#wheytogo

Hello and welcome to another installment of BlogNTone. This week we’ll be talking about supplements with a focus on proteins. So they’re are many types of proteins out there. so in addition to talking about what each typ of protein is, we’ll also mention when is a good time to take it as well what it’s good for. so let’s get started.

1. Whey Concentrate. Now whey concentrate you’ve probably seen tubs of this type everywhere. That’s because it’s cheaper than most, and great start for beginners. Now this isn’t a bad protein to take before or after a workout but it can leave you feeling bloated and kind of gassy.

2. Casein Protein. This is protein is a slower burning protein that can take up to 7 hours to completely break down after finishing your shake. In addition to this Casein is also high in Glut-amine, which helps a lot with you immune system as well as your standard muscle recovery. Casein is also one of the only proteins recommend to use whenever even at night.

3. Whey Isolates. Now in addition to the concentrate there is also a Whey isolate. This stuff is faster absorbing than is cousin and also low in carbs and sugar. now this stuff is great pre or post workout.

4. Hydrolysate proteins. The term Hyrdolysate refers to the protein product going through what is known as hydrolysis. This process allows the protein to maximize the amount of nutrients transferred to the muscles.

5. Soy proteins. Now these, believe it or not, are a great source of vegitarian proteins. I know right who’d of thought?!?!?! Soy proteins are also high in BCAAs  and glut-amine which both help in recovery. it also has isoflavones in it which are known to help with your cholesterol profile. Soy is also known to boost your thyroid hormone levels which will help boost your metabolism.

6. Milk Protein isolate. This protein is a combo of both casein and whey, and full of aminos because of it. Now this also makes for a great meal replacement. 

7. Egg albumin. Now these are a great source of proteins no matter the approach. The thing you have to remember about this type of protein is, you can’t just buy this in a ready to ingest form. Egg Albumin is usually purchased in a carton or you seperate them yourself from the yolk and cook them so the convineance is out the window. They are high in Amino acids though if that helps. 

Aughhhh. Tumblrverse, I'm incredibly sorry. The past few weeks have been full of crazy and busy - not to mention a myriad of other nice surprises. I haven't been posting recently, and I am VERY SORRY. VERY MUCH SO. 

Anyway, I'm kicking it up to 125% - Escapade (An awesome Electronic music event) is coming up, and I'm going to want to look extra-super-crazy fantastic, AND Ribsfest just came through my town this week (Seriously, it was a huge setback to the whole clean eating thing) but HEY - it only happens once a year, and a girl has GOT to have her meat. 

Anywho, There's going to be 3 10km's this week - it's going to be a first, and it's going to be done mostly mornings (I'm usually more of an evening runner) but there's a beginning to everything right? (I'm absolutely horrid with sayings, so you guys go ahead and correct me, haha.) 

On a sidenote, I'm getting back on the hardcore Sparta-Ain't-Got-Shit-On-This-Ass train, and going to be also doing Yoga pretty much every day this week. I promise I'll be drinking lots of water and consuming ungodly amounts of protein to help my poor body keep up. 

Didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, but I've hit new maxes! (For my main leg lifts). I'm always trying to add on more weight, but usually, I do it in very small increments. Yesterday, I decided to not play it so safe, and just go for it. (I'm not going out of my capacity - I know overdoing it can really cause bad injuries, and how important it is to maintain good form as opposed to just lining up all the plates - no worries there!) 

But yeah! New squat weight of 195! Almost to 'end of summer' goals, so it looks like I'll have to push those again. It feels so great to push through those sets and set the bar down - I just get this crazy sense of accomplishment! 

Deadlifts weren't amazingly crazy, but they were decent. I've recently had to switch from doing trap bar (or as some of you might know it, hex bar) deadlifts to barbell deadlifts, and I'm still trying to get the form down. I just find it a bit less... accommodating. Not as convenient when it comes to the grip, in my opinion. I also still really need to get lifting gloves, but that's another story. 

From my day at the gym though, I definitely banged up my knees (probably on those deadlifts) so now I'm walking around with four purple blotches on my legs. (My badges of success, I may add). Pretty funny that they're almost completely lined up in a square. 

On a sidenote, let me present to you my awesome cuddle-squad! (They keep me warm and comfy during the cold nights <3) 

ANYWAY. Time to HIIT up (Huehuehue, puns) and go for a session of yoga. 

After a nice and intensive session at the gym today, I decided I'd quickly hop on the scale. A week or so back, I was fluctuating upwards again, and was getting a bit worried. (I had been moving in/sick, so my meals weren't always on for macros.) However, I've found out that I'm about 4lbs to goal weight. From there on, it's just slightly under maintenance cals + body recomp. 

This was pretty much me - (internally) upon looking at the scale. 

I'M EXCITED. AS. FUCK. 

(Pardon the language, but I find that pretty exhilarating.) 

My goal is pretty much touchable now - and I haven't been this in shape/light since I was about 14-15. I'm also a million and ten times (not actually, but still) stronger than I was at peak competitive shape, so that in itself means the world to me. 

One of my friends had mentioned earlier on that he didn't think I could feasibly make it to 18% body fat. 

Y'know what I say to that? WATCH ME, AND LEARN WHAT DETERMINATION IS. 

(I didn't actually say that, but that's because I figured actions speak louder than words.) 

Can't wait to show the world how high I can crank this intensity! 

As I mentioned in a previous post, my background is that of a high-level competitive athlete - namely, that of a figure skater. (Or did I mention that? ... I don't know - but I've mentioned it now, so that's what counts!) 

