ARTICLES

Articles

The teams current thoughts on all things physique development. There are so many conflicting issues in the industry today but the team put across their thoughts in laymans terms for you to understand.


Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Macros are cool, but don’t forget about the micros!

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.

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Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Adherence to nutrition – why is it so hard, and what can you do to make it easier?

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

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Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Stopping hating on carbohydrates and start utilising them

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

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Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Incomplete protein and gainz

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.

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Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Do you need protein intra workout?

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.

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Nutrition/Supplements, Fat loss Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements, Fat loss Vaughan Wilson

Vasoburn

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?

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Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Are you eating enough fibre?

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.

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Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements Vaughan Wilson

Meal plans vs Marco plans

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.

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Nutrition/Supplements, Training Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements, Training Vaughan Wilson

Carb cycling on training and non-training days

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).

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Nutrition/Supplements, Competing Vaughan Wilson Nutrition/Supplements, Competing Vaughan Wilson

Using natural diuretics pre shoot/show

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.

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Mindset/Psychology Vaughan Wilson Mindset/Psychology Vaughan Wilson

The mindset of transitioning into a gaining phase

It is not a secret that in order to build muscle, you will need to push your calories up to a surplus, and with that – as well as gaining quality tissue through training and recovery – will also come some body fat gain. Of course, this is completely normal and in fact, quite healthy and necessary too, as staying lean year-round is unsustainable at best, and exhausting and damaging at worst.

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Mindset/Psychology Vaughan Wilson Mindset/Psychology Vaughan Wilson

How ready are you to change?

Fear is something I see constantly in the fitness and bodybuilding world: a fear of not being ready in time for a show or shoot, a fear of other people’s opinions, the fear of making a mistake, and/or the fear of still being the person that you want to change by embarking on a transformation journey.

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