Austin was one of the winners of our New Year’s Quest Giveaway. He continues his amazing Quest to this day as he gets ready for an Ironman. Check out this awesome training video he made for you all!

We look forward to seeing what Austin comes up with next!

Quest athlete Matt Acton is days away from the New York Pro event. Check out his video update below and follow along as he does a chest workout.

A Panacea, according to the first semi-reputable website in Google (which happens to be Wikipedia) is a term used “to represent any solution to solve all problems related to a particular issue”. In medicinal terms, it’s used to refer to a medicine that does everything and does everything well with no side effects.

There are no Panaceas in existence. It’s a literary term to explain ideal situations and concepts. Panaceas tend to be incompatible with reality.

Creatine (usually sold as Creatine Monohydrate) tends to come close though. It beneficially influences a wide variety of conditions and goals, but not all. It’s healthy and free from serious side effects. The ‘lack of harm’ is not due to it being understudied either, entering ‘Creatine Supplementation’ into Pubmed (largest online database of primary and secondary scientific evidence) yields over 1400 hits, and throwing ‘Blind’ into the search to get mostly double blind placebo controlled studies gets about 350.

Despite the above, it still seems to be restricted to weightlifters and athletes for its power enhancing properties. In part because the adage “If it’s too good to be true, it usually is”, which applies to almost everything, doesn’t apply to creatine. It is to be expected that people try to find the ‘fatal flaw’ with creatine to knock it off its pedestal, because almost all other supplements have some sort of flaw which brings them down from godly to normal. Sadly, it appears that people have resorted to making stuff up about creatine.

I’ll try to make this article quick and concise. My goals here are to fully show why creatine is not harmful in any way (a bold claim), note all possible side-effects of creatine, and then cite instances where creatine exerts benefit that go beyond the standard ‘build muscle and strength’ aspects that are marketed.

First, we Examine Creatine

A side project I am working on is Examine.com, a website that is aiming to be a database of supplemental science. It is basically a mixture of Wikipedia and TvTropes for supplements, and aims to be a living, breathing review article about everything. I defer to Examine’s Creatine page for most of the following, as I cannot write an article without citing what I say yet the thought of replicated 300+ citations gnaws at my sanity. If the page is too complex, just zip to the ‘Human Trials Clinical Rubric’ to get a general overview of human intervention studies on the compound.

Side-effects of Creatine

• If you don’t drink enough water with creatine, you will get a stomach ache
• If you take too much creatine at once, you could have loose stools
• Some people view the gains in water weight as a ‘side-effect’

That is about it.

The idea that creatine harms the kidneys is mostly due to confusion. There is a compound called creatinine (note the extra ‘in’) that is a metabolite of creatine. Creatine is made in the body naturally, and you always have a certain circulating level of creatinine. It is filtered out at a constant rate by the kidneys, and when the kidneys fail their job gets backlogged a bit. Higher than normal blood levels of creatinine are due to either kidney failure or creatine supplementation, but this is a ‘X and Y both cause Z, despite X and Y not being related’ issue. I could find 10 studies that investigated creatine supplementation and kidney function, and all of them (including the one on the guy with one sub-optimal kidney fed 20g daily) came back negative.

Creatine does not hurt kidney function.

The notion of creatine harming the liver is similar to the above. Some studies take sedentary people and divide them into two groups, one which supplements creatine, and assess some blood markers. These studies tend to note an increase in liver enzymes (ALT, AST, GST) which are usually indicative of liver damage. The problem here is that it is no different than placebo, because the increase seen is due to starting an exercise regimen.

Beyond the above possible explanation, there are no other links between creatine supplementation and the liver.

As for the heart, some people note an elevated heart rate with creatine supplementation. This can be a big concern, as creatine is not a stimulant and doesn’t influence adrenaline in the body. However, I should note that out of all the literature I have read that measures side-effects and cardiac function in response to creatine supplementation, not once has creatine ever differed from placebo.

What can increase heart rate though? Hypochondrias and the Nocebo effect; Nocebo is just the Placebo effect when only looking at adverse effects.

