Fat Loss – Body Transformation – Advanced Nutrition

Hey everyone,

Questions were starting to pile up in my email and on Twitter, so I thought I would play a little catch up and answer a few questions here on the blog!

Boyd: Have you ever used the topical pain roll-on, BioFreeze? What are your thoughts?

Yes – I love BioFreeze. As a person that has had several breaks and injuries in my life, I am very arthritic, and sometimes it takes a few minutes during a session to work the cricks out! I typically apply BioFreeze directly to the aches/tight muscles, and let it go – the great thing? It allows me to train with intensity relatively pain free. There are several similar brands, but I like BioFreeze the absolute best.

Hey Boyd, I often see people recommend massage. Is it really helpful, or just hokie science?

Massage is a critical component of my training and recovery process – it is great to relieve pain, work out knots, increase circulation and keep the body working optimally. Of course, the right therapist is key, and when you find one, they are worth their weight in gold. I personally like to get massages every 2-3 weeks, depending on how intense I am training.

To play off of the last question, my massage therapist actually USES BioFreeze during the massage!

Hi Boyd, what are your thoughts on nutritional requirements when you are recovering from an injury?

In short, your nutritional demands are greatly increased. Injury puts the body into a stressed state, increasing the demand for quality nutrients. When I am injured or recovering from sickness, I increase antioxidant intake, BCAA intake, healthy fat intake, and the consumption of the trace minerals, giving my body the optimal environment to quickly recover. Remember – if you are hurt or sick, you cannot train optimally and make progress, so I have little time for injury or sickness.

Send more – I am always ready to answer them!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio:

Heard a radio ad today for a chain of gyms that is using the “Want to avoid roided up guys in the gym” and playing on most people’s perceptions that most people in gyms are in amazing shape, the guys are huge and hulking and the females are all fitness models – a laughable notion that is as far from the truth as possible (most gym members are normal people just looking to stay in shape).

While my client and I were laughing at the incredible stupidity of the ad (and for the record, it is an ad for Planet Fitness, WHOM, BY THE WAY, serves pizza to its members on Fridays – yeah, real serious about your fitness), she told me that she was talking to a friend that had some questions about something her personal trainer had told her, and my client told her friend that “my trainer (me :) is an encyclopedia for fitness, you should ask him about that and see what he says”. Long story short, my client’s friend called me and asked about a few exercises her personal trainer had told her about that are designed to target belly fat.

While the average person is often led to believe that belly fat can be spot reduced by specific exercises or different foods, it does not take a “fitness expert” to know that site reduction of fat is impossible.

I decided to look up this personal trainer’s website and read about his principles, his experience, etc. Of course, it was littered with false truths, catch-phrases, and told very little about the personal trainer’s background (other than his weekend based certification). It simply proved a point that I often make: unfortunately, personal training is a career that has a very low border of entry, and to become a personal trainer simply requires a small investment. Even the most respected of “certifications” is not all that difficult to obtain – ANYONE can be a personal trainer. However, how many people can be successful at personal training and can live off of their income that they make by helping others?

I have received over 17 different certifications, a degree, have competed as a bodybuilder, have trained several figure competitors, bodybuilders, pro athletes, and individuals of all walks of life, special populations, and everyone else that falls into that spectrum. I have had my private personal training studio in San Antonio open since 2006. While I am obviously not a fly-by-night personal trainer, I must say that it is not one of those things that qualifies me as a fitness expert. Nor is it that I have been a personal trainer for over 15 years – it is a combination of all of those things. The great thing? I am educated and experienced enough to admit that the learning process is always continuing, and that being a fitness expert is not something that is obtained with a weekend course or even an in-resident program or advanced degree: it is something that is cumulative, obtained with years of doing more than simply surviving as a personal trainer.

