Bowflex Home Gym Fitness Blog

Making any sense of the various health, strength and muscle building supplements in the flooded market is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Just reading the information and hype that each one comes with in its self is a dizzying task. So much biochemical “mumbo jumbo” that inevitably explains that each particular container of pills, liquid or powder is the “end all” of supplements. The one that actually works.

So now Beta Alanine Pro is creating the big buzz in gyms and on the net. But is it really any different from the hordes of products that have come and gone before it and if so, just what are these differences. Also, can they be spelled out in simple to understand layman's terms because if you're like me, you're sick and tired of all the “gibberish” couched in pseudo-scientific techno-speak”. I don't know about you, but all that BS talk is just a big turn off for me.

Well lo and behold, finally a product that doesn't come wrapped in bull crap this way and no you don't need a college degree to read and understand completely just that it is that makes Beta Alanine Pro so different from the rest. So read on and by the time you get to the bottom of the page you will come away with a complete understanding of it and can then make a sound objective decision on whether or not it's for you.

Also you can check out an actual Beta Alanine Pro review here. You see I'm doing a research paper beta analine as an assignment for a biology class I'm taking and no I'm not studying to become any type of biologist. Actually I'm majoring in general education and plan on becoming a high school instructor after I get my four year degree in two more years.

So Just What is Beta Alanine Pro?

Beta Alanine is classified as a non-proteinogenic amino acid and is in fact the only “naturally occurring” beta-amino acid. We obtain beta alanine naturally in our diets by consuming foods that are rich in dipeptides. Protein rich foods like chicken and fish that tend to contain the dipeptides balenine, anserine and carnosine, with the dipeptide carnosine being the most prevalent.

This brings me to an important point to be made about beta alanine. That is that it's a naturally occurring, essential nutrient that's vital to normal muscle function. This is unlike so many other supplements that are concoctions of “substances” that are touted as somehow functioning to optimize biological functions. This also means that beta alanine has been thoroughly studied and reported on in research projects sponsored by numerous universities and pharmaceutical companies. Which it has.

In fact our bodies even produce beta alanine in the liver. Now I promised you no biochemical mumbo jumbo, so hold onto your hat for a moment here while I explain how this I done. Your liver produces it through the catabolism of pyramidine nucleotides. Got that? They're then broken down into uracil and thymine, which are then further metabolized into (beta alanine) and B-aminoisobutyrate.

What Does Beta Alanine Do in the Body?

The list of things that this substance does in your body is short and sweet. Further down the page I will explain how it does them but the tasks it performs are the following: Beta Alanine functions to increase overall muscle mass and physical strength. It also functions to increase and maintain higher levels of anaerobic endurance as well as aerobic endurance and it also functions to enhance and maintain overall physical performance by staving off muscle fatigue.

So How Does it Do This?

Now before I can explain what beta alanine does in your body and most particularly in your muscles, it's important that you understand a few things about muscle performance and most importantly what takes place as your muscles become fatigued during workouts. It's like explaining how a motor works before you can get it clear to someone how important oil and gasoline are to a proper running vehicle.

Actually this car-gasoline-muscle analogy is right on the money because they both use energy and both produce waste products. At the same time, we all know that a finely tuned motor is going to make much better use if the energy that's provided to it in the form of gasoline. In short, beta analine functions to allow your muscles to perform at their peak levels by lessening fatigue and allowing more nutrient to flow into them.

Now the PH level of your body hovers around PH 7 which is the same PH as water. At a PH level of 7 the nutrients that your body and its organs, including your muscles need to perform optimally are available in their ideal ratio in ionic form. All the salts, vitamins, proteins etc are distributed in the blood and stored in the organs perfectly. All of them dissolved. Now when any chemical solution becomes acidic, its ability to hold dissolved substances changes.

Take a glass of clear salt water that's a complete saturate solution. That is that it's as “salty” as it can get. Next drop a few drops of acid into it and watch what happens. It will immediately become cloudy, as the H+ or hydrogen atoms or ion in the acid change the PH level by making it more acidic. The cloudiness is caused by salt that is being forced out of the salt water solution, as it in fact becomes less salty.

Got that? - So Now Lets Go Further

Have you ever stopped to wonder why your muscles get tired? Think about it. Your bones don't get tired from walking. Your hair doesn't get tired from growing and is “tired” even the right word to use to describe what your muscles are going through? The fact is that your muscles don't get tired or they would need sleep. Rather, what happens is chemical change that causes them to have less available energy to burn. They're not tired. they're just running out out of “gas”.

