The Science of Tank Tops and Maximizing Your Aesthetic through Wardrobe

There are a few things that I take very seriously in my life. While some people place a massive amount of importance on their work, education, relationships, and other things, I focus my attention elsewhere. One of the things I devote a lot of my time to researching, perfecting, and advancing the technique of, is the science behind the clothes you wear and how to fully maximize your body aesthetic from a bodybuilding point of view. Specifically, the art of tank tops.

Some of you might be reading this post and think to yourself, "wow....he's finally gone off the deep end". But look guys, if looking your best all the time is wrong, I really don't want to be right. Do you just get up every morning and close your eyes, randomly throw your arm into a drawer, and accept whatever shirt you pull out? I hope not. What you wear says a lot about you. People, though they won't admit it, judge you and make assumptions about you the second you walk through the door of your workplace, restaurant, or whereever you are.

In this post, I will discuss sleeveless shirts / tank tops and what I feel are the pros and maybe cons of each type. I will also give some of my recommendations in wearing the different types of tank tops. Furthermore, a lot of the points I'll be making will be from MY point of view, and what I feel the optimal-looking aesthetic is. You're certainly welcome to disagree.

Alright, let's get into it!

Tank tops are an amazingly versatile type of clothing. They can be inexpensive, they're breathable, and they allow for incredible range of motion that other forms of shirts / tops wouldn't allow. They can be worn while working out, or while hanging out with friends. They can take a lot of punishment from the elements, and also come in a massive variety of styles. For bodybuiders, Tank tops are great because they show off and maximize the aesthetic of the bodyparts you are trying to excentuate and work hard to develop during your training. They really are.....the greatest thing to happen to the world of clothing and apparel.

But are all tank tops created equal? HECK NO. In my many years of experimentation in the tank top game, I've found that extremely minor changes in what is inherently less clothing make a HUGE difference. The type of "cut" or style of tank top makes you look completely different depending on such factors as how much of it covers your shoulders, how deep it curves in towards your chest, how deep it dips down into your chest, how well it stretches, how much space is given for your arms to fit through, how well it tapers in towards your sides, etc. Each of these factors will give people a completely different impression of you seeing you for the first time in one of these.

So let's talk about some of the most popular styles:

*Disclaimer: I made up the names of some of these styles*



Standard Bulk-Purchased A-Shirt 

These are the tank tops you find at your local big-box store for around $10 for a set of 5. Popular brands include Hanes and Fruit of the Loom. I believe they are 100% cotton, and are great for sleeping in, workouts, and being extremely casual with. They also make great undershirts to give you extra warmth underneath whatever top you're wearing when it's cold, or to whick sweat when it's hot out.

Muscle groups this tank top will accentuate: Shoulders if you have them, bi's and tri's, and tip of the upper pecs.

Pros: A classic. Does the job. Makes you look big depending on which size you get. Cheap.

Cons: Looks cheap depending on the environment / whatever else you're wearing. Easy to stretch and wear out.

Source: walmartimages.com

These kinds of tanks used to be the only ones I owned. And I would ALWAYS rock one in the gym. They're super versatile, comfortable, and you don't have to worry about destroying one because it's so cheap to get a new one. Great for people who want to show off their muscles on a budget. Goes well with most kind of pants / bottoms.


Casual Tank Top

The next step up from the A-shirt. These are the tank tops you'll pay $10-$20 for. Usually made out of more flexible cloth, and comes in many different designs. I like the stripe-patterned ones personally. They're great for when trying to wear a sleeveless shirt without coming off as tacky or cheap. They give you a fresher look and are very breathable.

There are also versions of these you could wear to the gym.


Muscle groups this tank top will accentuate: Shoulders if you have them, bi's and tri's, and tip of the upper pecs.

Pros: Stylish, better quality than some forms of tank top. Acceptable to wear out in public, and doesn't give off a cheap look. Breathable. Gives you a fresh look.

Cons: Can't wear these in the gym (if you buy the casual ones. But there are ones that are acceptable for the gym). Pretty expensive for a tank top. Sometimes hard to mix and match with the rest of your wardrobe.

Source: fashify.com

I wear these all late spring / summer / early fall long. I love wearing them so much! If you shop at the right places, you can get good deals on them and get some nice new styles to sport when you're out and about! A great way to be stylish, while not looking like you tried too hard at looking good.


The Frat-Boy In-Cut

A made-up style name by me. But this is the kind of tank top that you see many "frat boys" or athletes wear around the gym at your local university. They are usually just t-shirts converted into tank tops with a pair of scissors to cut off the sleeves. What makes this style different however is that, instead of simply just cutting off the sleeves, the scissors come in close at the collar, down in towards the shirt, curve in in towards the center, and back out. This forces the eyes to be drawn into towards the center of the person's body as the eyes lock on to the shirt and follow the curve, thus making your shoulders, arms, and pecs look bigger than they are, or accentuates the figure that you already have.

Muscle groups this tank top will accentuate: Shouders, possibly traps, outside of the pec, arms, serratus muscles.

Pros: Makes your body look wider (bigger) than it may or may not be. Can be made easily by cutting up a t-shirt. Brings out a lot of your side muscles.

Cons: Can be easy to screw up if you're cutting it yourself and don't know what you're doing. If you leave the collar on the shirt, the collar may feel more restrictive around the neck than the rest of the shirt. Hard to pull off as a casual look.

I love wearing these. Especially during intramural sports. They give you a look that's very popular nowadays and make you look more imposing than a tank top that covers a lot of your torso area.


Racerbacks / Y-Back Tanks

Kind of the same style as a stringer tank top, but kind of different too. I'm not sure I'd be out of line to group all of them together (I know there are subtle differences though), but I'll leave them separate for now.

Racerbacks / Y-backs can be considered different from stringer tank tops, in that there is a wider / more supportive strap around the shoulders that still leave your shoulder exposed and may have more clothing covering the back of your neck / front of your chest.

Muscle groups this tank top will accentuate: Pretty much the entire upper body. It will also make your back come out since there isn't much clothing covering that part of your body. May cover more of the traps.

