By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.

Articles by Gary Matthews

Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

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Lower Your High Cholesterol Naturally

Rob Cooper reviews 60 Day Prescription Free Cholesterol Cure

I’ve always believed that every condition know to man could be treated naturally with diet, exercise and with the proper application of knowledge and nutrition. When it comes to Lowering High Cholesterol Naturally, I feel no different.

My Own Cholesterol Levels

My sister and her husband are doctors. In fact, my sisters husband worked as a private consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva Switzerland for 6 years. One summer they were visiting and I had just had my cholesterol levels checked with my doctor.

I remember the moment exactly, when I read what my cholesterol report said because they both stopped what they were doing, turned and looked at me. They had me repeat the numbers and then they looked over the report themselves.

It was at that moment that I realized I had actually stunned my sister the “doctor” for the first time. I had fallen prey to the “little brother can’t possible know best” syndrome, so they had never listened to me in the past.

I’ve been following a natural diet for a number of years and the work paid off not only with my weight , fitness level and health, but also for my cholesterol numbers.

Lower Your Cholesterol Without Drugs

In having a look online for a good way to inform people about Cholesterol and how to lower it naturally, I was lead to Frank Mangano after reading his book about natural high blood pressure reduction.

Frank began looking for a natural approach to lowering cholesterol for his mother. She was diagnosed with High Cholesterol and was afraid to begin Statin Drugs because of their terrible side effects. He dove into the research and the hard work paid off. What He gave his mother was a plan based on hard science that allowed her to lower her cholesterol without drugs. Her cholesterol dropped 40 points with his all-natural system. This kind of result normally leaves doctors slack-jawed at the amazing results.

Read more about Lower Your High Cholesterol Naturally

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By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.

Articles by Gary Matthews

Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

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Weight Gain Principles

By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at the facts presented in this outline of my weight gain principles and make your own decision. As you will see, my systems do work.

Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Gary Matthews and I bring over 20 years of experience to the Health and Fitness Industry and to MaximumFitness.com.

My professional career began in the Royal Australian Air Force where I was employed as a Fitness Instructor. My duties consisted of training recruits in various disciplines including strength training and conditioning techniques for weight gain, weight loss and general fitness.

At this time I was very much influenced by the bodybuilders and the training systems of the time. Training five or six workouts a week was the norm, splitting upper and lower body workouts and sometimes working out twice a day.

Every set was taken to positive failure, then three or more forced reps and if that wasn’t enough I would do a few negative reps. This sort of training would totally exhaust me and render me sore for days after every session.

This constant battering to my body always made me sick or injured. I would take time off and then go back to it again and all the time I gained nothing in size or strength. Can you imagine years and years of hard work all for nothing and I still see it going on around me now.

Traditional training techniques like this are ineffective and downright dangerous, having been passed down from previous training generations and unquestionably followed at all costs.

The only people making any progress on these systems are the so called ‘bodybuilding stars’ who have superb genetics (about 2% of the general population) and are taking massive amounts of steroids (very expensive and dangerous).

Please do not fall into the same trap, if you haven’t made any gains for a long time now stop!! Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at the facts presented in this outline of my weight gain principles and make your own decision. As you will see, my systems do work.

I have been helping people gain solid muscular bodyweight for years now using the same techniques I outline here.

Before I start on the actual training here are a few Scientific Guidelines for strength training that have always been around but are not followed by many training systems these days. As you will see I have based my programs on scientific principles not hearsay or gymlore passed on from trainer to trainer.

It’s an unfortunate reality that throughout the years there has been a growth of training techniques without any scientific proof. As in Life, and in Training: The simplest is always the best.

Read the Weight Gain Principles

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By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.

Articles by Gary Matthews

Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

Copyright Natural Weight Loss
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL

By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.

Articles by Gary Matthews

Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

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by Will Brink

Author of: Muscle Building Nutrition.com
Muscle Gaining Diet, Training routines by Charles Poliquin & Bodybuilding Supplement Review
Diet Supplements Revealed
Real World Fat Loss Diet & Weight Loss Supplement Review

Readers of the March 2003 issue of Life Extension magazine should recall the long list of potential medical, performance and anti-aging effects of creatine. The article outlined the substantial body of research that found creatine may help with diseases effecting the neuro muscular system, such as muscular dystrophy and may have therapeutic applications in aging populations, wasting syndromes, muscle atrophy, fatigue, myopathies, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and other mitochondrial cytopathies. Several studies have shown it may reduce cholesterol by up to 15% and has been used to correct certain inborn errors of metabolism, such as people born without the enzyme(s) responsible for making creatine.

