The MuscleTalker - Issue 92 (December 2009)

** New Welcome - Introduce Yourself! area: new members can post their 'hellos' and be welcomed by the regulars. Below this, are the new Advertisers' Own Areas; look out for sub-forums of some of our advertisers with great offers, new deals and announcements exclusive to MT members!

** New articles, interviews and reports in November:
- Casein Hydrolysate - The Cream of Post Workout Protein?
- Ephedrine & Ephedra, and the Associated Alkaloids and Compounds - Part 1; Part 2
- Interview with Bobby 'Posterboy' Khan - UKBFF Classic Class British Champion
- Interview with Olympians John Hodgson and Lee Powell

Past Bodybuilding Articles

Happy Christmas to all MuscleTalk members! Healthy Christmas Recipes

*** Best wishes from James Collier and The MuscleTalk team! ***
See you at www.MuscleTalk.co.uk

*** Fowl Play with Drugs? ***
By James Collier, BSc (Hons), RNutr - Nutrition Consultant www.healthyaction.co.uk

During the 2008 Olympic Games there were a few newspaper reports concerning the potential safety of poultry in China, and there were rumours that steroids had been used to treat chickens, resulting in their larger muscle mass and the possibility of athletes failing a drug test from eating these chickens.

This lead to countries wanting to import their own meat for the Games, and in October 2008 Braun et al reviewed meat products as potential doping traps. This looked at a few reports and produced a small set of guidelines. An oversized chicken breast found in a Beijing supermarket was tested and found to contain sufficient anabolic steroids (AS) to cause an athlete to fail a drug test.

In some countries the feeding of anabolic agents to animals is legal, and Braun et al highlighted a few scenarios where human volunteers had been fed AS-reared animals and subsequently failed a drug test. However, there are some naturally occurring amounts of nandrolone and its precursor norandrolone found in meat, and these are especially high in natural amounts in boar meat and boar offal (Crosland 2009).

The review concluded with the following advice:

• At international sports events meat products should only be obtained from officially accredited caterers
• Preferably whole meats should be eater; athletes should refrain from minced meat
• Athletes should also refrain from eating indefinable meat dishes (e.g. pasta filled with meat) which could be made from low quality meat
• Athletes should avoid consuming boar meat
• Athletes should avoid eating pork offal (boar meat has been added to products described as pork)

Where an athlete has full control, i.e. out of season when at home training, he/she should stick to organic or ethically produced meats to ensure no anabolic agents have been used in the rearing of the animals. However, when competing abroad an athlete doesn't have home comforts and is often in a situation where buying and preparing meat is not a viable option, and they are forced to eat out, and it is here that caution should be taken.

Is this scaremongering or fact? Or, is it a case that steroid-using athletes have used the issue of contaminated meat simply as an excuse in case they fail a drug test?

References:
Braun et al (2008) Meat Products as Potential Doping Traps? Int J Sports Nutr & Ex Metabol 18(5): 539-542
Crosland (2009) Drugs in sport - fowl play? NHD 44: 16

*** How to Overcome Knee Injuries ***
By MuscleTalk Pro-Member Sheeps_clothing, formerly badboy007

As many of the trainers of the board will already know first hand, knee injuries are widely prevalent. Such injuries are not only common amongst strength athletes, who will be squatting heavy regularly (often at near maximal loads), but also anybody who trains basic leg movements hard. Basically anyone who trains legs in any form can suffer such an injury.

Causes of knee problems cover a wide range of issues, some caused by not warming and stretching sufficiently, taking too big a jump up in weights whilst working up to a top set, or just bad luck. The following is a suggested way to prevent knee injuries ever happening:

Warm up sufficiently: Crucial. This may include:

• Dynamic warm-up for the whole lower leg region (the knee does not work in isolation from the thigh, calf, hams and tie-ins). Dynamic warm-up could simply be a brisk walk prior to training on a treadmill, or simply walking from the car to the gym briskly (although 10-15 minutes would be ideal).
• For the martial artists of MT, simply practicing a few of your stances and/or body ments (i.e. shadow boxing) will help. Again, in terms of duration, simply go instinctively. This is also extra training for your martial arts.

The key here is to get blood flowing into the knee region, i.e. the 'tear drop' quad, but don't forget it's important to also warm up the hamstrings, calves and glutes. The old maxim 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link' rings true here.

** How to prevent when actually training:

• Take sensible increments up in weight when training leg movements, especially heavy movements like the squat and its variations, and any heavy machine leg press (hack, sled, 45° leg press, etc).
• Be your own coach: If you feel tired and not mentally alert, do not push for a personal best. It is sometimes best to take a long-term view of the poundages you are moving. Alternatively, if you are a bodybuilder or training for aesthetics, shoot for higher reps at a lighter weight (25-50 reps per set).
• Apply hot treatment (many on the market) prior to doing the leg workout if you feel a minor niggle.

** If your Knee is Injured:

Go to see a doctor ASAP. Many GPs have played sports such as rugby, football or hockey amongst others whilst at University. Many doctors will understand that you may not be able to take months off all training, and advise accordingly.

