The Laker Five

Over the past few months, the Los Angeles Lakers have built quite the starting five. This gives all of us Laker lovers hopes for a good shot at the championship. The starting five is projected to be Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, and Metta World Peace who is formerly known as Ron Artest. Now that sounds like a formula for disaster! In a good way of course! That is a very strong starting line-up if you ask me. The lakers acquired two-time mvp Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for two first round draft picks, and also a second round pick as well. The second big pick-up was of course the three-time defensive player of the year Dwight Howard. He was acquired in a four-way trade. The Lakers sent out Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, as well as two draft picks to Orlando. One first round, and the other second round. Andrew Bynum was then sent to the Philadelphia 76ers. Not too bad of a trade huh? Now of course we kept Pau Gasol, which I'm very thankful for because he is my favorite player. And of course we kept the teams main mojo, Kobe Bryant. All of this has made me very excited to watch the Lakers play this year. Let's hope for good things to come! And please World Peace, stay out of trouble

Number 1- Get plenty of rest

That's right, if you get proper rest you can increase muscle gains! It's recommended to sleep about eight hours a night. Your body repairs itself when you go to sleep, which in turn helps the torn muscle fibers to heal and ideally grow. Now if you aren't able to get eight hours a night, I can completely understand. Some have pretty busy schedules. So if you can try to get a short nap in, or try not to do much physical activity after your workout. It's also recommended to have a slower absorbing protein before bed, like casein. That way your body is getting nutrients still while it sleeps, and that protein will help your muscles recover quicker. Now what I do is I drink whey protein before bed, but instead of making it with water, I make it with milk. The milk helps slow down the absorption of the protein, and that way you don't have to buy a tub of casein protein. Another supplement that helps with night time recovery is ZMA. Which consists of Zinc, Magnesium, and Aspartate. They vitamin b6 to. It can help in boosting testosterone levels, and that means more muscle mass! But don't take this with any kind of calcium because it'll block the absorption of Zinc. So take it 30 minutes prior to using any other supplements

Number 2- Eat, Eat, Eat!

Eating food is a huge part to gaining muscle. Eat frequently, and have calorie dense meals. You have to exceed your maintenance calories if you want to see more gains.This isn't really a science, but a lot of people make it seem like one. Because it doesn't mean you should eat three big macs and four pizzas in order to "bulk". Well you'll bulk, but you'll end up looking like Fat Albert if you do that. Also, people claim to have tried to eat more, but still haven't seen gains. There's a simple answer to that, eat more! But first you need to figure out how many calories you need to meet maintenance. To figure that out click the link here- http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

To make things easier, get a notebook and pen, and record down everything you've eaten from wake-up to your last meal of the day. Write down the calories, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats from each meal. That way you know how many calories you've taken in, and if you need more. Remember..you gotta eat big to get big!

Number 3- Less is more and quality over quantity!

It's true, the less you do, the more gains you'll see. Sounds like a weird concept huh? This doesn't mean go to the gym, do one set of bench press and then leave. It means still do your normal lifts, just don't do so many sets. Plus if you're doing a lot you are more than likely over training your muscles, which in turn will yield no results. For example: Many people love doing chest workouts, so what do they do? They do outrageous amounts of sets in hopes of getting that perfect looking chest! Here's what I do on my chest day: 2 sets of flat flyes, 3 sets of bench press, 2-3 sets of incline press, and then 2 sets of decline press. That's plenty of sets, and in some cases might be too much for others. It's all about trial and error. Now another thing people don't get is quality over quantity. Focus on your form, and getting that nice squeeze in each rep. There's no point in looking like tarzan swinging through the jungle while doing your lifts. You're just setting yourself for minimal gains, and even worse, getting injured. So instead of doing 20 reps as fast as you can with no squeezes, do 10 slow reps with a nice squeeze. Your pump will even be better, guaranteed.

Number 4- Use a powdered protein or mass gainer

A powdered protein, like a whey is great to help increase your daily protein intake. It's perfect for after your workout when your body is catabolic, and will absorb more nutrients. Also a mass gainer is great to help meet and exceed your daily caloric intake. They do exactly what they're named for, gaining mass. Read my post on how to make a great home-made mass gainer here - http://codygarber.blogspot.com/2012/08/home-made-mass-gainer-shake.html?m=1

Number 5- Less time in the gym

I know we're all gym addicts, and we all love to be in the gym. Heck I'd stay all day if I could! But the perfect amount of time for a workout is about an hour. Going past that can yield bad results on your hormone levels. Your body will start to secrete cortisol, which can temporarily lower your testosterone levels. So get in the gym, get your workout done, and then head out!

