Fitness and Beyond

  Quick workouts, diet scams, nutrition misinformation, miracle pills, and some “full-body”, “fat-burning” , so-called fitness contraptions. You can go on and on on a list full of scams. Scams trying to sell false hope and lies to a generation foolish enough to fall for everything quick and easy, scams trying to sell-out the real deal balls-to-the-wall fitness, the only way to fitness. I am also saddened by people who “train” for a few minutes and walk on the treadmill with some weird animated stance, go to aerobics class, crunch, and expect a beach body. They may be “dedicated” to some extent, but knowledgeable, intense, or wise… they are not! I have no remorse ranting on this issue, because everyone who doesn’t have the basic knowledge, common sense, or balls to take on the hard and true way to getting fit must simply know that there is no such thing as a miracle, an easy way out, or shortcuts! Fitness is like anything else in life, you’ve got to earn it the hard way. You want real results? Well, train hard and be smart about it.

  Sometimes I wish the truth about fitness could be said straight-forwardly so we won’t have to swim in this murky pool of “knowledge” trying to weed out fact from fiction. I also wish that the common man can know more about what it really takes to be healthy. It saddens me to see people buy these “miracle” supplements, vibrating contraptions, ”fat-burning” liniments, and ab machines they think will get you ripped within a few minutes of use while expecting all these to burn fat or get themselves buff in a jiffy. Too bad the easy way never works. They don’t understand that to burn fat, you must metabolize fat. This means doing your cardio. I don’t mean taking a walk in the park, I mean feeling the intensity, using up your muscle’s stored ATP and glycogen in order for the body to use fat reserves for energy. You wanna get lean and get abs? Just doing crunches isn’t the solution. I am sick and tired how people say that it only takes crunches or an ab machine to get abs, or “oh I’m feeling the burn, I’m gonna get abs!”. Get me out of here! Crunches work, but like every fitness goal, there is no one solution! You can do compound (full-body/multi-joint) movements such as squats and deadlifts as a good addition to a good core routine. These not only improve stability of the core but may engage midsection muscles that may not be used to its full capabilities. If you’ve probably noticed, the midsection keeps you stable. When you lift, let’s say a full-body motion like a squat, many underlying muscles in the midsection are activated to keep you in proper form. That’s enough sense for you to know how simple additions in your routine can benefit you. You don’t always need a fancy core move to do the job, you’ve just got to know what you can do and be smart when you do it. Those vibrating things people buy simply rub and pound on your midsection, but they don’t tear tissue to shape your abs or even burn fat. I’d like to call these massage belts or whatever you wanna call it. It’s only use… rubbing. Burn fat? Is this a joke? That’s as stupid as telling me to rub, squeeze, and put hot compress on my friggin’ butt so I can get glutes 120% leaner than Rosey O’donnel’s! So what should you do to burn fat or reveal your six-pack? Here are a few tips. Do your cardio to get that flab off and help you improve endurance. You will be fat if you don’t metabolize fat. It’s alright to take fat-burners, but use them wisely and take them if you really do train. Don’t expect anything if you take fat-burners and take them with your potato chips while watching television, because it doesn’t work that way. Targetting just your abs won’t get the job done. You’ve got a whole body to play with, use it well and know that your abs also function with the rest of your body. Ever notice how stable you are when you lift? You can give some credit to your core muscles including the abs. Like I said, compound movements can help you get real functional abs to some extent. Get the right amount of carbs and protein into your system as well, since nutrition goes hand-in-hand with training.