Pros: Makes you look huge. Brings out many different muscle groups.

Cons: Not the best tank top to wear as casual attire (though I frequently do) at places you'll be for extended periods of time.

Racerbacks and Y-Backs are phenomenal gym attire to wear. They look awesome, and make you look intense. They bring out many different muscle groups you've worked so hard to develop, and will make you stand out at your local gym, or wherever you decide to wear them!


Stringer Tanks

My FAVORITE tank top of all time. They are THE best kind of tank top to wear if you're trying to bring out your muscles and look intimidating. What sets them apart from racerbacks / y-backs is that they have practically no support at the top of the body apart from the spaghetti-sized straps that go over your shoulders. These straps often come in towards the inside of your chest, further making it look like the sides of your upper body are bigger than what they may or may not actually be. They also allow amazing breathability for your workouts. It's actually funny because, once you wear these during your workouts, you won't want to go back to regular tank tops as they feel way too constrictive. 

It's really hard to find stringer tank tops. It's even harder to find a stringer tank top that adequately enhances your aesthetic, because stringers are cut in many different ways. Some cut deep into the chest and bow out, while others cut deep into the chest but stay inside the chest. Others don't cut deep into the chest really at all.

Muscle groups this tank top will accentuate: Your entire upper body. It will also bring out your back.

Pros: You'll look HUGE. You'll literally look like you're destroying your shirt by just standing still. The ultimate in achieving an intimidating aesthetic in the gym. A lot of attention will go towards you.

Cons: Sometimes hard to contain certain parts of your chest from popping out....if you know what I mean. Also, not really acceptable casual wear while out and about for extended periods of time. Hard to find. Difficult to find the right cut

As I said, I LOVE stringers. I spend more money on stringers than probably any other type of clothing, even work clothing (don't judge). They are perfect for so many reasons. They improve your aesthetic, allow extreme breathability during workouts, and make you look intense.



And that's my rundown on the different styles of tank tops you could choose to wear. Try out a different style today! Wear them at the gym or around town, and look great!

-Jtrain



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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A Good Beginner Bodybuilding Workout Routine

Hello again everyone! I hope your week has been kind to you. If it hasn't, maybe reading my latest post will distract you from the things trying to keep you down right now!

In thinking of which topics to write about, I realized that I've never actually taken the time to discuss what one's workout could or should look like if they are considering getting into the bodybuilding game. What was helpful to me when I first got into bodybuilding, was looking at the sample routines on the website of the bodybuilder I was following (www.scoobysworkshop.com). So I thought I'd take some time to discuss a good all-around beginner exercise program that you could follow to get you started on your path to bodybuilding success.

My philosophy on building muscle has always been to heavily work out and exhaust a muscle group, and then rest it for a week (aside from the residual work that muscle will do from other exercises for other muscle groups throughout the week). On these exercises, you should also go until muscle failure and workout with a weight that lets you achieve that muscle failure within 8-12 repetitions. Since you'll be a beginner, try starting off with only 3 exercises per muscle group and 3 sets of each of those exercises. Consider using drop sets if you don't have a friend or gym buddy who can spot you to give you extra reps beyond failure. Also, fully extend and contract the muscle group you are working out, with full contraction at the end-range of motion.

Consistency is the key. You're doing this for the long term. If you won't be invested in doing this for a VERY long time consistently, it's probably best you don't even read on. You won't see results otherwise.

A lot of these exercises will seem basic and not as advanced as they could be. But this would be a program I'd give to beginners only. It's not meant to be advanced. Advanced technique comes with time, and it's best to get a feel for keystone exercises and lifting before you worry about the other stuff.

So here we go. This is just an EXAMPLE. You may mix and match these exercises and muscle groups / days as you deem fit. But try to workout the entire body! I workout 5 days a week, but starting out I only worked out 3 days a week. So this example program will reflect that. I also won't go into explicit detail as to how to do these exercises, as I've already explained them in my "top 5" series. I will provide a link on each muscle group you can follow to those "top 5" pages under each muscle group.


MONDAY (ARMS):

Source: biggerarms.com

Triceps:

"Top 5" Triceps exercises found here

1) Dips

• Make sure to get a full stretch in the tricep by going as far down as you can without shoulder pain
• When coming up, lean back slightly to extend the pump and flex in the triceps head
• Nice and slow for a nice time-under-tension.
• Do these with weight if you can do upwards of 20 without weight with ease

2) Triceps Pushdowns

• Do not stand close to the machine, and stand further away and super-set in closer to work different parts of the triceps
• Pin your elbows to your sides and never move them
• Come up slowly to stretch the triceps, push down until you feel full flexion

3) Tricep Kickbacks

• Keep arms at 90 degree angles with elbow slightly above your back
• Move back and upwards only at the elbow following the plane of your arm to get full activation of triceps
• hold at the top end range of motion and come back down slowly to a full stretch in the triceps

Biceps:

"Top 5" Biceps exercises found here

1) Dumbbell Curls

• Pin elbows to side and start with the weight so far back and stretched that your triceps get a pump
• Come up and turn the pinky-finger side of your palm in, trying to point towards the outside of your biceps head
• Line of drive should be followed towards the outside of your biceps head

2) Single-arm Cable Curls

•  Adjust cable apparatus so that the handle is slightly above your head, and stand back until your arm is straight with your fist pointing towards the cable apparatus
• Stand with your body facing perpendicular to the straight line your arm makes towards your body
• Flex the biceps head and pull inward, with the Line of drive again being on the outside of your biceps head
• Fully extend the arm and flex the biceps

3) Barbell Curls

• Pin your elbows at your sides once again
• Bring your arms down and back so far that you get a pump in your triceps
• Moving only with your elbows, bring the weight up to your chest, and flex the biceps hard
• Can be performed with a wide grip or an inside grip for two different kinds of pumps

Nutrition:

Eat right and complete those macros.


TUESDAY (REST):

Rest today. Eat right and complete those macros.


