Pro 10 BCAA Powder

If you're a regular to my blog then you'll know I like writing blogs on excellent supplements which you can use to benefit your training and reach the goals which you would like to reach, Pro 10 BCAA powder is another one of these. I never really used BCAA until three months ago when I just wanted to improve my gains slightly and ensure my recovery was efficient, ever since then I would never not have BCAA in my supplement regime.

First a little background for you on those who don't know much about BCAA. Branch Chain Amino Acids are the building blocks to protein, these are therefore known as the essential amino acids. The body needs these for protein synthesis to occur, basically repairing and building muscle. 8 of the 16 amino acids are produced by the body with a rest needing to be found in your diet, with more needed for those you workout as more repair to muscles are needed. BCAA are even better as they metabolise through the muscle tissue and not the liver therefore arriving straight at the source and not through the body, this is only unique to BCAA. The main three BCCA are leucine, isoleucine and valine.

So why do many people take BCAA? The most overwhelming reason for it is catabolic crisis.  This is mainly through as the body gets leaner and stores less body fat.The when the body gets tired it starts to break down muscle to use the amino acids as fuel. Meaning all those hours in the gym you are putting in are pointless as you won't see gains. However through the supplementation of BCAA this won't occur as they decrease the activity of the components of protein breakdown . This is the reason why I started taking BCCA as I was not seeing any further gains, whilst remaining lean, this however totally changed after taking this supplement.

When and how should you take this supplement then. I personally take a 2 gram scoop in my water whilst training as this is when muscle breakdown is most likely to occur and further taking one before bed as through the night recovery is the main aim in which this will aid in. The product itself is wonderful, and is tasteless with water. This product is therefore a must for those looking to build muscle and optimise their recovery, with Pro 10 being the best and with a price of  £23.99 for 500grams it's a bargain.

As always remember, 70% diet and 30% gym.

Jack

Cover Model Shape - Ryan Terry

As the summer is fast approaching everyone in the fitness industry are starting their prep to get their summer beach body ready for their summer holiday, me included. I therefore thought I'd check out Ryan Terry who's rapidly becoming huge deal in the fitness industry. He is the IFBB Europeans Men Physique Champion, UKBFF National Physique Champion and a former Mister International. He appears regularly on magazine front cover and this months front cover of muscle and fitness along with Steve Cook. When looking into Ryan in more detail I came across a series of videos on www.myvideopt.com where he explains how he gets into shape for his photo shoots, the shape everyone desires to look like when sunning it up on the beach over the summer. Here is just a quick brief outline of what was shown and mentioned on the videos but you defiantly need to check it out yourself.

The first thing he mentions is how for every photo shoot which he does he aims to look natural for, therefore no too ripped, just enought definition to allow for each muscle to have space and be identified. This is a great bit of advice as many people just go too far to the point where it just looks unrealistic. He goes onto add how he usually starts this programme six weeks before the photo shoot in order to add things in slowly and too not shock the body. This will help across the board and it means you can change everything allowing the body to adjust, especially through the nutritional side where you've got to start eating so much cleaner to get rid of that unwanted body fat.

Now the changes to his workout are as follows. Instead of the split routine which many people looking to build muscle use he breaks it down into more of an upper body and lower body workout. This is because he ups the intensity of the workout by using more of a circuit based workout. This in theory ups the intensity of the workout which in turn will burn unwanted body but without losing the muscle mass gained. His workout will still last for well over an hour which shows how intense the sessions must be but furthermore the effort and commitment it takes to get a body like his. The weight for each exercise is therefore dropped by a lot as your looking more for testing the endurance of the muscle, a rep range of 16-20.

Next nutrition which is the biggest obstacle you must get across to get in cover model shape and that is just by purely eating clean. Changing your macros by losing such a high percentage of carbs and switching the carbohydrates for vegetables and those of low gi values such as sweet potato. You need to not give into cravings and just stick to a clear and clean diet plan, which is where meal prep is so crucial. If you prepare your meals in bulk for the week or day you will one be able to eat little and often, boasting the metabolism and stopping the cravings from occurring. This will also allow you to feed the body the nutrients it needs to survive by just keeping it topped up. High protein in these meals is a must, with it taking up at least half of the meal. For those people out there who want a bargain aswell, cooking in bulk will save you a lot of money and also time. The Recipes for these meals, will be in another blog soon so watch this space.