  Well, well, well. Nutrition seems to be a very tricky topic even veterans have to figure out, but it doesn’t take rocket science to know the essential facts on nutrition. Some people train like animals without a proper concept on the importance of nutrition and how much it can affect your goals if you just don’t eat and supplement correctly. Some people are “serious” about training, but snub off the fact that you are what you eat. Eat and supplement like a schmuck, you end up a schmuck or hopefully, half a schmuck. You can crunch your abs into submission but if you love eating your angel cakes and chugging a tasty can of coke too often, you become as mediocre as your diet. Along with this error in knowledge, there is a universe full of misinformation that must be cleared out. Some people are too discriminating towards carbs. They don’t understand that fast and slow-digesting carbs have different uses and functions. When you need energy quickly, such as upon waking up or completing a workout when glycogen stores are low, simple a.k.a fast-digesting carbs are essential. For times when you need a sustained release of energy without spiking blood-sugar levels, such as pre-workout or in the middle of the day, you need your complex a.k.a. slow-digesting carbs. People don’t understand that they get fat if they take carbs at the wrong time or take too much all the time. The reason is that when glycogen storage isn’t depleted and you continually feed yourself carbs (specially fast-digesting carbs), the body cannot convert the carbs into glycogen so it’s stored as fat. This is especially true when you keep gobbling carbs when you haven’t used your body’s glycogen stores, because you haven’t given your body a chance to metabolize its primary energy source (glycogen). So obviously, when you don’t need glycogen, carbs are converted to another energy source for later use; fat. There it is, plain and simple. As far as proteins are concerned, similar rules apply for different kinds of protein. Whey (fast-digesting) when your body needs proteins immediately for use, such as after training, egg or milk (medium digestion rate) virtually any time or can be used with whey for sustained protein release, and casein (slow-digesting) for long periods wherein protein supply must be absolutely consistent such as before bedtime where you have nothingto feed on while you sleep. Know what to take, when to take, and why to take certain foods and supplements. These are some basic facts that are indispensible to anyone from the newbies to the pros who want to stay in shape.

  More misinformation is still out there. One exercise method or one machine isn’t the way to complete fitness. You’ve gotta do cardio, weight-train, do plyometrics for function, agility, and endurance, or do yoga if needed to help you with breathing tempo and flexibility. Not one of these methods alone will get you all the results in the world. Another thing, cut the crap about the “evils” of lifting. Lifting can help strenghten connective tissue and increase bone density. Lifting also increases speed and strength if incorporated properly to certain sports. Lifting is not evil, doing it the wrong way is what’s dangerous. Messing up your form, overloading, or putting too little resistance are detrimental to progress. For the other methods, these should be a welcome addition to achieving complete conditioning. Different methods offer different benefits, usually because they focus on different aspects of conditioning for the body. Yoga focuses on breathing,musscle control, and flexibiltity. Cardio focuses on endurance and breathing. Lifting primarily focuses on strength development, physique shaping, and explosive movement. There are more methods to conditioning so why just pick one?

  Fitness is not as simple as it should be. Of course there are more technical pieces of information, but why are the basics so misunderstood or hidden from the masses? Why are false hopes and scams sold to people when the hard truth may actually easen the disappointment people find with these false miracles? Knowledge and common sense should have been common, but media hype, wannabe gurus, and desperados for quick fixes make everything so complicated. It’s so comlicated that years from now, the problem will probably remain. It’s really impossible to fix the fallacies surrounding fitness, but it’s possible to make things a bit clearer. How? That’s simple. Stay informed and search for the truth, the hard, unadulterated, and pure truth, and nothing but the truth.

   Adidas came up with the slogan, “basketball is a brotherhood”. On the other side, I say, “pumping iron is a brotherhood”. I say this because so many people in our sport have different backgrounds. Our brothers and sisters in iron are as diverse as they get. We have lawyers, engineers, students, and professional athletes. They also come from different religions, races, nationalities, but all share the same passion no matter what side of the globe they’re from. We all want to be the best we can become, as we carry the iron in our hands. We’re more than just athletes, workers, students, or even people. We are brothers in arms. We are a different breed. Sadly many people don’t see bodybuilding this way, and as participants in the game, we’ve gotta put it back in a good light. Remember I said. “pumping iron is a brotherhood”. By that I also mean that one man cannot help the sport on his own, we need our other brothers and sisiters to bring bodybuilding back to its feet. Here’s what I believe we must do to set bodybuilding apart and to help blot out the misconceptions, to let people know that this is no ordinary sport, and we are no ordinary athletes.

