One of the most misplaced dieting fears that body builders have is eating a square meal immediately before they go to bed. It has been said that such a meal immediately turns to body fat because the metabolism process will switch off soon after falling asleep.

A body builder who feels hungry hours after eating supper therefore remains with excruciating hunger pangs through the night. Eating during the night is however not a mistake and in most instances, turns out an advantage rather than a fat orchestrating ordeal. Never should a body builder feel hungry and then persevere the hunger for hours. It’s simply foolish to go for over eight hours without food and still hope to gain maximal muscle mass during training. Tell me, body builders usually ensure that they eat after every three hours during the day so as to prevent catabolism. So what logic drives them to sleep hungry for over 12 hours during the night?

Muscle growth occurs during the sleeping hours. It is during sleep that the body repairs injured muscle cells, revitalizes the muscle fibers and generates new muscle cells. It is therefore very important that the body builder provides the body with adequate nutritional raw materials to repair, revitalize and develop muscles. Eating a late night healthy snack helps boost the recovery and growth processes of a body builder.

Essentially therefore, a body builder should eat at least twice in the evening. One of these meals ought to be the meal taken at about an hour before bed. The meal should optimally be rich in proteins and minimal carbohydrates. This is because the body needs repair and growth materials (proteins) and not energy (carbohydrates). The most important thing to remember for the night eating body builder is that he or she is not going to be doing anything during the night and the caloric requirements are therefore at their most minimal. What are rather essential are the body building blocks, otherwise known as proteins. This rationale must be reversed however, when the body builder wakes up and prepares to attend an intensive workout session.

The consumption of late night meal rich in proteins will be helpful also in preventing catabolism. During sleep, a body builder’s system releases high levels of growth hormones that if adequately supplied with proteins help amplify anabolism. An empty bowel is always dangerous for a body builder whether during sleep or wakeful hours. Serious body builders, especially those following out an intensive weight training program, should never go to bed hungry. A protein shake or a dosage of amino goes a long way to promoting muscle growth.

Some professional body builders in the know have actually fallen into the practice of eating 3 or 4 eggs or some cottage cheese before they hit the sack. Others are so intimate on the night diet that every time they wake up to go the bathroom, they take a healthy proteinious snack before sleeping again. Rather than get fat, these night eating body builders grow round the clock as their ignorant fat-phobia body builders starve the night long.

If you like this article, click here to share: