Fruit, friend or foe?

[Grca90]

amazing article..thank you!

[fifa2012]

Awesome post, THX.

[aberry9475]

What about blueberries I've heard they have lots of anti oxidants

yes.

Even if you're trying to save on calories, there's many different types of fruits, some with not that much sugar at all. Generally the smaller a fruit is, the more calories and sugar it will have, and the larger it is the less it will have (per volume at least). So things like berries have a lot of sugar (but also a lot of nutrients), things like apples have less per volume so you can eat more and things like watermelon or cantaloupe you can eat a bunch of because they're mostly water and can fill you up more with less calories.

[NextNextLevel]

yes.

Even if you're trying to save on calories, there's many different types of fruits, some with not that much sugar at all. Generally the smaller a fruit is, the more calories and sugar it will have, and the larger it is the less it will have (per volume at least). So things like berries have a lot of sugar (but also a lot of nutrients), things like apples have less per volume so you can eat more and things like watermelon or cantaloupe you can eat a bunch of because they're mostly water and can fill you up more with less calories.

A good rule with antioxident content of fruit is the thiner the skin, the higher the antioxidant content. Like berrys, are really high, and have very thin skin, compared to bananas which have thick skin, and are alot lower in antioxidance compared to berrys. Just a general rule. There are some exceptions like pomegranets which have thick skins and high antioxidant content.

[RawFitBitch]

Fruit is definitely our friend! We should never ever restrict our fruit calories, just as animals in nature do not. This is roughly how much fruit I have in a day >>
and yes I have been known to eat up to 50 bananas a day. So far I have lost 40lbs, cleared up my acne, overcome depression, bulimia and anorexia so I'm pretty happy with the results!

[Scumsyrup]

Anybody who had to read this article to determine whether or not they should incorporate fruit into their diets (even though it should always have been incorporated) doesn't deserve to be eating fruit. Long live fruit, and its supporters.

[Scumsyrup]

Fruit is definitely our friend! We should never ever restrict our fruit calories, just as animals in nature do not. This is roughly how much fruit I have in a day >>
and yes I have been known to eat up to 50 bananas a day. So far I have lost 40lbs, cleared up my acne, overcome depression, bulimia and anorexia so I'm pretty happy with the results!

Having read your previous "article", I've come to the conclusion that you do just want an excuse to make videos of yourself and post your videos on every thread you get a chance to. You should make a video of you eating 50 bananas within 5 minutes, with the peels. That'll impress me, or at least the end result will.

[texicus]

Good post man. I love throwing in a few cups of sweet fruits like peaches or strawberries with some stevia, maybe vanilla whey thrown on top. Nice way to satisfy that sweet tooth without too many calories (50-60 calories/cup for strawberries I think?) when you're in a steep deficit

[texicus]

Having read your previous "article", I've come to the conclusion that you do just want an excuse to make videos of yourself and post your videos on every thread you get a chance to. You should make a video of you eating 50 bananas within 5 minutes, with the peels. That'll impress me, or at least the end result will.

Hahaha sorry for double post but i'll agree with this. That is an atrocious amount of food

[mobykyu]

great article dude, have you ever wonder about fruits or veggies that are processed, will it retain its healthy goodness and nutrients?

Nutrition Facts Labels
You never know everything that’s inside what you eat, so it’s a good idea to look at the nutrition facts on a product before you purchase it. It’s easy to pick food based on how good it looks, but it gets more difficult when you’re trying to find something that tastes good but is also good for you. Nutrition facts labels can be a downer when they reveal the truth, but you should read them to make sure you’re not eating too unhealthy. Nutrition facts labels can be especially important to read if you’re trying to cut certain substances out of your diet, like sodium or carbs.

