Review: Con-Crét Snake Fruit

Creatine is a staple in most lifters daily supplements. Quite frankly, I have tried quite a few, and I honestly have enjoyed most all of them that I have used. But by far my favorite is one that I have only recently started using. Con-Crét is a brand most in the fitness world have heard of. I even heard about it before I got into shape myself. The package is kind of appealing. I mean, it does look like a caution sign. But Con-Crét really separates itself from the rest besides the packaging. Most creatine supplements use creatine monohydrate, most that I have used contain this form of creatine. But Con-Crét uses creatine HCL.

I wont go into the difference and advantages over one form of creatine compared to the next for the simple fact that I don't have that kind of time, and I am not an expert on creatine. I put into my body what I feel gets me the best results and doesn't taste like crap.

With Con-Crét Snake Fruit, I felt absolute zero bloating, while still getting a pretty good pump. The pump could be better, but it also depends on what I'm doing. I also noticed being able to go much higher with my reps, or depending on what I was working, being able to go much heavier. My first leg day using Con-Crét I was able to go from 465 lbs leg presses up to 528 lbs let presses. I also noticed substantial strength and improvement in my deadlifts. Unlike the creatine I've used in the past, I didn't retain water on the days that I used Con-Crét either. This is normally a side effect that I notice quite a bit when using creatine monohydrate. Most of all though, the taste is out of this world. I am big on my liquid supplements tasting good or at least decent. Snake Fruit has a great taste, and it even tastes good when stacking it with Beta-Crét Pineapple.

This will be my creatine of choice moving forward. While I will still use other creatines, Con-Crét will be the first I reach for. Price wise it is a bit more expensive than Monohydrates, but if you are looking to try something different, I would give this a go. Plus you can often find it on a good sale over at bodybuilding.com

Don't use the Holidays as an Excuse

We are in the middle of the holiday season, with the biggest of the holidays just a couple days away. It's during this time of the year that people really let their lifestyles relax. People naturally want to pig out and make unhealthy choices during this time of year. We pack ourselves full of food for Thanksgiving, load up on sweets and food for Christmas and pretty much live sedentary lives the last 2 months of the year because we want to use the holidays as an excuse. Well Stop!

 

Using the holiday season as an excuse to not eat right and not workout is like saying you don't have time to eat right and exercise. It's just an excuse. It's ok to indulge a little during the holidays, but at the same time you need to be conscious of the decisions you are making. You don't need to eat so much that you have a food baby by the end of the day!

 

Food is not the Enemy

When it comes to changing your lifestyle, it's easy to fall into the wrong way of thinking. Most of us that are switching our lifestyles are making huge changes in our diets. I know I sure did. The biggest mental issue to get over when this change starts, is how we look at food. Quite frankly this mental issue can stick around through your entire journey, even after you have done a complete transformation.

Think about it. You spend your time counting calories now. You start thinking if you consume less calories you will lose weight faster and get fit quicker. You begin to think of food as the enemy, you even become scared of food. Food is the single most important thing in your transformation! Food is what fuels your basic life functions. The human body needs 1200 calories a day to sustain healthy functions. To people that are scared of food, that seems like a lot. That 1200 goes really fast throughout the day. You walk around the office, walk down the stairs, workout, and so on. This 1200 burns up fast! This 1200 is the absolute minimum! You need more than that.

Most active woman can count on a good 1800 calories a day and be pretty well off calorie wise. But if you are a woman and are majorly active, well you are going to need to ramp that up a bit more. Take into account that during a 1 hour workout, you are probably burning anywhere between 500 - 800 calories depending on intensity. Now you have sunk back below that 1200, and your body wont fully recover. Food is your fuel, food will actually help promote weight loss with proper nutrition. Want to build muscle? Get some hot sexy abs? You have to eat.

