Muscle Building Techniques

Kevin R. Stone, MD
The Stone Foundation for Sports Medicine and Arthritis Research

If your knees hurt, don't be surprised. Knees are more vulnerable to injury than any other joint. Even gentle walking can exert more than 300 pounds of pressure on the knees -- more if you're overweight.

Obesity is a key risk factor for knee pain and injury. Certain physical activities that exert pounding pressure on knees, such as jogging, basketball, tennis and soccer, also are likely to trigger knee injury. So is osteoarthritis, which causes wear and tear on the joints and inhibits the activities of as many as 70 million American adults.

Maintaining a healthy weight is one of the best ways to prevent knee disability. Also important...

Stand straight. People who stand with their shoulders squared and spine straight are less likely to have knee pain than those who stoop. Use a mirror to check your alignment. You should be able to line up your ear, shoulder, hip and ankle. You put tremendous pressure on your knees when you slump or contort your body into unnatural positions -- by cradling the telephone between your head and neck while standing, for example.

Wear comfortable shoes. Well-padded flats or shoes with low, flat heels absorb shock before it reaches the knee. High heels distribute most of the body's weight to the ball of the foot rather than throughout the entire foot -- so knees absorb more force.

Exercise daily, not just two or three days a week. Daily workouts increase joint strength and lubrication. Best activities: Walking, swimming, water aerobics, walking in a pool, bicycling, yoga and strength training.

Cross-training -- different workouts on different days -- strengthens muscles evenly throughout the knee, helping prevent injury. Example: Do yoga one day, swim the next, walk the next, etc.

Hill climbing is particularly helpful. On a treadmill or your favorite trail, walk uphill as long as you comfortably can. Caution: Walking downhill puts excessive pressure on the knees. Have someone drive you back.

Here are three good exercises for knee health. Do these every other day...

Squats: Pretend there's a chair behind you. Standing with legs parallel but slightly apart, lower your body as if you were going to sit, keeping your back straight. Slowly return to the standing position. Do this 10 times.

Adductions: Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and a pillow between your knees. Squeeze the pillow with both knees... hold for five seconds... then relax. Repeat 10 times.

Single leg touch down: Put your right leg on a thick hardcover book. Put your left leg just to the side of the book, in the air, parallel to the right leg. Slowly bend the right knee so that the left foot touches the floor. Then slowly return to the original position. Switch legs. Do this five times with each leg.

Take glucosamine. This dietary supplement is used for prevention and treatment of knee problems. It promotes cartilage growth, relieves stiffness and reduces inflammation. Dose: 1,500 milligrams (mg) daily.

Improve balance. Falls are among the most common causes of knee injuries. Most falls -- especially in people 65 years and older -- are due to poor balance. Once or twice daily, try to balance on one leg with your hands at your sides for up to one minute. Then do it with the other leg.

Practice near a wall or next to a chair until you can comfortably and confidently maintain your balance. When that gets easy, do it with your eyes closed.

Drink water. Most people need at least one-half gallon of water daily -- more in hot climates or if they exercise vigorously. Staying hydrated nourishes tissues in the knee joints and increases lubricating fluid.


How to Prevent Knee Problems

• Proper bodybuilding exercises technique.
  First steps in muscle building training are easy. Spend the first few weeks in gym knowing the exercises. During the first few weeks of muscle building training, the muscles react to the stress put on them, even with relatively light weights, with important increase in strength and muscle tension.
  
• Train whole body on one workout.
  Every major muscle group should be trained and developed to prevent muscle imbalance on muscle building training. The major muscle groups include legs, calves, chest, shoulders, back, arms and abdominals.
  
• Muscle building exercises.
  Chose compound movements for each body-part (multi-joint movement like bench press, squat, dead lift etc).
  
• Weights.
  During the first couple of muscle building training sessions, you will want to go pretty light just to get a feel for how to do the movement correctly. After you feel comfortable with the form, begin adding weight. Train in the range at 10-12reps.
  
• Sets.
  A set is combination of any number of reps of a single exercise. You should have somewhere between 2-4 sets for each exercise of the muscle.
  
• Breathing.
  Start each set with a deep inhalation and exhale as you push through the most difficult part of the lift. Inhale at the top (or the easiest portion of the lift) and exhale as you push.
  
• Rest between sets.
  Rest as long as it takes for you to feel recovered from your previous set. That normally ranges from 60 to 90 seconds. Larger muscle group stake a bit longer to recover smaller muscle groups clear low pH levels and are ready to go more quickly.
  
• Training frequency.
  Your body requires a minimum of 48 hours to fully recover after muscle building training sessions. Physiological processes at the cellular level require rest and nutrients before you can train that same muscle group again. For beginner train three times a week. An ideal schedule could be: Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

1. Basic barbell curl. 4 sets with increasing your poundages. Reps can be 12 on the first set, 10 on the second and then 8 and 4-6 reps.Always warm up properly and include stretching exercises between sets.
   
2. After this basic biceps exercise be ready for maximum intensity with the following triset.If you do not know what a triset is. They are 3 exercises made consecutively without rest. Be ready for huge pain and even higher results.
   
   A) Preacher machine curl. 8-10 reps
   B) Inclined dumbbell hammer curls 8-10 reps
   C) Inclined dumbbell curls 8-10 reps
   

After the whole workout your biceps will be screaming for mercy, completely pumped up! Of course, your gains will be minimal without the use of effective form. Do not swing your back or move your elbows during the range of motion.

Defining Ergogenic (Performance Enhancement) Aids:
Technically speaking, an assortment of definitions exists for ergogenic aids. Wilmore and Costill offered, "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance." Fox, Bowers, and Foss state, "An ergogenic aid, simply defined, is any substance, process, or procedure which may, or is perceived to, enhance performance through improved strength, speed, response time, or endurance of an athlete." Williams writes, "Scientific literature refers to substances that athletes use to help enhance performance as ergogenic aids, or sports ergogenics." And finally, no talk of ergogenics would be complete without reference to the "placebo effect." Wilmore and Costill defined it as "The phenomenon by which your expectations of a substance determines your body's response to it."

