The Five Worst Places to Get Your Health Info From

Posted on February 27th, 2012

The internet is a place where anybody can publish themselves, now more than ever. While this makes it a fantastic resource where expert opinions can be garnered for free, any time of day and saved for later, it also makes it quite a dangerous place to get health-related info from. Many authors on the net write with an agenda … and not a balanced or fair one! There are plenty of good places on the net to get your health. Nutrition, diet, exercise and bodybuilding supplement info from. There are also plenty of mediocre ones … but these are the worst!

Natural News Dot Com

According to Natural News, just about every medical condition on the planet can be cured with some type of raw vegetable, fruit or nut. We definitely agree that healthy eating is important, but this site usually promotes ‘Big Pharma’ and government conspiracy theories and an unreasonable fear of all sorts of chemicals. Bodybuilding supplements would even be off the list here. You’ll get information – but it is not balanced!

The Huffington Post

HuffPo has a huge readership and an Alexa ranking of 23. That’s right, it is the 23^rd most trafficked site on the internet. Yeesh! Yet its authors consistently produce content promoting a link between:

• Vaccines and autism (thoroughly debunked, especially since Andrew Wakefield was declared the biggest science fraud of the 21^st century)
• Homeopathy (water without a single molecule of active substance, ‘magically’ imprinted with a memory of a drug which causes the opposite effect that you want, such as caffeine for insomnia).
• Detoxification (promotion of thoroughly unproven ‘liver support’ tonics to do something that your body manages to do quite well anyway, thank you).

It’s a great internet newspaper, but not a very good doctor!

Mercola Dot Com

This site is similar to Natural News (they often link-buddy up with each other), but is inherently biased by the fact that it sells many of its own products for health conditions. It has received at least three warnings from the Food and Drug Administration in the US to stop making illegal health claims about the efficacy of these products. Sound reliable to you?

Australian Vaccination Network

This organisation is quite blatantly misnamed. It only provides ANTI-vaccination advice, and almost invariably incorrect advice at that. The organisation still pushes the mercury-in-vaccines to autism link (though most childhood vaccines now contain no mercury, any mercury in there is a biologically inactive form, and there has never been epidemiological proof of the link). Their charity status has been revoked for multiple violations of the Charitable Fundraising Act, and it was listed in ‘Australian Doctor’s “Top 50 Medical Scandals of the Past 50 Years”. Yes, 50 YEARS!

Any Unverified Source

One of the critical rules of thumb we sue to decide whether information is credible, is how many people repeat it. If you see a piece of health related information in a popular bodybuilding forum but can’t find any reference to it elsewhere, you can probably ignore it. If you see the same piece of information in more than one place, but ONLY on sites that are trying to sell you something, you can probably also ignore it.

We’ll follow up shortly with a list of the 10 BEST places to get your health-realted info from!

Tags: diet, exercise, healthy, science
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6 Top Rated Deltoid Exercises

Posted on February 27th, 2012

Big, rounded deltoids are one of the defining elements of any bodybuilder. There are literally over a hundred different exercises and variants that target the delts, and a couple of dozen that rate over 9/10 in bodybuilding circles. Today we check out the top 6 deltoid exercises that should be included in your bodybuilding routine, as decided by a jury of your peers!