WEDNESDAY (BACK + SHOULDERS):

 

Source: ashevillemassageschool.org 

Back:
 
"Top 5" back exercises found  here


Plate-loaded row

• Place your chest up against the chest plate
• Pull the handle back in a line of drive that is under your lat
• At the end range of motion pulling back, pull in towards your mid back for a deeper flex

Lat Pull-downs / Pullups

• You can use a bar or two handles, but I'm fond of the two-handle method
• Lean back and curve your spine a bit
• Pull the handles down towards your chest and make a motion as if you were trying to pull them apart
• Get a nice stretch by letting the weight pull your arms all the way up, pulling the lats

Dumbbell rows

• Take the same stance you would for a triceps kickback exercise
• Pull a fairly heavy dumbbell up towards the side of your body, making sure the line of drive is under your lat

 Shoulders:

 "Top 5" shoulder exercises found here
 

Source: dietwebreport.com

 Dumbbell Shoulder Press

• Sit upright in a chair
• Make right-angles with your arms with your fists pointing upward
• Let the weight kind of hang back behind your shoulder (not too much), to load your shoulders
• Perform an out-to-in motion and attempt to cross your wrists, without actually doing so and touching the inside parts of each dumbbell together

Reverse Fly

• Use a fly machine and sit with your chest inward (reversed from the seat)
• Adjust the arms of the apparatus to be close to one another
• Straighten your arms as you pull them back towards your back, and flex your rear delts at the end range of motion

Lateral Raises

• Stand with dumbbells at your side
• Lift the dumbbells upwards from your sides, in a line of drive that is BEHIND YOUR DELT
• Let me repeat that: Lift almost as if you're going backwards and through your lat; you should feel a pump in your whole delt

Nutrition:

Eat right and complete those macros.


THURSDAY (REST):

Rest today. Eat right and complete those macros. 
 

FRIDAY (CHEST AND LEGS):

 

Source: myfit.ca

Chest:

"Top 5" chest exercises found here

Dumbbell Press

• Lay on your back with dumbbells at your sides and placed at your lower pec
• Push the weight outward to in, attempting to cross your wrists but never doing so
• When coming back down, do it slowly and end when you get a nice stretch in  your pecs

Chest Fly

• Use a chest fly machine
• Keep your arms as straight as possible as you bring the arms of the apparatus in towards your chest, following a line of drive that is under your pec
• Consider supersetting this exercise with the same exercise, but with one arm

Pushups

• For chest,  consider keeping your elbows in at your body and hands close together as you drive upward with the bottom of your palms
• Center your weight above your pecs

Legs:

"Top 5" leg exercises found  here

 

 Source: uscfitness.files.wordpress.com

  Lunges

• Hold weight at your sides that you can handle in the form of kettlebells / dumbbells
• Step forward one leg at a time, each time making right angles with your legs
• For each leg that you step forward with, lean your weight onto that leg
• Drive upward with just that leg, trying not to use your back leg, through your heel

Leg Raises

• Use a leg raise machine
• Bring your leg(s) upward slowly and hold at the end range of motion where you flex your quad
• Come back down slowly
• Consider doing this exercise one leg at a time

Calf Raises / Hamstring Curls

• Yes I'm cheating by using two exercises, but you need a COMPLETE leg workout
• Use a calf raise machine to lean back and drive through the balls of your feet until your calf flexes like a bicep
• For Hamstring curls, use a hamstring curl machine to lay on your stomach with a slight curve in your spine so that your head is lifted upward
• Bring your legs in and flex your back quad like a bicep curl

Nutrition:

Eat right and complete those macros.


SATURDAY + SUNDAY (REST):

Rest today. Eat right and complete those macros.



*For abs, do three sets of crunches until failure each day you workout, and have solid nutrition! Abs are made in the kitchen people!*

"Top 5" ab exercises found here



And there you have it! Try this out if you're just starting out in bodybuilding. But commit to this for at least 3 months before you try a new program, as it will take about that long to start to see results.

Good luck!

-Jtrain

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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My Views on Overtraining and Taking Time Off from the Gym

I was having a somewhat difficult time deciding which topic(s) to talk about this week, as there are a few that I've been brainstorming about for a while now. I don't know about all of you, but for me inspiration and "eureka" moments often come to me and enter my life on their own accord as opposed to me actively trying to search them out. And wouldn't you know it, today as I opened up my Youtube account, a random recommended video popped up that was on a topic that, until now, I had not even given consideration to talking about. But it's a topic I really want to talk about, so I'm excited to do that today!
In bodybuilding, there are a lot of different philosophies concerning a variety of subjects, since a lot of the advice and "evidence" comes from a LOT of trial and error and vague concepts that only appear to work for most people most of the time. That, and the fact that everyone's body responds to different stimuli and fitness / dietary protocol differently. There are studies and research you can look up on responses and protocol that appear to be optimal, but the lack of bulk in the actual research to generate a proper sample size to gerenerate a definitive answer to a lot of questions, plus the disconnect in the actual application / success from following the research makes it hard to come up with a definitive answer. There is a lack of research for a lot of bodybuilding topics, supplements, etc., probably due to a lack in funding or lack of interest for such a niche population. Furthermore, a lot of the research and hard science involved in bodybuilding are far from perfect, as research on dietary and fitness habits are very hard to do free from participant deviation, time required, lack of consistency, and a LOT of unavoidable variables that convolute the conclusions derived.

This is very true when concerning opinions on "overtraining" and resting your body so as to not risk injury or overworking muscle groups and other body structures. Many bodybuilding videos and forums that I have visited have many people advising not pushing your muscle groups to complete exhaustion or fatigue, so as to have them at full strength come the next time you decide to work that muscle group out. Some of the advice that they stress are, for example, not going to failure on every set of every exercise, and that feeling sore could possibly be an indication that you may be working out too hard and over-working your muscle groups.

Source: militarygradenutritionals.com

So........should you make sure you don't overwork your muscles, or heavily fatigue it on days you work out to prevent injury, and preserve muscle ability?

In my opinion, and based off of MY experience, it is absolutely essential that you always push your muscles to failure on every exercise, and to fatigue the muscle as much as possible on days you work it out (using great form too of course).

