Captain Ahab’s BodyBlog

After reading an article in this month’s Ironman magazine about a different way to do lat pull downs during  back workouts I thought that I would give it a try and see if it made any difference. All I can say is wow! It hit me hard exactly where they said it would and I got the best pump I have ever gotten during lat pull downs.
The article said that instead of taking a wide grip on the pull down bar move your hands in closer to just a bit wider than shoulder width and keep your elbows close to your body.

I moved my hands in and placed my little finger of each hand where the lat bar starts to bend down which for me was a bit wider than shoulder width and made sure my thumb was over the bar rather than wrapped around it as I pulled down. I arched my chest up towards the bar making sure that I did not lean back hardly at all and pulled my elbows close to my sides and I also held for a 3 count while contracting my lats.
I got an amazing contraction on each and every rep of my 4 sets and it is 5 hours after my workout and my lats still are feeling pumped and are still a bit sore. I have never had them feel like this, ever and they still feel full.
I always try to do my pull downs with very strict form which means that I try not to lean back hardly at all and I try to hold every rep at the bottom position for a 3 count but this was different than any I have ever done before. It is kind of like doing a close grip pull down with a V-bar but it hits them in a different place.

Anyone who decides to try this give me a yell and let me know how it worked for you.

After months of doing my old program, today marks the end of week 2 of my new workout program. I started on a 5 days on 2 days off, 1 full body part per day program. I am doing about 6 to 8 exercises at 4 sets each for at least 8 reps and am feeling that it definitely gives me a wicked workout.
But the main thing is that I started a couple of new supplements and as cautious as I was I have been amazed. The results of one, which is from Beverly International, called Muscle Synergy was almost instant and has been amazing. The ad said that I would feel increased strength, improved muscle recovery, an incredible pump, and a dramatic boost in lean muscle mass. Well I feel stronger and I feel ready to go back to the gym first thing in the morning with no real troublesome sore muscles and I have been getting incredible vein bulging, vascular pumps and I am gaining about a pound of weight a week so far. I have never had better pumps or more vascularity and am completely impressed. Another is their product called Mass, which is amino acids and seeing as I am putting on lean muscle and they said that this product will help do that I believe that along with Muscle Synergy the Mass seems to be doing exactly what they said it would do. I have previously and am still using their protein powders which I will not lie to you are the best and most delicious tasting I have ever used and that goes for the puddings, pancakes and other treats that I make out of them.

I have always been skeptical of the supplement hype especially when you know that they don’t really have to prove any of their claims. I have tried my share of “miracle” supplements and almost everyone has left me wondering why I spent my money on them. Also, when I see all of the money they spend on magazine advertising I wonder how much of their money goes into supplying the very best and finest of ingredients?
Beverly International may be a company that many or even most of you have not heard much if anything about but way back when they started in 1967, (which means they have been in business for over 40 years) they purposely never relied on dumping big-dollars into slick advertising and clever promotions and as Beverly says their success and reputation is the direct result of creating products that work and delivering services that truly allow people to reach their goals. Folks hear about them, try their products, get results and can’t help but tell someone else, just like me. It’s just that simple. They are not the cheapest supplements around and they say the phrase “you get what you pay for” is truer in the supplement industry than just about anywhere else. There is no shortage of nutritional supplements on the market today, and trying to see past the hype and marketing glitz can be a difficult task. Here is why Beverly International’s supplements stand out above the rest, Beverly uses only premium ingredients, proven to work year after year. They don’t follow trends or seek higher profits by substituting cheaper or less effective ingredients and potencies. They modify a product formula only when they can make it improve results for their clients. Beverly always assumes all the risk for your purchase. If you do not get the results you want, you get a 100% refund. How many companies can or do make that statement? What’s more, you’ll never even hear about a “new product” unless the research behind it has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and has demonstrated unequalled results in double-blind studies. Furthermore, if the same quality ingredients that were used in the lab cannot be duplicated for “real world” use, they will not make the product. In short, you’ll never have to wonder about the effectiveness of anything you get from Beverly. A lot of what they said got to me and I was impressed by their free bodybuilding information service and the fact that they answered my email questions the same day, but mostly it has been my experience trying their products that compelled me to write this blog. You can check out their product line here at the Bodybuilding.com store or go to their website at Bodybuildingworld.com and check them out for yourself. I just wanted to share some supplements that I tried that I actually found to work with anyone who may be interested and maybe give those interested another option when it comes to spending their hard earned dollars trying to build hard earned muscles.

