NutraSweet Company brags about the second coming of aspartame: Neotame now taking over world markets
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) When the NutraSweet Company first began petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve aspartame as a food additive back in the early 1970s, it had every intention of conniving its way to success by whatever means possible. Today, after successfully getting aspartame approved and widely accepted around the world with flawed studies and behind-the-scenes manipulation, NutraSweet has once again done the same thing with a new chemical sweetener known as neotame, which is currently approved for use in food without even having to be labeled.

As we reported on recently, neotame was approved by the FDA back in 2002 without so much as a single conclusive, independent study proving its safety for human consumption. And yet the agency gave its full blessing not only to neotame’s approval for use in food, but also for its unlabeled use — as far as we know, not a single food product currently sold in the U.S. indicates that it contains neotame (http://www.naturalnews.com/034915_neotame_Monsanto_sweeteners.html).

Two years before the FDA approved neotame, the Monsanto Co. sold the NutraSweet Co. to J.W. Childs Equity Partners II, L.P., a private equity firm that also own the Sunny Delight Beverage Co. and Mattress Firm, among other companies. At the time of this purchase, NutraSweet issued a press release bragging about how neotame would drastically change the sweetener industry, even though it had not yet been approved for use.

Commenting on the company’s plans for neotame, Nick E. Rosa, a former senior vice president at Monsanto who was given the position of president and CEO of NutraSweet at the time the company transferred ownership to J.W. Childs, had this to say:

“The NutraSweet Company revolutionized the sweetener industry in 1981 with the introduction of aspartame, and we intend to do it again with neotame when we receive approval from various regulatory agencies around the world.”

Just as predicted, NutraSweet strong-armed FDA approval for neotame in the U.S. in 2002, and quickly expanded approval to at least 69 other countries in the following decade. But the company presumably still has a lot of work to do if it hopes to bring neotame to the same level as aspartame, which is sold in more than 100 countries and used in more than 5,000 consumers products used by 250 million people worldwide.

As detrimental as aspartame is to health, neotame is potentially far worse. Like aspartame, it is linked to severe neurotoxic and immunotoxic damage because it metabolizes into toxic formaldehyde and other toxic substances. And because it is unlabeled, the general public is unable to self-regulate consumption levels.

Whole Fraud: Exposing the myth of so-called ‘natural’ foods
by Ronnie Cummins

(NaturalNews) On Jan. 31, organic and natural foods giant Whole Foods Market (WFM) once again attacked 
http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com Organic Consumers Association, the nation’s leading watchdog on organic standards, as being too “hard-line” for insisting that retailers like WFM stop selling, or at least start labeling, billions of dollars worth of so-called “natural” foods in their stores – foods that are laced with unlabeled, hazardous genetically engineered (GE) ingredients.

WFM’s most recent attack on OCA predictably backfired, throwing gasoline on the fiery debate surrounding my previous essay “The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto.” http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm In that essay, written in January 2011, I criticized WFM and several other well-known organic companies for their foolish (now hopefully repudiated) stance of espousing “co-existence” with the USDA and Monsanto, in exchange for minimal federal regulation of genetically engineered crops.

In subsequent articles OCA has called for an end to “organic infighting” http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22499.cfm and for the organic industry, farmers, and consumers to join forces and pass laws or state ballot initiatives (like the current campaign in California) that would require mandatory labels on products containing genetically engineered ingredients, as well as to make it illegalhttp://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_24074.cfm to label or market GE-tainted foods as “natural” or “all natural.”

Anger is now running so high against Monsanto and the USDA, as well as anyone appearing to tolerate “co-existence” with either group, that rumors are fast spreading that Monsanto has bought out, or plans to buy out, WFM. That rumor is untrue. However, it has focused attention once again on the critical issue of food labeling. WFM, and all of us in the organic community, must put an end to labeling fraud in the “natural” products sector, by passing laws that will require brands and supermarkets to clearly label all genetically engineered ingredients on their products.

