In my recently rewritten article “A no-nonsense guide to design your workouts“, which is a three-part series, I offer no BS ways for beginners and veterans alike to keep their workouts fresh while consistently making gains.

Everywhere you turn these days, weight training seems to be the focus. And why shouldn’t it be? A proper weight training program produces many positive effects, including: increased muscle mass; reduced body fat; increased bone density; improved insulin sensitivity; improved self-esteem; and overall well-being. The list goes on. Yet with all the information available, why is it so hard for people to make progress? Because most of what is out there is BULLSHIT!!

Helping people is what being a trainer and a coach is all about. Most publishers and editors are so hell-bent on selling magazines, they print things like this: “Put 2 inches on your arms in 21 days;” “Have a chest like Arnold’s in just 6 weeks.” People, just like you, purchase this type of trash in the hopes that it might work. These writers and editors rely on your ignorance.

Having the knowledge and ability to help somebody achieve their goals goes far beyond writing an article about workouts. Writing workouts is actually a pretty easy thing to do. Just about anyone with a little bit of knowledge can do it, and many – unfortunately — do. The barriers to entry to become a personal trainer are so low, most certificates aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. In contrast, look at the barriers to entry to become a nurse. Several years of school filled with prerequisites, in which you need a 78 percent just to pass, coupled with many hours of hands-on clinicals. What education does a trainer need? Send away for some study guides, take a test, and “Bam!” you’re a certified trainer.

Creatine is perhaps the most researched supplement on the planet. Yet new data on the benefits of supplementing with this incredible substance is still mounting. Canadian researchers compared the changes in insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) amounts in 2 groups of subjects. All the subjects performed at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity 3 -5 X’s per week for eight weeks. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups: One supplementing with creatine, the other, an isocaloric placeo. Muscle biopsies were taken before and after the training period and analyzed for IGF-1 content. The creatine group had a 24% higher level of IGF-1. The creatine group also had a 23% higher increase in type II muscle fibers. These findings were independent of dietary guidelines. (Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2008; 18(4))

What does this mean for the average Joe? It means if you supplement with creatine, you’ll not only get the well known “volumizing” effect, but added lean mass.

We all know that exercise is good for our health. Exercise helps to improve our cardiovascular system, and respiratory system; resistance exercise helps to improve muscle function and will prevent age associated muscle atrophy. But did you know exercise, especially high intensity exercise by flooding it with free radicals. Free radicals are chemical marauders that can affect every cell in your body causing DNA mutations, premature aging, cell death, muscle weakness, fatigue and chronic oxidative stress.

So how can you get the best benefits of regular exercise—without placing your body at risk in the process? Proper antioxidant support is one effective way: Extensive research shows that safe, natural substances including vitamins A, C and E, N-acetyl cysteine, lutein, rosemary leaf extract, turmeric, green tea, bilberry and grape seed extract are all potent free radical quenchers—and you can find all of them in a single daily formula from Vitamin Research Products called Extension Antioxidant.6-15

Supplementing with nutrients that will help your body to replenish its essential ATP levels is another key strategy—one that will improve muscle function plus increase your heart’s stamina and help it to keep up with the demands for more ATP during exercise.16

D-ribose is a pentose sugar that can help to maintain ATP regeneration in your body, especially following exercise. Studies document that D-ribose can supply extra amounts of ATP to your heart muscle in particular.17-18 Meanwhile, the popular antioxidant coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) also plays a vital role in ATP synthesis, and can improve energy production when your body is under physical stress.19 It’s no surprise, then, that research shows that regular CoQ10 supplementation can boost exercise tolerance, lessen fatigue and improve physical performance in active subjects.20-23

Whether you’re a casual exerciser or an amateur athlete, look for the highly bioavailable form of CoQ10, preferably the second generation CoQ10-H2™, to combine with Extension Antioxidant and D-ribose—which are all available from VRP—for a supplement-based strategy that can reduce your recover time plus maximize your strength, energy and endurance throughout each and every workout.

www.vrp.com

The hardest part to attaining goals is pre-payment. The goal is attained only after you’ve paid the price or done the work. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Attaining a goal requires effort and you get what you put in. The life you lead today is a reflection of the work you put in up to the present. The life you lead in the future is determined by the work you put in between now and then.