Do we really know why we need to drink as much water as the experts say we should?
I know that my body is made up of about 70% water and if I don’t get enough I will die but other than that what does it do?
I hear a lot of people say that just drinking plain water is boring and it doesn’t have any taste. Along with that they say they can’t possibly drink the 6 to 8 glasses that once again the experts recommend and if they had a choice they would have a Coca Cola or the second place cola whatever that might be, or the myriad of other colas out there. But if this is true then why are bottled water sales soaring and the various cola company’s selling water in a bottle?
So regardless of how you view water we should all know the important connection between drinking it and losing weight, building bigger and better muscles and staying healthy.
It is the most important nutrient surrounding and filling every single cell in our bodies and it is truly the elixir of life. We know we can survive a week or more without food, which is longer than we can without water but do we realize that it is a vital element for every bodily function?
Our bodies need to be hydrated to operate at peak efficiency or like a plant on your balcony, well watered.
We can all expect to lose about a liter or more just through our skin and lungs every day and if we are doing serious workouts we can lose over 3 times that amount. If we don’t drink enough water we won’t metabolize fat or digest out food as efficiently as we need to. Also, especially at this time of year we may need to involve a more rapid heart beat or extra exertion and find ourselves the victims of heat stroke and as I have had heat stroke it is no fun and can sneak up on you even though you think that you are feeling fine. It is absolutely paramount to all of our health and the effectiveness of our workouts that we replenish our cells with water on a regular and constant basis.
Water detoxifies and cleanses us of waste and if any of us notice our urine has an odor (other than after eating asparagus) it is because it is probably too concentrated and we are not receiving enough water. Another benefit of being properly hydrated is that nutrients are better delivered to all parts of our bodies especially our muscles when they are saturated with fluid.
Equally, if we don’t consume enough water it can trigger a message from our brains to our stomachs tricking them into thinking they are hungry because the brain knows that if we are not going to pour water down our throats then we may well put some food in our bellies and from the food being digested they can extract the much needed water.
The experts say that when we are trying to lose weight that we should drink water to quell our hunger pangs.
When should we drink all of this water that they say we should drink?
Well, we sure should not wait until we are thirsty because usually by then our bodies are already in need of it and have dipped well into our reservoir.  When working out in the gym I advise people to have a bottle of some type containing water with them and to drink from it before and after each set and if they are doing an aerobic exercise then have the water bottle close and drink from it regularly every few minutes.
Water is a much needed nutrient and to perform at our best while we are trying to be our best we should make sure that we do follow what the experts say because on this occasion they are right on target.

Funny how we can come to enjoy pain.
I am not talking about the strapped to a table, getting stomped in the crotch with a ladies red patent leather, 6 inch spike heeled, evening dress shoe worn by some wig wearing, six foot six transvestite.
I am talking about how much it hurts after being off recouping from my latest surgery and finally finishing up my first week back at the gym.
I forgot how when you get up in the morning and go to sit up your abs hurt so much that you have to roll out of bed sideways rather than do an in bed sit up. The kind of hurt where your quads or in my case my quad doesn’t want you putting any weight on it whatsoever and when you finally force yourself through the pain your calves don’t want to respond either. So you limp like some kind of modern day Quasi Motto over to the vanity and when you reach for the toothpaste your tricep hurts and you pull back and start to rub it in sympathy and when you bend your arm with your toothbrush in it, your bicep doesn’t want to respond and you start making moaning noises like some kind of girly boy (Arnold’s words not mine) and your wife stands there smiling that little smile of hers saying something like, “does your arm hurt honey?” while secretly giggling to herself because she told you not to push it so hard.
All of the body parts that I worked this week and I have done a full body workout so you get the picture are protesting, but as funny as it may seem I am enjoying it on so many levels. It makes me wonder if I am a bit of a masochist but I don’t think so because I am really, really happy to be back working out and getting back into the shape I want to be in and happy  to be hurting so damned good .
 

