Lots of Protein, Little Gains

This is kind of a fun thing to think about, at least in my opinion.  All you muscle heads out there: have you ever really stopped to consider all those supplements you're taking, the ones that claim to be super effective, and contain recovery formulas so advanced that they're basically GUARANTEED to make you bigger, stronger, faster, more quickly than anything else on the market?  Well I've got a picture for you:

That there is two 13 gallon bags filled with containers of protein, representing about 8 months worth of supplements.  Contained inside are five Combat Powder tubs (4lbs of protein each), two tubs of Wheybolic Extreme 60 (2lbs of protein each), and two generic brand protein tubs (I believe one was a Six Star whey protein tub, and a Body Fortress protein tub, each again containing 2lbs.)  I've also had a couple more tubs of the Body Fortress protein that were thrown out previous to this instance.  That's a total of at least 32lbs of whey protein, not to mention a couple other supplement bottles in there like Amplified N.O. Loaded pre-workout and Purple Wraath (a branch chain amino acid blend.)

Let's think about this for a second.  Do I have more muscle mass than I did at the beginning of this year?  I sure do!  But do I have an extra 32 lbs of solid muscle packed onto my frame?  NOT...EVEN...CLOSE.  If I've gained 4 lbs of muscle this year, I'd be quite pleased.  And believe me, it didn't all come from the supplements (I've been eating like a horse.)

So what does this mean?  Are supplements worthless?  Are they placebos?  Are the supplement companies screwing you out of your money?

The answer is no.....and a little bit of yes at the same time.

Sure, you can bet those companies make their products for a LOT less money than they charge you.  But are they selling you worthless powder in a plastic jug?  NO!  Supplements have come an extremely long way since their introduction in the 70's, and they ARE very advanced blends of fast digesting proteins that your body has a much easier time using to build muscle. Believe me, I wouldn't be able to work out nearly as often or as hard as I do without supplementation.  They greatly assist with recovery, and keep me feeling tip top in order to hit it heavy as often as possible.

But supplements AREN'T miracle workers.  The muscle building process is a slow and tedious one, and despite the quality of that powder you're putting into your body, at the end of the day only a tiny fraction of it will be used to build the solid muscle you so desperately desire.  It's a depressing fact, but it's one you should know before you go scooping loads and loads of the latest whey protein blend into your shaker bottle.

In my opinion, you should obviously keep supplementing with proteins, pre-workouts, and stuff like that.  They work.  But don't go overboard on the dosage, because you'll just be wasting the stuff.  Your body  can only use so much, and as the picture above shows quite clearly, it adds up after a while.

Oh, and if you're looking for a way to cut down on supplement cost, how about eating some more real food?

Lift hard, eat big, and get strong.  Good Luck!

Muscle Pharm COMBAT Powder *Review*

I've been using Combat powder for long enough, I believe it's time I let the world know what I think.  And if I could, I would climb to the highest mountain, and from the summit scream to all humanity just one simple phrase:...."THIS STUFF RULES!!!!"  That's right, Muscle Pharm's Combat powder really is a fantastic protein blend in so many ways, and if you're looking to change it up from your old boring, generic whey protein WITHOUT breaking the bank, I suggest you give Combat powder some serious consideration.

Why is it so great?  Well what makes Combat powder so unique is that not only does it have all sorts of high grade whey protein blends in it (hydrolized, isolate, and just plain concentrate), it ALSO has all sorts of other protein sources blended into it which your body needs to fully recover.  This stuff has egg white protein, micellar casein (a long acting protein that will feed your muscles for up to 8 hours after you're done lifting!) and a heaping load of glutamine which aids tremendously in shortening recovery time.  Listen:  training for Olympic style weightlifting means I lift every day, and lift heavy 95% of the time.  I need a protein that will bring me back up to snuff ASAP, in one night's sleep minimum.  This stuff does that.  It's got a rocking protein blend, and an AWESOME amino-acid blend as well to give your muscles basically everything necessary to rebuild for another day of heavy weights and hard reps.

