Entries from August 2007 ↓

Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
www.mealplans101.com

Packing on slabs of muscle is easy for those who have all the time in the world to train, eat, and rest. Unfortunately, 1% of us fall into that category. The question then arises as to what to do for those of us who are “running” on the corporate treadmill that keeps increasing in speed.

Admit it, you’ve fallen prey to corporate work hours, your significant other may complain you are not spending enough time with the kids, you are consistently traveling for work, your nutrition has gone to pot, and frankly, you are beaten by life. Does this scenario sound familiar? Well now it’s time to do something before your washboard turns into a bowl full of jelly.

Sometimes weights aren’t always available when you travel, which would at least allow you to maintain or improve your physique; fortunately, there’s a workout for you too. Weights aren’t crucial to improving your physique; let’s take a look at some exercises that can not only maintain your hard earned muscle, but even improve your physique. If nothing else, it’s a great way to add some variety (even if you are still using a gym).

Workout A

Walking lunges across hotel room floor (at least 10 repetitions for each leg)

Superset with

25 pushups with hands shoulder with apart

Repeat set 3 times

Duck walks (squat into the lowest comfortable position and walk forward from one side of the hotel room to the other. Continue walking repeatedly for 30 seconds. Stand to shake out the legs and repeat 3 times)

Superset with

25 pushups with hands in a triangle position

Leap Frog (you don’t need to ask your co-worker to play with you; this can be done across the room on your own. Squat as low as possible, leap (without hitting your head on the ceiling). Do so across room.

Superset with

Bodyweight triceps extensions (place your hands on the dresser or other stable furniture with your feet about 4 feet away from the furniture [the lower the furniture and further away the feet, the more difficult the exercise]). Lower your head by only bending your elbows (thinking of upside down skull crushers). Return to starting position.

Workout B

Military pushups (this if for the more advanced. Get into a handstand with feet against the wall or with friend holding your feet. Lower your body towards the ground and pushup to starting position). Complete 10 repetitions.

Superset with

Rear delt lifts (lying on back with arms out to side (making a cross with body and arms). Bend arms at elbow so fingertips are pointing towards the ceiling. Raise your upper body keeping only elbows and butt touching the floor—for the more advanced, raise the entire body off the floor). 10 repetitions

One leg deadlifts (raise one foot off the ground and behind the body. Squat down as low as possible until back leg is just above the floor. You may have to hold onto something for balance to start). Repeat 10 repetitions on each leg

Superset with

The Plank (keep only feet and forearms on the ground; raise body off the ground keeping your body in a straight line). Hold for 25 seconds

Nutrition on the Go

So now you’ve accomplished your exercise goal for the day, but what are you going to eat? With my schedule I’ll be traveling from the last weekend in September basically straight through the first weekend of November, with some short stays at home. Hotel food gets redundant. It’s hard to encounter a restaurant that can cater to a healthy guy’s lifestyle. You have to get creative.

If you travel regularly, I have a few suggestions.

First, pack some MRP’s and a shaker bottle. Second, pack some high quality nutrition bars. Third, if it’s a long flight, pack some fruit; the tiny bag of pretzels the airlines give you won’t do much to stave off hunger and catabolism for long flights. I recently flew across the country so I had several whole grain bars in my bag, two apples, a baggie of mixed nuts, and a ziplock bacg for “garbage.” I ate as soon as possible before the plane took off and ate soon after we landed. You can also have a shaker bottle full of water, then dump in a MRP, to give you a nice dose of protein; don’t mind the stares you may get on the plane, they are merely from jealous folks who are “enjoying” their liquid sugar from the beverage carts.

The plane ride is now over, but what do you do the rest of the trip to not ruin your entire physique? First, locate a grocery store nearby your hotel. Second, make a trip to the grocery store and buy some non-perishable foods (unless the hotel offers a refrigerator-then buy perishable items like I’ve been doing). If your room has a microwave, throw in a couple of packets of oatmeal and some water for a quick, no hassle meal that’s great for you.

No matter how busy your schedule, there is always time to eat well and train. While the conditions may not be idea, or in your normal routine or pattern, throwing up your hands and giving up will do nothing more than cause you to quickly get out of shape, decrease your work performance, and make you feel sorry for yourself. You may not feel like you have time to exercise—you must MAKE time to exercise!

About the Author:

Dr. Chris Mohr RD, PhD is a health nutrition consultant to a number of media outlets and corporations including Discovery Health Channel, Clif Bar, Waterfront Media, and Fit Fuel. He has authored and co-authored several textbooks and textbook chapters, including consulting with LL Cool J on “LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout” (Rodale Press, 2006). He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Chris’s expertise go to www.mealplans101.com

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Simply put, squats are the most difficult, intimidating and painful exercise you could possibly have in your arsenal. They require massive amounts of discipline and willpower to perform correctly. After you have performed a set of squats to failure, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. They are also a challenging exercise to master from a technical standpoint.

All this aside, squats are one of, if not THE most effective, growth-producing exercises you could possibly include in your workout routine. They will pack more size and strength onto your lower body than any other exercise out there, and due to their high level of difficulty, they also force your body to release higher amounts of important anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone. This increased secretion of hormones will pack muscle size onto your entire upper body as well.

In addition, squats cause what is known as a “spillover effect”: a strength gain in almost all of your other exercises. When I started squatting to failure, my bench press virtually increased by 20 pounds overnight. If you’re looking for serious muscle gains and you don’t already squat, you’d better get started.

Quite simply, they really, really work.

Unfortunately, many people have yet to experience the benefits of heavy squatting. It seems that people will come up with just about any excuse they possibly can in order to steer clear form the squat rack.

