beginners workout - very basic and vague i have better ones

The following workout should be used by individuals with little or no strength training experience. This workout will focus on improving your muscular strength and muscular endurance. Strength training will also improve your body composition by decreasing fat tissue and increasing lean tissue. An increase in lean or muscle tissue will assist you in burning more calories at rest. Additionally, strength training improves tendon, ligament, and bone strength, and strength training will improve your muscle tone.

You should perform strength training exercises 2-3 days / week with a minimal rest period of 48 hours between workouts.

Start with a weight that you can lift for 8-12 repetitions. You should increase the weight once you can perform 12 repetitions with the weight that you are using.

Strength training machines are recommended for beginners because they are generally safer than free weights. After you gain experience using machines and your fitness level improves, you can incorporate free weights into your strength training routine.

The following 8 exercises will utilize your major muscle groups: hips, legs, chest, back, shoulders, and arms: Start with 1 set of 8 - 12 repetitions for the first couple of weeks and gradually increase to a maximum of 3 to 4 sets per exercise per bodypart over a couple of months. As your strength level increases, you will also experience an increase in intensity of training and your workouts will get harder and harder. This type of full body routine should last you about 6 months. You can then fairly safely move on to an intermediate training routine.

* Machine Leg Press.
* Leg Extension.
* Lying Leg Curl.
* Machine Bench Press.
* Machine Shoulder Press.
* Seated Cable Row.
* Machine Arm Curl.
* Tricep Pushdown.

20 diet tips for all

I read a lot of bodybuilding magazines, read a lot on nutrition, and usually I find a few little gems or tips that I trial in my training. Some things seem to work well while others have no effect. So I got to thinking, what are some of the useful diet tips I've picked over my years in bodybuilding that virtually all trainers should be doing. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Eat enough protein.

If you are seriously trying to add muscle, you have to train hard, heavy and eat plenty of quality protein. As a general rule of thumb, to gain mass you should eat 3 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight every day. Eat plenty of lean meats, chicken and fish. I find that using a good quality protein supplement can easily add a virtually fat free 100+ grams of protein if taken 2 - 3 times a day. The best protein supplements on the market are based on ionised whey protein.

2. Eat 6 smaller meals per day.

This tip appears in just about every magazine you'll ever read. But that's because there are good physiological reasons to eat more frequent smaller meals. Smaller meals don't overload your digestive system as the usual 3 square meals a day will. This means you will utilise the nutrients in each meal more completely. Secondly, you will not allow your body to slip into a starvation mode, where it can begin burning muscle tissue for energy - you definitely don't want this. More frequent meals will prevent this problem. Remember, make sure you get protein in each meal.

3. Cut out simple sugars.

Ice creamsSugar plays havoc with your metabolism, especially with insulin and blood sugars. The best way to get the carbohydrates you need is through complex carbs such as bread, cereal, rice and pasta. Moderate fruit intake as most fruits are high in sugar. Stay away from lollies, chocolate, ice cream, honey, jam and soft drinks. Your metabolism will be much more stable, you will have more energy, and you will be leaner. Read food labels and check sugar levels on products.

4. Eat more earlier in the day.

Your body will utilise the food you eat much better if you eat more during the first half of the day, and less in the second half. This is generally opposite to how most people traditionally eat. If you eat more of your calories in the morning, you will tend to use the food for energy and building muscle. On the other hand, higher food consumption in the second half of the day will generally lead to higher levels of fat being gained. So the simple rules are, eat a bigger breakfast, morning snack and lunch, then progressively lighter meals through the rest of the day.

5. Take vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins and mineralsTaking a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement is like an insurance policy. Studies show that hard trainers require extra nutrients, especially vitamins and minerals. Deficiencies usually don't show up as a problem until you are severely depleted which is often too late. Typically, frequent illness or injury indicates a lack of one or more essential micronutrients. So it's a must to choose a good quality vitamin & mineral supplement - and take it every day! Just a word on a special class of vitamins, the anti-oxidants. Studies show that Vitamin C, E and Beta Carotene are especially required if you are an athlete to reduce the damage caused by free radicals from extra oxygen uptake. All bodybuilders should take 500 - 1000mg of Vitamin C, 500 - 1000 IU's of Vitamin E each day, and ensure your vitamin & mineral supplement contains adequate Beta Carotene.

