New All in One Supplement by Reflex Nutrition

Reflex Nutrition has recently launched a new all in one product that promises to pack on muscle mass.

Combined with a balanced diet and training regime, the new Reflex One Stop Xtreme is an improved version of the all in one supplement, Reflex One Stop and is the only product to contain the exclusive Quattro, a time-releasing protein blend which is unique to Reflex One Stop Xtreme.

Along with Quattro and other carbohydrates, the product contains high doses of Peptide Bonded Glutamine, Creatine, BCAAs, Beta Alanine and ReflexTestoFusion stack so you ultimatley you are getting more supplements for your money.

When asked the difference between all in one supplement, Reflex One Stop compared to Reflex One Stop Xtreme, Manager at Reflex Nutrition, Karl Schwick said, “The primary difference between Reflex One Stop and Reflex One Stop Xtreme is the micro nutrient breakdown.  One Stop Xtreme contains more carbohydrates and protein when compared with Reflex One Stop, ideal for those who struggle to build mass muscle.”

  To see what other people thought about this product visit http://www.whatthesupp.com/supplement/546/reflex-one-stop-xtreme-435kg for independent feedback.

Foods for Thought

Some foods are simply better at packing on lean mass than others. If you are serious about gaining muscle, you should seriously consider including the following foods/supplements in your diet on a daily basis…..

EGGS

This means the yolk plus the white, which are vital for muscle growth. Researchers at Texas University found that the people who followed a weight training workout and consumed three whole eggs per day gained roughly double muscle mass and strength than the ones who ate just one whole egg or none per day.

WHEY PROTEIN

This protein is the fastest-digesting protein you can swallow. Its also rich in branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) and provides peptides (small protein fragments) that enhance blood flow. To build muscle, take whey protein every day upon waking, as well as before and after workouts.

CASEIN PROTEIN

Casein, is also critical for gaining mass. Research shows that when subjects add casein to their postworkout whey shakes, they gain more muscle than those who don’t. Another study found that while whey significantly decreases hunger and leads to reduced food intake, casein protein doesn’t. This means casein is good between meals snack to boost muscle growth without compromising your hunger at the next meal. When you are trying to pack on mass you need to eat a lot.  Casein will help you get in plenty of protein and calories without filling you up.

BEEF

Many nutritionists consider saturated fat in red meat to be evil, like the egg yolk.  However, the saturated fat and cholesterol in beef has been shown to increase testosterone levels as well as strength and muscle mass.  Beef also contains creatine, iron, Vitamin B and Zinc all of which  support muscle growth and strength.  Mass seekers should eat at least one beef meal every other day.

OMEGA-3s

The Omega- 3 essential fatty acids found in salmon are known to encourage muscle growth, decrease muscle breakdown, increase fat loss, aid joint recovery along with other numerous health benefits.  Try to consume at least 2-3 salmon meals per week.  Walnuts also pack a decent amount of Omega-3′s as do flaxseeds.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO DO CARDIO??

There isn’t really a right answer to this question, I suppose it depends what you want to get out of your workout really.  Some people do it in the middle of the day or do it just before bed….or ‘whenever I have time’ is the most frequent reply.  What ever the time you decide to cardio, you are going to be burning calories!

However the best time to burn calories and thus burn fat is…. first thing in the morning on an empty stomach!  This can be quite tough but, it works a treat! Whether you run, jog, swim, ride a bike, doing it first thing in the morning is the best time for maximum fat loss..why??  When you do cardio first thing in the morning, you haven’t eaten for the last 8 hours or so because you were sleeping , so when your body see’s that there are no carbs to burn, therefore it goes directly to stored bodyfat and this is the fat that you want to lose!

Split Workout Routine

Workout routines are the exercises, the amount of sets/reps that you do for each muscle.  For example, 3 sets on the incline bench press  and 2 sets on a flat bench dumbell flyes is an example of one of the many chest weightlifting workout routines.  A workout split is, how you break up your workout routine, what days you work each muscle.  For example, training biceps, back and legs on Monday and training triceps, shoulders and chest on Thursday is a workout split.

