Protein Cycling

This video explains how and why you need to cycle your protein intake in order to get the most out of your training and help build muscle.It also discusses the health benefits and how it will benefit your muscle building potential. Check it out:

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Cardio Helps Build Muscle

This may surprise a lot of you but its actually true. Cardio does help build muscle. Not only does it help the muscles recover by increasing blood supply to them and oxygen, but it also allows more rapid protein absorbance in the body and therefore more rapid growth in the muscles. Check out the video for full details.

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Top 5 Protein Sources

Here are the best 5 sources of protein that you can include in your diet and why each is particularly useful and effective for anyone who wants to make muscle gains and recover efficiently from their training. Check it out:

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Fat Storage Different for Everyone

In this video I will discuss fat storage in different age groups, genders and people, why it is stored there and how its not as uniform as you think. The gender difference may be obvious but there is still a huge variance between everyone that you need to discover your own body type and fat storage hot spots on your own body and then use them as a guide to your weight gain/loss journey. 

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Deadlifts boost overall strength?

I received an email a few weeks ago about exercises that boost strength and the main area he wanted to know was, if he included deadlifts in his routine would he boost strength in other areas of his body as well? Here is my response,

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Pittas meal

Another high protein and healthy meal for you today. This is one of my favourite meals to use especially when I'm carb cycling or bulking due to the high levels of protein (70g). There are two different pittas for you to try so check it out. 

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Muscle building oat and whey smoothie

This is a really tasty smoothie that is packed with protein, low GI carbs and some healthy fats to get your body into an anabolic state and get you packing on the muscle after a tough workout. Its quick and easy to make and the ingredients aren't overly expensive either so its a win win situation. 

Ingredients:                        Nutritional Values:
50g almonds                       Protein - 58g
2 scoops of oats                 Carbs - 48g
2 egg whites                        Fats - 31g (of which saturates 2g)
2 scoops of whey                Calories - 721
1 cup of water
1 spoonful of honey

Seriously though guys you have to try this smoothie, its great for anyone trying to add some mass and get gains from their bulk and also works well as a quick to make breakfast, just throw it all in the blender and go for it.

Bar Curls

Okay so everyone wants bigger biceps, not only for the pride of it, but for that t-shirt mass when you go out. However many of you will be mainly using dumbbells for biceps when in fact by incorporating the barbell it automatically forces the joints and muscles to undertake a more intense range of motion.

The first thing you want to be doing when planning out your barbell biceps workout is starting with the bigger exercises first that will utilize the greatest number of muscle fibers. Doing so will help ensure that you are able to generate a maximum amount of force on the exercises that will deliver the best results. This includes using straight bar curls, underhand rows and close grip pull ups. After you’ve finished with those exercises, then it will be time to move on to the isolated movements that are really going to zero in and hit the biceps hard. Here, you will want to primarily focus on movements such as dumbbell bicep curls, EZ bar curls and dumbbell concentration curls.

But don’t use all of these moves in one session, rather pick two of each and create a workout that works well for you. In order to allow them to get optimum recover times and growth you want to train them for 16 sets max that’s 4 sets per exercise. Also never train them and back together or even the next day. This is because many back moves need the biceps to help with the exercise and so the bicep is further fatigued. Try putting chest or legs in between these days for better gains.

Another tip is changing your barbell grip for even better results, one week have a normal grip on the bar with your hands about level with your shoulders, or by keeping your arms brushing your sides with each rep, then the following week use a close grip with only 10-12cm between your hands to hit the fibers in different ways and get optimum results from your training.

Green Tea boosts HGH

As I have mentioned before in a previous post Green tea is widely known to be beneficial for weight loss, and thousands of websites offer green tea products for this purpose. As it is such an important herb for weight management, and particularly for reducing body fat and increasing lean body mass it may surprise you that it has also been linked with the production of the human growth hormone.

