OT: P90X/Health and Fitness Thread

[BC_]

nice,

i scored 1 too, a volley off a nice chip pass.

That's awesome. Mine was just a sidefoot tap in

[jerrod]

nice,

i scored 1 too, a volley off a nice chip pass.

That's awesome. Mine was just a sidefoot tap in

did you stare mockingly at the keeper as you did it?

[Mags FTW]

What the hell does a pre-workout supplement do? Just give you more energy?

i read all about it when i started using creatine, but i think in very general terms. creatine creates more of something that your body burns while excercising, so you can just do it longer. i was skeptical at first but literally after a couple of times using it, i could do noticeably more reps. i was pretty shocked.

I still have some fat left to burn. Need to take care of that before I start putting extra stuff to burn in me.

[emunney]

Nah, different processes, Mags. Creatine monohydrate ups your production of ATP, which means more energy to your muscles, which means you can work harder and thus burn more calories/fat.

It's not something you need to burn off. It's something that helps you recruit more muscular energy to burn other things off.

[kingkirk]

Guys, im loving this thread.

If you want to talk Health and Fitness outside of this thread (no pressure), ive started something similar in the off topic board.

Seems like there is some really knowledgeable guys on this thread.

Stop by and contribute. I created the thread in hope that one day (a long time away) we could get a board dedicated to this topic out of it.

Cheers

[Kerb Hohl]

From what I understand, creatine is pretty healthy, but when I was in HS, I had heard the "there aren't long term test results yet" thing and I'm really squeamish about anything like that. Wasn't really worth the time to me even if harmless.

I'm sure it's fine, and I haven't heard anything bad obviously. The more time goes by, the more reports say there are really no ill-effects involved.

The only thing I'll say is that 25% or so of my football team did it and a ton of guys started coming up with pulled muscles much easier. I think a few years later like 75% of the team was doing it.

[kingkirk]

Creatine is created naturally within the human body, so i dont see why adding to the creatine levels in the body with supplements would have any ill effects. I mean we add greater levels of protein to our diets, no ill effects there?

In terms of your teammates burning out and doing injuries, my first question would be around the way they're training and how often, not what supplements they were taking.

[jerrod]

it does make it easier to overdo a workout when you first start out

[Mags FTW]

I hit 3.5 miles on my run today. I was surprised because today was a lift day, so I had already used up a decent amount of energy, and I felt like I could have pushed harder. I'm really trying to do this as gradual as possible though. Trying to avoid an injury setback.

[Kerb Hohl]

Creatine is created naturally within the human body, so i dont see why adding to the creatine levels in the body with supplements would have any ill effects. I mean we add greater levels of protein to our diets, no ill effects there?

In terms of your teammates burning out and doing injuries, my first question would be around the way they're training and how often, not what supplements they were taking.

Right, I know that I overreacted about it pretty much when I didn't do it, but it isn't ruled out to be 100% safe either.

I wouldn't take that protein argument too far, if you overdo protein, you can destroy your liver/kidneys.

Just a quick scan of the Wikipedia articles noted that studies showed that cramping could increase with creatine, though hydration normally solved most of that.

As for me, I may consider turning to it. By no means do I want to be "jacked up" or anything, but I've got about 10-15 more lbs of fat that have been killing me to burn off. I knocked off 35 lbs from my college frame and have 10-15 more to go around my belly mostly, but I keep hitting a wall. I'm sitting at 5-11, 190, and I think my ideal weight given my muscle is probably in the 175 ballpark. Part of the issue is that this was my old HS sports playing weight and really the lightest I've been since I grew to this height around 8th grade, so I'm very used to maintaining this aside from putting on 35 lbs in college. I'm never turning to a "magic pill" for that ****, and I have been burning out a bit on this final stage.

