How to Choose Your Protein Powder, Without Throwing Your Money Down the Drain

How many times have you heard that protein is an essential part of a healthy diet? Personally, I stumble into this phrase almost every day and preach it myself, when I work with my clients. The importance of consuming at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass cannot be overlooked. Meats, fish, eggs, dairy are amazing sources of this essential nutrient. However, these sources are not always as accessable as we want them to be. This is when protein powders come into play. Protein shakes have gained a great popularity due to their convenience and fast rates of absorption. Downing a protein shake along with some simple carbs post workout kickstarts the anabolic process in the body, promoting rebuilding of the damaged muscle tissue making sure that you get a full benefit from the time spent at the gym. However, going to a supplement store can make your head spin from the available kinds, brands and flavors available today. Which one to choose? In Part 1 I will talk about the two most popular kinds of protein; casein and whey (isolate and hydrolized). Part 2 of this article will talk more about rice, hemp, soy and other kinds of protein powders.

Casein:

Protein contained in milk is divided into 80% casein and 20% whey. During the manufacturing of cheese whey is separated from casein. Casein is a very natural form of protein and is not denatured during the manufacturing in any way. It is rich in naturally occuring vitamins and minerals. The slow absorption of casein makes it an amazing protein source right before bed, as it will feed your muscles, during the most catabolic time of the day – when you are asleep.

Whey:

Whey protein has the fastest rate of absorption and is great to supplement with right after the workout, when the muscles are depleted and are in need for an immediate refuel. Unlike casein, the extraction of whey is far more complex and versatile. In fact, the method used in extracting whey can determine its quality. Originally, whey contains fat and lactose from the milk that are separated from it during the filtration process. There are two types of whey filtration: 1) micro filtration ion exchange and 2) ion exchange. Let's take a look at both of these methods:

Micro filtration:

Whey is pushed through a membrane that filters protein from the lactose and fat. This is achieved based on the size of the membrane's pores that is suited to the size of the protein molecules. This method is much more sparing that the ion exchange process and does not cause damage to the protein.

Ion exchange:

During this process, whey protein is mixed with battery acid (yes the one that's in the batteries of your remote control) and salt water. An electric charge is then let throught the mixture making the protein to separate and attach itself to the vessel of the electric charge. It is then collected and this is how whey protein is made. However, the acidity of the filtering mix can damage some of the proteins that are responsible for boosting immune system, healthy digestion, calcium absorption and antiviral processes. Furthermore, during this process a large amounts of essential amino acids are destroyed along with the proteins that are responsible for preventing cancer.

The ion exchange process damages many of the good qualities of whey protein, but the main advantage of this method is that the end product results in lower carb and fat concentration and may contain a bit more of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). I also results in higher sodium content than whey concentrate (whey protein with less than 85% protein concentration per gram). The easiest way to identify whether or not your whey protein had undergone such process is to look at the ratio between sodium and potassium. Higher sodium generally means that ion exchange had been used (Protein Methods by Bollag).

In other words, be careful when choosing a protein powder. Read the nutritional value label and make sure that the sodium content is low. Don't waste your money on whey that has been extracted via ion exchange, as you will just pay for a partially damaged product.

 

 

www.ivankfitness.com

OPA Show in Cobourg, 4 Weeks Out!

4 weeks out, Septemeber 24^th.

Body Composition:

Weight: 235.8 pounds

Body Fat: 3.6%

Diet: Look like the carb rotation works and I am down an amazing 1% in body fat! I will keep up with it, but will add some more carbs between the refeeds for energy.

Supplements: All the same from the previous weeks.

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 weeks since I started the contest prep, and there are only 4 weeks to go. In fact, it's 3 weeks because I last week of the prep is reserved mostly for the changes in the diet and the volume of training is substantially smaller.

With the carb rotation introduced last week I have lost and additional 1% body fat, which is impressive when the body fat percentage is already very low. However, along with that came a terrible state of exhaustion that pretty much slashed my intensity at the gym in half (I have literally had to drop my weights to as low as 50%). I am really concerned about this change, as my main goal right now is to preserve size (at 6'2 I really shouldnt drop my weight too low, as my shorter and bulkier rivals will simply wipe me out onstage). To counteract a significant weight loss, I am introducing extra carbs on all of the days between the refeeds. So, instead of 110g of carbs on low carb days I will be consuming 200g and on the days preceding the refeeds 250g of carbs will be ingested. I also introduce a table spoon of flaxseed oil in my last meal.

