The FatSmash Diet Reviewed
Posted on February 8th, 2011
The FatSmash Diet Reviewed
Looking to ditch the spare tyre and let the results of many hours spent on your abs shine through? Fat loss will be your priority … and if there’s one thing the internet has in abundance, it’s (ahem) “information” (ahem) on how to lose weight quickly. One of the new diets making ripples in jelly bellies everywhere is the Fat Smash Diet – today we check its advantages and drawbacks in a bodybuilding context.
The Principle:
The Fat Smash Diet aims to help people lose weight for life, by helping them create a lifestyle that involves healthy eating rather than suffering through a diet for a month before rewarding themselves with all their favourite foods … and putting that weight back on. The Fat Smash Diet has
The Science:
The Fat Smash Diet is based on good science as well as sound ‘human’ principles for helping make weight loss a long term phenomenon. The only unfortunate woo that creeps in is the ‘Detox’ phase at the beginning of the diet – detoxification is not an occurrence that has been ‘proven’ by anyoe other than those making money from detox programs and products, unfortunately. Your liver will do its job at the same rate, as long as you give it the basic tools and nutrition it needs.
However, keep in mind that we may have built up a ‘tolerance’ to eating sugary or salty foods, and that ‘Detox’ phase can actually just reset your expectations regarding food, so that you don’t feel that every healthy food is just bland and boring.
The Diet:
This lasts for 90 days, and is split into stages:
- The ‘Detox’ stage, where you’ll eat vegetables, egg whites and some dairy products. 30 minutes of exercise for 5 days is also prescribed.
- A 3-week stage where you can also eat lean meat, seafood and cereals, but that is offset by an increase in your exercise regime to 45 minutes 5 days per week of high intensity exercise.
- The remainder of the program focuses on settling into a new healthy eating and exercise routine
Coffee is a part of every stage of the Fat Smash Diet – it is fantastic for helping you burn fat while preserving muscle, and also giving you a helping hand with energy levels used for exercise.
The Reviews:
People are generally very happy with the Fat Smash Diet. However (see below), very few of those people are bodybuilders. A great weight loss program according to all reviews … but there is a reason that bodybuilders are completely underrepresented in those review samples!
The Verdict:
The Fat Smash Diet has an awesome name … but underneath it all, in a bodybuilding context, it is an absolute pussycat! This is a fantastic book for the everyday Jack and Jill looking to reduce their cardiovascular disease risk and look better. However, it just won’t provide the results that bodybuilders crave. You’ll be healthy … but ordinary.
If you want to lose fat while gaining muscle, we suggest you focus on the resistance training first, as well as following the other sound advice in our blog post on the subject, ‘Can I Gain Muscle While Losing Fat? Weight Loss Plus Speedy Bodybuilding’.
Tags: The FatSmash Diet Reviewed
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GAME TIME! by Tyson McCrea
Posted on January 18th, 2011
GAME TIME! By Tyson McCrea
After having a year off from the stage where I believe I have made some considerable gains in lean muscle mass and improved weak points, I have decided it is time… Time for me to step onstage once again, no doubt regardless of my placing this will be the best overall package I have brought to the stage so far.
In my weekly blog ill keep you up to date with my training, Diet and my journey.
I started my diet 24 weeks out from competition this time, 8 weeks longer than I have ever dieted for any of my previous competitions. Two reasons for this, 1. I want to reach a level of conditioning I have not yet attained. 2. If I was going to Diet 20weeks out like originally planned I would have had to begin my diet just before Christmas.
So by starting my diet even earlier I gave myself a few cheat days off too eat like a king on Christmas.
My current training during this period was a High Intensity program, consisting of Maximum strength output, minimal volume and advanced techniques such as rest pause and forced reps.
This program I will outline more specifically in another blog this week, it is cycled with more traditional bodybuilding training which includes much higher volume.
