Teammates, I’m counting down to AKO’s Warrior Workout. Are you ready for the most intense workout routine ever realized by the Team? Publication date: Monday, 16 August 2010 at the daily.workout. And while you’re waiting, “Maxim*ize Your Fitness“!  

HOOYAH! My SEAL buddy and CHARLIE MIKE regular Mike Ryan is open for business! If you’re intense about extreme sports and the nutritional choices that support your athleticism, you need to check out Intensity Nutrition and follow him on Twitter @innutrition.  

Are you training for a triathlon or thinking about running a marathon? Would you like advice from a former SEAL and collegiate runner? Then follow Tim Grizzell, aka Brotha Al, on Facebook.

Stay Fired UP Teammates!

CHARLIE MIKE — ALDEN

Teammates, Mike Ryan, CEO of Intensity Nutrition, is weighing in on creatine. You can post follow-up questions here or on twitter @InNutrition. Here’s a link to Part I, which ran last week on CHARLIE MIKE. Thanks Mike! AMM

“Every body is different, and everyone trains for different purposes and at different intensities. So here is what I recommend:  start with a relatively small amount, monitor the timing of your supplementation and the effects during training, and revise your intake accordingly.   It’s that simple. 

I’ll admit, several years ago I had some less than positive experiences with creatine.  My greatest complaint was that creatine seemed to adversely affect my endurance workouts.  My muscles were just getting too ‘pumped” and occasionally my legs felt ‘heavy’.  Having said that, I was gaining lean muscle, recovering better, and getting stronger.  Rather than modifying my approach, I just stopped taking creatine altogether.  Stupid move. Later, as I focused less on endurance and more on strength and speed training, I revisited creatine and started to experiment with both the amount and timing of my supplementation.  By modifying my intake, I was able to experience the benefits of creatine without compromising performance in other training areas.  The results have been terrific. 

As with other supplements, creatine augments my normal nutritional routine.  Because I get some creatine from other protein sources throughout the day, I skip the ‘loading phase.” I have found that my optimal dose is 2.5g daily taken about 30 minutes before training.  As always, I ensure that I am optimally hydrated and consume some good carbohydrates prior to any training session.       

Considering the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the ergogenic benefits of creatine, I believe it merits serious consideration as part of your overall nutritional and supplementation strategy.”

Teammates, Intensity Nutrition CEO Mike Ryanis here to answer all your questions about creatine.  He knows his stuff! Thanks Mike. AMM

What’s the deal with Creatine?

I can’t tell you how many questions I get regarding the safety and efficacy of Creatine.  Hopefully this quick blog will help you understand some of the truths and misconceptions about Creatine – and my take on the matter. 

What is Creatine? 

Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that is naturally produced in the human body.  Creatine assists in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a major source of energy for the muscles.  It’s found in many foods, particularly animal protein.  However, many animal sources of protein contain high amounts of cholesterol and fat. For example, one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of raw round steak contains only four grams of creatine, but 119 grams of fat. Porterhouse steak has a bit less creatine, but 325 grams of fat per kilo! 

Is Creatine safe? 

Creatine is unquestionably one of the most scrutinized supplements on the market – over 200 studies have examined the effects of creatine on athletic performance. After years of analysis, current consensus within the sports nutrition community confirms the effectiveness and safetyof creatine. According the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition: “In our view, the most effective nutritional supplement available to athletes to increase high intensity exercisecapacity and muscle mass during training is creatine monohydrate.” (Kreider et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2010, 7:7)  The position paper goes on to state; “There is no compelling scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals.”

How much should I take?  

The average person uses about 2 grams of creatine per day just to maintain normal energy metabolism. (This is more than twice the amount of creatine found in the average person’s diet.)  According to the JISSN, the quickest method of increasing muscle creatine stores appears to be to consume ~0.3 grams/kg/day of creatine monohydrate for at least 3 days followed by 3-5 g/d thereafter to maintain elevated stores. Ingesting smaller amounts of creatine monohydrate (e.g., 2-3 g/d) will increase muscle creatine stores over a 3-4 week period; however, the performance effects of this method of supplementation are less supported. 

