Strength Conditioning and Nutrition 101

Many organisations and textbooks have suggested standard fluid replacement guidelines. However, with the numerable variables (environmental conditions, intensity level, duration, rest periods, the amount of clothing worn, and the goal of the session, practice, competitive event, physical fitness level, individual sweat rate, and etc), research and clinical trials have demonstrated that these standards or drinking by thirst are not adequate and hydration should be individualized. It is important that we incorporate the latest research in tandem with our knowledge of our athletes to ensure the best evidence based clinical practice when it comes to hydration for our athletes and ourselves.

Research on the effects dehydration has had on physical and psychological performance has been controversial. There has been a great deal of disagreement amongst research which has been mainly attributed to different environmental conditions. However, the overall consensus is that as little as 1% dehydration has an effect on heart rate, body temperature, recovery rate and physical and psychological performance.

Everyone wants to improve their performance, get bigger, and stronger faster. One way that has caused an explosion in the supplement industry is rooted in scientific theory. The theory goes as such increasing blood flow to working muscles by way of vasodilation may increase work capacity during both aerobic and anaerobic performances. Also, it may enhance recovery through increased nutrient delivery. Due to these potential benefits the supplement companies grabbed on to the semi-essential amino acid L-arginine because it can be converted to nitric oxide (NO) via NO synthase. NO is responsible for vasodilation. The supplement companies developed a vast market of NO products with L-arginine as the primary ingredient without any human trials being done. The NO supplements continue today to be one of the leading forces in the supplement industry.

Megavitamins 

Everybody knows about multivitamins and more than likely have helped make them into the number 1 supplement. Multivitamins are the largest supplement in the supplement industry. With the huge demand for them, every supplement company is competing in producing thousands of gimmicks to make them stand above the rest.

These supplement companies are praying on the consumers who have heard from the TV doctors that multivitamins are great. Many TV doctors and famous health books have put multivitamins as one of their top 5 supplements everyone should take. However, they haven’t provided us with much information on what constitutes a good multi vitamin.
Today I write in order to educate and protect you from the supplement companies propaganda and the health risks associated.
Yes multivitamins are perfectly fine for you and can be beneficial for the majority of North America but only when multivitamins do not exceed 100% of the RDA value.
I know that the majority of multivitamins on the market have 800% of this, 1600% of that, and so on. This comes with an awesome tag line/gimmick “multivitamins that meet the athletes needs” or bodybuilder or weight lifter and so on.
Unfortunately, this is completely bogus and puts you at incredible health risks. Once your enzyme system becomes saturated the vitamins taken in “megadose” begin to act as chemicals (drugs) in the body.

This probably doesn't mean much to you so let us look at a couple of examples.

Written By Assistant Professor Andrew Heming

Unfortunately, the people who are most interested in strength training are the ones who need it the least. Gyms have tons of young people slaving away to attain their beach body or improve sport performance reasons. However, there are often a smaller handful of wise 50+’ers who realize they need resistance training  more than ever!

Everyone needs a great breakfast to start off the day! So I am going to show you guys my favorite breakfast to kick start the day. This breakfast is loaded with nutrients: low GI carbs, healthy fats, protein, and minerals. This breakfast is a great choice for everyone and especially those who are living an active lifestyle.

Another Study came out demonstrating the incredible effect that High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can have on your overall health. As you all know, I have become an increasingly strong supporter of HIIT training over the course of the blog. The research has been speaking for itself, stronger than ever, as it continues to come out in support for HIIT training. However, a river of research has been coming out to show the negatives of long distance running (cardio).

So to begin my return to the blog, I want to begin by providing an explanation for why I have not written in a long time. This summer I went up to northern Saskatchewan which is approximately a 10 hour drive north from Saskatoon. For those who do not where I’m talking about, search in Google maps Points North, Saskatchewan, Canada and you will have an idea of where I was. Over the course of the summer, I had little to no internet access and was working for a Uranium Exploration company 7 days a week. On top of all this, I was planning my wedding with what little internet I did have.
The second half is the plan for the upcoming year

Pre Competition Carbohydrate Consumption
Being a former boxer, I knew I needed to eat carbs and lots of them prior to competition. But, how much and when? I could not find the answer by looking through forums and such. I just kept coming across guidelines for aerobic athletes (cyclists and marathon runners). So, today I write with the intention of helping you avoid going through the same issues as I did.

