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If you're looking to give your workouts a kick start, this is the product for you. The combination of creatine, nitric oxide and caffeine gives increases your blood flow and gives your muscles a better pump while giving you all the added energy you need to run out of time in the gym before you run out stamina.

Good is the Enemy of Great

   I am currently at the end of the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. This is my second time reading this book and I have taken new things out of it this time. At first glance this is just a book about business, but this is something that you can take out of the context of just business. But these same concepts can be used toward your daily life, especially your diet and exercise.
   It is very easy to get content with your workout and diet. You lose a few pounds in the beginning because you change your diet habits but then you plateau. Same goes for the gym, you start working out and lose some weight and feel great but then you don't see anymore changes. But the average person doesn't think or want to change up their routine because they're comfortable with where they are at. With your diet its easy to get in a groove of eating things that you know are healthy and eating them over and over again. But your going to get bored and also your going to be depriving your body of different types of vitamins and nutrients that you get from a variety of different foods, so its important to change it up.
   As far as the gym goes, again it's easy to comfortable with your routine. The same machines, the same amount of weight, the same amount of time on each machine and the same resistance and/or speed. Most people would be surprised how quickly your body adapts to these same workouts over and over again and much sooner than you think, you're not seeing any results. But it's too intimidating to go outside of your comfort zone to try new exercise or increase the demand of you body by increasing weight, speed, resistance or any other factor in your workouts.
   So if you're tired of plateauing every time you try to change your diet and exercise then you need to become great in all of the aspects of your lifestyle change and stop settling for just good enough. If you want to go from a good workout to a great workout or a good diet to a great diet, and in turn go from good results to GREAT results you have to be willing to changes things up and not get too comfortable with your routine. No more excuses, if you want to look and feel great than you have to think and act great!

Sabotaging Your Workout

   Everyday millions of people go to gyms all across the country and everyday millions of people are not happy with the results they're getting. Many people will blame the gym, blame their genetics and just stop going because they "never get the results they want". I can tell you one thing, if you workout out regularly and have a good nutritional plan it is a GUARANTEE that you will the results you want. It doesn't matter your age, race, sex, what gym you go to or whatever other excuses can be made. So what are we doing in the gym that is sabotaging our workout routines?
   How many times have you heard someone at the gym say "I burned 700 calories on this machine in an hour today," or "400 calories on that machine in 20 minutes yesterday"? This is mistake number one; trusting the calorie burn estimates on machines at your gym. We'd all like to see that we burned 700 calories in an hour on an elliptical machine but the truth of the matter is that these machines have no way of knowing how many calories you are in fact burning. A recent study by the National Strength and Conditioning Conference found that elliptical trainers over-estimate calorie burn by an average of 30%! This wouldn't be too much of a problem but people who rely on these numbers may feel entitled to eat a little more because "they work so hard at the gym and burn all these calories", when in fact they're not anywhere near their actual calorie burn. Using a heart rate monitor can give you a more accurate read out if you really need to know your calories burned, but the bottom line is we don't want to add extra calories in our diet because we burned it at the gym. We want to create a deficit to lose weight, feeling entitled to extra calories will thwart your goals very quickly.
   Go to any gym in America and you're guaranteed to see people using improper form, from free weights to Nautilus machines to cardio machines. Sacrificing form for the sake of running longer or lifting more is counter productive. Just because you can run at 10 miles per hour when you hold on to the treadmill for dear life doesn't mean you should. You'd be much better off slowing down your speed and distance to use correct form while running. The same can be said for strength training, is it worth it to load up the bench press then use your entire body to lift the weight? Or are you better off with a weight that you can handle and that actually uses the intended muscles? Using incorrect form and/or too much weight can end in injury which sets you back in your goals, and plateaus because your not using the correct muscles the correct way.
   DON'T SKIP STRENGTH TRAINING! I can not emphasize this fact enough. One pound of lean muscle is 8 TIMES more metabolically demanding than one pound of fat. So if you have more muscle...you burn more fat! A recent survey by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association found that 80% of women forgo strength training. In my time as a personal trainer I have seen first hand the worries women get about strength training (I don't want to get bulky, I don't know how to use the machines/weights, I don't want to get bulky) and yes I know I said that twice and that was to make a point. Women and men are not built the same way, you will not do 3 sets of dumbbell curls and walk out of the gym looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Strength training will build and tone the muscle just like everyone wants and raise your bodies metabolism. Pairing weight training with cardiovascular workouts a few times a week is the ideal way to get to your goals.
    The last thing people do to sabotage their workouts is simple; you hate your workout! It doesn't matter the benefits that you get from it if it's something that you hate it will not work long time for you. If you don't enjoy yourself you are more likely to end your workout early and just skip it all together on a more regular basis than if it is something you enjoy. With the variety of options in terms of machines, classes, workout dvds, trainers and everything else you can find, you should be able to find a few things that you enjoy and stick to them. So good luck to you all and hopefully these tips will help you keep moving forward and stop sabotaging your own workout!
  

Product of the Week

Herbalifes Rebuild Strength combines 24 grams of whey and casein proteins for the ultimate muscle recovery shake. At 190 calories it is a great option for someone looking to recover the right way after a workout. A tri-core amino acid blend, 18 grams of carbohydrates and tons of vitamins and minerals make this a complete recovery shake. Voted #1 recovery shake by Triathlete Magazine only a few months after being released on the market! Triathlete Magazine September 2011

Rebuild Your Muscles

   Protein, protein, protein! We've all heard it before, right after a workout refuel your muscles with protein. Yes it is true that right after your workout is the best time to supplement your body with a protein recovery shake. Your body is most susceptible to absorb protein within a half an hour of your strength training routine, so get home right away and mix up that shake! The protein intake right after a workout will help rebuild your muscles and give you that extra muscle growth that you are looking for. Ok so no we know to get our protein right after our workout but what kind is best for muscle growth?
   Not all protein is created equal. Ask around your gym and you'll hear a lot about whey protein after workouts. Whey protein is ideal for after a workout because it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream within 15 minutes after consumption. So this fits right into that 30 minutes window in which we want to get our protein intake, that's why you hear so much about whey protein in a lot of recovery shakes. The only downfall of whey is that it is quickly absorbed in the 15 minute window and then our bodies are done absorbing what was in the shake. What goes overlooked far too often is the importance of casein protein as well. Casein is a slowly absorbed protein, so after it gives our muscles a slow sustained intake of protein over a longer period of time. So the perfect combination of whey and casein will give your muscles the boost they need and give you the results you want. So now we know what kind of protein we need, so what about how much?
   Another myth about protein is the more the better. You can go into any supplement store and look at shakes with high amounts for protein per serving, and most people feed into that myth "the more the better." But the truth of the matter is the human body can only physically absorb up to 30 grams of protein at a time, and the ideal protein intake for after a workout is between 20-25 grams. So don't be fooled by the canister that says 50 grams of protein per serving, your body with not absorb half of that serving and you will waste it and go through your canister twice as fast. Now I'm not saying that this is a ploy by the company to make you go through your supply twice as fast as you need to but you be the judge. So in recap 20-25 of whey and casein protein within a 30 minute window of your strength training workout.