May 16, 2013 by Monica

How to get most out of your Creatine – what form, dose and supplementation strategy?

Creatine is one of the few dietary supplements that have a very solid scientific support for its efficacy in increasing strength, explosive performance and muscle mass. So the question in not whether it is effective, but rather how to supplement it to reap maximal effectiveness?

There are several theories on how to take creatine; some say your should load and then lower the dose, while others say you can get good results by a low dosage regimen without loading. Yet others say you should cycle the creatine and take breaks from it in between cycles. And then we have the issue of dosages and how to ingest it. In addition there is a lot of confusion about the myriad for creatine forms that claim to be superior over the golden standard creatine monohydrate. Are the new fancy creatine-super-duper formulations really worth their price? Let’s review it all here and see what the research is saying.

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March 30, 2013 by Monica

A NEAT way to fat loss

Part 1 of 3 on the deleterious effects of too much sitting

Are you struggling to lose that extra flab and all those nasty calories that seem to be glued to your waistline? Do you ever wonder why, despite your hard training and dieting, you still have those annoying love handles? Then maybe you should try to implement the NEAT way to fat loss…

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March 18, 2013 by Monica

Caloric Restriction for Anti-Aging and Longevity – does it work in non-obese folks?

If you are following the anti-aging media news, you’ve heard about the alleged benefits of calorie restriction (also known as food restriction or diet restriction). Studies in numerous species have demonstrated that reduction of calories 30-50% below ad libitum levels of a nutritious diet slows the aging process, increases lifespan, reduces the incidence and delays the onset of age-related diseases, improves stress resistance, and decelerates functional decline.

In a previous article http://www.brinkzone.com/general-health/calorie-restriction-vs-the-bodybuilding-lifestyle/ Will pointed out that practicing calorie restriction counters the bodybuilding lifestyle. Here I will explain that it not only counters the bodybuilding lifestyle, but also is makes it impossible to implement and reap the benefits of other healthy lifestyle habits, and in addition brings along several pitfalls and negative health consequences in humans.

While animal studies can and do shed light on what’s going on at mechanistic level, we have to be very careful and resist the temptation to extrapolate results from animal experiments to humans. Here I will make the case for that we can age gracefully and successfully and increase our health span and “youngevity” without having to starve ourselves for life.

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December 31, 2012 by Monica

Blood Cholesterol Testing – don’t let the simple numbers fool you!

The mere word cholesterol gives many goose bumps. We have been indoctrinated since the well-known Framingham Studies that the higher the blood cholesterol level, the higher the risk of heart disease ^1-3. However, much has been discovered in medical research since then. Today there is compelling evidence showing that strict reliance on the traditional cholesterol test that is routinely run in the clinic can falsely tell you and your doctor that you’re fine, even if you aren’t. Here you will find out what to look for…

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December 15, 2012 by Will Brink

Setting The Record Straight on the Waxy Maize Craze.

The Facts on Waxy Maize, Vitargo, and other carb sources

As found on Muscular Development Magazine

A few years back a bunch of studies supported the concept that both the timing and type of carbohydrate athletes used could have positive effects – for both aerobic and anaerobic oriented athletes. Since then there has been a rush to find the “best” pre and post workout carb source. As is typical for the bodybuilding/fitness industry, a new “miracle” carb source burst onto the market almost monthly promising muscle growth second only to an Anadrol* enema, but I digress… The point being, there’s been a great deal of information, misinformation, and down right disinformation, regarding these “amazing miracle anabolic” carb sources. The pinnacle of which, is Waxy Maize Starch (WMS), but before we get to that, let’s back up a second to recap why the focus on these carb sources.