But it's not just the calories. Sure you can get 1800 calories or so from just 1 meal of crap. It's the quality of calories. You need to consume good healthy foods. This means lean meats, vegetables, fruits, grains, healthy fats, complex carbs. Don't cheat yourself with garbage, because you will never get where you want to be. I can easily go into a restaurant and order a meal and get 3000 calories in that one meal. I know, I have done it before. And all those calories are normally absolute garbage. Be smart, eat for your goals, don't starve yourself. If your nutrition is in place, you will reach your goals. Your journey starts in the kitchen, and ends in the gym!

The Big Announcement!

Over this past weekend, I was able to finish off two really big things to bring into my personal training. Affective immediately, my clients can purchase BioFreeze and KTTape directly from me. Now supplies may take some time for me to build up some inventory, but this is a huge deal for me.

If you are not familiar with BioFreeze, well then where have you been? BioFreeze is one of the best pain relief gels that I have ever used. In fact, I've been using BioFreeze for years! I started using this amazing product back in 2010 when I was being treated for my back injury. Since then I haven't looked back or used anything else. BioFreeze is my miracle therapy for all my muscle and joint pain.

KTTape is something you may have actually seen if you watched the Olympic games. Otherwise known as Kinesio-Tape, this amazing sports support works wonders for everything. I started using it just to try it, and fell in love with it instantly. I have been using it for my foot pain, and I can't imagine going back to traditional taping. For more info on KTTape, View the video below.

Eat for the Future, not the Past

Ok, that might sound kind of strange, I admit. But when it comes to your daily eating, often times people eat incorrectly. Most people that are trying to drop weight eat very light all day, then after they workout they have a large meal. This is entirely wrong! Sometimes this is done as a reward to ones self. The thinking is "I worked really hard, I deserve this" The other thought is just replenishment of the body. Here is the deal. You should be eating based on what you will be doing, not for what you have already done. If I am going to workout in the AM, I am going to eat a larger breakfast because I am not going to be sedentary in the next few hours. I am going to be active and I need that energy from my meal. If I am working out at night, then I am going to eat a regular breakfast and lunch, and make my dinner larger to fuel for my workout. Again, I need this energy. Even though your metabolism is up after a workout, this does not mean it's going to burn a bunch of calories that you are just putting in it.

Now this pertains mostly to dropping fat, there are exceptions to every rule. But do you really want to workout at night, eat a ton of food and be inactive for 8 hours? I smell a good portion of weight gain right there. There is nothing wrong with eating after a workout, just be smart about it. Fuel your body before your workout, not afterwards.

Social Fitness

In today's society of social media, we tell the world everything we do. This is also the case when it comes to our workouts. You wake up in the morning and post to Facebook or Twitter "Going to the gym" or "Getting ready to do some P90X Plyo". Of course people get a bit annoyed at this, but what if I told you, that this action could make or break your fitness goals?

Think about it. You might not have a workout partner for the gym, or in fact you workout primarily from home. It is up to you to make sure you do your workouts and no one else. However, if you are posting every day when you do a workout, then you are holding yourself accountable. Accountablity is important during fitness after you have set your goals. Without accountability, you would workout maybe a week and then just stop. When you post online that you are going to workout, and you post this every day, people will notice when you don't post about it. These people that notice will write on your wall or tweet you and ask if you worked out, or say "What, no workout today?".

But checking in is also as effective if you use Foursquare or Facebook Places. Checking in to your gym or fitness center and publicizing this on your Facebook and Twitter timeline holds you to the same accountability. All this may seem annoying, but you would be surprised at how many people care and want to see you succeed. Just don't share when you are pooping, ok?

Clothes make the difference

When it comes to your journey, there are going to be several factors that your success depends on. But most of all it's going to be your overall feel. When it comes down to it, your workout clothes contribute to that overall feel. Now at first you will probably fall victim to the same thing that many do, and that is putting on the sweats and workout out. The thinking process with this? If I sweat more, I'm going to lose more weight and reach my goal faster! Yes, you will sweat more, but the weight you are going to lose is going to be water weight, and more of it than normal. You are also going to find yourself more fatigued that you normally would have if you had just worn normal workout clothes. Working out with high intensity and in layers of sweats can also be damaging to your body. The last thing you want to do while working out is over heat and pass out.