Workouts should always be intense, and you should always push them to the limit

Source: bodybuilding.com

I like to use an analogy when giving people advice on pushing / challenging themselves for muscle growth:


"If you were in a class that you could ace without doing the homework, would you ever do the homework?"


I think muscle growth is the same way. If your body is not constantly bombarded with a stress it doesn't think it is adequately built to sustain or handle, would it ever be stimulated to grow? If you don't constantly tear apart muscle fibers from overloading it with resistance and challenging it, would your body want to better prepare itself for being able to sustain that stress for the next time it happens?

Workout until failure and complete exhaustion on every exercise (not until you pass out like in this picture though)

Source: timeoutchicago.com

In my opinion, your bodily functions and systems are built to act in much the same way. When your body is hit with certain infectious diseases for example, it starts to create antibodies to better be able to handle that infectious agent should it happen again. If your body is overloaded with stress it's not used to handling or can't handle, it will be stimulated to increase muscle mass and strength to handle the constant bombardment of said stress.

That's why, from my viewpoint, you should ALWAYS go until failure on every set of every exercise. You should ALWAYS keep pushing the amount of weight you can lift (so long as you can keep good form and fail at a good rep-range). After you fatigue your muscle to failure, you should even consider lowering the weight in the form of a dropset / superset and keep going to FURTHER tax and stimulate the muscle.

As for soreness, I believe that to be a very healthy and necessary consequence of the muscle-building process. The soreness you feel is from inflammation brought on from your body's reaction to torn-apart muscle fibers, meaning you've successfully provided the physical trauma necessary to stimulate your body into building more muscle or heal that trauma with more muscle mass.

Normal muscle on left, inflammation and trauma to same tissue on right after marathon

Ever since I started, and even until this day, I've done all of my repetitions until failure, with my last couple of sets being dropsets or super sets. I want to fatigue my muscles as MUCH as possible, and then rest whichever particular muscle group I've worked for that day for a week. Complete destruction of the muscle group is a pretty involved and lengthy process, which is why I never recommended working out more than two muscle groups a week for maximum fatigue.

Now, are there times when you probably SHOULD rest and no try to train a muscle group or try to work it out as hard as possible? Absolutely, but not nearly as often as you might think. If you feel sore after a workout, I think you did something right. The ONLY times I'd recommend taking it easy on a muscle group, or not working it out at all are:


1) You feel joint pain and not muscle pain
2) Your muscle feels like they are stressed (not sore) and feel like overworking them would literally cause injury.

Strong pain in the joints is a good reason to rest a particular muscle group for a LITTLE while

Source: med-health.net

All in all, listen to your body. You need to ALWAYS push your muscles to their maximum and completely fatigue them to consistently stimulate them to grow. But if you feel your body is telling you that it would be best to rest that week to prevent injury, it might be best to go easier on them. However, that is completely different from feeling sore and not giving your workouts 100% due to laziness or lack of energy / intensity.

I also recommend taking at least two rest days out of the week where you DO let your body heal. For me, it's the weekends. I give my body two solid days to recuperate, re-energize, and heal itself before giving my workouts 110% on days I work them out. Take rest days to help preserve your body, but never give minimal or less effort to your workouts than you should.

So give it your all, push yourself to the maximum, take alotted rest days, and listen to your body. Don't be scared of "overtraining", and constantly bring an intensity to the gym that will allow you to constantly push your ability and lead to progress in your fitness goals.

-Jtrain

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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My Top 3 Protein Sources

It's been a while my friends! I apologize for not keeping up with the posts. Some things have been taking up a lot of my time. But that's not an excuse. In fact, I hate the whole "busy" excuse. It's never acceptable. So please forgive me for not writing anything in a while! I appreciate your patience, and hope that this post was worth the wait!

If you've ever thought about bodybuilding or putting on muscle, then you probably know the importance of protein. It's probably the first macronutrient you read about when researching muscle-growth, and is heralded as the most important thing to put into your body while eating and achieving fitness goals. Protein isn't the entire picture with bodybuilding / fitness, but it definitely is majorly important in achieving muscle growth and fitness success.

Source: diet-chart.com

So I'd like to take this opportunity and discuss some of my favorite protein sources. When I say "favorite" I don't necessarily mean "best". These are just protein sources that I've had success with and have been staples in my diet since I began bodybuilding. They are also not listed in any particular order of importance.

So here we go:


My Top 3 Protein Sources:

EGGS:

You may start to see a pattern with my protein sources. Eggs are super versatile, easy to make, and relatively cheap. With how expensive a bunch of protein sources are nowadays, I typically find myself absolutely astonished by how many eggs you can get per dollar spent. Maybe I'm wrong. My perception of what is "cheap" may be different from yours, but you can usually get a dozen eggs for under $5, depending on where you live or what month it is.

Source: smartblogs.com

It's important to note, that when I'm talking about eggs here, I'm mostly talking about egg whites. I don't eat the yolks. there's no particular reasoning for that persay, and I actually love the taste of egg yolks. But I just feel that there is too much of a debate going on with egg yolks and don't feel that the nutritional benefit they add is something I couldn't get from other foods incorporated into my diet. I'm not sure I have an opinion either way, and sometimes will add in yolks into my egg whites for added "flavor".

From what I've heard, eggs are rich in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) which are building blocks used by your body to synthesize proteins that eventually get turned into muscle mass (along with other biological structures).

When looking at the nutrition facts of egg whites, you get the following breakdown:


Serving Size: 1 large egg white
Calories: 16-17
Fat: 0 grams
Carbs: 0 grams
Protein: 4 grams



So egg whites are pretty much pure protein. I like to think of eggs as little protein bullets. I typically get my egg whites from a carton, so....actually....I think of egg whites as protein soup.


Where to find egg whites:

As I just stated, you can get your egg whites from a carton like I do, or you can just go the old-fashioned route and crack and de-yolk your own eggs. Traditional eggs from the box they come from are still the same type of egg whites and willl still offer you the same kind of nutrition.

