Bulking with Creatine

by Christian Bossert

In high school I had my priorities set... Faith, family, school, football, and girls. Did the list always remain in that order? NO. Absolutely not. The most common shift occurred when football and girls made their way to the top. It was at this point when I experimented with creatine.

For those of you not familiar with high school football during the off-season, I’ll give you a quick summary. After school you go to weight lifting and/or do conditioning as a team with the strength and conditioning coach. This coach will place you in a weight lifting group, usually consisting of 3-4 other players that have strength levels similar to yours, and assigns workouts for your group.

As of off-season continued, I noticed that some of my teammates were exploding in their strength and muscle size. To a 15 year old boy, bigger and stronger muscles equates to playing football better and picking up the hot chicks at school. I thought, “Man, I must be doing something wrong. Their muscles are getting stronger and bigger way faster than mine.” I asked a few of them for tips on how to improve like them. They suggested trying out creatine. After weight lifting I immediately went to GNC and bought creatine.

After taking it the first time, I noticed I felt a little funny. I felt a bit lightheaded so I drank water. As the workout progressed I noticed I wasn’t wearing down. Especially at the end of sets and towards the end of the workout. I had energy to push myself much harder. This was amazing. As the weeks and months passed I became much stronger and faster. I was noticeably bigger and weighed 20 lbs heavier too! I couldn’t fit into my shirts anymore. The creatine had worked!

During summer conditioning, tragedy struck, and I pinched a nerve in my back. I had to go to physical therapy for a week before returning to training. Once I returned I immediately pinched my sciatic nerve sprinting. This resulted in severe pain. The sciatic nerve injury would prove to define my senior football season.

August arrived and the season had started. The sciatic nerve pain never diminished. I couldn’t train at full strength for a month prior to the season, and I was out of shape. How could this be? I trained my butt off to give my team and myself the best linebacker I could possibly be. I thought, “Injured sprinting?? Really?” I could understand a contact injury from playing football, but a non-contact injury didn’t seem right. It didn’t seem fair. I became a shell of my former self as the season approached.

Sciatic nerve pain is something you can play through. Your speed and agility are immensely hindered though. While I played my heart out all season, the pain was terrible. My speed and conditioning were pathetic. How could this be?

Years later I would go on to study Exercise Science and learned what happens when you gain weight quickly. A ton of stress is placed on your body. Your nerves, tendons, ligaments and bones try to keep up as you gain muscle and weight. The creatine had helped me get stronger, work harder for longer in the gym, and pumped up my muscles. Unfortunately, I believe it also played a role my injury. Too much too fast.

What is Creatine? What does it do?

Creatine is one of the most popular supplements. Why? Because it works and it has been established to be safe. There are no studies to date that indicate creatine has dangerous side effects. It is not a steroid. Your body naturally produces it, and it is found in high-protein foods such as fish and red meat. When you take creatine as a workout supplement you can increase your workout intensity, specifically for short, fast, explosive movements as in weight training. When your body’s main energy source (ATP, adenosine triphosphate) is running low during a workout, the extra creatine supplement can help you produce more ATP. This can help you lift harder for longer periods of time. If I can lift harder for longer periods of time, this means means the odds of me boosting my strength and growing my muscles increases substantially.

Warning

Be wary of taking excess creatine over a short period of time. Since we naturally produce creatine, our body will decrease production of creatine if we use the supplement. I advise you to take time off from creatine every couple weeks to allow your body to return to an equilibrium state. If you’re not in a rush to bulk up, aim to put on strength slowly. Build into your frame by slowly increasing the weight and resistance you use during training sessions. Increasing your weight rapidly will lead to fat gain without growing your muscles. This is when injuries are likely to happen.          

If you do take creatine, drink enough water to prevent dehydration. No matter how healthy you are, let your doctor know before you take creatine or any other supplement.

What is my opinion of creatine?   

Creatine is not for me. This is not because I partially contribute my high school injury to creatine. It wasn’t the creatine that caused the injury. It was the excess weight. I enjoy pushing myself as hard as I can without the assistance of a supplement. I also have no desire to bulk up like I did in high school. I’m always striving to get stronger, be healthier, and challenge myself, but bulking is not a priority for me. If you decide to give creatine a go diligently follow the instructions. Take it after you workout in doses recommended on the label. Taper off every couple weeks so your body doesn’t decrease its own production of creatine. Drink plenty of water when taking creatine. It’s not for everyone but it may be for you.  