1. Clean and Jerk
   This deltoid exercise will work your shoulders, but also your core, triceps, hammies and quads. Get this one critiqued by an expert and start light. The base movements are:
   - Lift the bar to your knees
   - Move into the low squat position
   - Stand up, keeping the bar at your chest
   - Push your arms up into the air
2. Seated Barbell Military Presses
   You can perform barbell military presses standing, but it’ll be easier on your back to use a seat. Here’s how:
   - Start with the bar behind your head as you’re seated on a military press bench. Have a spotter give you the bar.
   - Lift the bar up over your head and lock your arms – this is the starting position
   - Lower to your collarbone while inhaling, then push back up as you exhale.
   - Repeat!
3. One Arm Side Lats
   A great isolation exercise for the shoulders. These involve:
   - Grab a dumbbell, and use something in your other hand t steady yourself with. You’ll need to lean towards the lifting arm while performing the movement.
   - Stand straight and start with the dumbbell hanging at your side
   - Keeping your torso still, lift your arm up and out. Maintain a slight elbow bend and have your hand tilted slightly forward. Exhale as you do this movement
   - Then inhale as you lower the dumbbell.
4. Push Press
   Your quads and triceps get a bit of a look in with this deltoid exercise, too. It’s a compound movement and mostly for the experts. Basically, it involves:
   - Using a Power Clean to lift the bar from the floor to your shoulders
   - Pushing the bar to an extended overhead position with an explosive movement
   - Lowering the bar to your shoulders while inhaling
5. Reverse Flyes
   Great for beginners all the way through to experts, reverse flyes are an isolation exercise for focusing purely on your shoulders. They’re easy:
   - Lie down on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing
   - Extend your arms in front of you, so that they are at a 90 degree angle fro the bench
   - With a slight elbow bend, pull your arms up and out until they are parallel to the floor
   - Inhale while lowering and repeat
6. Dumbbell Lying One Arm Rear Lateral Raise
   This intermediate level exercise works the shoulders and middle back. Here’s how it goes:
   - Lie on a 15 degree incline bench
   - Hold your dumbbell in a ‘neautral’ grip, palm towards you.
   - Raise the dumbbell til your elbow is at shoulder height and arm roughly parallel to the floor. Exhale while doing so.
   -Then inhale while lowering to the start position. Repeat.  

And proceed to enjoy some very dangerous delts!

Tags: deltoids, delts, exercises, training
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The Mind of a Woman: 9 FAQs Answered

Posted on February 24th, 2012

It is a mystery for the ages, an unanswerable question, akin to “How many roads must a man walk down?”. The question is … “How the heck do women think?”!

Well, the question is pretty easy to answer if you’re a girl … so today we try to demystify the less muscly sex for the guys a little, by answering 9 of the most common questions puzzled over in the pub!

Why do women cheat on their partners?

Lots of soul searching goes into this one. Lots of anger, lots of misunderstanding. But in the end, the reasons that women cheat on their partners are usually the same reasons that men cheat. They’re slightly unhappy in the relationship, they’re drunk, animal instincts take over … etc.

Why do women cry so damn often?

Yes, women do cry more often than men – about 30-64 times a year, compared to 6-17 times a year for guys. There could be several physiological as well as cultural reasons – women have differently shaped tear ducts, women secrete more of the hormone prolactin (needed for breastfeeding but also present in tears), and women also report more intensity of emotional states (apart from anger and pride). The other major reason is that society thinks it isn’t okay for guys to cry, but it is for girls.

Are all women feminists?

Ha ha, far from it! However, women feel an affiliation towards other women, as men do towards other men. This will be able to overcome other personal differences (race, culture, language, opinions, beliefs) in some women more easily than others).

Why do women play mind games all the time?

Well, they don’t. Some women never play mind games. When they do, it’s probably because they spend a lot more time talking to each other and have developed nuances of communication that men haven’t. Still, I think there’s no excuse for not saying what you feel.

Do women expect you to make the first move?

Sometimes! But it can be annoying having guys constantly ‘making the first move’ on you. So … yes, but we probably shouldn’t.

What do women think about men with tattoos?

This is completely down to personal taste. The majority of women prefer their men untattooed, just as the majority of men do for their gals. Tattoos immediately slot you into a pre-existing niche. Perhaps they just make it a little easier for someone to determine whether they’ll click with you or not.

Why are women so insecure?

Some are, some aren’t. In some cases it comes from competition with other women. It may originate from the fact that youth and beauty are always highly valued by men, and women are always going to lose one and may never have the other. Either way, don’t pander to her insecurities, but don’t fail to verbalise your appreciation either!

Does size really matter?

Most of the time, if you’re past a certain minimum point, it will not matter at all. It’s far more about how you ‘pay attention’ to her in other ways!

Why do girls say they want nice guys, then date the gorillas?

He hee! Attraction is complicated, and sexual attraction usually determines who we date – not a balanced view of their personality. Same for guys, isn’t it?

