text:
Posts Tagged 'speed'
NFL great Hershel Walker was 'weak, slow and uncoordinated' until he did this…
As a boy in Georgia, NFL great Hershel Walker was called 'weak, slow and uncoordinated' by coaches and other kids.
He couldn't keep up and he used to get beat on.
But then he discovered a secret:
If he exercised like the animals on their farm he got super strong, agile, flexible, mobile and quick – all at the same time!
Soon he was passing out all the other kids.
He kept on training this way. He built up these movements to huge reps per day. He did push ups, pull ups, bridges, sit ups and variations of these year after year.
Herchel became truly extraordinary. He ended up with a 5th degree black belt in Taekwondo, he was an Olympic bobsledder, he danced with the Fort Worth ballet and he was a track and field champion in college… on top of being arguably the greatest college footballer of all time and a future hall of fame inductee in the NFL!
One curious thing also happened when he was playing in the NFL:
Nearly all sportspeople train with weights, and his team was no different. So one day Hershel was in the team weights room doing his own thing and one of the players/coaches asked him to do some of the weights exercises… the bench press, shoulder press, squats and so on.
To their amazement Herschel out lifted them all!
He didn't even DO weights.
That's how strong bodyweight exercises at high reps made him.
He was known for his running power and speed. The combination made him deadly… and he swore by his exercise regime.
I can also attest to the power of using your own bodyweight. I tried all kinds of exercises, but nothing came close to moving my own body.
A lot of people think golf requires very little athleticism. Nothing could be further from the truth.
You can get away with extra timber and not so great cardio to an extent (there's more than one buffet molester on tour). However, you have to be limber, strong and have a diamond set of shoulder, spinal, pelvic and hip muscles to play good golf.
Natural bodyweight movements stretch and really strengthen these areas! It also activates and powers the core and glutes like no other. These factors are athleticism 101… and taken up to elite level with only 4 to 6 comprehensive ancient exercises.
The result is swinging a golf club is much easier than before. Not to mention the ball bombs off the face with ease.
One of the sayings among those who really know golf is… 'the athlete usually wins.' Well, nothing makes you more athletic than mastering your own bodyweight.
Obviously practise, mentality and technical proficiency are huge too, but if you body isn't strong and mobile enough these important body movements are diminished or don't happen at all.
You can be great mentally and putt well, but it's hard to compete with guys that bomb it straight and pure iron shots at the flag. All things being equal its the main difference you see between the top players at the club and the other guys.
It's the same with EVERY sport. Let's get real here: Players with power, speed, agility, coordination and balance on another level are basically unplayable!
Actually, one of the things about having a great mentality is putting your mind to improving or even mastering the elements of your craft.
So yea, sport is still 90% mental… but maybe not quite the way most people say it is!
Make this the day you zoom past the others like Herschel Walker did… from a position where he was told he 'can't.' Order The Next Level Sports Program today and learn how you can do this and much more.
Everyone can start where they are and improve day by day to amazing results they didn't think were even possible.
That's what I've experienced, and so can you.
Brian Timlin
P.s. I like what many institutes like the Titleist Performance Institute are doing, but they are giving people watered down movements that don't really get to the root of power and mobility. To get a major advantage over your competitors click here
The best upper body workout on the planet
It's 7.00am on a summers morning on the Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro.
There's a stream of people on the sand, exercising with kettlebells, bodyweight exercises and yoga.
These people are moving their bodies in their surroundings. Their feet are connected to the earth, the sun is shining down and they're taking in gulps of fresh air. They're wearing nothing but speedos and bikinis so more sun, water and air can nourish them.
What a great thing to do for your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
After finishing their workout on the beach they might want to try this:
If they find a good sturdy overhanging branch or monkey bars in a nearby park, they can attach some gymnastics or trx rings to it and start to do upper body exercises.
Nothing can beat the rings for upper body development.
Mastering gymnastic movements on the rings gives incredible strength, great balance and magnificent control of the body (obviously people start with easier moves).
It's a different level to even a big bench and shoulder press, so much more functional. There's just a lot more that goes into 3 dimensional movement, controlling our own bodyweight at all sorts of different angles and leverage points, not to mention all the extra muscles that are used.
Therefore, the development is greater. After those people in Rio work out on the rings or the monkey bars (the rings are more difficult), they can go back to the beach and cool down with a swim. What a perfect start to the day… and it doesn't have to be in Rio!
I mention Conor McGregor a lot, because I admire his training so much. If you saw his fight in January 2015 against a Russian-German called Denis Siver, you'll see what happens when someone who is mastering their bodyweight meets a weights trainer.
Speed, fluidity and unadulterated power against a strong, but stiff and slow opponent who can't control his body at angles. There's only going to be one winner, and by a landslide!
Why you are probably very deficient in Magnesium and how it is critical to good health and sports performance
Picture a man living in a cottage in a forest, near a river. He's surrounded by the elements. There's a lot to be said for it.
Every day he eats fresh greens, he catches fish and eats them. He exercises and does meditative type things that relax his mind and body. His health is probably a lot better than most.
The reason being he's getting what he needs to nourish, remove toxins and de-stress.
Regarding the nourishment part greens, fish and fresh mineral water are high in magnesium. Most of us in the modern world are deficient in magnesium (many of us are severely deficient), and it is so important. It is needed for regulating no less than 300 biochemical reactions in the body.
Magnesium deficiency is a significant factor — often the major factor — in many severe illnesses including heart attacks and other forms of heart disease, asthma, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, fatigue, diabetes, migraines and other headaches, osteoporosis, insomnia, and most cases of muscular problems." Dr. Steven Johnson puts it better: "The range of pathologies associated with Mg deficiency is staggering: hypertension (cardiovascular disease, kidney and liver damage, etc.), peroxynitrite damage (migraine, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, Alzheimer's disease, etc.), recurrent bacterial infection due to low levels of nitric oxide in the cavities (sinuses, vagina, middle ear, lungs, throat, etc.), fungal infections due to a depressed immune system, thiamine deactivation (low gastric acid, behavioral disorders, etc.), premenstrual syndrome, Ca deficiency (osteoporosis, mood swings, etc.), tooth cavities, migraines, hearing loss, diabetes type II, cramps, muscle weakness, impotence, aggression, fibromas, K deficiency (arrhythmia, hypertension, some forms of cancer), Fe accumulation, etc."
The modern diet contains water that has had many of the natural minerals taken out from treatment and recycling, and we eat far less greens and fish than before. Also, a lot of the vegetables we do eat have come from land that is not fully remineralised, because most large farms use man-made fertilisers that are only high in the minerals that make crops grow bigger (and are deficient in the other macro minerals like Magnesium and all the micro minerals).
This issue has been compounded by rudimentary conventional magnesium testing that is actually inaccurate to your true magnesium levels. Most doctors and laboratories don't even test for it, and if they do they only look at the blood. Only 1% of the body's magnesium is in the blood, the rest is in the tissues.
So, the bottom line is most of us need to address this problem ourselves. The first thing you can do is make sure you are eating more greens and fish. If you have a lot of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency the second thing you can do is supplement. Check after a number of weeks to see if it has benefited you.
