Oddly enough, even though I have a TON of unique exercises, I have training sessions where I do nothing but basic stuff and don’t even TRY to come up with new twists on anything. Sometimes, I just take an exercise I know and hammer away at it. Some the most effective programs I use (including my Muscle Explosion program), have phases where there is almost NO variety at all! Specifically, in the Muscle Explosion program, I have a 5 day phase where you’re doing just ONE exercise the whole 5 days!

And it works like crazy.

The basic exercises are basic for a reason….they work and work well!

So how much training variety do I recommend? And when would I suggest switching things up?

Well, that’s a tough question – it depends completely on the individual, their goals and their situation.

If it’s a beginning trainer, extreme variety is not necessary. In fact, they’ll do best by sticking to the basic movements for at least a few months. When they learn squats, their body is going to take a long time to develop the proper groove and the proper execution (hopefully!). That’s actually one of the main reasons I’ve haven’t targeted this site to the beginning trainer – there’s just too much info and variety here. The beginner will end up bouncing around too much and never develop any groove with anything!

The beginner improves strength by improving nervous system efficiency, not by increasing muscle size. It’s why a beginner’s arms will shake like leaves when they do bench presses the first few times! The nervous system isn’t co-ordinated and the signals are all over the place. As that co-ordination improves, the movement gets smoother.

So back to the main question. If you’re more intermediate to advanced, I would recommend switching up your main exercises at least every three to four weeks. Even more advanced trainers who have a solid base of experience can and should change things up even sooner.

By that, I don’t mean do 5 exercises for each bodypart every day to “hit all the angles”. That’s not necessary and can actually work against you. Training variety should have a purpose. Doing inclines then flat then declines on the bench press in one session is total overkill. Doing that over the course of 3 different sessions – better idea.

Another point with too much training variety is a lack of actual training EFFECT. How do you know if you’re improving if you never do the same exercise again any time soon! Your body won’t know what to adapt to and won’t adapt to anything.

That’s the reason that 5 day bit I mentioned above is so effective – you’re only giving the body ONE thing to adapt to! Another reason that’s so effective is that you’re practicing the movement so much, you’re developing the neurological specificity and efficiency similar to what a beginner sees in their first weeks of training. HUGE strength increases in that time are the norm.

Don’t get me wrong…training variety is also the spice of life! Personally, I get easily bored with the basics, even though I use them regularly. I’m always looking for better ways to attack the muscle – not just for the sake of doing something different but trying to find ways to make things work better. I encourage you to do the same!

If there’s anything that this site is about, it’s encouraging you to throw away the “rules” of lifting and try things out for yourself. Don’t believe a thing I write – try it for yourself and see if I’m right!

I have a feeling you’re on this site BECAUSE you have a curious mind and love this kind of physical and intellectual exploration of training practices.

So when you’re using these exercises, try everything but keep a note on what works BEST for you. Then work the crap out of THOSE exercises. Not everything works equally well for everybody but when you find something good, train it! Use it again and soon so you DO get a training effect and see direct improvements in it.

A good rule of thumb is repeat 75% of your exercises then 1/4 of the time, add in something new and see if it’s good enough to replace what you’re using.

But on a side note, if the program you’re using calls for specific exercises for a specific purpose, USE those exercises. I know for many of my programs, I use specific exercises as tools, for example, flyes to hit the stretched position of the chest. A cross-over won’t work there.

Experiment within the confines of the program you’re using. Heck, sometimes what I’ll do is take a time when I’m between programs and do a general bodypart split. In that split, I will purposefully try and invent things. I’ll have a week where I don’t do anything twice! These are the fun weeks for me, even when I find stuff that kills me. This is what keeps me going mentally and helps me find things that I’ll work into a program in the future.

Bottom line, don’t go for extreme variety all the time, even if you’re advanced. You need some consistency to achieve a good training effect otherwise the body won’t know what to adapt to!

When Can You Have TOO Much Training Variety? is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

PS, Dr. Lopez will be a guest on BrinkZone Radio shortly to cover Vitamin D and other topics.

By Hector Lopez, MD, CSCS, FAAPMR

Recently, the media seems to have jumped all aboard the anti-fish oil bandwagon full stop.

A recent study published in September of 2012 [1] stated that perhaps fish oil is not that good, and the media is already foaming at the mouth ready to start the finger shaking, and even stating that “the proof is in.” But, is that really so?

