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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Water and hydration

I question I get a lot is how much water/fluid should I be drinking on a daily basis?
Now water is vital in the body for many different reasons including the obvious one, for hydration. But it also plays a vital role in metabolism, protein synthesis, and fat burning. Check out the video below for more info and the rough recommended amount of water for you each day.

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Fat Burning Foods

So I'm gona talk about some of the best foods to burn fat and boost your metabolism that you should include in your diet. It's not particularly ranked but here are some great ways to burn extra calories and fat simply but using dietary tactics and foods.

1. Spices: There are 3 main ones to use here in order to boost metabolism or support fat loss. Black pepper, Cayenne pepper and cinnamon. So the black pepper is great, not only does it boost your metabolism and taste good but it also aids nutrient absorption which will help you build muscle whilst burning fat.The Cayenne pepper contains capsaicin which is great for boosting your metabolism also. Finally the cinnamon is great for controlling blood sugar levels which in turn helps your body burn fat as a main source for fuel and leads to less fat gain.

2. Green tea: Already featured o this blog at http://www.fitness-teen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/green-tea.html but all I'll say here is that it is one of the main ingredients in metabolism boosting pills and has loads of health benefits. check out the link for full details.

3. Oatmeal: Oats or porridge oats are a great source of low GI (Glycemic index) foods that will help to reduce blood sugar spikes and in turn reduce fat gain. By including porridge in your diet every other morning you will get some great quality carbs for energy and very low sugar and if made with water it should be possibly the best breakfast out there in terms of slow energy release and low sugar levels.

4. Peanut Butter: Okay so here me out, yes I know it is calorie dense and it has a lot of fats per 100g but, the mix of protein and healthy fats means that it is a good metabolism boosting snack to have once or twice a week on wholemeal bread or rice crackers. The mix of healthy fats will aid brain function and skin complexion whilst encouraging the body to use fats as energy and so you may burn more body fat.

5. Almonds: Like peanut butter it is the healthy fats and proteins we want due to all the benefits listed above, but they are also a very low sugar snack and due to the protein and fats can be quite filling and easy to eat on the go. A must for someone who snacks a lot between meals.

6. Lean meats: In order to absorb protein and digest it in your diet  the body is forced to use around 25% of the calories in the protein source just to get it into its system. This is a good way to burn cheap extra calories when you consider that it only takes 10% of the calories in carbohydrates and 5% of those in fats to breakdown and digest. So by having lean meat you will burn more calories and of course lean meats have less calories to begin with and can be filling.

7. Fruit: Fruit is a good way to get simple sugars into your diet and all of the micro-nutrients and vitamins you need to stay healthy, bu fruits can also have great calorie burning advantages. For example in the case of apples, pineapples and strawberries it takes the body more calories to break down and absorb 100g of these fruits than is actually contained in the fruit itself so just by eating pineapple you will burn calories.(of course only a small amount, but every little helps.

8. Water: you need water to break down and use fats and to help promote hydration and proper body function. Aim to drink at least 3 litres a day and an extra 500ml for each hour that you train. 

Fat Burning Pineapple Smoothie

This smoothie is great for boosting your metabolism and burning fat. Its also a great snack to have post workout and on hot summer day like this. 
The pineapple is great as it provides not only 1 of your 5 pieces of fruit and veg a day, but it also contains simple fruit sugars post workout, and it takes your body more calories to breakdown and metabolise the pineapple tan are actually in it. so just by eating pineapple you are in a calorie deficit.
The next ingredient also has metabolism boosting properties, Almonds. These nuts contain a great mix of healthy fats and protein which boost your metabolism and provide some post workout protein for recovery.
The greek yoghurt also aids fat loss, being naturally low in sugar and fat it is a great mixer and helps to thicken the smoothie. Also this yoghurt also helps to reduce the amount of fat absorbed across the intestines after digestion.
As for the cinnamon it too helps with fat loss. It has a minor effect of boosting your metabolism, but this really helps to lower your blood sugar levels and so reduces insulin spikes and extra fat gain.
Finally the whey protein provides simple protein post workout that can be quickly absorbed and used to build new lean muscle.

