These workout-specific, pre-gym snacks will help you maximize your energy systems.

Eating before your workout fuels growth, but a space-age supplement isn’t always the best option. “Whole foods provide more nutritious sources of protein, carbs and fats your needs.

A – Best for heavy lifting
2 or 3 large pieces of beef or turkey jerky, 1 handful of macadamia nuts (about 20 nuts)
Total – 523 calories, 26g protein, 46g carbs, 28g fat

B – Best for cardio sprint
1 handful of dried fruit, 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 60g of mozzarella cheese (about 2 slices)
Total – 452 calories, 23g protein, 35g carbs, 25g fat

C Best for weight circuit
Small handful of almonds (great for memory) (about 20 nuts) 2 tbsp of low fat cottage cheese, 1 handful of pineapple chunks
Total – 499 calories, 31g protein, 32g carbs, 23g fat

Many foods that are called “bad” are actually “good” for you.Welcome back these foods but not at once. Just forget the old nutrient taboos that surround them.

Nuts

The Myth “Causes you to gain weight”
The Truth

Nuts contain fat. That is a fact. What most people forget is that they contain the mono-unsaturated fat – the good stuff. Studies suggest that fat delays muscle fatigue. According to the British Journal of Nutrition, almonds keep you slim by controlling appetite. They’re also full of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.

There are a number of ways to enjoy your serving. Cashews in stir-fries, almond butter on oatmeal and walnuts – just mix and match.

Cheese

The Myth “Diary is high in fat and causes you to gain weight”
The Truth

Cheese is also fatty. However cheese is rich in calcium and magnesium and protein. Cheese is readily absorbed and used to repair muscle. Both Berdan and Clarke say runners can budget in one serving of full-fat cheese a day. Hard, aged cheeses like Parmesan, Swiss and Sharp cheddar are higher in protein and calcium then softer cheeses.

There are a number of ways to enjoy your serving. Cashews in stir-fries, almond butter on oatmeal and walnuts – just mix and match.

Potatoes

The Myth “High-Gl foods are bad for you.”
The Truth

Baking potatoes do have high Gl (as opposed to new sweet potatoes), but they are actually very good for athletes, especially during ultra events. The high GL means that a potato’s carbs will reach the muscles more quickly giving a instant boost for running. Because these are complex carbs it will make you last longer when running.
Check out Nancy Recipe a day to make the potatoes salad in the image..

Red Meat

The Myth “Meets like beef are high in saturated fat.”
The Truth

Some cuts are fat. Others.. well others make my mouth water. Other cuts can be as lean as chicken. Red meats are rich in thiamin, riboflavin and B6. These are needed for energy production and improve endurance.

Cover models take all shapes and sizes. We’re going to focus on the slim, toned and athletic cover model for the sake of this post. Before diving into the diet plan template; essentially we are creating a diary of what you should eat in a 7 day period continuously with a well balanced diet to achieve the “COVER MODEL” status – let’s take a look at some simple steps to have in mind.

1. Gym sessions aside – take on high-intensity sprint training. Go to your local field with some cones, space them out and then sprint to each one, timing your sessions and try to improve each week. (Just to expand – this may seem a simple point – but imagine all the work you have to do, buy cones, organise a template and session log, time your sessions, record them, do your own graphs, look for field – this requires great work and great reward.)
2. Workout everywhere – no matter where you are, make a good attempt to workout everywhere – hotel gym, travelling? Hit a morning jog for 30 mins
3. Lift weights that you can actually lift – it avoids injury, makes your comfortable and is the best advice your going to get “don’t try and lift the biggest weights you can”
4. Eat well before you train – Get a double-espresso for an instant energy hit and eat a good 2 hours before you hit the gym so that you food digests fully.

The cover model meal planner.

MONDAY

07:00 Black Coffee, BCAA supplements, anything else you have (Holland & Barretts)

08:00 Six-egg white omelette, mixed with oats, two slices of low-fat cheese and flaxseed power. At least two pints of water.

10:00 Raw nuts and water – nuts for memory amongst other things, see benefit of nuts.

12:30 Water, Chicken Sandwich, Broccoli.. green beans.

15:30 Mixed fruit pack and water.

19:30 Tuna steak, kidney beans, pine nuts, salad and some sweet or chilli sauce.

TUESDAY

08:00 Porridge oats, banana, blueberries, flaxseed powder, chocolate protein and some black coffee.

10:00 Oat biscuits and protein bar.

12:30 Salmon steak, sweet potato and asparagus. Water.

13:30 Mixed fruit

19:00 Mixed green salad, chicken breast – make it a cesar salad by mixing salad and the chicken and top with sweet chilli dressing. Water.

21:30 Chocolate whey protein shake.