In the meantime, here is the video from ABC News
  to watch to give you an idea.

I have been asked for my professional opinion on the recent attention drawn to the September 2012 systematic review and meta-analysis published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by Rizos EC et al [1].
As you can imagine, the last couple of days have been very busy answering emails/calls from various stakeholders in the dietary supplement and omega-3 fish oil industries. The stakeholders range from friends and family to fellow scientists and colleagues, to high-level executives and principals of client companies. I have a few things to say about the manner (at times disingenuous) in which the meta-analysis has been misrepresented.

Multiple video segments from major media outlets have even quoted some of their experts as saying,
“they would rather the public spend their money elsewhere as the proof is in with this study.”
Perhaps the media would feel more at ease suggesting that the public consume another box of “whole-grain” yet low fiber, highly processed cereal, “natural fruit juice”, or better yet, “linoleate-rich vegetable oils full of omega-6 fatty acids” (hey they are polyunsaturated too, right)?

I don’t mind that the media shares their opinion, but at the very least, do what is possible to educate the very audience that they are obviously trying to persuade. I find it hard to believe the public would not be interested in some other material facts to allow consumers to make an informed decision, so here are my top 11 facts that the media ignored.

1)    Out of over 3600 clinical studies and citations retrieved, ONLY 20 were used in this analysis.

2)    The absence of statistically significant association in these 20 studies between omega-3 and CVD (cardiovascular disease) endpoints does not prove that a significant diminution of CVD with omega-3 does not occur.

3)    These 20 studies were on a diseased population, that were already using multiple cardiovascular (cardioprotective) drugs such as beta-blockers, statins, ACE inhibitors, niacin, fibrates, resins, and anti-thrombotics…all of which clearly confound outcomes/ endpoints of interest to dilute and washout effects of long chain-omega-3 PUFA. Fish oil at this low dose was likely “too little, too late” to show any statistically significant benefit. Hence, these studies were essentially underpowered from the start.

4)    A similar meta-analysis was published earlier this year on the effect of fish oil for secondary prevention of cardiovascular events and mortality [2]…clearly, the older studies showed benefit as these patients were likely not on as many cardio-protective medications.  Hence, there was less of a “washout” in effect size (magnitude of difference between intervention group and placebo).

5)    A mean dose of less than 1.4g of EPA + DHA was used in all 20 studies. This dose is typically far too low to compensate for the overabundance of omega-6 PUFA and imbalance in omega-6:omega-3 consumption in standard western diets. Not to mention that the form utilized in most of these studies was ethyl esterified (at these doses, the ethyl esterified form’s bioavailability may have been less than 48% contribution to plasma lipids vs. 85% of the EPA & DHA being incorporated into plasma phospholipids for triglyceride form). It’s no surprise that most studies showing benefit of omega-3 fish oil in heart disease have utilized at least 2g of EPA + DHA. Future studies should also take this into consideration. In addition, future studies should attempt to carry out prospective data collection beyond 2 years.

6)    No mention, consideration or control for background dietary intake of EPA/DHA or tissue/blood plasma fatty acid profiles. The researchers did not control for this important variable within each individual study included in this meta-analysis, and as a result there is no way to determine if placebo groups already had sufficient levels of omega-3 in their diet or tissue making it harder to demonstrate treatment effects of fish oil.
Determining plasma levels of EPA and DHA would ensure compliance with the studies included in this meta-analysis.

7)    Clearly, these 20 studies were not adequately powered to detect changes in the CVD endpoints with omega-3 long-chain PUFA, even if the benefits were in fact present.

8)    Despite all these limitations, based on the Confidence Interval data (geek speak for a way to use stats to determine a “real” event as opposed to having it happen by chance), there was still a “trend” toward cardioprotection via sudden death, myocardial infarction aka heart attack, cardiac and all-cause mortality.

Translation Doc?–
In English, the data in this article still trended toward decreased risk of various cardiovascular disease outcomes. However, those headlines wouldn’t be quite as juicy though.

9)    Sure, most Americans should eat more fish (in their whole-food diet), but honestly, how many actually do?  Where is the press coverage or meta-analyses looking at PCB/ Dioxin/ Persistent Organic Pollutants/ and Heavy Metal exposure? I suppose when this omega-3 story dies down, the environmental toxin exposure story can quickly fill that void.

