Do you take supplements? This could be anything from an omega-3 or a multi-vitamin to taking a creatine, beta alanine or a protein supplement.I'm always curious about the people who don't take supplements? I try and think of all the reasons someone might say 'no thanks, not for me'. And really this comes down to people who are at the peak of their health or fitness, who don't recognize the benefits or who don't have the financial means to do so. Let's look at each of these.Excuse #1 - I'm in the best shape of my life alreadyIf you asked most people 'are you in the best shape of your life' very few would say yes. And those that would say yes may still have untapped potential depending on what they've already achieved with their training. For example, someone may have lived most of their life as an obese person and now would consider themselves the healthiest they've ever been. But there is still room for them to improve and realize more gains.Excuse #2 - Skeptic of the scienceAs for the skeptic that doesn't believe supplements work, they may have had a bad experience with a previous supplement. But there is more and more research evidence that certain metabolites, such as omega-3 and creatine for example, offer health and performance benefits. To deny the benefits means refuting science. And there will always be some people that deny science and research. Consider the fact that there is a Flat Earth Society shows how some people will always refute the truth.Excuse #3 - Supplements are expensiveAnd when you consider the argument that supplements are expensive this may be true depending on what an individuals buys and how they use it. On the other hand you could argue that a particular supplement may improve...

The other day I finished up a session with a client and we were talking about post-workout nutrition. And as we have chocolate milk for after your workout I offered one to this client. And she had a question regarding drinking chocolate milk. Specifically she wanted to know if it was ok to drink the reduced sugar version. Here's what I told her. After training the body is looking to begin the repair process and replenish metabolites that have been depleted. During training the body uses ATP as the energy source. Carbohydrates are a prime source for generating ATP during training. Some of the cards we eat are stored in the body in the form of glycogen in the muscle and liver. Anyways, it makes sense that after training we've depleted the body's source of glycogen and this needs to be replaced. If we eat only protein we won't have the necessary nutrients to replenish our store of glycogen. This is a common mistake some make with regards to their post-workout nutrition. They believe they need protein, which they do, but nothing else. There is also the belief that more is better and if 20 grams of protein in your post workout shake is good than 40 grams would be better and 50 or 60 grams would probably be best. But here's the thing. 20 grams of whey protein will get the job done. As will 6 grams of branched chain amino acids. Or 2 grams of the essential amino acid leucine. But we tend to follow label instructions on our favourite protein supplement which tells us a serving is 30-50 grams of protein. And the other protein is the lack of carbohydrate. And optimal post-workout formulation would have 3 or 4 times the amount of carbs as protein. A regular...

So we all know the importance of the pre-workout meal. Well, maybe I'm jumping the gun. I should say that I hope we all know the importance of the pre-workout meal.And I should qualify the position I'm coming from on this topic. This is based upon training for performance and athletic excellence. The reason I make the distinction is that there is a growing movement and popularity for intermittent fasting when it comes to weight loss and body composition changes. I'm not referring to this type of goal.When it comes to pre-workout nutrition for a performance goal wer're looking to hydrate and top up the body's supply of glycogen. Glycogen is the body's stored form of carbohydrate which can be found in the muscle and liver. If we have some carbs before training this can help 'spare' muscle glycogen or minimize the depletion of this energy source.And while carbs are our best source to accomplish this we want to make sure to keep the pre-workout levels of fats and protein a little lower. This may seem contrary to what you'll see many 'meat heads' doing as they suck on a protein shake while warming up on the treadmill. Don't follow this lead. Too much protein slows gastric emptying and impairs performance.But while we hear all the time how important it is to eat before training, how important is it really? How much does it impact your performance? Can one meal really make a difference?Consider the following session I had with a client this week. This client wears a heart rate monitor while training and of course we are monitoring loads, recovery times and outputs on energy system work. And for this particular workout the client had not had a pre-workout meal.Here's what happened.When we got to some of the conditioning sets...