The article also covered exactly what creatine is, how it works and how much is required to possibly treat the aforementioned pathologies. If you missed that article, refer to the March 2003 issue of Life Extension magazine, or view it at www.lef.org. In this article, we examine some additional properties of creatine, such as its effects on growth hormone release, homocysteine and chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as other important issues surrounding this supplement, such as its safety.

Although data is limited, some research suggests creatine can raise growth hormone equal to that of intense exercise. Growth hormone (GH) is known to play an essential role in the regulation of body fat levels, immunity, muscle mass, wound healing, bone mass and literally thousands of other functions both known and yet unknown. It is well established that GH levels steadily decline as we age and is partially responsible for the steady loss of muscle mass, loss of skin elasticity, immune dysfunction and many other physical changes that take place in the aging human body. Therefore, the possible effects of creatine on GH is worth exploring in aging populations.

One study found creatine could mimic the increased GH levels seen after intense exercise.1 In this comparative cross-sectional study, researchers gave six healthy male subjects 20 grams of creatine in a single dose at resting (non-exercising) conditions. The study found that all subjects showed a “significant” increase of GH in the blood during the six-hour period after creatine ingestion. However, the study also found “a large interindividual variability in the GH response.” That is, there were wide differences among individuals in the levels of GH achieved from taking the creatine. For the majority of subjects the maximum GH concentration occurred between two and six hours after ingesting the creatine.

The researchers concluded “In resting conditions and at high dosages creatine enhances GH secretion, mimicking the response of strong exercise which also stimulates GH secretion.” These researchers felt that the effects of creatine on GH could be viewed as one of creatine’s anabolic properties with the lean mass and strength increases observed after creatine supplementation. Although creatine supplementation has been found to increase lean muscle mass and strength in many studies, the effects of creatine on those tissues via GH enhancement has yet to be elucidated.

Creatine may reduce homocysteine levels

Homocysteine has been recognized as an important independent risk factor of heart disease, more so than cholesterol levels according to some studies. Creatine biosynthesis has been postulated as a major effector of homocysteine concentrations,2 and oral creatine supplements may reduce levels of homocysteine. Many studies have found that methyl donors (such as trimethylglycine (TMG) reduce levels of homocysteine, which also reduces the risk of heart disease. Conversely, pathways that demand large amounts of methyl groups may hinder the body’s ability to reduce homocysteine levels. The methylation of guanidinoacetate to form creatine consumes more methyl groups than all other methylation reactions combined in the human body.

Researchers have postulated that increasing or decreasing methyl demands on the body may increase or decrease homocysteine levels. In one study researchers fed rats either guanidinoacetate- or creatine-supplemented diets for two weeks.3 According to the researchers “plasma homocysteine was significantly increased (~50%) in rats maintained on guanidinoacetate-supplemented diets, whereas rats maintained on creatine-supplemented diets exhibited a significantly lower (~25%) plasma homocysteine level.” These results suggest that homocysteine metabolism is sensitive to methylation demand imposed by physiological substrates such as creatine.

Creatine and chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia

Because of creatine’s apparent abilities to improve the symptoms of other pathologies involving a lack of high energy compounds (e.g., congestive heart failure, etc.) as well as the aforementioned afflictions outlined in the introduction to this article, it has been suggested that creatine may help with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia (some researchers now posit that they are in fact the same syndrome). Although the causes of both pathologies is still being debated, a lack of high energy compounds (e.g. ATP) at the level of the mitochondria and general muscle weakness exists. For example, people with fibromyalgia have lower levels of creatine phosphate and ATP levels compared to controls.4 No direct studies exist at this time showing creatine supplementation improves the symptomology of either chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia.

Considering, however, the other data that finds that creatine supplementation increases creatine and ATP levels consistently in other pathologies where low levels of creatine and ATP are found, it stands to reason that people suffering from either syndrome may want to peruse the use of creatine. Another similar syndrome to chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome, which may also be potentially improved by the use of creatine supplements, though more research is clearly needed.

Creatine safety issues: fact or fiction?

After the first article in Life Extension magazine on the many potential medical and anti-aging uses of creatine, I received several letters and many e-mails that basically said “I would like to use creatine for the various reasons stated in the article, but I am worried about its safety.” This fear over the safety of creatine was usually generated from some hysterical news report or poorly researched article. It’s odd, but predictable that the media and conservative medical establishment have desperately tried to paint creatine as an inherently dangerous or “poorly researched” dietary supplement. The fact is, creatine may be the most extensively researched performance-enhancing supplement of all time, with a somewhat astounding safety record.