I don't need to tell you that your muscles burn energy when you use them but have you ever stopped to wonder where the exhaust that is produced from burning the energy they use goes? Now I promised you no “biochemical mumbo jumbo” and I plan on keeping that promise, so I'm simply going to tell you that muscle “exhaust” goes nowhere right away. It stays in the muscle tissue and a component of that muscle exhaust is H+ atoms or hydrochloric acid.

Remember the salt water experiment? Add acid to the water and the salt in it solidifies and causes the water to become cloudy and less salty? Guess what? The hydrochloric acid that your muscles produce also has the same effect on the fuel that's stored in them and available in the blood. So they're not out of fuel, the fuel simply becomes “non soluble” just like the salt. It's there but your muscles just can't absorb it.

Are You Following All of this?

Now for a lot of people the thought of hydrochloric acid in their muscles can be terrifying. Hey they might dissolve! If that isn't scary enough then you may want to stop to consider that your stomach uses hydrochloric acid to digest food and hydrochloric acid can dissolve steel! Yikes! Now the reason you haven't melted down into an acidic puddle of goo, is because thankfully your body has several buffering systems.

Now I could really get technical here, but I won't. Basically, just as in your stomach, your body produces chemicals in your muscles to neutralize the acid that your muscles produce when they are used. Your muscles don't become rested. Rather, the fuel that is there once again becomes water soluble and they get “happy” again. In fact, if there are more buffering agents there at the ready during your workouts, your muscles will take longer to fatigue and you'll have more available “fuel” for them.

The result would be longer, more intense and less painful workouts and quicker recovery times. Sound good? So then just what does beta analine do in your body and most particularly in your muscles? In a nut shell, this vital substance is integral in the production of acid neutralizers in your muscles. Also it has been proven that Beta Analine Pro does boost your systems ability to produce these buffering agents that function to neutralize acid in your muscles during workouts.

I Hope this Doesn't All Sound Too Simple

I really should warn you that all of this is an incredibly simplified explanation of how beta analine works in your body. To gain a better understanding of just how simply I have explained things, I will tell you that it is the actual “microscopic cells” that your muscles are comprised of where all this metabolic activity is taking place. Also to this day, scientist are still struggling to understand all that there is to know about the intrinsic functions of cellular metabolism.

The Final Two Important Questions

Now your next two questions should be is beta analine safe and if so, how long does it take for its effect to kick in once you start to use it. The answer to the first question is “yes it's safe”. Although no long term studies have been done, enough people have used it for enough reasonable short term data to be compiled. Te reason that there's a lacking in expensive long term study data, is because beta analine can't be patented by a drug company so none are interested in it.

Now for the next question. If I had included in all the techno babble when explaining how your body produces and makes use of Beta Analine Pro then you would better understand that it simply isn't absorbed through the intestinal wall and put directly to work. On the long side, some people report that it took up to three weeks for them to notice a difference in their workouts and recovery time, while for others it happened in as little as one week. Also the average recommended dose is 6 grams per day and increasing the dose does not increase the amount or speed of effect.

Fitness results for men are in fact the easiest to achieve because mens bodies are designed to quickly respond to adverse conditions by adding strength in the form of muscle. Also virtually any type of resistance training will improve your body at least to a certain extent. However; without any type of “home fitness strategy” or plan, you just won't achieve maximum results.

Truly fast and more permanent results always come with some type of plan. An inclusive regimen that blends the best of cardio workouts, resistance training and of course nutrition. A meticulous well thought out plan that includes these key elements not only brings fast & long lasting results but it also inspires motivation as well.

The Reasons Home Fitness Programs Fail

Read em and weep because the statistics just don't bode well for a man starting out to get in shape today. Over half will drop out within the first six months and of those who remain, over half again will be gone by the end of the year. The main reason for this can be blamed for the most part, on mistaken beliefs and “common folklore”.

Men who simply fail to properly educate themselves about the subject matter, such as methods of effective and proper warm-up and cooling down, proper lifting speed, heavy weight training, safety and more. They simply go at it in a random fashion and become disenchanted when of course they don't see the results that they had “invisioned”.

