Below are aricles written in 2011 on fatburning, any questions please feel free to contact us at info@asn-protein.co.uk

Article # 1.

When using whey protein powders do you accurately measure your scoops out per drink serving, or just heap in the whey protein not knowing how many grams you have consumed!

The ASN whey protein tubs comes with a 15ml blue scoop and each level scoop will provide approximately 10 grams in weight of whey protein, 3 level scoops for one serving, heavier athletes 90kg + would probably need 4 level scoops. After training 2 extra scoops can be added as it is thought the body can best consume more protein directly after physical exercise.

The point of this article is to make sure you know how much protein you are taking in for your bodyweight, through whole foods as well as protein shakes. All first class quality protein sources are not cheap, unlike carbohydrates. It pays to measure or weigh all protein intake - if you do not take enough you are wasting time, effort and money on what you are taking If you are taking too much you are also wasting money, and putting unnecessary stress on your body.

In the next ASN news/info letter I will explain how to find out how many calories you need each day, and what your protein intake should be for your bodyweight.

In the New Year, every two weeks I will be giving information and tips on losing bodyfat while holding onto lean muscle tissue - ready for that all-important show, the Anglian Bodybuilding Championships, or getting in shape for the holidays.

Article # 2.

As promised, a simple quick formula to count how many calories you need to maintain bodyweight each day and how much protein is needed to maintain, repair and build new muscle tissue. This is the formula I used when competing, however it can be used by anyone wishing to gain muscle or lose body fat, while holding on to hard earned muscle tissue.

By now I’m assuming you have cleaned up your food intake after the festive season (i.e. cut out the junk!) and are eating a pretty healthy diet.

The first thing would be weigh yourself, record the bodyweight, then count the total calories consumed over the course of a week. Divide that by seven for daily calorie intake, take your bodyweight again at the end of that week, and if your weight has stayed the same you have the amount of calories needed to maintain your bodyweight – this is the average daily caloric intake. If you have gained weight by 1-3 pounds reduce your daily calorie intake by 200 calories, if it’s more than 3lbs a 300 calorie drop is required. You need your bodyweight to stabilise on a specific calorie intake.

Let’s say your calorie intake is 3000 calories a day and your bodyweight is 190lb. A good rule of the thumb would be to consume 1-1.25g (ladies 0.5g) of first class protein (animal source, or soya, beans/lentils for vegetarians and lactose intolerant people) per 1lb of bodyweight. The 190lb bodybuilder would need a 237.5g of protein a day: multiply that figure by 4, as there are 4 calories to every one gram of protein, which would give you 950 calories used from protein.

Take that away from the 3000 figure and you are left with 2050 calories which should be made up by carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, pasta etc) and also vegetables. At this stage we do not need to worry about fats as they will take care of themselves in the above mentioned foods. The consumption of fats is important and I will get on to that further down the line in these info letters.

Try to split your average daily caloric intake into 5-6 small meals aday, this will help to stabilise your blood sugar levels and hopefully reduce your cravings.

To summarise the above, find how many calories you need each day to maintain weight, take your required protein in calories away form your total calorie intake, and use the remaining calories on carbohydrates - fats will take care of themselves.

Make sure you record all this for your blue print and use it as your starting block. If you keep your calories pretty clean it should get your metabolism racing for a couple of weeks, then we will look at making adjustments to keep the fat loss working.

please note the above will work for anyone,however in some cases slight adjustments may be needed as every ones metabolism is different.

Article # 3.