Women think more like men than many people of either sex realise!

Tags: relationships, women
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15 Foods You Can Mix With Protein Powder

Posted on February 24th, 2012

We take protein powder because our bodies need it for muscle anabolism … not because of its delicious taste! However, much like wine or beer, if you mix your protein powders with other naturally yummy foods, you can begin to acquire a taste for the stuff. Eventually, those pure protein shakes will be going down like the global economy (!), if you start experimenting with this list. Here are 15 foods that can be safely (and tastily) mixed with protein powder.

1. Cream
   Only if you’re bulking! Cream makes fat-soluble ingredients in protein shakes far creamier and more delicious.
2. Fruit
   There are no standard supermarket-bought fruits which can’t be mixed with protein powder. Yes, fruits can be acidic, but they if they break down the protein at all it will only be into amino acids … which your body would have done anyway!
3. Peanut Butter
   Another great one for those on a bulking cycle, peanut butter has plenty of good fats in it, and the taste blends beautifully with chocolate flavoured protein powder.
4. Oats and Oatmeal
   Great for a post-workout carbs boost, oats and oatmeal are complex, slowly broken down carbs that won’t spike your insulin.
5. Cottage Cheese
   This goes down easiest in combination with fruit as well as protein powder. Go slow on the cottage cheese to begin with, or you’ll risk retching up your bodybuilding supplement!
6. Yoghurt and Frozen Yoghurt
   Great companions to protein powder at morning tea or afternoon snack time, and especially in hot weather. Try both high-fat and low-fat varieties – if your protein powder doesn’t dissolve well in one, try the other.
7. Cheesecake
   Blend protein powder with the biscuit base in cheesecake if you’re feeling a bit gourmet – you won’t notice the graininess in the biscuits.
8. Pancake Mix
   If you haven’t tried protein pancakes, you’re missing out. These are generally very tasty, and a great intro to protein powder as a substitute for flour.
9. Brownies/Biscuits/Slices
   Protein powder can be substituted for half the amount of flour in most recipes for these types of treats. Just watch that you aren’t getting too much sugar in your OVERALL daily diet … don’t let the protein fool you into thinking that brownies are a health food!
10. Pasta Sauce
    Protein can be mixed in with your pasta sauce – it gives it a texture sort of like adding Parmesan cheese!
11. Mashed Potatoes
    If you mix the protein well with either milk or water before you mix it into the mashed potatoes, it will be even less grainy.
12. Pudding
    Mmm, pudding! Protein supplements go down very easy in chocolate pudding or sticky date pudding.
13. Pulpy Orange Juice
    If you’re dedicated to pulpy orange juice, you can try mixing your protein bodybuilding supplement in with it. It will partially dissolve, and the pulp will hide any residual graininess.
14. Muesli bars
    Grab some prepackaged muesli, and homemade muesli bars with added protein supplement are quick and simple to make. We’ve featured some recipes on the blog before.
15. Breakfast Cereal
    If your diet can handle the carbs of breakfast cereal, add some protein powder to it to round it off a little more completely!

Protein bodybuilding supplements are actually extremely versatile … get your chef’s hat on and enjoy the results!

Tags: amino acids, Build muscle, diet, protein, protein powder
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Balding Bodybuilders: What Can Be Done?

Posted on February 21st, 2012

It can be incredibly frustrating. You train and train and train, and eat right, and take the right bodybuilding supplements, and tan up to highlight all that work you’ve done … but your hair (or lack of it) is letting your look down! A receding hairline will happen to at least half of males and it is always distressing – but it can be especially so for very aesthetically focused bodybuilders. Today we sort the real hair-loss treatments from the marketing hype and the pure and simple bollocks, to find out what balding bodybuilders can do to preserve or regain their crowning glory.

Regaine or Rogaine

This is a topical treatment and is often the first line of defence for balding bodybuilders. It is applied directly to the scalp, and while the mode of action is not completely clear, it is thought that it improves peripheral blood circulation, thereby keeping the hair follicles healthy.

In a Choice review, about 25% of the people who used Regaine for hair loss were very satisfied or completely satisfied (4 stars or 5 stars) with its effectiveness. If your hair is thinning, this could be a good first option.

