Sometimes in life we spin our wheels, we put the effort in, we do what we’re “supposed” to but we’re just not getting the results we want.  Maybe we’re not even getting that intensity in, maybe we’re truly just LOST.  Sometimes it’s this realization that can cause change in our lives to get us to the place where we want to be.  So ask yourself a few things.

1.  What are my goals?  Define them, and try to quantify them.  Often times I ask my clients this when we first start out and they say “I want to be in better shape.”  Well what is better shape to them?  Is it 30 lbs lighter?  Is it 30 lbs heavier?  Is it a 500 lb deadlift?  Is it six pack abs and broad shoulders?  Is it “tight” arms and no flab?  The problem is that many people simply do not define their goals well.  They don’t know what they want.  Again, ask yourself, “what are my goals?”

2.  Why are these my goals?  You’ve defined them now ask yourself why you want this.  If you are doing it for someone else, rethink this.  This needs to be about you, about yourself, because ultimately internal motivation to do better, to be fitter, faster, leaner, more muscular, stronger, sexier needs to come from within.  Why do you want what you want?  Is it more then just a whimsical idea?

3.  What if I succeed, what if I don’t?  At times people get so caught up in their problems, their worries, their goals, their day to day life, that they don’t think about anything past the current day.  What happen if you do not succeed in your fitness goals?  Will you live to see future grandchildren?  Will you live out the rest of the year?  For some, it truly is that dire where they are at a point that their current fitness levels are killing them, at times, quickly.  On the flip-side, what happens if you do meet your goals?  How much better will your life be?  How will it be better?  Will you be more confident?  Will you be be happier?  More capable of talking to the opposite gender?  Will you be better at your sport?  Will you simply feel better?  WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN YOU SUCCEED?  and again, what will happen if you do not?

4.  What is my plan of action?  What am I doing to make myself have the body I want?  Am I eating healthier?  How?  Am I training?  Is it actually smart how I’m training?  Am I moving around more, am I participating in things that I say “this sucks” but afterwards have the gratification of knowing I just did something hard?  Have I talked to people who know what they’re doing?  If I can’t make a plan have I thought about having someone else make it for me?  Am I learning?  Am I striving to make improvements in my lifestyle?  What the hell am I doing to make me have the body I want?  If the answer is nothing, then it starts here.  It starts today.  Today I will do something.  That something is parking farther away in a parking lot.  That something is taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  That something is passing on that late night milkshake.  I AM GOING TO DO SOMETHING.

5.  How can Valhalla Training Systems help you?  This is what I do.  I help people answer the above questions to make themselves a better version of themselves.  Be it through my paid consultation or through the simple tid bit like this, I hope that I can help YOU do something.  

Moderate alcohol intake is associated with a large amount of health benefits.

The Thermic effect of alcohol (amount of energy that is required to process alcohol) is high and the actual caloric value is around 5.6 calories per gram versus the often stated 7.1 calories per gram.  That being said, as is the issue with any liquids, it is easy to ingest far too many calories due to the lack of satiety and lack of digestion involved with liquids.

Alcohol and it’s effects on testosterone has been greatly over-stated by the health and fitness industries.  With the exception of extremely high consumption of alcohol in a short time span, or long-term measurable alcohol in the bloodstream, i.e. being an alcoholic or “typical” college student, the effect is a non-factor, unlikely to affect your ability to put on muscle directly.  It should be noted that alcohol will reduce the quality of sleep which in turn can have negative effects

When you ingest alcohol, it has to first be converted to acetate, which takes priority over all other nutrients being used/absorbed/broken down, preventing fat from being used as an energy source.  This does not directly result in fat gain, but add this unto drunk munchies and you have the “freshman 15” or a “midlife muffin-top”. Again alcohol does not directly cause fat gain, but it does put a halt to many metabolic functions that promote aesthetic quality.

What to do if you know you’ll be drinking?

