Brad Murphy

What Foods to Eat After Your Workout – Post Workout Snacks

Updated on May 3, 2021 by Brad Murphy

So you have to the gym and worked out. What are the best foods to eat when you need to eat something after training.

Best Post Workout Snacks for After the Gym

If you are short of time after your workouts you may have to go with post-workout snacks in preference to post-workout meals. There’s nothing wrong with that sometimes the easy things work best.

Whether you take your nutrition in the form of post-workout meals or snacks is not so important. However, knowing what foods to eat after your workout is very important indeed.

The foods that you eat after your workout play a vital role in muscle recovery and growth. Whether you are snacking or sitting down to a full meal, you need to get it right.

This article is primarily about post-workout snacks, but it could be equally applicable to post-training meals. In this case, the main difference between a snack and a meal is likely to be the time it takes to prepare.

Post-workout snacks are quick and easy to make. Post-workout meals often require a little more time to prepare. In both cases, the only important thing is the nutritional value.

We’re talking muscle fuel here and regular fuel is not good enough. You need to go premium all the way. We have written an article about pre-workout foods here

The Importance of Correct Post-Workout Nutrition

Depending on the choices you make, your post-workout snacks can help move you forward or hold you back. You need to get it right. These foods can also help you reduce your belly fat.

Like everything else in your body, muscles require energy. Although your body can store energy, it originally gets it from food.

The food we eat releases glucose into our blood. The muscles use it for energy after first converting it to ATP. [SOURCE]

When the food provides more glucose than is needed, the liver converts the excess glucose to glycogen. It stores most of this within itself. The rest is stored in the muscles. When glucose runs low, the stores of glycogen are converted back to glucose and put to work. [SOURCE]

However, after any form of intense exercise or workout activity, the muscles’ are normally running on empty. The glycogen stores are practically gone.

Exercise hits the muscles hard in another way as well. All that intense physical activity breaks down muscle tissue.

By the end of your workout, your muscles are in a pretty bad way. Not only do they need to replace all that lost glycogen, they need to repair the damaged tissue too.

The only way the muscles can do these things is by using the energy and nutrients provided by food. Your post-workout snacks need to get both these things to them and they need to do it fast. [SOURCE]

It needs carbs to replace energy and protein for muscle repair. Your post-workout snacks will need to provide both. A little healthy fat can be good as well, but it’s not as vital as carbs and protein.

Post-Workout Meal Benefits

A good post-workout meal provides a number of benefits. You’ll be more aware of some of them than others because a lot is happening behind the scenes.

Three less obvious benefits are:

Better protein synthesis
Glycogen restoration
Faster post-exercise recovery

When the foods you eat after your workout provide these benefits, you will feel it because your muscles will not feel so sore. Additionally, any soreness you do experience will only be short-lived.

There are also foods that help you gain muscle – these are bulking foods.

You will also see the benefits, but that could take some time. Because good pre-workout snacks improve protein synthesis and faster recovery, they help your muscles grow. It’s going to be a while before you see that benefit in the mirror.

However, presuming you’re training correctly and your overall diet is okay, you should find you are getting stronger every week.

Fast Carbs After a Workout? Carbohydrates are the present day villain of the macronutrients.

The Role of Carbs and Protein in Your Post-Workout Snacks

Bodybuilders often tend to become overly obsessed with protein, but it’s only one half of a winning team. Eating carbs after working out are important too

Due to differences in the way they work their muscles, bodybuilders require a greater amount of protein than other athletes. There’s no arguing with that.

Swimmers and runners, on the other hand, will likely require post-workout snacks that have less protein and more carbs.

No matter what the sport though, the foods you eat after your workout need to provide both important nutrients.

Protein is needed for protein synthesis. Carbs replenish glycogen. They are powerful allies that can get your muscle growth moving in the right direction.

Eating post-workout snacks or meal that contain both nutrients improves body composition and boosts physical strength. That’s a fact and research proves it. [SOURCE]

Try beginning with post-workout snacks that include carbs and protein in a 3:1 ratio. See how you go, don’t be afraid to experiment, and take it from there.

The Debatable Value of Fat in Post-Workout Snacks

Fat provides nine calories per gram. A gram of carbs or protein only provides four. Fat is a high-calorie food and you need to bear that in mind before adding it to your post-workout snacks.

Seriously, if the idea of growing bingo wings gets you in a flap you need to go steady with fat. Your heart will thank you for it too.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat it. The truth is your body needs it, just not in copious amounts.

You may have heard fat slows down the absorption of other nutrients. That’s true. It does. Fat is very hard to digest. It takes some time and when it gets mixed in with carbs and protein their absorption rates can take a hit.

That’s a good reason not to overdo it with fat, but it doesn’t mean you should avoid it entirely. If the foods you eat after your workout contain a little fat that should be fine.

In fact, it may even improve protein synthesis. A study comparing the abilities of full fat and skimmed milk certainly suggests this is so. When consumed after resistance exercise, the fat in the whole milk increased amino acid uptake, leading to improvements in protein synthesis.

Tips on Timing Your Post-Workout Snacks

Just after training, there is a short window of time where “feeding your muscles” offers the greatest benefits.

Most experts agree this window starts to close around 45 minutes after you cease training. So, eating your post-workout snacks around half-an-hour after your workout should help you get the optimum benefits.

A Few Good Foods Options for Your Post-Workout Snacks

The foods you include in your post-workout snacks provide your body with the nutrients it needs. The problem is, some foods release their nutrients too slowly to provide the muscles with the fast nourishment they need.

Below are some food suggestions to help you make some effective snacks to eat after your workout.

CARBOHYDRATE	PROTEIN	FAT
Potatoes Fruits Bulgur wheat Oatcakes Brown rice Wholemeal Pasta Yams Chocolate milk Leafy green vegetables	Tuna Turkey Chicken Eggs Salmon Cottage Cheese Greek Yogurt Protein bar Whey protein powder	Peanut butter Avocado Walnuts Sunflower seeds Trail mix Olive oil

Some Post-Workout Snack Ideas

Here are some post-workout snack ideas:

Peanut butter and beetroot sandwiches
Crispbread with tuna and sweetcorn
Bulgur wheat salad garnished with olive oil and vinegar
Protein shake and mixed fruit smoothie
Cottage cheese and pineapple on toast
Greek yogurt with walnuts and berries or fruit
Rye bread and turkey salad sandwich

Some Final Post-Workout Considerations

The foods you eat after a workout are important. They help you heal and grow. Whether you take your nourishment in the form of a post-workout meal or a snack is less important. It’s the nutrients that count, not the way you chose to take them.

However, it makes sense to always choose healthy food options. Especially when it comes to fats. Unsaturated fats are always preferable to the saturated kind.

Although it’s a bit of stretch to include advice on hydration in an article about the foods to eat after your workout, the subject is too important to omit. [SOURCE]

The body of the average adult is 55 to 60 percent water. During a workout, you lose a some of that water in sweat.

You also lose a lot of important minerals the body uses as electrolytes. Allowing yourself to become dehydrated during exercise can make you feel dizzy and ill. It can cause a lot of other problems too. Loss of electrolytes can cause lethargy, nausea and disrupt your heartbeat.

A good workout is hard on the body in a lot of ways, it’s going to need some nurturing afterward.

