Juicy Gym Ninja!

Soooooooooo....

Day 2 of Juicy Ninja!!!!

And no, the novelty hasn't worn off yet!

Today, Gym Ninja whipped up a rather splendid  Apple & Watercress Energiser.  From the book of magical juice recipes.  Wanna know what was in this one? It tastes luuurvely by the way, so you may wish to grab a pen and try it at home?

You need the following (and organic if possible):

2 unpeeled apples

2 large unpeeled carrots

2 medium tomatos

1 UNPEELED Kiwi fruit (yep-the furry little kiwi)

1 handful of watercress

1 handful of spinach

Shove em in your juicer (if you pardon the expression) and then drink up kiddies!

Nice eh?

Now this is classed as the 'ultimate superjuice' you should have once or twice a week that is fabulous at times of physical AND/OR mental stress (which Gym Ninja thinks is pretty much all of the time), increased workload or at any time when your body and mind need to be 'bursting' with vitality. It promotes greater concentration & is an aid to physical activity...apparently. 

As this juice is super rich in Vitamin C, the book suggests it's perfect if you want to ward off a cold or the flu. (However, as this is bacon-free Gym Ninja doubts that it would ward off Swine Flu). Apparently, it also helps guard against heart disease & cancer. Wow. 

  

This is what came out of the juicer....hmmm, doesn't look too nice does it? In fact, it looked kiwi skin brown! Ooer!

 And here is the 'fateful' from above pic. WHat IS it with the bubbles? Bubbles make it look worse...So, with trepidation, Gym Ninja took a sip....






 It tasted gorgeous!!! That was despite Gym Ninja knowing that she'd juiced the kiwi with it's little hedgehog suit on too! (You cannot taste the fur though!)


So, are you tempted to buy a Juicer of your own yet??


Later on today, Gym Ninja headed to the gym. She was much in need of a hardcore workout as she'd driven to the Lake District and back today. Needed to get the old body moving!


She found herself queuing to get into the gym carpark! WHAT???  Queuing to get IN? Seriously? Gym Ninja guesses now that the last of the snow has melted, that the January Newbies have returned with a vengeance? 


Gym Ninja headed to the changing rooms to get into her gym gear. The changing rooms were busy. Huge groups of women and/or younger girls in gangs all sitting down and talking. Hmmm, how much of this would then be classed as 'I was at the gym for an HOUR last night?'...


Off GN went to the treadmill for a very fast 20 minute interval run on the treadmill. A small guy nabbed the treadmill next to her: a guy covered in Deep Heat stinky cream! It BURNS the larynx you know when you inhale the stuff. Makes Gym Ninja's eyes sting too. She could see him peeking at what speed she was running, as he revved up his own treadmill. As she increased HER treadmill, he increased his. Silly boy! You CANNOT keep up with Gym Ninja on your first visit! Before long Deep Heat Boy was gripping the sides of the treadmill, hanging on for dear life as he sped up the belt..Gym Ninja considered helping him out by decreasing her own speed so he wouldn't feel the need to compete.  She looked over at him, his face pink and his hands gripping the treadmill, knuckles white. She turned and touched the treadmill speed controls..........and revved it up by an extra kilometer per hour! 


Ooops!


After the run (Deep Heat Boy stopped his treadmill the moment GN reduced her own speed) she headed upstairs to do the lower body workout. Time was of the essence, but she needed to complete her workout, so instead of lifting heavy today, she shook things up (her own arse included!) and lifted fairly medium weights, yet went overboard on the stretch and range of movement. By this she means going past 90' into a deep squat...teaching the body how to move into it's full range of motion, whilst strengthening her knees. She then ensured her Romanian (straight legged) deadlifts were done under strict control with a full stretch. Adding on front-to-back lunges and some Roman Chair ab work, it was soon time to stretch out and grab her Promax Shake, passing another gaggle of girlies in the changing rooms, looking sweat-free as they chatted....


Queuing to get OUT of the car park, Gym Ninja realised that although the carpark had been full to bursting, the gym itself was surprisingly quiet? Maybe that was because half of them were in the changing rooms, and another large section were treating themselves to a calorific latte in the cafe?


AH well....more juicy tales tomorrow Ninjarettes!!!


