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8 Essential Micronutrients For Highly Active People
Let’s face it. A common, supermarket-shelf vitamin/mineral complex may be just fine for people who have common, supermarket-shelf fitness aspirations. But the fact that you're here reading this article suggests that you have loftier goals.The demands of high-intensity exercise can deplete bodily levels of key nutrients very swiftly, undermining performance and recovery. At any given moment, your body is utilizing scores of different nutrients -- from proteins, carbs and fats to vitamins, minerals and enzymes. If you're conscientious about your diet and supplementation, there's a good chance you have proteins, carbs, and healthy fats covered. Vitamins, minerals, and enzymes are another story. Many otherwise dedicated athletes run the risk of permitting detrimental nutritional gaps that can decrease performance and wipe out any potential gains that might accrue from training.Here's a short list of crucial nutrients for athletes that either deplete very quickly under great stress or are difficult to consume in sufficient quantities from whole food sources.B VitaminsMost people don't normally associate vitamin supplementation with a revitalizing surge of energy, but we don't call Vitamin B the energy vitamin for nothing. Similarly, people might think our bodily levels of this common vitamin are always abundant, and they would be wrong again.The B-vitamin group -- among them, vitamins B6 and B12, thiamin, riboflavin and folate -- has a critical role to play in energy production. The body uses these nutrients to convert protein and sugar into energy and to support the formation of red blood cells, which in turn remove carbon dioxide from your body and carry oxygen to cells, supporting work output. Keeping B12 levels high is important for all athletes, particularly endurance athletes. IronYou can lose as much as 5.7% of your bodily stores of iron through perspiration during one hour of even medium-intensity exercise, such as jogging (1 Akabas, et al). This is important because iron is a key component of red blood cells, which are tasked with conveying oxygen to muscle cells and carbon dioxide away from them. Thus, proper iron levels, like those of Vitamin B12, are conducive to enhanced endurance and work output. Indeed, the Food and Nutrition Board, one of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, suggests a 30 percent increase in iron intake for people who exercise intensely on a regular basis.Zinc and MagnesiumZinc is a key mineral that supports energy and endurance, while magnesium is a component of more than 300 enzymes involved in energy metabolism, bone formation, nerve and muscle function, and protein, fat, and carbohydrate synthesis. When combined with Vitamin B6, there is also some evidence to suggest that they support testosterone production and insulin-like growth factor.You lose both these minerals during intense exercise by way of perspiration, so supplementation is well indicated. It should be noted too that taking these two minerals in proper ratio (such as in a premium daily multi) is important because excessive intake of zinc can result in deficiencies of magnesium. Vitamin D and Vitamin KThese two vitamins go together because they work synergistically to support bone health and cardiovascular function -- and because most people don't get nearly enough of either. Vitamin D deficiency in particular affects nearly half of the world's population and more than 40% of the US population. Your body produces Vitamin D primarily by synthesizing it out of exposure to sunlight, and most people simply don't get outside enough (and apply plenty of sunblock when they do).This is unfortunate because your bones need Vitamin D to facilitate the absorption of calcium, which in turn supports bone density and strength. Recent research also suggests that Vitamin D helps the mitochondria in muscle cells regenerate energy after contractions, thus boosting endurance (2 Sinha, et al).Vitamin K2 works in tandem with Vitamin D3 to enhance calcium uptake and utilization to help maintain bone density. It also helps to activate a key circulatory protein that inhibits blood vessel calcification, and is necessary for the production of prothrombin, a clotting factor essential for blood clotting and bone metabolism. CalciumCalcium is the most important nutrient for building bone and slowing the pace of bone loss. This is especially true as we grow older and bone mass and density tend to decrease.Calcium deficient athletes run a substantially higher risk of exercise-related stress fractures and related injuries. How much so? Researchers from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that the addition of one additional cup of calcium-fortified skim milk reduced runners’ incidence of developing a stress fracture by an amazing 62 percent (3 Nieves, et al).CoQ10Coenzyme Q10 (or CoQ10) is a crucial enzyme found in every cell of the human body, where it plays a critical role in the most basic and important of intracellular processes -- it helps cells produce energy in the form of ATP. It is literally the energy circuit of every cell in your body, including muscle tissue. CoQ10 also has potent antioxidant properties and may provide support for cognitive function and general energy levels.After the age of 30, your natural levels of CoQ10 begin to decline. After the age of 50, that rate of decline grows even steeper. Highly active people and those with cardiovascular issues may feel the impact of lowered CoQ10 levels even earlier.Vitamin CVitamin C has long been associated with reducing and shortening the effects of colds and flu, while supporting white blood cell function. This is important for highly active people because long-lasting exercise at a moderate intensity has been linked to decreased immune function.Vitamin C is also necessary for normal glandular function, particularly the adrenal and thyroid, and its powerful antioxidant capacity helps clean up the free radicals and damaging reactive oxygen that flood your system at the cellular level, causing inflammation. Vitamin C is a super-versatile nutrient for athletes, as it also supports strengthening of bones and connective tissue, quicker healing of wounds, and greater elasticity and health of arterial walls. Finally, some studies have shown that taking Vitamin C may modulate stress hormone concentrations, supporting healthy hormonal function. Potassium and SodiumPeople who have participated in organized workouts in the summer heat (such as a football camp) may remember that salt tablets were once in abundant supply on the sidelines. Nowadays, sports drinks fill that requirement, but the principle is the same. Sodium and potassium are electrolytes that work together to maintain fluid balance in the body, which in turn supports cell membrane viability. During exercise, you lose electrolytes through sweat, which can lead to fatigue and muscle cramping. Dehydration can come on fast, so potassium and sodium intake is well indicated for general supplementation and intra-workout intake (in the form of sports drinks) as well. An Advanced Super-Premium Multivitamin / Mineral / Antioxidant ComplexClearly, there are any number of key nutrients that can be lacking in your diet and thus hampering your performance, productivity, and overall well-being. (We haven't even covered boron, chromium or choline yet!) The good news is that a well-sourced and fully comprehensive vitamin/mineral supplement can help you easily fill these dietary gaps and offer you the peace of mind that comes with proper nutrition.An ultra-premium daily multiple like ProSource's Super MegaMax supports hundreds of critical biochemical reactions essential to peak physique, performance and wellness. Its complete spectrum of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants is formulated from the highest-quality sources and provided in dosages specifically intended to support and fuel your highly active lifestyle. With regard to vitamins, Super MegaMax contains a blend of B-Power Energy Factors that, among other B vitamins, contains an ultra-high amount of B12 -- 100 times the potency compared to generic brands, as well as a highly bioactive form of Vitamin C, 400 IUs of Vitamin D (crucial for bone strength and inflammation protection), and an isomer blend of natural Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant.Looking for key mineral content? As we've seen, strenuous physical exercise causes significant increases in the loss of zinc. Even small deficiencies in zinc can lead to reductions in energy and endurance. That's why Super MegaMax provides 200% of your recommended daily value of zinc.Magnesium, chromium, iron. They all facilitate key functions of repair, growth, and recovery, and their present and accounted for in Super MegaMax. Feeling sluggish? The N-Acetyl-cysteine found in Super MegaMax is a derivative of the amino acid cysteine that researchers have suggested for some time has an impact on performance and fatigue.Super MegaMax also provides superior antioxidant protection via lycopene, quercetin, alpha lipoic acid, calcium and CoQ10, compounds that have a synergistic cellular energy and free-radical protective effect -- and are normally not found in standard-issue multiples. Super MegaMax's ultra-comprehensive capacity is further manifested in a remarkable 20,000 IUs of beta carotene, 200 mcg of chromium, and a full spectrum of minerals for hydration and muscle contraction support.The list goes on and on, encompassing 40 different key nutritional co-factors to support peak health and well-being.ConclusionIn a perfect world, we would get all the vitamins and minerals we need from the food we eat. In our real world, ever busier days put a hard limit on how much food preparation we can possibly do. And then too, the most varied meal plan imaginable will still be deficient in some essential trace minerals or other micronutrient factors.Super MegaMax from ProSource has you covered with an ultra-wide spectrum of complete nutrition. Its wealth of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants will help you build and maintain the sturdy physiological foundation from which enhanced performance, increased workout productivity and physique improvement is possible. Scientific References1 Sharon R Akabas, Karen R Dolins. Micronutrient requirements of physically active women: what can we learn from iron? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 81, Issue 5, May 2005, Pages 1246S–1251S.2 Akash Sinha, Kieren Hollingsworth, Steve Ball, Tim Cheetham. Improving the vitamin D status of vitamin D deficient adults is associated with improved mitochondrial oxidative function in skeletal muscle. Endocrine Abstracts, 2013; DOI: 10.1530.3 Jeri W Nieves, Kathryn Melsop, Meredith Curtis, Jennifer L Kelsey, Laura K Bachrach, Gail Greendale, Mary Fran Sowers, Kristin L Sainani. Nutritional factors that influence change in bone density and stress fracture risk among young female cross-country runners. PM & R: The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation. 2010 Aug;2(8):740-50; quiz 794. 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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7 Strength Benefits of Yoga
