Fitness Facts

In the world of sports supplements, few brands have the enduring legacy and reputation of Gaspari Nutrition. Renowned for bringing cutting-edge products backed by sound science and innovative technologies, Gaspari has consistently delivered top-notch supplements for athletes and fitness enthusiasts. One of its legacy products is SizeOn, an intra-workout formula designed to help build muscle, enhance workout performance, and expedite post-exercise recovery. In this blog, we will explore the key ingredients of SizeOn, its proposed effects, and guide you on who should use it and when to achieve optimal results.   Introducing Gaspari Nutrition's SizeOn   SizeOn, developed by Gaspari Nutrition, is an intra-workout supplement specifically designed to be consumed during exercise to support muscle building and recovery. Unlike pre-workout supplements that focus on energy and pump, SizeOn aims to provide essential nutrients and fuel to the muscles during the workout, enhancing performance and maximizing muscle growth.   Key Ingredients of SizeOn   Carbohydrate Blend SizeOn includes a carefully crafted carbohydrate blend featuring dextrose, maltodextrin, and cyclic dextrin. These carbohydrates serve as rapidly digestible sources of energy, providing quick glycogen replenishment to the muscles during intense exercise. Maintaining glycogen stores is critical for sustained performance and preventing muscle fatigue during extended workouts.   Protein Hydrolysate Matrix The protein hydrolysate matrix in SizeOn comprises fast-absorbing whey protein hydrolysate, whey protein concentrate, and whey protein isolate. Protein hydrolysates are partially broken down proteins, ensuring rapid absorption and delivery of essential amino acids to the muscles. These amino acids act as the building blocks for muscle repair and growth, supporting the anabolic process during and after training.   Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) SizeOn is enriched with a complete profile of essential amino acids, including leucine, isoleucine, valine, lysine, and others. These EAAs are crucial for stimulating muscle protein synthesis, minimizing muscle breakdown, and promoting muscle recovery.   Creatine Monohydrate Creatine monohydrate is a well-researched and highly effective supplement for increasing strength, power, and muscle mass. By supplementing with creatine during the workout, athletes may experience improved performance, enhanced muscle pumps, and increased cell hydration.   L-Ornithine-L-Aspartate (LOLA) LOLA is a combination of two amino acids known for their potential in reducing ammonia build-up during intense exercise. By helping the body manage ammonia levels, LOLA may support workout endurance and reduce post-exercise fatigue.   Proposed Effects of SizeOn   Enhanced Muscle Building The combination of fast-absorbing carbohydrates and protein hydrolysates in SizeOn promotes a favorable anabolic environment during training. By supplying the muscles with readily available nutrients, SizeOn may help initiate and sustain muscle protein synthesis, leading to increased muscle tissue repair and growth.   Improved Workout Performance SizeOn's carbohydrate blend delivers a quick and sustained source of energy to fuel workouts. The readily available carbohydrates contribute to enhanced stamina, reduced muscle fatigue, and prolonged exercise endurance. The inclusion of creatine further supports increased strength and power output, enabling athletes to lift heavier weights and perform more intense workouts.   Expedited Post-Exercise Recovery The essential amino acids in SizeOn play a crucial role in muscle recovery and reducing muscle breakdown. By supplying the body with the necessary building blocks immediately during and after exercise, SizeOn may accelerate the recovery process and reduce the risk of overtraining.   Who Should Use SizeOn and When?   Athletes Engaging in Intense Training SizeOn is ideally suited for athletes and fitness enthusiasts involved in high-intensity training, such as weightlifting, bodybuilding, CrossFit, and other rigorous workouts. The supplement's comprehensive blend of carbohydrates, protein hydrolysates, and essential amino acids provides valuable support for muscle building and recovery during demanding exercise sessions.   Those Seeking Muscle Mass and Strength Gains Individuals aiming to build muscle mass and improve strength can benefit from incorporating SizeOn into their intra-workout routine. The combination of fast-acting carbohydrates and protein hydrolysates, along with creatine and essential amino acids, facilitates the growth and repair of muscle tissue, supporting muscle building goals.   Individuals Focused on Recovery and Reduced Muscle Soreness SizeOn can be particularly beneficial for individuals seeking quicker recovery between workouts and reduced muscle soreness. By providing the body with the necessary nutrients during exercise, SizeOn supports the recovery process and minimizes post-workout muscle damage.   Timing of Consumption SizeOn is designed to be consumed as an intra-workout supplement. Mix one serving with water or your preferred beverage and sip it throughout your workout session. Consuming SizeOn during exercise ensures that the muscles receive essential nutrients when they need them most, optimizing performance and recovery.   Gaspari Nutrition's SizeOn has earned its legendary status in the sports supplement industry for good reason. This intra-workout formula, with its carefully selected key ingredients, serves as a valuable tool for athletes seeking enhanced muscle building, improved workout performance, and expedited post-exercise recovery. SizeOn is an ideal choice for those engaged in intense training regimens and looking to achieve their muscle building and strength goals. Remember, while SizeOn can be an effective addition to your workout routine, proper nutrition, adequate rest, and a well-designed training program remain vital elements in your journey towards peak fitness and performance.