Hopefully by now you will have your nutrition plan under control and have started to burn fat or keeping your bodyweight stable. Just a point to remember for those of you who have looked in the mirror and thought ‘I look worse now than before I started’. When dieting, this is quite normal - let me explain. When the body is consistently full of carbohydrates (simple or complex) the body will appear to look harder and fuller due to the overload of carbohydrate (glycogen) in the muscle cells. Now, when a bodybuilder cleans up the diet and makes a calorie drop, the muscles will start to deflate and this will temporarily cause the skin to loosen making the physique look softer because it is not so stretched from the carbohydrate-loaded cells. The muscle will appear smaller for the same reason, so what you have in the bodybuilder’s eyes is a loss of muscle and a fatter appearance - a complete disaster! Unfortunately I have known competitors to back out at this early stage. Believe me I have been paranoid at this stage many times. If this has happened to you, please hang in there. As the body starts to burn fat and the muscle starts to look harder, everything looks completely different. Actually you’re looking bigger and the muscles look fuller because they have more shape to them.

Back to fat burning. I mentioned above that if you are starting to lose weight we need to keep this process moving as we do not want to lose any weeks and then have to crash diet and potentially lose hard-earned muscle. We are looking at losing one to two pounds of fat a week. Just a note here, try to get someone you trust to have a look at you each week to monitor your progress, and try to stick to the same person as to many opinions might confuse the process.

Quick Reference Guide

Over the last couple of weeks if your bodyweight has stayed the same, I would look at dropping 200 calories from your carbohydrate intake only, keeping protein intake the same. Add three 40 minute sessions per week of cardio, treadmill or stationary bike. Or

you can go for a speed walk outside for 45 minutes three times a week - this is something I prefer to do.

If you have lost about two pounds over the past two weeks, I would just add the cardio sessions as mentioned above and keep the calories the same.

If you have lost three pounds or more over the past two weeks, keep every thing as it is and just carry on with the same nutrition and cardio to maintain this progress.

On the cardio work you should be looking for an average of 65% Target Heart Rate, this is generally considered safe for burning fat while holding onto lean muscle tissue.

How to measure your target heart rate

Measure your resting heart rate when you first wake up. You can do this by taking your pulse for one minute while still in bed. To take your pulse, place two fingertips (not a thumb) on either the radial (on your wrist, at the base of your thumb) or carotid (neck, next to your larynx) pulse site. Take your pulse for three mornings and then average those three readings to get your average resting heart rate. Add the three readings together, and divide that number by three to get your resting heart rate, like this:

(72 + 76 + 74) / 3= 74

Next, determine your maximum heart rate. A simple formula to get your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. This is your maximum heart rate. For example, the maximum heart rate for a 34-year-old would be: 220 - 34 = 186

Then use this formula to determine your target heart rate:

Target Heart Rate = [(Maximum Heart Rate – Resting Heart Rate) × %Intensity] + Resting Heart Rate

So, using the example above, here's how to calculate the target heart zone for a 34-year-old who has a Maximum Heart Rate of 186 and a Resting Heart Rate of 74:

For a 50% Target Heart Rate: [(186 − 74) × 0.50] + 74 = 130 bpm For a 85% Target Heart Rate: [(186 − 74) × 0.85] + 74 = 169 bpm

So the target rate heart zone would be 130-169 bpm.

For a 65% Target Heart Rate: [(186 - 74) x 0.65] + 74 = 146 bmp

Don’t forget that we are looking at keeping to 65% Target Heart Rate during cardio.

In our next info letter we will look at making more adjustments and using slow releasing carbohydrate foods to help prevent sugar cravings and keep you on the road to burning more fat.

Article # 4.

By following the last three articles, I hope you are still losing bodyfat and maintaining muscle. We need to keep this process moving by making adjustments to our diet and cardio work.

