Digesting a certain amount of protein per meal

"I can only digest 20g of protein per meal". For some reason, this comes out of a lot of people's mouths. Now I'm not saying some of you are wrong, I'm just quoting a doctor.

"I have no idea how this myth got started, but there's simply no data that i know of to support the idea that a normal-sized person can only digest 20g of protein at a time. If that were true, bodybuilders who eat 400g of protein a day would have to eat 20 meals a day! In reality, this is a silly misconception because protein is used for much more than building muscle. protein has thermogenic effects(that is, it helps promote weight loss if calories are reduced), helps blunt appetite and has beneficial effects on glucose control and blood lipids. My hunch is that most people who promote this myth really want to know how much protein they need to eat to mazimize the muscle-growth response. Unfortunately, scientists really don't know the definitive answer to this question. For whey protein, it's somewhere around 40g per meal. For egg protein, it may be a bit lower (20g). But the few studies that have been done used only untrained men who performed a relatively low volume of resistance exercise. For now, the two most important things to remember if you are trying to gain muscle are: 1) never train fasted; and 2) get some high quality protein in the tank immediately after training (20-40g)"

- Doctor Ziegenfuss

Jay Cutler trains chest august 9 2010

Jay Cutler won the Mr. Olympia last year, and he claims to win it this year as well. "If you think my legs were huge last year, wait until you see this year" The Mr. O said. Due to minor injuries, he couldn't squat until he was 5 weeks out of the 2009 Mr. Olympia. Squats as helped his developpement very much and he will be back with tremendous amounts of muscle added!

Glutamine and Citruline for Peak Metabolic Fitness

Glutamine and citrulline are amino acids that are critical to metabolic fitness. Citrulline is partially made during reactions involving glutamine. Glutamine plays an important role in the function of the immune system. Many athletes take glutamine to recent upper respiratory infections and flu. It is the most abundant amino acid in the body but can be depleted during trauma, serious illness, or intense training.


Citrulline is an important amino acid involved in the formation of urea. It is a popular component in athletic food supplements because it participates in key amino acid reactions and influences blood flow by increasing nitric oxide levels. Nitric oxide is an important chemical secreted by the endothelium- the inner lining of the blood vessels.

Glutamine promotes wound healing and speeds recovery from serious illnesses, injury, trauma, and burns. Several studies found a relationship between depressed immune function and low levels of glutamine. A Baylor University study found that glutamine was not a significant amino acid for producing citrulline. Good dietart sources of glutamine include beef, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, dairy products, wheat, cabbage, beets, beans, spinach, and parsley, while watermelon rind is an excellent source of citrulline.

Beta-Alanine increases High-Intensity Exercise Performance

Alanine is an amino acid that provides energy during exercise and prevents neuromuscular fatigue by increasing tissue carnosine levels. Carnosine, which is made from alanine, is an important antioxidant that protects cells from destruction and buffers acids that cause fatigue. A research review by Brazilian researchers concluded that beta-alanine was an effective supplement for preventing fatigue during high-intensity exercise. The optimal dosage of beta-alanine appears to be 6.4 grams per day, divided into four doses of 1.6 grams. This dose will increase blood carnosine levels by about 30 percent. Beta-Alanine supplements may improve perfomance by increasing muscle strength and size, and by preventing acid buildup during intense exercise.

Incorporating Failure Training into your workouts

Training to failure occasionally can trigger gains in muscle hypertrophy and strength. Using this method too frequently, however, can depress anabolic hormones and lead to overtraining, suppression of the immune system, and overuse injuries. Athletes interested in failure training should periodize their workouts by combining periods of exhaustive and sub maximal workouts to promote adaptive changes and allow recovery. While failure training has a machjo appeal., it prolongs recovery time and interferes with other activities, such as learning sports skills. Failure training can also severely injure muscle cells, creating a condition called rhabdomyolysis. Myoglobin from muscle cells leaks into the bloodstream and can cause kidney failure. While sometimes useful, training to failure excessively is inefficient, inefective, and protentially dangerous.

The Value of Advanced Swiss Ball Exercises

Swiss ball exercises are widely used to build core muscle strength and promote spinal stability. Several recent studies found that whole-body exercises such as squats, cleans, and snatches overload core muscles better than isolation exercises performed on Swiss Balls. An Australian study of advanced Swiss ball exercises led by Paul Marshall found that Swiss ball rolls and bridges caused significant activation of the abdominal and spinal muscles. While these exercises caused enough muscle activation to trigger a training response, people in the study had trouble maintaining a neutral spine, which could make advance Swiss ball exercises dangerous. The goal during most sports movements, particularly those involving rotation, should be to maintain a stiff, neutral spine and generate power from the legs and hips. Good technique is critical for maximizing force and reducing the risk of injury to the spine.

Supersets increase workout efficiency

Supersets usually pair two exercises, typically with opposing muscle groups, in rapid succession with no rest within each superset. An Australian study led by Daniel Robbins found that supersets increased workout efficiency without influencing the total volume of the workout. Trained males performed a workout consisting of 3 sets of 4 reps of bench pulls and bench presses using either traditional training (i.e., 3 sets of bench pulls followed by 3 sets of bench presses; three minutes rest between sets) or superset training (i.e., 1 set of bench pulls followed by 1 set of bench presses; three minutes rest between supersets; repeated supersets until workout completed). Researchers found no difference in muscle activation between the two training methods, but subjects could complete the superset workout more quickly. They noted that in oth workouts, three minutes rest between sets was inadequate for full recovery.

Warm up, Concentration, and Heavy sets.

How you train can affect the blood volume in your target muscles. Certain training strategies and protocols are designed to help you take better advantage of your pump. Include these training suggestions in your workouts for better training result.

WARM-UP SET: Warm-up sets not only warm up your target muscles, they pumped blood into your muscles to warm you up for your next set.

CONCENTRATION SET: This is the set where you focus on good form and make sure you’re very warmed up. You should be very focused by now, and feeling the pump.

HEAVY SET: On this set, you should go heavy and you shouldn’t be focusing so much on your form. This is your last set, and you’re going much heavier than the previous ones.

A giant super set

A Giant set is the practice of performing several (three to six) consecutive sets of different exercises for the same muscle group. A super set is the practice of performing several (two or three) consecutive sets but targeting different muscle groups that work synergistically together. With both giant and super sets, you perform one exercise after the next with little to no rest between sets.

Giant sets can be used for building Giants sets can but are more ideal for shaping and getting ripped. You can use all isolation movements, all compound movements, or a mix of both giant sets, depending on your end goal. Giants sets can provide an incredible muscle burn and pump. Plus, they will speed up your workout while helping you burn more calories. Here are examples.

Giant Set for Mass Building: Perform 4-10 reps of the bench press, dumbbell incline press and cable flye. Start with a heavy compound movement that stimulates the nervous system and exhaust the slow-twitch fibers. The isolation exercise that follows it will then activate more of both the fast- and -slow- twitch fibers than if done separately, thus exhausting the entire muscle to its fullest. Perform 3-4 giant sets.

Giant Set for Cutting: Perform 10-20 reps of the machine pec press, machine dip, upper cable flye, lower cable flye and lying dumbbell pullover. The higher reps will tone and condition the muscles by burning out all of the glycogen, which will help make the muscles harder and more defined with better separation. Do 3-4 giant sets.