Our Dirty Secret

by Christian Bossert

We fitness professionals love talking about the best. The best diet, exercises, equipment, the best ways to plan your workout, the best way to build good habits. There lies a systematic problem labeling our ‘opinion’ of something as the best. We do not address a major fundamental issue. Deep down we know what the major barrier is. Whether we say it or not, most people don’t need a better program. They do not need the best equipment, a ‘life-changing’ $500 juicer or the latest fashionable workout gear (although I do believe it is a good thing to be ecstatic about your new yoga pants). The dirty little secret is, they just need to be better at sticking to the program they already have.

How do you stick with your program? Let’s see what people who have stuck with their program have to say.

“If you weren’t here I wouldn’t work out”

Occasionally I’ll hear this from a client. It’s true for some people. As a trainer, I’m a glorified accountability buddy. For many of us, we will not let someone down by not showing up or cancelling last minute. I also hear this from people who I do not train. They know that their workout buddy is critical to their consistency working out and sticking to their program. A rock solid reliable form of accountability is priceless!

Create a Reward System

Our minds operate off feelings of pain and pleasure. If I don’t like to exercise or eat right how will I ever lose weight. This requires some trickery with our mind. We must understand what our mind views as pleasure. Something as simple as posting to social media that you finished your workout or telling a good friend of your most recent run will set off our pleasure system. Taking a picture of your healthy meal and sharing it with social media can do the same thing. Search your soul and find out what motivates you.

Set Goals

Fitness 101 revolves around goal setting. If you don’t have specific measurable goals then you have nothing. If you find yourself struggling to keep to a program, revisit your goals. Are they written down? If not write them down!!  Are your goals specific (ie: run a 10k this Spring, lose two pant sizes in three months)? If your goals are not specific and do not have a end date, it’s time for you to get to work. You’ll never build a habit of following through with your program if you do not have specific measurable goals.

The Worry Monster

At the root of worrying is indecision. An unsettled mind is helpless and cannot find peace. Worry is based upon fear. Fear of what? Being happy? Being healthier? Pushing myself out of my comfort zone? The truth is most people lack the willpower to make a bold decision (ie tell everyone and their mother that they are committed to exercise and eating healthy for the next three months) and stand by what they say. It is not an option in my life to allow the disaster of destructive thinking, “worrying”, to dictate what decisions I make in my life and you shouldn’t either.    

Tell yourself it is possible. You CAN get started. You can be consistent in following your workout and nutrition program. Focus on getting better one day at a time. Find your accountability buddy. Reward yourself for following through. Set big hairy audacious goals. Make a decision and follow through. Make it happen!

Throw It ALL Out!!

by Christian Bossert

We like the path of least resistance. If there is a way to make it more convenient we’ll take it. It’s the reason why Netflix, UberEats, and Amazon have revolutionized their industries. How can we make fat loss easy on ourselves: Get rid of the temptations!

Get your game face on! Go through your kitchen and throw out ALL the junk. Part of beating your temptations is to change your environment. It is way easier to control your environment than your cravings.

I won’t bore you with a long list here. You know what tempts you and calls your name late at night. Take a stand right now so you won’t be tempted later.

Here is the key:

It is 10 times easier to simply change your environment than change your habits.

Once you fill your environment with healthy foods it becomes that much easier to make healthy choices.

Celebrate Small Victories

by Christian Bossert

Getting in shape doesn’t happen overnight. It requires a lot of small sacrifices and challenging consistent steps in the right direction. Achieving any health or fitness goal can take a long time. It can be demoralizing when your hard work isn’t showing off on the scale or in the mirror. This time of year, the third week in January, is when most people quit. They don’t completely quit eating healthy and working out all at once. What happens is even more damning.

In college, one of the hardest classes I took was Chemistry 130. I spent more time on this class than my four other classes combined. I went to every single class, did my homework, attended optional study sessions led by graduate students, went to the tutoring lab, and created my own study sessions inviting the smartest students in the class. I worked my butt off and had a ‘high B’ in the class before the lab final.

“There’s no way I can change a lifetime of failure now.”

Unfortunately I did not do very well on the lab final and my grade slipped to a ‘straight up B.’ The good news was I could crush the final exam and still make an ‘A’. I thought to myself, “An ‘A’ in chemistry would be amazing. But there’s no way I can make an ‘A’ on the final exam. I made mostly ‘C’s on tests and the only reason I had a ‘B’ is because I scored well all my homework and lab reports, plus I turned in extra credit. All my life I struggled in science classes. There’s no way I can change a lifetime of failure now. I guess I’ll try my best, but that may not be good enough”.

