Aspartic acid is a “non-essential” amino acid, which means it’s produced naturally in the human body. It has two main functions:

• aiding hormone productionand release (including muscle-building testosterone)
• ensuring the normal function of the nervous system.

Dietary aspartic acid comes from chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, alomonds and walnuts. In a study, supplementation with aspartic acidshows a 42% boost in testosterone, which bodybuilders have found to be useful for enhancing muscle growth.

Name: Shaiful Haq
Age: 31
Weight: 85kg
Height: 1.68m

Achievements:
Nationals
2004 -4th
2005 – 2nd
2006 – 2nd
2007 – 1st
2008 – 1st
2009 – 1st
2010 – 2nd
2011 – 1st

Asean Games 2011 – 4th
SEA Games 2012 – 4th

Lifestyle

NFFT: How many years have you been training and competing?
SH: Been training for 10 years and competing for 9 years.

NFFT: What is your current endeavor or working as?
SH: Currently working at Fitness First at One George Street.

NFFT: When did u start bodybuilding and when/what was your first competition?
SH: Start competing in 2004 SEA Championship in Bali.

NFFT: Who inspired you to get into your first competition? How did u do in your first competition? Were u like an amateur then or you were already ahead of your time in preparing for that show?
SH: It’s a coincidence start for me as I have never intended to compete but was selected to represent Singapore in SEA championship when I accompanied my friend for the selection. And since then I have been guided and inspired by my mentor Halim Haron.

NFFT: What kept you going on and on year after year?
SH: The drive to be the best I can be, learning more about my body everytime I prepare for a contest and to keep improving year after year, keeps me going on and on.

NFFT: Which competition would you find to be your toughest challenge, and did you win that show?
SH: I would say all the international competitions are the toughest challenge. But I’hv never win any of that show but somehow I believe one day I will.

NFFT: How much sacrifice did you make to get to where you are? Did your bodybuilding lifestyle affect your social life?
SH: I would say I sacrifice a lot of time at the gym and even at home I would still train in my gym room but it has never affect my social life because everyone that’s close to me especially my family understand me.

Training

NFFT: How many times did you train per week? How many hours per session?
SH: At least 5 – 6 times a week but sometimes everyday and 1hr 30mins max.

NFFT: Volume or High Intensity training? Any school of thoughts that you follow to build your championship physique?
SH: For me I prefer to mix them up depends on how I feel on that day and most of the times I would push to failure.

NFFT: What is a typical training routine like? Heavy, Moderate or Light weight for you?
SH: Most of the times I will train heavy to failure. And if it’s a light days I would change the tempo of the movement or the angle to make the light weight feels heavy.

NFFT: Do you incorporate cardio after every workout session? Do you do the conventional cardio or HIIT?
SH: No. As for me I don’t like the idea of doing too much cardio. My body responds better when I change the diet especially the carb intake when I target to burn more body fat. Because I prefer to eat clean even during off season.

Nutrition

NFFT: I know most bodybuilders are very stringent when it comes to dieting. How do you break the monotonous diet food source?
SH: I will keep changing my diet atleast every two weeks so I don’t get bored or stressed eating the same type of food everyday.

NFFT: Can you tell us what is your main staple source for the macronutrients (Protein,Carbs, Fats) you ingest everyday?
SH: Normally I will keep my carbs intake to moderation. Most of the carbs comes in the morning, before and after training.As for protein I will keep it high all the times at least 1.5gm per pound of my bodyweight. And fats I will only take it if I have the crave for it. Normally its almonds and egg yolks.

NFFT: Do you prepare your own meals and bring them to work?
SH: Of course. My wife is the one who prepares for me cause I hardly eat outside food.

Supplements

NFFT: Do you think supplements are important and helped you towards building your physique?
SH: I believe in taking the basic ones like whey protein, creatine, glutamine, bcaa and of course a good pre-workout supplement. But still the most important thing is eating clean and training hard.

