The MuscleTalker - Issue 30 (October 2004)

Grip guru Steve Gardener aka Mobster has written an enjoyable new article Countdown to the Global Grip Championships (on two pages), which is a light-hearted diary of the days running up to his recent participation in the Grip Championships in which he came a very respectable 4th place - well done Steve. Steve is also the author of the informative eBook Grippers - Getting the most from your gripper

We are also pleased to welcome back Trident to the MT moderating team. Rich used to moderate for us a few years ago, and we are delighted to have him back on the team - though he has his work cut out in that General forum! Thanks Rich!

Have you got your MuscleTalk T-shirt yet?

*** Best Wishes from James and The MuscleTalk team! ***
See you at www.MuscleTalk.co.uk

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*** Carbohydrates and Blood Glucose Regulation ***
By Rahul Jain BA, MRNT aka Gunjambo - MuscleTalk Member
www.supplementplanet.co.uk

Carbohydrates (CHO/carbs) are used as the main energy source during exercise, particularly in intense exercise, as fat is predominantly used during low intensity work. The more aerobically fit a person is, the more efficient they will be at burning fat, and will be able to train for longer before having to rely on carbohydrates for energy. When it comes to intense bodybuilding, it is important to have excess carbohydrates in the body to provide for the entire workout, as when the CHO stores run out, a bodybuilder will experience fatigue and will no longer be able to maintain the desired intensity of training.

Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose. Insulin enables the glucose to enter the muscle and liver cells to be stored as glycogen. The storage is approximately 25% in the liver and 75% in the muscle. Muscles glycogen's role is to provide fuel for higher intensity work, whilst the liver glycogen's role is to provide a steady supply of glucose to the brain. It is for this reason that zero carbohydrate diets are unhealthy for the body and mind.

When glycogen levels are low, the body is said to be in a state of low blood glucose. Causes of low blood glucose include missing breakfast, irregular meal times, insufficient carbs in the diet, low calorie diets, heavy exercise without a pre-training meal. Symptoms of low blood glucose include: hunger, nervousness, irritability, headache and fatigue.

Carbs can be classed as 'simple' or 'complex'. Simple carbs are those which are used immediately for energy. Should a person eat simple carbs whilst not exercising, the majority of calories consumed are likely to be stored as fat. A healthy choice of simple carbs is fruit as it contains vitamins, minerals and fibre. Simple carbs are glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, lactose and maltose.

Complex carbs are starchy foods and can be refined or unrefined. Refined carbs are a good source of energy, however are largely ripped of their vitamin and mineral content and are deficient in dietary fibre. Sources of refined carbs include white bread, bagels, white pasta and white rice, as well as pre-cooked processed foods. Unrefined carbs are a good source of energy as well as vitamins and minerals and a major source of dietary fibre. Sources include wholemeal foods, brown rice, potatoes and vegetables.

1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 kcal

I'm just guessing, but here's what your experience with back pain has probably been like: You probably went to your family doctor first, or a chiropractor. Your visit likely only lasted 15 minutes or so. They poked around and confirmed that you do have back pain and gave you a prescription for the pain. Now before we go any further, let me ask you this: how in the heck is a prescription drug going to fix a physical problem like back pain?

Doctor visits, chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, new mattress, rub on creams, and the list goes on. I'm sure you've tried several or maybe even many on this list yet you're back still hurts. Why aren't any of the experts helping or treatments working?

The answer is simple; it's all in the approach: Most, if not all, of the treatments people receive for back pain are flawed from the start. I'm not going to cover each of them in detail in this article, however, if you would like to learn more about traditional treatments for back pain and why they don't work, I suggest you read my article on the subject here: www.losethebackpain.com/backpaintreatments.html

You and I already know that those treatments just don't work, so I want to give you some information that you can use to take control of your own health and well being and find 'the' treatment that will finally get rid of your back pain once and for all. It has been my experience that trying to convince somebody of something they are unfamiliar with is just about impossible, so instead of me telling you what to do, I want to give you the tools for you to do it yourself.

Step one: First, you must understand that pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong… don't ignore it! And in order to fix it or get rid of it, you must first know what's causing it.

Step two: Be open-minded… in order to find a solution you'll need to be willing to learn. Please don't be afraid to look for and/or ask for help. There are thousands of sources of information in the world on upper back pain, lower back pain and back pain in general, but if you don't know how to sort through all that information it will be useless to you.

Step three: Take action now… you're going to do it, and with my help! You do not have to live with low back pain, upper back pain, sciatic pain, or any back pain for that matter and you can feel great again.

You have two options: Leave it up to your doctor or chiropractor and hope it gets taken care of; or you can take control of your back care yourself and ensure it gets taken care of. I don't know about you, but it's a no brainer for me!