• Eat 3-4 hours before the competition
• 1-2 g/kg body mass or 200-300g of carbohydrates be consumed during this meal
• Of low glycemic carbs (this could be detrimental if you use high glycemic)

This eating will have little to no effect on your muscle glycogen stores (energy stored in your muscles). However, it does have a large effect on your blood sugar levels. It will help prevent the feelings of hunger and help maintain energy level. If you feel hungry between this time and your competition, which I suspect you will, you will want to snack on low GI foods.

During competition
During your exercise you want to have those super high GI carbs you love so much. So many studies have shown that this will help maintain blood glucose levels and improve your exercise performance. I suggest that you do this through your water in-between each round. Make your drink about a 6-8% solution of the delicious sugars (I suggest dextrose; you can get this at any store that has a beer making section) in 8-16 ounces of water. Make sure your trainer knows you have sugar in it so he doesn’t splash you with it and make you all sticky.


Post competition
After that brutal fight, you are exhausted and completely drained of energy. It’s hard to even lift your arms up; only the adrenaline left over from the fight is keeping you going. Your body has used up all its glycogen stores and now it needs your help desperately to refuel it. Here we are going to continue to drink those delicious high GI foods. This will result in the highest amount of muscle glycogen replenishment possible. Not doing this immediately after training will result in a reduced muscle glycogen resynthesis by more than 50% (This means you may take 18-24 hours longer to recover).

• During this phase you should double the concentration of carbs so approx 12-16% solution in 8-16 ounces of water 

During and Post competition carbs are super important if you are in a tournament with multiple matches during the day

Fast absorption of amino acids is incredibly important after training. I have discussed in great detail the importance of having carbs and protein that can be digested and absorbed at incredibly fast rates during and after exercise.

To me, it has always made sense that ingesting essential amino acids as a supplement would provide the fastest possible way in getting them into your blood. However, I had assumed that I must be wrong since I had not found this mentioned in common research literature. With all the focus on protein and branch chain amino acids, I figured I would forget about my hypothesis.

A question commonly asked is whether protein shakes are necessary for obtaining the benefits previously mentioned. Interestingly enough, they have found that milk can be a viable way of attaining all the benefits associated with protein shakes. Studies have demonstrated that milk consumption can stimulate amino acid uptake by skeletal muscle and result in an increase in net muscle protein synthesis.

Something that I find surprising is that Whole milk appears to be more beneficial than fat free milk, unless you ingest the same amount of caloric value of the fat free as the whole milk.

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This is where the fun begins!!!
This article will help improve the performance of every athlete.

Over the 24 hour day, your muscles go through a constantly changing growth cycle, there are times when they are actively involved in producing energy, times when they are recovering, and other times when they are growing. In order for your muscles to function at their peak ability, we need to cater to each of these scenarios, to do this we need to provide the muscles

with the adequate and proper nutrients at the appropriate time.

In every scenario we can guide our muscles metabolic pathways to produce and replenish our muscle glycogen (stored glucose) and synthesize muscle protein. By providing the body with the right nutrient mixture to the muscles at the right time, you can greatly enhance your rate of recovery (18-24+hours) and improve muscle growth, strength, and power. This all adds up to making one deadly warrior

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Note: Understanding that a great deal of people may read this series who have not been following this blog, I am going to attempt to create a fairly in depth series. For those who have been following, I will attempt to provide new information to make them worth your while. Also, I will attempt to go through this stuff at mock speed, so we can get to the fun stuff.

Combat sports in recent years have exploded with the start of the UFC TV series. MMA has become the world’s fastest growing sport. With so many people having the dream of being the next great MMA fighter, boxer, kick boxer, etc. We need to start with having proper nutrition and hydration.


Nutrition for combat fighters is unique. In order, to bring your performance to the next level, we need to work on creating a nutrition plan that enhances skeletal muscle skeletal recovery from the high intensity training associated with your sport. In order to deal with this intensity, we need to provide your body with adequate energy and protein consumption.

