My path to Natural Bodybuilding Glory

Pretty much the sickest Jungle Gym set up ever!!!

2010-03-03T11:38:00.002-05:00

So I look around on my subscription list on youtube like I always do in the morning and what do I see. Well, the sickest Jungle Gym ever! I'm definetly going to build one of these in my studio once I get to that position in the future.

Pure Strength!!!

Check it out

Wade

I'm Back - but why do i keep leaving

2010-03-03T11:00:00.003-05:00

I'm BACK!!!

The problem with blogging is that, with everything in life, you need to keep your self motivating to do it. I really don't know why I can't keep up with it. Maybe it's because my reader count is so low or that I've been away from lifting weights for a while. In any case I'm back and I will be trying to keep my Natural Bodybuilding Blog and my MMA Blog up to date as I train and progress through both elements.

The good news is that I'm back in the weight room after a rough 5 months off. The reason why I stayed away from lifting weights is for one reason - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It was hard focusing on both, as one would leave me completely tired for the other. I realised that some how I will have to make time for them both. So, now with 2010 already 2 full months in I finally decided to work them in.

Hope you enjoy what's about to come.

Wade

Starting a new venture into fitness tomorrow

2009-08-10T21:33:00.002-04:00

So tomorrow I will be joining my first brazilian jiu jitsu class and i couldn't be more excited. This is something that i wanted to do for a long time as i believe it to be - along with other MMA combat training - one of the greatest all around sports. Its a combination of endurance, strength training, wits and perseverance that make this sport (MMA) an all-in-one package.

I will be keeping a daily long of my training, including all of the ups and downs. I will also be writing and article dealing with MMA and Bodybuilding. Basically, it is considered that if you concentrate in one you will not be successful in the other. I want to prove that Bodybuilding and MMA could build off of each other and allow you to be successful in both. This is considering natural bodybuilding of course.

Let me know what you think and if you have any training in MMA before.

Wade

Creatine, a staple in the athletic and bodybuilding community

2009-08-06T18:48:00.007-04:00

Creatine has been a staple in the bodybuilding and athletic community for decades. In fact, it may be one of the most researched supplements on the market.

Approximately half of the stored creatine in our bodies originates from food - ie salmon, pork, tuna and beef. *Since vegetables do not contain creatine, vegetarians show lower levels of muscle creatine and should be supplemented when training. The other half of creatine is biosynthesized (created within our body) from three different amino acids - arginine, glycine and methionine.

Main Effects
The main effects of creatine on the body is to cause 1. Intracellular water retention (also called volumization) and 2. the ability to enhance ATP production.

1. The water retention of the cell causes beneficial side effects such as increase of strength and giving the muscle belly a fuller appearance. I should also mention, that some studies have shown that the intracellular water retention may also trigger protein syntheses and minimize catabolism (break down of tissue and larger cellular compounds into smaller compounds). From the water retention you may notice some weight gain, up to 1kg in the first few weeks. Once you cycle off of creatine the weight should drop off.

2. By enhancing the production of ATP, creatine provides faster recovery in between sets and an increased tolerance to high volume work. ATP stands for Adenosine Triphosphate, which is the bodies source for energy storage. The phosphates are high energy bonded molecules and when released are responsible for majority of active cellular mechanisms. Once ATP is used, it forms into ADP and then AMP if it's used further - the later are lesser energy forms. Creatine is most commonly found in the body through creatine phosphate (CP or phosphocreatine) which donates its phosphate group to ADP, thus restoring ATP.

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The main purpose of phosphocreatine in our skeletal muscle is to supply a phosphate to ADP to create more ATP. The quick loss of ATP is due to anaerobic activity at the beginning of exercise. Your body is functioning without oxygen at the start of intense exercise which means it won't be able to produce efficient amount of ATP to sustain the movement. With the stores of ATP depleting creatine is able to restore the numbers for a short time - 4 to 6 seconds to be exact. This is why creatine supplementation is great for someone who trains for short bursts of activity - athletes, power lifters and bodybuilders. During aerobic activity your body will have sufficient amounts of oxygen which will help with the ATP generation process.