True to form, the “don’t confuse us with the facts” media and anti-supplement conservative medical groups have had no problems ignoring the extensive safety data on creatine, or simply inventing safety worries where none exists. A perfect example of this was the news report that mentioned the deaths of three high school wrestlers who died after putting on rubber suits and riding a stationary bike in a sauna to lose weight. Amazingly, their deaths were linked to creatine by the media, rather than extreme dehydration! Even more amazingly, on further examination, it was found that two of the three wrestlers were not using creatine!

Creatine has been blamed for all sorts of effects, from muscle cramps to dehydration, to increased injuries in athletes. However, these effects have been looked at extensively by researchers without a single study reporting side effects among several groups taking creatine for various medical reasons over five years.5-8

In some, but not all people, creatine can raise a metabolic byproduct of creatine metabolism known as creatinine. Some people-including some medical professionals who should know better-have mistakenly stated that elevated levels of creatinine could damage the kidneys. Elevated creatinine is often a blood indicator, not a cause, of kidney dysfunction.

That’s a very important distinction, and several short- and long-term studies have found creatine supplements have no ill effects on the kidney function of healthy people.9,10 Though it makes sense that people with pre-existing kidney dysfunction should avoid creatine supplements, it is reassuring to know that creatine supplements were found to have no ill effects on the kidney function of animals with pre-existing kidney failure, showing just how non toxic creatine appears to be for the kidneys.11 Bottom line, creatine safety has been extensively researched and is far safer than most over-the-counter (OTC) products, including aspirin.

Conclusion

Though additional research is warranted regarding the pathologies outlined in this article, creatine has a substantial body of research showing it is an effective, safe and worthwhile supplement in a wide range of pathologies and may be the next big find in anti-aging nutrients. Although the dose used in the studies was quite high, recent studies suggest lower doses are just as effective for increasing the overall creatine phosphate pool in the body. The dose of 2 to 3 grams per day appears adequate for healthy people to increase their tissue levels of creatine phosphate.

People with the pathologies mentioned in this article may benefit from higher intakes in the 5 to 10 gram per day range. People interested in more information regarding creatine, in particular the use of creatine and other supplements for athletes, should consider referring to my recent ebook Muscle Building Nutrition found at www.MuscleBuildingNutrition.com for additional information.

About the Author - William D. Brink

Will Brink is a columnist, contributing consultant, and writer for various health/fitness, medical, and bodybuilding publications. His articles relating to nutrition, supplements, weight loss, exercise and medicine can be found in such publications as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors. He is the author of Priming The Anabolic Environment and Weight Loss Nutrients Revealed. He is the Consulting Sports Nutrition Editor and a monthly columnist for Physical magazine and an Editor at Large for Power magazine. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.

He has been co author of several studies relating to sports nutrition and health found in peer reviewed academic journals, as well as having commentary published in JAMA. He runs the highly popular web site Brink Zone which is strategically positioned to fulfill the needs and interests of people with diverse backgrounds and knowledge. The Brink Zone site has a following with many sports nutrition enthusiasts, athletes, fitness professionals, scientists, medical doctors, nutritionists, and interested lay people. William has been invited to lecture on the benefits of weight training and nutrition at conventions and symposiums around the U.S. and Canada, and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.

William has worked with athletes ranging from professional bodybuilders, golfers, fitness contestants, to police and military personnel.

See Will’s ebooks online here:

Muscle Building Nutrition http://musclebuildingnutrition.com
A complete guide bodybuilding supplements and eating to gain lean muscle

Diet Supplements Revealed http://aboutsupplements.com
A review of diet supplements and guide to eating for maximum fat loss

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

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Balancing Fitness and a Busy Work Schedule Posted By : Stephanie Foster
Work often makes it difficult to keep up with a fitness routine. Coping requires a little extra effort.

By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.

Articles by Gary Matthews

Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

Copyright Natural Weight Loss
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL

Balancing Fitness and a Busy Work Schedule Posted By : Stephanie Foster
Work often makes it difficult to keep up with a fitness routine. Coping requires a little extra effort.

Setting Fitness Goals Posted By : Jonathon Hardcastle
Many people make the mistake of setting their fitness goals too high when they embark on an exercise program. This leads them to abandon their plans out of frustration and impatience. Setting manageable goals is key to maintaining a fitness program over time.

The Importance of Proper Hydration and Stretching Posted By : Jonathon Hardcastle
Whether you’re taking a brisk walk or running a 26 mile marathon, hydration and stretching are extremely important to preventing injury and to maintaining optimum fitness.