Growing awareness has created a strong organic movement

Millions of health-minded Americans, especially parents of young children, now understand that cheap, non-organic, genetically engineered, industrial food is hazardous. Not only does chemical- and energy-intensive factory farming destroy the environment, impoverish rural communities, exploit farm workers, inflict unnecessary cruelty on farm animals, and contaminate the water supply, but the end product itself is inevitably contaminated.

Routinely contained in nearly every bite or swallow of non-organic industrial food are genetically engineered ingredients, pesticides, antibiotics and other animal drug residues, pathogens, feces, hormone-disrupting chemicals, toxic sludge, slaughterhouse waste, chemical additives and preservatives, irradiation-derived radiolytic chemical by-products, and a host of other hazardous allergens and toxins.

If common sense weren’t enough, scientists warn us that a public health Doomsday Clock is ticking. Big Biotech and Big Ag are the root cause of 80 million cases of food poisoning every year in the US, as well as an epidemic of allergies, reproductive disorders, food-related cancers, heart attacks, and obesity. Within a decade, these diet- and environment-related diseases – heavily subsidized under our Big Pharma/chemical/genetically-engineered/factory farm system – will likely bankrupt Medicare and the entire U.S. health care system.

Likewise millions of green-minded consumers understand that industrial agriculture poses a terminal threat to the environment and climate stability. A highly conscious and passionate segment of the population is beginning to understand that converting to non-chemical, non-genetically engineered, energy-efficient, carbon-sequestering organic farming practices, and drastically reducing food miles by relocalizing the food chain, are essential preconditions for stabilizing our out-of-control climate and preparing our families and communities for future energy and resource shortages.

Millions of us – consumers, farmers, activists – now realize that unless we act quickly, global warming and climate chaos will soon severely disrupt industrial agriculture and long-distance food transportation, leading to massive crop failures, food shortages, famine, war, and pestilence. Even more alarming, accelerating levels of greenhouse gases (especially from cars, coal, cattle, and related rainforest and wetlands destruction) will soon push global warming to a tipping point that will melt the polar icecaps and possibly unleash a cataclysmic discharge of climate-destabilizing methane, now fragilely sequestered in the frozen arctic tundra.

Thanks to this growing consumer awareness – and four decades of hard work – the organic community has built up a $30-billion “certified organic” food and products sector that prohibits the use of genetic engineering. The rapidly expanding organic/natural products sector – organic (4% of total retail sales) and natural (8%) – now constitutes more than 12% of total retail grocery sales, with an annual growth rate of 10-15%. Even taking into account what appears to be a permanent economic recession and a lower rate of growth than that seen over the past 20 years, the organic and natural market will likely constitute 31-56% of grocery sales in 2020.

This consumer-driven movement, under relentless attack by the biotech and Big Food lobby, and with little or no help from government, has managed to create a healthy and sustainable alternative to America’s disastrous, chemical- and energy-intensive system of industrial agriculture. Millions of organic consumers are now demanding food and other products that are certified organic and non-GE, as well as locally or regionally produced, and minimally processed and packaged.

The myth of “natural” remains a threat

As impressive as this $30-billion Organic Alternative is, it remains overshadowed by an additional $50 billion in annual spending by consumers on products marketed as “natural.”

Recent polls indicate that many green-minded consumers remain confused about the qualitative difference between products labeled or advertised as “natural,” versus those labeled as organic. Many believe that “natural” means “almost organic,” or that a natural product is even better than organic.

Walk down the aisles of any Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market, or any upscale supermarket and look closely. What do you see? Row after row of attractively displayed, but mostly non-organic “natural” (i.e. conventional) foods and products. By marketing sleight of hand, these conventional foods, vitamins, private label items, and personal care products become “natural” or “almost organic” (and overpriced) in the “natural” supermarket setting.

It’s no wonder – and no accident – that consumers are confused. Companies selling these products are simply telling us what we want to hear, so they can charge a premium price.