But, I know you may be feeling like there's NO solution and maybe you've even resigned yourself to the fact that you'll have back pain for the rest of your life. I hope that's not the case because you do have the power and ability to eliminate it. If you choose option one, leaving your back health in the hands of someone other than yourself, at least educate yourself enough to know what questions you need to be asking. The next time you go to the doctor or chiropractor, bring a pen and paper along with the list of questions below:

1. What is the cause of the pain? (Not the symptom, but the actual cause)
2. Is it muscular or structural? (involving the bones of the spine)
3. If it's muscular have the doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist, etc name exactly which muscles and other muscles that may be involved.
4. Do I need an X-ray, CT-scan or MRI?
5. Did I have a predisposition for the injury based on my life style and daily postures?
6. Do I have muscle imbalances that created this condition over time?
7. Will I have muscle imbalances still after your treatment?
8. Will it heel 100%?
9. Are there specific exercises or stretches to do for my condition?
10. Which muscles should I stretch and which muscles should I strengthen?
11. Will I do more harm than good if I don't do the right activities?
12. Will the physical therapist you are sending me to have the time to spend one on one with me to effectively work with me?
13. Will Ultra Sound and Electrical Stimulation correct my muscle imbalances?

I could go on and on with questions like these that you should ask your doctor, but we both know that you won't because you don't want to piss off the doctor and then worry that you'll get bad care next time. So did I just waste my time and yours by listing them out. Heck no, these are great questions to use when trying to find a treatment approach that will work for you.

We already know what doesn't work and why, let's talk now about what does work. In order for any back care program or approach to be successful, it must include the following criteria:

• Identify the root cause of the problem
• Treat both the symptom and the cause
• Focus on the body as a whole and not zoom in on only the problem area
• Physical problems can only be treated and corrected with a physical approach
• Address muscle imbalances with targeted strength, flexibility, and muscle work
• Be easy to understand, implement, and progress
• Help you maintain a healthy back and prevent future occurrences

So how can you find a back care program that not only meets all these criteria, but is proven to work far better than traditional treatments? Just do a little research, you can use the internet to find all sorts of information and resources on back pain, but remember, it must meet the criteria we outlined above our it's guaranteed to fail! Don't give up, it's out there, if you take the time to look you'll find it; maybe right under your nose!

Article courtesy of Jesse Cannone and Steve Hefferon. Find out exactly what's causing your back pain and how to eliminate it with the "Lose the Back Pain" video. Take advantage of all the free resources and information on back pain at their website: www.losethebackpain.com

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*** October's Recipe - Kedgeree ***
By Nicole Bremner aka Nikki - MuscleTalk Moderator
Taken from Muscle Menus 2

**Ingredients
50g smoked haddock cooked, or tin of salmon, drained
½ cup bastimati rice, cooked according to instructions
2 boiled eggs, sliced
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tbsp dried parsley

**Method
Combine all ingredients in a pan and gently stir until warmed through.

**Information
Serves 1. Per serve: 415 calories, 50g protein, 23g carbs, 12g fat. Ol' English breakfast from the days of the Indian Raj courtesy of Amanda Adams. The traditional recipe is cooked in butter and cream. Kedgeree is a great bulking meal for breakfast or any other time of day!

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

*** DVD Review - Ronnie Coleman: Cost of Redemption ***
Review by DaveH - MuscleTalk Member

www.musclefinesse.com/videos-dvd-ronnie-coleman-redemption.asp

After seeing Ronnie's The Unbelievable video I was really looking forward to this release. What's not to look forward to? This video, now in DVD format (All Regions) clocks in at an impressive 3 hours 16 minutes and 7 seconds. So you got a lot of viewing to do!

Without giving too much away this video is different to The Unbelievable in that this is Ronnie's off season training. So we are treated to 4 days in the life of Ronnie Coleman. He gets up, he eats, he trains, he eats, he trains and eats some more. Upon playing this video the first thing to strike you is how huge Ronnie is. A side shot reveals Ronnie preparing his grits for breakfast in what I can only describe as the biggest arm I have seen. I had to check the setting on my widescreen TV to check the correct aspect ratio was selected. Sure enough it was correct, his arm was just huge!

What follows is Ronnie doing a shoulder and calf day, a leg day, a chest and tris day and a back and bis day. It's not all training though, we see Ronnie get a massage and even enjoy a night out at the local multiplex cinema.

In The Unbelievable, I think I adored that video because his exercise selection interested me. I watched in awe as Ronnie deadlifted 800lbs. My jaw dropped as Ronnie Front Squatted 585lbs. I nigh on passed out when he dumbbell pressed for 200lbs in each hand for 12 reps!

With The Cost Of Redemption there aren't as many jaw dropping moments with the exception of leg day when Ronnie back squats an impressive poundage with a squat suit, his 'secret weapon' which looks painful for him just to fit into it. Ronnie also does something spectacular on the leg press machine, although the impact is lessened somewhat by the duration of the segment where his spotters struggling to find enough plates! So, there aren't as many 'power' exercises for Ronnie to do and a lot of the exercises are not as exciting to watch. Of course this is all preference, but I struggle to maintain interest watching seated cable rows and cable laterals to name but a few.

On the whole though, it's good value for money just for the length of the film. Ronnie does his usual catch phrases which still cause a smirk on the viewer. His buddy Brian is there with him as before and Ronnie comes across as a decent guy like he did before. So a very different video to The Unbelievable, and not quite as enjoyable but still a must have for any bodybuilding fan.

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