A blog from Mike Leng, owner of Unorthodox Nutrition.I blather on about diet, nutrition, health, life style design plus my own take on a whole host of other topics.
Chocolate Protein Clusters are delicious and crunchy high protein crispy bars covered in milk chocolate, perfect for a high protein treat throughout the day or around training.
These clusters are made up of crunchy whey isolate protein crisp balls which are then covered in a delicious chocolate coating, making them perfect for a great tasting snack when on the go and looking to increase your protein intake.
Chocolate Protein Clusters are perfect for anyone looking for a sweet tasting treat and are high in protein. Each 4 cluster tray provides over 8g protein to support the growth and maintenance of muscle mass. The high protein content is sourced from whey protein isolate and provides a complete amino acid profile.
Ideal as a convenient snack across the day, or as a source of protein around training, these Chocolate Protein Clusters are a real treat for any fitness fanatic.
Well as per previous reviews people will remember that I am not keen on 'snack foods'. These however are the exception! They taste great, have a good level of protein and are ok on carbs. Don't get me wrong, they aren't a daily stable but when I'm really craving a sweet food these really hit the spot. If you are after something to take away cravings then these are a good place to start.
I realise its been a bit of a while since I've put out any content here but a couple of people have told me it was a good read (especially the supplement and other reviews).
With that in mind I'm going to bring it back. Nothing crazy, just 1-2 times a month to start to see if anyone actually reads the thing...
To start with I'm going to be re posting some of the popular reviews along with some of the new content we have happening over at Unorthodox Performance.
If you would like to see any content in particular just let me know.
What is the biggest limiting factor on how
often you train?
Time?
Money?
Or the ability to recover from your
training?
For most people (especially when they pass
that 30 year mark) it’s the latter. There is no doubt that BJJ can be harsh on
the body. Many people get sore from most training sessions, especially when
they contain hard sparring.
So how can you reduce or even eliminate the
soreness and pain that you get in muscles and joints?
In this article I will look at certain
foods, supplements and tactics that you can use to limit the amount of soreness
that you get and improve your over all recovery. After all, the better you
recover, the more you can train, the better you get!
Before I go any further, this is the part
of the article where I tell you that good nutrition beats everything. If your
nutrition sucks then your recovery and training will suck. Nothing that I
mention in this article will make up for poor nutrition. In many cases having a
well thought out nutrition plan will sort 90% of recovery issues. If you’re not
sure on how to set up a good nutrition plan then please speak to your coach or
a professional.
Ok, with that in mind, let’s look at how we
can maximise recovery and reduce soreness.
I’m going to split this into two articles.
One that looks at specific recovery techniques while the other on diet and
supplementation (coming next month).
Firstly let’s look at specific recovery.
Recovery is hard for BJJ athletes. If they
aren’t training then they want to be doing kettlebells, running hills,
drilling, jogging, doing hot yoga etc etc. The fact is that most athletes would
benefit from doing nothing in between sessions and making sure they get the
right amount of sleep. There are however a few things that you can do to
maximise recovery.
While I know that many of you will already
know about the following things mentioned, I would bet that you don’t do it
with any kind of regularity. Hopefully this article will serve to remind you to
do these things, rather than giving you some new knowledge that will change
your life forever (cool if it does though lol).
Baths
There are many baths that fall under this
heading from ice baths, contrast showers, Epsom salt baths and just hot baths.
In my experience the best two that I have
found are contrast showers and hot baths. Most people choose not to do contrast
showers (no one likes the idea of standing under a freezing shower for a few
minutes) however they are by far the most effective in reducing soreness and
lactic acid build up in the muscles.
The second is just lying in a VERY hot bath
then taking a short nap. I’ve found that this technique works better for the
slightly older BJJ athlete however women also seem to favour it.
Foam
Rolling.
I don’t think that there are many people
out there that don’t know about foam rolling and it’s benefits. However those
benefits are so great that it is well worth repeating.
Do your damn foam rolling!
Foam rolling is one of those things that
you only realise works when you stop doing it. Get into a habit of doing it
(ideally) every day or at least after every session.
A quick youtube search will yield the best
movements for your tight areas.
Stretching
and Mobility work.
For some strange reason stretching seems to
have fallen for favour in the BJJ world.
I have no idea why.
Being able to move better and being more
flexible is a massive advantage in a sport where you end up looking like two
pretzels trying to kill each other. Not to mention that if your muscles are
supple and flexible, they will be able to perform better and therefore recover
better.
