Quick TIP - As the summer heat is well upon most of us (and, hopefully, mostly behind us), prospective mass gainers should take extra care to not let the weather affect their programs. Hot weather can decrease appetite as the body tries to find ways to keep cool. Drinking your water (lots of water) will help keep the body cool and consequently help your appetite.

Also important are multi-vitamins. When you sweat, you are not only losing water but vitamins and minerals as well.

Thanks, as always, for all the questions, comments and suggestions sent to me over the past month. It is that stuff that the site is built on. If something is on your mind, don't hesitate to contact me.

In This Issue...

Site New Stuff

Because I added about 17 new pages to the site in the past month (way to go, JP) and because I don't want this ezine to turn into any more of a book than it usually is, I won't mention them all. The ones I don't mention can all be found by going to the main steroid or creatine pages as linked below.

• The Anabolic Steroids Section has been updated. New and interesting stuff includes some content provided by the more responsible of the pro-steroids sites.

  Be sure and check out these pictures of steroid side effects which provide a very graphic reason to avoid steroids. The risks of illegal blackmarket use are just too high for any sane person to consider.

• The Creatine Section has been updated and greatly expanded. Among the new stuff are articles from both Will Brink and Dr. Franco-Obregón.

  Also new and hopefully useful is an extensive Creatine FAQ I put together. If you can't find what you want to know about the supplement in the FAQ, let me know.

  Going through the section you will probably realize that I have great respect for Dr. Franco-Obregón's ebook, Creatine: A Practical Guide. This is because I have personally used his information to improve the results I get from my creatine usage. Perhaps more than any other supplement the results you get from using creatine are dependent on exactly how you use it. Investing some time in learning about the supplement and the proven effective ways to use it can greatly enhance your results.

  There is no better teacher for that than Dr. Franco-Obregón.

  Another point I hope comes across in the section is that not all creatine is the same. Buying based on price is not the way to buy creatine. Cheap creatine is the result of cheap manufacturing processes. Cheap processes create poor quality products that will not only be less effective but can be dangerous as Will Brink's article, What's In Your Creatine?, points out.

  When it comes to buying any and all bodybuilding supplements, you should always follow the rule of buying at a reasonable price from a respected manufacturer. In the case of creatine, due to great demand, this rule is doubly important.

  Creatine will be an extremely effective and safe supplement only if you use some common sense and take the time to learn a little about it. Otherwise, don't waste your time and money (and perhaps your health).

• I have also begun to do some reviews of some of the supplements that I think are best off avoided. Two new reviews, GABA Supplements and HGH Supplements are the first examples of this. Despite a genuine lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of these supplements, they still move quickly off store shelves (especially in the case of HGH enhancers).

  It is interesting to look at the reason they sell. It can be traced to some tricky marketing. GABA ads cite a 25 yr. old study while failing to mention that follow-up studies have failed to confirm that study's findings. HGH supplements highlight studies done with HGH injections and try to hide the fact that there is no real evidence that enhancer supplements can achieve even remotely as impressive results.

  Keep your thinking cap on at the supplement store.
  
  
  

• New stuff at the Muscle Building Blog are posts "Losing Body Fat before Bulking" and "Weight Gainers Make You Lose Weight?"

Interesting Off-Site Reads

The Governor

Schwarzenegger's latest scandal is his relationship with the muscle mags and, consequently, the supplement world. While this article is clearly meant to embarrass the governor, I thought it was interesting as it told a little about how those magazines are put together.

If you think you are reading an article by Arnold or Ronnie Coleman or another bodybuilding champion, think again. You are actually reading articles written by the magazine writers and littered with supplement endorsements that quite curiously correspond with the advertisers.

Not exactly the best source of information. Following the advice in muscle mags is a good way to lose your money and accomplish nothing in the gym.

Build a Better Human?

This article is from Joel Garreau who has a new book out on the rapidly advancing human genome technology. Right around the corner there will be new and unbelievable ways available not only to improve athletic performance but brain function and more. Its an interesting subject...

The steroids of today are mere "child's play" with respect to what could soon be available. Will we never again see an Olympics that doesn't feature genetically altered humans? Will comic book heroes really seem all that far-fetched 20 years from now?

I haven't read Garreau's book yet but its on my want-to-do list. If you have read it, please send me your review.

Bodybuilding Tip of the Month

10 Weeks To Gains, Then What?

I get a lot of email from people worried about what happens after they complete their 10-12 week program. After they gain the weight and build the muscle, what do they do then? Do they have to continue to diet, do they have to continue to train indefinitely? While this may be an obvious thing for most to wonder, every time I get the question I cringe.