   As a group of people with the same passion, it’s only right for us to have the same dedication. We might not train for hours on end or be as intense as the others in training, but we must carry with us a warrior’s discipline and heart. Get your workouts in, keep gathering knowledge on training and nutrition, apply what you’ve learned, and make it a point to always try to stay in condition. Most importantly, never give in! As a noble breed of athletes, as I love to say, we must stick to our pursuits at all costs despite the pain. Live, eat, and breathe bodybuilding. When your in the gym work. When your at the table, pick the right food. When you sleep, get as much rest possible. When you read, suck up the knowledge. This is a long and often dragging process we’ve got to live by 24/7, but our dedication must remain. Some people think that bodybuilders grab a few weights and head home. In other words, lots of the haters say that we are not engaged in a real sport. Prove them all wrong! Many people don’t know how taxing and difficult lifting is. They also don’t know that bodybuilding doesn’t stop at the gym, it goes on even when we step out of it. Bodybuilding is a sport, it’s a 24/7 sport! Bodybuilding doesn’t just happen in the gym, it happens in bed, at the table, and just about everywhere we walk to keep ourselves in condition. If that ain’t a sport, then what is it? If that ain’t dedication we show out there, then what does it take?

   Like a brotherhood, we must be responsible for our comrades in this game. No man must be left behind. If our brothers ask for help, see to it that they get all they need as much as possible. If one of our brothers is going down in his life in the gym or out of the gym, try to get him back on his feet. This is something important since, this is a hard sport and it’s even harder to walk alone in the iron game. We’ve got to stay connected. In short, lend a helping hand. Inform, motivate, and strengthen your fellow lifters as much as you’d like to be helped yourself. The reason I’m saying this is also because it seems that people think that bodybuilders are self-centered schmucks. We’ve got to show them how “human” we are despite our appearance. Hmmm…

   Lastly, represent the sport properly. You don’t have to bombard your friends with fitness trivia to be a good representative or walk around everyday in fitted shirts. What I mean by proper representation is the bearing of discipline, hard work, knowledge, good character, and outright dedication to the iron game. As I’ve said, I don’t want others to think bodybuilding is about lifting weights with a bunch of brash idiots who have no idea about what they’re doing. I want people to see us as athletes with a warrior’s ethos, guys who live, eat, and breathe bodybuilding yet keep their being intact. By this I mean that we must watch our attitudes just as much as our bodies. We have to become well-rounded people. For example, we’ve got to apply our dedication in the gym to the other things we do in our busy little lives. Show that we take to heart our other responsibilities aside from training, since we have lives outside the gym. If you’ve got homework, do your best. If you have a meeting, be on time. The same dedication and discipline we attain in the gym must come hand-in-hand with our everyday lives. Another thing, don’t brag. It’s just disgusting how so many of us can get carried away by our machismo thinking we’re better than the skinny guy beside us. Sometimes we even forget that we were the skinny or fat guys some time ago. Be humble, it’ll do you and bodybuilding a lot of good. It is important to watch our character in the gym and elsewhere. The more repulsive we become, the more repulsive people will find our sport to be. After all, it would be a shame to see a sport that has helped so many people around the world become known as a sport of pissed-off meatheads. This gives us all the more reason to watch our attitudes. Live with a code of honor, represent bodybuilding properly as the sport deserves.

   This is our sport, this is our brotherhood and we must stand up as good representatives of what we love. I’m sick and tired of having people see our sport in a bad light. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, fat, thin, Muslim, or Christian. We’re all in this together and we stand united in order to raise this sport to a whole new level. If the brotherhood of our game falls apart, the game itself falls apart. Like I said, one man can’t save the sport. Here are my last words to the brotherhood of the sport, live, eat, breathe, read, watch, learn, sleep, and represent bodybuilding. this is a 24/7 thing baby, so roll with it. Stay strong!