Propecia

The name of the active compound in Propecia is finasteride, and it is one of the most effective hair loss treatments currently available. It inhibits the conversion of testosterone to DHT (dihydrotestosterone). DHT is an androgen, but not the main form of testosterone that helps you with anabolism. It is currently able to arrest hair loss in around 90% of men, and around 65% actually see regrowth.

In theory, you shouldn’t have negative effects in your bodybuilding program from taking finasteride – but as we know, every body reacts differently. Some bodybuilder report gains while on the drug, others report lack of energy, low sex drive, no gains in the gym … a general feeling that life is not good. Be aware of this possibility when you begin taking it, and be prepared to make a choice between finasteride and big muscles if necessary.

You can also try taking testosterone booster bodybuilding supplements in addition to your finasteride. Check with your doctor once you’ve decided on a specific supplement though.

Dutasteride

This is a ‘stronger’ form of finasteride, blocking both the enzymes which make DHT. If you aren’t seeing negative bodybuilding effects from finasteride, but are still seeing hair loss, ask about this option.

Saw Palmetto

Although both saw palmetto and finasteride can treat enlarged prostate, and finasteride can also arrest hair loss, saw palmetto has not been proven as a balding treatment. Don’t bother with it.

Hair Replacement Surgery

Nowadays results are a very far cry from the horror hair plugs of the 1980s! Hair replacement can now be done follicle by follicle, and it is the most effective hair loss treatment that doesn’t interfere with either your natural hormone levels or your bodybuilding supplement regime. It is usually the most costly, but in Choice’s survey, over half of the recipients of the surgery were completely satisfied or very satisfied with the results.

Tags: balding, Bodybuilding Supplements, hair loss
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Bodybuilding With Bipolar Disorder

Posted on February 15th, 2012

Like most mental illnesses, bipolar disorder is particularly hard to live with. A shoulder injury, you can adjust your training routine and do some physio. A testosterone imbalance, you can take either prescription medication or bodybuilding supplements. But a mental disorder strikes right at the heart of what makes us into ourselves! Add the fairly extreme medication regime to a serious identity crisis and some major disruptions to personal relationships, and your diagnosis can understandably feel like a massive roadblock. Today we check out some guidelines for bodybuilders with bipolar disorder – there are plenty of ways for you to achieve your goals.

Please note that all advice in this article assumes that you have a confirmed diagnosis. Don’t self-diagnose – it can be dangerous!

Bipolar Medication Effects for Bodybuilders

There are several types of medications used to treat bipolar disorder. Your doctor will likely start you on at least one, and may add others depending on your reaction to them. Each of them will affect your metabolism and bodybuilding supplement routine in a different way:

Lithium:

This and other medications based on lithium can cause low thyroid function. You might find that you put on weight easily, don’t have the energy for workouts, etc.

Valproic acid:

This bipolar medication can boost testosterone levels; especially noticeable in females. Apart from the anabolism, females taking valproic acid risk polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Antipsychotics:

These medications include olanzapine, aripiprazole, quetiapina and risperidone. Their major side effect is lack of energy, but you might also get a rapid heartbeat, dizziness when you change positions and some blurred vision.

Antidepressants:

Antidepressants act in very different ways and have very different side effects. Yours might cause sexual function problems, nausea or agitation.

Bodybuilding Supplements for Bipolar Sufferers

It is essential that you stop taking all your bodybuilding supplements while your medication regime is being refined.

Once you have been taking the same medicines with positive effects for 3 months, you can begin your bodybuilding supplements again. Here are some guidelines for setting up your stack again:

• Given that many bipolar medications cause drowsiness and lack of energy, you might want to add a pre-workout supplement to your stack
• Go light on weight-gaining bodybuilding supplements if you’re on lithium, or any medicine which causes low thyroid function
• You might get nausea with some pre-workout supplements especially. Try switching to a different brand if this occurs.
• If valproic acid is part of your medication regime, check with your doctor before taking testosterone boosting bodybuilding supplements.

