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10 Common Gym Exercises And How to Do Them Wrong
If you're the kind of regular gym visitor who really likes hanging out in the gym, but would really rather not see any physique or strength increases, today you're in luck.We spend A LOT of time in gyms and we see all kinds of people doing all kinds of wrong things, ensuring that their workout efforts are mostly in vain. And today we want to share some of their secrets.Ready? Here we go. 1. Standing Barbell Curl:Use your back and elbows to gain leverage. Seriously, watch some guys do standing curls and you'd think they're dancing the limbo. They're cocking their hips forward to get the bar moving and then quickly shifting their elbows directly under the bar to gain even more leverage. It's like they're trying to pass beneath the bar rather than lift it. And their biceps are strictly along for the ride. This is a good way to get little benefit from the exercise and maybe throw out your back.How to Do It Right: First of all (and this will be a recurring point), if you can't do the exercise correctly, you're trying to lift too much weight. Take some plates off the bar, Tarzan. Okay, now keep your hips stationary and your elbows firmly entrenched at your sides as you lift the bar. Make sure your back is straight. Lift the bar slowly. Picture a clock. If the bar starts at 9 o'clock, lift it to about 11 o'clock. You want to keep tension on the bicep. If you lift it all the way to 12 o'clock, you're resting at the top. Now lower the bar just as slowly. Don't lower it beyond 9 o'clock or the weight gets unsupported and you again risk injury. 2. Squats:End your squat high then harness momentum by bouncing out of it. Squats are the great equalizer. There's nothing as humbling as loading up the leg press machine with stacks of plates and then struggling with two 45-lb plates in the squat rack. Squats are also the source of great contention among gym rats. Many will tell you that parallel squats are bad for your knees, but we're here to tell you the opposite. If you end your squats too high (i.e. with your thighs not reaching parallel) the force of the barbell never transfers to your hips, meaning your knees are doing all the work.How to Do It Right: No one is impressed by the number of plates on the bar if you're doing quarter reps. Control the weight, move slow and easy. Going to parallel is not only safer on your knee joints, it engages more muscle fibers in your quads, hamstrings and glutes. Reach the bottom, pause, and rise up slowly. Employing a bounce at the bottom for momentum will, again, risk injury to your knees and your back as well. 3. Flat-Bench Dumbbell Flye: Tap the weights together at the top of each rep. Satisfying, isn't it? That little ding as you bring the dumbbells together over your head? Maybe it's because each time you do it, you're resting. You're removing the stress from your pectorals, allowing your chest to rest at the top instead of getting a maximal contraction. How to Do It Right: We're taught to quantify our workouts in terms of reps, but the real metric that matters is time under tension. With flyes, you need to raise the dumbbells to the equivalent of 11 o'clock and one o'clock, pause where you can still feel the effort in your pecs, and then lower them. Here again, don't overdo the depth on the negative end to a point where the weights are poorly supported, which opens the door to injury. 4. Bench Press:Arch your back and move your legs a lot. You would think, with all the attention people pay to bench presses, they'd do them with better form. But no, the mistakes are legion. As that last killer rep approaches, you see the butt rise up off the bench and the feet start moving. That guy's really working, right? Maybe, but none of that stuff is helping. In fact, he's wasting power and squandering leverage.How to Do It Right: When you prepare to bench press, drive your feet into the ground just like you would before a squat or deadlift. Anchor your glutes to the bench. Keep them like that and you’ll tighten your lower body while boosting stability and strength. While we're on the subject, keep your elbows close to your ribs as you press the weight up. This reduces the pressure on your shoulders and puts the load on your chest and triceps. 5. Dumbbell Lateral Raise: Swing the dumbbells all the way down in front of your hips and rock them back up. Lateral raises are meant to work a relatively small area, the middle deltoid head. So if you're hoisting 45-pound dumbbells, chances are you're cheating on your raises. Bringing the dumbbells all the way down to your sides between each repetition allows your muscles to rest at the bottom. If you bring the dumbbells down in front of your hips until they touch one another, you're extending further into the range where the middle delt isn't activated, and you're probably shifting your hips forward on the ascent to add some momentum to your raise.How to Do It Right: First of all, choose a more realistic weight and bring the dumbbells down to your sides. Hold them about six inches away from your sides, and then, without swaying or moving your body to help, lift the dumbbell out and up, only using your deltoid muscle to power the move. Bring the weights slowly and deliberately back down to your hips. 6. Bent-Over Dumbbell Row: Bring the dumbbell up by simply bending your elbow. Terrific! You've turned a shoulder exercise into a bicep exercise. Think about the action of your back muscles during a row. If they're stationary, if you can't feel tension in them, you're not working them. If you're bringing the dumbbell up to your flank by simply bending your elbow, you're basically calling on your biceps to do the majority of the work. Now, think about what happens to your back muscles when you shift your shoulders back and shoulder blades inward. That contraction is what you want. How to Do It Right: To engage your back in the exercise, you need to make sure your shoulder is moving along with your elbows. Establish this mind-muscle connection by visualizing your back muscles engaging on each repetition of a row, gliding inward toward your spine. Imagine you're trying to pinch a pencil between your shoulder blades. Once you start doing rows correctly, you'll soon be increasing the weight you can handle, while increasing the size of your lats and rhomboids. 