You can find eggs at any supermarket you go to. Heck, I've even seen eggs show up at a gas station before (but I wouldn't recommened eating those haha).

How I eat egg whites:

I usually empty out a whole miniature carton of egg whites into a container and microwave it for 6 minutes. This equates to roughly 10 egg whites (40 grams or protein) and gives you an extremely fast and efficient way to cook your food and get closer to your protein requirement for the day. I'll usually add some hot sauce to give a little added flavor, with maybe a salad thrown in with some salsa.

Source: walmartimages.com

Eggs are one of the most efficient and versatile protein sources you can find. They are absorbed well throughout the body, provide nutrition that is very conducive to muscle repair / growth, and are extremely cheap compared to other protein sources. They are also good for those who are trying to scale back on fats and carbs and want mostly protein from their food sources.



WHEY PROTEIN:

Maybe the FIRST thing people turn to when starting a bodybuilding regiment. I've stated time and time again that supplements aren't necessary (and they aren't), but if you absolutely positively HAVE to buy a supplement, this is one of the only two I'd actually recommend.

Whey protein is a form of protein that comes from skimming off the by-product of dairy product production. You'll find it in powder form, in many different flavors, and nowadays in many different forms like casein, egg, and hydrowhey. In my opinion, you don't need to buy a designer whey product, and can just go with good-old standard whey protein. Find a brand that works for you. I think the most popular brand nowadays is "Gold Standard Whey" by Optimum Nutrition (it's also the one I use). While the price tag may initially shock you, buying whey in bulk comes out to less than a dollar a scoop, making it one of, if not THE cheapest protein source in terms of bang for your buck out there.

Source: vitacost.com

Whey protein is beneficial in that it offers you a convenient means to receive a massive amount of protein at a given time. They are usually also supplemented with other supplements like BCAAs and sometimes creatine.

When looking at the nutrition facts of whey protein, you typically get this kind of breakdown:


Serving Size: 1 scoop of whey protein (30.4 grams)
Calories: 120
Fat: 1 gram
Carbs: 3 grams
Protein: 24 grams
Calcium: 8%
Iron 2%


So whey protein is kind of calorie dense, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your fitness goals. However, 24 grams of protein from one little scoop is nothing to joke around with. If you're watching your carbs and fats, and want to focus on getting a lot of protein in your diet, this is a good choice.


Where to find Whey Protein:

You can purchase whey protein at any vitamin or supplement shop near you. Just go in and ask them. They'll know what you're talking about. I've also seen them show up in gyms and supermarkets.

Whichever product you buy, make sure that it says whey protein ISOLATE or CONCENTRATE. That's important, as it's a higher quality protein.  Alot of proteins nowadays have soy protein in them to cut costs, which isn't as high a quality of protein as whey protein isolate or concentrate....at least in my opinion.


How I eat Whey Protein:

Well, I don't eat it. I drink it. But that probably doesn't need to be stated. I usually put two scoops of whey into a shaker cup along with a cup to two cups of milk (for gaining weight) or almond milk (for losing weight). I'll also add a squirt of sugar-free chocolate syrup for some added flavor. I can also ONLY stomach choclate whey for some reason. Every other flavor of whey protein has been a pretty horrendous experience for me. So take that advice as you will.

Source: webmd.com

CHICKEN BREAST:

THE staple food of bodybuilders. Chicken breast is so important to bodybuilding and building muscle, that it should be the sigil for the hobby / profession. Now, if you're a vegetarian, there are still other options out there to gain muscle. But if you eat meat, you want to incorporate chicken breast into your diet.

Supplements like whey protein are great for bodybuilding, but I think there is something to be said about eating actual meat to help put size on and build nicely shaped and formed muscles.

Source: fitnessandfreebies.com

Here are the nutrition facts for chicken breast:



Serving Size: 4 ounces of boneless skinless chicken breast
Calories: 120
Fat: 2 gram
Carbs: 0 grams
Protein: 24 grams



So the macros on chicken breast are fairly similar to whey protein. It's important to incorporate whole foods into your diet though, and chicken breast is a great way to do that if you eat meat.


Where to find Whey Protein:

Any supermarket you go to will have chicken breast. Be sure to look for sales as chicken breast isn't exactly cheap. You could also purchase chicken breast from a local farmer's market. I've heard that that's a great option. I'm not certain whether or not you can buy it in the bulk necessary for building muslce from a farmer's market though. I could of course be wrong, as I've actually never been to a farmer's market.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

How I eat Chicken Breast:

If I'm eating exclusively chicken breast, I'll try to get 16 ounces in a day (a whole pound). That goes for all meat sources I'm eating though. I might have 8 ounces of chicken breast and 8 ounces of turkey breast, or 8 ounces of chicken breast and 8 ounces of ground beef. Nevertheless, I'll usually try to get in 48 grams of protein from chicken alone.

For all of my meat sources, I simply heat up a pan with some olive oil, throw in some seasonings, throw in about 1-3 pounds at a time, and put a lid on it to steam for about half an hour. For taste, I'll usually add salsa or some hot sauce.

Source: catering.co.uk

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Here are some of my favorite protein sources that didn't make the list, and some quick descriptions as to why I like them:

Lean Ground Beef - Awesome flavor, adds a bit of fat for your fat macros while also high in protein.

Lean Ground Turkey Breast - Gives you all of the benefits of chicken breast, with fewer calories and half the taste.

Canned Tuna - Don't know that I'd necessary call this a cheap option, but you get a ton of lean protein in a small container for a fairly ok price. There's a lot of controversy over this protein source.

Nuts - Not really an efficient source of protein, as you'll get tons of calories from fats for only about 10 grams or protein. Good for getting your fats and protein at the same time though. I like almonds, peanut butter (ALL NATURAL. Not that thick sawdust stuff. It HAS to have the oil on top or you're doing it wrong), and sunflower seeds.

Beans - Another good source of protein which will annihilate your appetite from fiber. A great source of nutrition if you're looking to fill your carbohydrate and protein needs at the same time.