6. Before training nutrition.

Generally, you don't want to be eating much food for at least an hour before a workout, but there are a number of products specifically designed to boost workout performance, and a few things you can do with your diet to boost workout intensity. On the product side, look for pre-workout supplements that contain nutrients such as complex carbs, Creatine, HMB, L-Carnitine, and energy producing amino acids. Another pre-workout tip is to be well hydrated, drink plenty of water for the few hours before training.

7. After training nutrition.

There are two critical time windows that all trainers can take advantage of after hard training. The first is within 30 minutes of actually finishing your workout. During this time, your muscles and system are extremely sensitive to the uptake of nutrients, however your digestive system is not operating well as it will partially shut down while you train and takes about 30 - 60 minutes to work optimally. So you should concentrate on consuming perhaps an isotonic sports drink, and maybe something like a protein / carb bar and recovery nutrients such as HMB, BCAA's, L-Glutamine and Colostrum. Normally, I would take these sorts of supplements on my way home from the gym. The second window occurs from about 30 minutes to about 2 hour after you train. Your body is now in a state where it will hungrily absorb any nutrition you provide - so feeding it the right mix is essential. Numerous studies have shown that the best nutrition is an easily digested protein / carbohydrate meal - something like MAX'S Extreme Growth is ideal for this purpose.

8. Eat low fat.

chicken_breast.jpgWhile a certain amount of fat is essential in your diet, it's actually a pretty low level, and from a general health perspective, low fat eating will means you will generally enjoy better health, stay leaner, and have more energy to train and build muscle. So stay away from fat laden foods. Virtually all fast food is high in saturated fats - eat only occasionally. Choose lean meats, use butter and margarine sparingly, and stay away from creamy sauces, toppings and deserts. In general, fats should account for no more than about 15 - 20 % of the calories you eat.

Nutrient Proportions
As I mentioned in the last point, you need to follow a diet plan that delivers the approximate food proportions:

Protein - 30% of calories

Carbohydrates - 55% of calories

Fat - 15% of calories

Remember that when you are working out your diet plan, protein and carbs contribute about 4 calories for every gram you eat. Fat contributes 9 calories per gram - so you consume more than twice as many calories from eating fat as from protein or carbohydrates, and that's why I advocate eating low fat. Another important point - there are two basic groups of carbohydrates, simple sugars and complex carbohydrates. Simple sugars should be avoided as I outlined above, as they are readily converted to and stored as fat. The carbs you should be eating are the complex type - breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.

9. Count calories.

calorie_counter.jpgThe only way to really be sure about your food intake is to count calories. I've mentioned this in a previous article but a good little piece of software for analysing food can be found here. An alternative is to go to a good health food store and get hold of a calorie, nutrition analysis book. Simply make a list of everything you eat each day, tally up the calories and compare with your diet plan. As a general guide, if your are on a mass gaining diet, I recommend that you consume 3,500+ calories a day. If you are trying to strip bodyfat, 2,000 - 2,500 calories per day.

10. Record your nutrient intake.

From the previous point, most good competitive bodybuilders plan what they will eat, and record every scrap of food that goes into their mouths, especially during contest preparation. A really good idea is to keep a training diary. I find the best is a purpose designed diary that has sections to record all the information you require. You can buy these from some gyms.

11. Don't skip meals

When you skip meals, your body goes into starvation mode, your blood sugar drops, you get very hungry, and are very likely to binge eat, which is one of the main causes of increased body fat. Having a regular supply of quality food throughout the day means you won't go hungry and your metabolism will remain stable.

12. Pre-prepare your meals.

prepared_meal.jpgI'm a big fan of pre-preparing meals for the day, or even for a few days ahead. During my competitive days I would grill several chicken breast and a fresh green salad and constantly snack on this during the day. I often prepared 3 - 4 days of chicken breasts, placed them in plastic containers and put them in the freezer. Then I'd just grab my daily rations on the way to work and I was always sure I got the right amount of quality food every day.