If you know you’re going to be out and apart partying it up, focus on getting in as much protein as you want, and keep your carbs limited to veggies.  This will help you get what you need before you go out drinking.  When you’re out drinking, avoid mixed drinks due to the high sugar content in most of them.  Better choices would be dry wines (merlot, cabernet, pino noir) or gin/vermouth based drinks.  In other words, the dryer the better in terms of mitigating destruction on your physique.  As far as low carb goes, Rum, Scotch, Tequila, Vodka, Gin, and Whiskey are all almost zero carb.  Again, if you’re out drinking and not taking the above as shots, try and mix them with diet coke or other diet drinks.

Life is about balance, if you cannot enjoy the body you’re building,
then why do it?  Gotta have some fun in life.  Mitigate the damage, and get back at it the next day!

Recovery.  One of the most important things for athletes in my opinion, and by proxy vikings.  We often push our bodies to the limit, then disregarding those limits, go ahead and go farther.  Increasing our ability to recover from training is essential to the well-being of our body’s both for the purpose of becoming faster and for the longevity of our lives.  In the following few paragraphs or so I’ll be outlining many things that can increase our recovery rate and allow us to train harder, be faster, and beat out the competition, or at the very least, make it so you don’t wake up feeling god-awful sore or run-down.

There are four major aspects of recovery that every athlete needs to consider when planning their weekly routine:  energy systems recovery, psychological factors, waste removal and body repair, and the replenishment of nutrients.  All these factors need to be taken into account when planning optimal recovery.  The easiest one to control is the energy systems used factor.  This is a basic concept of not over-training, avoiding doing interval work (AT/AN work) on consecutive days, and giving your body enough rest between really hard days.  Most good coaches know this and training programs usually avoid this problem. 

Psychological factors may be one of the hardest issues facing us as rowers.  Things such as work, kids, financial matters, and just life in general get in the way of our mind ever truly being at peace and keeping us constantly stressed out.  Stress increases cortisol, cortisol makes recovery harder, makes it more likely for you to store body fat, and depresses testosterone levels.  The biggest factor to combat cortisol and stress in general is to get SLEEP.  Preferably 8 hours.  If you’re not getting at least 8 hours of sleep you are not going to be as efficient as you possibly can be.  You will not be able to train as hard, and you will find the results you are looking for much harder to obtain.  Other then sleep, meditation techniques can be used to help decrease stress throughout the day.  As weird as it may sound, 30 minutes a day or so of basic meditation (just think happy thoughts) can really help reduce cortisol and stress in general.  You can find books about it at your local book store and I’d highly recommend reading one of those.

Waste removal and body repair are very easy to do yet it is often overlooked.  One of the essential things you can do for body repair is taking a Post Workout shake or meal.  Basically, immediately after a workout, be it rowing or lifting, have a meal that has quick acting carbs (high glycemic index value) and a quick acting protein (preferably whey, as caseinate is much slower acting).  This can be done either by a shake (easy and some great tasting ones out there, I prefer Surge by Biotest) or via solid foods, something like watermelon and a chicken breast would do the job well.  I know that doesn’t sound terribly great but it’s not too bad a combo!  A post workout shake is only half the battle, getting enough protein in your body to repair muscle tissue is essential as well.  Athletes have a higher protein requirement then the average person and I personally recommend at the bare minimum of 1g of protein per body pound.  Waste removal can be achieved via a warm-down after a workout to help flush lactic acid out of your system as well as a thorough stretching program.  Since your muscles cannot begin to recover until they return to their normal length (weight lifting and interval rowing shorten muscle length) stretching will speed up recovery time by allowing your muscles to begin recovering sooner.  The most effective (and one of the most enjoyable) techniques to helping remove waste and increase muscle recovery is therapeutic massage.  Massages will help remove metabolic waste, increase blood flow to muscles, and generally result in less stress which as I discussed earlier helps with recovery.

Last but not least is giving your body what it needs, when it needs it.  It takes a lot of energy to train and not giving your body the proper nutrients it need’s will result in decreased performance.  Something that everyone needs, athletes and non-athletes alike, is a multivitamin.  A multivitamin will give your body the vitamins and minerals that your body isn’t getting in your daily diet (lets face it, not everyone is getting all their veggies and fruits in to the amount we should be).  A multivitamin will allow the body to recover more efficiently.  Other then a multivitamin, a proper balanced diet is paramount to your body getting everything you need to recover.  A good rule of thumb is if they didn’t eat it 2000 years ago then it’s probably not the greatest thing in the world for you, no McDonalds did not exist 2000 years ago so put the Big Mac down and toss the fries.  If it comes from an animal or a plant it’s usually pretty healthy (everything in moderation of course).

