Six Pack Abs are Overrated and Completely Worthless

#SixPack, #Washboard, #Shredded, #Ripped, #CutUp Abs. Everyone wants 'em... but how do you go about gettin' 'em? 

If you're seeking the answer to that question, you're not going to find it here. Well... not directly anyways. This article is going to be all about developing your core, not just those relatively weak and HIGHLY overrated muscles on the front of your stomach. Developing your entire core is extremely important. Why? Because your core's job is to protect the most fragile and vitally important part of your entire body...your spine. A strong core can eliminate lower back pain, prevent slipped discs and tweaks, and result in increased strength throughout your entire body. And as for six packs... I'd rather have a six pack of beer and no abs than a six pack abs and no core. Of course, along with a strong core comes a defined abdomen, but that's not the point!

Your core consists of the following 4 main muscles (just read the bold words if you're in a rush!):

1. Transverse Abdominis- I call this the internal belt. It's deep inside you and encases your spine and internal organs, including your stomach. This is the muscle that works when you suck in your belly and when you force yourself to exhale. A strengthened transverse abdominis will actually keep your belly from sticking out as far as usual. 
2. External Obliques- Located on your sides, these muscles run diagonally downwards in the same direction as your hands when you put them in your front coat pockets. They assist in twisting motions. 
3. Internal Obliques- Located underneath your external obliques, and running in the opposite direction, these muscles also assist in twisting motions. 
4. Rectus Abdominis (aka the Six Pack muscle)- this is the superficial muscle on the front of your abdominal wall that some (most) people kill themselves to get. Men and women will deprive themselves of good, tasty food, skip leg day, and neglect loved ones in their quest get a washboard of sex appeal placed front and center just below their chest. F*ck that noise. Focus on your entire core and this will gradually follow.

Other core muscles include a bunch of small muscles that run along your spine, along with your hip flexors, gluteus maximus and medius, and some other muscles that attach to your pelvis. All important to develop and perhaps the subjects of future articles... but for now lets get back to the 4 main muscles that I outlined above.

So here's how to strengthen your core, flatten your stomach, and possibly even get yourself a six pack (not that you still care about that, right?). This post would be WAY too long if I explained each and every exercise so for a Core sculpting workout, send me an email (strengthbymatt@gmail.com) or a facebook message (facebook.com/strengthbymatt). 

This is an advanced variation of a plank. Next step: Raise up
a leg, then an arm, then one of each.

• Planks- There are a ton of variations of these. The idea is to progress in difficulty levels as you. get stronger. Constant progression. You can put weights on your back, do them for longer, bring a stability ball into the mix, the possibilities are endless! Don't forget to do side planks either
• Off-balance Weight Training- using weights of two different sizes forces your core muscles to fire off and stabilize your body in order to keep your balance.
• Unilateral Exercises- Single leg squats, single romanian deadlifts (close your eys for an extra challenge), single leg box jumps, etc. The core fires off to stabilize your body and keep your balance.
• Unstable Platforms- Bocu balls, stability balls, Core-X platforms, medicine balls, etc. Countless combinations can make any ordinary lift completely dynamic and demanding for your core.
• Twists- anytime you twist your trunk, you work your internal and external obliques. Trim down your sides and "blast" away your love handles by twisting.

Again, this post would be WAY too long if I explained each and every exercise so for a Core sculpting workout, send me an email (strengthbymatt@gmail.com) or a facebook message (facebook.com/strengthbymatt). 

CRUNCHES are good for shaping your rectus abdominis muscle, but can actually damage your spine in the process. Numerous studies have found that the benefit you obtain from doing these archaeic exercises does not outweigh the risk that you place on your spine. The only reason to do a crunch is to prepare for a bodybuilding, physique, or figure show. If you care about athleticism and structural integrity, stop doing them. I personally haven't done a crunch or a sit-up in nearly a year and my abs are on par with where they were when I played college football. 