If your post-workout snack is suitably rich in vitamins and minerals you will probably only need to top up with water. Though, there is a lot to be said for sports drinks. Vitamin and mineral supplements are good too.

Want the bottom line? Be as hard on your body as you want during your workout, but be extra kind when you stop. Feed it well, make sure it’s adequately hydrated, then sit back and watch those muscles grow.

Trenorol Review & Results – Legal Trenbolone with Before & After Pics

Updated on July 21, 2021 by Brad Murphy

Trenorol is a natural bodybuilding supplement designed to replace the steroid Trenbolone. It is used by bodybuilders to add muscle mass and gain strength while working out. Hit or a miss? Read our review

Trenorol review — Trenorol is a supplement for muscle mass gains, strength and conditioning

PROS
Massive muscle gains.
Effective for cutting and bulking phases.
Legal Trenbolone alternative.
Lots of positive customer reviews.
Great for stacking

CONS
Availability limited to official website.
Not available in some countries.

VERDICT – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
A winner from CrazyBulk. A legal Trenbolone with some impressive results from customers.

Available to buy from the official CrazyBulk website. The best selling countries are the United States, Canada, UK and Australia.

Can be ordered as a standalone product or part of a stack to maximum results.

Please note: There is no valid CrazyBulk Coupon Code due to the current special offers.

VIEW SPECIAL OFFERS

CrazyBulk Trenorol Review

Trenorol is a legal steroid created and sold by CrazyBulk. It promises to provide substantial gains in lean muscle mass during bulking and cutting cycles.

Past customers reveal they are seeing good results by the time they have finished the first bottle.

CrazyBulk says Trenorol is “The action hero of legal steroids”. It’s a massive self-endorsement, but the company really does know its stuff so it’s easily forgiven.

The word in the gym is Trenorol packs a hefty punch and delivers massive increases in power. Plenty of people are praising it as a fat burner too and saying it got them looking ripped and toned.

When a manufacturer makes claims like that it’s easy to dismiss them because talk is cheap. It’s a whole different ballgame when customers say it. Feedback like that is worth its weight in gold.

What Is Trenbolone and Why Is CrazyBulk Trenorol Better?

Trenbolone is an androgen and anabolic steroid. It boosts muscle growth and increases the appetite, but Trenbolone is not approved for human use.

However, some bodybuilders and athletes buy Trenbolone illegally and use it for bulking and enhancing their performance.

The good thing about the Trenbolone steroid is it builds lean muscle without causing much water retention.

The bad thing about ordering Trenbolone is it can make you aggressive. It also causes acne, premature balding, and other side effects including insomnia and increased sweating.

CrazyBulk Trenorol offers all the same steroid benefits but none of the side effects. You can also use it without breaking the law.

The other big difference is, you have to inject the steroid. As with all CrazyBulk products, Trenorol is taken by mouth.

CrazyBulk Manufacturer Credibility

CrazyBulk is the most trusted legal steroid brand in the world. If you see the word “CrazyBulk” on the label you know you are looking at something good.

Lots of professional bodybuilders have CrazyBulk steroids in their gym bags. Not just men either. Plenty of female athletes use them too and customer reviews are excellent, right across the board.

Is Trenorol Suitable for Women?

Yes. Lots of women use it and report excellent results.

It’s important not to confuse CrazyBulk’s product with the steroid it replaces.

The steroid Trenbolone can be very harsh on women who use it. It can make women grow body hair and start showing other masculine traits.

Some women who purchase and use Trenbolone steroid end up with a deeper voice and masculine features. It can also enlarge the clitoris sufficiently to make it resemble a small penis.

CrazyBulk Trenorol does not do any of these things. It’s 100 percent safe for women to use.

How to Use Trenorol

The dose and timing depends on if it’s a workout day or not.

On workout days, you need to take three capsules with water just before you begin working out.

On non-workout days, you take one capsule, three times per day with your main meals.

For best results, you need to continue using Trenorol for at least eight weeks. CrazyBulk suggests a cycle of eight weeks on followed by one-and-a-half weeks off.

Trenorol Benefits and Selling Points

Safe and Legal Trenbolone Alternative
Gain Massive Muscle Mass
Shred Fat Without Loss of Muscle Mass
Attain Super Strength & Stamina
Provides Rapid Recovery
Enhances Sex Drive and Performance
See Results Within 30 Days
Free Worldwide Delivery

How CrazyBulk Trenorol Works

The formulation of ingredients used offers a number of benefits, but two of them are particularly noteworthy:

Increases Oxygen Flow to the Muscles
Improves Nitrogen retention

The Importance of Oxygen

The hemoglobin in the red blood cells is responsible for carrying oxygen around the body.

Your muscles need oxygen and the need increases significantly during exercise. That’s why Trenorol contains an ingredient that helps make sure your muscles get the oxygen they need.

Oxygen is also necessary for the process of muscle repair so getting more oxygen circulating is a very good thing.

Why Nitrogen Retention Is Important

Your muscles need nitrogen to remain in an anabolic state, but exercise depletes nitrogen.

When that happens, the muscles are unable to process protein efficiently. It’s bad news, but Trenorol provides the answer to the problem by supporting a healthy nitrogen balance.

Trenorol Ingredients at a Glance

A three-capsule dose provides:

Beta Sitosterol (600 mg)
Samento Inner Bark (300 mg)
Nettle Leaf Extract (300 mg)
Pepsin (75 mg)

Trenorol Ingredient Evaluation

Now it’s time to take a look at what the four ingredients can do.

Beta Sitosterol

Beta Sitosterol is a compound that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Scientists call it a “plant sterol ester”.

On a molecular level, Beta Sitosterol is very similar to cholesterol, but don’t let the relationship with cholesterol scare you. It’s not a bad thing.

Research shows taking Beta Sitosterol in supplement form can be good for lowering cholesterol.

Beta Sitosterol also has value for treating a number of other health problems. Chronic fatigue is one example. Rheumatoid arthritis is another and some women use it to control the symptoms of menopause.

It has value here because it limits the amount of testosterone is converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This is important because the conversion lowers circulating testosterone levels.

By keeping circulating testosterone levels high, beta sitosterol prevents estrogen levels under control.

This is, of course, why women find the compound so useful during menopause.

Samento Inner Bark

If Samento Inner Bark is not familiar to you, it could be that you know it by another name. Most supplement manufacturers call it cat’s claw.

The ingredient is often used for treating osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

It’s also used to aid the healing process, reduce inflammation, fight fatigue, and enhance the immune system.

By doing these things, cat’s claw helps you to train with extra intensity and enables your muscles to heal faster. [SOURCE]

Nettle Leaf Extract

To say that nettle extract is a testosterone booster would not be strictly true because it does not increase testosterone. However, it does help keep circulating testosterone levels high by preventing it binding with sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).

Additionally, nettle is a good source of vitamins and minerals including iron.

Iron is especially important because it aids the production of the hemoglobin that helps ensure the muscles are not starved of oxygen.

On top of its other abilities, nettle reduces oxidative stress, decreases inflammation, and helps relieve pain as well. These are further benefits your hard-worked muscles will appreciate.

Pepsin

Pepsin is a potent digestive enzyme in the gastric juices. It’s responsible for breaking down protein molecules into compounds that consist of 2 or more amino acids. This is a good addition to this Legal Trenbolone supplement.