WEDNESDAY

08:00 Green tea, a banana, and weetabix soaked in chocolate protein shake.

10:00 Cottage cheese.

12:30 Can of tuna, wholemeal pitta, salad and hummus. Water.

15:30 Raw almonds and a protein bar.

19:30 Turkey steak, sweet potato, mushrooms, broccoli and water.

21:30 Chocolate protein shake.

THURSDAY

08:00 Four whole eggs, two egg whites, two scoops of oats, two slices of low fat cheese. Black Coffee and water.

10:00 Banana berries, nuts and water.

12:30 Chicken breast, sweet potato, broccoli, green beans and water.

15:30 Cottage cheese and oat biscuits.

19:30 Salmon steak, brown rice, mixed green salad and water.

21:30 Chocolate protein shake.

FRIDAY

07:30 Three Weetabix soaked in chocolate protein whey shake. Banana, raspberries and green tea.

10:00 Banana, berries and nuts.

12:30 Salmon steak, sweet potato, avocado salad, sweet chilli sauce and water.

15:30 Low-fat yoghurt, mixed fruit and honey.

19:30 Six-egg-white omelette, one can of tuna, asparagus, sweet chilli sauce and water.

21:30 Chocolate protein shake.

SATURDAY

09:00 Black coffee and water. Two scoops of oats, chocolate protein.

11:00 Oat biscuits and cottage cheese.

13:00 Chicken breast, brown rice, brocolli and water.

15:30 Banana and a protein bar.

20:00 Low-fat steak mine, sweet potato, green beans and water.

22:00 Chocolate protein shake, wholemeal toast with peanut butter.

SUNDAY (CHEAT DAY)

09:00 Coffee with milk and water. Two smoked salmon and cream cheese with wholemeal bagels.

11:00 Protein bar.

13:00 Home-made lasagne with low-fat cream, vegetables and water.

16:00 Yoghurt, mixed fruit, honey and water.

20:00 Steak, home-made sweet potato chips, mushroom and cream cheese sauce.

22:00 Porridge oats, chocolate protein power, semi semi-skimmed milks, chocolate chip drops and water.

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You can muscle up next year after all the holiday food with some of these simple tips. Before I mention them I wanted to let you know about some cardio boosters. Cardio boosters are a way to jump your energy levels and place your brain into thinking you can work out longer. I’ll give you an example: A cup of coffee or anything containing high levels of caffeine can reduce your brains perception on how hard you think you have trained. The high levels of caffeine (Note I have not mentioned Lucozade Sport with Caffeine Boost – I find it the worst taste and I can never finish it, the Lemon Plus one) act as stimulant that interferes with the part of your brain that is responsible for dealing with pain – The University of Illinois in the US say’s that the caffeine can give you this energy boost resulting in you training for longer without mentally and physically taking note. Another cardio booster is having a warm shower before your morning training sessions – not only because it’s like -100c outside (Manchester) – but having a hot shower gets your blood pumping to your muscles and priming them for action and doubling as an effective warm-up ahead of early-morning sessions, helping you avoid strains and tweaks. Take a read of our “4 steps to go from skinny to biggy”..

#1 Go easy on the cardio

I can tell you know that your six-pack will only come out of hiding when you have reduced your body fat down to around ten per cent, but this doesn’t mean you should spend hours pounding the pavement. In order to put muscle on you need to consume more calories than you burn, so that means keep your cardio sessions brief. Having short breaks between your weight sets will work your cardiovascular system and your muscles.

#2 Stick to complex moves

You need to keep to Isolation movement, such as biceps curls and calf raises. They are great for building up your muscular endurance. The fact is however is that these exercises won’t build mass in the same was as squats, deadlifts and bench presses do. These compound moves involve more than one muscle group which means they’ll shock shock your body, flooding it with good ol’ testosterone and leading to greater sizes gains – everywhere.

#3 Keeping sets short

Cranking out hundreds of reps will fatigue your muscles but it won’t make them grow back bigger. Stick to low-rep sets with heavy weights to overload the muscles, fatigue them faster and force them to grow stronger.

Someone told me (at the gym where I go) that they heard the more hardcore lifters mention that you should stick to low rep building – start on the shoulder press at 10kg and do 15 reps. Then go up the next weight, 15kg and do 15 reps, then go up to 20kg and do 15 reps – just keeping adding the weight on as you go on each rep and at each session.

#4 Eat up

The average man needs around 2,500 calories a day just to maintain his weight, so you should take on 500 more calories to put on muscle – naturally speaking this doesn’t mean eating more calorie-dense foods (junk food). You can get high quality protein from eggs, fish, nuts and lean meat, all of which make these the best source for muscle-building grub. You should aim for 1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight every day – you should also take it an hour before you workout and 20 minutes after your workout.

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