To Creatine or not to Creatine

With so much controversy surrounding professional athletes use of performance enhancing substances many people have become leery of all supplements in general. One of the oldest and most tested supplements just so happens to be a natural item found in everyone own body; Creatine. Creatine Monohydrate is found in oral powder, pill and sometimes liquid capsule forms. Personally i prefer the powdered version and rely on EAS Phosphagen. No i don't get paid for mentioning EAS or their products i just like them a lot. I have tried many different types of creatine and found the EAS powder works best for me. People using Creatine will fall into 1 of 2 caps; those who see immediate results and those who see nothing more than their money going down the drain. My recommendation...try it and see what happens. I have attached a link to an article from Bodybuilding.COM that deals specifically with Creatine, its forms, and suggested usages. Creatine is like any other supplement or drug and may cause unforeseeable reactions, possibly dangerous. Never start a supplement regimen without consulting a doctor, taking into account your personal health history, and never if you are under age 18 with parental guidance and consent. Creatine works for me, leading to bigger build, longer stamina in the weight room and lower incidence of lactic acid buildup...but i have been lifting weights for over 20 years and every experience is unique. Compared to the well known and medically verifiable health risks associated with Steroids and HGH Creatine, by comparison is well researched, tested and natural occurring with few if any know side effects. To Creatine or not to Creatine, for me its a no-brainer!

Maximizing Training Gains

Ever wondered why you don't make progress in your training regimen? Is it due to over training? All too often young inexperienced lifters want to hit the major muscle groups every day like bench press for chest and arm curls. Everyone has that certain favorite body part they think is their strong point and it is all too easy to fall into the over training trap. Schedule your body parts with rest days in between to make sure your hard fought gains truly add up to more muscle and not just muscle soreness. Combining push-pull exercises like chest and back is an excellent way to make sure that every Major muscle group gets that all important quality workout time. The worst thing any weightlifter can do is to over train a particular muscle group. Conversely many newbies ignore an entire body part like calves or quads. So if you are new to the gym make sure you have a plan of attack. Do your homework and map out your plan of attack for the gym. For me Arnold's Modern Body Building was the key to my success in the weight room. At 5'10" and 300 LBS i have never found it hard to put on the mass...but i fell into the over training trap when i first started out. Like many i hit the bench press and arm curl almost every session. While i did make gains in the chest and arms i didn't have any balance. eventually i too learned the importance of managing the major muscle groups. Key for success:

1. Find a mentor whether a person you can work out with or an ideal body builder like Arnold, Jay Cutler, or Branch Warren. Almost every major player in the bodybuilding world has a training book, movie or website featuring their training routines.
2. Remember that all the greats in weightlifting, power lifting, and bodybuilding started out just like you and me...a newbie. It took years of hard work to get where they are today.
3. Write down your plan of attack
4. Keep your workouts to about 1 hour for the weights.
5. Use free weights and barbells whenever possible
6. Never max out weight on any exercise more than once a month (personal rule)
7. Go each day you have on your plan, don't start skipping workouts.

Most importantly enjoy the workout. If you dread going to the gym you heart just isn't going to be in your workout. Most great bodybuilders will tell you that 90% of a workout is mental and a defeatist attitude walking in the door is the surest way to fail in reaching your goals. Stay focused, work hard, get in and get out...

The 10 Commandments of the Gym Floor

All too often veteran iron pumpers and neighborhood newbies commit gym sins ranging from the minor to the downright dangerous. I have compiled a list of gym commandments that if followed will help everyone achieve their fitness goals and get you in and out of the gym in one piece...

1. Thou shalt not forget to re-rack your weights when done
2. Thou shalt not sit on flat benches doing wrist curls
3. Thou shalt not leave sweaty head prints on the benches-wipe them off when done
4. Thou shalt not talk on the damned cell phone in the gym!!!
5. Thou Shalt not join the GYM in January as a New Year's resolution
6. Thou shalt not use the gym as a pickup spot
7. Thou shalt not bring bulky gym bags out of the locker room and leave them on the floor
8. Thou shalt not talk for 10 minutes between reps and hog the equipment
9. Thou shalt not do plyometrics around the guys doing bench presses- you trip-we die
10. Thou shalt not put so much weight on the bar that you can only do 1 rep-every set

How difficult is it to put barbells, dumbbells and the like back in their rack holders? It takes the same amount of time to put them back as it did to take them out. I am not your mother so try putting them back for the next guy/gal to use. The next guy i see sitting for twenty minutes on the edge of a bench press doing wrist curls is getting cuffed upside his head! IF you sweat (and you should in a gym) wipe down the bench surfaces before you leave. My football coach once said excuses are like assholes, everyone's got one and they all stink...well everyone has a cell phone-and they have no place on the gym floor. You pay good money to work out...unplug the damned thing, leave it in your car, or better yet at home for the 1 hour you will be working out. Chicks dig good looking buff guys...hard to stay buff when guys are spending all their time hanging with the ladies and tying up all the equipment...leave the pickup lines for the nightclubs! Every gym i have ever been a member of has a locker room....that's where the gym bag belongs, not on the floor for me to trip over! Workouts go faster and muscles build more quickly when you don't talk to your buds for ten minutes between sets. Some of us actually have lives and would like to keep our workouts to less than 2.5 hours. One more person does double handed farmer walks past my bench with 350 lbs on board is getting their ass kicked. Save the yoga, & the plyometric crap for the aerobics room...not the free weight room!! Every time you touch a weight you don't need to find out your 1 rep max...i swear i see more and more guys doing half ass form with so much weight on board that they have to cheat. I see guys doing 250 LB bench press for 1 rep who never touch their chest and have to have their buddies dead lift the bar back on to the rack ....lower the weight and increase the reps, it actually works...

One last thing for all you January New Year's resolution folks....save your money and don't join a gym next year. The trainers get you hooked up for 3 months of personal training on top of the monthly membership fees, sell you all kinds of supplements that you will never consume, and then put you through a workout that only an Olympian will ever make it through without a Ben Gay rubdown...save yourself the pain and the Money$$$. Most of all save me & the guys like me who hit the Iron 4-5 times a weak and who spend January-May fighting with you cell phone toting, sweaty headed, jabber jawing, pickup artist, 1 rep lifting, freak shows for access to our equipment!! I used to be subtle when nicely asking someone on their cell phone if they are done with that bench...not anymore newbies!!!! To stay pumped for life you got to get pumped and you don't get pumped talking, sitting, or picking up chicks...