How many times have you heard the all too common “They’re too hard on my knees”, or “I heard they stunt your growth.” What do I say to that? Nonsense!

If you’re in the gym with the goal of maximizing your total body muscle gains, squats are an absolute must.

Proper Squatting Technique

For safety reasons you should always perform your squats in a power rack or cage. This way you can adjust the height at which you clear the bar, and you can drop the bar on the safety pins if you need to bail. The safety pins should be set at just below the depth you are squatting and the J Hooks should be set at about the level of your nipples.

At all times during the squat your head should be pulled back, your chest raised and you should have a slight arch in your lower back. You should always be looking straight ahead, and at no time should you be leaning too far forward, or be looking up or down.

Step up to the bar, placing your hands at about the same width as a bench press. Before clearing the bar, make sure it is placed evenly along your traps. The bar should rest on the lower portion of your traps and across your rear delts. It should almost feel as if the bar is going to roll off your back.

Now that you have cleared the bar, take only as many steps back as necessary. Most squat injuries occur when backing up, so make sure that you only back up as far as you need to. Your feet should be placed about shoulder width apart or slightly wider, and they should point out at a 45-degree angle.

Take a big, deep breath, and make your descent. You should not lower yourself straight down, but rather as if you were sitting in a chair behind you. At all times your knee must remain in line with your feet, and they should never bow in. Lower yourself until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground.

As soon as you have reached the bottom position, rise up immediately. Do not relax in the bottom position! Drive up with your heels and straighten your back as quickly as possible.

Once you are in the upright position again, take another deep breath, and continue the lift until you have completed the desired number of reps.

Final Thoughts

You have all the reason in the world to get into the squat rack, so go ahead and do it. Treat this lift with respect and you’ll be shocked at the resulting muscle gains. I would recommend performing your squats once per week, for 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps. Focus on pushing yourself hard on this exercise and continually strive for more weight and more reps.

To learn about more highly effective, growth-producing exercises that you can include in your routine, visit my website by clicking the link below. Most trainees have no idea how to pick and choose the proper exercises and they dramatically limit their gains as a result…

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked “social reject”, Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: “The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System“.

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief… ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

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The more work you put into something, the better results you will achieve. This has always been a widely accepted truth that applies to most areas in life.

The harder you study, the better grades you will achieve. The more time you spend fine-tuning your athletic skills, the better athlete you will become. The longer you spend learning to play an instrument, the better musician you will become.

Therefore, it only makes sense that the more time you spend in the gym, the stronger and more muscular your physique will become, correct?

Contrary to what you might think, the answer to this question is a gigantic, definite, absolute no! It is in this area of bodybuilding that conventional wisdom goes straight out the window, down the street and around the corner.

I know what you might be asking yourself…

“What? Spending less time in the gym will actually make me bigger and stronger?”

The answer is yes! It really will, and when we examine the muscle-growth process from its most basic roots, it becomes quite clear why this is the case.

Every single process that occurs within the human body is centered around keeping you alive and healthy. Through thousands of years of evolution the human body has become quite a fine-tuned organism that can adapt well to the specific conditions that are placed upon it.

We become uncomfortable when we are hungry or thirsty, we acquire a suntan when high amounts of UV rays are present, we build calluses to protect our skin, etc.

So what happens when we break down muscle tissue in the gym?

If you answered something to the effect of “the muscles get bigger and stronger”, then congratulations! You are absolutely correct. By battling against resistance beyond the muscle’s present capacity we have posed a threat to the musculature. The body recognizes this as potentially harmful and as a natural adaptive response the muscles will hypertrophy (increase in size) to protect the body against this threat. As we consistently increase the workload from week to week the body will continue to adapt and grow.

Sound simple?

Ultimately it is, but the most important thing to realize in relation to all of this is that the muscles can only grow bigger and stronger if they are provided with sufficient recovery time. Without the proper recovery time, the muscle growth process simply cannot take place.

Your goal in the gym should be to train with the minimum amount of volume needed to yield an adaptive response. Once you have pushed your muscles beyond their present capacity and have triggered your thousand-year-old evolutionary alarm system, you have done your job. Any further stress to the body will simply increase your recovery time.

Most people train way too often and with far more sets than they really need to. High intensity weight training is much more stressful to the body than most people think. The majority of people structure their workout programs in a manner that actually hinders their gains and prevents them from making the progress that they deserve.

Here are 3 basic guidelines that you should follow if you want to achieve maximum gains:

1) Train no more than 3 days per week.
2) Do not let your workouts last for longer then 1 hour.
3) Perform 5-7 sets for large muscle groups (chest, back, thighs) and 2-4 sets for smaller muscle groups (shoulders, biceps, triceps, calves, abs).

Take all sets to the point of muscular failure and focus on progressing in either weight or reps each week. If you truly train hard and are consistent, training more often or any longer than this will be counterproductive to your gains.

To learn how to combine all of these principles into an effective step-by-step routine, click the link below and visit my website for details. You can gain instant access to my renowned “26-Week Workout Plan” as well as a full printable logbook that you can take to the gym with you…

About The Author

Once an awkward, pencil-necked “social reject”, Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned bodybuilding expert, fitness author, and creator of the most celebrated natural bodybuilding program online today: “The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System“.

If you can spare just 24 minutes a day, then you too can build a powerful new head-turning body that will skyrocket your confidence, drive gorgeous women crazy, and leave your friends, family and co-workers staring in disbelief… ALL in just a matter of months: www.MuscleGainTruth.com

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By Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS
www.mealplans101.com

1. Eat 4-6 small meals day a day instead of the usual 2-3 large meals. Eating frequently will help regulate and boost your metabolism to burn more calories.

