Cheap Body Building Ideas

debtblue

Hi there

Can anyone suggest me how to do body building without wasting money on expensive protein or muscle building powders and capsules.

Thanks

Beatrix_Kiddo

You can add to your diet by making sure you eat plenty of complex carbohydrates and tuna (which is very cheap). Buy eggs and eat the whites and ditch the yolks, each egg white contains about 7g protein, with a good amino acid profile. Don't drink too much milk as it contains lactose. Avoid white pasta, white rice and white bread.

You can get cheap protein powder from Holland and Barrett in their half-price sales. Or try Cybercheckout (onegetfit.com) who are very cheap. Take a good multivitamin - most supermarkets do them cheaply. Supplement with zinc 15mg last thing at night.

HTH.

MartialArtMan

Read Brawn or Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert.

lady_noluck

You should be having approx 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. The most critical time to ingest protein is right before and right after a weight training workout. You want to use a protein that digests quickly so you can get the critical amino acids your muscles need for growth. If you want to maximize muscle growth, protein shakes are well worth investing in, not a waste of time. (No I don't sell them lol) Look for whey protein as this is one of the fastest digesting proteins you can buy. Food wise stick to lean sources such as skinless chicken and turkey breasts, tuna, salmon and lean steak. Don't go overboard though, excess protein can be stored as fat too.

The most important niutrient to gain bigger muscles is glucose however, a simple sugar. Without this your muscles won't grow to their potential regardless of how much protein you feed them. Something like a jam sandwich on white bread is a good thing to eat post workout as the body will absorb the glucose quickly. Try to limit your simple sugars to post workout only though for best results.

Try to eat approx 25-35g of fibre a day from sources such as bran cereals, granary bread and oatmeal. Fibre absorbs water, providing bulk and a feeling of fullness which helps stave off hunger pangs. It also keeps blood insulin levels in check.

The ideal carbs to eat 40-60 mins before training would be a moderate amount of slow digesting sources such as porridge, red potatoes and granary bread and they tend to linger in the blood stream, which slows the bodys ability to burn through its glycogen reserves. Glycogen levels stay elevated meaning you can train harder and longer. Carbs are good in moderation and your brain needs them to function.

Breakfast time try eating a high protein (20-40g0 meal with a complex carb like oatmeal and a piece of fruit with a cup of coffee.

For fat burning its good to include unsaturated fats in your diet. Try including extra virgin olive oil, avocados, soya and plain whole nuts like almonds and cashews.

I'd love to pretend i'm all knowledgable on the subject but i'm still learning. (Having a bodybuilding work colleague, a pro bodybuilder boss and a weights mad OH helps a lot) So I will confess to copying that lot above from this months mens fitness, mens health and muscle and fitness magazines. The first 2 have a 3 for £1/£3 offer at the mo I think in one of the bargain sections on here. Well worth signing up for! lol

CheeseOnToast

Sorry I disagree, there is no need to buy protein powders at all, you can get all the protein you need from real food sources if neccesary.

I use protein powder but I am vegetarian and I do find it a lot harder and more pricey.

You can do it all so cheaply though its unreal mate if you look around.

If you do buy protein powder, get it unflavoured and buy the brand all-in-1 - https://www.sports-nutrition.net - Enter 'muscletalk' in the coupon code and you can get two 5lb tubs of unflavoured whey for £24 delivered - bargain!

For info, a tub would last me a month, thats if I was REALLY caining it, i.e. 4-5 double size shakes per day.

For flavouring I buy Black Star Labs flavouring pots for £3 each, (one pot I find will flavour a whole 5lb tub) from https://www.bulkpowders.com

Anyway, if you are really serious, get yourself over to https://www.muscletalk.co.uk and read up on the diet forums there, there are also some superb articles RE bodybuilding on a budget, like this one -

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/m_915134/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#915134

Enjoy man

Phil

alex£

Hi,
possibly posting in the wrong place-
but,
I don't do full on body building, more keeping in shape/ strength- without the expense of going to a gym-

It's amazing what exercises you can do without any equipment

-press ups (to really build, do them with legs raised on a chair and hands close together)

-dips (where you dip body down by bending arms behind you) on the edge of the bath (making sure it's dry and you don't slip!)

-"power lunges" (where you step one leg forward a good stride and slowly bend it so top of leg goes parallel to floor, step back and do other leg) - i do this waiting for the kettle to boil!

-Exercise videos from the charity shop for variety (and saving £5 each time at the gym!)

-Deep knee bends using arms on kitchen worktop to steady yourself.

-"crunches" to exercise stomach (including obliques and slow ones).

Anyone got other ideas?

ohmsoft

I find that normally supplements (I really mean protein by that) is only benificial if you have been body building for a while and have hit a brick wall - I would agree that a change in diet is usually the way forward.

When I used to do it a while back I used to have chicken, tuna etc with wholegrain rices and pastas - look in the likes of Iceland for cheap multi deals which can be frozen etc.

The_Boss

Running will help build leg muscles. You can also get dumbbells from places like Argos for £30 for a pair of 30kgs which are ok for a beginner but might be a bit too easy if you're a regular gym goer.

Gold's gym also sell a really useful wheel that costs about a fiver that can be used to help boost triceps and core muscles.