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Traditionally, when a woman becomes pregnant, it seems like their freedom for the nine months of pregnancy has disappeared. However, this old school thought should be thrown out the window. No more locking yourself up in the house and trying to avoid all forms of labour.


Since 2002 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has been in support of regular exercise during and after pregnancy for both healthy and sedentary women. It is time for the public to throw out their out beliefs and see what the research is telling them.  The changes that women experiences during her pregnancy should not be viewed as a limitation. Instead we should all be encouraging them to participate in exercise and practice healthy habits.

Pregnancy is a beautiful time in a woman’s life. But, pregnancy does not come without its issues. One of the  most common problems that women experience is lower back pain.


In order to deal with this issue very few exercise recommendations have been offer to those who suffer from it.


On top of this every mother is worried about maintaining their figure as close as possible during the pregnancy and returning to their sexy body as quickly as possible.


All of these issues can simply be resolved by training the core.  Currently there is very little information available to personal trainers and pregnant mothers on how to safely and appropriately train the core.

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If you only had enough time to do a few exercises, these would be the go to exercises.
There are no better exercises then these for building muscle, strength, and losing weight!
As you know, I am a massive advocate for exercises that involve free weights and moving your body through space.

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Whey protein is probably the biggest supplement purchased.  Most people go to the supplement store and purchase whey because that’s what everyone does. But, is it the right choice and are you using it properly? Could you be using your protein more effectively and see significant improvements?

Written By Vincent St. Pierre
Hypermobility screen


Almost everyone today is extremely inflexible. With all the desk jobs today, it can sure cause your muscles to shorten and tighten. Research has shown that from holding a position for 20 minutes can cause your muscles to begin shortening and we sit around at work for 8 hours.

Before assessing ones shortened muscles and lack of flexibility, we first need to check areas of too much flexibility and double joint. You may be thinking, how can you be too flexible? How can being overly flexible be a problem?

Written By Vincent St. Pierre

• Everyone has asked the question when starting creatine: how should I take it? 
• I have heard about loading, should I, and how much?
• Is there a difference for athletes or general public?

We will attempt to answer all these questions through the course of this article.

I have gone through all these questions myself and have received a million and a half answers: “You should take this much for loading”.....“no, this much”...”no, loading isn’t important it’s just marketing”.... etc.
I found this so frustrating trying to find the true answer, yet no one could supply me with one. They would just tell me what they did. However, I don’t care what they did, I care about what the most effective way of using creatine is; in order to get the full benefits and my money’s worth.

The most common and effective way of increasing your creatine stores is through loading. So, what is the best way to load? How much should you take? And for how long should you load?

Now as previously mentioned the best form of creatine to take is creatine monohydrate; for why please refer to this article. don’t fall for the sales pitch that you don’t need to load with this form of creatine or this new mix..... It’s not true!!!

I’m sure many of you have walked into your local supplement store or online site looking to purchase some creatine. You walk over to the section and see a vast quantity of different forms of creatine. In total and utter confusion, you turn to an employee and ask what creatine you should be taking. Being on commission or having no knowledge at all, they spew out information based on what the supplement companies claim and try to influence you to buy the most expensive one.

This article is meant to help you understand what research has to say on this topic. To help you avoid being scammed by your local supplement stores and the supplement companies propaganda.

Throughout the academic world, there has only been one consistently reported side effect associated with ingestion of creatine which is weight gain.

Brain Health

Written By Martin Ng

According to Yahoo News, one recent article suggested that sugar can make you dumb; however, is this really the case?  In the study, rats were fed with omega-3 fatty acid diet (n-3 diet) with and without fructose; another group that was n-3 deficient was fed with and without fructose as well.  It was found that high levels of fructose were associated with cognitive dysfunction.

Written by Martin Ng

Introduction
Running barefoot has recently become increasingly popular.  In the United States, there is a Barefoot Runners Society consisting of 2000 international members and growing.  Some believe that barefoot running decreases injuries compared to shod (wearing shoes) running, but is this really the case?