Magnesium can be difficult to supplement because taking it orally is not the best way for it to absorb and at higher doses it also loosens the stools. My advice is to supplement transdermally, rub it on your skin. There is a oil/gel available from a company called Ancient Minerals. Their products are available at ancient-minerals.com and magnesium.ie . It's very hard to overdose magnesium as most people are very deficient and excess is usually either not absorbed or removed from the body.
Ancient Minerals magnesium chloride is extracted from the Ancient Zechstein Seabed in Europe, 1600 to 2000 meters deep in the interior of the Earth. Well protected for the last 250 million years, it is the most pure magnesium in the world.
I've found this supplement fantastic in my own health and I'm sure it would of great benefit to most other people as well.
One other thing, magnesium increases Atp (energy, speed, stamina), is one of the best anti-inflammatories (if not the best) and helps your muscles to relax. Do you think it might help your training, recovery and sports performance as well?
Don't get left behind is my advice. Lather that stuff all over your body before and after training (especially where it is most needed).
The man living in a cottage in the forest doesn't have an iphone, but he'd probably kick all our butts in living in a way that makes him fit, healthy and happy. Smartphones and the internet are great in some ways and we don't have to live in a forest, but let's be far more like that guy and not king of the rats in the rat race (the ill-health and death race).
Let's get back to living in a way that is in tune with our nature!
Gymnasts don't use reps, sets and 3 days a week routines
I'm all for knowing a lot of the science behind getting the most from your training, but it's not the most important factor.
The most important factor is just training, a LOT. If you do that you'll know what works for you and why anyway. Then you can start to read a few books and educate yourself. You can try things out and see how it goes for you.
When you are starting though you just need to get going, try just about anything. See what effect it has.
When gymnasts train they just do the moves, and do them for hours everyday.
Trainers nowadays are chronically afraid of overtraining, but that's often due to doing ridiculous things that you know you shouldn't be doing anyway.
It's hard to overtrain using bodyweight exercises, and that's not to say they don't get to extremely high resistance, because they do with using one arm or difficult leverage points like handstand push ups etc. The more natural the training the better because involving all the smaller muscles, skill, coordination and balance engages the brain more, which hugely improves results and also recovery. Static contractions, kettlebells, bodyweight exercise, some weights exercises and playing sport are 'natural training'. The body is amazing at adapting to hard and regular training after a few weeks, especially if it is a sport or natural types of training.
If you just commit to training everyday or almost everyday, over time, you'll work out how much and how hard to train.
You can also read up on sets and reps and try things out.
My point here is that a lot of people are getting caught up in the how and forgetting the main factor is to keep taking action. The person who just keeps doing the training and improving his/her strength (even if they do it 'wrong') will end up getting way better results than the person who does all the reps and sets to a tee, but doesn't push hard enough to improve regularly and turns up sporadically.
Those fellas that exercise on the monkey bars just go and train every day or every second day and do the best they can. They aim to get better, and do so regularly. They usually are training 6-12 months before they show any interest in the science of it, if they ever do. Either way, they end up with amazing strength, athleticism and ripped muscular physiques.
So I'm going to break down for you what is really important: Train a lot, train as naturally as possible and aim to improve at it regularly. That's it.
The rest of it is just fine tuning.
The Dragon's favourite exercise
Bruce Lee is famous for his explosive speed, strength and his very ripped physique. His abilities came from his superior mind-body connection. He created this largely from using isometric exercise. Isometrics are static contractions. It is a powerful combination of mental focus and physical exercise, because you are creating the contraction mentally.
If you show off your bicep to someone and mentally flex or contract the muscle to tighten it, you are doing isometrics. If animals in the wild who live and die by survival instinct and one of the greatest athletes of our time use these exercises extensively, then I'm sure you'll agree this is an exercise worth looking at.
The uses and possibilities of isometrics are endless. It is very helpful for flexibility in alternating contractions with relaxing into the stretch. I've a whole report on my website about that, which is a great thing to use. You will find it mind boggling how much further you can stretch immediately using this method.
Static contractions are proven to create 5% more strength every week in any muscle trained 3 times per week or more.
You can also hit just about any angle, any part of the range of motion and even the smallest muscles using isometrics. The usefulness of this is huge. For one thing, it makes it a lot easier to do sport specific exercises or target muscles needing rehab.
Add to all this the fact that you are creating a powerful link from the mind/brain to the muscles and you have something very powerful.
As we point out a lot here, the more your brain is involved during exercise the more you are going to get out of it in terms of performance, hormone response, neurological and physical adaptations.
However, SC not a complete exercise either. I wouldn't recommend isometrics as a stand alone routine. You aren't really strengthening your joints without putting actual weight on them, so isotonic exercise or movement with resistance is also needed. You are also not practising movement.
However, isometrics are quick and easy to do and are a phenomenal compliment to any type of training. Some things to note are that often the strength you gain from isometrics will only translate 10 degrees either side of the point of contraction. In other words, it is a good idea to contract your muscles at about 3 different places in its range of motion.
It is also a good idea to relax your muscles periodically in a session, maybe after three or four 6-10 second contractions. Relaxing only takes a few seconds, but it is good to shake the tension out, release and relax the muscles again. Using your breathing is very useful for doing this as well.
You only really need to be aware. Most people probably won't even need to do the relaxation part, but a lot of us are so used to holding onto tension that we may not let go properly after a contraction exercise.
Tension when you don't need it hampers your coordination, calmness and balance. Learn how to avoid that, by learning how to relax your muscles as well.
When you picture Bruce Lee training what you see is total body control. He is able to tense and relax at will in perfect timing. He's gained a lot of this from static contractions. You will see him pull against a rope as hard as he can, push against something and then start exploding into speed moves. This is all using the mind-muscle connection over and over again to grease the groove and create better and better neurological connections between the brain and the muscles. That's where his extreme muscle density, ridiculous speed and explosive power came from.
Thank you for your legacy and wisdom Mr. Lee.
'Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one', Bruce Lee.
Why dancing is one of the best exercise routines
If you picture a scene in the amazon rain forest full of animals, what is going on?
If they aren't mating, eating or trying to eat or avoid being eaten, they are singing, dancing and playing. I'm not saying animals are better than humans, because they are not as developed and don't have the ability to reason, inspire or create metaphor. However, I think we often forget that we are animals too. We've lost a lot of our instinct and what actually works for us to make our lives better.
In that way we can certainly learn a lot from them. So let's go back to that scene and let's look at the animals singing, dancing and playing. It's marvelous when you think about it. It's a cacophony of the senses. They are really in the moment, in the flow and doing great things without effort. We can really struggle with that.
Our world has moved so fast that we've devised a lot of education, lifestyles and practises that were created without thought as to whether we are designed for it.
As a result we are often stuck in the analysis part of the brain, which only makes up a meager 2% of the grey matter. The rest of it is based on sensory images, and we seriously neglect that to our cost. Our perceptive ability and potential is often hugely hampered as a result.
In the previous articles, we've talked about using more of the brain while exercising to get better results and also to enhance the rest of our lives.
We've talked about sport, coordination, balance and ambidexterity. Well, what about music? RHYTHM.
So important as well. Rhythm connects our auditory sense and kinesthetic sense.
What do nearly all top sportpeople, dancers or athletes have in common? Great rhythm. Wouldn't it be a good idea then for us to look at this important factor?
