Five Bodybuilding Tips To Boost Your Training And Fat Loss

5 Bodybuilding Secrets to get you in beach shape in double quick time

Bodybuilders often have a hard time of it. Set up as pariahs because of rampant drug usage, and ridiculed for their ridiculous fashion "sense" (genie pants and do rag anyone?!), any man who struts around with the old obligatory rolled up carpets under his armpits definitely has questionable social judgement. However, as ever with these things it’s the few misfits that give the rest of us a bad name. Steroids are rife in every competitive physical sport and there are arseholes everywhere – bodybuilding certainly doesn’t have the monopoly on losers that’s for sure. In fact, every man seeking to improve his body composition can learn an awful lot from bodybuilding. My company, Ultimate Performance, works with a range of self confessed muscle heads from the aspiring novice right through to the upper echelons of the Mr Olympia contest itself – a quick perusal of our website shows our credentials. Make no bones about it, bodybuilders, especially those with the guts and determination to step onto the competitive stage, are a rare breed and no one knows more about gaining muscle and losing body fat. Summer time is now upon us, so in this article we will examine five tricks from the sport of bodybuilding designed to get you into beach ready shape in record time.

Drop the Carbohydrates and Up the Fat
An obvious one I know, but many misjudge this. If you have two weeks to get ready for the beach then the quickest way to drop fat (and subcutaneous water that can blur muscle definition) is to drop your daily carbohydrate intake to 50 grams of fibrous carbohydrates. So say hello to broccoli, cauliflower and kale, and kiss goodbye to breads, cereals, fruit, rice and pasta.
Where people go badly wrong when dropping carbs is that they simply switch to eating lean proteins and don’t replace some of the lost carb calories with calories from fat. This inevitably leads to an energy crash and the subsequent blowing of the diet because the trainee simply runs out of steam and willpower. A few whole eggs, a piece of steak and plenty of supplemental Omega 3s (I prefer 10 grams a day for carbohydrate tolerant individuals, more if there appears to be insulin resistance) work wonders.

Ditch the Cardio, Increase the Weight Training
Cardio makes you fat, tired and stressed. Don’t believe me, then have a look at all the recreational marathon runner with their little cortisol bellies. The occasional long walk is good, but jogging great distances is a total no-no for optimal body composition.
If you want to blast your body quickly over a two week period then hit the gym twice a day, training your entire body in a three way split over five days. In the morning lift heavy weights for low reps (3-5), and in the evening train the same body parts but with repetition in the 9-15 range. The increased protein synthesis and elevated metabolism from the frequent training sessions will see your physique change at a rapid rate. One word of caution however, only follow such an intense programme for 2 weeks and then cut the frequency back down to once daily sessions in the 3rd week.

Flex, Flex, Flex!
One bodybuilding "secret" that works amazingly well is to simply practise posing your muscles. Provided that you are lean enough in the first place rapid definition can be gained by simply flexing your muscles as hard as you can, as often as you can.
Try this little experiment - every day contract the quadriceps muscles in your right thigh as hard as you can for 20 sets of 15 seconds. Take a photo on the first day, and then a photo after day 10. You will be amazed at the difference. Send in your before and after shots to Caroline@UPFitness.co.uk and the best example of this I will post up on my main Ultimate Performance website and/or in a follow up article to this one if the Editor allows it.

Drink Plenty of Water
An easy rule of thumb here whilst trying to get in shape in the shortest time possible is to drink a minimum of 1 litre of water per 25kg of bodyweight. Not only will this help flush out that subcutaneous film of water that lies between the muscles and the skin, but also you simply cannot lose body fat properly unless you are adequately hydrated. I am constantly shocked by the poor water intake of the general population – fizzy drinks and coffee do NOT count to your fluid intake!!

Get a BioSignature Modulation Assessment
If you don’t know what this is already then I suggest you refer back to previous articles where we discuss how your hormones can be optimised to radically improve both your health and body composition. In a nutshell, no system is as effective at creating rapid fat loss as BioSignature Modulation as it is tailored to your own unique body fat distribution and biochemistry. For anyone seeking to optimise their exercise and nutritional programmes I highly recommend you look up a local BioSignature practicioner.

In fact, BioSignature is one of the stock tools in trade for top bodybuilding coaches the world over – not only is it a staple for the personal training work we do here in London, but it is also heavily used by the best bodybuilding contest coach in the USA, Milos Sarcev who used it with at least two top ten Mr Olympia competitors last year.

Conclusion
Although these five so-called secrets will help you get in shape in record time, the real "trick" is the most basic and fundamental of all. Hard work and discipline are the key – be warned, there are no substitutes or short cuts away from this.