A very interesting question. When I started with Fitness Training / Natural Bodybuildiung in 1987 I was told to train every bodypart twice a week. So I had a 3 day on / 1 day off / 3 day on workout routine. I did weightlifting 6 times a week and also some kick boxing sessions on top of it.

Needless to say that I gained weight and strenght fast, because I was full with Testosteron. And recovery was no problem with 19 years either.

Over the years I switched to a 4 days on / 1 day off programme, which worked very well for me. Since about 1 year I am using a 6 day on / 1 off programme. In other words I train every bodypart only once a week.

I was surprised to see some others in the web suggesting to do the same. For sure I need longer to recover, but would say that one training a week my body responds still very good to the work out. I have no idea if this is due to the long years of training and the experience or if it is a matter of age. Maybe both.

I found this video on YouTubem where another Natural Bodybuilder recommends also to train very muscle group only once a week. Have a look and let me know about your experience.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpiUIo8h9gg

From time to time, especially while putting weight on in the winter season I take creatine. In my opinion the only proven supplement that is worth the money and works, at last for me.

Over the years I have heard a lot of stories about creatine and met quite a few people that had real problems with it. Well, for me it always worked in regards of building up strength.

For sure it will not build muscles, but the additional strength helps with it. The side effect is that you store quite a bit of water in the muscles. Your muscles will look full, but not defined.
Not a real problem for me as I only take creatine in the winter when I have a higher body fat percentage anyway.

So they are some questions around creatine for the beginner:

What does creatine?

Creatine causes fluid to flow from the surrounding tissues into skeletal muscle (Muscle Volumizing). This cellular water essentially follows creatine into skeletal muscle causing them to swell. During the first days of loading the amount of water retained by our muscles can be considerable, accounting for as much as 1-3 kilograms (~2-7 pounds) of added weight. Furthermore, since this process might deprive our remaining body tissues of necessary fluids, dehydration is a valid concern of creatine use.

How much creatine to take?

Back in the old days when creatine came on the market the was a loading scheme to start with it, in other words
you will take a high dose for a while and then go to a lower level for a while.

I am still using this technique and it seems that there a lot of other people doing this.

So in the first 2 weeks I take 4-5 times a day a table spoon of creatine monohydrate with some orange juice, make about 25 gramm.
When I started with creatine I tried 8 times a day with 40 gramm. This worked very well for me in younger years and I had a great pump
in the muscles, but one needs to be careful with the kidneys   For some a high level of creatine means some gastric distress… Also some other side effects
might be possible: Nausea, Cramp possibly due to water retention (I can confirm this), Dizziness if excessive quantities taken, Diarrhoea

I usually control the max. intake with controling my urine flow. If the last bit of urine looks not clear anymore, I know that this is creatine and the body get rid of it.
In other words the storage in your muscles is full and you are flushing money down the toilet.

When the two weeks are over I reduce the creatine intake by 50%, this is called the Maintenance Phase. Some people add a Wash-out Phase where you do not take creatine for a while.

Have a look here for calculating your correct creatine dose http://www.gain-weight-muscle-fast.com/creatine-dose.html

When to supplement.

When taking it 4- 5 times a day you need to add it to your meals, as you should eat every 3 hours anyway. That is what I do or I put it simply in my whey protein shake.
Otherwise I have no preferences. Some say you should take it directly after workout with juice. Something that I do anyway with protein.

Is loading really necessary?

Good question. For me it works. But if you have gastric distress or problems with your kidneys, you should leave this out and start slowy.

Here some links I found on the topic with some more indepth information about creatine.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/koch1.htm
http://www.trulyhuge.com/creatinemonohydrateL14.html
http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/creatine-supplements-common-questions-answered.html

Let me know about your experience with creatine.

Finding a good and trustworthy doctor is not always easy. How do you know that the doctor has the right expertise and has the right experience. And do you need a specialist? Here might be a good recommendation on a doctor.

I got a flyer on my cars windscreen the other day. Dr. Hajati Hasifa & Ali are running a herbal clinic in Cape Town. And the can really help in a broad range of medical and not so medical issues… The claim that they offer the best African medicine in Cape Town. Woohhh.