Would a dance class for exercise be a good idea? Of course it would. Sure you are using more of your brain, you have to coordinate, get in the moment, stay in rhythm, connect with other people and also keep your balance.
It's a marvelous thing to do.
If you watch a monkey swinging from a tree, a quick lizard moving at pace along the ground, or a gazel taking off on a sprint what you see is fluid movement. It is in beautiful natural rhythm.
Dance is a great way to connect this up. Team sport is also a great way to develop it. A good team movement is all about rhythm. It's not quick, cohesive and elegant without it. But dance is an easier way to develop this because rhythm in team sport takes some individual development first.
For strength, you can also master bodyweight movement using good technique, rhythm and copy animal bodyweight movements like the lizard walk. There's a flow, coordination, balance and rhythm to those movements you just can't get with a conventional weights exercise. It will also show in overall results; how you look, how you feel and how you perform.
Really consider taking a dance or zumba exercise class. It will do wonders for you, even if you start with two left feet. You can start to get great results just by improving and practising a few times a week. You only have to look at the enjoyment, posture, fluidity, muscularity and tone of a professional dancer to see what it can do for us.
If you start you'll be gaining those things too.
All you really have to do is keep showing up to enjoy yourself.
Why you want to be like a frog
The frog is an advanced creature at jumping, swimming and generally using his/her legs fluidly, explosively and with awesome strength.
We humans can learn a lot from the humble amphibian.
We are tensed up.
You want to be loose as a goose for various reasons. It makes you feel better, it gives you more energy, mental clarity and you become better at doing just about any task.
It's all about balance. Strength is good, but flexibility is more important.
It's fine to build muscle or strength or both, but don't neglect flexibility in the process. You can have powerhouse muscle's like a frogs legs, but still be fluid and loose.
There's a former world champion wrestler called Matt Furey. He's burly and naturally muscular and he's also done lots of strength training. If there was ever a guy that you'd think wouldn't be flexible it'd be him, yet is muscles are so 'soft' that he can do the splits. He achieved that later on by flexibility work.
That's where you want to be.
It's all about balance. We tend to be tensed up so we need to stretch out for relaxation, stress relief and health. We sit forward a lot, so we need to stretch in certain directions that bit more than others. Strength is great too, but its the other side of the coin to flexibility and having both is the best place to be, for health, performance and injury prevention.
It is also better to strengthen using your own bodyweight (some free weight exercises are good too) to improve coordination, balance, hit many angles, smaller muscles and strengthen the spine so you are getting way more out of it and also not creating imbalances.
You don't want to neglect muscles, because that also creates tension and leaves you open to injury or back alignment issues.
Note: There are ways to increase bodyweight exercises to ridiculous resistance and difficulty levels. Some people think there are only a few simple bodyweight exercises like two handed push ups and pull ups. That's only start of it.
The animals in the wild have it right. They have an instinct that many of us have lost. Everyday, they stretch themselves out, they do static contractions for strength, they exercise naturally using their own bodyweight, they play and spar with each other.
It gives them the best chance to enjoy life and survive. Similar training gives us the best chance to survive, be at our happiest and flourish. The ancients observed animals and created great methods like Yoga (you don't have to do Yoga per se).
We just have to start where we are, see the benefits and keep improving until we are a master like Matt Furey. All it takes is a little bit of daily exercise and rejuvenation time.
I like what Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor says about training and how he gets ready for fights. Many people would think the best way to get ready for a fight would be heavy sparring and pumping weights. McGregor does very little of that, he spends 90% of his training time on skills, balance, flexibility, fluid animal movements and bodyweight training. Not many UFC fighters train like this, but he's got the best physique, speed, he's the strongest and is currently wiping out his whole division.
Be like a frog.
Why the brain is the most important 'muscle' in the body
In sport, training, and physique building everyone talks about strength, speed and muscularity, but the truth is a lot deeper than that. It's really about the brain and then we branch out from there.
Everything we do is controlled from the brain. If we develop the brain, we develop everything else.
You may think I'm full of it at this point, but hear me out.
When you strength train you are commanding your brain to create a denser network of neurons that create better wiring that travels down to your muscles, to make them contract harder.
When you develop a skill you are doing the same thing, except this time you are developing fine motor skills or hand eye coordination or movement patterns. All of the above come under the bracket of procedural memory. Your brain is learning to do something better, putting the blueprint in place mentally and in your neurological system, to do it automatically. It is creating more dense networks and faster wiring for certain tasks. It will also create the necessary hormones, body fluids, building blocks to do that task.
This is one of the reasons that I talk about focusing on the muscles you are using in a strength exercise, because it switches the brain on more; and the more of your brain that is engaged, the more you will gain from the workout.
Let's take this one step further though:
What if we super engage the brain? How could that impact strength training, physique and hand eye coordination?
A lot, as it happens.
So how do we really light up the brain?
Well more of the brain's cortex is taken up with the hands than any other part of the body. If we develop our hand eye coordination and hand-forearm strength then we are really lighting things up in the grey matter. If we also do that while working ambidextrously we are really taxing (and developing) our brain.
This will make you better at just about every other thing you do.
This is why it is important to play sport, especially ones that require a lot of coordination. Ever notice how much easier it is to do a lot of running when you are playing a game or a match? More of your brain is switched on in chasing the ball, controlling the ball, doing skilled tasks, keeping an eye on opponents, the pattern of play and just having fun etc. Therefore it will provide more of its abilities and resources to help you improve. As a result, you'll get a lot more from it.
We've always sort of known that sport is important to society, but now we are getting more 'proof' through neuroscience. We learn a lot about personal development and team work by sport. We also learn about competing. However, we are also directly developing our brain in many different ways and increasing our blood flow to the cerebrum.
The effects of this are far reaching into all aspects of our lives. This will help you in just about every area.
So take up a sport or two, a team sport or a team and individual sport and also try to develop your skills ambidextrously. The greats are nearly always good on both sides or play the opposite way to their natural dominance. Check it if you don't believe me: Ronnie O'Sullivan, the most talented snooker player of all time, is ambixdextrous. Rafa Nadal in full fitness at his peak was untouchable, he even beat Federer on grass at that point, and he's right handed but plays left handed. All the great soccer players are either two footed or left footed in a righty world. Tiger Woods is left handed but plays right, Ben Hogan was left handed but played right, Phil Mickelson is right handed and plays left. The best soccer goalkeeper of all time, Peter Schmeichal played handball as a kid (you have to use and develop both arms to play handball). The left side of the body is connected to the right brain and vice versa, and both sides of the brain have abilities the other side doesn't. We want to engage and amplify all areas and also communication across the hemispheres as much as possible. If the spacial awareness, rhythm, vision, reasoning, interpersonal, sensory, impulse control, and decision centers are all switched on and communicating… skill level is greatly heightened. The greats with ambidexterity are using more of their brains!
This isn't inbuilt either, it is about development. Then it looks like it is natural two sidedness, but there's no such thing. There are many accounts of people who acquired an injury to one side and over time developed the other side to be just as good. And of course, as stated earlier, many of the great sportspeople play the opposite side to their usual dominance. If you develop both sides your brain creates that motor cortex structure, if you neglect one side it never develops.