How about the nutritional profile?  I can assure you that this protein is very high quality stuff with VERY high quality ingredients.  It's won "best break-out brand" and "best packaging" from bodybuilding.com, and was nominated for "best protein powder."  The nutritional profile obviously has a lot to live up to, and it's no surprise that it doesn't disappoint one bit.  Combat powder is extremely low carb, low sugar, low fat, and packed with 25 grams of protein per scoop!  Here's the nutritional information right off Muscle Pharm's website.  Take a gander:

Supplement Facts

Serving Size: 1 Scoop Approx. (33.6g)

Servings Per Container Approx.: 54

	Amount Per Serving	%DV
Vitamins & Minerals
Calories	140
Calories from Fat	15
Total Fat	1.5g	4%
Saturated Fat	1g	8%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	75mg	27%
Sodium	150mg	6%
Potassium	200mg	6%
Total Carbohydrates	5g	2%
Dietary Fiber	1g	4%
Sugars	2g	*
Protein	25g	50%
Calcium		13%
Iron		3%
Multi-Level Amino Acid Growth Matrix	33g	*

Combat Powder Proprietary Time Release System:
Micro Filtered Whey Protein Blend (Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Hydrolysate, Micellar Casein, Egg White Albumen, L-Glutamine, BCAA Blend: Alanine, L-Leucine, L-Valine, L-Isoleucine, Lysine, Arginine, Glycine, Histidine, Tyrosine, Cystine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Aspartic Acid, Threonine, Tryptophan*

Digestive Enzyme Blend
Protease, Lactase

Other ingredients
Natural and Artificial Flavors, Inulin, Sodium Chloride, Acesulfame, Potassium, Sucralose, Soy Lechtin, Potassium Citrate

* The Tryptophan in this product is naturally occurring.

*Daily Value (DV) not established

How's it taste?  DELICIOUS.  Seriously, this may be the best tasting protein powder in existence, and I'm not alone in that opinion.  Countless reviews of this product have all commented on how great this stuff tastes, and how AMAZING it is to drink compared to what ever protein they switched from last.  Before Combat, I was on "Wheybolic Extreme 60" from Amplified Muscle Performance.  Let me tell you now that this powder blows them out of the water as far as taste goes.  There are 6 awesome flavors of Combat powder:  Banana Cream, Vanilla, Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cookies & Cream, and Triple Berry Blast.  

My personal favorite?  By far the Chocolate Peanut Butter.  I swear this stuff is like drinking a Reese's for 5 minutes straight.  It's just plain heavenly, utterly brilliant.  If you want a great tasting protein, pick up some Chocolate Peanut Butter Combat powder from Muscle Pharm.  It's as simple as that.  

How's it mix?  Again, Combat powder impresses me enormously when it comes to mixability.  In my shaker bottle, when thoroughly shaken, there's no clumping, no chunking, and no flavor imbalances.  Plus, the flavor is powerful enough in this protein so that you can mix it with more water than you'd initially believe.  I take two scoops per workout, and I mix them with about 20 oz of water.  The result?  An incredibly creamy taste that completely disguises the fact that it's mixed into water.  No more watery protein taste for me, thanks.  I'll take Combat powder.

Does it work?  Heck yeah!  Since I've been on this powder, my squat has gone up about 10-20 kg, and my clean and jerk and snatch have gone up 8 kg and 5 kg respectively.  That's a pretty big improvement in not too much time.  I feel strong on this powder, and every day I want to test it out to see if it's worked for me.  I've smashed all sorts of PR's other than my competition lifts while on this powder as well, so yes, I can safely say that Combat powder works.  

So what's it cost?  Not much.  Right now at bodybuilding.com it's for sale at $39.99 for 4lbs, an amount that will last you over a month and a half if you only take one scoop each day.  I think you'll agree, that's an absolutely amazing deal for such a high quality product, and is definitely worth more than the $70 other companies are asking for their inferior products.  On bodybuilding.com only, there's a new flavor too, called "S'mores."  Here's a link to the deal, hope it lasts a little longer for all of your sakes.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/musclepharm/combat.html

So what's the verdict?  Well, it's not surprsing that I will be ordering this stuff for as long as that online deal persists.  This protein is high quality, versatile, and feeds your body in all sorts of beneficial ways that other protein powders just plain DON'T.  Average whey protein absorbs quickly, then backs off in a rather short span of time.  Combat powder just keeps on building and building, feeding those tired muscles for 8 hours.  I don't have to be sponsored by Muscle Pharm to say that I love Combat powder and highly recommend it to anyone looking to pack on some serious strength and muscle mass. 

http://musclepharm.com/combat-powder

Pumpkin Seeds, Fall's Overlooked Delicacy

How many of you have had pumpkin seeds?  I bet there's a good number of those who have, and an equally significant number of those who haven't.  Today I'm here to convince the ones who haven't to try these little delicacies while they're still "in season"

What am I talking about exactly?  I'm talking about dried, baked, and spiced pumpkin seeds, right out of that squash you like to carve faces on.  While Halloween is already past, you can definitely still pick up a good sized left-over pumpkin without too much trouble, and with all the recipes you can get out of that thing I can tell you right now it'll be worth it, big time.

