Lately I’ve been listening to a couple of fitness podcasts while I’m at work and sometimes while I’m at the gym doing cardio.

I really like TheFitCast and Strength Coach.

The Fitcast has some great hosts (Kevin Larrabee, Jonathan Fass, Tony Gentilcore, and Leigh Peele)  and they frequently have interviews with some very notable people in the fitness industry.  Most, if not all, of the hosts have written articles for T-Nation.  I have listened to interviews from John Berardi, Tom Venuto, Dave Tate, Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey, Alwyn Cosgrove, and many others.  The advice and information is top notch, and I find that it keeps me motivated to train hard and eat well.

The Strength Coach podcast is the official podcast for Mike Boyle and has some great information as well.  Sometimes I find that it’s a little over my head or geared more towards those who train athletes; however, its still motivating and I almost always learn something new from each episode.

Check out these podcasts and hopefully they will be motivating to you as well.  The links are embedded above, but you can also just search by name on iTunes and subscribe there.

Research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has shown that low doses of resveratrol mimic the effects of calorie restriction, which has been shown previously to extend lifespan and reduce the effects of aging.

The researchers examined the influence of resveratrol on heart, muscle, and brain by looking for changes in gene expression in those tissues.

The study compared the genetic crosstalk of animals on a restricted diet with those fed small doses of resveratrol. An example of the results involves gene alterations. The heart has at least 1,029 genes whose functions change with age, and the function of the heart itself is known to weaken with age. From the study, in animals on a restricted diet, 90% of those heart genes experienced altered gene expression profiles, while low doses of resveratrol blocked age-related change in 92%.

The authors state that these findings are associated with prevention of the weakening of the heart associated with aging.

It is also important to note that research done in the past typically used high doses; however, this one shows that the benefits can be obtained with low doses.

I have posted before about the health benefits of resveratrol and how it may be a cancer fighter, but this study provides more evidence to its health benefits. These are interesting results and make me consider taking resveratrol supplements regularly. Unfortunately, I do not like wine, but I probably wouldn’t drink it on a daily basis anyways.

Reference: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tip #10
ZMA for Deep Sleep
by Dr. John Berardi

ZMA is useful for improving the quality of your sleep. For me, ZMA tends not to induce sleep as much as deepen it. Expect your dreams to be extremely vivid! My athletes, when traveling, or when under heavy training loads, usually included 2-3 ZMA capsules before bed.

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A review of the cardiovascular benefits of omega-3 fatty acids was published in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The authors give their assessments of the current scientific data on omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular health, including who benefits most, recommended dosages, and possible side effects.

The two most beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are found in fish oils. Fatty coldwater fish like herring, salmon, and tuna contain high amounts of DHA and EPA. Many people consume fish oil supplements to get the cardiovascular benefits.

One of the contributing authors, James O’Keefe, M.D. from the Mid America Heart Institute, refers to three controlled trials of 32,000 participants. These trials revealed a reduction of 19 to 45 percent in cardiovascular events in those who consumed omega-3 fatty acids supplements.

Dr. O’Keefe recommends that people with known coronary artery disease should consume about 1 gram per day of fish oil, and those without cardiovascular disease should consume at least ½ gram per day. He also recommends that those with high triglyceride levels can benefit from 3 to 4 grams per day of DHA and EPA. He states that research has shown that this amount of fish oil lowers triglyceride levels by 20 to 50 percent. For those who do not wish to take the fish oil supplements, two portions of one of the oily fish mentioned above can provide 400 to 500 mg of DHA and EPA.

The review states that there is little evidence of serious side effects from fish oil supplementation. The most common side effects include nausea, upset stomach, and “fishy burp”. Enteric-coated supplements or taking the supplement with meals may reduce “fishy burp” and upset stomach.

I typically take 4 to 6 grams of fish oil supplements each day. I usually have these with no or low carb meals spread throughout the day. I take these for the potoential fat loss, joint, brain, cardiovascular, and overall health benefits. I try to eat fish once or twice per week as well.

Reference:
Reuters (2008, March 12). Cardiovascular Benefits Of Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reviewed. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 12, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2008/03/080310164906.htm

Creatine monohydrate has to be one of the most popular supplements for athletes and bodybuilders. It has been found to increase the effects of weight lifting on muscle volume, strength, and power.

Pyruvic acid has been shown to improve endurance exercise capacity. It sounds like it would be promising to combine creatine monohydrate with pyruvic acid, expesially for those that participate in sports that require both endurance and high intensity abilities.

A study by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) examined the effects of 28-days of creatine pyruvate, creatine citrate, or placebo supplementation on endurance capacity and intermittent handgrip power.

The study was performed on 49 healthy males. Participants consumed 5 grams per day of either creatine pyruvate or creatine citrate, or a placebo.

The results proved to be promising, especially for creatine pyruvate.

Body weight increased in both creatine groups by a similar amount, but the placebo group remained unchanged. Forearm circumference increased significantly in both creatine groups.

Both creatine groups experienced a significant increase in mean power, but the placebo group showed no change.
Creatine pyruvate improved contraction velocity and fatigue resistance during intermittent exercise of high intensity due to enhanced contraction and relaxation velocity. Unfortunately, the performance benefits from creatine citrate decreased with time.

I have had decent success with creatine monohydrate and plan to stick with that. I have not seen a creatine pyruvate supplement in a while, but remember them as being fairly expensive.

Reference: Jager, Ralf, et. Al. “The effects of creatine pyruvate and creatine citrate on performance during high intensity exercise”. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, February 2008.