Part II: My Recommendations

Time for an update on CM SEAL Team blogger LCDR Mike Ryan. According to Mike, “I have been on constant paramedic shifts coupled with the Intensity launch.” The good news – he’ll be blogging soon and he’ll get something good out to us. Here’s an excerpt from his first blog:

“Cowards never got started and the weak died along the way. Truer words were never spoken. 

The first time I read this quote I was standing at parade-rest waiting to begin my first day of SEAL training. The words were carved into a wooden bench that stood just inside the doors of the Naval Special Warfare Center. At my feet, just in front of the bench, stood a perfect line of about 30 helmets – the last remnants of students who had reached their mental and physical limits and quit training. Predictably, my initial reaction was a mix of skepticism and sarcasm. “Yeah” I thought, “that’s a little bit over-the-top.” About twenty minutes later I realized my worst nightmare had just begun. 

Throughout training, and later as a SEAL operator and BUD/S’s instructor, I came to appreciate the full meaning of the quote. “Cowards never got started…” for me those words came to symbolize the never-ending process of self-improvement. Ultimately, change requires courage. “…And the weak died along the way.” A not-so-subtle reminder that change also requires strength. 

If you reading this blog and you’re an avid fan of the Perfect Pushup (like me) I have to assume two things; First, you’re not a coward or a quitter. Second, you’ve made the commitment to improve strength and performance. You’re one of us. You’re on the team. So I’ll let you in on Secret Weapon #1 – nutrition.”

———————————————————————————————————–

Michael Ryan is the President and CEO of Intensity NutritionLLC. Founded by former Navy SEALs, Intensity develops super-premium sports supplements for professional, semi-professional, tactical, and functional athletes. Stay tuned for the launch this summer!

Teammates, CM SEAL Team blogger Mike Ryan is back with an update of his Labor Day classic “Don’t Fall Off the Wagon“. What’s more dangerous than a Labor Day bar-b-que? A Super Bowl Buffet! Fortunately, there’s still time to prepare your Dive Plan. How about throwing some Perfect Pushups in front of the TV? Challenge your friends to push out twenty perfect pushups each time your team scores a touchdown. Just remember, you’ll be pushing ‘em out too! AMM

The goal: To navigate a Super Bowl party successfully.

Keep in mind that your body, to feel satisfied and full, needs four things:
Volume * Fat * Fiber * Protein. So my prescription for preparing for a Super Bowl party is simple. You want to arrive feeling full! BEFORE you leave, drink tons of water. Prepare a big dark green leafy salad or a plate of at least 2 cups of grilled/steamed vegetables like broccoli or spinach. Throw 3 oz of turkey on top and use a good quality salad dressing made with olive oil. That’s the formula:
1. Water
2. Fat
3. Vegetables
4. Protein

Drink as much water as you can — almost, but not, to the point of feeling sick. Are you drinking half your body weight in ounces of water daily? For the really hardcore, swallow a tablespoon of high quality olive oil on your way out the door to get a sensation of saity.

When you get to the party, go crazy eating vegetables. Make sure that protein is part of everything you eat. Let’s face it, an all day celebration with a sporting event as its centerpiece (like the Super Bowl) is a dangerous time if you are trying to stick to a nutrition plan. Just one poor meal can erase an entire week of productive training. Let me put this into perspective. A typical weekend get-together usually consists of a bar-b-que with an assortment of appetizers and cocktails. We’re talking, for most people, a minimum of 1,500 calories with 81 grams of fat. In just one meal! It will take you 1.5-2.0 hours of moderate to intense exercise to burn off that many calories. This assumes that there was no net gain in your net caloric intake over the previous week. Bottom line, it’s not worth it.

Here’s a better meal. 1.5 chicken breasts, 20 grilled asparagus, ½ avocado, one whole tomato, and about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Put the oil in a flat dish and dip coat veggies first – meat last. Some of it will burn off on the grill. Salt, pepper, and season everything to taste or use Santa Maria Grill seasoning on everything! This meal only sets you back about 570 calories in an almost perfect 40:30:30 PRO, CHO, FAT ratio. Just remember, everything else you eat adds to the caloric values above – so watch out!