Can you guess how I did on the final exam? If you guessed an ‘F’ you were right. I made a big fat ‘F’ on my Chem 130 final exam. My grade dropped from a ‘B’ to a ‘C’. I was devastated. “All that hard work for nothing. I’m just not smart”, I thought. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I learned the true reason for my failure.

“I may never see the day when I lose ‘enough’ weight and keep it off.”

How does my bombed chemistry final relate to quitting on your health and fitness goals? You know the answer. It’s the failure mindset. For me, I never rewarded myself for studying, going to tutoring, or turning in extra credit. I allowed myself to worry about failing the final rather than focusing on the small gains I made after each study session. If I’m trying to lose weight, my main focus cannot be the number on the scale. I may never see the day when I lose ‘enough’ weight and keep it off. I encourage you to focus on the small steps. If you walked a mile today, celebrate it. Tell someone who you know cares about you. Share a picture of yourself on social media. Reward yourself for sticking to your goal.   

Right now, the third week in January, is when the clay begins to mold. You’ve put in the effort since the beginning of the year. You’ve eaten right and exercised your butt off. It’s now when your body AND mind are beginning to change. Don’t lose heart. You’re already a winner by taking massive action to change yourself. Now is not the time to give up. Talk to your accountability buddy. If you don’t have one already, look for one now! Find someone to support your goals and hold you accountable. Focus on the little things you do each day. Celebrate your small wins. 

Tackling the Flu

by Christian Bossert

It is upon us. The big ugly monster, “the flu”, has officially become an epidemic in the US. If you have managed to tip-toe your way around the virus, congratulations. Keep up the good work, but don’t get too cocky! Flu season can continue to last for several more months.  If you, your loved ones, or colleagues are victims, I offer my sincerest “get well soon!!”

How do you avoid or overcome the flu? I’m glad you asked. You can go with the three bits of advice from the CDC or my off the grid, non-doctor advice.

1. Take time to get the flu vaccine - Flu vaccine may only be 10% effective this year?  That means 90% ineffective. Many doctors say you should get it regardless of effectiveness levels. According to Dr. Philip L. Miller, the problem with the flu vaccination is it experiences antigenic drift. However, by mutating, the flu could potentially become more effective, if the new strain happens to be one of those that the vaccine covers.

 

2. Take everyday preventative actions to stop the spread of germs.

-Wash your hands frequently throughout the day. Especially before and after eating, using the restroom. Gentlemen, you know who you are! Wash your filthy hands after you go to the bathroom... for CRYING OUT LOUD!!  

    -Avoid touching your eyes, ears, nose, or mouth.

    -Sanitize your hands after a high five, bro hug, or handshake

3. Take Dr. Miller’s novel approach. Effective, but NOT FDA approved.

(*Consult your doctor before taking this approach. You don’t know how you will react especially if you are on medication.)

-High dose Vitamin D — 50,000 units daily for 5 days (yes, that is high dose)

-Astragalus 1000 mg daily for 5 days.  A most potent Chinese herb known for its potent immune boosting properties

-Thymic Protein A — 1-2 packets three times daily for 5 days.   Activates anti-viral t-cell and b-cell immune activity

*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This advice comes from methods that I believe are effective yet are not legally supported by the medical community at large. Continue at your own discretion.  

Expert Tips on How to Stay Heathy While Traveling

by Christian Bossert

What do you eat when you travel? How often do you exercise? Are you sleeping well when you’re away from home?

It’s hard to take care of ourselves when we’re on the road. It’s not surprising that many of us get sick after a stint of travel time. If you could find a way to be healthier during your travels, would you embrace the opportunity? It’s far easier than I thought it would be. I decided to put these “5 expert tips” to the test when I traveled over the holidays, and this is what I found out.

