The MuscleTalker - Issue 95 (March 2010)

** The UKBFF MuscleTalk Championship 2010 is on the 27th June in Bedford with guest appearances by British Heavyweight Champion Daz Ball and 4 times World's Strongest Man Finalist Terry Hollands.

** New articles, interviews and reports in February:
- Bodybuilding with Coeliac Disease
- Diabetes & Bodybuilding

Past Bodybuilding Articles

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

*** Green Tea & Green Tea Extract Supplements ***
By James Collier, BSc (Hons), RNutr - MuscleTalk Moderator

Green tea is grown in China and it has been shown to have a number of health benefits. Its caffeine content is lower than normal Indian black tea, and it also contains higher amounts of antioxidants; the most prevalent antioxidants being its catechins. Catechins are what we know as the supplement green tea extract or, more precisely epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is lipolytic, which means it breaks down body fat.

The most famous study where green tea extract was shown to be an effective fat-burner independent of caffeine was Dulloo, et al 1999. These showed EGCG to be significantly effective in increasing 24-hour energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans, independent of any effects of caffeine.

A more recent study (Gregersen, et al 2009) gave 15 healthy weight males 1) 150mg caffeine, 2) green tea catechins (600mg), 3) caffeine plus catechins or 4) a placebo on four different days. Levels of energy expenditure and fat oxidations (i.e. fat burning) were calculated using very accurate methods. Combinations of caffeine and catechins were found to be the most effective at raising energy expenditure and fat oxidation.

It's great for anyone into bodybuilding, health and fitness to enjoy 2-3 mugs of green tea a day. However, many people just don't like drinking it; whilst it is perfectly palatable, is just not as nice as a normal cup of tea! The good news is that green tea bags are available infused with flavours like lemon, mint and camomile: try a few until you find your favourite. To get the full benefits of the catechins, let the tea bag stew for 5 minutes or more and do not add milk, as some amino acids in milk will bind the catechins, and negate some of their positive effects.

The more potent alternative to drinking green tea is using green tea extract supplements. These are perfectly safe and contain higher concentrations of catechins. They are worth considering in any supplement arsenal both for weight loss and health purposes. Of course, though, no supplement is going to be effective for weight loss unless you have a suitable nutrition regimen and exercise plan.

References:
Dulloo AG; et al. 1999. Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 70: 1040-1045.
Gregersen NT; et al. 2009. Effect of moderate intakes of green tea catechins and caffeine on acute measures of energy metabolism under sedentary conditions. BJN 102 (8): 1187-1194

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*** Biceps: 35s - 21s with a difference! ***
By James Collier, BSc (Hons) - MuscleTalk Moderator

The exercise 21s will be familiar to most of you; it's certainly been around long before I started weight training; and that's some time ago! But for those of you who don't, it's basically a variation of bicep curls which really works the muscle: Assume the standing barbell curl position, preferably with an EZ bar, holding the bar with your arms down. Raise the bar to 90° only then lower and repeat seven times. Immediately curl the bar fully so your biceps are contracted but your upper arms are still in align with your torso, then lower the bar to 90° and repeat seven times. Lastly perform seven full reps from full extension to full contraction of the biceps, squeezing at the top.

This makes 21 reps. But there's a variation of this which blasts them even more: After the first seven reps, at the 90° point simply hold the weight for 7 seconds before doing the top half seven reps. Then after the second 7 reps, at the full contraction lift your upper arms up by bending at the shoulder so they are as near to 90° as possible and hold for 7 seconds. Then finish with the final seven full reps.

It's basically the same as 21s but with two lots of 7 second holds in different positions. You will not be able to do much weight, so drop the weigh down and work out what you can do. To summarise:

• 7 reps from the bottom to 90°
• 7 seconds holding at 90°
• 7 reps from 90° to the top
• Lift upper arms out to the front and hold for 7 seconds
• 7 full reps

7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 35; hence the name!