Here are some other tips to keep you on the right track.

Avoid all dips – the better they look and taste, the faster you should run. Buffets up the ante! Everyone’s favorite — the traditional 7-layer dip weighs in at a hefty 3,696 calories!

Avoid mixed drinks – this is a killer. Mixers can be as much as 300 calories of sugar per cocktail. Aim for wine, soda water mixers, or shots. Try to keep slamming water.

Chuck the buns. You can save almost 150 calories of useless carbs by chucking the white bread.

One final tip.

Plan for a brutal training session at 0600 the morning after your festivities. (When I say brutal, I mean 1 hour of “dry-heave difficult”: the worst workout ever.) You have two choices – a) eat anything you want and throw up what’s left 30 min into your workout or b) eat my meal, sleep in, and blow off that workout!

Don’t quit. Stay focused. Remember, you only get one go-around. Live with Intensity.

Mike Ryan
—————————————————————
Michael Ryan is the President and CEO of Intensity Nutrition LLC. Founded by former Navy SEALs, Intensity develops super-premium sports supplements for professional, semi-professional, tactical, and functional athletes. Intensity goes live in Feburary 2010: stay tuned! Mike and Alden met during “running remediation” at Basic Underwater SEAL (BUDs/s) training. Special thanks to BMC Pardue for the introduction.

Teammates, fighting Mother Nature is difficult. Lots of younger athletes want to gain size – particularly for sports. Unfortunately, most of these athletes are fighting nature. Men and women in their early to late teens typically experience growth spurts. Loosely translated, they grow taller – not bigger. Your body grows at its own pace. Messing with your natural metabolism almost always does more harm in the long run.

Still want to gain weight? If you are interested in gaining muscle mass try the following. First, monitor your caloric intake. Slowly increase your caloric intake until you start to gain more fat than muscle. Believe me you will notice when this happens. Eat good amounts of protein, fat from natural oils, and nuts and seeds. Carbohydrates should come from fresh fruit and veggies. Try to avoid processed foods and white flour products. If you increase your calories, eat more lean protein and good fat. Eat a minimum of six meals per day.

Second, change your workout routine. Watch the number of repetitions and the amount of cardio you do. High reps and lots of cardio can actually decrease your ability to gain muscle mass. Lift heavy, with good form, and get lots of rest. Stick with this for a while and modify as necessary. You will see some size increments but be patient.

Remember, gaining weight is oftentimes harder than losing weight. Hope this helps you reach your goals. If you have any questions, post a comment and I will get back to you.

Mike Ryan
—————————————————————
Michael Ryan is the President and CEO of Intensity Nutrition LLC. Founded by former Navy SEALs, Intensity develops super-premium sports supplements for professional, semi-professional, tactical, and functional athletes. Intensity will launch in 2009 and welcomes any recommendations for product development. Mike and Alden met during “running remediation” at Basic Underwater SEAL (BUDs/s) training. Special thanks to BMC Pardue for the introduction.

Great comments Charlie Mikers! A couple of generic comments before I address specific issues. First, this is part 1 of a two part post. Second, most of the comments regarding weight gain were posed by younger athletes (teens) that were having a difficult time trying to gain weight – so keep that in perspective. Finally, nothing has ever, or will ever, replace proper nutrition. If you want to re-read the questions, check out the comments to my Part 1 post.

Joe G.: Everyone has a six pack – you just can’t always see it. Typically, for men, your abs start to show when your body fat is under 12% – better around 10%. For women it is a little more. To put this in perspective, the male model for the perfect push up is under 7% body fat. The best way to measure body fat is hydrostatic testing – immersion in a tank. Electronic impedance testing and calipers will also give you a baseline BF measurement.

Paul: I agree. It is absolutely possible to lose fat and gain muscle. People do it all the time. However, it can be very difficult for a novice to dial in their nutrition to the point where they maximize muscle gain without gaining excessive fat as well. As you pointed out, it is all about discipline with nutrition. Check out the second part of my post.

