Self myofascial release

I have just written this book, you can get it at https://payhip.com/veganbodybuilding
It is a book/video combo.  It covers what we know about self myofascial release (SMR), runs you through a routine with photos, text explanations and a video, so things should be crystal clear. If you had any questions about how to start or why you should be considering it, this will answer it for you.
Those that have followed this blog for some time know I spent 2 years studying massage.  I don't believe that SMR is comparable to a massage, but it is better than not doing anything and in some situations may be the preferred modality.
It is by donation, so although I would like you to pay a little towards the costs if you can afford it, those of you are on a very low income can just grab it for free.

REVIEW: Sportique range of bodycare products

Every now & again you come across a product you never even knew existed before.  Long time readers will know that we have been fans of v-pure a DHA/EPA pill made from algae (NOT from fish - in fact the fish eat this algae to get the oil in the first place).  Anyway, a company called nuique have taken over distributing v-pure & this company also do the sportique range of body care products.
Anyway, to cut a long story short I looked about on their site & found that they had some 'weird stuff', stuff I'd never heard of like 'Warming up cream', so I thought to myself "What the hell is warming up cream & why would I need it?  I warm up- hell before I workout these days I foam roll, stretch, then do activation/mobility before I even touch a weight!"  So, as I had some contact with the people producing v-pure I decided to see what the whole deal was?
It turns out that nuique make a whole range of creams & oils that are suitable for vegans & all barre one is suitable for drug-tested athletes (the 'Get Going – Warming Up Cream' contains geranium which can give a false positive in a drugs test- thanks to Pat from the BDFPA for pointing that one out).  So, I got a few different products to try out & I will go through all the one's I have tried.  I will have to get a non-drug tested athlete to test out the 'Get Going – Warming Up Cream' as I can't test that one myself.  Although I haven't got a review of that product yet, I have been able to review several of the products that I thought would be directly related to anyone interested in training or exercise of any sort.

Warming up cream

This was the first one I tested.  I have used chilli style creams before, but never really thought of them as a pre-workout product.  In the past I have used them to aid muscle soreness & recovery.  This cream does all that.  In fact if you want to REALLY heat an area I accidentally discovered the benefit of applying warming up cream to yourself then going to bed on an electric blanket - talk about warming!  By the next day my muscle soreness was totally gone, but it was a weird feeling as it felt pretty hot!  One thing I found about this is that it is a slow building heat.  As I said I've used other chilli based warming products before & this one acts more slowly than some I've tried before, so do not make the mistake of my partner & slap on another layer or two, it will work, just not as fast as you expect.  Now let's talk about what it is named  after warming-up, I'd never thought to use anything like this as part of my warm-up.  So, anyway, during this recent cold weather I've been slapping it on & then starting my warm-up & by the time I'm ready to hit the weights I can feel the very first hints of warming on the joints.  For me I used it where it was needed so if I was doing a lower body session, the knees got some & the hips, if I was really going to hammer the upper body, then it would be applied to elbows, shoulders & if necessary wrists got a rub of the cream. Using it as a pre-work out warm-up cream I didn't use it on pecs, or much of the upper back (I did use it on the lower back-especially before a squat or deadlift session).  I actually found it pretty good - this could all be in my head, but the muscles & especially the joints feeling warm, made the workout really go well.  I wasn't on my first set thinking, "Hell, that joint still doesn't feel ready", the blood was there!  I have only used this in colder weather so far.  I will give it a go as temperatures go up, but I'm betting that it works a lot better in the colder weather as a pre-workout muscles & especially joint warmer.
This product does have another use.  I found it useful for muscle soreness, DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness - also called PEMS by some people), tired achy muscles & some forms of joint issues (I'm thinking the more arthritic type of joint pain); some over-use injuries are actually better served by another of their products in my view the 'Cooling cream'.

