Weight Gainers & Protein Shakes

Even though the majority, at least here in America, are either overweight or obese, the need for buying weight gainers is still in high demand. Personally, I'm not a big fan of weight gainers (high-calorie powders used to make drinks for weight gain), protein shakes or creatine supplements (waste of money, in my opinion), but what doesn't appeal or work for some, may work like a charm for others.

The need for using weight gainers usually fall into two categories or reasons: 1) The individual who is thin, but works out regularly and still has trouble gaining mass; 2) The hardcore bodybuilder who needs an easy way to add extra calories to help maintain their current muscle bulk or to achieve even more muscle mass.

I don't have much to say about reason #2 because if you're seriously into bodybuilding and you have a lot of muscle mass, you really are going to have to consume a lot more calories to maintain your beast-like structure. Even though, consuming large amounts of calories can easily be achieved by diet alone, the convenience of gulping down massive amounts of calories from these flavored milkshakes, makes it tempting if you have the money and desire to do so.

When it comes to reason #1, I have to disagree with the use of weight gainers. People who are naturally thin, slim, whatever, don't have the same metabolism nor do their organs function the same as the ones who can easily gain weight just by overeating. These are the type of people who can eat all day long and never seem to gain weight or very little. For the most part, you'll just be straining your digestive organs trying to process and rid the body of extra calories that it doesn't want, evidently. However, if you have this particular body type, there is still hope and you can "bulk up" over time (be patient) without the use of steroids or growth hormones. You have to make your body produce muscle by working hard and getting enough protein to ensure proper muscle repair & development, which has nothing to do with consuming mass quantities of food or weight gainers, for that matter. People with high metabolisms or the ones who stay slim no matter what they eat, often have a totally different rate of digestion, levels of enzymes, and a less efficient nutrient absorption rate - when compared to people who seem to get more out of their food, gain weight easily, and so on. Most people want to blame it on individual metabolism alone, but there is really a lot more to it than that.

Anyway, people who have trouble gaining weight would be better off adding a little more meat and/or protein to their diet and adjust their weight lifting to "less reps and more weight," not "more reps and less weight." Aerobic exercise is definitely not your answer, but it is excellent for your cardiovascular health. Anyway, you need to train your stubborn little body and make it understand that you need more mass to withstand all this heavy weight you lift on a regular basis. But, if you're still seeking weight gainers, feel free; knock yourself out. I'm just saying that if you must purchase and/or choose between weight gainers or protein shakes, you'd be better off with the protein drinks because in my opinion, you'll waste your money on the weight gainers.

Once again, for the serious bodybuilders that have no trouble gaining weight or that have a lot of muscle mass to maintain - and you have the extra money to spend, weight gainers may be just for you. Maybe I'm old fashion, but a balanced, healthy diet with a few extra servings of meat & potatoes is my idea of "weight gainers." Although, maybe I'm biased when it comes to my views on protein shakes (whatever happened to eggs?) and weight gainers... Especially since I've always been fairly lean with an athletic build, so the need for weight gainers would clash with my sexy, pimp-style body... Ha!

---At any rate, if you're interested in browsing through a big selection of Protein Shakes, click the image below:
---If you're interested in browsing through a fine selection of Weight Gainers, click the image below:
Random Blog Link: "How to Estimate your Max Bench Press Lift"

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Health Benefits of Taurine

A few years ago, I got to noticing this ingredient popping up in a lot of energy drinks. I knew that Taurine was an amino acid, but was curious as to why it would be listed on energy drinks and pretty much, I was wondering what the whole "Taurine Craze" was about. However, I'm not a fan of energy drinks for many reasons, with one being that most of the people who I see drink them, are usually the ones who are tired and lazy half the time - but that has nothing to do with the amino acid I'm talking about in this post, since most of those type of drinks that claim to have ginseng and other special ingredients, often only have trace amounts and just rely on the sugar and caffeine to give them their "kick" or energy boost. Anyway, that's beside the point......

---The Health Benefits of Taurine:

Taurine is a "free" type of amino acid, as it is not a structural protein and it roams freely throughout the blood and tissues. In the human body, the highest concentrations of this amino acid is found in the eyes and heart.

Taurine plays an important role in brain, eye, and heart health, among many other facets of human health and increased well-being.

Taurine is thought to strengthen your heart muscle and to lower blood pressure, in addition to having many other cardiovascular benefits.

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid and it increases and/or helps with liver function, increases bile production which aids in fat digestion and the removal of toxins, and lowers cholesterol via the bile release. Taurine is also known to help detoxify the body, which this would also parallel with the enhanced liver function, obviously.

Taurine has antioxidant properties and can have anti-inflammatory effects. It has been used to help treat alcoholism, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, and several other psychological ailments.

Taurine has shown to have benefits for people who have Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

I have read that Taurine helps reduce the amount of lactic acid in the body and, if true, this would be great for the ones who have a lot of physical exertion, workout regularly, etc.