NFFT: What are the supplements you take during off-season and during competition?
SH: Off season, I will take the four basic supplements that I’hv mentioned. I will add in a fat burner for contest preparation.

Mindset

NFFT: At this point in your career, you are representing Singapore in a major competition. What competition is that? How does that competition help you in furthering your career?
SH: SEA, ASEAN and World Championships. It helps me in my career in terms of recognition of my capabilities and achievements.

NFFT: Any bodybuilding past or present, locally or International whom you look up to?
SH: My mentor Halim Haron.

NFFT: Given another chance, would you do Bodybuilding all over again?
SH: Yes of course. Throughout the years I have learnt a lot from my mistakes. And if I could turn back the time I would definitely avoid them and become a better bodybuilder.

NFFT: What would you advise the amateurs who’d like to one day step in your shoes and represent Singapore?
SH: My advice is to keep training hard and smart, eat clean ,be patience and never give up. Results never comes overnight. As long as keep trying  to be the best, YOU WILL BE ONE!

Thank you Shaiful for granting this insightful interview.

“I really want to tone my body!”

I hear this statement all the time and it makes me wonder if women truly understand what they want from a fitness program. It’s actually not their fault that they ‘re confused. There are contradictory notions of the ideal woman’s figure denoted by society: firm but curvy, thin but voluptuous, small but strong. These conflicting ideals lead to a plethora of misconceptions by women aspiring to fit the mold. The falsehood I have to debunk most often is the idea that lifting weights correlates with building massive muscles. Mortified at the thought of bulkiness, women have become fearful of purposeful weight training.

“Long, lean, toned muscles” are music to women’s ears but their pursuit usually leads them away from the weight room and into yoga or the Pilates studio. The fact is, most modern women today want to look good in a tank top  (shapely shoulders, etched back muscles and tight triceps) or a bikini (defined abdominals, shapely butt, and tight legs). To achieve that, they need to build muscle.

Muscle definition, or for lack of better words “a toned body,” really means having muscle without a significant amount of body fat obscuring the lean body mass underneath. The phrase “muscle tone” is actually a misnomer as it refers to the muscle’s resistance to passive stretch during a resting state. What women really want is “muscle definition.” But in order to achieve better muscular definition, they must have a substantial amount muscle with sufficiently low body fat. Ladies, small muscles will not give you a nice shape in your jeans.

If you find yourself suffering from muscle-phobia, a shift in your perspective is in order. Significant weight must be lifted to achieve muscular hypertrophy (increased muscle mass). Do not worry about getting “bulky.” As women, our bodies produce such a small amount of testosterone that achieving gigantic muscles is nearly impossible. Besides, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn. (One pound of muscle burns 20-30 calories per day versus one pound of fat that burns only about 5 calories a day). A combination of total body strengthening, a well-rounded clean diet, cardiovascular exercise, and the right supplementation are the keys to getting that lean and defined physique.

My Secret Weapon
Hopefully, you are now embracing the idea that building muscle is the first step to achieving the look you want. Now what if I told you there was supplement that available that gave you an edge, that helped you recover faster, increased your energy, built lean body mass, and decreased body fat? Well, this supplement is available and it’s one of my secret weapons. It’s actually not that big of a secret as it was named the “best selling intra-workout supplement” by one of the leading online supplement stores.

XTEND

Scivation’s XTEND is a 2:1:1 ratio of Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine,  commonly known as branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). XTEND is further enhanced with glutamine, electrolytes, antioxidants, and vitamin B6. Best of all, XTEND has zero calories, zero grams of sugar, mixes easily in water, and tastes great. XTEND yields great results and can be added into the regimes of athletes who require strength, endurance, power, or by anyone who is yearning to build muscle and burn fat.

According to a study performed in Sweden and published in the Journal of Nutrition (2006), “BCAAs have anabolic (muscle building) effects on protein metabolism by increasing the rate of protein synthesis and decreasing the rate of protein degradation in resting human muscle. Also, during recovery from endurance exercise, BCAAs were found to have anabolic effects in human muscle.”