Over the last couple of weeks if you have lost one to two pounds or your bodyweight has stayed the same, I would look at dropping 200 calories from your carbohydrate intake again, keeping protein intake the same. And doing five 40 minute sessions per week of cardio, treadmill or stationary bike. Or you can go for a speed walk outside for 45 minutes five times a week. If you have lost about two to three pounds over the past two weeks, I would just do five cardio sessions and keep the calories the same. If you have lost three pounds or more over the past two weeks, keep every thing as it is and just carry on with the same nutrition and cardio to maintain this progress. On the cardio work you should be looking for an average of 65% Target Heart Rate, this is generally considered safe for burning fat while holding onto lean muscle tissue (see Article 3 for further details). In this article I would like to talk about staying on track of fat burning and avoiding sugar cravings as much as possible. Personally I find it hard to resist sweet things at the best of times, let alone on a strict diet regime. The best way to prevent or minimise these cravings is to keep your insulin level as stable as possible throughout your diet plan. When carbohydrates are digested, especially simple sugars, glucose enters the blood stream and insulin is released by the pancreas to reduce blood sugar levels. As a result, blood sugar levels fall rapidly and this results in a craving for more sugar. To avoid large spikes of insulin level (which can also increase fat deposits), we can choose certain carbohydrate foods which have a low G.I. (Glycemic Index) value. The glycemic index was originally developed to help diabetics choose slow sugar releasing foods in their daily diet. The bodybuilder/athlete can use this index to benefit them in maximising energy levels throughout the day. For the bodybuilder this means burning more fat and reducing sugar highs & lows and sugar cravings. I used the glycemic index back in ‘89 when preparing for the Mr UK under 80kg, to great affect.

To keep things simple just switch your high G.I. foods for low G.I. If you look on the packets of carbohydrate foods at the supermarket, such as whole wheat pasta, brown rice and white long grain rice, breads with whole grains, stone-ground flour, plus some fruit and vegetables, they will have a little sign displaying ‘Low G.I.’. I have added a link to view a glycemic index and we need to be looking at consuming carbohydrate foods with a score of 55 and under: http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods

Once you have your armoury of low G.I. carbohydrate foods, I would stick with them right through to the carbohydrate loading phase (a process done just days before a major sporting event to store optimum energy levels within the muscle tissue). Then we switch over to high G.I. carbs for fast loading. I will talk about this in a later newsletter article. The next newsletter article will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using cheat meals

in the diet plan.

Article # 5.

By following the last four articles, I hope you are still losing bodyfat and maintaining muscle. We need to keep this process moving by making adjustments to our diet and cardio work.

Over the last couple of weeks if you have lost one to two pounds or your bodyweight has stayed the same, I would look at dropping 200 calories from your carbohydrate intake again, keeping protein intake the same. And doing seven 40 minute sessions per week of cardio, treadmill or stationary bike. Or you can go for a speed walk outside for 45 minutes five times a week. If you have lost about two to three pounds over the past two weeks, I would just do seven cardio sessions and keep the calories the same. If you have lost three pounds or more over the past two weeks, keep every thing as it on the nutrition side, but up the cardio to five times aweek, this will help keep the metabolism moving. On the cardio work you should still be looking for an average of 65% Target Heart Rate, this is generally considered safe for burning fat while holding onto lean muscle tissue (see Article 3 for further details). In this article I would like to talk about speeding up the metabolism by using cheat meals in our diet plan. As we move on further into the diet and as we drop calories the bodies metabolism can tend to slow up, its a mechanism for the body to protect its self from further weight loss, although we speed things up with the cardio work, our bodies can become very resilient to weight loss program, so we need to confuse it a bit and go completely in the opposite direction consuming for one meal only doubling up or (even more) calories than we usually eat at one sitting, by doing this the body will speed up the metabolism to cope with the extra calories, then if would go back to our restricted calorie intake our metabolisms should be faster than before we took the cheat meal, hence more fat burning. The best way to approach this is to eat more clean calories and use this process once aweek, it would probably be best to stop doing this five weeks out from a bodybuilding contest, not because it would not work, but it might have an physiological affect on the athlete as his/her blood sugars will be getting low this can play tricks on the mind, our minds need to be stable and fixed on the goal at hand, to much messing with diets can cause confusion, these really are the down falls of using cheat meals in are diet plan, if its something you are going to try than make the decision to do it and stick to the plan, you can tell if its working as usually in the next couple of days more hunger sets in, do to the speeded up metabolism.