So there it is. All you need to know on how to get that cover model look which you see Ryan Terry has splashed across magazines for the summer body you dreamed of. All you need to remember is 70% diet, 30% gym as always.

Jack 

Pro 10 - whey protein concentrate

Just thought I'd write quick review on a product I have been using in the last few months, pro 10's whey protein concentrate. The process of manufacturing this protein is by filtering the milk to just retain the protein losing the unwanted fat and carbohydrates. This in theory should allow for easy digestion and not give you that bloated feeling that various shakes give you. This does exactly that. It's very easy to drink and digest straight after a workout unlike other shakes I've had in the past where I literally find them hard to stomach.  The shake itself is naturally high in BCCA's and glumatic acid which will support recovery and gains.

Now onto the bit you all want to know, the nutritional value. Per you one scoop post workout weighing 35 grams you will receive 140 calories, along with 27.3 grams of protein and 2.1 grams of carbohydrate to which all is sugar. This is very high in protein, with many other manufactures no where near reaching that with their similar products. This shows the extremely good quality of this product. You can also get this in two flavours, strawberry or chocolate, I prefer the strawberry but both are very good. Now the most important, the price. For a 4kg bag of Pro10 whey concentrate it is £52.99!!!!! That is a bargain. No other manufactures match that price, and if they do the quality is not even close to this.

This is a must buy for those therefore who are looking to put on lean muscle mass, quick recovery or just a damm good bargain.

http://www.pro-10.com/en/Whey-Protein-Concentrate-4kg.html

I recommend this to all of my clients and they love it. But remember this will contribute to the diet which is the most important as it's 70% diet, 30% gym.

Jack

Keeping in shape whilst away on holiday

So with the Easter holidays coming up many of you are going to be going away on holiday but still want to keep in shape for the summer, just like you promised yourself for your New Years Resolution, well your reading the right thing. As I write this post I'm sitting in my hotel in Delhi thinking the exact same thing, so a few steps to keep you on for your goals.

Firstly what your eating is the most important. Now I know your on holiday and you've got to relax therefore meaning you can eat and drink what you want, but as always do it in moderation. If you can go for the healthier option then do. Now I know how hard that can be with most countries washing salads in their own water meaning it's not the best thing to eat, trust me I know I'm struggling in India at the minute. But try and pick up the protein options and not the fried food!!!! With the alcohol side go with the lighter calorific drinks, stay away from the beers and instead opt for a gin and tonic.

Now on to the workout, if there is no gym to do your usual workout and only your room then what do you do?? You can still do a muscle building workout in your hotel room with just your own bodyweight. You can use easy exercises like press-ups, squats, dips and burpees onto advance exercises such as crab walks, ice skaters, crocodile walks and even as far as handstand push ups. So putting this all into your hotel room circuit:
20 press ups,
length of your room crocodile walk,
30 squats, crab walk length of room,
10 burpees,
15 dips.
 For press ups, squats and dips use time under tension for a count of 4010. This will add that little bit more too your workout, helping with the building phase. Give this a try for four rounds, changing if needed the number of reps to your specification.

So next time your in your hotel room not knowing what to do for your phys for the day give this a go.

As always remember diet 70%, gym 30%

Jack

Steve Cook - hypertrophy training

I was recently on youtube just having a little browse when I came across a video from Steve Cook on hypertrophy training, to which I thought I'd share with you. Steve Cook is very popular in the fitness industry after becoming an IFBB pro Men's Physique Competitor, Optimum Nurtition and Bodybuilding.com spokesmen and of course the founder of Swoldier. Swoldier nation is Steve Cook's ethos on training in the gym but furthermore in life. Doing things the right way. This could be through setting goals to achieve in the gym but basically it underpins the drive that causes you to succeed in life. This has become massive with many followers and has really started to bring a different light on the muscle building community.