The history of ergogenic use dates to the ancient Olympics where stories of warriors eating a lion's heart for courage, or deer liver for speed have been reported. More recent history illustrates the health risks associated with the use of ergogenic aids as in the cases of Knut Jensen (cyclist in the 1960 Olympics) and Tommy Simpson (cyclist in the 1967 Tour de France) who both died secondary to amphetamine use during their respective competitions.
Some of the most popularly used ergogenics are anabolic steroids, growth hormone, creatine, erythropoietin (EPO), glycerol, and blood-boosting; the three former being primarily utilized by the strength / power athlete, while the three latter have been applied in enhancing performance of the endurance athlete. Needless to say, the list of things we inject, inhale, ingest and absorb as well as wear, use and apply in the hope of gaining some competitive edge, slowing the aging process, or feeding the vanities that sometimes plague us all, athlete or not, is long and varied.
In addition to the aforementioned, some specifically used aids are amphetamines, beta 2 agonists, CoQ10, caffeine, ephedrine, DHEA, bicarbonate, antioxidants, vitamins, diet manipulation, ginseng, oxygen, androstenedione, glucosamine, chondrotin sulfate, nicotine, diuretics, hormones, and amino acids, altitude training, hyperbaric chambers, CO2 re-breathers, and carbon-fiber / titanium equipment (golf clubs, fishing rods, bicycles, etc. Granted, these are more ergonomic than ergogenic, but they do aid in performance enhancement, which fits the definition of ergogenic aids.) The list is exhaustive.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) all name specific ergogenic aids, which are banned for use by competing athletes. The IOC developed their list in 1967 - just prior to the 1968 Olympics - due, in part, to the widespread use of anabolic steroids in the 1964 Olympics. The USOC has a program much like the IOC's. The NCAA began testing in 1986. As the use and testing for ergogenic aids evolved, some substances were deleted while those in vogue were added. (To view a list of banned substances by any of those sports governing bodies, please go to their respective websites).
Each of the following categories of ergogenic aids with their respective banned substances are examples of "help" that's not acceptable by the IOC, USOC, and the NCAA. This list represents only some of the more common aids.
Stimulants: Amphetamines, Ephedrine, and Caffeine (dose limited) Beta 2 Agonists: Clenbuterol, Salbutamol, Albuterol, Salmeterol (the last three may be used as an inhaler for asthma). Anabolic / Androgenic: Testosterone, Nandrolone, Adrostenedione, DHEA Diuretics Hormones: Growth hormone, Erythropoietin, Insulin Processes: Blood doping (AKA blood-boosting) Narcotics: Morphine (banned by the NCAA, but not the IOC) Corticosteroids: oral / systemic are banned, while topical, local injection, or intraarticular are not banned.

It's worth noting that many of the banned substances are also found in over-the-counter (OTC) and legally prescribed medicines. This has undoubtedly caused unwitting competitors duress when learning that they've tested positive for a banned ergogenic aid, but know they didn't consciously partake of an illegal performance enhancer. Indeed, there's a specific instance of one Olympic gold medal winner being disqualified secondary to just such a situation.
Components Of Competition

There are primary components of athletic endeavors that relate to fitness and performance. Fitness-related components are cardiovascular-respiratory, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and body composition. Performance-related components are speed, agility, balance, power, coordination, and reaction time. In addition, an athlete's psychological state and ability to recover from training or injury figure hugely into how competitive he or she will be on any given day.
By common thread, the higher the level of competition, the more likely some ergogenic aid is being used to enhance these parameters. Likewise, the more success athletes have at their chosen sport(s), the more likely they are to supplement with ergogenics. Opinions from roundtable literature on ergogenics also suggest that elite athletes participating in individual sports (vs. those in team sports) may be more likely to supplement based on lack of teammate support and influence.

Suffice it is to say that athletes at a national to world class level are far more likely to use ergogenic aids as a way of gaining an edge. However, it's doubtful that even the most challenged but dedicated local athlete hasn't tried a supplement, technique, or process at one time or another in order to enhance his / her performance in the competitive arena.

Efficacy, Safety & Legality

Following are examples of a few ergogenic aids that are applicable to endurance sport.

1. Blood Doping
   Also referred to as "blood boosting," it's a technique used to increase the number of red blood cells (RBCs) which also increases the amount of hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying protein found on RBCs). This, in turn, increases both aerobic capacity and aerobic power. There are several ways to increase the number of RBCs, such as blood transfusion (autologous or homologous), use of recombinant human hormone erythropoietin (EPO), or altitude training (endurance training at elevations over 5,000 feet above sea level.) Does It Work? Yes!!! In addition to improving one's ability to run, bike, swim, etc. at faster speeds and for longer durations at those speeds, it also seems to enhance performance in the heat, especially in athletes who are already acclimatized. Is It Safe? Let's just say it's risky. Transfusion Risks involve reactions from either autologous (one's own blood) or homologous (someone else's blood), which can occur due to mishandling of blood or clerical errors. Thickening of the blood (hyperviscosity) can occur with EPO use as well as with transfusions. This can lead to thrombosis (blood clotting) with inherent risk of stroke, vascular sludging, and myocardial arterial occlusion. A significant increase in blood pressure can also occur. In addition, decreases in lymphocyte count have occurred suggesting that EPO may have an effect on regulation of cells affecting the immune system function. Is It Legal? No!! Blood doping is currently banned by most sports governing bodies. Autologous infusion is a bit harder to detect than homologous, and EPO use can be detected only for a few days post administration.
   
2. Sodium Bicarbonate
   This compound is found naturally in the body and acts as a buffering agent for lactic acid when lactate levels rise due to high-intensity exercise. Does It Work? Probably. It's been the topic of research on many occasions and appears to be effective in improving performance in 400m, 800m, and 1500m runs. Is It Safe?Only in moderation. Excessive doses can lead to alkalosis. It appears safe at the doses necessary to produce ergogenic effect, with the primary side effects being GI distress and diarrhea. These symptoms may well offset the ergogenic effect as well. Is It Legal?Yes. Sodium bicarbonate is currently not a banned substance.
   