Diet is very simple at this stage:
Breakfast – 2 scoops of genetix lean whey + 60g of oats
Morning tea – 200g of chicken breast + 150g of basmati rice
Lunch – 200g of chicken or kangaroo + 100g of vegetables
Afternoon tea- 200g of tuna + 75g of basmati rice
Pre workout – ALR Humapro + 2 x scoops Anabolix Freak3d
During – Alr Chained out (Bcaa’s)
Post workout – MP Recon, followed by Alr Humapro + genetix glyco load + Genetix Glutamine
(Or I use the genetix product – Full Force)
Dinner – 200g of Steak + 200g of broccoli/ green bean mix
Before bed- Genetix 8hr night + 20g of natural peanut butter
Current weight 101kgs 5ft 10” (179cms)
Body Fat % = 11.2%
So far I feel really good being back into a routine, and my energy is still high. I notice I am getting considerably leaner, and still getting stronger as a result of the High intensity training.
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MMA- Fastest growing sport this decade
Posted on December 22nd, 2010
MMA- Fastest Growing Sport this decade By Tyson McCrea
Its little more then a week till we wave goodbye to another decade. A lot has happened in that time and the world has evolved in many ways, one emergence this decade was in the form of the worlds fastest growing sport MMA. The UFC in particular had a great decade, with most of the growth in popularity occurring in the last few years thanks to a handful of celebrity level fighters such as Chuck Liddel, Rampage Jackson, Goerge St Pierre and the man mountain Brock Lesnar.
UFC even held its first Australian PPV this year and to a sell out crowd in Syndey on February 21st. The event drew 17,431 fans, hitting a figure of AU$2.5 million. 400 tickets were also sold to a closed circuit viewing party at the Arena’s Ballroom, making the number of total fans inside the building 17,831. The event grossed $540,000 in merchandise sales, breaking the previous record of $498,000 at UFC 83. Total sales topped the previous Acer Arena record held by Iron Maiden.
MMA fans have had a great few years and the wars and comparisons to the current king of combat sports, boxing, has grown to an all time high. The truth is whilst MMA has had an impressive growth period and its popularity is soaring, you only need to look at the figures to see how it compares to the popularity and growth of boxing over the past few centuries. For example the highest pay day in MMA history is around 1.5 million dollars. The average however is between 200k-600k, with the 600k paydays reserved for the extremely popular fighters such as Pierre and Lesnar.
In boxing the pay days are much higher. Mike Tyson was paid 22 million for his fight against Michael Spinks in 1988. The pay days have only increased with superstar boxing welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao receiving 30 million on average per fight. Even Mundine, who isnt known on the international boxing circuit receives between 4-6 million a fight. These facts clearly indicate that in comparison to Boxing, MMA still has a long way to go.
Having said that its early days for MMA and UFC and I am sure it will keep growing, as long as they stick to there winning formula of offering up champion level bouts every fight card and ensuring the stick to 1 champion per weight division, as this is where they clearly have it over boxing and it will keep winning them fans.
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Hormones and Muscle Growth (Cortisol)
Posted on November 9th, 2010
More on Hormones and Muscle Growth
In the last blog, I addressed the ‘Anabolic’ hormones and how you can use them to your advantage to increase muscle growth, and recovery.
In this blog ill address the opposite. The catabolic hormone cortisol, ‘Cortisol’ is termed catabolic as it has the opposite effect to testosterone, growth hormone and insulin because it breaks down muscle tissue. Because of this, it is a vastly over looked hormone. Cortisol is released by the adrenal glands under conditions of physical stress, mental stress, and in high temperatures. Cortisol is the body’s primary catabolic hormone.
The main functions of cortisol are:
- A reduction in protein synthesis
- Gluconeogenesis (The breakdown and conversion of muscle tissue or protein to glucose).
- Stoping muscle growth
This makes it essential that cortisol release is controlled if your goal is to grow muscle. Other dangers of an increase in cortisol levels are:
- A reduction in testosterone and growth hormone production
- Osteoporosis
- A reduction in muscle mass and increase in abdominal fat.
- Impaired memory and learning capabilities.
- Low immune system function
So how can we control our cortisol levels?
-Exercise
This may seem like a contradiction to what I said before about physical stress however exercise although it increases stress will dull the effects of cortisol in the long term. The goal is to not over train. Cardio sessions should be kept at 30-45 mins and Weights sessions no longer than 45-60mins.