Bodybuilding Training Guidelines for Bipolar Sufferers

You’ll also need to take some extra care in the gym and modify your routine a little. Because of the side effects of your medications, you should try to:

• Use machines rather than free weights, because of the potential for injury if you get blurred vision or dizziness with motion.
• If cardio is part of your routine, keep it light. Add heavy cardio to a medication which causes a rapid heartbeat and you may well have a heart attack.

Try to stick to a routine for your training – this will help with managing sleep disturbances which both bipolar and the medications to treat it can cause.

Be Prepared for Intolerance

Bodybuilding can be one huge boys club, and sadly some of the typical reactions to hearing that you have bipolar disorder will include:

• It’s all in your head, you just need to get over it
• Start doing things that make you happy and you’ll be happy
• Your diagnosis is made-up because the pharmaceutical companies want to make money out of you
• You’re actually just missing some vitamins and minerals
• You’re a wuss for even thinking about being depressed

Obviously, every single point you read above is untrue, misinformed or conspiracy-theorist. If you haven’t told anybody about your diagnosis yet, be very selective about whom you tell. People have no innate right to know unless you want them to, especially if they ain’t gonna try to walk a mile in your shoes.

Tags: bipolar disorder, bodybuilding, Bodybuilding Supplements, recovery, supplement interactions, training, workouts
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Bodybuilding with Shin Splints

Posted on February 15th, 2012

Shin splints are traditionally a runner’s problem, not a bodybuilder’s ailment. However, anybody doing running or extensive weight bearing exercise is prone to developing them, including bodybuilders doing cardio for cutting purposes and even bodybuilders focusing heavily on squats. If you get shin splints, you know just how much they can affect your life – there ain’t much you can do if you find it hard to even stand up! Today we check out how you can work with and around this condition to keep bodybuilding.

Get the Right Diagnosis

As with bipolar disorder, the other condition we looked at in conjunction with bodybuilding this month, the first thing you need to do is get a firm diagnosis.

The pain of shin splints can be confused with compartment syndrome, a localised internal swelling which needs immediate treatment to avoid nerve and muscle death, or with the pain of a stress fracture, which would naturally worsen with any activity.

Rest!

The primary treatment for shin splints is rest, which allows the localised inflammation to subside. In the meantime, though, you can do plenty of non-weight bearing exercises, like:

• Machine leg extensions
• Leg curls
• Prone hip extension

Got any others? Pop them in the comments!

Icing

After you do any leg work in the gym, take a 10 minute ice bath – even if your shins aren’t hurting. You don’t need to put your whole lower body in the ice, just your legs up to the knees.

Stretching

Stretching should focus on your gastocnemius (calf) muscle, your hammies and glutes. Tight muscles at the back of your leg can cause pain in the front due to the wonky biomechanics.

Shoe Choice and Orthotics

These are crucial components of a recovery program and maintenance of mobility for bodybuilders with shin splints. You should visit a podiatrist or an orthopaedic specialist and get personalised recommendations for YOUR foot and YOUR workout routine.

You should also have custom-made orthotics. These are manufactured after stress and pressure testing on your feet, and will compensate for any oddities of gait etc. They cost a bit, but can be well worthwhile!

Activity Modification

If you’re prone to shin splints, you should switch running and other weight bearing cardio exercises for swimming, rowing or bike riding. Switch to machine-based leg exercises rather than free weights – it isn’t the ideal way to bodybuild, but it is better than trying to work out while intense pain.

Surgical Options for Shin Splints

Fasciotomies and periostomies have been recognised solutions to chronic shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome) for decades now, with around a 57% to 78% complete cure rate as described in the Journal of Sports Medicine in 1986 (!). Naturally, you’ll have to explore this last-resort option with your doctor.

Tags: bodybuilding, recovery, shin splints, training, workouts
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Bitter Pill: 10 Tips to Make Bodybuilding Supplement Pills Go Down Easy

Posted on February 13th, 2012

Every bodybuilder has a preference for either pills or potions. Some people would rather get their supplement taking all over in one hit … and others would very much like to, but they just can’t get the pill past an overactive gag reflex! Still others just miss out on some awesome bodybuilding supplements because they only come in pill form. If this is you, try our ten easy tips to make supplement pills a lot easier to swallow.