Many people bite off more than they can chew. They set lofty goals usually while they’re caught up in emotion, work hard for a while, don’t see big returns, get discouraged and quit. Achieving big goals is a lot of work and fitness is no different than any other aspect of your life. There is an old saying that if you save your pennies, the dollars take care of themselves. We need to set and achieve smaller goals and gradually we’ll realize bigger goals.

To reach a big goal, one must set small goals. Remember, every journey begins with one step. Simply take your big goals and segment them into smaller, more attainable goals. Look at these smaller goals as rungs on a ladder. Not only does each rung get you one more step toward the top, you must hit each one to safely and effectively reach your destination.

When most think of carbohydrate loading, the classic method of low carb consumption coupled with bouts high intensity exercise followed by a high intake of carbs a few days before competition comes to mind. The result, according to the theory, is super-compensation of glycogen storage in the muscle cells and liver. The theory holds that one must deplete their glycogen stores prior to consuming or loading carbs in order to facilitate super-compensation.

The average person’s total amount of muscle glycogen is approximately 300 – 500g depending on their gender, size, and level of training. The liver stores between 60 and 120g. A linear relationship exists between the depletion of muscle glycogen and fatigue during exercise. With less glycogen to produce glucose, hypoglycemia begins to affect the athlete. Typically, a person with a blood glucose level below 70 will start to feel light headed, lethargy, and have cold clammy skin. A highly trained athlete, on the other hand, can train at much lower levels than 70 for long periods of time.

As with all training topics there is conflicting evidence on what is the best method to achieve super-compensation of glycogen stores. studies are reporting similar results to the classic method, which so many athletes swear by, without carb depletion, while tapering their training (1,2,3). One thing is for sure, carbohydrate levels play a key role in training and competition success.

In order to figure out what works best for you, try different methods and keep a detailed journal. We all process carbs the same way, but we metabolize them at different rates. Keep mind, studies on training are by no means the end all be all. There are too many variables in most training studies to be reliable. Athletes, especially endurance athletes are over-trained. It is my opinion that athletes who are achieving super-compensation without depletion coupled with bouts of intense training, are doing so because they are over-trained and under-fed before starting the process.

The body is constantly working to stay in homeostasis. Physiology shows us glycogen storage is finite; the body needs a reason to super-compensate. Achieving a glycogen depleted state over a period of time produces an insulin sensitive environment, which is essential for more than normal levels of glycogen storage.

1. Eur J Appl Physiol 2002;87:290-295
2. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2003;285:E1304-E1311
3. Int J Sports Med 1981;2:114-118

In my Q&A column posted in January, I discuss the NCAA legality of Tribex and Hardcore ZMA and drug tests, whether or not kids and teens will stunt their growth if they lift weights and use creatine supplements, and I share some fan mail from a wellness chiropractor.

Q: Mike
Nice job on the recent health article. I’m a wellness chiropractor and I’m always looking for ways to communicate ideas of health to people. I never in my life thought I would use Bullz-eye.com as a professional reference, but you did a bang up job writing in simple, but not watered down language.
Do you have links to some of your other works? And, do you have a good form of your recent article that I can hand out (I’d rather not direct conservative clients to bullz-eye.com’s bikini page for nutritional advice. That said, what you wrote needs to get out everywhere in America!

Evan

(Dr. Hughes)
Concord Family Chiropractic

A: DR. Hughes
Thanks so much for your kind words. I understand as a business owner not wanting to offend any clients. Being considerate and service oriented is lacking in for too many businesses. I am glad to hear that there are some people out there as considerate as you. However, I do feel Bullz-eye.com’s “bikini” features are very tasteful. Offensive, risqué content, which I understand is subjective, is something Bullz-eye.com’s partners have always wanted to stay away from.

I appreciate you taking the time to visit B-E.com and reading my articles. I’m attaching several articles you can use as hand outs.