Fat Free Cottage Cheese - I like to use cottage cheese as a snack. 4 ounces nets you around 15 grams of protein in only 80 calories! Watch out for the carbs though!

Skim Milk: A lot of people say stay away, but milk will always have a special place in my heart. For years, I would usually have 2 cups before bed each night. I do acknowledge the calorie density, sugars, and the propencity of most people's bodies to not be well equiped to handle lactose.



Protein is an extremely important macronutrient when it comes to bodybuilding and fitness goals. Try incorporating some of the ones I've highlighted here into your meal plan and see if you find success!

For more information on protein, please visit my nutrition section, which you can find here.

-Jtrain

Pre-Workout Supplements and My Opinion

I often get asked about what my opinion on pre-workout supplemention is and what products I use or have used to give me energy in the gym during workouts. So today, I'll go ahead and give a "brief" overview about pre-workout supplements and give my opinions on which ones I like, whether or not to use them, and how to use them as well.

Pre-workouts are supplements designed to stimulate your body into becoming more energized and/or focused during workouts. Pre-workouts can work in a variety of ways depending on what is included within the profile of the supplement, including fatty acid oxidation, nervous system stimulation, and / or providing an environment of readily available energy in the body / cell. Some popular pre-workout supplements include C4, Craze, JACK3D, Assault, and many more.

  

Source: nasnutrition.com

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Popular Ingredients Used in Pre-Workout Supplements:

There are many different active ingredients that make up some of the more popular pre-workouts in today's supplement market. It seems like every day a new active ingredient is being promoted by a new workout supplement promising to give you better results than the last pre-workout supplement. I'm only going to highlight a few of the most popular ingredients here that seem to be popping up in a lot of pre-workout supplements. If you're looking for a really good in-depth analysis of the ingredients used in some of your favorite pre-workout products, I found a really good overview on muscleandfitness.com which you can look at by following the link here.

Caffeine:

There is no doubt that you've heard of caffeine before. It is one of the most well-known stimulants around, and is a friend of coffee drinkers around the world.

Caffeine is a methylxanthine (more specifically, a trimethylxanthine), a class of chemicals that are used for bronchodilation (a widening of the bronchi to aid in increased respiratory function), and act as a diuretic and central nervous system (CNS) and cardiac muscle stimulant. Chemicals in this class also relax smooth muscle. The chemical structure of caffeine can be seen below.

 

Source: theteaspot.com

Caffeine works by inhibiting adenosine, a chemical that, when binded to receptors in the brain and other parts of the body, stimulate fatigue, lethargy, and slows down nerve function. Caffeine blocks adenosine by competing for the receptors and, when binded, releases epinephrine (adrenaline) which increases heart rate, blood flow to muscles, blood pressure, causes the liver to release glucose, and other functions as well.

Caffeine is quickly removed from the brain and so the effects of its supplementation are short-lived (source: about.com chemistry). As with a lot of pre-workouts and stimulants, the body can grow tolerant to caffeine and so the energy you feel from supplementing with caffeine may grow weaker and weaker over time. Furthermore, increased supplementation of caffeine leads to a sensitivy to adenosine that, once someone stops supplementing with caffeine, causes such side-effects as a drop in blood pressure and a resulting headache, among other things.

Beta-Alanine:

Another popular ingredient in pre-workout supplements. Beta-Alanine is an amino acid whose chemical structure has the amino group two atoms away from the carboxylate group (source: wikipedia). Beta-Alanine works by promoting the synthesis of a dipeptide (two amino acids joined together) called carnosine by binding to the amino acid histidine in muscle cells (source: betaalanine.info / muscleandfitness.com). Carnosine is used by the body as a buffer in muscle cells to control the pH (the measure of acidity or bacisity of an aqueous solution) within the cell so that the environment does not become too acidic. Acidity is bad for the muscle cell because at an acidic pH, muscles are not at optimal strength and the muscle contractions aren't as strong as they would be at an opitmal pH range.

 

 Source: chemsythensis.com

As your muscle cell starts to accumulate hydrogen ions (H+), the environment within the cell becomes more and more acidic, and you start to feel the "burn" and fatigue as you reach muscle "failure" during your reps. This phenomenon happens more frequently as more and more hydrogren ions overwhelm the carnosine ions in the cell that would buffer the environment. With beta-alanine supplementation and binding of histidine to form carnosine, more carnosine becomes available to buffer an overload of hydrogen ions and thus allows you to fatigue less quickly.

Beta-alanine pre-workout supplements are popular for the "tingling" sensation you get when supplementing with them. I think it's fun when that sensation hits, but a lot of people are turned-off by the semi-burning, tingly, fire ant sensation they get when beta-alanine supplements start to work.

1-3 Dimethylamylamine / DMAA / methylhexanamine

Not sure if this ingredient has been successfully wiped from all pre-workouts containing it, but I do know that the FDA is trying to remove all products containing it off of the market. Whether or not this substance is now banned, I'll give an overview of it.

DMAA has similar effects of caffeine, with greater effects on stimulation, focus, and fat loss (from appetite suppression) (source: muscleandfitness.com). DMAA is an aliphatic amine, meaning that it is composed of carbon and hydrogen with a nitrogen-containing base (which also makes it an alkaloid), and is also not aromatic (source: wikipedia).

 

Source: sigmaaldrich.com

DMAA is synthetic and was originally developed in a laboratory as a nasal decongestant (source: WebMD). It works by serving as a releasing agent of norepinephrine, a catecholamine (an organic compound with a catechol group and side chain amine) that is responsible for increasing alertness and focus (source: wikipedia). DMAA is often paired with caffeine in pre-workout supplements to give both the energy and focus that many people are after during workout sessions.

DMAA has been linked to the narrowing of blood vessels, which in turn causes elevated blood pressure that can lead to adverse cardiovascular events from shortness of breath to heart attack, which someone may be more susceptible to when performing taxing cardiovascular activities that come with working out. It is for this reason (I believe), that the FDA is removing products containing this substance from the market. (I actually still have a pre-workout in my cabinet that contains this!).   