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October 6, 2012 by Will Brink

FatGripz Review :Increase arm and grip strength

So I’m at the Arnold Classic recently and saw the FatGripz booth; another one of those “why the hell didn’t I think of this?!” simple products that adds so much potential value to a workout for the cost, it’s a ‘no-brainer’ to own them. While at the booth, I did a few sets of chins ( see minute 3:20 of Arnold Classic Vid) and as usual, I could feel it in my grip, and arms much more so then if doing it without the FatGripz. They are one of those uber simple cost effective products that simply works in an increasingly overly complicated world, but more on that shortly…

Here’s a simple fact of life: if your back and legs can dead-lift 700lb, but your grip ends at 300lbs, your dead-lift is 300 lbs. Thus, your grip is truly the final link in the chain that dictates what you can pull off the ground or what you can hold onto in general, be it a chin up bar, barbell, or other objects. Your grip is your ultimate contact with the weights. For strength athletes, such as power lifters, strongman competitors, and others, grip strength is king. Without it, you are no place. When it comes to strength, you are only as strong as your weakest link and most strength athletes know that fact all too well.

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September 26, 2012 by Dr Peter Chiang

Ankle Sprains: A Chiropractic Approach

Most people will visit the chiropractor for back and neck injuries, but although it is not as well known, is that chiropractors can also treat sprains and strains. The body tends to compensate for any injury or weakness, causing additional problems in areas that were previously healthy. A person who sprained their ankle may end up developing back pain because the body has slightly adjusted their walking stride. A chiropractor can locate and treat these areas successfully before they become problematic.

A sprain occurs when a ligament or joint capsule is stretched beyond its normal range of motion. Severe sprains may even involve a tear in the ligament. The most common areas to suffer a sprain are the ankles, knees, wrists, and feet. Sprains are often caused by lifting heavy items, inadequate stretching or warm up before physical activity, or trauma that causes the joint to move out of position and overstretch the ligaments. These traumatic injuries are common in contact sports such as football and may also occur in non-contact sports where the person jumps and lands wrong, stretching the knee and ankle ligaments.

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September 6, 2012 by Will Brink

Does Your Forum Suffer ‘Toxic Forum Syndrome’?

Successful Internet Forums For Owners And Users

By Will Brink

As a student of human nature, as well as a long-time forum member and owner, I am in a good position to offer some general thoughts (call it a rant if you like!) and guidelines regarding ‘net based forums. I guess I am as qualified as any to comment from the user’s side of the equation. Currently, I read or post to a least a dozen forums per day, some revolving around my line of work and others related to my hobbies and interests: fitness, health, bodybuilding, longevity, weight loss, audio-video, military, law enforcement, firearms—to name a few.

I can also comment from the owner’s side, as my two forums—Fat Loss Revealed and Bodybuilding Revealed—have over 10,000 active members. Not the largest forums on the ‘net for sure, but not small time either.

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August 27, 2012 by Monica

Nitrate supplementation – ramp up the less well-known NO synthesizing pathway to boost performance and health

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Nitric oxide (NO) boosting “pre-workout” supplements based on arginine are currently in the rage among many athletes, particularly bodybuilders and strength athletes. While it’s true that arginine is a nitric oxide (NO) precursor and NO is a potent vasodilator ¹^,², most studies in healthy adults have not unequivocally supported the marketing hype that arginine supplementation increases muscle blood flow and/or performance in healthy folks ^3-5. In my previous article “The L-Arginine Paradox” I explained why.

In this article I will cover the less well known, albeit highly significant, NO generating process, the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway. This “new” NO producing pathway holds a lot of promise and supplements that target it will probably will replace the current arginine based NO boosters in the near future….The nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway is especially interesting in that it not only has performance enhancing effects in non-diseased people, but also offers cardiovascular protection.

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August 20, 2012 by Monica

The Arginine Paradox – find out if arginine based NO boosters really work for you

Some of the most popular supplements today are the so called pre-workout nitric oxide (NO) boosters ^{1, 2}. These contain a panoply of ingredients, but the main one is arginine. The rationale goes that arginine is a nitric oxide (NO) precursor and NO is a potent vasodilator ^{3, 4}, which in turn supposedly will boost blood flow to exercising muscles, performance and recovery. And while arginine supplementation is beneficial for various clinical populations (see below), studies in healthy adults have not unequivocally supported the marketing hype surrounding arginine supplementation and nitric oxide boosters ^{1, 5, 6}. Why? Let’s take a look under the hood…

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