Research from . This is a clip of their results’ “Fifty subjects were assigned to the green tea extract plus hypocaloric diet (lower calorie diet), while the other 50 subjects followed the hypocaloric diet only. After 90 days of treatment, significant weight loss and decreased body mass index (BMI) were observed in the group taking the herbal extract (14-kg loss in the green tea group compared to a 5-kg loss in the diet-only group); waistline was reduced only in male subjects. Besides the effect on weight and BMI, biochemical parameters (LDL-, HDL-, and total cholesterol, triglycerides, human growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1, insulin, and cortisol) were improved in both groups.

The result is that HGH increased by 321% over the starting point. Note that even the control group showed a 20 percent increase, which just goes to show you how important weight management is for hormone balance and overall health. But this staggering increase in human growth hormone is a main reason why from this day forth I strongly suggest that you take green tea at least once a day either as a cup of tea or by pouring a sachet into your protein shake post workout for best results.

 

Pasta + Turkey and peppers

This is another healthy meal that I use especially as a post workout meal to replenish my carbohydrate and glycogen levels and fill me up after a tough gym session. Using 80 grams of wholemeal pasta, 100 grams of sliced turkey and a handful of chopped peppers. The wholemeal pasta is much lower is sugar and has a lower GI index than white pasta and is also more filling. The turkey, being a very lean meat is also a great source of protein without the added calories or fat count, so helps to even out the high carb pasta well. By adding peppers it gives the dish some flavour and vitamins including vitamin C and D.

Nutritional values:

Protein – 37grams
Carbs – 49 grams
Fats – 7 grams
kcals - 407

Protein Pancakes

A great nutritous and protein packed meal thats quick and easy to make and only needs 3 ingredients.
Ingredients list:                                                         Nutrition:
4 egg whites                                                                Protein - 44 grams
1 scoop of whey protein                                            Carbs - 42 grams
2 scoops of porridge oats                                           Fats - 9 grams

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Tuna Pasta

A great combination of carbs and protein for a post-workout meal to really get your body in a muscle gaining, anabloic state. It's quick and easy to make and tastes great. It's also a healthy meal if you are looking to get into a more healthy lifestyle and has a mixture of all the macro nutrients your body needs.
Protein = 46 grams
Carbs= 68 grams
Fats= 6 grams (of which saturates 0.5g)

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Human Growth Hormone

The human growth hormone is the main hormone other than testosterone that all bodybuilders need to learn about. Once you start lifting weights in your resistance style training your body will start to produce heaps of both of these hormones.
However unlike testosterone, human growth hormones (HGH) only begin to really function well after your training ends, because it does'nt have enough time to work inbetween each set. But theres a huge problem here that many people will have that they are oblivious to. Human growth hormone doesn't like to work once you ingest alot of carbs. So for anyone who has carbs in their post workout shake all the time, or has a recovery shake once they leave the gym, then they aren't getting much benifit from their training and hormone production as they should. Also it is very active at night, so if you have carbs before bed you again will reduce its effects in your muscle gains.

What the human growth hormone does is it activates your body's fat stores as energy and uses the energy and fat molecules to build new cell walls on yor muscle fibres with any protein in your gut or blood stream that you ate earlier. Dr McColla and researchers at the University of Virginia have looked into this and believe that to get the most out of your training you should wait up to an hour after training before having your recovery shake in order to maximise your gains and effectiveness of this hormone.

The main reason for the effect of the carbs is the release of insulin, which not only reduces the amount of human growth hormone production but also the two hormone struggle to work together due to the fact that each is attempting to utilise a different energy source, either carbs or fats and so the growth hormone almost takes a back seat and stops working.

So to sumarise, wait up to an hour after training to maximise your effectiveness of the hormone before having your post workout shake and you should start to see better results in your muscle gains and may even put on less body fat due to its recruitment in the HGH process.

Chicken and Ginger

A little meal I cooked up last night and it has seriously good macro/micro nutrient levels to support your muscle growth and recovery after a tough day at the gym.