These compounds are known as peptides and, when taken as supplements, they can be very good for helping the body to put protein to work faster. But that’s not all.

Research shows the use of digestive enzymes in supplement form can also boost nitrogen retention.

Who Is Trenorol For?

Trenorol is for men and women who are following a structured exercise routine. If you are training to improve your health and fitness, Trenorol can help. It will also help if you are trying to improve your sporting abilities. However, above all else, it’s a legal steroid for bodybuilders.

Trenorol is not a magic muscle-building pill though. It will not allow you to live the life of a couch potato and get a Physique that makes you a good contender for the Universe Championships.

Trenorol Stacking Options

Trenorol is a key player in the Crazy Bulk’s Bulking stack. It’s in the Strength Stack and the Ultimate Stack as well.

If you want to build your own custom stack you can do that too.

However, be aware CrazyBulk says it’s best to stack with the following six legal steroids:

DecaDuro (Deca Durabolin Substitute)
D-Bal (Dianabol Substitute)
Anadrole (Anadrol Substitute)
Winsol (Winstrol Substitute)
Clenbutrol (Clenbuterol Substitute)
Testo-Max (Sustanon Substitute)

Potential Side Effects of Trenorol

Trenorol only contains natural ingredients and there are no known side effects.

As with any supplement though, you need to play smart and use it as CrazyBulk advises, either as a standalone option or as part of a CrazyBulk stack.

If you have any existing health problems it goes without saying you should be extra cautious. Don’t use Trenorol or any other supplement unless your doctor says its okay.

The same goes if you are planning on using Trenorol alongside medication or any supplements that aren’t CrazyBulk.

If you are a woman who is pregnant or nursing a child it’s best to avoid using supplements of any kind.

Trenorol Customer Reviews

I went online and searched for Trenorol customer reviews and I found them. Lots of them, left by men and women who’d put the product through its paces and seen what it can do. All the reviews were good.

Lots of people are so pleased they’ve shared before and after photos on fitness forums and social media. Trenorol has got them looking good so it’s no wonder they’re so keen to show off.

A few average customer comments read:

“Big increase in all reps and benching more than ever. Was doing 230lbs max. Now I can do 275”

“This is a totally legit steroid replacement. I’ve seen some incredible improvements in my size and strength over the past 8 weeks. I can’t wait to see where I am after I’ve done a second cycle.”

“It’s giving the kind of results I hoped for. Very close to using the steroid version but without any of the harsh side effects. I’ve done a few Trenorol cycles this year and it’s gotten me where I needed to be.”

“Trenorol is amazing. I felt stronger from day one and could see the results by the end of the first week. After I’d been using it a month the girls down the town were drooling all over me.”

Trenorol Review Summary – The Bottom Line

Trenorol is marketed as a safe and effective legal Trenbolone. Customer reviews show that’s exactly what it is.

However, although it’s important that bodybuilders have access legal steroids, don’t see it as only having value for steroid users.

Take a look at the benefits the product offers instead. Even if you have no interest in steroids, Trenorol is still a good option. It will help anyone who trains hard and is serious about getting the best results.

The people who take steroids do so because they want to take advantage of what the steroids can do. Trenorol does the same things as Trenbolone. If it’s abilities are a good match for your personal goals, it will be a good match for you.

Where to Buy Trenorol

Available via the CrazyBulk website. The company doesn’t sell it via any other channels. It is available to buy in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK and Ireland as well as many other countries.

The product is very reasonably-priced though and CrazyBulk even pays the shipping costs.

That’s pretty good because the company ships worldwide and does not use bog-standard delivery services.

If you buy legal Trenbolone from CrazyBulk, the company uses tracked services and provides you with the tracking number.

CrazyBulk also has a good deal going on that allows you to get three bottles of legal steroids for the price of two.

All you do is select any three products you want and add them to your cart. Then the system reduces the cost of the cheapest one down to zero.

If you order six bottles it does it twice and you only pay for four. It does the same if you order nine or more and the system does all the hard work.

Trenorol FAQ

Is Trenorol really a steroid?

No. Trenorol is not a steroid. It’s a steroid alternative that offers similar benefits to the steroid Trenbolone. It’s a better option than buying Trenbolone because you can use it without getting any side effects.

Is it really safe to use?

Absolutely. Unlike the Trenbolone steroid, CrazyBulk Trenorol is not a drug and it does not contain chemicals. The formulation of ingredients is 100 percent natural and organic. There are no known side effects at all.

Will Trenorol show up on a drug test?

No, because it’s not a drug it’s a supplement that contains herbs and other natural ingredients.

Can I go on taking Trenorol for as long as I want?

You can go on using it for as long as you wish and there won’t be any side effects. However, CrazyBulk recommends a cycle of eight weeks on followed by one-and-a-half weeks off.
Cycling Trenorol in this way stops your body from becoming desensitized to the active ingredients. This helps to ensure you get the maximum benefits from the product during long-term use.

Does Trenorol suppress natural testosterone production?

No. Absolutely not. Trenorol does not suppress testosterone production in the same way as many anabolic steroids do.
Because of this, when you want to stop using all you have to do is stop taking it. There is no need to do a post cycle therapy. The same is true for all CrazyBulk products.

I want to bulk and cut at the same time. Can I stack Trenorol with Anvarol?

Yes. All CrazyBulk products are suitable for stacking in any way that you want.
However, if you want to bulk and cut at the same time, stacking Trenorol with Anvarol is not the best option.
A combination of D-Bal, Testo-Max, and Clenbutrol will offer superior results. Because the third item will be free if you order this combination you only need to pay for two bottles.
Alternatively, you could try out the CrazyBulk’s Ultimate Stack.
The Ultimate Stack consists of six legal steroids and CrazyBulk calls it the “Ultimate” for a reason.
The powers of the six products combined enhances muscle growth, provides fat burning and increases strength. In addition to all this, the Ultimate Stack also improves performance and speeds up recovery rates.

Can I use Trenorol for cutting?

Yes, and it will help but there are other CrazyBulk products that are better suited to your needs.
If you are primarily interested in cutting, CrazyBulk Clenbutrol is a much better option. It’s fat burning capabilities are similar to those provided by the steroid Clenbuterol.
Lots of celebrities have used the Clenbuterol steroid to stay in shape. However, thanks to CrazyBulk you can have all the same benefits without any of the health risks.
Apart from shredding your body fat CrazyBulk Clenbutrol also increases oxygen transportation and improves cardiovascular performance.
If you only want to use one product for fat burning Clenbutrol is the one to choose. Trenorol is better for bulking and strength.

Does Trenorol make men grow boobs?

No, it doesn’t. Your thinking of the steroid it replaces. Using the Trenbolone steroid can cause you to develop man boobs (gynecomastia). It also causes a number of other side effects including the infamous “Tren cough”.
CrazyBulk’s version does not cause any side effects at all, but it’s very good at mimicking the steroids ability to improve muscle mass.

I don’t workout, but I want to look good, can it help?

Trenorol is steroid alternative for people who are serious about improving their physique. Serious enough to watch their diets and work hard in the gym.
It was not created for people who are looking for a shortcut to help them look good. Trying to use in such a way may may offer a few minor benefits. However, don’t expect any extra attention next time you’re soaking up the sun at the beach.

