Nutritional strategies of British professional and amateur natural bodybuilders during competition preparation

Abstract

Background To prepare for competition, bodybuilders employ strategies based around: energy restriction, resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, isometric “posing”, and supplementation. Cohorts of professional (PRO) natural bodybuilders offer insights into how these strategies are implemented by elite competitors, and are undocumented in the scientific literature. Methods Forty-seven competitors (33 male (8 PRO, 25 amateur (AMA), 14 female (5 PRO, 9 AMA) participated in the study. All PROs were eligible to compete with the Drug Free Athletes Coalition (DFAC), and all AMAs were recruited from the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation (BNBF). Competitors in these organisations are subject to a polygraph and are drug tested in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency. We report the results of a cross-sectional study of drug free bodybuilders competing at BNBF qualifying events, and the DFAC and World Natural Bodybuilding Federation finals. Participants completed a 34-item questionnaire assessing dietary intake at three time points (start, middle and end) of competition preparation. Participants recorded their food intake over a 24-h period in grams and/or portions. Dietary intakes of PRO and AMA competitors were then compared. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to test if nutrient intake changed over time, and for associations with division. Results Male PROs reported significantly ( p < 0.05) more bodybuilding experience than AMAs (PRO: 12.3 +/− 9.2, AMA: 2.4 +/− 1.4 yrs). Male PROs lost less body mass per week (PRO: 0.5 +/− 0.1, AMA: 0.7 +/− 0.2%, p < 0.05), and reported more weeks dieting (PRO: 28.1 +/− 8.1, AMA: 21.0 +/− 9.4 wks, P = 0.06). Significant differences ( p < 0.05) of carbohydrate and energy were also recorded, as well as a difference ( p = 0.03) in the estimated energy deficit (EED), between male PRO (2.0 +/− 5.5 kcal) and AMA (− 3.4 +/− 5.5 kcal) competitors. Conclusions Longer diets and slower weight loss utilized by PROs likely contributed towards a lower EED compared to the AMAs. Slower weight loss may constitute an effective strategy for maintaining energy availability and muscle mass during an energy deficit. These findings require corroboration, but will interest bodybuilders and coaches. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12970-019-0302-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Obesity as a risk factor for COVID-19: an overview

“…The calculation is based on dividing the weight by the height squared (kg/m 2 ): a BMI between 25 and 30 indicates overweight and above 30 indicates obesity. Although it is possible to possess a high BMI and low body fat, as usually found in athletes (Chappell, Simper, and Helms 2019), BMI is a useful population-level measure of obesity. BMI strongly correlates with body fat percentage in adults from both sexes and different ages (Ranasinghe et al 2013).…”

Evaluation of Protein Content in the Diet of Amateur Male Bodybuilder

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“…Most of the authors dealing with dietary supplementation among bodybuilders emphasize that the respondents independently make decisions about supplements to the diet. Amateurs combine different products without controlling the recommended amount of protein and supplements, most often controlling only the content of amino acids in the supplement ( Chappell et al., 2019 ; Frączek and Grzelak, 2012 ; Kerksick et al, 2013 ; Krejpcio et al, 2011 ; Kurylas et al, 2019; Michalska et al, 2016 ; Ribeiro et al, 2019 ; Skop-Lewandowska et al, 2013 ; Wilczek et al, 2013 ).…”

“…Due to the high demand for protein in athletes, and at the same time providing low-volume and slightly digestible food, protein nutrients with easily digestible hydrolysates are of great importance ( Celejowa, 2008 ; Chappell et al, 2019 ; Kowaluk and Sacharuk, 2004 ; Mitchell et al, 2018 ).…”

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