The next newsletter article will talk about the advantages of supplementation in the diet plan.

Article # 6.

By following the last five articles, I hope you are still losing body fat and maintaining muscle. We need to keep this process moving by making adjustments to our diet now, as most of you will

probably be doing cardio every day, and too much cardio can hinder the recuperation process from workouts. I suggest cutting 200 calories from your carbohydrates if your fat burning has slowed up and keeping protein the same; you could add ASN fat burners to help speed up the metabolism.

On the cardio work you should still be looking for an average of 65% Target Heart Rate, this is generally considered safe for burning fat while holding onto lean muscle tissue.

There are many sports supplement companies out in the market now, including ASN, and to the consumer that’s good news because all competition keeps prices competitive. With a wide choice of brands to choose from, what brand? Well yes, of course I am going to say ASN, but also because we work within Trading and Standards legislation and their officials verify the claims made on our product labels. Because we work within these trading guide lines, our customers know what they are buying. There are other good supplement companies out there - I cannot speak for them, but whoever you use please do your home work before you purchase; it’s not just about wasting money, its your time and effort as well. However, choosing the right product can be very confusing, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for and what you need to achieve your goals

I have listed four supplements below that are perhaps worth investing in, to pursue one’s goal:

(1) Sports supplement are not cheap and I would suggest trying one supplement at a time to make sure it works for you and you’re not wasting money. The first supplement to take would be a good qualityWhey Protein, or Meal Replacement as this is going to make up your daily protein intake, the number one supplement for building and maintaining muscle tissue, without sufficient protein in your diet all other supplements taken would be a waste of time.

(2) Once you have supplemented your diet with a protein powder, the next supplement to go for would be Creatine Monohydrate , a supplement you can see and feel the benefits from.

(3) The next supplement to consider would be L-Glutamine , especially while dieting as glutamine is 60% of all amino acids, helping to protect muscle tissue being broke down and boosting the immune system.

(4) Vitamins and minerals are another important supplement while on a diet, you could say perhaps a priority supplement to take, but a well balanced diet should provide all the nutrients you need, especially if taking a Meal Replacement which has a vitamin/mineral premix within it.

The above are the most important supplements to take when budgeting for a supplement diet plan. There are plenty others that can also aid in pursuing your goals, but perhaps are not as necessary as those mentioned above.

In the next newsletter article we will look at the dos and don’ts while losing body fat.

Article # 7.

Most of you will have been following these articles and are hopefully well on the way to getting into top shape for the summer holidays or that all important bodybuilding contest ie: The ABBC http://anglianbodybuilding.co.uk/

In the early days of dieting, fat loss comes relatively easily as the body responds well to clean

