Product Review - Biotest Plazma

Hey Guys,

Today I wanted to talk about Biotest Plazma.

Plazma is a product that has been around for a while. It gains a lot of love and hate from people in the supplement world. I have been using the product since its release and have tested it on numerous clients as well as myself in a variety of different situations.

Here is what Biotest had to say about it,

At the elite level, the physical demands of working at maximum intensity are so extreme that it can only be done for a week or two at a time before backing off to let the body recover. With Plazma™ that's no longer true.

Plazma™ contains a unique blend of fast-acting di- and tripeptides that produce biological activities and effects in muscle that go far beyond other proteins and amino acids. The formula also contains a special carbohydrate complex that in addition to increasing metabolic rate, drives these di- and tripeptides and other key nutrients into the muscle cell to the point of creating a high-performance pump effect.

By uniquely preloading and driving these key nutrients deep into muscle, Plazma™ enables you to perform at and beyond your limits while recovering and gaining so fast you'll be itching to get back in the gym and do it again. The recovery rate and the increased gains you're going to experience from Plazma™ will be shocking. So, don't hold back in the gym, and train your heart out. You'll completely recover, grow, and be ready for more.

And here are the label and ingredients details,

Ok, so the details!

Plazma is basically a low osmolity, very fast acting carb source that is designed to be taken before and after training or competition. Because it is very fast acting and easily digestible, it is used by the body straight away and shuttled to your muscles where you need it most during training. 

As previously mentioned I have tried this out with myself and numerous clients from all different backgrounds. I have used this product on fighters, weight lifters, Crossfitters, Body Builders, Track athletes, triathlon athletes and many others. the results has been the same right across the board, this stuff flat out works.

In many athletes I have used this to completely eliminate soreness and out recovery through the roof. After getting the dosage right many athletes added more sessions into their training as their recovery time simply halved.

Plazma is great for not only normal training but also for competition. As it is easily digested and absorbed without causing bloating, it is ideal for competition where you need to re fuel between matches or front load a lot of nutrients.

It mixes great (if you follow the instructions) and can be flavoured depending on which flavouring you choose (I personally like Orange and Berry). The product keeps really well so you can mix it up the night before and keep it in the fridge. Make sure that you use the amount of water it states though as lesser amounts can give some people a funny tummy.

I will say that the marketing claims of Biotest are slightly on the exaggerated side, however very few products get close to this. The only problem for some is simply drinking the amount of water during training. While this may be a lot of fluid, your body soon gets used to it.

I really couldn't recommend this product enough. It has changed a lot of peoples training and recovery and I will continue to recommend it to training partners and clients.

Plazma is available from Biotest for £69.99 and is available HERE

Stay healthy,

Mike

Brilliant Video on Workout Nutrition

Hey Guys,

As many of you will know I am a big fan of using workout nutrition to improve training performance and recovery (check out a few articles I have wrote about the subject HERE)

However as much as I like to rabble on about my own approaches I still get most of my ideas from other great coaches that are a hell of a lot smarter than me.

One of these coaches is Justin Harris.

In the following video he goes over his own approaches and why he uses them in great detail. If you have a quick 15 mins I would highly recommend that you give it a watch!

Stay healthy,

Mike

P.S. if you have any questions on workout nutrition and what might be best for you, please ask away in the FREE Q&A

Great idea for those with limited time!

Hey Guys,

There is a saying that technique beats everything. While I agree that having the very best technique is incredibly important (vital even), the technique gap has to be large to beat a strength advantage. Everyone knows how tough it is to play any sport against someone much stronger or more conditioned than you.

We all know how important it is to do strength work, especially in combat sports!

I know that there is a lot of people out there that want to do more strength work but struggle to fit it in with everything else they have going on in their lives like work, training, family, friends and a whole host of other commitments!

Because of this I thought that I would share a workout by Christian Thibaudeau. The workout is short and can be done in 20 mins or so. He provides guidelines for each goal (muscle building, fat loss etc) so that you can tailor the workout.

I personally will be using this workout when I travel as it can be used in pretty much any gym in the world! Great to keep progressing when time and equipment are limited!

You can find the article HERE

Stay healthy,

Mike

5/3/*1 for Athletes

Hey Guys,

As many of you will know I am a big fan of jim Wendlers 5/3/1 programme, especially for athletes.

This is due to how flexible it is. While the focus is getting strong in a few lifts (that carries over to full body strength), the programme can easily be adaptable for any goal.

