Effzee, how does that protein supplement from AST taste? I tried attempting the Max-OT program earlier this year, but I ran into a bad case of poison ivy about mid-way through and was sidelined for about 3 weeks. Those 3 weeks was spent binging on Papa Johns and playing Chrono Cross
I've never been the same since.
This is a hard question to answer, since any thing I say will be highly subjective. The one thing I can say is that out of the few protein supplements Ive tried, the chocolate VP2 protein from AST is the best tasting. Ive only tried a few other brands so Im not saying no other protein tastes as good, but for the quality it provides, Im surprised they manage to add taste in it at all.
You mentioned a bracketing method but said I might not have the "resources" for it. By resources, do you mean financial or time-wise? Money really isn't an issue at this point, but time is definitely not on my side (I'm working 60 hour weeks while going to school
) .
Its time and money. Ill describe the method to you but I think in reality, unless your really dedicated, this method will just not be a realist goal. Specially since you work and go to school.
The bracketing method, from AST, is just the result of many years of research on the affects of taking supplements and what is the right timing to take the supplements to get the maximum benefits. If your interested in all the scientific research, and all the chemistry behind it, I highly recommend reading the whole article by yourself (
http://www.ast-ss.com/articles/article.asp?AID=132 ) but Ill just summarize the procedure here.
The method requires you to take four different supplements. DGC, Creatine HSC, VP2 Whey Isolate and GL3 L-Glutamine which are all found on the AST website. These are very expensive supplements but since you say money is not an issue, I think they are worth the money. I mean why buy supplements that cheaper but dont work?
Anyways, bracketing method involves taking the supplements at the two most important time intervals. Before and after working out. Before and after working out, you take one serving of Creatine HSC and VP2 Why Isolate together, in a 15 ounce glass of water. During the workout or afterwards, take D- Glucose (DGC) (1-gram per kilogram of body weight) and 10-15 grams of GL3 L-Glutamine (after the workout). Also dont forget to take one serving of protein, right when you wake up, and 30 minutes before going to sleep. If you do cardio, make sure you take some protein after your cardio workout as well. All these supplements and the exact timing of taking them, in the bracketing method have been ingeniously planned to work so well with your body, if you follow the program exactly, youll be shock at how well it works. It will not only make you gain lean muscle, but it will help you lose fat and increase you metabolism.
Also since you say your really busy, I would like to suggest that you take NY-Tro Pro 40 (
http://www.ast-ss.com/Products/ProductPage.asp?ProdID=21 ) which is a meal replacement. Eating more meals a day (without increasing total daily calories intake) will increase your metabolism. So even if you dont have time for a full meal, you can easily and conveniently make the NY Tro Pro 40.
If I can't do strength training and cardio 8 hours apart, would you suggest having a few cardio days a week mixed in with strength training-only days? Also...what do you consider an aggressive cardio workout? I have no point of reference, but I typically run 2 miles at a time, with interval speeds. I suck at it still, so my 2 mile ends up taking nearly 20 minutes, but any figures you or anyone else could post could help motivate me I guess.
Well the only thing Im worried about is that you might be putting too much stress on your body. Dont over train cause that will leave you not working out for a long time, cause it breaks down your immune system. As for your question, Ill just give you a sample of my workout to get a good idea of what you can do. I do 3 days of strength training and 2 days of Max OT cardio. On the weekends, I try to concentrate on my school work so I take those days off. This also me to get all the benefits I want with out having to worry about over training.
As for an aggressive cardio workout, I would say your on the right track. I follow the Max OT cardio plan which basically is doing interval training for 15-20 minutes (preferably on Recumbent bikes) to the best of your ability. By that I mean that by the end of your cardio session, you should be completely out of energy. This might take a few trials before you learn at which intensity you want to work at but once you get settled in, you will lose fat incredibly fast. This type of cardio works so much better than most other cardio plans because it increases your metabolism so much that youll be burning fat like a madman. Long duration cardio has been experimentally shown to not even come close to burning anywhere the same amount of fat or increase the metabolism.
Also, I've been drinking a LOT of coffee lately. Literally 4-5 large cups a day - some with espresso. Would you recommend me kicking this habit?
Youd be surprised at how good coffee can be for you. I would suggest taking about 400 milliliters of coffee a day, which would be healthy. Im not sure what you mean by 4-5 large cups, if you can provide more accurate measurement that would be helpful. Oh the thing I wanted to mention about coffee was that it actually has been proven to increase fat metabolism and stamina in athletes. There are tons of other benefits from coffee, if your interested you can more about it here
http://www.ast-ss.com/articles/article.asp?AID=209
Hahahaha...sorry for asking so much. The GAF is the 1 source for everything.
Nah its cool, I like to research these topics myself and its good to spread good and true information that AST provides instead of all of the false information floating around everywhere on the net these days.
Oh and all my info I got from the AST website, so all the credit belongs to them, and the wonderful scientists they have working for them.