How soon will I see results?

Trenorol is a fast-acting legal steroid so you’ll probably notice some differences within the first few days.
You’ll feel stronger and won’t tire so quickly. This will help you to train harder and achieve superior results.
After you’ve been using Trenorol for 30 days you will also see a big difference in the mirror. It’s a difference you should also be able to measure in centimeters if you’ve been keeping track of muscle circumference.

Do I have to stack Trenorol with other CrazyBulk products?

No. Stacking Trenorol is an option, not a necessity. It’ a powerful legal steroid that is quite capable of going it alone.
However, if you are trying to bulk up as fast as possible, using a stack is a good way to do it. Stacking with other CrazyBulk products is also a great way to get rapid strength increases.
For rapid bulking and strength gains, it works incredibly well stacked with Testo-Max and Trenorol. It’s a very cost-effective option as well. When you order any three bottles of Legal Steroids from CrazyBulk, you only have to pay for two. That means you can get the maximum gains at the best price.

Citrulline Malate – Reduces Fatigue and Helps Provide a Better Workout

Updated on February 12, 2020 by Brad Murphy

So what is Citrulline Malate and can it really improve my workout? Your questions answered.

Citrulline malate is an amino acid compound that’s become a big noise in the gym because of its ability to enhance performance and delay the onset of fatigue.

When you work harder in the gym you can get superior growth and strength increases. You know it and I know it. This is nothing new. Citrulline malate just offers a fresh way of doing it.

What is Citrulline Malate?

Citrulline malate is a compound in two parts. As the name suggests, it consists of citrulline and malate (malic acid).

Citrulline

Citrulline is an amino acid that’s created in the body when the amino acid ornithine combines with carbamoyl phosphate. This meeting of compounds occurs naturally within the body during the urea cycle. If you’ve never heard of it, the urea cycle is the body’s way of disposing of waste nitrogen. ]

The body also produces citrulline during the conversion process that turns the amino acid arginine into nitric oxide (NO). [1]

Malate

Malate is a salt compound that is sometimes used for preserving food. It occurs naturally in nature and, if you’ve ever bite into a sour apple, malate is the substance that causes it to bite back.

The compound is often bound with other ingredients, including citrulline, because it helps provides them with extra stability within the body.

Additionally, some studies suggest malate may have the ability to fight fatigue on its own [3]

Although it’s possible to create citrulline malate via chemical engineering, the compound is also naturally occurring in watermelons.

How Does Citrulline Malate Work?

Using supplements to boost the amount of citrulline present in the body appears to enhance the urea cycle. By doing so, it helps purge extra ammonia from the muscles. This delays the onset of fatigue.

In addition to this, the results of some studies show using supplements to increase citrulline results in greater levels of circulating arginine. This boosts NO. That’s why citrulline malate can provide a better pump.

It’s also one of the reasons why the compound is so good for enhancing performance and encouraging muscle growth.

Citrulline appears to be the key player in this winning combination. However, some researchers have speculated malate may help the body recycle the lactic acid that builds up during exercise and use it for energy.

The Value of Citrulline Malate as a NO Booster

One of the main reasons citrulline malate can be so good for fighting fatigue and empowering your workouts is its ability to boost NO. Let’s take a look at why this is important.

The Problem

Every time you work your muscles you are using energy. On a cellular level, this energy is supplied by ATP (Adenosine triphosphate), which is converted from the glucose shuttled to the muscles via the blood. It’s part of a process called cellular respiration and it can occur with or without oxygen.

When sufficient oxygen is present it’s known aerobic energy production. When there is not enough oxygen it’s anaerobic energy production. Let’s take a look at how the two differ.

During light to moderate exercise, your blood should be supplying the muscles with all the oxygen they need. When you pick up the pace and work your muscles harder your heart and lungs find it harder to keep up with your muscle’s demand for oxygen. That’s why you get out of breath.

Harder breathing supplies extra oxygen and helps things continue as normal. However, when you push too hard the blood can no longer supply enough oxygen. This is when anaerobic energy production comes into play. It will allow you to keep going, but not for long.

After a few minutes of anaerobic activity, lactic acid and ammonia build up in the muscles. The presence of lactic acid causes that familiar burning sensation that forces you to stop. When lactic acid builds up it can also make you feel sick and unwell.

Allowing ammonia to build up is also highly undesirable It’s very toxic to the cells and causes extreme fatigue]

How Citrulline Malate Addresses the Problem

By boosting NO, citrulline malate acts as a vasodilator. That’s science speak for a process that relaxes the blood vessels and improves the circulation.

By improving blood flow to the muscles during exercise, citrulline malate provides extra oxygen. This helps maintain aerobic energy production for a little longer.

Additionally, the improved flow of blood helps flush the lactic acid and ammonia from the muscles after you enter an anaerobic state. This also helps you to work the muscles harder for longer.

Proof that Citrulline Malate Works (What the Research Shows)

The performance-enhancing abilities pf citrulline malate have been well studied. Let’s take a quick look at some of the data that’s available.

Effects on Anaerobic Performance and Muscle Soreness

Data provided by researchers at the University of Cordoba in Spain proves Citrulline Malate provides both aforementioned benefits.

They set out to determine the compound’s ability to enhance performance while performing bench presses. Use of the supplement enabled the volunteers to push through significantly more reps than the members of the placebo group.

In addition to this, citrulline malate also reduced muscle soreness by 40 percent. [4]

Promotes Aerobic Energy Production In Exercising Muscle

This study was carried out in France. Eighteen men took part. All of them were chosen because they were suffering from unexplained fatigue.

After 15 days of supplementing with citrulline malate the changes in muscle metabolism was shown to promote improvements in aerobic energy production.

The researchers speculated this may be due to the compound’s ability to enhance malate supply sufficiently, thereby “activating ATP production from the tricarboxylic acid cycle through anaplerotic reactions”.

Effects on Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils Oxidative Burst and Nitric Oxide Production After Exercise

If you shouting, “Poly what?” I hear ya. Why do these scientific types always have to make things so complicated?

Do you know what? I don’t really even care what “Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils Oxidative Burst” means. All I care about is the study shows citrulline malate is an NO booster.

The guys who took part in the study were all professional cyclists. They took supplements that provided citrulline malate and then climbed on their bikes.

Taking the supplement increased the amount of citrulline and arginine available for NO synthesis. This primed them for the coming burst of oxygen without causing any oxidative damage. In simple terms: the study proves citrulline malate is a good NO booster. [SOURCE]

Additional Benefits

Apart from its abilities as a performance enhancer, citrulline malate appears to have some other interesting capabilities.

Research conducted in Spain suggests using supplements that contain citrulline malate before you exercise may boost human growth hormone (HGH).

In addition to this, the supplement was also shown to enhance the way the body makes use of amino acids. Especially branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). On top of this, the research also suggests citrulline malate may boost creatine production within the body.

Increases HGH

Increasing the production of HGH within the body can only be seen as a good thing. It’s an important hormone that improves fat burning and promotes faster healing and tissue repair. HGH also has anti-aging capabilities and is often thought of as being the body’s internal fountain of youth.