Protein - 47g
Carbs - 39g
Fats - 9g


It's reasonably easy to make. First you need to collect the ingredients from the list below. Then slice the red pepper into reasonably large slices and chop the brocolli in half or quarters down the center depending on its size. Now weight out 150g of chicken per person and warm up your wok before you add the chicken. Now weight out 75-100g of brown wholemeal rice per person. (note nutritional values are estimated on 75g of rice). Then add the rice to a suitable pot and cover in boiling water, abd allow to boil for 20-25 minutes depending on the brand. Whilst the rice boils you need to add the chicken to the wok and cook until the chicken has turned white all over. Once white, lower the heat under the wok and grate 1/3 of a ginger root per person into a small dish. Once the ginger is grated add the veg to the wok and increase the heat stiring well. After about 5 minutes you need to add the ginger and a table spoon of soy sauce and mix it in well with the veg and chicken, decrease the heat at this point.
After a further 5 minutes th rice should be ready, so drain the rice, serve it out onto the plates and add your chicken and veg. There won't be alot of sauce, but thats how this dish is prepared, you are coating the chicken in ginger not adding a ginger sauce.

Hopefully you'll try this and enjoy it. I know I did.

Ingredients:
150 grams of chicken (per person)
50 grams of brocolli (per person)
1/2 red pepper (per person)
1/3 ginger (root per person)
1 table spoon of soy sauce (per person)
75 grams brown rice (per person)

Breakfasts

Just a few breakfasts to try out, all have over 30grams of protein and plenty of essential macro and micro-nutrients to really kick start your gains and metabolism.

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Tuna Steaks

This is a meal I had at the weekend after a tough shoulder session and it was the most satisfying meal I had had all week. Not only does it taste great but it is packed with protein and healthy fats. I combined the steaks with red peppers stuffed with sweet corn and cous cous and mushrooms. This added a lot of vitamins and essential micronutrients that your muscles need to grow as well as carbs to help recovery post workout.

Nutritional values:

Protein – 72 grams

Carbs – 68 grams

Fats – 12 grams

The tuna really helps with muscle gains being a low carb fish source of protein it really allows all of the steak to be converted into amino acids which are essential for post workout muscle growth and recovery. The vitamin D in the mushrooms will also aid testosterone levels and hopefully lead to muscle gains. As for the carbs they help muscle recovery and as they are taken post workout they should be absorbed by the muscles and converted into glycogen which will be seriously depleted following a tight and intense workout.

To prepare all you need to do is cook the steaks and mushrooms in a pan for 4 minutes each side, and then let them sit in the pan for a few minutes. Mean while you need to slice the red pepper in half, and grill it for a few minutes, then stuff it with cous cous and sweet corn. Then it’s all ready to serve.

Beating cortisol

Many of you will be wary of this stress hormone - 'cortisol'. The dreaded hormone that breaks down muscle for energy after approximately 1 hour of an intense workout and can wash away any gains you made prior to this in the gym. However getting the right nutrients pre and post workout can help to prolong the time it takes for your body to release it and how much of it is produced, therefore allowing a longer, more effective workout.

Many of you are propably doing a session of about 20 sets maximum per muscle group in order to stop his cortisol being realeased, but this reduces the amount of muscle fibres you recruit and damage and so less is repaired and less growth occurs post workout. So to allow you to reach 30 sets try these nutrition tips.

1. Protein. High quality sources of protein can help to decrease cortisol production. Whey proein, eggs, lean meats all contain amino acids that are essentila to survival. By taking 15-30 grams of protein every 3 hours you body will begin to reduce the levels of cortisol it has ready to release into the blood stream when your body is under stress.

2. Having low GI carbs such as wholemeal toast, whole meal pasta or oats post workout will reduce the levels of cortisol that the body produces, as long as you avoid sugary foods and stop any insulin spikes then your body will not release very much cortisol and so you will reduce the loss of muscle caused by this hormone.