One rule when making weightlifting workout programmes is to make sure to split it so that you don’t overtrain.  For example, training chest on a Monday, then Triceps on Tuesday then shoulders on a Wednesday will overtrain your triceps, this is because almost every chest and shoulder exercise works the triceps secondary and nearly every  every back exercise works the biceps secondary…..so here you would need to do 1 of 3 things when making your workout routines and splits:

1. Work chest, triceps and shoulders on the same day, and biceps and back on the same day (it is ok if you are working the secondary muscles on the same day because you are doing them anyway.)

2. Separate those muscles that work a secondary muscle so that they are far enough apart not to overtrain you.  For example, train chest Monday, Triceps on Wednesday’s and shoulders Friday… and biceps Monday with chest and back Wednesday and Friday.

3.  Train chest and triceps Monday, and shoulders Thursday, and back and biceps together on Friday.

 

Here are five types of supplements to help with your diet an and  fitness regime, which you will gain the most benefit in conjunction with a proper diet and fitness regime.

Whey Protein Powder

Omega 3 Fish Oil

Creatine

Multivitamin

L-Glutamine

Information about these supplements can be found in the Essential Supplements section.

 

 

Six-Pack Abs…Without Sit ups!

“What’s the best exercise for a six-pack??” … a question which is most asked by gym-goers…

The answer isn’t sit ups, reverse crunches or sit ups on an exercise ball.    The rectus abdominas muscle is narrow and flat, and if you’re doing resistance training with good form and posture, from squats and deadlifts to pull ups, then you are already sufficiently recruiting your abs.

To achieve this, we need to burn away the bodyfat so that those abs are really visible…. after reading up on this, I found that a fast way to do this is Tabata intervals…they are simple but not easy and are best done on an exercise bike.

Here’s The Workout…

Begin with a 2- minute easy pedal warm-up.  Then spend 4 minutes alternating between 20 seconds flat- out pedalling on a resonably high resistance (where 100-115 revolutions per minute is very tough but manageable) and 10 second easy recovery on a lower resistance.  Perform the Plank for 60 seconds- maintain good posture throughout- dont let that lower back slump.  Finish with 3 minutes of easy pedalling.

Try it!  See what you think!

Eat Clean…What Does It Mean??

There is no fitness goal you can achieve without cleaning up your diet first. Changing your diet is one of the biggest challenges faced when improving your health. Most people are used to eating processed, high in sugar foods on a regular basis, however once you kick the habit, eating clean becomes part of your life.

Why eat clean?

Eating clean provides more vitamins, minerals and nutrients in their natural form than their processed and nutrient void opposite. It is imperative to have good health both inside and out…think of your body as a machine, the better quality fuel you give it, the better it performs. Ever wonder why you get ill when your diet slips??

 Usually meats are grilled, and veg and carbs steamed oven baked or steamed.

A typical example of a clean meal would be…

Breakfast - Porridge oats usually make a good breakfast with a protein shake alongside it

Lunch - Chicken breast, Brown rice, steamed root vegetables

Tea – Fish (cod) (salmon), Jacket Potato and salad Supper – Low fat cottage cheese or casein based protein shake (with no added carbs)

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My Top 5 Supplements

This is based solely on my own opinion and experience, however I have also taken other research into account.

1 – Whey protein

Whey protein is the staple of all bodybuilding supplements, it has a high biological value and similar amino acid profile to that of human muscle tissue, as well as being digested, absorbed and taken up by muscles quickly.  It’s a must whatever level of training you are at and helps to speed up your muscle recovery after the gym.

Quality protein powders are invaluable to the bodybuilder, as it is often impractical to eat the amount of high protein food required for optimal gains. Ideally they should be consumed in between or as a compliment to meals.

2 – Creatine

Creatine is used mainly for strength and endurance, A very popular choice of supplement for bodybuilders and a very effective supplement, Hence the reason why it is so popular.

Creatine is probably the most scientifically researched supplement ever, results of which are conclusive in that creatine does help improve performance, here’s the science….

ATP is used for energy by being broken down to ATP; therefore more ATP is available for energy.  Research shows that muscles can store far more CP than is possible to obtain from food (creatine found in meat), so by supplementing with creatine monohydrate you can maximise these stores.  More CP stored in muscle also draws water into muscle making it fuller and stronger.