Enhances the Benefits of Amino Acids

Amino acids are the building blocks your body uses for repairing and creating muscle protein. Any compound that can improve the process offers obvious advantages.

BCAAs have greater importance than other amino acids because they make up a larger percentage of muscle tissue. There are only three BCAAs: leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

Leucine is particularly important because it’s the all-important key that unlocks the cells and permits the other amino acids to enter. Acting a bit like a switch, it sets protein synthesis in motion and allows the other amino acids to do their jobs.

Increases Creatine

Creatine occurs naturally in the muscles, but athletes often take it in supplement form. Boosting creatine levels in this way facilities faster healing and growth.

Numerous studies show supplementing with creatine can promote dramatic growth. In fact, one study shows supplementing with creatine can actually double your gains in muscle mass and strength. [5]

Obviously, citrulline malate’s ability to boost normal stores of creatine will be minimal, but any increase is highly desirable.

When Is the Best Time to Use Citrulline Malate?

Different people are using the supplement in different ways.

A lot of people take it 30-45 minutes before their workouts so they can really push their boundaries and train with added intensity.

Others prefer to take it after they’ve finished training to help them heal faster, avoid muscle pain, and help with growth.

Still others take citrulline malate just before going to bed. The idea is it will boost HGH production while they are sleeping and promote faster healing.

There are arguments for and against all three options. Personally, I prefer to use it pre-workout and feel the benefits during training.

Citrulline Malate Dosage

If you are taking a supplement that combines citrulline malate with other ingredients you will need to follow the instructions on the pack.

However, if you are using a basic citrulline malate powder the dose is generally two grams of powder combined with 200 ml of water or the juice of your choice. If the pack tells you otherwise though, go with that.

Citrulline Malate v Arginine

Due to the fact that the body converts arginine into NO, a lot of people wonder why using citrulline malate is preferable to using a straight arginine supplement.

Using arginine is something that was done in the past. However, research continues to reveal the fact that citrulline malate is better.

Strange as it may seem, taking a citrulline malate supplements increases plasma arginine levels better than arginine supplements do. That’s why there has been an industry-wide shift to using citrulline malate in place of arginine.

Arginine supplements are also notoriously hard on the stomach. Citrulline malate is not, so it’s a better option all around.

The Bottom Line

Citrulline malate is a research-backed performance enhancer that can help you to train harder and reap better benefits from all that hard work.

Not surprisingly, it’s becoming increasingly popular with supplement manufacturers and supplement users alike. It’s an exciting ingredient that gets the job done.

Apart from being excellent for boosting NO, citrulline malate also offers a few lesser known benefits, such as boosting HGH and creatine.

The thing to remember is research into the ingredient’s abilities is ongoing. There is no way of knowing what other virtues future studies may reveal.

I’m guessing the popularity of the citrulline malate is only going to increase and that’s no bad thing. It’s a lot easier on the body than many of the other performance-enhancing compounds and supplements some people are using instead.

4 Gauge Pre Workout Review – Load Up Your Guns

Updated on May 22, 2020 by Brad Murphy

4 Gauge is a pre workout that is suitable for both men and women. We take a look at what is in the formula and how it actually gives you the muscle pump.

4 Gauge pre workout review — An excellent pre workout suitable for men and women. There are lots of positive feedback, before and after pictures and testimonials.

PROS
Science backed ingredient profile.
Well dosed, good quantities.
Solid muscle pumps.
Very positive customer reviews.
well priced.

CONS
Only available from official website.
Creatine dosage could be higher.
Doesn’t ship to some countries.

VERDICT – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
4 Gauge is a high-quality pre-workout supplement. It contains a well-balanced blend of natural ingredients that are more than capable of delivering the promised results.

One of the reasons we like 4 Gauge is that it is not over hyped. The use of real people with real results (rather than huge swole bodybuilders) gives it an edge over its rivals.

Available from the official 4 Gauge website – shipping is worldwide with free delivery. Most popular countries that buy 4 Gauge are USA, Canada, UK, Australia and Ireland

VISIT 4 GAUGE WEBSITE

Discounts and special offers are now in effect from the official website

4 Gauge Pre Workout Review

4 Gauge is a pre workout supplement by Roar Ambition. The company is based in Britain and the USA and is also responsible for creating the high-potency fat burner Instant Knockout.

Both products have done very well since their launch and succeeded in amassing an army of fans.

Roar Ambition places a lot of focus on creating high-quality supplements that contain optimum doses of respected ingredients.

The company also refrains from hiding ingredients in proprietary blends. You know exactly what you are getting with Roar Ambition because all the inclusion rates are there to see.

Another thing we like about the company is the use of real people in testimonials and before and after pictures and videos

All Roar Ambition supplements are produced in CGMP-approved facilities in the UK and USA. This may not seem like an important consideration, but it is.

CGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) guidelines are very strict. The quality of products made in such establishments has to be incredibly good.

4 Gauge Buying Info

Orders are via the official website only. You can buy in your local currency ($, €, £ and AUD$)
There are special offers from time with the current best offer being buy 3 and get 1 free.
There is free shipping to the USA and UK on larger orders

Click here to visit official 4 Gauge website and view special offers

As is often the case with pre-workout supplements, 4 Gauge comes in powder form. The idea is you mix it with water and drink it before training. Nothing new with that idea.

However, the packaging is very imaginative. The tubs resemble a large shotgun cartridge. It’s a good match for a name like “4 Gauge” and provides an excuse for lots of clever marketing terms:

Load up your guns
Blow apart your previous workouts
Enjoy more explosive training sessions

Like a 4 Gauge shotgun shell, this pre-workout is designed to be as big and bad as they come.

The marketing is certainly very clever and customer reviews suggest Roar Ambition’s marketing claims are on target. Let’s take a closer at 4 Gauge and see why so many people are saying this pre-workout blows them away.

4 Gauge Pre Workout Feature

No sweeteners or other artificial ingredients
No proprietary blends
Clinically dosed
Fast-acting formulation
Manufactured in CGMP-approved facilities

What Does 4 Gauge Do – How Does it Work?

4 Gauge is a pre-workout supplement. It’s intended for people seeking extra energy and focus while they train.

A lot of people struggle to find the energy and focus needed to give it their all while training. That’s not so surprising really. The average gym-goer often has to train after putting in a full day at work.

Even those who are not being held back in this way can still find it hard to train with the intensity necessary to get maximum gains.

How It Compares to the Other Options Available

There’s a lot of pre-workout supplements on the market. All of them are sold with pretty big promises. 4 Gauge stands out from the rest of the crowd for one reason, and it’s not the clever packaging. It’s the fact that it delivers the promised results.

There’s a good buzz about the product. It’s got people talking and they have a lot of good things to say.

Promised Benefits

Incredible energy
Increased stamina
Improved mental focus
Enjoy amazing workouts
Attain massive strength gains
Enjoy superior muscle growth
Train with enhanced strength, and endurance
Get heads turning with your new and improved physique

So, What Does All This Mean?

The list of benefits promised to users of this product is quite long. However, most of the things that are promised are the results of three main benefits.

1. Incredible Energy

Energy and strength are two different things. It doesn’t matter strong you are, if you feel too pooped to do anything with your strength you’re screwed.

It’s a bit like having a Ferrari with next to no gas in the tank. You may look pretty good, but you ain’t going to get very far. There may be a quick burst of power, but then your energy splutters and dies.

