Normally, I would do some research on an issue and then give my two cents and move on. Living in MN we get a lot of the pro-ethanol propaganda and to be fair, I am not very knowledgeable on the subject.

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Supplementation has become a staple of the strength training industry.  There are a million and a half companies out there with millions of products to pump you up overnight it seems.  Sometimes it’s hard to sort the bullshit from the good shit.  Mostly everyone knows the 3 main things to take: a protein, a creatine, and a good multi vitamin. How come a good BCAA supplement is not at the top of the list?

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Walk past the cardio section and to the weight room section of your gym, look at 99.999% of the people there, at least males and ask them what their diet entails. You will hear protein, chicken, fish, protein (yes it’s that important), complex carbs, 3000 calories a day blah blah oh yea and creatine. Nice creatine the most respected supplement out there proven to work time and time again. May I ask what kind you take and how much? Aw shit man I take 3-4 scoops a day probably like 20-30 grams shits good for you, and you can never have too much of a good thing right? What does creatine do for you, do you know, why did you choose that brand? Oh…ummm, the guy at GNC said it was the best?

Well first off you need to know where creatine comes from. Creatine is naturally found in meat, mostly red meat. Creatine is manufactured naturally in the body from the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. This process takes place in the kidneys, liver, and pancreas.  The body stores two kinds of creatine, free creatine (CR) and creatine phosphate (CP). 40% of creatine is stores as free creatine and the other 60% is stored in phosphate. On average male uses 2 grams of creatine per day, and it is replaced through normal diet.So what does creatine do for the body? Creatine replaces used adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the power that drives your muscles. When the muscles is required to contract, APT splits and creates ADP, when this happens the energy released powers the muscle contraction. When ATP is depleted the muscle can no longer contract. There are a couple ways to rebuild the ATP. The easiest way is through creatine phosphate, which bonds to the ADP turning it back into ATP. If the body’s stores of CP are gone it has to find other ways to replenish the ADP.This is where your creatine supplement comes in hand. It increases both CR and CP. When you have more creatine free or phosphate in the muscle to use, you have further capacity to regenerate your ATP. This will allow for power output for brief periods of high intensity workouts. We say brief because of the fact that your cells and only store so much CR, once it is gone your body will look for other methods of replenishment.

So how much creatine should a person take. When starting a creatine workout it is suggested you have a loading phase, usually 5-7 days. High doses of creatine are suggested during this phase to saturate the muscles. 20 grams is usually used in this phase. After that a dose of about 5 grams a day is suggested as a maintenance phase. I personally don’t agree with the loading phase and maintence phase, obviously works for some people but I usually just shoot for a consistant 5-7 grams a day. A lot of people experience head and stomach aches in the loading phase, I don’t want this, so for me 5-7 grams a day keeps the doctor away, catch my drift? This is all based on personal preference though.

As covered before creatine supplementation causes the body to store more CP. It is well known that the body for whatever reason stores far below what it is actually capable of storing. With supplementation you are able to fill up the excess stores. An interesting effect of creatine supplementation appears to be enhanced ability for the muscle to store glycogen.

Glycogen is a form of carbohydrate stored inside the muscle that is used to fuel anaerobic activity (i.e. activity that is too intense to allow the cardiopulmonary system to deliver adequate oxygen). Many studies have shown that replenishing glycogen stores may aid recovery and hypertrophy (muscle growth). Bodybuilders use a protocol known as “carb-loading” to supersaturate their muscles with glycogen. Glycogen requires water to enter the muscle cell, therefore having higher glycogen levels means more fat-free mass and larger, fuller muscles. This is why people who just start taking creatine think it is a god send as they look bigger, not because they are stronger but their muscles are full of water.

So is creatine for you? Creatine may not be effective for every person. With any supplement there are health risks. There also seems to be a significant amount of the general population that has no effect from creatine.  People on a vegetarian diet seem to have a great response from creatine, more than likely because of the lack of normal creatine found in their diet. The opposite could be said for high protein diet individuals, especially those of us who get a lot of our protein from red meat.

Is creatine safe for me to take? Generally creatine is suggested to be used on cycles. It has been shown the using it for long periods of time in high doses does not have adverse effects. One study concluded that supplementation from nine (9) weeks up to five (5) years did not adversely affect renal function. Yet another study examined muscle damage, hepatic (liver) and renal (kidney) function, and found no adverse effects from creatine supplementation.

There is potential cause for concern, however. The by-product of creatine use in the muscle is creatinine. Creatinine is typically harmless, and is flushed by the kidneys. When the kidneys are not functioning properly, however, any type of excess strain can cause problems.

There are many different brands of creatines out there. Most people stick to creatine monohydrate which bonds with water, while others swear by Creatine Ethyl Ester which is basically creatine with a bunch of other junk thrown in to up absorption and help the effects of creatine. It is all based on personal preference. I have used both and have worked well with both. Do you research before walking into GNC as they just want to sell what makes the most commission?

Train Hard and Supplement Smart

Brandon Braner
IronBar Fitness

I have heard it over and over again that milk is bad for you, most recently
I heard it from my 81 year old grandma. Now wait didn’t she grow up in the
era of milk does a body good? This got my mind wondering and lead me to some
research on if I should be consuming my normal gallon of milk a day.

My research led me to some pretty interesting information on the bovine growth
hormone (rBGH) they give cows.
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Anywhere you work you will hear it; I am going to go get a cup of coffee. Sometimes people have a huge thermos of it. Take a walk down an urban side walk, what do you see, I would say probably one coffee shop for every 100 people. The coffee craze in America is out of control. Everyday there is a new Star Bucks or local chain popping up. This has me wondering what are the benefits to drinking coffee rather than caffeine which we all know is the main reason we all drink it.
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Source: FDA

Important Supplement recall notice.

The trust we put into food and drug companies is outstanding.  Do we really know what goes on in the factories of where our supplements are made? For that fact do you even know, we are so busy checking what is in our supplements, have we ever checked to see in which country they are produced?
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Carbohydrates, a word that strikes fear into many dieters in America, we all have heard of Atkins.

“When you eat too many carbohydrates (carbs), your body burns some of those carbs for energy and stores the excess carbs as fat.”-Atkins Website
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As IronBar Fitness’s first supplement review, I have chosen to go over the top supplement in my diet and in a lot of opinions’ on of the top protein supplements out there. Everyone knows if you are going to take a supplement you might as well start with protein. Which protein should you take? I recommend Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Whey Gold Standard.

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