The Fatigue Gene

Thought this was an interesting article, giving a glimpse of what the future may hold...

Genes and Athletic Performance.

Will there come a day when you can get a baby tested to see if he/she has the potential to excel in any sport? Will they make a better bodybuilder, baseball player or long-distance runner? I think that day is coming rapidly.

I think weight trainers could benefit from a simple blood test that could tell them just how quickly they could recover from an intense workout. Such incontrovertible evidence may be the only way to convince some of those determined to follow 6-day a week, 2 hour a day training schedule all the way to severe overtraining.

JP

Raw Eggs For Weight Gain?

Apparently, in Rocky VI, Rocky Balboa is again drinking raw eggs just as he did in the original. From time to time I get asked if raw eggs are a good thing to do for weight gain. The answer is no, there isn't an advantage to drinking your eggs.

A good article here on Rocky, the history of raw egg drinking and why you should go ahead and cook your eggs.

As it is, Sylvester Stallone's latest will probably inspire some extended bathroom time from fans trying to emulate the aging boxer (what is he? 60?). But then, Stallone hasn't exactly shown himself to be too concerned about disseminating sound nutritional advice to his fans as evidenced by the marketing of his Instone nutritional supplements.

JP

Bodybuilding Supplement Demand

January is the biggest month not only for gym membership sales but for bodybuilding supplements as well.

Bodybuilding Supplement Demand Way Up

My favorite excerpt from that article...

...When asked if he believes some customers use some supplements as substitutes for anabolic steroids, Mark Johnson, co-owner of American Nutritional Wholesalers, said, "Absolutely. The things over the counter are so very close to the real thing (steroids) today. Definitely, when you're competing in sports, these things, hands down, give you an edge."

Are you kidding me? The only people who will tell you that supplements are very close to anabolic steroids are the people trying to sell you supplements (or those naive enough to believe them).

They are about as close to steroids as a squirt gun is to an AK-47. As aspirin is to cyanide, as a typewriter is to a computer.

Don't misunderstand, certainly bodybuilding supplements can help you create a positive muscle building environment, but they ain't in the same family as steroids.

For more on how to best use supplements to help move you towards your muscle building goals: Best Using Muscle Gain Supplements.

JP

Supplement Ads Contain Lies?

Um, well... YES. That isn't news. That is just part of doing business in the supplement world.

What is news is that the FTC has actually fined a few companies for claims that were “not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.”...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16491115/

$25 million in fines between these 4 large companies? Is it me, or does that sound a lot like a slap on the wrist? Is that really scary for those companies? I doubt it. I expect they will just find new, innovative ways to mislead the masses into buying their products.

Note that this action involved the big fish in the enormous weight loss market. The small fish still swim unabated. All those mass building supplements??? Well, outside of a threatening letter, it is doubtful that the governmental agencies will find the resources to take them to task anytime soon.

That means that all those worthless "testosterone boosters" will keep claiming 500% increases. And people will continue to email me and ask me if they are valid.

Most interesting in this article is that 2 in 3 believe that the FDA tests supplements. Doesn't happen. Since 1994 and DSHEA, supplement marketers have had a pretty loose leash when it comes to claims and labeling. Read that another way, they can pretty much lie and get away with it.

How? While what they do can be fraudulent at its worse and sleazy at its best, they have numbers on their side. Not the numbers that they use in their misleading claims - the numbers that show there are thousands and thousands of supplements being marketed and not enough resources within the FDA and FTC to effectively police them.

More on bodybuilding supplement marketing

JP

Tips To Make Your New Year Muscle Building Resolutions Stick

Yep, it's January and the gym's are packed. Sadly, by February, those gyms will be back to normal as most will have given up on their resolutions. Actually, that isn't so sad from the point of view of the serious trainer - the serious trainer suddenly confronted with long wait times simply can't wait for those newbies to fumble and bumble their way back to their comfy couches.

At the risk of annoying the serious trainer, here are some muscle building tips from the Army geared toward making your '07 resolutions actually produce a little muscle for you. Some good tips, though I think ratcheting up the protein recommendations a bit is best for building muscle mass.

For a little more guidance on making your muscle building program productive, check last month's ezine - 5 Muscle Building Resolutions for '07.

JP