Back to hypertrophy training. You may ask what is difference between strength and hypertrophy training well, firstly hypertrophy training is a method of strength training and is intended to induce the fastest muscle growth in the shortest period of time without the use of anabolic steroids. There are four different principles to this type of training. Mechanical load is the first, meaning tension loading of the muscle through an exercise. Chronic stimulation which is the theory that a muscle does not need more than 48 hours to recover because within that 48 hours window recovery can still take place with the correct rate of protein and nutrition. Progressive load is also a principle through over time the tissue adapts and becomes resistant to the effects of the first principle, mechanical load. Therefore the load must be increased to overcome adaptation by the body thus, causing growth to occur. Strategic Deconsitioning or in other terms a rest week is where the body has reached a point at the end of a cycle where it can't tolerate more weight, therefore a set period of rest must be take, allowing for the muscle to grow. These are the basics to hypertrophy training, boring stuff out the way now how to put it into practice.

Now as I mentioned early Steve Cook has recorded numerous videos of him doing this type of training online and it is really interesting, where you shall defiantly see growth. He overloads the muscle through 8 reps for 8 sets of the same exercise only allowing for 30 seconds of rest between sets. This therefore allows very little rest for the muscle to recover in anyway, and depending on which exercise your performing can really get the heart pumping. The weight used would not be what you would normally use for an 8 rep set otherwise you will not be able to last for all 8 sets so bring it down by about 30%. He thens pushes it further through either superseting or tri-setting exercises later on into the workout. This becomes really difficult after the muscle is already quite fatigued. With the additional volume in your training hypertrophy will definetly bring about growth. Also if your someone that goes to the gym and just goes through the motions this will bring a stop to that and keep the body guessing of what might be coming next causing it to adapt and grow. I personally tried the 8x8 with arms at the end of my session today and I usually get a burn through supersetting on my arms but this just brought an all together different burn more of any ache, so you should definetly give it a try if you want something new with any workout.

Try this link to see his workout http://bit.ly/1fZhrca

Remember diet 70%, gym 30%

Jack

Paleo Diet

I mentioned in a earlier blog that I was going to post a blog up about Paleo and what it is all about. After cooking with my wonderful girlfriend this evening, the dish grass-fed steak with honey glazed roasted vegetables (pictured below) I thought I was in the right frame of mind to right about it.

Paleo is often associated with Crossfit and is based upon a presumed diet of Paleolithic humans or in other words the caveman. This therefore means food which would have been found 15,000 years ago when hunting and gathering, consisting of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts. This excludes any grains, diary products, potatoes, refined sugar and salt. This is therefore a very high protein, low carbohydrate diet, great for those who are trying to build a lean, well built physique. As you can see it isn't a diet but more of a way of life.

I follow aspects but am not a true follower of the diet as I still have oatmeal and milk in my diet, however for the summer holiday I am going to go totally Paleo to lower my body fat even more and look ripped for holiday. I'm sure there shall be pictures to follow!!!! 

See pictured below an easy meal comprising of grass-fed rump steak with roasted courgettes, carrots, mushrooms, red onion and tomatoes. With of course the addition of steamed broccoli, which I can just not get enough of. As you can see, his and her poritions, however she can still finish it all off.

So to conclude the Paleo diet is a very strict diet and not for the faint hearted, however it will reward those who are committed and who want to lose weight.

Remember 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

Training Chest - Rob Riches

The other day I was reading Rob Riches blog and I found his Chest overload article a really great read. For those of you who don't know who Rob Riches is he is a fitness competitor, model and author but most importantly is in amazing shape and is one of only a few top competitors who show people like me and you how he actually trains.

In this article he explains his chest routine, going through his warm up and how he structures his workout to get the best out of his chest. But the section I want to really draw you eye to is when it comes to dumbbell flies. Now I don't know about you and me but I usually go to failure on flies or a drop set, this fatiguing that muscle however, Rob says by this point your type 2b muscle fibres have not yet been used and this is where you will see the best lean muscle gains. He therefore employs a kind of rest and pause method to which I will do a blog on in the near future so be sure to check it out, anyway back to recruiting those type 2b muscle fibres. He then rests for around 20 seconds, allowing for the muscles to recover by 30% and perform a further few reps. This therefore pushing the threshold into a different capacity of the muscle, really feeling a burn.

