How Important Are Supplements?

For many people who exercise strenuously, and I mean those who workout 6 days a week and really pay attention to their health and overall lifestyle, the body will naturally require more nutrients so that it can repair and grow. I’m not necessarily even talking about bodybuilding specifically, but as with any sport or fitness regimen, you’re putting your body through incredible amounts of stress. Sometimes, this level of stress means that you have to go above and beyond the everyman / everywoman routine and nurse yourself with supplements and vitamins that would otherwise be difficult to get even from whole food sources. With whey protein for example, which is commonly used by bodybuilders as a quick-releasing protein source, it will provide you with essential amino acids - building blocks of protein which cannot be created by the body. This example is more or less case in point that supplementation is imperative if you are to get the best results from your fitness regimen. 

This is just an example, however, as there are in fact an abundance of supplements out there that’ll help optimise your performance, and rest and recovery period. It’s true that someone who never hits the bench may have no use for whey or creatine. But even avid cyclers or those who run and swim will at some point face an injury or some obstruction to their performance that could perhaps have been avoided if the correct measures were taken - if the correct supplements were taken.

Glucosamine is a very popular natural source which athletes use to prevent, or decrease the effects of joint or muscle pain. The body synthesises it naturally. However, it is not known to be found in any food source. This means that those who do take part in any one, or all, of said triathlon of sports, could take preventative steps and use this supplement to help keep their body tissue healthy and free of pain and inflammation. Glucosamine is just one of many examples.

Personally, I use a handful of supplements which helps me to both reach my daily macronutrient goals, and also speed up the recovery process by helping my muscles repair and grow. I’ve even found an improvement in my level of performance itself. As a student, I make the most of the 10 percent discount at MyProtein. Their prices are unbeatable for the quality of their products. They also deliver very quickly too. As someone who has goals of building mass, I never go a day without having their whey protein isolate, which is the core of any post-workout shake. Dextrose and maltodextrin are two more supplements I also choose to have for the spike they both cause in your energy levels. Both are carbohydrates that score high on the glycemic index, but dextrose is a simple carb which quickly spikes your energy and maltodextrin is complex so takes longer for your body to break down - making it slow-releasing much the same as a food like oatmeal for example. The fact it’s high in sugar shouldn’t scare you. When taken during exercise it can greatly improve your performance and endurance and you’ll burn it all off as you workout anyway. Many athletes use it and it’s a great supplement to have. It’s also very, very cheap.

There are hundreds of minerals, vitamins, supplements and other sources that you can’t provide your body with just purely through foods. And these sources could be the difference between an injury and a slight nick, or results you get in 12 months that you could have got in 6. Analyse the stresses you put on your own body and work out accordingly which product from your local health shop or nearest Holland and Barret can help get you to where you want to be with regard to your own lifestyle.

The Truth Behind Abs

I saw an intriguing tweet the other day which seems to be a popular phrase circling the internet at the moment amongst fitness forums. It essentially says that abs on a skinny guy doesn't count. It was at least a saying that I hadn’t heard until now and I realised how true this was. Abs are perhaps the most sought after part of a man's physique, and the part which many women look for on a guy too over any other feature. But how easy is it to achieve a chiseled core? I for one have had major trouble finding my six pack when the rest of my body seems to progress. My chest, shoulders, legs, back, and arms have all grown bigger, more pronounced and defined, but although my abs are visible and I have a strong core, I still have those couple percentages extra in body fat that keep me from looking as good as I want to look. Now that could be down to the fact I'm relatively new to the regime of a fitness junkie, as I didn't start getting into shape until just about over a year ago. But I'm quite sure that depending on where you start, it's definitely possible to achieve a decent washboard stomach in a shorter period of time.

So why is it so hard for a bodybuilder? And why is it that skinny guys seem to achieve it with ease? Well the truth may seem simple and the clue is right there in the difference between those trying to put on mass and those who, well, don’t. Considering the obsession with abs that this generation of health conscious people has, it's surprising how confused we can be about the illustrious six pack. Some articles will tell you that direct abs exercises like crunches or planks, for example, will build a rock solid core. Other publications will say you first have to melt away the fat on top of your abs. That is after all why 'skinny' guys have abs - because their body fat is so low. But really it's a combination of the two that will get you the abs you want - direct, and indirect.

A high intensity workout that kicks your metabolism into overdrive will initiate the fat burning process and decrease the body fat around your middle, as well as the rest of your body. That's what makes your muscles pop and more defined after a cutting phase, for instance. Doing such workouts can achieve a higher metabolic rate for up to 48 hours after exercise. Combine this with an abs routine that directly targets your core and makes the abdominal muscles burn, and the six pack will come in time. It's just a case of sticking at the high intensity workout like HIIT cardio so that your body fat gets lower and lower. This of course, however, depends much on your diet too, as generally speaking burning more calories than you consume means your body has no choice but to shred the fat.