This is another reason why bodyweight exercise trumps repetitive weights routines. You have to learn to control your own body, balance and coordination to do bodyweight exercises correctly. They are also bilateral as they get harder, in other words you start to do them one side at a time (like a one arm push up).
You can also greatly develop your memory directly, and memory is connected to everything you do. You have images for how to do simple tasks, complex skills, for how things work, for things you've learned etc.
There was once a study done of London black cab drivers before and after they had memorised 25,000 streets. Their hippocampi region of the brain was 10% bigger after! The brain is very much changeable and very adept at learning skills if you practise them. It will literally change its structure to get better.
So when not playing sport but doing a simple exercise (like push ups or running etc.), you can also recite the capitals of the world or something else you've memorised. You'll find that you actually accomplish more physically because more of the brain is switched on. You are creating more hormones and your neurons are connecting and communicating more across the regions of the brain. This makes you better at everything.
So start using more of your brain, it will lead to greater results in all areas of your life!
Creatine: Is it good, and is it safe?
Creatine is one of the few very good supplements worth the money. It works to increase energy, muscle size and power. It's not uncommon to see increases of 10% in strength/power output and 8lbs of muscle gain from creatine alone.
My advice is to use creatine monohydrate. This is the most common and most researched form of the substance. It is also perfectly safe (according to the 150 research papers I've viewed on it). *See the end of this article for safe dosages and monitoring any reactions
There are other forms of creatine, creatine ethylester (CEE), that is broken down into creatinine, which is toxic to the body. I strongly suggest you avoid this type of creatine or anything other than creatine monohydrate, because this is the one we know works best and is also completely safe.
The buffered Ph neutral creatine called KreAlklyn is a madey uppey type of creatine. It is just mixed with creatine salts and baking soda. They then tell you that creatine monohydrate will be largely broken down into creatinine in the body, unless it is buffered like theirs is.
This is not true. Creatine monohydrate mixed with water is Ph neutral and very little degrades into creatinine (not enough to be significant in any way). Plus KreAlklyn is used at a much lower dose, because it is said to be 'much more effective since it isn't broken down'. Again, creatine monohydrate isn't broken down into creatinine, except minutely. The research is sound on this, so therefore KreAlklyn is just giving a very small and ineffective dose of creatine monohydrate plus baking soda. It's a cod.
Regarding other forms of creatine, they are either less effective or simply creatine monohydrate dressed up in a prettier dress (for probably double the price).
Regarding dosage, an effective dose of creatine can be anywhere up to 35g per day. A good guide would be your bodyweight target in pounds * 0.15 = grams of creatine per day.
Most people will be around the 20-25 grams per day range.
Creatine monohydrate is pretty cheap to buy and, in my opinion, definitely worth purchasing if you are an athlete or a regular gym goer.
You do hear about the so called dangers of creatine, so I am wary in that sense. However, I have read a lot of research papers on creatine, so have scientists I trust and I don't see the negatives people talk about. I only see positive effects in performance & cellular and mitochrondrial health. I've also used it at various times and only experienced benefits. There were no negative effects in my creatinine levels or other markers of health.
It has to be considered that there are many conflicting pieces of information and strong negative views on every type of diet out there as well. Creatine is naturally occuring in foods, especially meat. It is simply three amino-acids, which are perfectly natural.
Also make sure you are buying from a reputable source. I buy creatine monohydrate from myprotein.ie because they provide an independent certificate of analysis for label accuracy and purity, with every batch. This ensures you are getting what you paid for and also that there are no contaminants.
You just have to see how you react to things, because everybody is different and not every diet or supplement will work for you. The best thing we can do is decide whether we want to try it, and if we do… experiment with safe dosages, see the results and monitor any potential downsides before and after, with a health professional.
Then you can decide whether you want to continue with it or not. It's not the biggest deal in the world, training and diet are far more important. However, creatine can also make a significant enough difference to size and performance to warrant serious consideration as a training aid.
- Folin O, Denis W. Protein metabolism from the standpoint of blood tissue analysis: third paper; further absorption experiments with especial reference to the behavior of creatine and creatinine and to the formation of urea. J Biol Chem. 1912;12:141-162.
- Bloch K, Shoenheimer R. The metabolic relation of creatine and creatinine studied with isotopic nitrogen. J BioZ Chem. 1939;131:111-118.
- Chanutin A. The fate of creatine when administered to man. J Biol Chem. 1926;67:29-34.
- Hoberman HD, Sims EA, Peters JH. Creatine and creatinine metabolism in the normal male adult studied with the aid of isotopic nitrogen. J BioZ Chem. 1948;172:45-51.
- Klingenberg M, Pfaff E. 1966. In: Regulation of Metabolic Processes in Mitochondria. Tager JM, editor, p. 180. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
- Meisner H, Klingenberg M. Efflux of adenine nucleotides from rat liver mitochondria. J Biol Chem. 1968 Jul 10;243(13):3631-9.
- Klingenberg M. The ADP-ATP translocation in mitochondria, a membrane potential controlled transport. J Membr Biol. 1980 Sep 30;56(2):97-105. Review.
- Klingenberg M. The ADP and ATP transport in mitochondria and its carrier. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008 Oct;1778(10):1978-2021.
- Bessman SP, Geiger PJ. Transport of energy in muscle: the phosphorylcreatine shuttle. Science. 1981 Jan 30;211(4481):448-52. Review.
- Wallimann T. Bioenergetics. Dissecting the role of creatine kinase. Curr Biol. 1994 Jan 1;4(1):42-6.
- Meyer RA, Sweeney HL, Kushmerick MJ. A simple analysis of the "phosphocreatine shuttle." Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 1984; 246: C365–C377.
- Perry CG, Kane DA, Herbst EA, Mukai K, Lark DS, Wright DC, Heigenhauser GJ, Neufer PD, Spriet LL, Holloway GP. Mitochondrial creatine kinase activity and phosphate shuttling are acutely regulated by exercise in human skeletal muscle. J Physiol. 2012 Nov 1;590(Pt 21):5475-86.
- Bessman SP. The creatine-creatine phosphate energy shuttle. Annual Review of Biochemistry. 1985;54:831–862.
- Balaban RS. Regulation of oxidative phosphorylation in the mammalian cell. Am J Physiol. 1990 Mar;258(3 Pt 1):C377-89. Review.
- Korzeniewski B. Theoretical studies on the regulation of oxidative phosphorylation in intact tissues. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2001 Mar 1;1504(1):31-45. Review.
- From AH, Zimmer SD, Michurski SP, Mohanakrishnan P, Ulstad VK, Thoma WJ, U?urbil K. Regulation of the oxidative phosphorylation rate in the intact cell. Biochemistry. 1990 Apr 17;29(15):3731-43.
- Saks VA, Kongas O, Vendelin M, Kay L. Role of the creatine/phosphocreatine system in the regulation of mitochondrial respiration. Acta Physiol Scand. 2000 Apr;168(4):635-41.
- Bangsbo J, Graham TE, Kiens B, Saltin B. Elevated muscle glycogen and anaerobic energy production during exhaustive exercise in man. J Physiol. 1992;451:205-27.
- Smith JC, Hill DW. Contribution of energy systems during a Wingate power test. Br J Sports Med. 1991 Dec;25(4):196-9.