With regards to training the same protocol will be present up until 1 week out. 40 minutes fasted cardio in the morning and an additional 20 minutes of cardio after each training session will be added this week. I started to practice my poses last Thursday for 15-20 minutes a day, which can easily be counted as a workout as well, I was drenched with sweat each time I practiced!

In other words, I am starting to smell the pro tan in the air, as I get closer and closer to the day X. It will be awesome!

Until next week!

www.ivankfitness.com

OPA Show in Cobourg, 5 Weeks Out!

5 weeks out, Septemeber 17^th.

Body Composition:

Weight: 238 pounds

Body Fat: 4.6%

Diet: Started to use what is called a carb rotation diet. Basically, I still have the 2 refeed days on Thursday and Sunday, but I will alternate the amount of carbs a little bit from day to day:

Sunday – refeed, approx. 800-900g of carbs.

Monday – low carb, 110g of carbs

Tuesday – low carb, 110g of carbs

Wednesday – higher carb, 220g of carbs

Thursday – refeed, approx 700g of carbs

Friday – low carb, 110g of carbs

Saturday – low carb, 110g of carbs

The 2 days following the refeed should be a low carb as I feel that I can sustain my energy levels somewhat without feeling too depleted. Wednesdays I am doubling the carbs from low carb day, as this is the day where I feel the crappiest and need some additional fuel to get through the day. This is pretty much the logic behind it, I will stick to this set up until one week out.

Supplements: All the same from the previous weeks.

Another week passed by and I am already 5 weeks out from the show! It feels both too far and too close, if you take in consideration that I have been dieting for 9 weeks already (that have passed by so quickly). I am sure I will remember this prep the most, considering that I wasn't killing myself like I did during the past contest preps and got the best results yet.

My body fat hasn't changed this week and my weight went up. It could be attributed to the morning cardio that made me sleep less. I will fix this problem this week and will make sure that I sleep at least 8 hours a day, and if necessary will also take naps during the day. I am not too enthusiastic about the fat persentage being the same, but yet again the caliper measurements have a little room for an error. As of this point I am not going by the measurements anymore, as it is hard to measure the skinfold anyway as the skin sits pretty tight, especially on my quads. Instead I am going by the mirror and am seeing amazing results! I have new veins popping out every week, I have never seen these veins before, even being at my leanest.

I am going to restrict my refeeds a little bit and get rid of the pretzels and the fat and gluten free potato puffs as it is very hard to control the portions with these food items. From now on I will schedule every meal and make sure to hit the target amount of carbs, without overdoing it.

This week I am also starting my tanning schedule. I will start off with 2 days this week and increase it to every other day by the end of 3^rd week out. With tanning I am really not trying to achieve a beautiful bronze tan. Tanning makes the skin tighter and also pushes the water out, so the muscle looks drier.

Anyhow, I cannot wait for the day of the competition to see the final product of this hard work!

Until next week!

 

 

 

Protein Cupcakes

Killing two birds in one hit is the way to go! This amazing recipe will not only satisfy your cravings for sweets, but also will help you to pack on muscle. Busy professionals will also benefit from it, as they won't be frowned upon while munching on a few of these babies during a meeting (as opposed to choking on chicken breast with broccoli in front of your colleagues). Here is how to make it:

What you need:

1. 8 eggwhites
2. 1 scoop of protein powder. I used a banana flavor and it came out amazing, but you can put whichever flavor you like.
3. 1tbsp of cocoa powder
4. 1tsp cinnamon
5. 1 scoop of fiber. I used Poliquin' Primal Fiber 2.0, but any brand will be fine.
6. 3-4 packets of stevia

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven for 350
2. Mix the eggwhites, protein powder, cinnamon, stevia and the cocoa powder together in a blender.
3. Pour the mixture in a cupcake dish, filling 3/4 of each socket.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. The cupcakes should be very fluffy and puff out of their sockets.
5. Enjoy!

Nutrient breakdown:

Fat: 2g

Carbs: 16g (13g fiber)

Protein: 69g

Packed with vitamin A, C, calcium and iron.