Chances are, you don’t come to ProSource to read up on the latest trends in spiritual growth and the mind-body connection. And yet, yoga — one of the foundational disciplines of Far Eastern spiritualism and philosophy — has much to offer the serious fitness enthusiast. That’s why some of the most famously buff Hollywood actors and professional athletes — from Robert Downey Jr to Aaron Rodgers to LeBron James — swear by it. Indeed, whole sports teams, including the NFL’s New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, have incorporated yoga into their arduous training camp programs.Why? Well, it turns out there are a lot of reasons for adding some basic yoga techniques to your routine, and they all have to do with improving form, function, and eventually workout productivity and strength. Let’s take a look at a few.1. Yoga is bodyweight-bearing exercise.So you've spread your yoga mat on the floor, been greeted by your instructor, and now you're engaged in a series of gentle stretches while being encouraged to clear your mind of extraneous thoughts. And you're thinking, wait, this is it? How is this going to help me build strength and muscle? Rest assured, your false sense of security will be short-lived.Yoga is hard work. It's not just flexibility and meditation (although those factors do come into play). It's a series of escalating bodyweight-bearing postures, many of which are held statically or isometrically for significant lengths of time.These movements, by their very nature, are compound movements, enlisting multiple muscle groups and stabilizers to overcome resistance (in this case, your own bodyweight). Where standard weight-training tends to isolate and work one muscle group at a time, yoga works muscles all over your body in balance with each other, facilitating enhancement of functional fitness, or the capacity to perform real-world tasks and functions.Practically speaking, staff poses (Chaturanga Dandasana) are great for arm strength, while working your shoulders, back and core, and the Half Moon Pose will make you long for the straightforward challenges of the squat rack. Have we mentioned handstands?Oh, and don't count on using momentum as a cheat as you might sometimes with bicep curls or bench presses. Everything in yoga is s-l-o-w, with lengthy extensions and holds. If you're doing it right, you'll feel both vulnerable and challenged. You'll also get stronger.2. Yoga is ideal for strengthening your core.So much of yoga emanates from -- and strengthens -- your core. Planks, cobra poses, warrior poses, upward and downward facing dog are postures that all focus with laser precision on your back, abdominal and oblique muscles, making them stronger and more flexible. Core strength is the firm foundation upon which increased workout productivity is based. Yoga emphasizes knee, hip and sacrum alignment during static poses, which promotes healthy hip hinge movement. Hip hinge movement, in turn, is the pattern of flexion, contraction, and extension throughout the hip joint. Fluid, controlled movements through the hip are essential for maintaining proper form in all kinds of gym-based compound movements from squats to deadlifts to shoulder presses and leg presses. A strong, healthy core will make you a better runner, swimmer, and help you excel in competitive sports. And it will help you build strength.3. Yoga will help improve balance and posture. Balance is everything in weight training, especially with free weights. It's an indispensable factor in maintaining proper form, which will help you increase training productivity and avoid injury.But what is balance? Balance is actually two things, a delicate interplay of flexibility and stability. It requires a firm, steady base, but also enlists flexibility to maintain the equilibrium necessary to remain upright and in control during successive movements. Yoga, obviously, is all about getting these two opposing forces to work together in perfect tandem. Improved balance leads to better posture. Yoga's strict focus on proper alignment and gradually strengthening muscle groups promotes more synchronized body movements. It's no accident that numerous professional bodybuilders, Arnold Schwarzenegger among them, have utilized the basic tenets of yoga to enhance their stage posing and make the transitions between poses more fluid, organic and elegant.4. Yoga will improve focus and body awareness.Okay, here's where we get into the mind-body connection. Successful athletes have long understood that the mental aspect of competition is as important as the physical aspect. Teams of all sorts employ sports psychologists who are experts at instilling mental discipline in players. Players are taught the value of dismissing entirely all distractions and focusing on the competition-based challenges at hand. They are taught to immediately "forget" mistakes and forge on to the next task. Before competitions, they are encouraged to visualize success in the game or match ahead and to proceed as if that visualized success is already a reality.Sports psychologists are certainly not the only means of conveying this powerful mental discipline. Yoga's underlying philosophy involves emptying the mind of stress and distractions, and becoming conscious of the body and its movements. This enhanced body awareness and focus is a key competitive edge that athletes and performing actors use to their advantage.This is just as true on the gym floor. The ability to concentrate exclusively on form and movement during exercise enhances workout pace, endurance and productivity. No one in a yoga class is checking their phone between poses and chatting up their neighbors. They're focused on the task at hand, and you should be too. 5. Yoga builds endurance.Many gym-trained fitness enthusiasts come to yoga with a great deal of strength, but lesser flexibility and endurance. Maintaining proper balance and form over longer intervals, they find, requires a different kind of strength that in turn, makes them better athletes.So much of gym-based weight training is about fast-twitch muscles firing again and again to facilitate the explosions of power required to perform heavy lifts. Yoga is all about slow-twitch muscles. When you hold poses for significant periods of time, you are activating your slow-twitch muscle fibers, which helps build endurance and, by extension, strength. Maintaining a balance between fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers will help you increase overall workout volume, which leads to greater gains. 6. Yoga will help you avoid injury.This almost goes without saying at this point, but put everything we stated above together and you’ve got an ideal recipe for avoiding injuries. Flexibility, core strength, mindfulness, and balance are the pillars of injury-free training. Likewise, body awareness includes sensing and learning how far you can safely push your body, while staying safe. 7. Yoga is an ideal training change of pace. Let's face it, doing the same lifts in the same rep patterns in the same routines every day gets stale. So does working out in the same area of the gym with the same people every day. Whether you're looking for something healthy and invigorating to do on a rest day, or marking the end of a training cycle with a week or two off and seeking something to do, yoga is a great choice.Yoga is a terrific mood enhancer that will also help you stay active and toned during rest times. It will refresh you in mind and body, and you'll even get to meet some new people.ConclusionIs yoga going to replace your five-days-a-week weight training regimen? Actually, no. But yoga — with its emphasis on focused, organic, weight-bearing movements — can help you grow strength and maybe even grow as a person. 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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The Power of Leucine, Essential Amino Linked to Strength and Fitness Benefits
