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Protein Requirements: by John Abdo

Protein is a super important class of nutrients our bodies need to survive and THRIVE.  Whether you’re a hard training athlete or someone who just wants to live a normal healthy life, living without protein is impossible.  Protein is needed for proper growth, maintenance and repair of body cells and tissues. Protein is made up of smaller compounds called amino acids (AAs).  When a protein food or supplement contains all of the essential AAs it is regarded as a complete protein. Essential AAs are those which the body cannot synthesize therefore they must be provided from food or supplementation on daily basis.

There are also many other foods which contain protein but are considered incomplete because they lack one or several of the essential AAs. If any one food source lacks an essential amino acid by simply eating another food might just supply the limiting amino acid and make the body accessible to the complete array of protein essentials needed for growth and repair.

When combining incomplete protein foods, even when both foods are incomplete, each one might just have its own missing amino acids that differs from the other food. So when combining foods, one’s chances for obtaining all the essential AAs are greatly increased.

In total, experts claim there are 22 amino acids needed for optimum human health. All of these 22 AAs must be available to the body on a daily basis if one is to live a healthy productive life. Of these 22 AAs, 8 of them are considered essential for human health. The term essential refers to the fact that it is essential one must eat or ingest these AAs on a daily basis from food or supplement sources. The remaining 14 AAs can be produced, or synthesized, by the body in the event they are not made available with food.

Proteins are complex molecular structures which are very interesting and versatile. Most other nutrients contain carbon (C), oxygen (O), and hydrogen (H). Protein contains COH but includes a backbone of nitrogen (N). The more N our bodies can retain the stronger and healthier we become.

When protein intake is adequate to meet normal daily requirements and no more, a condition known as nitrogen equilibrium is experienced. When one is deprived of adequate protein a negative nitrogen balance is the known condition. Of course, equilibrium is the better of the two conditions, but those who maintain a N equilibrium oftentimes remain at the same strength and size despite changes in training intensity.

Negative nitrogen balance is bad news. When one is sick, injured, or being deprived of food, their body immediately tries to fill its nutritional void by cannibalizing itself–also know as catabolism. The body actually eats, or atrophies away its own muscle tissues (heart and lungs included) to extract the amino acids needed for current biological operations. This is why I endorse the daily use of high-protein foods and supplements.

The ideal condition for all health enthusiasts and athletes is to obtain a condition known as positive nitrogen balance. Positive nitrogen balance simply means your tissues are receiving more protein, and retaining more N than what’s being excreted daily.

Physiologic dynamics         TISSUE REMODELING

I’ve explained that protein must be consumed on a daily basis if one is to achieve optimum health and performance. When one is deprived of protein, their body will fall into a catabolic state and literally cannibalize itself until protein is supplied by some food source or supplement. Muscle tissue is living tissue, which means it’s metabolically active. When one attains a healthy degree of lean tissue, they are healthier, and can keep off excess body fat easier as muscles need fuel to operate. In comparison, fat is inert and requires very little energy to maintain itself, that’s why developing muscle helps to keep off excess fat. The muscle maintenance process is fueled by fat. While stored fat, and the maintenance thereof, requires no energy so it remains right where it has decided to embed itself–usually on ones waistline, hips, buttocks, etc, get the point?

Scientists claim that in as little as every 6 months, all of the muscle tissue in our body is completely replaced by the food you eat. Since muscle tissue is constantly being remodeled it makes sense to feed our bodies with adequate protein on a regular basis–high quality foods and protein-rich supplements.

When you see a true health enthusiast, someone who eats correctly all the time, or an athlete who trains hard [and smart] year-round, you see individuals with a symmetrical tone to their physiques and exorbitant levels of energy that can only be explained by proper eating. As their bodies are growing, and at the same time remodeling, their exterior appearance looks very aesthetic due to the fact that the proteins [and other efficacious nutrients] they’ve been eating manifests in ultimate performance and appearance. Maintaining a positive nitrogen balance assures these benefits, and more!

