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.

               You can check it out for sale here: Betancourt essentials vitamin d3

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.
             You can get yours now at: Betancourt Essentials Vitamin C

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.

Increasing Muscle Volume With These Simple Ingredients

Looking for a way to increase your muscle cell volume then check these proven ingredients out.
They can be utilized individually for results or stack them together for the ultimate pump.

1. Creatine Monohydrate- Creatine supports cell volumization via direct and indirect mechanisms. As an important muscle osmolyte, creatine directly increases cell volume by pulling additional water into the cell when it's absorbed.

2.L-Glutamine- Similar to Creatine, L-Glutamine seems to have a "loading period" whereby taking higher doses of this amino acid, sometimes as high as 10-15 grams per day, may cause a rapid increase in cell volumization and muscle hardness thus leading to greater muscular gains. 

3.Glycerol Monostearate- is the most advanced cell volumization breakthrough ever to hit the market.  Glycerol will intensify cell volume, aid the osmotic effects of creatine, and enhance the natural anabolic responses of weightlifting. Glycerol may help give the user awesome gains in size, strength and vascularity.

4.Taurine- is the second most abundant amino in muscle tissue and has a number of important benefits to bodybuilders. Taurine has demonstrated muscle cell volumizing effects, which can help to enhance protein synthesis. Taurine also has  insulin-mimicking effects, which can enhance glucose and amino acid metabolism.

5. Fast Digesting Carbohydrate- ''Vitargo'' Glucose delivery in between intense training sets supports muscle recovery and refueling to prepare for a strong subsequent set. Rest periods between sets are short, typically lasting one to a few minutes depending on the training program. That means that muscle fibers must quickly Re-GENR8 spent power sources (ATP and creatine phosphate) and increase the availability of readily available glucose. Glucose uptake into muscle fibers is increased during training and a greater influx can lead to increased performance deeper into multiple set exercises. This can lead to break-through workouts and a greater training stimulus for anabolic processes. The bottom line is that your muscle absolutely requires the fastest readily-usable fuel (glucose) for optimal high-intensity weight training performance.

In a nutshell the vitargo will work hand in hand with the volumizers by shuttling the nutrients into the newly enlarged cells causing massive increases in cellular hydration for skin splitting pumps. 

Increasing Cell Volume With Simple Ingredients

Spending hours at the gym each week and pushing yourself with every workout yet not feeling sore? Here's why:

As we all know the old adage "no pain, no gain" is highly incorporated into almost every sport. It can be frustrating when you know that you're pushing harder and lifting heavier every week yet you fail to feel any soreness the day after. The chemical that causes this soreness within the muscle is known as Arachidonic Acid. Arachidonic Acid is an omega-6 essential fatty acid that serves as the principle building block for the synthesis of dienolic prostaglandins. These prostaglandins play an essential roll to protein turnover and muscle accumulation, increasing blood flow to the muscles (A.K.A. "pumps"), increasing local IGF-1 and insulin sensitivity, supporting satellite cell activation, proliferation, differentiation, and increasing the overall rate of protein synthesis and muscle growth. Arachidonic Acid is also responsible for the initiation of many of the immediate biochemical changes that occur during resistance exercise that ultimately produce muscle hypertrophy. Thus, this acid is a highly anabolic nutrient. In line with protein, arachidonic acid is the most integral nutrient to muscle growth as it sits upon the very center of the anabolic response. 

In 2005, the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Laboratory at Baylor University conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled study to determine if 50 days of resistance training and arachidonic acid supplementation would affect training adaptations in 31 experienced (>1 year) resistance-trained males. Every male ingested four capsules each day (one 250mg capsule of AA or placebo every four hours). Subjects ingesting the arachidonic acid added an average of 25lbs to their maximum bench press weight in just 50 days, a nearly 45% increase over the placebo group. The arachidonic acid group outperformed and out-powered the placebo group (225% > placebo). No side effects were reported during the investigation.

The anabolic activity produced by the arachidonic acid begins to display early during exercise. This nutrient is released by your muscle fibers as they are damaged during vigorous training. When this acid is released it triggers a localized inflammatory and anabolic response. This is part of the same biological process that causes the soreness within your muscle a day or two after a hard workout. With the increase of local IGF-1 and insulin sensitivity comes an increase in the anabolic action of both of these hormones allowing for a more advanced repair process. Both the level of arachidonic acid within our body and our body’s ability to produce it during exercise is extremely important in regards to the anabolic productivity of our workouts. Unfortunately, regular exercise decreases the amount of arachidonic acid that is available within our skeletal muscle tissue. The lower levels of this acid is a key reason that we find it more difficult to become sore after a good workout.

In order to experience the full effectiveness of reintegrating arachidonic acid into your system a daily dosage of 500mg-1,000mg is highly recommended. The dosage of 1,000mg daily is the most common regardless of bodyweight. Serious Nutrition Solutions produces an Arachidonic Acid supplement named X-Gels which contains 250mg of arachidonic acid per softgel. Most users experience increased strength during exercise and increased soreness post exercise from the first dosage.

- Pete M.