Be Careful When Selecting Your Protein Powders.
Choosing the wrong protein powder can mean that you will buy more than you need, or worse, spend to little and you could very well get an unsatisfactory result or any result at all for that matter. The type, or types, of protein you select including the amount per serving, the absence or presence of carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, are all areas you could wonder a stray. But we can give you some handy tips to avoiding these pitfalls by following our simple rules when selecting your protein powders.
FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH PROTEIN YOU NEED
For most 1 gram of protein per day per pound of body weight is a good target. Those looking to put on size may need as much as 1.5 gram of protein/lb of body weight/day. You should also plan on eating some extra protein 1.25-1.5g/lb.day if you’re trying to lose weight on higher protein, low carbohydrate diets, as some of the amino acids will be burned as fuel. These amounts include all the protein consumed through foods, beverages, and of course supplements. What’s more, your daily protein allotment should be spread out over 4-6 smaller meals to enhance the body’s capabilities of absorption and utilisation. If you eat a lot of meat, eggs, and dairy products you can probably get by with a smaller dose of protein from your powder mix. vegetarians and others who eat lots of starchy foods will benefit more from a high protein formula.
DETERMINE YOUR BUDGET
Single source Proteins offer more precise benefits, ideally, you might use a fats acting whey protein first thing in the morning and 30 minutes before workouts, a recovery product containing protein plus carbohydrates immediately after your workout (post workout), a moderately digested egg protein in between meals, and an all micellar casein protein at bedtime for sustained amino acid delivery throughout the night while you rest and recover. But here is where you need to be realistic and honest with yourself. Even if you can afford multiple supplement products, are you the type of person who is disciplined enough to follow such a regime? if you answered ”NO” consider a protein blend. While not as fast as the fastest or as slow as the slowest single source proteins, blends offer many of the desirable qualities of a variety of different proteins.
MAKE YOU SELECTION AND RUN WITH IT – AT LEAST FOR 60 DAYS
To do something positive with your physique, you need to take your proteins continually and consistently for at least 60 days. After a couple of months, evaluate your results and, if necessary, modify your programme to add in other proteins, to increase or decrease the amounts used, or to change to a different type of protein altogether. because it’s what works for you that’s important and if it’s not giving you results you need in 60 days it might be time for a change of proteins, or to up your effort in the gym.
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A quick look and breif guide on the different types of proteins.
Whey protein is noted amongst all wheys as the undisputed king for many reasons and here’s why. Whey protein’s contain BCAA’s also known as Branched Chain Amino Acids which are the building blocks for muscle including EAA’s Essential Amino Acids which contain microfractions that provided the benefits above and beyond amino acids and elemental nitrogen.
Whey proteins are available in several other forms. The most basics of wheys is concentrate. Whey protein Isolates have much of the fat, lactose and other undesirable elements ”isolated out”. Whey peptides have been hydrolysed or broken down for even faster digestion. So the purest and fastest digesting whey protein your money can buy are hydrolysed whey protein isolates.
Casein proteins are about 80% Milk. These wheys are often refered to as “slow acting” or “time released” protein because of the digestion time. Casein proteins are especially useful at night-time and during periods when you are not eating.
Egg Proteins are the dietitians recommendation and possibly your best “source of protein”, Eggs top the lot. Most nutrition textbooks refer to eggs as being the holy grail of protein source for quality. With loads of Eaas and some of the highest scores of protein quality, we’re not going to argue. Naturally dairy free eggs are a great alternative to whey proteins, casein, and whole milk proteins for those with milk allergies or severe lactose intolerance.
Blended proteins are great if you can only afford one type of protein, always consider a blend. Combining faster intermediate and slower protein sources, blended proteins give you more sustained protein digestion than single source proteins like whey, casein or egg.
Recovery proteins are moderate calorie fast acting with carbohydrate combinations specifically designed to be consumed immediately after your workouts when the body’s nutrient needs is at its highest and glycogen and muscle protein re-synthesis are at their peak. Many also contain whey protein hydrolysates and supplemental ingredients like BCAAs and glutamine to further aid in the recovery and rebuilding process. This may also include complimenting ingredients like creatine and micronized amino acids to assist with your muscles building goals.
To ensure you get immediate delivery of your whey protein shakes use the new Core 150 protein shake shaker Cup.
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A serious protein supplement for serious muscle mass.
Optimum Nutrition Serious Mass for Serious gainers – Achieving Serious Muscle, Strength & Recovery.
For many years serious mass has been the chosen gainer for loads of Bodybuilders and today the product continues to deliver. For mass size and strength there very few products or should we say mass gaining protein powders that can deliver the kind of results shown by Serious Mass by optimum nutrition.
Like all mass gainers size is the desired goal but you can also achieve lean mass when using serious mass gaining protein supplements. It is recommended that you up your weight and control and count out your calories when embarking on any mass gaining bodybuilding journey.
Calorific control is stead fast in any diet and bulking up in size is no different if of course you want Quality Mass. There are two fundamental reasons in achieving both and these and that is “discipline”.
