THE POWER OF HEAVY POUNDAGE

21st Century bodybuilding has become a complicated business. It seems that to get anywhere in this game nowadays, you’ve got to have PHD level knowledge on everything from nutrition to kinesiology, from chemistry to, dare I say it, psychology. We’re constantly being bombarded with state of the art research about everything from metabolic typing to visualization, from chemical sub-structures to ECG graph print-outs. It’s enough to make an old school iron pumper growl in disgust. Fortunately for the several million of us who would like to keep things simple, however, there is one muscle building truism that will never change, no matter how far our sport meanders into technical triviality: to build huge and freaky muscle mass you’ve got to haul heavy poundage.

Go Heavy or Go Home
The principle of progressive resistance is the cornerstone of the sport of bodybuilding, and for good reason. Without it we simply will not progress. That’s because our bodies have an amazing adaptive ability. If you’re pumping 100 pounds on the tricep push-down for 10 reps, it won’t take your body long to get used to that level of stress. When it does, it won’t have any reason to respond and the process that, if supported by proper rest and feeding, leads to bigger muscles will never get started. That is why you need to be lifting heavier and heavier weights progressively to keep packing muscle onto your frame. To put it bluntly, if you’re not pushing the poundage to the edge of your ability, you’re pretty much wasting your time. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve got to increase the weight on the bar each set. That is only one way to make the weight feel heavier. There are a whole host of intensity techniques that will also do the trick, such as reducing rest between sets or doing drop sets. Yet, increasing the weight progressively is an essential ingredient that must not be side-stepped.

The Great Rep Debate
Go heavy for 6-10 reps to build mass, and go light for 15 to 20 reps to get cut.
That apparently sage piece of bodybuilding advice has been doing the rounds for longer than most of us have been on the planet. Unfortunately for the unsuspecting, it’s a load of baloney. It has led a lot of mass hungry gym neophytes to while away their gym time with light weights and high reps, get absolutely nowhere and give up in despair, convinced that they just aren’t genetically disposed to building muscle. One the other side of the ledger there are those hardcore individuals who are convinced that the only way to get big is to max out on every set, keeping the reps way down in the one to three range. After all, they argue, a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle, so lets get as strong as we possibly can. It’s hardly surprising, then, that there’s a lot of confusion around the trenches regarding the ideal rep range. So, what’s the truth about this rep thing?

To build muscle we must firstly place maximal stress on that muscle. Performing one repetition of a movement with a maximum poundage will not recruit all of the fibers within the muscle cell. In fact, it will only stimulate somewhere between 65 and 80 % of them. The more reps you do, the higher the number of fibers recruited. Of course, there has to be a trade off to this – after all you can only do one rep with your one rep max. So the weight needs to come down to enable you to do more reps and, as a result, recruit more muscle fiber. As the reps increase, the initial 65-80 % of fibers recruited fatigue and more fibers are called into action. After a certain number of reps there will be no more fibers left to recruit and the set will come to the point of positive (concentric) failure. To complicate matters further, there are more than one type of fiber within the muscle cell. There are, in fact, two types of human muscle fiber. Type 1 (or slow twitch) fibers have a slow contraction time and are highly resistant to fatigue. These fibers are predominant in cardiovascular exercise. Most of our everyday activities also involve slow twitch fibers. Type 2 (or fast twitch) fibers are just the opposite – they have a fast contraction time and a low resistance to fatigue. These Type 2 fibers are the ones responsible for muscle growth. They are stimulated by heavy resistance. The lighter the resistance the more the Type 1 fibers come into play. Clearly, then, there must be a cut off point where the resistance switches from maximally activating Type 2 fiber to stimulating Type 1 fiber. Not surprisingly, dozens of studies have been performed over the years to determine what that cut off number is. The result? The ideal range to maximally stimulate Type 1 muscle fiber is between 6 and 8 reps. Any less than that and you won’t be recruiting 100 % of those fibers and much more than that will switch the emphasis over to Type 1 fibers.

Temper the Flame
Having established the technical validity of training hard and heavy for 6-8 reps, lets add a qualifier or two in order to create a sensible, productive routine. You cannot and should not go heavier every time you work out. Your body operates in cycles and rhythms that make it impossible to be constantly lifting a heavier weight every time you work a muscle group. As we all know the body also arrives at its own plateaus. If it didn’t, we’d see guys who have been training since the Sixties pushing 800-pound bench presses by now. So, if you set your mind on pushing a heavier weight every single work-out, there will be only one inevitable result: you will start to cheat on your form in order to get more weight up. In so doing, you’ll be leaving yourself wide open for a serious injury. So, rather than setting your mind on upping the weight every session, view the adding of weight as just one – albeit the most important – way to enhance training intensity. When a weight that you used to be able to barely manage 6 reps on now allows you to squeeze out 8 reps, than it’s time to add a pound or two – not before.
You should also cycle your training so that every six weeks you get a complete break from working out for a week or so. This allows the body time for both mental and physical recuperation. Do not fall into the trap of working your body to exhaustion. It demands time to refresh and refocus. If you ignore this demand, your body will literally eat away at your muscle stores – the mere thought of which is enough to send most bodybuilders into a catatonic state.

A Heavy Routine
When it comes to hard and heavy training, what role models come to mind? The Nineties gave us Dorian Yates. The Eighties saw the emergence of the golden eagle, Tom Platz. The Seventies belonged to Arnold. The Sixties were ruled by such luminaries as Bill Pearl and Larry Scott. And the Fifties? Anyone remember Marvin Eder? If you’re going "Marvin who?" then you’re in need of a quick iron history lesson. Marvellous Marvin is perhaps the strongest bodybuilder who ever lived. Check out a few stats: 510 lb bench press; 365 lb standing press; a dozen one arm chin ups. At 198 lbs and with 19 inch arms this guy was impressive. Marvin put his incredible strength and mass gains down to his no frills style of hard and heavy training. What follows is the basic routine that Marvin used to pack mass onto his frame and build strength levels that still astound us a half century down the track:

Squat
Bench Press
Close Grip Bench Press
Bent-Over Barbell Row
Standing Barbell curl
Lat Pull-down
Leg Raises

That’s it – seven exercises to cover the entire body. The program works because when you work your major muscle groups with a systematic, heavy program, the synergistic muscles that surround them are also recruited and maximally stressed. So you are getting a total body work-out for less time in the gym. This is a great routine to pack on dense, thick muscularity that will make you look as strong as an ox. Do the program twice a week. Perform three sets per exercise, aiming for 8,7, and 6 reps respectively per set – except, that is, for the leg raises. Marvin used to do 100 of them – and he had great abs.

What About Periodic Power Training?
So, is there any value in bodybuilders periodically doing reps in the one to three range to add density and thickness? Definitely. After all, two of the greatest physiques of all time – Schwarzenegger and Columbu – were grounded as power-lifters before they rose in the ranks of muscledom. There are, in fact, two good reasons why you, as a bodybuilder, should do power training every few weeks:

It will increase your absolute strength, which will, in turn increase your relative strength. To put that another way, lets assume that your one rep max on the bench is 275 lbs and your 6 rep max is 200 lbs. Then, through doing heavy singles, doubles and triples, you get your one rep max up to 290 lbs, it should follow that your 6 rep max will increase to about 212 lbs. So, when you revert back to your bodybuilding routine, you will be lifting heavier weights.

There is a certain type of density and thickness that only comes from extremely heavy training. It’s hard to describe but instantly recognizable. The competitive bodybuilder who has developed this look will be at a definite advantage when competing. And for those of us who will never set foot on a bodybuilding stage, it will help us to develop that rugged, manly look that was probably the reason we picked up a weight in the first place.