The Pre-Workout Home Fitness Warm-Up

The fact is that before any workout, even a light to moderate workout, you absolutely “must” warm up and stretch out your joints, muscles and tendons properly. Doing so will not only intensify your overall performance and hasten recovery time but it will also help to prevent stress and impact injuries.

It relaxes and prepares your muscles, while it induces them to become more elastic. You'll also find that you're more relaxed and far able to “focus” so much more intently during your workout sessions after a proper warm-up. It also functions to enlarge blood vessels and increase blood flow which in turn brings more needed oxygen and nutrients to the muscles.

Two Types Of Warm Up Exercises

For optimal effect, there are two basic types of warm up exercises that must be performed and they are as follows: The first will be some type of light cardio regimen that should be performed for five minutes. The next home fitness warm up routine will be 10 - 20 light weight reps in the muscle groups you intend to focus on.

Use 30% to 40% of the weight that you intend to use for your workout routine and make sure to not become exhausted in any way. Over doing it during your initial warm up phase can in fact be “counterproductive”. The goal you see, is to be fresh and invigorated for your main or primary reps.

Focusing On Muscle Groups

There's just no way around it. To achieve “maximum” & well balanced muscle gain, you simply must select out at least one weight resistance exercise for each major muscle group. Another important element that's all to often ignored, is the order in which these muscle groups are focused on.

Always start with the largest muscles in your body first then successively work your way down to the smallest muscle groups. By doing so, you'll insure that you have the strength and energy that's required when it's time to stress the larger muscles. Try it once in reverse and you can see for yourself how your performance level is lessened.

Home Fitness Speed & Intensity

One of the most important factors and one that's so often ignored by men is the “speed or tempo” of a weight resistance workout routine. Another thing worth noting, is that the tempo at which you lift plays an integral part in preventing injuries, such as muscle and ligament tears.

A slow and even lifting rate or tempo will cause the muscle being stressed to perform more work and will result in less momentum. Also a slow tempo ensures a concentration of force throughout the entire muscle group. It insures a “complete” and entire range of motion in the rep.

It's also well worth noting that the “down” part of a rep is just as, if not more important than the “up” part. This means that a nice even lift up followed buy a smooth even return down in any type of lift means that the entire muscle is being evenly and thoroughly stressed. Always return to your starting position after each lift.

The Most Common Workout Mistakes

So just what are the most common home fitness mistakes that are made? The truth is there are several and not only can they hinder your overall development but some of them can be dangerous. Remember a “danger” doesn't necessarily mean that it's something that can send you to a doctor. A danger can be something that can cause even a minor injury that can simply hinder or interrupt your home fitness program.

The first and most common mistake, is using too much weight. Remember that every session is not the “Olympic tryouts”. For maximum effect, use the amount of weight that you can do a rep of ten lifts with. This doesn't mean that you can't test yourself from time to time but bear in mind that maximum weight means maximum risk of muscle and ligament tears.

The second common mistake that you will see people doing is “bouncing or swinging” the weights. It's most commonly done on chest lifts where the weights are bounced up off the chest but it can be done in other types of reps as well. Don't do it. It negates from the intent of a rep and also can result in tears from the down-side of the bounce.

The third very common home fitness mistake is “abusing” your back during any type of exercise or routine. Never arch your back or over rely on your back for support. If you're bending or straining your back unnaturally, you're simply gambling with your health. Back injuries can happen in a split second and may never heal even with surgery.

The fourth mistake that you may find yourself making is training and lifting at too fast a pace. It's just so easy to do. You get your momentum up, the music is blasting, you got your groove on and all you're thinking is “go-go-go”. Take a little bit of time to unwind between reps and try to time yourself so you keep a good steady, even pace.

Nutrition and Body Building

Any home fitness program must include some type of nutrition plan as well. It's simply impossible to cover such a complex topic here but what I can tell is what not to do. Don't diet when your attempting to add muscle bulk and don't go on any drastic fad programs. “Do” buy a good book on the topic from a reputable source and read it.

Nutrition is like good looks. Everybody can use a little improvement, so if you think your diet is perfect and you're “good to go”, then for sure you need to delve into the subject. There's just so much that is known now and remember that what you eat is what your body will be building its self back up with.

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It seems that almost with each passing day a new diet plan or product is introduced to the public that promises to be the final solution for people who are looking to shed some pounds. Some new marketing angle or concept that is touted to have finally unlocked the secret that everyone has been looking for. The secret formula or product that will finally do the trick.