   Bodybuilding is perhaps the most misunderstood sport on the planet. You hear people say that every bodybuilder takes steroids and worships his own muscles every second. Sometimes you hear that bodybuilders are a bunch of arrogant freaks who think they’re the best in a world full of puny people. Or perhaps, our sport has the reputation of having these dumb muscular posers who think they know squat about nutrition. People sometimes say that bodybuilders are disfigured. Just look at those gym “veterans” who have torsos and arms the size of boulders but have the legs of a grade school girl. I hate to break it to you, but yeah, this is actually quite true. I know our sport is much better than the reputation it has, but nonetheless, the reputation of bodybuilding is destroying the sport.

   The only solution to clean the smudges on our sport’s reputation is to smarten up ourselves and be good ambassadors of the iron game. We need to clean our acts up so that others may see how awesome our sport really is.

   Firstly, we must be intelligent in all aspects of our game from the way we train to our nutrition. In training, we must know how the human body works so that we can do our workouts properly and get better results. It’s great training for mass, but symmetry must be achieved. Like I said, too many guys have blockbuster upper bodies and matchstick legs. Don’t get stuck with isolation moves and working on just weights. Do functional training and your cardio. This way you’ll be able to train your mobility and endurance even if you begin bulking up. We must also stay sharp in our knowledge of proper nutrition. It is not right to be complacent and ignorant when it comes to what our bodies need. We cannot allow anyone to think that our sport is just about a bunch of huge guys lifting weights without any real knowledge of what they are doing. As true muscleheads, we’ve got to do our homework. Never think that you know everything about nutrition, that’s because nutrition is such a broad topic that is ever changing and we’ve got to search for facts every time. I’d like to say that bodybuilding is more than just a physical thing, it’s also something mental. If you do not have adequate knowledge, you can’t get very far. Instead, you’ll become a mediocre and uneducated lifter.

   It seems to me that people think that bodybuilders are a bunch of arrogant masochists. I hate to think about it, since we have a lot of good men and women in our sport. However, I’m sad to say that it is true somehow. Sometimes, too many lifters end up acting like rockstars. They push others around or pick on the weak. Sometimes they just seem to have attitude problems, acting like their the kings of the planet. Or worse, some seem to crave too much public attention, trying to see if anyone will notice them. It’s fine to be confident, but pride will hurt your reputation and our sport. The world is already full of annoying people, why let bodybuilders be a part of them?

   Lastly, we must be disciplined not just in the gym but in all aspects of our life and in conduct. Being in the gym ain’t the only life we have, so this gives us no excuse to slack off on our other tasks. If you have the discipline to punish yourself, you might as well have the discipline to do your duties.

   While our sport has a lot of great aspects that heavily outweigh the bad, the bad reputation of bodybuilding must be corrected. I’d like to see a day when people will look upon the iron game as an intelligent, scientific, and legitimate sport. I’d like people to believe that bodybuilders are not dumb and proud freaks, but a breed of noble and dedicated athletes who are also knowledgeable when it comes to their craft. This can only happen if our other brothers and sisters in iron will properly represent the game through gaining knowledge and watching their conduct. As for those who are loyal and good representatives of this great sport, I salute you. Bodybuilding cannot thrive if its bad reputation stays. It’s about time we save our sport.

   In my boxing days, I’d make sure I’d train 110% every time I set foot in the gym. I’d literally run through a storm to get to the gym to train, since I knew that if I didn’t train, my chances of beating my opponent wouldn’t get any better. There’s always someone who can beat me, but I can’t let that happen, so I trained for hours regularly, to the point when my lungs felt like they were on fire, all for a fight that would last only a few minutes. Even on my fateful fight night I continued to fight because I loved it, I was a fanatic. I didn’t tell anyone that I was sick so that the fight wouldn’t get cancelled. Even as I felt like my opponent would blow my head off and my world was literally spinning around before my eyes, I refused to run, hoping for a chance to knock him out. I tried to stay up and fight until the referee stopped the fight and I lost. If I hadn’t trained those countless hours, gotten used to beatings, and skipped my opportunities to perfect my craft, that opponent I faced could’ve blown my head off much earlier and I wouldn’t have the resilience to even survive. Though I lost, I learned that all the pain I experienced in training had been worth it.