- Serresse O, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C, Boulay MR. Aerobic and anaerobic energy contribution during maximal work output in 90 s determined with various ergocycle workloads. Int J Sports Med. 1991 Dec;12(6):543-7.
- Boulay MR, Lortie G, Simoneau JA, Hamel P, Leblanc C, Bouchard C. Specificity of aerobic and anaerobic work capacities and powers. Int J Sports Med. 1985 Dec;6(6):325-8.
- Bangsbo J, Madsen K, Kiens B, Richter EA. Effect of muscle acidity on muscle metabolism and fatigue during intense exercise in man. J Physiol. 1996 Sep 1;495 ( Pt 2):587-96.
- Sargeant AJ. Structural and functional determinants of human muscle power. Exp Physiol. 2007 Mar;92(2):323-31. Epub 2007 Jan 25. Review.
- Greenhaff PL, Bodin K, Soderlund K, Hultman E. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle phosphocreatine resynthesis. Am J Physiol. 1994 May;266(5 Pt 1):E725-30.
- Harris RC, Söderlund K, Hultman E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clin Sci (Lond). 1992 Sep;83(3):367-74.
- Hultman E, Söderlund K, Timmons JA, Cederblad G, Greenhaff PL. Muscle creatine loading in men. J Appl Physiol. 1996 Jul;81(1):232-7.
- Bangsbo J, Krustrup P, González-Alonso J, Saltin B. ATP production and efficiency of human skeletal muscle during intense exercise: effect of previous exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Jun;280(6):E956-64.
- Smith JC, Hill DW. Contribution of energy systems during a Wingate power test. Br J Sports Med. 1991 Dec;25(4):196-9.
- Maughan RJ, Gleeson M, Greenhaff PL. Biochemistry of exercise and training. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
- Terjung RL, Clarkson P, Eichner ER, Greenhaff PL, Hespel PJ, Israel RG, Kraemer WJ, Meyer RA, Spriet LL, Tarnopolsky MA, Wagenmakers AJ, Williams MH. American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Mar;32(3):706-17.
- Balsom PD, Harridge SD, Soderlund K, Sjodin B, Ekblom B. Creatine supplementation per se does not enhance endurance exercise performance. Acta Physiol Scand. 1993 Dec;149(4):521-3.
- Engelhardt M, Neumann G, Berbalk A, Reuter I. Creatinine supplementation in endurance sports. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998;30:1123-9.
- Cooper R, Naclerio F, Allgrove J, Jimenez A. Creatine supplementation with specific view to exercise/sports performance: an update. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Jul 20;9(1):33.
- Vandebuerie F, Vanden Eynde B, Vandenberghe K, Hespel P. Effect of creatine loading on endurance capacity and sprint power in cyclists. Int J Sports Med. 1998 Oct;19(7):490-5.
- Greenhaff PL, Casey A, Short AH, Harris R, Soderlund K, Hultman E. Influence of oral creatine supplementation of muscle torque during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. Clin Sci (Lond). 1993 May;84(5):565-71.
- Kilduff LP, Vidakovic P, Cooney G, Twycross-Lewis R, Amuna P, Parker M, Paul L, Pitsiladis YP. Effects of creatine on isometric bench-press performance in resistance-trained humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Jul;34(7):1176-83.
- Becque MD, Lochmann JD, Melrose DR. Effects of oral creatine supplementation on muscular strength and body composition. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Mar;32(3):654-8.
- Balsom, PD, Ekblom B, Soderlund K, Sjodin B, Hultman, E. Creatine supplementation and dynamic high-intensity exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1993;3:143-9.
- Becque M, Lochmann JD, Melrose D. Effect of creatine supplementation during strength training on 1-RM and body composition. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1197;29:S146.
- Balsom PD, Soderlund K, Sjodin B, Ekblom B. Skeletal muscle metabolism during short duration high-intensity exercise: influence of creatine supplementation. Acta Physiol Scand. 1995 Jul;154(3):303-10.
- Hoffman JR, Stout JR, Falvo MJ, Kang J, Ratamess NA. Effect of low-dose, short-duration creatine supplementation on anaerobic exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 May;19(2):260-4.
- Smith JC, Stephens DP, Hall EL, Jackson AW, Earnest CP. Effect of oral creatine ingestion on parameters of the work rate-time relationship and time to exhaustion in high-intensity cycling. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1998 Mar;77(4):360-5.
- Kreider RB, Ferreira M, Wilson M, Grindstaff P, Plisk S, Reinardy J, Cantler E, Almada AL. Effects of creatine supplementation on body composition, strength, and sprint performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998 Jan;30(1):73-82.
- Gastin PB, Lawson DL. Influence of training status on maximal accumulated oxygen deficit during all-out exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. 1994;69:321-30.
- Baker JS, McCormick MC, Robergs RA. Interaction among Skeletal Muscle Metabolic Energy Systems during Intense Exercise. J Nutr Metab. 2010;2010:905612.
- Gastin PB. Energy system interaction and relative contribution during maximal exercise. Sports Med. 2001;31(10):725-41. Review.
- Candow DG, Chilibeck PD, Chad KE, Chrusch MJ, Davison KS, Burke DG. Effect of ceasing creatine supplementation while maintaining resistance training in older men. J Aging Phys Act. 2004 Jul;12(3):219-31.
- Saremi A, Gharakhanloo R, Sharghi S, Gharaati MR, Larijani B, Omidfar K. Effects of oral creatine and resistance training on serum myostatin and GASP-1. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2010 Apr 12;317(1-2):25-30.
- Volek JS, Ratamess NA, Rubin MR, Gómez AL, French DN, McGuigan MM, Scheett TP, Sharman MJ, Häkkinen K, Kraemer WJ. The effects of creatine supplementation on muscular performance and body composition responses to short-term resistance training overreaching. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004 May;91(5-6):628-37.
- Bemben MG, Lamont HS. Creatine supplementation and exercise performance: recent findings. Sports Med. 2005;35(2):107-25. Review.
- Balsom PD, Söderlund K, Ekblom B. Creatine in humans with special reference to creatine supplementation. Sports Med. 1994 Oct;18(4):268-80. Review.
- van Loon LJ, Oosterlaar AM, Hartgens F, Hesselink MK, Snow RJ, Wagenmakers AJ. Effects of creatine loading and prolonged creatine supplementation on body composition, fuel selection, sprint and endurance performance in humans. Clin Sci (Lond). 2003 Feb;104(2):153-62.
- Cooke WH, Grandjean PW, Barnes WS. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on power output and fatigue during bicycle ergometry. J Appl Physiol. 1995 Feb;78(2):670-3.
- Green AL, Hultman E, Macdonald IA, Sewell DA, Greenhaff PL. Carbohydrate ingestion augments skeletal muscle creatine accumulation during creatine supplementation in humans. Am J Physiol. 1996 Nov;271(5 Pt 1):E821-6.
- Mujika I, Chatard JC, Lacoste L, Barale F, Geyssant A. Creatine supplementation does not improve sprint performance in competitive swimmers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Nov;28(11):1435-41.
- van Loon LJ, Oosterlaar AM, Hartgens F, Hesselink MK, Snow RJ, Wagenmakers AJ. Effects of creatine loading and prolonged creatine supplementation on body composition, fuel selection, sprint and endurance performance in humans. Clin Sci (Lond). 2003 Feb;104(2):153-62.