7. Seated Cable Row: Lean forward and backward through each rep. You watch some people do cable rows and it looks like they're rowing sprints for Yale varsity crew. They're leaning as far forward as they can, then leaning excessively back the other way as they pull the handle toward their abdomen. You're not trying to beat Princeton. You're not trying to work your lower back and legs, either. The point of the seated cable row is to build strength and size in your upper back.How to Do It Right: To activate your upper back, you want to control the movement, staying upright throughout. As you bring the handle toward you, flex your upper back, which will pull back your shoulders. As you lower the weight, don't allow your upper body to follow the handle forward. Just let your shoulder blades shift outward and your elbows straighten. You should feel the tension in your lats, your rhomboids and to a lesser extent in your lower trapezius. 8. Dumbbell Lunge: Get your knee way out past your toes in the bottom position. You know you're working hard if you're getting super deep into each lunge and pushing your knee way out ahead of you. Right? Well, no. Actually you're taking too short a step forward into your lunge and then compensating by listing forward in an unsupported position. Along the way, you're subjecting your front knee to needless shearing forces and strain. Lunges are an excellent body-weight bearing exercise that emphasizes balance and posture, but not so much if you're in an ungainly position that you keep falling out of.How to Do It Right: Make sure you step out deeply enough and that you keep your hips shifted back. At the bottom of a lunge, your front knee should be in a 90-degree angle, and your back knee should be elevated an inch or two off of the floor. You should feel this in your quads, hamstrings and glutes. 9. Triceps Cable Press-Down: Lean over the bar as you push it down. Triceps cable press-downs are not a bodyweight bearing exercise. This is one we see all the time. People ambitiously popping the pin in under a huge stack of plates and then bearing down on the handle with all their weight. If you're leaning forward and shifting your shoulders over the handle as you finish each repetition, you're not letting your triceps take on the bulk of the workload. How to Do It Right: This is one exercise in which having access to a mirror really helps. You may think you're keeping your elbows motionless, but chances are they're revolving in little circles as you try to gain leverage. Lock your elbows in place at your sides and try to keep your spine as vertical as possible to isolate the tension on your tri's. 10. Seated Barbell Press: Slide forward so your lower back isn't in contact with the pad. This is a very common cheat. The seated barbell vertical press (or military press) is a high-volume exercise that isolates a small muscle group. Your delts. By sliding your lower back away from the pad behind you, you're trying to get leverage over the weight by engaging your upper pecs, essentially turning a vertical seated press into an incline press. Whenever you see some guy doing vertical presses with super-heavy dumbbells, this cheat is probably in play. How to Do It Right: Simple. Use lighter weights and keep your back pressed tight to the vertical seatback behind you. You'll start building those bowling ball delts you're seeking and your lower back -- no longer unsupported and subject to the risk of strain -- will thank you.The articles featured herein are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Specific medical advice should only be obtained from a licensed health care professional. No liability is assumed by ProSource for any information herein.
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7 Most Common Training Injuries, What Causes Them and How to Avoid Them
One of the great inequities of the active lifestyle -- particularly with regard to weight training -- is that it takes so long to gain even small amounts of muscle, and so little time to lose it again. This is especially true when the down-time is the result of injury.How quickly can you lose muscle and strength? In a recent study, researchers found that just one week of bed rest for otherwise healthy, well-trained young males resulted in an average loss of 3.1 lbs of muscle mass (1 Dirks). Another study showed that active young men lost 28% of strength and 17 ounces of leg muscle mass after two weeks of immobilization with a cast (2 Vigils).Of course, you don't have to be completely immobilized to experience swift reductions in muscle mass and strength. Simple common training injuries can force you to modify your regimen, removing certain exercises and making your workouts less productive. (These modifications can also sometimes lead to further injuries, as you try to compensate for the initial injury.)The frustrating thing is, most common workout injuries are easily avoidable if you're properly prepared, maintain proper form, know the warning signs of a worsening condition, and adhere to sensible training volume. Here are the causes of common but painful weight-training-related injuries and simple techniques for avoiding them. 1. Rotator Cuff / Shoulder Inpingement Syndrome This type of injury, most often associated with movements in which leverage is lost and weight isn't properly supported, involves a rupture of the superior labrum anterior and posterior in the shoulder girdle. In the gym, it is most commonly linked to exercises like overhead barbell presses, lateral raises and reverse flyes. Although the most severe form of this injury is a tear, a less severe condition called Shoulder Impingement Syndrome (in which an inflammation occurs around the tendons at the rotator cuff) can also be quite painful. Warning SignsAny sort of subtle popping or clicking you can feel in connective tissue during movements, especially lateral or overhead movements. Recurring pain, especially when lifting items over your head. Advanced signs might include grating or cracking sounds or feelings when moving your arm, trouble sleeping on the affected side and finally noticeable muscle weakness.PreventionBy and large, the majority of these injuries are caused by bad form and using too much weight. If you find that you're resorting to momentum (swinging your back or shoulders) to complete reps in overhead movements such as lateral raises or flyes, you're putting yourself at risk. Use a weight you can control over the complete range of motion with proper technique. Resist the impulse to over-extend the arc of your movements to the point where the weight is not correctly supported. 