Cooling cream

This is about the opposite of the 'warming up cream".  It does what it says on the packet really.  It cools an area down.  If you suffer from overuse issues, sprains etc, the quick application of a cooling product can help.  If you use ice, for some areas applying this after your ice treatment can improve the effect I've found.  My partner also used it on some localised swelling when she wore stupid shoes, it worked wonders with the swelling vanishing really quickly (obviously I can't guarantee it will work on every type of swelling & any cuts should be avoided as should any personal or delicate places - that goes for the warming-up cream as well).  I use this less often than the warming up cream myself, but if you suffer from overuse issues, or related issues then this could become your good friend!  Also as the temperature goes up I might actually find myself using this a bit more after training on those tired out muscles, but we'll have to wait for some warm weather to test that one out!

Foot gel

This is supposed to be anti-fungal & anti-bacterial, but as I am fungus-free & my feet do not smell too bad (which implies not too many stinky bacteria), but sometimes I am on my feet for some time & so having a foot cream is ace.  It is supposed to be 'calming of the nerves', I can't vouch for that, but I can say that especially if you have someone to apply this cream for you, it is an ace way to renew those tired old feet.  I actually found that it works two ways. 1/ It relaxes tired feet, but 2/ If you come home after a long day, but need to go out in the evening, it can actually energise those feet & let you go out for an evening so you can dance, walk or generally have a good time on newly refreshed feet.

Warming up oil

I must confess I haven't used this one pre-workout even though it's a warming-up oil.  One of my hats is I'm a massage therapist & I have used it to massage a few people.  The oil has a nice texture & you will need to use less than you expect when you massage (either yourself or others). It is a warming oil, so it can be used on the joints of arthritic clients & the warming effect & increased blood supply can be very beneficial.  It can also be used by athletes to aid recovery as increased site specific blood flow does appear to aid recovery (that's personal, anecdotal evidence I haven't actually researched that, it just seems to be the case).  Also for really tired people this will really knock them out if you give them a softer massage.  They will often fall asleep on the couch or make it home & really sleep soundly with the benefit of the massage & the warming oil.  I wouldn't use this & gentle massage if you've had a long day & plan to go out, but if you have specific arthritic or muscular pain areas, then rubbing some on before you go out could help relieve the pain enough to enjoy the evening (just remember to wash your hands well as there is few things worse than rubbing chilli into your eyes or if male using the bathroom & getting chilli where you REALLY don't want it!)

There were some things that looked really good, but have bee products in, so they are ok for vegetarians but not us vegans.  They are all obvious as they have stuff like beeswax in them, so a quick read will tell you if they are ok for you to use.  I have got some 'Get Going – Warming Up Cream', but the review on that will have to wait until I can find a non-drug tested athlete to give it a go.  But those are the products I've tried so far - I'm guessing it is going to be similar to the warming-up cream?  There are a whole load of things in the sportique range from aftershave balm to deodorant so it is certainly worth checking out if you are after any body care products, as I said a few aren't vegan, so check the ingredient (& if you would like the look of a product, but it isn't vegan then let them know, if they get enough communication they may well be able to reformulate if the demand is there?).  The stuff I have tried though I definitely like & I have found with the warming up cream a new way to improve my warm up especially on colder days & the cooling product seems ace for swelling, sprains & overuse issues where cooling down is the best approach.

For the full sportique range of body care check them out here

Xmas Back Injury 2010

This is a very personal post about my Christmas injury.  On the 27^th December I bent over & suffered a bad back trauma.  This was the second time in as many months I’d suffered an injury to the back.

I began digging into the research & resources all about back issues, the causes of back pain & possible corrections for my condition (NOTE: I’m not a medical professional.  I am a qualified massage therapist & personal trainer, so any actions I use to correct my perceived issues may not be suitable for you.  Always run any exercise program past your medical adviser before you use them).