   Every bit of our training counts. Sometimes we may think that the small steps we make will lead nowhere. But the truth is, the small steps lead us to the bigger picture. We must become ever resilient in our pursuit of excellence. If you see a little blood along your way, keep bleeding, the more we push, the closer we get to our dreams. Trust me, every drop of blood will be worth the pain when you see yourself standing on top of the mountain knowing that you laid everything on the table without any hesitation, like a true warrior. Be a fanatic!

   It’s hard for people today to get a good grasp of proper nutrition. Many have the wrong idea on what to do in order to achieve fitness. Many are quick to fall for scams without really finding about the product’s intent or nutritional value. With so many misconceptions about real fitness, there seem to be so many paths that lead to dead ends. Several other concepts that actually lead to fitness are sadly demonized while the scams are being glorified. Here are things that the masses must know regarding fitness.

1) You need carbs:

   Too many times have carbs been demonized. Atkins-esque diets were rampant for a time. While these diets do help in weight loss, insanely limited carbs are inadequate to fuel the body. And another thing, eating carbs doesn’t make you fat, eating carbs in excess makes you fat since your body can only convert so much of it into glycogen, the excess is stored as fat. For those who keep complaining about still looking like the Goodyear blimp even if they limited their carb intake (for a while maybe), the problem may lie in their current diet or the fate of genetics. But a balanced diet can really make a lot of difference no matter what’s up with your genes. These people may be taking in too much fats from their protein sources or over-indulging on certain sinful goodies. The point is, diet and nutrition is not a one-sided thing. It’s not about just carbs and the weight you have to lose. Consider your protein consumption priceless, your intake of minerals, vitamins, and fatty acids an invaluable part of keeping yourself in condition. There are even more aspects to nutrition and it’s definately not just carbs.

2) Know your supplements:

   Upon heading to the supplement shop, I noticed a middle-aged, beer-bellied man gazing curiously at the pictures of shredded bodybuilders and the pile of protein powders by the window. He then comes in and asks the lady at the counter if there’s one supplement that can give him huge muscles and burn his fat. The lady then tells him that it takes different products to do those tasks. I’m not sure if she told him that he needs to exercise to see results. Too many times, people are searching for that one-shot miracle product to turn them into Ronnie Colemans. Too bad, no product exists and it simply isn’t phsiologically possible for the human body to chissel itself from one source of nutrition. Many people splurge on muscle builders while at the same time disregard basic nutrition like a balanced diet with the right amounts of carbs and protein, the little stuff. Instead, they look for shortcuts waiting to transform themselves into beasts within months or craziest, days! They must understand that the human body takes time to develop. You can’t take a mega-dose of your good ol’ protein shake or whatever anabolic supplement your taking now and become a chisseled freak. Like I’ve said, there’s no single factor to fitness, it takes several elements of nutrition and exercise. Oh, and did I forget to mention the obvious? You gain muscles by actually working out! People take loads of protein shakes wondering why their muscles barely grew and instead they got fat. They can’t burn those calories if they don’t work, neither can they build muscle if they don’t lift. In short, use common sense when you use supplements, know their purpose and do your part, work out!