 The majority of people understand that eating too much “unhealthy” food can lead to a weight gain, but the part that people seem to overlook is that eating too much good healthy food can also cause an extra gain in the weight department.
I say this because in most bodybuilding books, magazines and websites it states (almost preaches) that the minimum amount of protein an active weightlifter should consume is 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. Using that formula then a 200 lb bodybuilder needs to eat at the minimum 200 grams of protein, but does that still hold true for the140 lb or more woman who lifts weights and does not want to build more muscles rather she is wanting to lose weight or lean out? Should she have at least 140 or more grams of protein per day?  Maybe and then again maybe not.
I believe that she along with us all needs to assess her daily output of energy outside of the gym along with the time spent pumping iron and be very careful with over consuming calories especially by way of protein shakes where you are giving the body a straight shot of 20, 30 40 or more grams per shake.
We need to look at the protein in whole foods we eat like chicken where 6 ounces of breast gives us about 40 grams and the steaks, ground beef etc. where we get at least 36 grams per 6 ounces along with fresh or canned tuna which brings around 40 or more grams per 6 ounce serving.  Taking a look at eggs and milk, which are both great sources of protein and pack enough to tilt the daily intake scale.
We need to be very careful with protein shakes consumed between our whole food meals and look at the entire total per day and that is just protein and there are carbohydrates to think of along with our ration of healthy oils and fats.
A lot of people wonder even though they are following the prescribed way of doing things why they are not able to either lose weight or lean out. They are lifting and doing cardio and eating 5 or 6 meals a day of good healthy foods combined with 1, 2 or sometimes even 3 protein shakes and maybe a protein bar thrown in because they were hungry between scheduled feedings. They are consuming all of the well advertised supplements (which by the way many are calorie high) and instead of losing they are actually gaining and not in the places where they want to see added weight.
What I am stating is that you still have to be careful because whether they are muscle-building supplements, protein filled shakes, slow digesting negative net carb bars or advertised as low fat, a calorie is still a calorie.
 
 
 
 

I tell all of my clients that they should be eating 5 to 6 healthy, “clean” meals a day and then proceed to tell them why that helps with both their getting fitter and in their losing fat but what I fail to do, and I just realized that, is not tell them what happens if they don’t.
If you wait until you are hungry to eat you have waited too long and your body is already performing some pretty complex physiology. Our bodies (which are way smarter than our conscious selves) have already decided that they can no longer trust us to keep them fed and so they’ve switched around 180 degrees from the fed state and now they kick into starvation mode and as soon as we send them some food they then start to store it as fat, thinking that us as dummies are not going to know when to feed them again and so must prepare for long intervals between feedings.
Feeding your body 5 to 6 or even more times a day in certain cases does not mean sitting down to a full turkey dinner or steak and ‘taters at every meal but if you have a protein shake or a handful (approx 18 –21) of almonds that would be considered a meal, as would a few slices of cucumber and a piece of chicken breast, but a Pop Tart or Twinkie is definitely NOT considered as a meal. Basically as I try and make each of my clients aware almost anything that comes out of a box or you purchase further in to the grocery aisles than the outside perimeter do not consider this as a meal. I say this because most “boxed” foods are almost always overly processed and overly laden with sugar type carbohydrates.
I preach that your morning meal is the most important meal of the day because after spending all night usually 6 to 8 hours or more sleeping, our body has gone through its entire supply of nutrition and is ravenous for food and as a result our blood sugar is low and to start the day off right we need a lot of slow digesting good carbs with an added supply of protein.
It is often the hardest meal of the day to prepare because it is usually the craziest time of day with little Billy late for the school, Fido barfing on the new carpet, hubby can’t find his car keys and mom is running out the door to catch her bus and so once again I preach preparedness. Just as you would prepare for anything else you do you need to prepare for your quest for fitness so that you have the best chance of success. Make as many meals up ahead of time as possible, freeze them, enlist the help of family members or lay out a lot of the necessities the night before so that it does not seem so daunting a task first thing in the morning. These are ways to prepare.
Make sure that you have all of your “proper” food wherever you are or go. Sure it can be a pain in the butt, but taking a container of tuna and salad to work and keeping it in a small fridge or have a portable cooler with you makes the chance of running out for a Mickey D’s death burger less of an option. It may sound like a lot of work but it really is not because thousands upon thousands of people are doing it and why shouldn’t you be one of them?
Plan to succeed. Do your shopping on Tuesdays and Fridays and then you will be set for the week. The reason I say Tuesdays is because after the weekends the stores order their fresh produce Monday and it usually gets there on Tuesday, and also they bring in more fresh produce etc, for the week-ends so on Friday they‘re stocked up and you have the best selection. Do it for a two-week period and you will most likely find it easier than you thought.
If you have good nutritious food around you will eat it, if you only have carb and sugar-laden foods around you will eat them also. Eating 5 to 6 nutritious meals a day will not see you get those crashes at 3 in the afternoon when your energy level goes out the window and you reach for that Mars bar or that last left over doughnut.
We would never think of putting vinegar in our cars gas tank so why would we put junk food in the most important thing we have, our bodies?
If you fail to plan you are planning to fail! It’s an old saying but it still holds true to this day.