I have most of my background knowledge of form and whatnot from those many years of training (mostly from off-ice conditioning) and also my ability to understand that my body is capable of much more than I could imagine - which basically means I just have to keep aiming higher and seeing where my body can go. In fact, I've already accomplished a good many goals this summer at a much faster rate than I expected to - which is both good and bad. Good, because that opens up more doors for me and allows me to set higher goals. Bad, because I seem to have been severely underestimating my capacity to fulfill goals and improve in short periods of time. 

Anyway - the point of this all this insanity is to gain muscle (mostly make what I have more dense, not necessarily gain mass), lose fat tissue (so that I get to see more of that muscle!), and gain in both cardiovascular endurance and explosive strength. 

As such, I've been following a decently strict nutritional and workout regimen. I'll be posting the nutritional breakdown soon - for now, let's talk about working out. 

There's a list of things that I need to hit every week - there's the 'optional' stuff (that I do for the sake of doing/because I enjoy it) and then there's the stuff that I know I need to get done every week. 

MAIN WORKOUT 

2 x sub 60 minute 10km run. 

(I'm running the Tough Mudder in September - which is a 16km + obstacles. Running these are both necessary for my endurance training and getting my joints and whatnot ready for the pounding. I'm working up to longer runs, but this is my current distance training. I'll be upping the distance once every few weeks, whilst keeping one of the 10km's around for maintenance. This is also a part of my calorific deficit goals I need to hit every week.) 

  As for the 5km for time, I'm preparing myself for another race (Spartan Sprint) which is similar to the Tough Mudder, but only a 5km obstacle course. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a sub 25-minute 5km by the end of this summer. Like I've said, this isn't only about endurance or strength - it's about both)

  (I know that as someone who's 'starting up', it's technically more beneficial to do full body days, but with my cardio regimen added into it plus my optional activities, it becomes a little bit too much for me to really handle, resulting in more needed rest days or unwanted injuries. Therefore, I'd much rather to split days and not necessarily advance as quickly in strength then put myself out of commission for training for my main 'event' - that being the Tough Mudder race.)

  I swear, it isn't the case. I've just recently consulted with the wonderful community on reddit (/r/xxfitness) about what I should do concerning routinnes, since I didn't want to burn myself out too quickly - (I don't take rest days unless I really feel like it's absolutely necessary). I was advised to throw in abs a bunch more into my routine - just after working out my 'main' muscle groups of the day, since abs are very necessary stabilizer muscles, and the last thing you want is terrible form on a deadlift because you decided to burn out your abs first.

I sometimes drop the abs sections of a workout, if I feel like I'd be too sloppy. (This is usually the case when I'm working arms/chest, since any attempt at anything like a plank results with my arms shaking right off the bat, and my face in the mat.) 

OPTIONAL 'EXTRAS'

I do these as often as my body will let me, because I think they're awesome. Also, some of my activities happen every week, despite my condition, because I'm on a team! 

Beach Volleyball + 10k run or bike - I'm part of a summer league, and despite my shitty hand-to-eye co-ordination/horrible teamplayer skills, I quite enjoy it. I almost never leave without some form of bug-bite/bruised forearms battlescars. The 10k (which is usually biking) is me being a cheap student and deciding to not pay for bus tickets to get to location. Makes a great cooldown/warm up though! 

Hot Yoga or Hot Power Yoga - I love yoga. In fact, my whole serious fitness regimen started with it. Not only is it an amazingly refreshing workout, but it's wonderful for flexibility and clarity of the mind. It leaves you with a clear mind and in a sort of calm, half-pain induced trance. Plus, when I do happen to have the money, I'll be taking an instructor's course, because I'd love to be an instructor! 

Yin Yoga - Similar in concept to Hot Yoga, except poses are more based off of stretching out the muscles and releasing deep-tissue tension. I daresay these hurt more than Power Yoga, and can be much more challenging. It definitely takes much more mental control to not get out of the poses! I really try to go to one of these a week, since I find it very advantageous to do a 'deep cleanse' of muscles I've worn out from heavy lifting and all that running. 

5km Row - I wish I was on a rowing team, but alas - I am not only inexperienced, I am also pretty broke (Three cheers for being a student!) I find that it's a really nice switch-up for cardio though, and a great overall body workout. Hopefully, I'll get into a rowing team one day. 

Now that we have all of that over with... let me show you how I throw all of this into my weekly schedule. 

I don't really have set 'times', since my work schedule changes week to week. I just base what I do when according to when the gym is open and when I have to work. 

This week: 

MONDAY

5km run, Volleyball. (I got a ride home because I managed to jump on a stick and impale my foot. Ouchies.)

TUESDAY

Back + Biceps + Abs (It's raining right now, but I'll mildly grudgingly drag myself to the gym, where I'll be pretty happy to be drowned in my own sweat). 

WEDNESDAY

Leg day + Abs (My favourite day, by far. I'm probably going to do this early in the morning, because that means the squat racks will be empty, and I work in the mall where my gym is located at 9 AM) 

THURSDAY

5km Row + Yoga (It's supposed to thunderstorm, so no running for me...) I'll probably have to make that 5km Row a HIIT session, since it doesn't seem like I'll have room to do that this week. 

FRIDAY

10km Run (No thunderstorms, yay!)

SATURDAY

Yin Yoga + Hot Yoga, Afternoon Arms + Chest + Shoulders (Lots to do today, but a friend of mine is coming into town and explicitly requested Hot Yoga, so it's definitely happening!) 

SUNDAY

11.4 km run. (Challenging myself with a run to a landmark and back - I have a goal list, and it's on it, so might as well!) 

Whey to Go - A whey protein spotted by Lauren M. in Sioux Falls, SD.