Creatine:

Is not a pre-workout in my opinion. But it gets grouped here a lot. So I'll talk about it.

Source: structuresearch.merck-chemicals.com

 

To me, a pre-workout is a supplement that provides immediate energy within a short time of its ingestion. In my opinion, you need to ingest creatine well before a workout for it to be fully assimilated into your muscle cells for optimal effect. To read up on how creatine works, please visit my nutrition page where I discuss it here.

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How to use Pre-Workout Supplements:

It's very important to cycle pre-workout supplements. As discussed above, a lot of the popular ingredients used in pre-workout supplements are substances your body can grow a tolerance to. In my experience, the best way to use pre-workout supplements is to go a week or two on them, and then taking at least that same amount of time off them (perhaps even one more week off than on). Or, simply only use the pre-workout on days you think will be super strenuous and grueling from a workout perspective, and then do not use them at all on days you don't. Do not exceed the recommended dosage.

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My Favorite Pre-Workout Supplements:

Creatine - A very well studied supplement that has been proven effective. It increases your muscle size from pulling in fluid, and definitely gives you a noticeable increase in the weight you can push and how many reps you can push the weight for. Take 5-10 grams every day and drink plenty of water while doing so. 

Source: pics2.ds-static.com

Black Coffee - Simple caffeine with none of the ripping off from purchasing some heavily marketed scam pre-workout that does the exact same thing. Simple, cheap, effective. As with all pre-workout supplements, cycle it so that you do not become tolerant to it.

 

Source: zeusbox.com

Sleep - Go ahead, laugh. But sleep is the most underrated and effective pre-workout around. It also costs you absolutely nothing but time. Repairs your muscles for mass, increases your immune function, and keeps your nervous system functioning at optimal levels.....which is where your energy comes from in the first place. Get at LEAST 6-8 hours a night. It's different for everyone. But no joke guys, this is the best pre-workout around. Don't sleep on sleep. It's not a joke.

Source: health.com

 

Sugary Cereal - Yep, you're probably laughing again. But think about it. The stuff is high in carbs and simple sugars that your body can immediately use as energy. Take two cups of your favorite super sugary, super processed cereal in two cups of skim milk and tell me your workouts aren't intense. It may be different for some people, but it definitely works for me. I do believe however, that you should cycle this method too, as I've seen my performance decrease more and more the more and more I tried this method on a daily basis.

Source: reelgirl.com

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My Opinion on Pre-Workout Supplements:

Have I experimented with pre-workout supplements? Of course. Do I think they work and have some efficacy behind them? You bet. But if you were to ask me right now if I think they're required or a necessary part of your workout I would say absolutely not. In fact, I would steer people away from using the cool looking, attractive, intense looking pre-workout supplements that are so well marketed by the supplement industry. You can get the same effect by eating the right foods and getting a good night's rest. Black coffee costs you almost nothing and works just as well, and sleep DOES cost you nothing and works very well. And what most people blame as a lack of energy is really a lack of motivation and willpower to grind in the gym. Conquer that first before you consider using a pre-workout supplement.

With many supplements, and pre-workouts especially, people get turned into consumers before they get turned into bodybuilders....or fitness gurus, or whatever. They get so caught up in what the industry claims is necessary for optimal workouts without focusing on the things that really matter. Don't be that guy / girl who's constantly talking about their new supplement stack. I know it's flashy. I know it makes things fun. But at the end of the day, you gotta focus on the monotony of the grind that is necessary for your goals, and realize that the supplements are not always or are never the answer.

If you think they're necessary though, go nuts. I hope the information I provided above gives you a better understanding of what to look for and how to go about things. Pre-workouts are an effective tool to help you achieve your fitness goals, but are not necessary, and there are many nutritional alternatives that can be used that are just as effective and less costly than the pre-workouts currently on the market.

-Jtrain


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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Do you need a personal trainer?

*DISCLAIMER: I've actually never had a personal training session ever*

No.......no you don't need a personal trainer. I'm sorry if that came out a bit too blunt, but this is something that time and time again I struggle with when I'm at the gym. Since I'm in the gym often, I often see 3-5 personal training sessions going on daily (sorry if that doesn't seem like a lot. I go to a fairly small gym) and each time I see this, an emotional and / or moral struggle of some kind seems to overtake me. In this blog post, I want to address my views on personal trainers / personal training sessions, while also going over some alternative methods for those who wish to explore other options when starting, maintaining, or advancing their fitness goals. I'd also like to go over what I think would be important in choosing a personal trainer should you decide to go that route.

Let me first say, that my objective in writing this blog post is to in no way, shape, or form bash personal trainers. Also, my focus on personal training will be from a strength / muscle mass gaining standpoint.

 

Source: angrytrainerfitness.com

I know that there are in fact some phenomenal personal trainers out there. But to me, it seems that more often than not, atleast with the personal training sessions I've seen across every gym I've ever worked out at, that personal training programs aren't really an efficient means to develop you optimally in both a mental and physical way. Before you start throwing tons of money at some guy or girl at your gym, please consider some of the following attributes I've noticed about personal trainers:


Issues I have with Personal Trainers 

Personal Training sessions are often rushed

Correct me if I'm wrong, but almost every personal training session I've seen appears to be over as soon as it started. Again, I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the average personal training session is about an hour long. That DOES kind of sound like a long time, but since personal training sessions tend to be only a handful of times a week (perhaps due to how much they cost), workout have to be centered around focusing on multiple parts of the body...a "full body workout" if you will. The question to me then becomes, are you adequately stressing your muscles to stimulate growth and strength? If you're trying to get strong or put on muscle mass, it's extremely important to properly fatigue and stress the muscle over an extended amount of time under tension and multiple sets. Fitting in that kind of proper stress on every muscle group to stimulate them enough to optimally grow to me is an impossible task over the course of just one hour. Also, if a personal trainer gets paid by the number of clients they see throughout the day, they have a vested interest in rushing you through workouts and finishing them as soon as possible.

