Grow That Muscle: Build A Quality Body

Cannabis And Bodybuilding: What You Need To Know

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With many states and provinces legalizing the consumption of cannabis (marijuana), the rise of use among bodybuilders and casual gym goers is increasing. There’s less social stigma around use because of research showing positive benefits of cannabis use. Certain extracts of the plant, such as CBD oil, helps treat chronic pain, lowers chronic pain and can allow you to sleep much easier.

Marijuana isn’t the scary substance it was made out to be, and for the casual bodybuilders out there, it’s a fantastic tool and alternative to many medications.

We all remember that scene in Pumping Iron where Arnold Schwarzenegger is smoking a joint and eating fried chicken.

Arnold Schwarzenegger smoking a marijuana joint in Pumping Iron
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I’ve spent over $2500 on Protein Powders – These taste the best

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I’ve transformed my body from a fat, pack a day cigarette smoker to a 6 days a week, work my ass off, wannabe bodybuilder. To get where I am today, I had to pack on lean muscle. What do you do to pack on lean muscle? Lift heavy shit and get your protein in. What’s the easiest way to get protein in? Whey protein shakes.

Unless a friend recommends a flavour or you sample it beforehand, trying a new protein powder is taking a risk for your tastebuds. I can’t count how man times I’ve tried a new whey protein powder flavour and it tastes like literal garbage. Orange creamsicle? You’re better off licking the sidewalk. You think plain old vanilla is any better? Unless it’s naturally flavoured, the stevia taste is going to sit at the back of your tongue for the rest of the week.

I’ve spent over $2500 on protein powders over my fitness career trying to find the ones that taste the best that I can actually stomach. Trust me, this is harder than you think. If you’re going to drink something twice a day you might as well enjoy it, right? 

Alright enough jibber jabber, here are the BEST tasting protein powders available right now.

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ZMA Benefits: Get Better Gains

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There are a million different supplements you can buy that will claim will help you get more gains or help you lose fat. Most of the claims are pulled straight from someone’s rear end but the one supplement that lives up to the hype is ZMA. I’ve never gotten such good sleep and better performance in the gym with a single supplement.

Sleep is such a crucial aspect of muscle growth, and without quality sleep, you could be losing out on gains. Think about it: sleep is the time for your body to recover and actually grow. And if you have crappy sleep, what do you think that does to the recovery aspect? You’re missing out on muscle growth. In the article, I’ll speak about the benefits of ZMA and why you should add it to your supplement regime.

Much Ado about ZMA

ZMA is an organic mineral supplement that comprises zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. In ZMA supplements, zinc supplementation occurs in form of zinc monomethionine aspartate, magnesium occurs in form of magnesium aspartate, and vitamin B6 in form of pyridoxine hydrochloride.

ZMA benefits

The traditional formula consists of 30 mg zinc monomethionine and aspartate, 450 mg of magnesium aspartate and 10.5 mg of pyridoxine hydrochloride. However, some manufacturers might choose to alter the composition of the aforementioned nutrients by adding some other ingredients. All components of the blend are essential in biological processes, numerous studies have proven that a vast majority of Americans have enough stores of zinc and B6 but about half of the population do not meet the daily recommended intakes of magnesium. [Read more…]

Why I Put Salt in My Preworkout and Why You Should Too

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You’ve probably never heard of putting salt in your preworkout drink but you’re missing out on pumps. I think there are some “old wive’s tale” myths in bodybuilding, that people believe but don’t really question. I’m sure you’ve heard of the “if you don’t drink a protein shake after a workout, you won’t get as much gains!” myth. This is more of a general fitness myth but I love the myth of “the only way to lose weight is to cut out all carbs”. Myths like that perpetuate around, and gym goers follow these rules with blind faith.

When I recently heard that putting salt in your preworkout is the king of all pumps, I was hesitant as usual. The one thing that I have noticed that I did get a massive pump after eating a huge meal at Taco Bell.

2000mg of sodium later and I have veins on my arms that the UPS delivery man can use as a roadmap.

Why You Should Add Salt To Your Preworkout

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How To Make Your Own Pre-Workout

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Home made pre workout

Preworkout supplements give you an extra boost and a lot more edge while training. The problem is they are super expensive and loaded with unnecessary ingredients.

In this article I’m going to show you how to make your own pre-workout drink without any filler.

We will start with the absolute basic that will give you the edge, and throughout the article add different supplements that will give you long term benefits.