I believe in food first then nutritional supplements to support nutritional voids and to empower the body with extra energy resources. The best times to eat protein is frequently throughout the day. Proper applications to nutritional strategies will produce dramatic benefits to muscle strength and endurance, overall health and, as a Bonus, you’ll look terrific as well!

http://www.JohnAbdo.com

August 6, 2012 Posted by | Performance Library | , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cellular Receptivity: By John Abdo

Ever wonder how one guy can down a 12-pack and (seem to) carry on a normal conversation while another guy drinks one beer and gets smashed? The science of what’s occurring inside that person’s body, and brain, is immeasurably complex but it can be deduced by a couple of different terms like: tissue sensitivity or cellular receptivity.

To take this a step further, let me introduce you to a couple of wild and ambitious guys . . .

Let’s meet Joe and Tim. These two fellows hang out with one another constantly. In fact, they’re almost inseparable. They are the same age, height and bodyweight, and they share identical goals for building up their bodies and increasing the size and strength of their muscle.

Their goals are the same: Get big, get strong, get girls.

Joe and Tim start working out together – same exercises, same routines, same foods, same supplements. Within one week, Joe increases his bench press from 185 to 205, while Tim’s doesn’t budge an ounce. Joe’s biceps grow to 16” up from 14½”, in only 3 weeks, while Tim gets a measly quarter inch gain. The pattern continues. Joe is the front-runner, and Tim lags behind. Both guys remain faithful to their regular evening workouts together; they even eat the same amount of food and pop all the same supplements.

So why is there a discrepancy between Joe’s and Tim’s results? Receptivity. Gym lingo would tell you that Joe’s muscle cells are more sensitive (or more receptive) to receiving the anabolic (muscle-growing) trigger induced by the weight training and supplements while Tim’s cells are, compared to Joe’s, more stubborn.

Tim’s cells have a quicker down-regulation reaction that limits the amount of nitrogen-rich protein, and other energy-yielding nutrients, that enter into his muscle cells. Joe’s cells, on the other hand, are allowing more muscle-building nourishment to enter into his tissues as his internal cellular receptors are reacting much differently; this is often where genetics plays its favorites.

Both guys, internally speaking, can have similar hormonal profiles, but, as stated, Joe’s tissues are simply responding better – and faster. This response is not limited to weight workouts and protein shakes. The same tissue-entering phenomenon occurs with most others foods, alcohol (remember the 12-pack guy?), caffeine, cigarette smoking, drugs (especially steroids), and all ingestible items. Each person has an internal cellular monitoring system that possesses its own levels of sensitivity, and cellular entry.

So two people who are doing the same things – eating the same foods, performing the same exercises, taking the same supplements or drugs, or drinking the same beverages (12-packs or one can of beer) – will have different rates of digestion, cellular absorption, assimilation, metabolism, and, above all, effects.

This is one of the reasons why the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requests all advertisers of diet programs and supplements list: “Individual results may vary.”

The great news in all this is that when a person relies on nourishing themselves with natural ingredients that have been harvested from Mother Nature, and are then processed under ‘standardized’ production regulations, cellular integrity is supported that can only result in positive benefits.

In conclusion, when making decisions that concern the strength, vitality and health of your body, and it’s trillions of cells, it’s wise to be patient with the process and rely on natural substances.

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Written by John Abdo, please refer to the book

Ultimate Sexual Health & Performance™

www.Androzene.com

July 28, 2012 Posted by | Performance Library | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Permanent Fat Loss

Losing bodyfat, permanently, is successful when using the right tools and formula:

Set goals. follow a plan, remain committed, and never give up!

Fat wants to remain on a person’s body when they have accumulated it.

ANALOGY: Fat is fuel, just like the gasoline in your car’s gas tank.

The trick is to shuttle the fuel from the tank (or your hips, love-handles, etc) and drive the fat into the engine, your muscles.

Proper activity, with healthy consistent eating, serves as the fuel-line and fuel pump that shuttles fat from your tanks into your muscles’ Mitochondria; these are your own fat-burning furnaces.

Once you have fat-burning under control you have RE-SET your metabolism and now you’ve become a fat-burning machine yourself.