- Branch JD. Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2003 Jun;13(2):198-226.
- Juhn MS, Tarnopolsky M. Potential side effects of oral creatine supplementation: a critical review. Clin J Sport Med. 1998 Oct;8(4):298-304. Review.
- Easton C, Turner S, Pitsiladis YP. Creatine and glycerol hyperhydration in trained subjects before exercise in the heat. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2007 Feb;17(1):70-91.
- Weiss BA, Powers ME. Creatine supplementation does not impair the thermoregulatory response during a bout of exercise in the heat. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2006 Dec;46(4):555-63.
- Kilduff LP, Georgiades E, James N, Minnion RH, Mitchell M, Kingsmore D, Hadjicharlambous M, Pitsiladis YP. The effects of creatine supplementation on cardiovascular, metabolic, and thermoregulatory responses during exercise in the heat in endurance-trained humans. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2004 Aug;14(4):443-60.
- Rand WM, Pellett PL, Young VR. Meta-analysis of nitrogen balance studies for estimating protein requirements in healthy adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan;77(1):109-27.
- Trumbo P, Schlicker S, Yates AA, Poos M; Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, The National Academies. Dietary reference intakes for energy, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein and amino acids. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002 Nov;102(11):1621-30.
- Willoughby DS, Rosene JM. Effects of oral creatine and resistance training on myogenic regulatory factor expression. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Jun;35(6):923-9.
- Willoughby DS, Rosene J. Effects of oral creatine and resistance training on myosin heavy chain expression. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Oct;33(10):1674-81.
- Deldicque L, Atherton P, Patel R, Theisen D, Nielens H, Rennie MJ, Francaux M. Effects of resistance exercise with and without creatine supplementation on gene expression and cell signaling in human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol. 2008 Feb;104(2):371-8.
- Schiaffino S, Reggiani C. Fiber types in mammalian skeletal muscles. Physiol Rev. 2011 Oct;91(4):1447-531.
- Harridge SD, Bottinelli R, Canepari M, Pellegrino MA, Reggiani C, Esbjörnsson M, Saltin B. Whole-muscle and single-fibre contractile properties and myosin heavy chain isoforms in humans. Pflugers Arch. 1996 Sep;432(5):913-20.
- D'Antona G, Lanfranconi F, Pellegrino MA, Brocca L, Adami R, Rossi R, Moro G, Miotti D, Canepari M, Bottinelli R. Skeletal muscle hypertrophy and structure and function of skeletal muscle fibres in male body builders. J Physiol. 2006 Feb 1;570(Pt 3):611-27.
- Pette D, Peuker H, Staron RS. The impact of biochemical methods for single muscle fibre analysis. Acta Physiol Scand. 1999 Aug;166(4):261-77. Review.
- Saremi A, Gharakhanloo R, Sharghi S, Gharaati MR, Larijani B, Omidfar K. Effects of oral creatine and resistance training on serum myostatin and GASP-1. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2010 Apr 12;317(1-2):25-30.
- Tarnopolsky MA. Clinical use of creatine in neuromuscular and neurometabolic disorders. Subcell Biochem. 2007;46:183-204. Review.
- Sakkas GK, Schambelan M, Mulligan K. Can the use of creatine supplementation attenuate muscle loss in cachexia and wasting? Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2009 Nov;12(6):623-7. Review.
- van Loon LJ, Murphy R, Oosterlaar AM, Cameron-Smith D, Hargreaves M, Wagenmakers AJ, Snow R. Creatine supplementation increases glycogen storage but not GLUT-4 expression in human skeletal muscle. Clin Sci (Lond). 2004 Jan;106(1):99-106.
- Derave W, Eijnde BO, Verbessem P, Ramaekers M, Van Leemputte M, Richter EA, Hespel P. Combined creatine and protein supplementation in conjunction with resistance training promotes muscle GLUT-4 content and glucose tolerance in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2003 May;94(5):1910-6.
- Op 't Eijnde B, Ursø B, Richter EA, Greenhaff PL, Hespel P. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on human muscle GLUT4 protein content after immobilization. Diabetes. 2001 Jan;50(1):18-23.
- Steenge GR, Simpson EJ, Greenhaff PL. Protein- and carbohydrate-induced augmentation of whole body creatine retention in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2000 Sep;89(3):1165-71.
- Green AL, Simpson EJ, Littlewood JJ, Macdonald IA, Greenhaff PL. Carbohydrate ingestion augments creatine retention during creatine feeding in humans. Acta Physiol Scand. 1996 Oct;158(2):195-202.
- Pittas G, Hazell MD, Simpson EJ, Greenhaff PL. Optimization of insulin-mediated creatine retention during creatine feeding in humans. J Sports Sci. 2010 Jan;28(1):67-74.
- Sappey-Marinier D, Calabrese G, Fein G, Hugg JW, Biggins C, Weiner MW. Effect of photic stimulation on human visual cortex lactate and phosphates using 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 1992 Jul;12(4):584-92.
- Rango M, Castelli A, Scarlato G. Energetics of 3.5 s neural activation in humans: a 31P MR spectroscopy study. Magn Reson Med. 1997 Dec;38(6):878-83.
- Rae C, Digney AL, McEwan SR, Bates TC. Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proc Biol Sci. 2003 Oct 22;270(1529):2147-50.
- Benton D, Donohoe R. The influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and omnivores. Br J Nutr. 2011 Apr;105(7):1100-5.
- Delanghe J, De Slypere JP, De Buyzere M, Robbrecht J, Wieme R, Vermeulen A. Normal reference values for creatine, creatinine, and carnitine are lower in vegetarians. Clin Chem. 1989 Aug;35(8):1802-3.
- McMorris T, Mielcarz G, Harris RC, Swain JP, Howard A. Creatine supplementation and cognitive performance in elderly individuals. Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2007 Sep;14(5):517-28.
- Klopstock T, Elstner M, Bender A. Creatine in mouse models of neurodegeneration and aging. Amino Acids. 2011 May;40(5):1297-303. Review.
- Bender A, Beckers J, Schneider I, Hölter SM, Haack T, Ruthsatz T, Vogt-Weisenhorn DM, Becker L, Genius J, Rujescu D, Irmler M, Mijalski T, Mader M, Quintanilla-Martinez L, Fuchs H, Gailus-Durner V, de Angelis MH, Wurst W, Schmidt J, Klopstock T. Creatine improves health and survival of mice. Neurobiol Aging. 2008 Sep;29(9):1404-11.
- Halestrap AP, Griffiths EJ, Connern CP. Mitochondrial calcium handling and oxidative stress. Biochem Soc Trans. 1993 May;21(2):353-8. Review.
- Bangsbo J, Juel C, Hellsten Y, Saltin B. Dissociation between lactate and proton exchange in muscle during intense exercise in man. J Physiol. 1997 Oct 15;504 ( Pt 2):489-99.
- McKenna MJ, Heigenhauser GJ, McKelvie RS, MacDougall JD, Jones NL. Sprint training enhances ionic regulation during intense exercise in men. J Physiol. 1997 Jun 15;501 ( Pt 3):687-702.
- Huso ME, Hampl JS, Johnston CS, Swan PD. Creatine supplementation influences substrate utilization at rest. J Appl Physiol. 2002 Dec;93(6):2018-22.
