To achieve optimim results from training, it is necessary that you must supply your body with all the correct vitamins and minerals as well as enough of the major components of the diet being proteins, carbohydrates and fats. These are called the 'macro-nutrients' of the diet as they are needed in much larger amounts compared to the micro-nutrients' being the vitamins, minerals and other biological substances which are needed in much smaller amounts in the diet than are the 'macro-nutrients', but are found present in different amounts accompanying the macro-nutrients in food.

We know that most of the micro-nutrients are already present in the foods that make up the macro-nutrients, but it has been proven that hard-training bodybuilders need a lot more than food can provide in terms of the micro-nutrients. Taking this into account and the stress factor that the body undergoes during training, a large amount of the micro-nutrients are needed in growth and body tissue repair. Therefore extra levels are required by the body which can not be acquired by food alone, which is where vitamin and mineral supplements come in and should be taken on a daily basis.

The main question is what to take and when during the day. A good time in the day to take a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is along with the first meal of the day and this meal SHOULD be breakfast. If you are inclined to skip breakfast then you really are working against yourself in terms of any lean muscle mass gains that you would otherwise make if you had a good breakfast every day. After you have been asleep for a number of hours, then when you awake your blood sugar level is low, and the body is at the point where it has to start accessing materials to raise blood sugar and this ALSO means that your muscles can be accessed to raise blood sugar i.e. the muscles are being broken down (catabolised) in such a situation which is the exact opposite to what we want which is building muscles (anabolism) i.e. BODYBUILDING!

Therefore, it is quite clear that a good breakfast is a very important meal, and along with milk to drink, an egg-white omelette with a couple of yolks only (using about eight or ten egg-whites is a good basis for a great breakfast; for example, you can add complex carbohydrates by having some boiled rice with your omelette, and dont forget that complex carbs are another very important part of breakfast and boost blood sugar levels steadily as they are digested).Dont make the excuse that a good breakfast takes too long to prepare, because it doesn't!

Some people may be lacking a good appetite at first, but as long as you eat omething healthy for breakfast, its not a problem, as your appetite can be your guide, and will probably grow alongside gains from your training. Why does the appetite increase? Well basically cause your body has more muscle tissue to feed as your training continues. Many people should benefit a great deal from extra vitamin B-complex supplements as well as extra vitamin C as they are water soluble vitamins and therefore are not retained to any great extent within the body and are used up quickly in general tissue metabolism and EVEN MORE so when your muscles are growing !!!

So, it would be a ideal to have a go at supplementing with aditional B-complex and C vitamins in the morning and before going to sleep, and prior to your daily workout. When using high levels of vitamins like these, remember to consume extra fluids such as bottled water on its own or mixed to make up sports drinks. And remember that optimum hydration is a must to get rid of waste products from the body tissues that lower levels of fluid intake may not accomplish.

Train hard and be strong !!!