5 ways to improve muscle gains

Throughout the day I will be posting 5 tips on how to improve muscle gains. Stay tuned because the first tip will be posted soon!

Home-made Mass Gainer Shake

When on a bulk you're trying to push up your total food intake per day, and a lot of people sometimes have trouble eating more food. So what do they do? They go and buy mass gainers! Mass gainers basically provide a surplus of calories, carbs, and proteins, and fats. Now we all know that a five pound tub of mass gainer typically doesn't last over two weeks. But it can be quicker and more convenient to buy mass gainers instead of making them yourself, because all you have to do is scoop it into a shaker cup, add water, and voila! it's all ready and can be chugged down. But with each tub costing about forty bucks, they can add up to cost a fortune. So to save on price you have to get a little creative. So I decided to come up with a mass gainer shake of my own, that has high calories, carbs, and protein.The mass gainer shake I make contains: two cups of milk, one cup of fruit (whatever fruit you want), one serving of natural peanut butter, a half-full serving of oatmeal (optional), and a scoop of whey protein. So here are directions to make this mass monster:

1.) Pour one cup of milk into a blender
2.) Add one cup of fruit (your choice of fruit) and one serving of peanut butter
3.) Blend all of it together
4.) Pour in another cup of milk
5.) Add whey protein powder, and oats
6.) Blend again
7.) Pour into a cup and enjoy!

Now, onto the nutritional facts of this shake. The two cups of milk add up to 244 calories, 24 grams of carbs, and 16 grams of protein. The cup of fruit, let's say you added a large banana and that's it, would be about 110 calories 30 grams of carbs and about 1..yes 1 gram of protein, the peanut butter adds up to 190 calories 6 grams of carbs and 7 grams of protein, the oats add up to be 150 calories 27 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein, and lastly the whey protein (we'll take 100% gold whey by Optimum nutrition) adds up to be 120 calories 3 grams of carbs and 24 grams of protein

So once you add all of this up it comes to a total of:
814 calories
90 grams of carbs
53 grams of protein

The taste of this shake is incredible! And if you want extra calories and protein just put in two scoops of whey protein instead of one! You can also add egg whites to. But most importantly 5 pound tubs of whey protein are 50+ servings, so a lot of shakes can be made before having to buy a new tub!

A Great Post-Workout Drink

We all know the post-workout drink that holds the holy grail is of course whey protein, or any other fast digesting proteins. But we all forget that carbs and sugars can play an important role to post-workout. Some people say not to have carbs because it can bloat you, and others say you should because it can be beneficial for anabolism. Having carbs post-workout can replace muscle glycogen, and spike our insulin levels to put us back into an anabolic state instead of catabolic. So since I ran out of my whey protein, I decided to think outside of the box for a post-workout recovery drink. I went to the store and bought a thing of powdered gatorade. It only costed me 5 dollars, and that's a huge difference from the 50 I'm spending on my protein! Now don't get me wrong, you should still have some kind of protein intake post-workout to. So I went to the gym the next day, got my workout in, and then poured a scoop of the gatorade into my shaker cup. I drank it down, and I was surprised at what it did! I didn't feel like poop after my workout! No shakes either! (I typically "crash" and feel out of it post-workout). I felt like I had energy again, no poopy feeling! This was an awesome 5 dollar investment and I would recommend it to anyone who is on a budget, but more importantly I recommend it to EVERYONE. I find supplements like karbolyn unjustifiable for the price. Plus I wasn't too happy with the taste of Karbolyn. But hey that's just me, we all have our own preferences. The container of gatorade I bought was about 20 servings, and the taste was awesome! (I got frost glacier freeze for those who are wondering) All in all I was happy on this purchase, and I still continue to use it. If you're ever in need of a simple and cheap post-workout drink, go to your local store and pick up a thing of powdered gatorade. It's only a 5 dollar investment, and you might end up liking it to.