You have to train hard to gain hard and you have to know very clearly from the beginning what goal prior to entering into any mass gaining programme. High intensity cardio will ensure that you can achieve lean mass when taking a mass gaining protein such as serious mass. HIT training will ensure that you eat into any fat areas that can easily be accumulated whilst bulking up as excess protein in the body can be stored as fat, but taking a product like optimum nutrition serious mass can ensure you maintain any muscle you have achieved during HT cardio.
High intensity training can also be reversed into increasing the amount of weight you push if you are looking to add muscle or bulk to your physique. Your strength will also increase and you will feel more energetic whilst working out under high calorie intake.
Dropping your sets and increasing your weight will also increase muscle mass whereas upping your reps and dropping your weight creates a lean physique, both can achieve muscle mass when taking weight gaining supplements.
As long as you mix a good balance of calorie intake with your cardio, measure out your calorie intake alongside any mass gaining product, and know clearly what your goal is. Serious Muscle Mass can be achieved.
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Working your Abs and Core strength whilst realising it’s not all about the crunch.
Sculpting Abs is one of the number one reasons for someone starting the GYM. No matter what body composition someone may have at the beginning of their fit quest the phrase most commonly heard for starting the gym is “I want a six pack”.
Over the peace we will give you some foundations to abide by in order to get the Six pack your striving for, but we will not do is give you false hope, nor offer a five minute Abdominal guide because the truth is, such a guide simply does not exists and if you’ve found it I suggest you file it under rubbish.
There are a few things which we say are the least of your focus when building abs and these are
- Starvation diets or excessive cardio work, both of which can actually slow your metabolic rate down to a shuddering halt. Making it impossible to burn fat.
- It requires a combination of intensive strength and core training to see those puppy’s commonly referred to as Abs, with a mixture of Cardio, Core strength training, and HIT interval training.
- Going to the Gym and working your Abs without focussing on your Core or more importantly your lower back sets you up for a visit to the chiropractor’s office in no time.
One of the other biggest mistakes I see in the gym and with clients is that they will only ever relate doing abs to crunches. Now don’t get me wrong I am not talking down the crunch, but what I am saying is that there is more to abs than crunches and people ignore all other exercises needed to pop the abs.
Rather than focussing solely on the Crunch use it as a pr stretch solution to abdominals with nice and low movements using only half your range of motion. This makes the crunch more intense but also taxes the hip flexors which impedes on proper posture and can cause issues in the core stabilisation needed in almost every exercise we do at the gym. You can eliminate incorporating the hip flexors by coming up to a maximum of 30 degrees from starting position.
Stretch your abs back at 30 degrees to increase the range and you have what is known as the pre stretch position. How can I bend backwards 30 degrees if I am lying on the floor I here you say, well that’s where the Swiss ball comes in and this has many advantages.
Out with increasing the demand on your Core strength all of which is being worked like an Alaskan Husky to stabilise your position through each range of movement, performing crunches on a Swiss ball allows you to pitch your head and shoulders back slightly in order to pre stretch your abdominals.
What If I don’t have a Swiss ball? Don’t worry we will cover that on the next chapter.
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Think smarter with your shakes, and don’t believe everything you here when dieting.
Don’t Believe Everything You Hear!
Although we like to listen to great advice it is important that you don’t believe every nutritional tip you hear in passing, and don’t buy into every new diet product that suddenly supplement that suddenly bursts onto the nutritional market either! One of the biggest statements that are drimmed into us when dieting or beginning a diet regime is that carbs are the work of the devil.
Not all carbs are bad, not all sugars are bad, and not all fats are bad…In fact, if you cut all three of these out of your daily diet not only would your body slam the breaks of pregression on, but your health may be in serious danger!
The facts remain that you need a diverse balance of Proteins, Fats, Carbohydrates, and Vitamins to really feel the benefits. With Core 150 you can be smart when it comes to your shakes and put your combined daily intake of balanced nutrition in one handy innovative shaker.
Please ee below a brief guide on Bad Carbohydrates, and Protein in order to keep your diet balanced and on track making your life and body feel healthier all round:
Bad Carbohydrates
- Saturated and trans fats can be harmful to the body and will mostly be stored as fat by your body
- Refined grains are sugars that can be very harmful to your fitness goals and are commonly found in many pre-bottled/pre-packaged shakes and foods we eat today; they have been processed to the point where they retain almost no nutritional value; where you think you are getting that burst of energy, they are really just being absorbed too quickly which forces the body to store them as fat
- These fats and carbohydrates do not produce a feeling of fullness or satisfaction because the body is unable to use them and will soon have you reaching for another unhealthy snack
Protein
- Protein is the most vital nutritional component for active individuals
- Protein is the building block of all muscles and their various components and is critical for the function of almost every cell in our body
- After a workout your muscles are severely depleted of their energy stores and will not repair or grow without sufficient protein intake in a quick manner
- If you are not consuming enough protein your body will break down muscle tissue to fuel natural processes which will only set you back from your goals
- Protein deficiency has been linked to depleted immune systems, illness, athletic injury, low energy levels, reduced brain function and more side effects
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WHAT IS NITRIC OXIDE?