It’s also important to read nutrition facts labels correctly. Nutrition facts labels list the nutrients of food according to one serving. Unfortunately, food almost always contains more than one serving, which makes sense for food in large quantities, but is kind of bizarre when it comes to snack packs or beverages. Who eats part of a snack bag or drinks only part of a bottle, saving the rest for later? Why don’t they just make one serving bags and bottles? If it’s because they would be too small, that’s probably a food or drink you want to stay away from. Nutrition facts labels also usually pertain to a 2000 calorie diet, so what the nutrition facts mean to you depends on how you eat or how you should eat. They will list the number of calories per serving, but if you eat the entire contents that consisted of 2 servings, you’re actually eating twice the calories listed. This goes for all of the nutrients in the food.

Nutrition facts labels are a good guide, but they’re not always completely factual. They’re more likely to represent an estimate or range of the food’s contents. Also, nutrition facts labels are now required to list the amount of trans fat in the contents, and now you’ll often see products proudly claiming “No Trans Fat!” In reality, products are allowed to list 0 g of trans fats on their nutrition facts labels as long as the amount is under 1 g in a serving. So if you eat several servings, it could possibly accumulate to an amount of trans fat that’s more significant. Still, even if nutrition fact labels aren’t 100 percent accurate, whether something is healthy can be quite intuitive. It’s not too hard to figure out that an apple is healthier than a candy bar without looking at its contents.

[joeylee56]

Awesome Article!!

[vinayrk2909]

Can I have big bananas before and after workout , cOz I am an athlete " track and field " mornings as soon as I get up and after workout in the evening in the gym , by the way very good article contains tons Of info. Thanks

[timenomad2012]

So the saying "everything in moderation" is true! Even fruits!

[AustisticDingo]

Cheers brah, enlightening

[Kostya1981]

So i cant eat fruits on re-feed days?

[Edgaron]

Lol

[swlabhot]

Berries are best when u are dieting

[atwses]

Interesting article. Definitely going to be more mindful of when I eat my daily fruit.

[brettlovett16]

Great article..Fruit and veg should be eaten everyday for there obvious health benifets..

[christinathomas]

changes my whole perspective on fruit. Thanks!

[MissTiffany2012]

Awesome post, thanks.

fruits are good for health

[ThatGalZoey]

If you ask me, I don't think there's anything wrong about eating fruits. I mean if you take a deeper look at it, some of the components of body building and other health supplements are actually stuff that are extracted from various fruits.

[frankstomp]

Well spoken there, its true fruits are not really discussed on forum but when you think about they do play a great part in our diet. They have natural benefits that does not need to be process.

Thank you for reminding us about how important fruits can be in our diets

[paclarsheltex]

Interval training is not for the beginner. But if you have had a regular walking or running regimen for at least six months then you are probably ready to take your workout to the next level with interval training on the treadmill.




What is interval training?

Interval training on the treadmill is where rather than a 30 minute walk or run at a steady pace, you instead mix up the speeds and incline to keep your body from becoming adjusted or used to the workout. For example; a warm-up period of ten minutes at 3.0 mph, gradually increase the speed setting to 4.5 mph and allow your body to adjust to this speed. Then run for one minute at 4.5 mph, recover for one minute at 3.5 mph, then run for one minute at 5.0 mph, recover for one minute at 3.5 mph, then run for one minute at 5.5 mph, then finally recover for one minute at 3.5 mph.

Continue to increase the speed at each interval and repeat this pattern for 10 to 20 minutes. Then cool down for 10 minutes at 3.0 mph.

Benefits of interval training

With interval training you work more muscle groups and work them harder, you will burn more calories during and after your workout, you will become stronger and faster, you will have a better overall cardio workout and better overall cardiovascular fitness and it will prevent the workout boredom that often comes with repetitive workout programs.

HIIT interval training

High intensity interval training is more advanced interval training for more advanced persons, and will reap even more benefits. You may venture into this realm even if you are less experienced in the workout would, but your numbers will vary from a more advanced workout.

To determine the difficulty of your workout consider the RPE or, rate of perceived exertion scale. 1 is very easy and 10 leaves you so out of breath you are unable to speak and you are noticeably heaving when you inhale. If you are very fit you should go for the highest end of the scale, a 9 or 10, but if you are less experienced then go for around a 6.