13. Drink plenty of water.

You've probably read this many times, but to a bodybuilder, drinking enough water is vitally important for a number of reasons. Firstly, hard training dehydrates you very quickly, especially in warm weather. Secondly, the extra protein eaten by bodybuilders is broken down and reused to form new muscle tissue as well as used for building other essential enzymes, compounds, tissues, etc. Also, a significant amount of waste product including toxic Ammonia is flushed from your system in your urine. Keeping the body well hydrated is essential to maintain proper elimination of these waste by-products. Generally you should aim to drink 3 - 5 litres per day depending on your activity level.

14. Use creatine.

Creatine Monohydrate is probably the next best bodybuilding supplement to using a quality protein. We consistently see major gains in size (3 - 6 kg) and strength in very short periods (4 - 6 weeks). Creatine works by giving you more energy to train, you can train harder so you make gains faster. It also helps your muscles retain more fluid - your muscle literally pump up. Creatine is a must for all serious trainers.

15. Low carbohydrates to strip bodyfat.

I wrote a long article about this in Ironman a few months ago. Basically, if you change your diet so that you eat very low levels of carbs over a several months or longer, your body reverts to burning fat as its major energy source. The result - you can strip bodyfat at an amazing rate. This is the approach most competitive bodybuilders use to get ripped for a contest.

16. HMB for muscle recovery and growth.

I've already mentioned Creatine, however another extremely promising supplement is HMB (Beta-Hydroxy Beta-Methylbutyrate). HMB is a metabolite of the BCAA L-Leucine and acts by dramatically reduce damage to trained muscle and therefore speeding the recovery and growth process. Recent studies have shown 3g of HMB daily produced a 300% improvement in muscle gains over a control group - definitely worth trying!

17. Eat clean foods.

As a general rule, you should always opt for unprocessed foods over highly refined foods. This means plenty of salads, raw and steamed or microwaved vegetables, wholemeal breads, unprocessed cereals such as rolled oats and natural muesli. You will build a much better quality body if you eat better quality food.

18. Eat slowly.

With today's busy world, its rush, rush, rush! Even when you eat, many of us devour our food rather than eat it properly. If you eat your food deliberately and make sure you really chew it, break it up in your mouth, especially animal proteins such as meat, your system will digest the food much more easily and you will assimilate the optimal levels of nutrient from your food. Just this little thing alone can make a big difference to the value of the food you eat - ensuring maximum growth.

19. Be consistent.

There's nothing like hard consistent training and a good quality high protein diet for consistent natural muscle gains. On the other hand, the easiest way to ensure you don't make gains is by not sticking to the game plan. You must follow your plan, virtually 7 days a week, 365 days a year - and then you will see good results. Many trainers who complain about not making progress are simply not sticking to a consistent game plan.

20. Good fats.

good_fats.jpgWhile I mentioned above that you should eat low fat, there are certain fats that are in fact worth including in your diet. The omega-3 oils found in ocean fish, canola, green vegetables and some nuts like walnuts have a very beneficial effect on your metabolism and health. This fat enhances IGF-1 activity, improves bone density, and protects against heart disease. I recommend eating fish twice a week or lo

Put your Mind & Body on "Autopilot"

i found this greaT article on mind and body

Did you know that habits are incredibly powerful tools for personal growth and success?


Think about the habits you have now and how they affect virtually every aspect of your life. Your weight and health are determined by your eating habits. Your relationships with people are determined by your social habits. Your success at work is determined by your work habits. You have sleeping habits that dictate how well you sleep. You have sexual habits. You even have buying habits; just take a look around your house and you will quickly see them. Our character, health and virtually every aspect of our lives are indeed determined by our habits.

If you ask ten people on the street what the word habit means, nine out of ten will tell you that a habit is a negative action that people do over and over again, like smoking, or procrastinating, or eating too much. Bad habits get all the press. Let’s look at the results of just one bad habit: smoking. Every year, over 400,000 people lose their lives to smoking-related illnesses in the United States. Imagine then, the negative power that exists in just that one bad habit. It is staggering.