3 – Pre-workout

Generally people need a good kick pre-workout to help stimulate their training in the gym, most pre-workouts contain some form of caffeine to do this and also Arginine to enhance N.O. levels to create “the muscle pump”  which is a common term for bodybuldiers when their working muscles are pumped and saturated with blood within their muscles giving them hardness and tone etc.

Avoid the high in sugar (glucose) ones which are full of calories, as these can have a rebound effect on your energy levels and, in fact, cause sluggishness.

4 – Casien

We need to be in a positive nitrogen (protein) balance in order to grow muscle.  However, Bohe et al (2001) indicated that this on its own wasn’t enough.  He demonstrated that a constantly high plasma amino acid level is, in itself, not sufficient to promote protein synthesis and there needs to be sufficient amino acids available during times of highest demand when metabolic processes limit the accretion of muscle protein.  This time is post workout when it is advantageous to have both plasma insulin and amino acids level high.  Therefore, in theory, a protein which absorbed faster would be the most efficient.

 

This type of protein differs from whey because it forms a gel in the gut and disperses over a period of around 5 – 7 hours, making it an ideal product to use in the day time and also before bed.

5 – Vitamins

When training or under stress the body’s immune system is weakened somewhat, Vitamins are a reliable and effective way of ensuring your body gets sufficient levels of important minerals and vitamins etc. Not only will this prevent illness but it will also get rid of free radicals.

Survey Results!

We have recently conducted a survey asking 175 of our customers which supplements they found to be the most effective and also give customers an unbiased opinion from the bodybuilders and gym goers who use them on a regular basis.

The survey was conducted via surveymonkey.com and was made up of ten multiple choice questions covering a range of different categories and top brands including Maximuscle, PhD, Reflex Nutrition, CNP, USN, San and Olimp amongst others.

The results are shown as 1st and 2nd place…joint 2nd place in some cases…..

‘Best Meal Replacement’ Reflex Progen PhD Diet Whey

‘Best Test Booster’ USN Anabol Testo Reflex Bulgarian Tribulus

‘Best Post Workout Supplement’ PhD Recovery 2:1 CNP Pro Recover

‘Best Pre Workout Supplement’ Dorian Yates NOX Pump Reflex NOS Fusion

‘Best All-In-One Supplement’ Maximuscle Cyclone USN Muscle Fuel Anabolic Reflex One Stop

‘Best Creatine Supplement’ Reflex Creapure Creatine CNP Pro Creatine E2

‘Best Whey Protein’ USN 100% Whey Reflex Instant Whey ‘Best Weight Gainer’ USN Muscle Fuel Anabolic Reflex Instant Mass

 ‘Best Protein Snack Bar’ Maximuscle Cyclone Bars CNP Pro Flapjack Bars

‘Favourite Flavour for protein, all-in-ones and weightgainers’ Chocolate Strawberry

Thank you to all those who took part in our survey!

CREATINE

Creatine is a natural compound of the body produced in organs such as the liver, kidneys and pancreas and supply’s energy to the muscles via the bloodstream. The muscles convert this into creatine phosphate, a metabolite used to boost energy and restore muscle fatigue as well as repairing damaged muscle. On average, a person uses around 2 grams of creatine daily, but only around half of this comes from the diet.

The more active you are, the more creatine your body will need which is why athletes and bodybuilders take creatine supplements with protein to encourage muscle growth and enhance performance. Lifting heavy for longer!!

TIP: Creatine should not be mixed with citrus juices such as orange or grapefruit as the citric acid will degrade the creatine and render it unusable by the body.

PROTEIN

Protein is needed for building, repairing and maintaining the muscle tissue as well as stabilising the insulin levels and keep body fat levels in check. Bodybuilders and athletes should take up to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight, this should be divided into five or six servings throughout the day.

Protein alone doesn’t create the energy charge needed for high intensity workouts or weight lifting, most of this energy comes from cardohydrates and creatine, so taking creatine with carbohydrates may increase the amount of creatine in the muscles.

FACT: Whey protein has the highest biological value of all proteins and is considered to be the best type of protein to take for muscle recovery after exercise.

For the best results, take a creatine drink before exercise followed by a whey protein drink post workout.