For my personal core workout- the one that I actually do in the gym- send me an email (strengthbymatt@gmail.com) or a facebook message (facebook.com/strengthbymatt). 

So there you have it amigos! Just in time for beach season!!!

WTF Should I Eat after I Lift??

!!!!!!Send me an email if you want a personalized lifting routine!!!!!!!

strengthbymatt@gmail.com

If you've been reading my stuff at all, you probably already know that I'm against using protein supplements at any time of day, including as a post workout recovery shake. While it is true that protein shakes are proven to work, these supplements are in my opinion, a HUGE waste of money. For a more detailed explanation, CLICK HERE to read my post on protein supplements.

INFB Pro Jodie Marsh claims to not use supplements
produced by the company she owns because they contain
banned substances!

The follow up question that I almost always get after making this bold statement is, "Well then what should I take after a workout, smartass?" But before I just straight up answer that question... let's break it down a bit.

First, instead of asking what you should TAKE, you should be asking what should you eat or drink for post workout nutrition. Second, as much as you care about eating and drinking the right stuff, you probably care just as much about convenience because you're busy as all hell. I could give you a ton of foods that take a lot of time to prepare for a post workout meal, but if I did that, you'd go right back to protein shakes. And finally, if you want to keep drinking your #Whey protein shakes because, through personal experience, you can't build muscle as efficiently without them, then you should absolutely keep drinking them. When it comes to working out it is my personal mantra that PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TRUMPS SCIENCE. I'm only inviting you to try something different, something more affordable. I will say though that your body can only take in .7-.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (for a 170lb. person thats 120-150 grams)... after that you either piss it out or store it as fat. So that mass your gaining from drinking 5 shakes a day probably ain't lean muscle my friend. But I digress...

So here are some easy to prep, cheap post workout meals that are just as effective as protein shakes:

1. Chocolate Milk
2. Plain, non-fat Yogurt with Granola mixed in
3. Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich on 100% Whole Wheat Bread
4. Peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, chesnuts, postachio nuts, nuts, nuts
5. 4-5 Hard boiled or raw eggs (if you can man up and get past the texture)
6. Oatmeal with fruit mixed in

The goal is to get 10-20 grams of protein-- that's all your body needs to take advantage of it's peeked protein synthesis levels-- and some carbohydrates into your body within an hour of completing your workout. Ladies, this goes for you too!

Again, this is all just advice...do whatever you want... as long as you lift!

The Creatine Experiment

!!!!!!Send me an email if you want a personalized lifting routine!!!!!!!
strengthbymatt@gmail.com

Also, Like the Strength By Matt Facebook Page for daily fitness tips! And add me to your Google+ Circles! (view in full web format on your smart phone or tablet to see the link to to do this)

Those of you who have been following my blog may remember a post I did on the benefits of creatine. Click CLICK HERE to read it.

Well I have continued doing research and have still not been able to find anything wrong with it. In fact, the only proven adverse side effects are weight gain and water retention... which actually aren't adverse at all since the whole purpose of taking the supplement is to gain mass. I am comfortable recommending this supplement to anyone 18 years and older because Creatine, the most studied supplement behind whey protein, has not been proven to cause any adverse health effects. Also, your body naturally produces Creatine, so it's not like you're adding anything to your system that might send your hormones into a tailspin. Now, because the supplement industry is highly unregulated you're going to want to heavily research the company from which you buy your products. Make sure their top dogs aren't criminals and check to see that their products have never been tainted with things like testosterone, steroids, or meth.

All the being said, I am going to use myself as a guinea pig for a 12 week cycle of Creatine supplementation. I purchased my Creatine powder from #truenaturals.com (a reliable source of supplements!) for $16 after shipping. Pretty affordable if you ask me. I will begin with a 5 day, 20 gram per day #LoadingPhase, and the rest of the cycle will be a 5 gram per day maintenance phase. I will take the 5 grams within 15 minutes postworkout (aka post swoll fest). Periodically, I will report my progress on here and at the end, I will give a full report. If I find any negative side effects I will stop taking it immediately. I have taken Creatine (and a sh*t ton of other legal supplements) in the past, but I did not take it properly, so this should be a pretty interesting experiment.

