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Bodybuilding Over 50 Diet
Learn the specifics on how to eat when you're training like a bodybuilder and you're over 50 years old.
Good nutrition is required for bodybuilding to get any results; unfortunately bodybuilding is not just about going to gym and progressively lifting more and more weight. Your workout at the gym will be completely useless if you just eat burgers and fries all day.
The first objective when planning any bodybuilding diet is to estimate your calories you're going to need every day. The problem is that if you are already over 50 years old your daily testosterone (T) production is diminished. This means that you won't be building as much muscle as you get stronger.
Under normal conditions a bodybuilder under 50 years old will increase his muscle mass or he'll spend more time weight training, meaning an increase in calories are required. If you're losing muscle or your intensity level that you train with starts diminishing, then you need to eat fewer calories.
Simply monitoring your bodyweight for a month will tell you if you're losing weight or gaining weight. If your stomach feels like it's got more fat on it then you gained weight, you need to cut calories. If you lose weight you need to increase calories. Another alternative is to use body-fat callipers.
Taking your total bodyweight, you then multiply that figure by your body-fat reading you got from the callipers measured at your gym. This gives you your correct level of body-fat you have however, if you work out from your body-fat percentage how many pounds of fat you carry, you'll be able to then subtract this figure in pounds to get exactly how much fat-free muscle mass you carry also.
It's important to note that this figure will not only be the weight of your muscles but will include all your bones, internal organs etc. If you're over 50 it does NOT mean you can't build muscle, it just means you're going to have to be a lot more precise in monitoring your progress.
When you're eating the correct amount of calories your fat-free bodyweight (muscle) will increase while your total body-fat decreases. When your fat-free bodyweight (muscle) starts going down, your body-fat will probably go up. The closer you're able to monitor these fluctuations, the better you'll be able to adjust your diet and your workouts to turn this around.
Working out the calories you'll need every day should be done by splitting your food into 30% protein, 20% fats, and 50% carbohydrates. Proteins and carbohydrates will usually contain 4 calories for each gram; fat will contain 9 calories per gram. Below we have listed a bodybuilding diet calculation for a bodybuilder that needs 2900 calories each day to build or maintain muscle mass.
An example:
Protein: 30% coming from 2900 = 870 calories / 4 = 217.5g per day.
Carbohydrates: 50% coming from 2900 = 1450 calories / 4 calories = 362.5g per day.
Fat: 20% coming from 2900 = 580 calories / 9 = 64.4g per day.
The next calculation is to split these calories into 4 to 6 different meals, each having protein, complex carbs and fats. If we use the above figures in grams of food needed every day the following calculation appears:
Total meals required per day 6. (or 4 or 5)
Protein: 217.5g / 6 = 36g protein needs to be eaten at 6 different meals
Carbohydrates: 362.5g / 6 = 60g carbohydrates needs to be eaten at 6 meals.
Fat: 64.4g / 5* = 13g fat needs to be eaten 5 times a day (After training post workout shake or meal should exclude fat as it delays digestion.
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Disclaimer: The information presented is intended to be used for educational purposes only. The statements made have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (U.S.). These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition or disease. Please consult with your own physician or health care practitioner regarding any suggestions and recommendations made.