Gym Ninja x

Juicy Ninja!

Hi

Gym Ninja is back after a very enjoyable birthday yesterday. Yes, GN is one of those people who love the birthday fuss. Gifts although welcome, are not the real reason she loves her birthday. It is that 1 day of attention that she finds so wonderful.  Anyway, yesterday was a fantastic birthday...

Firstly, she went to visit her family & received her presents. Always fun! Her sister had made her a birthday cake too. Now Gym Ninja does not eat cake, but her family do hence the huge masterpiece that awaited her...apparently this was a fondant icing replica of Gym Ninja!

    Gym Ninja (the fondant cake version)

Her favourite gift was the Jack Lalanne juicer she's been harping on about. FANTASTIC machine. It wasn't until the day after that GN got chance to road test it, but it is truly marvelous. MUCH quieter than past juicers she has owned, & if you put a plastic bag in the pulp collector then there is minimal washing needed.

  The New Juicer!!!

Just to leap forward a day, Gym Ninja decided to share her first 'new' juicing experience with you all. Today, Gym Ninja made...

'Spring Clean Tonic'

Now she has a fantastic book called 'Superjuice' by Michael Van Straten. She's had it for years and this book shows you exactly what each drink is supposed to do and also has a cross-reference guide at the back for ailments and almost a 'prescription' of juices to take to help with ailments. Anyway, GN based her choice on what stuff she had in the fridge, and the Spring Clean Tonic is supposed to boost your system after winter, purify the blood, cleanse the body and give you vitality. All this from a drink!

Gym Ninja followed the recipe, scrubbed the organic veg and then shoved it down the shoot of the machine as per the recipe...in went the following:

3 UNpeeled carrots

1 large lettuce leaf

1/2 cucumber

1/4 of a red pepper

1 generous handful of spinach

1 generous handful of watercress

This was after she'd added the 'green' stuff...  

Then she pushed through ALL the green stuff and got this....

And then she added the coloured stuff and got....er.....this...

Hmmm......not EXACTLY the most appetising drink she'd ever seen. Oh and just HOW Much was created too? FAR more than a normal juicer. Fine if it tastes OK, not so fine if it tastes yak?

She grabbed the glass and sniffed the murky coloured drink.

Hmmm.

NEVER stare directly into a glass of raw vegetable juice. It doesn't stimulate one's tastebuds!!!!!

It smells like peppery grass.

She took a large gulp...

Yuk! it TASTES like peppery grass too. Oh bugger! But GN KNOWS this is good for her, so she does what any normal sensible grown up would do.....she holds her breath and drinks it!

It takes 5 attempts to finish the glass, but once she does she feels very virtuous indeed. Her stomach seems a tad suspicious mind, but apart from feeling it is saying, 'oooer, what's all this juicy raw stuff?' , she felt fine and as of yet, 7 hours later, has had no nasty side effects or reactions.

More to follow over the next coming week...

So, back to the birthday story...

Later that evening, she had arranged a birthday meal with some old school friends, so having dolled herself up in a black outfit (what else), she met up with her friends at Gusto, Albert Dock Liverpool for her birthday meal.  The group were ushered away into a private area that overlooked the dock, & settled down to mooch through the menu.

The good thing about Gusto is that they have a healthy menu too, that gives the nutritional breakdown of the meal.  Gym Ninja decided upon Sea Bass. Mmmm. Yum. She also decided to order some steamed spinach as an additional side order too. Fantastic!

As they were all waiting for their meals (and yes, Mrs C, here IS the place to name and shame the girl who virtuously ordered a salad for her main course...then added a side order of CHIPS!), everyone faffed around with their cameras doing the obligatory poses, trying to ignore the odd Gusto style features (magician-style gold lame curtains anyone?). After a long wait (apparently Gym Ninja's sea bass would take half an hour!) the meals arrived. YUM!

This is what was put in front of Gym Ninja...

Wow.
They weren't kidding when they described it as 'sea bass'. They are REALLY spoiling her with that lemon! Gym Ninja kind of thought it may have had something else on the plate! But wait! She'd ordered her spinach remember....??

Oh.

Look. Let us just say, that not only was the sea bass delicious, it was also EXTREMELY waist-friendly!  NO chance of breaking anyone's diet in here!  (plus a good job GN had a protein bar in her bag!)