As I am not (by any stretch of the imagination) a strength and conditioning coach, I thought that you would like a look at one of Jim Wendlers older articles on 5/3/1 for athletes.

You can find the article HERE

Stay healthy,

Mike

Product Reviews

Hey Guys,

Today I want to talk about Product Reviews.

As some of you will know I do regular product reviews (which you can read HERE) on the website

What I am after is a list of things that you guys would like to see reviewed. There is no point me reviewing random things that has no carry over to what any of you are looking at using.

So what do you want to know about?

What crazy stuff have you seen advertised that has gained your interest?

What stuff out there has such incredible claims or reviews that you think might change the game for you?

Or is there anything out there that just seems that stupid you want to see someone take it?

Let me know in the comments section below or you can hit me up on Twitter (@mike_unorthodox) or send me a quick E mail at mike.unorthodox@gmail.com

Get your thinking caps on :)

Stay healthy,

Mike

A BIT MORE ON SUPPLEMENTAL LIFTS AND PROGRAMMING.

Hey Guys,

As most of you will know I have been posting vids and articles about weight training for athletes recently.

While I strongly believe that weight training is incredibly important for athletes (especially combat athletes), most people are flat out doing it wrong.

Most people are either doing to much, doing to much to often, or doing a programme that has zero carry over to their sport.

In this VIDEO Dave Tate of Elite FTS talks about how to programme the main lifts with the most carry over and then accessory and supplemental exercises to gain the best results. While this video is aimed at power lifts, it's easy to apply this to pretty much any sport with a bit of creative thinking.

I'm hoping to post some more specific stuff very shortly.

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Extra Training.

Adding extra training is always a funny thing.

Now every coach worth their salt will tell you that you should place the main portion of your focus on skill work and actually doing your chosen sport.

They will also however, tell you that it is a good idea to supplement this training with other types of training that will benefit your performance in your sport.

This is where it gets a bit tricky. If you were to do a quick Google search on extra training practices you would get back a rather long list. Here are just a few that might crop up (there are hundreds more),

• Strength training
• Mobility training
• Flexability training
• Cardio
• Power and explosive training
• Kettle bells
• Yoga
• Plyometrics
• GPP (General Physical Preparedness)
• Crossfit
• Grip training
• Extra sports (wrestling, Judo, climbing etc for BJJ)

The list is endless!

Now I think that adding some extra training is a great idea for most people. I will however, say that my experience and expertise on this topic is VERY limited. Therefore, this post is completely my own opinion and holds no weight (as I'm not that sort of coach).

Another problem is recovery (especially as you get older). If you are training your sport a few times a week, then throw in strength training, then try for something else, it's not long before you become burnt out. So what are your best options?

In my opinion the best type of training that you can add in (in order) is as follows,

• Strength training
• Mobility training
• Cardio (that replicates your sport as closely as possible).

Now many will disagree with that (that's fine with me) but I think that the above will give the best carry over and help the health of any individual.

I also like GPP and think that adding in extra work can be a great idea. HERE is an article wrote on the subject by Chad Waterbury.

What are your thoughts on extra training? Let me know at,

Twitter - @mike_unorthodox

Website - www.unorthodox-nutrition.com

Instagram - MIKEUNORTHODOX

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Bulking - A bad idea.

I've stated my thoughts on bulking and cutting before.

It's a bad idea that really only works for the 'enhanced' or very genetically gifted. For most it just results in some strength gains and possibly diabetes or heart disease.

Thankfully as most of us compete in weight class sports it's not something that we come across on a frequent basis. I do often see however, people jumping up massively in weight between fights and competitions.

This is essentially the same thing with negative consequences all round. Fighters and weight class athletes should look to be only a few pounds away from their competition weight at all times and focus on good, solid nutrition that swill allow for optimum recovery and training frequency.

People should focus on having a solid and healthy metabolism that allows them to get all of the required nutrients in but allow them to eat the maximum amount of calories possible while MAINTAINING their weight. This allows for easier weight and body composition changes while ensuring maximum performance and recovery.

Great resources in this area are articles by John Berardi, Shelby Starnes, Martin Rooney, Jim Wendler, Skip Hill and John Meadows.

In fact HERE is a great article by John on the subject of bulking (you can read interviews with John and Shelby HERE as well).

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Crossfit.

Crossfit is the devil.

Well that's what a lot of people will tell you.

They will tell you that it's a gimmick, taught by idiots and will only get hurt or killed (no shit, someone actually died). But is this true?