Why Not Give It a Try?

What’s the real deal? Wasn’t the last one supposed to be the ultimate diet plan or product? Then you see the testimonials, the before and after pictures and the gears in your head start to turn. “Hey what have I got to lose but excess weight”? “Maybe I can try it for a week or two and if I lose some pounds, what the heck”!!? So you shell out your money and give it a try.

They All Want You to Buy

The truth is that if you are not happy with the way you look or how much you weigh, you are dead center in the cross hairs of some of the slickest, most unscrupulous marketers on the planet. By the way, they are most likely also the same guys that sold you the last diet plan or product that you tried that didn’t work. They know that you are vulnerable and yearning to look and feel your personal best.

Hey Look It’s FDA Approved!!

They went back, got a new name for their company and they will do it all over again next year with a new face on their latest business hustle. As long as they are not marketing a drug, making medical claims and are careful with their wording and promises, getting FDA approval is as easy for them as it is for the people selling apples at your local fruit stand, so don’t be fooled by that moniker.

The Truth About Boosting Your Metabolism

No diet food or product can permanently boost your metabolism. Boosting your metabolism is one very common claim of many diet products or plans. It’s a great hook, because every dieter knows that the higher a persons metabolism, the more calories they will naturally burn. However; you “are” genetically predisposed to have a certain metabolic rate.

How to Lower Your Metabolic Rate

Certain conditions and processes and products such as pills, illness or exercise can “temporarily” raise or lower it but basically your ancestors are the ones that left you with your metabolism, because you inherited it from them. The real irony, is that the best way to lower your metabolism is to go on a fad diet, because your body will automatically slow it down, just like it did centuries back when your distant ancestors ran short on food.

Grape Fruit, Vinegar or High Acid Diets

There is nothing that you can consume that will “burn off” fat. Every now and then another “grapefruit” style diet appears over the horizon with it’s promise that if you consume one food product or another, it will somehow “burn off” fat. Unfortunately, your digestive and biological system are just not that simple. There is no “little furnace” in your tummy that can be “stoked” to burn off fat.

Dangerous and Extremely Unhealthy

However; if you consume only certain foods for instance and nothing else, your body can be tricked into temporarily shedding weight. The Atkins diet is a prime example of this but along with the “temporary” weight loss comes malnutrition, possible permanent internal organ damage and extreme food cravings that make these types of diets almost impossible to stick to.

Eat Cookies and Chocolate Shakes to Lose Weight !?

“Goody” or cookie diets have always been around and the diet shakes were the first. What a wonderful concept for a person with eating issues that need resolving! The diet shakes and other “goody” makers replace the sugar with an artificial sweetener and the thick cream with cellulose, which is the same thing that paper is made from. These diet products and plans are designed and marketed by only the most cynical of diet scam artists.

Indigestible Edible Oils

Indigestible, edible oils actually made the headlines when they were first introduced. Scientists and food manufactures had been working to discover this holy grail of dieting for decades and they were rewarded with international publicity when they finally found it. Then their next task was to find a way to sweep the people that began to use them under the rug, because what they had to say wasn’t good.

You Don’t Want These Side Effects !

If you don’t mind being doubled over with extreme stomach pain and a never ending bout of extreme, uncontrollable diarrhea then dig in, because these oils always come in junk food products like potato chips and brownies. Also, the amount of oil that they can replace is minimal at best, lest the people who eat them mind spending their days sitting on a toilet bent over in pain or walking back and forth from their bedroom changing their underwear.

Drink Up and Lose Weight

Liquid diets also have come and gone over the years. The reason that they work, is that any liquid tends to contain a minimal amount of calories. That is unless it contains alcohol, sugar or oil. So they replace the sugar with artificial sweetener, the oil with cellulose and of course leave out the alcohol and presto you have a liquid diet product.

The Joke Is On You

The real joke, is that you can get the most effective liquid diet product for free right out of your tap. it’s called water, because that is mostly what you are buying when you purchase a liquid diet product. By the way, once you buy the liquid diet product, it will also come with a food restriction plan, because that is what is really responsible for any weight loss.

Flushing Away Excess Pounds

Laxatives will have you losing weight in the time that it takes you to go to the bathroom and it doesn’t get much faster then that. However; it won’t be fat that you will be losing but water and the more you take them the worse the case of dehydration you will have. They do help to flatten your stomach though, because they completely vacate your lower intestinal tract which helps to perpetrate the illusion of weight loss.