Now I want you think about an even greater power, a power that can bring you success, health and happiness; a power for positive, permanent, and automatic personal growth: the power of positive habits. Let’s look a little closer at the meaning of the word habit. Random House dictionary defines habit in this way:

Habit: An acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

The important words in this definition are acquired and almost involuntary. Let me ask you a question. When is the last time you sat down and said to yourself, "Today I am going to add a new habit to my life?" I would venture to guess that you have probably never said those words. As you read this article, you will see how easy it is to add positive habits to your life and the great power they have to change it. Think about the words almost involuntary. This means the habit is so powerful in your mind that it is almost unstoppable! With respect to bad habits like smoking, procrastination, and overeating, this is very bad. But with positive habits, this is very, very good.

What is a positive habit? A positive habit is simply a habit that produces positive benefits, actions and attitudes you want to acquire and make a part of your life. Why is there such great power in positive habits to effect change? Because habits, by their very nature, are automatic. After a period of time they can become permanent.

So how do we go about adding new positive habits to our life? It’s really quite easy. You simply begin repeating an action, attitude or thought process every day for at least 21 days. Research has shown that an action that is repeated for a minimum of 21 days is likely to become a permanent habit. Remember that positive habits have positive benefits and you will reap those benefits for as long as you maintain that habit. So now that we know what positive habits are, and how to acquire them, let’s look at some simple positive habits from the book that will help you reach your goals and have a healthier body.

Positive Habit #53 - Make it a habit to set goals

Since we are talking about goals, what better habit could you have then the habit of setting goals? Did you know that the most successful people all share the common positive habit of goal setting? A study was done to determine the importance of goal setting. College students who had gone on to achieve great success in business were asked to list their habits. The students who had made a habit of setting goals were in the top 3% of earnings in the population! It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of goal-setting as a positive habit. Goal setting is simple, yet 97% of the population never do it. By making goal setting a positive habit, you can start placing yourself in the top 3% of the population of successful people.

Here are some simple steps to help you start making goal setting a positive habit:

Step 1 - Define your goals, write them down, and be very specific; capture your goals on paper. It is amazing how many people never take the time to write down exactly what it is they want in life. Remember, you can’t hit a target if you don’t have one.

Step 2 - Determine what the time line is for reaching your goals; set specific deadlines for each goal.

Step 3 - Identify any obstacles that may stand in your way, list them, and state how you plan to overcome them.

Step 4 - Make a list of the people and/or organizations who will help you reach your goals.

Positive Habit #3 - Take Flax Every Day for a Healthy, Trim Body and Lower Cholesterol!

What is flax?

Flax is a blue-flowering plant known for its oil-rich seed. People have been eating flaxseed since ancient times, it has a pleasant, nutty flavor. The health benefits of flaxseed and flaxseed oil are significant and for that reason this habit is recommended as a primary habit for health and a trim and fit body. Here are some of the benefits of flaxseed and flaxseed oil:

Flaxseed contains both soluble and insoluble fiber. Several studies have shown that flaxseed can help to lower cholesterol in the same way that other soluble fiber foods like oat bran and fruit pectin do. A study at the University of Toronto showed that total cholesterol levels dropped 9% and LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) decreased 18% among a group of women who ate milled flaxseed cooked into bread every day for a period of 4 weeks.

Flaxseed is one of the richest sources of lignans and alpha-linolenic acid. Studies suggest that lignans may help to prevent certain cancers. Flaxseed is one of the few plants in the plant kingdom that provide a high ratio of alpha-linolenic acid (an omega-3 fatty acid) to linoleic (omega-6 fatty acids), it is an excellent source of healthy polyunsaturated fat.

A new study has confirmed that the positive habit of taking flax seed daily can help you get a trim and fit body. I interviewed Dr. Sam Bhathena, a researcher at the Phytonutrients Laboratory of the US department of Agriculture, he said, "we have observed that flax seed meal is much more effective in lowering cholesterol then soy. Several other studies have shown that in general, omega-3 fatty acids,lower lipid deposition, and help in reducing body weight."