2. Plantar Fasciitis Plantar Fasciitis is most often associated with runners, but it can be caused by any sort of high-impact stress to the plantar fascia, a strong fibrous ligament that runs from your heel to the ball of your foot and your toes. This includes weightlifting that puts heavy stress on your feet, such as squats, deadlifts and standing barbell curls and overhead presses. It can also be caused by simply standing on your feet for excessively long periods of time during a typical day. Medical professionals estimate that one in every ten people will develop plantar fasciitis at some point in their life.Warning SignsPlantar fasciitis is characterized by a sharp, tight painful sensation at the base of the heel like stepping on a nail. The pain can vary from moderate to excruciating. Early signs of plantar fasciitis might include persistent pain in the arch of your foot, stiffness, or a tight Achilles tendon. Eventually you'll experience swelling around your heel and then chronic heel pain.PreventionOver-training and overuse can lead to plantar fasciitis. Also the wrong choice of footwear. We spend a lot of time in gyms and we've seen some of the most inappropriate footwear imaginable. Flat-soled boat shoes. Crocs. Sandals. People running barefoot on treadmills. It's excruciating just to watch. Any sort of weightlifting done while standing on your feet requires a steady, sturdy base with proper heel and arch support. Get yourself a proper pair of cross trainers.Footwear is even more important to runners. We strongly suggest that you go in person to a store that specializes in athletic footwear. These establishments have trained professionals, often with access to diagnostic equipment that can assess your stride and your weight distribution, and will match you with the ideal shoe.Also, it is important to know that running is not for anyone. If running long distances on hard surfaces is causing you heel pain, try rolling your foot on a golf ball, icing the injured area, and stretching and strengthening your calf muscles. If that doesn't work, then there are plenty of aerobic exercise alternatives that involve less impacts such as swimming or elliptical training. 3. Pinched Nerve A pinched nerve is caused when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding structures, such as bones, cartilage, muscles or tendons. It's a common condition in the neck and back, and can cause pain, numbness or a tingly sensation to radiate outward along the area served by the nerve.Warning SignsIf you have a frequent feeling that a limb, hand or foot has "fallen asleep," or if you're experiencing paresthesia (that tingling or "pins and needles" sensation), you could be in the early stages of suffering a pinched nerve. Eventually those symptoms will give way to a sharp or burning pain and muscle weakness in the affected area. These are all signs that you are experiencing swelling of connective tissue or muscle, or an out-of-position bone such as a spinal disc. Indeed, a pinched nerve can be a precursor to a much more serious condition, like a herniated disc.PreventionA pinched nerve serves as the perfect opportunity to present an argument against the popular notion of "working through the pain." Swelling or a shifted spinal disc is not going to get better if you ignore it. Rest is the prescription. If the swelling doesn't go down (i.e. the pinched nerve pain persists after several days) a visit to your doctor for analysis and probably an x-ray is well indicated.To prevent the onset of this condition, pay proper attention to form when you're working out. If you're placing the brunt of the resistance on your bones or spine (as opposed to your muscles), you're doing it wrong. Try to avoid curling or swaying your back during movements by tightening your abdomen and not lifting weights that are too heavy for you. Vary your workouts and remember that a few days' rest or a change of pace are both ideal components of a productive training program. 4. Patellar Tendonitis Your patella is your kneecap and patellar tendinitis is an injury that affects the tendon that anchors your kneecap to your shinbone. This condition is most often associated with running and jumping, but can arise from weight training as well. This is especially true of exercises that put excessive strain on the knees, such as hack squats, deadlifts, lunges, and barbell squats. These activities can cause tiny tears in the tendon that accumulate faster than your body can repair them.Warning SignsPain in the knee, plain and simple. At first, you'll experience discomfort when beginning your workout and after an especially intense training period. Eventually the pain worsens until common daily tasks like climbing stairs or even getting out of a chair become difficult.PreventionThere are no exercises for which proper form is more essential than the deadlift and squat. Your chances of injury are much higher here than anywhere else on the gym floor. In terms of your knees, keep them in correct alignment with your hips and ankles. Any lateral movement of the knees during a squat is to be avoided. Also, don't overdo depth in your squats. Friends like to give each other grief about shallow squats, but for the most part, your hips should drop just slightly below your knees and no further. Also, as always, use a weight you can control in both the positive and negative halves of the lift. Another factor that can lead to patellar tendonitis is muscular imbalance. If some muscles in your legs are much stronger than others, the stronger muscles may pull harder on your patellar tendon. A proper "leg day" should include targeted movements to strengthen your quads, hamstrings, calves and abductors. 