10) The findings of this selective meta-analysis are in direct conflict with the totality of the scientific evidence that demonstrates a cardiovascular benefit from EPA and DHA in healthy populations, as well as in many of the populations with pre-existing CVD [3-10].
Consumers and health care providers alike continue to feel confident in the use of high-quality omega-3 fish oil for not only cardiovascular benefit, but also for supporting the health of just about every organ system in the body. The long chain omega-3 essential fatty acids found in fish oil are critical for everything from the cardiovascular system to the brain and nervous system, immune system, skin, joint and musculoskeletal tissues, to carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and beyond [11-19].

11) Finally, there is the issue of the potential mega-misrepresentation created by meta-analyses. It is evident that study selection criteria, as well as data extraction/synthesis may allow researchers to make assumptions of consistency in the design individual studies included in the meta-analysis.
As such, these assumptions may lead the authors –or worse, the less discerning media– to drawing erroneous conclusions.

Translation? They got it wrong!
 These erroneous conclusions then get virally disseminated throughout the general public. Doesn’t this string of events sound eerily familiar with sensationalism?

Bottom Line: As both a health practitioner (and a clinical researcher who has followed this area for almost 2 decades), the totality of the available clinical evidence supports the use of methods to increase one’s tissue HUFA levels of omega-3 relative to omega-6 to at least approximately 50%. One of the most convenient, reliable and safe tools to reach this goal is via the use of a high-quality fish oil supplement. It is a matter of assessing risk vs. benefit given the established formal scientific literature in conjunction with clinical experience and empirical evidence. Therefore, it is in fact based on the preponderance of existing data on long-chain omega-3 intake for multiple organ systems (including the cardiovascular system) that the media and general consumer should not dismiss this nutrient for OPTIMAL health.

Unfortunately, the manner in which the media interpreted this meta-analysis results in many individuals deciding to avoid fish oil supplementation who could otherwise have benefited substantially from it.

Evidence-based medicine that relies strictly on the results of systematic reviews, Cochrane analyses and meta-analyses tend to oversimplify the interpretation of data with broad assumptions within the inclusion/exclusion criteria that the studies included in the analyses have a high degree of homogeneity. The sad truth is that many studies included in these analyses do NOT in fact have a high degree of homogeneity as I pointed out in the above reference.

To conclude, I will continue taking (and recommending) fish oil myself, while paying attention to my overall background diet.

About Dr Lopez

Dr. Lopez is recognized for applying his uniquely diverse expertise in spine and sports medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, nutrition & exercise science, and clinical research to improving not only the health and quality of life in his patients, but also athletic performance in recreational and elite athletes. Dr. Lopez received his specialty training at the world-renowned Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine-Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He is currently a principal and the Chief Medical Officer of the Center for Applied Health Sciences, a multidisciplinary Clinical Research Organization in Ohio, and Supplement Safety Solutions, a Nutravigilance, Quality Assurance/Safety and Regulatory Compliance consulting company focused on dietary supplement/nutraceutical industry. An international speaker, author of popular press and peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, product developer, he consults for the nutritional supplement industry and professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and Martial Arts. You can follow him on Twitter at @DrHectorLopez  / www.drhectorlopez.com / www.appliedhealthsciences.org

REFERENCES:

1. Rizos EC, Ntzani EE, Bika E, Kostapanos MS, and Elisaf MS. Association Between Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation and Risk of Major Cardiovascular Disease Events. A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2012; 308(10):1024-1033.

2. Kwak SM, Myung SK, Lee YJ, Seo HG; Korean Meta-analysis Study Group. Efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplements (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2012 May 14;172(9):686-94.

3. Yokoyama M, Origasa H, et al. JELIS Investigators. Effects of eicosapentaenoic acid on cardiovascular events in Japanese patients with hypercholesterolemia: rationale, design, and baseline characteristics of the Japan EPA Lipid Intervention Study (JELIS). Am Heart J. 2003;146:613-620.

4. Kris-Etherton PM, Harris WS, Appel LJ. The Nutrition Committee. AHA Scientific Statement. Fish consumption, fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2002;106:2747-2757

5. von Schacky C. n-3 Fatty acids and the prevention of coronary atherosclerosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71:224S-227S.

