The Primacy of Workouts

Since a woman’s body is not exactly the same as that of a man’s, the exercise routine also needs some tweaking. The routine obviously has to be well-planned and thought out. The routine should focus not only on gaining muscle mass but should also help the body to function properly. To plan your bodybuilding workout you can consult a professional trainer who should be able to chalk out a plan for a couple of months. After you complete these months of training you can revisit the routine and make the changes that are necessary. You can also talk to established professional bodybuilders who can have important things to share which they have picked up through the years of training. For your diet, you can consult a nutritionist. The thing you have to look out for is that you have several small meals a day, you should never feel famished, and your diet should have a balanced proportion of carbohydrates, protein and fats. When we say fats, we mean unsaturated fats that are good for our health. Unsaturated fat can be obtained from olive oil and fish oil.

A lot about your bodybuilding routine will depend on the age group you belong to and the kind of structure you have. If you are starting late, then it would be better not to set too high a goal. Once we reach the age of 30, our body gets into a mold and it is very difficult to break that structure and create something new out of it. It is also difficult and in some ways risky too, to attempt the same exercise that a teenager might be able to undertake. Instead the bodybuilding routine should be less intense, with lighter weights and easier cardio vascular exercises. For a teenage girl though, the options are limitless and she would be free to pursue a very hard workout routine.

The Workout

The basic principles of women’s bodybuilding remain the same as to that of men, but there are a few adjustments that have to be made. The bodies of men and women are not exactly the same. While men have stronger upper bodies, women’s bodies are designed to have strong legs that can bear the extra weight. Also women are liable to have more fat in their bodies. This is for the simple reason that men produce large amounts of testosterone in their bodies that helps in muscle growth. Women don’t have that luxury. Therefore, the bodybuilding workout for women differs slightly from that of men.

To strengthen the upper body, it is imperative that a woman includes a lot of time in her routine for cardio vascular exercises. Some of the best exercises to try out would include treadmill workouts, aerobics, bicycling and swimming. As you can see, many of the cardio vascular exercises can be undertaken outside the gym. This allows you more time to focus on other exercises while you are at the gym. Cardio vascular exercises will strengthen your heart and help you burn the excess fat. It is best to perform these exercises early in the morning in an empty stomach.

For proper muscle growth however, cardio vascular exercises are not enough. You will have to do weight training to gain the muscle mass. Initially the weight training can accompany cardio vascular training in losing fat. Since most women gain fat in and around the hips and thighs, these are the areas that should be specifically targeted. But in women’s bodybuilding, do focus on all your muscle groups during the weight training. Initially you will get leaner muscles but as you progress and increase the weights you pull and lift, the muscles will begin to grow. How much bulk you crave for will determine how much weight you do.

When you start off with the bodybuilding routine, stick to simpler easier exercises and don’t push your body too hard. Allow enough time for the body to recover from the wear and tear. Continue with this beginner’s routine for about 4 to 6 months before you shift to the intermediate routine which again will last for 6 months to year. The advanced level could be pursued only after that.

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Kre Alkalyn (TM) is a patented creatine mixture that claims to be 10 to 20 times more effective than straight creatine monohydrate at getting into the muscle cells. It is claimed by the patent holder that Kre Alkalyn uses a buffering agent to make more creatine active and stop the conversion to creatinine. Creatinine is a byproduct of creatine metabolism and considered a waste product making it undesirable for the bodybuilder.

Standard Creatine comes in many forms that compete with buffered creatine like creatine malate, creatine citrate, other creatine salts, creatine monohydrate and creatine ethyl ester. These forms of creatine also claim to have near 100% absorption and are touted to be better forms of creatine as well. To test the claims that Kre Alkalyn has better bioavailability we can look to the scientific literature. Also, what does the scientific literature say about the claims that 90% of creatine is converted to creatinine and therefore useless? Is Kre Alkalyn worth the extra money?