Now GN knows what you are all wondering? Did she break her no-alcohol rule? Well yes, she decided to treat herself to one alcoholic drink, and went to the bar to order a single malt.

GN: "Hi-what single malts do you have please?"
Barman: "We have this (points to one 12 year old single malt) and this one (points at a 12 year old single malt that is Japanese)."


Gym Ninja is none the wiser!

GN"What do you recommend?"
Barman: "I like this one actually-would you care to try it?"  He enquires, wafting the Japanese bottle at her.

Gym Ninja nods, and watches as the barman grabs a glass and decants the tiniest amount of whisky into the glass possible.  She tries it, and it rips the back of her throat off.

GN:" I'll have that please, on the rocks".

As she is paying an EXTORTIONATE amount of cash for this shot of whisky (whilst lookig for Dick Turpin to turn up!) the barman looks at her and smiles as he says,
"I must admit, I'm impressed when a lady orders a single malt".


IMMEDIATELY, his colleague blurts out,
"We don't actually KNOW if she's a lady yet do we?" *he smirks and elbows his colleague as he winks at GN*

WTF? Does Gym Ninja look like Dial-A-Slapper???

Having had a fantastic night and also received her birthday dessert of lemon sorbet (See? GN is a healthy girl!) which did actually remind GN of something else (see if you can guess what??), they headed off into the night....

The Birthday Sorbet!!!!



See you all tomorrow!!!!!!!

Gym Ninja xx

Nike ID and Foot In Mouth.

Gym Ninja has added a nice new banner. Did you notice it? Just above this. Look.

*waits as you look*

Now you may all have known about NikeID, yet Gym Ninja did not, and discovered it by chance last week. She is now totally obsessed with getting one of the smaller dispatch style bags (complete with laptop bit) for her laptop (obviously) plus work files for her Personal Training Course. She's thinking of having her future PT Business name and colours on it too....

Seriously, when did Nike start making bags to your spec? I mean, Gym Ninja gets to choose the colour combinations she wants, gets to choose the accessory colours to go with it and even what words and/or logo is added on and the colour of the font used. She is extremely excited about this. She is also going to get a tight lycra top done with her PT company name on it too. Her only concern is, where the lettering will fall? Will most likely stretch across her chest? WHAT happens if it does and then distorts? ANyway, go take a click on the banner and check it out. Gym Ninja bets before you  know it, you're designing your own fleece/t shirt/trainers/bags! Gym Ninja does love Nike Gym Wear! That and USA Pro (now sadly dead as a Dodo) are the brands that take up most room in her workout drawers (yes, plural!).

Gym Ninja headed to the gym tonight. She didn't have as much time as originally planned, party due to her losing track of time and gabbing on the phone to a friend as she regaled her with her 'foot in mouth' moment of Tourettes during yesterday's Sales Meeting...

Picture this...Gym Ninja, plus two fellow colleagues (both male) plus the company MD (Big Boss) in the boardroom.
Sales Forecasts had been thrashed out and they were almost up to 'AOB' (any other business). Gym Ninja, having been awake since 4.30am, and being totally bored stupid at this stage, had now forgotten to apply the 'filter' to whatever comes out of her mouth....Oh, and it had just been announced that her colleague Rakesh was to be promoted on 1st April (Yep-a joke isn't it??) to Gym Ninja's line manager. Great!! ANOTHER manager to oversee GN! *sigh*

Big Boss: "So, 'Rakesh'...a good Indian Name eh?"


Rakesh nods.

Big Boss: "What does 'Rakesh' translate to in English then?"

Gym Ninja "Nob!"

*Cue silence...tumbleweed blow across the floor...Gym Ninja's eyes widen in an 'OMG I just said that out loud in a really loud voice to the company MD and her new line manager'. Big Boss stares back, mouth dropped open...and then laughs...and laugh and laughs and laughs and laughs....

PHEW!


So telling this story to her friend, plus having also arranged to visit her Grandfather in hospital after her workout, meant that the time available for the gym was now shortened considerably. So that was it! Gym Ninja had to get in and out of the gym in superquick time, yet work hard enough to sweat like a pig. Good job Gym Ninja is a sadistic trainer who pushes herself!!! Mission accepted!