6. Daviglus ML, Stamler J, Orencia AJ, Dyer AR, Liu K, Greenland P, Walsh MK, Morris D, Shekelle RB. N Engl J Med. 1997;336:1046-1053.

7. Burr ML, Fehily AM, Gilbert JF, et al. Effects of changes in fat, fish and fibre intakes on death and myocardial reinfarction: Diet and Reinfarction Trail (DART). Lancet. 1989;2:757-761.

8. Albert CM, Hennekens CH, O’Donnell CJ, Ajani UA, Carey VJ, Willett WC, Ruskin JN, Manson JE. Fish consumption and risk of sudden cardiac death. JAMA. 1998;279(1):23-28.

9. Mozaffarian D, Wu JH. Omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease: effects on risk factors, molecular pathways, and clinical events. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011. 58(20):2047-67.

10. Marchioli R, Levantesi G, Macchia A, et al. GISSI-Prevenzione Investigators. Antiarrhythmic mechanisms of n-3 PUFA and the results of the GISSI-Prevenzione trial. J Membr Biol. 2005 Jul;206(2):117-28.

11. Simopoulos AP. Omega 3 fatty acids in health and disease and in growth and development. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991;54:438-463.

12. Belluzzi A, Boschi S, Brignola C, Munarini A, Cariani G, Miglio F. Polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory bowel disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71:339S-342S.

13. Mills JD, Hadley K, Bailes JE. Dietary supplementation with the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid in traumatic brain injury. Neurosurgery. 2011. Feb;68(2):474-81.

14. Black KL, Culp BR, Randall OS, Lands WEM. The protective effects of dietary fish oil and focal cerebral infarction. Prostaglandins. 1979;3:257-268.

15. Milte CM, Sinn N, Street SJ, Buckley JD, Coates AM, Howe PR. Erythrocyte polyunsaturated fatty acid status, memory, cognition and mood in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2011 May-Jun;84(5-6):153-61.

16. Kremer JM. Effects of modulation of inflammatory and immune parameters in patients with rheumatic and inflammatory disease receiving dietary supplementation of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids. Lipids. 1996;31:243S-247S.

17. Smith GI, Atherton P, Reeds DN, Mohammed BS, Rankin D, Rennie MJ, Mittendorfer B. Dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Feb;93(2):402-12.

18. Rodacki CL, Rodacki AL, Pereira G, et al. Fish-oil supplementation enhances the effects of strength training in elderly women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Feb;95(2):428-36.

19. Sinn N, Milte CM, Street SJ, et al. Effects of n-3 fatty acids, EPA v. DHA, on depressive symptoms, quality of life, memory and executive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month randomised controlled trial. Br J Nutr. 2011 Sep 20:1-12.

Omega-3 Madness: Clarifying Recent Research is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

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.

Creatine forms

When creatine first came out on the market it was creatine monohydrate. This is also the form of creatine that has been used in all the scientific studies that showed its performance enhancing and muscle growth stimulating effects. Because creatine rapidly became so popular, manufacturers came up with different creatine variants and started to make specific claims that their creatine formula is superior. Not so! Don’t let yourself get fooled and ripped off! Stick to the golden standard creatine monohydrate.

For more info on different creatine forms and formulation, check out

Will Brink’s article “The Creatine Grave Yard”

Creatine supplementation protocols

There are basically three creatine supplementation protocols. Here’s an overview of them with recommended effective dosages:

Loading followed by Maintenance protocol

Loading phase:         Supplement with 0.3 g creatine/kg body weight/day (0.14 g/lb/body weight/day) for 5-6 days to maximize muscle creatine stores.

Maintenance phase:  Supplement with 0.03 g creatine/kg body weight/day (0.014 g/lb/body weight/day) thereafter to maintain elevated muscle creatine stores.

Low-Dose protocol

Supplement with 3-5 g creatine per day for at least 8 weeks to increase muscle creatine stores.

Cycling protocol

Load/maintain for 12-16 weeks, and then take a break for 3-6 weeks. After the break, start another cycle with the loading phase followed by a maintenance phase followed by a break for a desired numbers of cycles.
Most studies that have shown performance enhancing effects used the creatine loading protocol. The purpose the creatine loading is to maximize creatine storage in the muscles. The magnitude of the increase in muscle creatine content is important because studies have reported that performance improvements are dependent on the increase in muscle creatine (1, 2). In a typical creatine loading phase, a dose of 20-30 g creatine (5-6 g taken four times per day) is taken during 5-6 days (3, 4).