Be a Doer™!

John Abdo: Olympic Strength & Conditioning Coach

http://www.JohnAbdo.com

June 9, 2012 Posted by | Performance Library | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BENEFITS OF FITNESS

The Benefits of Fitness

By John Abdo

 

Physical fitness has skyrocketed in the last few decades.  There are greater numbers of individuals performing various activities in attempts to enhance physical appearance, athletic performance, psychological states of well-being, and the overall quality of life.  Clinicians of all sorts, athletic trainers, physical therapists and body sculpturing specialists are prescribing the fitness lifestyle as the remedy for premature aging, obesity, muscular weakness, stress, fatigue, insomnia, hypertension, immune system dysfunctioning, headaches, joint ailments, depression, metabolic disorders, skeletal imbalances, poor circulation, and many others.

With all its growing enthusiasm and awareness people still need education and t remain committed, they require motivation. Here’s some information that keeps people dedicated to taking better care of themselves.

SOLVING THE FAT PROBLEM

            Every physical and psychological function requires energy.  If we had no energy we simply could not function or exist.  We obtain our energy from the foods we consume as they supply varying levels of energy.  Food energy is calculated in measurements known as Calories.  When we eat we’re supplying our bodies with caloric sources of fuel that make everything we do happen.  We release this energy by: 1) Moving; all physical activities, 2) Thinking; all psychological functions, and by, 3) Metabolism; the operational and recuperative functions of the body.  Of these three, Moving, “physical activities”, requires the greatest supply of energy to conduct its chores.  Metabolism, on the other hand, burns plenty of calories after the body has been stimulated with activity relying on additional calories to fuel the body’s reparation process.

“Thinking” is also an energy burner.  Our minds require energy to operate, but those who are experiencing the effects of being overweight cannot merely rely on this activity source for ample caloric elimination.  People who are depressed, angry, bitter, and easily agitated, burn a tremendous amount of energy. There are those however, who while imprisoned by negative thoughts try to combat and/or alleviate their pessimistic emotions by gluttonizing on pleasure-filled tasting [junk] foods, drugs and other deviant activities.  So even though they’re burning calories in their hypertensive state, the kinds and amounts of foods they’re consuming simply overloads their systems.

Metabolism

            [We need to keep a clear understanding that food is fuel and fuel is energy in the form of calories.  So whenever I’m talking about food, fuel, energy, or calories, basically, they’re all synonymous].

Each of us possess a specific rate of metabolism which converts food into energy for activity, the operational functions of life, and the repairing of damaged tissue.  This conversion/reparation process is always operating whether we’re active or sedentary.  The goal then of the athlete and health and fitness enthusiast is to periodically expend the effort with exercise or activity then allocate ample time to recuperate.  This cyclic process allows the body to burn off more calories both during exercise and the post-exercise metabolic periods.  So those who believe the fat-burning, strength-building, health-promoting benefits of fitness are confined to the actual times they are exercising are in for a big surprise!  The benefits of exercise extend well beyond cool-downs as metabolism takes the baton and runs its operation of repair that is fueled by calories.  In other words, we can lose fat while we’re doing nothing at all, that is, after you’ve performed something that stimulates the body in the first place. I call this metabolic momentum!

BENEFITS OF FITNESS

            Those who partake in an active lifestyle develop a greater number of benefits than initially expected.  Even though their intentions may be to reshape their bodies and lose some excess body fat, or increase the quality of their daily lives, fitness will not confine itself to just these benefits.  The fascinating fact about activity participation is that it produces a positive psycho-physiological chain-reaction influencing the entire being, as well as ones’ overall lifespan.

Energy

Many individuals engaged in physical fitness for the sole purpose of increasing their levels of energy.  The process of energy enhancement is scientifically complex, but a relatively simple one to apply.  All one has to do is perform an adequate amount of activity; without overdoing it, and eat correctly; Mother Nature takes over from there.  Since muscles are metabolically active, while fat is inert, those who are more physically fit and stronger are those who develop higher metabolic rates turning their bodies into fat-burning machines that possess incredibly high levels of energy.

