I have been lifting consistantly since about 4/1/03 same day i started Atkins... I have made awesome progress so far with weight loss and muscle gain. The Muscle gain is what is really keeping me motivated.. I dont have my notebook in front of me, but my bicepts have grown over 1.5 inchs since 4/1/03. Also my bench press has gone up by 60 lbs.

I have been taking protein.. I morning shake and one post workout shake
Creatine and Glutamine.

Any suggestions on suppliments?


I am actually considering the CKD approach now that i am lifting hard or maybe a carb up every other weekend. I noticed when i had the carbs my Muscle ache was dramaticly reduced the following day.

Carb wise on atkins I keep below 40 grams/day. Mostly coming from my salads.

May have helped repair the muscles faster??

Today i am still sore from mondays (2 days ago) chest workout. (I did hammer them but still).

I am not sure really what to do at this point.

Any suggestions much apprecaited.. I have to run, time for work!

John,

I'm not sure if you're NEW to working out all together or not, since you mentioned starting in April. You'll find that even in a 6 week time frame, you'll see muscle growth. But nothing happens overnight. Even the pro's work their bodies for years before they compete. There's a rule about letting your muscles rest for 72 hrs after a good workout. And I'm in total agreement with that. Here's an example of my routine:

Monday: Chest, shoulders, triceps. (push exercises)
Tuesday: Back & biceps (pull exercises)
Wednesday: Legs (push and pull but BIG muscle group to work)
Thursday: same as monday
Friday: same as tuesday
Saturday: same as wednesday
Sunday: what, are you kidding?! get some rest!

You'll see that from the time I work out on monday to the time I'm working out on thursday.. 72hrs has elapsed. You're still getting a great workout without pushing your luck. Muscle only grows during the REST stage. That's why it's 72hrs between workouts.

As far as suppliments go...

1) Creatine: there's many different flavors (kinds) of this monster. definately do your research on this as you may be wasting money. As a rule, it allows you to add water to your body and bulk up cell volume to get more out of your workouts. This may also have a bulking effect... aka "water retention".

2) Glutamine: good for recouperation after a workout. the down side may be it's got carbs in it.

3) Protein shake: You mentioned taking it 1-2x a day. Guess what... lol... most protein shakes are FULL of sugar. Why do you think they taste so good?! I recently grabbed this from my local GNC...

Perfect - Low Carb - Isopure (dutch chocolate)
serving size: 2 scoops (8oz)
calories: 210
fat: 0g
cholesterol: 5mg
sodium: 320mg
carbs: 3g w/dietary fiber of 2g = 1g carbs NET
protein: 50g !

It's full of vitamins and minerals too. $50 retail but I got it for $35 w/the dumb GNC gold card. It's got 21 servings per container, so it'll last a little while too. The flavor is like mild chocolate milk. U mix with spoon in water (blender optional). Bottom line - tastes good.

John,

Great work! I am the queen of supplements so I'll list what I take here. Like Dave said, there's lots of added vitamins and minerals in protein powder so you may want to track them on Fitday.com to see that you're not going overboard with certain ones.

Pre Workout:
Vitamin C
Ginseng
Gingko Biloba
Mulitple Mineral Supplement (calcium, vit D, magnesium, iron, etc)
CoQ10
Bee Pollen

Post Workout:
Vitamin E
Selenium

Vitamin E is known to help post workout soreness. Taking Vit E and Selenium at the same time is great because they work together.

Glutamine, as you already know, is also great for post workout soreness, unfortunately I have tummy aches when I take it

Oh and Dave, thanks for the tip about the protein powder, i'm always looking for new ones to try! Right now I'm using the Zone protein powder which I like a LOT, but it doesn't come in yummy chocolate. It also doesn't have as much protein as yours, and I need to mix it with soy milk (just water tastes yucky). So I'd like to try yours if it really is good mixed with just water. I can imagine it would be great in the blender with a few ice cubes as well.

Leigh-Anne,

Yeah, try this protein powder. It's pretty good taste wise and you only mix with water. So very little carbs and zippo fat. I've had 2 today myself!

It sounds great. So how long does 21 servings last you? I'm going to try to find it cheaper online somewhere. GNC is totally expensive. I used to have the gold card, but never used it and it expired

Well... 21 servings per container. And I'm a 1-2x drink per day kinda guy (depending on mood). I'd guestimate mine should last about 2 weeks.

I'm pretty sure you can find it online if you look hard enough. you won't have to pay any taxes on it as it's most likely from another state, but there's always that shipping cost thing. :P I told the GNC monkey that I had a gold card but didn't have it with me. He just used one they already had and that saved me the $10 off the top. I'm so sly! hehe

Hello guys,
I've actually tried this new protein called Nectar, and it's very good.
It has 0 carbs and 0 sugars. I tried the apple ecstasy,all you do is mix 1 scoop with 8oz. of water, it is great...and the price ot it not bad at all on line. I found it as low as $22.45 + shipping which usually went for $4.95 or $5.95 flat rate.
Give it a world you might like it.

Ingredients of apple ectasy flavor
Serving size : 1 scoop (27 g)
General Nutrition
Calories 90
Total Fat 0 g
Saturated Fat 0 g
Sugars 0 g
Cholesterol <5 mg
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Potassium 120 mg
Sodium 60 mg
Total Carbohydrates 0 g
Protein 23 g
Vitamins and Minerals % daily value
Calcium 16 %
Magnesium 5 %
Phosphorus 8 %

BTW, it's made by Syntrax with fruit juice flavors...

I forgot that part, my brain is fried from work sorry...


Good luck
Raquel

ooh, sounds good! i'll have to look out for it. sounds like a nice change from regular vanilla/chocolate protein powders.