Ingredient Review - Ephedrine

True ephedrine alkaloids are the real McCoy, and when they're stacked with caffiene and aspirin pre-cursor white willow bark (especially in a 1:8:4 or 1:10:4 ratio of ephedrine to caffiene to aspirin alkaloids in the ECA stack), then the effects are truly authentic among fat burning substances. Before the ban, the Ma-Huang form of ephedra was so dominant that many believed that it was the only herbal variant available. Now with even stronger versions post ban such as Sida Cordifolia some have stepped up the traditional ECA stack with the addition of sinephrine, which has potent fat burning capabilities. Synephrine is substantially effective, but I suspect that it may have blood thinning effects, although mild enough to still be considered safe. Even considering ephedrine's ability to massively target the [B fat receptor site] signature overall, the real explosion of truth concerns its potent anti-catabolic capabilities.

Ephedrine directs fat burning activity towards lipids (and away from muscle cells) so well, it actually preserves more lean mass than dieting alone, provided all other factors being equal. This is a boon anyone trying to preserve and condition lean muscle. If one can preserve lean mass, while accentuating fat loss, then the body starts to take on more of shapely appearance of desired proportions. The extra lean mass preserved brings out one's natural figure or physique, since its preservation was managed, and not sacrificed through traditional modes of calorie restriction. In addition, strength is better maintained with the inclusion of ephedrine in one's fat loss program, in part due to its benefical effects on contractile strength through neurological amplification. To counteract the vasoconstriction effects of ephedrine and caffiene over time, one might want to consider investing in NO2 supplements, whose nitric oxide acitivation through Arginine AKG/KIC can expand the arterial wall enough to mitigate both diystolic and systolic pressure. Either way, ephedrine is still the ideal fat burning substance that really lived up to its name.


Recommended Product(s):

Lipodrene - Ephedrine

The Regeneration Effects of Sleep + A Note on Boxing

Sleep is the phase where the greatest level of anabolism occurs. Failure to manage this area of one's life will eventually slow gains to a crawl. Success in managing this area of one's life will speed gains on a trajectory not only in one's physical appearance, but also in other areas of life (believe it or not). Hormonally, the goal is to optimize GH and testosterone production (estrogen production in women), during this period as the body moves into a full state of regeneration. The two key specialty micro-nutrient supplements that come to mind are melatonin and ZMA. I once read that boxers should take melatonin consistently, since it realigns the brain's amygdalia, which tends to increase in susceptability to shifting off alignment, during matches or or straight knockouts. This substantially (in part though) explains the "shot fighter" syndrome - if the amygdalia is knocked off its alignment, then neural communications become impaired to the extent of increased sensitivity to being stopped and failure to get punches off, due to compromised reflexes.

Melatonin at its core allows the body to regenerate its natural hormonal configuration, thus assisting in the regulation of many metabolic processes crucial to anabolism, and lean mass preservation in periods of calorie restriction. ZMA optimizes the sleep cycle by compressing the time variable necessary to reach the REM state, where the day's information and cellular processing occur. Many quantum physics proponents assert that this particular state allows for certain anomalies to occur (i.e., consciousness possibly decoupling from the physical interface to experience alternate frequencies of existence in the universal hologram). Aside from that, one can use these products in addition to anti-catabolics like HMB to amplify the recovery effects of sleep, and reap new benefits.


Recommended Product(s):

Melatonin
ZMA formula
HMB

Product Review - BSN Thermonex

Thermonex is one of the best kept secrets among the BSN line of products. With a highly advanced combination of fat burning substances that target the B3 receptors of fat cells in very hard to reach areas (i.e., evodiamine and octopamine), this is one of the better fat burners, but unbeknownst to most. It can be used for long periods of time, and does not seem to exhibit the fast down regulation effects normally associated with products in its category. Laced with 3 tyrosine variants inclusive of acetylated tyrosine, which easily crosses the blood brain barrier and naringin, which amplifies the potency of other substances within its biochemical vicinity, Thermonex also has sharp potency as a nootropic, and can help to retain more strength, during prolonged periods of calorie restriction.