*Cue Mission Impossible music*


Gym Ninja races to the gym. Once at the gym she stuffs her kit into the locker and heads to a treadmill. The gym car park, although full, was a red herring. The gym is not nearly as full as the car park suggested it was, which means that a large proportion of members are either in the new cafe (have ANY of you ever stayed to use the gym cafe or is it just 'happy go lucky' gym goers that use the cafe?), sploshing around in the pool, stuffed in the sauna or getting changed?

Quick! No time for long runs now. A quick 10 minute fast run and Gym Ninja leaps off the treadmill, narrowly missing an incredibly tall, long, lanky, tall, long, lanky (yes double the lankiness of a normal lanky person which is why she mentioned it twice) girl in grey marl top & shorts. She doesn't yet know the embarrassment of grey marl shorts then eh? The sweat patches? She soon will!

Up and over to the ladies only gym as it must surely be quieter in there? Over to the free weights,   grabbing some 10kg dumbbells as she passes, and then the game of 'Excuse me, are you using this bench even though you are nowhere near it yet seem to have your stuff on it?' kind of a question/answer session with other women, until GN located a spare bench.  Bent Over DB rows done! Interspersed with box jumps onto an aerobic step. Heart Rate maintained in a high zone! Incline DB Chest Press done, interspersed with the jumps as before. Gym Ninja is shiny and sweaty now (but NOT a Pinky remember!)  Standing lateral DB raises done, again with the jumps between sets. Dash over to treadmill, race for 3 minutes, then jump off and bound over to the Seated Row where GN stacked the weight and did her sets. Up and off to the free weights again....and so on.....not once stopping for breath or rest. Heart rate stayed nice and high and the sweat showed GN she was working nice and hard!

Apart from a brief 'Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom' type moment with a large inflatable stability ball (it rolled towards her in a menacing way as a girl across the other side of the room pinged it out from under her heels), GN remained undistracted and focussed intensely on her workout. She even managed to blast out 3 sets of Zottman Curls for her biceps at the end of her usual arm training. Made for a very wobbly shaker experience as she mixed up her Maximuscle Promax protein afterwards!!!!!

So now GN is all ready to celebrate her birthday tomorrow, & is very excited about her evening plans with her friends. Out to dinner and then onto bars/clubs/whatever takes their fancy. Will Gym Ninja drink alcohol? She rarely drinks ever! So when she now does, it goes straight to her head and she falls over. Hmmm, GN is undecided as of yet, but will report back Sunday to regale you with her healthy eating restaurant food choice, whether she drank or not, how many Doormen she discussed squats and deadlifts with, and exactly how many men who work out and look good she spotted on route (yes, and maybe a few sneaky pics too!!!)

Toodle pip!

Gym Ninja xx

Supplement ABC Part 2

Golly!
Gym Ninja hopes you weren't all desperate for Part 2 yesterday? She had far too much to do in preparation for this weekend's PT course. Apologies...!

So where were we?

Ok...we'd covered Protein, Creatine and Thermogenics.   So how about we now finish off with a few more basic supplements you may have considered?

Energy Boosts
Red Bull, Viper, Relentless, Lucozade, Target...all known energy boosters you can pick up in most Supermarkets.  But how do they work and what do they do? Again, not all energy supplements are created equal. They are best taken during times when you need that boost to push you through a tough workout. Perhaps you've had a few late nights yet need to perform at the gym in the morning? Maybe you plan a long run and want to ensure you can sustain your pace? Whatever your reason, ensue you read the back of the bottle so you know what you are taking.
A lot of energy supplements use caffeine to give you that boost-which is why a lot of people reach for coffee when they feel their energy is flagging. Same stuff you see?  Usually higher concentrations, so be aware of this if you are sensitive to caffeine as you may have some side effects like headaches, palpitations, increased urination, jitteriness and insomnia.  You may also find that some are loaded with sugar of one 'sort' or another. Anything that lists glucose, fructose, sugar...all sugary and simple carbs which can give you a boost yet will wear off rapidly and also add calories (be aware if you are watching what you eat, that calories are also found in drinks too!). You may find exotic sounding ingredients like guarana, carnitine, ginseng, and taurine added to the list too? All stimulants and will pep you up. Talking of pep, there are also capsule versions of energy boosters. Things like Pro Plus & Pep (caffeine pills), Lucozade Glucose tablets (which are just great big sugary lumps of cack) or Viper Extreme Capsules (GN takes these if she needs a boost and they do not have the same calories as the liquid version).
So what would you need to be aware of? Well, if you are taking a thermogenic then you may be doubling up on your caffeine intake if you also take an energy supplement, which may mean you have eyes like a Bush Baby at night when you should be asleep! You may start feeling on edge, jumpy and paranoid? Be careful you do not start to rely on them as an 'alternative' to healthy nutrition and rest which is where your energy should usually come from.  However, these are a good boost if you have perhaps a long car journey to make, a shopping trip that you plan on taking ALL day to do, studying for exams, a long work shift etc. Double check if you play sports competitively that the substances in your energy supplement is approved and not banned? The Maximuscle range are clear on what you can and cannot take when it comes to sporting bodies...

