The front page of MuscleTalk has improved. We've rearranged the way the categories of the forums are laid out to a more appropriate format. We've also added a new sub-forum to General for all the past interviews so you can read them all in one convenient section.
Have you got your tickets for the Body Power 2009 Expo yet? It's on 9th to 10th May at the NEC in Birmingham, UK. MuscleTalk is partnering with the organisers to bring you the biggest event UK bodybuilding and fitness has seen. More information here
MuscleTalk sponsored bodybuilder Daz Ball now has his progress journal live; pics and video clips will be added regularly so check back every couple of weeks. Daz Ball's 2009 Journal - The Quest for the IFBB Pro Card. Also check out his photos in the MT Photo Gallery.
Have a look at our newly updated Competitions Calendar for a list of competitions and events for 2009.
New articles, interviews and reports in January:
- Prohormones & OTC Steroids - A comprehensive guide and look into their applications for athletes
- Food vs. Supplements - or do I really need Whey, Creatine, Glutamine, MRPs, Multivitamins and all the rest?
- New Interview with Dayo Audi
- New Bodybuilding Recipe Videos by top chef Paul Elliott: Roast Halibut with Sweet Peppers and Couscous
Past articles at Bodybuilding Articles, with categories of all our main articles and past newsletters contributions.
MuscleTalk T-shirts!
*** Best wishes from James Collier and The MuscleTalk team! ***
See you at www.MuscleTalk.co.uk
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*** Post Workout Nutrition for Muscle Gain ***
James Collier - MuscleTalk Moderator & Nutrition Consultant www.healthyaction.co.uk
Anyone who wants to gain serious muscle recognises the importance of good nutrition all day, everyday. We all know that it's not during training when we grow, but later on when you're recuperating. However, we should still stress the importance of good post workout nutrition, because, after all, this is the time when your muscles have just been worked hard. Here is where there's an opportunity for a good protein update and you need to refuel your muscles with carbohydrate in order to fuel the next day's workout. Remember this: the best time to fuel for a workout is after the previous workout!
This does naturally assume you're already in a good nutritional status before you even begin your workout and you'll have protein still infusing into your blood from digestion. Here we'll focus on your nutrition immediately post workout (PWO) and the meal following that one (PPWO); both are crucial to achieve an optimal nutritional status.
Of course, we're not all top bodybuilders so do we really need the type of PWO nutrition the pros have? Possibly not, so we'll look at two regimens. An optimum PWO drink should be whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) with either Vitargo® or waxy maize starch (WMS) in water. WPH is the most filtered type of whey you can buy and there is maximum absorption of protein (more information). Vitargo® and WMS are carbohydrate supplement powders with very rapid absorption and high osmolarity and are ideal for PWO recovery and boosting insulin levels (more information).
Optimum PWO muscle gain formula:
25g WPH + 30g Vitargo® / WMS in water.
WPH, Vitargo® and WMS are expensive, and it's what top level bodybuilders like Daz Ball use. However, if you are on a budget you'll still recover well and get great gains from a more traditional formula using a good quality whey protein concentrate (WPC), maltodextrin and dextrose. The reason why I suggest using both maltodextrin and dextrose as carbohydrates sources is that their osmolarities are different, so they empty from the stomach at different rates.
Lower budget PWO muscle gain formula:
40g WPC + 20g maltodextrin + 20g dextrose in water
Notice the quantities are larger in the lower budget formula, than the former one. This is because in the deluxe formula, absorption and uptake is far greater so you need less.
A PWO shake should be consumed at the gym immediately after you down tools. Within an hour following training you should consume your PPWO meal. This could be a normal meal of lean meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian protein source with a slow released carbohydrate food like new potatoes, basmati rice or sweet potato with some veg. Alternatively you could have a sandwich and salad or a smoothie of oats, fruit and WPC
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Healthy Action Nutrition Consultancy. A team of consultants are available to provide on line nutrition advice completely tailored to suit you and your goals. For more information email info@healthyaction.co.uk
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*** Training Shoulders the Daz Ball Way ***
By James Collier MT Co-Owner & Daz Ball UKBFF Heavyweight Champ
Daz Ball Profile
Daz trains with a volume-style approach; i.e. very intensely with a lot of sets. You can see highlights of him training shoulders in the video in his Journal.
- Light warm up
- Seated dumbbell side laterals - 4 sets to failure
- Smith machine press in front of next - 4 sets 10-12 reps
- Incline lying side lateral (for rear delt) - 4 sets to failure
- Seated dumbbell press supersetted with 'Steering wheels' (in both hands hold a plate out in front of you and turn it both directions fully until failure) - 4 supersets to failure
- Rear delt cables - 4 sets 10-12 reps per arm
- Giant set: standing barbell over head press (front) + front barbell lateral raisers + barbell over head press (rear) - 4 giant sets to failure on each exercise
- Upright rows to the rear - 4 sets 10-12
This is an enduring workout, but with quick training intensity takes only around 50 mins. Weights used are moderate and not overly heavy. The volume approach to training means less stress on the joints and less risk of injury.
*** Food of the Month - Goji Berries ***
By James Collier - MuscleTalk Co-Owner & Nutrition Consultant - www.healthyaction.co.uk
This decade has seen the rise of the superfoods; a huge range of new foods being plugged with their touted 'heal-all' benefits and goji berries (Lycium barbarum) are but one of a huge list. There is no scientific definition of a superfood; it is nothing more than a marketing term generally used for fruit and vegetables and taken to mean that the food has benefits above and beyond those gained from the nutrients due to a high content of phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are constituents of food which may have beneficial properties.