All personal trainers and strength coaches should put their clients through the FMS prior to training in my opinion. If you have a personal trainer or strength coach who does not know what the FMS Test is, run away. Your coach clearly does no additional reading and is far behind the times, since this has been around for a significant amount of time and is considered the gold standard.

Written By Vincent St. Pierre

Intro
When you think weight training, power lifting, or hardcore meat heads, someone squatting with hundreds of pounds on their back probably comes to mind.

Squats in there variety of styles (back, front, dumbbell, goblet, jump, split) are commonly used in every gym as a viable form of training. I myself view this as one of the big 6 exercises (great idea for a future post). The squat is used from your athletic to your everyday meat head, to the general public and the elderly to build strength, balance, functionality, hypertrophy, and bone density. However, in the training community there is a great deal of debate on how low you should go.

Athletes, especially high level athletes often have played their sport as the sole form of exercise. They train, train, and train. However, they forget to hit the gym; the weight room. This ends up creating athletes who are very skilled at their sport, but don't have any foundation.

Written By Vincent St. Pierre

After learning about how to do a proper chin-up /pull-up in the last post, I am sure many of you are at the point where I can’t do any or only 1. This post is meant to teach how to progress to a proper chin-up.

As I have stated many times, any form of training that involves your body moving through space is a superior form of training. Since this is the case, I am going to work backwards through the progression. Basically, you should only go down the progression if you truly can’t maintain proper form at least three chin-ups using the suggested alternative.

Table of Contents

• Intro 
• Research
• Practical application (If you are not interested in understanding why you can skip to this section)
• References

The greatest training exercises involve moving the body through space. The exercise that may be the single greatest exercise for measuring upper body strength is the pull up.

Beyond this, it is an incredible exercise for developing your muscles and creating wings that you could fly with. It is such an incredible exercise that it is commonly known as the upper body squat. The US military service academies have traditionally used the pull-up to assess the degree of physical fitness. Further, in terms of rehabilitation and the avoidance of injuries, it is so important to balance in push and pull exercises.

Today, people tend to be mirror trainers and forget completely about the back side of the body and become extremely disproportionate in strength. When ones upper body push and pull strength is disproportionate it has been found to increase the likelihood of shoulder complex trauma such as rotator cuff injury or strain.

When I am training athletes and the general public, I ask them if they know how to do a chin-up, they laugh and always say “yes!” However, on only one occasion have I ever worked with an athlete who knew how to truly perform a proper chin-up.

How this all comes together will be shown in a video at the end of the post 

Two articles will be released tomorrow at 8 PM pacific

1. Tips on how to improve your chin ups/ pull ups 
2. How nutrition can play a drastic role in avoiding and curing acne (guest writer) 

This is just a bit of an intro to a future article on how to deal with anemia from a nutritional standpoint.

Over 2 billion people worldwide suffer from anemia with most people having not been diagnosed. This health problem is typically found in women. It is so common and significant in women that on average women have 10% lower blood volume then males; this is purely due to anemia. This issue is so significant and affects the daily lives of so many (symptoms):

• Fatigue
• Organs not functioning properly
• weakness
• twitching, flinching
• restless legs syndrome
• pale skin
• tongue problems 
• reduced amounts of saliva
• brittle nails 
• Pica desire to eat non food items
• Headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, shortness of breath, and loss of consciousness
• Rapid heartbeat and chest pain

After looking at the health risks of using stimulants let us consider how to use them appropriately. I believe it always preferable to understand the risks in order to avoid going overboard when you hear the possible benefits. In case you missed the last post here is the link 

Do not abuse?
As Kelly Baggett wisely said “Low grade stimulants like caffeine can give you an extra boost if used intermittently and judiciously.” When selecting the stimulant to use, there are a few considerations:

• Select one that does not make you feel jittery 
• Avoid ones that contain significant amounts of sugar
• Consider additional benefits associated with the stimulant
• Side effects of the stimulant 

If you greet the morning with the aroma of freshly brewing coffee, you are one of billions of people worldwide who indulge in the daily grind of coffee consumption. According to the latest coffee statistics from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), we pour about 1.4 billion cups of coffee a day worldwide. That's a lot of coffee!  And about 45 percent of it (400 million cups a day!) is drunk in the United States. The United States is the single biggest consumer of coffee in the world - but that does not mean that the typical person in the U.S. drinks more coffee than the typical person in any other country.