People say that Crossfit won't make you any better at a specific sport and that you're wasting your time.

Well I wouldn't go that far. I would say that training your skill set in your specific sport will be the best thing, however some kind for supplemental training that improves your strength and conditioning is probably a good idea.

I've had a lot of conversations with people on the topic and most have never tried it. They have just read a couple of articles on the internet and got annoyed at people posting about their 'WOD' on social media (which IMO opinion is MUCH better than posting every Sunday about how wasted you were last night and on Mondays how much you hate your life...).

Now I have an opinion on people who form an opinion without actually trying something. I generally don't listen to them as they have zero experience. However there is a lot of evidence out there about people getting injured when doing bad cross fit.

Then again I get injured if I just look at a BJJ mat. So is BJJ the devil as well?

To be honest it comes down to a persons ability to coach Crossfit. If someone sucks at coaching the lifts and techniques in a proper fashion then people are going to get injured. This goes for all sporting activities. Coaching is an art form in itself. They say that great teachers are born not made and I highly agree with that. Just because you're jacket and can perform the lifts in your own training doesn't mean you can coach. If this was the case GSP wouldn't need a Coach and Usain Bolt would be creating an army of super runners to conquer every Olympics.

Just as we should search out the best teachers to learn how to play an instrument or drive a car, we should seek out the vest coaches in the rest of our lives.

Crossfit is just another tool that can be used to get people in shape just like any sport providing it is coached properly. It can make people VERY fit. I mean look at this madness.

So if you like the look of Crossfit and want to give it a go, then go right ahead! Just check the place out first and make sure they have a great coach.

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Weight cut experiment.

Hey Guys,

As I mentioned yesterday I am going to outline my weight cut experiment for same day weigh ins and competitions.

Remember that this is an experiment that I am doing on myself. This is NOT meant to be a long term diet for health for fat loss (for those go HERE). Please do not do this diet!!! I am not endorsing or recommending it to anyone!

This is a one week experiment that I am doing just for the fun (or lack of it).

The experiment is designed to do a few things,

• Decrease water weight
• Decrease weight from food volume in my digestive tract.
• Allow me to be hydrated and fuelled a short time after weighing in.
• Drop 3% of my total body weight.

The experiment is loosely based on the V-Diet by Chris Shuggert. However I have modified it slightly to fit my needs.

From Tuesday to Thursday I will consume the following,

Meal 1 - 60g Biotest Metabolic Drive, 10g Psylenium Husk, 10g BCAA, 4 fish oil, multi vit, Vit D and A, dandelion root.

Meal 2 - 60g Biotest Metabolic Drive

Meal 3 - 60g Biotest Metabolic Drive, 5g BCAA, 3 fish oil

Meal 4 - Solid meal of lean protein (200g) and green veggies.

Meal 5 - 60g Biotest Metabolic Drive, 30g 100% Peanut Butter, 10g Psylenium Husk, dandelion root, 3 fish oil, 1 multi vit, ZMA.

Plus 6 litres of water and a mild laxative once a day (to help clear my digestive system).

Friday will be as above but water will be cut to 500ml of water.

Training wise I will still be doing 5 sessions of BJJ and 4 5/3/1 workouts. However on the 5/3/1 workouts I will be just doing the main lifts and getting out of there. I will also be doing 3 walks of about 30 mins each for a low impact cardio.

When training I will also be taking Biotest HotRox to help get my temperature up a bit and Biotest MAG 10 while training to preserve muscle.

Today I weighed in at 71.1KG first thing in a morning before I eat or drank anything (I fluctuate between 70-71KG at the moment). I haven't done anything apart from eat my normal diet.

Again, this is about dropping weight from water, glycogen and food in the digestive tract. it IS NOT A HEALTHY DIET PLAN and I do not advise anyone do this!!!

I will update as the week goes on what happens.

Got questions? Let me know below.

Stay healthy (by not doing this),

Mike

Supplements and Marketing.

Firstly this isn't a rant about supplement companies and the way that they market their products.

Every fitness professional has a rant about these companies and the way that they market their products to vulnerable and impressional people.

Well that's how advertising works. They make vulnerable and impressionable people buy shit.

If advertising and marketing didn't work, we would all live in huts, in the middle of fields and only care about what really matters in life. Instead we all want to have the nicest stuff and look the best we can so that we can impress other people.

The fact is, is that if you look at that advert in muscle and fitness that claims that by taking this tablet you will gain pounds of muscle, lose pounds of fat, get an amazing pump and possibly transform into the love child of The Hulk and Optimus Prime while doing your curls, then you deserve to be a little disappointed.