In fact, all these “natural,” “all-natural,” and “sustainable,” products are neither backed up by rules and regulations, nor a third-party certifier. Most “natural” or conventional products – whether produce, dairy, or canned or frozen goods – are produced on large industrial farms or in processing plants that are highly polluting, chemical-intensive and energy-intensive.

Test these so-called “natural” products in a lab and what will you find? Pesticide residues, Genetically Modified Organisms, and a long list of problematic and/or carcinogenic synthetic chemicals and additives.

Trace these “natural” products back to the farm or factory and what will you find? Climate destabilizing chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and sewage sludge – not to mention exploited farm workers and workers in the food processing industry. Of course there are many products in WFM, Trader Joe’s and other natural food retailers that bear the label “USDA Organic.” But the overwhelming majority of their products are not.

Perhaps this wouldn’t matter if we were living in normal times, with a relatively healthy population, environment, and climate. Conventional products sold as “natural” or “nearly organic” would be just one more example of of chicanery or consumer fraud.

But we are not living in normal times.

Demanding that natural and conventional products and producers make the transition to organic is a matter of life or death. And standing in the way of making this great transition are not only Fortune 500 food and beverage corporations, Monsanto, and corporate agribusiness, as we would expect, but the wholesale and retail giants in the natural products sector as well.

The full transformation to organic begins with us

We cannot continue to hand over 88% of our consumer dollars to out-of-control, biotech, chemical-intensive, energy-intensive, greenhouse gas- polluting corporations and “profit-at-any-cost” retail chains such as Wal-Mart.

We must not allow the “natural” sector to degenerate into a “green-washed” marketing tool that merely disguises unhealthy and unsustainable food and farming practices. We must not allow “natural” to become a green shield for Monsanto and the biotech industry in their quest to take over global agriculture.

Instead, we must demand that the “natural” sector move our nation toward an organic future. How – and how quickly – can we move healthy, organic, and “natural” products from a 12% market share, to becoming the dominant force in American food and farming?

This is a major undertaking, one that will require a major transformation in public consciousness and policy.

But it is doable. And absolutely necessary.

The first step – before we overthrow Monsanto, Wal-Mart, and Food Inc. – is to put our own house in order. That means shopping for certified organic products.

What does certified organic or “USDA Organic” mean? Certified organic means the farmer or producer has undergone a regular inspection of its farm, facilities, ingredients, and practices by an independent third-party certifier, accredited by the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). The producer has followed strict NOP regulations and maintained detailed records. Genetically engineered ingredients, synthetic pesticides, animal drugs, sewage sludge, irradiation, and chemical fertilizers are prohibited. Farm animals, soil, and crops have been managed organically. Food can be processed using only approved methods. Ingredients must be on the “allowed” list.

If every one of us pays close attention to the labels on our food – choosing certified organic over “natural” – we can increase demand for organic, sustainable, healthy foods.

Step two? Demand that your local and state legislators pass labeling laws so that all so-called “natural” products move in a “transition-to-organic” direction. Tell your elected officials that you have the right to know what is – and isn’t – in your food.

If we all work together, the U.S. will be well on its way to solving three of the nation’s most pressing problems: deteriorating public health, climate change, and the energy crisis.

Don’t be fooled. Stop buying so-called “natural” products unless you have no other choice. Buy certified “USDA Organic” products today and everyday. Your health and the health of the planet are at stake. And please join the rapidly growing campaign in California and other states to force mandatory labels on GE foods and to make it illegal to label or advertise GE-tainted foods as “natural” or “all natural.”

With the new year here, many people are in the gym attempting to carve away fat. DCP by Genomyx is the perfect product to assist in fat-loss before spring arrives. DCP is comprised of five top quality fat-burning ingredients that will have the pounds melting away! Perhaps one of the best aspects of DCP is the fact it doesn’t contain stimulants. This allows for pre-bed doses, as well as the ability to stack with the stimulant of your choice.