Creatine Monohydrate
Is the most common creatine found on the market. There is a lot of research behind creatine monohydrate. Some users complain of bloating which is a known side effect, but this is completely dependent on the consumer and changes from person to person.

Creatine ethyl ester (CEE)
CEE is thought to have higher absorption rates and a longer serum half-life than regular creatine monohydrate. Some users say they don't have the same bloating side effect as creatine monohydrate. Once again this is completely user dependent and should be tested by the consumer.

Safety
Muscle cramping is a mild side effect to supplementing with creatine. It only effects a small population of consumers. The cause of the cramping may be due to dehydration. Therefore, extra water intake is vital when supplementing with creatine.

Usage
There are two common ways of consuming creatine powders. One way is gradual, with taking 5 grams of creatine everyday for the duration in which you want to use the supplement. The other way is to use a loading phase at the beginning. During the loading phase you will be consuming upwards of 20 grams of creatine for 5-7 days and then taking 5 grams a day thereafter. The purpose of the loading phase is to create a surplus of creatine in your skeletal muscle. If you decided to consume creatine gradually it would take longer to build the extra stores of creatine then if you loaded to begin with.

Cliffs
- One of the most researched bodybuilding and athletic supplements
- Two common type: Creatine monohydrate and Creatine ethyl ester
- Main effects: Intracellular water retention and Cellular ATP regeneration
- Great for Anaerobic Training. Not effective during aerobic training.
- Two common usage techniques: General intake of 5 grams a day or Loading with 20 grams a day for 5-7 days followed by 5 grams a day thereafter

I hope you enjoyed the first post of my educational section of my blog. If you have any questions please comment and if you life what you read please subscribe.

Wade

I'm tired, it's too early, it's cold outside, i'm not ready, My Feet Hurt! Motivation and Determination is what will drive you!

2009-08-06T17:32:00.004-04:00

There are so many excuses for everything. It's up to you to pick and choose what will stop you. But, if your really determined and you know what you want then nothing should stop you. Days go by and they can never be taken back. So, take all those excuses and through them out.

Today you start fresh. Today is your day.

Enjoy

Wade

Summer is almost over! New Goals

2009-08-06T15:31:00.009-04:00

My official goal was to bench 200 lbs by the end of this summer, but now as we only have a month left it's easy to see that i won't make that goal. Right now I'm able to bench 155 lbs for 8 reps. With some calculations that just under 192 lbs for a one rep max. It seems so close yet so far. I don't want to push myself to hard because there is always the risk of a pectoral tear, which I don't want.

With one month left I'm going to set up some new goals for my self.
Bench: 185 lbs for 5 reps
Squat: 225 lbs for 8 reps (ass to ground)
Dead Lift: 250 lbs for 8 reps
Wide Grip Pull-ups for 8 reps

These seem like pretty reasonable goals. I let you know through the next month how i will work up to it.
Currently I'm at:
Bench: 155 lbs for 8 reps (that was 2 weeks ago)
Squat: 215 lbs for 5 reps
Dead Lift: 215 lbs for 5 reps
Wide Grip Pull-ups for 4 reps

I hope you all enjoy following this little log. Post some comments if you want.

Most Current Picture - August 4th 2009

Wade

What can you do when everything seems to fall apart?

2009-08-06T00:20:00.006-04:00

Some days it feels like nothing is going well. The days where clouds always hang over and feel like you have nothing to look forward to. It seems that I have been running into these days quite often. The urge to get into the gym and train to my fullest ability just isn't there. So, what am I suppose to do?

I tend to change my routine and fall in love with fitness all over again. Today I went to the gym with the sole purpose of training legs and shoulders. I started my training day at 10 am where i began with squats and lunges. It all went by very slowly and I felt as if every inch was a struggle. I almost gave up on a rep and decided i needed to change things up! I ran to the basketball court where I began to do some jump squats with the ball in my hands pointed towards the sky. I jump squatted from one side of the court to the other. After 3 full lengths my legs began to get tired. Next, I went straight into Mountain Climbers. I put my hands on a mat and pushed it across the court driving downwards to the floor with every stride. After 2 full lengths my legs began to burn. I felt the lactate build up but I was determined to do 2 more lengths.