When working out, where some nice light clothing that makes you feel good. Feeling good is part of this journey, though it can get expensive. When you buy workout clothes specifically for workouts, we tend to workout more. We also tend to buy things that fit better to show off what we are working towards. Now you don't need to go off and spend a ton of money either. Sure, I love UnderArmor as much as the next person, but unless you are made of money, you aren't going to be able to afford buying 6 days worth of UnderArmor workout clothes. Look at the options at Target and Walmart. Target has a great collection with Championship gear, which is primarily what I have. It is colorful, fits great and is made with the quick-dry technology. Quick-dry basically just means, it's going to suck the sweat off your body, and then dry quickly, so you wont always be soggy. Walmart carries the Starter brand workout clothes and again comes in bright colors and comes in quick-dry. Of the two, the Starter wear is the cheapest, but still made with high quality materials.

Just remember, this is your transformation, your journey, you want to look and feel good, and good workout clothes that fit will do that. If you wear baggy clothes, you aren't going to feel as good as you could. When you are wearing workout clothes and even regular clothing that fits well and right, you will feel amazing and your attitude and confidence will show.

Changing it up!

Wow, so it has been a long time since I have posted. I am truly sorry for that. This year has been super crazy in both personal and my professional life. But lets get on with it!

So I am changing things up from how I normally do things. I finished P90X2, and sadly through the whole process I suffered from injuries. Most these injuries probably could have been avoided if I would have just listened to my body. Since then, I have been plagued with shoulder injuries, muscle issues and just about everything else it seems like. My diet has been suffering and it's now time to get everything back in check. So I am switching trainers! I am also doing more on just my own. I have decided to put the beachbody workouts on hold for a while and started Bob Harpers workouts. So far it has been a nice change in pace. I feel like I'm getting a great workout, and I am craving the right kinds of foods. On my own, I am doing more weight lifting with dumbbells and trying to build muscle and cut fat. Where as before I was focused on just dropping weight. I am still wanting to get down to 185 LBS, so my skin can get to a maximum shrinkage, but I will have to give that some time.

My main hope is to get my diet back where it needs to be. Sadly, with P90X2, my diet was totally screwed up. I was craving horrible foods and I caved. I wish I could say the weight I gained with P90X2 was all muscle, but it was mostly fat. I gained 12 LBS of fat doing P90X2. The program I know worked for some, but I don't feel that I was destined to workout with Tony Horton. I am a cardio guy, and I like weights mixed into my cardio. There was no Cardio in X2 and that is why it failed me. Resistance alone gives me bad cravings, while cardio makes me want to eat clean.

Week 2, Phase 2, P90X2!

The second week of Phase 2 of P90X2 has already come and gone and I have to say Phase 2 is really killing me. This phases main target is strength, which I have little of. I have never had much in terms of upper body strength at all. Sure I have body slammed 400 LBS men before in my wrestling career, but that is totally different. So far out of these new workouts X2 Shoulders and Arms is my favorite. I think it's because it focuses a lot on 2 of my weak points. One being my Upper Body strength, two being balance.

In phase 2, I still get my Plyocide and X2 Yoga, so that has been the only routine thing so far this round. Sadly, I have to admit, I've been skipping Yoga. Yes, I know, bad Corey. I am looking to pick it up, but on a friday where I am just mentally drained from work, Yoga is normally just pushed off. The worst part is I actually enjoy the Yoga part of this program. This week I will have to push past the mental fatigue and do it, Maybe the real secret is making Yoga happen on Wednesday when I should be resting or doing Recovery and Mobility, then use my friday for an actual rest day. Hmm, something to ponder.