A good workout takes time. You have to put in that time and it needs to be quality time. Swinging the weights around in a lack lustre fashion won’t do much for you at all. Nor will backing up on the reps or dropping the weights.

Do any of these things too often and probably won’t even maintain the muscle and strength you’ve already got. But we’re all only human and it’s hard to train with intensity when all your get up and go has got up and gone.

That’s why 4 Gauge is designed to provide you with a significant energy boost.

2. Increased Stamina

When we talk about “stamina” what we really mean is staying power. It’s really just the ability to continue doing something over a prolonged period of time. If you’ve got energy, you can put in the work. Stamina allows you to do so for longer. There’s only the subtlest of differences between the two.

3. Improved Mental Focus

You need mental focus to stop your mind from wandering and concentrate on the job in hand. It allows you to “focus” on the area you are targeting and work it in the correct way.

Training with focus helps prevent you from being lazy while training. More than that. On the days when you really don’t feel like going to the gym, regaining your focus will help turn things around.

If you want to build a strong body, you need to maintain a strong state of mind. 4 Gauge is designed to help you do it.

4. Knock-On Benefits

All of the other promised benefits are knock-on benefits.

When you have extra energy and stamina, combined with improved mental focus, you will be able to train harder. This will allow you to enjoy amazing workouts. “Amazing” because they are so much better than before.

Unless your diet has gone incredibly wrong, the fact that your training harder will result in strength gains and muscle growth.

Finally, as your physique improves heads may start to turn as you pass by. That’s the idea anyway.

4 Gauge Ingredients at a Glance

A two-scoop (14g) serving of 4 Gauge provides:

L-Citrulline Dl-Malate (6000mg)
Creatine Monohydrate (1000mg)
Acetyl L-Carnitine (500mg)
Coconut Water Powder (300mg)
Red Beetroot Extract (300mg)
Caffeine Anhydrous (150mg)
L-Theanine (200mg)
Rhodiola Rosea (Root) Powder (100mg)

The 4 Gauge Pre Workout Formula

Roar Ambition has succeeded in putting together a very impressive formulation. All of the ingredients are first-rate.

L-Citrulline Dl-Malate + Red Beetroot Extract

L-Citrulline Dl-Malate is an amino acid extracted from watermelons and it shares an important ability with red beetroot. Both ingredients boost nitric oxide levels. [SOURCE: 1, 2]

In so doing they provide a benefit called vasodilation. This is a slight widening of the blood vessels. It occurs naturally during exercise, but boosting nitrogen levels improves the effect.

Vasodilation improves the circulation and this offers a few interesting benefits.

The blood is responsible for providing the muscles with nutrients and oxygen and the need for both increases during exercise.

When extra nutrients and oxygen become available the muscles can work longer and harder before fatigue sets in.

During exercise, lactic acid builds up in the muscles and limits the amount of work they can do.

When the circulation improves, thanks to vasodilation, more lactic acid is flushed from the muscles and carried away. Again, this helps support a better workout.

Creatine Monohydrate

Scientists first discovered the muscle-boosting power of creatine back in the 1970s. However, due to the popularity of steroids, its use never really caught on until the 1990s.

Now most bodybuilders are familiar with creatine and know what it can do. A lot of people use it as a standalone product.

Creatine is good for encouraging muscle growth [SOURCE: 3 ], but 4 Gauge is a pre-workout supplement so, in this case, the value of creatine lies in another area.

It can help boost workout capability by reducing fatigue. [SOURCE: 4 ]

Caffeine + L-Theanine = Smart Caffeine

Everyone knows caffeine is good for boosting energy levels. It’s added to all the best brands of energy drink for precisely that reason. Caffeine also has a lot of respect for its ability to improve mental focus and concentration. On top of this is it reduces fatigue.

Unfortunately, a minority of people do not tolerate caffeine well and may experience jitters and other side effects

L-Theanine is an amino acid that occurs naturally in green tea and black tea. It’s known for its ability to produce a unique state of mind that is sometimes referred to as an “alert calm”. [SOURCE: 5 ] This is just a way of saying it calms the mind without causing sedation.

One of the most interesting things about L-Theanine is the way it interacts with caffeine.

When combined, L-Theanine controls the negative aspects of caffeine [SOURCE: 6 ] allowing you to receive all the benefits with no energy crash.

For this reason, the combination is often called “Smart Caffeine”.

Acetyl L-Carnitine

An amino acid that can help get you through your workout by delaying the onset of mental and physical fatigue. [SOURCE: 7 ]

Coconut Water

Coconut water is not often added to formulations such as this, but that does not make its inclusion less valid.

Apart from being a good source of vitamins and minerals, it helps keep the body hydrated.

There is evidence to suggest drinking coconut water can revitalize the body in a similar way to energy drinks. [SOURCE: 8 ]

Rhodiola Rosea

A respected adaptogen herb. Rhodiola rosea should help the body cope better with the stress of a hard workout.

Additionally, it’s known to be good for improving endurance and enhancing mental cognition. [SOURCE: 9, 10 ]

Usage Guidelines and Recommendations

The dose is two scoops of 4 Gauge, mixed with 300-350ml of water. Alternatively, you can mix it with the fruit juice of your choice.

Roar Ambition recommends consuming the mixture 20-30 minutes before training.

It’s permissible to double the dose of powder for a more extreme energy boost. However, if you are new to 4 Gauge it’s best to see how you go with the normal two-scoop dose first.

4 Gauge Customer Reviews

Customer reviews suggest this is a product that gets the job done.

A few average comments read:

“If you need something to put some extra charge into your workout, this stuff’ll do it. It really clears your head, helps you focus, and gives you a shit-load of energy. All without jitters or other side effects. It’s bloody good stuff.”

“The powder is easy to mix. There are no lumps and it tastes really good. In my case, I feel the extra energy start kicking in at around the 20-25 minute mark. It keeps me energized throughout my workout too. It’s a real game changer. My BMI is down and I’m making some very good gains. This stuff really does what it says on the tin. It’s easily the best pre workout I’ve tried and I’ve tried a lot.”

“I decided to try this because I found so many good reviews. Now I’m writing one: 4 Gauge works. Try it you’ll see. Best pre-workout on the market by far.”

“My BF uses this and he let me try some. I was nervous because I’m normally not too good with caffeine. I never had any problems with this at all and it boosted my energy levels no end. It works well for me so now I buy my own.”

4 Gauge Potential Side Effects and Interaction Issues

Side effects don’t appear to be an issue, but 4 Gauge is not suitable for women who are pregnant. Nor is it a good option for women who are nursing a child.

If you have existing health problems, the best thing to do is check with a doctor before using 4 Gauge. The same goes if you are considering using 4 Gauge alongside other supplements or medication.

It’s also worth remembering the formulation contains caffeine. That means it may not be a good option for you if you do not tolerate stimulants well.

However, the caffeine charge is not that high. It’s no more than you would get from one-and-a-half cups of coffee. And let’s not forget that it’s stacked with l-theanine. It’s “smart caffeine” and, as such, boosts energy levels in a kinder way than normal caffeine.

Again, if you have any doubts, your doctor will be the best person to speak too. Nothing beats professional advice.

