At the recent Metroflex Gym Plano’s seminar and panel discussion on bodybuilding, the question of stretching came up and its role in training. In the Dallas area there is a well known Orthopedic Surgeon and Professional Team Doctor who has a radio talking show on Sport Medicine; I have heard him stumble around on the stretching subject, the best he could come up with was, “It is important to warm-up.”

Here lies the problem, it is simply a matter of semantics. For several generations of American students, whether it was PE class or athletes, each session started out with stretching using a method that is now referred to as Static Stretching. Even today, many people think that Static Stretching is warming up or at least part of the warming up process. This could not be more incorrect! To help understand the issues here is a definition of Static Stretching:

“Static Stretching is used to stretch muscles while the body is at rest. Static Stretching gradually lengthen a muscle to an elongated position and hold that position for a period of time, usually 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Static Stretching lessens the sensitivity of the tension receptors and allow the muscle to relax and to be stretched to greater length.”

When preparing to participate in an event which is explosive in nature and would required the muscles to rapidly contract and extend, you don’t want the muscles to already be relaxed and extended because of the stretching process.

Strength and Conditioning researchers and organizations such as the National Strength & Condition Association (NSCA) have published numerous studies on the subject. Out of these studies has come the term Dynamic Stretching. Dynamic Stretching is about increasing range of motion through movement, while maintaining proper form. This will warm the muscles by increasing the flow of blood and oxygen, in other words it is a Warm Up. With in Dynamic Stretching or Warm Ups there are General and Sport Specific differences.

USA Weight Lifting defines General as,”involves exercising the major muscle groups of the body under light of minimal loads” It should:

• Increase rate and strength of muscle contraction
• Increase muscle coordination thought related movement
• Increase metabolic rate
• Increase efficiency of the neuromuscular systems
• Increase range of motion

Dynamic Stretching is truly a warm up to prepare the body to accomplish the physical task at hand. ` Sport Specific Dynamic Stretching or Warm-up will depend on what you are trying to accomplish in your workout. For example, if you are sprinting, you build up by doing form work and increasing your intensity. In the weight room, always start light. When working on the Power Lifting or Olympic Lifting movements, start with a broom stick or piece of PCV pipe then move to the empty bar. I find that bands are an excellent tool for Dynamic Stretching and warming up. When you see a top bodybuilder warming up their shoulders with 2.5lbs plates or very light dumbbell it brings home the importance!

The question of “what is enough?” comes up; I think each individual must develop a feel for their body to best understand what enough is. In Mark Rippetoe & Lon Kilgore’s excellent book Practical Programming for Strength Training, they state, “When referring to the number of sets, a distinction must be made between warm-up sets, the lighter preparatory work that readies the trainee for heavier work and work sets, which accomplish the training objective for that workout,. Warm-up sets prepare the tissue and the motor pathway for the coming work. As such, they should not fatigue or interfere with the works sets: their purpose is to facilitate the works sets, not function as work.”

Is there a place for old school Static Stretching? Absolutely! as part of the cool down process. Static stretching done properly should help in the recovery process

 The take away; You Never Stretch Cold Muscles, learn to warm up properly no matter what your sport is!!

Troy L Scoggins

 Coach Troy as he is know is a Combine 360, Certified Trainer, USA Weigh lifting, USA Power lifting, USA Track & Field & Bigger Faster Stronger Certified Coach.; Certified Personal Trainer; TRX &RKB Certified Instructor. He has over thirty years experience as a completive athlete, coach & trainer. He is a Strength & Condition and Track Coach at Canyon Creek Christian Academy; Personal Trainer Metroflex Gym Plano. He can be reached through Metroflex Gym Plano or his email:tlscoggins2004@yahoo.com

I hope all of you had an excellent Christmas and New Year’s! January is a great month for any gym, and at Metroflex Gym ofPlanowe are happy to welcome a lot of new faces into the Metroflex Plano family as well as continue to house and provide for our hard working member base as they set new year’s goals and resolutions for 2012.  2012 is without a doubt going to be a great year for this gym and the people in it!

We are starting the year out right with a charity event and seminar hosted here at Metroflex Plano.  The charity is the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), and the event is at the gym THIS SATURDAY at 2pm!  Metroflex Plano decided to team up with the MDA because of the connective contrast the two organizations possess.  At Metroflex Plano most of our members are all trying to put on muscle, and lots of it.  Muscular Dystrophy is a genetic disease that eats away at people’s lean muscle tissue, sometimes going as far as leaving them too weak to stand up, blink, or breathe.  We have named our charity “Flex For Muscular Dystrophy”, to play upon the idea that Metroflex Plano members are doing their part to help people that genetically can’t enjoy the same passion we have for strength, power and muscle.  So be sure to help us FLEX for Muscular Dystrophy this Saturday, January 21^st at 2pm!

