After a strong off-season that saw many of the athletes improve by participating in the teamsportstraining.com off-season athlete training program, participate in other sports and attend the annual Yellow-Jacket summer football camp the athletes looked ready to play some football.

Some of the improvements in the off-season

Our quarterback Caleb (Boomer) Vance, Josh Lords and Josh Haynes all made it to the state finals in track last year so we have a very fast core of skill players. Zach Gavlak is much bigger and more improved in his second season. His brother Tyler worked hard in the off-season and will be a HUGE help! Josh Stevens is back and looks stronger than last year. Jesse Sims is a freshman with a lot of size, speed and athletic ability that looks like he could sign with USC if they came up to Stevensville and offered him a scholarship.

With a lot of younger players and some jitters of being the first game the team got off to a slow start but took care of the main objective, stay in a position to win the game. Once the team settled down they started to get some momentum by consistently stuffing Frenchtown’s running game and actually showing a promising running game of their own. Typically being known as a spread/passing team it was exciting to see a running game that can balance the offense out. The running game was sort of the achilles heal of the offense last year but with some good coaching and hard work by the kids improvement was seen.

As the game went on the defense just kept stuffing the run which was pretty impressive to see. The coaches came in with a little different game plan that was designed after really watching the film from the game a year ago. With Frenchtown being known as a wishbone/option type team and not relying on their passing game much an aggressive, gap controlled defense can have some success if the kids are willing to play hard.

One new thing that was pretty great to see was the use of some of the younger kids towards the end of the game. Last year large leads were far and few so many of the younger kids did not get to play much. With a large lead, these kids were able to get valuable game repetitions that are hard to come in practice.

All in all there were many promising things to see after watching the game film the next day. However there are many areas to clean up if the team wants to go deep in the playoffs and have a successful year!

The second area of the Mentabolic shift is taking action. So many times people get caught up in the thought of the cost of what it takes to transform their body and mind, they lose sight of the tremendous benefits that come from a very lean, healthy and fit physique.

When you lose sight because you are focused on how hard it is to figure out your meals or prepare your food or whatever other excuse you come up with, just re-focus on where you want to go.

Trust me, being lean, stronger and fit will only help your day to day activities and self confidence!

One of the key set backs for many people in the training process of getting leaner is measuring their calorie and macro-nutrient levels. At first most will try and stay true to this but in time get off track.

This is an area that can always be fixed real quick. Just get out your food scale and get back to measuring and see what happens to your body. It always works. The reason people lose ground is that they become unfocused and extra food or the wrong food slips into the diet.

Make a commitment to get back on track with your food measurements but also your training. Remember that good old interval training (elevating your heart rate with compound exercises like squats, chin ups and running) will always help strip unwanted body fat. If you get your intervals in and dial in your food you will be on your way!

For those of you looking for a new recipe, I am including a lasagna recipe. It is great for people on the Iso-Bolic diet or as a carb meal on the Keto-Bolic diet every 5th to 7th day.

For those of you on the Iso-Bolic diet (33% carbs, 33% protein, 33% fat) or the Keto-Bolic diet (65% fat, 30% protein, 5% carbs) here is an oatmeal recipe that you will enjoy.

Iso-Bolic dieters, just add a bit of olive oil to round out the macronutrient equation. Keto-Bolic dieters use this as a cheat/carb meal on your 5th or 7th day.

Makes 1 Serving
Ingredients
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 8 Egg Whites
• 1/2 scoop (15g) of Chocolate Protein Powder
• 2 teaspoons of Pure Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon of Splenda
• 1 tbsp of Flax Oil
• 1 cup of frozen Blueberries
• 1/4 cup of water

Directions

1. In a big bowl, mix All the ingredients (except for the frozen
blueberries)

2. Cook in a microwave for about 3-4 minutes (cooking time
vary from one microwave to another) – stir the mix 2 minutes
after cooking has started (so the mix doesn’t stick or create
chunks)

3. Once the mix is cooked, add the frozen blueberries,
mix everything and enjoy!

Nutritional Facts
(Per Serving)
• Calories: 580
• Protein: 52g
• Carbohydrates: 57g
• Fat: 16g

Along with poor planning, lack of effective recovery methods and misguided diet information one of the biggest mistakes is training too long in a single workout.