Every few weeks why not pick a body part and train it power-lifting style? Take the chest for example. After warming up thoroughly on the bench, do a pyramid work-out where you drop from 3 to 2 to 1 rep per set. Then go back the other way for a total of 5 intense sets. You can do the same thing with squats for the legs, dead-lifts for the back, military presses for the shoulders and curls for the biceps. Obviously, though, you wouldn’t want to try this sort of thing on isolation movements like the leg extension. This sort of work-out is extremely taxing on the muscle so give the body-part a full week recuperation before working it again.

Go Heavy, Go Safe
The heavier the weight you lift, the more the likelihood that you might lose control of it. For that reason it is imperative that you have at least one good spotter when training heavy. You also need to thoroughly warm up before attempting to handle heavy weight. You should do specific stretches for the working muscle group as well as one or two warm up sets with a lighter weight. Also be very careful about how you go about the process of getting the weight into position. A surprisingly large number of training injuries occurred before the first rep even begun during the initial positioning phase. This is especially true of such movements as the dumbbell bench press. Often the lower back is injured when people twist unnaturally to get the weight into position. Avoid this by putting your spotter to work to pass the dumbbells up to you.

The Siege Mentality
Do you remember the last time someone really made you mad? I’m not talking angry, I mean fuming under the collar, screaming blue murder furious. If that chump turned up in your face while you were feeling that way, you’d probably end up with a one way ticket to death row. Well, when was the last time you felt that way in the gym. I’m not talking about being angry at another person but being angry with the weights. You see, those damned hunks of iron are sitting there taunting you. There saying, "You haven’t got the strength or the guts to push me around. You’re a loser and you’re going to fail at this work-out." And what do you do about it? Well, most guys turn up already defeated. Life has knocked them around, they’re already feeling exhausted and they want to get this blasted work-out over to get home for The Simpsons. They feel intimidated by those heavy weights and have already programmed a negative result into their brain. So is it any wonder that these guys are not getting the results they want?

Contrast that with the guy who enters the gym totally psyched and ready to engage those weights in mortal combat. Don’t get me wrong, the guy doesn’t have to be all loud and demonstrative about it – a quiet determination is far more telling. He knows exactly what he’s going to achieve, he’s visualized himself successfully pushing the weights in perfect form and he’s primed himself nutritionally for maximum work-out energy. This guy has what the late great Mike Mentzer referred to as the siege mentality. Here’s what Mentzer himself once said about his own mindset in the gym, "Upon contact with my ‘enemy’, the weights, my nervous tension would explode in a burst of energy so intense that often the other bodybuilders around us would stop training and watch. There were instances in which, while waiting to do my next set, I’d be shaking with rage." Can you take a leave out of his book and develop a more aggressive attitude when stepping up to face the heavy weights at your gym?

BONUS - Heave More with Rest-Pause
When it comes to lifting heavy weight, one of the most brutal training methods you can employ is the rest-pause technique. Rest-pause allows you to take a set beyond the point of muscular failure to recruit more of those elusive, hard to get at muscle fibers that are guaranteed to trigger new growth. It simply involves resting for 10-15 seconds at the end of a set taken to failure and then banging out two or three more reps with that same weight. That short rest will allow your body to re-energize. Oxygen will re-enter the muscle tissue, metabolic by-products will be removed and ATP will be re-synthesized. A variation on this technique is to choose a weight that is equivalent to your 3 rep max and perform a single rep. Then pause for 10-15 seconds and perform another. After another 15 second pause perform a third rep and so on until you have completed 10 reps. Perform basic mass building exercises with this technique and do them inside a power rack, with the lower pins acting as a safety rack. Give rest-pause a try and you’ll soon be experiencing more pleasure from your heavy poundage pain.


About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

THE NECESSITY OF CARDIO

Call it cardio, call it aerobics, call it whatever makes you feel more comfortable, but don’t avoid the inevitable: Every human being needs this variety of movement to be a part of their lives in order to function and be healthy.

We live in a weight conscious society, to be sure. The better a person looks externally, in clothes, naked, half naked, or anything in between, the more successful that person is deemed to be in the scheme of exercise and fitness. But looks can be deceiving.

Sure, cardio is the bodybuilder’s middle name-the key to the kingdom of ripped. But the truth is, cardiovascular exercise is probably one of the most misunderstood, under-utilized, over-utilized tools in the workout world. It is truly one of the greatest conundrums within the realm of fitness. And here’s another tip: Those who swear by it, may not even know why they swear by it.

Here are the pay-offs… and they are undisputed:
Cardiovascular exercise can burn calories at a rate between 8 and 30 calories per minute. That’s a lot of glazed donuts!

When engaging in cardiovascular exercise 5 times weekly, one can eat between 25% and 30% more calories and maintain or lose weight.

Cardiovascular exercise whips the heart muscle into great shape, increasing oxygen capacity within the bloodstream by up to 20% within just 3-4 months.

Cardiovascular exercise seems to melt fat off the body when combined with a good diet, and a regular program of resistance training.

These are all true, undisputed facts that no one can refute. They are the promises of diligent workouts on apparatus such as steppers, treadmills, stationary cycles and elliptical trainers. But is this the end of the story? Or is there more to cardio workouts than first meets the eye? You bet!

How to Determine Your Various Heart Rate Zones and Why You Should
There are four main training zones within the cardiovascular exercise category and each carries with it some very specific criteria and results. The reason one must familiarize himself with each zone is to avoid making crucial mistakes that could affect physical outcome. That’s because within each training zone subtle physiological effects take place to either enhance or jar your level of fitness. Knowing where you are at all times will garner the desired effect.

The Recovery Zone/ Weight Control Zone
Training at 60% to 70%
This zone develops basic endurance and aerobic capacity. The advantage to working out in this zone is the fact that you will be burning a lot of body fat and will likely lose weight as a result. You’ll also be reenergizing your muscles with glycogen that has been spent during fast paced resistance training workouts. This replenishing is a part of recovery and is the most valuable zone for most people as a result.

The Aerobic Zone
Training at 70% to 80%
This zone will help develop your cardiovascular system. The body’s ability to transport oxygen to, and carbon dioxide away from, the working muscles can be developed and improved. As you become fitter and stronger from training in this zone your capacity for longer sessions increases. Though you’ll receive some benefits of fat burning, it’s mostly improved aerobic capacity that will be your reward by training in this zone.

The Anaerobic Zone
Training at 80% to 90%
Training in this zone will develop your lactic acid system. In this zone your own aerobic threshold is found. During training in this heart rate zone, the amount of fat being used as the main source of energy is reduced and, instead, stored glycogen is the main fuel. This glycogen is stored in the muscle. Burning glycogen for fuel creates lactic acid (the "feel the burn" chemical by-product). Once the body can no longer remove the lactic acid fast enough to continue contraction, the anaerobic threshold has been reached. It’s possible to train through this to increase your ability to deal with lactic acid for longer periods of time, but this takes some guidance.

The Red Line Zone
Training at 90% to 100%
This zone is only possible for short durations. It trains fast twitch muscle fibers and has its use for strength and endurance athletes. This should only be used during interval type training where sprints are indicated to increase strength, shape and density of muscle. It’s also only for the very, very fit.

Resting Heart Rate
It’s very easy to determine resting heart rate (RHR). Find somewhere quiet, lie down and relax. Position a watch or clock where you can see the second hand. After 20 minutes remain where you are, and without sitting up or jarring your body, take your pulse rate (beats/min). This is your RHR. If you have a heart rate monitor, even better. After 20 minutes, check the rate. As you become more fit, your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood around the body. As a result you will find your resting heart rate gets lower so you will need to check your RHR on a regular basis to adjust values in other areas.

Calculation of Zone Values
There are a few methods by which to determine all of these values. Some say the age-based is the easiest to understand and doesn’t require exceptional math skills. However, it is also one of the least accurate because it supposes that everyone of the same age has the same Max HR, which is untrue. Conversely, the Max HR method is probably the most accurate because one finds zones based on actual testing.

