Worried about losing muscle while dieting? Here's how to prevent it!

            While implementing a caloric deficit into your workout regimen, the body is in a sort of starvation state. Thus, it is consistently looking for ways to obtain and utilize nutrients from within the body. This means that the body is susceptible to entering a catabolic (muscle wasting) state. One way to ensure the preservation of your hard earned muscle is by consuming something that most of us are familiar with, protein shakes. There are several protein powders and formulas that are available that are lean and low enough calorie count to include into a diet. By keeping the protein high in your diet (1-1.5g/lb of body weight), your metabolism will actually increase and burn more fat while protecting your muscle tissue from atrophy (wasting away). Another simple and potentially more effective way to reduce and prevent the risk of muscle wasting while dieting and exercising is through ingesting branched-chain amino acids. Branched-chain amino acids (or BCAAs) consist of the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These three amino acids make up around 14-18% of our total amino acid content within our muscles. These aminos also appear to directly influence the protein metabolism by inhibiting protein degradation and stimulating more protein synthesis. BCAAs may also support immune system function, influence muscle energy metabolism, reduce overall fatigue, and help diminish post-exercise muscle soreness. BCAA supplements are very widely used in almost every sport to aid in muscle growth and speed up recovery after intense training and exercise. Heavy exercise and diet causes an increased breakdown of brain chain amino acids in the body which causes a higher demand for this supplementation within our systems. Branched-chain amino acids also increase muscle protein retention and plasma growth hormone levels to increase muscle protein synthesis.

            BCAAs are viable inhibitors of catabolic activity in muscle protein. Caloric deficits may cause the body to begin to attack the protein and muscle tissue in our bodies. When coupled with exercise, which increases protein synthesis and breakdown rates, the protein in our systems can begin to breakdown at an increased rate. Considering a calorie deficit can reduce the amount of nutrients that we consume from food to reduce the breakdown of protein, BCAA supplementation should be utilized. Studies have proven that BCAA supplements that are taken between meals and before or after intense exercise will result in a sparing of tissue and significant reduction in protein breakdown. This protein breakdown reduction could last for up to five days post exercise which allows the effects of BCAA supplementation to be more than just acutely beneficial.

            In short, if you are looking for an easy way to reduce the risk of muscle wasting while utilizing a calorie deficient diet then branched-chain amino acid supplementation is highly recommended. The body breaks down and absorbs BCAAs very easily and there are not any side-effects to ingesting BCAA supplements (aside from possible gastrointestinal discomfort if ingesting too high of a concentration). The usual dosage of a BCAA supplement is 5-20g per day and is usually ingested between meals, during workouts, or after workouts to protect the muscle tissue from breakdown via the calorie deficit and exercise.

- Pete M.

Deep tissue massages- Just how effective are they?

      Deep tissue massages are utilized in a variety of sports from running and crossfit to bodybuilding and powerlifting. Whether you are trying to rid of a chronic muscular pain, speed up your recovery, throw in a few extra pullups or clean and jerks, or widen you back just a little more for your lat spreads, you should highly consider experimenting with a deep tissue massage. There are several health benefits involved with a deep tissue massage including quicker recovery, improved blood flow, reduced chronic pain, stress relief, scar tissue break up, and improved range of motion just to name a few.

     With continued exercise and training our muscles are consistently tearing down and rebuilding to improve strength and increase in size. However, the deep fascia tissue that covers the muscle essentially prevents it from growing to its full potential. A deep tissue massage can loosen and break up the fascia tissue allowing for more muscle growth and larger muscle pumps. These massages also increase the micro-circulation within muscle tissue to allow for an increased flow of nutrients and fluid into and out of the muscle. This allows for faster recovery considering more nutrients are being shuttled into the muscle while more waste is being removed from the tissue. Deep tissue massages also induce a calming effect on the muscles and circulatory system. This reduces stress on the body which in turn can lower blood pressure (usually around 9-11 mmHg systolic and 4-6 mmHg diastolic). Another benefit of these massages is the reduction of chronic pain. The increase in blood flow throughout the body allows for a reduction of inflammation within the muscle fibers which in turn alleviates most to all of that chronic pain. Over a period of time, massage therapy can actually break up and even eliminate scar tissue within the body. This can be beneficial as it reduces stiffness and ongoing pain that scar tissue usually causes. Muscle tightness also greatly limits range of motion in and around a joint as well as the muscle belly which can lead to injury during exercises. Deep tissue massages stretch the bundles of muscle fibers both lengthwise and sideways which improves tissue elasticity. All of these benefits allow for better workouts and training sessions, faster recovery times, and a healthier body. Deep tissue massages are definitely worth incorporating into your monthly regimen.