3. Caffeine
   Caffeine is a xanthine which acts as a central nervous system stimulant. It's been described as a strong stimulant (though not as strong as amphetamine) and a weak to moderate diuretic. It's found in food products such as coffee, tea, chocolate, and soda. It can also be found in over-the-counter drugs such as Vivarin and No-Doze. It's been used by both power and endurance athletes for its ergogenic properties. Does It Work? Depends on who you ask. Studies are conflicting at present; however, caffeine does seem to provide performance enhancement for both prolonged activity and shorter intense efforts. The effect may be minimized in those who are habituated or training / racing in hot humid environments. Is It Safe?Depends on dosage. In doses of 5-8 mg / kg of body weight, caffeine is deemed safe while producing little side effects. Higher doses (>10mg/kg) may induce seizures, cardiac tachycardia or arrhythmia, and even death. Is It Legal?Yes & No. At normal doses it's not banned. Ingestion of approximately 7mg/kg produces urinary levels very close to the limit for the IOC (12 um/ml). The NCAA levels are a bit more lenient at 15 um/ml. Seven ml/kg is roughly 2 cups of coffee. {For more info on caffeine, refer to Suzanne Eberle's article in the July/August 2003 issue.}
   
4. Glycerol
   Glycerol is a compound that occurs naturally in the body (i.e., triglycerides, etc.). When it's ingested with water, it allows the body to store even more water than it would normally. Consequently, a state of 'hyperhydration' is attained which translates into a delay of dehydration during prolonged efforts. Does It Work? Maybe. Some studies have shown as much as a 20% increase in performance, while others have shown no difference in hyperhydration with water vs. hyperhydration with glycerol. Is It Safe? Glycerol is used by the medical community to decrease swelling in the brain and eyes due to fluid buildup. Therefore, glycerol use may present a risk for dehydration in those areas in healthy individuals. In addition, those with any renal disease or limitations should avoid its use. Is It Legal? Yes. Glycerol is not banned by the NCAA or the IOC.

Ethics:
What is fair? What isn't? Is it fair that one endurance athlete grew up at altitude, lives and trains there, while others need to uproot and move to that environment? Is it fair for a professional golfer to use a golf cart secondary to a physical condition that prevents him from walking the course? No easy answers here. Personally, I wonder where sportsmanship has gone. We've all seen rare glimpses of it at the world class level when Lance Armstrong waited for Jan Ulrich after he crashed during the 2002 Tour de France. And we saw it again in this year's competition when Ulrich waited for Armstrong when Armstrong went down.
A few years ago I had the good fortune of running the final few miles of the Ogden 20K Classic (then the Big Boy Classic) with running legend Bill Rodgers (I'm not that good; Bill was just coming off an Achilles injury.) As we approached the finish line, I slowed and asked Bill to please go ahead. Personally, I couldn't have imagined trying to sprint ahead of a man who exemplifies such sportsmanship and good will.
It's my opinion that hard work, good nutrition, consistent discipline, sound training programs and recovery phases are all the ergogenics needed. The basis for competitive sport should be taught to our children not as "win at any and all cost" but instead: "work hard, train smart, recover well, eat right, and above all, enjoy what you're doing." That doesn't mean "don't be focused or dedicated;" it only means that competitive sport is a gift that shouldn't be abused or distorted.
Far too many scientists and athletes express the view that if it's safe and legal, why not use it? I hesitate to agree, only because I've competed at individual sports all my life and I've found that the simplicity of just you and the sport is where the beauty lies. Particularly in running, nothing could be simpler - you could run naked if necessary! You can run in place, on a treadmill, on a track, or down the road - the simplicity and naturalness is beautiful. Why would anyone ever want to complicate the sport by ingesting, inhaling, applying, and / or absorbing something to go faster unnaturally?

LANCE TARR is a licensed physical therapist, an exercise physiologist, and a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He has experience in sports medicine, orthopedic and cardiac rehabilitation, industrial medicine/work hardening, and diabetes education/exercise issues. A runner for more than 30 years, he enjoys cycling and swimming as well. He has coached competitively, and stays fit with an emphasis on balance of mind, body and spirit.

1. Start Exercising first thing in the morning.
   
   As soon as you wake up in the morning workout for at least 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Studies show that working out in the morning has been shown to burn up to 3x as more fat as opposed to working out at any other time during the day. Here is why:
   
   During the day your bodys main source of energy is the carbohydrates that you get from eating your meals. As you sleep at night for 7 - 8 hours your body uses up all those carbohydrates as energy for various bodily functions that go on even while you sleep. When you wake up in the morning your body does not have any carbohydrates as energy to use and it will look to burn body fat instead for energy.
   
   To take advantage of this fat burning opportunity you have to exercise first thing in the morning. Do not eat breakfast because if you do you will just give your body some carbohydrates as a source of energy instead of the body fat that you want to burn for energy.
   
   Another great thing about working out first thing in the morning is that your metabolism gets revved up after your morning workout. Morning workouts keep your metabolism elevated throughout the day. An elevated metabolism throughout the day only means that you will burn more calories and lose more weight. If you workout at night you may still burn fat while you workout but as soon as you go to sleep your metabolism will slow down and you will miss out on all the extra fat that you can burn during the day if you had exercised in the morning. When you sleep your metabolic rate is always at its slowest.
   
   Other reasons why its good to exercise first thing in the morning is that you get the workout out of the way, and working out in the morning will also reduce your level of stress throughout the day.
   
   Advanced Tip: Want to burn even more body-fat? Add another workout to your daily routine 4-6 hours after your morning workout. Keep your already high metabolism higher by adding a 2nd workout during the day. If you are seriously thinking about adding a second workout to your daily routine then try to do your cardio workouts in the morning. Mostly fat calories are burned doing cardio at moderate intensities. Make your 2nd workout of the day a workout with weights. Mostly carbohydrate is burned doing weight-training workouts. The muscle that you build from weight training will also help you burn fat. 1lb of Muscle burns 50 calories a day or 1lb of fat every 70 days. Not only will you be burning more calories, you will look better – whatever your weight is.
   
   
   
2. Eat Breakfast
   
   Another way to keep your metabolism elevated all day long is to eat breakfast. After you workout in the morning as discussed earlier, just have breakfast and you will give your body the perfect 1-2 combination to jump start your metabolism.
   
   Eating breakfast in the morning is what gets your metabolism started. Do not skip breakfast and wait until mid-morning or afternoon to eat, your metabolism will run slower causing you not burn any extra fat.
   
   Think about this way. Your metabolism is a fireplace that will burn fat all day long for you if you operate it correctly. When you eat breakfast you are basically throwing a log onto that fireplace to get it started burning fat.
   
   Eating breakfast will help stop those cravings you may have later on in the day and along with working out in the morning, eating breakfast will also keep you energized throughout the day and lower stress levels.
   
   Advanced Tip: Instead of eating only 2 more meals during the day like lunch & dinner, try to eat 4-5 more small mini-meals spaced 2-3 hours apart during the day. Remember the fireplace? By eating these mini-meals you will be throwing just the right amount of "wood" on the fireplace to keep your metabolism burning calories throughout the day. Don't shut down your metabolism by eating big lunches or dinners; keep your metabolism on burning fat all day long.
   