1. Hydrate

This one proved to be huge. I set out to drink at least a gallon of water (128 oz) daily. This number was not reached every day, but within arms reach daily. I did not completely stick to a healthy diet. I shamelessly ate sweet potato casserole, turkey, mashed potatoes, pizza, cake, etc. etc. Not to mention the array of beer, wine and cocktails (I’ll admit it, I love to drink). Fortunately I drank plenty water. As a bonus I worked out in some capacity each day (cardio or strength training). Make hydration a top priority when traveling

2. Get Enough Sleep

The difference between a good night of sleep and a sleep deprived morning can seem as vast as the Grand Canyon. Prioritizing sleep is a good choice. Consider it one of the most important decisions you make over the course of your day. With less obligations I did not struggle with this one over the holidays, but I did set out to fall asleep and wake up at the same time consistently. The result was more energy, less coffee, and no naps necessary during the day. Plus, I found myself in a far better mood throughout the day. For some this could be an absolute must when hanging around the fam for an extended period of time. Have a target bed time and get your butt there on time.

3. Don’t quit working out

This is your energy restorer. Prioritize exercising. Even if it is for ten minutes. Ten minutes of focused exercise will absolutely make a difference. Finding time to exercise over the holidays was not difficult for me, but I understand how difficult it can be when you have flights to catch, meetings to attend, and emails to answer. Before you go to sleep, committing yourself to exercising the next day sets exercising in your subconscious mind as a tip top priority as you battle through the day. This means the odds of you exercising increase substantially. Prioritize exercising and schedule it into your next day schedule each evening before you go to sleep.  

4. Eat healthy and don’t forget to snack

This was one of the most difficult tasks to follow over the holidays. Full disclosure, I did eat some of my Nana’s famous cookies, drink a few (and a few more) cocktails, and splurge on my grandfather’s Italian pasta with sausage. What I did notice is by following the first three tips described above I did not drink nearly as much alcohol or eat processed food. Instead I opted for fruit and veggies. I felt like a million bucks and slept like a baby. Didn’t gain a single pound.

 

*5. No heavy lifting

I’m not entirely on board with this one. This is more of a reference to lugging around heavy objects with bad form and less about avoiding going to the gym and banging out an intense lifting session. I am a minimalist when it comes to traveling. The less I take the better the trip will be. Consider leaving out a few items that aren’t absolutely necessary.

I did not gain ANY weight and upon arriving home. Usually it takes me a few days to get back into my routine. Not the case here. I jumped back into my exercise and diet regimen. Cheers to feeling great in 2018! 

Garcinia Cambogia with Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle or Another Fad?

Garcinia Cambogia with Apple Cider Vinegar: Miracle or Another Fad? By Erica Bossert You may have seen some news stories talking about the amazing combination of Trim® Garcinia Cambogia with Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and how it helped celebrities, like Melissa McCarthy and Jonah Hill, lose a significant amount of weight FAST. If you are anything like me, maybe you have felt so hopeless with losing weight that you would try anything if it meant you could drop 10 pounds by next week without giving up sweets. After hearing about the studies conducted by a Stanford student (click here to read the article from CNN) I went to the store to buy 100% Garcinia Cambogia and ACV. (I have trust issues with ordering free trials online because I ended up having to pay $90 for another diet pill that gave you a month's worth, but the free trial apparently only lasted 2 weeks.) Here is my experience with this "miracle combo": I finished both bottles in about 2 weeks and my weight loss was about 3 pounds; not AT ALL what was promised. I did exactly what they said to do, didn't change my diet or exercise routine, yet I still didn't see a big difference. I didn't have more or less energy from before taking the combination. After I stopped taking it, because my diet never changed, I put those 3 pounds right back on. You also have to chug the ACV and water because it is DISGUSTING and burns your tongue and throat from the acidity. There are also more side effects to this pill that you will not find in these weight loss testimonials. According to WebMd, the medical form, phendimetrazine, is prescribed WITH a reduced-calorie diet and exercise program to help obese patients lose weight. Now I know why Alex Ryan (one of the case studies in the CNN article above) miraculously gained those amazing abs. There have also not been enough studies to show how the pill helps people lose weight. Some of the possible side effects (click here for more side effects) to Trim® Garcinia Cambogia, also known as the Trim Tab Tablet, include difficulty sleeping, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and irritability. Not to mention you may experience some withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing. Just as with any diet fad, there have not been a lot of medically researched studies to prove the combination of Trim® Garcinia Cambogia with Apple Cider Vinegar can help most people lose a significant amount of weight. We also don't know what happens after you stop taking the pill. Will it be just as easy to gain the weight back as it was to lose it, like what happened to me, or will you be able to keep it off? In my opinion, losing weight shouldn't be that fast or that easy, not to mention risky. Having a healthy lifestyle, meaning having a primarily healthy diet, exercising regularly, and having a healthy mindset, is the absolute BEST way to lose weight and keep it off for good. :) All the best, Erica