We will be hosting a seminar including Metroflex Plano owner and Personal Trainer Greg McCoy, National Level Bodybuilder and Personal Trainer Jeff Dwelle, Owner of IntenseMuscle.com and Online Trainer Skip Hill, and Mr. USA Steve Kuclo. This expert panel will be discussing all things training, nutrition, supplementation and more, and we promise not to leave until ALL your questions are answered.  We will also have several vendors out helping us raise money for the MDA and offering their products for purchase at the event. 

How can you help us raise money?! Well you can attend the event this Saturday! It costs $10 at the door and all proceeds will go to the MDA.  You can also purchase on of our FLEX for Muscular Dystrophy T-shirts for $20 at the event or at MetroflexPlano.com. All proceeds from T-Shirt sales also go directly to the MDA. Lastly we will be accepting personal donations to give to the MDA. You can contact Greg McCoy or Tawna Eubanks about making a personal donation to the MDA (greg@metroflexplano.com, tawna@metroflexplano.com)

Muscular Dystrophy is a very serious genetic disease that affects many, and can severely limit a person’s life and can even lead to death if the disease affects the muscle of the heart and lungs.  There is no cure for Muscular Dystrophy and money is needed for research and care. Please join us for a great day at Metroflex Plano raising money for a great cause!

First and foremost, it is important to understand the two main types of contractions in every rep:

1: Eccentric Contraction; the muscle elongates while under tension due to an opposing force being greater than the force generated by the muscle.

-  Examples: lowering phase of a squat (from top to bottom)

2: Concentric Contraction; muscle contraction in which the muscles shorten while generating force.

-  Example: upward phase of a squat (from bottom to top)

Understanding this may be crucial to an athlete or bodybuilder once they realize the benefits of controlling both contractions. While studies have long shown both phases are necessary for muscular growth, bodybuilders may want to pay special attention to their Eccentric Contractions for the following reasons; skeletal muscle is %40 stronger during the eccentric phase than then concentric AND the eccentric contraction is almost solely responsible for muscular damage and delayed onset muscle soreness while the concentric is primarily when the lifter is building strength.

So in summary;

Eccentric; increases skeletal muscle size

Concentric; increases skeletal muscle strength

It really is as simple as that. Although not suggested, a lifter could do an entire routine of just concentric movements and not be sore. A routine based only around eccentric movements would result in almost the same amount of soreness experienced during a normal workout routine. However, in order to develop strength and size, a lifter must perform both contractions to get the full benefit of each rep, set, and workout. But this is where the fun comes in;

If a skeletal muscle is %40 stronger in the eccentric contraction, take advantage of it and end your workout with a few heavy negatives or forced reps with a partner to assist you. Here are a few exercises you can end your workout with to shock the hell out of the muscle.

*** Perform these at the end of the routine accordingly to whichever muscle group you are doing that day. Also, this is a pretty advance overload method so make sure you and your buddy rotate it into your routine twice a month at the most and NOT every workout.

-  Leg extension; 2 sets x as many reps as possible on your own (shoot for 12-15 each set). Once completed, increase the weight by about 10-40% and have your partner assist you on the way up, or the concentric contraction. Control the eccentric phase with all your might for about a 5 count. Do this for about 4-8 reps and your quads will have an immense build up of lactic acid.

-  Lying Hamstring Curls; Same as above. Make sure to NOT swing or bring your hips up on this movement.

-  Lying EZ bar extensions; For triceps, perform the same number of reps and sets as above. When completed, have your partner add about 20% more weight to the bar and have him assist you on the way up of the movement. Fight the weight as hard as you can during the eccentric phase and makes sure your partner is paying close attention throughout the entire rep every rep.

-  Seated EZ bar preacher curls; Same as the triceps. You can also have two EZ bars ready to go and start with the lighter one. If you start with the 60 lb EZ bar, simply have your partner take it from you and immediately hand you the 80 lb EZ bar. Minimal rest time is important when switching to the heavier weight! Do not rest for more than a few second when switching to the increased weight for the eccentric overload, partner assisted reps from hell!

These are just a few examples so please feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments! I DO NOT recommend you perform this type of overload for the following exercises;

-  Squats of any kind, Lunges, barbell bench press of any angle, overhead shoulder press, upright rows, stiff leg raises, good mornings (DEFINITELY NOT good mornings), and most compound movements that are multi-joint exercises!