The Endorphin release from training should offset any cortisol release.
- Supplementation
Supplement with glutamine. Around 5g 4x a day is sufficient and in times of stress this will supply cortisol with blood glutamine and offset muscle breakdown to receive it.
Also use a good amino acid drink during training to keep a constant blood plasma level of amino acids, to keep cortisol low as this will be converted to glucose IF needed, and stop muscle breakdown.
Also Vitamin C has been proven to lower cortisol levels at a dosage of 500-1000mg 3-4x a day.
Also using products high in antioxidants are very helpful and beneficial.
Limit all stimulants; even 2-3 cups of coffee (a product high in caffeine) per day can elevate cortisol levels dramatically.
- Sleep
Cortisol is at its lowest, and growth hormone is at its highest while you are sleeping. So make sure you are receiving at least 7-8hours sleep every night.
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Hormones and Muscle Growth
Posted on November 8th, 2010
Hormones and Muscle growth by Tyson McCrea
To increase muscle size and at the same time reduce body fat one needs to ensure that all aspects of the Fitness or Bodybuilding lifestyle are adhered to. Essentially, a correct fitness or bodybuilding lifestyle could be best described as a complex balancing act, and to complicate matters further what works for one person may not necessarily work for another.
Diet and Training are the most spoken about variables when it comes to building muscle, or burning fat. Although they are VERY important, for ALL fitness, bodybuilding, or healthy lifestyles however there are more factors that need to be addressed.
Hormone release is a very important determining factor for muscle growth and weight loss that is often neglected, and not talked about enough.
For example, the hormone Testosterone is important as it increases muscle protein synthesis and this is essentially what men and women that desire more muscle mass or muscle tone desire most. Other important hormones to look at while trying to build muscle and loose body fat are growth hormone and insulin, all hormones in the body that can be manipulated to increase the success of your muscle building and weight loss goals.
Growth Hormone is produced in the hypothalamus, which is situated above the pituitary gland, and is responsible for revitalizing the immune system, enhancing sexual function and most importantly for weights trainers, stimulating muscle tissue repair. Insulin assists amino acid and glucose transport into muscle cells.
The three hormones mentioned are termed anabolic because of their muscle tissue building properties.
These hormones work via 3 different pathways.
1. They manipulate Enzyme activity (enhance chemical changes in the muscle cell)
2. They rapidly increase the amount of nutrients transported through the cell wall.
3. They enhance protein synthesis.
So how can you put this into action? You may think that this all my be very difficult to achieve, However it’s NOT!
Increase Testosterone: Boosting testosterone may be the easiest of them all, as there is so many different testosterone boosters, we at Nutrition Warehouse have taken the time to experiment with all of the supplements that we stock. So if we stock it, you know it will work.
Some of the stronger and more popular testosterone boosters we stock are
1. Alr Jungle Warfare
2. Prima force D-Aspartic Acid
3. Alr BAM
4. Bsc Triandrobol
5. Usp Labs Pink Magic
However the Best results have been found using a non-aromatising and shbg blocking test booster like Jungle Warfare, stacked with D-Aspartic Acid. Blood results have proven that these two products combined causes mind blowing results, and primes the body for ultimate natural muscle growth.
Increasing Growth Hormone production: There are quite a few really good products out on the market now for noticeably boosting your growth hormone levels.
From my own experience and feedback from others, I would rate them as follows
1. Ultimate nutrition ZMA
2. Ultimate nutrition GABA
3. High potency HGH up
4. Body ripped HGH plus ZMA
5. Powerzone HGH formulation
However best results were found when combining one of the HGH boosting products with Ultimate nutrition Gaba.
Last but not least, Insulin. Let’s look at how we can Manipulate Insulin, the most anabolic hormone of all.
So what is ‘Insulin’? Insulin is a Hormone that is produced by the Pancreas that regulates the level of glucose, a simple sugar that provides energy in the blood. Once a carbohydrate is consumed, it will cause shuttling and storage of nutrients. So, how can we take advantage of this?
Well first of all we want to make the body more sensitive to insulin, so eat lower carb diet throughout the day, and increase your carbohydrates in the last meal before training. While training drink an amino acid product that doesn’t contain any carbohydrates and if so make sure it is very low.