2. Consume whole foods that are high in fiber and low in sugar such as lean protein (lean beef, chicken, fish, and whey protein), fruits & vegetables (oranges, apples, strawberries, blueberries, broccoli, peppers, asparagus, carrots, nuts (almonds, cashews, & walnuts), and whole grains.

3. Eat low-glycemic carbohydrates such as vegetables, whole-wheat products and oatmeal instead of refined processed carbohydrates which usually come in a box or a bag.

4. Recommend consuming 25-35 grams of fiber per day. Since the average diet contains only 14 grams we could all use more fiber. Fiber will help satisfy hunger pangs as well as control insulin and blood sugar levels which tend to promote fat storage when they are elevated.

5. Eat some type of lean protein at each meal. Protein helps to satisfy hunger and provide the necessary building blocks to maintain lean body mass while losing body fat.

6. Consume adequate amounts of healthy fat foods such as olive oil, walnuts, almonds, Omega-3 fortified eggs or other Omega-3 products. Healthy fats are great antioxidants as well as help with brain function and many other essentials processes that take place in the body on a daily basis. Essential Fatty acids also help prevent certain diseases.

7. Recommend eating 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day to meet your micronutrient needs. Vegetables also contain a good amount of fiber and help to control appetites and curb hunger.

8. Consume Green Tea or Water instead of calorie filled drinks such as soft drinks. Green Tea has many health benefits and should be drinking 1ml of non-caffeinated fluid for every calorie that you consume. This works out between (8-12) 8oz glasses of Green Tea or Water a day.

9. Balance your fat intake for the day. 1/3 should come from saturated fats, 1/3 from monounsaturated fats, and 1/3 from polyunsaturated fats.

10. If you want to start building habits then you need to follow a plan. Habits are formed by repetitively following a prescribed plan. Therefore map out your meals every day and follow them. If you follow your plan everyday for 2-3 weeks you will form habits that become part of your daily routine and you won’t even notice it. How do you think bad habits are formed? By repetitively doing something over and over again.

11. Include what I call “Superfoods” into your meal plan on a daily basis. These include but not entirely lean meat, salmon, low fat plain yogurt, tomatoes, spinach, mixed berries, whole oats, mixed nuts, olive oil, flax seeds(or flax meal), green tea, and various beans. These are just some of the “Superfoods” who should be incorporating into your daily meal plans.

12. Keep total fat intake under 30% for the day. This can be accomplished by not adding too many extra fats such as butter, sour cream, mayonnaise, etc. This doesn’t mean you have to completely eliminate these items, but do not eat them as a regular food item every day.

13. EXERCISE!! You can lose weight by just following a nutrition plan on its own but very few succeed at it and it takes much longer than when you eat properly as well as exercise. I am not talking about just getting on a treadmill for 30 minutes every other day. Though you can lose weight this way it is not the most efficient use of your time nor maximizing the ability to burn calories. The most effective way to lose fat is by strength training or some type of interval training utilizing strength training and cardiovascular exercises. A properly designed program can burn more overall calories in 20 minutes than 20 minutes on a treadmill. Also, the X factor in all this is that you will burn more calories per minute hours after you finished strength training because of the EPOC effect. Static exercise on a treadmill doesn’t produce this X factor.

14. Record what you eat and drink. You will be amazed at what you consume and not even realize you did it until you right it down and reflect back on the day. Keeping a food log is critical to your success because if modifications need to be made you need something to be able to evaluate and analyze. If changes aren’t happening like you had hoped the answer can usually be found in the food and or exercise journal.

15. Follow the 90% rule. If you can follow your plan 90% of the time then that is enough to have success with weight loss. If you find yourself breaking the rules more than 90% of the time then the chance of being successful with weight loss is not as likely. Your chances of failing increase significantly. Lose the all or nothing attitude and just take one day at a time. Reflect on your day before you go to bed at night and instead of getting down on yourself because you weren’t perfect just set goals to accomplish next day that would eliminate those errors.

About the Author:

Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS, is a registered dietitian and fitness professional with more than 10 years of experience. He has worked with 1000’s of individuals in achieving their ideal body and has been published in numerous magazines. He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Jayson’s expertise go to www.mealplans101.com

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Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
www.mealplans101.com

Whether it is business lunches or quick stops at fast food restaurants with the kids, knowing how to make the best decisions to forgo sabotaging the diet is important. This is also crucial for athletes who are regularly traveling and need to be fueled with “high octane” foods. Use these handy rules to help make the best decisions at various restaurants.

General Tips:

1. Order off the menu and focus in on these 4 words when ordering:

Steamed
Broiled
Baked
Grilled

Never go to the restaurant hungry

Eat a piece of fruit
Try a yogurt
Eat a granola bar
Have some cottage cheese and fruit

Ask for what you want; as a paying customer, restaurants will cater to your needs (within reason).

Do not cook foods in butter
Limit the amount of oil used in cooking
Replace refined carbohydrate, high fat foods (fries, potato salad, etc) with an extra order of steamed vegetables

Call ahead to find out what foods are offered so you can plan ahead

Figure out calories and fat grams of foods you may eat
Know what foods fit the bill for health options

Avoid pre-dinner cocktails and bar snacks

Fast Food Restaurant Tips

Fast food restaurants permeate nearly every corner of the road; from Italian to Chinese, burgers to subs, there is no limit on what you can find. Here are some general tips when trying to make the best decisions if faced with a “fast food dilemma.”

Chinese Food

Order steamed options (or ask for your favorite item steamed).
Most Chinese restaurants now offer brown rice too, rather than the more traditional white rice.
Avoid the fried noodles they often put on the table before the meal.