Many times I go to a team or High School training facility and finish my entire workout before others even finish their first exercise of the day. When new athletes come to train with me for the first time, they are absolutely shocked at how short their workouts are and by the fact that they are getting significantly better results in half the time. This is also true for the fitness enthusiasts I train also.

Spending too much time in the gym is another thing that leads to over training. When you first start your workout and first hard set your body begins to increase its release of testosterone to aid in the muscle building process. This peaks at 27 minutes.

At the 45 minute mark your testosterone levels return to baseline. If you train longer than that your testosterone levels will slowly start to drop below baseline and your cortisol (the stress hormone that eats muscle and increases body-fat storage) levels will slowly creep up.

Cortisol increases due to the fact that the intense training is taxing the muscles and is used to help deal with the internal inflammation in the body. This is similar to a doctor administering a cortisol shot for an acute sports injury.

By the one hour mark your cortisol levels will be higher than your testosterone levels. Obviously this is the worst possible scenario. In the old Soviet Union sports doctors would monitor athlete’s blood periodically during workouts to determine when this was happening. Once it did they would know when to shut the workout down.

That is why I rarely allow my clients to train for longer than 45 minutes after their initial high intensity set in the weight room and would strongly suggest that you don’t either. You will be shocked at how much faster you will grow.

Of course during some sports fitness games and competition preparation workouts may exceed this time limit but the more you can manage it the better your weight training will progress.

I consider myself somewhat of a barbarian and simple eater. What that means is that I will eat the same thing over and over and not stress too much on what foods taste like. My wife loves this fact because it does not force her to be a world class gourmet chef to keep me happy at the dinner table.

I’m basically a walking human computer that thinks in terms of what chemical equation I should put into my body to look and feel a certain way. Over the years I have realized that most don’t think like this and have always had in the back of my mind to create a cookbook.

The book would be a great solution for the people I train and consult with.

The answer to this problem for me creating a book and for my clients getting a very valuable resource is a very interesting and helpful book called “Anabolic Cooking by Dave Ruel”.

This book has many great examples of incredibly tasty ways to prepare food that is healthy. It also gives examples of recipes that fall into the ratios I advise in my Athlete Training Program and Keto-Bolic diet plans.

For those on the Iso-Bolic plan there are tons of options. For those on the Keto-Bolic plan there are excellent options along with great recipes for your carb up meal or days.

Here is the link to the book

According to studies, most Americans have a diet which is centered around 12 to 17 items with French fries being the most consumed form of vegetable and ketchup being the most used fruit product. Here is a tip for you to try: “Next time when you go to grocery shop, put three new colors in your shopping cart”.

The reason behind this activity is to increase the intake of phytonutrients. These phytonutrients are associated with the colors and are plant based compounds which have multiple health benefits due to their anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

This might seem funny to improve sports training but honestly these compounds can have a big effect on how well you recover from workouts, injuries and prevent getting sick. In cold weather climates missing a week or two from sickness can seriously put you behind schedule of making gains.

Many of the bright colors, aromas and flavors found in vegetables and fruits are due to these phytonutrients. Here are the associations which you can make for these three colors.

Orange color is associated with beta-carotene. It is found in mangoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, apricot, cantaloupe and carrots. Beta-carotene is very beneficial for eyes and skin.

Pink/Red are associated with lycopene. This compound is found in tomato, pink grapefruit, watermelon, guava. Increasing intake of fruits and vegetables which have lycopene reduces risk of cancer in your body.

Purple/Red colors are associated with anthocyanins. It protects heart, brain and eyes. Anthocyanins is found in cabbage, purple or red grapes, red apples, blackberries, blueberries, eggplant, plums, prunes, red pear, strawberries, cherries, cranberries.

There are many more colors in vegetables and fruits, so more numbers of phytonutrients are available. You can broaden your intake of different kinds of phytonutrients if you vary colors.

For those who find eating vegetables and fruits hard, there are products available in the form of concentrated powders which act as supplements for all the compounds found in natural vegetables and fruits.