4 Gauge Summary

4 Gauge is a high-quality pre-workout supplement. It contains a well-balanced blend of natural ingredients that are more than capable of delivering the promised results.

Additionally, customer reviews also support the various claims Roar Ambition makes for the product. So there really isn’t a lot more to say. In a world where so many supplements are sold on the back of lies, it’s refreshing to find one that actually appears to deliver the goods.

Where to Buy 4 Gauge

All sales are handled via the official 4 Gauge website, you cannot buy it in the shops and it is not available from any third-party online stores.

Nor do Roar Ambition carry out any marketing activities via Amazon or eBay. So, if the product appears to be on sale elsewhere it’s likely to be counterfeit and should be avoided.

A single 4 Gauge “shell” normally costs around $45 (available in other currencies), but Roar Ambition often offer special deals and promotions that provide more “BANG!” for the buck.

At the time of this review, the best deal went to customers who purchased three shells and got an extra loaded into their parcels for free.

Deals such as these come and go, so if you visit the 4 Gauge website and there’s a good deal to be had, take it like a shot.

4 Gauge Buying Info

You can only order from the official website
You can buy in your local currency ($, €, £ and AUD$)
Payment options are: Paypal, Amazon pay and credit or debit card)
There are special offers from time with the current best offer being buy 3 and get 1 free.
There is free shipping to the USA and UK on larger orders

GET 4 GAUGE DIRECT

BPI – One More Rep Review. Can it Give You a Muscle Pump?

Updated on February 12, 2020 by Brad Murphy

As pre workouts go One More Rep is very well known. It has been around for sometime. Does it really work though? Is it as good as some other similar and new pre-workouts that have appeared. Read our review.

PROS
Good ingredients.
Cheaper than most similar products.
Beet root is good for pumps.

CONS
Under dosed.
Lacking a robust formula.
Only 6 grams of active ingredients.

VERDICT – OTHERS PREFERRED
If you are asking my opinion on a pre workout I would go for 4 Gauge – There are some quality ingredients included and it dosed just about right.

Read our 4 Gauge review here

BPI – One More Rep Review

BPI Sports say that their “legendary” 1.M.R pre-workout has evolved into the newer One More Rep.

I liked the 1.M.R branding, it was a cool play on the famous contraction 1RM, meaning One Rep Max – the amount of weight you can pull or push in a particular movement for exactly one repetition and no more.

Whether the name change is really to accommodate for the change in recipe, or it’s because the bros of the world couldn’t get their heads around the the letter twist.

Whatever. What’s in a name anyway, right?

Actually, that’s where BPI are being legit. Most pre-workout manufacturers go with the fierce approach to their marketing. Make a song and dance about how their stuff’s so potent you could lift a 200 lb kettle bell with your butt cheeks, and the customer might look over the fact that it’s still only caffeine and some amino-acids.

BPI go with the cooler strategy. Basically, One More Rep can help you bust out, well, one more rep. One more than your previous PB, or, you know, one more than your competition.

According to them it can anyway.

Why Use BPI’s One More Rep?

The three main “on-trend ingredients” (their phrase, not mine) in One More Rep are L-Citrulline, L-Carnitine and Beetroot.

Citrulline is the muscle pump ingredient to use these days, and for good reason. It gets converted to L-Arginine, a primary Nitric Oxide (NO) booster, in the kidneys.

The NO relaxes the walls of your blood vessels, allowing them to dilate (vasodilation) and thus send more blood volume, including oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles. You know, the “pump”.

It’s better than taking straight arginine because, as you probably know by now, arginine levels tank too quickly before it can get to your blood. So, ironically, supplementing citrulline increases your arginine levels more than arginine does.

So far so good.

Carnitine is a bit of an all-rounder. It’s endured the test of time, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t put it up there as the ingredient with the biggest impact, but it has enough medium impacts to make it very worthwhile.

It gets involved with fat metabolism, aerobic exercise performance, heart protection, muscle damage, insulin sensitivity and blood flow (to mention a few) and they’re positive effects across the board.

Beetroot might look like a weird inclusion if you haven’t seen its rise in the supplement industry yet, but it’s a naturally high source of nitrates, which are useful again for the pump and intra-workout endurance and performance.

There’re more ingredients in One More Rep but I’ll get to those in a bit. The three described above answer the main question though: why buy this over another pre-workout? Because it contains quality, research proven ingredients.

These and the rest of the formula can provide the following benefits to your workout, recovery and growth phases:

Enhanced Muscle Pumps
Increased Focus
Improved Muscle Endurance
Heightened Strength
Faster Recovery
Increased post-training Muscle Growth
Increased Fat Burning

Next, I’ll open up the rest of the formula and see whether it’s worth you giving One More Rep a spin in the gym.

What Are the Ingredients and Dosages?

The formula for the new One More Rep is below. Each scoop is 10 grams of ingredients.

Most of the formula is open (i.e. each individual measurement is noted), and then there’s a proprietary energy blend.

30 mg – Niacin (Vit B3)
128 mg – Sodium
3 g – L-Citrulline
1 g – L-Carnitine L-Tartrate
500 mg – Beetroot (powder)
500 mg – Trimethylglycine (TMG) as betaine anhydrous
500 mg – N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine

One More Rep Energy (proprietary) Blend – 454 mg

Caffeine anhydrous
Theobromine
Phosphatidylcholine
Himalayan Pink Salt
Yohimbe extract

Adding that up quickly, you can see there’s only 6112 mg – 6.1 grams – of active ingredients.

Therefore, nearly 4 grams of the 10 gram scoop is non-active ingredients added for taste, texture and powder quality.

Just over six grams!

For comparison purposes, Dymatize Pre W.O. and Nutrex Outlift each contain 8 grams of Citrulline Malate alone…2 grams more of a single ingredient than One More Rep’s entire formula.

And it’s not as if the other ingredients in One More Rep are unique to it in any way. You can find these ingredients in many of the pre-workout powders online and on the shelves.

Yohimbe is an interesting inclusion. It’s a stimulant that causes a little bit of controversy, even though it’s in a lot of US made fat burners and pre-workouts.

It’s potent, but it might interact with anxiety levels in some people, especially those pre-disposed to anxiety disorders and/or panic attacks.

The proprietary energy blend means we can’t know for sure what the dosage of Yohimbe is, but it’s rare to find a company adding problematic amounts to their products these days so we’ll just have to trust BPI Sports.

Will the Formula Work for You?

I’m not sure about this one, guys. If you’re a loyal, die-hard BPI customer then you’re probably not reading reviews anyway – you’re just going to buy it.

If you’re shopping around then I recommend you just do a bit of comparison on like for like ingredients with the different brands and pre-workout products.

How can one have 25 grams of active ingredients and another have just over 6 grams? Especially when they’re using pretty much the same ingredients?

It just doesn’t compute.

The ingredients themselves are good, and it does give a medium pump, and a stimulant kick. It’s quite a step down from the full muscle-nutrient packed pre-workouts I associate with the best performances of my life.

… but then it’s perhaps 20 bucks cheaper than those products as well.

Let me know what you think.

Recommended Pre Workout

There are hundreds of pre workout supplements on the market with a hundred different ingredient profiles.

We consider 4 Gauge to be a premier supplement as it contains high dosages of the ingredients to get the most from your workout.

