The MuscleTalker - Issue 45 (January 2006)

** MT Member of the Year Awards 2005: Moderators nominated a handful of our most valued members and members then voted for who their favourite choice in each category. The results are:

Nutrition Member of 2005 - youngitalianbabe
Performance Enhancing Drug Member of 2005 - Ihawk
Training Member of 2005 - Tokar
Female Bodybuilding Member of 2005 - Gymbabeliz
All-Round MT Member of 2005 - Johnnywildboar

Well done and well deserved to all, and we look forward to more valued contributions on MT in 2006!

Check out our articles, reports and interviews at: www.muscletalk.co.uk/articles.aspx

Welshdragon is still unbeatable in the MT Powerlifting Competition, with his phenomenal total of 1881lbs/855kg!

New stock of MuscleTalk T-shirts is now available so we have all sizes in both grey and white.

*** Happy New Year from James and The MuscleTalk team! ***

See you at www.MuscleTalk.co.uk

*** Echinacea and Good Health ***
By James Collier BSc (Hons) RNutr, MuscleTalk Moderator and Nutrition Consultant

Many members of MuscleTalk will be aware of my conventional nutrition views and my scepticism on many herbal tonics and remedies. However, with Echinacea I remain positively open minded as there is some evidence to back up its claims.

Echinacea (Purple Coneflower) is claimed to have immuno-boosting activity and to help fight off winter sickness bugs (which we call 'the flu') and the common cold. No one likes having a stinking cold; it stops us training hard and kills our appetite - just no good for gaining muscle or performing in the gym! Obviously the most fundamental methods of reducing the risk of getting ill during winter include taking plenty of exercise, eating a well-balanced healthy diet, getting plenty of rest and washing your hands properly and regularly.

If you do feel the symptoms of a cold or flu coming on or if you're in close contact with people who are ill you may want to consider taking Echinacea. Historically Echinacea was used by North American Native Indians to treat fevers and by early settlers to North America for treating colds and the flu.

Echinacea is claimed to be most effective if taken when you feel symptoms of the flu or a cold coming on. If you're quick you may be fortunate to minimise symptoms, or better still avoid them altogether. However taking echinacea once the cold or flu symptoms are in full swing, will not help at all.

Some people recommend taking echinacea for the autumn/winter months, and this has been shown to reduce incidence of infection, severity of symptoms and duration of illness. Indeed immuno-compromised individuals like some cancer or HIV patients are often recommended to take echinacea for these months (September thought until April in the UK). Furthermore it's recommended that if you're in close contact with people who are ill, you may benefit from taking echinacea to keep your immune system more resilient.

Echinacea should not, however, be used all year round as it may lose its effects of boosting your immune system. When taking Echinacea always be sure to refer to the manufacturer's directions for use. Intense exercise puts a strain on the immune system, so supplementation with echinacea may have an important role for the gym goer.

** James Collier BSc (Hons), Registered Nutritionist offers personalised nutrition programmes through email tailored to YOUR needs. For more information see:
www.muscletalk.co.uk/james.aspx or email james@muscletalk.co.uk

*** Five Minutes a Day Six-Pack ***
By James Collier BSc (Hons) RNutr, MuscleTalk Moderator

Here's a quick routine where you train just five minutes a day for 5-6 days a week in order to shred those abs when combined with a suitable diet and cardiovascular routine. You don't need a gym just a level floor. After warming up, perform the following routine:

** Ab-Squeeze Crunches
Lie on the floor in the Crunch position, knees bent, hands over ears, or resting on the back of the head. Crunch up approximately ten inches, holding the contraction for six seconds, really squeezing your abs together hard. Crunch your upper abs into your lower abs and vice-versa, then return to the starting position as slow as possible keeping those abs tensed taking about 4 seconds to do this. Repeat the ab crunch maintaining as much continuous tension on the abdomen as possible. Go for quality of reps rather than as quantity; as you improve you'll find you're able to do more. When you can't do any more have a 20 second rest then continue doing normal crunches. Perform three sets of ad-squeeze crunches.

** Lying Leg Raises
After crunches perform lying Leg Raises which are an excellent intense movement for blasting those hard to exercise lower abs. Lye down on your back, legs out straight with your feet together and arms by your side with palms flat on the floor. Raise your legs by abdominal power only whilst keeping your knees together but slightly bent. Avoid swinging and continue to raise until your feet are about 45° and contract the abs for five seconds before lowering in a controlled fashion tensing the abs as you do back to just above the floor to maintain continuous tensions. Aim for 12 or more reps, but don't worry if you have to work up to this level. Perform three sets of lying leg raisers.

After the brief workout take ten deep breaths squeezing our hard on the abs on each exhale. Eat right and train properly and you'll have a six-pack in no time!

*** Recipe - Spicy Chicken Casserole *** Taken from the eBook Muscle Menus 2

** Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, diced
350ml chicken stock
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 pepper, finely sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
freshly ground pepper

** Method
In a large pan cook chicken until browned. Remove and set aside. Add onion, celery and pepper to the pan and sauté for 10 minutes until soft. Add stock, tomatoes, herbs, chicken and bay leaves cover and simmer for 35 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve over brown rice if desired.

** Information
A hearty, low calorie, high protein meal which serves 4. Per serve: 154kcal, 23.5g protein, 8g carbs, 3g fat, 2g fibre.

More great bodybuilding recipes can be found in the eBooks 'Muscle Menus', 'Muscle Menus 2' and 'Muscle Menus Vegetarian' eBooks:

*** Video Review - Ronnie Coleman ***
Review by MuscleTalk Moderator seungmena aka Big Les

This is the original tape, filmed before Big Ron became Mr Olympia. So why a review now? Simply put - it's really very good! From the days when ace cameraman Mitsuru Okabe edited the material into a 1hour tape this is still excellent value.

It's not the same rip roaring 'Yeah Buddy' of Unbelievable, or the phenomenal dedication of Redemption, instead this is an introduction to Ronnie and how he does it. The first thing you will notice is that Ronnie talks - lots! Over most of the tape about his workouts, why she started bodybuilding, why he works as a police officer, which is great. Sure its fun to hear him shout 'lightweight' (which if you look closely you can see him doing) and give a quick 'Yip Yip', but its more informative to hear the man speak.

Added to this Ronnie isn't using super human poundages, you get to see him more mortal, pressing 150lbs on the incline for example, and his form hasn't changed a bit. It was as bad then as it is now, and his physique was quality then as it is now. Maybe that's something worth noticing too.

If you are a Ronnie fan then this is an essential addition to your collection, but for the non Ronnie fan this is also well worth considering as it gives an insight into not only his workouts but a little bit of the man too.

Overall this is a real sleeper, having been around years and seemingly gone unnoticed. Any fan of bodybuilding who buys this wont be disappointed.

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