“Hamburger” Restaurant (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, In and Out, etc)

Most now offer grilled chicken salads. Choose this vs. a triple artery clogging bacon cheeseburger.
If craving a hamburger, order a plain burger or cheeseburger; leave the hefty burgers for the next person in line.
Try a grilled chicken sandwich sans mayonnaise or “special” sauce.
Leave the fries behind.

Italian Food

Split your meal with someone; portions here are at least double what they need to be.
Try grilled or broiled fish.
Avoid creamy sauces on pasta dishes; instead opt for marinara, which is much lower in fat and calories.
Limit consumption of bread on the table that’s commonly doused with olive oil or covered in butter and opt for a healthy tossed salad, with olive and balsamic vinegar on the side.

Steak Restaurants (Outback Steakhouse, Ruby Tuesday, etc)

Avoid the “prime” cuts of beef (e.g., prime rib) and opt for the loin or the round (sirloin, top round, eye round, etc).
Ideally order grilled or broiled seafood

Sub Shops (Subway, Quiznos, Blimpie, etc)
Order the grilled chicken or turkey breast options.
If possible, choose the whole grain breads.
Leave off the bacon, cheese sauce, and mayonnaise; instead try mustard, vinegar.

About the Author:

Dr. Chris Mohr RD, PhD is a health nutrition consultant to a number of media outlets and corporations including Discovery Health Channel, Clif Bar, Waterfront Media, and Fit Fuel. He has authored and co-authored several textbooks and textbook chapters, including consulting with LL Cool J on “LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout” (Rodale Press, 2006). He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Chris’s expertise go to www.mealplans101.com

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Today, I have the rest of the interview with Abs-Expert Mike Geary dealing with the best nutrition secrets to apply if you want to have any chance of getting lean enough to see visible abs on yourself… (Read the first part of the interview on “Surprise Abs Training Mistakes To Avoid” by clicking here)

CB: And finally Mike, 1 or 2 of your top secret nutrition tips for losing body fat to carve out those abs. Open your vault of info!

MG: Well Craig, I think you’d agree that there has never been a more confusing time regarding proper nutrition for consumers. Every so called “expert” out there seems to disagree and contradict each other on what’s the best way to eat for fat loss and overall good health.

One of the most important messages I try to teach my readers in this world of heavy confusion is that your diet doesn’t need to conform to any of the fad diets… you don’t need to go “low carb” or “low fat”, or high or low anything for that matter to be successful in losing enough body fat to get lean enough to be able to see your abs.

I like to try to simplify things for my readers. I think that balance is the key to success along with eating a diet that is made up of nutrient dense foods in their natural state (as unprocessed as possible).

In general, it is the heavy processing of foods that makes it wreak havoc inside our bodies. Most foods in their natural unprocessed state are inherently good for us. Of course there are always exceptions… a salad of poison ivy leaves is “natural and unprocessed” but certainly would not be good for us!

I’ll leave your readers with a couple of the most important aspects of nutrition that help to get you lean for life…

1. Get enough quality protein in the daily diet - not only does it have a higher thermic effect than carbs and fat (so you burn more calories digesting it), but it also creates satiety so your hunger is satisfied longer. Plus it’s a building block for maintaining and building lean muscle… And remember that the amount of lean muscle you carry is one of the main factors for controlling your metabolism.

2. Think fiber! When it comes to carbs, make sure that almost all of your carbohydrate intake is from higher fiber sources like vegetables, fruits, and high fiber unrefined grains. Try to avoid refined sugars and refined grains as that is one of the main reasons so many people struggle with body fat.

I personally don’t eat many grains as I prefer to get most of my carbs from veggies and fruits, but I’ll admit I am a bit of a fan of sprouted grains. I generally recommend looking for carbohydrate sources that have at least 2-3 grams of fiber per each 10 grams of total carbs. Remember that fiber helps fill you up and also slows down the glycemic response of the foods you eat, all beneficial for getting super lean.

3. Don’t be afraid to eat fat! Many people try to go way too low on their fat intake and this can negatively affect hormone levels in your body as well as causing more cravings. Try to eat enough healthy fats daily.

Good sources are all nuts and seeds, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, organic meats and eggs, coconuts and virgin coconut oil. On that note, saturated fats from tropical oils are VERY misunderstood, even by many nutritionists and other health professionals. Yes they are composed highly of saturated fats, but are actually beneficial (but that’s way beyond the scope of this article).

4. Avoid the two worst things in our food supply at ALL COSTS:

*artificial trans fats from margarines, shortening, and hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods

*high fructose corn syrup, which is in almost all sweetened products on the market

Again, if you avoid processed foods, it becomes easy to avoid these two worst offenders in our food supply.

I always contend that once you get a handle on these 4 main points of your diet detailed above, the rest starts to take care of itself as you gain control over your appetite, blood sugar levels, hormone levels, etc. It all falls into place, and you eventually gain total control over how lean you want to get.

CB: Thanks Mike!

For more info on Mike’s Truth about Six Pack Abs Program, be sure to check out here.

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Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
www.mealplans101.com

Fueling your body takes effort. It’s much easier to run out the door without breakfast, stop at a fast food restaurant for lunch, and throw some money in a vending machine for a snack loaded with refined carbohydrates and trans fat rather than taking the time to plan ahead so you are putting high nutrient foods in your “tank,” so to speak. Think about the last time you were on a long trip; did you take some healthy options or did you rely on the myriad of “health foods” that rest areas or planes offer? Maybe at work you’ve been burning the candle at both ends and not doing what it takes to perform at your peak; either physically or mentally. We’ve all probably found ourselves in these types of situations. Fortunately there are options.

