Good Protein Powder Tip

I was reading a post from Eric Cressey with tips from Coach Greg Robins and he had some really good tips on protein powder. Some of you may have read and even tried these before; but I thought I'd share it with everyone.

"Consider mixing protein powder with something other than water or milk.

I hardly ever recommend protein powder as the best choice for a quality protein source. However, a quality product (with minimal garbage thrown in the mix) is an easy way to get more protein into someone's diet. For some, a scoop with water or milk is fine; they even enjoy the taste. For others, myself included, the novelty of protein shakes has diminished greatly. Enter other viable options to mix in a scoop or two of your favorite protein supplement.

Option 1: Ice Coffee

This is a game changer. Adding a scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder to black coffee is a delicious alternative to milk, cream, and sugar. It not only tastes great, but also fuels your body and gives you a little boost. Furthermore, I find it to be a fantastic option for people looking to shed some weight. The protein powder will satiate you, while the caffeine can work to curb your appetite and stimulate your metabolism.

WARNING: don't try this with hot coffee. The protein powder will not mix well and tends to curdle at the top.

Option 2: Oatmeal

After you cook up a cup or two of raw oats, throw in a scoop or two of your favorite flavor. Make sure the protein goes in after the oatmeal is cooked, and before it cools down and solidifies.

Option 3: Plain Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt is delicious on its own, but sometimes it needs some variety. I would much rather get some flavor from a scoop of protein than the sugar filled "fruit" you find at the bottom of most other varieties. One of my favorite concoctions looks like this: 1 cup of plain greek yogurt, 1 scoop of chocolate whey, 4tbsp of oat bran, 4tbsp of shredded coconut flakes. Mix it all together, place it in the fridge over night, and you’ve got a delicious breakfast or snack for the next day."

As I said before I'd recommend signing up to newsletters, not just Eric Cressey's, but any Coach's as they usually contain some really beneficial tips. 

Hope you like these tips and give them a try, I know I will be. 

Good Afternoon Readers, Enjoy!

The Truth about Sports Products - Panorama

I watched this programme and I was confused at the point they were trying to make, in fact I did not understand a lot of their arguments. To me it seemed a very one sided debate mainly focused against Glaxo, which is pretty shocking, especially to those of us that know anything sports nutrition and variety of brands that are available.

I didn't agree with anything they were saying, as I use a lot of the products they "investigated" and I have seen great effectiveness with great results.

Anyway I found another article written by Predator Nutrition that seems to sum up the programme very well. Hit the link below and give it a read, it makes so much more sense than the Panorama show.

The Truth about Sports Products - Programme Review by Predator Nutrition

Good Evening Readers!

Anybody want to give me a Graduate job?

So I have a Masters in International Business from the University of Leeds, an undergraduate degree in Law from Leeds Law School and a fair bit of work experience to go with my qualifications too.

I've been on the graduate job hunt since I completed my Law degree in 2009; didn't much luck so I thought I'd expand my horizons with a Masters with I completed for the 2010-2011 academic year. I have been looking for graduate work since I finished my Masters last September.

I have had interviews and assessment days but still no luck. It's frustrating when you don't get feedback on your performance or the feedback you do get does absolutely nothing to help you improve for the future. 

I'm still going hard on the job hunt, I haven't given up yet. Please check out my LinkedIn profile and if you can pass on some advice, or even better offer me a job :) I'd really appreciate it and I would probably love you forever if you did! Haha.... I'm being serious though! :)

Inderpal Reehal - LinkedIn

The following video is one the big reasons I haven't given up. It inspires me, keeps me feeling positive and that I can achieve all my ambitions. Give it a watch, I'm sure you'll appreciate it.

So I just thought I'd share a bit of information for you about myself and what I'm working on away from Training.

Good Evening Readers!

Eric Cressey Home Workout

Eric Cressey a great Coach gave the following home workout to try in his newsletter. It looks quite brutal, definitely worth trying though!

"Grab a deck of cards for an impromptu home workout.

I get asked a lot about travel, or at-home workouts. A while back, I introduced my standard answer: get a deck of cards! Assign an exercise to each suit in the deck, and let the number dictate reps for each choice (face cards are always 10). Here is an awesome workout you can bring with you anywhere:

Spades: reverse lunges
Clubs: single-leg bridges
Diamonds: prone bridge arm march
Hearts: push-ups

Bonus!

Aces: 10 burpees
Jokers: 10 jump squats

If you have a TRX or pull-up bar, I recommend making one suit TRX rows, and jokers a doable amount of pull-ups.