The point of this is that know matter how bad things are going in your life, you have the choice to make the best of it. By changing one part of your day or one chapter in your life you could break the bad patterns and get yourself out of that funk.

I hope this article has helped, and I enjoy expressing myself to all of you.

Wade

Supplement Review: Animal Flex by Universal Nutrition

2009-08-04T20:32:00.004-04:00

Supplementations is a subject that could be confusing to a novice coming into the Health and Fitness community. These reviews are made to help consumers understand different products and if or how to use them.

Supplement Review
If you are a heavy lifter you will begin to notice strain and tension developing within your joints and tendons. If you are eating a fully complete and healthy diet you should be getting in the proper nutrition to balance your lifting stresses in order to avoid discomfort. The problem is you would have to be consuming a large amount of foods in a short time to accomplish this.

Joint Supplements mainly include Chondrotin, Glucosamine, MSM, Flaxeed Oil and Hylauric Acid. These are the key supplements/compounds needed to develop and maintain proper joints and tendons/ligaments.

What Universal Nutrition did was include all the major compounds as well some others into one package. There are 44 packs per container and each pack includes 8 tablets. This may seem like a lot to someone who hates swallowing pills, but taking them daily you will quickly adapt.

It is possible to find Animal Flex online for $24.99USD, but the price will very at your local Health Store and range from upwards of $44.99USD.

Hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions or changes you would like to see please comment.

Wade

Episode 2 - A new start

2009-08-04T16:20:00.002-04:00

Hope you enjoyed the video.

Wade

Getting past Physical Limitations

2009-08-04T11:14:00.003-04:00

Pushing yourself through emotional and physical barriers is not an easy task. But if you can get past the self pity and move beyond the physical set backs you will see how much is out there for you to reach.

Here is a story from ESPN in which two top high-school athletes are able to go beyond their borders and reach levels that most can only imagine.

Use this as motivation in your next workout, and I'm sure you will break those barriers, walls or plateaus. If you don't, well there is always tomorrow and at least your tried your hardest today.

Beginning a New Cycle

2009-08-03T23:02:00.007-04:00

It's August 2009 and I feel like I have accomplished so much since i first began training in January. My physique is starting to fill out and I feel as if I'm building a great base in which to improve from. Now it's time to push it to the next level.

I will be starting an alternating Hypertrophy and Strength Phase. It will alternate between 2 weeks of hypertrophy (higher lighter reps) and 1 week of strength (lower heavier reps). As you probably know from a famous informercial fitness line P90x - muscle confusion is key when forcing your body to adapt to changes. Basically, by breaking it down into these two phases I will be adding muscle mass and strength.
More will follow on Hypertrophy and Strength Phases of training later in another post.

I will be sticking with a common split of; Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs/Shoulders and will include Core and Cardio training on most days.

More will come later on my workout routine as I weed out some kinks.

Hope your enjoying the blog thus far.

Remember, it's never too late start something new.

Wade

Let's get this started

2009-07-19T00:30:00.006-04:00

Welcome to my natural bodybuilding blog. Basically what I'm doing is writing about my ventures through the fitness industry. Over the past few years I have fallen in and out of the gym routine, but picking up knowledge all the way a long. I thought it was finally time for me to put all the knowledge to use and help others a long the way.

My main goals are 1) to see my business strive to a successful level and 2) to reach pro status in natural bodybuilding.

What can you expect along the way? I will be giving reviews of supplements and different types of exercises. I will give you an insight to my life and what it's like to dedicate your self into a fitness and healthy world.

So come for the ride and I'll keep you posted.

Wade

Here is the first video I produced for my video Blogs on YouTube. Check out both to be updated.