Why, you may ask? What this is doing is emptying the muscle of the glycogen stores (glycogen is what carbohydrates are stored in the muscle as, and used as fuel). It does not matter how many Carbohydrates are eaten throughout the day, the body can only store a maximum of glycogen equivalent to 1hour of exercise.
Once training has finished, the glycogen levels will be empty and the muscles become very sensitive to high g.i carbs. From this point on you will want to consume a fast acting protein with a High G.I carbohydrate. This will cause a huge surge of nutrients as, the carbs will cause a huge insulin spike and this will shuttle all the protein and carbohydrates to the starving muscles which will cause them to rebuild and repair bigger and stronger than before.
Some complete products you can use to cause this are:
1. Genetix Nutrition Full Force
2. Bsc nitrovol
3. Anabolix nutrition Mammoth
Or, you can make your own by using any good WPI, or WPI/WPC blend and adding your own fast acting carbs, and also some creatine to make it that little bit better again.
Some popular Carbohydrate sources are:
1. Genetix Glyco load
2. International protein Extreme Carbs
3. Prima Force carb slam
4. Genetix waxi load
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My EPIC Session with Marc Lobliner
Posted on October 25th, 2010
My EPIC Session with Marc Lobliner By Tyson
On Tuesday 23rd October I set out to my local gym to train chest, it was my usual routine on a Tuesday night after finishing a long day managing the Greenslopes store of Nutrition Warehouse. However this time I was more excited then usual as I was to have the innovative and incredibly talented mind behind two of the biggest and best brands originating from the United States, Scivation and Primaforce, join me. Marc Lobliner is the owner and creator of the two impressive brands, he is also an American bodybuilding champion that lives and breathes the industry and that is what really sets him apart from the rest of the pack. Whilst visiting Australia for a Scivation Tour Marc had put time aside to accept my request for a hardcore old school chest session and on Tuesday @ 6pm the time had finally come.
I met Marc at the gym and after a quick chat we launched into one of the highest intensity sessions I had ever done. We kicked it off with Heavy dumbell presses with Marc lifting the heaviest dumbells the gym had, the 150 pounders, with relative ease. We incorporated a lot of rest pause into our session and this helped max out the intensity. We followed the presses with hammer strength incline presses, hammer strength wide press, decline bench press, incline flyes then finished off what was left with some good deep dips. To say we had reached failure by the end was an understatement, I was just glad to have my Xtend with me as it was the only thing keeping me pumped up and full of energy for the next killer set Marc had planned. It was a great experience and Marc was a fountain of knowledge. I took advantage of the time to get as many tips and advice as I could to help me on my way as a young bodybuilder.
We followed the session with dinner at the Sofitel and Marc continued to hand out advice and also inform me of his own bodybuilding goal of acquiring his pro card early next year. A goal that after watching him train I can safely say should be achieved.
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Glutamine the Antioxidant and Health Elixir
Posted on October 7th, 2010
Glutamine the Antioxidant and Health Elixir By Tyson
Glutamine is an amino acid that helps build and maintain the muscles of the body and improve recovery from exercise. It also removes toxic ammonia from the liver and helps maintain a healthy central nervous system. Glutamine passes through the blood-brain barrier very easily, Once inside the brain glutamine may be converted into glutamic acid, another amino acid that helps sustain proper brain function; it also increases levels of the amino acid and neurotransmitter GABA. L-Glutamine supplements will improve mental function and are commonly used to treat epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia, and senility. Glutamine is an important source of energy for the nervous system. If the brain is not receiving enough glucose, it compensates by increasing glutamine metabolism for energy. Glutamine users often report more energy, less fatigue and a much better overall mood.
Glutamine promotes a healthy digestive tract by helping to balance acid and alkaline levels in the body. Glutamine transports nitrogen to other parts of the body, the muscles in particular. By regulating levels of nitrogen and replenishing glycogen supplies in the muscles, glutamine prevents muscle from being broken down during strenuous workouts. Many serious athletes and bodybuilders swear by glutamine for preserving and building muscle mass.