All three branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) figure prominently in the supplementation regimens of serious athletes due to their essential nature (they are not synthesized by the body and must be assimilated from dietary sources) and the roles they play in many key physiological functions. But one BCAA, leucine, has long been of special interest to medical researchers.This is by virtue of leucine's unique capacity for facilitating muscle repair and growth, especially in the interval after high-intensity exercise has broken down existing muscle tissue. Indeed, leucine occupies a place at the very beginning of the chain reaction that results in new muscle mass.Research has proven leucine to be a powerful muscle recovery activator, as it is primarily involved in protein synthesis. Specifically, leucine is a potent nutritive activator of muscle protein synthesis due to its ability to increase mRNA translation in muscle cells. Increased mRNA translation simply means an increase in the cell's efficiency to read the genetic material that manufactures amino acids and proteins. This occurs via leucine’s ability to directly stimulate mTOR complex 1 (a primary anabolic pathway). Unsurprisingly, lower blood levels of leucine have been associated in research with lower values of skeletal muscle index, strength and performance.Leucine's beneficial effects aren't strictly limited to protein synthesis and recovery, either. Recent research suggests that leucine may support immune response by activating T cells along the same mTOR signaling pathway that regulates protein synthesis. Leucine has also been associated with supporting mitochondrial function, energy production (BCAAs can be used directly as fuel by the body), and glucose utilization. One particular avenue of research has generated exciting evidence that leucine supplementation may also offer unique wellness benefits to older people.Leucine Linked to Reduced Age-Related Muscle Loss One of the primary symptoms of aging is the gradual loss of muscle mass and functional strength. Researchers estimate that after the age of 30, we lose 3% to 5% of muscle mass per decade. Decreases in muscle mass directly correlate with increases in excess fat and decreases in work output capacity. Markers of optimal health, such as bone density, recovery from injury, and immune response are adversely affected as well.Age-related muscle loss -- or sarcopenia -- can have a number of causes. Some are hormonal; some derive from lack of exercise and dietary deficiencies. There is also significant evidence that the cellular-level processes that govern muscle protein synthesis become less efficient as we age. This last causative effect has led researchers to speculate that supplemental leucine may help older people retain muscle mass more effectively. Recent investigations into this theory are already generating some highly interesting results. In a study just published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in May of 2021 , researchers sought to explore the connection between leucine availability and both insulin sensitivity and mitochondrial function associated with aging and muscular disuse. Older healthy adults were assigned a regimen of 7 days bed rest and 5 days inpatient rehabilitation, with some test subjects receiving supplemental leucine.The researchers found that, during bed rest, leucine tended to preserve insulin sensitivity. Following rehabilitation, leucine increased ATP-linked respiration and preserved specific pathways of mitochondrial respiration, insulin sensitivity, and a marker of oxidative stress during bed rest and rehabilitation (1 Arentson-Lantz,et al).In another clinical test conducted in Spain, researchers assessed the efficacy of leucine administration in improving muscle mass, muscle strength, functional performance and respiratory muscle function in institutionalized older individuals. The study was a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind design in fifty participants aged 65 and over randomized to a parallel group intervention of 13 weeks’ duration with a daily intake of leucine (6 g/day) or placebo (lactose, 6 g/day). The researchers found that administration of leucine was well-tolerated and significantly improved some criteria of sarcopenia in elderly individuals such as functional performance measured by walking time and improved lean mass index. For respiratory muscle function, the leucine-treated group improved significantly in maximum static expiratory force compared to the placebo (2 Martínez-Arnau, et al).In yet another study, published in 2018 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers measured the acute (hourly) and integrated (daily) myofibrillar protein synthesis (myoPS) response to consumption of a high-quality standard protein beverage compared with a high-quality protein beverage with added leucine.Healthy older women aged 65–75 consumed a fixed, weight-maintaining diet and were randomly assigned to twice-daily consumption of either 15 g of a milk protein beverage containing 4.2 g leucine or 15 g of a mixed protein (milk and soy) beverage containing 1.3 g leucine. Unilateral leg resistance exercise allowed a determination of acute and integrated exercised and rested myoPS (protein synthesis) responses. The researchers found that the 15-g protein-containing beverage with greater leucine content induced greater increases in acute and integrated myoPS (protein synthesis) than did the standard mixed-protein beverage. Declines in muscle mass in older women, they concluded "may be attenuated with habitual twice-daily consumption of a protein beverage providing protein and higher amounts of leucine." (3 Devries,et al)Finally, in a study published in 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." (4 Reule CA, et al)ConclusionWhile more research is clearly warranted (especially among younger cohorts), leucine supplementation clearly can have a beneficial impact on the cellular protein synthesis that is the foundation of muscle recovery, retention and growth.Since branched-chain amino acid content in muscle cells is known to decline precipitously during high-intensity exercise, it stands to reason that most, if not all, fitness conscious people can benefit from supporting EAA (essential amino acid) levels before, during, and after exercise.Scientific References1 Emily J. Arentson-Lantz, Jasmine Mikovic, Nisha Bhattarai,et al. Leucine augments specific skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiratory pathways during recovery following 7 days of physical inactivity in older adults. Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 130, No. 5, 11 May 2021. 2 Francisco M. Martínez-Arnau, Rosa Fonfría-Vivas, Cristina Buigues, Yolanda Castillo, Pilar Molina, Aldert J. Hoogland, Femke van Doesburg, Leo Pruimboom, Julio Fernández-Garrido and Omar Cauli. Effects of Leucine Administration in Sarcopenia: A Randomized and Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial. Nutrients 2020, 12(4), 932.3 Michaela C Devries, Christopher McGlory, Douglas R Bolster, Alison Kamil, Maike Rahn, Laura Harkness, Steven K Baker, Stuart M Phillips. Protein leucine content is a determinant of shorter- and longer-term muscle protein synthetic responses at rest and following resistance exercise in healthy older women: a randomized, controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 107, Issue 2, February 2018, Pages 217–226.4 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. 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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The Keys to Sustainable Fat Loss
Why is it so hard to lose excess weight and keep it off? You’ve already done the hard part, right? All that calorie restriction, clean eating, and increased physical activity. Now all you have to do is maintain. Should be easier, surely.But somehow it isn’t. Nine out of ten people who achieve their weight loss goal gain it all back within two years. A substantial number gain back even more.But why? The truth is, even though you’re looking great and probably even feeling great in the aftermath of your weight loss adventure, your body is in great distress.Power OutageFirst of all, your metabolism has slowed to a crawl. Your body perceives sudden, strict reduction of calorie intake as famine. Faced with starvation, your body conserves its resources, fiercely defending fat reserves (which are metabolically easier to sustain) by reducing fat burning, chewing up muscle for fuel instead, and generally dimming the lights by slowing down blood pressure and heart rate until you're in a quasi-permanent low-energy funk. This is a gift to us from thousands of years of evolution.You may think that this is a temporary state of affairs, but recent science suggests it may last longer than you think. In a study recently published in the scientific journal Obesity (1 Fothergill E), researchers investigated the long-term effects of weight loss upon fourteen participants in the network weight-loss reality show "The Biggest Loser."Subjects began their regimens weighing an average of 328 pounds and ended the 30-week program at an average of 200 pounds. Their average body fat percentage started at 49% and declined to 28%. Six years later, researchers found that the subjects' average weight had rebounded to 290 pounds and their body fat percentage had returned to 45%.What happened? Participants in the program began with resting metabolisms that burned 2,607 calories per day and ended the program burning 2,000 calories per day at rest. Six years later, the program participants' metabolisms had slowed even further, falling to a burn rate of 1,900 calories per day. In effect, the Biggest Loser dieters had permanently reset their metabolisms. Muscle ShortageAt your new goal weight, you've lost a good portion of excess fat. Congratulations! You've also lost a lot of muscle. In fact, the general medical consensus tells us that the weight you lost during dieting was somewhere between 25% and 35% muscle mass.This is unfortunate because muscle is the engine that burns excess fat. That lost muscle mass isn't helping you any in the gym either, where the double whammy of reduced strength and lowered energy is curtailing your workout productivity.Weight (And Excess Fat) Regain is NOT InevitableSo you're faced with a dilemma. You look great in a mirror and you certainly feel lighter. But your body is looking for every opportunity to return to homeostasis, which in your body's opinion is your old chunky, hefty self.However, knowledge is power. Once you know your body's ulterior motives, you can work to circumvent them. For instance, now is not the time to relax your commitment to clean eating and proper portion sizes. Clean food is healthy food that will power the bodily processes -- digestion, energy production, fat mobilization, muscle maintenance -- you're counting on to sustain your newly acquired physique. If you're not already documenting your daily meal intake -- yes, in writing -- now is the time to start. Writing down your meal intake gives you a chance to root out empty food sources like processed carbs (sugar and white flour), dairy products (especially butter and cheese) and fried foods.Support your metabolism! You can do this by exercising regularly and