5. Back Strains Unlike many of the injuries on this list, a painful back strain is not usually the result of repetitive, long-term stresses. It is often the result of a single unmindful moment. It can arise from a single poor rep at the end of a series of standing barbell curls in which you let your back sway out of position. It can be caused by a bent-over row in which your back is not angled or supported correctly. Or you can unthinkingly reach past someone to pick up or replace a dumbbell or kettlebell in the rack and feel that sudden sharp twinge in your back. The result is the same -- a painful strain that will literally effect just about any exercise or activity you can think of.Warning SignsPretty much none. You were okay a second ago, and now your high-stepping off the gym floor, kneading your throbbing lower back and looking at some significant down time.PreventionAs we've said, be mindful and in the moment. Pay attention to what you're doing. As people have been telling you all your life, when lifting, bend your knees to lift and keep your spine straight. Also, consider a secure, sturdy weightlifting belt. We see less and less of these in gyms these days and we have no idea why. Finally, stay away from machines that theoretically target the back and obliques but provide little or no benefit, like back extension or seated ab rotation machines. Subjecting the spine to vigorous twisting and lunging while keeping the hips in a static sitting position is a recipe for disaster. 6. IT Band Syndrome The IT band (or iliotibial band) is a long band of connective tissue that runs from hip to knee on the outside of your leg. When it's tight or inflamed, it can cause a chronic ache along the outside of your knee. IT Band Syndrome is commonly associated with runners, but it can affect weight trainers as well, as the actual inflammation results from the IT band rubbing over the thighbone, which occurs when you bend and straighten your knee. Warning SignsBefore any pain is even present, you may notice a clicking sensation where the IT band rubs against the knee, indicating tightness. Eventually, you'll sense a warmth or redness around the knee which will worsen into chronic pain when running or exercising.PreventionThough it might seem that your knee is the cause of ITBS, this condition actually originates from weak gluteal muscles, which destabilize the long tendon in your thigh. Glutes are very often the weakest link in a fitness enthusiast's physique, so there's plenty you can do to strengthen this area and prevent ITBS. Weighted squats, lunges, and barbell hip thrusts all target the glutes to some extent. Simple side leg raises and side shuffles (steps to the right and left) with or without resistance bands also work, or you can employ a stability or exercise ball to do side hip bridges and hip thrusts. Also, again, proper preparation is key. Warm up and stretch prior to exercise and get yourself a high-quality pair of shoes specific to the activity at hand. 7. Elbow Tendonitis Elbow tendonitis (or "tennis elbow") is a pernicious chronic condition for weight trainers because it involves gripping. Gym warriors do a lot of gripping. Characterized by inflammation in the elbow tendons that connect to your forearm joint, elbow tendonitis arises from the repeated contraction of the forearm muscles used to straighten and raise your hand and wrist. Gradually, as in other forms of tendonitis, little tears begin to appear in the tendon and its strength and flexibility are impaired.Warning SignsThe warning signs of elbow tendonitis are pretty straightforward. Pain when gripping or lifting an object or when rotating the wrist. Weakness or tingling in your arm or hand. Elbow stiffness and reduced range of motion. Eventually you'll experience pain or a dull, aching sensation that radiates from the elbow down into the forearm.PreventionMany people with this condition resort to applying ice or a cold pack to the affected area, which is an effective short-term treatment for swelling. Tennis players are often advised to switch to a racquet with a larger diameter grip. Weightlifters can emulate this by sliding circular foam pads around barbell and dumbbell grips, or wearing lifting gloves. Lifting gloves that provide sturdy wrist support are an even better idea.To prevent the onset of elbow tendinitis, make an effort to build overall wrist strength by doing finger stretches and wrist flexor stretches or by doing exercises that don't involve gripping at all, like push-ups or resistance band movements. Conclusion The old axiom is true: An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Proper equipment, pre-exercise stretching, correct form, and the self-awareness necessary to avoid exacerbating an already-present injury will keep you on the path to overall wellness and pave the way to peak workout productivity.Scientific References1 Dirks ML, Wall BT, van de Valk B, Holloway TM, Holloway GP, Chabowski A, Goossens GH, van Loon LJ. One Week of Bed Rest Leads to Substantial Muscle Atrophy and Induces Whole-Body Insulin Resistance in the Absence of Skeletal Muscle Lipid Accumulation. Diabetes. 2016 Oct;65(10):2862-75. doi: 10.2337/db15-1661. Epub 2016 Jun 29.2 Vigels A, Gram M, Wiuff C, Andersen JL, Helge JW, Dela F. Six weeks' aerobic retraining after two weeks' immobilization restores leg lean mass and aerobic capacity but does not fully rehabilitate leg strength in young and older men. J Rehabil Med. 2015 Jun;47(6):552-60. The articles featured herein are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Specific medical advice should only be obtained from a licensed health care professional. No liability is assumed by ProSource for any information herein.