Personal Training sessions tend to favor fitness fads and trends

Your body is essentially the same body that it was when our ancestors were roaming planet Earth. It will respond to stress and stimulus, and will respond to said stress and stimulus if they are administered to the body consistently over time. Why personal trainers have to constantly re-invent the wheel will forever be a mystery to me. Not only that, it seems that each time a new fad workout comes around, it's designed to make it easier, or fun, to workout. I guess I understand why they do it. Marketing some fitness plan as some revolutionary new workout that apparently nobody has ever thought of before is designed to intrigue people into trying it....to make them want to get in on the secret. But, in constantly introducing a new workout to your routine, you never really develop the consistency and conditioned response for your body to start to be stressed enough to want to grow. Building muscle to me isn't some flashy, easy to do, revolutionary idea or technique. There's a reason why dumbbells have been in the gym since the beginning of time. Doing some flashy cardio / weight training hybrid workout with flashy equipment isn't any better than grinding every day doing the same montonous task of the same workout with good form, great time under tension, and adequate amounts of weight.

 

Source: wordpress.com

Personal Trainers don't need to be right

Personal trainers are experts right? People who have dedicated their lives to nothing but fitness....learned the ways in some dojo on top of a mountain by some trained master with tests at the end that need to be passed to verify their worth and techniques and protocol monitored by some higher board of fitness education right? To some extent....kind of....but not really. Sure, there are tests that personal trainers have to take to be certified, but how much of that information is heavily researched and credible? How much of it is retained by the trainer? How much of it is theory and not hard science? Is there knowledge that much more different than an experienced lifter / gym-goer could tell you in passing?

And there is no penalty for being wrong. A lot of these personal trainers just tell you the same things that they were told by people they worked out with, or saw on the internet, or whatever. I once heard a personal trainer tell someone that they could gain 7 pounds of muscle in 3 months. Crazy right? But the person they were training didn't know any better. And couldn't falsify what they were saying.

Personal Trainers are very good at marketing themselves as fitness experts....and taking advantage of someone's lack of knowledge on the subject.

Personal Training is expensive
Pretty self explanatory. I don't know what the going-rate is for a personal training session, but I'm sure it's not exactly cheap. Fitness, especially growing muscle, is a commitment that takes a very VERY long time to achieve.

 

Source: minertechsolutions.com

So why spend all of that money, when......................

Literally everything a personal trainer can tell you can be found from other sources

Probably my biggest issue with personal training. It's not like they are the only ones who can give you advice and information on working out. Literally every question you have for a personal trainer has been answered somewhere online. And the bright side is, you can experiment with the advice and see if it works for you instead of paying someone more money to see if it's effective or not. There are many...MANY...resources available to you to help you achieve your goals and answer any questions you have on fitness, and they don't cost a dime.

In fact, let me offer some of MY advice on places you can go for said advice:


Alternatives to Personal Trainers

Forums

One of my top two choices for getting my information from. There are many great sites with forums that have answered many questions on bodybuilding and fitness, from the more general questions to some of the most insanely specific questions ever. Yes, the information might not always be credible, but as I stated previously, a lot of the advice a personal trainer gives you isn't always either. But there is still a wealth of knowledge to be gained from online fitness forums. In fact, I owe a lot of my success in bodybuilding from just reading countless threads on bodybuildng forums. Give it a try. It's a great way to see what other people have done and what made them successful, and then trying to apply that to your own routines. Also, forums are typically free!

Videos

Another one of my two top choices for getting fitness information (so forums and videos are my favorites). I guess I'm partial to instruction on fitness through videos on such sites as Youtube because that's where this journey started for me. But it's a great way to not only read about and hear about what works, or techniques you could implement, but also seeing it first hand. I'm a visual learner, so this is great for learning new things every day about fitness and bodybuilding. It's also free as well!

 

Source: analytics.infinitive.com

People at your gym
Often times, people are intimidated by people in the gym who look like they're successful at what they do and know how to workout. They think that those people are too intimidating and would be bothered by someone asking them for advice.

In my experience however, I've found that the people who workout the hardest, most often, and commit themselves the most are often times the nicest people to talk to in the gym. You have to understand, this is the stuff they LIKE to do, so they like to talk about it. Also, they're often flattered when you ask them about what they do because it communicates to them that you respect the hard work that they've put in and consider them to have done a good job. Ask them questions. Don't be annoying of course, but ask them for pointers and tips. It's a great way to make new friends, get new information, and even sometimes make a new workout friend who can serve as your very own personal trainer that you don't need to pay!

Trial and Error

I've learned a lot about bodybuilding and fitness. But I'll probably never learn it all. Just like building muscle, mastering the craft of bodybuilding and fitness is something that happens over a very long amount of time. I'm still learning new techniques all the time. While it may be frustrating at first not knowing everything about bodybuilding and fitness, it's fun to constantly work towards your goal and learn new things on the road to perfecting your craft. Some lessons are best learned by YOU doing them. A lot of the skills I've learned in bodybuilding came from constantly going into the gym and constantly trying to figure out how I could advance my technique. Over the years, I've found out what works best for me, and the little intricate things that optimally stimulate muscle growth that can only be learned through trial and error.

 

Source: theemotionmachine.com

You don't need a personal trainer guys. Maybe some of you are reading this and saying "but Jtrain, I need someone to motivate me!!"

But don't you have friends that can do that? Even so, if you need someone to make you want the most optimal version of yourself, the problem isn't the lack of a personal trainer. You need to want it bad enough first. Nonetheless, please consider other, more efficient options when starting or maintaining a fitness regiment. There are tons of resources out there for you to figure out what you need to do to achieve success. The only time I'd ever really recommend having a trainer is when you want to do something fitness / bodybuilding related at the competitive level. Then and only then do I recommend maybe seeking someone out. But even then, it's important that the personal trainer has had experience in that field and really REALLY knows what they are talking about.

Try all of your options before you consider a personal trainer. I guarantee you you'll find a better means to attain your information from.

-Jtrain

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress? Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your friends about this blog! Follow me on twitter @jtrainfitness and tell your friends to do the same!*
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