New articles, interviews and reports in September:
- Cutting Meal Plan a new plan for bodybuilders wanting to lose fat
- The Use of Human Growth Hormone in the treatment of HIV/AIDS
- More articles can be found here and in past editions of The MuscleTalker
The Meal Plan Site is a brand new site which aims to provide example meal plans and eating regimens for a huge array of different people with different nutritional requirements, sports, pastimes and lifestyles. It also aims to provide more meal plans, as the resource is built on.
- There are plans for sports & recreational activities including plans for bodybuilding and fighting sports
- Meal plans for different medical and clinical conditions including diabetes, bowel disorders, inborn errors of metabolism and more
- Eating regimens for different professions and age groups
- Plans for different lifestyles and eating choices, like vegetarian and vegan, and religious choices, including Ramadan
- There is also information on some not-so-common foods and nutritional supplements
- Plus information on the different nutrients
- As well as an expanding recipe resource page
MuscleTalk Training T-shirts!
*** All the best from James Collier and The MuscleTalk team! ***
See you at www.MuscleTalk.co.uk
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**
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*** Micronutrient Dilution and Sugar Intake ***
By James Collier BSc (Hons) RNutr, Nutrition Consultant
It's been suggested in the past that dietary sugar intake is associated with dilution of vitamin and mineral (micronutrient) intake. A recent review study by Rennie & Livingstone (2007) looked at 15 studies which examined relationships between added sugar (or as they are technically referred to non-milk extrinsic sugars - NMES), to try to conclude if people who consumed diets high in sugar, or had a high sugar meal, had lower intakes of some of the major macronutrients.
Calcium, iron and magnesium showed inconsistent results with intakes of added sugar and NMES. There was a gender difference with iron, where there was no association in males, but in females there may be a lower iron intake with higher sugar; note women are more at risk of iron deficiency then men. With zinc, there may be an inverse relationship in both adults and children, although results are inconsistent and, as zinc is abundant in the Western diet, this is not seen as a nutritional problem.
Results for vitamins A, thiamin, B6, folate and E were inconsistent, though for riboflavin and vitamin C there may actually have been a positive association, i.e. higher intakes with more sugar consumption.
The whole review's findings were quite inconsistent for most vitamins and minerals, concluding that, with current evidence, there are no nutritional concerns in respect of micronutrient intake for people who consume diets high in added sugar or NMES, and this issue is not seen as a major health concern.
Reference
Rennie KL & Livingstone MBE (2007). Association between dietary added sugar intake and micronutrient intake: a systematic review. Brit J of Nut; 97:832-841
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Tailored Nutrition Advice from Experts!
Healthy Action is the Nutrition Consultancy headed up by James Collier BSc (Hons), Registered Nutritionist. 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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*** Rest Periods Between Sets ***
By Dirtyvest, MuscleTalk Moderator
When deciding the best rest between sets strategy to choose you need to ascertain where your priorities lie with regards to your training: muscular strength, muscular hypertrophy or muscular endurance. Once established you can then select the rest period that best suits your goal. Rest periods can vary from as little as 30 seconds up to as much as 8 minutes. Why rest? Rest will help you to replenish phosphogens (ATP-PC). Optimal ATP recovery takes around 3-5 minutes; phosphocreatine recovery takes 4 to 8 minutes. Efflux of lactic acid has been shown to be from 4 to 10 minutes.
The Strength Athlete, whose focus is on maximal power output over a very short time period, requires the greatest rest. It goes without saying, although has been studied, that the longer you rest the more you can lift next time round as energy reserves are replenished. This is not infinite though as you also need to consider cooling down which will hamper your lifting. Three minutes will allow for, as near as damn it, maximum ATP recovery. The novice lifter may benefit from a slightly extended time, up to 5 minutes. That said, a lifter performing multiple sets may have to consider a further extended time to allow for removal of lactic acid, say 6-8 minutes.
The Bodybuilder, whose focus is on hypertrophy, will benefit from less recovery, around the 1-2 minute mark, some studies say as little as 30-60 seconds. Energy required for lifting here isn't solely phosphogen reliant as the glycolyctic system is also tapped so extended recovery is not as essential. This type of training (higher volume with minimal resting periods) has also been shown to stimulate the endocrine system leading to greater testosterone and growth hormone levels, an obvious advantage to those seeking size. There is also the effect of lactic acid, which we recognise as 'the pump'. Not in itself a sign of growth but increased blood flow will lead to a greater nutrient uptake in the muscle. Shorter rest also enables complete workout time to be quicker thus prevents you entering a catabolic state created by lengthy sessions.
Endurance athletes will find their main difference in the repetition strategy chosen. Rest periods will not be dissimilar to that of a bodybuilder, apart from a greater propensity to rest for shorter periods, closer to the 30-60 second mark. Energy is reliant on the aerobic system (from carbohydrates and fats with oxygen). The aim is to build up resistance to fatigue from lactic acid build up so higher reps (15-20) with minimal rest, which have been shown to boost your hormonal and vascular system, will best achieve this.
