gaspari - superpump250

2010/06/02

fruit punch is tangy and tastes great. gets you in the back of the jaw like those dinasour eggs.

like dark rage, makes me need a dump.

similar sinking feeling.

can feel blood pumping through brain.

taken 30-40 mins before workout.

body still stiff from back and chest workout 2 days previous.

body feels hotter than usual.

1 hour shoulders and arms workout using 10kg dumbells, followed by situps.

apparently it's the best pre-workout supplement in the industry.

didn't feel that much different than without.

arms got tired just like usual.

2011/12/08

Do these things lose their affect after they pass their sell by date? I found a packet of this in the cupboard and drank it before an RPT set of squats this morning. Again, didn't feel much different than without.

Came across an interesting article debunking Nitric Oxide supplements. Apparently Arginine or any crazy form of Arginine does NOT increase nitric oxide in the body. Also they put a lot of stimulants in NO products to make you feel wired. The creatine they use is usually the cheaper and useless "creatinine". The sugar and stimulants in the product give you more energy and focus making the suer think they are getting a good deal. In fact you're better off with a can of red bull and some maltodextrose.


#1 Use creatine monohydrate (CREAPURE is the only brand that does not contain large amounts of creatinine instead of creatine monohydrate).
#2 Take high GI carbs pre workout.
#3 Increase your testosterone levels with a course our "Unleashed" or "LJ100".
#4. Find a supplement containing "Glycine Propion yl-L-Carnitine (GPLC)" that is actually PROVEN to increase Nitric Oxide.

BMR Recalculation

I've been following Martin Berkhan's Leangains protocol for the past year and it's reduced my bodyfat considerably since Jan until now, a lot of that is also due to switching to Paleo. I counted calories to get and idea in the beginning, and now I guess at 2640 (BMR + 20%) on training days and 1760 (BMR - 20%) on rest days. That was using a BMR value of 2200 calories. My bodyfat ranges between 11% and 12% depending on how much beer I drink during the week. Last week I had a friend staying from Denmark and went out on the beers 3 times and BF rose to 12.6%. No drinking this so next time I check BF should be back down under 12.

Just saw this website today with a BMR calculation showing a much lower result. He recommends eating a lot more carbs that I usually eat and less calories overall. It's also interesting what he says about fat on training days. I know it's best to eat carbs post workout to restore muscle glycogen and to spike insulin to shuttle protein to the muscle cells, and less carbs on rest days, but I never gave that much concern to the amount of fat I was eating.


Calculating Leangains Macros based on http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/23/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/


Metric BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655+ ( 9.6 x weight in kilos )+( 1.8 x height in cm ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66+ ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) – ( 6.8 x age in years )
Kie: 66 + (13.7 x 76) + (5 x 178) - (6.8 x 35) = 66 + 1041.2 + 890 - 238 = 1759.2 calories


Adjust for Activity
Guides to BMR usually recommend that you use an ‘activity multiplier’ (x1.2~x1.9) depending on your lifestyle/training.
( I won't bother adjusting because I work at a desk and only exercise 3 times a week )

Goal

Choose to ‘Cut’, ‘Slow-Bulk’ or gradual ‘Body-Recomposition’
The calories and thus macros you choose will depend on your goals.

Body-Recomposition: Martin himself refers to a +20%kCal and -20%kCal rule for T-Days and R-Days respectively.
Cut: Your numbers might look something like 2200kCal and 1300kCal. (+10%/-35%kCal)
Slow bulk: Your numbers might look something like 1800kCal and 2800kCal. (+40%/-10%kCal)

Based on the above recommendations, following the 'Cut' guide, I would be eating 1935 calories on training days and 1143 calories on rest days. That seems like hardly any calories at all man, I reckon if I followed that I might lose weight and strength.

I have an "Over-training and Cortisol" experiment that I'm doing first during December, then I'll think about trying this in January.

Main goal is to get stronger, after that start playing with leaning out techniques.

Dymatize Xpand Nitric Oxide Reactor

Tried this before a Bench Press workout this week. Think I'm immune to it, it was gritty, flavour was nice, made me go for a poo, but I didn't get close to my 1RM bench. Pointless supplement.

Why do all these Nitric Oxide ones make me need a poo!!!?

Overrated Supplements

Livestrong.com articles are usually fairly superficial, this one is interesting though.

http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/550744-the-20-most-overrated-supplements/

I'll stick to casein protein when I haven't eaten much meat on training days and BCAAs before working out.

Note: Written by Alan Aragon who used to be against intermittent fasting and is now a supporter of leangains.com.