However there is something about appealing to our vain side that makes grown adults lose their minds. Most of us know that these supplements are either bogus or that the results have been exaggerated, but this still doesn't stop us.

There is a little voice in the back of our heads that just whispers, ever so gently,

"But it could work this time, you'll never know unless you try it..."

And we cave. We convince ourselves that there must be an easier way, and that this is it.

It isn't.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some great supplements out there that do a great job. They can really add the finishing touches to a programme. But that's all they are, finishing touches.

Nothing is going to beat good whole foods and a solid nutrition programme.

So if you're looking at buying a pack of that FREAKBEAST NITRO 3000, maybe you've only got yourself to blame when you don't turn into Phil Heath over night...

Stay Healthy,

Mike

PS,

Brands that I trust are,

Myprotein and Biotest UK

Product review - Biotest Brain Candy

Energy.

It seems that everyone is lacking it at the moment.

We are taking more stimulants thane ever have just to try to get through our days. Energy drinks, tablets, coffee, pre workouts, you name it, we're taking it.

Our lives seem to get more and more hectic with demanding jobs, pushy bosses, workouts, competitions, family, friends. There are a million different things that are all pulling us in a million different directions and some of us need that little bit of help to just get shit done in a productive way.

Now if you ask me, getting your diet sorted and getting proper rest and recovery should always be top of your list. It's amazing how much people change when I help them get these things in order and it really is one of the best parts of my job!

However what if you have all these factors in place but still want that extra kick now and again? It could be for early morning training sessions coming up to a fight or a particular demanding deadline over your head, this is when people look at a supplement that will help them.

I'm going to say right off the bat that I'm very sceptic of over the counter cognitive enhancers. most expect them to deliver a performance akin to the movie Limitless, however most just experience a mild buzz at best. I previously reviewed a product called Alpha Brain that had some pretty bold claims. I found them to be less than impressive.

Last year Biotest came out with the product Brain Candy.

They didn't market it as a brain or performance supplement but rather as a 'Mind Energizing Once-Per-Day Shot™ Helps to Increase Confidence, Reduce Social Anxiety, Improve Mood'.

Here is the nutritional information,

It is claimed to aid in the previously listed factors and comes with a whole host of research to back it. You can find a list of the papers and studies HERE.

So how did I feel on it?

I took the product over the course of a month and used the caffeine free version (I like coffee and don't want to over do my caffeine intake). I took it first thing on a morning, on its own about 30 - 45 mins before I ingested anything else. I basically got up, took Brain Candy, then walked my dogs.

Now normally it takes me a while to feel like I'm ready to write on a morning. It's always the best time for me to work as my brain switches off in the early afternoon then comes back on at night. When taking the Brain Candy I felt great. By the time I got back from walking the dogs I felt raring to go! Creative work was done a lot more quickly and efficiently and I got through boring tasks like admin and paper work better as well. It also worked well for early morning training sessions while I was helping clients get ready for the Subf15teen show (and we all know how you need to be alert when someone is trying to choke you).

Did I experience all the amazing effects that they state on the site? Well no. Some of the claims are flat out ridiculous and are blatant nonsense (if you claim to finish a 2 hour project in 15 mins it either means you weren't working very hard to the first place or you were high!). It's not a owner supplement that will change you from a burger flipper to a CEO over night. Only you can do that with hard work and dedication (not to mention a little help).

Is this a good supplement? Yes it is. If you apply some common sense (as you should with all supplements) it can have a positive effect on your productivity and work load. If you have a major deadline or assignment, or you know work is going to be crazy, then it can certainly help you.

Worth a look.

Stay Healthy,

Mike

At Unorthodox Nutrition we pride ourselves on recommending the very best products to clients and everyone else! With so many bad and irresponsible products on the market, we are going to help you sift through them and pick the very best ones!

All of the reviews are;

• Impartial. We are not affiliated with any of the companies we review. If we have worked for the company on a consult bases, it will be high lighted in the review.
• We are not paid for any reviews. Each product has been either bought by ourselves or has been sent for test by the manufactuer.

If you would like to have a product reviewed please drop us a line via the contact form on this site or E Mail 

BJJ and soreness.

BJJ makes you sore.

There is no way about it.

I still remember the first time I rolled properly. For the next few days I felt like I had been run over. 

Some days I still do.