While there are a few personal trainers that survive and do well in this business, most are unable to operate as fitness trainers for more than 12-18 months. Before you throw your money away on a novice personal trainer that is just learning the ropes, do your homework: while many gyms have personal training for $10-$20, understand that you get what you pay for, and the investment will be worth the made up time and the knowledge that your personal trainer is willing to share with you.

There IS a difference!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

As promised, here’s another quick rundown on Branched Chain Amino Acids. I’ve written about BCAA’s more over the last 10 years than anything else, so I’m simply going to take a little bit from my other writings, add some other information and combine it together here. I’m writing this quickly and these are all my own thoughts, so once I read over it a time or two, I may make some simple adjustments (spelling/grammar errors, etc). Enjoy!

This isn’t information just for people to gain muscle – for fat loss, it is essential to maintain lean body mass to keep an increased metabolic rate. This is one of the more technical writings I will write here on the blog, because I like to keep it simple for the fitness beginner and people just looking to make a change, but this information is too important not to thoroughly understand.

Quick rundown: Essential amino acids are the ones your body cannot make on it’s own and must be obtained from diet. These are the important ones and these are the absolute key to body transformation. Three of the most important are leucine, iso-leucine and valine (the branched chained amino acids, or BCAAs). Why are they so important? Simple – the key to body transformation (even before fat loss) is preserving the muscle we already have. Muscle = Higher Metabolic Rate. Higher metabolic rate = leaner you, because you’re burning more calories in everything you do. Ok, so how do the BCAAs have to do with this? When you exercise, your body will try to use these three aminos for energy, thus, breaking down muscle to obtain these. More importantly, the body CANNOT SYNTHESIZE PROTEIN WITHOUT EVERY AMINO ACID PRESENT!!! This is why it is important to consume whole proteins (and why protein from sources such as peanuts and bread aren’t very good sources because they are deficient in many essential aminos).

Many quality protein powders are enriched with extra BCAAs, but I prefer to take it a step further: muscle (for women and men, and this is for everyone that is serious about looking lean, toned, trim, or whatever you may call it) is extremely precious. So, I choose to supplement with additional amino acids. To add, the BCAAs are binded to other aminos in powders. In formulas like Xtend, they are free formed and are more readily absorbed into the bloodstream.

Amount depends on your size (of course), but timing is crucial. Consumption should be at times when muscle is vulnerable to metabolization: I drink them before and during cardio and also during and after weight training.

For optimum muscle growth, cellular growth, metabolism, and recovery to occur, the proper proportions of amino acids need to be eaten. However, eating amino acid sources, such as meat and eggs, does not ensure that the amino acids they supply will be available for muscle growth and formation of other proteins. For example, suppose you have a gross intake of 100 grams of protein with all the essential amino acids present in equal amounts. Now consider how these amino acids are used in the body. To start, a considerable amount of leucine will be used for energy in exercising muscle. This means that there may be only a small amount of leucine available for growth and repair. When leucine finally runs out, this will affect protein formation because leucine is an essential amino acid. That means your body cannot make it. In actuality, perhaps only 15 grams of the original 100 grams of protein will be available for growth and repair. This is one reason why athletes need more protein, not just to compensate for growth and recovery demands from exercise, but to compensate for the loss of essential amino acids like leucine when they are used for energy.

There’s so much more than just protein grams – you MUST be getting the right aminos!

Branched Chained Amino Acids - the first used for energy, and typically the most limited supply in the body (these are the ones that your body WILL breakdown muscle to get if it runs out of glucose for energy):

Leucine
Iso-Leucine
Valine

Essential Amino Acids – these are the ones that your body cannot create on it’s own (the BCAAs are included)
Isoleucine
Arginine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Trytophan
Valine
Histidine
Tyrosine
Pyrrolysine

Nonessential Amino Acids – the aminos that your body can synthesize and don’t necessarily need to be obtained in the diet.
Alanine
Aspartate
Cysteine
Glutamate
Glutamine
Glycine
Proline
Serine
Asparagine

Conditionally Essential Amino Acids – in some cases, the body cannot produce enough of some amino acids, to they are considered essential (meaning they must be obtained from the diet).
Arginine
Histidine
Tyrosine
Cysteine
Glutamine
Glycine
Proline
Serine
Asparagine

If every amino acid is present, the body is in a state in which it can synthesize protein, also called a “positive nitrogen balance”. If every amino is not present, then the body is in “negative nitrogen balance”.

