Most bodybuilders would agree that supplementing with whey protein is an important element in achieving serious muscle gains. This article will examine the facts relating to whey protein as a supplement and help you decide whether you need to follow this particular strategy.
Whey protein is produced during the process that sees milk turned into cheese. It is also found naturally in dairy products, eggs, soy and vegetable proteins but none of these compares in quality to whey protein powder. It also scores highly in providing the branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) that are important in the building and retention of muscle.
Whey protein is highly favored by bodybuilders because it provides the necessary building blocks to produce the amino acids that the body uses to build lean muscle tissue. Many studies have shown that whey protein contains the perfect combination of amino acids, in just the right concentration for optimal performance in the body. It is also thought that whey protein has a role as an anti-oxidant and immune system builder.
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What is a calorie? The definition of a calorie is “the amount of energy, or heat it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius”. A calorie is a unit of energy that is associated with food and drink and is a measure of the energy, or heat, that food produces as your body uses it as fuel.
The first step in counting calories for your personal weight loss is to calculate how many calories you burn in a day (your total daily energy expenditure), this is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. This is known as your maintenance level and will be the reference point (number of calories) from which to start your dieting.
The average calorie maintenance level for women in the United States is approx 2000 per day and the average for men is approx 2500 per day. These are only basic averages and are usually much higher for athletes or active individuals.
A quick and easy method to find out how many calories you require per day for weight loss and maintenance is to calculate a calorie value with a multiplier as set out below.
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Anabolic steroids are classed as illegal drugs and are banned by most legitimate sports organizations. There can be no disputing the fact that testosterone boosts the development of muscle mass and aids sporting performance. Equally there is no doubt that its use can adversely affect the health and wellbeing of users.
The androgenic properties of testosterone can affect the body in many ways but often users see these as inconveniences that can be treated by using other drugs. The most common side effects of testosterone supplementation include the following:
1. Testicle shrinkage - the body responds to testosterone overload by reducing its own production of the hormone. This causes the testicles to shrink due to lack of use. When steroid usage stops, the testicles will grow again but they could take at least six months to return to normal size.
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Creatine monohydrate can rightly lay claim to being the most popular and arguably most effective bodybuilding supplement currently available. The beauty of creatine is that it is 100% natural and occurs in many foods so it’s unlikely to be banned from any sports or competitions.
Let’s first establish what creatine actually is. In brief, creatine is produced naturally in our bodies to help supply energy to the muscles. It is produced in the liver, pancreas and kidneys before being transported in the blood to our muscles. It is then converted into phosphocreatine which is a powerful metabolite used to regenerate the muscles’ ATP source of energy.
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Anyone involved in the world of bodybuilding, and competitive sport generally, will understand the pressures that go with striving to achieve optimal performance. Sometimes athletes feel they cannot reach their peak without artificially enhancing their powers of recovery from intensive training. One way to speed up this process is through the use of anabolic steroids. In this article we’ll examine what anabolic steroids actually do. In a second article we’ll focus on the dangers associated with steroid use.
The main active ingredient in steroids is testosterone which is well known as the major male hormone. Testosterone affects the body in two ways, either as an anabolic or an androgenic influence. The anabolic action helps build body tissue by increasing lean muscle mass and bone density. The androgenic actions are those that affect secondary sex characteristics in men.
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Are you using potentially dangerous exercises in your workout? You have to be very careful with strength training equipment because it may not be the most effective or functional available. How do you know that the exercises you are performing are safe? Found below are some potentially dangerous exercises with suggestions on how they should be done correctly or avoided completely.
Sit-up
Traditional abdominal exercises such as the sit-up, incline sit-up and hip-raises are exercises that are used to train the obliques and the upper and lower abdominals.
They are performed by first anchoring the feet on an abdominal board which prevents you from sliding back then raising your shoulders up towards your feet, tensing your abs at the top of the movement. Slowly lowering your shoulders back down and then completing the movement again.
The dangers of performing this movement are the shearing forces on the vertebrae and spinal discs when you have a flexed and rounded spine. In this position, the pressure is mostly placed on a very small area of the disc area, which can cause small ruptures. The safest and most productive way to train the abs is to use the brace and hollow technique. This is a basic isometric exercise that helps strengthen the abs and the muscular girdle around your waist.
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Before wasting your money on a pile of bodybuilding supplements you really need to work out what you are hoping to achieve. Don’t lose sight of the fact that sound nutrition forms the basis of any muscle building program and no amount of supplementation with the latest and greatest products will make up for bad eating habits. The bottom line is, bodybuilding supplements should be used IN ADDITION to regular food, not INSTEAD OF it.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s go on to think about what supplements could be of use and this is something that can only be determined by your physical and performance goals. Don’t make the mistake of copying your training partners or believing all the garbage spouted in magazine ads. Decide first what you want to achieve and then choose the supplements that will help you reach your goals.
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