   Morning Checklist
   
   1. Workout for at least 30min after waking up in the morning
   2. Eat a healthy breakfast
   3. Burn fat & lose more weight during the day
   
   Use these 2 tips to reveal that six-pack, fit into that dress for an upcoming event like a wedding or reunion, or to impress that special someone. Whatever your fitness goal is these 2 tips above will surely help you reach them.

Branched chain amino acids have been sold as nutritional supplements for many years. Their popularity seems to have waned lately, more than likely as a result of the popularity of other supplements such as creatine monohydrate. Although branched chain amino acids may not be a magic bullet supplement that produces steroid like benefits, they may have their applications in specific instances. One possible application is increasing fat loss during dieting.
In one study, researchers had subjects consume one of four different diets for 19 days. The diets consumed included a low calorie diet, a low calorie high-protein diet, a low calorie low-protein diet, and a low calorie high-protein diet combined with branch chain amino acids. Each subject recorded their meals in a journal each day. The subjects consuming the branch chain amino acid enhanced diet received their daily intake of BCAAs by ingesting supplemental branch chain amino acids equal to .9g/kg of bodyweight per day. Prior to and after the study, each subject performed a variety of tests including measurements of aerobic and muscular fitness, percent bodyfat, and blood hormone measurements.
Results from the study concluded that the subjects consuming the high protein diet including branch chain amino acid supplements lost the greatest amount of bodyfat. Even more compelling is that the group supplementing with branch chain amino acids lost the greatest amount of fat from the abdominal and thigh regions, two areas of concern for many men and women in regards to fat loss. All of the subjects in the study regardless of diet lost some muscle mass with the least amount lost being the high protein groups. Strength and aerobic fitness were maintained in each group. Measurements of blood hormone levels indicated that growth hormone levels increased the most after exercise in the high protein and BCAA group while thyroid hormone levels, which maintain metabolic function, decreased the most in the subjects consuming high protein and BCAA supplemented diets.
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that when dieting to lose bodyfat, eating a diet that is higher in protein and possibly supplemented with branched chain amino acids may be more effective than consuming on a calorically restricted diet. Protein intake for individuals involved in weight training should be equal to 2 grams/kg of bodyweight. Branched chain amino acids can be consumed in supplement forms and obtained from a variety of supplement manufacturer's. BCAA's can also be obtained through the use of whey protein powders which contains the best branched chain amino acid profile of all protein's. Listed are manufacturer's of both BCAA supplements and whey protein who are known for their quality.


Whey Protein

Whey protein is a clear improvement over other sources of protein for athletes. Previously, egg protein (especially egg white) was considered the best protein for bodybuilders. However, while egg protein does possess a very high ratio of essential to nonessential amino acids, its ratio of BCAAs to essentials is not as good. Due to the fact that BCAAs, especially leucine, are utilized to a great degree during intense training, resupplying them is very important. Because whey protein is very high in leucine, containing almost twice as much as egg protein, whey becomes a better choice for athletes.

In college I majored in Food Science and Dietetics, ultimately graduating with my four year degree. As I was taught more and more in the program, I became more and more cynical about the information I was being taught. For example, I was taught that athletes do not have greater protein requirements than those of sedentary individuals of the same weight. Really? How fascinating! I learned something very important in college. I realized that sometimes scientific knowledge has yet to catch up with common knowledge, and that sometimes we have to learn to trust what we know to be true versus what we are taught to be true.
Of course, it is now widely accepted that athletes do have increased protein requirements. I guess that million dollar question is, how much more? I like to simplify the whole protein issue through the following example. Your body, in a very basic sense, is like a factory. This factory has to constantly work to produce a product called protein. This product is made up of 20 different parts, eight of which are totally unique and must be shipped in from an outside source. These parts are referred to as amino acids, with the eight unique parts being referred to as the essential amino acids. We also have workers in the factory, utilizing these parts to build these proteins. All 20 parts are necessary to build this product, and if one part is missing, production stops, either temporarily or completely, depending on which part is missing. Now, this is where the information I learned in college becomes laughable. There are things you can do that will increase your need for product (protein). Things like training, drugs, sickness, etc. If we increase the number of workers, but don't increase the number of parts, we simply stop production faster, correct? But what happens if we increase the number of workers and parts at the same time? More product is manufactured, and we become bigger!
So, how much more protein is required by athletes? Who knows! To be perfectly frank, I don't care about how much protein a tennis player needs, or how much a figure skater needs. I concern myself with the needs of bodybuilders. Bodybuilders have protein requirements far greater than that of any other athlete because their success in the sport is based on breaking down muscle tissue during a workout. During the recovery phase, this muscle tissue is repaired, and hopefully comes back slightly thicker than it was before. This constant tearing down and rebuilding is what causes muscular hypertrophy. In order to ensure that the "factory" has all of the necessary "parts" in order to produce protein, I advocate a protein consumption of 3 gm a day per lb of bodyweight. What?!!! That would mean that a 250 lb bodybuilder would consume somewhere in the range of 750 gm of protein a day. This equates to about 3000 kcals from protein alone on a daily basis for this particular bodybuilder. If you're not prepared to do this, I guess you're not prepared to succeed in bodybuilding.
Meal timing becomes critical in bodybuilding. It's vitally important that protein is consumed every 2-3 hours, even throughout the night if possible! When we look at newborn babies, we see a similar pattern. Babies will tend to eat every 2-3 hours, even throughout the night. Primarily, they feed on protein. Instinctively, babies know that they need to consume large amounts of protein on a continuous basis. Now, the growth we experience as bodybuilders can't compare with that of a baby. But we also need to constantly keep our body in as anabolic a state as possible. Consuming large amounts of protein helps maintain positive nitrogen balance.
Glutamine is vitally important because it is the most abundant amino acid in the body. While glutamine can be made from the amino acid glutamic acid, it's known as a conditionally essential amino acid. Basically what this means is that although the body can synthesize glutamine, there are times when the bodies need for glutamine outstrips its ability to manufacture this amino acid. Glutamine supplementation acts to prevent muscle catabolism by providing free glutamine in time of increased need. Glutamine has also been shown to increase cell volume and increase protein synthesis. Glutamine should be supplemented daily, with 20-30 grams being an effective dose.