Other Leangains links to read:


Bodybuilding celebrity Lee Labrada sets world record in nutritional ignorancehttp://bit.ly/s3ZmHT Read the truth here http://bit.ly/rO1Tqc

http://www.sixpacknow.com/ryan_reynolds_workout.html

Candy, Cocaine, Autism and Schizophrenia | Scientific American http://bit.ly/stNj2g

New study challenges the widely held assumption 'a calorie is a calorie'http://bit.ly/uOQkui Cooked and processed food yields more energy.


Posted this before, but i think it is really important, because i see that a lot people here want to go in a 30-40% deficit, thinking in optimal and faster fat loss, but things do not happen like this...
From Emma Leigh(google if you do not know who is she):

Many people grossly underestimate the time it is going to take them to reach their goal weight, which generally results in frustration, disappointment, and a fall from the diet wagon.
So I just wanted to point everyone to this: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/niod-nrm082511.php

It points out that a '3500 cal deficit' will NOT always = 1# weight loss... <-- this generic calculation fails to take into consideration the many differences seen in individuals (gender, age, race, starting weight, impact after prolonged dieting, etc).

I encourage you to check out the link, and take advantage of this funky timeline tool here: http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ which should give you an understanding of realistic timelines associated with weight loss.

Be sure to use the 'advanced tools' when doing so, as these allow you to enter things like your RMR calculations and % carbs calories and bodyfat and what not. Also check out the visual stuff (easier to understand) - as it gives you lots of different options when assessing data (check out the different timeline graphs / tabulated data etc).

Even with that said - at the end of the day it is still just 'another prediction equation' that isn't always going to be accurate. There will always be people who fall outside of these results.
So remember to maintain some common sense


Effects of Resistance vs. Aerobic Training Combined With an 800 Calorie Liquid Diet on Lean Body Mass
http://www.jacn.org/content/18/2/115.abstract

to all LG'ers, who wonder im very lean but still cant see their abs, should i STILL CUT for more definition? here is ur answer, READ THIS:http://bradpilon.com/weight-loss/when-losing-fat-doesnt-work/

They are now doing Intermittent Fasting at Xtreme Couture MMA gym in Las Vegas. Check out Ray Sefo at 9.58mins. Martin your knowledge sure doe get around http://vimeo.com/31732243

Hollywood grade Fuckarounditis!
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kellan-lutz-built-like-a-greek-god.html?mcid=NL-NEWS07110611&rmid=november_newsletter_2011&rrid=1605672

Doctors don't know shit about diet, new study finds http://bit.ly/rzl4hT That people assume otherwise is unfortunate.


Workout tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEEc12DqJKI

Worst spotter in the world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTWcMdkWMA&feature=related Bloody Idiot :P


Why does explaining why a cupcake is delicious make us love it less?http://bit.ly/szTqhi 


Japanese girl sets new world record in jumping rope - YouTubehttp://bit.ly/vJxUxp This is pretty crazy.


High-protein/high-dairy diet supports bone health during fat loss and exercisehttp://1.usa.gov/sBPIev New study for the vegans to chew on.

Glycogen Depletion

www.sagewoodwellness.com

Juice Plus + ® Provides the nutritional essence of 17 different fruits, vegetables and grains in a convenient capsule form. Click here to learn more.

It is a nice article but has a few misconseptions: "After a meal, some of the glucose not used immediately for fuel travels to the liver or skeletal muscles, where it is converted to a compound called Glycogen--through a process called glycogenesis--and stored for energy. Any excess glucose is stored in adipose tissue as fat." The convertion of glucose to fat in humans is a metabolical pathway not that easy, it needs days of overfeeding carbs to ocur. And it says that fatty acids need carbs in order to be oxided, not necesarily, i do not want to become a pro carb pro fat discution, but chech tha facts http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_a4wOp8oPuDM/TSof7z0ukMI/AAAAAAAAAAU/mHcVbSkW66E/s1600/Ketosismetabolism.JPG

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/nutrient-intake-nutrient-storage-and-nutrient-oxidation.html

Forks Over Knives (2011)

www.imdb.com

Directed by Lee Fulkerson. With Joey Aucoin, Neal Barnard, Gene Baur, San'Dera Brantley-Nation. Examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

Post Workout Dairy: Yoghurt or Milk?

Recently my Paleo diet has been loosened to include dairy. This is partly due to reaching a good weight, and partly due to needing to get more calories in on workout days. I've always tried to eat all of my calories, but it's quite hard to get them all in when you are eating clean. I find it easier to not eat much food on rest days, as opposed to eating over maintenance calories on training days. A litre of milk or yoghurt is worth 800 and 1000 calories respectively, after drinking that you're well on your way to the training day's total. It's also a great mix of protein fat and carbs in a post workout drink. It's in liquid form too, so it quickly get's to the places where recovery is needed, and to where muscle synthesis takes place.