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Building Muscle On A Vegan Diet
Unless you live under a rock — a rock with no wifi access — you’ve probably noticed that there’s been an explosion of interest in vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. Once the province of new-age hippies and animal rights activists, plant-based diets have gone mainstream in a big way. Indeed, according to a 2019 article in The Economist, 25% of 25- to 34-year-old Americans say they are vegans or vegetarians, and the trend is accelerating.Before we go on, let's establish the difference. A vegetarian is someone who doesn't consume any food products made from meat, poultry, fish, or seafood. In addition to these staples, a vegan will also not consume eggs or dairy products. Some extremely strict vegans will also extend this prohibition to some insect by-products such as honey.So, why go veggie? Well, there's the sustainability issue, of course. It takes a big old mountain of vegetable matter to feed one cow that in turn can be sliced into a few steaks. Environmental and ethical concerns aside, however, many people have discovered that they simply feel better after eliminating meat from their diet, whether it's due to digestion issues or allergies. Reducing meat intake may also help reduce cholesterol levels, lower A1C blood sugar levels, and lower the risk of getting certain kinds of cancer.One last bastion left unconquered by the vegan hordes has always been the realm of serious muscle-building athletes. Common consensus has always maintained that vegetable proteins are incomplete proteins that are not as efficiently utilized by the body to repair and build muscle tissue. The Protein Biological Value Scale, which ranks food sources according to percentage of protein that can be digested and used for muscle building purposes, includes all meats at the top and plants toward the bottom, generally speaking.All of which brings us back to our primary question: Can You Build Muscle on a Plant-Based Diet? For our purposes here, we're going to be considering the vegan lifestyle, so no eggs or dairy either. The answer is a classic good news / bad news proposition.1) Yes, you can build significant muscle mass on a vegan diet.2) It won't be easy.Skeptical? You don't have to take our word for it. Tennis superstar Venus Williams, pro basketball standout Chris Paul, and multiple Wimbledon champ and world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic have all embraced plant-based lifestyles while reaching the apex of their sports. Powerlifter and Germany's strongest man Patrik Bouboumian credits his vegan diet with helping him build colossal muscle and strength.So it is possible. But vegan athletes have to be even more diligent about the food they consume than their meat-eating contemporaries. And even then, challenges remain. Let's take a look at some of them. 1Maintaining a Caloric Surplus We talk all the time about how many muscle-building athletes undermine their gains by simply not consuming enough calories every day. All the exercise in the world won't make a difference if there isn't enough growth fuel in the tank. And these athletes have access to calorie-dense chicken breasts, lean beef and whey protein formulas. Now imagine how difficult it is to gain muscle solely on leafy greens. There's a reason cows and deer spend every waking moment munching foliage.We advise ALL aspiring muscle builders to use a calorie calculator. A good calculator -- they're free all over the internet -- will tell you how many calories you need to maintain and grow muscle. And then you have to manually weigh what you eat and plan your meals ahead to make your macros. This is even more important for vegan athletes. It takes a lot of kale to hit your daily protein intake number.In terms of sheer calories, one solution for vegan athletes is to rely on nutrient-dense plant-based foods like nuts, seeds, oils, and complex carbohydrates. (Early warning here that if you're also gluten sensitive, you're in a double-bind because some of the following suggestions are gluten-rich grains.) Excellent sources of protein for vegans include ancient grains such as spelt, barley and sorghum, as well as quinoa, oats, soy, tempeh, and all sorts of nuts and nut butters. If you're culinarily adventurous, you might consider mycoproteins, a non-animal-based protein derived from fungus, and seitan, a kind of "wheat meat" that is one of the richest plant protein sources available and is a good source of selenium, iron, calcium, and phosphorus.Complex carbohydrates will help you elevate your caloric intake and are an excellent energy source for your workouts. Again, whole grains, wild rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes and oats are your friends here. Bulk up!The key is to eat and eat often. If you're grazing