1. Swill First
   Try taking a big swill of water BEFORE you put the pill in your mouth. Hold a little water, begin to swallow it then chase it down with another big dose of water.
2. The Chin Tuck
   Many people throw their head back when swallowing pills. If this doesn’t seem to help, try doing a chin tuck as you swallow instead, to open your oesophagus and close the upper portion of the trachea.
3. Sneak It In
   If you place the pill right at the back of your tongue to begin with, it has far less distance to travel to get to the holy grail, your oesophagus. Put your pill right at the back of your tongue and take a BIG gulp of water.  
4. Squeeze Bottles
   If you use a squeeze bottle with this method, you can also get a bit of extra oomph to force the bodybuilding supplement pill down.  
5. Use a Banana
   Take a couple of bites of banana, then put your pill into a broken-off piece of the fruit. As you’re about to swallow your normal bites, put the bananafied pill near the back of your mouth and let it go down the hatch.
6. Practice with Lollies
   If you have an aversion to the taste of powdery medicine which prevents you swallowing, prime your body for swallowing by practicing with M&Ms or Skittles.
7. Use a Straw
   The process of drinking through a straw can distract you sufficiently that the pill slides down without a worry. This won’t work for bigger bodybuilding supplement pills, though.
8. The Gargle Method
   Begin by gargling a mouthful of water. When you’re about to swallow, pop your pill into your mouth. This method IS useful for larger pills.
9. The Slop Method
   If the banana method didn’t work, you might have success with yoghurt, applesauce, jelly, pudding, etc.
10. Coat with Butter
    Coating your pills with butter or margarine won’t alter their digestion time substantially, but it can make uncoated pills and those with sharp little edges easier to take.
11. Have Your Tonsils Investigated
    Are your tonsils chronically enlarged? When you depress your tongue and look at the back of your throat in the mirror, does the tissue either side come close to meeting in the middle? Your tonsils are one place you don’t want hypertrophy – if this is the issue that is stopping you swallowing bodybuilding supplement pills, see your doc.

Ask Before Crushing Your Pills
Not only do crushed pills taste even more foul, setting up an aversion reaction, they may completely dissolve before they get to the part of your intestine they need to reach in order to be absorbed properly. Some bodybuilding supplement pills can be crushed or halved, but some cannot.

Tags: Bodybuilding Supplements, pills, supplements
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Tanning for Bodybuilders: Should I, How Much, When and What Method?

Posted on February 13th, 2012

Tanning is considered a must for bodybuilding competitions. Stage lights are particularly unforgiving on light skin, making you look either like a pasty computer geek or a fluorescent globe. So, once you’ve done all that work n your muscles to bulk up, how can you best highlight it with tanning products? We take you through the important guidelines today.

Should I Tan?

Tanning can generally be considered an aesthetic practice. To many of us, brown skin just looks a little more appealing than glowing white alien limbs! However, there are all sorts of folks in this world, and if you’re happy with being paler, then go for it.

However, if you’re competing on stage in a bodybuilding competition, tanning is essential. Stage lighting is very different to natural lighting, and a coat of tanning product helps the judges evaluate your musculature more accurately. It also stops you looking ‘bloated’, and makes you look far tighter and fuller.

Natural Tanning

Tanning in the sun is not a safe thing to do, as the television, doctors, magazines, public health posters and bodybuilding blogs constantly tell us! An estimated 1 in every 2 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime.

Besides, it’s difficult to get a lineless tan outdoors, and your competition outfits will be pretty skimpy. Bright white lines will detract from the lines between your muscles.

Tanning Beds and Tanning Salons

These use UV light to tan you, and also have the potential to cause cancer. They’ll also give you a ‘nice’ pickled, leathery look to enjoy when you’re 60 if you overdo them.

However, they do provide a lineless tan and make your exposure easier to monitor. Additionally, if you have problems with acne from some testosterone boosting bodybuilding supplements and the general sweat of the gym, limited exposure to tanning beds can help. Keep it under 30 minutes per week, though … and remember that they are the equivalent of real sun!