I attempted this in the gym yesterday and have never felt the muscle had been worked so hard, so I thought I'd share this with you. This is great with any isolation exercise and it pushes the muscle beyond the fatigue threshold where the gains are really made. Be sure to check Rob Riches training articles out on his website.

www.robriches.com

Anyway keep the training up and when you want to try something a bit different, then I definetly recommend giving this a try.

Remember 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

Crossfit

With the Crossfit opens fast approaching us gearing up to the ever growing crossfit games in the summer, I thought I would do a quick post on some of my favourite crossfit workouts which can be used for those of you with little time for training in your busy schedules or, for those who want a quick, intense workout.

Crossfit is part of a strength and conditioning programme, which is designed for anyone of any ability or age. It consists of varied, high intensity functional movements which is why it has grown so huge in recent years and used by many organisations. From my own experience this has become massive in the Military as all of the movements are functional to what might be needed in a combat situation, this therefore conditioning the solider in the right way to prepare them for when their physical attributes are called upon. Furthermore it is a very fun way to train and providing the equipment is at hand, large groups can be trained together. Crossfit is also a community and a way of living, seen mainly through the 'Paleo Diet' which if you don't know what it is I will be explaining in a later blog.

The only one thing I have against Crossfit is the fact they give you a certain amount of reps of an exercise to complete in a certain time. Don't get me wrong this is great for motivating yourself against others however, with speed comes poor form and when lifting heavy things can go totally wrong. So just make sure you don't sacrifice speed for form!!!

So why not give it a try?? I'm not a true cross-fitter however I do incorporate it into my workout regime as a cardio session or on days when I've not got access to a gym, so it is great for those who can't afford a gym membership and yet still can have an amazing workout. These are a few which I like doing, but if not Crossfit HQ release a WOD (workout of the day) each day so you have your own training regime to follow right there. Don't forget these WOD's all have regressions for those that are just starting out, or movements can be changed and just use the format for people with specific goals.

Cindy
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats
As many rounds in 20 minutes

Fran
40kg thrusters
Pull ups
21-15-9 reps for time

Murph
1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 squats
1 mile run
For time

Jackie
1000m row
20kg thrusters (50 reps)
Pull ups (30 reps)
For time

Give these WOD's a go and let me know how you get on. The mixture of strength and cardio will definitely push you to the edge.

Don't forget 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

The Ideal Breakfast

It's no myth that breakfast is THE most important meal of the day and making sure you are fuelling your body with the right produce is vital for making sure your body is running on full capacity throughout your day even when you're looking to burn body fat. This, therefore, means that your macro nutrients need to be top of the agenda!

Introducing you to the legendary Banana Omelette! This is legendary because everyone I introduce it to  just falls in love with it. So, I suppose you want to know how to make this bad boy?...

Well, it's super easy. 

Ingredients:

1 Large Banana (mashed)

4 egg whites & 2 yolks 

1 scoop of oats

1 Scoop of Vanilla (or a flavour of your choice) Pro10 Whey Protein Powder

A dash of Soya Milk

Fry Light 1 Cal Spray

Honey (if desired)

Method:

Pre-heat saucepan on high heat.

Once banana is mashed in jug, add eggs and whisk until fluffy. Then, add a scoop of oats and Protein Powder along with the dash of milk, whisk until all powder has disappeared. 

Spray saucepan with Fry Light and add mixture, levelling it out to create an even omelette.

Allow this to cook for until colour changes around the edges. Slowly loosen edges before flipping the omelette in half, cooking until liquid has disappeared. 

Time to serve and add honey if you've got a cheeky sweet tooth. 

Enjoy!!! - I know you will. 

Remember 70% diet, 30% gym.

Jack

Creatine Monohydrate by Pro 10 supplements

Are you taking creatine? Have you ever thought about taking creatine? Well this is the one you must buy.