For Mobility work I recommend doing DeFranco’s
agile 8, and for stretching I would recommend on focusing on the hips,
hamstrings, groin, chest and back.
Massage.
Lastly I will mention massage. Not the one
with a happy ending but a proper sports massage.
While a well done sports massage will be a
little painful to get, most people will confess that they feel ten years
younger after one. Having one of these done every month or so will keep you in
good shape to recover quickly and will help keep your muscles feeling supple rather
than tight or achy.
Chances are there is already someone in
your gym that does this for a living. However if there isn’t, then other
members of your gym will probably be able to recommend a local one.
This is a very short list of techniques and
practices that will help you recover quicker and help reduce soreness and pain
that normally follows hard training.
Next month we will look at certain things
that you can add to your current nutrition plan to help the recover purpose
further.
Firstly I'm really, really sorry of there lack of content on this blog! From going from 3 posts per week to zero is pretty crap on my part! Big thanks to all of the people who E mailed me to grill me about a lack of content!
So, why the slip?
The simple truth is that I've just been mega busy with the Upgraded Grappler and getting it off the ground.
I won't bore you with the details of what the plan is about as I have already talked about it on previous blogs. If you are interested (and you should be dammit) then head over to the website for more details.
The plan has been doing amazingly well and has been getting amazing results from low level beginners right the way through to UFC stars like Ross Pearson. The plan is so intuitive, and tailors itself each week to the individuals needs so we know everyone will kill it!
We have also been producing a TON of video content such as live workouts, highlights, Periscope workouts and sample workouts like THIS ONE with a commentary so that people know what we are doing and why!
We are also launching a lot of extra content on the website that includes,
Articles
Blog
Videos
Recipes
New products and plans
Clothing
Possible Q&A
Head over there now for more details!
Stay healthy,
Mike
PS as I have been absent for so long, use DISCOUNT CODE FRIENDS20 for 20% off the Upgraded Grappler Program!
We are now LIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEE!!!! (use Bruce Buffer voice).
This is easily some of the best work me and Barry have ever done. there is absolutely nothing like this on the market that is aimed specifically to Grapplers.
The problem with most Grapplers programmes is that they are either not designed for sport (think lots of curls or workouts from Muscle Magazines) or they are pure strength programmes designed for lifters that just lift and do nothing else. What happens with both of these programmes is that there is either no carry over to Grappling or people get burned out really quickly and then have to dial back on training. What you will learn to do with this system is to supplement your sport with training and nutrition that will take you to the world class level.
So how will we do that?
The system is designed to complement your training to make you a better athlete. the programme will make you stronger, faster, more powerful and recover faster while making you healthier (because who wants to fall apart in just a few years). This system will allow you to complement your grappling training wheel not bring you out by using proper nutrition.
The system is split into two parts, Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition. The Strength and Conditioning will give you specific exercises to do, at a specific weight, in a specific order while the nutrition will give you exactly what macro nutrients to eat plus guidelines to maximise them. It is the combination of these that will give you the best results. Both of these factors can be repeated continuously as the professionally designed Spread Sheets will adjust everything as you go!
This is a completely intuitive system that adjusts itself based directly on your results. There is nothing out there even remotely like this!
We are now LIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEE!!!! (use Bruce Buffer voice).
This is easily some of the best work me and Barry have ever done. there is absolutely nothing like this on the market that is aimed specifically to Grapplers.
The problem with most Grapplers programmes is that they are either not designed for sport (think lots of curls or workouts from Muscle Magazines) or they are pure strength programmes designed for lifters that just lift and do nothing else. What happens with both of these programmes is that there is either no carry over to Grappling or people get burned out really quickly and then have to dial back on training. What you will learn to do with this system is to supplement your sport with training and nutrition that will take you to the world class level.
So how will we do that?
The system is designed to complement your training to make you a better athlete. the programme will make you stronger, faster, more powerful and recover faster while making you healthier (because who wants to fall apart in just a few years). This system will allow you to complement your grappling training wheel not bring you out by using proper nutrition.
The system is split into two parts, Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition. The Strength and Conditioning will give you specific exercises to do, at a specific weight, in a specific order while the nutrition will give you exactly what macro nutrients to eat plus guidelines to maximise them. It is the combination of these that will give you the best results. Both of these factors can be repeated continuously as the professionally designed Spread Sheets will adjust everything as you go!
This is a completely intuitive system that adjusts itself based directly on your results. There is nothing out there even remotely like this!