From looking at the charts it looks like milk is much better. It has a good balance of protein fat and carbs.
However post workout we need an insulin spike and lots of protein. Yoghurt contains more protein, and more carbs, I.e. more of what we want.


The sugar in milk is lactose, which is a disaccharide derived from the condensation of galactose and glucose. This requires the intestinal villi to secrete the enzyme called lactase in order to break down the lactose into the simple sugars glucose and galactose, which can in turn be absorbed. In most mammals the production of lactase gradually decreases with maturity due to a lack of constant consumption. So the older you get, the harder it is for your body to deal with milk.


Yoghurt is fermented milk. Bacteria uses the lactose in milk to produce lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and different taste. Most of the lactose in milk is converted to lactic acid by the bacterial culture, this process also creates lactase, meaning that the body has less lactase to make itself during the absorption process.

Glycemic Index in Milk & Yogurt

The G.I. food list below shows the Glycemic Index score for many different milks and Yoghurts. The G.I score for each food will dictate the speed at which the sugar will be absorbed. A low Glycemic index means the sugar will be absorbed slowly. The higher the G.I score the quicker the sugar is absorbed into the blood. Usually it is desirable to go for low G.I. index foods to avoid energy crashes, sugar craving and falling asleep at the desk after lunch. However, to take advantage of the 30-45min post workout window, eat high glycemic index foods to spike insulin and shuttle as many nutrients to the muscle sells as possible. After the immediate requirement for nutrients is satisfied, protein synthesis eases off, and starts to ramp up again 3-4 hours and tapers off over a 24 hour period.

The G.I. list also shows the carb content for each item as this is related somewhat to Glycemic load for the G.I. diet. However it does not necessarily mean that a food with a high carbohydrate content will automatically mean a high G.I. score.

All foods on the G.I table is based on 100g of product. The portion size doesn't change the Glycemic Index value, but it does count towards the quantity of sugar (carbs) for the item; the bigger the portion the more sugar you would be consuming.

This standard portion size simply enables you to make a sugar comparison with other products in the same group, and the different foods listed on other G.I. tables. This means you can see which foods are high or low in carbohydrate content.

Conclusion
Yoghurt contains 20% more protein than milk
Yoghurt is easier to digest than milk
Yoghurt & milk both spike insulin fast, but milk is good because it does the job with less carbs.
(The G.I. index of natural yoghurt is about the same as milk)
Yoghurt contains gut healing bacteria
Yoghurt is good for internal fungal infections
I'm going to go for yoghurt over milk from now on because of the protein and digestion factors.


Further Study
Milk is harder for the body to process so how can it have the same glycemic index as yoghurt?

What are Legumes not allowed on the Paleo diet?

Beans are Bad for a few reasons:
They are acidic and throw off the acid / base balance.
Their lectins promote gut permeability.
Their lectins promote bad gut flora.

Scary article from Loren Cordain on Legume lectins:
Because dietary lectins are able to cross the gastrointestinal barrier rapidly and enter the circulation intact (Pusztai et al. 1989), they may also be able to interact directly with synovial tissues. Although not a characteristic model of RA with all of its symptoms, a rabbit model of arthritis has shown that the direct injection of legume-derived dietary lectins into the knee joint induces the development of severe arthritis. Specifically, single injections of Lens culinaris lectin (derived from lentils), Pisum sativum lectin (derived from peas), or the lectin concanavalin A derived from the jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) were able to induce severe arthritis characterized by an amplification of the initial inflammatory response due to T-lymphocyte stimulation (Brauer et al. 1985). Source: "Modulation of immune function by dietary lectins in rheumatoid arthritis,"

How Many Carbs am I Eating?

After reading an interesting article on MarksDailyApple about how many carbs a Primal eater should be eating per day, I started wondering about how close I was getting to me training plan's figures. So I tracked for 10 days to see how my food guessing is going.

The tracking site I used: Livestrong.com recommends to eat 300g of carbs per day.
My training plan goes for up to 350 carbs on days containing exercise and less than 150 carbs on days containing no exercise.

Mark from Mark's Daily Apple is a total low carber, and his recommendations are much lower. He has a six-pack, I do not.

Chart above shows 4 training days and 6 rest days out of a 10 day test period.

Interesting to see that Livestrong's recommendation is in Mark's "Danger Zone". And even though I am not putting on weight, I spend many days in Mark's "Insidious weight gain" zone. hahaha!

By eating sensibly I can see I am able to keep within my training plan carb ranges, so I'll carry on with the way I am eating/living.