First off I discovered an interesting fact.  In an acute injury, the injury often recovers at the same rate whatever protocol you use.  That is whether you go to a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, or just use pain killers & bed rest; many acute injuries (one’s that clear up quickly) tend to take the same amount of time to recover whatever you do.  So, the person who said to you “Wow! I went to this person & I was better within 2 weeks!” is just as likely to have improved at the same rate with no intervention at all!  You can get pain relief by using other protocols, but not improved healing on an acute injury.  Chronic injuries are different (injuries lasting 3 months or more), these do seem to be affected by manipulation, possibly acupuncture & several other protocols. 

The real issue with an acute back injury is what you do after recovery as re-injury is much more common if you do nothing.  So, what are the issues that arise in acute back injury - that is a back injury where the pain goes within a few weeks- we are NOT talking about chronic back injury here.  Although some of the advice below may help a chronic back sufferer, see an expert & run it by them as some conditions can be made worse by inappropriate exercise.  First off are the multifidus muscles that run up the spine.  There is some speculation (with research to back it up...but not absolute proof) that these muscles can be oddly affected by injury.  In the area of an injury the fast twitch muscle fibres of the multifidus appear to shrink (the fast twitch muscles are the ones that react quickly & strongly to any change), the muscle also begins to get hyper-stimulated & so are more activated than they need to be (again ONLY in the area of the injury).

For those who don’t know what the multifidus muscles are.  They are a whole group of muscles that run up each side of the spine, they kind of grip one vertebrae to another all the way from the top to the bottom (sometimes they cross two or more vertebrae).  They are one of the main groups of muscles that facilitate spinal movement.  You can only really feel them down by your waistline (& a little above), they are bands of muscle each side of the spine, but as they go up other muscles sit on top of them, so you cannot feel them directly anymore.  So think about it, if these guys are ‘gluing’ your spine together & helping to support the skeletal frame & they only cross one or two vertebrae, then what happens when one gets injured, shrinks & get’s hyper-stimulated?  It will be pulling inappropriately when it doesn’t need to & it will not be able to react to a sudden movement like bending over, twisting or even reacting to a sharp change in balance.  Also remember this will happen on ONE SIDE of your spine only, so what does the other side do, what do the structures immediately above & below do, what happens to the whole spinal support structure?  That depends really on where it is, how bad it is & what you actual do.  There is worse to come.  Apparently the multifidus muscle has this weird atrophy that shrinks the fast twist muscle & it does not appear to rebuild very easily without specific work, which is bad...but it CAN be rebuilt, which is VERY good news!

As well as the multifidus you have to look at the other muscles of the body.  So, checking out glute & hamstring strength (especially left to right asymmetries), hip flexor tightness, adductor tightness, internal-external hip rotation, quadratus lumborum (QL) tightness (again left to right differences can be common here).

In my own case I found the following:

•          Tight right QL

•          Weak right glute

•          Weak right Hamstring

•          Some anterior pelvic tilt

•          Some multifidus asymmetries (my bird dog had gone to pot)

So, that’s what I found when I was able to test myself after the second incident.  I believe the first back issue (caused by a poor deadlift) actually caused some multifidus issues, but prior to that I had been developing some left to right asymmetries for some time, pushing much more on the left side than the right.  This was mainly due (I believe) to some nerve damage I have on my right big toe that makes balance a little harder that side & so the body is shying away from fully committing to that side during the big lifts?

So what exactly happened on the 27^th December?

OK I will bare all (literally) in these pictures below.

 

In both pictures I am attempting to stand up straight without flexing.  The pictures are taken on the morning of the 28th Dec & the 2nd Jan. Within 6 days I am back to near symmetry!