Ingredients:                                                 Nutritional Values:
100g fresh pineapple                                   Protein- 36g
1 tea spoon of cinnamon                              Carbs-28g
100g of natural greek yoghurt                      Fats-  25g
50g sliced almonds
1 cup of water (200-300ml)
1 scoop of whey protein

Why Calcium is essential

This video discusses just how important calcium is to our diet, especially if you are training regularly. Not only is it used to build strong bones and teeth, but it also plays a key role in muscle contraction and nerve impulse transmission.
Check out the video for the full details:

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How To Carb Cycle

So a lot of people have asked me what is the best nutritional plan to stay lean and ripped once I get shred off the body fat and build lean muscle. Well the best strategy that I would recommend is carb cycling. This is easy to do and follows a simple pattern that aims to keep energy levels high, maintain strength and muscle mass and keep your fat burning metabolism high enough to keep the fat at bay. 

How it works:
You follow a repetitive cycle of 2 low carb days followed by 1 high carb day. So for example Monday low carb, Tuesday low carb, wednesday high carb and so on. What is does is allows your body 2 days to use fat as the predominant energy source whilst topping up your carbohydrates and glycogen stores every three days to allow continue high performance training and efficient energy cycling in the body. If you combine this diet plan with at least 3 litres of water a day then you should maintain a good shape and level of shreddedness all year long. It also allows you to have a cheat meal each week and enjoy some high carb foods like pasta every few days whilst keeping the fat at bay.
On the low carb days the body will tap into your stored body fat as energy and therefore reduce the amount you put on. and on the high carb days, carbohrdrates are the main energy source and it lets the muscles store extra glycogen to help them perform well when you have 2 low carb days in a row.

Example diet for each day:

Low Carb Day:
Breakfast - porridge and 50 grams of almonds
Lunch- tuna salad with some greek yoghurt
Snack- protein shake post workout with a cinamon dusted apple (boost metabolism)
Dinner- Chicken breast and mixed vegetables
Snack- cottage cheese and whey(

Macros= Protein - 160 grams Carbs -110 grams Fats - 45 grams

High Carb day:
Breakfast - porridge and 50 grams of almonds and sliced banana
Lunch- chicken and salad wraps and greek yoghurt
Snack- protein shake post workout and 1 round of peanut butter toast
Dinner- Chicken breast and rice with broccoli
Snack- cottage cheese and whey with 50g oats

Macros= Protein - 175 grams Carbs - 205 grams Fats - 55 grams

Try this out and see if it works for you!

Nut Comparison

This is a short video comparing the different nutritional values of my top 5 nuts. It covers their main macro nutrient values for protein, carbs and fats and ranks them in order of 1-5 based on the ratios of each nutrient.

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Summer Shape Up Rules

Okay so we are now into spring time and many of you will be starting to look at the summer holidays and where you want to go this year. Many of you will also want to shape up in time for summer so that you feel and look good at the beach and by the pool. Well here is a short video which outlines the 4 main factors which will help you achieve your aim for summer 2013. Check it out:

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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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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.

Shopping Tips

So here are a few great tips to remember when you are out shopping for new healthy, high protein foods to include in your diet and a few tips on diet layout and structuring a good meal plan and shopping list for your bodybuilding and training style.

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Simple Healthy Swaps

So a lot of you have been asking me about healthy meals, snacks and some tips for buying healthy foods. So here a a few healthy swaps you can make in your diets that will increase your meals nutritional values and make you a little healthier.

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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.

 

Starvation Diets don't Work!

Starvation diets are not only detrimental to your health in more ways than one, but also do not work as effective fat loss diets. Not only do you lose more muscle than fat, but you also set yourself in a position where your body wants to store as much energy as possible as fat for use in the future.
Check out the alternatives below...

 

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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)