Age Based Method For Determining Max HR
MEN: Subtract your age from 220

WOMEN: Subtract your age from 226

Experts agree that you should drop one point off your MAX HR for each year after you determine this number.

EXAMPLE:
If you’re a 35 year old man, your MAX HR will be = 185

When you turn 40, your MAX HR will be = 180

MAX HR Method For Determining Max HR
Warm up, then run for at least 15 minutes at fairly high speeds. Towards the end, increase your speed as hard as you can and as long as you can, then check your monitor to see where your heart rate is. This is your maximum heart rate. Keep in mind that, until you become more fit, you should adhere to the "Age Based Method". The MAX HR method is for people who are fairly fit to begin with.

The calculation of a zone %, is performed in the following way:
Subtract your RHR (Resting Heart Rate) from your MHR (Max Heart Rate - after testing). This is your working heart rate (WHR)
Multiply the desired zone percentage % by your WHR
This calculated percentage + your RHR = BPM
Example : The athlete’s MHR is 180 and his RHR is 60. Determine the 70% value:

How Body Type Affects Cardio Choice, Duration and Frequency
This is a big debate and one that is never talked about in mainstream publications simply because it isn’t as important to people as talking about results-namely: fat loss. But for those athletes, bodybuilders in particular, interested in preserving muscle gains while losing body fat, it’s an absolutely fascinating topic and knowing what you are can be your best weapon against fat and muscle wasting.

Are you an Ectomorph, Endomorph or Mesomorph?
Feel like you’re in a foreign country and you don’t speak the language? Here’s how the body types break down:

Ectomorph - Long, lean, hard gainer of both muscle and fat. Often very underweight in childhood and in teen years. Will never have the Arnold Schwarzenegger look.
=HARD GAINER/ EASY LOSER

Mesomorph - This is the ideal body type. Athletic with a good balance and ratio of muscle and body fat, even distribution of fat, and round muscles bellies that develop easily. Metabolically, this type is most gifted.
=MODERATE GAINER/ MODERATE LOSER/ ATHLETIC

Endomorph - Heavy set, uneven distribution of body fat, fat to muscle ratios that can border on obese. Often heavy as a child or as a teenager, which continues into adulthood. Can be predisposed to metabolic disorders such as thyroid deficiency, and diabetes.
=EASY GAINER/ HARD LOSER

Muscle Fiber Type:
How Type Affects Ability to Perform Cardiovascular Work
Skeletal muscle fibers vary in size and contraction ability. Typically, they are referred to as fast twitch or slow twitch fibers / red or white fiber. Each type contracts with different velocities, depending upon their ability to split Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). Faster contracting fibers (fast twitch) have greater ability to split ATP, slower contracting fibers do not have this same ability. Fiber types vary with respect to metabolic processes used to generate ATP, in terms of their individual thresholds for the onset of fatigue, and their structural and functional characteristics.

Type I Fiber - Slow Twitch
(High Aerobic Capacity / Endurance Athlete)
Called slow twitch or slow oxidative fibers, this type contains large amounts of myoglobin, many mitochondria and many blood capillaries. Because of this, they are also referred to as RED fiber. They split ATP at a slow rate, have a slow contraction velocity, are very resistant to fatigue. An excellent example of the Type I Fiber muscles would be the postural muscles of the neck.

Type II Fiber - Fast Twitch
(High Anaerobic Capacity / Strength Athlete)
These fibers, frequently referred to as fast twitch (glycolytic fibers) contain a low concentration of myoglobin, very few mitochondria, few red blood capillaries and large amounts of glycogen. Type II fibers are white, and are geared to generate ATP by anaerobic metabolic processes. Because they are not able to supply skeletal muscle fibers continuously with sufficient ATP, they fatigue rapidly, split ATP at a fast rate and have a fast contraction velocity.

So why does all of this matter? While you may be the type who just wants to get on a treadmill without worrying about which type of muscle fiber predominates within your musculoskeletal system, it pays to know your body. Certainly, no one needs to worry about this stuff, but when it comes to doing right by your body as an athlete, the predominating fiber type matters very much!

In fact, both body type and fiber type really dictate how much you can and cannot do. The good news is, you may be doing far too much cardio training for your body type or fiber type and may be able to lighten the load and enjoy a leaner physique with fuller muscles. Without this information, you’ll never know.

Too Much of a Good Thing?
Is there such a thing as too much cardiovascular training? You bet! In fact, most people overtrain their bodies in this area far more than in the area of weight training. This affects metabolism and the body’s ability to store fat in the future, how it will be distributed, as well as hormonal balance within the body. Too much of a good thing can oftentimes throw the entire apple cart off kilter.

More Than One Way to Skin a Cat
Intensity - When you walk the treadmill, is it always flat or do you elevate the platform to make your workouts more difficult and intense? Do you walk stairs, flexing your legs and butt throughout, or do you occasionally run them? Intensity is one way to increase the amount of benefit you get from a cardio session.

Duration - Most people increase the number of minutes they do in one session until, fairly rapidly, they are doing over an hour per day! This won’t last and will burn you out. Try some of these other techniques before resorting to increasing the duration you spend on the stair stepper. Remember, two sessions per day, of shorter duration, are better than one long one.
Frequency - Try varying frequency. One week, do five sessions of cardio. During the next week, do just four. Others play around with this variable by doubling up on cardio sessions in one day and dropping a day in between. Make sure to decrease the time you spend in each session. Your body will continue burning fat long after each time on the cycle.

Intervals - Do you do interval training in the midst of one cardio session. Try doing distance running for 10 minutes, then sprint for 2 minutes, run distance for another 10, then end with an all-out 2 minute sprint again, followed by a 10 minute cool-down walk. Not only will this increase intensity, but you’ll knock out at least 2 different training zones and increase benefits of that session by a minimum of 50%.

Type - Don’t always opt for the treadmill or stationary bike. There are many pieces of equipment out there and you should vary the type of cardio you do. For that matter, don’t always do cardio in the gym. Vary how and what you do and, at the very least, you’ll remain fresh mentally and stave off burn-out!

Time of Day - Some swear by doing cardio on an empty stomach for maximum fat burning activity. But others say that this is the worst time… when the body is most apt to dip into muscle stores (glycogen) for its energy source. Do what feels right to you. Put it in perspective: Cardio at 8pm is better than no cardio at all if you’re trying to shed pounds.

What’s right for you? Well, that’s for you to decide now that you’re armed with information. The key to just about anything is being moderate. Just because you discovered a ‘treasure trove’ of fat burning tools doesn’t mean that your body will respond to the ‘more is better’ credo. In fact, see how little you can get away with doing, and build slowly from there. Less is always more.


About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

Plyometrics

Plyometric training is the enhancement of explosive power. Explosive power is the ability of the muscle to produce maximum strength in the shortest period of time. Since there is seldom time to produce this kind of maximum strength in most sporting events (apart from perhaps powerlifting), it's obviously a benefit to be able to do so - and particularly for bodybuilders.

Plyometric training combines speed, strength, and change of direction to allow the muscle to react quickly and with maximum power. Most weightlifting is fairly static and isolative. Imagine taking that power and effort, and pushing it out into an enhanced, total body range of motion to harness more power! This is how to picture plyometrics.

Plyometrics are becoming more and more popular as a means to enhance an already strenuous workout in the gym with resistance exercise. Go into any Gold's or World or Powerhouse Gym and see at least 2 or 3 trainers putting their clients through the paces with balance disks, steps, stairs, and medicine balls, as a supplement to the weights.

Whether you're a bodybuilder who needs more detail or you also compete in a sport such as boxing or soccer, plyometrics can create strength, agility and elasticity through the promotion and practice of balance. Working with weights in a static manner can only accomplish so much. Working with dynamic exercises, movements and equipment that can expand a range of motion in many different directions, will greatly enhance the scope and potential of any physique.