Some final quick tips to help recovery after workouts that I have found to be helpful are:

• Alternating hot and cold showers (will increase circulation allowing for nutrients and minerals to get to your muscles quicker after a workout)
• Foam Rolling (allows for active recovery and works similar to a massage).  I have one of these:  http://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/muscle-massagers.html and it has worked great.  There are cheaper versions that you can find from a wide array of online stores.  Just search foam rollers in google.
• Flossing the joints.  This has been one of the most important things for keeping my shoulders healthy and is really helping my hip mobility as well.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI22HIMZWWw
• Dynamic Stretching.  This is stretching through a movement.  It is not ballistic stretching which involves much more “bouncing” type motions.  Lunges, arm circles, and other various movements can be considered dynamic.  Personally I try to work on hip mobility with dynamic stretching as this helps the most with reducing tightness and most athletes have extremely tight hips.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu0oj19—kM - great stretch for the hips and psoas.

That’s all for now as I’ve already been long-winded.  Feel free to post your comments and questions and I’ll answer them as soon as possible.

Train hard, train smart.

Supplementation can be a great thing for an athlete.  It can give you a competitive edge, help you recover, make you look better naked…..you know all those things are important.  That being said there is a ton of marketing crap out there that is geared towards misleading the consumer with shiny boxes, gorgeous women, and ripped guys on their boxes, all supposedly who got that way based upon the product they are endorsing.  The marketing works, because it is a multi-billion dollar industry and I guarantee there is not even 1 billion dollars worth of product that is truly worth it.  That being said this entry will hopefully help you navigate the marketing BS and make a somewhat knowledgeable decision.  As always if you have specific questions that I haven’t answered feel free to post a comment and I’ll get to them as they come.

So I’ll start off with the basic supplements (types not brands) and tell you which work and which don’t, the why and the how of it all, so here we go.

Creatine Monohydrate Considered the most basic of exercise supplements, CM works by aiding the Kreb Cycle by converting ADP back to ATP to be used as energy by cells. Simply put, CM takes your muscle’s waste products and converts them back to energy to be used again. It can lead to increased power and endurance(1). Also, during strenuous anaerobic exercise like weightlifting, lactic acid builds up in your muscles. This is why your muscles feel sore after a workout. Creatine Monohydrate delays/prevents the lactic acid cycle from occurring, providing grounds for the claim that CM alleviates muscle soreness(2). All other creatine products work in the same way as CM but with different advantages.
Recommended Dosing: 5-10g/day post-workout.  Loading phase In my opinion is just marketing BS.  I’ve tested it with and without and seen no significant differences.

Micronized Creatine The sales pitch here is that MCs are just creatine molecules with ~32x as much surface and are absorbed better by cells. In the production process, the creatine particles are ‘ground’ to a fraction of the size, making them easier to dissolve. Micronized is usually cheaper than monohydrate and less popular which makes most people think that it’s just a less effective creatine that costs less to make.
Recommended Dosing: 5-10g/day post-workout.  I generally use this as it is cost effective and I see no difference between this and regular creatine monohydrate.

Kre-Alkalyn* This is a pH buffered creatine which is exactly like monohydrate, but is buffered to resist breakdown by HCl in the stomach, so that it is digested much more successfully and therefore more of it gets into your cells. In other words, Kre-alkalyn is not destroyed by the stomach like Creatine Monohydrate, so it is more effective.
Recommended Dosing: 3-5g post-workout.More effective but not really worth the cost. 

Creatine Ethyl Ester* Creatine molecules are attached to an ester group and touts better absorption because it bypasses creatine trasporters of the body. Bottomline, CEE skips the typical process by which creatine gets to cells and is transported more quickly to where it is needed.
Recommended Dosing: 3-6g post-workout/day

Notes:  You can find this relatively cheap online during sales but generally is still 2-3x the cost of creatine monohydrate.