Vitamins & Minerals
Ahh, there are shelves of these! Take a good Multivitamin as an insurance policy. Consider additional zinc and Vitamin C (Timed released Vitamin C though rather than bog standard so your body can use it all day rather than it dissolve straight away and ten you p*ss it straight out within hours!). Ideally vitamins & minerals are there to support as a back-up. Do not think you can pop them and then forget your 5-a-day veggies and fruits though. Food is your first port of call!
Perhaps consider a calcium supplement if female and dieting hard? Also take a quality Omega 3-6-9 oil capsule too. You need the healthy fats and they can help with fat burning ironically.  Look at BCAAs(Branch Chain Amino Acids) if training very hard or restricting your diet, to help support your muscle growth. As always, seek advice and perhaps chat with the staff at Holland & Barrett as they are trained in vitamins and minerals and will happily tell you if you are wasting your cash.

That will be all for now class. There are oodles of things out there. You would rattle if you took them all. Again, remember that a clean healthy diet comes first and foremost. Supplements are 'in addition to' these things.  We can chat about them again, and go into the more 'exotic sounding' ones like ZMA and Testosterone boosters etc at a later date if you wish?

As for when to take them?
 Read the packet/bottle/box and FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! If it say do not exceed 3 dosee a day, then DON'T! They made it! They know better than you do!

Where to store them? 
Make space on your worktop near the blender so you can mix up  your shakes with fresh berries etc, or milk if supping at night. You can always add creatine to a protein shake. Or add powdered fibre supplements to the shakes too? Experiment!
Always pack a shaker bottle plus a few servings of bagged protein powder in your sports bag. Do not mix them until you need to.  Maybe pop the protein bars into your bag or car glove box? Always handy in emergencies when you need food yet have nothing to hand and that bar of chocolate or bag of Haribo is taunting you, the floozy! Carry a RTD (ready to drink) premixed protein shake if you cannot feasibly mix one up in front of everyone (maybe at a meeting at work?). Heat up a chocolate protein shake (a milk based one) and sup it in winter as a hot chocolate alternative? Add a scoop of your protein powder to porridge after it's cooked and mix it well for added flavour (& protein). Get the plain unflavoured protein (Like Promax Natural) and add it to pancakes and omelettes, or even a healthy (!) cake recipe to give the stuff a protein boost?  Add creatine powder to your fruit juice.  Pop your vitamins at breakfast with your meal. Take your thermogenics on an empty stomach with plenty of water. Time your energy drink for the optimum performance prior to your workout and NOT too close to bedtime or you won't sleep.   Just keep it simple for now!!!!!!!

OK. Best go! Stuff to do. More PT course stuff to look over ready for tomorrow. More stripping off and pinching each others skin folds with calipers to monitor body fat!   Assisted stretching techniques too. Oooer!

Be happy Ninjarettes!