What makes DCP so great?
One of the main ingredients in DCP is TTA (Tetradecylthioacetic Acid). TTA increases mitochondrial activity in the body, which in layman’s terms means your body will burn more “fuel.” In addition, TTA is a PPAR-alpha antagonist which results in your body operating as if it were in a fasted state even if you’re in a fed state. This means your body’s fuel sources will switch from carbohydrates and fats to just fats. Furthermore, TTA increases the activity of enzymes in the CPT system (Propionyl-L-Carnitine (PLCAR) is included in DCP to help increase this stimulation of the CPT system). The increased activity causes fatty acids to be used as fuel by your body!

Some TTA products have been said to result in users cramping. However, DCP contains Potassium Pyruvate. Potassium is an electrolyte known to alleviate cramping issues. Lastly, Raspberry Ketones are present in DCP’s ingredients. Raspberry Ketones have been shown to amend fat metabolism as well as increase free fatty acids (which will be burned via aforementioned methods).

The science behind DCP may be complex, but the results are simple- you WILL lose fat by taking this product. Get a jump start on your spring time cut and get a bottle of the last batch of DCP to have TTA in it NOW!!

A champion of supplements in the House sends a warning to FDA. Persuade others in Congress to join him with our Action Alert!

As we reported last week, FDA has flatly refused to listen to the Senate, rejecting the call of Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to withdraw its disastrous New Dietary Ingredient draft guidance and start over. You may recall that Harkin and Hatch are the original drafters of DSHEA, the law that requires supplement manufacturers to submit notifications whenever an NDI is introduced into the marketplace. FDA’s job was to articulate how those notifications are to be submitted, butthey ignored the original intent of Congress and created a de facto approval system for any supplement or ingredient created or changed over the past eighteen years.

Now Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has composed a letter to FDA expressing regret over FDA’s dismissal of Senators Hatch and Harkin’s request and reiterating that Congress did not intend to give FDA pre-market review of new dietary ingredients, nor did it intend to permit the agency to treat dietary ingredients in the same manner as food additives.

The letter goes on to articulate the legal problems with FDA’s proposal, and strongly urges FDA to withdraw its guidance and instead design a fair and workable NDI notification system. It also requests that FDA refrain from taking any enforcement action that is based solely on positions articulated in the draft guidance that are not unequivocally grounded in the law.

Rep. Chaffetz’s letter to FDA ends with a warning that, in the unfortunate event that FDA does not withdraw this guidance as requested, legislation to clarify current statute will be considered. Let’s show FDA that the House means business—that there is support from Democrats and Republicans alike to withdraw the draft guidance altogether, so that consumers won’t lose access to thousands of supplements.

Please write to your congressional representative and ask that he or she sign onto Rep. Chaffetz’s letter to FDA. Reiterate the serious concerns with NDI guidance—how it severely threatens access to thousands of supplements, even though supplements have a proven safety record (unlike FDA-approved drugs!)

And if you haven’t yet asked your representative to make a one-minute floor speech on this subject, please do that as well.

Please take action today!

Big Gains on a Small Budget
by Mike Boyle

Bodybuilding is a 24 hr a day job, that requires hard work, discipline and dedication. Its also not a cheap job, it requires a lot of money. With food, supplements and a gym membership you could be looking at anywhere from 300-600 dollars a month. Most of us have to learn how to budget our money to fit our lifestyle. I’m going to show you a few ways I have learn to budget my money to fit my own bodybuilding needs.

First you want to sit down and plan out your attack. Decide how much money you can spent on your bodybuilding needs. Once you’ve come up with a budget, you can know see where you can spent your money. You want to break everything down into a categories: Food, Supplements, Gym, Working Clothes, etc.

Food:

Food is the most important item you will spent your money on and most like the most expensive. Without the right diet and nutrition you will be on the track to nowhere fast. A lot of times people will spent a ton of money on supplements. With all the supplements out there, there is no supplement more important than food.