They Just Don’t Work

The people who use laxatives for dieting assume that the faster the food they eat is eliminated, the fewer calories their digestive system can absorb. However; the problem is that calories are absorbed from food in the stomach and the small intestines, so by time food is where a laxative can have an effect on it, (the lower intestine), it has been fully digested. Besides, laxatives are addictive and once you begin using then your digestive system loses it’s ability to function naturally.

Replacing One Problem with Another

Prescription diet pills do work fantastic if you don’t mind being strung out on drugs. They function by causing you to run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off, while at the same time completely eliminating your appetite. Besides, a doctor that really has your best interest in mind won’t prescribe them, because he or she knows that they are temporary fix that can leave you a totally addicted basket case.

Another Temporary Fix

Non prescription diet pills also work but nowhere near as good as their prescription cousins. They use caffeine and or ephedrine, both of which are mild stimulants and appetite suppressants. They both also cause stomach and headaches and you fast develop a tolerance to them, meaning that you will have to gulp them by the handful in as little time as a few short weeks.

Not At All Worth the Risk

Ephedrine has also been directly linked to sudden heart attack and permanent heart muscle damage. The real scary thing is that you will most likely get no prior warning of impending problems if you develop any. What this means is that if ephedrine is causing problems for a persons heart, their first symptom is all too often sudden death. Bear in mind that even perfectly fit professional athletes have dropped dead from taking ephedrine.

Not a A Diet a Cardiologist Would Recommend

The Atkins Pyramid

High protein diets such as the Atkins or liquid protein diets work by tricking your system into shutting down it’s system for storing fat on your body. This is why you can eat all the meat and eggs you want on these diets and still shed the pounds. However; these diets have been linked to organ damage and take a week or so to begin to work. Also these ultra high cholesterol diets are a possible one way ticket to the cardiac ward at your local hospital.

People Actually Do Buy Them !

Topical creams, lotions or sprays that are touted by their marketers to effect a persons weight can be described in one word and that word is “scam”. Fortunately, the people who market them are generally decent enough not to insult your intelligence with any phony explanations of how their products supposedly work. The “only” thing that you can apply to the surface of your body that “will” effect your weight is a piece of tape over your mouth.

Just Another Diet Product Scam

Then there are the diet products that supposedly absorb and hold fats in your digestive system after you consume them. Unfortunately for their makers your stomach uses hydrochloric acid, (which will dissolve steel) to digest your food. What this means is that the only thing that can survive passing through your digestive system without being dissolved is glass. So once again, only one word is needed to describe them and that word is “scam”.

Riding Up and Down On the Diet Roller Coaster

Fasting works great. Eat nothing and your body is forced to live off it’s stored fat. In fact, if you can stick to a total fast you can literally lose pounds in a day! Unfortunately your body reacts to a fast by going into “starvation mode”. Your metabolic rate will plummet and won’t come back up until the pounds you lost are packed back on. This is why fasting and sudden weight loss is always followed by sudden weight gain.

The Most Delicious Diet Plans

Mediterranean or other “regional food” diet plans are the latest angle that diet plan marketers have pulled out of their hat. Most all of them do in fact work, as long as you stick to them. Authentic Greek, Chinese and Japanese food is delicious and generally low in fats, processed starches and sugar, so there is absolutely nothing wrong there.

Why Pay When You Can Get Them for Free ?

They also tend to be high in fiber and contain lots of healthy fruits and vegetables. However; if you are foolish enough to pay for one of these plans, a good percentage of the fat on your body is between your ears. that’s because you can easily find loads of great delicious low cal recipes from all four corners of the planet right on the Internet free of charge.

Not a Magic Bullet

So start browsing and start munching but save your money for the new clothes you will need once you shed some weight. However; be aware that just because a recipe is Greek or Chinese, doesn’t mean that it will magically work. So skip the baklava and and twice fried sweet and sour pork and you will be OK.

A Boost For Regional Eateries!

Or better yet, start scouting out local regional eateries and let them do the cooking. Ask the waiter or waitress what their low cal dishes are and they will be glad to help you out. No doubt Greek, Japanese and Chinese restaurateurs have also heard of this latest diet fad, are surly tickled pink and have a list of all their low cal favorites all ready for you to brows through.