varying your training regimen to keep your body from acclimating to it. This can mean cardio, but it can also mean signing up for an exercise class or yoga, or joining a basketball or volleyball league. Resistance training supports metabolism too. Consider wearing a heart-rate monitor during resistance training. You should be trying to eliminate excessive rests between sets and maintaining a heart rate that's around 50% of your maximum heart rate.Also consider adding a superior-quality, advanced thermogenic formula to keep your transformation peaking. Energy-support catalysts will help you hit your performance benchmarks during your workout and help you avoid the late-day energy slumps that can open the door to ill-advised snacking on empty junk foods.Protein is Your Dietary Best FriendWhen it comes to maintaining your ideal physique, extra dietary protein does everything you need it to do. It's naturally thermogenic because it requires extra energy to digest. It also efficiently promotes satiety (or that feeling of fullness), thus shutting down counter-productive cravings. And it provides the essential aminos required to stimulate protein synthesis in muscle tissue, helping you to maintain the muscle you have while gaining even more for a a rock-hard, muscular physique.The RDA for protein intake is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass each day, but many studies indicate that higher intakes of protein (as much as 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass per day) is effective at limiting the loss of muscle while restricting calories. That's a lot of protein, so supplementing with a high-quality protein formula just makes sense for your ripped and rock-hard future. ProSource Vectron® Takes Fat Loss to A Higher LevelIf a superior-quality protein supplement is your friend; ProSource Vectron® is your BFF. The whey protein isolate in Vectron® will help support muscle even when you may be in a caloric deficit. And that's really only the beginning of Vectron's transformative power.Vectron® contains an elite fractionated protein complex called Prolibra®, a specialized bioactive whey peptide matrix combined with a special whey mineral complex designed to precisely target essential mechanisms of body transformation. These patented protein peptide fragments found in Prolibra® are designed to enhance satiety by helping to stimulate the release of the hormone CCK. CCK is a hormone that is sent from your digestive tract to your brain letting your brain know that it needs to turn down the hunger signals. Prolibra® also contains milk mineral complexes aimed at optimizing calcium levels within fat cells to yield maximum efficiency with regard to weight-loss support. These mechanisms, working in tandem, can produce remarkable results, as documented in an independent clinical study. Prolibra® Validated in a Landmark Clinical Study A 2008 study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism (2 Frestedt JL) examined the effects of 12 weeks of Prolibra® supplementation on changes in body composition. Two groups were randomly assigned to ingest Prolibra® or an isocaloric ready-to-mix beverage 20 minutes prior to breakfast and dinner. Subjects were also instructed to reduce their overall caloric intake by 500 calories to promote weight loss. At the study's conclusion, researchers found that subjects supplemented with 24.4 grams of Prolibra® experienced a greater improvement in the ratio of lean mass to fat mass when compared to an isocaloric control. Indeed, the subjects taking Prolibra® retained twice as much lean muscle with 79% fat loss compared to the control group at 51% fat loss. Specifically, subjects consuming the Prolibra® beverage lost more body fat (6% of fat mass) and lost a smaller amount of lean mass throughout the 12-week period.Maintaining muscle mass and supporting metabolic activity in the normal range are your keys to sustaining your new lean physique. Fortunately, these two outcomes correlate together. The better you are at maintaining lean muscle while dieting, the more calories you will burn throughout the day, as lean muscle mass is associated with resting energy expenditure. So more muscle equals a higher resting energy expenditure, which directly counteracts the potential reduction in metabolic activity often experienced by those successful dieters who are restricting calories.Scientific References1 Fothergill E, Guo J, Howard L, Kerns JC, Knuth ND, Brychta R, Chen KY, Skarulis MC, Walter M, Walter PJ, Hall KD. Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after "The Biggest Loser" competition. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2016 Aug;24(8):1612-9. doi: 10.1002/oby.21538. Epub 2016 May 2.2 Frestedt JL, Zenk JL, Kuskowski MA, Ward LS, Bastian ED. A whey-protein supplement increases fat loss and spares lean muscle in obese subjects: a randomized human clinical study. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2008 Mar 27;5:8. doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-5-8.Prolibra® is a registered trademark of Glanbia®, PLC.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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A Legendary Technology For Accelerated Recovery And Muscle Growth
Long-standing members of our extended ProSource community know our devotion to scientific research and product development. We believe that science is ever-advancing and that virtually every technology is subject to improvement over time.There is an exception to every rule, however: a technology that emerges so fully formed, so effective and powerful that it actually resists improvement. Such a technology was the original Cytodyne AAC from Cytodyne Technologies. During the peak 90s era of bodybuilding competition, Cytodyne AAC was the secret ingredient in many an athlete's supplementation regimen. Pro-card-carrying behemoths swore by it, and dedicated athletes used it to turn higher volumes of training into greater muscle mass.Cytodyne Technologies has disappeared into the mists of legend, of course, but its namesake Cytodyne AAC (the AAC stands for Anabolic / Anti-Catabolic) is still with us in the form of its direct descendent -- ProSource's Aminodrol. And it is still, to this day, helping serious athletes gain a significant advantage in the building and maintaining of muscle mass.Break It Down, Build It UpWhat are anabolism and catabolism, you ask? Well, think of anabolism as building bigger structures from individual components, and catabolism as breaking down those larger structures into smaller components. In muscle mass terms, growth versus destruction. Under normal circumstances, you can't have one without the other. Anabolism or growth is fueled by catabolic processes, literally the breaking down of existing muscle tissue for fuel to support continued physical exertion. Confronted with the stress of exhaustive exercise, your body will swiftly exhaust the intracellular fuel available to it and then turn to existing muscle fibers as a source for more fuel.This endless cycle of breaking down to build up explains why so many people endure a weekly gym regimen for years but don't change all that much physique-wise. Ideally, we would be breaking down old, smaller muscle tissue and replacing it with newer, bigger, stronger tissue. But steeply declining intra-workout energy levels can undermine overall training volume, resulting in workloads too small to facilitate real growth. And then, too, many of us let catabolic processes go on too long post-workout, and potential gains are lost. Some people, however, won't settle for this status quo. That's where Aminodrol comes in.Stage One: Energy Production and Hormone SupportAminodrol's key active ingredient is a specialized form of carnitine called L-carnitine L-tartrate. L-carnitine promotes fatty acid oxidation by helping to transport fatty acids to muscle cell mitochondria where they are used to produce energy in the form of ATP. L-tartrate is the salt of tartaric acid and acts as an antioxidant in the body. The blend of L-carnitine and L-tartrate produces a highly stable and bioavailable form of carnitine.ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the currency of all cellular activity. It provides the energy to transport protein and fats into and out of cells, supports intercellular communication, facilitates DNA and RNA synthesis, and it triggers muscular contraction. Unfortunately, your muscle cells store very little of it and then must make more to facilitate explosive, high-intensity, highly exhaustive physical activity.Prolonged or intense exercise places a great demand on energy sources in the body to supply ATP and can result in a mismatch between ATP supply and demand. Post-exercise increases in ammonia can be indicative of that mismatch. Carnitine, in its role as fat oxidizer and muscle fuel facilitator, can help your body more efficiently meet that demand. Indeed, in a study published in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, researchers found that supplementation with carnitine (2 grams per day) for 2 weeks reduced the ammonia response to exercise (90 min of cycling) (Stuart 1). L-carnitine may also offer another key benefit, this one related to testosterone bioavailability and subsequent muscle mass support. Researchers have long known that carnitine can help prevent declines in testosterone during stressful situations such as high-intensity exercise. But they didn't know why. Further investigation suggested that carnitine may help facilitate increased uptake of testosterone by promoting the expression of androgen (testosterone) receptors in skeletal muscle tissue. To test this hypothesis, researchers from the University of Connecticut conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study in which healthy men were provided with either L-carnitine L-tartrate (equivalent to 2 g carnitine per day) or placebo for a 3-week period. The subjects then performed a bout of whole-body intense resistance exercise with a carbohydrate-protein beverage or water provided immediately after exercise. Muscle biopsies were taken from the thigh before exercise and one hour after exercise to determine androgen