| Big Caffeine and Sports/Exercise Performance Review |
 The International Society of Sports Nutrition has released their conclusions (position statement) regarding caffeine's effects on various parameters as well as dosage forms and hydration, etc. The paper also addresses a very important question…what if I'm already habituated to caffeine? In other words, what good is caffeine for exercise if I'm already a junkie? |
| Handy Hand Training Advice |
| You know that all muscle groups have corresponding antagonist groups. The muscles of grip are no exception. If you do grip training, and you should, you may be spending a lot of time training grip but no time training the opposite which is extending or opening the hand. Against resistance, of course. It couldn't be easier to do and it will save you from injury and pain down the line. This video shows GUS's own Anuj doing a simple hand extensions using a large office rubber band.
Brocolli or asparugus elastics are perfect for this exercise. I know you eat your brocolli and asparagus so save up the elastics and use them. When you need more resistance ad another band. But thick rubber band will do. Don't train this to set records and take it easy and slow. You can overdo it very easily and you may not know it till you hurt. Do less than you think is necessary. Look part two of Joe Weir's Gripper Guide coming soon. He will be mentioning more about hand extensions in that post along with more technically grounded heavy gripper information. For more advice on this subject, as always, visit the forum. |
| Wait a minute…don't like asparagus? |
Lot's of people always steam or even boil their asparagus. And most of their vegetables, in fact. When you boil or steam asparagus it tends to leach away the goodness and leave the bitterness. By the time the asparagus is tender enough you've killed it's flavor. The solution is to roast it.
 Preheat the oven to 325 and up to 350 degrees. Wash your asparagus and dry thoroughly. Place asparagus in a single layer in a baking sheet or glass casserole dish. Whatever is big enough. Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil and sea salt. Place in the oven and roast for about 10 minutes checking for tenderness. You can stir/rearrange the asparagus halfway throught to encourage even cooking and a nice coating with the oil and salt. When the asparagus is tender to your liking you're good to go. The other advantage to roasting, besides the superior taste in general is that you can cook it as tender as you like and it will not get bitter but instead will develop deeper flavor and a touch of sweetness. But remember…anything can be overdone. Don't torture the stuff! Some sesame seeds sprinkled on in the last few minutes of cooking add a great touch. Or, instead of using olive oil use toasted sesame oil in addition to sesame seeds at the end if you like. This is my favorite. Give roasted beets a try as well. Use butter instead of olive oil. If all you've ever had are those terrible pickled beets like Mom use to serve for some unkown reason you may be in for a surprise. Remember to never peal raw beets! The juices will run and stain everything. Roast them in the skin and it will rub off easily with a good paper towel. If you've got some cooking tips or recipes maybe you'll share them with us. |
| Snatch Grip Deads, Anderson Squats, and More |
| Visit our exercise section for great articles on exercise technique, usage, safety, and more.
Lot's more to come and if you need the low-down on a particular movement let us know. We will write it up special ASAP just for you. Learn to expect more from GUS. No, don't just expect it, ask for it! |
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