If you think BCAAs are just for guys, think again
XTEND has been at my side in the weight room, on the track, and even on long recreational hikes. This supplement helps me push my limits, minimize muscle soreness between workouts, and sustain intense cardio sessions that burn fat, all while protecting my muscles. This is immensely important to me during my competition preparations when my calories are low but my activity levels are high. Running two businesses, training clients, and competing as a professional athlete I don’t gamble my time or the ingredients from the supplements I put into my body.

Plan of Attack
Since XTEND is calorie and sugar free, extremely satisfying in taste, and comes in an array of different flavors I drink XTEND throughout my day. Early in morning before I attack my cardio I start sipping on a serving and throughout the rest of the cardio workout I finish drinking it. When it’s time for my weight training, I ingest another serving that I add into my water bottle. I start sipping on it during my training and finish it off during my post workout cardio. Given the fact I am usually exhausted by this time, XTEND kicks in by supplying me with that last little bit of energy to push my body to burn more body fat. Later in the evening, I mix up another serving to drink between my fourth and fifth meals. If I add in another workout or more physical activity to my day, I may have a fourth serving. When first using XTEND I recognized amplified intensity, prolonged endurance, and increased strength. Overall, my consistent usage of XTEND has given me astonishing results.

Ladies, hopefully “toning” is a word you’ll drop from you vocabulary and you’ll use XTEND to build lean muscle! If you’re an elite athlete training for an event or competition, or somebody who wants to be healthy and look great, this may be the missing piece from your regimen that will help you reach your goals.

Monica Mark-Escalante is an IFBB pro figure competitor and owner of Mon-Fit, a company that provides personal training, nutritional counseling and personalized meals.

Essential EFA

Q: What is in Essential EFA?
A: Essential EFA contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). It also contains gamma linolenic acid (GLA) an omega-6 fatty acid that is also considered essential. A vitamin and mineral blend of calcium, vitamin D3, vitamin E and magnesium is included to synergistically aid in uptake of the fatty acids.

Q: Who should use Essential EFA?
A: Anyone who is interested in burning fat, building muscle, combating inflammation, improving insulin sensitivity and boosting immune response should seriously consider taking Essential EFA.†

Q: What is the best time to consume Essential EFA?
A: Consume Essential EFA in three divided doses throughout the day.

Q: How much Essential EFA should I consume for it to be most effective?
A: Take three capsules of Essential EFA three times a day with meals. If you’re on a calorie-restricted low-fat diet you can take three capsules five times a day with food.

Q: Is Essential EFA safe?
A: Yes. Essential EFA has been stringently tested and shows no traces of mercury or other heavy metals or toxins. Essential EFA is far safer than consuming the amount of fish you’d need to eat to get the same amount of fish oil.

Q: How does Essential EFA compare to other products?
A: Most products contain only fish oil and its attendant omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. Essential EFA contains these as well as GLA and specific vitamins and minerals which are necessary to convert these fatty acids to their useable forms.

Q: What’s so special about EPA and DHA?
A: Most people’s diets are loaded with omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids but severely lack omega-3’s. This is due to poor dietary choices, specifically the consumption of processed foods. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA have been shown to decrease body fat and support cardiovascular health, insulin sensitivity, inflammation reduction, and joint health along with many other health benefits.†

EPA and DHA are also necessary for optimal focus, concentration and memory.†

EPA can be synthesized from alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), but the ability of the body to do so is limited. Therefore, obtaining a direct source of EPA and DHA, such as fish oil, is ideal.