Turn over a card, and GO! See how fast you can make it through the deck, and try to beat your time every workout"

This is an awesome little workout, great to bash out when your traveling, on holiday or bored at home!

Hit the link below to read the full newsletter. I'd recommend signing up for his newsletters as they generally have great bits of information in them.

Quick and Easy Ways to Feel and Move Better: Installment 11 - Eric Cressey

Enjoy!

Sleep

Sleep is a vital part of recovery when training hard. You all should know this, it's nothing new. I like 7-8 hours of sleep a night, that's what is recommended anyway. However, a lot of people out there say they need more; what?? You really should not need more than that unless your routine is something mad.

Arnold made a really good comment in a video called "Life's 6 Rules" where one of his comments is that he only sleeps 6 hours a night and for those that slept more he had this to say, "then sleep faster I would recommend." This makes me laugh every time I hear it, but he's right. You should aim to sleep faster then you have more time to do other stuff. Now your probably thinking; how the hell do I sleep faster?? In all honesty I wouldn't call it sleeping faster, I would call it sleeping better or more effectively. Now your probably thinking I'm talking BS, but there is something that really helps this.

Magnesium supplements. Magnesium is mineral that your body uses and to put it simply, most of us are deficient in Magnesium and we need to supplement with it to correct our levels. You generally take magnesium supplements about and hour before you sleep and they make you drowsy and you sleep much deeper. This is what I mean when I say sleep more effectively. You may only sleep 6 hours then but you will sleep much deeper and you will wake up much more refreshed in the morning. Magnesium supplementation has helped me live of 6 hours of sleep during the working week and sometimes even less. This really helps me recover from tough training sessions too.

Along with Magnesium, another thing you can do to improve your sleep is aim to eat foods that increase Serotonin production in your body. You should consume these late evening, night time to help you drift off and sleep deeper. My favourites are bananas and drinking cold milk. A lot of you may say you shouldn't drink milk as its too high in calories and it makes you fat, well if that's your thinking drink semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. I don't care, I like a nice cold glass of milk, especially in summer when its hot and it contains good nutrients.

To sum up, too improve your sleep take a Magnesium supplement, eat a banana late evening and drink some milk. This will help you "sleep faster" according to Arnold but help you run of slightly less sleep than recommended and speed up your recovery from better sleep. A Magnesium supplement with many types of magnesium is always better. A lot of Magnesium supplements are known as ZMA or Zinc and Magnesium. Zinc is another mineral that your body uses; ZMA supplements will also give you a slight testosterone boosting advantage.

Remember I am not a medical professional or a nutritionist, I'm just an experienced guy who loves training and I'm passing on what I know. If you need more information, Google it, speak sports nutritionist, but don't speak to a doctor, they will most likely tell you that your Magnesium levels are "normal" and "within-range" which to be honest means nothing.

Give some Magnesium a try and I promise you will not regret it.

Good Evening! p.s watch the Arnold video below.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Life's Six Rules

Another Good Article

This article written by Dan John explains his view on living a "Fit" Life. Gives good insight on having the right people around you and the goals you should be aiming for.

Figuring Out Your Life and Lifting Goals - Dan John

Enjoy!

Horrible F1 crash

Maria de Villota the Marussia F1 test driver was involved in a horrible testing crash yesterday in which she hit the back of one of the team's transporter trucks.

Her injuries were described and life-threatening at the time and news has just been released today that she has lost her right eye. This is truly devastating and I would like to say my thoughts are with her and her family at this time.

As the safety of F1 and drivers is always at the front of everyone's mind who's involved, it could be possible that we will see fighter-jet still cockpits on F1 cars sooner than later to continue the fight for a safer sport.

Click the link below to read the Autosport article.

Maria de Villota loses right eye in accident - Autosport

Higgs Particle Discovery

This is amazing. I am not a physicist or even remotely a scientist, but I love science and the discoveries that are being made all the time, but this is probably the biggest in a long time and could possibly be the biggest of even my life, and I'm only 24.

Discovering a particle that is consistent with the Higgs boson could give the human race a great insight into the Universe, and as the physicists are saying; this is only the beginning.

Read the BBC article from the posted link. I think everyone should read it and try to understand what this means.

Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC

Enjoy! 

Great Article by Ben Bruno

This is a great article written by Ben Bruno explaining his training "career." I really like it as it his training and mentality is very similar to most people in the gym; he's not a gigantic bodybuilder but a normal guy who loves training.

For me personally, his goals and aims closely relate to what I aim for in aiming to be the best we can be and be healthy for a long time.

Definitely recommend giving this a read.

This is How I Train - Ben Bruno