OPA Show in Cobourg, 6 Weeks Out!

6 weeks out, Septemeber 10^th.

Body Composition:

Weight: 236.1 pounds

Body Fat: 4.6%

Diet: I have noticed that I deplete much faster than before and on the second morning after the refeed I start to look flat again. I have decided to increase my carb intake a little between the refeed days, so that I can get through the rest of the workouts with more energy. As well, considering my body fat percentage at this point, I can afford to increase the carb intake, in order to save the muscle. This week, I am adding 60g of carbs, which amounts to 170g a day. The increase comes in the form of additional 0.5cup of oatmeal in the morning and 100g of sweet potato post workout.

Supplements: An additional 10g of glutamine before going to bed to assist recovery and release of growth hormone.

Minus 0.8% body fat is a great news and an indicator that I am on the right track. Fasted cardio seems to help a lot in fat loss. In fact, I was contemplating on whether to increase it to 45 minutes every morning, but decided to leave it at 30 minutes for now as it seems to work for me at this point. No doubt that if I hit a plateau next week I will increase my daily portion of stationary biking. Right now I am seeing changes, such as striations in my triceps and some on my quads as well, which makes me very happy to see them again (haven't seen them since my last show). My energy has been a bit low, I assume that early morning cardio sessions have a lot to do with is, as I am not used to wake up at 6am. However, I realize that it's impossible to walk around full of energy all day, while being 6 weeks out of the show. It's a part of the porcess and I have to suck it up.

This week my training is going to change again, as I have noticed that double sets deplete me a little too fast. I will concentrate on pyramid loading with a dropset at the last set of most exercises. I will be doing single sets and will try to push a little more weight to preserve the muscle, as I don't want to come on stage too skinny (I'm 6'2 and shouldn't be dropping too much weight at this point). All in all, I am trying to maintain the mass as much as I can as my body fat seems to be at a good spot.

Until next week!

Refeeds: Why It Is Recommended to Eat Pasta When Dieting

If you ever had been on a serious diet for an extended period of time you had, at some point, hit a plateau, where it seemed like there was an invisible wall separating you from your target goal. The common sense then would be to cut some carbs or fats to reduce the calorie intake even more, right? WRONG!

See, the longer you are on a calorie deficient diet, the more likely your metabolism and hormonal balance will suffer. The body recognizes such a prolonged state of dieting as starvation and will do whatever it takes to hold on to the reserve energy that is as we know stored as fat. It will also excrete more stress hormone, cortisol, into the system. The hormone leptin, is responsible for regulation of energy expenditure and preservation, as well as controlling metabolic rate drops, slows down your metabolism and you burn less calories. If you cut the calories even more at this point, you will only dig a metabolic grave for yourself. So what's the solution? Refeeds! Pasta, pretzels, bread and many other high carb and low fat foods! Are you thinking I am crazy yet? Isn't it a taboo to eat all these foods? Not at all and here is why:

In order to boost your leptin levels back to normal you need to show your body that you are NOT in a starvation mode. Leptin drops when the muscle glycogen is running low. This means that in order to boost it back to the healthy level, you will need to replenish your glycogen stores. And the way to do it is to eat carbs!

You will need mostly high glycemic carbs that act fast and that can cause high insulin spikes. Insulin is a storage hormone and is very anabolic, which is great, as dieting hard will promote catabolism in the body (basically, the body will start eating at itself). Insulin will pull you out of the catabolic hole and you will continue burning fat afterwards.

One of the purposes of refeeds is to replenish your muscle glycogen stores. But how do you know when they are replenished? The easiest way to know this is to spill over. Carbohydrates stored in muscles as glycogen will attract water (1g carbs = 3g water). When muscle has no room to fit additional water, it will spill over into the fat cells. You will look a little bit bloated but it's OK, because when you will get back to your regular diet you will flush the water out in 2-3 days and meanwhile, burn more fat. 2-3 days later you will be leaner!

Refeeds are not the same as cheat days and there is a certain protocol you should follow to fully benefit from it.