3) Do your homework:

   Research, read, explore, this is what you must do to know the reason behind each product, movement you do with the weights, and ultimately, how your body works. True is the quote that knowledge is power, as this will become indispensible in your quest for fitness. For example, you are less bound to fall for scams if you know the purpose and nature behind certain nutrients. Sometimes these companies hype up products that are pretty ordinary or even useless to fool the uneducated customer. I’ve read in the book “Fighting Fit” that there is a popular supplement company that created a really delicious and expensive protein shake. What made the product expensive wasn’t the ingredients but the “work load” or the people hired to work on the product. In fact the protein used was of very poor quality, it was just insanely delicious. In fact, the chemist at the lab developing the product said that the company doesn’t care about the protein but the flavor. He said that what matters to them is that it tastes like Haagen Dazs! What made the product so delicious was the fact that they loaded it with sugar! Now why would you load yourself with sweet, low-quality junk? Keep searching for information, it will help you a lot.

4) Weight-training is not evil:

   The masses often have the wrong notion about lifting. They usually associate lifting with being too bulky, short, slow, and heavy. In fact, proper weight-training may help develop speed. In a test with runners, weight-training significantly increased their speed. Even in my sport, boxing, a Russian team came up with the idea of using gradually increasing weghts in shadow boxing. The result was more handspeed and power, resulting in formidable olympic contenders. Some women think that lifting will make them look like men. In a book I read by Anita Bean, she mentioned that lifting helps accentuate a womans body. They become toned but do not end up looking like men since men have ten times more testosterone than women. Unless you’ve been going heavy even in your growing years, weight-training does not stunt growth either. Have no fear of lifting as long as you lift smart.

5) There is no single solution:

   Some people believe that there is a single method to complete fitness, may it be in the form of pilates, yoga, running, or weights. In an MTV segment, I believe they were telling the viewers that weights were evil and that bodyweight exercises were best. They explained that you might not need to go the gym because Heidi Klum still looks slim without lifting. I find this very ignorant. Like I’ve been saying, there is no single aspect in fitness. All aspects of fitness must work hand-in-hand to produce results in different areas such as strength, speed, and endurance. For example, you can lift to get mass, but you need cardio to shed those fats. The same way that pilates and yoga can give you flexibility, but intense activities like cycling and fighting build endurance. Use these methods together but do not expect just one method to offer you everything.

   I’ve been enlightened to write (or type) this passage thanks to the pure “awesomeness” of oatmeal. Oatmeal as we all know is a staple of the bodybuilding diet. It offers a myriad of nutritional goodies, no wonder lifters have been on this stuff for years. But what really makes our favorite breakfast meal… great?

   Oatmeal is a good source of complex (slow-digesting) carbs for a steady source of fuel for prolonged periods of time. Because it is slowly digested, it is able to control blood sugar levels. A typical serving of oatmeal usually has around 30-50 grams of carbohydrates. For such a rich source of carbs, oatmeal has a good amount of protein, usually around 3-5 grams per serving. Eating oatmeal may also reduce the risk of heart disease by controlling cholesterol levels thanks to water soluble fiber. Statistics show that eating at least 3 servings of whole grain such as oatmeal can decrease the risk of heart disease by up to twenty percent. It’s also rich in B vitamins which enables the body to efficiently absorb nutrients. Aside from this, oatmeal also contains poly-unsaturated acids and minerals like calcium, zinc, and even potassium which are essential for physiological function. For those looking to lose weight, oatmeal makes a nutritious and filling meal which also provides roughage for your gut to control cholesterol levels.

   Another thing about oatmeal is that you can throw in all sorts of other stuff into it to make it tastier and more nutritious. You can boost protein levels in your oatmeal by adding nuts, milk, or protein powder into the classic porridge. Here are some oatmeal recipes I made.

1) Nutbuster Oats- Milk and nuts make a tasty and protein rich addition to this classic breakfast.

Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cup oats, 2 tbsp. peanut butter, milk, 1 tbsp. honey, almonds and cashews

Directions: Place the oats in a bowl and pour over with hot milk instead of water. Add the peanut butter while the oats are hot so that it will melt. Add honey. Add the nuts to taste and mix well, until no peanut butter lumps appear.