---What are some natural sources of Taurine?

Taurine is found in abundance within certain exotic types of seafood. It is also found in a variety of meats, fish and other common seafood, eggs, and milk. Basically, if you're a strict vegetarian who refuses to eat meat and you would still like to take advantage of the health benefits of taurine, you will have to revert to pill supplements. The body does make a fair amount of taurine, but the major source of this particular amino acid still comes from your diet.

So, whether you eat a lot of meat or not, you may still want to purchase this beneficial amino acid in supplement form...

Click the Image Below, to Browse through a large selection of Taurine:



Related Blog Post Links: Health Benefits of Vinegar and the Health Benefits of Lycopene.

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3 basic ways to use Hand Grippers...

As I mentioned before on the "methods for building powerful forearms" post, the use of hand grippers is an excellent way to improve hand & forearm strength. Besides the fact that they are great for stress relief, if you buy the right kind of grippers, you can develop crushing, bone-breaking grip power in a relatively short period of time. However, when I say "the right kind of grippers," I'm not talking about the cheap pairs you often find in the sporting good section of common retailers.

Most hand grippers on the market are, for the most part, only good for stress relief and at best, you may encounter a slight increase in grip strength if used excessively. If you're serious about gaining grip power and building powerful-looking forearms, I recommend "Captains of Crush." If you'd like to read more about those particular grippers and are also possibly interested in ordering these high-quality hand grips, visit the blog page "Build Forearm & Hand Strength - Captains of Crush."

Anyway, the 3 basic ways to use hand grippers are:

1) the standard grip motion that involves squeezing the gripper until it totally closes, then quickly release the hand grip, and then squeeze again; repeat process until the desired amount of reps are met.

2) involves the upside down grip; you'll perform the same action as described in method #1, but it will work the forearm somewhat differently since the points of pressure will be different. Fluctuating between the standard grip and the upside grip will give you a more complete lower arm workout.

3) is what I call the "squeeze & hold method" and it is an excellent way to finish off a hand & forearm workout. You simply squeeze the gripper shut with a firm grip, then hold the gripper closed for as long as you can. You can also use the very similar "hold & release method" if you desire, which is basically the same concept except you will hold the gripper closed for a preselected amount of time before releasing it, then continue to repeat the process until the desired amount of reps.

Although I have already gave a link to what I consider to be the best hand grippers on the market (Captains of Crush), if you'd like to browse through a large selection of hand strengthening devices and grippers, click the image below:

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What's the Best Breakfast for a Toned, Healthy Body?

Joseph Mercola discusses the latest research on what's the best breakfast for a toned, health body.

You probably realize the importance of your food choices, but does it matter when you eat? Yes, it does. To shed some light on this issue, I asked fitness expert Ori Hofmekler to share his insights.

What to Eat for Breakfast

You need to be very particular with your meal size and food choices. Contrary to popular opinion, the morning is not the ideal time to eat large meals because during this time your body is in elimination (detox) mode.

When your metabolic system is operating well, you’ll find that you have to go to the bathroom each morning, like clockwork. This is important in order to effectively eliminate toxins and prevent disease. Unfortunately, constipation is an extremely common problem, and part of the reason for this is that your body is not “set” to eliminate properly due to poor diet and improper meal timing.

So, if you’re constipated, or do not automatically eliminate every morning, it’s a giant clue you need to re-examine what and when you eat.

Ori recommends eating only detoxifying foods until noontime, such as: Read more

Can you use a push mower instead of a riding mower?

Well folks, at least where I'm from, it is that time of year again where everything is growing, blooming, thriving, stinging, biting, and life is in full swing. This is also the time of year when many people dread mowing their yard, for whatever reason, although most humanoids today use a riding mower - even for the small jobs!

I have several peeves when it comes to other people and their mowing philosophy, but two of them really stand out. Number one, is the lawn mowing lunatics who mow their yard every two days (thanks to the good ole riding mower) - due to an obvious obsessive compulsive disorder, among other things. You can read all about what I think of those certain individuals, on another blogspot blog of mine, here: http://anti-dolt.blogspot.com/2010/05/lawn-mowing-lunatics-obsessive.html

My second peeve about other people when it comes to mowing, is the ones who have tiny yards or even normal-sized yards, but refuse to use a push mower because they are too lazy. I'm not talking about the individuals who are disabled, old, or have huge yards.

This post isn't a rant, but it is aggravating to watch people who are overweight, out of shape, lazy or whatever, refuse to exert any physical effort whatsoever, but then talk about how they wished they were in better condition or health. WTF?

This is a very simple question, and if answered right, many individuals might actually get a little exercise this year. Can you use a push mower instead of a riding mower? Can you? Do you enjoy being lazy? Have you gave up on life and just feel like being lethargic is the best path to take in life? Think about it... I really think some people should sell their damn riding mower, go buy a push mower, get a little exercise this year and quit whining about cutting the grass or how they sweat too much in the hot sun. For some folks, mowing the yard is about the only time they will do anything outdoors each year, which is not a very healthy lifestyle - to stay indoors 24/7.