Glutamine is the most abundant single amino acid in the bloodstream and muscle tissue; up to 60 percent of the amino acid content in skeletal muscle tissue is glutamine. This amino acid helps to build and maintain muscle, therefore supplemental glutamine may be useful for dieters, competitive athletes, bodybuilders, and anyone with chronic conditions that lead to muscular deterioration, such as cancer or AIDS.
Everybody can benefit from using Glutamine, I recommend for general health purposes to use 5 grams a day in juice or water. For competitive purposes I recommend using 10-15 grams a day, broken up into 2-3 servings, either in your protein shakes or in juice or water, the most important times to take glutamine for an athlete is following training and before bed.
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MR Olympia 2010- Jay Cutler Triumphs!
Posted on September 29th, 2010
MR Olympia 2010 By Tyson
It was that time of year again when the biggest bodybuilding show on earth comes around again, all the fitness magazines were talking about it, every athlete wanted to win and millions of people worldwide where watching online and high with anticipation to find out the results of this great bodybuilding spectacle.
As the pre judging started it was obvious that some people had made big improvements and others had fallen behind.
MR Olympia results top 10.
First place – Jay Cutler, Jay won his 4th Mr Olympia title at this show. At pre judging Jay looked amazing, and HUGE no one can match his size at the moment, with the likes of Ronnie Coleman and Markus Ruhl retired. Though being huge, he wasn’t able to match his all time best conditioning he had brought the year before to reclaim his title in 2009.
As the prejudging went out jay started to become depleted and tired, which made him look less impressive, as he said he couldn’t squeeze his poses, as he felt flat and weak. This allowed Phil Heath to catch him in points and some felt may have been beating Jay after the pre judging. Jay and his coach Hany Rombod changed the game plane and decided to carb him up and get more food into him so his muscles would look full and bigger for the night show, this paid off and made him also appear tighter, enough to bring home the sandow and $200,000 cash prize for another year.
Jay also may have hinted about the idea of retiring, saying “I don’t have any plans for the future at this time”
Second place – Phil Heath, Phil Heath was by far the most improved bodybuilder onstage, and many reputable veterans of the sport said they had Phil winning the show. Phil was the youngest competitor on stage, which came in to the sport not so long ago and was taken under the wing of Mr Olympia Jay Cutler. Phil came out with a much more pleasing physique, drier and had more muscle separation and lines compared to Jay but just couldn’t match the raw size and fullness of big Jay. It’s a famous saying that you can’t just beat the champ, you have to knock him out.
Today Phil was close though, and it certainly looks like he will be winning an Olympia in the future.
Third place – Branch Warren, Branch was one place behind his placing from last year’s Olympia, in 3rd Branch came out looking a little bit watery in the prejudging but as the comparisons went on he really hardened up and looked amazing. However from the initial callouts being compared to Phil Heath it really showed the difference in conditioning between the two. Branch had really brought his back up from last year’s show, which was his weakest body part. By the finals Branch looked incredible, hard and dry, hopefully next time he can bring that package to the pre judging, it just seems to be a matter of timing with Branch.
Fourth place – Dexter Jackson, Dexter is a previous Olympia champion defeating Jay in 2008. Tonight at 41years old, he came in at an all time best; brought the great conditioning he is known for and came in his all time biggest as well. Dexter said he was happy with his placing because he was never sure that he could hold on to his title as Mr Olympia, but on this night he definitely gave it his best shot.
Fifth place – Dennis Wolfe, The big bad wolf completely redeemed himself, after last year’s failed attempt and finishing outside the top 15. Last year Dennis Wolfe advised the help of a diet and prep coach for the first time in his career, unfortunately for him, he did everything he was told to do and it didn’t work for him, he placed outside the top 15 and everybody had said he was washed up. But this year, he did it all on his own once again and placed in the top 5. Dennis had definitely brought up some of his weaker points like his back, this year his back looked like a strong point more than anything. Dennis also brought his best ever conditioning, not once have I seen Dennis in such great condition and it was a well deserved placing for him.