2) Cupboard Porridge- I made this using ingredients available in the school kitchen.

Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cup oats, almonds, 4 tbsp plain yogurt or sour cream, powdered cinnamon, milk

Directions: Place oats in a bowl and add hot milk and sour cream or yogurt. Add cinnamon and almonds to taste.

3) Muscle Grain

Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cup oats, 1 serving chocolate protein powder (usually 2 tbsp.), milk, cashews, 1 whole sliced banana,  5 tbsp. raisins

Directions: Place oats in bowl and add hot milk. Stir in your protein powder. Throw in the cashews and raisins. Let it cool down a bit so that when you add the bananas, they won’t be to soft.

   On a photo album posted by a friend on multiply, I couldn’t help but notice a comment from one of my batch mates. It read, ” I find it disgusting. It’s too bulky. Not my type. “, the exact words she typed when she viewed my picture on the beach with a friend, reffering to my abs. I don’t really care if she likes my abs, but what the heck was that for? Nobody asked her about what abs were her type, she just typed them in for a reason I don’t know! I didn’t feel degraded, butI really am more disgusted by her immaturity and ignorance.

   I built my abs to prevent myself from getting knocked out by a body shot and to twist myself into every punch. I’ve been stopped by a body shot before and I was determined to never let it happen again, so I chisseled my abs, plain and simple. I also built them because I want to be fit. A good core is good for my body. I didn’t build my body for her, and I sure didn’t work countless training sessions  for the sake of plain bragging on someone’s site. She probably thought that I wouldn’t find the picture on the web. She only apologized when one of the guys told her that I viewed the site with her comment.

   I’m sure many of us have at some point been dismissed as freaks instead of people. People just scorn us for being fit or plain different in regard to our appearance, lifestyle, or mentality. Being misunderstood or scorned by others is something we must be able to cope with, lest we let their words bring us down. At the same time, we can’t let ourselves become like them, putting down others who may not be like us. Well, what can we do if the world laughs at us? They don’t know why we build ourselves, strengthen ourselves, and dedicate ourselves to our cause: fitness! The world can go on hating. On the other hand, we go on lifting, running, fighting, and geting fit. In other words, we shut up and just do our thing. The others can just die laughing, never knowing the dedication and purpose we pour into our endeavors. Unlike us, they probably don’t even have the guts to do what we do, to train like animals for our own purpose.

   Before you enter your first five kilometer race, here are some tips for those who simply run for fun or exercise. If you are new to running like me, run for distance, not speed, because the distance of the course will be enough to leave you sore the next morning. Don’t think that you can sprint the distance, that’s just insane. If you are also not that serious about running, just save your energy while running so that you can finish the race without feeling wasted. Don’t think of the run as competition, just think of it as a long cardio session, go too hard on the run and you might just hurt yourself.

   Now here are the supplements I took before the race. If you have any medical conditions, consult your doctor first if you want to try these supplements I took.

> 3 tablets BSN Nitrix

> 1 pack SNI Marathon Max

> 4 pieces Gu Chomps

> Whey Protein

> 2 tablets Muscletech Gakic

> SNI Cellmass

> 1 cup coffee (no sugar)

> Whey protein/ Blended protein

> SNI Marathon Max

> 4 pieces Gu Chomps

   Here are my last words on your race supplementation. Before the race, make sure you get your complex (slow-digesting) carbs in to give you consistent fuel throughout the run. Try to avoid too much simple (fast-digesting) carbs so that you won’t burn out due to the quick spike in insulin levels. Load and refuel properly before and afer the race, so that you won’t want to feel like a bum the next morning. Immediately take whey protein and simple carbs after racing to restore glycogen and help muscles recover. Try munching on bananas too for quick energy restoration and potassium intake to offset cramping. Don’t forget creatine to restore the ATP you just used up. For inexperienced racers this is important since you will feel extremely drained. And please don’t drink vodka before you race, this will only delay muscle and nervous reactions… seriously one of the competitors did!