Egg white protein powder (albumin) emerged in the late 70's as a staple in most mass training athletes' diets. Back in the day, egg protein was partly responsible for building the first monsters of bodybuilding, powerlifting, wresting and football because it was easy to digest, very efficiently absorbed by the body, high in BCAA's (particularly Leucine), and eggh protein powder tasted pretty good, except for the lumps.  Easily available, economical, low calorie and highly bioavailable, egg protein powder quickly became the most popular, best selling, sports supplement on the market, lumps and all. Today, amid the vast array of hydrolyzed, isolate and concentrated whey proteins, soy and casein blends, egg protein is making a comeback. Old school is the new school....  When Gaspari decided to reintroduce egg protein to the market we had several things in mind. First, we wanted to offer the growing number of keto and paleo dieters a very low carbohydrate, highly bioavailable, easily digestible and great tasking, 100% natural, complete protein alternative to whey, soy and casein products.  We also wanted to maximize the amount of protein per scoop and minimize everything else.  Not to mention, we wanted our Proven Egg Protein to be lactose free, free of artificial sweeteners and flavorings and free of anything GMO (genetically modified organism). GMO foods are probably not as bad as some reports might allege, but a growing number of respected researchers agree that more research should be done on GMO foods before we start using them to any large degree. The lactose issue was big for us too. A lot of people are lactose intolerant these days, so a lactose-free egg protein means all-around better digestibility and no bubbling guts. Same goes for artificial sweeteners. While artificial sweeteners may not be as bad as some claim, science supports the notion that regular consumption of these chemicals is potentially not the best thing when it comes to good health. And speaking of chemicals, we made sure Gaspari Proven Egg protein is sourced from chickens that weren’t treated with antibiotics, steroids, or other hormones and drugs. Like chemical sweeteners, chickens treated with drugs are probably not the worst thing in the world, but there is ample evidence from the scientific community that demonstrates a possible link in the risk of disease in humans when you consume the meat or the eggs from such jacked up chickens. Just plain old school chickens are the source of our egg protein.   Paleo and keto friendly The most obvious benefits of using egg white protein powder is that it eliminates unwanted fats and calories from your diet, so it has fewer carbs than many of the whey and casein powders being sold today, but still packs plenty of muscle building protein. In fact, while it may not be as effective at generating protein synthesis as whey, egg protein does much better in terms of stopping muscle breakdown. The body digests egg white protein at a relatively slow rate, The only protein powder more slowly digested is casein. This means that egg protein is able to slow the breakdown of muscle. It actually helps build and repair muscle while you rest. Hands down, egg protein could only be classified as a valuable, high-quality protein and it's time it made a comeback, particularly in this era of growing keto and paleo dieters.   Because Gaspari proven egg is all natural, some people are going to see “all-natural” on the label and immediately think it's gong to taste watery and horrible. And, with good reason! A lot of “all-natural” protein powders out there taste mediocre at best, and that's not just limited to protein powder! Almost anything “all-natural” leaves much to be desired.  So, with that in mind, we wanted to introduce you to something that you will actually look forward to drinking. Just one sip of Gaspari Proven Egg protein and you'll see we hit it out of the park. Not only does it taste amazing, it also has incredible texture, or what we in the industry call, “mouthfeel.” between the insane taste (both chocolate and salted caramel) you'll think your drinking something totally bad for you, not one of the most innovative, powerful, low calorie, low carb, easily digested, Keto and paleo friendly protein powders any money can buy.   But why egg? Why not just stick with whey? That is the crux issue, isn't it? Well, no one is recommending you toss out your whey protein. It's a great source of protein that has many health benefits along with its stellar ability to contribute to the anabolic environment you're trying to create. We're sure not going to stop producing whey products. But, egg is a great, old school option that has its own long-lost benefits. Egg white protein, known as Albumin, is actually quite similar in its genesis to whey. In the case of albumin, the egg white is separated from the yolk and the yolk used in various other forms of food preparation or processing. The whites are pasteurized, dried and processed into protein powder. In the same vein, whey comes from the manufacturing of cheese. An enzyme is aded to whole milk which causes the milk solids (curd) to separate from the whey. The curd is used to make cheese, while the whey is pasteurized, dried and processed into various forms of whey protein -  concentrate, isolate, and hydrolysate. Whey concentrate is the least processed form and cheapest to manufacture, and it contains some fat and lactose. Whey isolate is a form of whey protein that’s further processed to remove the fat and lactose. Whey isolates cost more to manufacture and the supplement companies pass that expense on to you. Whey hydrolysate is the result of further processing where the whey is “hydrolyzed.” This is a process breaks down the amino acids contained in the whey into smaller, more easily digested components. As you've probably surmised by now, whey hydrolysate is the most expensive of the three options. In light of the foregoing, many supplement companies will say that you'll see better results with whey isolate or hydrolysate than concentrate, but there’s no conclusive research to support this claim. Having said that, its probably obvious that  the cheapest whey will always be a concentrate. And that poses its own particular set of potential problems. Whey concentrates on the market are about 85% protein (by weight), but, they can also be as little as 30%. You can only wonder whats contained in that other 70%. This is where fillers, adulteration and amino spiking come into play. Hence, whey isolate powder is very close to pure protein with minimal additives, and processed to the degree where most of the lactose is removed. Just like egg protein, but more expensive.   Egg beats whey in taste One of the inherent problems of whey is that it naturally tastes horrible. Therefore, its harder to flavor without a complicated (read multi ingredient) flavor system. Generally speaking, the better tasting the whey product, the more ingredients it contains. This may not always be a bad thing, but you can't manufacture sweetness and good taste without adding calories, usually carbohydrates. This is why whey protein can have  anywhere from 3 to 12 grams of carbohydrates per scoop. Because egg white protein naturally tastes good, very little needs to be done to flavor and sweeten it, and, whatever that is, it's usually all-natural and low carb. Gaspari proven egg contains just 1 gram of carbohydrate per scoop and has a taste and texture like the most sinful milk shake.  So, when you’re considering buying a protein powder, take a look at the  ingredients listed. If its a long, hard to pronounce list, you're probably looking at something less natural and containing more carbs. If you're following a keto or paleo diet, this could be a concern. Gaspari proven egg protein is one of the most keto and paleo friendly protein supplements on the market.   From where do the eggs come? Sourcing is a big point the whey protein marketers like to impart. They like to promote the fact that the milk used to make the whey comes from cows that are exclusively farmed in the mountains of some obscure country where the regulations regarding their upbringing is more highly regulated than in the US, or because the mountain air makes the milk taste better, or that the cows are free range or grass fed, etc. Each one of these claims comes with its own FDA loop hole. For instance, “grass fed” does not mean that the cows exclusively eat grass. Technically, the cow only had to eat grass once in its life and boom – it's “grass fed.” same goes for “free range.” The cow could spend 23 hours and 45 minutes a day in a pen and go take a walk in field for 15 minutes and it's legally okay to say the cow is “free range.” But, does a cow that has been grass fed, grain, fed, free ranged, or from Turkey have any bearing on the quality and taste of the whey? Not one single bit! Any of the benefits in the life the cow may enjoy will be noted in the cheese made from the milk solids separated from the whey. Remember, whey is bitter and tastes horrible. There is no good taste or texture in whey that comes from where the cows live or what they eat. Any such virtues extolled by supplement manufacturers is all hype. Something we call “label stuffing.” The egg whites used to make Gaspari proven whey are just plain, old school, chickens. Of course these chickens are from quality farms that don't use hormones, chemical feeds, GMO products or are exposed to pesticides, but other than that, they're just chickens. No hype, no label stuffing, just pure egg white protein.     At the end of the day...... While a high-quality, great tasting hydrolyzed whey is hard to beat, The pure egg white protein in Gaspari Proven egg has it's place at the champion's table, particularly if said champion is following a ketogenic or paleo diet. Gaspari Proven egg is 100% pure egg white protein. That means every scoop is almost pure protein, with: Less than 1 gram of carbohydrates Zero fat. It is sweetened and flavored with only minimal natural flavors and sweeteners The taste is almost illegal It mixes easily with no lumps – even in a shaker cup! No GMOs, hormones, artificial coloring, useless fillers or other crap Paleo and keto friendly 1 scoop = 7 egg whites   So, if you're in the market for an incredible tasting, all-natural, low calorie, paleo and keto friendly alternative to whey protein, thats more economical and that might possibly be a better choice for building and repairing muscle while at rest, then you should probably take a lesson from the old school and get yourself a tub of mind bending chocolate or salted caramel flavor Proven Egg Protein right now!

A well-planned diet is a crucial component of any fitness and weightlifting journey. It plays a vital role in supporting muscle growth, strength gains, and body fat reduction. However, adhering to a strict diet can be challenging, and maintaining consistency is often a struggle. In this blog, we will discuss five effective tips to help fitness and weightlifters stay on track with their diet, promoting optimal muscle size and strength gains while simultaneously whittling away body fat. It's important to remember that setbacks are a part of the process, and instead of trying to compensate for them, we should learn from them and get back on track.   1. Set Realistic and Sustainable Goals: One of the most critical aspects of sticking to a diet is setting realistic and sustainable goals. Avoid falling into the trap of following extreme and unsustainable diets that promise quick results. Instead, focus on establishing achievable milestones that align with your long-term objectives. Set specific targets for muscle gain and body fat reduction, and break them down into smaller, manageable steps. By setting realistic goals, you will feel more motivated and confident in your ability to stick to your diet.   2. Plan and Prepare Your Meals: Planning and preparation are key to staying on track with your diet. Take the time to plan your meals and snacks in advance, ensuring they are nutritionally balanced and aligned with your goals. Create a weekly meal plan, make a shopping list, and stock your kitchen with healthy and wholesome ingredients. Preparing your meals in advance, such as batch cooking, can save time and make it easier to stick to your diet, especially during busy days when healthy options may be scarce.   3. Prioritize Protein Intake: Protein is a crucial macronutrient for muscle growth, repair, and recovery. It also helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer, preventing excessive hunger and cravings. Ensure that your diet includes adequate high-quality protein sources such as lean meats, poultry, fish and eggs. Aim to distribute your protein intake evenly throughout the day to optimize muscle protein synthesis. If necessary, consider incorporating protein supplements like whey protein powder to meet your daily protein requirements conveniently.   4. Practice Mindful Eating: Mindful eating is an effective strategy to develop a healthier relationship with food and stay on track with your diet. It involves paying attention to your body's hunger and fullness cues and being present during mealtimes. Slow down while eating, savor each bite, and listen to your body's signals of satiety. This approach helps you become more aware of your eating patterns, prevents overeating, and reduces the likelihood of impulsive, unhealthy food choices. Additionally, avoid distractions such as TV/ computer screens or multitasking while eating, as they can lead to mindless eating.   5. Find Healthy Alternatives and Flexibility: Rather than viewing your diet as restrictive, focus on finding healthy alternatives and incorporating flexibility into your eating plan. Look for nutritious substitutes for your favorite indulgences to satisfy cravings while staying on track. For example, experiment with flavorful spices and herbs to enhance the taste of your meals. And remember to allow yourself occasional treats or small deviations from your diet to maintain balance and prevent feelings of deprivation. Sticking to a diet that supports both muscle size and strength gains, as well as fat loss, requires discipline and commitment. By setting realistic goals, planning and preparing meals, prioritizing protein intake, practicing mindful eating, and incorporating flexibility into your diet, you can stay on track and achieve your fitness objectives. Remember that setbacks are a normal part of the journey. If you do fall off your diet, it's important to avoid trying to compensate for it. Instead, accept the failure, learn from it, and get back on the program with renewed focus and determination. Consistency is key, and staying committed to your diet will ultimately yield the results you desire. Also keep in mind that effective diet and nutrition are the secret to realizing gains in strength, muscle size, and fat loss. The tips provided in this blog are designed to help athletes overcome the challenges of sticking to their diet. By setting realistic goals, planning and preparing meals, prioritizing protein intake, practicing mindful eating, and embracing flexibility, you can maintain adherence to your diet and achieve optimal results. Stay motivated, stay disciplined, and remember that every small step towards your goals counts. With perseverance and a positive mindset, you can make significant progress in your fitness journey while enjoying the process of nourishing your body with the right fuel. Trust the process, stay consistent, and celebrate the victories along the way. Your dedication to your diet will pay off, helping you achieve the strength, muscle size, and body composition you desire.

Just like as it is with any product or service based business, claims of being the “the best” run rampant in the sports supplement arena. Everyone makes the best sports supplements, just ask them. They're certainly not going to tell you they don't make the best supplements; that they're just the middle of the road, average, or the worst. They're all going to proclaim to be the best! But, as things stack up, there can only be one best. Everything else is not the best, in spite of plaintive claims to the contrary. Such is life. The problem attached to this lies in the details that caused a forfeiture of the number one supplement spot. If it was a close call and the difference between best and not the best was a split hair, then you'd probably have no problem using that product or service in lieu of the best one, for whatever reason. But, what about the supplement companies aiming for last place? Those who ride the industry's coattails, but aren't even trying. They proclaim to be the best, but in actuality are the worst. Rather than invest in good raw materials and/ or process, they put their money into marketing. They're not looking for the most important sale, they're looking for a sucker.  Even with laws that require truth in advertising, we all know that P.T. Barnum was right when he said, “there’s a sucker born every minute.” While none of us like to be played for a fool, it still happens to some people because they don’t take the time to check out what we’re being sold. From insurance to investments to healthcare products to political promises, you can clearly see that P.T. Barnum was on to something, there’s a lot of suckers out there. After I retired from competition, I knew I loved the sport far too much to walk away. I had to stay involved. I chose the supplement industry, not only because the timing was right, but also because I knew that if I employed the same work ethic that I did as a bodybuilder, to put out quality products at a fair price, that I knew would help people attain their physique goals, I knew I couldn't lose.   I soaked up every ounce of available knowledge to design products that I knew would help a great many athletes. Yet, people still told me I was crazy.  I was a small-timer out of New Jersey up against established multimillion-dollar companies and I couldn’t compete with that. They should have known better than to tell me such a thing - it only made me want to achieve that “impossible” goal even more. My attitude was, somebody has to be number one, it might as well be me. Now, 25 years later, Gaspari Nutrition has grown into one of the leaders in the supplement industry. Why? The obvious reason is that our products really work. I simply thought that if I was to make products better than anyone had ever done before and sponsor the unbiased, independent research to prove it, I couldn’t go wrong.  With all of the effort you put into building your physique, or improving your performance, trying to figure out which supplements are worth the investment shouldn’t be an added strain on your time. Every athlete should have access to the best supplements available. You should learn as much as you can, check the sources of your information, and the truth will reveal itself.  And that always leads to what I believe is the most important sale – the second one. When you buy a product and it does exactly what you hoped it would, or better, you tend to buy it again. You’re also likely to recommend the product to others. And, you’re probably going to try any new products that company makes. That being the case, I urge you to keep two words in mind: “independent research.” I have personally participated in the development and testing of every product we create. I even went so far as to earn certification from the National Institute of Sports Medicine. But, even that wasn’t good enough for me. So, what I started doing early in my company’s history, was funding area universities to conduct independent, scientific research on my products, so I could back up my claims with science. There’s a history of “snake oil” being sold in my industry and I wanted to rise above that. My goal is to not only provide high end nutritional supplements designed to help you achieve your goals, but I also want to give you a lot to think about. I don't want you to be one of P.T. Barnum's suckers. Your brain needs to be worked at least as hard as your body.  So, investigate for yourself what I’m telling you to do. If what worked for me needs to be fine-tuned for your physiology, feel free to make adjustments. You may not be interested in becoming an expert on sports nutrition. But, you do need to become an expert on what works best for you. There’s only one way to do that, investigate. Rely on credible research to narrow your search, but whatever products you choose, they have to work for you. That means, with confidence in potency and purity, you still have to use yourself as the lab rat and test everything!

You can lift all the weight in the gym. But, if you don't eat right, not much is going to happen. Building the requisite muscle for an impressive physique boils down to one thing, and really, one thing only – how bad you want it. Building muscle, bodybuilding, physique art.... whatever you wan to call it, is nasty business. Unlike most pursuits, building muscle requires a total commitment that literally sets the course of your entire life. It encompasses everything. From what time you wake up, to how long and how hard you train, to where you go, what you do, who you do it with, to what you eat and what time you go to bed must be 110% concerned with your ultimate physique goal. So, no social life outside the gym, intense grueling training sessions at least every day, boring food you have to shop for and cook yourself and dealing with injuries, soreness and stiffness that's probably going to hurt every single day for the rest of your life.  If living such a life doesn't make you literally salivate, then toss your belt in the trash on your way out the gym door and stop at Target on the way home. Pick up a deck of cards, or a pair of knitting needles or something else that doesn't require commitment, sacrifice and a quantum degree of suffering. Unless you grew up tossing hay bales in Iowa, a powerfully built physique is not in your future. If you're still reading this, I'm going to let you in on what I believe is the number one priority included in this list of extreme lifestyle attributes. FOOD.Eating like a bodybuilder goes hand in hand with being a bodybuilder. There's an old saying that goes, “the battle is not with the weights, the battle is with the knife and fork.” That's a cute way of saying that feeding your body quality food five to seven times a day isn’t easy. It takes planning, preparation, and often times sacrifice. Most people aren’t willing to put that kind of effort into their eating. They miss meals, they let too much time elapse between meals, and they don’t eat the right foods. In order to always have the foods your muscles need to recover and grow, you have to plan ahead and you have to bring your food with you; to work, or school, or wherever you spend your day, so you don’t get caught without food when it's time to eat.  If you don’t eat right (that means the right foods and on time) you will short-circuit your training program.What’s the difference between this type of attention to diet and what the average Jack or Jill in the gym does? Do you really have to ask? You can always spot the ones that push harder with both their training and their nutrition, because they look amazing. Anyone that tries to downplay the importance of proper nutrition in the big picture of fitness is only fooling themselves.It’s not easy to make sure you’re always stocked up on all the meats, starches, vegetables, and supplements you need. It sure isn’t easy to keep meals cooked and packed ahead of time for the whole day when you eat every two to three hours. It’s not convenient to always make sure you have the right amounts of the right foods at the right times, every single day. But if it were easy, everybody would have fantastic physiques – and if you look around, you'll see almost no one does.Attaining such a physique is going to take a ton of hard work and it won’t happen overnight. You have to be in this for the long haul and never quit. You must challenge yourself to train with greater intensity, be totally precise with your nutrition and supplementation, and always be sure your body gets adequate rest between each and every ferocious workout. You don’t need someone yelling in your ear to motivate you, that voice should already be inside your head.Is this you I’m talking about now? There's no two ways about it. It either is or it isn't. If it isn't, there's always bowling.  

A sports dietician would probably say that nutrition for athletes would seek the same ultimate goal as general nutrition – insofar as that ultimate goal being, of course, good overall health. However, within the confines of good overall health an athlete is able to train hard. Hard training athletes expose themselves to nutritional needs that non-athletes don't usually face. So, in constructing an athlete's meal plan, not only must the tenets of good health be followed, but an athlete's diet should also consist of specific nutrient densities that satisfy the unique requirements generated by the sports they pursue. So, to answer the question, do sports nutrition and general nutrition have the same goals? The answer is both yes and no. Nutrition for non-athletes is traditionally fairly basic. It pretty much boils down to maintaining acceptable body composition through a calculation of the traditional “calories in” vs “calories out” formula to satisfy base metabolic rate, (with any additional activity factored in), and dispersing those calories over a balance of macro nutrients from clean, fresh, wholesome food sources. Throw in a daily multi-vitamin/ mineral complex and some fish oil and that's good for 90% of the population. In fact, if 90% of the general population followed such a simple, non-athlete meal plan, our national health would soar! A balanced diet of healthy foods and maintaining favorable body composition is by far the best, most effective and proven path to good health. At this point, nutrition for athletes takes the divergent path. Depending on a variety of factors that include: the type of exercises being performed, number of training sessions per week, physical requirements of the chosen sport’s weight requirements. Is the athlete training for strength, power, speed, endurance, a combination? Are they male, female, old, young? All of these things and more must be factored in when a sports dietician calculates an athlete's diet. One of the biggest differences you'll notice is that an athlete's meal plan will undoubtedly include a greater amount of protein. Protein, specifically the amino acids it contains, are the essential building blocks of muscle. Growth and repair of muscle tissue is a constant, ongoing and absolutely vital process for an athlete. If the minute amino acids, particularly essential amino acids, reach a level below what the body needs, muscle growth and recovery come to a screeching halt and performance (strength, speed, size) suffers tremendously. So, right off the bat, the most assured goal of athlete nutrition is consuming more quality proteins. Many athletes supplement their protein requirements with with high quality protein powders (https://www.thegasparinutrition.com/collections/protein-powder) from whey, egg, casine, and vegan sources to insure they have the building blocks on board that their bodies need to perform at 100%. The next nutritional goal the sports nutritionist must consider is the predominant fuel source the athlete is going to consume in his meal plan. Complex carbohydrates and good fats provide the energy the athlete will need to exact maximum performance. To make a long story short, in its most simplified explanation, carbs burn faster than fats. Thus, the energy fats provide are sought for sports requiring more endurance, while athletes requiring explosive energy will typically need more carbohydrates in their meal plan. At the end of the day, nutrition for athletes boils down to assembling a meal plan geared to good health and increased performance, with the emphasis on good health. That being the case, it's hard to argue that sports nutrition and general nutrition would not seek the same ultimate goal.

The term “snake oil” has long been associated with any dietary supplement that made health claims, usually devoid of proven supplement facts, of their product. The concept goes back to the pioneer days, when a traveling salesman hawked an anti-inflammatory, made from a proprietary blend that contained actual Chinese water snakes. Based on today's supplement facts, the stuff worked. High in omega-3 fatty acids from the snakes, daily supplements made from the snake oil actually reduced inflammation and eased the symptoms associated with arthritis. It wasn't long until an enterprising pitchman decided to make his own snake oil and travel town to town selling it. However, due to the paucity of Chinese water snakes being raised in the boom towns of the wild west, his proprietary blend used rattlesnakes. This of course was devoid of any scientific fact that would demonstrate that the rattlesnake supplement represented a reasonable facsimile for the original brand with the Chinese snakes. He made a show of it though. His sales pitch reportedly included taking a live rattler out of a sack, slitting it open and dropping it into a pot of boiling water. Little to none of the rendered snake made it into the bottle though. It was filled, mostly, with nothing more than mineral oil. Thus giving birth to the “snake oil salesman.” Today, claimed benefits of dietary supplements have to follow guidelines spelled out in the dietary supplement regulations contained in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). From what's contained in “proprietary blends,” marketing and label claims, claimed supplement facts, and more, are subject to dietary supplement regulation under DSHEA. Since DSHEA's genesis in 1994, the FDA has taken an ever increasingly active role in regulating dietary supplements. This makes snake oil label claims much more difficult today. Copy and content writers have to be extremely careful when choosing their words so as not to make “drug-like” claims; claims of a “cure” for any kind of illness or disease, or basically, any definitive claim that the product does anything specific. Because, if it did, it would be a drug. And therein lies the rub. Today, dietary supplement manufacturers are relying on the very same kind of peer reviewed and published scientific literature to formulate their dietary supplements as the drug companies use to support their drug formulas. Effectively, however, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies supplements as “foods,” while the chemicals derived from that exact food are considered drugs. A good example is that valerian root extract is sold (legally in the health food store) as a dietary supplement that “might help you relax and fall asleep,” while the valium derived from it is a drug, requiring a prescription (from a doctor who is registered with the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) to put you to sleep, and is listed under schedule three of the DEA's list of illegal drugs. In other words, you can go to prison for illegally possessing, trafficking and distributing it. But, can you go to prison for making false health claims about your proprietary blends? Actually, you can and several people have. So, the snake oil element of claims made today of the health benefits of dietary supplements is pretty minimal. There's always going to be an unscrupulous element to any industry; dietary supplements are no different. But, the industry is certainly not without regulation. As with anything you consider adopting, your daily supplements should be subject to scrutiny. If you chose your supplements from companies with marketing promotions that suggest realistic expectations, based on credible science, then you'd be pretty hard pressed to consider you're buying snake oil.

“If you stay ready you don't have to get ready” - Suga Free People always ask me how l get so lean? My answer is simple, l stay lean. If I stay lean I don' t have to get lean. Right? I mean, that's pretty simple. Ah, but is it? A casual stroll through the domestic terminal of your basic international airport, in any city (my de facto example of the most diverse cross section of America), and you will find an extraordinary number of people who don't pay attention to Suga Free, cuz, they ain't ready. Well, maybe for a pie eating contest, but nothing remotely espousing a healthy body fat level, let alone anything to the extreme that we expect from a bodybuilder. So, stay lean?  Yes, if you want to be lean, stay lean. I was an obese kid and I've stayed lean for over 40 years.  If there's anyone who doesn't have the genetics to be lean, it's me. If I can do it anyone can do it. If that was a cliche, here come the rest of them: “yeah, easier said than done.” “Easy for you to say, you workout all the time.” “I can't diet.” “I have bad genetics.” Blah, blah, blah......  All you're doing by saying and falling for that crap is affirming a negative. Our sport is full of people who have overcome the most incredible adversity and accomplish the most amazing things, including getting shredded. Most of us have no adversity to overcome, except that which we create for ourselves, and can't seem to uncover any part of a six pack, let alone the whole thing. Staying lean is not rocket science. It merely requires that you stay, with the exception of the odd cheat meal once or twice, a week, on a diet. Period. All the time. By diet, I don't mean eating like a bodybuilder. I mean eating like a dieting bodybuilder. “Oh, but that's hard.” So is buying a Ferrari, unless you have the money. Dieting is easy, if you have the discipline. And, discipline – or willpower -  is a matter of one thing – a decision. A very simple decision: Do I stay on my diet or not? The problem is that your brain gets in the way. Let me give you an example.  Let's say you climb into bed after a long hard day. You're dead tired. You could fall asleep the second your head hits the pillow – which, you've fluffed and arranged just exactly how you like it. Your head sinks languidly into it, you wriggle your body one last time into that amazingly comfortable position you and the sandman love, you've maybe even tucked another pillow between your knees. You're an inch from dreamland. Then, you look up and realize you left on the bathroom light. What do you do? What few of you will do is just get up and turn off the light (you guys are probably pretty lean too). Most of you will hem and haw and needlessly complicate the issue, and procrastinate because you just don't want to get up out of bed, especially if it's cold. Some will actually just leave it on! It's a simple decision though, just get up and turn off the light! Like the saying Nike made famous, just do it. Dieting to stay lean is no different. Most of you reading this know that and know damn well what it takes to stay lean. You now there's no magic pill, no magic drug, no magic method, nothing secret. The matter is doing what it takes -  doing what's hard, doing what's uncomfortable. Problem is, humans like to be comfortable and do what's easy. You can't have it both ways. You want to stay lean? Then you know what to do. It's a simple choice – just like getting up out of bed and turning off the light. Unfortunately, temptation rears it's ugly head and then, the next thing you know, you're just another squishy American strolling through the airport. You know that in order to stay lean you have to eat good, clean, healthy food, in a favorable macro ratio, and burn more than you take in, so that the body will liberate stored fat to make up the difference. Simple. The only problem is just doing it. So, what do we do? Come up with excuses of course. And some are pretty good: “I have kids and the junk they eat is always in the house” (why do you buy it for them?), “Diet food is too expensive” (duh), “No time to prep the food,” “I have no energy on a diet,” “I get too hungry,” “I get hypoglycemic,” “I crave pizza.....” Blah, blah, blah. It's all meaningless bullshit. Suck it up buttercup. Everything desirable has a price. If you want to stay lean, quit complaining and just do it. It's either that or stay fat. Simple equation: Diet = lean. No diet = fat. (remember the bathroom light). Now, here's where the big debate that has raged for decades comes in. One camp says “calories in calories out.” This basically means that if you eat fewer calories than your base metabolic rate indicates, you'll lose weight. It doesn't matter what you eat, so long as you create a calorie deficit. The problem here is “weight” is an ambiguous term. You can hack off an arm and get back on the scale and it will read less. You get the desired intent, but the effect is not too good. What you want to lose is not “weight” but rather, body fat. Which brings us to the other camp. They say that if you eat only “clean” food – lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats, you can eat all you want and, with adequate exercise, you'll lose body fat. The only problem with either camp is that they're both only partly right.  If you want to become, and stay, lean what you need to do is eat a balance of high protein, moderate good quality fats and few complex carbohydrates, spaced out over five to six small meals a day with a total calorie count somewhat less than your base metabolic requirement.  It's important that you keep a nice even flow of nutrients coming in so that your body does not perceive starvation and slow down your metabolic rate. This will not only stymie fat loss, but also muscle growth. So, just how much below your base metabolic rate should you eat when you consider your activity level? Too low and your body will strive to hang on to those reserves you have on board, too high and you wont lose fat. Unfortunately, there's no specific formula for this, it's a matter of trial and error. If you use an accurate measure of your body fat each week, you'll want to lose between 0.5 – 1.0% of body fat per week. Slow and steady. Once you arrive at your desired body fat level, gradually increase the size of your meals until you level out where you feel and look lean. Then stay lean.  A little help from high quality supplements? Absolutely. But, they're NOT the answer. Of course they can help and I can swear they make a big difference. But, the work and the sacrifice is going to be 85% of the deal. Luckily, modern silence has given us supplements that can help the fat burning process. Not only fat burners, but also low calorie protein powders offering complete protein with few calories or added fats, and quality vitamins and minerals to make up what a calorie restricted diet may leave out.  At the end of the day, it's going to be exercise, a well constructed, low calorie meal plan, combined with state of the art supplements, dedication, consistency and discipline that is going to deliver incredible results that can last and last and keep you lean. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.

For some reason, many bodybuilders believe they have to turn themselves into a giant pumpkin during the off season in order to build any muscle. They believe, “you can't grow muscle when you're dieting.” Oh my God..... To find a greater pile of bullshit than that you'd have to visit a cattle ranch. That is such utter nonsense. It's true that you could not eat enough on a diet and not gain muscle, but it's not necessary to gain fat in order to gain muscle. All my clients gain muscle leading up to a bodybuilding show while losing body fat. All of them, men and women, doesn't matter. I always crack up at the big puffy bodybuilder who gains 50 pounds during the off season and then diets off 48 of it by show time. Why gain 50 pounds for a net gain of two? Why not gain five pounds and have all of it be muscle? What you need to understand is that the body signals the building of muscle as part of its survival mechanism. It doesn't grow muscle because you want a killer double biceps pose. It grows muscle, and only grows muscle, in response to progressively greater gravitational stress. The greater the stress your body endures the greater the adaptation. This was actually proven 2700 years ago by the world's first bodybuilder, Milo of Croton, who roamed the hills of southern Italy with a bull over his shoulder.  Milo was perhaps the best wrestler in world at the time, having won ancient Greece's triple crown of wrestling a staggering seven times and the Olympic games five times. The secret to his incredible strength was the bull. Not the kind of bull you get from the broscientists online these days, but an actual cow. Milo picked up the critter shortly after it was born, slung it over his shoulders and walked the hills behind his farm until he couldn't carry it any longer. He did this every day. As the calf grew, so too did Milo. And so was born the progressive resistance principle.  What Milo proved is that in order to grow muscle the body must be subjected, repeatedly, to an ever increasing work load it cannot accomplish with the stock muscle allotment. In order to survive that stress, it builds muscle  to become stronger and adapt.  And, that is IT. Other than some kind of rouge genetic factor, there is absolutely no other reason whatsoever your body will build muscle. In fact, the body will strive to get rid of muscle it's not using. If you doubt me, stick your arm in a cast for six weeks and see what you haver left after you cut it off.  It will only build muscle if it needs it. And, if the stress is grave enough, it will build that muscle no matter what, even if calories are restricted. You have to remember that a pound of fat has 3500 calories. If you weigh 200 pounds and you're at a fairly moderate 10% body fat, that means you have 20 pounds of fat on your body, that equates to 70,000 calories worth of potential energy on board, in addition to what you eat. So, unless you have zero body fat, your diet can consist of very few calories and you'll still have plenty of energy calories on board to keep you going. It might not feel very good, but you're not going to starve. And, if you're taking in the right nutrients, you're not going to lose muscle, in fact, with proper nutrients and stimulation in the gym, you'll grow muscle, even if calories are restricted. As far as proper nutrients go, protein is going to be king. Building muscle requires protein, particularly the essential proteins, also known as essential amino acids, particularly the branch chain amino acids. These nutrients are termed “essential” because the body does not produce them, or does not produce them in adequate amounts, requiring you get them either from your diet, or high quality nutritional supplements.  Building muscle requires building blocks. The more you have on board the better your chances of building muscle. But, you also need to keep the machine well oiled. So, in addition to the amino acid element, you will also benefit from complete protein powders, vitamins and minerals and  joint care supplements.  Growing muscle without getting fat is as possible as it is tedious. You have to work at it – hard. But, with consistency and attention to detail, you'll build it without having to battle pounds and pounds of unnecessary body fat.

Creatine, more specifically, creatine monohydrate, is one of the most studied dietary supplements in history. Reams of peer reviewed and published research indicate numerous ergogenic benefits of creatine supplementation, as well as eating creatine rich foods (meat). Depending on how you cycle creatine, and how much creatine a day you take, the apparent gains in muscle mass have caused many a coach to wonder if creatine is a steroid. Well, right off the bat, creatine is not a steroid, or even a drug. It's a naturally occurring compound of three amino acids, (glycine, arginine, and methionine) that the body manufactures, as well as utilizes from a diet of creatine rich foods. In the human body, creatine is found mostly (95%) in skeletal muscle. (The rest is distributed by the bloodstream to the brain, testes, and other tissues). Creatine’s primary metabolic role is to combine with a phosphoryl group to create creatine phosphate, which is used to facilitate the conversion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the production of energy, when protein, carbs and fat are oxidized. The result, of one phosphate being lost from ATP, is a new compound called ADP (adenosine di-phosphate), which the body will use to convert back into ATP using creatine. So, the process starts with ATP, the conversion of ATP to energy leaves us with ADP. Add creatine and the body reforms ATP and stores it in the muscle, providing energy when you need it. When researchers gave test subjects creatine, they noticed that very little of it was excreted. This means that the body actually does store it - in muscle it turns out. This means that supplementing with creatine, or at the very least, eating a diet in creatine rich foods can help energize longer, harder, workouts. Creatine supplementation can help further increase ATP so you can workout harder. This is really important for athletes whose activities rely on short, fast, explosive movements. Your onboard supply of creatine phosphate is the body's preferred source of energy when you perform such anaerobic activity. Apart from the intense power they're able to generate on creatine, what bodybuilders love about creatine is the way it attracts water to muscle. Hydrated muscle not only looks bigger and more pumped, but hydration plays an important roll in protein synthesis in muscle. Research on creatine has also demonstrated benefits that can benefit anyone, not just athletes. Better bone density, glucose metabolism and brain function have also been notably improved with supplemental creatine. Loading creatine, while not completely necessary, does bring on its effect sooner. The recommended creatine dosage for the loading protocol is a five day period of 10 - 15 grams a day (split into two or three doses to avoid stomach upset) to saturate the muscle and then back down to 5 grams a day for maintenance. There’s a lot of talk about how to cycle creatine and if it’s necessary. While there’s certainly no adverse affect to taking creatine for the rest of your life, the body does tend to regulate itself. Over time, your body will strive to maintain only the creatine levels it needs, not how much you need to keep your pump. So, it is conceivable that your body will excrete some of the excess creatine from supplementation or downgrade the number of creatine receptors, or a little of both. That being an accepted argument, it would be best to stop taking creatine for three - four weeks after an eight - 10 week cycle, then go back on. You can cycle creatine on and off like that indefinitely. As far as creatine safety goes, to date, there is absolutely no credible research that demonstrates any danger to using it. Naturally, if you exceed the recommended dose you could have some digestive disruptions, but that’s true for just about anything. When you look at any of the reams of research that exist on creatine, you should remember that well over 90% of that research has been on creatine monohydrate. While the supplement market is rife with supplements containing creatine malate, nitrate, and buffered creatine, there is no research that demonstrates that any other form of creatine is any better than monohydrate. So, is creatine a safe supplement? It absolutely is, and it's effective too!

Many a hard training athlete has taken part in the debate, either for or against, as to whether or not the naked egg can stand up against a slab of beef steak, as far as protein sources go, or do the egg macros in that plate of scrambled eggs fall short? It's an age old question really. Athletes are hell bent on finding the best protein sources and the comparison is inevitable. And, that's just as far as food goes. When it comes to supplemental protein, egg macros are always held in high regard – even higher than whey in some cases, with athletes continually debating the best egg white protein powder, or what goes into making the best egg protein shake. It wasn't always like that though. Back in the day, even the best egg white protein powders made horrible tasting, lumpy, egg protein shakes. Modern technology has revitalized the egg protein powder market with great tasting, easy mixing products that make it easy, not to mention enjoyable, to get the nutrients out of eggs. But, are eggs as good a source of protein as a beef steak, or other animal source proteins? Dietary protein is made up of chains of amino acids. The proteins from animals - poultry, fish, beef, pork, lamb, game meats and eggs are considered “complete proteins” because they contain all of the amino acids that your body needs – including the nine essential amino acids that your body doesn't produce. To further highlight the importance of complete proteins is the fact that the body can only benefit from complete proteins. Incomplete protein is pretty much useless as far as muscle growth and recovery are concerned. Gram per gram however, meat is heavier in protein content than eggs. Eggs on the other hand, can be a healthier and more versatile alternative to meat. A gram of whole egg contains about 1/8th of a gram of complete protein. Conversely, a gram of meat (flesh of any animal) has about a 1/5th of a gram of complete protein. So, as you can see, in a gram-to-gram comparison, meat contains more protein than eggs.   I emphasized “whole egg” above because most of you are obsessed with not eating egg yolks. So, you have to remember that a large whole egg contains about six grams of protein, just a little over half of which come from the white. You throw out the rest with the yolk along with other beneficial nutrients. Just to get the same protein as a whole egg, you have to eat two egg whites. It's not unusual to see athletes throwing down 10 – 12, or more, egg whites at a sitting. Another thing to keep in mind is that, compared to meat, what eggs lack in protein they make up for in cholesterol. One large egg has about 3.5 grams of fat and 140 milligrams of cholesterol. A 3 ounce serving of animal flesh ranges between 1.5 to 5 grams of fat and 50 to 60 milligrams of cholesterol. What's interesting though, is that while saturated fats are known to increase cholesterol, the egg macros, while higher in cholesterol than meat, eggs reflect fewer saturated fats. The only other food I know of that contains high cholesterol, but is low in saturated fat is shrimp and other shellfish. It's kind of an odd dichotomy, but nevertheless prudent, that people with high cholesterol should avoid both egg yolks (the obvious) and shrimp (the not so obvious). However, those people with normal cholesterol, can not only eat shrimp, but should also not be tossing all the yolks because they think they're high in saturated (bad) fat – because they're not. And, because the nutrients in eggs are contained in the yolk, including all the valuable vitamins and minerals you get from the egg. So, it boils down to calories. Many athletes go by the “four whites and a yellow” ratio when they construct their egg meal. This gives them all the complete protein contained in the egg whites, a bit more from the yolk, and all the vitamins and minerals, with less fat. But, a lot of lifters don't want to worry about how many calories are in one scrambled egg and they just go online and look for the best egg protein powder. (https://www.thegasparinutrition.com/products/proven-egg?variant=33802534584451) At the end of the day though, a complete protein is a complete protein. It doesn't matter if it comes from a cow, a fish, an egg or a 3LB plastic tub. So, are eggs as good a source of protein as beef steak as far as protein quality goes? The answer is yes.

Sports nutrition is basically pretty much like it sounds - nutrition for athletes. The essence of the concept being that a sports dietician, or the athlete himself, constructs a specific athlete meal plan that will spell out precisely what the athlete's diet should consist of, based on the specific nutritional needs the pursuit of his sport presents. There can't be enough stress put on the fact that, first and foremost, it's the athlete's meal plan that sets the stage for how well his performance will be affected.  There can't be enough stress put on the fact that, first and foremost, it's the athlete's meal plan that sets the stage for how well his performance will be affected. Depending on the sport, an athlete's nutritional needs will differ. For example, a strength athlete will need a higher protein appropriation in his meal plan; an endurance athlete will  need more quality fats; while athletes who require explosive bouts of energy – such as sprinters – will need more complex carbohydrates. And, of course, for many athletic pursuits, it's not so cut and dry and a variety of factors have to be considered when you calculate what an athlete's diet should consist of. Optimum sports nutrition insures that the body has the nutritional building blocks on board it needs to both fuel performance and aid recovery. Generally, sports dietitians agree that the overall goal of sports nutrition is to satisfy two important areas where an athlete's nutritional needs differ from non athletes. These are distinct because one cause the other: performance and the recovery from it. Optimum sports nutrition ensures that the body has the nutritional  building blocks on board  it needs to both fuel performance and aid recovery.  Complex carbohydrates from natural sources such as whole grains, potatoes, yams, fruit, etc. are converted by digestion into glucose. The  conversion of these particular carb sources is slow and sustained, which results in stable blood glucose levels. This not only supports the immediate performance requirements, but also replenishes glycogen stores in muscle, the liver, and the brain.  Dietary protein from fresh eggs, poultry, fish and lean meats deliver vital amino acids that aid in performance and recovery of muscle. While the body can manufacture most of the amino acids it needs, there are several which the body must have have but does not produce, or produce in sufficient amounts and must find them in the diet. Ironically, it's these very essential amino acids that are the most depleted through athletic training and competition. Clearly then, an athlete's meal plan must contain adequate complete protein choices, preferably from animal sources, to maintain the increased amino acid requirements of athletes. Vegan athletes bring a whole other element of complexity to the equation when it comes to deriving sufficient complete proteins, without suffering from a mountain of excess calories carbohydrate combining brings. But, that's an entirely separate topic for another day. For the purpose of this discussion, natural, complete, protein sources  - from animals – is what will be considered in an athlete's meal plan to deliver all the amino acids the body needs for optimum athletic performance and recovery.  Finally, dietary fats, from unsaturated “good” sources are vital for energy production and metabolism maintenance, not to mention the fact that, just like we have essential amino acids, there are essential fats the body must have, but does not produce, that must be derived from dietary sources. Long considered the enemy of a healthy diet, because they were just termed “fat” and lumped in with all the bad saturated fats that are the scourge of the American diet, good fats from unsaturated sources, such as cold pressed oils, nuts, seeds, and the essential omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EPA) from fish, are vital for energy production, tissue repair, nervous system and brain function, joint maintenance, reducing  inflammation, and supporting immune function. All of which represent an elevated level of importance in an athlete's meal plan. Vegan athletes are also going to be confronted here with another reality of sports nutrition when it comes to getting enough ALA from plant sources - that must be converted into adequate quantities of  DHA and EPA (the only omega-3 the body uses) to support athlete nutrition. But, again, that's another level of complexity when it comes to determining what an athlete's diet should consist of and is a topic for another discussion.  There is no argument against specialized, balanced, nutrition for athletes, and is an essential element of effective, sensible sports nutrition. Ultimately, caloric requirements to effect maximum performance, while maintaining acceptable body composition will be regulated  with the athlete's meal plan. This usually requires some trial and error and attention paid to cause and effect. But, there is no argument against specialized, balanced, nutrition for athletes, and is an essential element of effective, sensible sports nutrition.