Here’s what are you seeing on the 27^th December photo?  The right hip is being raised by an ultra tight QL, you can’t see this so clearly, but the spine is completely flattened when seen from the side (no I’m not putting up side shoots as I was naked!  You’ll just have to trust me), the lower spine lost all extension all the spine looked completely flat when seen from the side top to bottom.  The spine took on a scoliosis-like look as it literally appeared to snake up my back, the left shoulder & scapula are raised.  The glutes ‘disappeared’ (again seen better from the side, but I think you can see this well enough here).  The whole back lost any muscle tone, the lats switched off as well – this is the first time I’ve actually witnessed muscles being visibly inhibited & structure being visibly altered in such a drastic way through one injury that took mere days to right itself.  For comparison I’ll put the 2^nd Jan photo up, so 6 days later I was nearing total symmetry again, the back has regained its natural curvature & the scoliosis-like effect is gone, the glutes are back, the scapulae & shoulders are near level.

So, everything’s ok, right?....WRONG!

I put myself through a pretty extensive screening once I was able to move correctly.  I found my ability to do a bird-dog on one side had become problematic (that may be a multifidus issues), the weak glutes & hamstring on the right, tight right hand side QL, some anterior pelvic tilt, limited internal hip rotation (worse on the right), tight adductors on the right, I’d also developed a tendency to ‘tail tuck’ at the bottom of even a bodyweight squat.  Obviously I have a lot of work ahead of me!  Looking at the issues it becomes clear that I’ve been developing these issues for some time & only now are the ‘symptoms’ starting to show.  So, this probably isn’t going to be an overnight fix.  So, what are my plans?

Well first off I bought an inversion table.  It seems like that will help with the immediate symptoms while I try & deal with the ongoing problems & hopefully aid in warding off another back issue while I work on the problem. 

 

Enjoying a first go on the inversion table (there's 

even the box it came came still in the background)

Next up I began a rehab protocol, that consisted of:

•          Plank

•          Side plank

•          Bird-dog

•          Hip Hiker (standing on a step & raising & lowering the hip)

•          Internal & external hip rotation (you do external hip rotation as tight external rotators can sometimes stop a hip internally rotating)

•          Glute bridging

•          Bodyweight squat (working on keeping the form super tight)        

•          Hip adduction

•          Hip abduction

•         Leg curl on stability ball

•     Self myofascial release on the back, glutes, hamstrings & hip flexors (try using a tennis ball down the back.  Start with the ball at the top to one side of the spine, arms by the side, raise the arms first above your head, then across the body, wiggle a little.  Now move the ball down a cm & repeat – do that down both sides of the spine to experience some real pain!).  Check out a quick guide I did on self myofascial release (SMR) at pdf version (right click & 'save as') or MS Word version (right click & 'save as') for  some details on how to do simple SMR.

That along with the inversion was the foundation of the rehab, but as things move along I will start to introduce some unilateral lifting (like split squats, suitcase lifts, one arm overhead pressing etc).  Why unilateral? Well think about it, I have a left to right imbalance, if I just ‘work harder’ on the bi-lateral squat or deadlift for example I’ll just reinforce the improper movement dysfunctions I’ve already developed.  I have to learn to strengthen both the left & right hand sides on their own, until the right can learn to ‘keep up’ with the left.  I suspect that due to the nerve damage in the right big toe that I may need to revisit unilateral lifting a few times a year to make sure everything stays in balance.

I’ve suffered a setback, that is very true.  I’ve had to re-evaluate my goals, set some things I had planned for 2011 onto the back burner for this year...but, I’ve found an issue, I have found a weakness, which begs the question “If I fix the weakness, how strong will I get?”.  If I fix myself right will 2012 be a really record year for lifting & gains?  How much have I been held back by being imbalanced?  These are exciting questions that I hope to answer over 2011.  Let’s hope I can rebuild a more symmetrical strength that translates into much better lifting & much better results.  That’s my goal for 2011.  I don’t want to just get back to where I was before the whole ‘back issue’ started, I’d like to soar beyond it, using the new knowledge I have discovered about myself to really improve beyond what I would have been able to if this issue hadn’t come up.