When talking with folks about weight loss, weight gain, or just health, I always recommend they are prepared for anything. You never know when you’re going to be driving home from work for a seemingly normal day to go home and eat dinner, when you get a flat. Or maybe there is unexpected traffic from an accident. Next thing you know, you get home one hour later than expected, and you’re now so hungry you’ll eat anything that gets in the way—even if it’s the door to get into the house.

Like meal replacement powders, nutrition bars should be part of your “safety” arsenal and are great as snacks to keep you going in the middle of the day. Plugging in a blender in your car or on an airplane doesn’t always work so well, but pulling a bar out of your glove compartment does. Of course real food is the best option for all meals of the day; I’m not recommending replacing all your real foods with snack bars, but on occasion they can surely make life easier (and healthier) if you compare them to other available options. The only problem with many “nutrition” bars is that they are nothing more than a well-packaged candy bar, that tastes like you’re choking down chocolate covered chalk. So how do you pick a bar that suits your needs?

First or all, just like with foods, take a look at the nutrition label. Remember that the order of ingredients dictates how much of each is in the product. The first ingredient on the label is the one that is most abundant in the product and the further down the list, the less that is actually in there. If trying to gain some lean body mass, pick a bar that provides a good amount of total calories and is a good source of high quality protein. Bars are notoriously high in low quality protein; if hydrolyzed gelatin is one of the first ingredients, put the bar back. Let’s dissect some of the most popular ingredients in many bars.

Here’s a very brief synopsis of a few proteins you may see gracing the sides of bars.

Whey Protein
Before getting into some different components of whey, it’s important to first describe whey protein itself. Whey protein is taken directly from cheese production (think Little Miss Muffet, eating her curds and whey). The product is clarified, to remove the most or all of the fat and lactose, and dried into a white powder. The extent of isolation and purification then determines what type of whey is produced.

Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC)
WPC is one of the cheapest methods of whey production, leaving some other non-protein components in the powder in addition to protein itself. When compared to more expensive forms of whey protein, it contains a little less protein per gram, which is why it is less expensive, but this does not make it a useless form of protein. Whey protein concentrate has some specific components in it that are otherwise filtered out with the isolate.

Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)
WPI is more expensive because gram for gram, it contains more protein than other forms of whey. It also has higher levels of some immunoglobins and certain amino acids than other forms of whey.

Casein Protein
Casein protein is commonly found in dairy products (think lumps in cottage cheese). Casein is actually the curds part of the separated cheese (Little Miss Muffet apparently wasn’t happy referring to her curds as casein, she preferred to eat her curds and whey because it sounded catchier in the famous children’s poem). Because casein is highest in dairy products, it’s not surprising that it also contains more lactose than whey protein.

Protein Hydrolysates (all inclusive for all hydrolyzed proteins)
Hydrolyzed proteins are ones that have been enzymatically broken down. This process makes the protein more easily digestible because there is less work for your GI tract. Proponents of this form of protein promote its ability to be absorbed more rapidly (because it is essentially pre-digested).

Soy Protein

Soy protein is commonly used in many different bars. Soy offers another unique mix of amino acids. Soy is one of the higher quality plant proteins and its inclusion should not be shunned.

Now, depending on the type of nutrition plan you may be following (e.g., low or high carb), only certain bars may fit into your plan. Some bars include more carbohydrates; here are some of the more popular carbs included.

Whole Carbohydrates
Some of the better bars available use whole oats as a source of carbohydrates; oats are loaded with fiber and nutrients, so they’re great to have in a bar (and should be part of your meal plan, too).

Maltodextrin
Maltodextrin is a common glucose polymer (chain of glucose molecules) that is one of the more prevalent carbohydrates added to many bars. It is relatively inexpensive, causes a rapid rise in blood sugar (recommended post-workout) and adds sweetness (i.e. flavor).

Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s)
Essential fatty acids are one of the more recent additions to quality bars. They are often added as peanuts, sunflower oil and/or flax seed, although flax seed. EFA’s are typically included to slow the rapid rise in blood sugar following a meal and for their known health benefits.

There are also a few ingredients you need to keep an eye out for and avoid like the plague. First and foremost is hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. Companies often add hydrogenated oils to their products because it is a cheap way to make their product taste good; unfortunately they don’t include a coupon for an angioplasty too because too much hydrogenated oil (which give a nice dose of artery clogging trans fatty acids) is not heart healthy. The American diet is already filled with too many trans fatty acids; when someone is finally trying to make a healthy adjustment, like replacing a fast food meal or vending machine snack with a healthy bar, they would be shooting themselves in the foot. Unfortunately these are found in many bars, but should be avoided like the plague! There is no dietary requirement for trans fats, they are more harmful than saturated fats, they negatively effect blood lipids, and have been correlated to cardiovascular disease risk!
Similarly, high fructose corn syrup is a cheap sweetener used in many products that permeates most of the foods on store shelves. Unfortunately, it has also made its way too many bars. High quality products have never and will never contain such ingredients.
Again, snack bars should not be the mainstay of anyone’s diet, no matter who you are; however, they can definitely make a nice addition for convenience alone - and many of them actually taste great. If you have you hold your nose, jump up and down, and almost pass-out just to choke down your chalky bar, it’s not going to have much benefit due to lack of compliance. On the contrary, if you have a product that is enjoyable and contains most of the positive aforementioned ingredients discussed, you’re in luck. Remember to read the labels and pick the product that best suits your needs in the categories of taste, convenience, and value.