Tip #3
Fish Oil Rules
by Dr. John Berardi I consider fish oil to be an essential supplement for fat loss. Data from the University of Western Ontario shows that fish oil supplementation increases lean body mass (during non-dieting conditions), increases BMR (by up to 400kcal/day), decreases inflammation, and improves the ratio of fat/carb oxidized (sparing carbs, burning fat). Recommended dose: Start with 6-10g per day of total fish oil (assuming 30% EPA and DHA).

SEE ALSO:
This tip is sponsored by Precision Nutrition – our pick for the best nutrition and supplement resource currently available. Containing system manuals, gourmet cookbook, digital audio/video library, online membership, and more, Precision Nutrition will teach you everything you need to know to get the body you want — guaranteed.

Order Precision Nutrition now and get $50 off!

Post workout nutrition has become an important topic in the past few years.

A typical recommendation is to consume carbohydrates and protein immediately following exercise in order to enhance glycogen resynthesis, promote an anabolic hormonal environment, enhance protein synthesis, and/or lessen the immuno-suppressive effects of intense exercise. The carbohydrate increase insulin levels which in turn promote glycogen restoration and an anabolic hormonal environment. Furthermore, the post workout carbohydrate stimulates protein synthesis. The carbohydrate-protein combination also causes a greater increase in growth hormone than consuming protein alone.

The study included 40 participants with at least one year of consistent resistance training experience. The participants reported to the laboratory after refraining from weight training for at least 48 hours prior and fasting overnight. Pre-exercise blood samples were taken, and then the participants performed a weight training session of 3 sets of 10 repetitions on several exercises.

Following the weight training session the participants received a supplement consisting of 40g of whey PRO with 120g of sucrose, powdered honey, or maltodextrin. The honey powder used contained fructose (31.5%), glucose (26%), wheat starch (25.3%), and maltose (4.7%). After ingestion of the supplement, blood samples were taken at 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes.

The following observations were made:

• Consuming carbohydrate and protein following weight lifting promoted significant increases in insulin levels.
• No significant differences were observed among the different forms of carbohydrate on insulin levels.
• Glucose levels were maintained to a greater degree by using honey as the source of carboyhydrate.
• The post workout supplementation had no significant effect on testosterone, cortisol, the ratio of testosterone to cortisol, muscle and liver enzyme efflux, or general markers of immunity during the first two hours of recover following weight lifting.

I use Biotest Surge with a scoop of creatine monohydrate for my post workout nutrition. Surge uses whey protein hydrolysate, which is a fast absorbing protein, glucose, maltodextrin, and BCAAs. I really like the taste and it mixes extremely easily.

Reference: Kreider, Richard B., et. Al. “Effects of ingesting protein with various forms of carbohydrate following resistance-exercise on substrate availability and markers of anabolism, catabolism, and immunity”, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2007.

The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter recently featured an article on Vitamin D.

Vitamin D plays an important role by working with calcium to keep bones strong. Several studies have also investigated its potential to reduce the risk of a variety of ailments including cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, and age-related muscle weakness.

Vitamin D is manufactured by your skin when it is exposed to the sun. How much is made depends on the time of day, season, distance from the equator, pigmentation (darker skin makes less), how much of your body is exposed to the sun, and your age (older people produce less). It is fat soluble, which means the body can store it for days or even months when you don’t get any sun exposure or consume it.

Vitamin D is found in very few foods. Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, and sardines) are naturally rich, and milk is fortified with it, as well as some soy milks, orange juice, margarines, and breakfast cereals. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D from food alone; therefore, supplements are often necessary.

People over 60, obese, live at northern latitudes, have darker skin, or are rarely outdoors are typically deficient in vitamin D. In the northern U.S. and in Canada, vitamin D levels drop dramatically in winter. Some recent studies have shown that many young people have low blood levels of vitamin D.

A recent meta-analysis in Archives of Internal Medicine of 18 studies found that people taking D supplements (usually 400 to 800 IU a day) had a 7% reduction in total mortality rates.

The amount of D in a multivitamin (usually 400 IU) and/or from exposing your face and arms to the sun for short periods may not be enough to reach desirable blood levels. An intake of even 800 to 1,000 IU may not even be enough for some people.

The official Institute of Medicine recommends daily intakes for vitamin D of 200 IU (international units) for people under 50, 400 IU for those 51 to 70, and 600 IU for those 71 and older. People typically don’t consume that much vitamin D, unless they drink lots of milk and/or take a multivitamin. However, many researchers believe those guidelines are too low, and that it should be around 800 to 1,000 IU a day. Some people with low blood levels of D may need even higher intakes to reach the desirable range.

Studies have suggested that eating fish may improve cognitive performance.

A Norwegian study of over 2,000 elderly people found that those who ate more than 10 grams per day of fish had noticeably better test score than those who ate less than 10 grams of fish per day. People who ate around 75 grams per day of fish had the best test scores.A Dutch study of 404 people, ages 50 to 70, found that omega-3 fatty acids were associated with a lower decline in several cognitive measures over three years.

However, a New Zealand study of over 2,400 people found strong and consistent links between the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and physical health and a less convincing link between EPA and mental health. It still showed health benefits, but not necessarily brain health.

I find it hard to eat fish more than once a week, but I do take a fish oil supplement each day with meals low in carbohydrates. The suggested health benefits are too many to be ignored.

Reference: NIH

Reference: Herda, Trent J., et. al. “Effects of a supplement designed to increase ATP levels on muscle strength, power output, and endurance”, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2008.