Amino Acids and BCAA's

   If you are trying to build muscle, you are (or should be) taking supplemental protein. But, it isn't the protein your body really needs. When you take your protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids during the digestion process. These amino acids are small enough to be absorbed into the blood stream and can be used by cells to repair muscle tissue, creating new muscle. There are twenty-two identified amino acids. Eight of which are essential amino acids, meaning your body can not synthesize them and has to obtain them through diet (milk, meat, and eggs).

BCAA's.

   While all essential amino acids are important to build muscular strength and size, some are more important than others. Valine, leucine, and isoleucine are known as branched chain amino acids (BCAA's) due to their molecular structure, which features branched chains of carbon extending from their primary carbon structure. BCAA's are unique because they are metabolized in the muscle, and not the liver. When an adequate amount of BCAA's are ingested, they promote an increase in protein synthesis. This results in an increase of muscle growth and recovery time.

Amino Acids as an Energy Source.

   When glycogen levels in the liver and muscles are low (common in low-carb dieting or overall low amount of calories), your body will tap into amino acids as an energy source. This potentially burns up amino acids that could be used in protein synthesis and to promote the building of new muscle tissue and faster muscle recovery. It is common to take BCAA's before a heavy cardio workout to prevent the breakdown of any muscle tissue.

  After your workout, your body is breaking down muscle tissue with a deficit in protein synthesis. This is the best time to take BCAA's. They will increase your body's rate of protein synthesis and aid in repairing your muscle tissue. Otherwise, your body might not be getting the most out of every workout.

                                                                                                    -AO


Source:
MuscleandStrength.com
BodyBuilding.com

All About Beta-Alanine

pH Levels in Your Body.

   As described in "All You Need to Know About Creatine.", your muscles burn up ATP as an energy source when contracting. The harder you work your muscles, the more ATP is used and the more lactic acid is produced. These reactions release H+ (hydrogen ions) into our muscles, causing our pH level to drop. A decrease in the pH level of your muscles causes them to fatigue. Not being able to maintain forceful muscle contractions and perform at your body's highest level during your workout lowers your ability to overload your muscles and achieve better gains.

Carnosine.

   To get our bodies to perform at the highest level, we need to reduce the amount of H+ in our muscles and get the pH level back to the normal range. Our bodies work to keep our pH levels regulated using various buffering systems. These work by absorbing the excess H+ in all parts of our bodies. Carnosine is the first line of defense for absorbing the H+ in your muscles. However, your body can not break down carnosine correctly when ingested alone.

How Beta-Alanine Helps.

   Beta-Alanine plays a huge role in promoting the synthesis of carnosine. Studies show that after supplementing beta-alanine for just four weeks, carnosine levels increased by 42-65%. This increase in buffering capacity (carnosine) from supplementing beta-alanine will result in an increase in strength, lean body mass, and an overall decrease in muscle fatigue.

                                                                                                      
                                                                                                               -AO

Free Weights vs. Machines

   One of the most common questions of people new to weight training is the difference between free weights and resistance machines. The truth is, there are advantages and disadvantages of both. However, both will promote an increase in overall strength. This article will help you decide which form of training is right for you.

Free Weights.

   Free weights are proven to give quicker strength than the corresponding machine. Unlike machines, they force your body to incorporate extra muscles to stabilize the weight as you lift it. They are also a lot more versatile, to do the number of exercises you can do with one set of dumbbells, you would need more machines than most gyms have available. The motion used with free weights more often resemble the motion you are to use in athletics. Being 6'6" tall, I have found a lot of machines don't allow a large enough range of motion for me to get as much out of the lift as I would when using free weights.

   Although free weights have plenty of benefits, there are also some disadvantages to consider. When training with free weights, not using the correct form during a lift greatly increases your risk of injury. Lifts like bench press, squats, and cleans require you to have a spotter, not everyone who wants to workout has the luxury of having a partner everyday. Free weights are harder to isolate one muscle, since they require more muscles to perform the lift. When becoming fatigued during a lift, it is very easy to start using your momentum to get the rep, rather than a steady contraction of the muscle.

Resistance Machines.

   When using a weight machine, it is much easier to isolate a target muscle because they provide no room for error in your form (making them a much better choice when rehabilitating an injury opposed to free weights). Machines are easy to use, which make them very appealing for beginners. For those of you working out at home, machines take up a lot less space than a squat rack or a clean station. If you are new to the weight room, I recommend starting out on resistance machines until you are comfortable with your form and strength. 

   Although machines are very safe compared to free weights, they also have a lot of disadvantages. They do not offer much versatility (most machines only offer one exercise). A lot of people find that they do not offer enough weight for core lifts (bench press, squats). If you are looking for a weight training program at home, machines are much more expensive than free weights and aren't nearly as versatile.

   Overall, I have found that I get the most out of free weights in almost every way, but still use the machines when having trouble targeting specific muscles. I believe that having a variety of both resistance machines and free weights in your workout will give you the best results. But, like I said before, anyone who is new to weight training should start with the machines until they are comfortable with their form.

                                                                                              -AO

   

The Importance of Multivitamins

   Multivitamins are an extremely useful supplement that are often overlooked. Everywhere you look there are ads for creatine, protein, nitric oxide, pre-workouts, and fat burners, but you never see any for the most essential one, a multivitamin. Your body can not function without the basic vitamins and minerals you get from your diet. When you are training towards whatever your goal might be (weight loss, muscle gain, improving athletics), your body will be using everything your diet provides and still need more.

   The human body requires a wide variety of basic (but essential) vitamins to handle the tasks it is faced with everyday. When any of these vitamins are missing or deficient, your body's maximum performance goes down quick. It is extremely likely that if you're working out everyday (even with a healthy diet), your body is lacking one of these vitamins and is not getting as many results from your hard work as it could be.