Many fat burners are formulated with extremely low concentrations of a wide variety of substances in hopes that a synergistic network of effects among these components addressing the different areas of fat loss proves sufficient. This may not necessarily be the case. Thermonex is formulated to be very effective with high concentrations of select key ingredients, so what one really gets is a product with strong biological area focus without being structurally overbroad in its nutriceutical design. Fat loss products designed along this principle tend to be the more effective products long term, since the design constraints encouraged very decisive tradeoffs, during product development. In addition, the product does not rely on its caffiene component the way many competing products do, as it has other substances in its matrix that target through neurological stimulation, receptor site signature, and metabolic consistency. Thermonex also has extraordinary versatility when combined with other supplements like ephedrine and white willow bark to mimc the ECA or Ephedrine/Caffiene/Aspirin stack.

In the paradox of choice, remember selection is not fully independent of circumstance, even though one's imagination can allow it to be when vividly seeing all other things being equal to isolate the best fat burner. With Thermonex, consumers are already a step ahead in resolving the paradox here.


Recommended Product(s):

BSN Thermonex

Product Review - IDS Waximaize

This is the most effecient glycogen source, by far. Ingestion of waximaize can help one strategically place a higher concentration of amino into muscle cells, within a rather short period of time. As the cell wall opens up in response to the insulin spike initiated by the waximaize carbohydrate, the membrane's surface area can sharply increase without sacrifice in integrity. This is the optimal state for anabolism: Optimizing for maximum amino acid capacity within the muscle cell per measured unit (i.e., grams) of protein ingested is the ideal perspective. In other words, waximaize may assist in extracting the highest amount of nitrogen from protein sources when macronutrient absorption post-training is at maximum capacity.

In addition, it can also enhance the osmotic effects of creatine within the cell, and accelerate power from the increase in efficiency of the actin and myosin sheets moving across the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This is what enhances true contraction power and strength. Caffiene has a similar ability (but actually more limited long-term), although it is not as well positioned as waximaize since mexylxanthines tend to downregulate somewhat quickly. By allowing for greater phosphate production via ATP synthesis and increased phosphate cycling, the applied increases in contraction force through heavy compound free weight movements amplify the body's anabolic response. This response as one would logically guess leads to increased recovery requirements that result from increased breakdown. Therefore, it is imperative to use waximaize with creatine monohydrate post-training, along with anti-catabolics (i.e, HMB) pre-training. Also, waximaize can also be stacked with protein to create a meal replacement within the correct nutrient partitioning parameters (i.e., 40 grams of protein to 25 grams of waximaize).

Remember to keep your options open, especially when dealing with product selection: Waximaize is highly versatile and can work with other supplements to scale conditioning and lean mass gains, in sync with one's training and eatting patterns.

IDS Waximaize

Compound Movements

Rule number 1: To substantially increase the size of targeted bodyparts, efforts must be focused on free weight compound movements that work multiple muscle groups to a point of intensity and duration than what that same effort could produce if the target group was worked alone in isolation. In other words, decline dumbbell bench presses and/or dips on an arc will put far more size on one's chest long-term than dumbbell flies done in isolation. It gets even better, as the same aforementioned movements will also put more mass on one's tricep's than the isolation-based triceps pressdown or skull-crusher. There's another principle at work here regarding a trade-off that one strategically needs to make at certain points in the program.

The "Compound versus Isolation" dichotomy is really more of a question regarding tactical balance of movements selected along these continuums in one's long term training strategy. There are times when isolation can be strategically incorporated into compound training (i.e., pre-exhaustion of pecs with flies before decline and incline bench presses). However, the vast majority of time, when pursuit of sheer quality muscle mass is the objective, then usually the fastest route is to fully leverage almost all training movement selection towards the use of free weight compound movements and focus conditioning efforts in the area of nutrition. Some personal trainers (not all) have an issue with this, since many teach their clients to use isolation movements to condition the muscle. While this is true, the aforementioned strategy of compound movement selection and strict nutrition attains the goal of amassing quality size much faster.

To test whether or not this works with the correct supplementation, combine HMB, CISSUS, Glutamine Peptide, Lecithin, and Phosphatydserine for a max anti-catabolic stack, while using Anabolic PUMP to assist in repartitioning the increase in calories into muscle cells.