Shop in Bulk:

Buying in bulk contributes to your wallet and pocketbooks. By not paying for all that individual packaging, label and advertising, you’re getting more product for you money. We all have access to wholesale club now a days, where you can buy food in bulk at a cheaper price. You can often find the products you want in bulk and purchase the exact amount you want.

The price of bulk quantities of food is generally cheaper overall than buying individual amounts of the same products. One place you can go to buy in bulk is Sam’s Club and Costco. They offer items in larger packages which can help lower the per-unit cost for that item. While buying in bulk has its advantages, it has its disadvantages as well. You have to make wise purchases or you’ll end up wasting money. Make a list before you go, its also helpful to create your upcoming weeks meal plan.

Foods to Buy:

Wholesale clubs offer a great variety of foods in bulk to meet your bodybuilding needs. Whether bulking or during a pre-contest diet, I always eat the same foods just in different quantities. You should be looking for high protein foods and quantity carbs. Here’s a list of some great choices of food to buy in bulk:

-Frozen chicken breast
-Ground beef
-Canned tuna
-Whole eggs
-Ground turkey
-Milk
-Oatmeal
-Rice
-Breads
-Pasta
-Vegetables
-Fruits
-Nuts

Supplements:

A good approach to buying supplements, is keep it simple. Do you need every new hot supplement coming out “NO”. Most people will go blowing their budget on the newest supplements on the market. When it comes to buying supplements, you need to decide what supplements best fit your needs Weight Gain, Fat Loss, etc.

Ive found that shopping online you can save a ton of money on supplements. Shopping online you can price out different brands and products from multiple websites. Its an easy way to compare prices, servings per supplement and price per serving.

In my honest opinion there are only a few essential supplements you should buying when your on a tight budget. Here a list of a few you should be looking for.

Whey Protein:

Their are a ton of protein powders out there now, whey being the best. Its a high quality of protein. Protein is the building block of muscle. Protein builds and repairs our muscle fiber allowing them to recover and consequently grow. Protein powders are an easy, quick and convenient way for anyone to get their protein requirements in for the day. You can find a quality protein supplement for under $30′s, like with food the more you buy the bigger discount you get.

Multi Vitamin/Mineral:

A daily multi vitamin/mineral supplement is not only an important for bodybuilders, its important for everyone. Its hard to consume food alone to get all the necessary vitamins and minerals your body need. For your body to run properly you need a wide array of nutrients, this is a great supplement to make sure you get them. Being deficient in one of these vitamins/minerals can decline in your overall body’s performance. By using a multi vitamin/mineral you will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to run at optimum levels. For less then $10 you can get a couple months worth of a one-a-day multi vitamin/mineral.

Creatine:

Creatine is still the most popular supplement on the market. Creatine is the foremost supplement for packing on muscle. The great thing about creatine is over the years it has become very inexpensive. For around $20 you can get around 600 grams of a quality creatine. Creatine is used to supply energy to the muscles. Creatine has been proven to increase strength, performance and muscle size. Creatine is also a cell volumizer, which means it hydrates muscle tissue and promotes nutrient flow.

Gym:

Choosing the right gym for you, when you’re on a tight budget can be a little tough. Here’s a few tips to help you in selecting the right gym.

Most gyms offer a free week trial to their facility. If your more into machines rather then free weights. Try the gym out to make sure they fit your personal needs.

Location is key, select a gym close to your home or on your way home from work. You don’t want to be spending more money on gas then you have to, by driving way out of your way just to workout.

The group rate. Most gyms offer a lower monthly rate for couples and multiply family members that join together. You can save a ton of money per month when you and your partner join together. I personal save $17 per month at my gym this way.
The best time to join a gym is at the beginning of the year. Most gyms offer a lower rate early in the year to bring in new member. A lot of times they will wave the joining fee to new members also. Ive seen gyms lately offer new members a monthly contract as little as $10 per month.