like a deer, you need to approach it like a deer. As an eight-meal-a-day job. 2Combining Plant-Based Meal Options to Create Complete Amino Profiles Different plants have different amino profiles, but one thing they all have in common is that they're incomplete. Veggies tend to be deficient in leucine, which is essential to facilitating protein synthesis in muscle tissue. You can meet this challenge by turning to vegan protein powders sourced from green peas, wild rice, hemp and chia seeds, all of which have relatively higher leucine values.Soy protein powder actually has a protein biological value slightly higher than fish and lean beef. This makes it an ideal option for mixing into shakes, stir-frys, stews and other meal options. Other plant-based options that contain comparable amounts of protein per serving as animal-based foods are pumpkin seeds, black beans, lentils, and almonds. Also consider combining nuts and seeds with legumes, as well as grains and legumes (rice and beans, for instance) to create more complete amino profiles. You don't have to do this in the same meal, but as part of your everyday regimen.You may want to increase your overall protein intake as well. Plant-based proteins aren't as swiftly absorbed as meat proteins. If you absorb 85% to 95% of the protein in chicken breast and beef, you might only absorb 50% to 75% of the protein in common vegan protein sources. So if a typical carnivore is consuming 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, you might want to shoot for something closer to two grams. Again, it's a lot of eating. 3Accessing Proper Amounts of Trace Nutrients A vegan diet is rich in the nutrition you need to achieve peak physique and performance, but some very specific trace nutrients can be harder to obtain. The one most commonly cited is Vitamin B-12, which is found almost exclusively in animal-sourced foods such as fish, meat, dairy products, and eggs. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can increase risks for a number of serious health conditions, so it makes sense to supplement for this key nutrient. Fortunately, there are vegan-friendly B-12 products formulated from fairly exotic sources such as lichen algae and nori seaweed.Omega-3 fatty acids are super-nutrients that support heart health, antioxidant activity and recovery from intense exercise. We primarily associate Omega-3s with fish oils, but flaxseed is another vital source of Omega-3s, as are walnuts, chia seeds and Brussels sprouts. For greater absorbability and utilization, consider supplementing with an Omega-3 formulation derived from algae.You would think the "sunshine vitamin" and plant-based foods would go hand-in-hand, but actually the Vitamin D found in plants is the much less bioactively useful Vitamin D2. Vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol is better absorbed and effectively raises blood vitamin D levels for a longer period than vitamin D2. Fortunately, nature has you covered here, as Vitamin D3 is a hormone that your body produces naturally in response to sunlight. During winter months, you can supplement with Vitamin D3 derived from lichen algae.Other trace nutrients that can be lacking in vegan diets include iodine (which can be derived from kelp and furnished in supplement form), taurine (available in synthetic form), and calcium, which is usually associated with dairy products, but is also richly supplied in leafy greens like kale and spinach as well as tofu, almonds and chia seeds. 4Avoiding Blood Acidosis Here's an aspect of muscle-building where vegans actually have an advantage over their meat-eating friends. Dietary regimens that include animal-based products tend to make the blood acidic, especially over time. Increases in blood acidity can decrease muscle mass and inhibit growth. This is one reason older people lose muscle mass as they age.Foods that are highly alkaline include fruits and vegetables. Consuming them in sizable amounts can help in aiding and preserving muscle mass regeneration, as long as you're getting enough calories, proteins, exercise and rest. Which brings us to an obvious conclusion. It should go without saying that to gain muscle the vegan way, you need to keep all the other aspects of your fitness regimen on point. Train hard and rest just as hard. Avoid processed foods. There are plenty of vegan food options in the frozen food and snack aisles that are just junk. Manage stress and set realistic goals. The pathway to peak physique via vegan living can be a little more winding and challenging than the carnivore highway, but it is just as rewarding.The articles featured herein are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Specific medical advice should only be obtained from a licensed health care professional. No liability is assumed by ProSource for any information herein.