Omega-3 fatty acids — More than half the fat contained in flaxseed is omega-3 fatty acid type, an essential fatty acid. There have been numerous studies reporting the health benefits of consuming omega-3 fats. Recent studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids which are abundant in flax seed can help protect you from coronary artery disease, stroke, high blood pressure, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Studies on the effects of flax seed on breast cancer are now under way. Omega-3s can also help boost your metabolism, helping your body to burn calories faster.

Flax is available as raw seed, ground seed and also as an oil which is made by cold pressing flax seeds. You can purchase raw flax seed, ground flax seed and flax seed oil at most health food stores. The easiest way to incorporate flax seed into your diet is to buy ground flax seed meal and add it to your food.

· Substitute for cooking oil or shortening in baked goods.
· Add ground flax seed to pancakes, waffles and cereals.
· Put ground flax seed on salads.

Here is a great recipe for a super health shake. Make a protein shake with 8 ounces of your favorite juice such as apple or orange, add 2 tablespoons of flax seed oil, 2 tablespoons of soy powder, 1 tablespoon of lecithin, fresh fruit such as bananas, papayas or blueberries. Blend with a hand blender or an electric blender. This power shake will provide you with the health benefits of soy; omega-3’s, fiber, antioxidants, and enzymes from the fruit, and the fat loss benefits of lecithin.

marines - the only ways to go

6 ways to get more out of your life

1. Get Organized

Organization is important. Anyone, who wants to be effective, must organize each day. First, you must think about your goals. The world is moving faster than before, and that is why it is important to recognize the things that you want to achieve. You cannot concentrate on everything therefore you need to decide what are your primary goals.

After you have prioritized what is most important in your life you can organize your days. The before mentioned can be done pretty easily, but the hard part is yet to come.

Now, there is no point in making plans, if you do not stick with those plans. Therefore you should never deviate from your routine. Commitment is the key word. If you want to be successful at life, you need to co-ordinate your time well and you ought to have a proper schedule.

2. Write It Down

Write down your goals and everything that must be done to achieve those goals. You ought to do this in order to keep a clear mind. It may sound old-fashioned and boring, but just do it. It is worth it. Average person has so many things to remember in an ordinary day that it is almost impossible to learn them by heart.

By writing down your goals, you can check what needs to be done and what you have already taken care of. Easy, yet, effective.

It does not matter whether you make these notes in the morning or before going to sleep, but there is no way you can accomplish your goals if you do not do it. Try it, you will be surprised to see how well it works.

3. Avoid Temptations

There are so many things that can distract your attention that it is good to think about them for a while. For instance telephones, stereos, Internet, DVD players, movies, friends and your family are all time-consuming and they can make your day a failure.

Okay, so does this mean that a person, who wants to be successful, must abandon all the above mentioned things? No, it does not. Just do not think about your friends or watching TV until you have finished your duties.

Your friends will not vanish in one day and you can call your mother later. Make no excuses - you must accomplish your objectives, otherwise you have failed. Again commitment is the key. So do not let temptations get in your way!

4. Search For Other Success-Orientated People

Batman has Robin, Ronaldo has Beckham, Lucky Luke has Jolly Jumper and the list goes on and on - almost all the successful persons have their partners. There is no point in trying to do everything by yourself. This does not mean that a partner would somehow make your task easier - he or she can just drop helpful hints to you and it is up to you to decide whether you take the person's hints or not.

Utilize your family and friends during your most hectic times, and help them in return when your load is lighter. This is something that some of you will find hard to do, but you just need to trust your closest friends and family members. You cannot do it all by yourself!

It is common knowledge that, for instance, all the most successful businessmen have caring wives/girlfriends. Some think that they do not play big parts in their husbands� lives, but - trust me - they do! They take care of the house chores and all the other stuff, so that their spouses can concentrate on working. This is something that ought not to be belittled!

5. Combine

This is something that sounds so easy, but still so many of us do not understand it. Lack of combining is the reason why ordinary people run across the streets over and over again just like headless chickens.

To illustrate my point, let's take my last Friday. I was in a hurry to go to a food store, and I was of the opinion that I have no time to write down the other things that I must do. I ran to the supermarket and bought all the goods that I considered significant. When I returned to my apartment, I noticed that I had forgotten half of the goods that I was supposed to buy. Irritatingly enough, most of the goods that I forgot to buy were in a store next to the supermarket.