receptor content. Three weeks of carnitine supplementation led to a significant increase in resting (pre-exercise) androgen receptor content compared to placebo. When a protein-carbohydrate beverage was consumed after resistance exercise there was a further increase in androgen receptors one hour after the workout. These results indicate that L-carnitine L-tartrate supplementation can favorably influence the capacity of skeletal muscle to take up and utilize testosterone from the circulation (2 Kraemer). A complimentary study showed that LCLT supplementation reduced exercise-induced muscle tissue damage after squatting exercise (3 Volek).Aminodrol also provides beta alanine, a conditionally essential amino acid that plays a role in muscle endurance in high-intensity exercise. Beta alanine works by increasing muscle carnosine levels. Elevated muscle carnosine improves muscle performance through its ability to buffer skeletal muscle pH (acidity) during fatiguing exercise.Indeed, in a macro-summary of existing published clinical studies involving beta alanine supplementation, researchers considered several different patterns of supplementation that involved over 350 research subjects. When all of these measures were considered, the authors concluded that beta alanine significantly improved strength outcomes when compared to a placebo. In particular, beta alanine improved and maximized the capacity to perform exercise (4 Baguet).Stage Two: Post-Exercise Muscle Recovery SupportOnce you've primed your body for optimum training volume and growth potential by maximally supporting energy production, hormone utilization, and endurance, it's time to address post-workout muscle recovery, repair and growth. After exercise, your body falls into a severe catabolic state and can remain there for hours, tearing down existing muscle tissue for fuel and squandering any strength and size gains you may have potentially made. Aminodrol is ideally formulated to shorten this counterproductive interval and jump-start new growth.Aminodrol contains a clinically indicated dosage of the essential amino acids L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, and L-valine. Leucine in particular is a key factor for recovery. It is the primary activator of the mTOR anabolic pathway that governs protein synthesis and consequent muscle repair and growth. Indeed, without sufficient leucine present, muscle tissue will remain in a negative nitrogen balance during and after exercise and protein synthesis will not initiate at all.Additional muscle-building support in Aminodrol comes from a dose of L-glutamine. Another conditionally essential amino, glutamine helps combat muscle breakdown after high-intensity exercise by supporting protein synthesis and nitrogen retention. Unfortunately, levels of cellular glutamine can drop by as much as 50% during exercise, which can lead to your body breaking down muscle tissue for energy rather than utilizing carbohydrates.In a study published in 2015 in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, researchers investigated the effects of L-glutamine supplementation on quadriceps muscle strength and soreness ratings following eccentric exercise. In the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study, 16 healthy participants ingested either placebo maltodextrin or L-glutamine once per day over 72 hours and then had their knee extensor peak torque and markers of muscle soreness measured before and immediately following. The researchers found that "the L-glutamine supplementation resulted in faster recovery of peak torque and diminished muscle soreness following eccentric exercise." (5 Legault)Aminodrol also provides taurine, which helps to optimize cellular hydration and maximize muscle function and may help prevent significant reductions in muscle breakdown by decreasing catabolic 3-methylhistidine production in the muscle cell [6 Yatabe).Finally, Aminodrol contains phosphatidylserine and inositol for added protection from our body's most catabolic hormone -- cortisol. Phosphatidylserine is a specialized fat that resides in nervous tissue and, when taken regularly, can significantly reduce blood cortisol levels which spike after intense training. Inositol may have indirect effects on cortisol levels by improving mood and brain neurochemical balance. A Legendary Growth Support TechnologyIn sports nutrition circles, the emphasis is often on what's new and revolutionary. Sometimes though, the tried-and-true is your best bet for dependable, sustainable progress toward your physique goals. Aminodrol, a direct descendent of the legendary Cytodyne AAC formulation, has been helping serious athletes attain new benchmarks of muscle growth for years now, establishing a lengthy and unsurpassed track record of efficacy and real results.Scientific References1 Stuart DL, Galloway DR. Effects of 2 weeks supplementation with L-carnitine L-tartrate on plasma ammonia response to exercise. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Washington D.C., April, 2004. Abstract #502.5.2 Kraemer WJ, Spiering BA, Volek JS, Ratamess NA, Sharman MJ, Rubin MR, French DN, Silvestre R, Hatfield DL, Van Heest JL, Vingren JL, Judelson DA, Deschenes MR, Maresh CM. Androgenic responses to resistance exercise: effects of feeding and L-carnitine. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Jul;38(7):1288-96. 3 Jeff S Volek, William J Kraemer, Martyn R Rubin, Ana L Gómez, Nicholas A Ratamess, Paula Gaynor. L-Carnitine L-tartrate supplementation favorably affects markers of recovery from exercise stress. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Feb;282(2):E474-82. 4 Baguet A. et al., 2009. Carnosine loading and washout in human skeletal muscles. J Appl Physiol, 106: 837-842. And Harris RC, et al., 2006. The absorption of orally supplied beta-alanine and its effect on muscle carnosine synthesis in human vastus lateralis. Amino Acids, 30(3): 279-289. 5 Legault Z, Bagnall N, Kimmerly DS. The Influence of Oral L-Glutamine Supplementation on Muscle Strength Recovery and Soreness Following Unilateral Knee Extension Eccentric Exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2015 Oct;25(5):417-26.6 Yatabe, Y., et al., Effects of taurine administration on exercise. Adv Exp Med Biol, 2009. 643: p. 245-52.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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New Evidence Further Links Tribulus Terrestris Extract to Testosterone Support
For years, researchers have been finding evidence that protodioscin-rich botanical extracts, derived from the herb Tribulus terrestris, may have positive effects on testosterone production in males. That research continues, and as a result we have been learning more about what Tribulus terrestris is, how it works, and what its key active ingredient (when standardized for clinically indicated potency) can do for men everywhere.Remarkably, over 70 different chemical compounds have been identified in Tribulus terrestris, some of which are the subject of medical research concerning antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, antihyperglycemic effect (blood sugar regulation), anti-inflammatory properties, and beneficial effects on the central nervous system [1 Ștefănescu]. For our purposes, however, the main point of focus is on the protodioscin content in Tribulus.The first thing to know about Tribulus terrestris is that the geographical location of its sourcing matters. For instance, protodioscin is present in Tribulus harvested in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Iran and Serbia, while Tribulus from Vietnam and India contains no protodioscin at all (2 Dinchev D). Of the Eastern European and Mideast-sourced Tribulus, Bulgarian Tribulus has always been most prized.Protodioscin is considered to be the primary pharmacologically active steroidal saponin in Tribulus. Steroidal saponins are literally plant hormones; they mimic human steroids in both form and function. In fact, plants use steroidal saponins in much the same way humans do: to make hormones that regulate cell growth and reproduction. In the case of humans, the steroidal saponins in protodioscin have been linked to the stimulation of luteinizing hormone. Luteinizing hormone (LH) regulates the expression of 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, which is the enzyme that transforms androstenedione into testosterone (3 Banihani).Given the differences observed in source composition by geographical location and the overall quality of the plant organs used to obtain the extract, the need for advanced extraction methods targeted at the relevant phytocompounds is paramount for the successful standardization of Tribulus terrestris extracts in dosages consistent with physiological efficacy. Until recently, the manufacturing challenges involved in arriving at a bioactive standardization of protodiosin proved too difficult to overcome. That, we will see, is no longer the case.Clinical Studies Cast a Spotlight on the Benefits of ProtodioscinAs the science of extracting and refining Tribulus has advanced, new research investigations have yielded encouraging results. In one double-blind placebo-controlled study conducted in the Ukraine, test subjects supplementing with Tribulus extract over 20 days showed increases in anaerobic muscle power and serum testosterone [4 Milasius]. In another double-blind placebo controlled study, 70 older test subjects with reported histories of erectile dysfunction and lower levels of total and free testosterone were separated into two groups, with one receiving a 5 mg dosage of Tribulus terristris extract, glucosamine and n-acetyl-D-glucosamine. After two months, this group experienced both improved libido and increased testosterone levels [5 Iacono].More recently, in a report published in Andrologia in 2016, 65 men (aged 18-65) with no hormonal issues took an herbal extract containing 112 mg of protodioscin daily for 12 weeks. Body fat percentage, lean muscle mass gain, steroid hormone levels and all semen quality parameters were analyzed during the period of treatment. It was concluded that taking the protodioscin-rich extract led to an increase in blood