Many high level professional athletes working to improve their sports training are particularly interested in these products, as they are a convenient way to provide the body with large quantities of phytonutrients and alkalize the body.

Two excellent products that provide these phytonutrients are Optimum EFX Red 54 and Green Fuel. These two products Red 54 (for fruits), and Green Fuel (for vegetables) can be taken as one scoop each per day to generate the phytonutrients of over 10 servings of fruits and vegetables.

Try the tip mentioned above and some green and red powders and you will improve your sports training in a way that most don’t think of!

The diet consists of high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate levels for specific periods of time to shift an athlete’s metabolism into fat a burning and muscle building mode. This initial cycle is followed by a systematic loading of higher carbohydrates, moderate protein and low fat for short periods of time.

These guys happen to be using a couple of cerveza’s as their carbohydrate load. It doesn’t look like it is affecting their body fat levels.

Now I’m not advocating the use of beer for your carbohydrate load but those of you who are over the age of 21 and like to be athletic, lean, strong and enjoy a beer from time to time this diet is just for you.

This short term load does wonders for filling and fueling muscles to grow and get stronger. The great thing about this is the size and strength that can be generated from the load without accumulating a noticeable amount of body fat.

Keeping body fat levels in a low range is great when you need to transfer the athletes out of a mass building phase and into a power, explosive and speed generating phase. Too many times when athletes gain this excess body fat/weight that comes along with high carbohydrates and sodium levels they lose speed.

Here is Tanner Galusha from Stevensville High School working his arms after a systematic carbohydrate load!

Then it takes a high level of conditioning to chisel the fat off. This can lead in turn to losing some of the developed strength and muscle mass. The Ketobolic Diet is a great tool to solve the problem of gaining mass without the unwanted fat.

Some things to look out for when using this type of diet is to make sure you are using the correct supplements to keep energy, anti-oxidant, anti-catabolic and alkalinity levels at peak conditions. Performing some of the steps wrong can lead to subpar results and actually make an athlete weaker.

Invest in quality anti-oxidants, fish oils, and some red and green powders like Green Fuel and Red 54 by Optimum EFX.

If you are interested in getting bigger, leaner and stronger all at once for sports training you may want to consider the Ketobolic Diet.

Believe it or not doing some specialized elbow (arms) training can have a positive effect on many attributes in a few different sports. For example strengthening your arms in the gym can improve grip and pulling strength for exercises like chin ups and pull ups.

An improvement in chin ups and pull ups can lead to an increased ability to rebound a basketball, tackle an opposing football player or even grip an opposing wrestler better during a wrestling match.

There are man different ways to train the biceps, triceps and forearms. Low reps, heavy weight – high reps, lighter weight and even lots of different grips are a few ways to mix up your arm training. You can even put a pause in the middle of the rep just to tax the muscle even more.

The main thing is to be consistent in the gym and pick exercises that will stimulate the most muscle growth for the least time spent in the gym. Also remember to mix it up every 3-4 weeks on your routine to keep your body progressing and maxing out every last fiber down deep in the muscle.

Another great strategy for maximizing your sports training with blasting your arms is to get a lifting crew together (a few guys that like to train hard!) and push each other! This brings extra stimulation that you won’t get by yourself and your ipod!

Here is a shot of one of the guys in our lifting crew.

In the end it is a win-win if you like to train your arms and you play sports. You will benefit from the strength and that can be the deciding factor in a close competition.

Whether it shows up as an increase in an athlete’s bench press maximum or the ability to run more sprints with correct form in less time or eliminating a pain that was being caused by improper alignment gaining postural balance works.

What is postural balance?

The body is a lever system controlled by muscles that lift and lower the levers. The body was designed to have a balance with the joints of the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and the head all stacked on top of each other. There should be no excessive leaning forward, backwards or side to side.

Correct Posture

Poor Posture

The body does not work well when this alignment of joints is not in synch. The body is also like a teeter-totter. If one side of the body has stronger or tighter muscles it will pull the other side towards it. This will cause the weaker or looser muscles to become tight and weak due to constantly working to pull the body to its natural state of being straight up and down.