Creatine is found in red meat and tuna but through the process of cooking this is often lost. Your body also produces creatine, however not enough to see substantial gains as your metabolism often burns this, therefore this must be supplemented.

If your goals are to put on size and strength then creatine is a way to aid you for this. Firstly it helps when producing ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which, in turn with type 2b muscle fibres, will help with your explosive power which is why many weightlifters use this supplement. So if you want to get a new pb deadlift, squat or bench press then this supplement will definitely help!!!

Creatine infuses in the muscle, causing water retention to occur, thus helping protein synthesis; and lets not forget a muscle is made up 80% of water. Anyway no more boring stuff, but this will help you put mass on with a good, strength based routine. 

Now the creatine supplement you need to be taking is pro 10 creatine monohydrate. (See link below). I've taken many in the past which have upset my stomach or not dissolved well with water, but this doesn't do any of that. I have seen real gains in my strength as well, taking this supplement twice a day pre and post workout with pro 10 whey concentrate. It goes down a treat. Just follow the cycle of 7 weeks on and a week off, 5 grams a serving and you'll see results. My only one bit of advice would be drink plenty of water as this will aid the creatine to work its magic.

Don't forget 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

http://www.pro-10.com/en/creatine-monohydrate.html#

Fasted HIIT Training

There is a lot of controversy over fasted cardio in the morning, but I am personally a supporter of it.

Why people dislike this form of cardio is they are worried about losing muscle gains (anabolic state). Glycogen levels are very low in the morning, causing you therefore to have very little energy, therefore your body starts using muscle as energy. To help with this I use Pro10 's BCAA mix along with some maltodextrin, protecting against falling into a anabolic state and low energy levels.

Furthermore as a fasted programme you can use HIIT (high intensity interval training). This can be completed using lots of different ways of cardio, I prefer sprints. HIIT training is short bursts of effort with an elongated period of rest. The benefits to this from sitting on a bike for hours upon end is that it only has to be 20 minute session, great for those who hate doing cardio or those who find it hard to get to a gym. Furthermore like a sprinter, this recruits type 2 muscle fibres. These are the quick, explosive fibres  used which in turn can also help with your strength gains in the gym. Last of all is that it is proven to boast your metabolism, which is the one thing which is needed to burn unwanted body fat. You can therefore see why it's so good and why I do it 

HIIT Workout

10x60m hill efforts, 1 minute rest.

You can cater the workout for yourself, making the effort shorter or the rest longer. Also put things such as burpees in after each effort will really get the heart rate and fat burning up. So why not try this instead of long, low intensity fat burning cardio.

Remember 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

Salmon and Bulgur Wheat Risotto

Every thought of Bulgur Wheat as an alternative to rice when trying to cut body fat but still be able to hit the gym hard, then try this!!!

 Recipe for 2 servings

2 fillets of Salmon

75 grams Bulgur Wheat (dry state)

200 ml Vegetable stock

100 grams mushrooms

2 large pepper

1 small red onion

Small bunch of spring onion

Dash of soy sauce

Method

1) Dry fry mushrooms, pepper, red onion and spring onion until golden brown.

2) Add the Bulgur Wheat adding stock slowly whilst stirring. Then allow to simmer for a further 20 minutes.

3) Fry the salmon with a dash of soy sauce for 3 minutes each side, until a light pink colour.

Plate up and tuck in!!!!

Feeling that burn at the end of a session

I'm new to all this so go easy on me. A little about me, I'm a physical training instructor in the Army and a PT in my spare time!!

Ever wondered how to feel the burn at the end of a strength session without resorting to high rep, low weight sets?? Then cluster sets are your answer.

Let's take a dumbbell chest press for example. Reduce the weight down to which you would normally look at hitting those high rep sets at, however instead of just banging the 20 or so reps out, rest after every 5 reps, sort of like mini sets. But the muscles must still be under some kind of contraction, therefore hold the dumbbells just above your starting position for a count of 5. These therefore combines a kind of rest pause set and time under tension all in one. A great way to feel the burn. It can be used with any exercise.

Hopefully some of you will try this out

Remember diet 70%, gym 30%

Jack