In explaining the actual three side-effects noted above, they are all related to the creatine molecule really liking water (a property called ‘Hygroscopic’, which is just a fun word to know). When it is in your muscle tissue, it draws water in and you gain water weight. When not given enough water in the stomach, it tries to draw water from around it and sometimes precipitates, which can lead to cramping. If too much is in the colon, it draws water into the colon and that causes the loose stools; this usually occurs only during creatine ‘loads’ of 20-25g a day. Not severe problems by any means, but still seen as ‘side-effects’ by many. Cramping isn’t fun.

Beyond Power; benefits of Creatine

Creatine, for all intents and purposes, is pretty much a vitamin. It lacks the classification as such since we can restrict our diet from all creatine (found in meats, eggs, and dairy) and not die since our liver creates creatine from amino acids. Similar to vitamins, there appears to be something similar to a deficiency state for creatine. Subclinical ones are just associated with impaired function, and severe ones (genetic problems with getting creatine into a cell) cause mental retardation and related cognitive disorders. [x]

The ‘subclinical deficiency’ tends to occur with restriction of dietary creatine, or impaired creatine synthesis; vegetarianism and old age, respectively. Studies on creatine and improving cognition fall on their face when studying young omnivores (normal creatine status) but show cognitive improvement on multiple parameters vegetarians [x] [x] and the elderly.[x]

Building off the elderly population being deficient, it is being explored for various disease states associated with age. Not a huge body of evidence on any single one, but it is showing promise in Osteoarthritic Symptoms,[x] Sarcopenia,[x] and resistant depression;[x] not so promising on Parkinson’s [x] and Huntingtons Disease.[x] Of course, through bone and muscle health it does seem to improve general functionality in the elderly [x] which can lead to less falls (although many of us younger folks may not fully grasp it, falling when your bones are brittle can be fatal; usually you get sent to the hospital due to a cracked bone and your vitality plummets when you catch an infection. Falls are serious business). At least one study noted improvements in bone mineral density, but it’s far from conclusive. [x]

I am not saying that Creatine supplementation can cure the above, but I am at least suggesting that it may help. The promising preliminary evidence above coupled with the apparent lack of harm from taking low dose creatine with some liquids suggests that there really isn’t any reason to not supplement creatine. Granted there are some ‘non-responders’ to creatine (some problems with getting excess creatine into cells) that don’t even gain water weight for some currently unknown reason, but creatine supplementation is safe and at least worth a try if you fall into one of the above populations. Worth a try even if you don’t, as it reliably increases power in omnivores as well.

Silver Hydra is an Online Nutritional Consultant and Supplement Researcher

Follow him on Twitter @Silverhydra or visit his blog at Silverhydra.com

“Proper preparation prevents poor performance.” – Kai Greene 

Too many things are left to chance; your health and physical fitness should not be one of them. Whether you are an elite athlete or someone looking to lead a healthier lifestyle, preparation is key. Ever get caught up late at work and now you’re scurrying out to make dinner for yourself and your loved ones? How many times have you walked out of the gym, smacking yourself upside the head because you forgot something? Or how about the times when you you’ve been out house for a longer than anticipated, starving, and you end up eating junk?

We’ve all been there. Multiple times.

That’s why planning and preparing are the most valuable tools in getting your nutrition under lock and key. Here are some tips to help you plan for success.

1. Take some time, one day out of the weekend, to do all of your grocery shopping & get a start on the cooking.

2. Cook up, and bag out the things you can. For example, if you’re steaming veggies for dinner on Tuesday and Friday nights, get that out of the way on Sunday! Steam them and put them in a container in the fridge, so all you’ll have left to do those nights are whip up the meats and carbs.

3. If your protein dish is a meatloaf, mix all the ingredients together, form the loaf and freeze it. You can take it out the morning you will be cooking, let it thaw while you are at work, and pop it in the oven when you get home.

4. If you can, make your meals in advance and freeze them in individualized bags so you can grab and go.  Examples include: egg whites for breakfast, chicken and broccoli for lunch, flank steak, baked potato and spinach for dinner. The egg whites, chicken, broccoli, steak and spinach can all be prepared and frozen. The baked potato can be done in advance, thrown in the fridge, and microwaved when ready to consume.