What about branched chain amino acids (BCAA)? Briefly the amino acids L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, and L-Valine are the three essential amino acids that are referred to as BCAA. These amino acids make up a large portion of your muscle mass and must be present in large amounts for growth to take place. BCAA's should be taken immediately after a workout along with glutamine to facilitate recovery of the muscles you've just trained.
Now for the next question. What kind of protein should I be using? Well, we all know that whey protein is the best right? Whey is certainly a great protein. But whey is not a perfect protein. Let's examine the major kinds of protein sold on the market today.


Whey Protein
For the longest time, whey protein was considered a waste by-product of cheese manufacturing. Unrefined whey is very sweet and syrupy and contains large amounts of lactose. Through advents in food technology, processes have been developed to extract the proteins from whey, yielding an extremely high quality, low lactose protein. These two processes are micro filtration and ion exchange. Whey protein has several advantages over other proteins, the most important of which is it's extremely high branch chain amino acid (BCAA) content. Whey also seems to have immune system enhancing properties due to it's high content of immunoglobulin proteins. On the down side, whey is tremendously expensive. Many bodybuilders cannot afford to pay the cost associated with a high quality whey protein. Whey protein is also relatively low in glutamine, which is vitally important to any hard training bodybuilder.


Soy Protein
Why the hell are you wasting your time talking about soy? Well my friend, soy is a suprisingly superior source of protein. Although it comes from plant sources, it is a complete protein, given that it is a soy-protein isolate. Let me repeat this. Soy is a great source of protein, but it must be a soy protein isolate, the trade name of which is Supro. Soy protein is very high in both BCAA's and glutamine. Soy-isolate is also very inexpensive when compared to high quality whey proteins. Unfortunately, soy is somewhat low in the amino acid methionine, which reduces it's effectiveness as your sole source of supplemental protein.


Casein (Milk) Protein
Here's the old standby. How many of you think that a milk protein powder is cheap crap? Well, it's a actually a very good source of protein, as long as it's purchased from a reputable manufacturer. There are good brands of milk protein and there are brands that really are crap. However, if you stick with a brand from a major company, you can be fairly confident that you are getting a quality product. Casein has a very high glutamine content, which as we all know is crucial to any hard training bodybuilder. However casein tends to contain high amounts of lactose which can cause problems for some people.


Egg Protein
Before the advent of whey, egg protein was the king, reigning supreme over all others. Egg protein is still a great choice for a protein powder. Additionally, don't forget about real eggs! Just don't eat your eggs raw, as the avidin content in raw eggs can deplete your body of biotin, and you can also get salmonella poisoning. With so many protein powders out there, many often forget to eat high quality protein sources of real food. Egg whites should be a part of every bodybuilders diet.
Well, what to do? Ideally, the best protein supplement on the market would combine the best qualities of these proteins in one formula, the combination of which would overcome the weaknesses or amino acid deficiencies of the others. Let me know when it comes out. Until then, I recommend that you do the following. Buy equal amounts of whey, casein, and soy protein and mix them together in an equal ratio. I know this sounds like a lot of work but it's relatively easy to do and gives you the perfect supplemental protein. Realistically this can produce 6 lbs of protein that is superior to the highest quality whey at a cheaper price than if you had purchased six lbs of whey alone.


As I stated before, some bodybuilders get away from eating quality whole food sources of protein because they supplement with so many high quality sources. Remember from earlier that production will slow or stop if any one part is missing. So the choices you make at each and every feeding is crucial to your bodybuilding success. I'll be the first to advocate the use of junk food in the offseason. It's almost a requirement to eat foods with a high fat content in order to consume the calories necessary to attain the muscular size seen on stage today. Anyone who's seen a pro's diet in the offseason knows the chicken and rice thing only comes into play pre-contest. What I recommend is that bodybuilders combine complimentary sources of protein, even when eating junk food. If you're going to KFC, down a protein shake along with your chicken. If your going to eat a big steak, eat it with some beans and wash it down with milk.
Obviously some of the things recommended in this article may seem a bit radical, extreme, or unnecessary. To the average run of the mill bodybuilder, they are. Everything that is written in Roid is geared towards those individuals who want to take their bodies to it's limits, whether naturally or with drugs. If your goal is to simply be able to take your shirt off on the beach and have a nice physique, don't worry about following the principals outlined in this article. However, to be the best, you have to make sure that each and every step to the top is taken with care and precision. Laxness in one are will lead to failure in others. Bodybuilding is about 80% nutrition, no matter what anyone may tell you. By consuming large amounts of protein continuously throughout the day, you are taking a big step to achieving your bodybuilding goals

(Examining the Muscle Damage Theory and the Substrate Accumulation Theory)

You know, it's amazing when you think about it, that we can send a space-probe to Mars, yet we still don't know why muscles grow. You might say, "Wait a minute! I know what makes muscles grow, weight training! Right?" Well that's right but we still don't know why weight training stimulates muscle growth. We haven't identified the signals or the substances that turn on muscle growth. It's not like we haven't made progress though. In fact there are two well researched theories that attempt to explain the process of muscle hypertrophy. The first is called the Muscle Damage Theory. This theory states that muscles are damaged during exercise and this damage turns on several signaling cascades that result in muscle hypertrophy. The second theory is called the Substrate Accumulation Theory. The basis of this theory is that several substances accumulate during exercise that may turn on muscle hypertrophy directly or indirectly by stimulating the release of anabolic hormones.
We will examine both theories and give examples of some commonly used training techniques that take advantage of one or both theories.