See if your employer offers any kind of benefit to a local gym or health club at a lower rate. A lot of companies seem to be jumping on this bandwagon. Check with your human resources department, to see if they offer any kind of benefit like this.
My motto when it comes to choosing a gym has always been “I don’t care if the weights are rusty, as long as they have a squat rack”. I’m talking about frills of these high end health clubs. If your not worried about a sauna and all these fancy pieces of equipment, then don’t join a gym that has them. The more frills the gym has, the more you will pay per month.

Ginger root eases nausea and vomiting
by Donna Earnest Pravel

(NaturalNews) Ginger root is a favorite among herbalists, used in a variety of situations. The spicy root, or rhizome, of the ginger plant can either be eaten raw, powdered, made into tea, juiced, tinctured, or even candied. One of the most common uses for ginger root is for nausea and vomiting. Placebo-controlled, double-blind studies have proven that ginger root effectively reduces nausea and vomiting caused by motion sickness, surgery, and morning sickness during pregnancy. Because organic ginger root is completely safe to use during pregnancy, the herb is especially treasured by pregnant women around the world.

Ginger root is an effective antidote for motion sickness while at sea

A Danish study published in 1988 tested the effects of ginger root powder on 80 new Naval cadets who were out on the high seas in stormy weather for the first time. The sea-sick cadets were either given a placebo or 1 gram of ginger root powder, then measured every hour for symptoms of motion sickness for four hours. During this time, the control group of cadets experienced cold sweats, dizziness, and vomiting. The group of cadets who had taken ginger root powder had measurably fewer symptoms.

Ginger root has been demonstrated to reduce nausea and vomiting after surgery

Researchers in a London hospital tested ginger root as an anti-emetic, a “drug” that prevents nausea and vomiting. In a double-blind, placebo controlled study of 60 women who had just had major gynecological surgery, ginger root was compared to a placebo and the drug metoclopramide (Metosalv ODT by Salix or Reglan by UCB). Ginger root compared very similarly to this commonly prescribed anti-nausea drug in reducing nausea after surgery.

Pregnant women may safely take ginger root for morning sickness

The venerable medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology published a 2001 study on the effectiveness of ginger for pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting. Seventy pregnant of women who were less than 17 weeks pregnant were studied for five months to determine if ginger had any effect on morning sickness. They were given either 1 gram of ginger daily or a placebo. Both nausea and vomiting decreased significantly in the ginger group, while barely at all in the control group. No adverse outcomes were reported. The researchers concluded that ginger is safe and effective for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery reviewed safe alternatives for nausea and vomiting during morning sickness in pregnancy in 2002. The author noted that most pregnant women were reluctant to take any prescription drugs during pregnancy, but that these women did want to find relief from morning sickness. Ginger root was one of the alternatives noted as safe and effective.

Sources for this article include:

Pubmed.gov, “Ginger root against seasickness. A controlled trial on the open sea.” A. Grontved, et al. Acta-otolarynologica January-February 1988; 105(1-2): 45-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3277342

Monthly Prescribing Reference.com, “Antiemetic Medications” http://www.empr.com/antiemetic-medications/article/125873/

Pubmed.gov, “Ginger root– a new antiemetic. The effect of ginger root on postoperative nausea and vomiting after major gynaecological surgery.” M. E. Bone, et al. Anaesthesia August 1990; 45(8): 669-71. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2205121

Pubmed.gov, “Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: safety and efficacy of self-administered complementary therapies.” D. Tiran Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery November 2002; 8(4): 191-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12463608

Journals. Lippincott Williams and Lewis.com, “Ginger for Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy: Randomized-Double Masked, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” T. Vutyanovich, et al. Obstetrics and Gynecology April 2001; 97(4): 577-582.

http://journals.lww.com

About the author:
This article is provided courtesy of Donna Earnest Pravel, owner and senior editor of Heart of Texas Copywriting Solutions.com. Get free biweekly tips on natural healing and herbs by visiting her blog, Bluebonnet Natural Healing Therapy

How Often Should You Switch Up Your Routine? 

by Marc David

Question:I’ve been wondering how often I should switch up my sets and reps? I’ve been following a program now and while my weights are increasing, I’m still doing the same number of sets prescribed along with the same repetitions. During the first six months, the changes (visual) came quickly. Now I’m not seeing that as much. What can I do?