Does this sound familiar to you too? Well, it should not. I learned from my mistake, and you do not have to make the same mistake to learn from it. Learn from my mistake and combine your chores! You can also combine workouts, when you are short of time. After all, it is something is better than nothing.

6. Be Realistic

Whatever you do, be realistic. This does not mean that you should underestimate your skills. Set your goals high and then do your utmost to reach them. If you work hard enough, you won�t fail.

Separate your goals from your daydreams, so that you know what you really want. You need to find the balance between realism and optimism, so that you can avoid setting your goals either too high or too low.

The professionals do it, so why should not you?

All the professional bodybuilders and fitness models conform to those above mentioned "rules of succeeding", so why should not you? Some of those may sound difficult to follow and irritating to obey, but, oddly enough, they make your life easier. They do not make your life harder in any way, in contrast, these "rules" relieve stress and help you achieve more successful life.

Try it for a week. What do you got to lose? Nothing. So get organized, write down your goals, avoid temptations, search for other success-orientated people, combine your chores and be realistic. All this so that you can train properly and get better results.

whey protein the truth behind this important supplement

New light on an old issue.

The question of the best protein source has long been a hotly debated conundrum,fuelled by the commercial interests of the ‘Meal Replacement Moguls’; few subjects have caused as much confusion. Their powerful propaganda machines, i.e. the magazines they own, would have you eating substances that could put your dog in the vet’s surgery, providing they were cheap enough and came with an attractive story. The marketing campaigns of many of these companies are an assault on your frontal lobe. The boundaries of innovation have really been tested by constantly changing the names of the production processes, for example, Cross-Flow, High-Altitude, Triple-Drop Micro Filtration – hardly re-inventing the wheel, eh? Then we have those ludicrous before and after shots. You know - the ones where the guy confuses six weeks’ training with ten years and comes back with a tan and some airbrush work but forgets to change his boxer shorts.
Around a year ago, an article entitled ‘Whey Out of Line’ by Jeff Feliciano, that appeared in Peak Training Journal, shed some light on key information about the dilemma of protein sourcing. The implications of and conclusions drawn from this article would change the whole methodology we employ when assessing the suitability of a protein. The R & D guys from many companies were left scrambling for their ‘brown trousers’. Meanwhile, subsequent articles in FLEX by Feliciano and Dr. James Wright would drive the final nails into the coffin.
The ‘Big Guns’ were caught with their pants down – this new information and technology would take a long time to put into effect. On top of this, they were already sitting on a mountain of whey that they would have to move first. A couple of companies chose the positive approach and set about a prolonged quest for the ultimate protein. Unfortunately, the majority chose a more negative approach. Articles defending whey were to be found everywhere, the better ones, like those of Will Brink, pointing out the less obvious virtues of whey; others with less integrity telling you that whey is the meaning of life and that you should sell your children for ion exchange material.
The problem was that everyone was missing the point. Messrs. Feliciano and Wright weren’t telling us that whey is bad, they weren’t even saying that whey isn’t the single best protein source, far from it. They were confirming what many of us had believed for years:
1. It is better to combine protein sources.
2. Too much of a single protein source in one serving leads to lower utilisation.
3. Protein scoring systems are misleading and there are other factors that influence absorption.
4. Protein percentage should not be the soul criterion for judging the suitability of a dairy protein.
Feliciano and Wright are members of the ‘Old School’, experts who have done their time in the trenches, they have looked the lion in the eye, they have smelled its breath. Authors of definitive hardcore information over the years, respected for not selling out, they knew what made an athlete tick. Nobody could make it clearer than these guys that there’s more to being a scientist than having your picture taken in a white coat. I took their work seriously and, while working on the development of a new protein supplement for Dorian Yates Approved, I decided to investigate further.
Point 1 is based on the principles of fast and slow proteins1 and basically focuses on the fact that different protein sources have different assimilation rates. With dairy proteins, these assimilation rates will depend on their degree and form of processing, e.g., a hydro-lysed whey protein isolate (WPI), with its shorter peptide chains, will be assimilated faster than a whey protein concentrate (WPC).
Conclusion: Research and common sense tells us that dairy proteins have superior digestibility and that by combining the best ones we will achieve a sustained release of proteins with resultant increased protein synthesis and decreased protein oxidisation. Therefore, an ideal protein formula would contain combined protein sources.
Point 2 is based on the fact that when large amounts of amino acids enter the bloodstream fast, the majority will be oxidised (used for energy)2, resulting in poor utilisation. This is the reason why hospitals use enteric feeds and supplements that contain relatively small servings of protein when dealing with wasting conditions such as cancer and AIDS.
Conclusion: As in point 1, combining proteins and in particular avoiding too large a quantity of shorter peptides will circumvent this problem. Therefore, an ideal protein formula would contain some hydrolysed whey and/or a WPI for fast protein synthesis, but this should not provide too large a percentage of the overall protein supplied.