According to its patent, buffered creatine uses one of the following ingredients to act as the buffering agent: soda ash, magnesium glycerol phosphate, hydroxide, carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, tree latex or a phosphate. These buffering agents in theory help stop the conversion of creatine to creatinine in the acidic stomach. This conversion is supposedly stopped by adding in these buffering agents which counter the stomach acid.

Buffered creatine does have some studies posted to the All American EFX web site. Do the studies support the notion that Kre Alkalyn is vastly superior to creatine monohydrate or creatine salts like creatine malate or creatine citrate and creatine ethyl ester? The first study may support some slight improvement over other forms of creatine when examined.

Using 24 healthy Bulgarian weight lifting competitors, buffered creatine did show a roughly 2% increase in weight lifted over creatine monohydrate. To put this in perspective, if a powerlifter put up 300lbs on a squat, after 60 days the creatine monohydrate group would lift 325lbs and the Kre Alkalyn would lift 332lbs. Not exactly the stellar performance differences and vastly different absorption that is claimed by the Kre Alkalyn folks. Sure, lifting 7 extra pounds over 60 days is impressive, but it isn’t life altering weight even for a well trained athlete. Additionally, this study clearly is in dispute with their assertion that 90%+ of creatine monohydrate taken as a supplement is turned into creatinine in the stomach and thus inactive.

While it is significant to see an increase of 7lbs of weight lifted, is it possible that the real reason that Kre Alkalyn performs better is due to the bicarbonate in the product? I personally think that makes the most sense. Certainly more than 10% of creatine monohydrate is active, contrary to the Kre Alkalyn claims, so it isn’t the additional creatine that is having the slight improvement. It is most likely the bicarbonate. As an ergogenic aid, bicarbonate is very useful to performance athletes. If you are not aware, you probably own bicarbonate already, It’s called baking soda.

So, perhaps the “secret” to Kre Alkalyn is really just 5 cents worth of baking soda, which we know is good for performance athletes. A study of baking soda in performance athletes confirms this assertion. “Sodium bicarbonate and Na-citrate seem to be effective in activities with a sufficient duration to generate a difference in the hydrogen ion gradient, characterized by a very high intensity and involving large muscular groups.” (1) Large muscle groups is exactly what was studied in the Kre Alkalyn paper, so, for large muscle groups clearly, bicarbonate will increase performance and thus may explain the additional benefit achieved in the Kre Alkalyn study.

I suppose this is a benefit of taking Kre Alkalyn, the addition of bicarbonate. For the extra price though, it hardly seems worth any extra money. Considering that the study from the Kre Alkalyn site used 7.5g of Kre Alkalyn per day and that will cost you about 35 dollars, it hardly seems like Kre Alkalyn is a good deal compared to creatine monohydrate and a teaspoon of baking soda as the buffering agent. Additionally, more advanced creatine complexes are on the market that contain crucial cofactors that enhance creatine, like beta alanine and hydrolyzed amino acids. These complexes are usually cheaper and would certainly have benefit over both standard creatine monohydrate and Kre Alkalyn. Almost no one takes straight creatine any more, since there are advanced blends that have eclipsed them in performance by marrying the creatine with numerous cofactors.

There are other studies from the Kre Alkalyn web site that show indeed this form of creatine with a buffering agent is stable and non-toxic, which is to be expected. Another study shows that Kre Alkalyn again preforms slightly better than creatine monohydrate on a VO2 max test, but again this is probably due to the increased bicarbonate in the mix, not that the creatine itself is changed in any way or is absorbed better.

According to this study the Kre Alkalyn seems to be missing one key factor of creatine monohydrate supplementation, increased DHT levels. These increased DHT levels in young people may be whats causing them to get cranky on creatine, but may also increase their penis size and potentially make them taller (4). This benefit is seemingly negated by buffered creatine for some strange reason. Perhaps the additional acidic environment pushes the body to manufacturer more DHT from other sources than testosterone which is a very good thing for young people. The fact that this healthy benefit is negated is a knock against buffered creatine.