However I would say that mostly BJJ doesn't make me sore anymore (disregarding injuries). This made me think about soreness and recovery for BJJ. In other sports soreness is often an indicator for growth or that you have had a good training session. People wear it as a badge of honour, a sign that they have done a good job.

Do some people think this way about BJJ? Do you feel as though you haven't had a good session if you're not sore the next day?

One of the issues I have been thinking about is training frequency. Many state that the more that you can train BJJ, the better that you will get (pursuing their 10,000 hours etc).I would say that most people train BJJ 2-3 times a week with the more dedicated training 5-6. Are these people trying too be sore after every workout?

Now I am of opinion that you want to able to train AND recover as much as possible. Because of this I want to take steps to minimise soreness. This may include but not be limited to,

• Foam Rolling and mobility work
• Workout Nutrition
• Foods high in anti oxidants
• Foods that reduce inflammation
• Very hot and cold baths and showers
• Making an conscious effort to regulate my workout intensity.
• Taking naps.

Now I don't do all off these, all the time. However I will always keep an eye on my recovery and how I am feeling. Training all the time and feeling like crap is not a goal of mine.

What about you? Do you chase soreness? Let me know below!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Interesting read.

Hey Guys,

Here is an interesting eBook/article that was done by Nate Green.

It focuses on gaining weight, then losing weight, then gaining it again in a short time period.

There are a few flaws in it, and certain thing are left out, but as it is quite interesting (especially to combat athletes or anyone who competes in a weight class sport), I thought I would post it up.

Think I'm going to do this on a more regular basis to spread cool stuff. If you've got a link to some other cool stuff, let me know about it!

Find the article HERE

Stay Healthy,

Mike

A bit about my current diet.

Hey Guys,

One of the questions I get asked quite a bit is what does my own nutrition looks like?

People assume that, because I do this for a living, my diet must be perfect and the holy grail for anyone wanting to sort out their own nutrition.

This isn't the case at all.

While it is true that I have a very good idea on what works for me when I am trying to accomplish certain things (lose a bit of fat, gain some muscle), I am often trying out different things in the hopes of expanding my tool box to help my clients. Because of this I don't post my diet much as I would just get asked questions like,

• Why is he eating cereal?
• Why isn't he eating any protein?
• Why so much fibre?
• Why does he cheat and then fast?

Plus a whole load of other things. The simple is answer is that I like to experiment on myself to find solutions to problems. Some of them work well (adding LISS in for fighters), some of them bad (drinking just protein shakes for a month).

However even with all of that in mind, here is what my diet looks like at the moment. Bare in mind that this is for me, and doesn't remotely look like what many of my clients are doing. Everyone is different and has different needs and solutions.

These meals are generally dated 3 hours apart with either of the workout nutritions added depending on when I train.

Meal 1  

4 whole eggs, handful of mixed peppers, handful of onions, 1 tomato, 1 tbsp grass fed butter (to cook with), 34g whey protein, 5g added fibre, 1 probiotic, 1 multi vit, 2 fish oil

Meal 2 

100g chicken breast, large green salad, 20 almonds, 2 fish oil

Meal 3 

100g chicken breast, large green salad, 20 almonds, 2 fish oil

Meal 4

100g chicken breast, 100g steak, large portion of green veg

Meal 5

100g chicken breast, 60g natural peanut butter, lots of celery, 2 fish oil, 3 ZMA

Workout Nutrition

Biotest Indigo 3G taken 30 mins prior to workout, 6 caps

Weights

15 mins before - 30g (65g on Deadlift and squat days) Biotest Plazma

During - 30g Biotest MAG 10

NoGi/BJJ

30g MAG 10 during.

That's it really. As you can see I don't really eat that much at the moment and I'm using high protein, high fat, low carb. This is working great for my recovery and sleep at the moment and I'm going to continue with this but add in a few more calories as the weeks go on.

Got any questions? Please post them below or contact me via the SITE

pPlease feel free to post any questions in a constructive way. Want to be a dick about what I'm doing in an unconstructive way? I'll remove your posts.

Stay healthy,

Mike

Dishonest coaches claiming 'natural status'.

Hey Guys,

Today I wanted to talk (well rant a little) about people either claiming or abusing the term 'natural'.

Now I know that there has been quite a lot of talk about this recently, especially in the aftermath of the Layne Norton vs Ice Cream fitness nonsense (for the record I don't know either but I respect the hell out of Layne for what he has achieved and I'm not a fan of the way Ice Cream fitness conducts himself). However this is just my opinion on a matter that is, and always will be, a hot topic in the sports/fitness world.