Sixth place – Ronny Rockel, Mister consistent finally got noticed, Ronny is one of those bodybuilders that looks amazing and has no weak points, but at the same time has no areas that are great standouts. He continually shows up in amazing condition and today came in with that condition and just a little bit fuller and bigger for his best ever placing at the Olympia.
Seventh place – Kai Greene, Kai Greene was one of the favourites to win the show, it was thought after Kai defeated Phil Heath and Dexter at the Arnold classic convincingly, it was he that would challenge the champ for the sandow. However that was not the case tonight. Kai says that he ate one meal to many before the show which bloated him and made him retain water. Whatever it was Kai looked like he came so close and then tried to push it too far. Kai has a Massive physique and is extremely strong. However, because all the big lifts he does, he has got a very thick waist. When he is in his best condition like the 2010 Arnold classic for example you don’t notice it so much because he still has a pleasing physique, but tonight he came in a tad off, and it exposed the thick waist and unpleasing proportions. However by the night show he brought much nicer detail and condition, it was just too late though and he missed out on a lot of callouts in prejudging.
Eighth place – Victor Martinez, Victor took the whole year off competing to concentrate on this show and after being awarded 8th place there was a huge booing for his placing, as in the media he was being talked about a lot as someone who may take the Olympia title. Unfortunately Victor said his head wasn’t 100% into it, as late last year his sister was murdered and everybody was saying he wouldn’t be able to look as good as he did, after receiving his knee reconstruction.
Victor still came in looking amazing and I personally believe he deserved a much better placing than this, and nobody would’ve said a thing if he had placed in the top 5. I believe the booing from the crowd showed that tonight luck just wasn’t on his side.
Ninth place – Toney Freeman, 44 year old Toney Freeman is a former top 5 Olympia competitor, and looked great on this night. Toney lacks the wow factor, he competed quite a few times throughout the year and won a few shows. Then comes in to the Olympia looking good, but lacking the drastic improvements other competitors like Phil and Dennis have made.
Tenth place – Hidetada Yamagishi, Rounding out the top 10 is Hidetada, Hidetada competed a massive six times throughout the year and had to pull out of the Europa after injuring himself, but tonight he brought his best package for the year of 2010 looking amazing, Great full muscle bellies, and conditioning. The only thing this guy is lacking to move further up the rankings is size. However since turning pro and moving to America this Japanese bodybuilder, has come a long way and will definitely continue to do some damage next year.
On Another note, Dennis James a Great Bodybuilder and a veteran of the sport announced his retirement with an emotional speech. After placing 2nd in Spain weeks before the Olympia and then an 11th place finish at the Olympia, he decided he has done as much as he can as a competitive bodybuilder and it was time to step down.
So that’s a wrap for the 2010 Mr Olympia top 10. Let’s wait and see what the next 12 months brings!
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Keeping it Real
Posted on September 27th, 2010
Keeping it Real By Tyson
I found myself talking to this guy at the gym that I had never seen before, he was probably 110-115kg and still in quite good condition. I thought for sure that this guy must be a top level bodybuilder, Curiosity got the better to me and I just had to ask “have you ever competed before?” he responded “No way, I’m not that good.” I thought to myself wow, what is he comparing himself to if he thinks he isn’t good enough for the stage. We then continued to train alongside each other.
After training I asked him the question that I had been thinking all session, “what are you comparing yourself to? You would do great.” He said that every month he reads the magazines, flex, muscular development, etc, and he see’s guys like Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, and Kai Green. He said “Those guys look amazing; I don’t look anything like that.”
WOW, I thought how many people must compare themselves to the pros, not just in bodybuilding, but in any sport? And this is where my blog begins. You have to realise if you enjoy doing something that you should go out and do it for yourself, don’t worry about what others think, do it for you.
Let’s use basketball as an example, how many people do you see playing basketball down at the park that are as good as Michael Jordan, probably NONE and that’s because Michael Jordan was the best ever, there’s still not one person in the NBA today that stands out as much as Michael did. But to think there’s a guy at home, with a ring in his backyard, who loves to go outside and shoot for hours, but will never join a basketball team because he knows deep down, right now, he’s not as good as Michael Jordan is just ridiculous. Nobody starts at the top, everybody starts either at the bottom or somewhere near the bottom and works their way up.