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KNOW Your BCAAs, GROW Like Never Before
If you follow enough workout warriors on social media, you’re probably familiar with a common genre — the video clip of someone customizing their own pre- or post-workout supplement formula. Some of these efforts are misguided, but others are genuinely enlightened, particularly when it comes to pre-workout formulations.In these short clips, you might see a suitably well-trained individual creating their own pre-workout formula from scratch or starting with a standard-issue pre-workout and augmenting it with extra ingredients, such as arginine-AKG, creatine monohydrate, beta alanine, glutamine, and/or BCAAs.There's a good reason for this. While many people believe that garden-variety pre-workout formulas contain all the necessary ingredients to support both training performance and recovery, the truth is a little more complex. Manufacturers will often tout a lengthy laundry list of ingredients in their pre-workout formulas, but then microdose these ingredients so meagerly that they offer no real performance benefit. Or they will simply omit some highly useful co-factors entirely. In fact, some of the category's biggest sellers contain little more than stimulant content in various forms. (For a true all-in-one pre-workout formula that contains individual performance co-factors in science-based dosages sufficient to facilitate enhanced power, endurance and intensity, look no further than BioQuest's Fusion Force.)One particular under-supplied ingredient in most pre-workout formulas is branched-chain amino acids or BCAAs. This is unfortunate because BCAAs not only provide a ready source of fuel your muscles can tap into to postpone fatigue and maintain work output, they also help support muscle recovery after high-intensity training. Powering Productivity Before, During and After Your WorkoutBCAAs -- the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine -- are considered essential because, unlike non-essential amino acids, your body cannot make them. You need to get them from your diet. They are also unique in that they are metabolized directly by muscle tissue during high-impact exercise. Of the three BCAAs, leucine offers the most performance and recovery benefit.When you begin to exercise, your muscles tap into muscle glycogen (a stored form of carbohydrates) for fuel, but this stored energy doesn't last very long. When these are diminished, your muscles will turn to blood glucose to keep going. (This is where isoleucine and valine, which help support blood sugar levels, both play an important role.) Blood glucose is derived from carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Carbohydrates and fats fuel the majority of your energy needs at the outset of exercise, but as your exercise interval lengthens, your body will scavenge proteins from existing muscle tissue. BCAAs make up a great proportion of the total amino acid content in skeletal muscle and are readily catabolized during exercise. Indeed, BCAAs may provide as much as 20% of your body's energy needs in the course of your workout.When your high-intensity workout is completed, you've inflicted considerable damage to muscle tissue. This damage must be repaired and your body will endeavor to add more muscle mass to survive future bouts of exercise-induced stress. The availability of leucine is absolutely crucial during this post-exercise juncture, as it is the trigger for the protein synthesis that is the engine for muscle recovery and growth.Clearly then, BCAA supplementation -- especially leucine -- would appear to offer valuable benefits for highly active people. Science supports this notion. In a study published in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine in 2017, researchers sought to evaluate the effect of a 12-week leucine-rich amino acid supplementation in combination with moderate training. In the study, 48 healthy subjects exercised for 30 minutes three times per week and received either a leucine-rich amino acid supplementation or a placebo. Before and after supplementation, subjects performed an exhaustive eccentric exercise protocol. Maximal concentric strength and safety assessments were performed before exercise and after 3, 24, 48 and 72 hours.The researchers found that the supplementation with leucine resulted in reduced loss of strength at zero and 3 hours after downhill walking compared with the placebo. They concluded that the "principle findings show that leucine-rich amino acid supplementation can counteract the negative effects of eccentric exercise. The treatment resulted in a reduction of exercise-induced strength loss." (1 Reule CA, et al)BCAAs also offer a prominent benefit in the form of post-workout recovery. In another study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, highly trained resistance athletes were provided 20 grams of BCAAs per day for seven days before and four days after completing a damaging bout of exercise. The ratio of the provided BCAAs was 2:1:1 (leucine: isoleucine: valine).A number of variables were measured including changes in force production, markers of muscle damage in the blood, muscle soreness, vertical jump performance, and thigh and calf circumference. The damage bout caused significant changes in nearly all variables. In particular, changes in creatine kinase (a marker of damage found in the blood) were significantly improved when BCAAs were ingested when compared to placebo. In addition, the recovery of the ability to produce maximal force was also improved to a greater extent in the BCAA group. The authors of the study concluded that providing BCAAs before and after damaging exercise can reduce the recovery time. (2 Howatson, Hoad et al.) Supplementing with BCAAsWhen adding BCAAs to your supplement regimen, sufficient dosing is critically important. As we've said, most pre-workout formulas simply don't supply BCAAs in amounts that provide performance or recovery benefits. The solution to this problem is simple. Just add additional BCAAs to your pre-workout drink taken 30 to 45 minutes before training and then add some more to the water bottle or shake cup you take out onto the gym floor with you.Of course, proper sourcing of precious BCAAs is also important. ProSource has always led the way when it comes to ingredient purity, potency and power, and that is true for BCAAs as well.ProSource's Mega BCAA, available in both powder and capsule formats, contains vastly superior, premium-grade aminos, provided in the preferred ratio of 2:1:1 leucine, isoleucine and valine. And it provides them in an 8-gram per serving dosage designed to fully energize, protect and build muscle tissue. Like all ProSource sports nutrition supplements, Mega BCAA Powder and Capsules are made with the absolute highest quality ingredients available industry-wide to ensure maximum purity, potency and results!Scientific References1 Reule CA, Scholz C, Schoen C, et al. Reduced muscular fatigue after a 12-week leucine-rich amino acid supplementation combined with moderate training in elderly: a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2017.2 Howatson, G., M. Hoad, et al. (2012). "Exercise-induced muscle damage is reduced in resistance-trained males by branched chain amino acids: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study." J Int Soc Sports Nutr 9(1): 20.Use as directed with a sensible nutrition and exercise program. Read and follow all product label instructions and warnings thoroughly before use. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.The articles featured herein are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Specific medical advice should only be obtained from a licensed health care professional. No liability is assumed by ProSource for any information herein.