By having an understanding of what muscles oppose each other and what a tight muscle is you can strengthen and stretch the muscles accordingly to create muscular balance throughout the body.

Commonly weak muscles are the muscles of the upper back, neck and hamstrings. Common tight muscles are the chest, and many of the muscles in the hips. Following the workouts in this program will help shore up many of these problems.

Developing postural balance

Developing postural balance is simply performing exercises that work to keep the body in its most optimally balanced state. This is a key concept for maximizing strength and preventing injuries.

Here is one of our favorite postural balancing exercises in the Athlete Sports Training Program

When I was training Mike Tyson for his fight in 2004 with Danney Williams I would give him a combination known as (PWF) pre-workout formula. It has ALCAR (Acetyl L-Carnitine), L-Tyrosine, Piracetam and L-Citruline DL-Malate in it. This would do just the trick to get the energy flowing for some beat down early morning interval type, fat burning training.

After seeing the effects of this combination I have used it on many of my clients and friends to help them burn fat, maximize energy, increase focus and improve sports training endurance. This combination along with a systematic sports diet can produce some great results.

Here are a few pictures of some people I have given it to along with a specific diet and systematic training program.

Getting Lean And Strong With Pre-Workout Formula

At age 37 I used the ALCAR and pre-workout formula while dieting to get my body fat under 8% which for me is a chore! I was working out with a few guys from the USC (University of Southern California) football team playing a sports fitness game called Danney Ball.

These guys were just coming off their spring football conditioning and I was able to not only keep up with them but actually gave them a little more than they could handle. Not bad for a 37 year old against some 20-21 something division 1 athletes.

1. What is carnitine?

L-carnitine is a trimethylated amino acid that plays essential roles in many areas of the body, including fatty acid translocation and muscle function. Carnitine is also acetylated into the ester Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) in the brain, liver, and kidney. ALCAR also plays a variety of roles in the body, including increasing acetylcholine production and stimulation of protein and membrane phospholipid synthesis. Orally administered L-carnitine and ALCAR have profound nutrient repartitioning properties, and the effects of supplementing with them have been extensively researched in many areas.

2. What form is best?

Pharmacologically speaking, there is little difference between supplementing with L-carnitine and supplementing with ALCAR. This is because ALCAR is deacetylated during or immediately after intestinal cell uptake, and then a certain amount of free carnitine is later reacetylated (1, 2). Similarly, it has been shown that supplementation with both L-carnitine and ALCAR increase tissue levels of both substances, and that the intestine creates significant amounts of ALCAR from carnitine (2, 3).

3. What application does carnitine have?

The carnitines are excellent supplements for athletes, as well as anyone who wants to look and feel their best. Studies with both ALCAR and L-carnitine have shown that they have potent nutrient repartitioning effects, and there are some studies indicating that L-carnitine can increase exercise performance.

In one study, both young and old rats were supplemented with ALCAR and compared with age-matched controls. Nutrient partitioning and muscle mass and function were among the factors measured. Body weight did not differ significantly between the two groups, but there were strong differences in the fat to protein ratios. The young rats fed ALCAR had slightly higher body protein levels (not statistically significant) and significantly less body fat, while the old rats fed ALCAR had much high body protein levels and the same amount of body fat (1). ALCAR may be especially useful for older people, as one rat study found that long-term administration prevents the progressive increase in the size of fat cells that normally occurs with age (4).

Another study looked at the effects of carnitine (.68 g) and choline (.94 g) supplementation on fat metabolism in healthy women. In the treatment groups, body fat decreased .7-1.3% over 35 days (as opposed to no difference in the placebo group). They also found that when the supplemented groups exercised, the ability to utilize fat as energy substrate increased (5). Animal studies have also shown L-carnitine to reduce obesity (6) and improve nitrogen utilization (7). However, there has been one human study in moderately obese premenopausal women in which no weight loss or repartitioning effect was found with L-carnitine (13).