All forms of creatine have been criticized as putting excessive strain on the kidneys, liver and stomach. Detractors also point to the issue that there has not been enough emphasis on studying the long term effects of creatine supplementation. The following are studies that support both sides of the argument.  However, in all honesty I have found this to be a completely safe and very good supplement.  Have used it for the better part of 8 years and have had no negative side effects (I do drink a lot of water though).

Creatine supplementation does not affect clinical health markers in soccer players(3)
Acute renal failure in a young weight lifter taking multiple food supplements, including creatine monohydrate(4)
Creatine supplementation does not enhance submaximal aerobic training adaptations in healthy young men and women(5)
The effects of creatine supplementation on performance during the repeated bouts of supramaximal exercise(6)
Creatine supplementation and exercise performance: an update(7)

Nitric Oxide

A-AKG*/NO*/NO2* Also known as Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate (A-AKG). The cells which make up blood vessels use NO to signal the smooth muscle around them to relax, which dilates the blood vessels and increases blood flow to those areas of the body. It is assumed that by supersaturating your body with supplemental nitric oxide, one can force their bloodvessels to dilate. Translation - NO increases bloodflow to your muscles (All relevant links are located in the bold subtitle, look closely, there are three).
Dosage: 3-6g pre-workout

Arginine Ethyl Ester* Also known as AEE. If you have been paying attention, AEE works on the same principle as CEE in that it uses the ester group to increase absorption and better transportation to where it is used(8), making it a more effective version of A-AKG.
Dosage: 2-4g pre-workout

Notes on Nitric Oxide:  Generally is a waste of money.  It makes for a great session in the gym as it will increase blood flow significantly and gives you a great “pump” but in all honesty it doesn’t increase performance and is extremely over-hyped.

Protein

Protein
Whey* Standard and most popular protein product. It’s derived from cows/milk (9) and is considered best for bodybuilding and strength training. Two options are Isolate and Concentrate, with Isolate considered the better choice.

Soy* Derived from the soy plant, this is the kind of protein that you can find in vegetarian foods. Not as popular as Whey protein, but this source contains no cholesterol or saturated fat, as plants do not produce cholesterol. 

Notes:  I do not recommend this to anyone other then 80 year old women that have low estrogen.  Soy is an inferior protein and increases estrogen significantly.  35g of soy protein is equivalent to ~5x a daily birth-control dosage of estrogen.  So I’m all for avoiding this.

Casein* A slowly digested protein, these are less common compared to both Soy and Whey. These proteins are to be used before bedtime and claim to prevent catabolism with muscles. The lowdown is that these proteins stay in your system all night and prevent your body from eating itself. 

Notes:  This would be my protein of choice for the most part.  The only time I take whey would be immediately post-workout due to it’s quick acting nature.  Other then that one time I stick with casein so that way my body can continue to have an influx of protein throughout the day and constantly repair damaged muscle.

Dosage for Protein:  1g/lb of bodyweight minimum.  Depending on my diet and whether or not I’m trying to gain weight I’ve gone as much as 2g/lb of bodyweight.

Amino Acids
Glutamine*L-Glutamine is a very popular supplement and is considered to be the best choice when supplementing with amino acids, although its actually effectiveness is very highly debated. It is recognized as a supplement that bolsters the immune system in sick patients, it still needs to be proved as having a place in sports supplementation(10).
Dosage:  15-20g/day

Notes:  Great for recovery, helps prevent DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)

L-Leuchne:  L-Leucine has been shown to increase anabolism when taken with food.  It is a branched chain amino acid (BCAA).  Recent research has shown it’s ability to increase protein synthesis significantly.  This means for an athlete, increased muscle repair, and rebuilding of new muscle. 

Notes:  I am currently testing this out in high dosages with my daily meals and will give an update later on this month as to the results.  I expect results to be good though.

Amino Acid Complex Amino Acids, aka the building blocks of protein, are supplemented in order to increase the synthesis of protein, although they are not really necessary if you eat right. Amino Acid tablets are extremely popular, but are, again controversial as to whether or not they actually work.