Nitrogen balance is binary – there’s no “almost” or “partly” synthesizing. Before new muscle tissue can be built, the body must be in positive nitrogen balance!

Exercise basically “eats up” the BCAAs, so it is obvious that there is a need for increased BCAA intake for the physically active to not only gain muscle, but to also preserve it. Specifically replacing (or overcompensating loss of BCAAs) is best accomplished by supplementing with a product such as Scivation’s Xtend (the blue raspberry is AMAZING).

One can also conclude that it makes sense to focus not only on total protein intake, but also obtaining a complete amino acid profile, specifically focusing on the essential and conditionally essential amino acids. This is most easily done by supplementation with a quality protein blend (note that I did not say WHEY protein – search for a blend) and eating a variety of different protein sources (chicken breast, fish, lean cuts of red meat, turkey, etc).

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey Everyone,

It is often said that “good things come to those who wait…” Maybe. I will be honest, I hated that as a kid – I believe in action, not just sitting around and waiting. I have found out a philosophy that I believe in a lot more, and that is: “Great things come to those who work.”

If you are willing to work, anything you want can be yours. I often hear people talk about “how nice it would be to be rich”, yet they aren’t willing to put forth the sacrifice of working 20 hour days, waking up early after staying up late, missing happy hours, etc to reach a certain monetary goal. The parallels are very similar to fitness. Sure, “it’d be nice” to look a “certain way”, but as soon as you tell them about the lifestyle and sacrifice, they are too busy “living” to do what needs to be done to reach a certain level of fitness.

One of my friends and clients totally embodies this sacrifice, and has done so as he has chased his dream of once again kicking in the NFL. Yesterday, my good friend, Nick Novak was signed by the San Diego Chargers to replace Nate Kaeding, as he was injured on the first play of the season and will miss the entire year.

From the early morning to late evening workouts (and Nick, remember who emphasized the importance of dead lifting :), to traveling from New York to San Diego, back to Maryland just to go right back to San Diego, you did it, and I expect you to have a Pro Bowl season (and your trainer is the IDEAL person to take to Pro Bowl week)!

Congrats bud!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey everyone,

After a great weekend, I am back and trying to make a little free time to keep my blog consistently updated. I would’ve had that time today and had a great topic on my mind today, and then my iPhone died. Good news is that the Apple Store replaced it hassle free. Bad news is that I lost every single number that I had.

I mentioned the loss of my micro-pig, Ziggy, last week. Well, a reader referred me to a reputable breeder and this weekend, my new piglet will be arriving.

This weekend was the start of the NFL football season, but more importantly, it was the 10 year anniversary of September 11, 2001. Hard to believe that it has been that long, because in many ways, it seems like yesterday. I was glad to see that the NFL didn’t overdo it, and was very tasteful with celebrations and such.

Oh yes, the TWO FOR ONE TRAINING SPECIAL IS STILL GOING – IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, LET ME KNOW AND WE WILL SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION AND HELP YOU GET STARTED!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey everyone,

I have been getting a lot of good questions here of late, so I thought I would do a quick Q&A!

Hey Boyd, Sorry about your pig… I know how they can become so important to us. Anyway, I feel like a pig now. I want to go all out and get my diet back in order. Any boot camp style eating tips you care to give?

Thank you for that. I miss him terribly, but I am getting another one very soon :).