4 Gauge is suitable for men and women and for people of all levels from the beginner to the competitive trainer

Read the 4 Gauge review here

Cardio for Lifters – Get Bigger Muscles and Recover Faster with Cardio

Updated on February 14, 2020 by Brad Murphy

I know most people who lift are mentally allergic to cardio-vascular training, but it might be the most important aversion you’ll ever overcome.

Many of you would do some pretty crazy things if you knew it would improve your muscle gains, but cardio is viewed as a muscle eating, gains robbing activity.

What if it was a muscle-augmenting activity? What if it helped your resistance training in more ways than one? What if…

What if you’re actually missing out on some strength and physique improvements?

Shock, horror, right?

Methods some strength athletes follow is to put some high intensity interval training (HIIT) into their workouts, or higher rep sets with lower weight at faster tempos, in order to check the “cardio” box”.

Bear in mind that I want you to be as strong and musclebound as possible. I’m not here to impede your progress in any way, but to advance it, so shed the skepticism now. It will serve you better.

High Intensity Interval Training Takes Different Forms

First, before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s best to make one thing clear. HIIT is whatever you want it to be, so long as it incorporates:

Roughly 5 minutes of warm-up at 50-60% effort output
Several short rounds of near maximal (80-90%) perceived effort – lasting 15 to 30 seconds
Passive or active rest sets between rounds
Roughly 5 minutes of warm down, starting at 50% effort and tapering off

Example 1 – HIIT Cycling

An example of the a classic cardio style HIIT would be to use a spin bike or static bike.

With a bike you can cycle for the whole duration, and your rounds would be about 30 seconds each at 80-90% effort (often called RPE – Rated Perceived Exertion).

The rests between rounds can be 50-60% RPE, just like the warm-up, for 90 seconds, and same for the warm-down at the end.

Example 2 – HIIT Weights

Another example would be to do HIIT with resistance training instead. Get up to 60% of your squat and deadlift 1RMs (one rep max) within a 5 minute warm-up.

As for the HI rounds, rated perceived exertion can be achieved by taking the same 60% of 1RM and repping it with fast cadence to within 1 or 2 reps of failure.

So basically stop the round when you have 1 or 2 reps left in you. For most people this will fall into the range of 8 to 15 reps.

Between each round take 90 seconds of rest.

The warm-down for the weights could be something light like walking on a treadmill or cycling very low resistance for 5 minutes.

So, Which Is Better – HIIT Weights or HIIT Cycling?

Logic tells us that performing HIIT weights as your cardio training would add to your strength and muscle growth gains given that it’s using some movements from your strength training.

However, this doesn’t tend to be true. In fact, if you do a fully taxing HIIT cycling session, you will feel a leg pump that rivals, or even beats, that of HIIT squats.

There’s also evidence that concurrent training in this manner, involving interval cycling and regular weights training can improve gains. This is in part due to the larger muscle groups – especially legs – having roughly equal proportions of type 1 and type 2 muscle fiber.
There has been a study carried out which directly compared these two HIIT methods.

In some areas the study was poorly designed and controls could have been better, but there were some interesting takeaways that might help you.

One such finding was strength measurements were not greatly different in the HIIT weights and the HIIT cycling groups following the study. However, like I said, there wasn’t a control group who performed strength-only training to determine what the maximum strength could be.

Either way, strength improved for both groups and the improvements were similar.

Aerobic fitness on the other hand was improved in the HIIT cycling group by enough to outweigh any study design problems. i.e HIIT cycling is better for your CV system.

Nothing really astonishing there, but with it fresh in your mind, let’s look at program design and the wider implications to muscle and strength improvements, which is why we’re all here anyway.

Fitting Cardio Into Your Training Program

High intensity interval training is unmatched with respect to cardio-vascular health and elevated rates of fat burning that results from the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).

But you don’t need me to tell you that cardio is good for you. You want to know how you can manage it and still be a beast.

The first mistake that can be made is to simply bolt cardio onto their program. That’s fine if you have a moderate to low training intensity/volume as it is, but can lead to overtraining and fatigue problems if you’re already pushing your limit every week.

That also provides a segue to discussing the HIIT weights versus HIIT cycling methods. Some of you might still be thinking it’s an opportunity to add some gut-busting squat, deadlift, other compound lift, sets in to really pump up that volume and maybe add some mass.

The danger here is that you limit your output for the days when you are doing your really heavy lifts. Something you definitely don’t want to do is stagnate your strength gains by pumping out HIIT sessions a couple times a week.

In that study they said strength gains were similar but they were only measuring knee extensions which none of the participants were including in their program prior to the study. They were also using predicted 1RMs based on rep-count and fatigue, not true 1RMs.

No-one can really argue with me here: if you’re squatting and deadlifting way into the red on your cardio days, you’re not going to be able to lift your heaviest on your strength days.

So, that leaves us with HIIT cycling. The first few times you push a solid interval cycling session in, you’re going to feel it the next day, but you will get used to this, and eventually it will hardly affect your heavy lifting program at all.

Additionally, the cardio-vascular fitness improvements will help you recover faster between your heavy sets, hypertrophy sets and days in between.

If you have some body fat to lose, it’s another reason to get on the bike, and you can push it harder while staying safer than you ever could if you were doing HIIT waits to near maximal effort.

Muscle failure on the bike just means you stop and recover. On the squat rack it can be a different matter.

There’s even the possibility that you’ll get some size increase in your legs. Previous research into concurrent training indicates this as a possibility and it might be due to you building up both muscle fiber types as opposed to focusing on one.

Strong is great, but strong and fit is more likely to get you to a ripe old age.

Conclusion – Look At the Bigger Picture

I’m going to get all philosophical on you now, so be warned.

if I haven’t convinced you to introduce some intense cardio to your program then just hear me out here and I’ll say no more.

A lot of you are probably trying to increase your numbers, be it on the big three: squat, deadlift and bench, or just in general across the board.

I get that, I really do, but it’s important to remember that it’s all for nothing if we don’t have our health. And CV work is health, ladies and gents.

Strong is great, but strong and fit is more likely to get you to a ripe old age.

Some guys walk on treadmills for 40 minutes – you’ll see the biggest bodybuilders doing this all the time. It’s like they are afraid their muscles will melt if they do anything more intense. Varying your exercises is another great tip.

The light treadmill walking thing is like a virus that has made its way to all gyms everywhere. Big guys just do it.

No wonder they are bored off their minds. Walking in a gym sucks.

Whereas, a hard interval session on a big will fly past and be done before you even know it.

The hardcore results you will get from it once you have done it for a few weeks will make you a believer, trust me. And the swole-factor is ridiculous.

Additionally, you won’t be so taxed from a cardio-vascular standpoint during your lifting sessions, which might ultimately lead to increased volume or intensity on the whole.

I’ll finish this article with a bit of practical advice. It’s true that when you do your cardio the day before your leg workout, you might feel some of the fatigue the following day, at least for the first few times you do it.

The workaround is to alternate the upper and lower body according to the program you are following. I haven’t mentioned the rowing machine in this article yet but it’s about to come into your life in a big way.

The day before leg day, do your interval/HIIT cardio on the rowing machine. The day before chest or shoulder day do you HIIT cycling.

Could anything be simpler or more elegant than that?