This is a great exercise to incorporate into your routine. By simply doing one set of 35s at the end of a bicep workout you will destroy them. Or do 3 sets of 35s followed by just two sets of strict concentration curls and you'll feel like you've had one obliterating workout on the biceps!

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*** Food of the Month - Coffee ***
By Big Les, MuscleTalk Moderator & Nutrition Consultant Healthy Action

Hopefully coffee needs no introduction; it is the second most traded product in the world after petrol, worth approximately 60 billion dollars a year. Coffee also has a long history, at least to 700BC. Its name reportedly derives from the old Arabic word for wine 'qahwa' and legend has it coffee was discovered by a goat herder who wondered why his flock was so active and didn't sleep properly. He found they were eating berries and the rest is history. This leads to the important fact that the coffee bean starts as a berry. Coffee is grown in 53 countries, all of them between the two tropics with Brazil leading production. Most of the world's production is the arabica (approx 75% or so) with the rest being robusta. Robusta is the bitterer of the two varieties, giving a less pleasant flavour and so is cheaper than the arabica bean. However, the robusta bean has more caffeine and a higher anti-oxidant content.

Much is made of the caffeine content of coffee; caffeine is itself an ergogenic aid see our caffeine article. However, there is more to coffee than caffeine, and that it is a refreshing beverage with virtually no calories. Being a berry coffee contains natural antioxidants known as polyphenols, at which point any savvy bodybuilder or athlete will pay attention. Intense training results in the production of free radicals, which are not a group of French protesters, but rather molecules that cause damage to cells and which have been linked to lots of long term health risks. Importantly, they are in part responsible for you feeling sore, tired, and not recovering as well as you can. Antioxidants are important because they counter the effects of free radicals, the hitch being, have too much of any individual antioxidant and you get toxic damaging effects as a result as well. Which is why taking 4g of vitamin C a day is not a quick fix!

The main polyphenol in coffee is chlorogenic acid, a cinnamic acid (yes, related to cinnamon) composed of caffeic acid and L-quinic acid. Chlorogenic acid has shown promising effects in lab tests as a tumour inhibitor and in other studies it has reduced the hyperglycaemic peak following glucose ingestion, reduced the absorption of glucose and the inhibited production of glucose by the liver, making some people quite excited about its potential deployment with diabetics. Just don't rush out to buy the commercial version just yet - its effects are not that proven!

If you analyse coffee then, in keeping with its berry origin, you find a host of vitamins and minerals along with the micronutrients, and although most exist in trace amounts in your average cup of Joe, both magnesium and potassium are present in significant amounts. All of which means; when you kick back that nice strong Americano, avoiding the calories of other versions, and not getting the third less caffeine delivered by an espresso cupful, you can be happy that your pre-workout boost is doing its own little bit to help you recover too.

Finally ever wondered why coffee is called Americano or a cup of Joe - both names come from American Soldiers or GI Joes, who would dilute their espresso by adding hot water.

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*** 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!

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*** Recipe - Coffee Chicken Breasts ***
By Big Les, MuscleTalk Moderator

** Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
700ml water
100g cup strong coffee (instant coffee works fine)
50g cup rock salt
50g cup brown sugar
1 lemon cut into slices
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp coriander seeds

** Method
Bring the water to a boil and pour into a bowl. Add salt and sugar and stir until dissolved. Add coffee, lemon slices, peppercorns, mustard and coriander seeds. Pour into a shallow baking dish or resealable bag. Add chicken breasts, making sure they are covered in the 'brine'. Refrigerate for about 2 hours. Preheat grill. Remove chicken breasts from brine and place on hot grill. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until done.

*An alternative method that really gives a wicked strong flavour is to boil the chicken breasts in the 'brine' - you will need to add water to cover the chicken. Different size chicken breasts take different times to cook, mine took 10 minutes but yours could take longer (and that was from when the water was bubbling strongly on the boil).

*Always check your chicken is cooked properly!

More great bodybuilding recipes can be found in the eBooks 'Muscle Menus', 'Muscle Menus 2', 'Muscle Menus Vegetarian' and Muscle Menus Shakes, Bars and Smoothies

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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