5. Doesn’t matter whether you are hypoglycemic, a relatively healthy individual or training for a body building show or triathlon – never leave the house without a nutritious snack or meal. We’ve all been out for a few hours, starving, with the well intention of going home and eating something healthy, but taken over by hunger pains that lead us directly to the nearest drive through window. NO GOOD. Carrying a protein shake, bottle of water, Quest Bar or some nuts like almonds are the best options. They’re small, convenient, and provide you with fuel to finish your task and not making silly decisions that could impact your progress.

6. This is where I excel: planning out my workouts! Know exactly what you are going to accomplish in the gym, with a general outline of your workouts and reps to ensure the optimal results while you are there.

With this, I plan out, bag out, and measure my supplementation based off what I am lifting. Cardio sessions require different supplementation then lifting. Then I take into consideration what I am doing after the gym – will I have enough time to get home to eat before going about my day? If not, I pack a meal, or 2 just to be safe

This preparation may seem like more work than you’re used to, but the amount of time you save, and the higher level of physical fitness, health and nutrition you get out of it, certainly outweighs the challenges you may initially face when preparing this way. It requires some extra upfront on your planning day (generally Sunday) but come Monday – Friday, you will be thankful you have some things pre cooked, and prepped!

Let us know how YOU plan things out to succeed!

If you read fitness and nutrition blogs written by people in the bodybuilding world, you hear a lot about macronutrients or “macros.” Do you know what they are? Because if you don’t, you are missing vital information on how to achieve your goals. Follow this three part series to learn everything you need to know!

The three main macros are protein, carbohydrates (including fiber), and fat. Knowing about macros, you can use them to your benefit, fueling your body to stay fuller longer, build muscle faster, and lose fat more efficiently. You can make the most out of your workouts and get the best bang for your nutritional buck, and fuel your body in the best way. And when you’re really in tune with the way you’re feeding your body, you won’t be inexplicably starving in the middle of the day — goodbye 3:00 pm energy slump!

Today, in Part 1, you will get a primer on carbohydrates, the macronutrient that makes up the majority of most people’s caloric intake.

What Are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are the easiest source of fuel for the body. When you eat them, they’re converted into glucose. Your body can run on glucose easily, but most of us take in more carbohydrates than we need. The carbs we eat but don’t immediately use for fuel are stored in the muscles as glycogen. If you don’t use that glycogen for fuel, it is converted to fat. When you exercise for a sustained period of time at a high heart rate, glycogen is your primary fuel.

Glycogen in your muscles holds on to water (think carbo-”hydrate”). In fact, carbs/glycogen hold three times their weight in water. So if you’ve had a very carb-heavy meal and look and feel bloated afterward, don’t worry–it’s not body fat. It’s probably just what I affectionately refer to as carb bloat.

Fiber is a type of carbohydrate. It’s essentially just bulk that travels through your digestive system without being digested. It helps you feel full and moves the rest of the food you eat through your digestive system. Make sure you drink a lot of water when you increase your fiber intake to keep everything moving.

Sugar is another–less beneficial–type of carb. When you eat sugar, your blood sugar increases, and your body produces insulin to bring your blood sugar down (unless you are a type-1 diabetic). When insulin is released, this cues your body to store fat. Check out this informational video on insulin spikes and fat gain by Tom Naughton, producer of the movie “Fat Head.”

What about Gluten? Gluten is not a carb, it’s a protein found in wheat and some other grains. Gluten has been the subject of a lot of press lately; the paleo and Primal diets recommend cutting it out completely. It’s such a complicated topic, though, that it would take up the length of this blog to discuss it. If you’re concerned about gluten, I recommend checking out Mark Sisson’s article on the topic, found here.

When you need Carbs:

Carbs are an easy source of fuel so they pick you up when your energy is low. Many fitness personalities “front load” their carb intake, meaning they take in more carbs in the morning and decrease their intake throughout the day. While there isn’t universal agreement that this is the way to do it, it has worked for me in the past, so I recommend giving it a shot.