About the Author:

Dr. Chris Mohr RD, PhD is a health nutrition consultant to a number of media outlets and corporations including Discovery Health Channel, Clif Bar, Waterfront Media, and Fit Fuel. He has authored and co-authored several textbooks and textbook chapters, including consulting with LL Cool J on “LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout” (Rodale Press, 2006). He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Chris’s expertise go to www.mealplans101.com

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Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
www.mealplans101.com

In my last column I discussed how eating more frequently could be better for weight loss. While this may be important to many of you, others may be more concerned with enhancing performance, strength gains, and gaining lean body mass. It is those of you for whom this article is geared towards. This week I’ll discuss why eating the right foods more frequently will undoubtedly make you bigger and stronger—and this isn’t some over hyped ad; it’s real life, based on science.

You’ve probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. While this if difficult to refute, pre- and post-workout nutrition are tied for a close second, with “during” nutrition just a nose behind. Refueling immediately post-workout is probably not a new concept. Working out depletes glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate) and promotes protein breakdown (catabolism). Eating the proper nutrients soon after a workout will help replenish this glycogen and enhance protein building (anabolism). Always remember that working out is merely a stimulus needed to enhance muscle growth and recovery. However it’s the actual time between workouts when your muscles grow.

The late Mike Mentzer used a great analogy when discussing training. Lifting weights is like digging a hole in your muscles. If you continue to train and train without allowing for adequate recovery, the hole, per se, will only get bigger. Although he was speaking more in terms of overtraining, this same philosophy can be adopted to nutrition. If you continue to train and don’t feed your body the nutrients it needs (adequate energy via macronutrients and nutrient dense foods), the hole will continue to grow deeper. Refueling the body allows for growth (i.e., you fill the hole from training with new lean body mass). Ultimately, overtime this hole will not only “fill in” but will begin to overcompensate by overflowing or, growing larger by building more lean body mass. Extrapolating this example to nutrition and what you now know happens during rest, you should be well-aware that post-workout nutrition is crucial for recovery. Since this is not a new discovery, this article will concentrate more on pre- and post-workout nutrition. Several recent studies have demonstrated the importance of this concept, so let’s take a look.

As I mentioned, training results in muscle protein breakdown; therefore, it makes sense that the higher the baseline protein status, the less negative impact training would have. To look at this simplistically, if you start at 100% protein status and go down to 50% from training, it would be better than starting at 50% and going down to 0% from training. In the second example you would always be trying to get up to 100%, whereas if you consistently fed your body the nutrients it needs, you would be better off.

A recent study investigated whether ingestion of a supplement (6 grams of essential amino acids and 35 grams of sucrose) taken immediately before or after a training bout would alter the net protein balance in muscle. Interestingly, the authors noticed a significantly greater increase in those taking the pre-workout supplement compared to those taking a post-workout supplement. It appears that the mechanism here is there were more amino acids (remember these are the building blocks of protein) available for the working muscle. Moreover, this effect carried over so that there was enhanced availability of amino acids for at least the first hour of the workout. So, you ask, “what if my workouts last more than an hour?”

Well, maybe it’s time to refeed your body some more nutrients during your workout. Why should you hinder your workout because your muscles are tired, hungry, and just plain beat up? Race car drivers have the fastest, top notch cars available. However, during the Indy 500, for example, they need to stop to refuel. Think of your muscles as race cars; you don’t give them the fuels they need and they won’t perform.

So now the question is not only if you should feed your body before and/or during a workout, but what should you feed your body at these times. As I discussed in the previous study, participants received 6 grams of essential amino acids (equivalent to approximately 12-15 grams of whole proteins) and 35 grams of sucrose (carbohydrate). In terms of protein, there are obviously a million choices. But I don’t think gnawing on a filet mignon on your way to the gym is intelligent. As you are all aware, there are also a number of protein powders available (whey, casein, soy, etc). Furthermore, the processing of these proteins differs too (hydrolysates, isolates, and concentrates). Wow, this is starting to get a bit technical. Let’s cut to the chase.

Studies have shown that whey protein, when consumed independent of any other foods, is absorbed more rapidly than casein protein. Although most of the time foods are often combined with one another, it’s safe to say whey is generally absorbed more rapidly. In terms of the various processing methods, taking one over the other will not make or break your muscle gains. Therefore, if taking a protein supplement prior to a workout, it would be best to take a quality whey protein supplement. Similarly, if taking a product during or after a workout, whey would take the cake. This is because you want a protein that’s rapidly available to your muscles. You don’t want to be sitting at the gym with a stomach full of protein powder sloshing around. Try a set of squats like that! With that said, mixing whey protein with some carbohydrates (either via powder or your favorite carbohydrate product—not soda!h) would be wise.

There are a number of pre-designed formulas on the market. In general it would be best to stick with a carbohydrate:protein ratio of approximately 3 or 4:1 (e.g., for every 30 or 40 grams of carbohydrate, you should have 10 grams of protein). This could be a great thing to drink slowly on the way to the gym and continue to sip throughout your workout. Then, be sure to consume sufficient energy immediately after your workout and continue to refeed your body throughout the day. Of course whole foods provide more nutrients than any supplement can provide, but carbohydrate:protein supplements are much more applicable and easily digested, so are useful immediately before, during and after workouts.

So now let’s get back to the frequency of eating statement from the beginning. Utilizing the recommendations from my last piece on meal frequency, plus those in this column, one would be eating about 8 times per day. Without getting into meal specifics, here’s an example of a day:

Meal 1
Breakfast

Meal 2
Pre-workout drink

Workout

Meal 3
During workout drink

Meal 4
Post-workout drink
Meal 5
Lunch

Meal 6
Afternoon snack

Meal 7
Dinner

Meal 8
Evening snack

Of course when I use the word “snack” I am referring to a nutrient dense food, such as low-fat yogurt, fruit, etc. rather than what most American’s consider as snacks. As long as your energy intake is sufficient for muscle growth and enhanced recovery, but not so high it’s resulting in fat storage, you’re on the way to a new you. The best judge of that is the mirror; not the scale or anyone else. Only you can set goals for yourself and shoot to achieve those; don’t let anyone or anything get in your way.