WHAT IS NITRIC OXIDE?
Nitric oxide is a small molecule consisting of nitrogen and oxygen. Produced with the endothelial cells, which line the inside of blood vessels, nitric oxide is synthesized in the body from arginine (an amino acid) and a family of enzymes called nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Basically, when arginine and an NOS enzyme come in contact with each other, the reaction produces nitric oxide. What’s important to note is that a byproduct of nitric oxide production is citrulline (another amino acid), which can be converted into arginine through a two step process. Check out BSN No XPlode
WHAT DOES NITRIC OXIDE DO?
Nitric oxide has many functions in the body; the most important to athletes is its role as an intracellular messenger. Once produced, nitric oxide freely diffuses into the smooth muscle tissue of the blood vessel. This signals the smooth muscle within the blood vessel to relax and widen, a process called vasodilation, which increases blood flow and ultimately helps create a muscle pump.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF INCREASED NITRIC OXIDE LEVELS?
As mentioned, nitric oxide causes blood vessels to dilate, which results in a surge of blood flow to the working muscles and increase muscle pumps. By increasing blood flow, you increase the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the exercising muscles, which helps enhance and promote muscle growth and strength levels. Additionally, increased nitric oxide production can increase waste removal from working muscles and improve stamina, endurance and recovery
Get your pre-workout supplements on demand with Core 150 Shaker Cup, think smart shake, before you mix your protein shake.
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What are BCAA’s branched-chain-amino-acids
What are BCAAs?
Amino acids, as you probably know are the building blocks of protein, which in turn are the building blocks of muscle. Research has revealed that certain amino acids –specifically, the branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) maintain your muscle mass and strength during times of physical stress and intense workouts, all while preventing fatigue during exercise. The BCAAs: leucine, isoleucine and valine, are three essential amino acids. The ‘branched chain’ designation refers to their unique chemical structure. The ‘essential’ terminology indicates that your body cannot make them, so they must be obtained from the diet. The combination of these three BCAA’s makes up approximately 1/3 of skeletal muscle in the human body.
What do BCAAs do?
The BCAAs are of special importance to any nutrition program because they are not broken down in the liver but rather by-pass the liver and are transported directly to the muscle. Once in the muscle they play a significant role in transforming the body into a muscle building factory by influencing various aspects of muscle metabolism. Aside from playing an important role in protein synthesis, the BCAAs provide extra energy during heavy lifting, help spare muscle tissue and fight mental brain drain as you battle through a workout. The BCAAs unlike many other amino acids can also be used as fuel, producing energy to support your muscles during prolonged, intense exercise.
How do BCAAs prevent muscle loss?
The BCAAs reduce protein breakdown (catabolism), by stimulating the release of insulin. Insulin we know is an anabolic hormone usually associated with building various energy molecules in the body (glycogen and triglycerides). However, research has also shown that insulin plays a very important role in preventing the breakdown of muscle following periods of physical stress, such as after weight-lifting and running, thereby preserving muscle mass.
How do BCAAs aid in Build Muscle?
BCAAs and particularly leucine, have anabolic (muscle-building) abilities by influencing various signalling cascades and chemical signals that activate protein synthesis. Through phosphyorylaton of mTOR (a key regulator of cell growth and protein synthesis), the BCAAs transforms the body into a muscle building machine. In simple terms, the body is switched into an anabolic state, using available amino acids to build protein and hard dense muscle. Therefore, to obtain the greatest benefit from BCAA supplements you must ensure that you are obtaining enough protein from your diet to support your increased ability to grow.
How do BCAA aid in mental fatigue and Endurance?
BCAAs are known to have a positive effect on mood and mental function in endurance athletes. Although limited, research supports the idea that the BCAAs can decrease serotonin in the brain (serotonin can cause a sense of tiredness), thereby lowering mental fatigue keeping one mentally sharp during prolonged endurance exercise.
Do I get enough BCAAs from the protein I eat?
Dairy and red meat contain the greatest amounts of BCAAs. Other sources include whey protein and egg protein. Although, they are present in all protein containing foods, there is a definite advantage supplementing your diet with additional BCAAs, especially before or after training in order to obtain the greatest benefit from these exceptional amino acids have on muscle building.
Who should take BCAAs?
Bodybuilders, athletes, serious weight trainers who workout regularly, and endurance athletes who regularly compete in aerobic events such as running, cycling or swimming will benefit from supplementing with BCAA.
How much BCAAs should I take, when and how often?
BCAAs can be taken at anytime during the day, preferably on an empty stomach to avoid competition for absorption with other amino acids. Although, the most beneficial time to take BCAAs is directly before training. An acute dose of BCAA probably won’t directly boost endurance during a competitive event but taking 7-10 grams before strenuous workouts will produce beneficial long-term effects in the serious athlete
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