dihydrotestosterone levels, which coincided with decreased body fat percentage, and increases in lean mass [6 Salgado RM]. Along similar lines, in a pilot study published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy (2016), 30 male patients with clinical androgen deficiency were given 750 mg of a protodioscin-rich extract daily for 3 months. The research team found that this supplementation produced a 33% increase in total testosterone and 6% increase in free testosterone in this cohort [7 Roaiah MF]. A comprehensive review of the phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological properties of Tribulus terrestris, published in May of 2020, summarized literally dozens of highly encouraging investigations of the effects of Tribulus extract on various markers of health and wellness [1 Stefanescu].The First Real Clinical Grade Natural Testosterone Support TechnologyThe research team at ProSource has been following this developing story in medical journals for over a decade. Clearly there was a connection between the potency and purity of the Tribulus extract and its effectiveness with regard to testosterone support. Developing a process for extracting and refining this valuable ingredient in sufficient quantity and potency, however, was a project that took many years. The Tribulus extract that would be used in AndroTest would be subjected to a rigorous and highly complex multiple-extraction process under the most stringent protocols utilizing state-of-the-art laboratory procedures. This meticulous process, which would entail up to twenty different extractions, would result in a Tribulus extract standardized to contain an unprecedented 40% to 48% protodioscin, which is up to 40 times more potent than existing Tribulus-based products. The result was the first true clinical-grade, bioactive form of this technology ever made available as a nutritional supplement. Even then, though, the research team at ProSource was not satisfied. Their next step was a big one: to subject AndroTest to an independent product-specific clinical study. It was a bold step and one that AndroTest passed with flying colors. In that randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind clinical study, AndroTest produced statistically significant increases in total testosterone levels, averaging 59.88% over baseline, with some subjects showing total increases as high as 275% over baseline. And major increases in free testosterone, averaging 59.75% over baseline, with some subjects reaching up to 218% over baseline. The evidence was in. AndroTest was the real deal.Real Results For Men Of All AgesSince AndroTest's first appearance, countless men across America have expressed genuine satisfaction with this revolutionary testosterone-support technology. Again and again, we hear from men reporting increased vitality and virility, faster recovery from exercise, better sleep, better mood, and better focus. We've had men submit to blood tests before and after AndroTest administration, and seen them register significant improvements in T-levels.Most tellingly of all, a first-time buyer of AndroTest tends to be a repeat buyer of AndroTest, with men adding AndroTest to their regimen for years at a time. If you've ever felt your vitality and stamina slipping away, if you've ever wondered if your best days were behind you, it may be time to join the many, many men who have used AndroTest to rediscover their best selves. 1 Ruxandra Ștefănescu, Amelia Tero-Vescan, Ancuța Negroiu, Elena Aurică, and Camil-Eugen Vari. A Comprehensive Review of the Phytochemical, Pharmacological, and Toxicological Properties of Tribulus terrestris L. Biomolecules. 2020 May; 10(5): 752. 2 Dinchev D, Janda B, Evstatieva L, Oleszek W, Aslani MR, Kostova I. Distribution of steroidal saponins in Tribulus terrestris from different geographical regions. Phytochemistry. 2008 Jan; 69(1):176-86. 2 Banihani S.A. Testosterone in males as enhanced by Allium cepa l. Biomolecules. 2019;9:75. 3 Banihani S.A. Testosterone in males as enhanced by Allium cepa l. Biomolecules. 2019;9:75. 4 K Milasius, R Dadeliene, Ju Skernevicius. The influence of the Tribulus terrestris extract on the parameters of the functional preparedness and athletes' organism homeostasis. Fiziol Zh. 2009;55(5):89-96.5 Fabrizio Iacono, Domenico Prezioso, Ester Illiano, Giuseppe Romeo, Antonio Ruffo, Bruno Amato. Sexual asthenia: Tradamixina versus Tadalafil 5 mg daily. BMC Surg. 2012;12 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S23. 6 Salgado RM, Marques-Silva MH, Gonçalves E, Mathias AC, Aguiar JG, Wolff P. Effect of oral administration of Tribulus terrestris extract on semen quality and body fat index of infertile men. Andrologia. 2016 Jul 12. doi: 10.1111/and.12655. [Epub ahead of print]7 Roaiah MF, E Khayat YI, GamalEl Din SF, Abd E Salam MA. Pilot Study on the Effect of Botanical Medicine (Tribulus terrestris) on Serum Testosterone Level and Erectile Function in Aging Males With Partial Androgen Deficiency (PADAM). J Sex Marital Ther. 2016 May 18;42(4):297-301.Use as directed. Read product label and warnings thoroughly before use. In a 4 week placebo-controlled study of AndroTest, healthy males showed a 59.75% average increase in free testosterone compared to baseline, and 59.88% average increase in total testosterone, compared to baseline. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
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Omega-3s May Offer Healthy Anti-Clotting Cardiovascular Benefits
As COVID-19 vaccine rollouts gather momentum, offering new protection against the disease, new and related challenges are already moving to the forefront. In the case of COVID-19, medical providers and researchers are now confronting the issue of long-term health issues experienced by people who contracted COVID and recovered. This cohort includes both older people with pre-existing health conditions and, worryingly, younger people in otherwise good health who experienced relatively minor COVID symptoms. These symptoms include -- but are not limited to -- heart muscle damage, lung damage, blood clotting and blood vessel problems, stroke, fatigue, "brain fog" and joint pain.With regard to blood clotting and blood vessel problems (and the related risk of stroke), researchers have begun to theorize that COVID-19 can cause a cytokine storm, leading to inflammation and a hypercoagulable state, both processes that place a patient at high risk for stroke. Health care providers have witnessed a disproportionately greater incidence of infarction among COVID-19 patients compared with non-COVID-19 patients.How disproportionate? Last year, researchers conducted a retrospective case-control study, collecting data from six hospitals to determine whether infection with COVID-19 is associated with an increased incidence of stroke. A cohort consisting of 123 patients were included, matching patients with acute ischemic stroke (small- or large-vessel occlusions) with patients without stroke (control group) by age, sex, and major vascular risk factors. They found 19 out of 41 patients (46.3%) with acute ischemic stroke were confirmed to have COVID-19 infection compared with 15 of 82 patients (18.3%) in the control group. Thus, there was a significantly greater incidence of acute ischemic stroke in patients with COVID-19 infection compared to those without infection (1 Belani). Omega-3 Healthy Fats and Cardiovascular HealthClearly, medical treatments are required for these very serious health conditions, and researchers are working aggressively to develop such treatments. At the same time, as always, nutritional support for general cardiovascular health is important as well. Peak health and wellness is always your best defense against diseases both contagious and otherwise.Researchers have long known that Omega-3 healthy fats are associated with positive impacts on cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory effects, support of good HDL cholesterol, reduction of harmful blood triglycerides, and even immune response function. In recent years, they have focused more intently on the role Omega-3s might play in reducing counterproductive blood clotting and supporting healthy blood vessels and blood flow, which would in turn potentially ameliorate the risks of stroke and heart disease. There is much, much more study to be done in this field, but the earliest evidence is encouraging.In a meta-analysis published in the journal Atherosclerosis, researchers examined fifteen randomized controlled studies to assess the effects of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on platelet aggregation. They determined that in comparison to placebo using the random-effect model, Omega-3 supplementation significantly reduced adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation and platelet aggregation units, and there was also a trend toward decreased collagen-induced and arachidonic-acid-induced platelet aggregation compared with controls. Thus, Omega-3 supplementation appeared to be associated with a significant reduction in platelet aggregation when the participants were at poor health status, a significant finding for high-risk patients with cardiovascular disease (2 Ling-Gen Gao). In another study also published in Atherosclerosis, researchers assessed the effect of dietary intervention with oily fish on platelet-monocyte aggregation in healthy subjects. Fourteen subjects had their diet supplemented with 500 g of oil-rich fish per week for 4 weeks. A control group of 14 subjects received no dietary intervention over a 4-week period. Platelet-monocyte aggregates were assessed with flow cytometry. The researchers determined that dietary intervention with fish led to an increase in omega-3 fatty acids in plasma phospholipids and platelet-monocyte aggregates were reduced by 35% following dietary intervention with oily fish. There was an inverse correlation between platelet-monocyte aggregation and plasma omega-3 fatty acid concentrations, indicating that dietary intervention with oil-rich fish may reduce platelet-monocyte aggregation (3 Jehangir N Din).In a much longer-term analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers examined the relationship of fish and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake with risk of specific stroke subtypes. They established a cohort of women aged 34 to 59 years, who were free from prior diagnosed cardiovascular disease, cancer, and history of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia and who completed a food frequency questionnaire including consumption of fish and other frequently eaten foods. The 79,839 women who met the eligibility criteria were followed up for 14 years. They determined that, compared with women who ate fish less than once per month, those with higher intake of fish had a lower risk of total stroke. Among stroke subtypes, a significantly reduced risk of thrombotic infarction was found among women who ate fish 2 or more times per week and women in the highest quintile of intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids had reduced risk of total stroke and thrombotic infarction. The researchers concluded that the data indicated higher consumption of fish and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was associated with a reduced risk of thrombotic infarction, primarily among women who did not take aspirin regularly, but was not related to risk of hemorrhagic stroke (4 Hiroyasu Iso). Finally, in a study published in the journal Thrombosis and Haemostasis, researchers investigated the possible regulating role of omega-6 and of omega-3 fatty acids on platelet adhesiveness. They randomised 60 volunteers into three groups to take 20 ml per day of a fish oil supplement (0.3 g Omega-6, 3.6 g Omega-3), or to take 25 g per day of a soy lecithin supplement (1.5 g omega-6, 0.5 g omega-3), or to continue on their usual diet without any supplement (control group) for a period of 15 days. Their results indicated an inhibitory effect of fish oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids on stimulated human platelet adhesiveness, while also showing increased human platelet adhesiveness in the soy lecithin group. Thus, omega-6/omega-3 ratio was determined to be a determinant of platelet adhesion, with Omega-3-rich fish oils producing the more positive blood-clotting outcome.The Best-Quality Sources of Omega-3s Offer the Best ProtectionOmega-3 fatty acids must be obtained from food sources which, for the most part, means fish. There is a form of Omega-3s in plants called alpha-linoleic acid (found in flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, soy and canola oil) but these are not particularly rich sources of Omega-3s. The best food sources are mackerel, sardines, salmon, tuna, anchovies, bluefish, and halibut. There are two kinds of omega-3 fatty acids in fish, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and both have important health benefits. What quantity of Omega-3s are necessary to facilitate those benefits? Healthcare professionals generally recommend one to two grams of EPA + DHA per day. Most of the fish sources cited above contain more than one gram of Omega-3s in a standard 3-oz serving. People with high triglyceride levels are recommended to take two to four grams of Omega-3s per day, which has been shown to lower triglycerides by 25% to 35%. In those cases, physicians will often prescribe fish oil supplements.Fish oil supplements can be enormously useful for boosting the content of Omega-3s in your diet because, let's face it, not everyone wants to eat mackerel and halibut and sardines every day. Well-sourced fish oil supplements also take the guesswork out of determining exactly how much EPA and DHA you're consuming and in what ratio.Of course, you don't want to grab the first fish oil supplement you see on a store shelf. Commercially available Omega-3 formulas can vary widely in terms of actual EPA/DHA content, purity and potency. Indeed, most common supermarket-shelf Omega-3 products are made from inferior sources and usually offer lower potencies.A superior fish oil supplement, like ProSource's Omega-1250, is molecularly distilled from deep sea, cold water fish sources. Both the process and the source serve to ensure the purest, most potent fish oil possible. As a result, Omega-1250 contains an ultra-potent 750 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids, standardized at a highly bioavailable 450 mg of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and 300 mg of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) per single softgel capsule. ProSource Omega-1250 is a fish oil supplement you can trust.Fish oil supplementation is just one of the things you can do to enhance your day-to-day health and wellness in these trying times. Combining proper supplementation with a healthy diet and vigorous exercise is your best bet for defending yourself from a variety of contagious diseases and their potentially lingering symptoms.1 Belani, P., Schefflein, J., Kihira, S., Rigney, B., Delman, B.N., Mahmoudi, K., Mocca, J., Majidi, ., Yeckley, J., Arrarwal, A., Lefton, D., & Doshi, A.H. (2020). COVID-19 Is an Independent Risk Factor for Acute Ischemic Stroke. American Journal of Neuroradiology. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A6650.2 Ling-gen Gao 1 , Jian Cao, Qun-xia Mao, Xue-chun Lu, Xian-liang Zhou, Li Fan. Influence of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-supplementation on platelet aggregation in humans: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Atherosclerosis. 2013 Feb;226(2):328-34. 3 Jehangir N Din 1 , Scott A Harding, Christopher J Valerio, Jaydeep Sarma, Karin Lyall, Rudolph A Riemersma, David E Newby, Andrew D Flapan. Dietary intervention with oil rich fish reduces platelet-monocyte aggregation in man. Atherosclerosis. 2008 Mar;197(1):290-6. 4 Hiroyasu Iso, MD, PhD; Kathryn M. Rexrode, MD, MPH; Meir J. Stampfer, MD, DrPH; et al. Intake of Fish and Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Risk of Stroke in Women. JAMA, 2001;285(3):304-312.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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Introducing New and Improved NytroWhey Ultra Elite
When it comes to ingredient quality and manufacturing excellence, ProSource has always found itself in a unique position. We’re basically in competition with no one but ourselves.This is especially true of our flagship super-premium protein blend, NytroWhey Ultra Elite. In a world where the biggest-selling supermarket-shelf protein formulas hide their inferior ingredients behind bland descriptors and deceptive labeling practices, NytroWhey Ultra Elite has always stood apart from the crowd by virtue of its protein sourcing. NytroWhey Ultra Elite's protein blend has always been sourced entirely from Glanbia® Nutritionals, universally recognized as America’s foremost manufacturer of high-quality proteins. The whey isolate in NytroWhey Ultra Elite is derived via a superior-quality crossflow-microfiltration process unsurpassed in preserving the fragile protein micro-fractions and growth catalysts essential for maximal muscle support. Likewise, the cutting-edge hydrolyzed whey protein in NytroWhey Ultra Elite is rich in the low-molecular-weight di- and tripeptides that drive elevated levels of growth. And NytroWhey Ultra Elite's state-of-the-art leucine peptide technology is a precision-targeted driver of instant protein synthesis for recovery and growth immediately after your intense workout.The World's Best Super-Premium Protein Is Now An Even Greater Value!Given its peerless ingredient and processing bonafides, ProSource could have left NytroWhey Ultra Elite absolutely unchanged and still been the gold standard bearer in the category for another decade. But the countless serious athletes who trust ProSource and NytroWhey Ultra Elite to help them achieve their physique and performance goals expect more from us. And we, frankly, hold ourselves to a higher standard than our competitors could ever imagine.So the first thing you'll notice about New and Improved NytroWhey Ultra Elite is that you're getting MORE protein per serving. How did we do this? Certainly not by cramming more substandard protein content into the jug (which would increase serving size). Rather, we've taken advantage of recent cutting-edge advances in super-premium protein processing to increase super-high-quality protein content by a substantial twenty percent per serving.That's 20% more of industry gold standard whey protein isolate, hydrolyzed whey and highly bioavailable L-leucine. No other protein source. The net result is 25 grams of growth-driving muscle fuel per serving, as opposed to 21. The protein concentration in each one-serving scoop has been enhanced as well, from 48% protein to 63% in each scoop -- an increase of 31%.Cleaner, More Pure, and Healthier Than EverSerious athletes are obsessed with the purity of every gram of nutrition they consume. They are the world's most careful Supplement Facts label readers. Above and beyond all, they wish to "eat clean." This especially holds true when it comes to protein formulas, the bedrock of their daily dietary regimens.NytroWhey Ultra Elite has always been celebrated for its luscious flavor and smooth texture, the inevitable end result of its clean, natural ingredient sourcing. Now new, improved NytroWhey Ultra Elite is even more ideally suited for clean, healthy, low-carb diets by virtue of several adjustments to its nutritional profile that make it simpler, more natural, more digestible and more bioavailable. In addition, the last traces of gluten and soy have been removed, fiber content has been reduced and healthy fats sourced from sunflower oil have been added.The World's Best-Tasting Protein Is Now Even More of a Flavor SensationAll of these significant improvements to NytroWhey Ultra Elite's already award-winning and industry-leading formulation have combined to offer one more exciting benefit: That NytroWhey Ultra Elite flavor and texture that you love is now even better! The ultimate attention to ingredients and processing yields a protein formula so smooth, so luscious, it is now more than ever a truly a gourmet-quality taste sensation! At ProSource, being the best is a tradition. Making our best products -- like NytroWhey Ultra Elite -- even better is our ongoing mission. 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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Low Impact High Yield Training Methods to Protect Tendons And Joints