If there is sufficient interest I don’t mind putting up stills or even short youtube clips about my rehab adventure, let me know below if you’d be interested in following the adventure?  But do bear in mind, this is NOT a prescription for back injury recovery.  I am not a doctor, nor am I qualified to diagnose.  If you intend to incorporate any exercise or rehabilitation protocol (even chiropractic work or acupuncture etc) then always run it past your back specialist first as each condition is unique & each person is slightly different, so always check first & even if you get the go ahead NEVER work into pain.   You cannot beat a bad back into submission, it will always have the last say if you try to go head to head in a ‘suffering contest’.  So, be sensible, take things slow, & aim at slowly returning to full physical function (or as ‘full’ as your condition allows).  Any questions, ideas or anything else just write below.

Finally this was a pretty hard post to write.  Baring your all (in the case of some of these photos it was pretty damn close!) & confessing your own mistakes is quite a hard thing to put up online & let the world read.  Hopefully you’ll all take some time & not just post a comment, but to check your own bodies out, fix any asymmetries or other issues before a problem rears its ugly head & puts you onto the sidelines for a while.  Prehab should be an issue every athlete or lifter takes seriously.  Hopefully I’ll be taking a lot more care of the ‘little things’ from now on as by doing that I can keep lifting & hopefully still keep making gains for many years yet! 

Zen Physio Deep massage device

I've just started using using this new tool.  It's pretty heavy duty massage machine that I use for just a quick going over of tight areas (I'm a qualified massage therapist, so it's useful to add to my bag of  tricks).  You obviously have to have some idea when this is suitable to use.  It's especially good if you've got just some tight muscles (say you slept at an odd angle, tightened up from sitting for ages or have areas that naturally tighten up like the back etc).  The infra-red is quite subtle so don't expect a massive heating of the area (approx the same heating feeling as you'd get from a 1MHz ultra sound device I'd say).
Some people find it a little too vigorous especially over the organs, but others find it pretty handy for loosing them up a bit.  Basically if you like a harder style of massage you'll like this, if you like the softer approach then this may not be for you.
For the strength athlete it's role is to aid the relaxation of tight muscles, help reduce or improve DOMS.  Obviously do not use on any muscle that is damaged by an injury, so don't us on bruised or cut areas, or anywhere you suspect might be a muscle tear as it really won't help.  Do not use directly on bones either stick to soft tissue areas (although the exception is you can run it over the scapulae [shoulder blades] with no ill effect).
Who would I recommend it for?  Well anyone who gets tight muscles.  A massage will work better, but most of us can't afford a daily massage, but they can afford to use this daily if necessary.  With it's long handle & cable you can use it on your own.

 

Finally I didn't get anything for putting this up.  I bought the device & after using it for a while on both myself & other people thought some of you might find a review helpful.  There are a lot of similar devices out there, that I'm sure work just as well, but this one is certainly one I think could be useful.

