Build Muscle Mass

So What Is It Exactly?

Nitric Ocide is a compound made up one nitrogen atom and one oxygen atom. In order for the body to create nitric oxide, it must do so with the help of arginine and a family of enzymes called nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Arginine is an amino acid by the way. When arginine and a NOS enzyme come in contact with each other, the reaction produces nitric oxide along with citrulline which is another amino acid. Interestingly enough, citrulline can be reversly converted into arginine through a two-step process requiring the amino acid aspartic acid. Also known as Aspartate. Therefore, if your aim is to amplify nitrix oxide levels in your body, it would be in your best interest to take a supplements that provides a generous supply of all three of these amino acids. In doing so, you’ll provide yourself with the precursor to Nitric Oxide which is arginine, while supplying the precursors citrulline and aspartic acid to support and increase arginine production. Thus, your body’s total arginine pool is improved.

What Does Nitric Oxide Do?

Nitric Oxide travels freely from one cell to another in your body directing and ordering a wide variety of functions within the human body. Depending on the situation, Nitric Oxide can act as a intracellular messenger, like a hormone, or a neurotransmitter. However, for the purpose of bodybuilding, we’ll focus on the role of Nitric Oxide as an intracellular messenger regulating one of the body’s most important processes, which is blood flow.

How Nitric Oxide Work?

Nitric Oxide is produced within the flat endothelial cells that line the inside of blood vessels. When the endothelial cell is stimulated, such as when the muscle contracts, it synthesizes and releases nitric oxide. Once released, nitric oxide diffuses across the endothelial cell membrane into the adjacent smooth muscle tissue of the blood vessels. Thus, causing them to relax and widen. This process is called vasodilation. The end result is an increase in blood flow to the stimulated area, which ultimately causes your muscles to get pumped and stay that way for atleast 40 minutes after training. So why do exactly your muscles get so pumped? Basically, the pump is one of the body’s fail-safe mechanisms for preventing a decline in muscle function and performance. Blood, which is the blody’s primary transport medium, carries all the vital nutrients to the muscle, which is required for energy production, growth and maintenance. Additionally, blood carries awat the byproduct of metabolism such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid that fatigue the muscle and inhibit performance.

Therefore, increasing blood flow to the muscle enhances growth, strength development, and recuperation. And remember, nitric oxide is what helps make the pump possible. However, as powerful as nitric oxide is, it does have its limitations.

Q: I’m a terrible cook and I don’t have much time. Got any recipes for cheap and easy meals that will help me bulk?

A: It doesn’t get any simpler than this: Get one can of chicken breast packed in water. Shjred it up in a bowl and then add two cups of cooked brown rice. On top of that add a half cup of red kidney beans. Mix the ingredients together and then pour 2/3 cup of hot marinara sauce on top. You can substitute tuna for the chicken and replace the kidney beans with black beans. Melt two slices of of reduced fat cheese into the rice and mix all the ingredients together. The meal will total about 67 grams of protein, 125 grams of carbs, and nearly 1000 calories.

While rice is an essential food for bulking, it’s bland and can get boring. For more flavor, boil it in chicken or beef broth. If you haven’t been warned by your doctor to lay off salt, it shouldn’t negatively impact your health. If you’re extremely lean, opt for white rice over brown. As a higher-glycemic carb, it will digest more quickly, leaving you hungrier for more muscle building calories sooner.

Easier said than done right! Ha, you guessed right. As you may already, or if you might not know yet..In order to get huge, you have to eat huge! Here are a couple nutrition guidelines you can follow to gain more muscle mass:

Protein is King!

Without consuming enough protein on a daily basis, it wouldn’t matter how much you trained or any amount of calories to grow at an efficient pace. You need protein! And lots of it! I would recommend you take in atleast 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Protein sources would include: Chicken, fish, eggs, beef, milk, and mostly any type of meat.

Pack them Calories and Carbohydrates!:

To build quality muscle at a efficient pace, you need to fuel your expanding frame with 20 calories per pound of bodyweight. For a 200lb bodybuilder, that would be consuming 4000 calories spaced out between 5-6 meals. Most of these calories will come from the 2-3 grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight you should be taking in daily. Get your carbs from low-glycemic sources such as potatoes, whole grain foods, and oatmeal. Doing so will keep your muscles from catabolism and keep your body in a muscle building state. Thats what we all want right!