Gym Ninja x
PS

Forgot to say but if you are thinking of taking Thermabol as your fat burner, then be aware if you click on the Maximuscle links in this page during January, you can then go to their special offers bit and order some Thermobol and you will get a box of their Promax Diet protein meal bars absolutely free! January sales eh? Gotta love em!  If you add that to your free day pass at Fitness First then how can you go wrong? What more do you want? Do you want Gym Ninja to come round and DO your workout for you? ;-)

Supplement ABC Part 1

Having had a few questions sent her way regarding supplementation, Gym Ninja has decided to blog about the wonders of Sports Supplements. She shall cover such basics as:

• What do they do?
• How do you choose what to take?
• When should you take them? 
• Are all supplements created equal?
• Where the f*ck should you keep them as you're kind of pushed for space and that cupboard over there is full of pans whilst that drawer is where you keep all your used plastic carrier bags....?

And so on......

Essentially Gym Ninja shall be keeping things very very simple today, as it is easy to get overwhelmed by the huge choice of supplements, let alone brands.  Your ABC if you like?

OK, so let us assume you are either new to exercise, or have been working out for some time yet never dipped your toe in as much as a protein shake. Why should you consider taking them? After all, aren't they for elite athletes/sports people/men? Not for someone like you surely? Not for someone who keeps all their old supermarket carrier bags in a drawer to re-use as bin liners.

WRONG!

Sorry to shout at you all. Hope you didn't spill your cuppa? Gym Ninja is shouting as she doesn't want you to fall into thinking that supplements are ONLY for sports people simply because they come with the word 'sport' in front of them a lot of the time. She doesn't want you thinking they are JUST for elite athletes because that is who you see advertising them. Nor does she want you thinking they are ONLY for men because there are photos of big muscular guys on the literature.  Nope. Anyone who partakes in a regular exercise regime can benefit from them. So now we know that means YOU, let us move on to the next stage....

What do they do?

Well, they do all manner of things. What are you looking for?

See? Confusing maze of Witch Doctor/Medicine Man style capsules and powders and liquids and pills...

Now there are things that burn fat, things that give you an energy boost, things that help repair and build muscle, help with endurance, support the immune system....AHHHR! TOO many choices for us to begin with. So..back to basics Ninjarettes!

WAIT!

Before we begin, let GN remind you that the 'clue is in the name'.

Supplements.

This means it is something 'in addition' to something else.  It is not your magic bullet or your short cut. You CANNOT expect to see any decent effects from your supplements of choice if you do not have the foundations in place.  What are the foundations? Gym Ninja reads minds now, as she knew you'd ask that.

OK, so you need to ensure your foundations are in place and by this, GN means that you have a healthy balanced 'clean' diet. Wholesome foods, a balance of carbs, proteins, fats and vitamins and minerals cooked healthily and in their nearest as possible to natural state. Plenty of fruit and veg. This means turn a blind eye to the majority of stuff Mums Go To Iceland For, processed nonsense, fast foods etc.  You are what you eat! Once that is sorted, ensure you eat regularly. No starving yourself all day then binging at night. For help go to the Maximuscle site for ideas on food plans and when and what you should be eating (think there is a clicky box to the right lower down that shows 'food plan' or something-that'll help you).

Plan your workout regime. What are you trying to achieve? Set goals. Change the workout every 4-6 weeks to keep the body changing. Combine cardio with strength training and stretching.  Write your training times in your diary and stick to it.

This is your foundation. Only when this is in mostly (we are all human!) in place then start to tinker with supplementation....

Protein!

OK, so if you take just one thing, take protein. Protein makes a difference. A difference you can see and feel. Protein contains Amino Acids, and BCAAs (Branch Chain Amino Acids) Essentially, to keep it simple, your body needs protein to recover from training sessions & to maintain and/or build (depending on your workout plan and goals) the muscle you have. It's like giving your body the materials it needs to build (if it were a builder). Of course, you can get it from foods such as meats, dairy products, beans but the protein shakes are a lot more convenient to carry around than chilled meat and dairy!  If you do not consume enough protein, especially if you are watching your calorie intake, then your body becomes like a 'cannibal', and starts to look elsewhere for it's protein to use as energy to fuel your workouts etc.... Do you know what IS protein? Your muscles, so your body starts to use your muscles and effectively 'eats' them. Nom Nom Nom!  Think flat, shapeless muscles, plus a reduced metabolism as you now have less muscle mass (muscle mass increases the metabolism). Basically you're kind of wasting all that work you put in at the gym!  So, quaff a quality protein shake within say 30 mins of finishing your workout and you'll help yourself and start seeing improvements. Ladies-it won't make you HUGE! It will start giving your muscles the boost they need and you should feel better, start seeing results and even your hair and nails (made of protein you see) will start to show their appreciation too by being strong and glossy. PS...if you are still doubting, theng o look in the mirror. Think about the work you put in.

