Monthly Archives: July 2012

My Favorite Pre Workout Meal

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Jon-Carlo Astorina

Contributing Writer

My Favorite Pre Workout Meal


 

Ingredients:

3oz cooked Shrimp

3oz cooked Chicken breast

130 oz cooked brown rice

2 cups diced veggies – red, green, yellow peppers, onion

2 tsp Olive oil.

Soy to taste

 

Preparation:

Prepare the chicken and vegetables by frying on a non-sick pan until veggies are soft and chicken is cooked through. Add rice, shrimp and soy and toss around until mixed evenly and shrimp is warmed through. Remove from heat, add the oil and serve. I try to avoid subjecting the oil to heat so as to preserve its natural benefits.

This meals contains 42 grams of protein, 10 grams of fat and 40 grams of carbs.

 

 

 


 


 Bodybuilding Accomplishments:

 2011 ABA Natural Illinois Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure Championships
2nd Place Novice Short Class
3rd Place Open Short Class

2011 NGA Heart of America Natural Classic
1st Place Novice Lightweight
1st Place Open Lightweight
1st Place OVERALL NOVICE

2011 NANBF Probody Solutions Natural
1st Place Open Short Class

2011 NGA Titan Classic
OVERALL OPEN MEN WINNER – PRO CARD AWARDED

 2012 NGA Heart of America Natural Classic

3rd Place Professional

 

Jon-Carlo Astorina is a Team JBT Athlete

See More: http://www.nationalgym.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIO:

 

JC was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. He now resides in Bloomington, IL and works as a private detective for a prominent PI firm out of Chicago. JC studied Criminal Justice at Illinois State University. He is married with four children. Besides his family, JC’s greatest passion in life is bodybuilding and fitness – a hobby he picked up in college.

JC has been bodybuilding for roughly four years and started competing in 2011. He has a short but impressive competitive resume. To date he has competed in five drug tested bodybuilding competitions, earning his Pro Card in August, 2011. He is recognized as a Professional Natural Bodybuilder by the National Gym Association (NGA).

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Bodybuilding Tidbits Of The Day

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Bodybuilding Tidbits Of The Day 

1) For a sweet tooth, a Dove dark chocolate bar is a lesser evil than most.

2) For grains, choose quinoa over brown rice. It contains nearly 2 times the protein and over 7 times the fiber.

3) When craving cheese, one of the best choices is Kraft Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella. It contains less fat and calories than most.

4) Adding a touch of olive oil to any herbs or spices in your cabinet can create great flavor to any dish.

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Cauliflower Crust Pizza

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Jon-Carlo Astorina

Contributing Writer

Cauliflower Crust Pizza


 

Ingredients:

1 cup grated cauliflower
1 egg or 2 egg whites
1 cup mozzarella cheese
*Spices as desired

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and then mix all of the ingredients together. Transfer the mixture to the pan and form into a pizza crust. Bake for 15-minutes and then remove from the oven. Prepare the pizza as desired with sauce, cheese and toppings. Place under a broiler until the cheese and toppings are cooked as desired.

 

 

 


 


 Bodybuilding Accomplishments:

 2011 ABA Natural Illinois Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure Championships
2nd Place Novice Short Class
3rd Place Open Short Class

2011 NGA Heart of America Natural Classic
1st Place Novice Lightweight
1st Place Open Lightweight
1st Place OVERALL NOVICE

2011 NANBF Probody Solutions Natural
1st Place Open Short Class

2011 NGA Titan Classic
OVERALL OPEN MEN WINNER – PRO CARD AWARDED

 2012 NGA Heart of America Natural Classic

3rd Place Professional

 

Jon-Carlo Astorina is a Team JBT Athlete

See More: http://www.nationalgym.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIO:

 

JC was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. He now resides in Bloomington, IL and works as a private detective for a prominent PI firm out of Chicago. JC studied Criminal Justice at Illinois State University. He is married with four children. Besides his family, JC’s greatest passion in life is bodybuilding and fitness – a hobby he picked up in college.

JC has been bodybuilding for roughly four years and started competing in 2011. He has a short but impressive competitive resume. To date he has competed in five drug tested bodybuilding competitions, earning his Pro Card in August, 2011. He is recognized as a Professional Natural Bodybuilder by the National Gym Association (NGA).

Bodybuilding Supplements

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Bodybuilding Tidbits Of The Day

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Bodybuilding Tidbits Of The Day 

1) If you have hit a plateau, simply changing the order of exercises, or reps per set, can help you progress forward again.

2) 1 hour prior to a workout, consume a good dose of carbohydrates for energy. One of the best foods for this meal is oatmeal.

3) If you are having trouble gaining weight, try incorporating more healthy fat (olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc…) and eat plenty of carbohydrates.

4) On nights when you don’t sleep well, eat really clean and consume extra water. It will help with being tired so your workout doesn’t suffer.

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Powerful Triceps

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The triceps have three heads, the long head, the lateral head and the medial head. You want to train all three for ultimate size and power. The following are great exercises for targeting all or each specific head of the triceps. It’s difficult to completely isolate each head, but some exercises stress one head more than another.

 

A) Long head

B) Lateral head

C) Medial head

 

 

All Three Heads:

Rope pushdowns

Bench dips

Decline EZ bar extensions

 

Long head:

Overhead dumbbell extensions

Narrow-grip pushdowns

Skull crushers

 

Lateral head:

Dumbbell kickbacks

Close-grip bench press

 

Medial head:

One-arm pushdowns (pronated grip)

Standing barbell french press

 

 

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Calories Count!