Jim: As Paul points out, you can gain muscle and be extra lean – but you have to watch your nutrition religiously. It also takes longer to build a pound of lean muscle mass that it does to pack on 1 lb of fat. So the gains take a bit longer to achieve. Finally, supplements aren’t inherently bad – as a matter of fact, they can be immensely helpful in achieving your fitness objectives. If used correctly and in the context of proper overall nutrition they are great. Much more on this later.

Mike Ryan

CM SEAL Team blogger: Mike Ryan.

There have been some recent questions from those trying to gain weight. I’m here to share with the Perfect community some of my thoughts on the matter.

1. Be Careful What You Wish For: Gaining weight is not a typical goal in the fitness community. In general, those who wish to gain weight do so for two reasons

• to gain mass for sport specific purposes (football linemen)
• to build mass for bodybuilding.

If either of the above are your goals, there is a fairly reliable formula; eat everything that moves. Seriously. At a certain level calories are calories- and you need calories and protein to build muscle mass. But fat comes with those extra calories as well.

2. You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: When athletes try to gain weight, they typically consume vast amounts of calories during a ‘bulking phase”. They do this so that they have the baseline caloric intake to offset the calories burned by exercise. But be careful. Most of these athletes ‘cut weight’ after they have reached a certain goal. Fighters, particularly those jumping up in a weight class, are famous for doing this. Many of the Mr. Olympia candidates do this as well. Have you ever seen a bodybuilder during a “bulking phase?” They look like a bowling ball with eyes. Totally unrecognizable from the ripped look they have during competition. Bottom line, if you bulk up, at some point you need to come down. If your goal is a having perfect 6-pack abs you don’t want to gain weight – you want to lose weight. As a guideline, your body fat has to be under 10% to show your ab muscles.

Part 2:
• Fighting Mother Nature is difficult
• Still want to gain weight?

Gaining weight is oftentimes harder than losing weight. Hope this helps you reach your goals. If you have any questions, post a comment and I will get back to you.

Mike Ryan
—————————————————————
Michael Ryan is the President and CEO of Intensity Nutrition LLC. Founded by former Navy SEALs, Intensity develops super-premium sports supplements for professional, semi-professional, tactical, and functional athletes. Intensity will launch in 2009 and welcomes any recommendations for product development. Mike and Alden met during “running remediation” at Basic Underwater SEAL (BUDs/s) training. Special thanks to BMC Pardue for the introduction.

CM SEAL Team blogger Mike Ryan: Teammates, this Labor Day: Don’t Fall off the Wagon! Have you ever thought about the perfect holiday meal? Holidays are a dangerous time if you are trying to stick to a nutrition plan. Just one poor meal can erase an entire week of productive training. Let me put this into perspective. A typical Labor Day party usually consists of a bar-b-que with an assortment of appetizers and cocktails. Let’s say you have a traditional meal of: 6 oz. rib eye (or cheeseburger with bun), 2 ears corn, ½ cup guacamole (8 tablespoons), 2 oz tortilla chips, salad (with unknown dressing) 3 Sam Adams beers, and one 2” brownie (or cookie).

To some of you this may seem like a lot, but over 3-4 hours it seems pretty reasonable. Having said that, you just consumed a minimum of 1,500 calories with 81 grams of fat. In just one meal! I bet most of you are saying “well I wouldn’t eat a brownie – or that much guacamole.” Yeah right. For most people, this meal would take 1.5-2.0 hours of moderate to intense exercise to burn off. This assumes that there was no net gain in your net caloric intake over the previous week. Bottom line, it’s not worth it.

Here’s a better meal. 1.5 chicken breasts, 20 grilled asparagus, ½ avocado, one whole tomato, and about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Put the oil in a flat dish and dip coat veggies first – meat last. Some of it will burn off on the grill. Salt, pepper, and season everything to taste or use Santa Maria Grill seasoning on everything! This meal only sets you back about 570 calories in an almost perfect 40:30:30 PRO, CHO, FAT ratio. Just remember, everything else you eat adds to the caloric values above – so watch out!

Here are some other tips to keep you on the right track.

Avoid all dips – the better they look and taste, the faster you should run.

Eat a moderate/large snack of high fiber veggies before you go to the party. This is key. You should plan on being almost full when you arrive.