Trip to San Diego

Last weekend, me and my mom flew out to San Diego for my cousin's wedding. We spent about two and a half days there (Friday- mid Sunday). So we got the the St. Louis airport at about 4:30 and our flight wasn't until 6:30, we sat around for two hours doing practically nothing! Our flight was from St. Louis to Denver, and then Denver to San Diego. The flight in total was about five hours, and it was a long five hours at that. Luckily there were no layovers, and we actually landed 10 minutes earlier than expected! We landed around 9:40 and there was a marine layer over the sky, which was brought in by the westward winds. Unfortunately all Friday the sun didn't come out. I am a California native, and I did live outside of San Diego for about 8 years total so I felt right at home. My uncle and grandma were there waiting for us, and we got in the car and went to our hotel. The hotel was called Estancia Hotel and Spa in La Jolla and let me tell you, it was beautiful! All of the people working there were very friendly, and even valet parked our car. The wedding wasn't until six that day, so we had a good 8 hours to do whatever. We went out for lunch, and then checked out the hotel and its features. The wedding itself was at the Estancia in one of the courtyards, and it was beautiful. We got through the ceremony, and then went to the reception in one of the ballrooms. There was music, and more importantly FOOD. The waiters even took our napkins, and put them on our laps. Then when we were done eating, they would take the napkin, fold it, and put it back on the table. The wedding was great, my cousin and her newly-wed husband looked so happy dancing with each other. The reception didn't last too long because the newly weds had to get up early to be at the airport to head to their honeymoon destination, Hawaii. Then on Saturday, we got up early and went and toured the USS Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego. It was me, my mom, my grandma, and my uncle. Now at first I wasn't too thrilled to see this, I looked at it and thought "it's just some military boat". But when we toured it, I was utterly amazed by it. It took over three hours to tour it, and we didn't even see everything! It's like a city on the water. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the USS Midway, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody who's out in San Diego to tour it! Our day had started out with the marine layer overcast again, and I was worried it wouldn't go away like the day before. But the sun did come out during our tour, and it was beautiful out. 75 degrees and sunny! After the Midway tour we went and ate at the Coronado Brewing Company. I ordered grilled fish tacos and a water. The fish tacos were out of this world delicious! I wanted more! After our lunch, we went to Coronado beach. The last time I saw the beach before this was in 2003. During my time at the beach I made my decision, I never wanted to leave! When we left the beach we checked in to our new hotel called the Westin, located in the gaslamp district. We got our rooms, and then walked around looking for a good place to eat. We came across a place called Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and ate there. We decided to sit outside by the sidewalk and street, it was an awesome experience eating and watching people and cars go by. And the occasional Ferrari or Bentley go by was awesome. The pizza there was great, we got a pizza with sausage and pepperoni, and a pizza with chicken and the sauce was barbecue sauce. It was the best pizza I've had in a while! After dinner we all went back to our rooms to get up at 6:30 in the morning to eat breakfast, and then go to the airport. The wait for the plane in San Diego didn't feel long, despite being an hour and a half. We finally boarded the plane and took off, and we flew above the ocean for a moment and then turned around. Seeing the beautiful vast blueness of the ocean made me want to cry, because I was once again leaving the place I knew as home. Once electronic devices were allowed to be turned on, I whipped out my phone and played bookworm the rest of the flight. Sounds like fun huh? I don't care what anyone says, bookworm will always be one of my favorites! We had to land in Kansas City to pick up passengers, and took off again. Flying through Missouri we went through some storms and in only 40 minutes we landed back in the Louie (St. Louis for those who don't know). Right when we landed it started POURING, it was a huge storm. We haven't seen rain like that in months because we've been in a drought. Now that's a good welcome back isn't it? I saw it as "go back to California!" though, and I wish I could've gone back. But anyways I enjoyed my trip, and I plan to go back soon. Whether its to live there again, or just to see family. I will go home again!

iPhone 5 release date around the corner?

I know what you're thinking, this one is real original huh? But hey I want to discuss it! The iPhone 5 has been rumored to be announced on September 12, and possibly launched on September 21. Some of the main features might include a larger screen, in order to keep up with the never ending sizes of the android phone line up. Secondly, a whole new 9-pin connector instead of the traditional 30-pin connector (others say 8, and others say 18 pin). Now I don't know how I feel about this one because this means that the normal 30-pin connector will become completely useless, making us have to buy a new connector if something goes wrong. Also, a bigger battery (thank the lord!) sounds like it will be added to the iPhone 5. Now I'm sure everyone is cheering at this one, because I know I am! The 4s battery just wasn't that great. Next is iOS 6. iOS 6 is going to have a TON of new things. Like updated siri, facebook integrated into iOS, shared photo streams, passbook which lets you check into your airplane flight with your iPhone, facetime over cellular networks (originally was only wi-fi networks), updated safari, accessibility to help people with disabilities easily use the device, and A LOT more other miscellaneous things, Lastly, the phone will be 4G capable. This is a must for apple, because just about every android phone is now 4G capable. So for the iPhone to be competition, it needs to be 4G capable as well. Those are just some of the main things to expect in the new iPhone 5. With less than a month to the expected announcement date, all we can do is wait. Remember, patience is a virtue! Unfortunately for me, I won't be able to buy it right away. I recently picked up a new 4s because I was an idiot and traded my iPhone 4 for an HTC Rezound. So it will be a while before my contract expires. What are some features that you guys want to see in the iPhone 5?