While variety is the spice of life, when I need to get insanely serious, I try to limit myself drastically – I choose 4 lean meats, 4 clean, low glycemic carbs, load up on the green veggies and go from there for 2 weeks. Sure, it is tough, but I believe in challenging myself and I go ultra strict with no deviation. I pre-cook a few days worth of food, grab and go, leaving nothing to chance by having someone else prepare food. After two weeks of perfect eating, it always seems much easier to keep things tight, and the synergy of hard training and great eating really changes the body drastically.

The key is to eat enough: most people induce starvation when they try to eat clean because they simply do not eat enough. Two weeks is NOTHING – start today!!!

How is the benching?

Better than ever. Well on my way to a personal record (665 current) – I have no doubt that 14 plates (7 on each side of the bar) is coming down soon!!!

Boyd, have you ever considered opening a CrossFit studio?

Kay, you must be new to the blog ;) While I am for people doing anything versus doing nothing, I simply believe CrossFit SUCKS (I don’t mince words). No bench pressing, poor supervision, lack of proper program design, periodization, poor exercise order, etc, etc, etc. You cannot be a master of all at once. Hell, start here and you will see why I feel the way I do – welcome to the Personal Trainer in San Antonio Blog!

Hey Boyd, I have a question – I have read in your blog that you hate chicken. I do too, but not for the reasons I think you do. You see, when I eat it, it feels like it sits like a brick in my stomach. Not sure why, but I just don’t think I digest it well. I do not have this problem with red meat, oddly. Thoughts?

Actually, that is exactly why I do not eat chicken! Everyone has foods that their body simply has trouble absorbing. I have had this doctor diagnosed: my body has trouble breaking down chicken. It isn’t common, and most people have a much harder time with red meat, but if I eat 3oz of chicken, I feel like I have eaten a pound of concrete.

The key to health is digestion. Each of us has foods that work better with us for energy, absorption and assimilation, and we are all mutually exclusive. This is another reason why I like to suggest a food journal. Not just list what I eat, but to also document how I feel at certain times, how my gym performance is affected, etc – I don’t always suggest keeping such a journal 365 days per year, but for a short amount of time to see how you are responding to different types of food.

Remember: Texas is in a lot of trouble right now with wildfires, so keep the people that are being affected in your thoughts and prayers.

Keep the questions coming – YOU are the reason I keep this blog!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Hey San Antonio,

The Bad
First and foremost, my prayers go out to everyone affected by the fires in San Antonio and across Texas. As someone who lost their home and all of their belongings to a fire, I can relate and would never want anyone else to ever go through that horrible event. Be safe and be smart: have your important belongings, documents, valuables, etc ready to go if you are in a danger area – do not wait until the last minute. Anything can be replaced, except life.

Speaking of which, I want to say farewell to my sweet pet, Ziggy. While I cannot post a pic from my iPad on this blog, Ziggy was my Teacup Micro-pig that passed away in his sleep from faulty breeding. I know, a PIG, but he was the smartest, most affectionate animal I had ever known, and I have been extremely bummed by his passing. I am in the market for a new micro-pig, and this time, will research breeders a little better and not fall prey to a less than reputable breeder trying to make a buck at the expense of an animal’s health.

The Good!!!

Congrats to Esperanza for her great progress in her first month of training: she lost nearly 5 inches from her abdominal circumference in only 27 days, and lowered her bodyfat by over 6%. Awesome job and I am very proud of her!

It is FINALLY FOOTBALL SEASON! Definitely the most amazing time of the year for me, and a sign that it should start cooling off in the very near future. This morning, it was only 60 degrees here in San Antonio, but should be in the 90s by the end of the day. Of course, I am always sad to see Summer go, but this year, the heat has been almost unbearable, and I will welcome Fall and hopefully, some precipitation.

Now is a great time to get serious about your fitness – the holidays are right around the corner and there is time to create a NEW BODY before Thanksgiving. If you have been contemplating starting a fat loss or body transformation program, don’t hesitate: we are ready to help!

Keep moving forward!!!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454