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Muscle Finesse Brand New Website
- The new design is easy to navigate and order with the 'Purchase Options' below each product
- All the major supplements brands are stocked
- Gym Clothing, Training Equipment, Boxing Equipment, Books, DVDs, Videos, Tanning and Competition Products and lots more
- Some unbeatable Special Offers on our Special Offers page
- And don't forget our Cash Back Bonanza!
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*** Food of the Month - Herring ***
By Big Les - Nutrition Consultant and MuscleTalk Moderator
Ever wonder why so many strongman competitors come from Scandinavia? The secret could very well be the Clupea harengus, or as you will probably know it better - Herring.
With a whopping 2g of creatine in 170g, followed by 3g of growth stimulating leucine and an overall protein punch of 40g, you have the perfect weight trainer's food. It's good for health too with the fatty acids EPA, DHA and Omega 3 and Vitamin D delivered right along with phosphorus and selenium. Those on a low carb routine have no worries as this nutrient package has only those you add to it, being naturally carb-free. Furthermore, for those of you worried by recent health scares surrounding fish, herring score low when tested for pollutants.
Traditionally herrings are kippered, smoked, salted and pickled. A rollmop herring is a pickled herring fillet rolled around a piece of pickled cucumber or onion. In Sweden, Baltic herrings are fermented to make surströmming. Raw herring roe can be used for sushi or eaten by itself. A sild is an immature herring that are canned as sardines in Iceland, Sweden, Norway or Denmark, and a very young herring is called whitebait. A kipper is a split and smoked herring, a bloater is a whole smoked herring, and a buckling is a hot smoked herring with the guts removed.
When buying herring a whole fish should have a clear, glistening surface as though it were still alive. A fresh fish will look good, without noticeable brown spots or blemishes. Fish should have only a very mild, delicate briny smell, like seawater, but not strongly fishy. Flesh should be firm and elastic to the touch, not mushy; exposed flesh should be translucent. Frozen fishes should always be the individually frozen variety, from unbroken packaging.
Les is available for tailored nutrition programs see: www.muscletalk.co.uk/fb.asp?m=1104321
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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 boar - MuscleTalk Pro-Member
See: www.muscletalk.co.uk/fb.asp?m=1083082
Hello fellow powerlifters
September saw the BWLA hold the British Unequipped Powerlifting Championships in Birmingham. Pro-Member Stephen77 was competing in the senior 110kg class and performed well under intense pressure to pull off a PB deadlift of 277.5kg to take the lead in the final round, the other lifter got red lighted and Stephen took the title with lifts of 240/157.5/277.7 = 675kg! Well done mate. Also Universe Member and a friend of mine IainK won the senior 90kg class with 220/142.5/245 = 607.5. Both excellent MT members and now British champions!
New member roblloyd131 joined in the fun and added his impressive lifts of 260/170/240 @ 85kg
October sees the Northwest branch of BWLA hold a benchpress competition. Lovable grizzlybear and valued MT member fatpete will be competing alongside Joe the terrible, hopefully both donning new titan katana shirts and blasting some PBs!
Keep pounding powerlifters
Boar
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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 - TheiOpener's Pancakes ***
By TheiOpener MuscleTalk Pro Member
** Ingredients
250ml gold top milk
100g wholemeal flour
280g egg whites
5g Splenda + cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
** Method
Blend all ingredients with a hand blender and dry fry in a good non-stick frying pan until bubbles start to form. Flip once the top is full of bubbles and somewhat dry. You only need a thin layer of batter as they will rise a little.
** Information
678 calories; 15.2g fat; 82g carbs; 48g protein
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 - Battle for Olympia 2006 ***
Big Les - MuscleTalk Moderator
Available here
The annual weights fest that is the Battle for the Olympia sees ace cameraman Mitsuru Okabe rush around the US to film the Olympia competitors as they get ready for the biggest show of the year. In this series you get to see how bodybuilders really train. The 05 edition was a huge 3 full DVDs and had a couple of production issues - (although my hearing has recovered now), 06 is shorter and a much improved production.
Mits has clearly hit upon a formula, which is okay, although the traveling between sections does sometimes feel like filler. This with over six hours of training footage is something you don't need. The bonus DVD is the outtakes that usually followed the last segment on the DVD. 06 starts with Ronnie and also brings us Jay Cutler, Victor Martinez and Dexter Jackson - which would be enough to justify the purchase price, throw in the inspirational Vince Taylor, Dennis James, Branch Warren and a few more and its more than value for money.
I am a fan of this series and if you want to know how Bodybuilders really train, it is the indispensable DVD showing you just that. With the segments around 30 minutes long it's great for a pre workout meal watch for motivation. As ever, I eagerly await the 07 rendition.
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