Patience my children

What's up gym rats?  It's that time of the week again where I hit you with some knowledge about fitness and supplements!

Today I want to dive into a little paradigm that is present in a lot of people's lives; Losing weight and becoming more muscular.

There is no easy way to put it folks.  If you want to lose weight, but gain muscle at the same time, you have to pick one.  People that think they can just trade off fat for muscle are either on steroids or have god-like genetics.  The problem with this paradigm is that in order to lose weight you have to take in less calories and in order to gain more muscle you have to ingest more calories.  One does not simply build muscle from thin air.

The problem is that people want it all.  We want our cake and damnit to hell if we can't eat it too!  The easiest thing I can suggest to people is to be patient.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were any of those body builders in the magazines.  If you are overweight, the first thing that will really help in the transformation of your body is to lose fat first.  In doing so you will be improving  So if you look like this......

DO NOT FEAR!  

It is all a process, much like anything else in life.  The trick is to find the right path that works for you. 

When people get on workout regiments to lose weight, they are in reality uncovering the muscles that they didn't know they had.  The analogy I like to make is like repainting a car.  You wouldn't just paint over the crappy paint job you have over your car if you didn't like it.  First the car would be stripped of all it's old paint (fat) and then primed (cardio and weight lifting), and then the new coat of paint would be applied (new muscle).  Once people get on the proper diets and lose the fat, then they can adjust the diet to put on weight, the right kind of weight.

Fun fact from my brain: Diets that add more muscle are typically higher in protein and low in carbohydrates.  Also, many people believe that in order to gain this muscle one must eat every high protein food in sight to supply the body with enough energy to create muscle tissue.  NOT TRUE!  The body can only absorb so many nutrients in one sitting, and the production of muscle tissue is the same way.  A better strategy for adding muscle is to take in enough calories to support the development of new muscle tissue, not bombard it with excess.

Sure you may not end up looking like the guy above this text, but hell neither will I.  It is all about being at your personal best.  Which by definition is different for everyone.  I consider myself to be in above average shape, but I know that there are things that I will just not be able to do.  This realization is by no means giving up on goals, it actually helps in setting realistic goals that will add to one's life in the long run.

Personal health is a different journey for everyone.  There was a time when I was overweight as a child and took the right steps to turn my body around.  The first thing I did was lose the fat, then put on the muscle.  That is the central point to take away from all this.

STAY MOTIVATED!!  WORK THROUGH THE PAIN NOT TO THE PAIN!
The journey to being physically fit is a culmination of moments.  How many moments did you take advantage of this week? This month?  In two weeks from now, what are you going to wish you had done that you didn't?

SHOW THEM HOW GREAT YOU ARE!

MIX IT UP!

There will probably come a time in every gym rat's life when the workout they have been doing will become stagnant.  What do I mean by this?  Basically your body will get used to the movements and weight amounts that you have been doing for the past weeks.

This is normally called a plateau.  You don't really lose any skill, but you certainly are not making any gains that are substantial.  Here are some examples of workouts that can help you get over your plateaus and get back to making gains.

One great way to confuse your muscles is to train in intervals.  Interval training is when you choose to do a certain type of workout for 3 to 4 weeks or so and then completely change the workout for the next 3 to 4 weeks after that.

One good thing to do to ensure that you are actually improving during your lifting experience is to record your 1 repetition max.  This is the maximum amount of weight that one can lift one time for a given exercise.  These numbers help you see where your base is.  You must have a base if you want to build off of it!!!!

Anyone can sit back and say, "Oh hey, I want to bench press 350 lbs."  But if that person has a max of 150 lbs, it's not really a realistic goal.  1 rep maxes help people set realistic goals to base interval training off of.

Ok, so where were we?  Oh yeah, interval training.

A good example of an interval training structure is like the one present in p90-X.

What happens in a workout system like p90-X is there are 3, 30 day intervals of different types of training.  I have not personally done the entire program, but I have done some of the abdominal workouts before and they are crazy.  The point of the 30 day intervals is so that towards the end of the month your body is just about to become used to the training and then... BAM!  You start an entire new training regiment that your body must adapt to.

The main goal of interval training is to mix in periods of high intensity training at levels near maximal exertion with rest periods at low intensity.  The p90-X system is based solely on muscle confusion combined with proper nutrition. 

Some great benefits of interval training are....

