Interview with Roger Snipes

This man knows all about the vital importance of sports nutrition, in keeping us going and gaining every time we train.

He says, "some of us train hard as second nature, others need a good kick before somthing actually happens. Whatever the case we all need motivation and for me, that comes in the shape of a comprehensive workout nutrition plan." But at the same time always remember that, "the mission is to leave the gym with a severe pump and dripping with sweat by any mena snecessary."

He calims that "Hitting the weights with no food or some kind of supplement is like driving a 4 litre vehicle with an empty tank on the motorway, 'your not gonna get very far' if anywhere at all." "the same goes for post workout. Many people don't understand the major importance of it and train for hours in the gym, the eat a chocolate bar because they feel they deserve it or their depleted energy levels demand sugar." He descibes the need for protein after a workout as, "ignoring signs of depletion or starving muscles is like working an entire month for your wages, and then when you are finally paid, you take it to a beting shop and lose everything"

This is what Roger snipes' post workout nutrition consists of:
IMMEDIATELY AFTER TRAINING = 2 scoops of PhD recovery 2:1
The name speaks for itself, RECOVERY! It provides the right levels of carbs, protein and L-glutamine to replenish and sustain muscle growth and is one of the best value for money products on the market.

He then has a solid meal around 90minutes after the gym. This is typically chicken / fish with rice.

Peanut Butter: the new super food?

I'm sick and tired of reading web site posts about avoiding peanut butter and that its bad for you. It simply isn't true! Peanut butter has a good combination of proteins and polyunsaturated fats which are perfect for building muscle and adding size to your training.

Yes, peanut butter is calorie-dense. But it can beneficially fit into your sports diet. A Purdue University study reports subjects who ate peanuts every day did not overeat daily calories. Peanut eaters tend to naturally eat less at other times of the day. Plus, if you enjoy what you are eating on your reducing diet, you'll stay with the food plan and be able to keep the weight off. This is far better than yo-yo dieting!
    Peanut butter is a good source of protein but, you need to eat the whole juar to get the equivalent protein levels of other sources such as turkey or chicken. To boost the protein value of peanut butter, simply accompany it with a tall glass of milk: 2 rounds of peanut butter and toast + 16 ounces low fat milk = 28 grams of protein, a good chunk of your daily requirement. Milk simultaneously enhances the value of the protein in the peanut butter sandwich. That is, peanuts are low in some of the essential amino acids muscles need for growth and repair. The amino acids in milk (as well as those in the sandwich bread) nicely complement the limiting amino acids in peanuts.
Peanut butter is a reasonable source of vitamins, minerals and other health-protective food compounds. For example, peanut butter contains folate, vitamin E, magnesium and resveratrol, all nutrients associated with reduced risk of heart disease. Peanut butter offers a small amount of zinc, a mineral important for healing and strengthening the immune system. As an athlete, you need all these nutrients to keep you off the bench and on the playing field. Peanuts contain mostly health-protective mono- and polyunsaturated fats.
When peanuts are made into commercial peanut butter, some of the oil gets converted into a harder, saturated fat. This keeps the oil from separating to the top. The hardened oil, called trans-fat, is less healthful. But the good news is, commercial peanut butters contain only a tiny amount of trans fats and just a small amount of (naturally occurring) saturated fat. For example, only 3.5 of the 17 grams fat in two tablespoons are "bad" fats.
     To minimize your intake of even this small amount of un-healthful fat, you can buy all-natural peanut butter. If you dislike the way the oil in this type of peanut butter separates to the top of the jar, simply store the jar upside down. That way, the oil rises to what becomes the bottom of the jar when you turn it over to open it. And if you eat peanut butter daily, you won't have to refrigerate it, thereby making the all-natural peanut butter easier to spread.

 

According to Men’s Fitness magazine the best high street brand of peanut butter is 'Whole Earth - Crunchy original' peanut butter. They gave it 5/5 stars and described it as, "thick, satisfying peanut butter, tastes great despite having no added sugar". It also is entirely naturally sourced ingredients and has low salt levels so its a win win situation.