I have scanned the flyer for you. Just in case you might need them. By the way the docs office is between Auto Zone and Big Apple Motors.. guess you better look out for a garage and do not expect a clinic.

See page 2 of the PDF. They garantee 100% help. Some examples of their work (remind you they are doctors!)

• Swollen Body
• all unfinished work by other doctors
• misfortune
• tuberculosis
• bewitched people
• win lotto / casino & horse racing
• diabetis

Read the flyer now. It is really funny. They can help with much more. And if you ever visit Dr. Hajati Hasifa & Ali let me know about their work. I am to scared to try it myself…..

Download the PDF flyer of Dr. Hajati Hasifa & Ali and never be sick again.

The-African-Doctor

Today just a short one with a quite good video that I found on motivation. I had a stressful day (positive stress). Started with a great business network brunch, the usual weekend household work, shopping etc. In the afternoon I was really looking forward to have a power nap and not going to the gym. Well, I did both first a quick nap, then a walk with the dog and then a workout at the gym. Again this is about self motivation and discipline. It it sometimes not easy. See and listen what the video tells us and let me know how you motivate yourself.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAOv84URrgE

While I am using the winter to work on strength and size I am eating a bit more then usual and train differently. So I managed to put almost 10 kg in 3 months on my frame. Surely I want to avoid fat as much as possible, but as everyone should know that is simply not possible (unless you use steroids).

So looking into food made me stumble about the Sumo wrestlers diet. Sure these guys are not a good example for a lean and shaped body, but nevertheless it is interesting to lean what they eat.

I was quite surprised to learn that the focus on a soup. They eat Chankonabe, the Japanese sumo wrestler soup. A very, very hearty soup with lots of meat like Chankonabe can include vegetable, pork, chicken or beef.

So eat this soup more than once a day.

And here is what the do (or not do) during the day.

The skip breakfast to keep metabolism low, then training and only then they start to eat. After the meals they rend to sleep a few hours, so that the body will store the additional and not used energy in fat. That is something that we as fitness enthusiast definitely do not like.

But the soup itself sound interesting, as it contains lot of protein. So I will try it out and maybe it is something that one can use in the bulk up diet from time to time.

Here an example recipe, but there are plenty on the net. I found this one on http://www.soupsong.com/rchankon.html

* 1 pack udon noodles

* 12 cups chicken stock

* 4 boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks

* 1 daikon radish, sliced

* 1 potato, sliced

* 2 onions, quartered

* 12 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed removed and quartered (can use reconstituted dried shiitakes, if you like)

* 1 carrot, peeled and sliced into bite-size chunks

* 1 cake fresh tofu (“cotton” or non-silken so it won’t break up on you), cut into small cubes

* 1 cake fresh tofu (also cotton variety), cut into small cubes and fried on all sides in oil til they take on color (if you can find it in the store, get abura-age,which are deep fried thin slices of cotton tofu)

* 1 medium bok choy cabbage, chopped into small pieces

* 1/2 cup soy sauce

* 1/2 cup mirin (sweet sake)

* 2 teaspoons salt

Garnish: gratings of that racy, narcotic shichimi, if you can get your hands on it

Cook the udon noodles according to directions, drain, and reserve.

Bring water to boil in a saucepan, then add the sliced daikon and potato and parboil for a few minutes. Drain, refresh with cold water, and reserve.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add all the vegetables (not including the daikon and potato or the cabbage), chicken, and two kinds of tofu and simmer until the fresh vegetables are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add the daikon, potato, and cabbage and simmer 5 more minutes.

Season the broth with soy sauce, mirin, and salt to taste, simmer a few more minutes.

Place the cookedudon noodles in deep soup bowls, then ladle the soup over them and serve piping hot, passing the shichimi separate, to grate over the soup to taste.

And a nice Sumo video for entertainment.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ1wnbNIUrc

Let’s have some fun together.

How do you look in the morning fresh out of bed? Is the person in the mirrow sometimes a total stranger to you?

Show us your ‘morning face’.

Upload an image of you when you are fresh out of bed. We want to see you ‘pure‘, before you enter the bathroom or look in the mirror.

This can be real fun. Don’t be shy.