To find out your optimal loading dose, multiply your body weight in pound (lb) with 0.14 (or multiply your body weight in kg with 0.3). Thus, for a male weighing 220 lb (100 kg) and a female weighing 140 lb (63 kg), the appropriate loading dose is 30-31 g (220×0.14 or 100×0.3) and 20 g (140×0.14 or 63×0.3), respectively.

Thereafter,a maintenance dose is taken with the purpose to maintain the elevated muscle creatine stores. A maintenance dose corresponding to 0.03 g/kg/body weight/day (0.014 g/lb/body weight) is enough to maintain elevated muscle creatine levels (4).

To find out your optimal maintenance dose, multiply your body weight in pound (lb) with 0.014 (or multiply your body weight in kg with 0.03). Thus, for a male weighing 220 lb (100 kg) and a female weighing 140 lb (63 kg), the appropriate maintenance dose is 3 g (220 x 0.014 or 100 x 0.03) and 2 g (140 x 0.014 or 63 x 0.03), respectively. Some people might prefer a slightly higher maintenance dose of 5 g per day. Cessation of creatine maintenance doses after loading causes muscle creatine stores to return to baseline within 4-6 weeks (4-8).

An alternative supplementation protocol is to ingest 3-5 g creatine per day (with no loading phase) for at least 28-30 days (4, 9). Studies have shown that this method can increase muscle creatine levels as effectively as the creatine loading (4). However, this low-dose creatine supplementation will result in a more gradual and slower increase in muscle creatine levels compared to the more rapid loading protocol, and it will therefore take longer before any performance enhancement will be noticeable. Thus, the constant low-dose creatine supplementation protocol is only beneficial for people who cannot do the loading phase because of for example a busy working schedule. Also, while loading dosages of 20-30 g creatine per day are well tolerated in the majority of individuals, some can experience gastrointestinal upset (for example diarrhea) when large daily dosages of creatine are consumed(10-12). For those people, the constant low-dose creatine supplementation protocol is the way to go. Some discomfort can occur if creatine is incompletely dissolved before ingestion (12). Thus, make sure to dissolve the creatine powder properly, especially if you are taking larger doses.

Listen to Will Brink’s take on loading versus not loading.

Finally, we have the cycling protocol of creatine supplementation (13-15). One argument behind creatine cycling is that it will keep the body’s ability to synthesize creatine, intact. However, while the body’s endogenous synthesis of creatine (which amounts to about 1 g per day (16, 17)) is decreased during creatine supplementation (8), cessation of creatine supplementation merely causes the creatine levels in the body to return to baseline (4, 5). If creatine supplementation were to permanently decrease the body’s capability to synthesize creatine, the creatine levels in the body would have dropped below baseline (pre-supplementation) levels, which would have caused an increased fatigue and loss of strength. This does not happen (5, 6, 8, 14, 18, 19). Thus, cycling of creatine supplementation has no scientific foundation and is completely unnecessary. It confers no advantage over loading + chronic maintenance. Continuous creatine supplementation without cycling actually might confer multiple health benefits (which I will cover in a separate article).

For more check out Will Brink’s great video on creatine cycling.

The Importance of dissolving your creatine before ingestion

This is the most common mistake people who take creatine do; they put it in their protein shakes and scoop it down. However, this isn’t a very smart thing to do because creatine has to be dissolved in order for the body to absorb all of it. This will also prevent stomach upsets. And to dissolve creatine, it has to be put into warm (not boiling!) water and stirred. If you cannot get really warm water from the tap (or if you are drinking bottled water), heat up the glass in the micro and then dissolve the creatine in it. I personally dissolve my creatine like this before going to the gym (I add in beta-alanine as well) and drink it when I get back home from the gym. By then it has cooled down to room temperature. I mix in 2 packets of stevia for flavor, as I don’t like to drink plain lukewarm water. Of course, you can mix in some protein powder if you want (just don’t put it in the fridge, see below).

Will has done a great video on the importance of dissolving creatine.

Usually, 5 g creatine should dissolve in about 2/3 glass of water. if you take more creatine, you have to add more water.