Mike

Did you know that if you’re a man, Wisconsin is the place to be? If you are like most Americans, you’re diet is deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids. Did you know more than 200 studies have demonstrated the problems associated with Omega-3 deficiencies? Did you know a new sweetener is hitting the market that’s 1000 times sweeter than cane sugar? Learn about the these topics and more HERE.

…there is more and more evidence showing that if a healthy individual wants a strong core, instability exercises don’t cut it? Core stabilizer training has become extremely popular in the past few years. I am starting to see a trend toward the core being the “core” of training programs. This shouldn’t be the case, and there is a tremendous amount of data showing the benefits of basic weight training exercise. In this newly published study, researchers used 16 physically active subjects. The purpose was to compare the activation of various trunk muscles with selected weight training exercises (squat and deadlift) and Swiss ball unstable callisthenic-type movements (superman’s and side bridging). The researchers concluded it is unnecessary to incorporate unstable callisthenic-type exercise if one is performing exercises like the squat and deadlift. Basic heavy exercise is the key to a strong healthy core. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2007, 21(4), 1108-1112.

The question, “What’s best workout for building strength and muscle?” has been the subject of heated debates for years.  My answer is always the same.  There is no one workout that is the best.  There is no one workout that works for all.  However, there are training principles that do apply to everybody.

Anatomically and physiologically we are identical.  A bicep is a bicep and has the exact same function from person to person.  An aorta is an aorta.  Our anatomical structures may have different shapes and sizes, but they all function the same.  This holds true for all tissues in our bodies from blood to hormones.  If this weren’t true medicine could not exist.  How could an anesthesiologist do his job if everybody were different?

Therefore, in order to get bigger, stronger muscles the same stimulus is needed.  That stimulus is short, intense training sessions.  Why short?  Because we have known for centuries the body can either train long or train hard.  A perfect example is to compare distance runners to sprinters.  Because of the types of training, one is emaciated looking and one is muscular.  Remember you can not sprint a mile.  Is it difficult to run a mile, yes?  But it is essentially impossible to run a mile with 100% intensity.

The other factor one needs to take into consideration for building bigger, stronger muscles is recovery.  How much or how often can you train?  Or better yet, how much “should” you train?  Here is where the differences in genetics lie.  Our muscles need the exact same stimulus in order to cause a chain of events that forces them to adapt by making bigger stronger muscles.  However, the rate at which we are able to recover from these intense bouts is as different as the shapes and sizes of our bodies.

So what are you to do?  If you’re training using the typical muscle building routine, which is 3 or more working sets per exercise and 4 or more sessions a week, and not getting anywhere, change it.  First, reduce your sets per exercise by half and only train each body part once a week.  If you still don’t make gains or you plateau after a short while, reduce your sets again.  Remember, if you’re training with 100% intensity and you’re not making gains, you’re not recovering.

More is only better when it comes to sex and money.        

Does being overweight increase your risk of certain types of cancers? Does a wider grip work your lats better than a narrow grip? Get the answers to these and other questions more in my Did you know… column.

…there is evidence that raw milk prevents the development of allergic disorders? A study published in “The Lancet” (Riedler et al, 2001), indicates that children who drank raw milk, independent of other types of exposure to farming environments, had: a 52 percent lower risk of asthma, a 57 percent lower risk of having a least one wheeze attack in a year, a 76 percent lower risk of hay fever, and a 58 percent lower risk of allergies to cows, dust mites, cat dander and pollen. Wise Traditions, 8(4):71-72,2007

…the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Berlin, Germany, is warning parents and pediatricians that babies should not be give soy formula without strict medical supervision? Germany joins the Israeli Ministry of Health, the French Food Agency and United Kingdom health officials in warning against the dangers of infant soy formula.

Salmon Professor Dr. Andreas Hensel stated that the main concern for infants is the high levels of estrogenic isoflavones in the formula, which act like hormones in the body. Milk allergies are not an acceptable reason for pediatricians to recommend soy formula.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment also issued a second warning, this one to adult consumers, stating that isoflavones offer no proven health benefits and pose a health risk. Wise Traditions, 8(4):64,2007