Tiredness during workouts

I get quite a few emails a week about various issues & as I try to answer everyone who mails in. I suddenly thought today why not put up some issues that some of you might have & my suggestions. Well here's the first. This guy contacted me suffering from lack of endurance during workouts. Like most mails I get, it doesn't cover a lot of the issues that I really need to zero in on a problem, but it gave me a chance to give some general advice on what bases you should have covered if you suffered general fatigue - especially during or soon after exercise:

~~~~

Let's start with the basics & work from there. Basically what I would
do is implement only 1 thing & see if that's the cause, if not keep on
with that & add the next. You can try out any, or all, of the things I
mention, but it's best if you find the cause, so you're not stuck
thinking you need to do everything on the list, as I suspect you
won't.
First the most important for your health is B12, if you're not taking
it, you need to. I have all my trainees; meat-eaters, veggies, vegans
& raw food eaters take B12 daily. There is a technique to taking B12,
that isn't common knowledge. Under the tongue & at the back of the
throat are modified lymph capillaries, these can absorb (amongst other
things) B12 directly into the blood stream (via the lymphatic system).
So, the best way to take vitamin B12 is to buy a capsule or pill
containing B12 & B-complex, open the capsule or crush the pill & swill
the contents around your mouth for about 1 minute before swallowing,
that way you get a lot more B12 into you than just swallowing the
pill/capsule straight down. If you are low in B12 it will take a
while to feel the effects, as it needs to slowly get back into all the
trillions of cells in your body. one final point don't take B12 with
vitamin C pills, the C disrupts b12 assimilation, so if you are taking
both leave a little time between taking the two things (you can take
low level vitamin C, like in a multi vitamin/mineral pill with B12,
but not something like a 500mg + pill).
The second thing you need to address is your EFA (Essential fatty acid
levels & ratios). Most people are low in the omega 3 fatty acid
group. Most nuts, seeds & oils contain high levels of omega 6 fatty
acids, but are low in omega 3's. To balance this up I recommend that
you get hold of a cheap coffee grinder & every morning grind up 1 or 2
tablespoons of flax seed (linseed), you can add it to a morning shake,
to cereal, to porridge or just mix with soya milk & drink it,
whatever. You can add it to any hot thing, but do NOT heat it, always
add it after you've finished heating the product or you'll damage the
fats & waste your time.

The two things above are the 2 basics everyone should be doing
regardless of anything else. From now on expect to be doing this
every day!

Let's assume these are not the problem for you. The next obvious
thing is your diet. First off how often do you eat & when do you eat.
You should be splitting your eating into 6 feeds a day:

Breakfast
Mid-morning snack
Lunch
Mid-afternoon snack
Dinner
Supper

You should try & get decent food down you for every feed, not junk.
Plan on having a 'cheat' meal once or twice a week, like if you are
going to a party having one or two drinks & a few roasted nuts or
crisps (chips if you're from the US). That will be ok, providing the
rest of the week you're pretty strict & plan out your eating so you're
getting healthy food down you for most of the time.
Let's get to the workout nutrition specifics:

Pre-workout

About an hour or 2 before you workout the meal you have should have
some protein & contain complex carbs. The carbs will give you energy
to finish your workout.
The exact timing depends on your digestion. People digest at
different speeds, so workout how long it takes after a meal before you
feel ready to hit some weights.

I've covered my ideas on workout nutrition on the vegan bodybuilding
blog on this page
click here & click here


Post workout nutrition is THE most vital feed of the day. My views on
that are also on the blog on this page click here


Bear in mind these are what I'd consider IDEAL intakes, you don't need
all the supplements, but having at least some protein powder & a
simple carb source for when you train is a good idea. I don't
recommend any specific protein powder, soya, pea, hemp, rice protein
powders all work, for a simple carb source I tend to go for red grape
juice. It's high in glucose, contains antioxidants & other
phyto-chemicals that are useful to the body. I personally only use it
for training, so I freeze a carton of red grape juice into icecubes.
I add 1 or 2 cubes to my drink during training, then several cubes to
my after training drink.

Next up we'll move onto recovery. First off have there been any
changes in your life. Increased stress, different working or
recreational activities? Are you sleeping ok? Any other changes in
your life that could account for a loss in training ability? Have a
think, try & pinpoint any changes, next see what you can do to change
those.
The other option is could it be you training? Have you changed that,
have you been doing the same thing for a long time? Strangely enough
these 2 things can have similar effects on the body. If you've been
doing the same thing for a long time, your body gets stale & you need
