top 10 tips

1. Get Educated!! - learn all that you can about the synergistic affect of correct training, improved recovery and optimum nutrition for results. Read texts by reliable, and involved, sources. Listen to trust worthy anecdotal advice and then formulate your own individual program, which should evolve and progress as you do.

2. Eat frequent quality meals - in order to deliver the required amounts of quality nutrients needed to keep the body growing (anabolic) and healthy. Overloading by eating less frequent meals stresses the digestive system and jeopardises nutrient uptake. Remember that everything that you eat is important, so you want to absorb it.

3. Ensure that your protein intake is adequate - when trying to maximise your potential physique you may need to side with "real-world" results rather than with "science-backed" government recommendations. There have been studies to support the ongoing claims of athletes that raising protein intake = increased lean muscle tissue.

4. Eat real food!- supplements are just that! They should augment a healthy eating plan that provides the majority of micro and macro-nutrients. Supplements are a convenient addition to the diet in order to supply any deficit not met by your food intake. By relying on supplements you will miss out on vital constituents of a healthy diet - including fibre, phytonutrients and variety.

5. Concentrate on unrefined carbohydrates - High intakes of refined and processed foods is common in our modern western diet. This greatly reduces our intake of vital nutrients, the majority of which are removed during processing. As hard training athletes we require all the nutrients that we can get, especially from our daily food intake. Eat more whole-foods rather than white rice, white bread and packet foods.

6. Eat plenty of fibrous carbohydrates - high fibrous vegetables not only deliver important fibre but also vitamins and minerals. Eat a variety as an accompaniment to meals and as a snack throughout the day, rather than sweets and biscuits!

7. Minimise your simple carbohydrate intake - Sugars have no place in a healthy diet. They suppress the immune system, act as a stimulant stressing the adrenal glands and cause an ensuing cortisol response (which is catabolic to muscle tissue), as well as secreting excess insulin that can lead to fat accumulation as well as many other problems.

8. Keep your resistance workouts short and intense - The purpose of your workouts are to stimulate muscle which in-turn, when given the right nutrients and rest, repairs and grows to compensate for the ongoing stress it receives. Overlong workout periods will result in amino acids being utilised as an energy source, and these will come from catabolised muscle - a loss of muscle tissue is detrimental to your goal. Within these workouts include some functional movements to improve the efficiency of "the core" stabiliser muscles. This may be best performed using the Swiss ball, which improves posture and functional movement.

9. Use quality and relevant supplements as required - Intense training raises the body's demands for nutrients for repair and growth, as well as the nutrients required for the metabolism of the increased food intake. Extra nutrients are also required to boost the immune system, which is suppressed by intense exercise, and to act as anti-oxidants for the increased free-radical damage caused by exercise. In addition there are the array of supplements that are specifically marketed for muscle building, fat loss and performance enhancement.

10. Employ a GB Fitness specialist as your Trainer/Nutritionist!!

There are many more tips to enhance your training and results but if you follow tip number 1 (or number 10!) you will start to put all the pieces of the complex puzzle together, maybe the most important one of all is CONSISTENCY.