The Muscle Damage Theory
It's pretty obvious that muscles can be damaged by exercise. Think about the last time you really thrashed your legs with a good squat workout. They were probably sore for days right? Years ago we thought that muscle soreness was due to lactic acid. We now know that this is not true. In fact the lactic acid that is formed during exercise is rapidly removed and metabolized by your liver, your heart and by slow twitch muscles. The soreness is actually due to muscle damage. When we examine muscles under an electron microscope following heavy resistance exercise we see that the normally orderly arrangement of the myofibers is completely disrupted (1). This damage is referred to as "micro injury" and typically occurs in a small percentage of fibers in a muscle. This muscle damage is common following exercises that have a strong force component (like weight training) and especially following eccentric contractions (2)
Muscle damage proceeds in two phases, the autogenic phase and the phagocytic phase. The autogenic phase begins immediately following the exercise. Mechanical tension during contractions (especially lengthening contractions) opens stretch activated Calcium channels. Calcium then floods the interior of the muscle cell. The increased Calcium concentration activates lysosomes (lysosomes are specialized structures that can digest proteins). These lysosomes may then begin destroying structural components of the muscle. Calcium also activates Phospholipase A2. Phospholipase A2 then begins to punch holes in the muscle cell membrane by converting phospholipids to arachidonic acid. There is also an increase in free radicals. In other words, entry of Calcium (and the subsequent inability to remove the calcium) into the muscle cell initiates a self destruct mechanism in muscle. Approximately 3-4 hours following the damage phagocytes begin to invade the area to clear away the remaining debris. These phagocytes can then release heparin and other inflammatory chemicals and induce swelling (and as a result more soreness). This is the phagocytic phase of muscle damage. In fact the phenomena referred to as the "second day lag" (the increase in soreness two days post-workout) is due to greater phagocyte activity 48 hours post workout leading to more swelling.
"How does this relate to muscle growth? You ask. Good question. When the cell membrane is disrupted (has holes punched in it) several substances that are normally inside of the cell can leak out. Among these are growth factors and prostaglandins. These growth factors may affect protein synthesis in neighboring muscle cells and may induce the migration, differentiation, and proliferation of satellite cells. A satellite cell is an undifferentiated muscle cell that is basically just a nucleus. Remember that the nucleus of a cell is like a protein synthesis factory. Growth factors can cause the satellite cell to fuse with a damaged muscle cell and beef up its protein synthesis ability. Alternatively, satellite cells can fuse together and create a new muscle cell. This fusion of satellite cells to create a new muscle cell is referred to as hyperplasia and has been demonstrated in an animal model. In summary, the muscle cell is damaged by exercise, growth factors are released, satellite cells fuse with existing muscle fibers and increase protein synthesis capabilities or fuse with one another and create new muscle cells.
Although the Muscle Damage Theory is well supported it is easy to poke holes in this theory. For example, if all that is necessary to produce muscle growth is muscle damage than you should be able to get huge arms by having your partner punch you repeatedly in the arm. Also, if muscle damage is "the" signal for muscle growth than any treatment that reduces exercise induced muscle damage should reduce muscle hypertrophy. Recently it has been shown that supplementation with HMB reduces exercise induced muscle damage but increases muscle hypertrophy. This directly contradicts the Muscle Damage Theory. Before we throw out the theory altogether however, we must concede that muscle damage does induce the release of growth factors and the activation of satellite cells. These processes must play a role in hypertrophy (and possibly hyperplasia) and the recovery of a muscle after exercise. It is unlikely however, that muscle damage alone is the only factor necessary for hypertrophy. There must be other factors involved.

Substrate Accumulation Theory
Perhaps a closer look at the substrate accumulation theory will clarify some of these other factors. Heavy exercise (like weight training) consumes a tremendous amount of energy. The body responds by revving up the metabolic processes that produce energy for contracting muscles. This increase in metabolic activity inevitably leads to the accumulation of several of the by products of metabolism. Most notable among these is lactic acid. Lactic acid production has recently been shown to stimulate the production of testosterone and possibly plays a role in growth hormone release as well. Although exercise may not increase resting testosterone levels, it is possible that there are significant effects from exercise induced testosterone (Lamb, Androgens and exercise) increases. In addition, intense muscular effort stimulates the central nervous system and induces a release of the adrenaline hormones, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones are Beta-agonists. Beta-agonists can be potent anabolic agents. The substrate accumulation theory proposes that intense muscular effort leads to the accumulation of metabolic by-products which lead to the release of various hormones. These hormones set up the perfect anabolic cocktail to stimulate muscle hypertrophy.
This theory alone probably doesn't explain muscle hypertrophy either. You can take loads of anabolic drugs but without the stimulus of exercise you will see very little hypertrophy. The bottom line is that you probably need both some degree of muscle damage and an anabolic hormone response in order to achieve any significant degree of muscle hypertrophy. Luckily for us our bodies can do this automatically (without drugs) in response to exercise. In fact many of the popular training techniques take advantage of either the muscle damage theory or the substrate accumulation theory or both to maximize the stimulus for muscle hypertrophy.
Eccentric Contractions (Muscle Damage Theory) - An eccentric contraction involves the lengthening of a muscle against a resistance. An example would be slowly lowering the weight during a bench press or slowly lowering the weight during a curl. Because of the way muscle filaments (actin ad myosin) interact, an eccentric (lengthening) contraction is much more damaging than a concentric (lengthening) contraction. Let me illustrate with an analogy. Suppose you park a truck halfway up a steep hill and then load it with heavy bricks. You hop in and put it in drive and hit the gas. However, because the load is so heavy, the truck rolls backwards. You could imagine that this would be very damaging to the engine and transmission because these systems are designed to go forward when the transmission is in drive. The same is true for your muscles. They are designed to produce force while shortening, not lengthening.
Plyometrics (Muscle Damage Theory) - Plyometrics involves rapidly contracting your muscles following a rapid stretch. Theoretically you can recruit more muscle fibers immediately following a stretch. This occurs because of the stretch reflex. This reflex causes a muscle to contract when it stretches too rapidly. If we add a voluntary contraction to this reflex what we get is increased force production (more force than could be produced by a voluntary contraction alone).
Rest-Pause (Muscle Damage Theory and Substrate Accumulation Theory) - Rest-pause was developed by Mike Mentzer as way to do a set of 8-10 repetitions with a weight that is very close to your one rep maximum. You perform one rep with very near your one rep maximum. Then you rest 15 seconds or so and complete another rep. You continue in this fashion until you have completed 8-10 repetitions. This is really an ingenious way to up the force production during a set. Normally you would only be able to perform 1-2 reps with the weight (not an optimal number of reps for size and strength), however using rest-pause you would perform 8-10 reps with a much heavier weight than a normal 8-10 rep set.
Compensatory Acceleration (Muscle Damage Theory) - Compensatory Acceleration involves accelerating the weight as fast as possible from the beginning of the movement to the end (exploding the bar off of your chest during a bench press). This was a favorite technique of Franco Columbu (for you younger folks out there he was Arnold's training partner). It requires more force to accelerate a weight with great speed than to lift it slowly.
Drop Sets (Substrate Accumulation) - Drop sets are performed by simply "dropping" to a lighter weight following the completion of a set and immediately proceeding with another set. You may do several "drops" or a single "drop".
Supersets (Substrate Accumulation) - Supersets stack several exercises for the same bodypart which are done in rapid succession. It is a particularly grueling way to train and can really shorten the duration of your workout since you can complete several sets in a short period of time.