Tanning Products

You can choose either self-tan or professional tanning products. If you’re like many bodybuilders and have already spent most of your hard earned cash on gym memberships and bodybuilding supplements, and you’ll be going for the self-applied route. This is fine if you’re careful with the application, but don’t skimp on the quality of your self-tan product. And follow these guidelines:

• Patch test before using any new product – especially if you’re due to compete
• Exfoliate regularly, not just before you apply the tanning lotion. Any lumps or bumps will also show up more.
• Wax 48 hours before you tan to allow the follicles to close up and settle down.
• Apply a light body lotion, with a double dose for dry areas like elbows, knees and parts of your feet
• Wear gloves while you’re applying the tanner, so that you don’t get orange palms

If you’re competing, put on a light coat of posing oil on top of the tanning product.

Injectable Tanning Products
Melanotan (not melatonin) is a compound currently being investigated by University of Arizona researchers, among others, for efficacy and safety. It is designed to activate melanin production in the skin without sun exposure, thereby protecting against skin cancer without risking developing it. Actually this drug is not yet approved for human use – so keep it in mind for the future, but don’t buy any products claiming to use it as an ingredient.

Tags: bodybuilding competitions, competitions, tanning
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Are Bodybuilding Supplements Giving You Bad Breath?

Posted on February 9th, 2012

Generally bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts are pretty tuned into their bodies, and monitor what goes in and out very carefully. We’ve talked to quite a few people who believe that their bodybuilding supplements are giving them bad breath, and while this can happen, the cause of bad breath most commonly lies with some other physical factor. Today we check out some supplements that are known for affecting your breath, and some other factors which can give you a case of stinkface.

Common Bodybuilding Supplements That Affect Your Breath

The most common bodybuilding supplements which interact with some people’s particular chemistry to produce bad breath are:

• Protein shakes, especially whey protein
• Stimulants like 1,3 dimethylamylamine, ephedrine and caffeine

It can take some time for your body to ‘learn’ to break down whey and some other proteins, and if you have just started taking these bodybuilding supplements they might be inefficiently digested and causing bad breath (and probably some killer flatulence too). Additionally, if you take milk with whey, it can ‘turn’ the milk and give you bad breath.

Stimulants such as 1,3 DMAA, ephedrine and caffeine can cause bad breath through inducing a dry mouth. Just make sure you drink plenty of water, chew gum  and keep your mouth closed while working out to prevent dryness!

However, if you have been taking the same bodybuilding supplements for some time and not had any breath problems previously, it is unlikely that a new case of bad breath is due to your supplements. It could be any of the common factors below!

Ketogenic Diets

If you’re currently restricting carbs and eating lots of protein, and especially if you’ve got some body fat to get rid of, your bad breath might be due to ketoacidosis.

When your body breaks down fat for fuel instead of glucose (because you aren’t supplying any carbs through your diet), ketone bodies are one of the side effects. They are chemically similar to paint thinners and nail polish remover, and can make your breath smell like either of the above.

While keto breath isn’t supposed to smell ‘bad’ but rather ‘sweet’, the unfamiliarity of the smell often makes people paranoid about their breath. There’s no fix for it but to chew mints, wear perfume and clos your mouth when leaning close to people.

Dental Hygiene

If you have untreated cavities in your mouth or have developed gum disease, horror-movie breath will be one of the first signs. To stop yourself developing cavities or gum disease, follow the golden rules:

• Brush twice a day
• Chew sugarless gum between meals
• Floss once a day before bed
• Scrape the back of your tongue to remove sulphur-producing bacteria  (if you’re prone to bad breath)
• Gargle with mouthwash (if you’re prone to bad breath).

Other Causes

If you have problems with any of the following conditions, they can all affect your breath:

• Chronic sinusitis – the smell comes from the nasal discharge
• Acid reflux
• Kidney problems

If you’ve ruled out bodybuilding supplements, dental hygiene and a ketogenic diet as the cause of your bad breath, go see your doctor or dentist.

Tags: Bodybuilding Supplements, side effects, supplements
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