Q: Can’t I get EPA and DHA from my diet?
A: It is possible to get enough EPA and DHA from the foods you eat, just improbable. For one, cooking fish several times a week can be time-consuming not to mention costly. Secondly, eating that much seafood can leave you vulnerable to increased intake or mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxins commonly found in fish. Essential EFA is a safe and convenient way to make sure you are getting the fatty acids you need for improved health and optimal body composition.†

Q: GLA is an Omega-6 fatty acid. I thought we had too much of those already?
A: Not all omega-6s are created equal. Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) is an omega-6 fatty acid found in plant oils, and, along with dihomogamma-liolenic acid (DGLA), has been shown to help combat inflammation.† GLA obtained from oils is preferentially converted to DGLA, leading to an anti-inflammatory effect.†

GLA has been shown to support healthy nervous system, calcium absorption leading to stronger bones, skin health, joint pain and swelling reduction, healthy blood pressure, and possibly assist in weight management.†

Q: Why add Calcium and vitamin D3?
A: Calcium is necessary to help convert the healthy fatty acids into their effective form within the body. It’s included in Essential EFA because it’s estimated that 55% of men and 78% of women do not get enough calcium. Calcium is involved in cell signaling, including muscle contraction, nerve impulses, hormone and enzyme secretion, and vascular system functioning.† Research also shows that calcium plays an important role in fat loss.†

Vitamin D is another nutrient that is prone to deficiency with recent research showing that 40% of Americans do not get enough. (This percentage increases significantly for African Americans.) Essential EFA includes vitamin D, in the highly bio-available form known as D3, because low levels of vitamin D combined with low levels of estrogen can lead to heart disease and osteoporosis. Vitamin D is also necessary to absorb calcium.

Q: Why add Vitamin E?
A: Vitamin E is a vital part of a diet that contains polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as EPA, DHA and GLA. This fat-soluble vitamin helps neutralize the peroxidation that commonly occurs to PUFAs, meaning a diet high in these fatty acids will require more vitamin E for them to be effective.

Q: Is Essential EFA bad for the environment?
A: Absolutely not. Scivation sources its fish oil from the waters of Peru. This not only delivers a product with the highest potency and purity, but it also ensures that the proper safeguards are taken to protect the environment by collaborating with ethical fishing organizations in South America. Peruvian waters are monitored by the Marine Institute of Peru, which protects and nurtures the growing ecological system and enforces adequate waste treatment for all fishing companies.

Maximum Human Performance (MHP) was born out of a friendship between a world-class bodybuilder Gerard Dente and Vincent Giampapa, MD, a specialist in hormone replacement therapy and age management medicine. Although MHP is a relatively fresh player in the field of sports supplements, they have produced some innovative products for serious athletes. In this article, I will discuss their latest product, A-Bomb.

A-Bomb

MHP feels that A-Bomb triggers muscle-building machinery from multiple pathways and synergistic anabolic actions. A-Bomb’s ingredients work through nonhormonal signal transduction by manipulating the key muscle growth regulators mTOR, PKB, p70s6k, 4E-BP1, FOXO and MAFbx. A-Bomb affects these processes through two pathways. The first pathway is the nutrient dependent pathway, where A-Bomb uses specific amino acids and other nutrients. The second pathway is the insulin dependent pathway, where A-Bomb has the ability to increase the secretion of insulin without raising blood sugar. Let’s examine some science behind A-Bomb’s main actives.

Branched-chain Amino Acids
The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine and valine are so named because they have a carbon chain, which deviates or branches from the main linear carbon backbone. They are unusual in that they are catabolized mainly in skeletal muscle. There’s evidence that BCAA supplementation before exercise decreases the breakdown of muscle proteins during exercise in humans and that leucine strongly promotes protein anabolism in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, it’s been reported that BCAA supplementation prior to resistance training decreased delayed onset muscle soreness and muscle fatigue occurring for a few days after exercise, suggesting BCAA supplementation may be useful for muscle recovery following exercise. Finally, there’s some evidence suggesting that BCAA supplementation may delay central fatigue during prolonged exercise.

The key BCAA leucine acts as a nutrient signal to stimulate muscle protein anabolism. Leucine affects muscle protein metabolism by decreasing the rate of protein degradation, most likely via increases in circulating insulin. In addition, leucine activates key molecules involved in the regulation of protein synthesis, which has been shown to occur even in the absence of an increase in circulating insulin concentrations. Simply put, insulin and leucine allow skeletal muscle to coordinate protein synthesis with physiological state and dietary intake.