Plyometrics is also a means by which any bodybuilder can unleash explosive power. This is of particular benefit during an off season phase where squats and other powerlifting basics are what is driving a mass cycle.

A lot of plyometrics incorporate balance oriented movements or exercises that work the proprioceptors within the length of the body. Proprioception is what keeps our bodies balanced. Throw the body off balance and it will find its perfect balance. That's because proprioceptors within the spinal column and back of the legs, are constantly seeking balance as you walk, run, lift, or just stand.

Here's a great beginning Plyometric workout, focusing on the legs, that you can combine with your regular resistance workout. You'll need a partner for some of it:

Squats (without weight) in squat cage holding side bars 1 x 75
Squat-Leaps 1 x 15
Instructions: Keeping a good squat position, get down to a parallel-to-the-floor squat frame and keep legs tight during the full 75 reps. Believe us when we tell you, that you will NOT need weight here. We doubt you could make it to 100 - which is the number you should target prior to the squat-leaps. Immediately following this leg wobbling set of squats, do as many squat-leaps up to 15 as possible.

Hamstring curls or Stiff-legged deadlifts 1 x 50
Lateral Box Leaps 1 x 20
Stair run 2 x 30 steps sprint

Instructions: If doing hamstring curls, use enough weight to keep a light resistance on the legs. If stiff-legged, use just a light pre-loaded bar of 15-20 pounds for 50 reps. Keep tight form throughout sets of either of these.

Immediately run stairs up 30 steps, and down (many gyms have stairs) - if not use an aerobic step apparatus and go up down up down up down up down, alternating feet as quickly as possible. Then immediately go to box leaps. Make sure your first try is using an 8-12 inch step that is about as wide as it is tall. With both feet together, leap from side to side to side to side for 20 reps.

You may think to yourself... I'm not sure this will increase my mass. Well, just wait! It not only can increase mass, but it can reshape the mass you have and make you more functional, explosive and dynamic in the gym. When you become quicker and more explosive, you'll be able to turn the heat up on your workouts and your intensity will bring you enhanced development.


About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

Four Hardcore Training Methods to Crush Muscle and Bone!

Nothing much can be accomplished by going into the gym, day after day, and doing 4 sets of 8 reps, and repeating it throughout 3 different exercises. It's almost as if you could do that in your sleep. And sleeping through workouts isn't a good idea. That's why smart bodybuilders devise plans to shake things up from time to time. Whether that means doing giant sets, super sets or another kind of intensity-boosting endeavor, shaking things up is the name of the game.
But how do you know what to do if you're a beginner, say, or someone who lacks creativity in this arena because your level of experience is nil? It's always a good idea to do just what you're doing - read up on methods that challenge your normal routine. It's also great to ask people who have physiques that you'd like to emulate, what it is that they did along the way to achieve that look.

Techniques that boost intensity are typically unpleasant and are not meant to be done on a regular basis. If done on a regular basis, (the likes of which you'll find below) overtraining will be the sure result. Use a technique (like these) just once every week or two to stimulate growth and activity within the muscle that would not be otherwise stimulated.

10 x10's are a great way to begin with intensity-stimulating exercises. If you can pass the test on that, you will have graduated to some of the others. Try 21's second, and do up and down the stack third. You should have been training for at least a year or two prior to doing 100's.

1. TEN TENS (10-10)
Doing ten sets of 10 may sound like there's nothing to it, but it's a deceiving practice - particularly if you are squatting, benching or deadlifting. Try it out on a more isolative, rather than compound movement, first, so that you know you can handle it. Leg extensions or a back exercise, such as seated row, may be best. Take some rest in between, but not more than a minute or so, because it removes the intensity and idea of it. If you happen to fail before ten, because of the weight you've chosen, drop it and begin again. You want to use a weight where you're not jerking the apparatus up and down and using momentum, but it doesn't have to be a strict isolative weight either. Try this out with lateral raises for shoulders one day (nothing else beforehand) and let us know how your delts feel!

2. 2 x 100 - Mega Set Madness!
Just as you chose an isolative exercise for the last one, you'll want to start with that here, too. We're sure you'd collapse if you tried it with squats. Again, leg extensions are a good choice because you're sitting down. Seated row, also, for the same reason. You'll want to choose a weight that you'd probably struggle with at about 20 reps. Once you get to 20 and you feel this kind of struggle, you'll drop the weight, rest 5-10 seconds, and continue on. Try to get to 40 or 50. Drop the weight again and get to 75 after 10-15 seconds rest. By the time you reach about 75, you'll either feel like puking or you'll want to murder an entire town! I know I'm cleaning my gun just thinking about it! But you must push yourself to reach that almighty 100. Now, once you get there, you may or may not be considering ever trying that again. I know the first time I did squats (no weight) in the squat cage, hanging on to the bars on either side, I couldn't believe how challenging it was. And I didn't stop and rest - just went to 100. I felt like I couldn't walk again. But it's a great pre-contest ripper and off season growth inspirer. If you won't concede to getting back in the saddle after the first set, get back in the saddle with a different body part and exercise and do the whole thing again!

3. Twenty Ones...
I know a lot of guys are familiar with this one from barbell curls, and use it faithfully as a great tool for stimulating growth and development within every inch of their biceps. It's actually one of the greats. But have you ever tried doing it in any other context and in any other exercise? Try leg extensions with 7 reps in the top of the range, 7 reps in the bottom of the range (sitting forward and propping yourself up closer to the edge) and 7 full reps at the end. So this with triceps extensions on a rope, or do it with lying dumbbell presses. It's a great way to stimulate all of the connective muscle and tendon surrounding an insertion point and also a great way to start learning how to gain control of free weights.

4. Ulti-Pyramid (Up and Down the Entire Stack)
Choose an exercise which uses a machine weight stack, such as lat pulldowns, seated row or triceps presses. Set it on a very light weight (around one third of your normal weight) and get 5 reps. Begin increasing the weight by one plate and get another 5 reps, then increase by one plate again, and get another 5 reps. When you get to the bottom of the stack, or close to it, rest for 10-20 seconds. It will become harder and harder to get the 5 reps. You have to keep going until you cannot reach your 5, and then take your rest. Then begin by descending in weight. Drop the weight one plate at a time. Every other plate or every third plate, take 10 seconds rest. Once you're back to where you started, you'll be slowly but surely each attempt at 5 reps will get harder and harder. You must keep doing this until you fail to reach the 5 rep target. This may take around eight increases in weight. You then start dropping the weight by one plate at a time, rest 10 seconds, get 5 reps, then drop the weight again until you are back to where you stared. Nice!


About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

Eating For High Energy And Explosive Performance!

If you’re an athlete, you’re accustomed to watching what you eat. But you may not know what to eat before an event to optimize performance and send your energy levels soaring through the roof. Supplements can certainly help with this effort, but without satisfying crucial dietary needs, the foundation upon which you base everything else will crumble. At that point, you can forget about being at the top of your game.

We survive and thrive on four things in our diets: protein, carbohydrates, fat and water. Without proper balance and consumption of these nutrients, along with the single element of water, we can forget even functioning correctly. Given this balance isn’t disrupted, everything within the body exists in perfect stasis, and our systems tend to operate optimally, in perfect synergy.

Protein
A few decades ago, protein diets were abundant and everyone ate steak, game meats, pork, and eggs out the wazoo! But then someone came along and said, "No, no, no, no! Protein in such large amounts is bad for the system. It’s carbohydrates that are the source of all good and no evil." So, everyone flip-flopped their diets to include far more pasta, rice, potatoes and bread. Now, we’re headed headlong back into a protein age; where steak is no longer a dirty word and carbohydrates make you fat! Our bodies don’t store protein, taking in enough daily is crucial to health, muscle to fat ratios and ultimately, performance.