Michael Jordan couldn’t even make his division 1 team in high school. However he persevered put in the hard work and trained day and night and played for his schools division 2 team until he proved in his final year of high school, that he deserved a position in the division 1 squad. We all know what happened next. He continued to play basketball, getting a scholarship to North Carolina College then got drafted in the Chicago Bulls and the rest is history.
Another example, I remember seeing an interview with Kevin Levrone where he talks about being one of the top IFBB pro bodybuilders and was flying around all over America doing the pro shows, and he met a guy called Ronnie Coleman (you may have heard of him J ). Ronnie never placed well in these shows, and Kevin said he wondered how he did it, Kevin was on a big supplement contract, winning money from all of the shows, and was getting flights and accommodation paid for. However Ronnie wasn’t on any big supplement contract, wasn’t winning much, if any money from these competitions and instead of flying (because his flights were not paid for) he would catch the train around the country to do these shows. So once the European tour came around Kevin noticed Ronnie was still there, so he took Ronnie aside to get to know him better.
He found out Ronnie had a family and was just competing because he loved the sport and also believed he could do well. Kevin told him, only the top guys make money and he should hang up his trunks, and give it up for a while if not for good. Ronnie continued the European tour. Ronnie then took a year off from competing to come back and beat Kevin Levrone in his next show, he then continued to be one of the top Pros in the sport and Kevin couldn’t believe it. Ronnie had come and beat the guy that told him to give it up, while at the same time winning his first pro show.
Not long after Dorian yate’s decided to retire from bodybuilding, which he was the reigning Mr Olympia (the biggest competition in professional bodybuilding). Flex Wheeler was named as the favourite to win the following year. Ronnie knuckled down with the dream of one day winning the Mr Olympia competition. With the previous record of placing 16th, 9th and 9th as his first 3 attempts nobody was expecting anything special. That year, Ronnie Coleman gave it everything he had, and believed in himself, sure he got told 100’s if not 1000’s of times that he could not do it, but he turned up on the day knowing that he had put in everything he had, with nothing but hopes and dreams, he stepped on stage and become the new Mr Olympia. He then held the title for a record 8 consecutive years. Ronnie Coleman is now known as one of the best bodybuilders of all time. He went from being a no name, that couldn’t win a small pro show, to being the best bodybuilder of all time and all because he never gave up because he had a dream and a self belief in himself.
Both of these amazing athletes have shown that nothing comes easy; you have to get out there and work hard to achieve your dreams, your hard work and perseverance will eventually make them a reality. Otherwise they will remain as dreams and something you will look back on when you are older and wish you had made more of an effort to achieve. There’s a good saying “tears will get you sympathy, sweat will get you results”
So stop listening to people that say you can’t, or that tell you that you’re not good enough. Start putting in the hard work and make yourself good enough. You never actually fail, until you give up. The mind is a muscle to, so stay strong and believe!!
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Zinc- The ‘Male’ Vitamin!
Posted on September 16th, 2010
Zinc- The ‘Male’ Vitamin! By Tyson
Stories have always been told about the night someone had a dozen oysters and conceived there first child, but little is known by people on the reason why oysters have this effect on people. Well the reason is the high level of the vitamin Zinc found in oysters. Zinc is a very important vitamin and has many roles in the body ranging from wound healing to fighting colds and flus. The most important benefit from Zinc, especially to males and athletes, is the fact it increases sperm count and ensures a male has optimal testosterone levels.
A popular study done on Zinc by Researchers at the Selcuk University in Turkey was carried out using 10 male wrestlers. The wrestlers were supplemented with 3mg of zinc per kg body weight and after 4 weeks showed a staggering 40% increase in free testosterone! The study also showed that lactic acid build up was less and performance was increased in the study group that used zinc.
Putting it simply Zinc is a critical nutrient to add to your arsenal and should be used by everybody, especially males and those involved in training or athletics. A popular way to use Zinc is in a Zinc Magnesium blend, as the magnesium also has benefits on the muscles and they both work synergistically together and when taken before bed ensure a good nights sleep and maximum recovery.
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