eating. This process can last for several weeks, as well as making calorie drops and increasing aerobic activity. From previous articles we are still aiming to keep the protein intake stable and to chip away at the carbohydrate calories, forcing the body to break down fat for fuel, but as you are probably well aware the body starts to resist any weight loss as it fights to hold the weight it feels most comfortable at. Right, you can increase aerobic activity but too much aerobic/cardio can interfere with the body's recuperation system between weight training workouts and you could face a physical burn-out. You could drop calories from carbohydrates, but we need energy to burn fat, or you could drop protein if you are taking more than 1.25g per lb of bodyweight. The problem here is that by dropping calories further the body's metabolism drops and slows down so it can hold onto fat to protect itself. There is one thing we can do and i have used it myself and seen good results through other competitive bodybuilders using it as well: adding fats to our diet. It sounds contradictory to what we are trying to achieve (lower fat levels) but it works. I believe when the body is on a low-fat low-calorie diet, as mentioned above it will try and hold onto body fat and try to fuel itself by breaking down protein (muscle tissue) for fuel. If we introduce polyunsaturated fats to our diet, by not increasing calories but replacing carbohydrate calories with fat calories, then because the body is receiving fats again it can happily let some of its fat stores be used for energy as the body will always fight for a equilibrium. Now the other bonus is that aerobics burns fat for energy and most of our daily activities are aerobic so we will be burning our fats instead of our glycogen stores which we need for our gruelling workouts. Anaerobic activity (anything explosive) like weight training burns carbohydrates for fuel. So now we have the body burning more efficiently using the right fuel when it needs to, as long as we are burning slightly more calories than we are consuming then more fat will continue to burn. Also, a more stable slower energy output through the day is achieved while consuming fats, unlike carbohydrates which tend to have peeks and troughs of energy output especially on a low calorie diet as the body is sensitive to carbohydrate intake. The best form of fats to go for would be safflower oil or flaxseed, failing that virgin olive. 1-2 level teaspoons a day will do the trick - they are approx 45 kcal a teaspoon, don't forget you need to knock this off your carbohydrate calories otherwise you will be consuming more than you burn! As the bodybuilding shows and holiday dates are just around the corner, and our diets are getting low in carbohydrates to try and rid that last little bit of fat, I would keep the diets basic and simple, not to use yo yo diets (high carb - low carb days) and also to cut out the cheat meals. The reason for this is that the mind can start to play tricks as our sugar levels drop, and tormenting yourself with cheat meals and unbalanced daily calorie intakes can cause confusion. We need 50g of carbohydrates per day to keep the brain functioning, let alone the rest of the carbohydrates we need for normal daily activity - the yo yo diet syndrome can throw us right off course and confuse the whole dieting plan. At this stage just keep things stable by weighing and measuring all food intake and keeping to the same target calories each day. If you burn slightly more calories than you take in you will reach your goal. Next article we will look at body mass v lean tissue!

Article # 8.

When dieting for a bodybuilding contest or a similar event, one of the hardest issues to get the mind around is the concept of losing body fat. This reduces overall body mass and psychologically this can look like losing size to the untrained eye, when your shirts are not so tight on you anymore and your face starts to look drawn and sunken in - the comments that are received are not always encouraging, like "you have lost a lot of weight" and "are you alright, you look ill". I can remember those words only too well, but I had a very good coach at the time who kept me on the straight and narrow, confirming that I was going in the right direction and that I should keep going with the fat loss. I would appear twice as big at 30lb lighter in bodyweight, but I had to get in shape for this to happen.

My suggestion on the above if your aim is to get into the best shape of your life for a bodybuilding contest or for personal reasons, is to ask someone you trust and who has been in good contest shape themselves to watch over you and perhaps check you once a week to make sure you continue to lose body fat. This process can be done by your own analysis, but the problem here is that when the brain suffers a lack of glycogen self judgement can become unclear and a lot can go wrong in the final stages coming up to a bodybuilding competition.

Gaining weight or body mass must not be mistaken for muscle tissue gain, although it is impossible to increase lean tissue without some fat gain and water retention, as these are part of the body composition. However it is possible to keep fat gain to a bare minimum making it easier when it’s time to diet. Also an important note, in my experience and from the thoughts of fellow athletes, carrying extra bulk in the off season does not necessarily mean you can push heavier weights. Optimal training can be obtained with a lighter body weight of about 10% over contest weight (ideal lean weight) and this seems to be adequate body mass for maximum strength. If you weigh much more than this off-season you will put unnecessary stress on the body; this can have a negative affect on holding lean tissue when dieting as the over-weight athlete has to diet more severely to lose the fat and at the same time this can result in greater loss of lean tissue. I found it interesting when dieting for a contest that my strength levels remained the same even on half the calorie intake and doing more work in the form of aerobics – I think it has a lot to do with mental attitude especially for a competitive athlete.

To summarize, make more of an effort to keep the bodyweight down after an event. Around 10-12% bodyweight gain from competition weight (or personal event) is enough to gain muscle in the so-called off-season. I guarantee that by doing this when you diet again you will look a lot bigger and fuller in the muscle in the end result.