Have you ever wondered why you see people consuming large amounts of carbohydrates around the workout parameters? Are you currently eating chicken and rice and feeling like you are missing out?

If you are experiencing bloating every time you eat and/or multiple times across the day, the first thing to ask yourself is this: what are you doing about it?

Are you supplementing yohombine whilst dieting? If so, do you know how it works? Or are you just taking it because you’ve been told too? Not to worry, I will break down how it works in layman’s terms and why it can aid in fat loss.

Nutrition is – in all honesty – a huge part of your physique development journey. If you want to grow, you have to be in a surplus (eating more than you are burning off); and if you want to get lean, you need to be in a deficit (eating less than your body needs).

Does nutrition confuse you? Do you struggle to separate BS from helpful information? At the start of a fitness journey, most people understand the importance of tracking nutrition in some shape or form. We’ll typically start off looking at calories, and as our knowledge evolves, we start to look at the importance of the types of calories we consume.

We all know that nutrition will make or break your results, and this is irrespective of whether you’re trying to gain muscle mass or pull body fat levels down. However, adherence to nutritional principles is notoriously difficult and probably the thing people struggle with most, particularly in a dieting phase

In this day and age where evidence-based information is so readily available, I’m still baffled every time I speak to someone who has a complete misconception about carbs, and still believes they are the enemy of physique development. This is so far removed from the truth as, in fact, if you don’t use carbs properly then you are missing out on an amazing macronutrient that can support your performance and growth

We’ve all heard the expression “fail to prepare or prepare to fail” applied to the context of nutrition when it comes to physique goals. Although a lack of preparation does not lead to imminent failure, winging your nutrition is likely to slow your physique progress quite significantly for a number of reasons.

If you’re reading this, then it’s likely that you already track your protein. But ask yourself this: are you getting enough of the right sources of protein? We all know protein is essential to build muscle: if you’re consuming 1.1-1.2g protein per pound of body weight, then you’re on the right lines.

It’s almost become a running joke, but it’s surprising the number of people who think that you cannot possibly consume enough protein on a vegan diet! A vegan or plant-based diet is one which does not include any animal foods, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy or honey

For as long as I can remember, there has been a debate within the fitness industry about the use of protein intra-workout. The discussion has largely been around the benefits of supplementing branch chain amino acids (BCAAs), and whether or not it helped with the ‘gainz’ or was just expensive piss. All you need to do is type “are BCAAs good” into google and thousands of articles, studies and blogs will come up arguing for and against that argument.

As bodybuilders/physique athletes, we all want to maximise training performance in the gym. We want to perform at our highest possible level whilst ensuring that our muscles are receiving as much “fuel” (i.e. food) as possible too.

Now that the competing season has begun in the UK, you may have seen athletes posting photos on their Instagram stories with their physique/skin covered in big red patches (similar to sunburn). You may have wondered: what have they done to themselves there?! And if it has anything to do with dieting, how on earth does hot pink skin help with fat loss?

Over the years, I have realised that one of the most commonly shared traits amongst new clients is that they have very little green vegetables or fibre in their diet. In fact, in some cases their diet might be completely devoid of anything green at all. Whilst intuitively we all know this is far from optimal, I wanted to use this article to discuss the importance of green vegetables in physique development and bodybuilding.

In the bodybuilding scene you will have two different camps, both amongst coaches and athletes. On the one hand, we have athletes who prefer following an exact meal plan provided by their coach, and coaches who would rather their clients follow a meal plan to the T; and on the other hand, we have athletes who prefer to manage their own food choices and follow a macro-based plan, and coaches who also prefer prescribing this more flexible approach.

If you’ve been a long-time follower of the brand, by now you will have seen that we tend to have large amounts of carbs around the training window, and effectively more total carbohydrates on our training days in general. However, you might not be aware that we will tend to run these a bit lower on non-weight training days (NTDs). Simultaneously we will run our total calories for those day a little bit lower also when compared to training days (TDs).

In the final few days, as you prepare for your show/shoot, your coach might recommend you take natural diuretics, so you might be wondering what they do. Before we get into it though, I should probably say that if you are not lean enough, these will not change how your physique looks. However, if you are, they can create a slight change that can be advantageous for your show/shoot.

It’s no secret that stress is something very real in today’s society. Not only that, but it is usually held at chronically high levels. Whether it be bills, your job, family or another matter, we’ve all felt stressed at some point. There might be some of you wondering, how do I know if I am stressed and what does it do to my body? How is stress related to my physique goals?

The fact that creatine can increase training performance, aid recovery and help us in our endeavour to continually add muscle mass is widely accepted and extensively supported by research and evidence. However, it wasn’t until one of my clients asked me “how does creatine work?” that I actually realised that many of us might not know but are curious about the physiology of creatine. Therefore, my aim with this article is to provide a simplified explanation of this process.

It all begins with aIn the past few years, bodybuilders have started paying closer attention to their electrolyte balance, with a specific focus on sodium. This has come as coaches have increased their physiology knowledge and have incorporated sodium manipulation into a show day peak week protocol, to help achieve a desired look on stage.