Anybody who looks for this answer on the Internet is bound to get 1000 different views and opinions. Unless the person in question knows you personally and your situation, tossing out:

“You should change up your routine every week.”
“You should change up your routine every 6 weeks.”

Is useless advice. You probably came here looking for a quick calculator or a pretty table where you can cross reference your level of ability and find out what you need to do next. That’s not how champions are made. And all those awesome body transformations you see, are mostly beginners who can pretty much do anything and get fantastic results. See what they do AFTER the transformation.

I can be it’s not some cookie cutter calculator on what to do next. They take it to the next level of personal development and learning.

Anybody who follows a cookie-cutter routine is bound to fall into this trap. And if your “expert” offers you no resources on where to turn to next or have EVER mentioned the term Periodization, you should be confused.

I’ve often tried over the last few years to TEACH people the basics and the fundamentals all the while sending links to resources and books in hopes they would continue the education. You see the problem you face is something we all face.

It’s called Progression and Plateaus.

As a beginner, you can do almost anything (sets, reps, rest periods) and your body responds quickly. These so called beginner gains can last anywhere from 6 to 9 months! After that, the amount of work required to induce change becomes a focal point. Your ability to recovery quickly becomes an issue. You see as a beginner… (and I don’t mean to burst your bubble) …

You aren’t really lifting that heavy. You think you are but it’s not really the weight per se, it’s the amount of work done and the stress to your muscles. As a beginner it doesn’t really take much for your body to quickly start adapting and growing new tissues to support your efforts. When you get to the Intermediate levels and beyond, the amount of work done is significant and your ability to recover from such a bout is called into question. If you do the same workouts over and over for months, you plateau and your progress is held steady as there’s no reason to adapt to further stress.

Adding more weight, reps and sets will ultimately lead to over-training (which is all to often used) and it just means your ability to recover is now compromised and you cannot work out hard enough to bring about changes. As you begin to approach training loads closer to your genetic potential, your ability to recovery is now called into question. Recovery takes longer and thus, different training protocols are used with intermediate beyond than beginners.

While the 3 sets of 10 is valid for beginning lifters, that routine gets old quickly and fails to add enough stress to disrupt the homeostasis required for change. It’s why you see somebody without any training experience suddenly make fantastic changes (depending on how out of shape they were to begin with) but might stay the same for decades.

They were able to train to a point where the body needs to change no more without added stress. And without a qualified coach they simply don’t know what to do except more of the same with a few variations here and there.

All this means is that depending on your current level of fitness, you may need to modify the number of sets, repetitions, possibly rest periods in order to make progress again. This probably means some form of back-training (deloading) so that you undertrain for some period of time before coming back and going at your routine hard again. When you do come back, there’s many variables you can modify.

According to powerlifter Dave Tate, an advanced lifter may adapt to a routine within 1-2 weeks.

Strength coach Ian King says that unless you’re a beginner, you’ll adapt to any training routine within 3-4 weeks. Coach Charles Poliquin says that you’ll adapt within 5-6 workouts.

When do you change up your program?

Depends on your level of fitness and your training goals. If somebody tells you to switch your entire routine every 6 weeks and go to the next one, they are giving Internet advice. Meaning, at my level, I can switch my routine almost every workout and survive but if I did that to my beginner friends, they’d be continually sore and never develop proper neuromuscular control.

As a beginner, you might stay in foundation routine for months. Or maybe 6 to 9 weeks before moving into a growth phase. After the growth phase, you can move to an absolute strength phase. Then back to a foundation… and repeat. What you are really doing is not staying in any particular phase for too long as you want to stress your body but change it up shortly thereafter to either take advantage of the new muscle (growth to absolute) or to take an active break.. absolute back to foundational.