to change your routine, if you've recently changed your routine it may
be that you aren't thriving on the new system & need to change things
up a bit.

Let me give you a few examples of possible issues, if they apply to
you, then think about how you can change things:

1/ Your working hard at work & the training on top is just wearing you out?
A/ Try an abbreviated routine of 1 or 2 exercises & see how you get
on. Focussing upon just a few exercises hard is better than many exercises in
a lacklustre manner.

2/ You're not eating properly?
A/ Today plan out your eating, get to the shops, buy the food you're
going to need & from tomorrow switch to a better eating plan. You may
need to cut back on training duration for a while as you recover, or
even take a few extra days off while internal supplies of nutrients build up.

3/ Haven't been using the proper nutrition before, during & after training?
A/ Getting these in place will increase your training intensity &
recovery. Expect good results over the next few weeks!

4/ Stress in my life is very high?
A/ If you can sort out the underlying issues you should be working on
getting the problems sorted out, if possible. If that is unfeasible
at the moment (such as work/domestic issues etc), then consider
abbreviating your training to allow for more recovery. Consider some
stress management practices such as meditation, positive
re-enforcement, visualisations etc.

5/ Inconsistent training?
A/ Write a plan you can stick to. Give yourself something that will
motivate you. Plan goals, short term, mid-term & long term, write
them down & maybe even tell someone. That will drive you towards your
goals.

Finally we'll move onto supplements. These do have their place, but
only after everything else is in place. They SUPPLEMENT your other
efforts. In order of importance I rate:

Protein powder
L-glutamine
BCAA's
creatine
beta alanine
citrulline malate

Although I do try out others as part of my research (you can't really
write about things without having tried them out), these are the one's
I've found work for most of my clients & myself. Let's look at these
a little more closely:

Protein powder:
You can take this whenever. A small amount during training & also
taking 30grams or so after training are the most vital, but you can
have them as part of a meal or snack.

L-glutamine:
I've found this to be an excellent immune booster & recovery aid in
both myself & clients. I tend to recommend that it's vital pre-post
workout, & if you feel the need AM/PM 5 grams per serving seems around
right for most people.

BCAA's:
These are basically a fuel source doing activity. The body burns
these as well as fats & carbs during any activity, so having them
before/during training can spare these amino acids. Why do we want to
'spare' them? Well the main source of BCAA's is the amino acids in
muscle. So, by exercising you are burning muscle! Taking BCAA's you
can offer the body an alternative source, so the muscle isn't going to
be broken down to be burnt as fuel.

Creatine:
I'll start off by saying I prefer creatine ethyl ester (CEE). To be
honest there is no reliable research to prove this is the most
effective version of creatine, but anecdotally just about all the
bodybuilders I've met & talked with backstage at bodybuilding shows
over the last few years have moved over to CEE & I myself have found
it more effective than other versions out there. You can take
whichever form you prefer though. Follow the dosing rules on the
package, but if you are trying out creatine monohydrate (CM) then
don't bother with the loading phase as it's just likely to cause you
cramps & bloating as anything else, go straight to maintainence levels
8 weeks on 4 weeks off.

beta alanaine:
Basically this increases strength & muscular endurance & delays
fatigue. A lot of guys are stacking this with creatine.

Citrulline malate
Another one that delays fatigue, but also can possibly increase NO
production. Also increases arginine levels more than taking arginine
directly. So, you can possibly get the increased pumps associated
with arginine with this product without the associated risk to herpes
(cold sore) sufferers.
~~~~~
That was one reply I gave to a guy who had a problem & thought it might of interest to some of you out there?
Often, especially the new vegan can feel added fatigue. This is usually down to the fact that vegan food is less calorifically dense that a meat based diet (you need to eat more folks!). In most cases increasing the amount on your plate &/or adding more feeds per day will sort out your tiredness. I often hear excuses like the flora in your digestive tract is changing, you’re detoxifying etc. This might be true, but more often than not the actual cause, when we get down to real-world fixes is to eat MORE. Pick healthy food & keep an eye on your protein intake, like anyone training you do, in my view, need a decent amount of protein. Keep your protein up & calories high & you tend to lessen these fatigue symptoms. Finally, if you’re suffering on your diet, you are doing something wrong, don’t suffer, or live with it, get it sorted out! Seek advice about nutrition from someone who’s had some experience with vegan athletes or nutrition for very active people.
For some useful advice you could try asking on the veganbodybuilding email list we have nutritionists, competing bodybuilders, powerlifters & strongman competitors click here