Vitamins You Need.

A: Vision, bone growth, immune system, healthy skin.

B complex: Nerve function, vision, healthy skin, digestive system.

C: Immune system, protects cells.

D: What your body needs to process (and use) Calcium.

E: Antioxidant.

K: Healthy teeth, bones, and cartilage.

Zinc: Healthy immune system.

Minerals You Need.

Boron: Processing calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous.

Calcium: Bone health and strength.

Chromium: Insulin production.

Copper: Connective tissue strength.

Iodine: Synthesis for thyroid hormone.

Iron: Carries oxygen within proteins.

Lutein: Healthy eyes.

Lycopene: Promotes healthy heart and cholesterol levels.

Magnesium: Needed in over 250 biochemical reactions of your body.

Manganese: Co-factor in energy production.

Molybdenum: Kidney and liver health.

Nickel: Bone structure and healthy skin.

Potassium: Needed in autonomic body functions (heartbeat, brain function).

Selenium: fights many health problems.

Choosing a Multivitamin.

   Some multivitamins have very small differences, but usually contain the same vitamins and minerals. In choosing a multivitamin for you, you'll notice there are some that target people of a certain gender or age. A man's multivitamin will have certain ingredients that promote a healthy prostate and testosterone levels. A woman's multivitamin will more focus on skin, nails, and hair health. Multivitamins intended for young kids or teenagers will have more vitamins to promote healthy body development. 

   Multivitamins are the most important thing to have in your supplement plan. They are fairly cheap and will get you more out of your other supplements. No matter your age, gender, or fitness goals, there is little reason to not be taking a multivitamin.

                                                                                                  -AO

Why You Need to Take Fish Oil.

   Fish oil is made from the tissue of oily-fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, lake-trout, and sardines. The oil from this tissue contains Omega-3 fatty acids, an essential fatty acid that your body can not naturally produce. There are two notable Omega-3's in fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and decosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These two acids are believed to have health benefits ranging from reducing the risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease to combating depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

Fish Oil and Body Composition.

   Everybody who is trying to improve their body needs to be taking fish oil tablets. The Omega-3's in fish oil cut down excess fat in several ways. They've been shown to increase your insulin activity, which leads to less fat storage and more fat release. They increase the heat in your cellular "furnaces", making them burn more energy. Omega-3's allow your body to burn fat when other times it is unable to, like after a high-carb meal. Fish oil also increases the amount of leptin your body produces, which will increase your metabolism and decrease your hunger.
   One study done by the Nutritional Physiology Research Group in Australia showed that exercise combined with fish oil will burn significantly more fat then fish oil tablets or exercise alone. Researchers found that the Omega-3's in fish oil turned on the fat burning enzymes, but they needed an extra push - exercise. The best thing about this weight loss, is most of the fat loss in this experiment came from the abdominal region.
   In all these studies of the benefits of fish oil, all participants gained some muscle along with losing fat. This is theorized to be "nutritional partitioning", when your body takes calories that were originally directed to be stored as fat and put it towards building muscle instead. Omega-3's were also found to reduce inflammation in your muscles, reducing chances of injuries such as tendonitis and bursitus, and reducing recovery time of your muscles.

Other Benefits.

   Fish oil offers an abundant number of benefits to your body. One of the most appealing to me is the ability to fight cancer. Omega-3's might be able to help combat cancer by starving the cancer cells of linoleic acid. They can also heighten the reaction of the genetic material required to destroy cancer cells, while prevent the adhesion of cancer cells to other healthy cells.
   I've said it earlier, but fish oil is also a great way to enhance your mood. In recent studies, depressed patients given Omega-3 fatty acids have shown a decrease in anxiety, fewer sleeping problems, fewer sexual problems, and a decrease in overall sadness. Even in studies with healthy people, the Omega-3's showed mood-elevating properties by reducing stress and tension.
   Rather you are trying to build muscle, lose fat, or just trying to get healthier, there are too many facts and research showing the benefits of fish oil to not be taking it on a regular basis.


                                                                                                   -AO

All you need to know about Creatine.

What it is.

   Creatine is the most popular sports supplement used by athletes today. There are countless studies backing up the effectiveness and safety involved in taking it. Personally, I believe Creatine is a great, must-have supplement for any athlete. I have seen gains in myself and in others taking it that we would not have achieved without the help of the supplement. The most important thing with Creatine is to stay hydrated. 

How it works.

   Your body naturally makes Creatine in your kidneys, liver, and pancreas. It is used to rebuild ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which your muscles use as an energy source while contracting. This process turns the ATP into ADP (adenosine diphosphate) by splitting the bonds in the ATP molecule (producing the energy the cell uses to contract). However, the cell can not contract after the ATP is depleted. After the cell has burned it's "energy", it has to find a way to turn that ADP  back into ATP so it can continue using it as energy. Your body can regenerate the "fuel source" (ATP) using oxygen or Creatine.    

Why it's important.

   You can only go as far as your body can go. However, with Creatine, your body can go further. With each rep, the cells in your muscle are rapidly splitting the bonds in the ATP molecules in order to give off the energy you need to complete your set. Creatine will greatly increase the rate your body will be able to recycle the ADP molecules back into burnable ATP energy, thus giving you more/stronger reps.


Where to go from here.

   There are plenty of different Creatine supplements to choose from. Personally, I have always found the best results in BSN's CellMass.
This product gives the the highest quality Creatine at a highly recommended dosage. Although I haven't tried many other similar supplements, others I talk to and have tried CellMass have stuck with it. The Creatine CellMass provides is exactly what every athlete needs in their supplement if they want to increase pump size during your lift, muscle gains, and recovery time.





                                                                                                 -AO