AITank: Fitness Explained

All too often I am asked, “What should I be taking to help me get bigger ” and just as often to lose weight or get leaner. These people often times come prepared with a list of pills and and powders as long as a textbook. I sit there and wonder, can they really be serious. Often times they are, convinced by the marketing madness thrown at them by the major supplement companies out there. Well to those people whose breakfast looks like a bunch of pills and various powders, I want to hear this: have you seen any measurable progress towards your goal that you can attribute to this pseudo pharmacy you take in every day? If you can say yes to that question, please email me or leave a comment, I want to hear from you. Now to the majority that will have answered that question with a no lets start talking real sense.

There is one thing that almost all amateur fitness buffs forget to incorporate into their diet strategy and that is to take a good multivitamin. If you are active, you need more than the recommended daily allowance of almost all vitamins and minerals, and because of this multivitamins are essential. Having sufficient levels of vitamins and minerals promotes a strong immune system, steady metabolic processes, hormonal balance and mental alertness. They allow the food you eat to be utilized more effectively giving you the most out of each meal as many vitamins function as cofactors in the digestion of amino acids and carbohydrates. So what should you look for in a multivitamin? Mainly look for a complete pill that has all your vitamins minerals and anti-oxidants along with being low in iron. Two of the best out there are AST Multi Pro 32X and Twinlab Daily One. NOW also makes a very good multi-v, one for men and one for women named Adam and Eve respectively.

In later posts we will go in depth, and talk about individual vitamins and minerals, their effects on you, and then start talking specific supplements such as protein, glutamine and creatine.

A lot of people have been under the very ridiculous impression that eating as much protein as humanly possible will make them stronger. This is not how it works. You don’t have to gulp down 5 servings of whey at a time. You don’t have to eat protein bars before, during, and after your workout. In fact, EXCESSIVE protein will HURT you more than it HELPS you. The human body can only absorb a certain amount of protein before it starts going to waste (the cutoff is usually about 2 grams per pound of bodyweight, for serious bodybuilders - and in actuality is probably less, depending on your level of intensity). “But the more protein I eat, the bigger I’ll get!” This is true, but only up to a point, and after that point it just goes to waste. Apples are healthy but you wouldn’t sit around and eat an entire orchard in one sitting. Gulping down protein bars every hour is like staying up all night studying a subject you aren’t even taking.

Now that you know HOW MUCH you need, let’s talk about what KIND you need. There are different types of proteins as well as different qualities, and you want most of your protein intake to be high quality proteins. The BEST sources of protein are real foods, not manufactured products with sugar and fat thrown in to make them taste better. Peanut butter, chicken, turkey, salmon, nuts, eggs, milk: these are all great sources of protein. Rather than buying your groceries at GNC, grill up some chicken breast or boil some eggs.