So as a few of you might know i'm moving to australia soon. And I figure its about time to work on making myself somewhat presentable for the times i'm going to spending at the beach. What are the best suppliments to gain muscle and burn fat? I'm 6'2" and 185lbs not a bad build but it's a bit flabby. I would like to tone down the fat, and build a bit more muscle. My job involves about 3 hours of cardio and heavy lifting a day, but it also guarantees my diet is shit. Working on the road I can't eat anything I can't microwave in a hotel room, or grab at a gas station or restaurant and this is why I believe I haven't been able to make any progress in the last little bit. Anyone out there know of supplements that work?
you make it sound so simple, haha. sorry to ruin the moment, but ur actually not the only person who wants to slim down and build muscle. actually, pretty much every guy on earth wants to. unfortunately, theres no pill thats gonna do it for you. it takes alot of research and hard work. but, even though theres no pills that will help you, there is a science to it. first of all, unless you are noob to weightlifting (maybe you are, i have no idea), you can't build muscle and burn fat at the same time. your body is either in a calorie excess (gain mass) or a calorie defficiency (lose mass). However, your lifting routine, macronutrient intake, and to some extent genetics, will decide whether that mass is fat or muscle. from that vague description of your diet its hard to tell exactly where you are going wrong, but it sounds like the foods you are buying are probably very high in fats, which could mean you are not getting enough carbs and protein throughout the day. Again, its hard to say without knowing more
Ha, no i'm well aware of that fact. I'm talking more of a bulking up stage, then a cutting fat stage. But seeing how I've pretty much reached a plateau in my current diet/excersise routine I came to you for recommendations. I'm looking for supplements that will help balance the things i'm not getting in my diet. Which basically is processed everything, mixed in with a few vitamins here and there and a restaurant meal for dinner. Hard terms to work with but really its all I got which is why i'm turning to supplements. Other then the obvious protien and carbs what do I need to take to continue with building muscle? Then, since I have no idea about cutting what will help me process my shit diet faster? Or atleast do so without my gas station sandwiches going straight to the gut?
if you are concerned about micronutrients, take a multi-vitamin. however, micronutrients don't contribute all that much to body composition, and judging by your current diet im guessing you don't care much about health, you just wanna improve your physique. so dont think that taking them is going to make any real difference in your goals. also, im a little skeptical of this "plateau" you speak of. its a very overused term in the fitness world, and as long as you are meeting your macronutrient needs and increasing your lifts regularly, at 6'2 185 (especially with this fat you speak of) I highly doubt you are anywhere near a plateau. And I'm sorry to again shoot down your requests for magic supplements, but they just dont exist. all you need to do is eat more than enough carbs, fat, and protein, and exercise with increasingly heavy weights, and it is literally impossible to not gain mass/strength. stop trying to make it so complicated for yourself. As far as your questions on cutting go, they make absolutely no sense. theres no way to "process your diet faster" because first of all, your body doesnt "process your diet", it breaks down your food, absorbs all the macro and micronutrients from it, and then dumps out the excess. im not sure why you would want to make that "process" go faster, as i couldnt imagine it doing anything besides maybe putting some extra stress on your organs, i guess you could try laxitives? but I doubt its healthy to take those on a regular basis.
My diet's baised on more of a what's available criteria. It's not that I don't care it's more of a what the fuck can you get from a gas station or corner store and cook in a microwave or eat cold that's decent for your health. And the plateau? Once again, all my "lifting" is at work. I can't increase the weights cause, well, I can't magically add shit too what I do. I work 100+ hour weeks so going to the gym really isn't really in the picture for me. I need sleep when I can get it. But if you can't help me all good, I'll look for something else or wait till my situation changes.
When speaking in terms of nutrition, you should remove the word "healthy" from your vocabulary. Any food you eat will contribute some combination of macronutrients (carbs, fats, proteins) and micronutrients (iron, zinc, vitamins, etc). your body needs all of these things, so there is really no such thing as an unhealthy food. That being said, certain foods will help you reach your daily macronutrient requirements better than others. This is where some work on your part is required. Calculating Calorie Needs and Macronutrients - Bodybuilding.com Forums theres a good place to start. Simply plug in all your info and from there you can figure out what your daily requirements are. Once you know that, simply read the nutrition facts on all the foods you buy, and either use something like fitday.com to keep track of what you eat throughout the day, or simply approximate it in your head. From there you can see if you are exceeding your BMR, or if you are not hitting/going over you macronutrient goals, and adjust accordingly No matter what any jacked guy or supplement company tells you, tracking macronutrient intake is the ONLY surefire way to control your body composition.