I would have to say my biggest gripe about P90X2 is the lack of high intensity cardio. Yes my heart gets pumping, but I have gone though a year of a lot of high intensity cardio and I think my body needs it. The other downer for me is watching myself gain weight. I have never been a lifter of weights, and I again, mostly have done RevAbs and Insanity programs. So gaining weight from these strength exercises really puts my mind in a bad spot, especially since I know I still have a good 30 LBS to lose. Hopefully I will be able to get over this mental block of my weight, and really push ahead with this program. I am also thinking that after I finish P90X2 that it may finally be time to take some time off from working out every day, and focus on letting my body recover. We shall see.

Working harder, getting stronger

It's week 3 of P90X2 already and I am noticing a lot of changes. Of course week 1 was rough, it was a new workout, I had done very few of the moves before and it was also a bit intimidating. Week 2 I found myself going longer into the workouts, but still not getting quite the burn I was hoping for. Though I did notice many great improvements on each workout. But today I started week 3, and let me tell you, I am noticing that I am able to push much much harder. Today I got the burn I have been looking for. I actually pushed myself so hard in X2 Core today, that for the first time in a long time, I felt my abs cramp up on me. It's such a good feeling.

Also being in week 3, I know that I only have 2 weeks before my recovery week, then onto phase 2 of the program. Again, I am a bit intimidated. Phase 2 is Strength, and that is something I have always been lacking in. My hope is that by week 2 of phase 2 I will be able to get a good burn going. Luckily I will have 2 workouts carry over into my strength phase and that is Plyocide and X2 Yoga. So these I should be able to keep up with and show amazing improvement on throughout the next phase, especially X2 Yoga.

Well, it's back to the grind for me. I'll keep you posted on what's going on.

First week of X2 down!

I made it through the first week of P90X2! The first week of any program really is a barometer of things that need to happen. Going into X2, I knew a few things I would have to work on just from looking at the Calendar. Of course I have no balance, so I knew that X2 Yoga and X2 Balance were going to be big issues. Plyocide which I was worried about, actually turned out to be not so bad. The biggest thing that I had to figure out though, was modifications of moves. Because of my back and my tailbone, there are a lot of exercises that I have to figure out different ways to get the same results. Some things require me to be in a sitting position which depending on the angle, my tailbone and low back just can't support. Some of those moves I can use a towel, though next week I'm going to see if a donut works better.

I'm also having to switch things up because of my low ceiling. I obviously don't want to jump and smack my head on my lights or ceiling fan. Over all though, I felt pretty good about the first week. I do have things to work on, and over the next 3 weeks, I should improve greatly. After 90 days I will probably end up doing a second round of P90X2. But I also have my eyes on another program that may help out a lot with my balance and joints!

The Journey into X2!

While one door closes, another one opens. This of course to me is about working out though. It was the end of November 2011 when I jumped into Insanity the Asylum, that of course was right after Insanity. During the month of December I completed a full program. Granted Asylum is only 30 days long, but going non-stop for 30 days is a lot harder than most think. On top of that, I started having serious back pain around the last week and a half. But I survived it and with enough time to rest before taking on my next big program...

It's already January 3rd in 2012 and I am 2 days into P90X2. I made a promise to myself to start it at the beginning of the year and make it my program for 2012. Like all the programs I have done over this last year, it is difficult starting out. I can actually hang fairly well, but let me tell you, I am sore! I opted for P90X2 for a few reasons. I wanted to be among the first to do the program while others where doing the program, and I really wanted something to challenge me in a different way. I love Insanity and the Insanity programs, and I can't wait for more. But I fell my cardio is pretty decent at this time. What I really wanted to work on was one of my weakest areas, and that is strength. I knew if any program would help me in strength, it would be a P90X program. So here I am, 2 days in, and my body is screaming at me. Muscles sore and aching, I just want to smear icy hot all over my body at this point. But I feel great too. I am pushing myself in a whole different way. But we should see how I survive this week. Tomorrow will be my first recovery day, and on friday I will be doing yoga for the first time since I was in high school. Stay tuned for what the journey holds for me....