Carbohydrates
For the average person, carbohydrates are essential only in small amounts. Sources most recommended come from leafy green sources, cruciferous vegetables, rather than from starch, such as potato, rice or pasta. In fact, too much carbohydrate (particularly starches) can send the body into sudden spiraling low blood sugar, and cause the body to secrete insulin. Free-floating insulin molecules will only attach themselves to free-floating sugars (undigested carbohydrates) and store them as fat. Because of this, no longer are carbs being jammed down the throats of the average American. On the other hand, for the athlete, carbohydrates are crucial to sustained energy levels and strength and muscle contraction.

Fat
Luckily for the endurance and explosive athlete, fat is no longer the big bad wolf of the nutritional world. In fact, it’s as important a macronutrient as any other; including protein. While it doesn’t build muscle, it maintains the health of so many independent systems throughout the body, it’s a crucial link to good nutrition. The key is to eat the right kind of fat. Assume that any fat that is solid at room temperature is not your friend because it indicates that it is the saturated kind. The best sources of fat? Vegetable sources, all mono or poly-unsaturated fats such as peanuts and other nut butters, canola oil, olive oil, walnuts, almonds, and avocados. Most endurance athletes know first hand how important fat loading can be to competition. Gone are the days of total carbohydrate loading. Today, athletes use a combination of fat and carbohydrate loading to satisfy their high demands for fuel.

Water
Water needs no explanation, really. It is the most essential thing in our diets, bar none! Without it, we die. Dehydration is a big reason why people get sick, become irritable throughout their day, have organ failure, or keep unnecessary fat stores locked on to their body. Water is essential to proper liver and kidney function, washing out toxins and ridding the body of ketone bodies that develop as a result of fat burning. It has no calories, it tastes great hot or cold and it is absolutely free! Average people should drink 8-10 glasses daily. Athletes should drink up to a gallon of water daily; more in extreme hot or cold climates. Super hydrating prior to a competition can mean the difference between winning and losing, as well as feeling healthy after a grueling event.

Nutritional Guidelines for Increased Energy and Performance
Now that the lesson is over and we understand how important these four elements are, let’s get into how an athlete can improve performance—and health—to explosive levels.
What you eat and drink before and during athletic events can play a significant role in how well you perform. The body needs a certain combination of nutrients, hydration and calories to perform a particular way in your sport of choice. Learning how to unlock the codes that set these guidelines within your body can be the single thing that pushes you from good to great! So here’s the lowdown on your body’s nutritional needs prior to, and during, any athletic event.

The night before physical activity is a good time to pack in the carbs and fats. Oatmeal, brown rice and yams are all effective, and are also low glycemic choices that won’t send your body into a low energy phase when you need to feel energized and alert. Keep fat intake moderate and eat small portions of high-protein foods such as meat, fish and eggs over the course of the day prior to the big event.

When you finally reach the morning of the big event, it’s a perfect time for a balanced, nutritious breakfast. On this morning, eat exactly as you would any other morning prior to practice, but make sure that your macronutrient balance (proteins-carbs-fats) are stilted in the favor of whatever your needs are. If you need explosive energy, choose a bit more fat in the morning. If you are a distance runner gearing up for a marathon, try a higher carb breakfast of 500-600 calories of carbohydrates. Whatever you do though, just don’t skip breakfast or put too heavy a load in your stomach prior to intense physical activity.

Nature’s Natural Lubricant
Several days before an athletic event, competitive athletes should up their hydration levels to the point of ‘hyper-hydration’. What this means is the athlete will drink water for two to three days well in excess of their normal water intake, and store up water in the tissues, organs and entire system to prepare themselves for the ensuing dehydration that is bound to occur when intense physical challenges are present; such as in high level athletic competition. Since the body is about 60 percent water, it needs to be fully hydrated to perform optimally. In fact, whenever performance levels are down, water loss, improper hydration, or actual dehydration are typical culprits. Weather may also be a cause of water loss: high or low temperatures or high humidity may be to blame, and may cause the body to expend needless energy to keep warm or cool; leaving less for performance purposes.

Sports Drinks
Should an athlete drink the popular sports drinks that offer carbohydrate sources and electrolyte replenishment? Well, they aren’t necessary, but may minimize stomach fullness and blood pooling that occurs during the digestion of whole foods. In general, athletic events that take less than 90 minutes don’t require an electrolyte replacement drink or carbohydrate booster. But if you pass that 90 minute mark, electrolytes should be replaced, particularly if the sport is played on a hot or cold day. Most people don’t associate electrolytes being lost or profuse sweating with cold weather, but those who engage in winter sports lose more water than one might think. Some drinks that contain corn syrup and sugars should be avoided, however, because they slow down the body’s absorption of water and negatively effect performance.

Sports Nutrition Bars
Just about every company puts out a meal replacement or athletic sports bar. Bars are good in a pinch, but are mostly made up of sugary high carbs. Many do swear by the protein amount in certain bars, and swear that it gives them the extra edge they needed to win. However, they are typically not superior to eating a high protein/ high carbohydrate meal. Their only advantage is that they pack easily, are convenient, and are calorie and nutritionally dense for their weight. But do watch the calorie count in the bars. They can add an enormous amount of calories to your daily intake. In many cases, for the nutritional value offered, a candy bar might provide more energy in fewer calories!

Day of Competition Tips
The quality of any athlete is eclipsed by his or her ability to remain injury free during training and athletic competition. Before you find yourself injured in an athletic event, remember these things:

Properly hydrated and well-fed muscles end up with fewer injuries. When you’re dehydrated, or your glucose is low, you’re weak and fatigued. Injuries usually occur later in events when fatigue and dehydration has set in. Eat, drink, and replenish!

Do not use thirst as a gauge to judge hydration. Our body’s gauge for thirst presents itself only after we’ve lost about 6 percent of water weight—way too late to prevent dehydration.
Cramping may be an indication of salt depletion through sweat. Or, it could be loss of potassium. If you are feeling nauseous, replace salt through crackers or other high sodium foods. If you are feeling cramping in the muscles, replace with potassium.

What worked once when you prepared for an event, may not work this time around. Our bodies change from year to year; even from month to month. Experiment with preparation techniques and with actual foods that you think will serve you well in competition. Try them 3 to 4 weeks out from the event to make certain they have the desired effect. You may also want to keep a journal of all preparation techniques as well as foods and ratios of macronutrients you’ve done well with, and poorly with, so that you can better determine what will work best for you on "D Day".

The bottom line to all of this is simple: Athletes require more of almost everything, and specific things within broad categories that average people traverse. The main thing to remember is to remain as hydrated as possible at all times. That is even more important than actual food intake and ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. However, nutrition is underrated and can be the difference between winning and losing. Experiment with different foods, fluids and other conditions such as weather or hormonal changes within your own body. Eventually, this trial and error experience will teach you how to enhance your own levels of performance in competition and in training throughout the year. Practice, as they say, does indeed make perfect!


About the Author: JT Caceria is an expert in the field of sports and bodybuilding nutrition. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

Steroid Q&A – New Drug Better Than Nolvadex???

Q: Someone told me to take the drug Femera, instead of Nolvadex, now that I’m on the gear, in order to keep my testosterone cycle from aromatizing and causing bitch tits. What is Femera and why isn’t Nolvadex good anymore? Also, I tried to source this drug and cannot seem to source it anywhere. I’m pretty resourceful and can’t imagine why I can’t find it on the internet.