(1) Armstrong, RB, Ogilvie, RW, and Schwane, JA, Eccentric exercise-induced injury to rat skeletal muscle. J. Appl. Physiol. 54: 80-93, 1983.

(2) Armstrong, RB, Mechanisms of exercise induced delayed onset muscular soreness: a brief review. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 16:529-538, 1984.

from Chris McClinch

How Much, What & When to Eat
A Guest Pose Article by Chris McClinch
Every time I have had a client tell me he can not put on muscle mass, I have given him a homework assignment: "Between now and the next time I see you, I want you to keep a log of everything that goes in your mouth. I want to know what you are eating and drinking, how much, and what time you are doing so."

Any guesses what I typically see when I check their food journals? They are lucky to be taking in 1,500 calories a day. They will skip breakfast, eat a big lunch, feel full all day, and then eat a big dinner. Their individual meals may be large, but they are not getting many calories because they are not hungry. You are not going to build much mass that way.

Read the whole article at:10 Commandments of Muscle Growth:

People with more muscle than fat have increased ability to regulate their blood pressure in response to stress, according to a Medical College of Georgia study. ''Fitness facilitates the ability to regulate blood pressure; fatness impedes your ability to regulate blood pressure through your ability to regulate sodium,'' says Dr. Gregory Harshfield, hypertension researcher and second author on the study in the November issue of the American Journal of Hypertension.

More info at Medical College of Georgia Study

These are some muscle building weight training tips

1. Don't follow other people's routines. You do not know how their bodies work, what they take (supplements/ anabolic steroids), how much sleep they get or whether they are telling the truth about their training!
2. If you are a bodybuilding beginner, stick to the basic movements and do not worry about isolation exercises. You can not define a muscle that does not exist!
   Go with the Squat, Bench Press, Shoulder Press, Chins/Bent-Over Rows, Dead-lift and Barbell Curls. Later on, after you have developed some good muscle mass, you can concentrate on more isolation movements.
3. Train at most 3 times a week and no more than an hour at a time.
4. Studies have shown that Testosterone levels start to decline after about 45 minutes of exercising. So if you are training for longer than an hour, then anything you do will probably begin to be counter-productive.
5. Keep the reps in between 6-12.
6. Do NOT over-train! Keep it intense and try to "work the muscle", rather than just "lift the weights"! Get a pump and feel your muscles doing the work.
7. Big muscles take longer to recover than smaller ones.
8. Fast twitch muscles take longer to recover than slow twitch.
9. Male bodybuilders recover faster than female bodybuilders.
10. You recover faster from slow movements than from fast movements.
11. You recover faster from low intensity training than from high intensity training.
12. Young bodybuilders recover faster than older folks.
13. Recovery is speeded up considerably by eliminating (or reducing) the "negative" or "eccentric" portion of the lifting movement.
14. Sound nutrition and ample rest allow for more rapid recovery.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is one of the most accurate ways to determine when extra pounds translate into health risks. Body mass index is a measure which takes into account a person’s weight and height to gauge total body fat in adults. The higher the BMI, the greater the risk of developing additional health problems.

In June 1998, the federal government announced guidelines which create a new definition of a healthy weight. A body mass index of 24 or less. So now a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. Individuals who fall into the BMI range of 25 to 34.9, and have a waist size of over 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women, are considered to be at especially high risk for health problems.

Use the BMI CALCULATOR below to figure your BMI and then refer to the chart to see ranges for a healthy BMI.


Calculate your BMI - Standard BMI Calculator

Three main factors are required to promote muscle growth:

1. Muscular stimulus. Resistance training (weight training) is needed to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the muscle fibers.
   
2. Nutrition - after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel.
   
3. Rest - it is during the rest or recovery phase that the muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow.
   

Muscle size increases due to hypertrophic adaptation and an increase in the cross section area of individual muscle fibers. Intensive exercise impacts more on the strength influencing fast twitch type II fibers, therefore the increase in muscle size is accompanied by greater strength. This will deplete the muscle's energy stores and cause microscopic damage to the muscle tissue.

During recovery, these stores of glycogen and phosphocreatine will replenish from carbohydrates and creatine ingested as food or supplements. Amino acids supplied in the diet will trigger the protein synthesis that repairs the damaged muscle and lead to the creation of bigger muscle fibers. To achieve continuous improvement you will need to keep reaching for higher levels of training intensity otherwise the improvement process will grind to a halt.

Fortunately, this is relatively easy to plan for provided certain basic principles and rules are clearly followed. Subsequent articles in this series will examine these principles in detail.

Every competitive bodybuilder knows about that massive growth period that follows a competition. In fact many bodybuilders compete annually just for the gains that come afterward. Coming down you may be a certain weight at a certain condition say 2101b at a six percent bodyweight. Yet after the show you hit 2101b in much better condition. The difference is rock solid tissue. Why?


There are alt sorts of theories floating around but the most logical answer is that the body is compensating for the stress placed on it during the latter stages of the diet. What is meant by this is what physiologists refer to as the adaptive response. The old adage. Place a ten horse power load on a nine horse power body and you get a ten horse power body. The pre-contest diet if worked to the limit is a massive overload. It stretches your physical and mental resolve to the absolute limit. The masters of this are people like John Hodgson, who take it beyond the capacity of normal human endurance and achieve unreasonable levels of condition. Yet this massive effort has its rewards. Apart from the trophy on the mantelpiece it is a fact the harder the preparation the greater the mass rebound afterwards.



The question that comes to mind is what about overtraining at these times. If that is the case, why do we grow? The answer lies in the fact that the muscular growth does not occur during the over training period as we run down into a show but afterward. What happens after the show? Rest, tots of food, little or no training. The truth is the body is not growing when it is training , but when it is resting. Train as hard as you like as long as you give yourself adequate time to get over it. I suggest that there is no such thing as overtraining what we are realty looking at is under recovering. The contest phase is a clear example. Bodybuilders do hundreds of sets, thousands of hours of aerobics, low food, less sleep, they bombard their bodies with alt sorts of toxic compounds, dehydrate, carb deplete and load. Yet despite all this, the body grows like it is going out of fashion as soon as it gets adequate rest. This makes a mockery of the current views on overtraining is the key to maximum results. To be fair I got this idea from Tom Platz. Tom was known for eye popping blood and guts workouts. He was also known for freaky mass.