When looking at the effects of the carnitines on exercise performance, we no longer have to rely so much on animal studies. Various studies have shown that L-carnitine improves exercise performance in people with heart problems or impaired exercise tolerance, as well as people recovering from hemodialysis (8-12). However, the influence on exercise performance on healthy individuals is less clear. L-carnitine definitely changes the response and effects of exercise, as evidenced by decreased muscle soreness and decreased pyruvate and lactate concentrations and higher ALCAR concentrations post-exercise (14, 15), as well as studies showing it to increase utilization of fat as a fuel source during exercise (5, 16). A study with L-carnitine L-tartrate also showed it to favorably effect many markers of recovery from squat exercises (19). The real world effect of this is not conclusively known, and two recent reviews stated that further studies are needed before the effect can be determined on healthy individuals (17, 18). Regardless of the present lack of human studies showing a definite ergogenic effect, the nutrient partitioning properties and improved recovery alone make carnitine a worthwhile supplement, and there are also many added benefits.

4. How does carnitine work?

Carnitine’s primary job is in the regulation of cellular metabolism, and it closely interacts with coenzyme A in a variety of reactions. It is required for fatty acid oxidation, and this is the primary theoretical reason for improved exercise performance, as improved fatty acid oxidation will preserve muscle glycogen and improve ATP production (17, 18). It was recently confirmed that supplemental carnitine increases long-chain fatty acid oxidation in healthy individuals without carnitine deficiency (20), providing more evidence for an ergogenic benefit. Enhanced fatty acid oxidation and cellular metabolism is also the proposed mechanism of action for the nutrient partitioning benefits (1).

Additionally, carnitine is a potent antioxidant (especially in combination with ALA) (21) and there is evidence that it increases exercise performance for this reason. A Russian study found that both L-carnitine and ALCAR increased running speed and endurance in trained animals, and that the increase was proportional to their antioxidative activity (22). Another strong antioxidant is melatonin, and ALCAR has also been shown to increase melatonin levels (23).

5. What other benefits does carnitine have?

• Supports cognitive function – ALCAR plays a strong role in the brain in many ways, and has beneficial effects. Studies in aged rodents show markedly improved memory and learning capacities (32, 35-37), while studies in younger rodents show a variety of promising effects as well (40, 41). Other rodent studies have shown that ALCAR significantly protects the brain against a variety of stresses, such as ischemia and repurfusion (26) and mitochondrial uncoupling (27). It also protects against peripheral nerve trauma, “almost eliminating neuron loss” (28), and in vitro neuronal apoptosis (29, 30). ALCAR also increases levels of dopamine, amino acids, and acetylcholine in the brain, as well as facilitating cholinergic activity (31, 32).

ALCAR supplementation is also accompanied by many positive structural changes in the brain in both the young and the old. It stimulates nerve growth factor (NGF) binding (28, 42), and rodent studies indicate significantly more regenerative elements and reduced degenerative elements (40, 43). A study that measured the regenerative capacity of myelinated fibers in young and old rats found that ALCAR significantly increased the density of regenerating myelinated fibers (RMF) and increased the density of axon diameters in both, as well as reducing degenerative elements (40), and another rat study with ALCAR found increased synaptic numeric densities and improvements in energy provision at nerve terminals in both young and old rats, as well as 10-20% increases in synapses smaller than .08 microns (41).
6. Are there any side effects?

Carnitine has no toxicity, teratogenicity, contraindications, or drug interactions (65). There are very few side effects associated with carnitine use, and no serious side effects have been reported (58, 64, 65). Some users report nausea or stimulation, but these tend to be transient and disappear with time (65). There are also many anecdotal reports of more vivid dreams.

7. How should carnitine be taken?

The typical dosage for carnitine is 1-4 g/day (65). A study on the pharmacokinetics of oral L-carnitine in human subjects found no differences in plasma carnitine after 2 g vs. 6 g, indicating that 2 g is already more than the saturable dose (66). The half-life of the 2 gram dose was 6.5 hours, and this would imply that the ideal dosing schedule would be 1-2 grams 2-3 times daily, although many studies indicate beneficial effects with only .5-1.5 grams daily.

I typically use 3.5 grams in the pre-workout formula to get a great mental benefit along with the increase in fat burning qualities. Give this sports nutrition supplement a try and you will be glad to see how it can help your sports training program.