By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at the facts presented in this outline of my weight gain principles and make your own decision. As you will see, my systems do work.

Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Gary Matthews and I bring over 20 years of experience to the Health and Fitness Industry and to MaximumFitness.com.

My professional career began in the Royal Australian Air Force where I was employed as a Fitness Instructor. My duties consisted of training recruits in various disciplines including strength training and conditioning techniques for weight gain, weight loss and general fitness.

At this time I was very much influenced by the bodybuilders and the training systems of the time. Training five or six workouts a week was the norm, splitting upper and lower body workouts and sometimes working out twice a day.

Every set was taken to positive failure, then three or more forced reps and if that wasn’t enough I would do a few negative reps. This sort of training would totally exhaust me and render me sore for days after every session.

This constant battering to my body always made me sick or injured. I would take time off and then go back to it again and all the time I gained nothing in size or strength. Can you imagine years and years of hard work all for nothing and I still see it going on around me now.

Traditional training techniques like this are ineffective and downright dangerous, having been passed down from previous training generations and unquestionably followed at all costs.

The only people making any progress on these systems are the so called ‘bodybuilding stars’ who have superb genetics (about 2% of the general population) and are taking massive amounts of steroids (very expensive and dangerous).

Please do not fall into the same trap, if you haven’t made any gains for a long time now stop!! Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at the facts presented in this outline of my weight gain principles and make your own decision. As you will see, my systems do work.

I have been helping people gain solid muscular bodyweight for years now using the same techniques I outline here.

Before I start on the actual training here are a few Scientific Guidelines for strength training that have always been around but are not followed by many training systems these days. As you will see I have based my programs on scientific principles not hearsay or gymlore passed on from trainer to trainer.

It’s an unfortunate reality that throughout the years there has been a growth of training techniques without any scientific proof. As in Life, and in Training: The simplest is always the best.

Read the Weight Gain Principles

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

Copyright Natural Weight Loss
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL

Weight Gain Myths

By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.

Articles by Gary Matthews

Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

Copyright Natural Weight Loss
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL

Stationery Exercise Bikes
Health and fitness articles at www.healthclub.info There are many people who like to do their exercise routines at home. For a long time, stationary exercise bikes were the most common type of exercise equipment you would find in anyone’s home. For the most part, this is still true. Though there are many more advanced types […]

By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness

Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at the facts presented in this outline of my weight gain principles and make your own decision. As you will see, my systems do work.

Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Gary Matthews and I bring over 20 years of experience to the Health and Fitness Industry and to MaximumFitness.com.

My professional career began in the Royal Australian Air Force where I was employed as a Fitness Instructor. My duties consisted of training recruits in various disciplines including strength training and conditioning techniques for weight gain, weight loss and general fitness.

At this time I was very much influenced by the bodybuilders and the training systems of the time. Training five or six workouts a week was the norm, splitting upper and lower body workouts and sometimes working out twice a day.

Every set was taken to positive failure, then three or more forced reps and if that wasn’t enough I would do a few negative reps. This sort of training would totally exhaust me and render me sore for days after every session.

This constant battering to my body always made me sick or injured. I would take time off and then go back to it again and all the time I gained nothing in size or strength. Can you imagine years and years of hard work all for nothing and I still see it going on around me now.

Traditional training techniques like this are ineffective and downright dangerous, having been passed down from previous training generations and unquestionably followed at all costs.

The only people making any progress on these systems are the so called ‘bodybuilding stars’ who have superb genetics (about 2% of the general population) and are taking massive amounts of steroids (very expensive and dangerous).

Please do not fall into the same trap, if you haven’t made any gains for a long time now stop!! Stop wasting your time, money and effort for nothing. Please have a look at the facts presented in this outline of my weight gain principles and make your own decision. As you will see, my systems do work.

I have been helping people gain solid muscular bodyweight for years now using the same techniques I outline here.

Before I start on the actual training here are a few Scientific Guidelines for strength training that have always been around but are not followed by many training systems these days. As you will see I have based my programs on scientific principles not hearsay or gymlore passed on from trainer to trainer.

It’s an unfortunate reality that throughout the years there has been a growth of training techniques without any scientific proof. As in Life, and in Training: The simplest is always the best.

Read the Weight Gain Principles

Read more Bodybuilding Articles

Copyright Natural Weight Loss
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL

Is Home Gym Something for You? Posted By : Chun Yin Yu
If you want to build up your muscle as well as your fitness goals at home, you should set up a comprehensive workout schedule based on your personal goals and ability. You can find all the necessary information online or on DVDs.