Ready – Set – Go!!

Running, swimming, weight training, you name it, its all got to be good for you, right? Well, we only have half of the story. One of the things most fail to recognize is that when we train, regardless of the level we are exercising at, training only “stimulates” change. Confused? Lets look at weight training for example. When we head to the gym and exercise a series of body parts, what are we actually doing? Well, when we apply more stress to a muscle than it is normally accustomed to it is forced to engage more muscle to help with the movement, which in turn creates a bigger demand for fuel, and under heavy or ballistic loads we can even damage a muscle forcing it to adapt by becoming thicker and stronger.

So when does the remodeling and adaptation occur to our body from the stress we subjected it to in the gym? When we are not in the gym! It is when we are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner and it is when we are resting or sleeping. The stressors created in the gym set the wheels into motion by giving the body a series of cues or demands (stimulus) suggesting we wish to become stronger, faster, leaner or bigger. The secret is to provide the right kind of fuel and building blocks at the right time so our incredibly complex and amazing metabolism can go to work and increase our fuel stores (so we can train longer), increase our muscle size (so we can become stronger) and increase the usage of fat stores (so we can become leaner).

For my clients I have invested so much time writing menus that they never followed, bought crazy software that would produce any type, kind of meal plan, they would only kind of follow, so frustrating! So now I focus on investing my time using powerful nutritional systems that helps balance their nutritional profile the way knife and fork never could, and in combination with strategic supplementation and simplifying the whole process for them we are seeing incredible success. As a competitive physique athlete one of the challenges of course is over training and burn out do to the level of exertion and the controlled food intake. A big aha moment for me was during my first competition where I had been using strategic supplementation along with my low carb, low sodium diet and I felt great, didn’t lose muscle, wasn’t feeling burned out, and more importantly than winning my first show, I only really focused on tightening my diet up a few weeks out! And truly the best part? There was no backlash after the show, as I enjoy a healthy meal and slowly adjusted my diet back. And now I am entering a national level competition in a few weeks and I only need to drop a few pounds to step on stage again. And I have always placed in the top three in the last six shows as a natural athlete! There is something to be said for figuring out healthy sustainable nutrition practices. And besides, what is the point of being a physique athlete if you cannot own it year round in a healthy manner? And the moral to this story, if you are going to put the effort in the gym, make sure you put even more effort into your nutrition. And the moral to this story? If you are going to put the effort in the gym, make sure you put even more effort into your nutrition.

David Gilks is a Medical Exercise Program Director, Chartered Herbalist and Nationally Ranked Natural Body Builder. For information on his nutritional practices please send a PM. No solicitation please....