- Balsom PD, Ekblom B, Soderlund K, Sjodin B, Hultman E. Creatine supplementation and dynamic high-intensity intermittent exercise. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1993;3:143–149.
- Balsom PD, Söderlund K, Sjödin B, Ekblom B. Skeletal muscle metabolism during short duration high-intensity exercise: influence of creatine supplementation. Acta Physiol Scand. 1995 Jul;154(3):303-10.
- Barnett C, Hinds M, Jenkins DG. Effects of oral creatine supplementation on multiple sprint cycle performance. Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1996 Mar;28(1):35-9.
- Becque M, Lochmann JD, Melrose D. Effect of creatine supplementation during strength training on 1-RM and body composition. (Abstract). Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S146.
- Birch R, Noble D, Greenhaff PL. The influence of dietary creatine supplementation on performance during repeated bouts of maximal isokinetic cycling in man. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Phys. 1994;69(3):268-70.
- Burke LM, Pyne DB, Telford RD. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on single-effort sprint performance in elite swimmers. Int J Sport Nutr. 1996 Sep;6(3):222-33.
- Casey A, Constantin-Teodosiu D, Howell S, Hultman E, Greenhaff PL. Creatine ingestion favorably affects performance and muscle metabolism during maximal exercise in humans. Am J Physiol. 1996 Jul;271(1 Pt 1):E31-7.
- Cooke WH, Grandjean PW, Barnes WS. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on power output and fatigue during bicycle ergometry. J Appl Physiol. 1995 Feb;78(2):670-3.
- Dawson B, Cutler M, Moody A, Lawrence S, Goodman C, Randall N. Effects of oral creatine loading on single and repeated maximal short sprints. Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1995 Sep;27(3):56-61.
- Earnest CP, Snell PG, Rodriguez R, Almada AL, Mitchell TL. The effect of creatine monohydrate ingestion on anaerobic power indices, muscular strength and body composition. Acta Physiol Scand. 1995 Feb;153(2):207-9.
- Goldberg PG, Bechtel PJ. Effects of low dose creatine supplementation on strength, speed and power events by male athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S251.
- Greenhaff PL, Casey A, Short AH, Harris R, Soderlund K, Hultman E. Influence of oral creatine supplementation of muscle torque during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. Clin Sci (Lond). 1993 May;84(5):565-71.
- Grindstaff PD, Kreider R, Bishop R, Wilson M, Wood L, Alexander C, Almada A. Effects of creatine supplementation on repetitive sprint performance and body composition in competitive swimmers. Int J Sport Nutr. 1997 Dec;7(4):330-46.
- Greenhaff PL, Constantin-Teodosiu D, Casey A, Hultman E. The effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle ATP degradation during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. J Physiol. 1994;476:84.
- Hamilton-Ward K, Meyers M, Skelly WA, Marley RJ, Saunders J. Effect of creatine supplementation on upper extremity anaerobic response in females. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S146.
- Johnson KD, Smodic B, Hill R. The effects of creatine monohydrate supplementation on muscular power and work. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S251.
- Kirksey K, Warren BJ, Stone MH, Stone MR, Johnson RL. The effects of six weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation in male and female track athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S145.
- Kurosawa Y, Iwane H, Hamaoka T, Shimomitsu T, Katsumura T, Sako T, Kuwamori M, Kimura N. Effects of oral creatine supplementation on high- and low-intensity grip exercise performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S251.
- Lemon P, Boska M, Bredle D, Rogers M, Ziegenfuss T, Newcomer B. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on energetics during repeated maximal muscle contraction. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1995;27:S204.
- Mujika I, Chatard JC, Lacoste L, Barale F, Geyssant A. Creatine supplementation does not improve sprint performance in competitive swimmers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Nov;28(11):1435-41.
- Odland LM, MacDougall JD, Tarnopolsky MA, Elorriaga A, Borgmann A. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on muscle [PCr] and short-term maximum power output. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997 Feb;29(2):216-9.
- Prevost MC, Nelson AG, Morris GS. Creatine supplementation enhances intermittent work performance. Res Q Exerc Sport. 1997 Sep;68(3):233-40.
- Redondo DR, Dowling EA, Graham BL, Almada AL, Williams MH. The effect of oral creatine monohydrate supplementation on running velocity. Int J Sport Nutr. 1996 Sep;6(3):213-21.
- Ruden TM, Parcell AC, Ray ML, Moss KA, Semler JL, Sharp RL, Rolfs GW, King DS. Effects of oral creatine supplementation on performance and muscle metabolism during maximal exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996;28:S81.
- Schneider DA, McDonough PJ, Fadel PJ, Berwick JP. Creatine supplementation and the total work performed during 15-s and 1-min bouts of maximal cycling. Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1997 Sep;29(3):65-8.
- Stout JR, Echerson J, Noonan D, Moore G, Cullen D. The effects of a supplement designed to augment creatine uptake on exercise performance and fat free mass in football players. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S251.
- Vandenberghe K, Goris M, Van Hecke P, Van Leemputte M, Van Gerven L, Hespel P. Prolonged creatine intake facilitates the effects of strength training on intermittent exercise capacity. Insider. 1996;4(3): 1–2.
- Vandenberghe K, Gillis N, Van Leemputte M, Van Hecke P, Vanstapel F, Hespel P. Caffeine counteracts the ergogenic action of muscle creatine loading. J Appl Physiol. 1996 Feb;80(2):452-7.
- Volek JS, Kraemer WJ, Bush JA, Boetes M, Incledon T, Clark KL, Lynch JM. Creatine supplementation enhances muscular performance during high-intensity resistance exercise. J Am Diet Assoc. 1997 Jul;97(7):765-70.
- Ziegenfuss T, Lemon PW, Rogers MR, Ross R, Yarasheski KE. Acute creatine ingestion: Effects on muscle volume, anaerobic power, fluid volumes, and protein turnover. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S127.
- Thompson CH, Kemp GJ, Sanderson AL, Dixon RM, Styles P, Taylor DJ, Radda GK. Effect of creatine on aerobic and anaerobic metabolism in skeletal muscle in swimmers. Br J Sports Med. 1996 Sep;30(3):222-5.
- Bosco C, Tihanyi J, Pucspk J, Kovacs I, Gabossy A, Colli R, Pulvirenti G, Tranquilli C, Foti C, Viru M, Viru A. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on jumping and running performance. Int J Sports Med. 1997 Jul;18(5):369-72.
- Jacobs I, Bleue S, Goodman J. Creatine ingestion increases anaerobic capacity and maximum accumulated oxygen deficit. Can J Appl Physiol. 1997 Jun;22(3):231-43.
- Earnest C, Rash J, Snell P, Almada A, Mitchell T: Effect of creatine monohydrate ingestion on intermediate length anaerobic treadmill running to exhaustion. (Abstract). Med Sci Sports Exerc 27: S14, 1995.
- Febbraio MA, Flanagan TR, Snow RJ, Zhao S, Carey MF. Effect of creatine supplementation on intramuscular TCr, metabolism and performance during intermittent, supramaximal exercise in humans. Acta Physiol Scand. 1995 Dec;155(4):387-95.