Healthy Fats:

Omega-3 fatty acids supply a slew of muscle building benefits. In addition, they also support your immune system. You should take in about 15 grams four times a day from flaxseed oil, salmon and walnuts.

Muscle Building Meals:

Your most critical meals are pre- and post-workout. Before training, take in sixty grams of slow-burning carbs. This will force water into your muscle bellies, amplifying your workouts and accelerating your growth. After training, take in 75 grams of fast-digesting carbs to spike insulin levels and refill depleted muscle glycogen stores.

If you follow these nutritional guidelines, you are bound to be on the road of getting huge!

The human body is a much complicated operating system that no one really understands completely. Even doctors and scientists admit from time to time they may be clueless as to how the body performs and operates. Recent research into supplements has come up with a sort of panacea for many of the current health concerns, fish oil. While it sounds like the snake oil of times passed, you might want to consider taking fish oil as a dietary supplement.

Fish oil is a substance that comes from fish that contains Omega 3 fatty acids. Once discussed in a previous article, these are essential amino acids that cannot produce on its own. So instead, these essential amino acids have to be either consumed through diet or through supplementation as previously mentioned. Since so many people have troubles maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, it’s no wonder that this might be the reason for the turn towards an unhealthy life. The fatty acids in fish oil are connected with a number of benefits for the body, but also for your life and for your well being.

Easy

Consuming fish oil on a daily basis for the average person can be one of the easiest things to do. Not only can you simply take the recommended dosage and be done for the day, but you can also rest assured knowing that fish oil supplements are tested and retested to meet high quality standards. With this, you’ll be assured that you’re not getting too high of mercury levels in your fish oil diet as well as making sure that you are getting the right amount of fish oil on a consistent basis for your health.

Inexpensive

Another quality of fish oil is to say that fish oil supplements are not expensive at all. Usually, you can go to your local pharmacy or grocery store in the supplements section and find great quality fish oil supplements provided by a great price. Of course, there are a range of prices that you can pay for fish oil supplements depending on the brand, but by shopping around, you will be able to find one that suits not only your budget but also your health and body needs. The only thing to be concerned about is the supplement that extremely low priced as it may not have the higher quality that more moderately priced supplements will.

Protective Benefits

One of the most interesting facts about fish oil is that it seems to prevent future illnesses and thus less likely to get sick. Studies done in 2003 at Harvard Medical showed that taking fish oil on a daily basis can help to protect the heart from damage and disease. Something in the chemical structure of these Omega 3 fatty acids helps to keep the heart muscle healthy and strong. So supplementing with fish oil products would definitely be a benefit if you’re the one to have heart problems.

In addition, fish oil has also been linked with protecting the body from many cancers. Cancers like breast, ovarian, stomach and colon cancer have all been linked with fish oil - that is, they seem to be reduced in incidence when those studied took fish oil supplements.

The use of fish oil also seems to boost concentration and brain development in all ages. Since the fish oil works to help messages be transmitted from one part of the body to another, the mind is able to focus better when the fish oil is taken on a regular basis. As you age, this becomes all the more important in terms to preventing things like Alsheimer’s and dementia.

Repairing Benefits

Other recent studies have concluded that fish oil may also have a part to play in the reparations of damage that’s already been done to a body. In the matter of a damaged heart, this is especially promising. When the heart is weakened or a part of it dies (as it does during a heart attack), it needs all the help it can get in order to get back to its previous state of health. Fish oil supplements have been linked with helping this reparation to occur.

Your skin is also helped by the use of fish oil, helping to repair the damage caused by the sun and other environmental factors. Instead of the skin showing early signs of wrinkling, the use of fish oil can help to add moisture and firmness to the skin, shaving years off the face.

Your Body Needs It

And since fish oil contains essential fatty acids, the truth is that your body needs to take this drug in order to survive and to thrive. When the body gets enough of the fish oil supplements, it will be able to handle many health problems in the early stages.

When You’re Pregnant

If you are pregnant (and if your doctor agrees), taking fish oil can help to boost the intelligence of the child whose brain is still developing. This can lead to reduced problems with behaviour as well as with ADD and ADHD>

Conclusion

Fish oil as a dietary supplement isn’t just something that you should consider, it’s a medically studied and supported way to help your body maintain ideal health.