Guzzle water – as soon as you arrive – slam 12oz of water and stay on that track every hour or so.

Avoid mixed drinks – this is a killer. Mixers can be as much as 300 calories of sugar per cocktail. Aim for wine, soda water mixers, or shots.

Chuck the buns. You can save almost 150 calories of useless carbs by chucking the white bread.

One final tip.

Plan for a brutal training session at 0600 the morning after your festivities. (When I say brutal, I mean 1 hour of “dry-heave difficult”: the worst workout ever.) You have two choices – a) eat anything you want and throw up what’s left 30 min into your workout or b) eat my meal, sleep in, and blow off that workout!

Don’t quit. Stay focused. Remember, you only get one go-around. Live with Intensity.

Mike Ryan
—————————————————————
Michael Ryan is the President and CEO of Intensity Nutrition LLC. Founded by former Navy SEALs, Intensity develops super-premium sports supplements for professional, semi-professional, tactical, and functional athletes. Intensity will launch early summer ’09 and welcomes any recommendations for product development. Mike and Alden met during “running remediation” at Basic Underwater SEAL (BUDs/s) training. Special thanks to BMC Pardue for the introduction.

Marcus Colburn
1ST of all, of course, The Green Room: A Mother’s Truth by Liliane Colburn (my mom!). STRANGER THAN FICTION! Stephen King even wrote a review at Barnes & Noble about how it would be one of his classic tales if it wasn’t true. All about some Navy SEAL & where he got his mojo from: www.mojofrog.com. You can get it there! But of course I’m a little biased!
2nd The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Unbelievably easy book to follow + lots of pictures: www.brucelee.com or www.jeetkunedo.com.

Alden Mills
Non-fiction: Lone Survivor – by Marcus Luttrell – the best Spec-ops (let alone SEAL) survival mission I’ve ever heard about.
Fiction: The Increment – by David Ignatius – a fantastic and plausible fiction story regarding Iran’s nuke program and a joint CIA/MI6-SIS covert op to penetrate it. Written by a journalist who has covered these agencies and the Middle East – very knowledgeable writer (also wrote Body of Lies which was made into a movie last year).

Tim Grizzell
Non-fiction – STRIDES: Running through History with an Unlikely Athlete by Benjamin Cheever – Great book about the history running and funny too!
Fiction – Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss – I read it to my children at least once a month if not more. Trust me — it is not just a children’s book!

Tom Rancich
Non-fiction: Commandos by Doug Waller — It was the biggest event of my life up to that moment, I was 10 years older than the class average, nervous etc etc, and then Captain Richards brings me into the office on Sunday and “Introduces me” to Doug and informs me that I am to make sure he gets what he needs and doesn’t get hurt—so I reply, “Sir, I have a few other things on my mind” to which Richards replies, “Yeah well now you have another, get the hell out of my office.” The biggest way that Doug affected my experience is that I have a near minute to minute chronicle of my Hellweek—-I absolutely recommend the book for someone wanting to be a SEAL and do so frequently—(Brave Men Dark Waters by Orr Kelly is the other must read IMHO). I will refer to myself as a former or retired SEAL depending on who I am talking to—I don’t worry about any risk—well, unless I am in a bar and well—lots of people want to see just how tough a SEAL is, which, frankly, I am not, without sig, M-4, cold steel and preferably aircraft over head.
Fiction: A book that most affected me was The Bridge of San Luis Ray by Thornton Wilder — how do we wind up at a place with another at a moment of importance?

Mike Ryan
My summer reading recommendation is Blood and Thunder – the epic story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West. From the author of Ghost Soldiers (Hampton Sides). A fantastic book. One of the most riveting historical fiction books I’ve read. Up there with the Killer Angels (by Michael Shaara). If you are even remotely interested in the formative years of American History or the American West – this will knock your socks off. A first hand account of Indian culture and the conquest of California.

Stew Smith
Non-fiction:
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell – Awesome. Best one to date for me.
SEAL TEAM ONE – by Dick Couch – my first SEAL book – loved it.

Fiction: Without Remorse by Tom Clancy – OK, not real – entertaining though.