Tuesday, October 17, 2006

An Introduction to Creatine

Creatine is a source of energy for muscle contraction. The body produces its own creatine in the liver, kidneys and pancreas. You also get it in your diet when you eat meat or fish. (Vegetarians may have less creatine.) The body stores most of the creatine in skeletal muscle to use when you exercise. The rest goes in the heart, brain and other tissues.
Creatine is an amino acid, like the building blocks that make up proteins. Creatine in the form of phosphocreatine (creatine phosphate) is an important store of energy in muscle cells. During intense exercise lasting around half a minute, phosphocreatine is broken down to creatine and phosphate, and the energy released is used to regenerate the primary source of energy, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Output power drops as phosphocreatine becomes depleted, because ATP cannot be regenerated fast enough to meet the demand of the exercise. It follows that a bigger store of phosphocreatine in muscle should reduce fatigue during exercise. Extra creatine in the muscle may also increase the rate of regeneration of phosphocreatine following exercise, which should mean less fatigue with repeated bursts of activity in training or in many sport competitions.
A typical loading regime for a 70-kg athlete is a 5-g dose four times a day for a week. Thereafter the dose can be reduced to 2 to 5 g per day in order to maintain elevated creatine content. This supplementation protocol will increase intramuscular creatine and phosphocreatine content and enhance high intensity exercise performance. There is now some evidence that taking glucose (100 g) with the creatine (5 to 7 g) increases the uptake of creatine into muscle (Green et al., 1996a; Green et al., 1996b). Consequently, I recommend that athletes take creatine with carbohydrate (e.g. with grape juice) or ingest commercially available creatine supplements that combine creatine with glucose. For athletes wanting to promote additional gains in lean body mass, I recommend 15 to 25 g per day for 1 to 3 months. Although many athletes cycle on or off creatine, no study has determined whether this practice promotes greater gains in fat free mass or performance than continuous use.

If this has given you a taste to try and ethically enhance your training then be sure to visit a quality merchant to purchase creatine

Monday, October 09, 2006

Zantrex 3

Zantrex is a weight loss supplement with the additional benefits of an appetite suppressant and a high energy xanthine based stimulant. It does not contain ephedra which is a big positive for this product but it still gives you all the energy you want whilst trying to attain your weight loss goals.
This product was originally marketed in Europe with a great deal of success. It has replaced the ephedrine based products which are now obsolete and a thing of the past.

Zantrex has tended to be marketed in a different way to other weight loss products. You tend not to see the tired old before and after pictures but more of the scientific clinical data that proves it is effective and will work.

So, if you are looking for something to boost your energy levels and get you past the ordinary dieting problems then why not take a look at Zantrex 3

Nitrogen Balance

This is another blogg on proteins - and starts to explain why protein is so important in gaining optimal physical performance....

Athletes tend to need more protein than sedentary individuals in order to achieve positive nitrogen balance.
In fact, protein is the key "building" nutrient for a variety of bodily tissues, many of which support muscle growth (enzymes, skin, hair, nails, bones, and connective tissue are all constructed from protein). Protein makes up 15-20% of ones bodyweight and is thus, next to water, the body's second most abundant substance..

There Are Three Basic States Of Nitrogen Balance

Positive: This is the optimal state for muscle growth - where the nitrogen intake is greater than nitrogen output. Essentially, it shows the body has sufficiently recovered from its last workout. The greater the nitrogen balance, the faster is workout recovery. This is the body's anabolic state.

Negative
: This is the worst state an athelete can find themselves in - where nitrogen loss is greater than nitrogen intake. Not only is nitrogen drawn away from muscle, where it is needed for growth, it is also taken from the vital organs where serious damage can occur. Of course, negative nitrogen balance also destroys muscle and is consequently considered a catabolic state.

Equilibrium
: This state should be what a bodybuilder might achieve at the very minimum - where nitrogen intake and loss are equal. The trainer in this state is not regressing, nor are they really gaining any appreciable muscle.

So, a caloric surplus of protein should be maintained at all times, to keep nitrogen balance positive. It is advisable to eat about six meals (each spaced two-three hours apart), each containing around 30-40-grams of protein, per-day.

An excellent way to increase the amount of protein is to purchase a high quality whey protein and one of the best on the market today is Isopure. But do make sure that you go to a high quality supplier to purchase you products.

Why use Whey Protein

What is whey protein? It is a rich source of essential amino acids needed by the body on a daily basis Whey protein is a pure, natural, high quality protein from cow's milk. In its purest form, as whey protein isolate, it contains little to no fat, lactose or cholesterol.

Most people now understand that increased protein in-take is important for athletes wanting to maximize muscle growth. But it is interesting to note that protein is an important factor in these other areas

Weight Management
The body requires more energy to digest protein than other foods (thermic effect) and as a result you burn more calories after a protein meal.
Protein also helps to stabilize blood glucose levels by slowing the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. This in turn reduces hunger by lowering insulin levels and making it easier for the body to burn fat.

Cardiovascular Health
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is one of the leading causes of heart disease and stroke. Exciting new research has shown that Whey protein may help in the battle against hypertension. Both human clinical and animal studies found that a hydrolyzed whey protein isolate assisted in reducing the blood pressure of borderline hypertensive individuals.

Cancer
Whey protein has been shown through animal and in vitro studies to inhibit the growth of several types of cancer tumors. Dr. Thomas Badger, head of the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center in Little Rock, found that feeding rats whey protein resulted in their developing 50% fewer tumors than rats fed casein. The rats fed whey protein also developed fewer tumors than rats fed soy protein and the tumors took longer to develop

Diabetes
Whey protein , a high quality, high biological value protein, is a good choice for diabetics who need to carefully manage food intake. Whey protein provides more value than equal amounts of lower quality proteins that are often higher in fat and cholesterol. In addition, whey protein helps control blood glucose levels and has been shown to be beneficial for weight management, both of which are often a concern for type-2 diabetics.

Infant Nutrition
Certain types of whey protein based infant formulas have also been shown to help reduce crying in colicky infants. While breast-feeding is preferred, infant formulas containing whey protein are the next best thing when breast-feeding is not an option. In addition, whey protein is an excellent protein choice for the expectant mother who needs increased amounts of protein. Pregnancy can increase the body's protein needs by up to 33%

Healthy Aging
The benefit of whey protein for seniors is the ability to help prevent bone loss. A recent study conducted at Boston University showed that elderly individuals who consumed low levels of protein had a significant loss of bone density four years after the start of the study, especially in the hip and spine areas. A nutritious diet including whey protein may help keep bones and muscles healthy and strong.

Wound Care
When the body is working to heal wounds and surgical incisions it requires increased amounts of protein. Protein and its amino acids are the building blocks that initiate the growth of new skin during the healing process. Therefore a high quality whey protein is important in the diet.

One way to ensure you have the optimal protein in-take is to go to a high quality supplier of a whey protein and one of the specialist whey protein products now available is Isopure