• Total time 3 hr 35min
• Prep time 30 min
• Inactive time 3 hr 05 min

Crust (enough for 4 9 inch pizza)

• 1 package active dry or fresh yeast (1/2 tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees F
• 1.5 cup whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cup whole grain teff flour 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2-3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing

Pie (enough for 1 Pizza)

• ½ lb of lean ground beef preferably organic
• 3 cloves of garlic 
• 1 cup of chopped mushrooms
• 1 large tomato
• 1 cup of mixed bell pepper
• 1 cup of shredded or sliced mozzarella (preferably buffalo)
• 2 cups of spinach 
• Basil, oregano, and Montreal steak spice to taste

There is an optimal bodyweight for every position and athlete. A great way to improve your performance on the field is by reducing your body fat and increasing your muscle mass, it does not stop at just improving performance, but also your general health. Having a consistent lower body while improving strength leads to a longer and healthier life. For all those looking to improve their performance and/or general health, here are some tips to help you lose that unwanted fat:

Carbohydrates

•  The main purpose of carbohydrates is to provide energy for the cells of the body and the brain to function. On top of this, carbohydrates are an efficient source of energy for us to use in our daily lives. 
• Everyone knows that eating too many carbohydrates can lead to fat storage. However, many people don’t realise that carbohydrates facilitate the metabolism of fat. A way of looking at it is that carbohydrates start the fire. Basically, when you are out camping and you want to get your big juicy logs burning, you don’t just throw them in a fire pit and light them with a single match. You know that a small kindling is necessary to get the big logs going. This is exactly the role of carbohydrates. 
• If you are not consuming enough carbohydrates, the body needs to find another source of fuel..... one of these sources is protein. So where does the body get this protein from? .... your muscle. So carbohydrates spare muscle protein.  

1. Intro
2. Essentials of protein
3. Protein digestion
4. Protein quality and methods of assessment
5. Nitrogen balance
6. Protein Requirements
7. Protein timing
8. Protein Sources
9. Protein type
10. Conclusion
11. References

The Immune System

• Intense & prolonged training/competition event inhibit immune status for up to 6hrs
• During these 6 hrs athlete are most susceptible to attacks on the lymphocytes from a variety of immune infections
• Most common in athletes competing and training in endurance exercises
• Increase susceptibility to URTI’s that usually lead to ear infections and colds for prolonged periods of time

pH scale:
            
The acidity and alkalinity of a solution is represented through a scale, which extends form 0-14. The scale is based upon the concentration of H+ in moles per liter. The midpoint of the scale is 7 where the concentrations of H+ and OH- are equal (pure water). When a solution has a greater amount of H+ then OH- it is an acidic solution with the pH being below 7. When a solution has less H+ then OH- it is an alkaline solution with the pH being above 7.

Please leave comments and questions
If there is anything you would like we to cover or in more depth please fell free to ask. I am here to help educate and aid you in your athletic and nutritional goals. My specialty is working with elite athletes in university and professional levels.

• Complete meals: All meals (snacks included) should have protein, fats, and veggies or fruits (except around training)

• Eat every 2-3 hours. You should be eating around 5-8 meals per day

• Fruits and veggies are a must with all meals

Why didn’t the prison allow the prisoners to eat chocolate? Because they were scared they would break out!
For starters let’s throw this myth away chocolate does not cause acne. Rather, acne is usually cause by one or a combination of three things

• Hygiene
• Nutrition (often not enough vitamin A and healthy fats)
• Hormones going crazy

Chocolate has been put in the junk food category for a long time. However, recent research has been unveiling exciting news about the health benefits of chocolate. In Dr. Jonny Bowden’s book, “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” and M.S, R.D. Tonia Reinhard’s book “Super Foods the Healthiest Foods on the Planet,” state the following benefits of dark chocolate:

Healthy sources of fats:
Note this is far from comprehensive but high lights some of the best and healthiest sources