- Pete M.

Winter weather got you feeling down?

         Feeling a bit under the weather all of the time? No extra energy or constantly feeling like you are catching a cold? This can be a very common problem for most people during this time of year. During the winter weather there really isn't a whole lot of sunlight. So that would make most of us vitamin D3 deficient. Unless you are drinking whole milk that is the only other way to obtain vitamin D3. There are a ton of good health benefits when taking vitamin D3 such as:

• Bone loss in people taking drugs called corticosteroids. Taking vitamin D (calcifediol, cholecalciferol, calcitriol, or alfacalcidol) by mouth prevents bone loss in people taking drugs called corticosteroids. Taking vitamin D alone or with calcium seems to improve bone density in people with existing bone loss caused by using corticosteroids.
• Preventing falls in older people. Researchers have observed that people who do not have enough vitamin D tend to fall more often than people who do. Taking a vitamin D supplement seems to reduce the risk of falling by up to 22%. Higher doses of vitamin D are more effective than lower doses. One study found that taking 800 IU of vitamin D reduced the risk of falling, but lower doses did not.
• Also, vitamin D, in combination with calcium, but not calcium alone, may prevent falls by decreasing body sway and blood pressure. Taking vitamin D plus calcium seems to prevent falls more significantly in women than men and in older people living in hospitals or residential care facilities than those living in community dwellings.
• Osteoporosis (weak bones). Taking a specific form of vitamin D called cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) along with calcium seems to help prevent bone loss and bone breaks.   
• D3 has been shown to raise testosterone levels in male patients using 400IU or more a day or in males who were lacking in D3 previously.

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Another very good addition would be adding vitamin C. It is very good and important vitamin for helping with your immune system and most people just do not get enough in their daily diets. It is very good at helping energy metabolism, collagen formation, bone retention, and vascular stability along with being the body's principle water soluble antioxidant.
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Just by adding these two health supplements you could kick the winter weather blues and get back to feeling 100% and enjoying the day again. 
  

 

How much caffeine is “too much”?

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. This stimulant is actually mild in nature on its own. The common benefits of consuming caffeine include an increase in physical energy, excitability, and mental alertness. Although caffeine is often and widely referred to as a drug, it is naturally occurring within several plant-based foods such as coffee, tea, cocoa, and guarana. Of all the available stimulants, caffeine is the most widely used with nearly 90% of the adult population within the United States consuming this on a regular basis.

Caffeine is absorbed with extreme ease and very rapidly within the digestive tract and reaches peak effect within just 15-60 minutes post ingestion. When consumed 30-45 minutes prior to exercise, this stimulant can increase focus, alertness, energy, and intensity. After about 2.5 to 4.5 hours the caffeine is no longer affecting the central nervous system. This is why caffeine is used in most of the pre-workout formulas that are on the market today.

With all of this said, just how much caffeine is considered to be “too much” caffeine? The direct answer to this question is hard to produce as each person has a different level of tolerance. Over time with consistent caffeine ingestion our bodies build a tolerance against the stimulant. As we build a tolerance to caffeine our systems require an increase in the level of this stimulant in order to experience the same amount of benefits as a lower dosage used to provide. For example, prior to ingesting caffeine on a regular basis, a dosage of 150mg may have given you the best pump you have ever had while providing an insane surge of energy during your workout. After a period of time, the same 150mg dosage loses the mind-blowing pumps and energy surges that you once felt. Given this fact, you now increase the caffeine intake to 200mg to produce the same results. This process will continue until you find yourself taking in upwards of 300mg to 400mg of caffeine prior to a workout. Of course at a certain point caffeine can actually become counter-productive and begin to give adverse effects such as sleeplessness, anxiety, and increased irritability. Regardless of weight or gender, a daily dosage of 400mg or less of caffeine has been shown to not produce any adverse side effects. A few ways to reduce your daily intake of caffeine would be cutting back on the cups of coffee each day, any energy drinks (which are high in caffeine usually around 140mg), tea (hot or cold), and taking various caffeine supplements throughout the day.

In summary, try to reduce and eliminate any extra caffeine that you may be consuming throughout the day if you plan to use a pre-workoutsupplement or a fat burning supplement (of which contains caffeine) to incorporate within your workout and diet regimen. Keeping caffeine intake at or below 400mg (or 2.7mg per body weight pound) each day is highly recommended. Each person's body reacts differently to caffeine and the tolerance level varies from person to person. Make sure to always test your sensitivity to caffeine by ingesting small amounts of caffeine before using a large dosage to learn how your body will react to the stimulant.

-Pete M.