After a ten minute warm up cycle lower than the goal cycle, do 5 to 8 cycles of all out effort followed by a recovery cycle. An example of a more advanced cycle would be to run about 12 mph for 30 seconds (hands off of course) then walk easy for two minutes. Repeat this cycle 6 or 7 more times. If this didn”t kick your butt then repeat the cycle but this time do it on a slight incline of ten to fifteen degrees.

If you are not this advanced you can walk instead of run, but walk on an incline of about fifteen degrees. Walk at 3 or 4 mph for a minute or so, them do a cool down stage of a walk without incline at only 2 mph for 2 or 3 minutes then repeat this 5 or 6 more times. The idea is to keep your cardio working at peak for short intervals followed by longer cool down intervals to allow your oxygen levels to get back up. If you deprive your muscles of oxygen you will begin to cramp, so it is very important to do short, intense intervals, followed by a cool down interval.

This style of exercise will not only build your cardio, but will also cause your body to burn fat stores for energy. The end result will be you will not only look better, but you will actually be healthier too. If you are new to exercise you should consult your physician to see if this type of exercise is right for you, and often a trainer will help you maximize your workout routine.

[geo1236]

Fruit, friend or foe?

Now, who doesn’t like a nice piece of fruit? But really what is the truth on fruit? I feel its overlooked in bodybuilding, but not looked at enough in normal living.

Bodybuilders overlook fruit, because I feel that they see it as a non-issue, something that will make you fat! Something that just isn’t good for building rock hard massive muscle, which we all want. But there is a different side to fruit that people in the bodybuilding world should know, some know of it already but some don’t, fruit is a GREAT pre/post workout meal, its got simple sugars, most fruits have plenty of those energy giving carbohydrates. They’re just a great source of simple sugars/carbohydrates for pre/post workout.
Here is the catch though, many bodybuilders avoid fruit because of a thing called fructose, now fructose is a form of simple sugar much like dextrose or glucose, which many of you may use. But bodybuilders seem to over do the whole fructose thing, let me give you an insight why they might;

Fructose is a simple sugar, yes we know that, but fructose is a little different to other simple sugar sources. See fructose is much easily stored as body fat, it has to travel through the liver first to be converted into glycogen. Then the problem is when liver glycogen levels get full in starts turning into fat. That is the reason bodybuilders try to avoid fruit, because seeing as though you can’t tell when your liver is full of glycogen, many bodybuilders just forget about fruit all together. But many bodybuilders over react about how much fructose really is in fruit, many fruits don’t contain loads of fructose but they do contain something that is very important to a bodybuilder, which is phytochemicals (micronutrients). Also fruits are packed with muscle growing nutrients.

So now you might be asking you self, why do we need this glycogen stuff in are muscles anyway? Well simple sugars such as dextrose, glucose and fructose are converted into glycogen, which is a form of carbohydrates that is stored in your muscles. What does it do, when it’s in your muscles? It helps you recover, grow, give you a full look (so you look bigger) and so you can have overall better performance at all workouts.

Back to good old fruit, when would the best times to eat fruit be? Well there are 3 best times to use fruit and they are:

1. As soon as you get up and make breakfast, because while your sleeping your glycogen levels are getting lower and lower because your body has been using them for an energy source while you sleep and if you don’t get any glycogen in you when you get up in the morning, your body will start to turn to using muscle for energy and you don’t want muscle catabolism.

2. Before training. Try and get a piece of fruit in around 30 minutes before training to get those glycogen levels up again and save muscle glycogen. The fructose in the fruit will also not stop fat burning like other simple sugars do i. e glucose.

3. After a hard, heavy workout. Have a piece of fruit to get your insulin spike going and to get the fructose and glucose into those muscles, so you can recover and GROW. Try and go with a fruit that is higher is glucose than it is fructose, such as; peach, cherries and banana.