Unfortunately for us bodybuilders though, eating less calories than you burn is counter productive - building is in the word bodybuilding for a reason - it's not called bodylosing! And eating less than you burn means muscle loss as well as fat loss. So how can you achieve abs while bulking? Well, I've actually yet to see an effective plan that will achieve both. And that's basically down to the biology of our bodies. Neither can really work at once. That's why the cutting phase you hear bodybuilders talk about is a phase. Because it's a part of a bigger plan where the rest of the time you're packing in calories - building your body, growing, gaining weight - all to get to your desired size. So how come bodybuilders aren't fat? At least many of them. That's because the ones that aren't pay just as much, if not more attention to their diet than their actual workout regime. This is where consuming the right amount of macronutrients, which I've stressed the importance of before, will make or break your success. You'll find that you can easily eat 3000 or more calories a day and yet still eat less of the bad nutrients, if you can call them that, such as saturated fat for example, than the average person.

All of these factors contribute to how quickly and how defined you will see your own abs. Because they are there. Everybody has them. Just as everyone has a brain. It's just about how you use your brain to get achieve the results you want. A strict diet, strict regimen, and a strict overall lifestyle is what will get you those abs. And that's why a set of them always look better on a muscular physique more than a skinny one, because you have to work harder to get them. So don't be despondent if you're working out every day and yet still don't have as impressive a set of abs as the guys you see on the beach. Instead of analysing the appearance of your core, ask yourself if the guy you're comparing yourself to has the chest, the arms, the legs and the shoulders that you have. You'll get the abs you want, but don't worry about it until you're the build and size that you’re after. That's my advice on getting abs. As long as you’re paying as much attention to the food you put in your mouth as the work you put in at the gym, abs wont be far away when you shift your focus from your brawn to your belly. And aren’t abs just way more impressive with a big chest and shoulders to match? Just something to think about.

What's Right For Me? A Thoughtful Tip On How To Get Fit

There are of course many ways to achieve your dream physique, from simple cardio like long-distance running and team sports such as football or rugby, to disciplined martial arts practice or the tried and tested formula of lift, eat, sleep, repeat. There is no one right way though, at least not for everybody - that depends on your fitness goals. Perhaps you want to torch the belly fat away, maybe you want to put on mass for a buffer body, or you may just want to improve your cardiovascular fitness for the benefit of your health rather than just a bigger chest or more chiseled abs.

When beginning your fitness journey, choosing which path is for you can be a difficult decision, especially when you hear or read conflicting arguments claiming which activity is best to get to where you want to be. I too was confused when I started paying attention to my own health. I used to be one of the awkward academic ones who would accidentally on purpose forget my kit for P.E. I didn’t ever join a club or do any extra-curricular activities. For me, school was a place where in the six hour day I’d disappear into the shadows of more capable sportsmen and just keep my head down until the 3.15 home-time! Now though, I can cast as a big a shadow as any of my secondary school friends. Fitness changes you in every way, and now I stand tall with confidence which I never had before. You may presume that getting in shape will only change your exterior, but you’ll actually find that you gain a lot of self-respect and become a lot more confident on the inside too. 

All of this came in time though - time in which I spent a great deal just trying to figure out what exactly to do to get myself in shape. It started when I was about 15 and my older brother saw just how timid I was. He was a Royal Marine, so was having none of that! He took me to a local muay thai boxing gym and my life changed from that point on. It was the best thing my brother could have done for me. That gym wasn’t necessarily the start of my fitness addiction, as it was more of a causal once-a-week thing I did, but I certainly recognise it as what had spurred me on into the life I now lead - as something that made me appreciate fitness rather than shy away from it. I continued to practice muay thai for about 5 years, but never got into the cycle of a six-days-a-week workout that I’m now used to.

Now, I own more than a thousand pound’s worth of equipment in my parent’s garage! It started with a simple punch bag and speed rope to compliment the fitness I did at boxing, and slowly escalated until you couldn’t really call it a garage anymore but rather a home gym. I now own an agility ladder, resistance bands, a pull-up bar, a bench and an olympic weight set, and most recently have bought myself a huge set of dumbbells amounting to nearly 400 kilos. It’s fair to say working out is now an addiction for me. It’s almost too much equipment to know what to do with! But lifting weights, bodybuilding, getting bigger and stronger, that’s what my regime is all about now. There’s nothing like the pump you get from pushing 10 more pounds from the previous week or pulling another rep or two before failure. Some other fitness freaks may disagree, but as the boxing might suggest, it hasn’t always been that way for me either - I’ve tried out various ways to get fit, and the obsession began with Insanity, another home fitness programme.

For 30 gruelling days I challenged my body, and mind, more than I ever have before. With that programme, it wasn’t just about the workouts, it was about eating the right food and following a strict schedule - learning how to be disciplined and push yourself through plateaus, or say no to biscuits with your tea or even the standard two teaspoons of sugar! In fact, caffeine altogether, which I’ve since learnt to steer away from given its energy-boosting effects and subsequent disturbance of your sleeping pattern.

In essence, my point is that you need to identify what it is about yourself you want to change. Why is it you’re wanting to get fit? Is it simply because you can’t run a few paces before losing your breath and so want to improve your stamina? Or is it that you’re not happy with your weight and want to slim down? Or, it could even be the opposite. After boxing, Insanity and nothing but high intensity cardio, I found myself feeling like Captain America before he was injected with that super serum! I ended up disappointed with my scrawny body shape and so decided instead to bulk out and gain more mass, and maybe that’s what you want to do too. It’s no good saying you want to get fit and then immediately pay for a gym membership and go swimming the very next day or just hit the treadmill for a couple of hours. Think hard about what getting fit is all about for you, and then you can make the right decision about what type of routine will help you get there.