Recommended Product(s):

Anti-Catabolic Stack
HMB
CISSUS
Glutamine
Lecithin

Suggested Repartitioning Supplement:

Anabolic PUMP

Product Review - TRAC Extreme NO

Nitric Oxide (NO) production can accelerate long-term gains in muscle accrual, since arterial wall expansion can in addition to insulin-mimickers increase the macronutrient saturation point required for skeletal muscle cells to process nitrogen and related amino group components. Not only is this helpful, but it's a requirement, for the reason that all nutrient distribution and transfer takes place in the bloodstream. This also alerts users to the fact that purifying the blood stream with liver detoxification supplements and those for nephron health in the kidneys (i.e., cranberry and sufficient water intake) is also necessary for optimal protein absorption, amino acid assimilation, byproduct removal. TRAC can assist users strategically by increasing the capacity of the body's cardiac system, thus resulting also in increased blood volume, which in turn carries more macronutrients.

What makes this product's case interesting is the point at which the above is designed to occur: pre-training and training phases. By assisting the body in expanding the arterial wall in response to train intensity and duration, the product's stimulatory mechanism allows users to exert greater effort, which entices the body to expand its cardiac capacity in synergy with increased NO concentration. Consistent use over time can create a self reinforcing viral that extends NO production and cardiac expansion fairly quickly maxing out at one's genetic limit. Therefore, TRAC should not have its focus steered towards indefinite NO production, but more towards sufficient NO production necessary to allow the body's increased blood volume to carry more protein into the tissues than what would have occurred without using the product.

In the pursuit of lean mass gain, keep in mind that NO products are really what I call carrier supplements whose strategic value lies in their ability to biologically set up conditions that increase the distribution, transfer, absorption, and assimilation of macronutrients needed to process muscle. TRAC tactically focuses more on the first two processes, allowing the body to better manage the execution of the last two.

TRAC Extreme NO

Extraordinary

Results of this caliber require nothing less than herculean effort, on a consistent basis. Outside of genetic limitations, this is the true factor of differentation, the decisive moment that separates the best from the rest. In all walks of life, exceptional people are consistently proven through clear demonstrations of exceptional effort. The gym is no exception. Many will say that they want an energy drink or pre-training stimulant to give them the energy to get through the workout. I say bet on the person who wants it to push training intensity further than ever thought possible. The exact difference in mindset between these two perspectives is the exact difference between an extra 12 of more pounds of contractile muscle (at a lower bodyfat percentage) within a year's period, provided that all other factors are equal. Even considering such a theoretical view, this basic point is virtually undisputed: Extraordinary Effort = Extraordinary Progress.

Now the question becomes "How". Exercise is really the artistic application of scientific principles of kinesiology for body recomposition design. Supplementation is the artistic application of scientific principles of biochemistry and nutrition to body recomposition through biological control. By training harder and using the correct supplementation, one also experiences an overlooked effect not normally noticed under less intense conditions: Ineffective supplements whose understood proposition fails to produce, will usually get exposed. This is exactly what manufacturers of ineffective products fear at the end user level. A precise method of testing supplements is to figure out the intended mechanism before use, then scale training volume and intensity, during product deployment. If certain or specified initial effects are not seen within a designated period of time, then it's time to move on. An example, would be unpatented HMB, which is a knockoff of the real thing. The very first effect you must notice with this product is reduced muscle soreness and related post-training pain. If one cannot experience faster recovery within the first 1-2 weeks of highly intense training, then it's not real HMB no matter what the claims. Therefore, a commitment to high intensity training must come first, but can only be accompanied by extremely effective supplementation with highly specified effects identified beforehand.

With that said, one can step up training efforts with a combination of anti-catabolics and pre-training stimulant(s). You need both, although the anti-catabolics are more important in the sense that one take anti-catabolics long-term without pre-workout stimulants, but not other way around. Anything that sharply increases workout capacity and intensity in application will cause more breakdown, which has to be sufficiently hedged against through anti-catabolic supplementation.


Recommended Product(s):

Anti-Catabolic Stack
HMB
Glutamine
CISSUS
ZMA + Tribulus Terrestris

Pre-Workout Stimulant(s) - Either one can be selected
NO - XPLODE
TRAC Extreme NO