Lastly, let me say again this should only be done with a partner. Attempting this type of overload alone could result in injury. Have fun and welcome to assisted, eccentric overload contractions!

What types of creatine are there?

There are many different forms of creatine supplements on the market today, each with their benefits and wanted by different types of athletes and weight lifters. The 4 major types of creatine include – creatine monohydrate, creatine phosphate, creatine citrate and creatine ethyl ester.

Creatine Monohydrate

Creatine Monohydrate is basically creatine bound with water. Each molecule of creatine monohydrate is made up of 88% creatine and 12% water. Or to put it another way – 1 gram of creatine monohydrate has 880 milligrams of creatine. This means that if you take 5 grams of creatine monohydrate you will really be putting 4.40 grams (5 * .88) of creatine in your body. Creatine Monohydrate is by far the most common form for a creatine supplement. The majority of studies and research have been conducted using creatine monohydrate.

Creatine Phosphate

Remember that in order for creatine to be effective it needs to bond with a phosphate group and become Creatine Phosphate. For this reason, you may think that directly taking Creatine Phosphate would be better than just taking Creatine Monohydrate. The fact is – taking a creatine phosphate supplement has never been shown to be more effective than just taking creatine monohydrate. Creatine Phosphate has only 62.3% creatine and 37.7% phosphate. This means that 1 gram only produces 623 milligrams of creatine. In addition, creatine phosphate is more expensive than creatine monohydrate.

Creatine Citrate

Creatine Citrate became popular because it is more water soluble than other forms of creatine. Simply put, it dissolves better when you mix it up. The problem is that Creatine Citrate has only 400 milligrams of creatine per gram of creatine citrate. In addition, it is more expensive than Creatine Monohydrate.

Creatine Esters

Creatine ester is a creatine monohydrate that has been esterified with either the alcohol methanol (creatine methyl ester) or ethanol (creatine ethyl ester).

After being absorbed by the body, creatine esters are split into creatine and the alcohol methanol or ethanol. This conversion occurs very quickly. Ten minutes after oral administration, the ester is no longer detectable and has been broken down completely into creatine, creatinine, and methanol or ethanol.

It has been shown that this breakdown takes place before it has been absorbed into the muscle cells.

Twelve percent of orally administered creatine ester is converted into creatinine after 30 minutes, and, in addition, esterification strongly promotes the conversion into creatinine. Creatinine is excreted via the kidneys. The alcohol—in the form of methanol or ethanol—needs to be detoxified by the liver. Methanol in particular is highly toxic and even small amounts can damage the nervous system.

If you’re a creatine non-responder you may have success with the CEE

Creatine ethyl ester technology can potentially lead to improved absorption, less bloat and minimal water retention – comparative to creatine monohydrate

There are no studies that prove that creatine esters enhance performance. It is especially significant that there is no indication that these esters have an advantage over pure creatine monohydrate.

Ingredients

¼ C of Reduced Sodium Black Beans

½ Scoop of Chocolate Protein Powder

1 Tbsp of Dark Chocolate Coco Powder

3 Packets of Trivia

¼ Tsp of Baking Powder

A Pinch of Salt

2 Tbsp of Egg Whites

1 Tbsp of Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Tbsp of Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup (Can be found at Target, Sprouts, Market Street., Etc.)

½ Tbsp of Fat Free Promise Butter Substitute (Can be found at Wal-Mart in the Butter Section)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Place all Ingredients into a Blender, Magic Bullet, or Blend with an Electric Mixer. Once the ingredients are well blended, spray four muffin tins with cooking spray and pour batter evenly among four tins. Place Muffin tin into oven and bake for 10- 15 minutes depending on your oven. Tops of the brownies should be soft but not mushy.

Helpful Hint: I used Silicon muffin tins I bought from World Market. These keep the brownies from sticking to the edges of the tins.

We have all gone to great lengths, in our quest to be the biggest and the strongest, to maximize the growth of our upper bodies! Its common to see guys performing super-sets for chest, or high rep- volume sets for biceps and triceps, doing endless hammer curls, preacher curls, concentration curls, barbell curls…the list goes on and on. The point is, that rarely do you see such attention, and detail given to the quadriceps, and hamstrings. Strangely enough, many guys with great upper body development are lacking in the leg department. Maybe its not that they have pencil-legs, but more often a lack of balance, shape, and proportion. If there is any quad mass, there is rarely much hamstring development, as hamstrings are usually an afterthought  to quad training. This article will show you how to bring up those wheels to match your upper extremities.