An awful realization

I'll start off by saying that I'm 18 but I look younger, and from time to time I'll buy a cigar to sit and enjoy. (no cigarettes though!) So one day I was at a gas station just buying a cheap black and mild, and of course the clerk asked me for my ID. Without hesitation I showed her the ID and continued to pay for it. Now my friend (who's name will not be mentioned) was also buying one, and he is the same age as me. But there was a difference, the same clerk didn't ask him for his ID. He looked and laughed at me, and I asked her how old she thought my friend was. She tells me "I think he's in his 20's" he then told her he was 18. She looked shocked. But the point is, I think even though someone looks older you should still ask for their ID. There are some kids that are below 18 that look of age, and people aren't bothering to card them. Asking for an ID can make a difference from selling to someone of age, or selling to a minor. Plus, it doesn't even take 10 seconds to show someone your ID. It's part of your job to ask someone for their ID if they're buying tobacco products or alcohol. I think it's not worth putting your job in jeopardy for not asking for identification, because something could happen. Just ask yourself "what if" and it could change the outcome of what's to happen. I'm trying to keep this short and sweet because I have to head out. So comment and let me know what you think about this!

Warpath

Warpath made by American Muscle

Awesome Pre-Workout Drink

Today after my art of film class I went to the gym. So I started off with my normal pre-workout ritual, some carbs and sugars with a pre-workout drink. I didn't have many options since I wasn't at home, so I ate a banana. Now I tried something different with the pre-workout drink. I mixed my Warpath which is made by American Muscle, with my Essential AmiN.O. Energy made by Optimum Nutrition (read last post for more info on the amino energy). I did one serving of amino energy, and a half serving of warpath. Now warpath contains GPLC which is known as: Glycine Propionyl L-Carnitine, in other words a nitric oxide booster that provides a nice pump. It also contains other goodies like beta alanine, creatines, and all sorts of other things. There's just way too many to list! But back to the bread and butter of this post, this mixture rocked! The Warpath flavor was Pink Lemonade and Essential AmiN.O. Energy was blue raspberry. You're probably thinking "what in the heck?! Those sound awful together!" The flavors together make a sour blue raspberry, so it tasted awesome! Warpath gives you more of a focused feel, and the amino energy gives you an energetic feel. So put them together and you've got the best of both worlds! My pump in the gym was absolutely incredible! My chest felt incredibly huge! (it was chest day today) And my favorite part was, no crash afterwards! I don't know about you, but I hate feeling like poop after a workout. So the point being is that you should try something like this, just do it in moderation. Don't go too crazy on the servings. Oh and of course, happy national chest day to those who train chest on Monday's! (change it up occasionally though)

Optimum Nutrition Essential AmiN.O. Energy

So I went to my local supplement store to get a new pre-workout, and well I ended up buying two. One called Warpath made by American Muscle but more importantly, I bought EssentialAmiN.O. Energy made by Optimum Nutrition. It consists of essential amino acids, beta alanine, nitric oxide, and caffeine. I bought the 30 serving container for twenty bucks, not too shabby huh? While there is also a 65 serving container for about 35 bucks I went for this one because hey, you never know if you'll like it or not! The regular serving is 2 scoops, but you can go all the way up to six if you're needing a little gitty-up. So I got ready for my workout and took two scoops, and about ten minutes later..BAZING! I felt focused and ready to lift. It also gave me a great sense of well-being, I felt alive! It made my lifting session so much better, and I felt like I could continue lifting even when I was done with my workout! Then I asked myself "if I feel like this after one serving (2 scoops) what in the heck would three servings feel like?" I haven't taken three servings yet, buy I would imagine it to make me feel like a a squirrel. A vicious energetic squirrel on the run to get all of his nuts collected, no pun intended. But all in all if you're looking for a pre-workout that'll give you a little pizazz, then I recommend you give Essential AmiN.O. Energy a try! BEWARE OF THE SIX SCOOPS, unless you like squirrels.

Who I am

Well I'll start off by introducing myself. My name is Cody Garber. I'm 18 years old, and I live in Illinois ride beside St. Louis, Missouri. My favorite things in life are health and fitness, and of course like most other men, cars. Fitness became a huge part of my life during my junior year in high school. I spend a lot of my time researching training tips, ideas, supplement science, and proper technique. Now on to my other favorite hobby, cars. I've loved cars for as long as I can remember. Heck, my first video game was a car racing game for Nintendo 64. My dad really taught me about cars, and I always had a thirst to learn more. I LOVE corvette z06s, and Nissan GTRs but I'll post about all sorts of cars. I want to give fitness a positive spotlight, I want to show that it's great with no bad side effects, I want to share my wisdom and ideas with everyone. So sit back, relax, read, and let the Garb man post some good stuff!