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Calories count! Whether your trying to get cut or add muscle mass, calories are a big part of your success. Up to 80% of the changes your body makes is directly related to types of food and calories you consume. Here is a list of common proteins and carbohydrates as well as the amount of calories each contain.

 

Proteins:

 

6 oz of buffalo sirloin - 192 calories

6 oz of light chicken meat - 194 calories

6 oz of light turkey meat - 196 calories

6 oz of dark chicken meat - 216 calories

6 oz of dark turkey meat - 216 calories

6 oz of beef round - 242 calories

6 oz of lamb chops - 248 calories

6 oz of 90% lean ground beef - 300 calories

6 oz of beef top loin - 388 calories

6 oz of ham - 416 calories

6 oz of 80% lean ground beef - 432 calories

 

Carbohydrates:

 

1 Cup of Bulgar - 151 calories

1 Cup of oatmeal - 166 calories

1 Cup of couscous - 176 calories

2 slices of whole-wheat bread - 210 calories

1 Cup of brown rice - 216 calories

1 Cup of enriched pasta -221 calories

 

 

 

 

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Baked Chicken Nuggets

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(All fat burning recipes contain less than 300 calories)

 

Ingredients:

3 x 6oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup oat bran

1/4 cup of wheat germ

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1/4 cup ground almonds

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Garlic powder (pinch)

1/2 cup water or low-sodium chicken broth

1 large egg white

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or coating lightly with best-quality olive oil.

Cut chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Set aside.

Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.

Combine water and egg in a medium bowl. Dip each piece in the water/egg-white mixture. Then dip each piece in the coating mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated.

Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.  

 

Servings: 3

(8 nuggets per serving)

This meal contains 200 calories, 7g of fat, 14g of carbs and 24g of protein.

 

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Bodybuilding Tidbits Of The Day

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Bodybuilding Tidbits Of The Day 

1) If you have hit a plateau, simply changing the order of exercises, or reps per set, can help you progress forward again.

2) Try performing unilateral dumbbell presses on a stability ball after heavy incline barbell press. It will fire up your pecs and your core

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Insulin and Nutrient Timing

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Jon-Carlo Astorina

Contributing Writer

 

Insulin and Nutrient Timing


Insulin is one of the most anabolic hormones in the human body. Insulin regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. It does this by drawing sugar from the blood to store the carbohydrates and bring your blood sugar levels back to normal levels. Insulin stops the use of fat as an energy source and inhibits protein breakdown. Carbohydrates cause the release of insulin. In order to maximize fat loss, insulin levels must be controlled.

 This is where it can get confusing. Most people will say carbohydrates are the devil, but carbohydrates release insulin. If insulin is so anabolic, why wouldn’t you want to be flooding your body with it? If your goal is to build muscle and lose fat, what is the best way to manipulate insulin in your body to achieve this goal?

 If you want to lose fat, you are going to have to keep insulin levels low. This means regulating your carbohydrate intake. You can’t remove insulin from your body completely. Keeping your levels too low will result in fat loss, but it could also result in muscle loss, since insulin inhibits the release of cortisol.

 Since carbohydrates cause insulin release, it is very important that you maintain a diet that regulates insulin levels. The first time you should introduce carbs into your daily diet is upon waking. After a long night of fasting your body will be primed to absorb the nutrients. Due to your fasted state, insulin sensitivity is higher. The next best time to bring carbs into the diet is post workout. When you work out you burn glycogen, which is the carbohydrate stored in muscle. Again, insulin sensitivity is higher at this time.

 During these times of higher insulin sensitivity, you want to make sure you are eating the right carb/sugar that is going to stimulate the appropriate insulin response. At these times simple-carbohydrates are more effective at inducing an insulin response for greater nutrient delivery and muscle repair. There are healthier ways to eat simple sugars rather than a bag of candy. Some better choices for fast digesting carbohydrates are waxy maize and dextrose.

 A shake containing protein and simple carbs would work in your favor either during your workout or immediately after. Then to help lower insulin levels back to normal, I suggest eating a whole food meal that contains complex-carbohydrates 30-60 minutes later.

 

 


 Bodybuilding Accomplishments:

 2011 ABA Natural Illinois Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure Championships
2nd Place Novice Short Class
3rd Place Open Short Class

2011 NGA Heart of America Natural Classic
1st Place Novice Lightweight
1st Place Open Lightweight
1st Place OVERALL NOVICE

2011 NANBF Probody Solutions Natural
1st Place Open Short Class

2011 NGA Titan Classic
OVERALL OPEN MEN WINNER – PRO CARD AWARDED

 2012 NGA Heart of America Natural Classic

3rd Place Professional

 

Jon-Carlo Astorina is a Team JBT Athlete

See More: http://www.nationalgym.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIO:

 

JC was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. He now resides in Bloomington, IL and works as a private detective for a prominent PI firm out of Chicago. JC studied Criminal Justice at Illinois State University. He is married with four children. Besides his family, JC’s greatest passion in life is bodybuilding and fitness – a hobby he picked up in college.

JC has been bodybuilding for roughly four years and started competing in 2011. He has a short but impressive competitive resume. To date he has competed in five drug tested bodybuilding competitions, earning his Pro Card in August, 2011. He is recognized as a Professional Natural Bodybuilder by the National Gym Association (NGA).

Bodybuilding Supplements

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