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Research Update: Can Strength Training Help You Live Longer?
When we think of the habits that contribute to a long and healthy life, what do we think of? Avoiding recreational drugs, alcohol and smoking, of course. Also consuming a varied and well-balanced diet. And finally? Staying active.Staying active calls to mind a wide range of lifestyle choices -- everything from just getting off the couch and going for a walk to engaging in a regular regimen of aerobic exercise. We are not the only people who make this common-sense connection. Scientists do it too.That's why there is considerable scientific evidence that points to a connection between higher levels of aerobic exercise, overall wellness and greater longevity. The studies carried out by researchers tend to enlist exactly who you would expect as test subjects -- endurance athletes, runners, bicyclists, swimmers, etc. A somewhat recent meta-analysis of life expectancy studies published in the Journal of Aging Research (1 Reimers, et al) rounded up all the usual subjects. Studies summarized in the extensive review of existing literature found that long distance runners and cross-country skiers might expect +5.7 years of longevity, elite cyclists a rather impressive +8 years. You get the idea.But what about those people who engage in regular strength training? Those men and women who hit the gym two or more times a week and do battle against the iron in order to build muscle? How do they fare in the increased life expectancy sweepstakes?Here the evidence is not nearly as extensive, and there's a good reason for that. While people middle-aged or older are willing to get out and walk or even run or swim, strength training just isn't as common a pastime among this cohort. Indeed, random sampling by the CDC suggests that more than 40% of older Americans get some kind of aerobic exercise on a regular basis, while 10% or less report participating in any kind of strength training at all. So the data is lacking.Two recent scientific studies, both published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine this year, are intended to close that research gap, and they have generated some pretty compelling results.Combining Cardio Exercise AND Strength Training Supports Increased LongevityA study published last month (Aug 2022) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine utilized National Health Interview Survey data (1997–2014) and the National Death Index through 2015 to produce a cohort of 416,420 US adults indexed for self-reported moderate aerobic physical activity (MPA), vigorous aerobic physical activity (VPA) and muscle strengthening exercise MSE, collated with mortality risk. After adjusting for mitigating factors such as age, gender and chronic conditions, the researchers found that people who engaged in one hour of aerobic activity per week had a 15 percent lower mortality risk. Mortality risk was 27 percent lower for those who did three hours a week. These findings were consistent with those in numerous other studies linking aerobic exercise with reduced risk of mortality. (Note, too, the relatively short durations of weekly exercise and the benefits accrued from them!)Because the study sample size was so large, however, the researchers were able to investigate further. Twenty-four percent of the study cohort reported engaging in regular strength training (the MSE group). Of those who took part in one to two strength-training sessions per week, risk of mortality was reduced a full 40% compared to those who didn’t exercise at all. (Again, just one or two strength-training sessions a week!) Better Health Outcomes Linked to Strength TrainingEarlier in the year (Feb 2022) another paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine also shed light on the wellness benefits of resistance training. In this study, a systemic review and meta-analysis of 16 clinical studies investigating the links between strength training and mortality, researchers found that engaging in muscle-strengthening activities resulted in a 10% to 20% drop in the risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer.The authors went on to state, "Our findings showed that the maximum risk reduction for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease and total cancer was obtained at approximately 30–60 min/week of muscle-strengthening activities ... Given this result, the current recommendation of at least 2 days/week could be reasonable." They went on to caution that "Given that the available data are limited, further studies -- such as studies focusing on a more diverse population -- are needed to increase the certainty of the evidence." Get Stronger, Live LongerThe wellness benefits of lifting weights have always been obvious to those who take their training seriously, even if the hard scientific data has been a little tardy in arriving. Resistance training, especially as we grow older, makes functional strength possible. Functional strength manifests itself in countless ways as we proceed through our day -- getting up out of a beach chair, carrying groceries in from the car, gardening, house-cleaning, socializing, merely climbing a flight of stairs. Functional strength is the key to remaining optimally active, vital and independent.Now we are coming to realize that strength training may positively effect our overall health in the most basic of ways -- it may be linked to a reduced risk of disease and early mortality. Much more research needs to be done, of course, but the preliminary message is clear: Lift More, Live Better. Scientific References1 C. D. Reimers, G. Knapp, and A. K. Reimers. Does Physical Activity Increase Life Expectancy? A Review of the Literature. J Aging Res. 2012; 2012: 243958. 2 Coleman CJ, McDonough DJ, Pope ZC, et al. Dose–response association of aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity with mortality: a national cohort study of 416,420 US adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 11 August 2022. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2022-105519 3 Momma H, Kawakami R, Honda T, et al. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. British Journal of Sports Medicine, June 16, 2022; 56:755-763.The articles featured herein are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Specific medical advice should only be obtained from a licensed health care professional. No liability is assumed by ProSource for any information herein.
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