Preworkout & The Power Of Placebo…

Preworkout drink placebo

One important thing to note about preworkouts; they are not steroids. They are not magic.
You don’t take “two scoops” and instantly destroy it at the gym.

There are ingredients that give you an edge, but an important part is placebo.

Yep – placebo.

This isn’t to say that preworkouts themselves do not work, but they don’t do nearly as much as you think.

This study tested placebo vs. preworkout. 

Depending on what they were testing for, both groups saw results whether or not it was a legitimate supplement.

Now, like always studies themselves mean jack. But think about it…

The ritual of making your preworkout drink simply puts you in the mood to crush it in the gym. That’s the placebo effect and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Aside from placebo, there are genuine performance enhancing ingredients, so let’s jump into the main one now.

The Magic Pre-Workout Ingredient You Pay So Much Money For…

The purpose of your preworkout drink is to get you jacked.

It gets you pumped. Full of energy.

Ready to kill it in the gym.

There is usually only one ingredient in your entire “secret formula” of whatever brand of preworkout that you drink providing this immediate edge.

The other ingredients (which we’ll cover in a sec) are helpful for other stuff, but not necessarily needed in a PRE workout drink.

So, what is the magic ingredient?

Caffeine.

Pre Workout Caffeine
Plain old caffeine is the MOST potent ingredient in most preworkout drinks.

You Will Get The Same Results As Your Expensive Preworkout By Taking Caffeine Pills – Guaranteed

The near-instant rush you feel from your preworkout is a combination of the stimulant effect of caffeine, mixed with placebo.

It gets your heart pumping, gets you focused, helps you concentrate.

Almost everything you feel from your preworkout is from caffeine.

Overpriced, flavored caffeine.

Look at the caffeine contents of these popular preworkout drinks:

N.O.-Xplode Caffeine – 225mg/scoop
Cellucor C4 Extreme – 200mg/scoop
Jack3D – 150 mg/scoop

Youtuber Kali Muscle created his own preworkout “Hyphy Mud” while in prison. All he did was mix instant coffee with caffeinated soda (Pepsi/Coke). Check the video here.

No need to get fancy. Just get caffeine in your system.

Either drink black coffee, make a drink with caffeine powder, or take caffeine pills (highly recommended).

You can get 100 tablets that are 200mg each on Amazon. That’s 100 wokouts for less than pre-mixed workout. A lot cheaper than tub after tub of preworkout juice.

What About All The Other Ingredients In These “Proprietary Blends”?

Hate to break it to you, but most of the other ingredients are complete filler.

There are some commonly added ingredients that provide long term benefits, but not necessarily “pre workout” boosts. The closest being  L-Arginine but I’ve never noticed a big difference when using it.

The “Preworkout”

Creatine

By saturating the amount of creatine in your system over time you will reap it’s benefits. Better recovery, water retention increasing muscle size, more strength, etc. While the results are not phenomenal (creatine isn’t a steroid), they are worth noting.

Beta-Alanine

This is the cause of the preworkout tingles you’ve probably felt before. Like creatine, Beta-Alanine’s benefits are seen from saturating your muscles over time. This makes the “preworkout” part of it pretty much useless aside from the tingles!

 

L-Arginine

This amino acid helps your body synthesize NO (nitric oxide) as made famous by certain preworkout drinks. Again, I’ve tried dosing it and never seen phenomenal result so I stick with caffeine.

The benefits of adding these other ingredients to your preworkout are convenience and furthered placebo effect…

Look, I know it sounds like BS that plain old caffeine will get you the boost you need, but it will.

You can find preworkout recipes online and they call for the ingredients listed above, but they will most likely not make a difference for you whatsoever. I invite you like always to test it out yourself, but for most there will be no measurable effect.

The big benefit to adding things such as creatine, glutamine, BCAA’s, beta-alanine, etc. to your preworkout is conveniently being able to take many supplements at one time.

The Ultimate Preworkout…

At the end of the day, the ultimate preworkout supplement is the one that you enjoy taking, get results from, and safely use.

I’ve picked apart several ingredients and found that caffeine is the best for me. No filler, it’s cheap, and it provides the entire “rush” I feel from any preworkout I’ve ever taken (aside from the beta-alanine tingles). Another thing you should think about adding to your preworkout is salt (yes, salt!). Read my other article about salt in your preworkout and why it works.

You’ll more than likely have the same results and save a ton of money on ridiculous powders 🙂