Until next time, here’s to good health!

About the Author:

Dr. Chris Mohr RD, PhD is a health nutrition consultant to a number of media outlets and corporations including Discovery Health Channel, Clif Bar, Waterfront Media, and Fit Fuel. He has authored and co-authored several textbooks and textbook chapters, including consulting with LL Cool J on “LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout” (Rodale Press, 2006). He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Chris’s expertise go to www.mealplans101.com

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Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD
www.mealplans101.com

How many of you have heard from your clients or friends, “I am a hard gainer and no matter how much I eat, I can’t gain weight”? Maybe that is how you feel yourself. Or I’m sure many of you want to lose fat and maybe build a little muscle too. Even if your weight training goals are just to remain healthy and maintain your current physique, there are certain “rules” you should follow. Therefore, I thought I would compile a list of what I’ll call the “Ten Commandments of Training.”

1. Eat a balanced diet. Some of you may think I am a bit biased since I’m a dietitian; however, training is at best half the battle. If your goal is to pack on slabs of muscle, you can lift until the gym staff has to scrape you off the floor with the trash, but without refueling those muscles, your efforts are futile. It is actually after training, when you allow your muscles to rest, that they will grow. The best way to refuel and recover your muscles is by eating a sufficient amount of calories, high quality carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Similarly, if fat loss is your goal, it will be next to impossible to be successful if you change nothing about your eating habits and only increase your exercise. Not monitoring your food intake while training hard is like riding a bicycle with one flat tire; sure, you may get to your destination, but there will be ton of wasted effort.

2. Keep a food log. This may be a barrier for many of you, but how do you plan to monitor your changes without writing them down and seeing what can be altered? This journal does not have to be detailed; record the portion sizes and foods you eat and beverages you drink, the calories, carbohydrate, protein and fats each contain. This will allow you to see what foods or food groups you may be missing or limited in, what foods you can eliminate or reduce if your goal is to lose weight, or just closely monitor your intake if you are trying to gain muscle and limit fat gain.

3. Keep a training log. Similar to the above recommendation, you can’t effectively track your progress if you don’t know what you’re doing. You may learn from recording and watching your physique that a particular exercise or series of exercise is effective and maybe some that is not. Similarly, it will help you track your progress to ensure you are on track.

4. Vary your routine. To be ultimately successful in the gym, you need to vary your workouts. In fact, there is no other aspect of your life that is stagnant—why should the gym be any different? However, this probably describes many of you: Monday is chest day, in which you start with 3 sets of 10 reps on flat bench, followed by 3 sets of 10 on incline press, and maybe 3 sets of 10 for dumbbell fly’s. You then move to triceps, where you do pushdowns and maybe lying tricep extension. The rest of the week follows suit. You always pair back and biceps together, legs are granted their own day, and shoulders fit somewhere in the mix. Mix it up-do a different body part(s) on Monday’s, do dips instead of flat bench, pushups on a stability ball, 4 sets of 5, whatever. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

5. Rest!!! When was the last time you took some time off from training? Go ahead, get out of the weight room for a week. I’ll rarely tell you to be a couch potato, but here’s your opportunity. OK, fine, don’t undo what you’ve worked so hard at by sitting with the remote in hand and a bag of chips at your side for a week straight, but being active doesn’t mean you must live in the weight room. Remember, growth happens during recovery, not when you’re in the gym. If you hit the weights day in a day out, you are never giving your body a chance to recover. A week off now and then is great for the body and I bet you’ll come back stronger.

6. Stretch. I bet there are a lot of you out there who do not stretch at all or if you do, stretch the muscle you’re going to work for about 5 seconds. Stretching helps muscles recover, increases muscle elasticity and decreases the chance of injury. Make sure you leave plenty of time to stretch after your workout, do a number of stretches for the body parts you just worked, and hold each stretch for about 20 to 30 seconds. I’m not asking you to mimic Gumbi, just do some basic stretches. Heck, try a yoga class for a change of pace.

7. Lift heavy weights. If I had a nickel for every time I heard “I don’t want to lift too heavy because I will get bulky,” I would be giving Trump a run for his money. Yes, I’m picking on the women here because they are usually the group who is afraid of looking like Hercules. But flapping your arms with 1 lb dumbbells like you are trying to take off will do nothing more than bore you to tears while you claim that weight lifting is useless. Challenge the muscle and lift heavier weights within your comfort zone.

8. Use proper form. I know I was guilty of this the first day I stepped into my high school weight room. I was trying with all my might to bench press 135 lbs since I saw someone else using that weight. Any ounce of “coolness” I had as a gawky freshman left my body faster than the weight falling straight to my chest. I would have rather been injured than suffer through the embarrassment of an upperclassmen “rescuing” me from underneath the bar between his laughing in the corner. I looked like I was having a seizure as a squirmed and twisted to get that weight up. Save yourself from the embarrassment and more importantly a potential injury. If you can’t lift the weight in a controlled manner, it is too much weight. Take it from me; it is not pretty when you let the weight “control” you.

9. Cross train. Weight training is a great form of exercise, but you will ultimately be much better off health wise if you try different activities (both aerobic and anaerobic in nature). Hit your local high school and run some bleachers, ask a friend or spouse to play tennis, swim, do some sprints at the local track, pull together a group of friends for some flag football, mountain bike, etc. The list can go on forever, but cross-training will not only make you stronger, it will help your body recovery by hitting it with varied movements, and will also decrease your chance of injury.