After you work out, you need to refuel your body with carbohydrates. This is true even if you work out at night and you usually front load your carbs. A slight spike in insulin helps to drive protein into your muscles, so post-workout is the best time to have sugar if you’re going to have it at all. There are a number of health professionals who advocate eliminating sugar from your diet entirely. That’s a great thing to aspire to, but I don’t advocate eliminating entire food groups.

Click for full size.

It’s a Lifestyle not a Diet!

You have probably heard this before and maybe thought it’s become a cliché, but I want to give you my take in on it in hopes that it may finally hit home for someone.

If you want to look a certain way (lean, defined, in shape) you must adapt new habits as part of the way you live, not as a temporary fix.

It’s interesting that by definition, the word diet as a noun means “The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats”, but as a verb it is defined as “To restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight”. In our culture, the word diet is commonly used as a verb and has instilled fear and negativity in most people. The trends and fads over the years that have demonized fat, carbs, dairy, grains, etc. have led people to believe that in order to achieve a better physique, we must give up all the foods that we like and (by definition) “restrict oneself to small amounts or special foods”. Just the thought of having to completely cut out food groups has overwhelmed people, caused a lot of procrastination, and maybe even discouraged people from ever really trying.

I used to be one of these people myself…the “I’ll start tomorrow, or I’ll start Monday” type. I’d mentally prepare to “never eat sugar again” or “never eat cheese or frozen yogurt or bread”. I was convinced that this “all or nothing” mentality was the only way. I could hold out for a few days and maybe even weeks, but inevitably, I’d feel deprived, feel like this is impossible,  and not only would I give in and satisfy whatever craving, I would fall off the deep end and eat EVERYTHING I had denied myself. I figured I had messed everything up and I “may as well”. This, my friends, is a vicious cycle that many people get caught in and it’s very difficult to see your way through if you don’t know how. It’s overwhelming how much diet information is out there and how many people offer “advice”.

So here we go, I will break it down as simply as possible and give you the Secret….

The secret is: there is no magic. There is no one right way. There are no magical foods. There are no magical pills. The real secret is learning about nutrition and your body and how to make the “lifestyle” work based on your preferences, tastes, habits, and schedule.  The truth is that you can start with any “diet plan” that sounds reasonable and appealing to you.  Some examples are The Eat Clean Diet, The Zone Diet, The Paleo Diet, The Primal Blueprint, etc. From there, you monitor your success and how you feel and make adjustments along the way.

First, if your goal is to lose fat, you must get your body in a caloric deficit for it to turn to fat stores for energy. You cannot eat whatever you want in whatever amounts all day, but that does not mean you have to starve either. Educate yourself on what’s in the foods that you commonly eat and you may surprised that they are high in calories due to high refined sugar content and processed fats. Or, you may be drinking a lot of calories in the form of juice, soda, coffee drinks, and alcoholic drinks. Educate yourself on the three basic macronutrients: Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat. They each have their role in providing energy and you do not have to cut any of them out to lose body fat. Having a basic understanding of each macronutrient will help you make better choices and will help you plan your meals.

Dieting is very much like managing your finances – you have a certain number of calories (in the form of Carbs, Protein, and Fat) and you need to “spend” them wisely on the foods that will give you the most nutrients and keep you full and satisfied. I recommend that each meal contain all three macronutrients for sustained energy, and it’s up to you to figure out what ratios make you feel your best and still yield results. Now that you know you have to reduce your calories, look to some of these “extras” that aren’t providing you body any quality fuel and gradually reduce them.  Yes, I do mean gradually! Give up the “all or nothing” mentality because it is not sustainable!

This leads to my second point. You must find a way of eating that is SUSTAINABLE.  This means that you can maintain your good eating habits without feeling deprived.  If you can’t imagine yourself eating cabbage soup all day everyday or living off of a “liquid diet” then don’t even go there! Don’t set yourself up for failure! Yes, you may have a friend who tried one of these crazy fad diets and lost 10lbs in a week, but did they keep it off?  Body change takes time and as I’ve already mentioned, you can’t view it as a temporary solution, otherwise you will lose all your hard work if you go back to your old ways. These new habits that you develop are going to keep you in the shape you desire.