Point 3 tells us that although scoring systems like PDCAAS, PER and NPU give us a pretty accurate picture of a protein digestibility, BV is fatally flawed on the grounds that this old system was based on the highest score possible being 100 (for egg). Now that we have whey isolates and hydrolysed proteins, the calculation system has been manipulated by some and rendered inaccurate3. In short, claims of BV over 100 are a mathematical impossibility and any of these companies claiming BV of 150+ are misleading you.
What has now become significant is the role that certain prebiotic/probiotic organisms play in protein digestion. These are known to dramatically enhance absorption and improve intestinal health4.
Conclusion: Whilst scoring systems are important, other factors have been demonstrated to improve absorption. Therefore, an ideal protein formula would contain materials with high PDCAAS, PER and NPU scores. However, the addition of prebiotics such as oligosaccharides would be a major asset.
Point 4 is perhaps the most important point and concerns the properties unique only to some dairy protein sources. As you may know, to qualify as a WPI, a protein percentage of 90% and over has to be attained. Less than this figure qualifies as a WPC. Statistically, this figure becomes insignificant when you consider some of the constituents and properties of the WPCs produced by certain processes. Although a WPC is higher in fat than an isolate, it is worth remembering that the growth factors are found mainly in the fat globule membrane and that when combined with a good hydrolysed whey, the overall fat percentage is still low.
Filtration processes that maintain key fractions like the immuno-supportive lactoferrin, GMP, alpha-lactalbumin and the immunoglobulins are now being recognised as being the single most important factor in WPC production. Why? Because research indicates that these fractions can impart their qualities to us, including the growth factors! Trials performed in Finland studying the effects of oral bovine colostrums supplementation on strength athletes resulted in elevated plasma IGF-15. When you consider how long ago MET-RX came out and its use of undenatured milk proteins, it demonstrates how far ahead of the field it actually was. None of its imitators used this material, naively believing instead that it was just a case of protein, carbs and fat. As you may have noticed, we have only mentioned filtration processes when discussing whey production. “What about ionic exchange?” I hear you say. Let’s take a quick look at why we don’t want to be using ion exchange whey:
1. Ion exchange whey contains less than 25% of the calcium found in cross flow microfiltration material.
2. Ion exchange whey contains more than twice the sodium found in CFM material.
3. CFM processing is a natural process where the protein is treated gently, thereby preserving its biological activity. With ionic exchange, proteins are separated on the basis of their electric charge, using chemical reagents like hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. This eliminates important bioactive fractions and renders some others inert.
4. Have you heard of glycomacropeptides? GMPs are biologically active proteins that influence protein digestion via stimulating the release of a chemical called cholecystokinin. Ion exchange whey contains no GMPs.
5. The commonest claim for ion exchange whey is that it is high in BCAAs, found mainly in its BETALACTOGLOBULIN. Whilst this is relatively true, ALPHA–LACTALBUMIN, the main fraction in human milk, has an extremely high chemical score (63% of its amino acids are essential) and binds the minerals calcium, zinc, cobalt and magnesium. Filtration processing also produces material high in BCAAs.
6. Beta-lactoglobulin, which does not occur in human milk, is a source of many allergic reactions, some of which can be very serious. At the very least, this will translate to digestion problems.
Perhaps the most thought-provoking revelation by Feliciano and Wright was the claim that whey possesses no anti-catabolic properties at all. This completely flew in the face of everything we had been told by the pro-whey movement. However, this claim was not made without some pretty weighty evidence. A couple of years ago, a ground-breaking piece of research revealed that when 16 healthy, well-fed, young individuals were supplemented with either whey or a special casein product, after an overnight fast, only the casein inhibited whole body protein breakdown i.e. only the casein was anti-catabolic. Significantly, this study only used healthy individuals, thereby giving a more accurate reflection of the implication to athletes2. The material used was micellar undenatured casein. This material also contains high amounts of important fractions like GMP and casomorphins.
Many products boast their glutamine content, but a more suitable addition would be peptide-bonded glutamine – known to have far superior absorption, nitrogen retention and GH-releasing properties.
Conclusion: Undenatured milk proteins have much to offer over their more heavily processed counterparts, clearly indicating that protein percentage is not the only claim worth listening to. Careful attention should be paid to processing techniques to ensure that growth factors are not rendered inert. Therefore, an ideal protein formula would also contain undenatured milk protein, in particular, a specialised high-fraction WPC. The ultimate formula would also contain undenatured micellar casein (not to be confused with regular casein or caseinate, both of which are poor quality materials) and peptide-bonded glutamine. If I had to make one more addition, it would be egg white protein because of its high scores on all the various systems, high digestibility and similarity to alpha-lactalbumin.
Taking all this information into account, I enlisted the expertise of some of the top brains in the field for my personal project - designing the ultimate protein supplement. I consulted experts from the enteric nutrition companies, technical consultants to the dairy industry and various food scientists around the world. I spoke with specialists dealing with cancer and AIDS research as well as trauma centres that studied wasting conditions and burns victims. The results were worth all the work. As they say, education is the best defence.