The two go hand in hand. He who trains the hardest will ultimately be the biggest. I accept that bodybuilding is not just about size but given the same symmetry and condition then the bigger the better As the saying goes "Jockeys should ride horses, bodybuilders should crack the pavement when they walk." The next step is to bring this concept into everyday training. It would be impracticable to compete every month and that would not work for obvious reasons.



The key is to simulate in mini cycles the events that surround a competition.



Recently I tried a method where I trained all out for three weeks. Peat Batts to the wall stuff. By the end of it I could hardly stand. I didn’t want to get out of bed let atone train. I hit each body part three times a week on a two way split. Each workout I pushed the weights or reps up and maintained this progress for three weeks, which was nine full workouts. Everything ached. My morning pulse was up. I had a tow level headache and a loss of appetite. All the classic symptoms of acute overtraining. Admittedly this state only came in the last week.



I then eased off dropped down three gears back to my eight day cycle. Hitting each body part once every eight days. For the first week I did just one set per body part using the maximum weights I had achieved during the last three weeks. I hammered the nutrition and got ten hours sleep a night. The second week was pretty much the same although I climbed to two sets which is my normal heavy duty system. By the end of the second week my enthusiasm was back and my overall weight was up two pounds from before the cycle. I was looking full again and my appetite was one hundred percent. The third week I kept it down at two or three sets per body part I did some forced reps and negatives in my usual style. I gained another pound. I was up three lean pounds in six weeks and feeling on top of the world. It had worked. I had driven my body into acute overtraining and then pulled back to allow it to adapt to the workload. I had gained three pounds of muscle and my weights were up an average of 12% across the board. I now realise that overtraining is not the enemy, it is an ally. A weapon in the war against being small and weak. When it comes to genetics I am not Ronnie Coleman and must work with what I have. My answer is to constantly strive for new and better ways to pile on the mass in the right places.



In the end I will have made myself the best I can be and that is the essence of bodybuilding. This is an advanced training technique for those in rut. Putting it to work in the everyday sense comes from cycling. As we said a two week hard one week easy works well for almost everyone, however some individuals (usually those less able to train all out) can go on another week before overtraining sets in.

• Eat breakfast Proven time and again, those who eat breakfast are more successful at controlling their weight than those that don't. Plus, when doing strength training exercises (and you know you should be), it's even more important to make certain you fuel those muscles after an overnight fast. The perfect time for burning fat because glycogen, blood glucose and insulin levels are all low. Unfortunately, it may also be perfect for burning muscle, because glycogen levels are low, and levels of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol are high. If you skip breakfast and eat lunch at noon, you are not only in a highly catabolic (muscle wasting) state, you are also sending an unmistakable starvation signal to your body.
  
• Eat less sugar Start reading labels! Sugar is hidden in almost every commercial food item. A single tablespoon of ketchup gets 3 of its 4 grams of carbs from sugar. A 12 oz can of cola has a staggering 40 grams of sugar, and ALL of the carbs in a cola are sugar! Why does that matter? Simple sugars are digested very quickly and cause a rapid spike in blood sugar. Your body then releases large amounts of insulin. Insulin quickly clears the glucose from the bloodstream leading to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia.) Low blood sugar causes cravings, hunger, weakness, mood swings and decreased energy. These cravings for sugar result in a vicious cycle of ups and downs in blood sugar levels throughout the day.
  
• Eat More Often Studies have shown that those who eat 4-6 smaller meals per day have less body fat than those eating 2-3 meals a day, even if both groups eat about the same number of calories. This is because of maintaining steady blood sugar levels. Too much insulin activates fat storage enzymes and forces fat in the bloodstream into fat cells for storage. High insulin levels also inhibit enzymes that promote the breakdown of existing stored body fat. You can manage your blood sugar and insulin levels by choosing fewer simple carbohydrates, more complex carbohydrates, eating fiber and having your carbohydrates with lean proteins approximately every three hours.
  
• Eat protein Be sure to include enough protein for your level of activity (you are exercising. Right?) Protein speeds up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to digest, process, and utilize it compared to fats or carbs. The "thermic" effect of protein is one of the reasons that a higher protein diet is more effective for fat loss than a diet high in fat or carbs. Too much of any food can be stored as body fat, but protein is less likely to be converted to fat than any other nutrient.
  
• Eat nothing from a box The closer your food is to nature the better off you are. Have you looked at the ingredients list in most packaged food these days? You need to be a scientist to figure out what half the ingredients are. Stick to real, wholesome foods, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, etc. Eat your vegetables I don't mean fast food french fries. Try to get as many vegetable servings into your meals as you can. It's nearly impossible to over eat vegetables. They are full of fiber and will help keep you full between meals. They also contain loads of antioxidants. Raw is great, steamed is another good way to have them. Hold the heavy cheese sauces please!
  
• Eat protein and carbs together If you want to keep your blood sugar in check, then don't eat your carbs by themselves. Strive to always have balanced meals of protein, carbs and healthy fats. You'll feel better and your muscles will thank you.
  
• Prepare your own food Best for several reasons…It's cheaper than eating out, you know exactly what you are eating, and it saves time. It takes no more time to cook up 6 healthy chicken breasts than it does to cook one or two. Make things easy. Prepare them over the weekend and your lunches for the next few days are done. While you are at it, put on a pot of brown or wild rice, or bake up some sweet potatoes and you're good to go.
  
• Drink water LOTS! Most people are already dehydrated. Strive to drink a gallon a day. If you drink a lot of coffee, then you need an extra 8 oz for each cup of coffee. Exercise will put more demands on your fluid levels. You need water. Drink 50-75% of your body weight in ounces of water. Add an additional 16 oz for strenuous exercise. No complaining!
  
• Get more exercise Get some exercise on most days of the week, and alternate between strength training exercises and cardio training. If you are a beginner, shoot for two weight workouts a week and progress to 3 or more depending upon your goals. Get in as many cardio sessions as your schedule will allow, but aim for at least 3. Commit to adopting these nutrition program changes and you'll be well on your way to reaching your weight loss goal, whether it's ten pounds or many more. Sound nutrition and exercise will always succeed in the long run. Don't give into the temptation of fads. The information contained in this article is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended to provide medical advice. If you are sedentary or over 40 please get clearance from a doctor before starting an exercise program.

by: Jon Gestl