A: Oh, Nolvadex is still good, don’t misunderstand. Your friend was making a suggestion because Femara (note the spelling difference) is a new anti-estrogen (aromatase inhibitor) with fewer side effects and it’s something you can take for a longer period of time. It’s also a newer generation drug, whereas the Nolvadex brand of Tamoxifen Citrate is an older drug. It’s the same with anti-estrogens as any class of drugs, however. Some work better for some people and some not. It’s that way when you go to take anti-depressants too. Some people do well on the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) Prozac and Zoloft, and some do far better on the older generation tri-cyclic drugs such as Elavil. Chemistry is chemistry and one sort of chemistry interacts better with a portion of the masses than others. Femara (Letrozole) is given to post-menopausal women for the treatment of breast cancer first, these days, whereas Nolvadex is given to younger, pre-menopausal women. This distinction was made a few years ago when Femara was formulated because clinicians noticed that older women responded better to Femara than to Nolvadex, and women who had previously stopped getting results from Nolvadex, had someplace to go from there. In your case, you’re not probably going to notice a difference. I hope all women who take anti-estrogens either alone or with anabolic steroids in preparation for competition on the stage will read this and hear that Femara is NOT a good choice for them. Nolvadex, in terms of its action of preventing the androgens from binding with the aromatizing enzyme, is the only choice for a female bodybuilder under the age of 45. Young women taking Femara run greater risks than with taking Nolvadex, and its propensity for producing a viable climate for osteoporosis is well-documented. But as far as you guys go, you can take either one. The reason you cannot source it, as you may have guessed already, is that you have misspelled it. This often happens when you read about new drugs on the boards online -- bodybuilders can be notoriously poor spellers.

About the Author:
Dr. Dan Decanatti is known world-wide for his work in performance enhancing drugs. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Steroid Alternatives. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

SUPERFLY SUPERSETS

Everything is supersized and maximized these days from the cars we buy to the meals we eat. If only there was a way to maximize your workout so that you could build up your muscles to look really ripped with a high intensity workout with the minimum of effort and time. Well, it just so happens that there is such a method. Its called training with supersets and it lets you build maximize muscle and minimize training time. Not only that, it ads excitement and dimension to workouts. If you’re looking for a way to jump-start your workout or break through a plateau, supersetting could be just what you’re looking for.

So how does it work?
Supersetting is a method of very high intensity training.
Conventional weight training is done with ‘straight sets.’ A straight set is performed by doing a series of repetitions; 8-12 in a row for example, you then stop to rest for a minute or so before doing another set. A superset is an advanced training technique where you perform two exercises in a row with virtually no rest in between. This type of lifting is great for those interested in fatiguing the muscle maximally in a short amount of time. You can design an entire workout using multiple supersets, or you can add a superset at any point in your workout.

Because you don’t rest between supersets, you save time. It also means that intensity increases rapidly. Shortening the rest between sets is hard work however especially if you’re used to a long rest interval so you need to make sure that you give yourself plenty of recovery time at the end of your workout and top up on those body fluids. Supersets also reduce the risk of injury or enable you to work around injury because they don’t rely on the use of heavy weights.

There are three primary categories of supersets: same muscle group, agonist/antagonist and staggered sets.

Same muscle group
Same muscle group supersets are the most common category. These involve combining two exercises for the same muscle group, for example supersetting dumbbell flyes with the bench press. Within the same muscle group superset category there are four sub-categories. Each one has a slightly different effect.

Pre-exhaustion is probably the best known and most effective type of superset of all. Choosing two exercises for the same muscle group performs a pre exhaust superset; an isolation exercise first, followed by a basic, compound movement.

The whole point of pre-exhaust supersets is to push a muscle group beyond the point of exhaustion to achieve both muscle stimulation and growth that you would not normally achieve by doing straight sets alone. For example if you were doing regular straight sets of leg extensions to the point where you feel you can no longer do another rep, although you might feel you’re totally exhausted, you’d be surprised to find that you’re still able to do squats- though you may have to slightly lower your usual weight. Why? Because although you’ve completely drained your quadriceps with the leg extension exercises, the lower body muscles used in the squats (glutes, hamstrings, adductors and different sections of the quadriceps group,) are still fresh and ready to go.

So, by ‘pre-exhausting’ the target muscle with an isolated exercise, you can then continue to blast the fatigued muscle even further with the help of the assisting muscles in the compound movement. There is however, a drawback. By the second set of exercises you’ll only be able to use a fraction of the weight you used on the first set, which is fine if you’re aiming to build muscle, but if strength is your primary goal then you’re better off sticking to straight sets.

If you deliberately lower your weights on the second exercise and perform subsequent repetitions to failure this method is termed "drop-setting." The "drop-set" method will not be effective if your training goal is maximal size and strength. While decreasing the weight to allow for more repetitions may provide a burning sensation within the muscle, the actual stimulus on the muscle fibers will be much less in comparison to a regular set (performed after a sufficient recovery interval). Most physiologists agree that muscle appears to grow in response to a stress of sufficient intensity and duration. Therefore, by sticking to heavier weights and adequate rest intervals, you can apply a greater stress in comparison to the "drop-sets" technique.

PRE-EXHAUST SUPERSETS
ISOLATION EXERCISE (1ST)	COMPOUND EXERCISE (2ND)
Leg Extension	Squat
Leg Curl	Stiff Leg Deadlift
Dumbell Pullover	Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown
Tricep Pushdown	Close Grip Bench Press
Dumbell Flyes	Bench Press
Dumbell Side Laterals	Military Press
Barbell Curl	Curl Grip Pullups

A word of caution
It’s not uncommon for pre-exhausted muscles to suddenly give out without warning. If this happens during a bench press or squat and you don’t have a spotter, the results could be disastrous. A safer method, particularly for beginners, would be select a second exercise that requires minimal skill and coordination (leg press, smith machine squat, hack squat) or one with a built in safeguard (power rack, safety catch, spotter, etc.).

Post-Exhaust supersets are the opposite of pre-exhaust. Again these involve a basic compound and isolation movement but this time you make the compound movement first and the isolation movement second. So what’s the advantage? Basically it means that you’re fresh for the compound movement allowing you to use more weight. This leaves you the option to use a heavy basic movement with low reps for your first exercise and the follow it up with a lighter weight and boost up your reps. Now you can pump up your size and get ripped at the same time.

POST-EXHAUST SUPERSETS
COMPOUND EXERCISE (1ST)	ISOLATION EXERCISE (2ND)
Leg Press	Leg Extension
Incline Bench Press	Incline Dumbbell flyes
Behind The Neck Press	Dumbbell Side Laterals
Close Grip Bench Press	Rope Pushdowns

Compound supersets are tough and exhausting. These supersets work two compound exercises together. Not for the faint of heart! While compound supersets can create great muscle growth very rapidly they are also very taxing on the whole system.

COMPOUND SUPERSETS
COMPOUND EXERCISE (1ST)	COMPOUND EXERCISE (2ND)
Squats	Leg Press
Bent Over Rows	Deadlifts

Isolation supersets are the other way of using same muscle group supersets. This is a useful method to use when definition is of prime importance over strength building, or you want to work up a particularly weak area on your body.

ISOLATION SUPERSETS
ISOLATION EXERCISE (1ST)	ISOLATION EXERCISE (2ND)
Dumbbell Flyes	Cable Crossover
Leg Extension	Sissy Squat

Agonist/Antagonist
An agonist/antagonist relationship is one where on any given lift, one muscle is contracting and the other muscle is relaxing (such as the biceps and triceps when performing a biceps curl). Working opposing muscle groups has a distinct advantage over same set muscle groups. When you do two exercises in a row for the same muscle group, it tends to significantly limit the amount of weight you can use because of fatigue and lactic acid buildup. Pairing opposing (antagonistic) muscle groups together can help you keep your strength up because as one muscle is working, the opposite one is resting. In order for this exercise to work you must choose muscle groups that are physically close together such as biceps and triceps, or chest and back, or quadriceps and hamstrings. For example, do a set of Tricep Pushdowns and then immediately do a set of Cable Curls. Since these two muscle groups are close to each other and have the agonist/antagonist relationship, it’s easy to force blood into the arm region this way. You would not want to superset the shoulders and calves, because they are so far apart it would be impossible to target blood into both these muscles in such a short space of time.