Now I have nothing against steroids at all. If you want to get as big/fast/strong as possible and don't compete in any kind of sport where they are against the rules go ahead. I even accept that some Olympians and top sports people are using them despite it being against the rules. This is just the world that we live in folks, people lie to earn more money.

I also know that taking a chemical does not take away from the hard work that you have to put in and the sacrifices that you have to make in order to reach the top of any sport.

I think that steroids can be done safely and can be beneficial to health providing you know what you are doing. This does not make make me pro steroids, I am neither for or against them (apart from when they are cheating in a sport. I'm against cheating).

What I am against however, is coaches, trainers, PTs or anyone who makes money from advising others, saying they are natural when they are not. I'm against cheats and liars. I'm against people conning other people with their physique. I'm against people turning a craft I love into underhand sales people.

Whether these people like to admit it or not, steroids DO change the rules. I've worked with people who use and people who don't, and it is a little bit harder without the chemical assistance. You need to know this! People need to know that the advice and training that they give a TRULY natural trainee (I'm looking at you, Growth Hormone and GHRP users...) can be very different from those who aren't using.

Now I get it, I really do. Steroids are illegal. No one in their right mind would declare all over social media that they use and they would avoid the questions all together if they were smart. It's those dishonest scum bags that run around going 'Look at the all natural results I got in only 2 weeks with my new super secret routine', that I have a problem with.

STOP IT.

STOP IT NOW.

I just want people to have some fucking responsibility and integrity.

Don't say things you're not.

Is that really that hard for grown men and women who want to make a living out of other people?

Probably...

Stay healthy,

Mike

PS shout out to all those great trainers and coaches that have some morals and do great work! You already know who you are :)

Interview - Physique Prep Coach Shelby Starnes

Hey Guys,

Today I am Talking to Shelby Starnes.

Shelby is a Bodybuilding prep coach based over in the USA.

I have been lucky enough to talk to Shelby before (you can find that HERE) and review his latest eBook The Healthy Body Builder which you can find HERE.

Shelby is a great guy with a fantastic reputation of getting his clients in shape with great condition. 

Here is what he had to say!

Hi Shelby,

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

1    Since we last talked you achieved one of your goals of obtaining a pro card. Has your out look to your training and nutrition altered at all?

I’m constantly striving to improve my methods, but I’m getting close to my personal “ceiling effect” in terms of how much better my physique can get. It took me 7 years at the national level to finally turn pro, and that was at a Master’s show. I’ll be 37 this year and the gains have certainly slowed down – every year they get a little slower, even with improved diet and training methods. At this point I’m just looking for ways to improve my longevity in the sport so I can stay healthy and continue competing for another handful of years. This involves stuff like smarter training methodologies, less fluctuation in body weight during the year, and keeping a close eye on health markers on a regular basis.

My focus now is more on being a coach than a competitor.

2.     With you recent eBook The Healthy Body Builder, you cover some off these methods extensively (especially in regards to health). What specific ones have you found that work best for you personally and what would you recommend to people in Europe and the UK that don't have easy access to blood tests on a regular basis, regular health check etc?

Blood pressure is the most important to keep an eye on. It’s a smart move to get your own blood pressure monitor so you can check it regularly. Make sure you get a large cuff one if you’re carrying much muscle – a cuff that’s too tight will give an incorrect reading. After blood pressure, the big ones to pay attention to are lipids, liver and kidney values, and RBCs. I would recommend figuring out a way to get these checked at least twice a year. C-reactive protein is another cool one I like to get, it’s an indicator of inflammation levels in the body.

3.     One of Clients Jamie Pinder recently took to the Olympia stage and looked phenomenal. Many female competitors have a hard time getting really lean and losing the last bit of fat on the glutes and quads. Any tips for the people out there?

Thanks for the compliment! Jamie is one of the hardest working clients I have and I was very happy with the look she achieved this year. She isn’t a naturally lean person so to get that look took a ton of dedication and sacrifice, for an extended period of time. One method that works extremely well for helping females get lean is high intensity interval cardio. I often have Jamie do 15 to 18 minutes of high intensity sprint intervals, directly followed by 20 to 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio.  This is a great way to etch in detail, assuming diet and other factors are in line.

4.     You’re known as a coach that doesn’t use fancy diets or techniques to get people into shape, but rather as a man who relies on solid principles to achieve the best conditioning possible. How (if at all) has this changed over the years? Are they things that you have abandoned or revised?