I have started with my image and if I can do it you goodlooking pals can do it as well.

You can upload your images either on Facebook at this page http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17226&id=121779281176946

or go to Flickr and upload you image at http://www.flickr.com/groups/morning-face/

Hi,

I must apologize for not posting in the lasts days. I was busy setting up the new blog design. Hope you like it.

Two days ago I did my leg training. Remember I am on my way to press 180kg / 400lbs Barbell Squat. This time I was able to put on 10kg and the training went much smoother than in the week before. Again it will be a long tough road before I do the 180kgs, but it will happen

Today I started with a light chest training routine and added a biceps workout afterwards.

Here the programme:

5 x 8-10 incline bench press, 4 x 10 pull overs, 4 x 8 flying. As said light an easy.

I will go more in detail, when having a more existing training. My bodyweight is still increasing. I am not around 92kg and maintain about 18% body fat. I am using Whey Proteine and Creatine as supplements. Beside of this I generally stick to my diet as discribed in my book.

I found a very interesting article on the web on simplyshredded.com:

A Beginner’s Shopping List: Quality Food For The Best Results!

Read it. I can not more agree of what they are writining.

Tomorrow I will post another motivational video for you guys.

Please visit my facebook page and do not forget to follow me on Twitter @shapeyourbody.

Cheers
Get your copy of my book now at:

Amazon, Barnes and Noble or find an independent bookstore.

Can’t Wait for Real Book to Arrive?

Click here for an instant download of the ebook version.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddLwAk-7Lq4

Today I did a chest and biceps training. Here the routine.

Incline Smith Bench Press
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/SMBenchPress.html

4 sets, increasing weights, 8-12 reps

Cable Standing Fly
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/CBStandingFly.html

4 sets, increasing weights, 8-12 reps

Dumbbell Pullover
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/DBPullover.html

4 sets, increasing weights, 8-12 reps

Lever Chest Press
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/LVChestPress.html

4 sets, increasing weights, 8-12 reps

Afterwards some biceps excerises.

Trainin music today was Charl Zero – Duck Tech ( Hard Techno Beats!! ) Download here: http://charlzero.co.za/2010/04/charl-zero-duck-tech/

Food: As usual every 3 hours from 6 pm to 9am, no carbs after 7 am, lots of whey protein

Hout Bay Karbonkelberg - click to enlarge

I made this photo this morning on Rocket Road, below Karbonkelberg in Hout Bay, South Africa.

Winter seems more like spring. A bit of rain and nature starts its work on plants and flowers.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the area:

Karbonkelberg is a small peak forming part of the Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. It forms a prominent landmark overlooking the harbour at Hout Bay. An unusual feature is that sand has been blown up it by the wind, causing a dune-like feature. This has been popular with local residents to surf down it on polished boards or sheets.

In the North it is bordered by Table Mountain National Park comprising of the Orangekloof Nature reserve and the lower slopes of Table Mountain beyond.

It is bordered by the Atlantic and the Little Lions Heads (Klein Leeukop), Kapteins Peak and the Sentinel mountains.

The peak is popular for short treks and is also used by the occasional adventurous mountainbiker.

Just a quick update.

This was the first training day towards 180kg / 400lbs Barbell Squats. Here the training routine:

Smith Squat
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/SMSquat.html

5 sets with increasing weights, reps from 12 down to 6

Barbell Straight Leg Deadlift
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStraightLegDeadlift.html

4 sets with increasing weights, 8 reps each

Lever Standing Leg Curl
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/LVStandingLegCurl.html

4 sets with max weights

Lever Leg Extension
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/LVLegExtensionH.html

4 sets, increasing weight, 6-8 reps

And do not forget to strech to end the training with.

I will try to start very slowly and build up strength step by step. There is no hurry and risk of injury can be quite high.

Also I will incorporate Stabilizers and Antagonist Stabilizers (muscles that influence the stability of the core muscles) in the training.

You will see that I will drop sets and reps over the time and go from a classic bodybuilding routine into a more Powerlifting Program. See an example here: http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/PowerliftingPrograms.html

It will be a long and though road Join me and do not forget to follow me on Twitter.

Tipps on training and nutrition are welcome.

Stay fit