Note that you cannot put the glass with your dissolved creatine in the fridge, as it will cause the creatine to precipitate, which ruins the whole point of dissolving it in the first place. The reason for this is that, stated in scientifically terms, the solubility of a solute (creatine) is a function of the temperature of the solvent (water). Thus, dissolve your creatine AND drink it dissolved.

Bottom Line

When supplementing with creatine I therefore recommend the classic loading / chronic maintenance supplementation protocol. To get maximal effects ingest your creatine with high GI carbs and protein (13, 20). Also, take the majority of your creatine during the loading phase after your workouts, and during the chronic maintenance phase take the whole 3-5 g dose in the meal right after your workouts. The reason for this is that co-ingestion of creatine, protein and carbohydrates increases muscular retention of dietary creatine (13, 20). And when creatine is ingested after workouts the uptake of creatine into muscles is further increased, and results in even greater muscle thickness (3, 21-23). And remember to dissolve your creatine before you ingest it, which will prevent stomach upset and help your body absorb more of it.

About Monica Mollica – www.trainergize.com

Trainergize.com is an unbiased informational and motivational resource, presenting the latest health, performance and anti-aging related research findings to the public, in an easy to understand way.

While still under development, trainergize.com is committed to providing credible, objective, and reliable health information on a wide range of topics that impact your health and wellness and that of your family. The information is derived from scientific research studies published in top tier medical journals and/or presented at professional medical meetings.

Trainergize.com was founded and is maintained by Monica Mollica, who has a Bachelor and Master degree in Nutrition from the University of Stockholm / Karolinska Institue, Sweden, and has studied at renowned Baylor University, TX. Today Monica works as diet/health counselor, medical writer, health journalist, and website developer. She is also a fitness model.

As a young athlete, Monica realized the importance of nutrition for maximal performance at an early age, and went for a major in Nutrition at the University of Stockholm. During her years at the University she was a regular contributor to the Swedish fitness and bodybuilding magazine BODY, and she has written a book (in Swedish) “Functional Foods for Health and Energy Balance”, and authored several book chapters in Swedish publications.

After having earned her Bachelor and Master degree in Nutrition, she completed one semester at the PhD-program “Exercise, Nutrition and Preventive Health” at Baylor University Texas, Department of Health Human Performance and Recreation.

Having lost her father in a lifestyle induced heart attack at an age of 49, she is specializing in cardiovascular health, and primary/primordial prevention. She is a strong advocate of early intervention in adolescence and young adulthood, and the importance of lifestyle habits for health promotion at all ages.

Today, Monica is sharing her solid academic knowledge, real-life experience and passion by offering diet/nutrition/exercise/health consultation and coaching services, and working as a health journalist and medical writer on topics related to fitness, health promotion and anti-aging. She is currently in the process of writing a book “Successful Aging – it’s your choice”, and developing the related website www.SuccessfulAging.me

References:

1. Greenhaff PL, Bodin K, Soderlund K, Hultman E 1994 Effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle phosphocreatine resynthesis. The American journal of physiology 266:E725-730
2. Greenhaff PL, Casey A, Short AH, Harris R, Soderlund K, Hultman E 1993 Influence of oral creatine supplementation of muscle torque during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. Clin Sci (Lond) 84:565-571
3. Harris RC, Soderlund K, Hultman E 1992 Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clin Sci (Lond) 83:367-374
4. Hultman E, Soderlund K, Timmons JA, Cederblad G, Greenhaff PL 1996 Muscle creatine loading in men. J Appl Physiol 81:232-237
5. Vandenberghe K, Goris M, Van Hecke P, Van Leemputte M, Vangerven L, Hespel P 1997 Long-term creatine intake is beneficial to muscle performance during resistance training. J Appl Physiol 83:2055-2063
6. Febbraio MA, Flanagan TR, Snow RJ, Zhao S, Carey MF 1995 Effect of creatine supplementation on intramuscular TCr, metabolism and performance during intermittent, supramaximal exercise in humans. Acta Physiol Scand 155:387-395
7. Lemon P, Boska M, Bredle D, et at 1995 Effect of oral creatine supplementation on energetics of during repeated maximal muscle contraction. Med Sci Sport Exer 27:S204
8. Williams MH, Kreider RB, Branch JD 1999 Creatine: The Power Supplement. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers
9. Burke DG, Silver S, Holt LE, Smith Palmer T, Culligan CJ, Chilibeck PD 2000 The effect of continuous low dose creatine supplementation on force, power, and total work. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 10:235-244
10. Juhn MS, Tarnopolsky M 1998 Potential side effects of oral creatine supplementation: a critical review. Clin J Sport Med 8:298-304
11. Juhn MS, O’Kane JW, Vinci DM 1999 Oral creatine supplementation in male collegiate athletes: a survey of dosing habits and side effects. J Am Diet Assoc 99:593-595
12. Poortmans JR, Francaux M 2000 Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction? Sports Med 30:155-170
13. Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Antonio J 2007 International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 4:6
14. Kreider RB, Leutholtz BC, Greenwood M 2004 Creatine. In: Wolinsky I, Driskel J eds. Nutritional Ergogenic Aids. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 81-104
15. Kreider RB 2007 Creatine. In: Driskell J ed. Sports Nutrition: Fats and Proteins. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 165-186
16. Walker JB 1979 Creatine: biosynthesis, regulation, and function. Adv Enzymol Relat Areas Mol Biol 50:177-242
17. Wyss M, Kaddurah-Daouk R 2000 Creatine and creatinine metabolism. Physiol Rev 80:1107-1213
18. Kreider RB, Greenwood M, Melton C, Rasmussen CJ, Cantler EC, Lancaster S, Milnor P, Almada AL 2002 Long-term creatine supplementation during training/competition does not increase perceptions of fatigue or adversely affect health status. Med Sci Sport Exer 34:S146
19. Candow DG, Chilibeck PD, Chad KE, Chrusch MJ, Davison KS, Burke DG 2004 Effect of ceasing creatine supplementation while maintaining resistance training in older men. J Aging Phys Act 12:219-231
20. Steenge GR, Simpson EJ, Greenhaff PL 2000 Protein- and carbohydrate-induced augmentation of whole body creatine retention in humans. J Appl Physiol 89:1165-1171
21. Preen D, Dawson B, Goodman C, Beilby J, Ching S 2003 Creatine supplementation: a comparison of loading and maintenance protocols on creatine uptake by human skeletal muscle. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 13:97-111
22. Robinson TM, Sewell DA, Hultman E, Greenhaff PL 1999 Role of submaximal exercise in promoting creatine and glycogen accumulation in human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol 87:598-604
23. Chilibeck PD, Stride D, Farthing JP, Burke DG 2004 Effect of creatine ingestion after exercise on muscle thickness in males and females. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36:1781-1788

How to get most out of your Creatine – what form, dose and supplementation strategy? is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

This show I cover whey protein. If you think you know whey… What makes
whey unique from ALL other proteins tested? What’s the major differences between isolates and concentrates you need to know? What about claims of “grass fed” whey being superior to others? How does whey impact your health?

That’s just tip of the iceberg of what I cover in this latest BrinkZone Radio show!

Listen to this show HERE

BrinkZone Radio: Whey, What You NEED To know! is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

I have been diagnosed as having Parkinson’s, scoliosis and rheumatoid arthritis which have caused loss of muscle strength. I believe a regime of regular exercise can significantly retard further muscle atrophy and help increase tone and strength. Sumi has been a great help to me in achieving my goals.” Al

The effects of age related muscle-wasting (sarcopenia) may be counteracted by resistance training (J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Feb;25(2):326-33.), and we’re not talking about the little pink dumbbells, either. Somewhere around 60% of a maximal effort weight and higher reps, and even using free weights (not JUST the machines). For more information on the causes, prevention, and treatment for sarcopenia, there’s an extensive article on the BrinkZone HERE if interested in additional information.

Older trainees in the gym normally stick with familiar cardio machines, but if you’ve ever seen Al in action, you might want to clear some space. Al’s been a client of mine for over half a year now, and in that time he’s seen some impressive gains in strength and coordination.

Which is important when you also have Parkinson’s. He’s also in his 70’s.

Although Al’s determined personality makes our work outs fairly intense, trainees with Parkinson’s can use resistance training pretty much like everyone else. And just like anyone else, he got stronger with a basic program for resistance training.

Seated cable row

Working muscle coordination with battling rope.