ANTAGONISTIC SUPERSETS
EXERCISE (1ST)	EXERCISE (2ND)
Barbell Curl	Tricep Extension
Leg Extension	Leg Curl

Finally, a staggered set is a type of superset where you combine a major muscle with a minor and completed unrelated muscle. This method is most commonly used for abs and calves. For example, you could throw in a set of calves in between every set of chest you do. Instead of resting and doing nothing in between sets of chest, you are doing something productive. This way you can get your workout finished much more quickly and avoid the monotony of working the minor muscle groups alone.

Weekly Superset Routine

Monday- LegsLeg extensions / leg curls 4 setsSquats / stiff leg deadlifts 5 sets Standing calf raises 5 sets

Wednesday- Chest, Shoulders and BackFlat benches / lat pulldowns 4 setsDumbbell inclines / pully rows 4 setsDips / shrugs 3 setsDumbbell presses / hyperextensions 4 setsDumbbell side raises 4 sets

Friday- Biceps and TricepsBarbell curls / triceps extensions 3 setsDumbbell curls / overhead dumbbell extensions 3 setsPreacher curl machine / triceps pushdowns 3 sets

So now you know… why superset?
There are three primary advantages of superset training over conventional straight set training:

Supersets save time:
The most obvious advantage of supersetting is to save time. Even if you truly enjoy training, it’s probably safe to assume that you wouldn’t mind getting equal or better results in a shorter period of time.

Supersets increase intensity:
Usually when you think of high intensity, you think of forced reps, descending sets, negatives, etc. Supersets are simply another method of increasing intensity. Shortening the rest between sets is hard work - especially if you’re used to a long rest interval. The principle is: more work performed in less time equals more intensity and more intensity equals more muscle.

Supersets prevent injury:
Or allow you to work around an injury. Supersets allow you to overload a muscle and generate high intensity without requiring weights. This decreases your chances of injury.

Drawbacks
The only drawback with supersets, especially pre-exhaust where you do the isolation movement first is that you will only be able to use a fraction of your normal weight on the second exercise. For example if you superset Leg extension and Leg Press. If you can normally Leg Press with 135lbs. (per side) for 10 reps when you do the exercise first. When you switch the order and do leg extensions first, you might find that your quads are so tired from the leg extensions that even 265lbs. for 10 reps on the Leg Press is difficult. That’s okay, when it comes to muscle growth, but if your goal is power or strength then this would be counter productive. If strength is your primary goal, it would be better to just do straight sets of squats and to do your squats first. In a periodized training schedule for a bodybuilder, straight sets should be used almost exclusively during the off season strength and mass phase. Supersets can be added later during the pre-contest phase.


About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CREATINE

Bodybuilding and Creatine are inexorably linked. That’s because creatine bridges the gap between drug users and non-drug users. Hell, everyone uses it these days. In fact, in 1999, over $20 million dollars in creatine product sales were logged. But for something so widely used, it’s probably the least understood compound on supplement shelves today.

Creatine is a simple combination of three amino acids: Arginine, Glycine and Methionine. Unlike 99.9% of other supplements, the human liver actually has the ability to manufacture creatine by putting all of those amino acids together within the body. Try that with whey protein or pro-hormones! The other way to pack creatine into the body is, of course, to take it in supplement or food form.

Many foods contain creatine, but supplementation is the surest way to build upon the creatine that you naturally store within your body at any given time. Incidentally, your body stores creatine at a rate of about 75% of your body weight in grams. That means that a 200 lb man would store approximately 150 grams of creatine in his body at any given time. A 125 lb woman would store about 80 grams. About 90-95% of that creatine is stored directly in the muscles. The remainder is stored in various organs.

The Benefits of Creatine
First and foremost, creatine provides additional energy for your muscles. From a functional standpoint, that’s most important. When supplemented, creatine phosphate is available as energy immediately, whereas fat and carbohydrates take time to process and avail themselves. But once food is processed it becomes Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), which is also available immediately. However, the difference between ATP and Creatine is this: Your muscle’s supply of ATP is not endless and it burns out quickly. In fact, you have only about 15 seconds of ATP available for energy once you begin some form of exertion. Once you tap into ATP for energy, and you spend it, it produces a by-product called Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP) as a function of its releasing contained energy. But this byproduct of ADP is useless to the body as energy… unless of course it comes into contact with creatine! Creatine turns ADP into ATP again and it becomes viable energy for use during exercise. Voila! More fuel for your muscles and more fuel for your workouts!

Secondly, creatine volumizes muscles. In layman’s terms, that means creatine pulls water from the body into the muscles, increasing their overall volume. This temporarily increases the size of your muscles and the intensity of your pumps. But don’t get your hopes up over this tidbit. Volumization of muscles is cosmetically short-lived. However, increased water volume within muscles has been associated with increased strength and can allow you to push past previous barriers during workouts in order to add more mass. This benefit is more indirect, but nonetheless valuable.

Third, creatine enhances protein synthesis. It allows the body to become more efficient at synthesizing protein by putting the body in a more anabolic state to begin with. Remember that the better your body is at protein synthesis, the better chance it has to ultimately add more mass. This is one reason why the dispute over taking creatine before or after workouts is benign. Having free-floating creatine in your system at all times just means that you have a greater chance of utilizing all of the protein you actually take in during a given day.

Lastly, creatine helps to buffer the build-up of lactic acid during exertion. So next time you get that horrid burning sensation that makes you want to cut off your left nut because the pain is so excruciating, remember that creatine helps delay the build-up. To appreciate this, train hard without it and time yourself. When does the first "burn" set-in when you’re not taking creatine? When does it set-in after supplementing 4-5 grams prior to a workout? The difference can often be staggering!

In short, creatine will provide you with more energy during workouts to push through the threshold that normally stops you at a certain point in the cycle of exertion. It also helps you recover from any form of exertion by buffering and delaying the onset of lactic acid, and by turning by-products of the Kreb’s Cycle (ADP) into useable, accessible energy once again.

Now, we’ve already established that bodybuilders can really benefit from creatine supplementation, but there’s so much left unsaid about how to take it… for instance, which form is best? Which delivery system most effectively addresses size and muscle gains? And how should one go about dosing it?

There are about five different forms of creatine. Determining which is best is like trying to settle a dispute between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Everyone seems to be in a different camp. We’re just here to present the facts. Let personal experience be your guide when deciding what’s best in all of these instances. No matter what form or delivery of the creatine, the point is to ingest it in some form or another in order to increase energy stores and promote mass gain.

Creatine can come in the following forms:
Powder, effervescent powder, liquid, and capsules.

Talk to various manufacturers and they’ll swear that their form of delivery system and product is the very best on the market, and thus, the most effective. For connoisseurs of creatine products, there is a distinct difference too; particularly in how it makes them feel once they’ve ingested it.

Many report that powder, while the most widely sold, is oftentimes the hardest to digest and contend with after taking it. What’s more, it’s often gritty and difficult to mix if it’s not "micronized creatine" and can cause upset stomach. But the most significant fact about powdered creatine is that it has one of the lowest absorption rates of all the types of delivery systems. An estimated 40% is lost before it ever reaches your muscle tissue. That’s substantial, not so much because of price (powdered creatine is one of the cheapest forms) but because of the wasting and overall price per serving.

Liquid creatine is the second-generation improvement on standard powdered creatine. It absorbs more rapidly, causes less stomach upset and becomes useable far more rapidly because it doesn’t have to break down at the gut level. That means that the time you take in between ingesting liquid creatine and your workout is much less than with powdered brands. Working out can be much more impromptu and natural; it doesn’t require a math equation in order for it to be feasible on that day and that hour.

Pills are the same as powder because they are essentially capsules packed with powder. The disadvantage, of course, is that if you’re taking several grams of creatine at one time, the amount of capsules you’ll have to take to equal a few scoops is really staggering and very difficult to swallow, literally and figuratively. Some companies offer larger gram dose capsules, but they aren’t flexible in terms of being able to the tweak dosage.