• Improves cardiovascular endurance
• Increases lactate threshold
• Improves strength
• Helps with fat loss

To clear up any confusion about what lactate threshold is.  It basically is the point at which the lactate starts to accumulate in the blood.  The higher the threshold the longer the athlete can usually sustain exertion.

Below is an example of an olympic weightlifting interval training regiment

Source: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/olympic-weightlifting-routine.html

As you can see from the above lifting plan, the weeks are separated out with different intensities.  Also notice that after the 3rd week the intensity returns to minimal.  This allows for a recovery.

Going back to the 1 repetition max that I had discussed earlier, notice that all the lifts in the diagram above have a percentage next to them.  This is correlated to a 1 rep max.  It allows for you to train efficiently and allows for the most gains.

Confuse your muscles and see gains!!

Alrighty friends, until next time, happy lifting!

3...2...1.... BLAST OFF!

Alright everyone, it is time get real about pre-workout supplements. People that take pre-workout supplements take them for a variety of reasons.

• Focus
• Pump
• Energy

These are just a few of the reasons that people get into the pre-workout game.  I've taken a few pre workouts before and their effects can be quite astounding...and terrifying for that matter.

Pre-workouts are primarily vasodilators.  But Ben! What does this fancy medical mumbo jumbo mean??!!  Vasodilators are drugs that open up your capillaries and increase blood flow.  A common vitamin that is a natural vasodilator is a little guy known as Niacin.  In fact, some people will take niacin instead of a pre-workout supplement.

There are literally hundreds of pre-workout supplements on the market.  Finding the right one for you is literally hit and miss.  I have taken a bunch of pre-workouts before and honestly they normally don't have any affect on me.  Which is kind of depressing when you drop about 30 bucks for a can of dynamite you think is going to bump your gym prowess to head turning levels. 

Okay so I'm off the soapbox.  However some of the more popular pre-workouts on the market that I am fairly knowledgeable about are.... (drum roll)

• N.O.-XPLODE

• Craze

• Assault

• Jack3d

The list literally could go on for days.  Now one thing that you'll probably notice about all of these things are the names.  BOOM EXPLOSION MUSCLES OF FIRE AND DOOM!!!!  Seriously, I get super pumped up just reading the names.  People are definitely bombarded with buzz words when shopping for pre-workouts, and supplements in general.

There are a lot of things that people need to be careful about when taking pre-workouts.  I usually try to avoid taking them on an empty stomach.  On more than one occasion I've had to yack after my gym sesh to expel the jet fuel that I had ingested before.

Arrhythmia (irregular heart rate) is another thing that can really set in after taking a pre-workout.  After I took "Craze" (see picture above)  I literally did not expect what would happen.  Whatever is in that stuff is seriously (no pun intended) crazy.  My workout was out of control, I felt like I was not in my body.  My heart rate was well over 150 beats per minute... Oh yeah, I threw up like my life depended on it after I was finished.  Literally 45 minutes after the workout my pulse rate was around 160 beats per minute.  Needless to say I was a little terrified for my life.  SO BE CAREFUL!!!!!

When initially trying a pre-workout I take half of the recommended serving size just to be on the safe side.  I've had several friends experience similar things like my story from above.  Some of these things are volatile so slow your roll when you are lighting that pre-workout fuse.

Most of these supplements are not regulated by the FDA.  There are so many products that saturate the market that the FDA literally does not have the time to go through and scientifically figure out what is in every single one.  Supplement companies can literally put anything in these things. So you are at the mercy of the company when you put these things in your mouth.  

Another scary thing that can happen is that you can test positive for other things that aren't even in the pre-workout.  For example, people that have taken the pre-workout Jack3ed have tested positive for methamphetamine!  I'm not some junkie, just a gym rat!!!! Every time you take a new supplement you do run the risk of testing positive for other things!

DON'T END UP HERE!!!!!

It is really easy for people to fall for the buzz word assault that comes with the pre-workout world.  Although some of these products do work well, there can be some adverse effects.

READ READ READ REVIEWS!  This is a big thing.  Get first hand accounts from people that have actually taken the product!  I usually go to forums that are not affiliated with the actually company, so I know the company isn't trolling me with fake testimonials.  

Here is a fairly popular site: http://supplementreviews.com/

So there you have it folks!  Take that knowledge and hit the gym!  Happy lifting!