Any good coach is constantly learning and revising their methods to help their clients and athletes achieve their best. All the time I’m adding new tools to my toolbox, by way of new training methods and exercises (thanks John Meadows), nutrition science advances, new supplements, etc.  I haven’t abandoned any methods, but I’m always adding new ones to my toolbox.

With that said though, the biggest factor in progress will always be hard, intelligent work. We always want to make the most of our efforts though: science and experience help accomplish that.

5.     In your opinion, what are the biggest changes you have seen in regard to the science of nutrition, have had the biggest impact in the last 5 years on health and all round performance?

Definitely the advances in peri-workout nutrition. Improved nutrient timing is helping tons of people have better workouts and recover from them more quickly

6.     Cardio is a funny subject in the industry. Some say that LISS is a waste of time and cardio needs to be short and fast, while other think that LISS is a great way to increase calorific expenditure while not taxing recovery. As athletes (especially fighters) schedules are already pretty damn full, adding extra cardio can be a pain on the time wallet not to mention further taxing the system. How do you go about setting cardio up for clients with varying schedules?

For those with a busy schedule, HIIT cardio is definitely the way to go.  I wouldn’t go nuts with it though – 3 to 4 sessions per week would be a max. Additional calories could be pulled from the diet, if needed.

7.     While it is highly individual, do you add cardio in at the beginning with the majority of clients?

If they are overweight and looking for fast results, cardio is usually part of the initial plan. If they are getting ready for a competition and are relatively lean to begin with, I wait to add cardio until it’s needed. I especially wait if we have a long time line to play with (i.e. a contest that’s 20 weeks away, versus 8 weeks away).

8.     I have found that having some clients do low impact cardio has a real positive effect on their results, especially when it comes to metabolism etc. Do you think that cardio is beneficial for most people even if they aren't looking for a massive calorie burn? 

Its health benefits cannot be denied.  If you’re looking to gain as much muscle as possible in the shortest time frame possible though, cardio should probably be limited. That’s not necessarily the healthiest approach though.

9.     Micronutrients are often something that fighters over look during their diet prep, especially towards the end, and many suffer for it. Is there anything that you like to add to your clients nutrition plans to cover the bases or do you focus on it right through the prep?

I recommend using a variety of whole food sources, and when dieting “hardcore” (hypocaloric for an extended period of time), a fruit and veggie supplement (like Biotest Superfoods) is probably a wise addition, as well as a multi-vitamin / multi-mineral. Those that really want to know if their bases are covered should look into micronutrient testing (http://www.spectracell.com/patients/patient-micronutrient-testing/) 

10. As a man who has not only tried just about every supplement out there, plus advised people from average Joe's right up to Olympians, are they any brands out there that you recommend? Obviously supplements are just that, but everyone knows some brands present a more honest opinion of what people can achieve and what they products actually provide.

I’m sponsored by 360CUT nutrition, and also Truenutrition.  I wouldn’t be associated with either of these companies if I didn’t believe their products are what they say they are, and provide a good bang for your buck. Others I use are NOW brand (mainly for health related stuff) and Puritans Pride.

Thanks for your time Shelby!

You can find Shelby and contact him through his site HERE

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Unorthodox Superfoods for BJJ

Hey Guys,

Here is an article that I wrote for the last issue of JiuJitsu Style Magazine. Make sure to have a nip over and look at my online articles for them (plus loads of great BJJ content). Also check out the latest issue, its got a great article on protein in there...

Here is the article,

Unknown Superfoods for BJJ

Food is good.

Whether you want to call it nutrition, a diet, fuel or some munch, we all love to eat a bit of food. And why wouldn’t we? We all train hard, taking care of business on and off the mat, we deserve a bit of nice, tasty nourishment right?

However it doesn’t stop there, many of us look at our food to give us better results. Whether it be a leaner body, more muscle or recovering quicker from the beatings that are handed out in tough sparring, BJJ athletes are starting to realise that their food is important to their success on the mat.

Unlike many other sports, health is often one of the top priorities of the BJJ athlete. Because of this, the term ‘superfoods’ often comes up. So what is a ‘superfood’? Well a superfood is a certain type (or types) of food that can dramatically increase our health, recovery or aid in our physique goals.