1. Try your best to eliminate ALL the fat during the refeed. Leptin responds well to carbs and not fat and therefore fats are not a good idea during a refeed. Eliminating fats will also ensure that you are not eating too many calories that will set you back in your progress.
2. Generally, a refeed consists of at least triple the amount of carbs you eat on a regular basis.
3. If you are on a carb rotating diet, you do not need refeeds, as your refeed on your higher carb days.
4. Try to limit the ingestion of fructose. Fruits, corn syrup, table sugar, fruit juices, dried fruit should be brought down to the minimum. Fructose will replenish the glycogen only in the liver and not in the muscle, making it a poor choice for a refeed.
5. Limit dairy intake to the minimum as well.
6. Bring the protein intake down to 1g per pound of your body weight.
7. Better food choices for a refeed are: pasta, white rice, cereal (Kashi), low fat bagels and muffins and breads.
8. If you are new to refeeds, I would suggest starting with clean carbs, such as brown rice, sweet potato and oatmeal to see how it works for you. Keep in mind that these are slower acting carbs and it will take you longer to fill out, but it's still a good start.
9. In order to boost leptin one or two carb meals are not enough. You will have to refeed for 8-16 hours, depending on how depleted your glycogen stores are.
10. The lower the body fat percentage of the individual is, the faster they burn through carbs. Therefore, leaner individuals need to refeed more often. Personally, when on a diet I refeed every 2-3 days when my bodyfat drops below 8% mark. I schedule them every Sunday and Thursday.

If you are a hard dieter and you wish to keep burning fat, then you need the refeeds. They will break through the plateaus, boost your metabolism and will keep you healthy and sane. Using this technique and following the steps described above, you will be able to stay on a diet for a longer period of time and will burn way more fat, compared to the "no refeed diets". Try it out and get shredded!

7 Steps to Successful Fat Burning Cardio.

Fasted cardio is one of the best ways to burn body fat. Upon awakening, our fat is very vulnerable, due to the low insulin levels in the body. The body's glycogen levels at this time are very low and it will use fat for energy. A lot of debate had been surrounding this type of workout, due to the concern that it potentially can burn through the muscle. Indeed, fasted cardio, if done improperly can cause muscle wasting. However, if you follow the steps below you will prevent losing muscle and instead burn a great amount of fat!

Step 1: The night before, put 10 grams of glutamine and 10-15 grams of BCAAs in your shaker. As well, put a bottle of water and a caffeine pill (200mg) beside your bed.

Step 2: Wake up and down the caffeine pill right away. Caffeine is a fat burner and a stimulant that will help you wake up faster and will help you with fat burning during your cardio.

Step 3: Grab your shaker with the BCAAs and the glutamine and off you go to the gym/walk outside. Mix the supplements with 16oz of water. Make sure to get to the gym as soon as you can!

Step 4: Keep your heart rate between 110-120 bpm. Make sure that you do not go beyond 120bpm, as your body will start using amino acids from your muscles for energy (basically burn the muscle).

Step 5: Sip on your shake every 5-10 minutes. This will distribute the amino acids evenly throughout your workout. Make sure that you finish your drink 10 minutes before you get off the machine.

Step 6: This type of cardio should be done for at least 30 minutes to up to 60 minutes. Anything less than 30 minutes is a waste of time!

Step 7: After you done, have a breakfast right away.

Try this approach out and you will see your fat melting away!

OPA Open, Cobourg, ON. 7 weeks out!

7 weeks out, Septemeber 3^rd.^.

Body Composition:

Weight: 237 pounds

Body Fat: 5.2%

Diet: Looks like the refeeds help me to keep dropping fat, even though I crank up the calories and simple carbs to the max twice a week. I feel better, do not have any cravings and my workouts are very intense. I feel that refeeding is a great tool to use if your body fat is already low. I must say, however that I do not spill over or fill out as used to when I just started. I even tried to eat more carbs last Sunday and still did not get as full as I expected. I will keep with refeeds until the last week of the prep.

Supplements: I added glutamine to my BCAA drink during the cardio. Just another precaution to avoid muscle wasting.

Another .6% body fat is gone and I feel great! From this week on I am starting to do fasted cardio every morning. As horrible as it sounds, I find it rather energizing and it keeps me from sleeping in every day. In order to avoid burning muscle in a fasted state, I make sure that I sip on a drink consisting of 12-15g of BCAAs and 10g of glutamine. I also make sure to go very slow, around 110-120bpm and go for 30 minutes. I dont think I need more than that at this point as everything seems to work according to plan.

Until next week!