually the egg! There are other foods high in biological content though such as raw milk, organ meats (such as kidneys, the heart, liver, and sweetbreads), lamb, steak, fish, and poultry. It’s also important for your diet to include beans, legumes, and other vegetables as they are also good sources of protein.

As a comparison, soybeans although high in protein are only 22% biological. So in order to get the same content of the higher quality protein mentioned previously, you would have to eat huge amounts of soy.

And when it comes to contesting preparation, the Iron Guru says to avoid anabolic steroids and instead, eat as many as three dozen eggs per day!

The value of eating so many eggs is that it provides your muscles with a huge influx of high-quality biological protein. This will muscles to reach higher strength levels and to quickly be able to repair any damage. After 6-8 weeks, he advises reducing the number of eggs consumed to one or two per day. By that point, you should have achieved your goal.

Other bodybuilding food diets might focus on fresh vegetables and red meat while another might stress eating more dairy products and fish. Each different approach focuses on a specific goal. The goal is to load the body with enough protein to be able to effectively rebuild muscle tissue that was torn down from working out. Keep in mind, these are not long-term diet plans.

In regards to supplementation, Gironda had specific recommendations for that as well. They included things like Kelp tablets, desiccated liver, lipotropic amino acids, and wheat germ oil. One last strategy to get rid of that last little bit of body fat was to go on a special bodybuilding food diet. Vince Gironda would put his students on one of these before a contest.

This special diet was comprised of 4 days of zero carbohydrates and then on the fifth day, his students would eat normally. They kept this diet up for anywhere from 3 – 8 weeks, basically until every muscle separation and vein could be seen popping out on the surface.

To summarize, a good bodybuilding food diet should primarily be focused on protein, fats, good carbohydrates, and fiber. The food breakdown should result in 24% protein, 40% natural carbohydrates (no refined starches or sugars), and a balance of good fats and fiber.

A special diet strategy just before the competition starts is to go on a cycle of zero carbohydrates for 4 days and then on the fifth day, you are free to eat normally. Remember that this should be followed for no more than 8 weeks. Also, don’t forget that appropriate supplements should be taken as well.