Notes:  Waste of money.  You get a full complex of amino acids in protein shakes as well as in most animal meats. 

Addition of glutamine to essential amino acids and carbohydrate does not enhance anabolism in young human males following exercise.(11)

Other Random Stuff: 

Testosterone Boosters:  Basically does what it says.  They boost natural testosterone production.  The only one that I have ever found to be any good is P6 by cellucor.  The others didn’t really work.  That being said P6 is banned by most doping agencies.

Estrogen Blockers:  These will block estrogen, which is a good thing for athletes as high estrogen levels often go hand in hand with a higher ability to store fat. 

ZMA:  Short for Zinc Monomethionine Aspartate and Magnesium Aspartate (you’d think it would be called ZMAMA, but it’s not).  This helps with recovery due to the fact that most people are zinc and magnesium deficient.  Can also help with better sleep.

Melotonin:  Great natural sleep aid.  Comes in dosages of 1, 3, and 5 mg.  I take 3 pretty regularly and always sleep better with it.

Fish Oil:  One of the most important supplements you can have.  Nobody gets enough Omega 3 fats.  Omega 3 fats help with pretty much everything from heart health, skin health, increased fat transportation, and a good many other things. 

Dosage:  3-5g/day

Multi Vitamin:  It’s a necessity.  Get one.  It will help with recovery, help your body function better, and generally keep you healthier.

 So that’s all the supplements that I feel are important for people to know about even though there are plenty of more that I could go into length about.  If you have a question about a particular brand or supplement feel free to ask me via comment on here or a private message on the forums.  As always I’m glad to answer questions.

Until next time

Alright so here we go.  The past few weekends I’ve been approached a few times by some of my own rowers on how to cut weight for lightweight racing.  I’m sure many of you have been told many different things as I know I was told many things in my youth about rowing and throughout college.  I feel that there is a huge issue here in that most of the ways I’ve ever heard about cutting weight have been completely unhealthy, oftentimes having very serious health risks.  That being said, I will be outlining a proper way to cut weight (up to 10 lbs) for race day.  Although this still isn’t ideal and I do not encourage people to sit above the weight limit too much this is at the least a much healthier way then running around with a garbage bag on or starving yourself.

Step 1:  7-10 days before a race, up your water intake to 2 gallons of water a day.  The concept behind this is that your water metabolism will increase significantly.  Your body will start to process water at a much higher rate if you are drinking more. 

Step 2:  7-10 days before the race switch to a very low carb diet.  By low carb I mean less then 30g of carbs a day.  That means you will need to read labels on the back of foods and most likely limit you’re dining out.  The reasoning behind this is that your body will use up the glycogen stored in your muscles.  If you are staying low carb, then your body will be unable to resupply the glycogen in any large amounts.  You will most likely enter into a ketogenic state in which case your body uses body-fat and dietary-fat to produce glycogen.  This will just continue to add to the weight loss.  Keep in mind for rowers this is going to be slightly miserable.  As a rower your body is in a constant need for glycogen to produce those low splits.  Your energy levels will be lower the first week…..don’t worry it gets better.

Step 3:  Day before the race.  Drink water and all liquids sparingly.  By sparingly I mean maybe 32 oz water all day.  Yes this is not easy, yes it is not ideal but for those who need to make the weight chances are you’ve already realized this and at least its better then what you’ve probably been doing. 

Step 4:  Race day.  No liquid, light food (nothing with carbs) until weigh in.  Chances are you will be feeling kind of miserable but you will have also lost a good bit of weight.  If you still aren’t race weight then you may need to do your typical 30 minute sweat run (as I said this is not healthy and hopefully you won’t have to do). 

Step 5:  Post-Weigh in.  Go get some carbs in you.  Your body will upload these beyond your normal levels due to the low carb stasis you have been in.  You’ll feel great have tons of energy and have a great race.  Start with 2 liters of half/half gatorade/water mix.  Honey, Poptarts, and a bit of peanut butter (to slightly slow absorption and prevent hyperglycemia).  Weigh/measure the food and see how much your weight changes so that way if it’s a multi-day weigh-in you know how much food/liquids affect your body, and you don’t go overboard having to worry about making weight on the second day.