3. Keep getting healthy fats. Not only do these fats like omega 3 increase testosterone levels that we need to gain muscle, but they also reduce cortisol production, dont over do it though or you may actually increase your stress levels due to increased fat gains.

4. Vitamin C. This has been proven to not only reduce cortisol levels in the body, but it also delays its release allowing us to train longer and harder. make sure you are getting your 5 a day to ensure your vitamin c levels are naturally kept high all day.

5. Green tea. This contains theanine, which has a  tranquilizing effect in the brain, theanine is a unique amino acid found in the leaves sencha. This in turn reduces the effects of the stress hormone cortisol.

Therefore I suggest a new style of post workout shake for those of you looking to gain some size and strength. I am currently having this concoction:
1 scoop of whey protein
30 grams of porridge oats
1 sachet of green tea
300ml of water

This combines the low GI carbs, over 20grams of protein, and the theanine in green tea to help reduce the effects of cortisol post workout and provides my muscles with not only the protein and carbs that it needs but it also has a minor thermogenic effect to burn a little body fat due to the protein, water and green tea. Try it.

Muscle building peanut smoothie

This smoothie is crammed full of protein, and essential poly-unsaturated fats that are essential for gaining serious muscle. It also tastes great and is a great reward for your tast buds and muscles after a tough gym session.
Ingredients:
1 scoop of whey protein (preferably bananna or chocolate flavoured)

400ml cold water

5 ice cubes

1tbsp natural peanut butter (50g)

½ banana

Nutritional values:

• Protein - 31 grams
• Carbs - 19 grams
• Fats - 21 grams
• of which saturates - 4.5 grams

The whey protein is rapidly available for your muscles to harness and use to grow whilst the fats and carbs help to boost recovery times and give your body that calorie kick to get your body ino an anabolic state.
Further more the banana contains potassium which help to cut cravings so you'll be able to stick to your 'clean' bulking diet plan and its slow release carbs will aid recovery times after your training session.
The ice cubes and water are there to help rehydrate you after a tough session and will also make it a nice cool drink after your sweaty gym session this time of year.
Enjoy.

Scrambled egg, chicken and toast

A great, high protein lunch with plenty of nutritional benefits. The eggs are a great source of protein and polyunsaturated fats that are essential for growth and repair of muscle tissue, and the eggs are also extremely low in carbohydrates. The chicken is also packed full of protein and B vitamins including B12 which releases energy from food and helps keep you energised even on a low carb diet. The peppers provide simple carbs and essential nutrients including vitamins C and D in small doses to help with cell recovery and muscle growth.

This is a great meal to have on any diet and will encourage muscle, strength and recovery gains in no time.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium eggs
• 100g chicken
• 40g sliced peppers
• (optional) 1 round of whole meal toast - 50g

Nutritional info:

With toast = Protein (47g) Carbohydrates (24g)
Without toast = Protein (42g) Carbohydrates (6g)

It is quick and easy to make, only takes about 5-6 minutes at most to prepare and cook in the microwave and then its all yours. Enjoy.

Steak and Veg

A great meal to tuck into after a long day at the gym, not only is it tasty and satisfying, but it is packed full of nutrients to keep you growing and recovering until the next gym session.

The steak is packed full of protein and excellent mass-building food sources such as iron, zinc and B vitamins. Red meats have a high calorie per serving ratio, making it an excellent choice for hard gainers looking to pack on some serious size. The irpn also aids recovery times and will help keep you firing on all cylinders in the gym tomorrow. The veg also supplies the other essential vitamins and contributes towards your five a day. Especially the mushrooms which have very low total calorie and carbohydrate levels which make them the ideal add on, not to mention that they're fat free. Their main selling point is that mushrooms are a great source of vitamin D.

Add them all together in a meal and you have a great meal for those looking to gain some serious size in the muscle department and yet if eaten once a week it shouldn’t lead to serious body fat gains. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized steaks
• 200g mixed vegetables (boiled from frozen)
• 50g mushrooms
• 50g red onion