10. Drink like a fish. My college days are over; I’m talking about non-alcoholic beverages. Keep in mind that if you are thirsty, mild dehydration has already set in. This may not sound very important, but even mild dehydration will be a decrement to your performance. It’s not only important to carry a water bottle with you to the gym, but you should be consuming fluids regularly all day. Shoot for 8 cups of water for every 1000 calories you consume (that is ½ gallon for every 1000 calories). Of course this is most important during the summer months when the mercury is nearing triple digits, but should not be negated during the colder months too.

Keep these “rules” in mind to help keep you healthy, strong, and injury free.

About the Author:

Dr. Chris Mohr RD, PhD is a health nutrition consultant to a number of media outlets and corporations including Discovery Health Channel, Clif Bar, Waterfront Media, and Fit Fuel. He has authored and co-authored several textbooks and textbook chapters, including consulting with LL Cool J on “LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout” (Rodale Press, 2006). He is also co-creator of Meal Plans 101 nutrition software. For more information on how you can utilize Chris’s expertise go to www.mealplans101.com

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by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer; Author - Truth About Six Pack Abs

Warning: this style of workout is WAY different than anything you’ve ever tried before and may result in a dramatically leaner, stronger body so that your friends no longer recognize you in a matter of weeks!

Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don’t have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.

Please keep an open-mind and don’t worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you’ll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that’s the case for you, then that’s your loss.

Here’s how it works:

Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for an hour at a shot, with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.

The program will consist of only bodyweight exercises done for about 2-3 minutes, 6-8 times per day, throughout each day. Now obviously if you work a normal office job, you are going to have to not be shy about doing a few exercises in your office and having your cube-mates watch you. Actually, I’ve found that some people that have tried this have actually gotten their co-workers to join them!

If you have a private office, then you don’t have to worry about anybody watching you. If you work from home, or are a stay at home mom, there’s no reason you can’t fit these in throughout the day while at home. If you end up having a busy day with meetings and so forth, and can only fit a couple of these 2-minute workouts in, then so be it, but try to get as many done each day as you can.

If you’re on a normal 9-5 office schedule, I recommend doing your 2-minute workouts every hour, on the hour, with the exception of lunch. For example, you could try 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm.

Some of the exercises that are the best to focus on are:

* bodyweight squats (and variations)
* pushups (and variations)
* forward, reverse, or walking lunges
* up & down a staircase if one is available
* floor planks (holding plank position from forearms and feet)
* floor abs exercises such as lying leg thrusts, ab bicycles, etc.
* one-legged bodyweight Romanian deadlifts

This list is not fully comprehensive, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you know other good bodyweight exercises, you can add those to your routine also. If you want to keep it real simple and don’t want to get down on the floor for anything, you can stick to squats, lunges, and pushups and still get great results.

The good thing about these workouts is that you do enough in 2-3 minutes to get your blood pumping, heart rate up a bit, a large portion of your body’s muscles worked, and body temperature raised. However, it’s usually not enough to break a sweat in only 2 or 3 minutes, so you don’t have to worry about sweating in the office or where ever you may be. At most, you might just get a little moist on the skin.

Here’s an example routine (adjust the reps up or down based on your capabilities):

Mon/Wed/Fri
9 am - 10 pushups/15 bodyweight squats, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - plank holds (hold the planks as long as you can taking short rest breaks for a total of 3 minutes)
11 am - 5 pushups/10 bodyweight squats, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
2 pm - 8 pushups/12 bodyweight squats, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
4 pm - max pushups/max bodyweight squats in one set (no repeat)

Tues/Thurs
9 am - 6 fwd lunges each leg/6 rev lunges, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - one legged bw Romanian deadlifts (RDL) 6 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat 1X for 2 sets
11 am - 3 fwd lunges each leg/3 rev lunges, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - one legged bw RDL 3 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat for 4 sets
2 pm - 5 fwd lunges each leg/5 rev lunges, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - one legged bw RDL 10 each leg/floor abs for 30 sec (no repeat)
4 pm - max fwd lunges each leg/max rev lunges in one set (no repeat)

In order to progress on these workouts, you could either add 1 or 2 reps to each set per week, or you could progress to more difficult versions of each exercise each week (for example, close grip pushups, one leg raised pushups, squats with arms raised straight over head, etc.).

The above routines are just a couple examples of how you can use this very unique style of training. Use your creativity and come up with your own. Think about what you’ve accomplished with these “mini” workouts completed throughout each day… You’ve increased your heart rate and pumped up your muscles 6-8 different times throughout each day, burning a lot of extra calories and stimulating your metabolism.

Even though each “mini” workout was a very short duration, you’ve accumulated lots of repetitions for almost every muscle throughout your entire body, and you didn’t even have to break a sweat during any of the “mini” workouts. And there’s hardly any excuse for not being able to take a 2-minute break once per hour and do a couple of exercises.

Another benefit of this style of training is that now you don’t have to devote any time before or after work to going to the gym because you already got your workouts little by little throughout the day. You’ve now got some extra free time on your hands!

Try this type of routine out for 3-4 weeks and then go back to your normal gym routines. I think you’ll find that it was a great way to break out of a plateau and stimulate new results in your body. You can try mixing in a cycle of these “mini” workouts every couple of months to keep things fresh.

Keep in mind that this is only one method of training and doesn’t mean that you should only stick to this method for eternity. You will hit a plateau on any given training method, so I’d recommend just rotating it into your arsenal of various training methods. And by all means, don’t worry so much about what other people think…have the courage to try something a little different. In the end, you’ll be the one laughing back at all of the “blubber-bellies” that are giving you funny looks while they eat their donuts!

If you liked these training ideas, my internationally popular ebook The Truth about Six Pack Abs contains gobs and gobs more innovative training ideas to lose stubborn body fat and carve out a rock hard set of abs.

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