Use HMB to Improve Your Muscle Quality Training to Build Muscle and Training HMB to Cut Body Fat It Works For the Elderly Will It Also Work for You

This is Ernestine Shepherd; and while Ernestine is not one of the study subjects she would qualify. After all, she is 74. And she is also something else: An example of the anti-aging effects of life-long exercise and sensible nutrition.

HMB has gotten back to the limelight lately. Many scientists are currently working on advanced preparations with increased or faster absorption rates. A soon-to-be-published study in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology does however suggest that the latter may - at least for some basic and certainly non-negligible effects in the aging muscle and adipose tissue - not even be necessary. For these purposes the good old (and disgustingly tasting) CaHMB powder us Europeans can get for cheap at every street corner appears tow work quite fine.

In a randomized controlled study, the Jeffrey R. Strout and his colleages from the University of Central, the University of North Carolina, the Georgia Southern University, the United States Sports Acadamy, and the University of Tampa, observed that the 3g of "good old" calcium-β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (CaHMB) works just fine to increase leg strength and muscle quality in >65yr old subjects.

To be able to evaluate the effects of HMB alone and in combination with strength training, the scientists divided the study into two main phases:

• Phase I consisted of two non-exercise (NE) groups: (a) ad libitum diet plus placebo (NEPLA) and (b) ad libitum diet plus CaHMB (NEHMB). 
• Phase II consisted of two resistance exercise (RE) groups: (a) ad libitum diet plus placebo and resistance exercise (REPLA) and (b) ad libitum diet plus CaHMB and resistance exercise (REHMB). 

The study evaluation period for each participant in Phases I and II was 24 weeks. Testing was performed at week 0 (pre-test), 12 weeks (mid-test), and 24 weeks (post-test), and consisted of body composition (the scientists used reliable DXA scans to assess the lean mass and body fat levels), muscle strength, functional movement, three-day dietary recall, blood markers, and urinalysis for HMB consumption.
 
2x1.5g + 4g carbs did the trick

Muscle quality (MQ) - what is that? "Muscle quality (MQ) was calculated as muscle strength relative to muscle mass. MQ has been used and described previously as an indicaor of muscle function (Lynch et al., 1999; Tracy et al., 1999)." (Strout. 2013) Being a measure of strength relative to muscle mass, MQ is considered a predictor of health status, mortality and a better indicator of muscle function than strength alone (spec. the hilarious grip strength measures you see in many studies in geriatric journals).

The supplement had to be consumed with a non-alcoholic drink at least 2x per day. In addition to the HMB or placebo powder it contained an additional 4g of carbs (I am mentioning this, because it cannot be excluded that this had a minimal effect on the absorption or metabolism of HMB). The resistance training sessions (RE) in the 2nd phase of the study were performed three times per week. The volume of the training sessions (number of sets per exercise per week) was as follows (quoting directly from Strout. 2013):

• week 1 was pre-testing only, 
• weeks 2 and 3 included one set per exercise, 
• week 4 was two sets, 
• weeks 5–10 were three sets, 
• week 11 was one or two sets, 
• week 12 was mid-testing only, 

• weeks 13 and 14 were one set, 
• week 15 was two sets, 
• weeks 16–22 were three sets, 
• week 23 was one or two sets, and week 24 was post-testing, only. 

During each training session, all participants completed one to three sets of 8–12 repetitions for each exercise.

Exercises included the bench press, lat pulldown, bilateral leg press, hack squat, and bilateral leg extension. The subjects rested for 2-5min between the exercises and used a classic linear progression (+2-4kg), whenever they felt comfortable performing their exercises with 12 reps at their previous training weight.

Figure 1: Changes in body composition in response to phase 1 (no exercise) and phase 2 (resistance training) of the 2x 12 week intervention study (Strout. 2013)

If you look at the data in figure 1 you will see that the major driving force behind the changes in body composition was not the supplementation regimen. As Strout et al. point out, both HMB alone, as well as its combination with resistance training did however yield statistically significant changes in the muscular architecture of the 72-73 (+/-1) year old subjects (for an explanation of the parameter "muscle quality" see info-box above):

The fat loss certainly reminds me of the recent leucine + B6 study

"Phase I of the current study demonstrated that prolonged supplementation with CaHMB [alone] improved total lean mass (LM), strength, function and MQ without resistance exercise.

In addition, the progressive, high-intensity resistance training protocol used in Phase II resulted in increased LM, strength, and MQ, with or without CaHMB.

Moreover, the CaHMB intervention in Phase II resulted in a significant decreased total fat mass along with the increased total lean mass and arm MQ from the training."

What I consider particularly interesting, here, is the statistically significant increase in fat loss, which is certainly not the first thing you may be thinking about, when it comes to HMB supplementation. In a way this reminds me of the astonishing effects Zemel et al. observed in their recently published Leucine + B6 study (see corresponding SuppVersity article from August 31) and would support the notion that leucine and/or its metabolite HMB increase the oxidative capacity of skeletal muscle - at least in situations of increased cellular stress (obesity in the Zemel study or training in the study at hand; see as well "Leucine + Resveratrol - Synergistic Sirtuin Boosters: +118% Fatty Acid Oxidation, 60% Increase In Muscular Glucose Uptake, -30% Visceral Fat & More - To Good to be True? | read more"). In this context, Strout et al. write:

"One interesting finding regarding the CaHMB treatment in the present study was its effect on fat mass, which was consistent with Vukovich et al. (2001). CaHMB alone did not cause fat loss. However, resistance training with or without CaHMB resulted in a significant loss of fat mass at week 12, whereas only the CaHMB group was able to further the reduction in fat mass at week 24." (Strout. 2013)

They then make a questionable statement about how "resistance exercise is not thought to be a potent stimulus for total body fat loss", but get back on track when they add:

"[...] recent evidence suggested that CaHMB supplementation improved fatty acid oxidation, adenosine monophosphate kinase (AMPK), and Sirt1 and Sirt3 activity in adipocytes and in muscle cells (Bruckbauer. 2012). Collectively, these proteins act to improve mitochondrial biogenesis, fat oxidation, and energy metabolism." (Strout. 2013)

This would support my own hypothesis that the fat loss is mainly a function of mitrochondrial activity / increases in mitochondrial capacity. And while it has to be determined whether similar effects can be observed in non-muscle cells, even he local improvement of mitochondrial biogenesis would have beneficial downstream effects on whole body metabolism - including the brain!

---

If you want to learn more about the usefulness of HMB, I suggest take (another) look at my article about the results of a 2012 dissertation (read more)! And a previous report in the short news about the difference between leucine & HMB (read more)

Bottom line: Smart best-agers are good advised to make sure to get their daily dose of good ol Calcium-HMB: I guess, I could actually leave it with that if there were not a couple of questions left to address:

1. Will these effects occur in individuals on "high" (=2xRDA) protein diets, as well?
2. Will they add to the beneficial effects a regular whey protein has to offer?
3. Is age critical to benefit or are we going to see the same, improved or smaller effects in younger individuals, as well?

While it really seems that we have been missing out on a highly useful supplement that has been available for years, there is still some research to be done, before these questions can be answered with the necessary confidence.

A note on protein requirements in the elderly: Did you know that the current recommended protein intake for the elderly is 0.6g/kg body mass and that Campbell et al. were able to show that at least 1.0g/kg is needed simply to maintain a normal nitrogen balance ? No, well now that you know the 1.1g/kg baseline protein intake in the study at hand tell you what kind of scenario we are talking about - one of protein adequacy, at best!

In my humble opinion the latter is specifically true with respect to questions (1) and (2) as corresponding data is hitherto simply non-existent. So we are hard pressed to tell whether you can achieve identical or at least similar body recompositioning effects by simply adding a whey protein shake or protein bar that is not 80% sugar to the diets of our unfortunately protein-underfed "best agers".

On the other hand, previous studies in trained athletes, as well as the user feedback due to which HMB more or less disappeared from the market would suggest that this definitely is the case for younger folks, meaning the usefulness of regular, slow digested calcium HMB in the context of an already highly optimized training and nutritional regimen in people who do not have to fight the age-induced continuant catabolism is more than questionable.

References:

• Bruckbauer A, Zemel MB, Thorpe T, Akula MR, Stuckey AC, Osborne D, Martin EB, Kennel S, Wall JS. Synergistic effects of leucine and resveratrol on insulin sensitivity and fat metabolism in adipocytes and mice. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2012 Aug 22;9(1):77.
• Stout JR, Smith-Ryan AE, Fukuda DH, Kendall KL, Moon JR, Hoffman JR, Wilson JM, Oliver JS, Mustad VA. Effect of calcium β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (CaHMB) with and without resistance training in men and women 65+yrs: A randomized, double-blind pilot trial. Exp Gerontol. 2013 Aug 24.
• Vukovich MD, Stubbs NB, Bohlken RM. Body composition in 70-year-old adults responds to dietary beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate similarly to that of young adults. J Nutr. 2001 Jul;131(7):2049-52.

Simple Makeup Tips for Women

It can be difficult to apply makeup for some people, particularly those who do not know how to use or find the perfect product for them. There are also important things to remember to put on makeup, so you can hide blemishes and look their best. It is essential to know the right amount of makeup to use and the best colors that complement your skin tone and facial features.



By being aware of simple makeup tricks, you can enhance your beauty and feel confident about what you see at all times.

Know the product to be applied

The first thing you need to do is your eye shadow. If you decide to apply eye shadow after your foundation, then only experienced big problems. For example, patches of eye shadow on your face can spread. These stains can be difficult to remove, and can accidentally remove part of the foundation that applies. If you have already applied foundation first, you can use a piece of scotch tape and press this in the area where there are stains or excess eyeshadow. When you put on eye shadow first, you can easily clean it with a makeup remover when they fall a few spots on the face.

You should also use a primer before applying makeup . The book serves as a "glue" effectively keeps your makeup for hours. This also makes the surface of the skin smoother and reducing the glare caused by oil. However, make sure you apply a moisturizer at least 10-15 minutes before massaging the skin with a primer.

By applying a primer, take a small amount the size of a small coin. Then rub gently with the ring finger and middle finger of both hands to make the hottest product on the skin. Massage primer all over the face for a minute and wait 5 minutes before applying your foundation.

How to Apply Foundation

One of the makeup tricks most important is choosing the best type and shade of foundation for your skin tone. According to experts in makeup, liquid foundation with silicone is the perfect product you should buy. Make sure you avoid matte or luminous foundations because it can make the skin look too artificial or too wet. Trying to choose a product that is labeled as pure or light. However, some light foundation can not hide their flaws.

When applying foundation, make sure it matches your skin tone. Avoid buying a foundation that does not look natural because it can not look your best after applying makeup. You can find excellent shade to buy analyzing your foundation on your jaw. This can help you know more about the right color to match your skin tone. Make sure you apply foundation with a sponge or brush instead of using your fingers.

They must also understand that applying foundation makeup should be done in moderation. The ideal amount is plugging in six points of skin foundation - two on the front, one at the tip and sides of the nose and one on the chin. Use two fingers on the dissemination of foundation on the forehead down the nose, across the cheeks and chin. Do not forget to apply foundation on the sides of the face. You should also mix down or sideways to keep the skin soft.

When hide flaws or imperfections on the skin, use a fine-tipped brush to apply a concealer on blemishes or imperfections. You can find products on the market that comes with two shades that are easy to bend. 
If red spots on your space, use a foundation based on soft yellow skin discolorations. Gently rub the foundation with your fingers and use a damp makeup sponge to blend the edges. So hide your undereye circles or dark spots under your eyes with a creamy formula. Touch this skin product on the skin using your ring finger.

Finally, apply loose powder on the face after putting in their liquid base. This is one of the most important makeup tips you should know to keep your face is bright. Note that loose powder can keep the great appearance of your makeup even after several hours.

Be careful Chinese New Year oranges

I think wed better just stay away from China foodstuff, just to be safe!!!

Dear All,

Chinese new year is drawing near. When buying Chinese oranges please beware of the worms inside. These worms are very similar to the texture of the orange and therefore can only be observed if you look carefully (long sighted person may not
notice).

The Chinese government had in fact made efforts to destroy hundreds of tons of these oranges and compensate the farmers for these. But however some culprit may still sell it illegally. Thats why we need to be careful.

Whether the worms are harmful to the human body or not is still questionable. But generally if small quantities are consumed it should not cause any major harm according to doctors. It is advisable to be careful about it.

Does woman or a man have a better memory

There are several human characteristics considered to be genetically predetermined and evolutionarily innate, such as immune system strength, physical adaptations and even sex differences. These qualities drive the nature versus nurture debate and ask of our species, who is more successful and why?

Psychologists Agneta Herlitz and Jenny Rehnman in Stockholm, Sweden asked an even more complicated question of human predisposition: Does one’s sex influence his or her ability to remember every day events? Their surprising findings did in fact determine significant sex differences in episodic memory, a type of long-term memory based on personal experiences, favoring women.

Specific results indicated that women excelled in verbal episodic memory tasks, such as remembering words, objects, pictures or everyday events, and men outperformed women in remembering symbolic, non-linguistic information, known as visuospatial processing. For example, the results indicate a man would be more likely to remember his way out of the woods.

However, there are also sex differences favoring women on tasks such as remembering the location of car keys, which requires both verbal and visuospatial processing. Although men are commonly more confident than women that they could remember where in the house they put their car keys, pill bottles and other personal effects, women showed greater competence in actually finding the objects, said Robin West, a University of Florida psychology professor who designed the research project along with Duana Welch, a UF psychology graduate student. They studied men and women in the Gainesville area between the ages of 18 and 30, and 50 and 90, but they believe the findings apply to all ages.

“To say that when it comes to memory, women have more skill than confidence and men have more confidence than skill is a simplistic way to put it, but we found it to be true in this study,” said West, author of the book “Memory Fitness Over Forty.”

Perhaps women outperform men because they have more experience in finding things around the house, while men show more confidence because they are socialized throughout life to form strong self-convictions, Welch said. Also, she said, American women are brought up to be supportive and nonthreatening.

In her research of memory, West said she has found, regardless of age, that women are better than men at remembering grocery lists and people’s names. But men excel at certain spatial tasks, such as mentally rotating objects to see how they might fit into space, she said.

Men’s superiority on some spatial tasks has been explained, in part, by the different kinds of play activities males and females engage in as children, West said.

“Boys traditionally do things that involve larger movements in space and using their whole body, such as playing baseball or running games,” she said, “whereas traditional girls’ activities tend to be in smaller, more restricted spaces, such as playing with dolls, which involves staying in one place and manipulating objects by hand.”

“In addition, women are better than men at remembering faces, especially of females,” described Herlitz and Rehnman, “and the reason seems to be that women allocate more attention to female than to male faces.”

To determine this particular finding, the psychologists presented three groups of participants with black and white pictures of hairless, androgynous faces and described them as ‘female faces,’ ‘male faces’ or just ‘faces.’ The findings indicate that women were able to remember the androgynous faces presented as female more accurately than the androgynous faces presented as male.

In additional studies, psychologists also discovered that women perform better than men in tasks requiring little to no verbal processing, such as recognition of familiar odors, and that the female episodic memory advantage increases when women utilize verbal abilities and decreases when visuospatial abilities are required. Environmental factors, such as education, seem to influence the magnitude of these sex differences, as well.

Women remember people better than men. “Women have an advantage when it comes to remembering things like the physical features, clothing and postures of other people. This advantage might be due to women being slightly more people-oriented than men are.” said Terrence Horgan, lead author of a study in interpersonal sensitivity and research fellow in psychology at Ohio State University.

While the probability of genetically-based differences between the quality of male and female memory remains unknown, the results suggest that females currently hold the advantage in episodic (long-term) memory.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080220104244.htm

http://blisstree.com/feel/5-physical-differences-between-women-and-men/

http://news.ufl.edu/1998/03/12/gender/

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/02/who-has-a-better-memory-man-or-woman/

Wake Up Light as Natural Ergogenic Dawn Simulation Increases Early Morning Physical Cognitive Performance

What could be better than starting your day with the first rays of the sun? Doing this with a person you love, I suppose.

If you have listened to Super Human Radio earlier this week (download episode), you will have heard that Carl "caught" me off guard calling me without prior notice during the live show. We ended up talking about the use of melatonin and my beloved "daylight lamp" (light therapy lamp), which kept my energy levels up even at the darkest winter mornings over the past couple of months.

If you listened to the show, you may also remember that Carl mentioned that it would be great to have a light-based alarm clock - something like a light therapy lamp that increases its intensity gradually at a given time and will thus wake you up from a deep slumber.

You can learn more about sleep and the circadian rhythm at the SuppVersity

Sunlight, Bluelight, Backlight and Your Clock

Sunlight a La Carte: "Hack" Your Rhythm

Breaking the Fast to Synchronize the Clock

Fasting (Re-)Sets the Peripheral Clock

Vitamin A & Caffeine Set the Clock

Pre-Workout Supps Could Ruin Your Sleep

Well, I already mentioned during the show that a corresponding device is already available, but pretty useless for someone who usually uses blindfolds to get a good nights sleep. For the rest of you, who are sleeping in a pitch black room without covering their eyes with a blindfold, on the other hand, Carls suggestion could be a viable means to "improve both cognitive and physical performance after waking." (Thompson. 2014).

This is at least what a recent study from the University College London would suggest. For the corresponding experiment, the researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health recruited 8 young adults (four males; four females) with a mean age of 24 ± 9 years who had not been involved in nocturnal shift work or undertaken transmeridian travel during the past 30 days (thats important to ensure that their circadian rhythm was not messed up in the first place).

Dawn Simulation? How did that work? Two dawn simulation devices (Lumie Bodyclock Active 250) were placed at either side of the participants’ bed at a distance of 30 cm to ensure they were exposed to the light. thirty minutes prior to waking, dawn simulation was initiated, starting at 0.001 lux and rising to 300 lux following a sigmoidal illumination ramp. Accuracy was confirmed by measurement of illuminance with a digital photometer.

The trials themselves were ordered in a counterbalanced fashion and were separated by 5–9 days. In the two days leading up to the tests, the participants were asked to sleep the exact times in their own homes that they would in the laboratory. to monitor compliance wrist accelerometers were issued.

Did you know that previous studies support the use of dawn simulations to tread seasonal effective disorder, where it was on top of that associated with lower remission rates than regular light therapy (Avery. 1993 & 2001). In addition, dawn simulations have been shown to have beneficial effects on the necessary and natural and healthy (Clow. 2010) early morning increase in cortisol (Thorn. 2004)?

"The experimental trials were identical with the exception of the 30 min prior to waking. During this time par ticipants either slept normally in complete darkness, the control condition (c), or were exposed to dawn simulation (DS).

Each night’s sleep ended with an audible alarm. At the same moment, a researcher entered the room to ensure that the participant was awake. Participants were then allowed to attend the bathroom if required.

After waking, a 75 min testing protocol commenced which consisted of: three bouts of cognitive assessment, one physical performance test and monitoring of physiological and subjective variables." (Thompson. 2014)

In view of the fact that I already gave away the results, its probably not really surprising that the data in Figure 1 confirms that being waken up by artificial sunlight had significant beneficial effects on the cognitive and physical performance of the subjects.

Figure 1: Changes in number of total additions and reaction time in cognitive tests (Thompson. 2014)

What did not differ, though, were the sleep efficiency, sleep latency, and the total sleep time. In a similar vein, the differences in perceived sleepiness and body temperature were visible, but not statistically significant.

The Philips Wake Up Light, I mentioned on the air has a similar 300lux daylight lamp as the device used in the study at hand.

Bottom line: Overall my good friend Carl Lenore was thus (once again) right. Emulating the Suns "natural" wake-up call will get your body and mind going in the morning. The fact that this worked with only 300 lux and eventually being woken up by the usual nasty alarm clock is telling me that it may be worth checking what happens if you ditch the alarm clock altogether and increase the light intensity from 0 to 10,000 lux so that the light and not the alarm clock wakes you up.

Whether this or the addition of a "post-wake-up" session in front of a light therapy lamp, as the one I use, provides additional benefits, would yet have to be verified in a controlled trial.

References:

• Avery, David H., et al. "Dawn simulation treatment of winter depression: a controlled study." American Journal of Psychiatry 150 (1993): 113-113.
• Avery, David H., et al. "Dawn simulation and bright light in the treatment of SAD: a controlled study." Biological psychiatry 50.3 (2001): 205-216.
• Clow, Angela, et al. "The cortisol awakening response: more than a measure of HPA axis function." Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 35.1 (2010): 97-103.
• Thompson, Andrew, et al. "Effects of dawn simulation on markers of sleep inertia and post-waking performance in humans." European journal of applied physiology (2014): 1-8.
• Thorn, Lisa, et al. "The effect of dawn simulation on the cortisol response to awakening in healthy participants." Psychoneuroendocrinology 29.7 (2004): 925-930.

Adelfo Cerame 11 Days Out Looking Back 2012 vs 2013 Things I Made Different Things That Made a Difference

2013 aint 2012: Different diet, different training, different macros, different physique... different placing!?

I am not sure if all of you read yesterdays SuppVersity Exercise Science Quickie, but those who did have probably already told their boss that they dont need an extended lunch-break today to listen to the "Thursdaily" 1PM EST installment of the SuppVersity Science Round Up on Super Human Radio. My voice did recover somewhat within the last 24h, but after a hefty dose of NAC I am now sniffin and snortin 24/7 - probably not exactly what you want to hear, I guess.

What you want (at least Id suspect so) to read, however, is Adelfos last blogpost before he is making his third and imho by far best-conditioned and thus promising attempt on winning his pro-card at the NPC Wheelchair Nationals on March 16, 2013... ah, I guess, Id better let him tell the story... enjoy!

Roughly 11 days out & looking back

I am approximately 11 days out from CJ’s NPC Sunshine Classic & Wheelchair Nationals in Palm Beach, Florida, where I will try to make another attempt at trying to win the overall and possibly earn my IFBB pro card for the wheelchair division. So far I feel great! My food intake is high, my energy is up and I’m very confident that I have made all the right moves, adjustments and improvements this year to put myself in the best possible position to take it all down this year ;-) I joined a great team in 3DMJ, and am being mentored by a great coach in Alberto Nunez, who is a seasoned and experienced bodybuilder.

So, lets recap a couple of key features of this to previous ones....

As I reflect on this years contest prep/ bodybuilding season, I thought it would be interesting to compare notes from last years season to this year.  

Nutritional Regimen - Which "diet" have I been following?

• 2012 = IF (Leangains)

• 2013 = IF (Leangains) + IIFYM (flexible dieting)

From a physiological perspective,  125g of carbs per day shouldnt be a problem for any non-diabetic - even if he/she does not work out (learn more)

In 2012 I followed an intermittent fasting meal protocol using a 16h to 8h fasting vs. feeding window. This year I used the same IF meal protocol (since I found success with it last year and it’s a protocol that works with my daily life schedules) but combined it with a flexible style of dieting that is also known as the acronym IIFYM "If It Fits Your Macros".

As I mentioned in previous posts, I dont abuse the IIFYM paradigm to stuff myself with all sorts of junkfood, my diet is still mostly clean, but the leeway it gives you is refreshing and takes away a lot of stress related to picking, preparing, packaging etc. foods (see next point, i.e. Food Choices, as well).

Food Choices - What type of foods have I been eating?

• 2012 = Stuck to your so called “clean foods”  

• 2013 = I am not depriving myself of any type of foods; I’m eating what I want but use a 80/20 to 90/10 ratio of whole “nutrient dense” foods to processed foods, or what you would call “junk” food but I don’t like the word junk so I call it “fun” foods ;-)

Last year; even though I started to veer away from the whole “eating chicken breast and broccoli and brown rice” mentality and began to broaden my horizons in eating more variety of whole foods, I still basically stuck to your so called "clean foods" and I was just in the beginning phases of getting over my phobia of carbohydrates since I consider myself coming from a high fat/ low carb camp for almost 2 years on a dietary regimen that was more or less identical to the "anabolic solution diet".

So yes, even though I was eating a greater variety of lean meats, fruits, veggies, fats and whole food carb starches like tubers, I still deprived myself of foods like bread, oatmeal, grains, cereal because I still believed that they were evil, when it came to a body composition standpoint or even just when it came to general health.

Believe it or not, but the quote on the left, is actually from Adefos very first post, here at the SuppVersity.

However, as you all know if you’ve ever read my very first Blog here on Suppversity and I’ll quote from it:

"My diet and training methods have evolved and will continue to keep evolving, because of my willingness to keep an open mind and apply and experiment with new strategies, methods and philosophies to my diet and training" - me

(Yes! I just quoted myself! Hahaha!)  And that’s exactly what I did, I kept an open mind and gave IIFYM a shot just like I gave “IF” a chance last year, and guess what?

It all worked out for the greater good because the combination of an IF meal protocol combined with a flexible method of dieting has really taken me a step closer to that goal of finding a perfect diet that I can convert into a lifestyle and do long-term. Like I mentioned before… A diet should be able to synergistically co-exist with your daily life and social schedules, and is something that you can convert into a lifestyle and do long-term  - thats fundamentally different from a "dietary intervention", under which you can easily subsume all the fad, single-sided and unflexible dietary regimen that work in the short run, but have you plateau before you even see your abs.

Training - Which type, how much and how intense was my training regimen?

• 2012 = Low volume/ high intensity – cardio was non-existent

• 2013 = hypertrophy/ strength split using an RPE scale – cardio was all throughout prep

Last year the majority of my training was very low volume/ heavy weight. My training consisted of 5x5 and EDT’s and reverse pyramids. The highest rep range I ever flirted with was 6-8. This year, I’m doing a split between hypertrophy and strength training using an RPE scale, and I would say the majority of my workouts would fall into the high volume category by common standards.

Does rest matter? Study finds 7-9% greater increase in muscle size w/ decreasing rest periods (learn more).

The main difference this year was the frequency of hitting the muscles and using just a handful of exercises as my staple and improving on them.

Last year I barely did any cardio except for probably the last 4 weeks of my prep to try to expend a little bit more energy but that was it. This year I incorporated a cardio regimen all throughout my prep... but to be honest: it was very easy – I started the first 2 to 3 weeks with none, then Alberto eventually prescribed 2x cardio session per week for 9 laps each session around a track. I completed those at a self-chosen until a couple o weeks ago, when he reduced the volume by 50%

As you may imagine this type of cardio regimen really wasnt a big issue... nothing compared o my previous HIIT sessions, for sure. I still feel that the additional laps on the track allowed me to keep my food high via carbohydrates -- and if Ive learned one thing from this prep, then it is that the higher you can keep your carbs up while dieting the more beneficial it is for your physique.

Calories/ Macros - How much did I eat at the beginning of the prep?

Caloric zigzagging? (Re-)Read Adelfos guest post "How I Break My Fast, Plan & Time My Macros and Use Caloric Zigzagging & Re-Feeds on a LeanGains Inspired IF Regimen" and learn more!

• 2012 = eeehhhh…??? around 1700/ 2000 kcal. (non-training/ training); 55-7g5 fat/ 150-200g carbs/ 150-200g protein (non-training-training) – skiploading style re-feed (basically eat as much high GI carbs as you can while keeping fat intake as low as possible.

• 2013 = 1960 kcal w/ a re-feed day 1x/ week;  40g fat/ 200g carbs/ 200g protein – 300g carb re-feed

Last year I experimented with caloric zigzagging, so my calories were higher on training days with a higher carb/ low fat intake and my calories were lower on non-training days with a higher fat/ low carb intake. And I didn’t start incorporating refeeds till later towards my prep or until I got lean enough to feel comfortable doing refeeds. This year I stayed consistent with my numbers and just had one re-feed day – so I had low days and one high day

Calories/ Macros - How much did I eat towards the end?

Adelfo has already written about the beneficial effects of a higher carb intake on your physique in a previous post onThursday, January 31, 2013: "Intermittent Carbohydrate Modulation as a Stepping Stone Towards an Anatomy Chart Physique"(read up on the article)

• 2012 = 1300/ 1600 kcal (non-training/ training days)
  50-60g fat/ 50-100g carbs/ 150-190 protein (non-training-training day) – skiploading style re-feed

• 2013 = 2305 kcal w/ a re-feed day 1x/week
  50g fat/ 240g carbs/ 200g protein – 325g carb re-feed

Last year I floated around sub 100g of carbohydrates for about the last 11 weeks of my prep and this year I started to gradually increase my food intakes 5-6 weeks out. I used weekly 25g increments (I’ll explain the process of how I started to bring my food later before I wrap up my blog)

With regards to my re-feeds; it was a bit more controlled this year compared to last years Sunday carb feasts I use to have. My fats this year were also on the lower end but still 20% of my total calories and I feel that this was another of the decisive factors that contributed to the clear improvements in my physique - with the low(ish) fat intake, I simply had way more room for carbs in my diet.

Comparison of Adelfos pre-contest physique 2012 vs. 2013 (photos (c) Adelfo Cerame. 2012-13)

Well that’s all I got for today! I hope you enjoyed the notes PrimalKid ;-) but before I sign off, as I said I would; here’s a brief overview of how I started to gradually bring my food up to where it’s at now.

At about 6-5 weeks out is when coach Alberto started to gradually bring food back up via carbs but prior to that I was on about a  2 ½  week intensive dig of 100g/ day, then we increased 25g (125g) for about a week and a half, then increased another 25 the next (150g), then increased by 50g (200), then increased by just 25g last week (225g)  and now increased by 15g this week (240g)… Oh and fat got increased by 10 somewhere during that week. lol.

But yeah… Coach Alberto felt that my body was lean enough for carbohydrates to start having a positive stimulating effect on my physique, and that my body was more capable of partitioning carbohydrates much more efficiently now that I am leaner.

6 Delicious and Nutritious Low Calorie Snack For Healthy Diet

Most of our caloric intake comes from snacks or light meals, such as milkshakes, donuts sprinkled with sugar, chocolate, candy, ice cream, sweet biscuits, soft drinks, waffles, cakes, and more. Some examples of the above is the kind of snack that contains calories and is often consumed by both children and adults. Various kinds of these foods can cause problems such as tooth decay, diabetes, obesity, a growing body weight or other health problems. It is encourages people to change their eating habits and begin to look for low-calorie options both in the food, beverage, and snack.

Here is a list of snacks low in sugar or calories, you can eat between meals, and of course also nutritious and delicious:

1. Small Bowl of Mixed Nuts and Dried Fruit

Make a mixture of almonds, pistachios, walnuts and peas (6 to 7 nuts each), mixed with some raisins and dried figs and enjoy a healthy snack crisp. Nuts are a source of essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins, while raisins and figs are rich in antioxidants snack.

2. Eggs

Most people seem to avoid eggs for fear of cholesterol, but this is just a myth. Eggs not raise LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), but it gives good cholesterol is important for the metabolism of fat. For adults, eating eggs one or two eggs a day will not give any problem. We can make a veggie omelet, egg sandwich, boiled egg salad, or just eat fried eggs.

3. Fruit salad

Bananas, apples, mango, melon or watermelon to enjoy a delicious snack of fruit. We can also enjoy oranges, grapes, plums or fruits rich in vitamin C (do not mix with sweet fruit). Eating fruits will make us feel full, fresh, and energetic. The fruit is rich in minerals and vitamins that contribute to health in general.

4. Fresh Vegetable Salad

We can make a salad with ingredients tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, beans, bean sprouts, cabbage, and lettuce water. We can add to this salad dressing made ​​of lemon, vinegar, and soy sauce. If we do not like raw vegetables, we can bake potatoes, artichokes, and sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables to make a delicious salad.

5. Low Fat Cheese

We can get some cheese with good quality food stores, or specialty stores that sell organic food. The cheese is a healthy food that is rich in minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids. We can eat a single slice of cheese as a snack, or a meal with some whole wheat bread, or a salad vegetable.

6. Tuna

Its easy to get canned tuna (just make sure its low sodium). Tuna is a rich source of protein and essential fatty acids, in addition to low-calorie, tuna is one fish was very tasty. Tuna will surely be one of the snacks that are healthy and delicious without sugar.

Some of the food above is a list of low calorie healthy snacks that are affordable and easy to prepare. All these foods are rich in minerals, vitamins, and enzymes needed by the body, but low in calories.

Peri Workout Hydro Whey Supplementation Tried Proven Muscle Builder Will Also Increase Tendon Size Strength

Squats are by no means the only exercise that requires strong muscles and tendons.

In a way you could argue that todays SuppVersity article serves two purposes. Firstly, it provides direct evidence for my outrageous claim that the VPX Shotgun + Synthesize study from Saturdays installment of On Short Notice has little to no practical value, because the use of 2x17g of maltodextrin as a control has little to do with the real-world supplementation regimen the potential consumers of respective products are ingesting. I mean, you can safely assume that people who are willing to spend the money on expensive peri-workout kitchen sink supplements will - just like most of you - be ingesting a whey (or other fast acting) protein source after their workouts, anyways.

It goes without saying that it would not have needed a new study to prove this point, so that informing you about another observation Farup et al. made in their most recent study is not just the second, but actually the main purpose of todays SuppVersity article.

A new whey to build tendons of steel

The training protocol: The subjects completed 33 training sessions during the 12 weeks of training. The training program was primarily designed to induce hypertrophy and to a lesser extent maximal muscle strength highlighted by a large number of sets and repetitions and by moderate high intensity. Training frequency was three times per week with a progressive increase in volume and intensity throughout the 12 weeks.

The resistance training exercise consisted of isolated knee extensions in a Technogym knee extensor machine. All repetitions were performed by lifting the load with the concentric leg (while extending the

eccentric leg unloaded). Then, with aid from a training supervisor, an additional load was released onto the weight stack and then lowered with the eccentric leg.

Both the eccentric and concentric leg training program consisted of isotonic knee extensions (TUT 2-0-2s; rest between sets 2min) and applied the following progression in volume and intensity: 6 x 10-15RM (sessions 1–4), 8 x 10-15RM (S 5–10), 10 x 10-15RM (S 11–20), 12¥6–10 RM (S 21–28), and 8 x 6-10RM (S 29–33).

The actual paper is going to be published in one of the future issues of The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports and deals with the outcomes of a 12-week double-blinded resistance training intervention in the course of which the 22 male subjects (healthy, young, recreationally active height 181.5+/- 1.5 cm, weight 78.1 1.8 kg, age 23.9 +/-0.8 years, fat% 16.0+/- 0.9%) consumed either

• a high leucine whey protein hydrolysate + carbohydrate group (WHD; 19.5 g whey protein hydrolysate +19.5 g) or 
• an isoenergetic carbohydrate only supplement for the placebo group (PLA, 36g of carbohydrates)

Regardless of supplementary intake, all subjects performed eccentric training with one leg and concentric training with the other.

"This within-subject design was used to minimize the potential differences in the hypertrophy response that are inherent with group designs (e.g. initial training status, habitual nutritional intake,and/or hormonal status). Eccentric leg was randomly chosen to be either the dominant (preferred kicking leg) or the nondominant leg to exclude any potential pre-training difference between the two." (Farup. 2013)

Overall, we are thus comparing not two, but rather four different training modalities, namely eccentric+WHD, eccentric+PLA, concentric+WHD and concentric+PLA.

Maximal standardization, reliable measuring methods

In the two weeks before commencing the training program, magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans of both thighs and patellar tendons and isometric strength test were taken. In conjunction with the before and after tests that were standardized up to the time of the day, pre- and post-training, "to control for potential effects of diurnal rhythm" (Farup. 2013)

The training sessions were closely supervised and monitored by qualified training instructors to ensure proper execution and loading. The same goes for the ingestion of the supplements, 19.5 g whey protein hydrolysate +19.5 g of carbohydrate (both equal to 4% solution) and the placebo drink consisting of 39 g of carbohydrate, which were handed to the trainees at the beginning of the training sessions and were to be consumed before and after the training (50/50).

Even the intake of additional plain water was standardized, so that the subjects would not ingest and fluids 1 1/2 h prior to and 1 h after completion of an exercise session, "to ensure and standardize the conditions for digestion/absorption and within the range typically applied" (Farup. 2013)

The only methodologically lapse was the absence of dietary control. While the subjects of previous studies in which the participants were advised to "maintain their normal habitual dietary intake throughout the study" (Farup. 2013), did not register any differences in habitual total energy or protein intake (Andersen. 2005; Hartman. 2007; Hulmi. 2009; Erskine. 2012) and the accuracy of food logs is generally questionable, this is kind of awkward in view of the lengths to which the scientists went to exclude any other confounding factors.

Enough of the prelude, what about the results?

So, while we cannot exclude that the subjects in any of the two groups may have skewed the overall results by consuming an additional steak on top of their regular diets, it is quite unlikely that these counfounding factors would have been group specific, so that the overall effects on quadriceps cross-sectional area I plotted in figure 1 are unquestionably reliable.

Figure 1: Relative changes in quadriceps and patella tendon CSA in concentrically and eccentrically trained leg of the subjects in the whey protein hydrolysate and placebo groups (Farup. 2013)

The same obviously goes for the strength increases and the initially mentioned increase in patella tendon CSA. All good and reliable evidence supporting the current "standard" in periworkout supplementation.

Apropos, in conjunction with the recent revelations about the unique glucose-sensitizing effects of the short-chain peptides in whey hydrolysate, it may even be worth to consider adding a "hyrolysate" to the current recommendation to ingest 30g of whey protein in the vicinity of your workouts. Convincing evidence from studies that were specifically designed to elicit the marginal benefits of replacing a regular whey protein with the less tasty (you wont notice that with the tons of flavoring agents, though) and still more expensive "pre-digested" form of whey is yet - at least as far as I know - still missing.

---

Bottom line: Actually, I already mentioned the most important findings of the study at hand in the introduction:

Figure 2: Whether the effects observed in the study are "hydrolysate specific" and related to the amino acid or peptide composition of the supplement that was used in the study at hand cannot be said without a "regular" whey control. The same goes for the general superiority or inferiority of hydrolysates vs. whey isolates or concentrates.

(a) Whey proteins alone will amplify the effects of regular strength training to a degree that is hard to surpass by the more expensive "advanced muscle builders" - no wonder the producers are reluctant to use anything but an isocaloric carbohydrate supplement as their yardstick. (b) Increases in tendon CSA are a novel benefit to be added to the comprehensive list of benefits of a supplement I suspect most of you are using anyway.

Whether the hydrolyzed whey proteins are actually worth the extra bucks is yet still not 100% certain. As previously mentioned, the number of practically relevant direct comparisons is still scarce. We know that they create a more rapid increase of the amino acid levels in the blood, that they are more insulinogenic and we that some of the short peptides have favorable physiological effects (learn more). A long-term study comparing the muscle and (thats new) tendon building effects of the three commonly available varieties of whey, i.e. concentrate, isolate and hydrolysate, has not yet been conducted. But dont worry, as soon as the pertinent data is going to be available, youll find all the information you need, as well as the practical implications of the results right here, at the SuppVersity - your #1 source for the latest on exercise, nutrition and supplementation research on the Internet.

References:

• Farup J, Rahbek SK, Vendelbo MH, Matzon A, Hindhede J, Bejder A, Ringgard S, Vissing K. Whey protein hydrolysate augments tendon and muscle hypertrophy independent of resistance exercise contraction mode. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2013 May 7.

Amazing Watermelon Health Benefits And Nutrition Fact

Benefits of Watermelon is very diverse. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is rich in lycopene. In addition to heart and bone health, lycopene act as antioxidants. The ability of lycopene is fabulous to neutralize free radical molecules that can damage cells and tissues. In addition to health, antioxidant support female beauty, such as making the skin look healthy and youthful.

Watermelon is a fruit that has some vitamins and minerals. In 152 grams of watermelon will meet the daily requirement of vitamin C as much as 20.4 percent, 17.2 percent of vitamin A, potassium and magnesium 7.8 percent 3.8 percent. The good news, watermelon is a fruit that is very low in calories, so eating it will not make you worry about weight gain.

Watermelon is a fruit with a high water content. So no wonder if the fruit is well-liked by the people of tropical regions, and a favorite fruit in the summer. A very high water content will make someone avoid dehydration, and it was certainly more comfortable than regular mineral water. In addition, the fiber contained in watermelon will help someone protected from constipation.

Nutrition Fact of Watermelon

Flesh watermelon low in calories and contain as much as 93.4% water, 0.5% protein, 5.3% carbohydrate, fat 0.1%, fiber 0.2%, ash 0.5%, and vitamins (A, B and C). It also contains the amino acid sitrullin (C6H13N3O3), aminoasetat acid, malic acid, phosphoric acid, arginine, betaine, lycopene (C4oH56), carotene, bromine, sodium, potassium, sylvite, lysine, fructose, dextrose, and sucrose.

Sitrulin and arginine plays a role in the formation of urea in the liver from ammonia and CO2 that increases urine. The content of potassium is high enough to help the heart and normalize blood pressure. Lycopene is an antioxidant that is superior to vitamins C and E.

Watermelon seeds, nutrient-rich yellow with oil content 20-45%, 30-40% protein, sitrullin, vitamin B12, and the enzyme urease. Kukurbositrin active compounds in watermelon seed can stimulate the kidneys and keeping blood pressure remained normal.

Here are nutrition fact of watermelon per 100g

Nutritional value per 100 g based on USDA
Energy	127 kJ
Carbohydrates	7.55 g
Sugars	6.2 g
Dietary fiber	0.4 g
Fat	0.15 g
Protein	0.61 g
Water	91.45 g
Vitamin A equiv.	28 μg
beta-carotene	303 μg
Thiamine	0.033 mg
Riboflavin	0.021 mg
Niacin	0.178 mg
Pantothenic acid	0.221 mg
Vitamin B6	0.045 mg
Choline	4.1 mg
Vitamin C	8.1 mg
Calcium	7 mg
Iron	0.24 mg
Magnesium	10 mg
Manganese	0.038 mg
Phosphorus	11 mg
Potassium	112 mg
Sodium	1 mg
Zinc	0.1 mg
Lycopene	4532 µg

Health Benefits of Watermelon

Here are some benefits of eating watermelon.

1. Hydrate the body

Flesh watermelon contains about 90% water and some minerals essential electrolytes, namely potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and iron. Eating watermelon can restore the freshness of the body after exercise and other activities that can reduce the bodys fluids.

2. Improve Body Immunity

Eating watermelon can increase endurance. Watermelon contains vitamin C which is known merit increase immunity against diseases.

3. Maintain Healthy Eyes

Watermelon are rich in vitamin A, which is known as an essential nutrient for the eye so as to prevent macular degeneration, especially in the elderly.

4. Preventing Cell Damage Due to Free Radicals

Cell damage caused by free radicals may occur. Antioxidants are substances that can counteract free radicals that are not potentially damage cells. Watermelon contains vitamin A, B vitamins, and lycopene which is an antioxidant.

5. Reduce the Risk of Cancer

Watermelon is one of the few fruits that are rich in lycopene, which is known to have efficacy against cancer, especially breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and endometrial cancer.

6. Keeping Kidneys Healthy

Watermelon is an adequate source of potassium minerals. Potassium is beneficial to help cleanse toxic deposits in the kidney. Potassium is also beneficial to reduce the levels of uric acid in the blood, thereby reducing the risk of kidney stones and gout.

7. Reducing the Risk of High Blood Pressure

Watermelon contains potassium and magnesium which help control blood pressure and maintain the bodys electrolyte balance.

8. Helps the metabolism of body

Watermelon contains vitamins B1 and B6, which helps the body convert food into energy.

9. Reduce Risk of Osteoporosis

Watermelon contains magnesium in adequate amounts. Magnesium is one of the important bone-building mineral. Frequent eating watermelon can help maintain bone density and prevent osteoporosis.

10. Reduce Blood Glucose Level

Watermelon contains arginine which showed efficacy increase insulin sensitivity for patients with type 2 diabetes.

11. Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Arginine is found in watermelon are known down instrumental maintain healthy blood vessels, thereby reducing the risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

12. Improve Mood

Frequent eating watermelon can improve mood and reduce depression. Watermelon contains vitamin B6 which is an important nutrient in the production of serotonin, a chemical neurotransmitter that affects mood.

Healthy Aging Starting in your Home

Healthy Aging Starting in your Home

Healthy Aging Starting in your Home
We have a tendency to can all appreciate the term, aging gracefully. Do we have a tendency to apprehend exactly what this implies?  When we tend to suppose of growing older, its continuously affiliated with pain and discomfort. We have a tendency to scan concerning ways that to improve our inner mind and body but the main focus ought to conjointly be regarding the environment. By looking after our surroundings of where you reside, can lead us to a healthy and happy years to come. 

It is said that house is where the center is, and your home ought to be an area of sanctuary.  It ought to not be a source of part and emotional stress. Creating a healthy house is additional difficult than you think that. Many folks have allergies that typically lead to illness. You may want to get rid of unwanted carpets or alternative dirt catchers, bathing pets on an everyday basis, and investing in an air filter. Youll find dehumidifiers and humidifiers online, which will facilitate scale back parts in your home that causes allergies.  

Your home ought to be nurturing. If theres lack of comfort in your living area, try the following:

Bring the outside in. Cut flowers herald items of rocks or different natural parts that gives you a sense of nature.

Place inexperienced plants in your home. This is important to filtering indoor pollutants.  The recommendation for the number of plants is two plants to every a hundred feet. In addition, the plants can distribute natural oxygen throughout your home. What a nice approach to measure a healthy aging life.

Fewer things suggests that less frustration, clean out the muddle, let alone of the things you do not use or need. If you think you need this stuff, sit down and weigh out the professionals and cons. If you see that the cons are over the execs, get rid of it. Let it go.

In addition, use the sun; enable as abundant daylight as attainable to flow through your house. This offers you’re home a feeling of warmth. Take care that you avoid direct sunlight but for prolonged periods, since the sun will cause hurt.

Did you recognize that colours result your emotionally and affect the method you feel during a home?  Every color has a significant meaning that could represent our physical and mental state.  For instance:

Red room:  Energizing, supports energy and fervour and creates movement.  Great for an exercise room, not beneficial in your bedroom. 

Yellow room:  Inspires organization, intellectual clarity with happy thinking.  Even by using the color yellow as accents rather than painting, all walls will be positive. 




Inexperienced space:  Brings balance and tranquility however has the identical energizing qualities.  Often used as a chilled place for thinking for folks in bother or simply desperate to feel refreshed, since natural is our initial established home. We tend to all love nature, rather most people do. Inexperienced plants, flowers, etc all bring nature into focus, that makes the center feel smart.

White space:  Essential for feeling cleansed and purified. Remember that an excessive amount of white brings a sterile setting that may conjointly become isolated. Create certain to accent a white space with a vibrant color when painting all white. This could be a excellent color for ceilings to embellish up with sunlight. 

Improving your life may easily start in the home, whether or not its trying one thing new with one thing natural or changing a color, these are simple ways to make harmony and balance in your surroundings, not to mention inspiration and warmth. The additional effort you place into aging healthy, the a lot of you may see smart results. Healthy Aging Starting in your Home

Tip: Animals has proven to be a source of healing. Enable a friendly critter to bit your heart.   

O Magazines Hair Extravaganza!

I was recently asked to discuss female hair loss with O, Magazine for their September issue, which is available on newsstands now. The Hair Extravaganza issue is packed with info on all things hair related, look for it today, it shouldnt be hard to spot since Oprah is on the cover sporting a reported 3 1/2lb. wig! 

Key facts about women’s hair loss: 

• Over 30 million women in the US suffer from hair loss
• More than half of all women over 40 experience hair loss
• Women can inherit a ‘hair loss gene,’ just like men
• Hair loss occurs differently in women than in men - i.e., “thinning”
• Hormonal changes and nutrition often play a key factor in women’s hair loss - due to menopause or perimenopause, pregnancy, medications, crash diets and bad health
• New genetic tests can predict a woman’s risk of hair loss and their response to treatment

Regular Skin care for Combination Skin Type Natural tips and tricks

Its the most common type. Its the combination of both oily and dry skin. Facial tissue will have traces of oil coming from your nose and forehead, but will be clean in the areas that touched your cheeks.
As combination skin has patches of both dry and oily skin, and it requires both oily and dry types of skin care in relation to particular facial areas. Dry areas are mostly cheeks and around the eyes. They should be treated with rich creams and moisturizers. Whereas oily portions which mostly includes forehead and nose, requires thorough cleaning.
Provide regular cleansing and while cleansing emphasize on oily parts and clean them deeply. The oily part need to be deeply cleansed and toned with regular application of home-made astringents.

Like wise dry part should be moisturized thoroughly whereas oily part should get minimum moisturizer. Home-made cold or moisturizing creams are best.  Both the dry and greasy areas need moisturizing only take care of measurement. 

In my earlier article i have shown basic skin care routine are for every skin type which include four steps

• Cleansing
• Removing dead cells/skin
• Toning
• Moisturizing

Here I will show u some extra steps best for your own skin type i.e. combination skin...

Step #1. Cleansing for Combination skin:
Cleansing  is a must step for every skin because no matter what you do you cant keep your skin away from dust, harmful sun rays, wind and even stress. When a person is under stress his/her oil producing glands become more active , produce more oil and make your skin look dull and dark. That why when you wash you face it refresh your skin as well as release stress to some extent.
For improving combination skin follow steps below:

• Cleansing for combination skin should be performed two to three times per day.
• Best timing for cleansing are morning and evening. Before going to bed if u feel like your skin need cleansing you can add that too in you routine.
• Use pleasant warm water to splash face.
• Clean your face with a mild natural cleanser neither very thick and creamy nor totally clear oil free, avoid soap.
• Apply using finger tips in circular motion. 
• Massage for one minute and emphasize on oily area more then dry.
• Wash out properly.
• Dry out using soft towel.
• Take a cotton bud or soft tissue dip in rose water and apply to your face thoroughly, it will refresh your face. Regular use will give a rosy complexion and a glow to your skin.
• Dont use anything like towel or tissue for drying. Leave it to dry itself.
• This will complete your cleansing process.

Step #2. Removing dead skin:
Removing dead skin also known as exfoliation process is important for keeping skin healthy and its the best way of giving younger look to combination skin. Its seems artificial or harmful but its totally natural process as many people dont know our skin shred thousands of cells per minute. Manually removing dead cell only enhance that process and end up giving you a glowing look.

• Over doing exfoliation process can damage the skin so only repeat this process once or at max twice a week.
• There are many ways to exfoliate facial skin such as exfoliating soup, scrub or tools like gloves, face brush, cleansing pouch, facial cloths etc.
• To remove dead skin use pleasant warm water to splash face.
• Use soft scrubs such as Clean n Clear, Farmasi or Neutrogena  or exfoliating tool such as gloves to rub gently in circular motion.
• Dont press hard and remember to be extra gentle with dry area.
•  Rinse off your face thoroughly and move to the next step.

Step #3. Toning for combination skin:
Rose water that I have mentioned in cleansing also work as best toner if u feel thats enough for refreshing your skin you can skip this part. Where as for giving an extra glow and protection to your face you can always get a light toner. It never gives any side effect for any skin type.

• Apply toner right after cleansing(or exfoliation process).
• But it can be also be applied any other time of the day as well.
• It best to use toner  two to three times a day.
• Apply using cotton bud or soft facial tissue for even spread.
• Rose water, Aloevera juice and lavender water are the best toner for combination skin.
• Again leave to dry off naturally.

Step #4. Moisturizing for combination skin:
Moisturizing is the very important step. If skin is fully moisturized pores will not collect dust hence black heads and open pores will not be created.

• Apply two times a day followed by toner.
• Waite for toner to dry before applying.
• Dont use very creamy, greasy or thick creams. light lotions like baby lotion, ponds, dove etc are best for combination skin.
• Remember oily areas need very less moisturizing so emphasize more on dry area.
• Buttermilk, avocado, honey, olive oil are best natural moisturizer.
• Natural oils that are good for combination skins include olive, jojoba and primrose oil.
• Some homemade moisturizing lotions are made with essential oils suitable for your skin such as lavender, rose and Neroli.

Apply the recommended moisturizer to clean, dry skin and allow the skin to absorb the moisturizer. Do not over-moisturizer but apply enough for your skin to absorb and remove extra with soft tissue.

Combination Skin care before Sleeping: 

Adopt following steps before sleeping if you have combination skin.

• Wash your face two to three times for softening your skin.
• Use cleansing product only if your skin feels dusty or oily and apply only to oily area.
• Dry out with soft towel.
• Now wash with pleasant warm water for 5 times.
• Dry out again.
• Apply moisturizer to dry area and very little to oily part. Let your skin absorb it. Remove extra with tissue and have nice beauty sleep.

Block Periodization for Resistance Trainees 3x Higher Strength Gains on the Bench vs Zero Benefits for Legs

The deadlift probably wont benefit from blocked periodization either... at least if you do it only once a week anyway.

I hope you all remember my recent article about the beneficial effects of block periodization on the training outcome of trained cyclists (if you dont Id suggest you read up on it: "Block Periodization - Impressive Performance Gains in Pro-Athletes") and the hypothesis that the mechanism behind the beneficial effects Rønnestad et al. report in the corresponding paper are not actually a consequence of this specific periodization scheme. Rather than that, the benefits the researchers have observed may well have been a mere consequences of the "change", of "breaking out of the rut" and the provision of a new challenge thats absolutely essential to induce what everyone, from housewife to Olympian athlete is training for: adaptation.

Lets discard the mechanism for a moment, though and lets rather focus on the hard facts - hard facts that are complemented by the results of a soon-to-be-published paper by researchers from the University of Bologna and the University of Central Florida.

Whats so interesting about this paper is ...

....that it looks at the effects of block periodization in trained strength athletes and could thus help us answer a question that may have been preying on your mind, ever since I published the previously cited article about the beneficial effects of block periodization in endurance athletes: "Do Different Rules Apply for Strength vs. Endurance Athletes?" Or, put simply: Would a weight lifter benefit to a similar extend from block periodizing his training regimen as a cyclist - irrespective of what the underlying mechanisms may be?

Figure 1: The subjects trained 4x per week - identical training plans in both groups (Bartolomei. 2014)

The answer is "yes and no" - Yes, if we are talking about the upper body, no - and thats interesting because cycling obviously involves the same muscle groups - when we are looking at the lower body performance gains in Figure 2:

Figure 2: Changes in max. strength (1RM in kg), mean power (in % of baseline) and jump height (in cm) in the 24 study particpants in response to traditional linear or block periodization (Bartolomei. 2014)

As you can see, the gains in lower body power was identical - irrespective of the type of periodization (see overview in Figure 1). For the upper body, on the other hand, the subjects who did not simply ramp up the intensity continuously from 5 sets of 8-10 reps at 65-75% of  1RM  with  less  than  2  minutes  of  recovery  between  sets to 5 sets of 3 - 4 reps at 85 -95% of 1RM with 3 minutes of recovery from week 1 to week 12 (TP group), the ...

"[p]articipants  in  BP  were  more  likely  (79.8%)  to increase the area under the force-power curve than TP. Participants in BP also demonstrated a likely positive (92.76%) decrease in the load corresponding to maximal power at the bench  press compared to TP group, and a possible improvement (~ 60%) in maximal strength and power in the bench press." (Bartolomei. 2014)

Whether thats muscle-specific reaction to the three 5-week mesocycles, instead of one 15-week mesocycle is yet highly questionable - or do you think the legs respond less to the periodization program thats depicted in Figure 3, than chest, back, arms & co?

Figure 3: Illustration of the interplay between intensity and volume of the n=14 24-year-old male, resistance trained (>3 years, >3 sessions per week) subjects in the block periodization group (Bartolomei. 2014)

Personally, I would rather come back to the "novelty approach". It goes without saying that we can assume that the abrupt changes on a blocked periodization regimen favor "growth promoting overloads". In the case of the musculature of the lower body, the simple fact that it was trained just once a week may yet have provided a similarly "novel" or at least less accustomed stimulus on every leg-day.

"Periodize Appropriately and Cut 12% Body Fat in 12 Weeks!" | more

Bottom line: Again, its difficult to tell, whether there is any special magic in block periodization. What can be said, though, is that we can again (see "Block Periodization - Impressive Performance Gains in Pro-Athletes: Revolutionary Training Concept, Or Just a Good Way to Eventually Break Out of the Comfort Zone?" | read more) make an argument for the "breaking out of the rut" hypothesis... in this case, however, in an ostensibly muscle-specific manner thats eventually not "muscle-", but actually "training-frequency-specific".

In the end, it does not matter, if my ad-hoc explanation is or isnt accurate. For you as a practicioner who is probably training the muscles of his upper body thrice a week, the results of this study are significant - no matter what the underlying mechanisms are. In other words: The results of the A classic HST-oriented training program that is eventually "block periodized" will yield better training results than one, where you train in the same rep ranger 365 days a year. But lets be honest: Thats not surprising, is it?

References

• Bartolomei, Sandro, et al. "A Comparison of Traditional And Block Periodized Strength Training Programs in Trained Athletes." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2014). [ahead of print]
• Rønnestad, B. R., J. Hansen, and S. Ellefsen. "Block periodization of high‐intensity aerobic intervals provides superior training effects in trained cyclists." Scand J Med Sci Sports 24 (2014): 34–42.