I have tried to get into some intense workouts such as P90X, the "Navy Seal" workout, etc. but I've been burning out a lot after some initial success. I work 40-50 hours/week, go to grad school for 6 credits at nights, go and get hammered the entire weekend (I know, would be much easier without this), and most importantly, post on RealGM a lot. So I burn out a lot. I still normally get a decent amount of sleep, so if I can just boost my energy a bit while working out, I may consider turning to creatine for a few month push here to get my workouts kick-started.

[kingkirk]

Well sure, anything in excessive amounts will do harm.

200-250g of protein a day wont do it.

5 grams of monohydrate creatine and 3-4 litres of water a day wont hurt you either.

I understand why you would want to be cautious though, i am with alot of other supps aswell.

[Kerb Hohl]

By the way, I realize the irony in talking about body damage and noting that I get hammered a lot.

[BC_]

did you stare mockingly at the keeper as you did it?

lol, should have.

[jimmybones]

Creatine is by far the cheapest, safest, most effective supplement that exists for athletes or anyone who wants to alter body composition. An effective dose is 3-5 grams a day and pretty much every expert I've read up on recommends it. The only reason there was mention of no long term study is that they have to mention that to cover their bases. Scientific studies take time, but common sense conclusions based on practical real world evidence comes about a lot faster.

Creatine will help you most in high intensity movements, heavy lifting or sprinting. Basically when you do those movements, your bodies prefered energy source is ATP-CP, taking creatine gives you more of that stored in your muscles. ATP-CP is used first because it produces energy the quickest. But it's only for the initial burst of the movement, anything over 10 seconds and a different energy system takes over. That is less automatic because it's taking glucose and converting it to ATP, so having ATP-CP on hand for immediate use is the benefit of adding extra creatine.


If you are going for max strength rest 3 or more minutes between sets. ATP-CP is not fully recovered until then. 90% recovered after a minute, only 50% recovered after 30 seconds. This is why circuits are used for fat loss, once the ATP is gone the body is using stored carbs or glucose to convert to ATP. Complicated way of saying exercise burns fat, I guess. But don't take that as a reason to not use creatine or lift for strength even if your goal is fat burning! The muscle you build or at least hold onto will do far more for fat loss than worrying about burning a few extra carbs through the actual exercise.

[Mags FTW]

So how should you take it? I looked at the directions on a bottle at the store today and it recommended taking 4 doses a day for the first 4 days and then one does a day AFTER your workout. Seems to me like it would make more sense to take it before.

[Newz]

So how should you take it? I looked at the directions on a bottle at the store today and it recommended taking 4 doses a day for the first 4 days and then one does a day AFTER your workout. Seems to me like it would make more sense to take it before.

I'd say snort it or shoot it up.

[jerrod]

i usually spread it on a headband, cut my forehead open, put the headband on, set a guitar on fire and then go to the gym

[LUKE23]

So, do we have any whey protein experts on here? I saw some at Costco for $40 for 6 pounds, and decided to pick it up for that price since many people have raved about it.

I'm not a rigorous workout guy, but lift 2-3 times per week in addition to basketball. Was trying to maintain body fat and gain maybe 5 pounds over a prolonged period. Not looking to get freakishly big (not that I could anyway).

I usually eat 3-4 eggs/toast/yogurt for breakfast and eat three decently healthy meals per day (sandwiches, etc for lunch, pasta based dinners). So how should I incorporate the whey protein into my diet? How much should I take? Only on workout days or every day?

[Badgerlander]

For some reason every time I see protein supplements I think of Matt Damon on SNL commercial for Nutri-Quick Meal-on-The-Go Anal Suppository "Now that’s nutrition I can feel.”

[EastSideBucksFan]

I don't know a ton about creatine. But I am 31 and I know guys that were doing it back in high school quite a bit. Helps to get quick muscles and give you the "beefed up" look that I never wanted so I never did it. Now those guys that did it, don't work out quite the same and never really slimmed down so now they just look beefed up and out of shape.

Never been one to look for a quick fix like supplements. Eat right and do the right exercises and you'll get to where you want to be. Short cuts aren't worth it when you're talking about your body.