We want our legs to look as good, and be just as functional, if not more so than our upper bodies, allowing us to be more complete and well rounded athletes, as well as giving us the greatest advantage on the competitive stage. The quadriceps muscle is composed of four different muscle heads, the vastus medialis, vastus lateralus, vastus intermedius, and the sartorius. All work uniformly along side each other whenever you are performing any quad exercise, such as a squat, a leg press, or an extension, however when proper focus is applied, one is able to accentuate the stress placed upon one particular area allowing the athlete to make positive strides toward gaining more balanced quads. The inner quad or “teardrop” is called the vastus medialis. Squats performed with a wide stance, leg presses with a wide stance, and leg extensions, especially with toes pointed slightly outward are all exercises that place emphasis on the inner thigh.  A narrow foot placement will in turn place more focus on the outer thigh, or the “sweep” called vastus lateralus. Exercises such as leg presses with feet close together, hack squats with feet close together, and lunges all place most stimulus on the outer quad. Going nice and DEEP on your pressing movements will involve both intermedius and Sartorius muslces and bring them out to their fullest. Going deep will also aid in developing density in the glutes, which can be an Achilles heel when it comes to show time.

As I had mentioned before, I believe hamstrings to be quite neglected by most bodybuilders, and trainers alike. The hams are made up of several very small muscle groups, the semitendinosus, semimembarosus, but mainly the biceps femorus. The hamstring can also be stimulated in different ways to accentuate separate parts of the muscle to promote the greatest amount of detail and density. Stiff leg dead lifts stimulate the ham as a whole and does a good job of bringing blood to the entire muscle while also stretching and breaking the tissue down. Lying or standing ham curls are commonly performed in most hamstring workouts, though the direction in which your knee/and toe face play a role in where you feel most of the tension in the muscle. Toes turned out with a wider foot placement will put more tension on the outer hamstring, mainly the biceps femoris. When the knees remain close together and the toes remain straight ahead or even pointed inward, the emphasis will be placed much more on the inner parts of the hamstring, detrimental to bodybuilders when it comes to the stage, shots from the rear in particular.

A good sample workout for overall thigh balance could go as thus..

Quads-

1. Squats(wide stance) going deep!

4-5 sets 12-16 reps each. Increasing weight each set

2. Leg press(narrow stance)

4 sets 15-20 reps. Heavy enough to be very challenging*

3. Leg extensions(toes turned outward)

7 sets 12 reps each *only 30 seconds in between sets

4. Lunges

3 sets 10 steps each leg

Hams-

1. Stiff leg dead lift

4 sets 8-15 reps. Increasing weight each set

2. Seated leg curl( feet and legs close together)

4 sets 20 reps

3. Lying leg curls

3 sets with feet placed wide(outer hams) 12-16 reps

3 sets  with feet together and toes turned inward(inner hams) 12-16 reps

With all this in mind, make your next 4 leg workouts strong and balanced, and as always followed by proper nutrition, while employing these techniques and see if you cant tell the difference!

Stay tuned for more blogs, photos, and more!

“Power” Pumpkin Loaf

In one bowl (Dry Ingredients):

½ c of oat flour

1 scoop of peanut butter protein powder

1 tsp of baking powder

2 tsp of pumpkin spice

1 tsp of cinnamon

A pinch of salt

In another bowl (Wet Ingredients):

1/3 c of egg whites

¼ c of pumpkin puree

¼ c of silken tofu 

1/3 c of water

2 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions:

Makes 8 Servings 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To start off, you are going to want to stir the ingredients in the first bowl (dry) until they are well incorporated. Then use an electric mixer to blend the ingredients in the second bowl (wet). Once both dry and wet ingredients are stirred, you can add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture is like cake batter.

Then take a loaf pan, and spray with cooking oil or coconut oil. Take batter and pour into loaf pan, and bake for 20-30 minutes. Depending on your oven, it will depend on how long it takes for your pumpkin loaf to bake. You will want the sides to be golden brown and the top of the loaf to be firm.

Take out of the oven once baked, and Enjoy!

Helpful Hints:

It is good to use a low carb, low sugar, and low sodium protein powder that taste good. I use Protizyme or Myofusion peanut butter protein.

To add a little extra flavor, you can use peanut butter as frosting.

Mike: “After a lifetime of battling obesity, and a rapid decline in my health starting in my late 30′s I decided it was time to make a radical change in my life.

 On December 15, 2009, weighing in at 308 lbs I had gastric bypass. In January 2010, I began seeing results. February, March, April, the pounds were flying off of me. I had gone from a 52 inch waist to a 46. I drilled new holes in my belt so that I would not have to buy a new one. I was on a roll and then I hit a brick wall. The wake up call was when the weight loss slowed down. I nearly stopped losing weight at 260. No more 6 pound losses in a week. If I was lucky I would lose 1 or 2.