Why do I cringe? Because thinking past the ten weeks is building a mental block that many are going to stumble on long before they ever get to that point.

For a beginner, dieting and training can be a major challenge. In the first few weeks of a program, you may feel like there is no way you can keep doing it for much longer.

This is where long-term thinking can get you into trouble. If you think about having to diet and train for the rest of your life, it is going to seem an impossible task. Your mind will recognize this as a futile pursuit, self-doubt will become a dominant player and you are a lot more likely to just go ahead and quit.

But, if you can tell yourself, "Just 7 more weeks of this," you are in a much more winnable position with your mind. Self-doubt doesn't have as much power in this situation.

You can do anything for just ten weeks.

It isn't without reason that virtually all the fitness programs you see these days are based on 10-12 week programs. This is long enough to see results and short enough that it doesn't trigger the formation of a major self-doubt army.

Okay, but still, what do I do after 10 weeks?

When I get the question, I always think people are asking me if they can then go back to the "normal" life that they currently enjoy, if they can do this without losing that which they gained. The hard-truth answer is "not really." You can't expect to maintain newly built muscle and fitness by reverting back to a former lifestyle of poor eating and couch vegetating.

However, as much as you think you enjoy your current ways, you may be surprised to find that you end up enjoying your new ways much more.

A funny thing often happens - That training and dieting that seemed absolutely undoable after two weeks has now become a habit. It doesn't seem difficult or cumbersome anymore. Additionally, you feel better, have more energy and have the positive reinforcement of the results you have achieved.

In short, you can't imagine returning to your old ways.

Now, in the case of mass building, while you may not accomplish all you want in 10 weeks, it can't go on forever. The focus of your training will at some point change. You'll move on to maintenance or cutting phases.

You may not be as strict as you once were. You may allow yourself a little more cheating with your dieting, you may miss the occasional workout as life-stuff happens.

All that is fine and you certainly won't return to your former skinny and weak self overnight. Fear not, you don't have to become a hardcore bodybuilder, one who lives for protein powder and weight plates, to maintain a nice physique.

First though, just focus on getting through that 10-12 week program. That is the hard part.

Really, you don't need to know how to maintain muscle mass you don't have. You don't need to know how to lose fat that you don't have. And when you get to the point where you do have those problems, the answers are going to be a lot easier to come by than you may now imagine.

Because at that point you will be aware of exactly what makes your unique body react. You will be a different person, a person with a lot more muscle building knowledge. Devising a plan now is really pointless, a complete waste of time.

In short, don't put the cart before the horse, don't give your mind ammunition to use against you. Put all your effort into the short term and success is a lot more likely to come your way.

From the In-Box - Q&A

...have a couple of questions for you: how much protein can you (assimilate) during a meal? how long should you wait before consuming more protein? (from Joe)

The rumor that seems to never die is that the maximum amount of protein the body can assimilate per sitting is 30 grams. This is a myth. Nutritionist Will Brink looks into this myth in his book, Muscle Building Nutrition , and reports that he has never seen any study that even remotely concluded that there was a set limit to the body's ability to digest any amount of protein at a sitting. If such a study was ever made, you can bet Will Brink would have come across it.

Most likely that was just something someone said and then others started repeating it until it became known as fact. But no one has ever been able to determine a scientific basis for it. It doesn't really make sense when you think about it. A small chicken breast meal will exceed 30 grams. Are you telling me that a large chicken breast meal is basically equivalent to the body?

The actual amount of protein the average person can digest and effectively use is undoubtedly far above the 30 gram myth. It is likely dependant on a variety of factors - individuality, age, weight, fitness level, etc. The body's need for protein likely has a role to play here too and if you are effectively stressing your muscles through weight training, you are creating a need.

As much as possible you want to spread your protein intake out throughout the day. It is good for muscle building to continuously be providing the body with protein. If your diet calls for 200 grams of protein a day and you are eating 6 meals a day, ideally you would be consuming 33.3 grams per meal. In practice, you would probably be getting 50 grams at one meal and less then 30 at a couple of others. No big deal there.

In the end, just ignore the 30 gram myth and anyone who insists on its validity. Ask them for the scientific reasoning they are using and if you ever find anyone who can come up with any, let me know..

Future Plans

The new stuff is all related to supplements simply because that is what I am currently working on and the fact that I'm not a very good multi-tasker. I am getting sick of supplements though and can't wait to get on to improving the training section. But for a bit, it is likely to be supplement stuff as I have a lot of work yet to do there.

Any suggestions you may have are always appreciated. Until next time, keep working hard.