This is not a gateway supplement, so I still will not be taking #WheyProtein, #pre-workout supplements, #BCAAs, or anything else of the sort. And I STILL hold strong to the fact that proper nutrition can yield better results at a cheaper cost than any supplement can. But Creatine may be different. It is found naturally in beef and other meats, but to get the 5 grams per day that your muscles need to see a benefit from it, you would need to eat 32kg!!! of beef every day. That means eating a 64+ ounce steak every damn day! Also, at $16 for a 100 day supply, it's a pretty damn good value. So I invite you to follow along with me on this journey. In the end, I'll either recommend or I'll toss it in the same shitastic group as every other supplement on the market today. Cheers!

VIDEO: Protein Supplements are a WASTE of Money!

THIS is the Only Proven and Safe Supplement on the Market

I read a few studies on this supplement and went ahead and summarized one of them below. The last 2 paragraphs are pretty detailed so if you're a health nerd like me, you'll like them, otherwise just read the next 3 paragraphs. So what ergogenic actually works as advertised?

CREATINE is PROVEN to work! Not only that, but there are no negative side effects associated with taking it! It's the only supplement on the market that I would recommend adults (not high schoolers) taking. One of the best things about creatine is that it is naturally produced by your body, which means you're not putting something into your body that it isn't used to having.  When you supersaturate your muscles through creatine supplementation, you will put on mass and you'll see increases in strength and power. It goes without saying that you need to lift weights to see these gains... but I figured I'd say it just in case.

If you're going to take a creatine supplement, I recommend CREATINE MONOHYDRATE. There are many different types of creatines that manufacturers claim will turn you into some sort of a super human, but creatine monohydrate is the only one that has been proven to work by academic, non-biased studies. 

How to take it: Start with a LOADING PHASE of 5 grams 4 times per day for 5-7 days. This loading phase is important to seeing the best results. Very few studies have shown positive results in people who skipped the loading phase. After the loading phase just take 3-5 grams immediately after working out. You will see benefits if you take creatine prior to your workout, but for BEST results, take it afterwards. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water while your taking this supplement (aim for a gallon per day), and don't forget to lift weights. You're likely to get "bitch tits" if you take it and don't lift weights.

Now for the super informative, but slightly boring technical-term-filled summary of one of the studies I read about creatine...


Creatine monohydrate supplementation increases performance by giving the muscles more energy during workouts. The way this works is that the creatine monohydrate molecules that are ingested via a supplement bond with Adenosine Di-Phosphate (ADP) molecules that the human body naturally produces. When this happens, Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) is formed, thus resulting in more energy and decreased recovery time during workouts. As we learned in class, this is the primary storage form of energy in the muscles of the body. ADP molecules naturally bond together to form ATP molecules in the body. The benefit of taking a creatine monohydrate supplement is that these bonds occur at a much higher rate because there are more free molecules in the body for ADP molecules to bond with in order to form ATP. Creatine monohydrate supplementation has been proven to increase lean muscle mass, so this study was conducted in order to determine if creatine supplementation was more beneficial when taken pre or post workout.

The results of this study showed that creatine monohydrate supplementation was more beneficial when taken post workout vs. pre-workout. When taken both pre and post workout, fat free mass increased, fat mass decreased, and muscular strength increased. However, those participants that ingested creatine monohydrate after they worked out showed greater benefits than those that took the supplement prior to working out.  The participants were taken off all other supplements 4 weeks prior to the study commencing and they were put on the exact same workout routine for four weeks, and their diets were spot checked throughout the study and found to be relatively congruent amongst all participants. 

Reference

Antonio, J., & Ciccone, V. (2013). The effects of pre vs. post workout supplementation of creatine monohydrate on body composition and strength. Journal of the International Study of Sports Nutrition, 10, 36.