One thing I must say though is try and stick with fruit at those times, don’t eat to much fruit or it will overload your liver glycogen levels and will be stored as body fat. If you are going to eat fruit at other times limit the amount you eat.

Fruits have plenty of fibre in them, that help slow down the rate of protein digestion to give you that steady release of amino acids.

Fruit also adds to how I believe people should eat more whole foods and try not to live on supplements all the time, you have a great source of simple sugars/carbohydrates here so use it, so when you go out and buy a supplement that has the simple sugars have a think if you need it or just have a couple of peach’s. Don’t eliminate fruit from your diet PLAESE, Fruit has so many good things going for it and is so overlooked in bodybuilding. There is lots of nutrients, fibre and like I said before those most important simple sugars that get your insulin up, glycogen stores up and gets into those big muscles and gets you growing, which we all want to do!

Back to eating the whole foods, fruit is known to pick up your appetite for food so you can eat more, so when you eating your 4th cup of oats for the day, have a little bit of banana and the sweetness of it will make you get that food down more easily. If your feeling down and out and have no energy just have a little fruit to pick you up again, but remember never eat to much, need to keep the liver glycogen levels in check.

If your reading this and saying to your self I want fruit but just can’t bring my self to eat it because of the fructose and liver glycogen levels, then why not try a citrate supplement with it, such as; calcium citrate or creatine citrate. It just helps that fructose to go to glycogen production and away from fat.

You might be asking yourself what fruits are good at what times, well I might just tell you a few fruits and what times would be best to take them: Pre-training: apple, grapes, strawberries, pears. Post-workout: cherries, peach’s, bananas. Breakfast time: orange, kiwi fruit, and nectarine. They’re just a few fruits that you can pick more; if you really want to chop and change then you can but be careful of fructose and glucose levels.

Well I hope this article has helped some of you bodybuilders out there to not overlook fruit when your writing up your next training/diet plan, it might even save you some money on supplements!
Always eat your fruit and veg but never go crazy with fruit, look after your self and eat more whole foods, get a good supplement and training plan and your set for better gains.

Fruit, friend or foe? I think a muscle-building friend!

What do u mean by TOO MUCH??

your not gonna gain an ounce of fat if your in a your calorie maintenance, no matter how much your eating fruits.

In my last cut i was consuming all my carbs needs from fruits at whatever time of the day. ohh yeahh... it was my most successful cutting phase.

Your article is full of Broscience OP.

Great post op fruits r def a friend u just hv to consume them in moderation.

Moderation is a word that i used to know before practicing IIFYM.

[geo1236]

I feel like a Neg train is coming :/

itfeelsbadOP

[Hearto]

fruit is friend.. i always smash back a banana about 30 mins before my workout.. they provide energy and reduce muscle cramps allowing me to pump out those extra few reps.

[kaminsknator]

good to know there is still a spot in my life for fruit!

[Mamamuscles]

Great post. I hear many people talk about fruit as its a bad thing. In moderation and at the right times you can benefit form the nutrients in fruit. Moderation is key. Good job!

[Sagiz]

a few notes i might add-
fruit isnt required to get lean or build mass,on the other hand it wont hinder your progress,and some fruits have great benefits.
in my opinion though some fruits are better then others,this are the ones i'd highly recommend:
berries-contain antioxidants and freakin high on fiber! i also read somewhere that eating berries on your last meal will help you if you train early in the morning(you'll wake up feeling more energized)
pineapple-contains digestion enzymes which are great for people like us who have very strict diets and often eat a lot of food
apples-antioxidants,fiber
oranges-lots of vitamin c
medjoul dates-people who like to add dextrose in their post-workout shake,i highly recommend eating this instead,its the same principle as dextrose only this are tasty as f***(i swear to you i can eat them all day)
of course all fruit have their benefits,and the fruits mentioned above has more benefits then what i had written,but those are the main reasons why you should eat them.