Weight Training Blog

Someone sent me a question asking me what type of protein powder I recommend because the powder they use tastes bad and always clumps up on them.

Personally, I recommend Optimum Nutrition’s protein products. The number one advantage to using their products is cost. It’s not one of those insanely expensive blends that will break the bank. Secondly, ON’s products have the nutrients you need. Third, their products don’t taste that bad. If you’re looking for something that tastes almost like candy, I recommend going for a Cytosport Muscle Milk product as I believe they have some of the best tasting protein powders available. The only down side is cost, and fat content. Generally speaking, Muscle Milk does tend to contain higher amounts of fat than other blends. But they have since come out with a “light” Muscle Milk product, I believe.

As for the issue with clumping… Well, the truth is I have never really had an issue with any blend clumping more so than any other brand. If you’re using a shaker cup to mix your shake in, then I recommend adding liquid first, then the powder. Don’t forget to leave about an inch to and inch and a half of room between the top of the powder just added and the top of the cup portion of the shaker bottle (The part that holds the liquid, excluding the top). This will give you room to mix it well.

2011 is nearly a month old, so it’s time to ask yourself how you’re progressing towards your fitness goals (If you set any for yourself, that is.)

CNN.com has a good article investigating why so many people fail to follow through with their New Year’s resolutions only a few weeks into the year. Actually, the author of the article seems to think that just only three weeks into the new year many people have given up or lost track of their goals.

I especially like the fourth reason that they give: Your goal is unrealistic.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say that they “just want to lose weight” or “increase their bench press”. Neither goal is good because there is no way to define your progress. Sure, if you lose one pound you have made your goal. Sure, if your bench press increases by 10 pounds you’ve made progress.

But where do you stop? How do you know how much further you have to go? Once you figure out what is a reasonable end point, then you can map out a plan on how you will get to the end. But until then, you will be lost and not know how to keep yourself focused and motivated as the year goes on.

I took a trip over to EliteFTS today and found a great series that I wish I had access to several years ago. These videos were too good to pass up.

The two part series conducted by Matt Wenning outlined how to squat properly and took someone’s poor squatting form and turned it into a solid lift.

If you’re going to take advice from someone when it comes to squatting, it ought to be Matt Wenning. He’s right up there with guys like Captain Kirk with an 1100 pound squat and a mind blowing 2600 pound total in one competition.