My clients know how I harp on about maintaining a record (a training log) of your gym workouts. Al’s training logs showed the following improvements over the course of 7 months:

Hamstring Curl: Starting 60 lbs X 20 reps, Current 150 lbs X 15 reps

Leg Press: Starting 45 lbs X 20 reps, Current 135 lbs X 15 reps

Seated Cable Row: Starting 20 lbs X 20, Current: 60 lbs X 15 reps

Stability Ball Squat (a movement to be used with caution with Parkinson’s depending on the stage): Starting Bodyweight X 20 reps, Current: Bodyweight plus two 12 lb dumbbells in either hand X 20 reps

Glute Bridge: Starting Bodyweight X 20 reps, Current: Bodyweight plus Heavy Sandbag (45lbs) X 20 reps.

I could go on and on with his improvements in a variety of exercises all across the board, but you get the basic idea. If a man diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1998, AND now in his 70’s, is able to accomplish results like these (with a trainer like me, hey selfish plug here! ☺ ), ask yourself what’s stopping you?

-Sumi Singh is a personal trainer, online diet coach, and fitness instructor in the Austin area (www.shailafitness.com). She’s also the author of Stay at Home Strong, a complete program for fat loss and strength training designed for busy moms.

Strength Training with Parkinson’s is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

But what if you don’t have a cable machine to do this with?
Easy. You use a bench and a dumbell like this.

Start with a light dumbell (I’m using a 30 lb dumbell) and lay on your side on the bench, with your shoulders off the end. Hook your feet under the other end of the bench – this is important to do because it’s what will keep you anchored on the bench so you don’t roll off it when you move the dumbell out in front of you.

You can see in the pic below that I’ve got my feet wrapped around the end post of the bench and underneath the back edge of the bench. It’s another reason you don’t want to go too heavy with this – it can put some stress on the knees if you do. And if you do already have knee issues, be careful with this one – it may not be one that will work for you.

Here’s the start position…the dumbell is held in towards your chest, just like the cable in the cable version.

Now extend your arms, pushing the dumbell out in front of you. You’re hitting the core in the exact same way as the cable version only there’s no cable involved.

Repeat for 6 to 8 reps on one side then switch to the other side.

That’s basically it! It’s a simple exercise with just a few points to watch out for. Very effective for targeting the core with anti-rotational movement (which means a movement where the resistance is attempting to force your torso to rotate and you use the core muscles to resist that rotation).

Side-Lying Dumbell Pallof Press (no cables required) is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

Below is a recent review of my book The Sports Supplement Bible as seen in Muscle Insider Magazine. Muscle Insider reminds me a bit of old school Muscle Media with some  MuscleMag International influences thrown in, two publication I wrote for many times over the years. Check out their web page  and see if you agree. They have a collection of good writers. You can see more reviews of my book HERE if interested.

Book Review of The Sports Supplement Bible is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

This version of the Goblet Squat includes lateral movement to help develop the abductor muscles, specifically the gluteus medius and minimus.

The lateral movement pattern is rarely used in everyday life yet is extremely important in most physical activities and sports. There are few straight-ahead only sports outside of a running event.

To perform this one, you’ll get set up in the Goblet position, hands underneath the top plates of a vertical dumbell.

Then take a step a few feet directly out to the side.

Now come down into a squat.

Push back up using that wide leg to get back into the start position.

Then step out to the other side.

Push back up with that outside leg and then repeat the sequence.

This exercise is excellent for developing your abductor muscles (aka the ones that move the leg away from the mid-line of the body) as well as the gluteus maximus and thigh muscles.

In addition, as I mentioned, this exercise does work the support muscles of the core (and shoulders).

Side Step Goblet Squats for Lateral Movement Pattern Leg Training is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

Arm Training With Brian Fillion & Slayer Barbell is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness

Learn the Facts on HIIT Training!

Brink Zone Radio – High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), overrated or the optimal form of exercise?

HIIT training has become very popular recently, but what is HIIT training? Who will benefit from it? What’s the difference between HIIT and interval training? Is it superior to aerobics? In this show we answer those and many other questions about HIIT training with researcher Dr. Abbie Smith-Ryan.

Listen to this show HERE

BrinkZone Radio Covers HIIT Training! is a post from: The Final Frontier In Bodybuilding , Fat Loss, Health & Fitness