Effervescent creatine delivery is also an effective alternative to powdered creatine. Some believe it’s as effective as liquid, but because effervescent creatine nearly always comes in pre measured packets, it’s somewhat limiting to tailoring doses on a day-to-day basis.

Types of Creatine
C r e a t i n e M o n o h y d r a t e
The most commonly used form of synthetic creatine is the monohydrate salt, creatine monohydrate. Creatine monohydrate is simply a molecule of creatine accompanied by a molecule of water for stability. Each molecule of creatine monohydrate is made up of 88% creatine and 12% water. One gram of creatine monohydrate = 880 milligrams of creatine. Creatine Monohydrate is by far the most common form for a creatine supplement, and the most economical. Does that mean it’s not worth as much as the other forms? Not at all. In fact, since most studies done on creatine almost always use creatine monohydrate, the science backs this form up more than the others.

C r e a t i n e P h o s p h a t e
In order for creatine of any kind to be effective and useable, it needs to bond with a phosphate. The association made when taking creatine phosophate is that if you take a phosphate along with a creatine molecule, you’ve covered all your bases and created a creatine more viable and effective than creatine monohydrate. But creatine phosphate has only 62.3% creatine and 37.7% phosphate. It takes a higher dose to equal the same 88% of creatine found in the monohydrate form. Plus, creatine phosphate is more expensive than creatine monohydrate, so it’s not necessarily as rosy a picture when you look at all sides.

C r e a t i n e C i t r a t e
Creatine citrate is much more water soluble than other forms of creatine, which is why it became more popular. The volumization potential was seen as much greater, but really, all it does is dissolve better when mixed with water or juice. The problem is that creatine citrate is weakest of all. In fact, it’s a little less than half the strength of creatine monohydrate, with just 400 milligrams of creatine per gram of creatine citrate. The kicker? It’s more expensive than creatine monohydrate!

Dosing Creatine
This is something that, here again, is very individual. Yet, it’s not because there is a logical cap to the amount of creatine you should take daily. It’s not like whey protein, where whether you take in 3 scoops or 13 in a 12 hour period, there’s no cause for health concerns. Creatine is something that definitely should be limited in the amount and methods of taking it.

For the average 200 lb man, the amount of powdered creatine that is effective and safe is approximately 5 grams per day. For liquid/serum, the amount is about half of that. Incidentally, when we talk about effective, what we mean is that it’s the minimum number of grams that have a positive effect at that point in time. Taking 5 grams, for instance, and getting results, doesn’t mean that taking 10 grams will result in double the effectiveness and returns.

Effectiveness is also dependent upon the pattern of dosing that you engage in when taking creatine. Many people will cycle their creatine, just as a pro bodybuilder might cycle his anabolic steroid use, because they reason that the body will adapt over time, and will require either more of the same, or a break from taking it altogether. Others will still load their creatine in phases, which is somewhat like a cycle, but different in that it’s based on a steady and upward increase in creatine dosage for maximum effect within a shorter period of time than a cycle. Typically, it’s dosed in split doses of a set amount throughout an entire day.

So what should you do?
Whether you cycle, load or just take creatine religiously before a workout, it’s dependent upon your experience trying these things and how your body responds to them. It’s the same dilemma when talking about whether to dose creatine prior to a workout or after. Accepted practice is that powder is highly effective if taken an hour prior to a workout, though capsules have to be taken even further out. Liquid can obviously be dosed much closer to workout time, usually about 10-15 minutes, including effervescent creatine packets mixed with water or juice.
Based on the demands of your workout, you have a choice whether you want to take creatine straight or engage in loading.

Loading Phase: In accordance with this dosing protocol most athletes begin supplementing creatine with a loading phase. The purpose of the loading phase is to quickly fill creatine stores in a matter of a few days for maximum mass building. A typical loading phase might be to take 15-20 grams of creatine monohydrate daily, for five days. The loading phase should not exceed the time it takes your muscle creatine stores to saturate, approximately five days.
-Remember- research recommends that athletes take creatine with a carbohydrate (e.g. with grape or orange juice) or ingest commercially available creatine supplements that combine creatine with glucose.

Maintenance Phase: Follow the loading phase with a maintenance phase to maintain creatine stores. Any maintenance dose should just cover the amount of creatine degraded on a daily basis. That’s about 2 grams total for a 180 lb male. Most experts suggest not going beyond 6-8 weeks in any maintenance phase.

From the point of workout, you can figure that you have about 90 minutes to use it or waste it. By wasting it, we mean that one portion goes automatically into storage and another portion is wasted and excreted. The active amount you can access, however, is the amount that circulates for approximately 90 minutes.

But remember, your body also has a window of time where it can replenish its own creatine supplies (through converting ADP into ATP) to use during and after workouts, plus being able to keep a store of it. Dosing after a workout doesn’t make much sense for this reason, though some will tell you they swear by it. Here’s the main reason: You need to be able to access creatine during workouts for the extra energy that it will provide, and the only way to do that is to take it prior to workouts, to make it available within the full window of time to maximize its use. Plus, you need to have the ability for your body to replenish just following a workout. It helps, also, if you take in a protein serving just following workouts so that you can maximize protein synthesis. (Remember? Creatine facilitates this!).

Creatine As A Recovery Tool?
Some people will take creatine on their off days (days they aren’t working out) because they believe it will store itself better and help repair muscles torn down by workouts. No one can conclusively say this because there is still a lot about creatine that we do not know. However, if you have practiced this and find that it actually does help you recover faster, then do what makes the most sense. If you are in the camp that believes that taking creatine on off-days means that you’ll keep steady levels of creatine stored and available, then a safe way to practice this is to take half doses on off-days, so that you won’t waste your supply.

Not All Brands Are Created Equal
When shopping for creatine, things can get pretty tricky. Not all brands are created equal because many manufacturers formulate their product with binders and fillers that, even though they are inert ingredients, greatly skew the purity of the creatine. There are too many products out there that are pure 100% creatine to mess around with brands that insult buyers by adding fillers. The point is to head for the brands that are willing to back up their claims for purity and ingredients. Going for the cheapest creatine isn’t always the best route.

Try to find a company that stands behind their products and offer some kind of money-back guarantee. It’s the only way you can be sure that they believe what their package claims! You’ll find widely varying prices for creatine too. In fact, it’s just like the food world, where you can get the identical generic soup for less than half of what you’ll pay for the big national brand. Many of the national brands do private labeling, and it’s the exact same product as theirs. Without big money marketing behind it, the private label will cost half as much as the nationally recognized brand. It pays to unearth some of these things and know your brands.

A Final Note: Is Creatine Safe?
Like anything, it is possible to abuse creatine. Add anything to your body that isn’t produced in the same quantities as you’re supplementing, and you can forge an imbalance within your body as a result. In the case of creatine, anything you don’t use is turned into creatinine and is excreted. Puting your body on the path of constant excretion of excess/wasted creatine can be hard on the liver and kidneys.

No studies published on creatine can substantiate that creatine has long term negative effects. Once the creatine is stopped, or the dose greatly reduced to a therapeutic/realistic dose, the body resumes normalcy. However, always check out various drug interactions with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure that a condition or drug you’re taking won’t be adversely affected by ingesting creatine. But all of this fails to take into account that creatine can produce undesirable side effects.

Side Effects
Naturally, with anything, there is always a downside. In this case, there is a list that, while unsubstantiated, contains a few side effects several athletes have experienced along the way.

•Susceptibility to muscle strains. Increase in weight used because of volumization can cause an overload and the attending ligaments may not fare well.

•Muscle cramps can result when creatine is used along with a hard workout in hot or humid conditions. This is likely because of the change in water volume and salts within the muscle. Dehydration is highly possible.

•Excreting byproduct creatinine can cause kidneys some stress and strain in processing.


About the Author: JT Caceria is an expert in the field of sports and bodybuilding nutrition. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com