So, what about the claims that Kre Alkalyn is better absorbed due to creatine monohydrate being broken down nearly 90% by the stomach? The scientific literature completely debunks this claim. In fact scientific studies show creatine monohydrate can certainly be 100% absorbed, one study stating “Creatine seems to be totally absorbed since no creatine or creatinine was detectable in feces.” (2,3) and Creatine Salts such as creatine citrate and creatine malate have also shown to have nearly 100% absorption (3). This completely debunks the myth from All American EFX, the maker of Kre Alkalyn, that buffered creatine is a better form of creatine for absorption and debunks the assertion that 90%+ of standard creatine monohydrate turns to the waste product, creatinine. Using muscle creatine levels as the standard, it was shown that almost all creatine forms are absorbed and utilized.

All of this serves to really debunk the assertion that unbuffered creatine is inferior to Kre Alkalyn. The data seems to indicate that any benefit from Kre Alkalyn is probably due to the bicarbonate or other buffering agent. The small amount of bicarbonate makes the supplement perform slightly better than standard creatine monohydrate, but the differences are very slight even in performance athletes. If you really wanted buffered creatine, bicarbonate can be had in any kitchen in America as “baking soda”. You can make your own Kre Alkalyn by adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda to your creatine drink.

A serious deficiency of most Kre Alkalyn supplements on the market is that they seem to be missing the various advanced cofactors found in the most pre-workout drinks. These cofactors, like beta alanine show an increased improvement over straight creatine, making them a key component of any pre-workout creatine drink (5). The lack of things like beta alanine make most Kre Alkalyn supplements inferior to the current leading pre-workout powders.

Creatine is great for you and should be used by any serious bodybuilder. It is a proven supplement with benefits for powerlifters, bodybuilders, the elderly and middle aged men and women. No matter what form you use, make sure you add this impressive nutrient to your workouts and enjoy the numerous benefits.

References:
1. Sodium bicarbonate and sodium citrate: ergogenic aids? J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Feb;19(1):213-24. Requena B, Zabala M, Padial P, Feriche B. Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Granada, Spain

2.Jger R, Harris RC, Purpura M, Francaux M. Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007 Nov 12;4:17.

3.Deldicque L, Dcombaz J, Zbinden Foncea H, Vuichoud J, Poortmans JR, Francaux M. Kinetics of creatine ingested as a food ingredient. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Jan;102(2):133-43.

4. 5 alpha-reductase deficiency in patients with micropenis. J Inherit Metab Dis. 1997 Mar;20(1):95-101. Gad YZ, Nasr H, Mazen I, Salah N, el-Ridi R. Human Genetics Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

5. Effect of creatine and beta-alanine supplementation on performance and endocrine responses in strength/power athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Aug;16(4):430-46. Hoffman J, Ratamess N, Kang J, Mangine G, Faigenbaum A, Stout J. Dept. of Health and Exercise Science, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ 08628, USA.

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Defining Diet

Today diet has almost become synonymous with eating less than what your body demands. This is not the right way to look at diet. Whatever food choices we are making forms our diet. And hence, contrary to popular belief, we are all on a diet – even if we are packing in a couple of pizzas and a liter of ice cream every night. What an aspiring bodybuilder should focus on is to develop the habit of a healthy diet, one that helps him to get the most out of his body.

Basics of a Healthy Diet

The first thing that anyone interested in bodybuilding needs to get into his head is that being on a diet does not mean starving oneself. It also does not mean that you have to have a couple of bottles of sports drink everyday. There are a few simple rules that you must adhere to so that you know you are on the right track.

First of all, do not gorge at one go or do not under-eat. Have regular small meals throughout the day. This ensures that you never go hungry and at the same time you do not have cravings. It is all about getting the balance right.

Secondly, whenever you eat, make sure that your meal is a balanced one with carbohydrates, proteins and good fats all featuring in balanced proportions in the menu. Whatever you eat should have carbohydrate, protein and fat in the ratio of approximately 2:2:1.