Ketoisocaproic Acid
Ketoisocaproic acid (KIC) is a keto acid of leucine. Branched-chain keto acids (BCKAs) are very similar to branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). In fact, the only difference is the presence of a keto group instead of an amino group. Thus, BCKAs can be viewed as ammonia-free sources of BCAAs. KIC is clearly the most important BCKA and some feel there’s every reason to believe that KIC will prove to be of value to serious athletes, including bodybuilders.

Although leucine can be converted to KIC (transamination) and both tend to increase parallel in the blood when leucine is used, there’s evidence that it has anti-catabolic (protein-sparing) properties separate from leucine. A 1984 rat study, published in Biochemical Journal, reported that leucine stimulated protein synthesis, but didn’t reduce protein degradation when leucine transamination was inhibited. So, the anti-catabolic effects of leucine, in contrast to its anabolic effects, required its transamination.

This study appears to confirm the results obtained from an earlier study that concluded KIC has anti-catabolic, but not anabolic, effects. That is, KIC reduced muscle protein degradation, but didn’t stimulate protein synthesis. Also, supplements containing KIC in relatively high doses have been shown to decrease the rate of 3-methylhistidine excretion by patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Scientists use 3-methylhistidine as an indicator of contractile muscle degradation.

Finally, KIC may also increase anabolic drive via stimulation of insulin secretion. Both leucine and KIC have been shown to stimulate insulin secretion. Insulin increases transport of amino acids into the cells and thus, has both anabolic and anti-catabolic effects.

Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate
Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) is derived from the amino acid leucine and its keto acid, alpha-ketoisocaproate (KIC). There’s evidence that HMB supplementation may play an important role in reducing muscle protein breakdown and/or increasing recovery of damaged muscle cells. I won’t review all the individual studies. Rather, I’ll focus on recent meta-analysis (i.e., quantitative statistical analysis applied to separate, but similar, experiments) published in the Journal of Applied Physiology (JAP) few years ago.

The purpose of this JAP meta-analysis was to quantify what dietary supplements augment lean mass and strength gains during resistance training. The investigators included peer-reviewed studies between the years 1967 and 2001 if they met a predetermined set of experimental criteria. A total of nine HMB studies qualified for analysis. All of them involved supplementation of HMB at 3 grams per day and resulted in a net increase in lean mass gain of 0.28 percent per week. Concerning the strength gains, HMB caused a net increase of 1.40 percent per week.

Other Ingredients

A-Bomb also contains alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG), alanine, N-(aminoiminomethyl)-N-methyl glycine and phenylalanine, as well as some DNA remodeling agents (e.g., Uncaria tomentosa).

The author of this article has no financial relationship with MHP. This article does not constitute or imply endorsement of any MHP product.

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2. Manninen AH. Hyperinsulinaemia, hyperaminoacidaemia and post-exercise muscle anabolism: the search for the optimal recovery drink. Br J Sports Med, 2006;40:900-5.
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4. Karlsson HK, Nilsson PA, Nilsson J, Chibalin AV, Zierath JR, Blomstrand E. Branched-chain amino acids increase p70S6K phosphorylation in human skeletal muscle after resistance exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2004;287: E17.
5. Norton LE, Layman DK. Leucine regulates translation initiation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle after exercise. J Nutr, 2006;136:533S-537S.
6. Crowe MJ, Weatherson JN, Bowdeen BF. Effects of dietary leucine supplementation on exercise performance. Eur J Appl Physiol, 2005;29:1-9.
7. Pasquale MG. Amino Acids and Proteins for the Athlete-The Anabolic Edge, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1997.
8. Blomstrand E, Eliasson J, Karlsson HK, Kohnke R. Branched-chain amino acids activate key enzymes in protein synthesis after physical exercise. J Nutr, 2006;136:269S-73S.
9. Garlick PJ. The role of leucine in the regulation of protein metabolism. J Nutr, 2005;135:1553S-6S.
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