10 steps for putting on mass

In this article I'm going to explain to you how to build some solid muscle mass and increase your strength at the same time. You can do this if you follow my 10 simple steps to build muscle. Using these same steps, I've personally added 13 Kilograms in just 3 months without steroids.

Step 1
Make sure you eat plenty of good quality food. Getting enough calories is the key to gaining muscle mass. You should be eating plenty of lean protein, such as; meat, fish, eggs and protein powder. Accompany the protein with a lot of complex carbohydrates such as; brown rice, wholemeal bread and oatmeal.

Step 2
Make sure you eat every 2.5 - 3 hours. This will speed up your metabolism and lower the amount of fat that your body stores. In between meals you can eat fruit and nuts if you wish.

Step 3
Drink plenty of water - When building muscle in your body you should be drinking at least 4 liters of water per day. This is around 16 glasses. Your muscles need water to stay hydrated and grow.

Step 4
Sleep at least 8 hours per night - This is the amount of time you need if you're training hard at the gym so that your muscles have time to repair. I personally sleep around 9 hours per night.

Step 5
Train hard at the gym and always change your workouts - Never do the same workout for more than 2 weeks in a row because your muscles will get too used to it and stop growing. I personally change the machines I use every week, and also switch from a 'heavy weight/ low reps' workout, to a 'light weight/ high reps' workout every 4-6 weeks.

Step 6
Take some supplements to ensure your body has enough to grow. I recommend taking just a couple of supplements. These include; creatine, protein powder, multi-vitamins and l-glutamine. I wont go into detail here, but these are all quite important when training for muscle gain. Some extra's which I have had good results with are BCAA's and tribulus.

Step 7
Only train 4-5 times per week. Don't do more because you'll be overtraining your muscles and they wont grow, and don't do less because your muscles wont be getting enough work to grow.

Step 8
Track your progress - Keep a record of your measurements and weight each week to see if you're getting results. If you're not putting on weight then you should increase your calorie consumption by about 500 calories until you're weight starts to go up.

Step 9
Do a 3 or 4 day split training workout. This will give each muscle a full week to repair. An example would be; Monday - chest and triceps, Wednesday - back and biceps, Friday - Shoulders and legs.

Step 10
Write down what your goal is and keep working towards that goal. Use it for motivation and have a look at it each day. This will keep you focused and on track to achieving your goal.


i found this article about putting on mass. its very good.