That’s why taking a bunch of programs that all do different things, tossing a dart at them and picking one is variation but it’s not periodization and it’s not building off the blocks of previous training.

It’s a complicated theory and most people don’t have a plan beyond that training day or that month. (I’ve been there myself). You finish a routine and it’s “Now what?”

This is where a periodized training plan is a must! You can use all of the various intensity techniques in the stages but you cycle thru:

-Foundation Training
-Functional Training (sports specific)
-Pre-Season Training
-In-Season Training
-Active Rest

This blog is related to bodybuilding but each sport will have different seasons and different drills and exercises associated with each. Hopefully your coach has a specific plan to address your sport.

If you are just into general fitness, then go to the gym, do your sets of 3 with 10 reps, eat better and you’ll be fine. But if you plan on competing in a contest or you want to increase your bench press, pull-ups or deadlift, that’s where a training plan comes into play. Adding weight forever won’t work forever and you need techniques to get you past sticking point.

By now, you should realize that simply changing up sets and reps will work for some but it’s not a random process. A beginner can stick with a certain number of reps and sets and be fine while the advanced athlete may need to cycle thru the stages on a weekly or semi-weekly basis. It’s not as simple as looking at somebody and telling them, “You’ve been working out for how long? Okay, it’s time to change your sets and reps.”

Stick with me folks, I’ll take this concept further and explain the concept in more detail and give you some example routines so you can get a better understanding.

Check out my website: No Bull Bodybuildng.

Marc David’s No Bull Bodybuildng Program
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Marc David is an innovative fitness enthusiast and the creator of the “NoBull Bodybuilding System” method on www.nobullbodybuilding.com
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Conventional Medicine Wants FDA to Take Away Most Dietary Supplements

An editorial in the January 25, 2012, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine strongly supports the FDA’s proposed New Dietary Ingredient guidelines that would ban most of the effective nutrients you use today. One inane argument is that since some unscrupulous manufacturers are spiking their products with drugs like Viagra®, then all supplements introduced after year 1994 should be removed from the market until the FDA approves them for safety.

This has nothing to do with how the FDA is proposing to deny Americans access to natural supplements, but it is nonetheless being used as an excuse to give pharmaceutical giants a monopoly over what you are allowed to put into your body.
FDA Inundated with Protests

In response to the New Dietary Ingredient guidelines, the FDA has received more than 146,000 pages of comments that expose the absurdities of what the FDA is proposing.

Pharmaceutical interests desperately want the FDA to put these guidelines into effect so that Americans will be dependent on prescription drugs. The impact on consumers will be higher prices and reduced efficacy, along with the horrific side effects associated with many FDA-approved medications.
We’ve Already Won Some Congressional Support

Two powerful senators and longtime friends of natural health, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), wrote to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg and formally asked the FDA to withdraw its guidance document.

In addition, Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) recently made a speech titled “Over-regulating Dietary Supplements Endangers Americans’ Jobs and Health” on the floor of the House of Representatives, urging the FDA to go back to the drawing board and ensure that they do not limit Americans’ access to dietary supplements.
Ask Congress to Stop this Insanity

Health freedom groups have devised a unique strategy to save our supplements from central government prohibition.

As you may know, the comment period for the New Dietary Ingredient Draft Guidance is now closed and the FDA will be reviewing all the comments they have received. During this period, we want to make the Draft Guidance such a hot-button political issue that the FDA will be forced to take notice and will address the public’s serious concerns.

By accessing our convenient Legislative Action Site, you can ask your senators and representative to make a one-minute floor speech opposing the FDA’s plan to sweep many supplements off the shelf. At the same time, you will be asking your members of Congress to write the FDA about the consumer revolt that is occurring in response to these draconian proposals to take away the most effective dietary supplements on the market today!

TAKE ACTION NOW! (it only takes 15 seconds)

http://www.lef.org/featured-articles/FDA-Seeks-to-Outlaw-Dietary-Supplements.htm