My arms routine

Well tonight im training Bicep's and triceps so I thought I'd share my routine with you so that you can get some idea's about how to structure your workout routines and maybe give you some new ideas for your own training.

Workout Routine:

1. Bench press: (3sets 10reps) + (4 sets of 8 reps) 

2. Seated curls (5 sets of 10 reps)
3. Tricep pull down (5 sets of 10 reps)

4. Held ab crunches (100 reps)

5. Bar curls (5 sets of 10 reps) - superset with next exercise

6. Tricep push down (5 sets of 10 reps)     

7. Single hand preacher curls (5 sets of 8 reps)

8. Held ab crunches with medicine ball (10 reps)

9. Concentratioin curls (5 sets of 10 reps)

10. Tricep bench (4 sets of 10 reps)

11. 21's (3 sets of 21 reps)



I prefer to work the antagonistic muscle groups in opposites to each other. (i.e one is a push, tricep, and one is a pull, bicep, movement) so the stretch each other out as you work and so you have more endurance and can lift heavier for longer during the worout.
I also find that supersetting allow me to add a cardio element to the workout as it means more work with less rest time in between sets and also does more muscle damage and forces the body to repair the damaged muscle faster and so makes your strength gains come faster.

By adding the two short sessions of ab crunches every three exercises it allows my arms to have a short ( 5min) break and allow a small amount of recovery before the next few exercises. It also prevents a rest time for my cardiovascular movements die to the constant motion of the abs during the crunches and prevents my heart rate or metabolic rate from dropping whislt I recover. Also its a good way to get some good ab work into the session.

Finally by finishing with the 21's it allows me to work the biceps to failure. "1's are a great way to train your biceps and are a form of endurance training b forcing your muscle so work overtime causing a build up of lactic acid. Simply pick up a bar or set of dumbells that are lighter than you normally curl, but not too much lighter. Then do 7 reps from full extension of the arm to 90 degrees, the 7 reps from 90 degrees to the top and thn a final 7 reps of full curls. the slower the better but as I said it really gives your muscles that burning snsation when done right and so its best to leave it till last.

MMA fight 12/11/2011

On saturday night I took part in A D-class MMA bout in The British Legion club in Antrim hosted by Marty Walker. I thought you'd like to see some pics of me in action so I've stuck them on below.

Round 1: Touch gloves. Back to your corners, ... fight!

So I came out of the corner and circled round before landing a front kick and low leg roundhouse kick.

After that he shot forward and took me down to the floor but I trapped him in half guard.

After around 40 seconds of grappling he attempted an arm bar, but i was able to get on top and slam him twice breaking the arm bar hold. After that another few punches and kicks were exchanged before the round ended.

                                                        

Round 2:

So second round again I come out looking to land a few low kicks and this time he buckles under the front kick to the stomach. being a heavier guy than me he drops his head as the kick lands and he stumbles forward.

In an attemt to take me down again he shoots forwards but I sprawl and take him down. From the control position I sweep around and get him in the sleeper hold.

After that Its pretty much over, I roll onto my back and finish the submission and he taps out.

                          

Jump-start your muscles!

Have your muscle gains stalled? Getting stronger without adding mass or tone? Well below are some excellent tips from top trainers and Men's Fitness Magazine UK to get your muscles growing once again:

Biceps: Guru Chad Waterbury's tip is to forget doing endless biceps curls and try somthing new. He suggests that rope climbing is a great way to build your biceps, "Any time you pull with your hands close together, theres no way your back can take over and so its all on the biceps" NO rope? then do pul ups on the V-handles for the same effect.

Triceps: 'No more kickbacks', according to Mens Fitness UK you need to do dips or tricep bench instead to really get the trieps pumping, make sure you work on the lock out part of the lift for extra gains.

Chest: Chad Waterbury also claims that by contantly changing your chest routine you can get a big chest in no time. "Mix it up" Dont just do bench press and flyes all the time , add decline bench and incline bench press or swap the bar bell for dumbells to build extra muscle.

