As the dark nights draw nearer (in the UK!) it's clear that more of you are spending more time on MuscleTalk, just look at the Active Users section (at the bottom of the home page) when you're next on.
Use the MT Directory! There have been loads of posts in all the forums looking for other websites on different aspects of fitness and bodybuilding. We just want to make members aware that the MT directory has different categories with links to loads of different sites, which will answer your questions. You'll find the link at the top or CLICK HERE.
Are you a champion? A few members have recently announced their successes in bodybuilding or strength shows or indeed other sports and the threads have been a great inspiration to other members. If you compete in any sport or event and use weight training to complement your training, why not share your success with other MT members and post a topic on the board?
*** Best wishes from James and The MuscleTalk team! ***
*****************************************
Get your MuscleTalk Training T-shirt
*****************************************
*** Take good care of your breasts…! ***
By James Collier BSc (Hons) - MuscleTalk Moderator
…chicken breasts, that is! Food safety is important and bodybuilders habitually eat a lot of chicken. But do you store and prepare your chicken safely so as to prevent spoilage and/or food poisoning? There is nothing more off-putting than the vial smell of chicken that has gone off, it means you'll have to throw them away, a waste of money as chicken is expensive. Worse still you don't want to get food poisoning and suffer diarrhoea and vomiting, you'll wave goodbye to all recent gains in 24 hours!
Although I have written this article, it is taken from information MuscleTalk member Jon gave in a recent thread, so a big thanks to Jon, who has a background in microbiology.
You probably buy your chicken once a week and store them in the freezer. Make sure you only freeze 1-2 breasts together in freezer bags, this way when you come to defrost them you won't have to defrost a whole packet, risking spoilage of the last couple in the packet. Also make sure it is still well before their use-by date when you actually freeze them in the first place.
Do not defrost chicken at room temperature, as the outer edges of the meat can reach ambient temperatures and support bacterial growth even though the core of the meat is still frozen. Remember that some bacteria have doubling times of the order of 20-30 minutes depending on conditions. If you are defrosting at room temperature 'throughout the day' you could experience significant contamination of the meat, and perhaps spoilage that substantially causes the bad taste. Defrost chicken slowly in the fridge to prevent bacterial growth/spoilage. I know it takes a long time but at least your food will be edible.
When defrosting in a refrigerator store chicken in a container ensuring the defrosting meat is separate from other foods and will not drip juices onto other products. It's best to put meats on the bottom shelf.
Obviously make sure that chicken is cooked thoroughly and is tender with no pink meat when cutting it. Cooking meat properly prior to eating kills off the bacterial innoculum (thus saving yourself from food poisoning) but obviously you could still have the spoilage of taste if your chicken isn't stored or defrosted properly.
*****************************************
** Need a diet for growth to suit YOU? - James Collier, Dietitian 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
** Check out the Informed Bodybuilding Nutrition eBook by James Collier - the ULTIMATE nutrition bible for bodybuilding. For more information click here:
*****************************************
*** High Intensity Terms - Part 4 ***
By Paul A Marsland
In a few issues of The MuscleTalker we will be including parts of this great article by Paul. This is the final part. Paul can be found on his board: http://pub40.ezboard.com/bhighintensitystrengthtraining
- Metabolic Work
Metabolic work is very important when it comes to high intensity exercise. More important than how much weight you lift is how you lift it. The action of the limbs to lift the weight is mechanical work and the bi-product of this work is metabolic work, or the work your body is doing at cellular level. As you perform your repetitions (assuming you are training to muscular failure) you will begin to notice a more profound metabolic effect and as your reps get harder, this effect will be felt in the presence of laboured breathing, muscular burning, discomfort and a elevated heart rate. In effect brutally hard work!
Productive exercise is not meant to be fun it's meant to be hard, bloody hard, anything that is considered to be fun is recreation, such as football, tennis, golf, etc. Do not make the mistake of comparing your workouts to recreational activities. Accept the fact that in order for you to get progressively bigger and stronger, you are going to have to train with a high level of intensity for best results. Such work is not fun, but if you have the motivation and mentality, your results will be more than worth the discomfort that this type of training produces.
- Muscular Loading
Why is muscular loading important? Surely the idea is to simply lift as much weight as possible? Remember you are weight training not weight lifting, of which there is a big difference. The purpose of the workout should be to load or work the muscles through a complete and as comfortable range of motion as possible. You should, if possible try to load the muscle from the start of the repetition to the finish. By doing this you will effectively recruit and stimulate more muscle fibres.
So what is the best way to effectively load the muscles? Simply stated, perform your repetitions in a slow and deliberate manner with no sudden jerks or acceleration. Jerking the weight in an explosive manner, will increase the force generated dramatically and increases the possibility of injury. No one knows for sure just what the tensile limit is of tendons, which attach muscles to bone. I for one wouldn't like to find out, would you? So avoid explosive type lifting practises and this should hopefully never happen. Injuries are usually caused through the use of excessive force & not the actual weight on the bar itself.
*** September's Recipe - Rice Pudding ***
By Nicole Bremner - MuscleTalk Moderator
Taken from the Muscle Menus Vegetarian eBook:
**Ingredients
½ cup rice
4 cups skimmed milk
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp nutmeg
½ cup sugar substitute
½ cup sultanas
**Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 2 hours, stirring every 10 minutes in the first hour.
**Information
Serves 6. Per serving: 160kcal, 8g protein, 31g carbs, 0.5g fat, 0.5g fibre.
More great bodybuilding recipes by Nicole can also be found in the Muscle Menus ebook
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