Whether superfoods are actually 'super' is not likely, but nevertheless, there are some good nutritional properties. The term 'superfoods' may be fairly worthless, but at least it does encourage people to try new foods like pomegranate or goji berries, which in itself is a good thing.
The more commonly found type of goji berry is the Tibetan variety. Like many superfoods, goji berries originated from ancient Chinese medicine, where they are believed to enhance immune system function, help eyesight, protect the liver, boost sperm production and improve circulation, among other effects. Goji berries are sweet in taste and neutral in nature and can be eaten raw as the ripe fruit, brewed into a tea, or prepared as a tincture or juice. Their taste is somewhat similar to that of raisins.
Goji berries are nutritionally rich, containing beta-carotene, Vitamins C (over 2.5g per 100g of fruit), B1, B2 and other vitamins, minerals, antioxidant phytonutrients and amino acids. Companies marketing the berries also claim the berries contain such nutrients as isoleucine, tryptophan, zinc, iron, copper, calcium, germanium, selenium, phosphorus, B6, and vitamin E, although levels of this are not particularly high. The principle phytonutrients include betaine, physalin, solavetivone, beta-sitosterol and cyperone.
Goji berries are being marketed as the World's most powerful anti-aging food; though I'm not quite sure how this is assessed. Perpetrated positives include a benefit to complexion and enhanced beauty. I'm guessing you're as sceptical as I am!
Unfortunately for the natural health industry, the juice is joining the ranks of that other well known and common plant product, Aloe Vera, in that it is making millionaires out of greedy and unscrupulous promoters, thanks to its name recognition and to the lack of standardized testing methods to determine its quality and the amount of active ingredient. There is little or no decent evidence demonstrating any true benefits of goji berries. As a contributor to a healthy diet, they can be one of your fruit and veg servings, but are they a 'superfood'? I wouldn't hold your breath.
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** Informed Bodybuilding Nutrition eBook by James Collier - the ULTIMATE nutrition bible for bodybuilding.
For more information click here:
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*** MT Powerlifting Totals Competition ***
By Hazel - MuscleTalk Moderator
Check out the latest totals here
Any members that have not posted their totals recently make sure you do!
Also check out the Test your Mettle... What's your best? competition - open to all MuscleTalk members, just for fun so please join in! Also the MT 220lb bench press competition - how many reps can you do?
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** IMPROVE YOUR GRIP with 'Grippers - Getting the most from your gripper'. The informative ebook from grip champion Steve Gardener tells you how to use your gripper more effectively to improve your performance in your sport:
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*** Recipe - Coconut Chicken Curry ***
By Nicole Bremner
Taken from Muscle Menus 2
** Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cooking apple, peeled and chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp curry powder
300ml chicken stock
50g creamed coconut
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
** Method
Sauté onion with curry powder in a large saucepan until the tender. Add the apple and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned. Add the stock and simmer for 40 minutes stirring occasionally.
Crumble the creamed coconut into the pan and stir to dissolve. Add the desiccated coconut and mix through. Serve on boiled rice with chutney if desired.
** Information
Serves 4. Per serving: 261kcal, 34g protein, 10g carbs, 9g fat, 3g fibre.
More great bodybuilding recipes can be found in the eBooks 'Muscle Menus', 'Muscle Menus 2', 'Muscle Menus Vegetarian' and Muscle Menus Shakes, Bars and Smoothies
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*** DVD Review - Chris Cormier: Unfinished Business ***
Review by Big Les, MuscleTalk Moderator
On his way to the UK to train with Dorian Yates in preparation for the Olympia, Chris Cormier determined to finally fulfil his potential was felled by an infection in his spine, this DVD promised to tell the story of his return.
Unfortunately, the DVD which borrows its name from the title of an unsuccessful bid for the Olympia crown by Flex Wheeler, like Flex, fails to deliver while having the potential to be a knock out. From the same Val Segal that delivered the sedative Real Deal, this DVD is a hodgepodge of footage. Worst are the poor segments shot at Max Muscle Venice, the incoherent structure is worsened by the abysmal sound quality. We also get hospital, posing, guest appearance and general footage of Chris. However, the DVD lacks a real purpose or direction, and feels like a collection of what was available strung together to fit the title as best it could.
This is all a shame; the hospital footage is excellent and gives a real feel of how Chris was at the time, and we could, with the right production have had a Triple H style comeback story. Instead we are never really filled in as to what the problem was, its implications, what Chris has done to rehab, his future plans, in fact just watching the DVD doesn't really tell you much at all.
My disappointment was heightened because like Chris himself, this DVD promised, but through bad execution and conception ultimately fails to deliver on its promise. And I feel for Chris, one of the most likeable, laid back bodybuilders ever to grace the planet with an awesome physique deserves a quality DVD as part of his legacy, and Unfinished Business like Real Deal before just falls flat.
One for the die hard fans who want every video with Chris made to complete a collection. A real shame: Chris - great bodybuilder - poor DVD
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The articles in The MuscleTalker are for information purposes only and are the sole expressions of the individual authors opinion and are those not necessarily shared by the owners of www.MuscleTalk.co.uk