Hi everyone! Definitely got behind on just about everything for the start of the year, mostly because of work. Yes I have a fairly demanding job and still manage to find the time for a rigorous training and diet/supplementation routine, at 51 going on 52 years of age. Once again I have to give it up to ProSource for such amazing products that give me the extra supplementation needed to keep growing in my 50s. I have even been asking myself lately what are my limits because I never thought any of this was possible. So again, thank you ProSource for helping me get where I am today.Training Around An InjuryThis article is going to address my different training methods and routines. I have learned so much over the past 6 months when it comes to weight and exercise selection because I have been fighting some torn tendons in my shoulders and my tricep but chose to keep working through it. I did probably push it too far before seeking medical assistance but that’s kinda been the way I’ve done it. So shoulder and elbow MRIs showed tears in the tendons but not complete, so I had options. Have surgery and just get it repaired, take 6-8 weeks off completely and it should heal up, or keep working it and when it tears completely have it fixed. I decided on the latter of the 3, keep going but with some fine print the doctor and I agreed on. If you’re going to do this, find ways to keep the pain at or below 3 (on a scale of 10) and let’s see if it can heal. Guess what? It's working and I discovered an entirely different way, for me anyway, to work out and grow with low impact on tendons and joints. It has come with challenges, tears, and the want to quit but I stuck with it and learned so much about myself and what can be done if you are truly wanting it. The body is so resilient. A Simple Glossary of TermsBefore we get to my routines I want to define some of the terms I will be using in this article. All of these I use at times in my workouts but not all of them in one workout every set as it can lead to overtraining, so listen to your body and incorporate for a boost or because you’re feeling it.• Pre-Exhaust: Pre-fatiguing or pre-tiring a certain muscle of a body part (e.g., chest, legs, deltoids) using an isolation or "single-joint" exercise first and then finishing with one or two compound or "multiple-joint" movement(s). • Superset: A superset is a form of strength training in which you move quickly from one exercise to a separate exercise without taking a break for rest in between the two exercises. • Partials: Any exercise where you purposefully do a shortened range of motion instead of the full range of motion. Partials don't take the place of full-range lifts. • Drop Sets: A technique for continuing an exercise with a lower weight once muscle failure has been achieved at a higher weight. It is most often performed on weight machines because reducing the weight quickly is thought by some to be extremely important, but it can also be performed with dumbbells and other free weights.Lighter Weights, Steady ResultsThese are the different tools I have incorporated that have given me increased strength and growth with lighter weights. I lift primarily for appearance. Don’t get me wrong, I have great strength but that is secondary for what I am trying to accomplish. Something else that is always in the back of my mind is injury and not being able to come back. I have had enough close calls that very easily could have resulted in surgery, and still might. They have caused me to open my mind to different types of training. At the end of the day, it's about temporarily going beyond your body's current capacity for that specific stress. In weight training this means growth. Listen To Your BodyRemember a few articles back when I touched on overtraining? There’s the caveat and this is why I don’t incorporate all of the above mentioned techniques. If you were to add all of those to every set you would hit overtraining very quickly and go backwards. So, as a reminder, listen to your body. My main indicator of the onset of overtraining are my sinuses. I feel like I might be catching a cold. The other listen-to-your-body advice concerns your tendons and joints. Protect them, listen to them, stretch well before lifting, and see a doctor if you feel like something is wrong. One thing I started doing after my injuries is wearing wraps and sleeves. Don’t wait for an injury to wear them, use them now to help avoid injury. If that isn’t enough to keep you thinking safe then maybe this is: torn tendons, any of them, mean being off a minimum of 6 months if you rip one. A Training Regimen For Working Through Injury While Not Sacrificing GrowthCurrently I do a 4 on, 1 off, 4 on routine which places a heavy demand on my nervous system so I’m only good for about 3 rotations before I need a couple of days off in a row. The other thing I have been experimenting with is 2 on, 1 off, 2 on and then 4 on, 1 off, 4 on. Every 3rd rotation throws a day off in the middle to again avoid that overtraining zone but still be consistently lifting. This is high intensity training, 60-90 second rests between sets. Remember why you are there, not as a social gathering but to grow and ultimately look and feel better. Leave the weight ego at home and learn to feel the muscle working and burning, not joint or tendon pain. I’m generally in and out in 90 minutes. Weekly RegimenDay 1 – Back and traps – 60-90 seconds between sets V bar pulldown, 4 sets 8-12 reps – partial on the last set with an occasional drop set. Again depends on how I’m feeling. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Bent over t bar or seated row (switch weekly), 4 sets 8-12 reps – partials or drop sets on the last 2 sets. Weight selection is heavy Underhand pulldown, 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Wide grip seated row, 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Bent over bar row, 7 sets 8-12 reps, flex between sets, rest 30 seconds. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Bar shrugs superset with DB shrugs or partially bent over underhand EZ curl shrugs (switch weekly). Weight selection is heavy Day 2 – Arms - 60-90 seconds between sets Straight bar curls, cable or bar (switch weekly). 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is strict form DB hammer curls. 4 sets 8-12 reps Weight selection is relatively strict form DB curls using an arm blaster. 4 sets 8-12 reps Weight selection is strict form Standing crossover cable curls. Partials or drop sets on the last 2 sets. 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is strict form. Not sure if there is a name for this as it has kept me going during my triceps tendon injury. 2, 1 foot chains on upper cable with a stirrup handle on each side. Pretty much perform these with my thumbs palm area only on the handles and then extending outward on the bottom of the movement like a rope pressdown. 5 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is strict form. Rope press-down superset with dips. 5 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is strict form. Prime fitness RO-T8 spreader bar pressdowns. 5 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is strict form. My tricep exercise selection is growing as of writing so things will be changing, a little but not much. Day 3 – Legs - 60-90 seconds between sets Leg extensions - 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form. This is a pre-exhaust Squats superset with sissy squats – 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form. Leg curls superset with deep knee bends. Partials on the curls - Weight selection is for relatively strict form. Smith machine squat - 7 sets 8-12 reps, flex between sets, rest 30 seconds. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Bar elevated calf raises - 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Single DB calf raises - 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Day 4 – Chest and shoulders - 60-90 seconds between sets Pec deck (heavy and pre-exhaust) superset with flat bench press (Weight selection is strict form). 4 sets 8-12 reps. Before my shoulder and elbow issues I was benching 315 for 8 times 4. Now I bench 200 max on this program and my chest has grown a few inches since Sven press with cable crossover machine - 4 sets 8-12 reps – partials or drop sets on the last 2 sets. Weight selection is heavy Cable crossover flies low to mid on each set. 4 sets 8-12 reps Cable crossover press -4 sets 8-12 reps Weight selection is for relatively strict form. Pec deck - 7 sets 8-12 reps, flex between sets, rest 30 seconds. Weight selection is for relatively strict form. (sometimes I will go for 4 sets only but superset in pushups) Incline bench front raises (lay on an incline bench on your stomach for front raises), partials occasionally. 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Behind the back lower cable side raises (lean at a slight angle). Partials occasionally. 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form Military bar press - 4 sets 8-12 reps. Weight selection is for relatively strict form That’s pretty much it. Remember keep it fluid and don’t be afraid to switch it up depending on how you feel. I find that partials work very well when I’m really feeling it. On the other side of the coin I find that starting with a superset when I’m tired or just not feeling it gets me going. Intensity is key, leave it all at the gym but keep it under control and avoid distractions as these can lead to injury as well. Don’t cool off in the middle of your workout. Thanks for reading and you can always find me on Instagram @darrinjhills Feel free to ask many anything you like on there if there are questions. If you want it, get it, Darrin Endorsers used products in conjunction with diet and exercise and may have been compensated for their appearance. Endorser's results are not typical. 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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