My advice for making your fat loss plan sustainable is very simple: eat what you like! If you happen to especially like foods that are high calorie, such as pizza, pasta, burgers, ice cream and other desserts, you will need to get creative and find ways to satisfy your taste buds with fewer calories. Just about ANY food can be made over to be more “clean”! This will take a little more effort on your part to seek out recipes and try them, but the results are well worth it.There are countless blogs and websites devoted to “clean eating” and I challenge you to find substitutions for some of your favorite things and incorporate them into your meal plan regularly.

So how does this all come together so that we can eat what we like and still lose fat? Well, it is about moderation and portion control to an extent, but also learning to love the foods that fuel your body and keep you full and healthy. Create a foundation of fat loss foods as your steady “diet” and change your view of non-fat loss foods as “treats”. Quite simply, eat smaller frequent meals built around lean protein and vegetables. Reduce the amount of starchy and sugary foods you eat and focus on whole grains rather than refined.

Now, this is the fun part- dress up your meals with the flavors you crave! You can make chicken and vegetables Italian style, Mexican, Greek, Indian or Chinese with different spices and condiments. Find ways to make pizza with lowfat cheese and a “cleaner” crust without refined flour, or lower fat turkey burgers and baked fries. Incorporate one 0r two small “treats” daily, such as a few chips, a mini candy bar, a cookie….whatever you feel is hardest for you to give up. Keep it in there in small amounts and learn to appreciate being able to have your favorite foods in moderation rather than scarfing down the entire package and feeling guilty about it. Remember, the food will still be there tomorrow and the next day and you are not restricting anything, so don’t eat like the world is going to end!

Come up with a rough framework of how you will eat for the day and make sure you have all of your foods on hand or know where to get them. I understand that life gets busy and many people rely on take-out food, which is fine if you know what to choose. Once you learn the basic fat loss foods and understand that the high calorie preparation methods are holding you back, you will be able to eat at ANY restaurant and stay on track. Be as prepared as possible at all times at home and when you are out. I always have a few Quest Protein Bars stashed in my purse, gym bag, and car in case life throws me a curveball.  Quest is my favorite treat because it’s actually a balanced snack or meal replacement, but only seems like an indulgence.

You may still be wondering if you ever get to eat your favorite indulgences and the answer is yes! Not every day, and not in crazy amounts, but if you are sticking to your plan and choosing reasonable portions of clean and healthy foods 90% of the time, go ahead and have 1-2 treat meals a week! Yes, the full fat, full sugar versions of whatever you like, but keep it to just one meal and stick to your plan the rest of the day and the day after. This should give you something to look forward to and keep you from over-indulging regularly.  Over time, especially once you have experienced some progress, you will find that this lifestyle gets easier and you no longer crave the foods that were holding you back before! You may save your treat meals for holidays and special occasions and since they are less frequent, you can truly enjoy the experience without any guilt.

If you are finding your diet hard to stick with or you feel deprived, then it’s time to re-assess! Find a way to make it fun again and get re-inspired. You can not suffer through it because, again, it will not benefit you in the long term. The goal is slow and steady progress. Losing 1-2lb of fat a week is a reasonable rate to still be able to maintain muscle.  If you are not meeting this goal, making adjustments is simple. If you are not feeling your clothes fitting looser and the number on the scale is not budging, then cut back on another treat that you are consuming regularly and see if that helps. This is going to take time, patience, and careful observation, but once you nail the process, you will be set for life!

We can certainly get more detailed about food choices and why you may want to choose certain foods over others, however, I hope that this took a little bit of the mystery and stress out of “dieting”.  Do yourself a favor and get rid of the “all or nothing” approach and make small sustainable changes one at a time.  Go back to thinking of your food in the bigger picture…as a lifelong way of eating for health and maximum energy and your body will reward you with a leaner physique.

This is a guest post by competitor Milenka Andrea, inspired by her experiences , practice, and lots of research. She gives credit “The New ME Diet” by Jade and Keoni Teta for shaping her philosophy, and her coach Adam Signoretta for helping her put it into practice and for dispelling a lot of dieting and bodybuilding myths.