Thirdly, after you have had a meal, undertake some activity so that the calories are cycled. Otherwise our bodies get used to the excess calories and you feel hungry even if you have enough energy already stored in your body. Your body understands what you make it understand. So never fool your body into thinking the wrong things.

The Perfect Diet

Now that you know what is the importance of your diet it makes sense to delve a little further and try to find out what exactly would qualify as a healthy bodybuilding diet.

For a bodybuilder a minimum of six meals over the day is of utmost necessity. You can start your day with a cup of dry oats and beaten eggs. While the oats provide you enough carbohydrate and fibers that are essential to your body, the eggs supply the protein and the slightest of fat that helps your body. Since you are not frying the eggs, you are staying away from the bad fats. You can have this meal at around 7am.

Two hours later you can have packet of the meal replacement nutrients that are especially designed for bodybuilders. These have the exact proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fat that your body requires and greatly helps you in developing the lean body mass that any bodybuilder desires so much.

At noon have your third meal of the day. For you carbohydrate intake you have the option to choose from brown rice or baked potato. Throw in some green vegetables, as your body will require a regular dose of vitamins. A bit of meat or fish will perfectly round off the meal with its contribution in the protein department.

As we approach mid day we often feel a need to eat and this is the most vulnerable hour of the day and we can end up snacking during this period. A much better alternative is to have the same meal you had at 9 in the morning. Have just what the body requires – no more, no less.

Don’t wait for a late dinner. You should allow your body enough time to digest whatever you eat so that none of the extra calories get stored in your body without them getting cycled. Have your dinner by 6 in the evening and the menu would be similar to what you had for lunch. But if you had chosen chicken for lunch now you can go for fish or even turkey.

End your daily diet again with some of the meal replacement nutrients.

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We all want to look great. Some of us also want to look buff and muscular. This type of look takes a lot of work and a lot of time. Here are a few tips to consider for a better bodybuilding workout and lifestyle.

* Remember to achieve the true look of a body builder you need to focus on the entire body, not just the arms and chest.

* You must gain wait to achieve the perfect bodybuilder look. This means you can’t be pencil thin and you can’t go on any fad diets. Yet, you also can’t just start eating a lot of junk. You need to gain weight, but not fat. You want to gain muscle. To achieve the perfect weight for bodybuilding, be sure to eat plenty of protein. You may even want to start snacking on protein bars and drinks.

* When performing your bodybuilding exercises be sure to wear clothes that will allow for free and easy movements.

* Drink plenty of water. When you exercise regularly and hard, you will sweat. This means your body is losing water. The last thing you want your body to become is dehydrated. If you can, drink water throughout your exercise session.

* Watch your techniques during each and every move. A great way to do this is by exercising in front of a mirror. Then you can see a lot of your movements. Another thing you should do is have someone watch your technique. Make sure this person understand how each move should be made. Proper movements are essential if you were to enter any competition. Plus, if you perform a routine wrong, you might injury a muscle or even break a bone.

* As with any exercise program, you should always warm up before starting the hard routines. You should warm up with some light stretches. Each muscle group needs a bit of a warm up session before you go right into the weight lifting. Then you may even want to use a treadmill or a stationary bike for five or so minutes. (For your heart)

* Begin with a small amount of weight and add weight over time. Do not add weight too quickly or you will risk injury.

* You can tell when you have the proper weight if you are able to raise and hold the weight for a count of two to four. You don’t want this to be really easy. Yet, you want to be able to achieve this. In other words, you want the weight to feel like a challenge, but one that you can handle.

* Only exercise when you can focus. If you are worried about something or if there is too much noise and you feel you can’t focus, skip your routines for the time being. If you try to lift the weights when you are out of focus, you could strain a muscle and cause injury.

* Set up an exercise schedule. This plan should allow for days when you don’t feel up to any exercise at all. Plus, it should allow for growth and slowly allow you to increase the amount of weight you lift.

Bodybuilding is a great sport. Yet, it is a sport that takes practice and commitment. By following tips from those who know what they are doing, you are sure to achieve greater bodybuilding skills with time.

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