Kangbit nutritionist conducts blood test for bodybuilding team member Qian Jicheng
Don’t know how to arrange a fat-reducing diet? During the pre-competition fat-reducing period, it seems not difficult to reach the target weight, but a lot of the lean body mass that you don’t want to lose has been lost, and subcutaneous fat is still annoying. What should I do? I believe it. This is a problem that many bodybuilders often encounter before competition. Why not learn a few tricks from experts to help you lose fat and retain muscles during the fat loss period before competition!
Qian Jicheng, the 60kg champion of the 59th World Bodybuilding Championships, lost weight in an orderly manner during the preparations for this competition. The entire fat loss process lasted for about 3 months, and his weight was controlled from 78kg to 60kg before the competition. The loss of lean body mass is maintained to the greatest extent, so muscle definition, circumference and muscle fullness are ideal. As a nutritionist for the national bodybuilding training team, the author has followed the nutrition monitoring work of the team members during the training. Regarding veteran Qian Jicheng's pre-match fat-reduction diet, I feel that there are still a few points that need to be pointed out for the majority of bodybuilding enthusiasts to share.
In bodybuilding competitions, muscle definition largely depends on body fat thickness. Therefore, in order to ensure that bodybuilding athletes can fully display clear and plump muscle lines during competitions, they usually perform high-intensity training and strict exercise before competition. A pre-race diet and nutritional regimen to reduce body fat while maintaining or increasing lean body mass.
First of all, fat loss before a competition cannot be carried out by surprise. The fat loss progress must be planned and arranged in stages under the guidance of scientific monitoring. The time for fat loss before competition should not be arranged too short. Due to various factors, many domestic athletes arrange fat loss for 2 to 3 weeks and control their diet very strictly. We know that the purpose of fat loss before a bodybuilding competition is not to lose weight to reach the target weight. The key is to lose fat while maintaining lean body mass. As everyone knows, the shorter the time for fat loss before competition, the greater the proportion of water loss and lean body mass, and the lower the proportion of body fat loss. This will inevitably lead to loss of circumference and muscle mass after reaching the target weight.The plumpness of the meat has dropped significantly, but the subcutaneous fat still cannot be removed completely. Let’s take a look at what Qian Jicheng did: 3 months before the competition, he began to enter the preparation stage. 4 to 12 weeks before the competition was the fat loss stage, and 1 to 4 weeks before the competition was the fat loss, strengthening and dehydration stage. Due to ample time for fat loss, Qian Jicheng's body fat dropped steadily during the fat loss period and gradually entered the best state. During the entire fat loss process, Qian Jicheng's weight was successfully reduced from 78 kilograms to 60 kilograms, and his body fat percentage was also controlled within 10%, reaching the ideal level.
Qian Jicheng Food
Second, you must ensure the intake of high-quality carbohydrates during fat loss. Carbohydrates can play a role in saving protein and are high-quality and clean "fuel" for pre-match training. The intake of appropriate amounts of carbohydrates can provide the energy required for training and prevent muscles from decomposing for energy. Complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal and rice are the carbohydrate sources that Qian Jicheng often chooses. During the fat loss stage, carbohydrate intake is arranged for breakfast, post-training, lunch and dinner, with the total amount reaching about 200 grams. It should also be emphasized that Qian Jicheng likes to choose complex carbohydrates, because these carbohydrates can provide "slow-release" energy and will not cause large fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin, and insulin will promote the synthesis of fat. In this way, While supplementing carbohydrates, it can also effectively prevent the increase of body fat.
If you don’t eat or have very low carbohydrate intake, on the one hand, you will be very tired during fat loss. On the other hand, the energy provided by carbohydrates during training will inevitably cause muscle decomposition for energy, so the muscle circumference will decrease. It's inevitable.
Third, reasonable arrangement of protein intake does not mean more is better. For many bodybuilders, this problem is not that they eat too little protein, but that they eat too much protein. In terms of body weight in kilograms, many bodybuilders used to eat 4 grams. There were no carbohydrates in the pre-competition diet.It is high-quality protein such as chicken breast, egg white, beef, etc., which not only increases the metabolic burden on the liver and kidneys, but also causes acidification of body fluids, making people feel extremely tired, and the lean body mass is decomposed due to lack of energy. In fact, protein intake should be maintained at off-season levels. For example, Qian Jicheng's protein intake is basically maintained within 300 grams. He chooses low-fat protein sources such as chicken breasts and egg whites for more food types.
Finally, a reasonable choice of sports nutrition food that promotes fat metabolism and prevents muscle decomposition. The type of sports nutrition food and the timing of supplementation are important. Before exercise, you can choose to eat L-carbohydrate to promote fat burning. Depending on your personal situation, the intake of L-carb can be increased to 5 to 10 grams. Glutamine can promote the secretion of growth hormone and prevent muscle decomposition. It should be supplemented when needed after training. Branched-chain amino acids are also a good anti-decomposition nutrient and need to be supplemented before training. Qian Jicheng’s daily intake of glutamine and branched-chain amino acids The intake is sufficient, reaching 20 grams and 10 grams per day respectively, which provides another reliable guarantee for the maintenance of lean body mass during his fat loss period. Whey protein is a necessary protein supplement before competition, and the intake needs to be calculated into the total daily protein intake.
Championships are hard-won, and this period is also a process in which Chinese bodybuilders continue to explore and improve in many aspects of training and diet. In terms of pre-competition diet, domestic bodybuilders have also gone through many detours and accumulated valuable experience while constantly running into obstacles. In domestic bodybuilding masters like Qian Jicheng, we can feel his love for bodybuilding and his continuous exploration of bodybuilding diet. Strengthening the scientific and technological strength in bodybuilding training and nutrition, and increasing pre-competition diet nutrition monitoring and training monitoring will help our bodybuilding athletes reach new heights on the world bodybuilding stage.