Before telling you supplements and nutritional secrets I more often say that Knowledge is the real power and money is also power. At his P90X success, Tony Horton used to say the same words to make his point solid. The supplemental and nutritional part of the program is perhaps as important as the routines and exercises themselves.
This is because there has been over the last few years astonishing breakthroughs in sports nutrition that enables anyone to gain muscle mass easily, and evolution of diet that has been proven to create dramatic weight loss in little time.
Peruse the shelves at any sports nutrition store, and you will be awestruck at the sheer amount of recovery drinks made available. These drinks work! What strikes me so is the similarity of ingredients from one product to the other, the main one being creatine.
What is Creatine?
Creatine is a definite plus for any would-be weightlifter, for its ability to stimulate growth, strength, and endurance gains almost immediately. The claims that 8-10 pounds will be racked up in one week are not false, by any means, but it is creatine that causes this through water retention.
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Of course, once on creatine, the strength and performance enhancement will allow the lifter to pack on more muscle and have more energy, which simply would not exist were it not for creatine to start with.
Other Helpful Ingredients
Other helpful ingredients for any weightlifter are the growth hormone stimulating amino acids arginine, ornithine, and lysine. Tests have proven these three amino acids to assist in helping the body to release its stores of growth hormone more readily. Glutamine is also a must, as it feeds muscles the food they require for recovery and performance.
Having a steady supply of vitamins and trace minerals helps, too. During exercise, our stores of these vitamins and minerals are much more easily depleted, which can cause rebuilding efforts to grind to a halt. Also, vitamin C in large doses augments the immune system and helps fight infections.
Let’s not forget the herbs utilized in P90X: ashwaganda, epimedium, and astragulus. These herbs have been proven to raise energy levels, increase testosterone levels, and stimulate faster recovery.
It is also recommended that persons over 40 to take glucosamine, chrondroitin, and MSM in supplemental form to lubricate joints and prevent arthritic pain. All of these suggestions are well known in bodybuilding circles.
Three Diet Regimens
There are three diet regimens in P90X, which depend on one’s fat percentage and energy needs. A few simple equations determine one’s caloric needs, and a body fat analyzer (which you must purchase) tells you the range you fall in before choosing what works best.
For faster fat consumption, a low fat, high protein, low carbohydrate diet is given. Even at the medium level, protein ranges are much higher than the traditional 1 gram per kilogram usually seen in bodybuilding material. I, myself, was shocked to discover that I required 300 grams of protein a day, even though I weigh 190 pounds and sported 13 per cent body fat!
Eating Schedule
The last essential aspect to getting ripped is how often to eat. The plan recommends eating 6 times a day. This boosts metabolism and keeps the muscles from cannibalizing on themselves. No sugar in any form is recommended, due to its encouragement of insulin release that retards growth hormone release and thus growth. Also, not eating three hours before bed is a must.
In sum, Tony becomes eclectic and gathers the best information and puts it all together in one basic formula. The thing I mentioned here and shared with you are already available for everyone on the internet and in the books. I have said beofre in the beginning of this article that knowledge is power.