Many people know of the standard superfoods, but if you don’t here is a brief list of commonly known ones,

·      Broccoli

·      Grass fed beef

·      Wild caught Alaskan Salmon

·      Avocado

·      Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·      Natural Raw Honey

·      Blueberries

·      Turkey

·      Quinoa

There are many more (a quick Google will give you hundreds of lists), but often there are many great and slightly unusual ones that are left out from the list. With that in mind, here is a quick list of some of the lesser known, but amazing superfoods that you can add to your diet to help you stay healthy and recover quicker!

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is German for ‘sour cabbage’.

Sauerkraut is finely cut cabbage that has been fermented in lactic acid bacteria including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. While the fancy names aren’t that important, it is the fact that it has been fermented in them that is.

As it has been fermented in these bacteria it has an amazing ability to improve your digestion and gut health because of the enzymes that it contains. This simply means that you can absorb more of the nutrients that you take in rather than it simply passing through your system.

It’s  low in calories, fat and carbs making it great for cutting weight.

Its is also incredibly high in vitamins C, B and K. It is also a good source of dietary fibre, folate, iron, potassium, copper and manganese. To top it all off, because of the fermentation process, it is also even more bioavailable (you digest it better and absorb more nutrients) than actual cabbage!

Kimchi

Kimchi is another fermented food.

It is made in Korea and is often a mix of vegetables that can contain tomatoes, chilli and garlic. Kimchi is often made in jars and left to ferment underground.

Just like Sauerkraut, it is very high in live bacteria (specifically lactobacillus kimchii) that to can aid digestion immensely. Just one serving of the superfood provides a person with over 50% of the daily requirement of vitamin C and carotene.

It is also highly rich in vitamin A, thiamine (vitamin B1 to me and you), riboflavin (vitamin B2), Calcium and iron!

Green Coffee Beans

I love coffee, you love coffee, everyone loves coffee. However this isn’t that type of coffee. The coffee that you are thinking of is a dark bean where these are green.

Green Coffee beans have been directly linked to help aid in fat burning (less fat helps you fit into your true weight class for competition).

Even though the beans are high in anti oxidants, it is the chlorogenic acid content that has been linked to their ability to help aid fat loss. The thing to note here are that the beans must be green.

When they are roasted the chlorogenic acid is broken down and therefore not present in normal coffee.

There have been a few concerns lately of whether it’s ok to take Green Coffee extract rather than using the bean. In a study done by the University of Scranton, they found that there was no detriment to using an extract instead of the actual bean.

Turmeric

Turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant and has a tough brown skin and a deep orange flesh. Turmeric has long been used as a powerful anti-inflammatory in both the Chinese and Indian systems of medicine. Turmeric was traditionally called "Indian saffron" because of its deep yellow-orange color and has been used throughout history as a condiment and healing remedy.

While turmeric is a fairly well known spice found in most curries and mustard, many people still don’t seem to be using it in their dishes.

Not only will the spice make your food taste great (who doesn’t love a good curry) but it will also aid in helping reduce inflammation in the body. You know all those acting joints you get when you have a hard spar or someone viciously strips your grips? That’s inflammation. Less of this is good right?

The reason that it does this is down to the yellow, orangey colour of the spice. It contains curcumin.  Curcumin has also been linked to helping suffers of cancer, bowel disease and fibrosis suffers.

Horse

Right don’t all jump down my throats and start sending me hate E Mails because you loved My Little Pony as a kid and how dare I recommend you eat such a majestic beast etc, etc.

If we put aside the fact that most of us have great memories of riding ponies at the beach as children, and the recent scandal of horsemeat in supermarkets (which was about honesty, not what we were eating) and take a second to look at the nutritional profile of horse verses beef for a second.

Per 100g

Calories

Horse – 175g

Beef – 273g

Overall fat content

Horse – 2g

Beef - 18g

Protein

Horse – 28g

Beef – 25g.

As you can see, horsemeat is lower in calories and fat but higher in protein! This is probably due the animals diet. While most cows are fed grain to help plump them up for slaughter and sale, horses are free to roam and eat grass pretty much exclusively. Horse also contains double the amount of iron of beef and vitamins B6 and B12.

Now I’m not saying that you should run out and bump off black beauty, but if you can find horsemeat in a reputable butchers that has been slaughtered humanely and is prepared correctly (not processed) then you may want to take a look.

This is just a small list of slightly unknown superfoods that can help you recover better from training, improve your health, and add some new tastes to your food.

As with all nutrition, making sure you have a correctly balanced diet that contains everything you need is of the upmost importance. Take a few mins to see what you’re actually putting in your mouth, you may realise you can get more out of cheaper, less known food!

Stay healthy,

Mike