I'm not your mother nor am I your physical trainer, but have any of you "less-than-motivated" people ever thought about getting a little more active? I know, technology, computers and other convenient technological advances out there can make a lot of us lazy or less active at times, but some people would be surprised at how much better they would feel if they moved around more and/or did more stuff outdoors.

Other benefits to push mowing a yard besides using a riding mower, is the fact that it saves gas. The smaller motor on a push mower doesn't have to work as hard, especially because it is lighter and it doesn't have to carry your dependent ass around the yard, and just takes way less gasoline per job as opposed to the big, expensive riding yard machine that many of you have become fond of. In my opinion, push mowing a yard also allows a person to think about a lot of things and sort of temporarily clears the mind, almost medicinal at times, as you constantly go through the rhythmic patterns of mowing back & forth, left & right...

Anyway, I know that most people in general are going to do whatever they want, no matter what they are aware of, told about, or whatever. But if one person could read this post and say, "you know, I really do need more exercise and I really don't need a riding mower for my yard," and actually sell it and start using a push mower this year, it will be worth the ramble. At any rate, just dropping a link down to my "lawn mowing lunatics" post, still made this entry worth writing. Ha-ha!

Okay folks, now try getting off your backside a little more this year and, if you get really motivated and have the land space, you may even want to put out a garden and grow your own food, as well. Enjoy the nice weather, while it's here......

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Ear Problems?

Thus far, this blog has covered several topics related to physical fitness, supplements, vitamins & herbs and healthier ways of living, along with many other health-related subjects. However, there has been no mention of ear health or ear-related problems, as of yet. I thought of this subject the other day, after viewing some traffic stats for a website of mine. It is a site that covers many topics, and is just plain random. Anyway, that's besides the point... What I've noticed over the last several months while viewing traffic stats, is that there are way more people out there with ear problems than I once thought. I currently only have two pages out of my entire site that is related to this topic, but they get hit quite often and with random search queries, keywords or whatever. In a moment, since this health blog has no posts in that area of health, I'll drop down the links for those who may be searching about certain types of ear problems.

It seems like some of the most common ear ailments that I've read about, are the following: ringing of the ears (tinnitus) and frequent problems with ear wax, which can lead to a lot of other symptoms or stem from ear infections and so on.

The problem that I notice a lot with tinnitus, besides the ones with lifelong ear ringing and the misery it must cause in severe cases, is all the scams out there that claim to be a miracle cure for this ailment. Man, this junk is almost as bad as the "Male Enhancement" promotions. If you're suffering from tinnitus that is due to ear damage (especially from the excessive exposure to loud noise), there hasn't been a medical cure for it that I'm aware of, yet there are these "cure tinnitus" pills all over the place claiming to do that very same thing (cure tinnitus). I think a lot of people who are actually thinking of buying some of these baloney products with fictitious claims, might need to read a quick blog post that warns about the possible scams out there. You can find it here: "Tinnitus Scams - Be leery..."

Next in line, is for all the ones who have problems with plugged ear wax. Although the body produces it for a reason, some folks have this gooey junk so bad, that they literally end up with temporary hearing loss. This stuff isn't funny, either. You should try walking around with one functioning ear while the other feels like it has water in it. I will say, it has happened to me before, and it just ruined everything because no matter what I was doing, I just didn't feel like myself. The following link, will provide you with some information that will hopefully help the ones who end up with mild to moderate cases of plugged ear wax and need to find a way to loosen it. This is what worked for me, but I'm not a doctor so if in doubt, use your own discretion and/or go see a professional who specializes in this field. Anyway, you can find the link here: "How to help loosen & remove plugged ear wax."

While doing a quick image search, I found this ear picture. I must say, some people have other alternative outlooks when it comes to ear problems. By looking at the image below, it appears that having a "naked ear" would be a problem... Now that's what I call a styling set of ornamental ears! Ha-ha! Cheers!

[ Image Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Modified_Ear.jpg ]

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Is Prostate Cancer Screening a Scam?

Mike Adams discusses the 20-year study that concludes it has no benefit, except to the cancer industry.

Don't let anyone from the cancer industry lie to you about PSA screening: The test is completely bogus and offers zero improvement in your lifespan. That's the conclusion from a 20-year study that followed over 9,000 men. After 20 years of follow-up, guess what the results were? No significant difference in the rate of death between those screened for prostate cancer versus those who weren't.

In other words, prostate cancer screening is really a bogus test used to exploit men's fear and recruit them into unnecessary and potentially harmful cancer treatments. That's why the cancer industry uses the PSA test, of course: It's a powerful recruiting tool! It scares men into agreeing to expensive, high-profit treatments which are then billed to their insurance companies, Medicaid or Medicare. (Gee, no wonder our health care system is bankrupting the nation...) Read more