Lats: Wide grip pull ups are a good way to work this muscle group. Aim to do 40-50 every back workout, either supersetting them or getting them done as quickly as possible at the end of a session can really make a difference.

Traps: Make sure your doing your shrugs right in order to build up mpressive traps. Leading US strenght coach, Jim Wendler suggests doing a few heavy warm up sets and then doing one big all out set of 20-50 reps of a lighter weight. But make sure it's still a challenge!

Abs: Water bury suggests dumping the crunches and instead claims that "overloading the abdominal muscles is the best way to improve". Try traing them in an ab's circuit involving obleak, ab and core stability exercises to get great abs.

Quads: Unlike most muslce groups it has been discovered that the quads react well to high volume training. I suggest doing intense cycle programmes to build up your Quads. Or you could throw in some front squatts.

Hamstrings: Dr Stuart Magill points out that unlike the leg curl machine, every real world hamstring move also recruits the posterior chain. try a single-leg deadlift.

Calves: The sports people with the biggest calfs are sprinters and american footballers. Waterbury claims that, "looking at the muscle action that both sports demand I realised deceleration is key to calf growth" The answer is single leg hops holding a dumbell on the same side.

EAT LESS - LIVE MORE!

I know what you're thinking, "obvioulsy eating less junk means I will  live longer", but I'm talking about eating less food in general, not just the unheralthy stuff. In fact up until very recently it was actually an unproved theorythat eating less food would make us live longer! It has been discovered that eating less can actually prolong our lifespans. By only having 3-4 small meals per day actually slows the aging processes in our cells and so increases our potential lifespan considerably!

"We're getting closer and closer to a good understanding of how caloric restriction works. This study is the first direct proof for a mechanism underlying the anti-aging effects we observe under caloric restriction," said Tomas A. Prolla at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A calorie-restricted diet that still provides all the nutrients necessary for a healthy life but minimizes the energy (calories) supplied in the diet has been proven to delay the onset of age-related chronic diseases such as cancers, heart disease, and strokes. There are also hints that people who eat a calorie-restricted diet might live longer than those who overeat. In addition, calorie-restricted diets beneficially affect several biomarkers of aging, including decreased insulin sensitivity (a precursor to diabetes).

I know what your thinking how does less calories lead to a longer life span?
Well a major factor in the age-related decline of bodily functions is the accumulation of "oxidative damage" in the body's proteins, fats, and DNA. Oxidants (in particular, chemicals called "free radicals") are produced when food is converted to energy by cellular structures called mitochondria. Under reduced-calorie conditions, levels of Sirt3 increase, altering metabolism and resulting in fewer free radicals produced by mitochondria that are the sources of highly reactive forms of oxygen, which damage cells and promote the effects of aging.
"Caloric Restriction in non-obese people leads to less oxidative damage in muscle cells", according to a new study by Anthony Civitarese and Eric Ravussin,(Pennington Biomedical Research Center). As oxidative damage has been linked to aging, this could explain how limiting calorie intake without malnutrition would see more of us living long and healthy lives. 

Boost strength with Magnesium!

If you want bigger muscles, increased testosterone levels and better workour performance times, try increasing the amount of magnesium in your diet. This super element is found mainly in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and it is involved in the activity of every cell in our body. This was discovered by turkish scientists working on new supplements for sports performace enfancements.


Okay so heres how it works:
The Turkish scientists wanted to test the effects of magnesium on free testosterone levels (the type which build muscle and are available in the blood). They split the subjects into three groups, the first two groups were given 10grams of magnesium per kilo of body weight a day for 4 weeks. the third group were given none. (the control group)
The first group would do no exercise over the 4 weeks. The second and third did between 90 minutes and 120 minutes a week of tae kwon do per day.
The second group recorded the highest increase in testosterone, followed by the third who didn't take any magnesium.

This proves that magnesium does work to increase your testosterone levels causing extra muscle gains and better performance, but it must be accompained by an active and physical training programme!