 In April 2010, I joined MetroFlex inPlano. Just because I joined it didn’t motivate me to go. I started to see that old pattern rear its ugly head. If you don’t go, the results are not going to appear just because you joined. I started coming to MetroFlex to use the cardio equipment and the pounds started to come off again. I dropped 10 or so more pounds and then I had a debate with myself. Should I buy a motorcycle or a bicycle?. I decided that it was best to buy a bicycle. At 240 pounds I hopped on my bicycle and started riding.

I rode my bike as often as I could, and sometimes I even rode it to MetroFlex. The weight was coming off, but it was harder to take it off. The lighter I got, the easier it became to do activities. I noticed I would have to ride longer to get the results I wanted.

I set my target weight at 220. I got down to 220, and was not happy with what I saw. In May 2010, I started using weights to help me lose weight. I used light weight, and high repetitions. I was running on 1000 calories a day, weighing in at 220, and I felt good. I set 5 pound goals and looked at myself and if I didn’t like the results, I could always do another 5 pounds. I was Lifting weights. biking, doing extra cardio, 7 days a week.

5 pounds would come off in 6 to 8 days. 210, 205, 200……..163. I weighed in at 163 in August 2010. I lost 145 lbs. in 9 months. Success… “

By: Scott A. Sinclair

Manager & Owner of Powerhouse Nutrition, LLC

 So you want to get in shape, build muscle, shed fat and get those muscles poppin!? Well, proper supplementation will aid your journey in the gym.. When we think about growing muscle and dropping the fat the general thought is to spend hours on end in the gym, do a whole bunch of cardio and eat pounds of chicken and tuna, then choke down hundreds of pills and a dozen different shakes and powders..

Well, let me tell you that your waaaay off track and that there are alot of misconceptions and hype that people tend to blindly follow. So in our quest for muscle we generally start by walking into our local supplement store and ask for advice and sort through all the products on the shelves.. Talking to your LOCAL supplement store, doing your own research and combining the two is a great way to start to decide what the best supplementation path will be for you.

Don’t get caught up and hooked onto a product just because it has a flashy label… compare products; if you can read then chances are you can find the better quality, better buy between products simply by reading the supplemental facts!

Choosing what is needed in your supplement stack is something that you want to hand pick according to your body, you goals and your budget.. I will do my best to break down  the supplementational world into an easy to navigate monthly article that will lead you to a bigger better you!

Catch my next article, “All creatines are not created equally”

Here is a list of the top 10 items one would need when trying to create an environment suited to preparing foods to fuel a fit, and changing body.

1. Good sharp meat, and vegetable knives- Having a good cutlery set ensures the least amount of time spent at the chopping block trimming fat off meats, and cutting up potatoes and greens.

2. Blender- Having a quality blender will aid greatly in mixing protein powders, and mixes for protein pancakes, which allows for quick and easy meal preparation.

3. Cutting board- seeing as you will be cutting up chicken, meat, and fish on a regular basis, the logic behind this goes without saying.

4. Full spice rack- Cooking for a healthy body will usually not entail much use of heavy sauces or oils, so getting creative with your seasoning techniques will help keep foods tasty and interesting.

5. Zero calorie cooking spray- For any cooking done on a pan, especially when in contest prep or on restricted calorie intake, zero calorie cooking spray will be necessary. As many meats, eggs, and vegetables have the tendency to stick, when cooked stovetop on a pan.
6. Baking trays- Potatoes are a “super-food” for many athletes as they are inexpensive and offer high quality carbohydrates which are imperative for energy and brain function.

7. Pots and pans- As well as pans to cook with on the stovetop, you will need to boil water when cooking rice, some potatoes, and vegetables. Or if your like Greg McCoy, chicken as well…gross!

8. Digital food scale-The importance of knowing exactly how many calories, and macronutrients you are consuming is very critical for success with your fitness goals especially when it comes to fat loss and muscle gain.

9. Tupperware- After all your food is cooked, you will need a place to store it and keep it refrigerated!

10. Lunchbox- Now that all your food is prepared you are going to need some way to take it with you wherever you go. A decent sized lunch box that will hold enough meals for you to eat while your at work or away from home will be a great asset to you. That way you wont have to miss meals or even be late on them, which will maximize your success with your goals.

With these simple tools and some know how, you will be on your way to making the most improvements as possible whether you are training for a body building or fitness competition, or are trying to be a better all around athlete or just lose the fat that has been hanging on for too long. Good luck and happy training!

Josh