** How to train after a knee injury:
This is a suggested template:

• Take some time off completely. This varies on the severity of the knee injury. Be sensible, if you cannot walk you should not be stepping foot in the gym for a while. Take your mind off training activities, and perhaps plan for the future: i.e. diet and/or supplement regime.
• Train upper body machines: Seated plate-loaded machines are often considered the best for early rehabilitation, as your feet are not supporting your body.
• Start some (very light) hamstring, lower back and abdominal work. Hyperextensions, pull-throughs and kneeling abdominal pull-downs all work well, but there are many different exercises online.
• You can then consider starting some light quad work. Start with bodyweight step-ups onto a low box (12-15") or bodyweight squats. Don't count the reps, just go by feeling. Cycling on a bike (such as a spin bike) is also an excellent rehab tool.
• Finally, you may feel ready to start back on some quad movements (weighted). Dumbbell step-ups, skater squats and reverse lunges are all good exercises.

You can then go back to normal training at a slow pace. Remember the most important thing to rehab is your attitude. Use this time off to re-focus, set out a plan, and remember where you want to be in 1, 2 or even 5 years from now.

*** Food of the Month - Chestnuts (Castanea) ***
By Big Les, MuscleTalk Moderator & Nutrition Consultant Healthy Action

With Christmas coming up you may even hear the old lyric "chestnuts roasting by an open fire", and possibly even see chestnuts, roasted or otherwise, prepared for sale.

Time was when the chestnut was not a Christmas curiosity but rather a dietary staple. The chestnut tree grows well where many cereals cannot survive; throughout the Mediterranean the chestnut harvest was the key to survival. Thriving throughout the Roman Empire, it is thought that the spread of cultivation of the chestnut throughout Europe and the Mediterranean was due to the growth of their Empire. Indeed, Roman and other commentators write freely of the flatulence caused by an over-reliance on the chestnut for food.

The chestnut was so widely cultivated and used because, once you get the hard shell off the chestnut, is a very un-nut like nut. Most nuts have a high fat content; the chestnut by comparison is high in carbohydrate and energy dense. 100g of raw chestnuts contains approximately 199 calories while the same 100g of potatoes contains 86. As a starchy carbohydrate the chestnut was used to make flour, and was often used in breads, and could be used any time a potato could have been used. Because the chestnut has a high water content for a nut, when dried the energy content rises dramatically to around 371 calories per 100g.

Unfortunately, the chestnut disappeared from the menu due to first harsh frosts in Europe destroying trees and the switch to more profitable cultivations that followed, and in the US blight which similarly destroyed harvests. By the early 20th Century regular chestnut product consumption was consigned to history.

Chestnuts can be eaten raw but can be bitter and, if the pellicle or thin skin is not removed, definitely on the astringent side. Roasting is an easy way to prepare them, of course remembering to score them to avoid them exploding. Chestnuts make excellent flour, and in northern Italy chestnut flour was the usual base for pasta, breads and polenta. Also, chestnut flour based-breads, pastas and polenta take longer to spoil than wheat based equivalents. Chestnut bread can take two weeks to spoil. The juice can be used to make beer and sugar, so none is wasted! Raw chestnuts are also a good source of vitamin C although not overly high in other nutrients and minerals, they do make an appearance.

What use is this to the bodybuilder? Thanks to modern science, chestnuts are making a comeback around the world - and are becoming increasingly available and are not just a Christmas treat. If you are into making dishes yourself and want to add a different flavour and some nutrient density, then the chestnut is good alternative, especially as chestnut flour is used interchangeably with wholemeal flour in recipes!

*** MT Powerlifting Totals Competition ***
By Hazel - MuscleTalk Moderator

Check out the latest updated totals here:
www.muscletalk.co.uk/fb.aspx?m=1083082
Members have been posting up their improved totals, so if you have totals listed already make sure they are up to date, and see where you are on the leader board!

Also check out the Cardio & Fitness forum Test your Mettle... What's your best? competition - open to all MuscleTalk members, just for fun so please join in!

Also the MT 220lb bench press competition: How many reps can you do? The table is updated regularly but nobody has yet managed to knock Pro-Member Hypershrek off of the top spot with 42!

*** Recipe - Chestnut Stuffing ***
By Big Les, MuscleTalk Moderator

A Christmas treat (definitely for bulking!).

** Ingredients
227g butter
275g chopped onion
920g coarsely chopped celery (including leaves)
115g chopped parsley
1400g white bread cubes, dry
459g chestnuts, roasted, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
120ml cup half-and-half cream
120ml cup white wine

** Method

• In a very large bowl, combine the bread cubes, chestnuts, salt, black pepper and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly.
• Combine the half-and-half cream and white wine; mix thoroughly.
• Add the cream/wine mixture to the bread mixture, along with the vegetables and drippings in your skillet - told you it needed to be a big bowl!
• Then mix until it is a stuffing consistency - sort of a doughish, mouldable type texture.

** How to Roast Chestnuts:

• Preheat oven to 425°F, or 220°C or gas mark 7.
• Find the flat side of each chestnut and cut a large X with a sharp paring knife all the way through the skin.
• Place chestnuts on a shallow baking pan and place in the oven to roast for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on size of nuts. Shake pan several times to rotate chestnuts so they will cook evenly.
• If you just want them cooked enough to peel, roast for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Peel roasted chestnuts as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Once they cool completely, they are difficult to peel. However, they may be reheated briefly to aid in peeling.
• As many as you can get on your baking tray can be done at a time - usually about ½ lb or 220ish grams!

The articles in The MuscleTalker are for information purposes only and are the sole expressions of the individual authors opinion and are those not necessarily shared by the owners of www.MuscleTalk.co.uk