The Mind & Nerves

The relationship between fitness and knowledge blends nicely especially when one understands how their own body performs under various conditions.  Consistent participation in activities develops a harmonious communication between the mind and body.  And with our nervous system headquartered in our brain, this intricate system relays electrical mental impulses messengering this data to various body tissues.  When an action is requested or required, the brain will consent to the demand by commanding an immediate impulse.  For those who are unfit, the deliverance of such commands has no assurance for accurate delivery, or may become delayed by weak mental signal-sending abilities.

Thinking makes us smarter, and activities force us to be thinking above the norm.  When we’re having fun performing our activities, we are happily thinking, and developing higher levels of fitness at the same time.  The better fit we are the better we can think and concentrate. The body is more alive.

Muscles & Bones

Our bodies are literally held together by a network of over 600 muscles and their relative tissues (i.e., tendons and ligaments).  Weakened muscles cannot hold our skeleton in proper alignment as the body shifts out of its natural position.  Our skeletal network is comprised of over 200 bones that rely on muscles to remain postural and functional. If we had no muscles at all our skeleton, and all its bones, would fall right to the floor.  So as our muscles strengthen with activity the better our bodies will be held together, and the better we move.

The Heart

You’re aware that the heart is a muscle?  It is!  In fact, the heart is a muscular pump responsible for the distribution of blood to all areas of the body.  When we are involved in activity, our hearts beat at accelerated rates.  This acceleration stimulates strength benefits to the heart similar to other muscles while increasing the supply of nutrient-rich blood to all tissues and organs throughout the body.

The Lungs

As the heart beats faster while we’re active so does our rate of breathing, or respiration.  Oxygen is our life-supporting gas that we cannot do without for very long.  We can go without food or water for days, but without oxygen we can’t last more than a few minutes.  As our respiration (breathing rate) increases, our lungs expand and contract beyond normal [or resting] capacities.  The lungs are two elastic-like sacks that collect the air we breathe.  As we inhale, the lungs absorb usable oxygen, and then as we exhale, eliminates toxic gases.  Millions of tiny holes called alveoli allow the oxygen to seep into our bloodstream from the lungs feeding the body with this most precious life source. The better we can breath, and the more oxygen we get into our tissue, the stronger we become.

Your Looks

Looks?  Certainly!  When you become active the benefits don’t stop below your chin.  Your face receives a tremendous number of benefits as well.  Since sedentary muscles become weak and sag, facial muscles are no different.  When your body muscles are strong and firm, your facial muscles often follow the same pattern of progression.  While you exercising you’ll notice that your facial muscles acquire a great workout.  To prove my point, try looking someone straight in the face while they’re doing a set of pushups or lifting weights. While they’re in a state of exertion their facial muscles twist, pucker up and contort during their exercise as the muscles of the face tone themselves at the same time.

Lifespan

It’s easy to postulate that the better you take care of yourself the stronger, healthier and more energetic you become. It’s also a fair assumption, which many anti-aging and longevity communities believe as fact, that by increasing the quality of daily living ensures extension of lifespan. The investment needs to be made early to yield health and longevity benefits. Pay now and enjoy the dividends of vibrant health as you continue to mature!

Keep Going!

Every once-in-a-while I’m asked, “John, when I reach my goals, can I quit?”. I promote fitness as a lifestyle, not a short-term plan. This is a way-of-life that enhances each of your days for the rest of your life.  Always maintain an active lifestyle and healthy mental attitude.  If you’ve reached your goals, be glorified with your accomplishments then shift over to a maintenance mode or, better yet, establish new challenges and strive to become an over-achiever!

I wish you the very best of health and success!

John Abdo

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John Abdo is a former Olympic Strength & Conditioning Coach, Inductee into the National Fitness Hall of Fame, Award-Winning Health & Fitness Expert, and the author of the critically-acclaimed book Ultimate Sexual Health & Performance™. For more information please visit www.JohnAbdo.com.

This information contained in this article should not be construed as medical advice.

June 8, 2012 Posted by | Performance Library | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment