WE ARE WHAT WE ABSORB...

Sounds strange right? We have all grown up hearing the saying ‘we are what we eat’ but to be honest, it doesn’t quite work that way.

Remember being at school? I know I’m making you think way back now but I remember having 2 hour classes back to back but after about 30-40 minutes I would lose my concentration and start messing around in class. The remaining time in class was an utter waste because I didn’t really absorb or learn anything else after those 30-40 minutes had passed, instead I just became bored of the class and teacher teaching it.

So how does this apply to nutrition...........?

Say I cook a piece of chicken and in terms of protein it is worth 70g. An average male would adsorb between 25-30g. However if that person that trains a lot he can absorb from 35g maybe even 40g (Please put in mind this amounts are just so you guys can get a general picture). 

But what happens to the rest of that protein? 

It becomes waste, extra calories your body will have to get worked up to burn so there isn’t any real value in eating that amount. It would make sense to use that amount of protein to make 2 meals because otherwise you just making your body go under unnecessary strain in order for it can get rid of the protein that it won’t absorb.

The body likes things to get absorbed quickly and easily without a lot of stress. That is why the metabolism works faster when you eat small frequent meals, rather than bigger infrequent meals. I mean it’s pretty simple if you think about it for a sec and the best example is the Formula 1 cars.

Their tanks get filled up with fuel after a certain number of rounds, it is never filled up completely to begin with because if it was it would mean more weight for the car and the car would not go as fast. The same theory applies to our metabolism in a way. Therefore my advice is to keep meals small and spread throughout the day.

A typical male can have approximately 25g-40g of protein per meal, 150g to 250g per day. However this does depends on a number of factors such as body type/activity/needs/target.

A typical female can have approximately 15-25g per meal, 80 to 120g protein per day. This also depends on the female’s body type/activity/needs/target.

In terms of carbs and fat intake im not going to go there im just keeping things plain and simple.

If you guys want any advice, tips etc..... just drop me a message here or find me on Twitter or Facebook Nick Anthony

Love peace and big mucsles.

PROGRESS PICS 7 WEEKS IN MY PREP

Keeping you all up to date with my progress pics, will be also posting this weeks training routine and why i decided to train this way.......

Love peace and big muscles.

FEAR THE LIGHT NOT THE DARKNESS

Fear the light not the darkness, as it is our ability to shine and become powerful that intimidates us the most. 
We are scared because we know we have the ability to become powerful beyond measure. We know that if we push ourselves we HAVE the strength to better ourselves in all aspects of our lives. Yet this creates an undeniable fear inside of us. But why do we fear this ability? We fear this strength as we are not really entirely sure how we should act when we do acquire such a power. What happens when we reach that goal, then what? Is that it? Do we push ourselves more? More importantly, what happens to us in regard to the relationships we have with others? Do those change? Will the people around us, either our close ones or just simple acquaintances treat us in the same way?

As children, we all shined, yet the older we got, we slowly began to lose that shine. This shine began to dim because as adults we got wrapped up in our everyday stressors and we almost viewed this shine in a pessimistic light. However, it’s entirely up to you whether you want to keep that candle shinning bright. All you have to do is just listen to your gut feeling, chase that dream and make it happen. If you know what you want, what your heart desires, go get it. We all have the potential to excel beyond our wildest dreams, so why should your candle light be dim when others around you are blazing?

Love peace and big muscles

PROGRESS PICS 6 WEEKS IN MY PREP

Just came home after a great shoulder workout and I thought ill post something quick to keep you guys up to date with same progress 6th weeks in my preparation, still have a long way to go but enjoying every moment of this journey... 

 LOOKING AT THESE PICS AGAIN, I THINK I SHOULD START SMILING A BIT MORE BECAUSE I LOOK LIKE A REAL MOODY C**T HERE LOL...........

Love peace and big muscles.

HOW DO I GET MOTIVATION? EVEN SOMETIMES IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE....

How do I get the strength to get myself out of bed and train even though I sometimes feel like my body’s energy is on empty?

I’m not gonna lie, there’s day where the idea of having to go the gym is just so unappealing to me. Having to do that cardio is the last thing that I want to put myself through.

So what makes me push myself to do it?

Waking up in the morning, going on Facebook and seeing you guys liking and commenting on my pics, blog posts and statuses really gives me my morning boost to get up and do what I have to do. I feel that I am here not only to better myself but to inspire my fans. Just seeing some of the motivational pictures you guys post or the “likes” you have put is enough to get me out the house and down at the gym. I mean, the way I see it, I don’t really have an excuse to sit and whine and bitch when I can see that you guys are also pushing hard and working out.

What about when it comes down to pumping that iron? How do I manage to lift such heavy weights even though at times it could be considered almost impossible? For me, lifting weights is a type of therapy; I gather together all the negative thoughts, feelings and emotions I have, e.g. past mistakes I’ve made, failures in terms of not achieving a past goal and combine them together to create an intense energy which allows me to have the power to lift those weights.

For me, it’s all about using what you have experienced in your past to better your present.

Love peace and big muscles.

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO THINK "OUT OF THE BOX" TO SEE BETTER RESULTS...

As I had mentioned on one of my previous video blogs, I was going to talk about how sometimes you have to trick your body in order for it to respond well. About 5 weeks ago, I began my contest preparation and everything was going great up until week 4. For some reason I felt that my body was not responding well to the cardio. During my training, I was looking and feeling more depleted and tired I began to wonder why.

I decided to take a moment and think about it from ‘outside the box’. To be honest, I hadn’t really stopped cardio, even from the off season, I would train 3 times a week, 30mins in the winter and as the summer was approaching, I would increase it to 5 times a week- I live in Cyprus so yes I wanted to look good for the beach.

 I slowly starting to come to the conclusion that the constant cardio had caught up with me and as a result, the training was refusing to show any signs of change; in terms of both burning more fat and decreasing body fat. Like it or not, our bodies are not made to be ultra lean with very little body fat. Our bodies are built to store fat this concept can be traced back to the Stone Age era where we had to hunt for food. Back in the day we did not know if we would have food from one day to the next, therefore our bodies needed to store that fat to survive. A bit similar to how camels store water in their humps.

Yet fast forward to today, we are now living in a time where we no longer need to stock up on our food intake. Instead, our main preoccupation is looking lean and fit by burning away any excess fat. However our bodies to a certain degree are still programmed to function the same way they functioned during the hunting/gathering era. Therefore if we are constantly exercising, at some point our bodies will react by not burning as much fat as one would desire. So what do you do when you reach this plateau?

 The answer is quite simple, do the opposite from what you were doing; if you were doing cardio 6x a week, decrease it to 3. If you were training heavy and with a slowish tempo, train fast with a fast tempo and even add a cheat meal to shock the body on the weekend. Do this practice for about 1-2 weeks and then jump back to your normal routine. I tried this tactic out myself and I must say, results can be definitely seen. I generally felt more relaxed and rested, both physically and psychologically.

At the end of the day, what is important is to always listen to your body and think outside the box. Both body and brain are highly advanced mechanisms, yet every now and again there needs to be a change-a shock-a stimulation in order for both to maintain their effective functionality.

Love peace and big muscles.