Men: Are you happy with what you see? Are you lifting weights yet not really seeing any gains?

Ladies: Are you lifting weights and not seeing a change? Are you maybe just a cardio queen yet the more you do the squishier your body seems to get?

Anyone?

Good-coz that means you need some protein.

So off you pop and buy some. Nothing fancy. Best get a Whey protein. Most of them are. Make sure it's decent quality as some are just full of nonsense and give you wind. We all know Gym Ninja's brand of choice is Maximuscle. They test EVERYTHING to ISO standards to prove what is on the label is in the tub and WORKS.  Choose from Promax, Maxi-Milk (for on the go pre-mixed), or Progain and  Cyclone if a guy & wanting a bit more muscle. Other good brands are EAS, MuscleTec, Met-Rx, CNP, Biotest, BSN...

Fat Burners (aka Thermogenics)

You've heard of these no? the 'quick fix' everyone thinks they can just pop and the fat melts away effortlessly?  Not so straight-forward people! These work in a number of ways, and again all are not created equal nor do they suit everyone. What works on one person may not make a blind bit of difference on someone else. But more importantly on Thermogenics than ANY other supplement is that these are only beneficial IF your eating and exercise regimes are spot on. If you're still cramming junk down your mouth, skipping workouts, binging on booze, going more than 4 hours without eating etc then you're wasting your cash. Thermogenics are useful if you have everything on track and need that last boost. They often increase your body temperature and boost your metabolism. A lot have green tea extracts and caffeine in them as these have been proved as helpful for fat burning. Some people report side effects like palpitations, headaches, insomnia (especially if you pop them too close to bed time), stomach pains, anxiety...especially those who are caffeine sensitive! Benefits include increased energy boost enabling you to train harder, improved concentration, decreased appetite in some.  Ideally if you are starting out then don't bother with these just yet. Get your basics like protein and your diet and exercise sorted first ok? Good brands are Maximuscle Thermabol, Isatori Lean System 7, Muscletech Hydroxycut (NOT for everyone! GN's eyes puffed up taking this!), Nutrex Lipo 6X, and Cytogenix Xenadrine.

Creatine

Now you'll have heard of this??

 'I'm gonna take creatine and grow heeeruge!' Says the guy at the gym.  Hmm. Again, everything works ONLY if you get your foundations in place. Health clean diet and regular structured exercise regime. THEN and only then supplements. Creatine is found naturally in the body and used as a rapid energy system provider. Sudden bursts of effort such as a sudden 5 second flat out sprint to catch the bus, are fuelled by the CP System (creatine) as opposed to your running for 20 mins which is fuelled by the Aerobic system (mostly). So ever wondered why you have to stop after about 10 seconds of all-out sprinting or heaving stuff around? Because creatine depletes rapidly and your body has to then build the stores back again.  So if you need that extra boost to push yourself hard at the gym, then consider this. People wanting to increase muscular gains should take creatine (for a couple of months then take a month off  it before taking it again, or the body gets lazy and stops producing it's own stash) as you can push harder and lift heavier, causing greater muscular development. Creatine is also useful for endurance too, at a lower dosage. So if you want a bit more energy for those long runs or that hour long spin class, perhaps try this? Side effects can be bloating, water retention and in some stomach cramps. Good makes are Maximuscle Creatamax.. or any of the aforementioned companies really....pretty much a basic creatine powder is all you need though so no need to pay extra for a super dooper version-try them all and se what suits your body and purse best.

OK...Gym Ninja is getting tired of typing now. She has done 30 mins skipping at home as she is still trapped in her house due to treacherous roads. Now she needs to go lift some weights OK?

Part 2 of supplements tomorrow.

PS..

Did you all sign up for the freebie 1 day Fitness First Gym pass yet?  The link is on the right hand side if you're interested. Not that any of us  can DRIVE anywhere right now, but you  may as well show willing eh?

Gym Ninja x

PS

Would you rather your key snap off in your frozen front door lock OR the front door itself swell and jam shut in the cold?