Harvesting the seeds can be a pretty messy ordeal, but can be quite a fun process.  The guts of the pumpkin have a distinct aroma that's both natural and delicious at the same time, and whenever I smell it fond memories of dark spooky nights with my family immediately pop into my head.  Try to scoop all the seeds out into a bowl, and don't worry if you get some of the guts with them, as it can be pretty hard to separate.  If you've ever carved a pumpkin before you know exactly what I'm talking about.

After you scrape the inside of the pumpkin as cleanly as you can, try to remove as much orange gunk off the seeds as possible.  Then, place them in a colander and wash them off, removing the last little bits of stringy pumpkin glop with careful fingers.  You want the seeds to be clean and shiny, each one a perfect little morsel waiting to be prepared and eaten.  After the seeds are thoroughly cleaned, set them on a tea towel try to remove as much of the moisture as you can (don't use paper towels, as the seeds can stick to the paper and rip off little bits of it when you go to transfer them to the final cooking pan.  I'm guessing you don't want paper in your perfect little seeds).  It isn't crucial that you get them bone dry, but you want to at least remove visible droplets.

Now comes the fun part.  Spicing them up!  The most traditional way to cook pumpkin seeds is with salt and pepper, however I usually choose to forgo the salt and instead like to give them a little kick with cayenne chili powder.  Garlic powder tastes great as well.  Lay the dried seeds on a pan and sprinkle a nice even coat of your favorite spices over each batch of seeds, and make sure the powder is evenly distributed.  Now all that's left is to cook them!

Pop them in the oven for about 1 hour at 250 degrees, stirring them once or twice during the cooking process.  When they're ready, take them out, let them cool, bag them up into snack sized portions, and enjoy!

Not only are these seeds delicious, but they also are packed with nutrients!  They can be most closely compared to most nuts, and carry many of the same benefits:

Fiber:  Pumpkin seeds are very high in fiber, containing about 2 grams per 1 oz.  This will help promote good metabolizing of food, and will also help you digestive tract to remain healthy and regular.  Believe me, you want that.

Dense Calories:  Pumpkin seeds, like other nuts, can be easily used as a bulk up food for those looking to pack on a little muscle.  They are dense with quality calories, about 285 per cup.  And every one of those calories is packed with nutrients and protein to help you maintain lean mass.  But don't let that high calorie figure scare you, pumpkin seeds can be just as easily packed into smaller snack portions and consumed on a cutting diet as well.  They're an extremely versatile little food.

Protein:  These little guys are packed with protein!  They contain more than most other nuts, at around 12g per 1 cup, or 6g per half cup.  That's not bad, considering not many people think "protein packed" when they see those little seeds inside that big orange squash.  But I'm telling you, if you want muscle, pumpkin seeds can help.

Healthy fats:  Pumpkin seeds are loaded with healthy, unsaturated fats that will decrease your LDL (bad) cholesterol and serve to make your heart as healthy as it can be by promoting an optimal blood lipid level.  Remember, FAT IS NOT THE ENEMY.  Here it's your friend, all 12.4g of it (per cup).


Vitamins/other nutrients:  Pumpkin seeds have all sorts of other nutritional benefits as well.  They're very dense in potassium (that other crucial electrolyte) at around 600mg per cup.  They also have a wide array of vitamins nestled in each serving, such as a good dose of vitamins A, B6, B12, and K.  And they provide a whopping 50% of your daily doses of Manganese and Magnesium (yes those are different things.)  Without salt added, they are also very low in sodium.

In my opinion, pumpkin seeds are like heavenly little healthy snacks.  They're crunchy, nutritious, and have that sweet flavor of fall (probably my favorite season.)  They not only help my body perform at its best, they bring back great childhood memories.  But enough sappy stuff.  Get some of these in your diet ASAP, you won't regret it.

Spice em' up, crunch em' down, and enjoy them wholeheartedly.  Good Luck!