- Terrillion KA, Kolkhorst FW, Dolgener FA, Joslyn SJ. The effect of creatine supplementation on two 700-m maximal running bouts. Int J Sport Nutr. 1997 Jun;7(2):138-43.
- Harris RC, Viru M, Greenhaff PL, Hultman E. The effect of oral creatine supplementation on running performance during maximal short term exercise in man. J Physiol. 1993;467:74.
- Balsom PD, Harridge SD, Söderlund K, Sjödin B, Ekblom B. Creatine supplementation per se does not enhance endurance exercise performance. Acta Physiol Scand. 1993 Dec;149(4):521-3.
- Myburgh KH, Bold A, Bellinger B, Wilson G, Noakes TD. Creatine supplementation and sprint training in cyclists: metabolic and performance effects. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1996;28:S81.
- Stroud MA, Holliman D, Bell D, Green AL, Macdonald IA, Greenhaff PL. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on respiratory gas exchange and blood lactate accumulation during steady-state incremental treadmill exercise and recovery in man. Clin Sci (Lond). 1994 Dec;87(6):707-10.
- Coco M, Perciavalle V. Creatine ingestion effects on oxidative stress in a steady-state test at 75% VO(2max). J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2012 Apr;52(2):165-9.
- Smith AE, Fukuda DH, Ryan ED, Kendall KL, Cramer JT, Stout J. Ergolytic/ergogenic effects of creatine on aerobic power. Int J Sports Med. 2011 Dec;32(12):975-81.
- Rahimi R. Creatine supplementation decreases oxidative DNA damage and lipid peroxidation induced by a single bout of resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Dec;25(12):3448-55.
- Zuniga JM, Housh TJ, Camic CL, Hendrix CR, Mielke M, Johnson GO, Housh DJ, Schmidt RJ. The effects of creatine monohydrate loading on anaerobic performance and one-repetition maximum strength. J Strength Cond Res. 2012 Jun;26(6):1651-6.
- del Favero S, Roschel H, Artioli G, Ugrinowitsch C, Tricoli V, Costa A, Barroso R, Negrelli AL, Otaduy MC, da Costa Leite C, Lancha-Junior AH, Gualano B. Creatine but not betaine supplementation increases muscle phosphorylcreatine content and strength performance. Amino Acids. 2012 Jun;42(6):2299-305.
- Cramer JT, Stout JR, Culbertson JY, Egan AD. Effects of creatine supplementation and three days of resistance training on muscle strength, power output, and neuromuscular function. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Aug;21(3):668-77.
- van Loon LJ, Oosterlaar AM, Hartgens F, Hesselink MK, Snow RJ, Wagenmakers AJ. Effects of creatine loading and prolonged creatine supplementation on body composition, fuel selection, sprint and endurance performance in humans. Clin Sci (Lond). 2003 Feb;104(2):153-62.
- Hultman E, Söderlund K, Timmons JA, Cederblad G, Greenhaff PL. Muscle creatine loading in men. J Appl Physiol. 1996 Jul;81(1):232-7.
- Harris RC, Söderlund K, Hultman E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clin Sci (Lond). 1992 Sep;83(3):367-74.
- Terjung RL, Clarkson P, Eichner ER, Greenhaff PL, Hespel PJ, Israel RG, Kraemer WJ, Meyer RA, Spriet LL, Tarnopolsky MA, Wagenmakers AJ, Williams MH. American College of Sports Medicine roundtable. The physiological and health effects of oral creatine supplementation. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Mar;32(3):706-17.
- Greenhaff P. Creatine and its application as an ergogenic aid. Int J Sport Nutr. 1995;5:S100–S110.
- Deldicque L, Décombaz J, Zbinden Foncea H, Vuichoud J, Poortmans JR, Francaux M. Kinetics of creatine ingested as a food ingredient. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Jan;102(2):133-43.
- Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Antonio J. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007 Aug 30;4:6.
- Giese MW, Lecher CS. Qualitative in vitro NMR analysis of creatine ethyl ester pronutrient in human plasma. Int J Sports Med. 2009 Oct;30(10):766-70.
- Velema MS, de Ronde W. Elevated plasma creatinine due to creatine ethyl ester use. Neth J Med. 2011 Feb;69(2):79-81.
- Jäger R, Purpura M, Shao A, Inoue T, Kreider RB. Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine. Amino Acids. 2011 May;40(5):1369-83.
- Persky AM, Brazeau GA, Hochhaus G. Pharmacokinetics of the dietary supplement creatine. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2003;42(6):557-74. Review.
- Jagim AR, Oliver JM, Sanchez A, Galvan E, Fluckey J, Riechman S, Greenwood M, Kelly K, Meininger C, Rasmussen C, Kreider RB. A buffered form of creatine does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations than creatine monohydrate. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012 Sep 13;9(1):43.
- Candow DG, Chilibeck PD, Burke DG, Mueller KD, Lewis JD. Effect of different frequencies of creatine supplementation on muscle size and strength in young adults. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jul;25(7):1831-8.
- Green AL, Simpson EJ, Littlewood JJ, Macdonald IA, Greenhaff PL. Carbohydrate ingestion augments creatine retention during creatine feeding in humans. Acta Physiol Scand. 1996 Oct;158(2):195-202.
- Green AL, Hultman E, Macdonald IA, Sewell DA, Greenhaff PL. Carbohydrate ingestion augments skeletal muscle creatine accumulation during creatine supplementation in humans. Am J Physiol. 1996 Nov;271(5 Pt 1):E821-6.
- Steenge GR, Simpson EJ, Greenhaff PL. Protein- and carbohydrate-induced augmentation of whole body creatine retention in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2000 Sep;89(3):1165-71.
- Pittas G, Hazell MD, Simpson EJ, Greenhaff PL. Optimization of insulin-mediated creatine retention during creatine feeding in humans. J Sports Sci. 2010 Jan;28(1):67-74.
- Vandenberghe K, Van Hecke P, Van Leemputte M, Vanstapel F, Hespel P. Inhibition of muscle phosphocreatine resynthesis by caffeine after creatine loading. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:S249.
- Derave W, Eijnde BO, Verbessem P, Ramaekers M, Van Leemputte M, Richter EA, Hespel P. Combined creatine and protein supplementation in conjunction with resistance training promotes muscle GLUT-4 content and glucose tolerance in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2003 May;94(5):1910-6.
- Op 't Eijnde B, Ursø B, Richter EA, Greenhaff PL, Hespel P. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on human muscle GLUT4 protein content after immobilization. Diabetes. 2001 Jan;50(1):18-23.
Does jogging make you slow?
Yes and no.
If you only jog for a number of months then you will get considerably slower. I experienced this myself first hand lately. I started playing soccer again after years and years of not playing, aside from maybe one game per year.
I was still speedy in those intermittent games (so long as I wasn't socialising the night before), no pace had been lost. My stamina had been very poor though, because I'd only been strength training, playing golf and watching my diet.
This year I wanted to also get great cardiovascular fitness as well. So I added jogging three times per week to my regime.
I'm starting to play soccer regularly now. Stamina has improved considerably on the pitch, but I can't believe how much pace and speed I've lost. I can keep on going and going, but my ability to keep up intense work (work capacity) and speed are almost non-existent.
So I've learned from this and have added sprinting and interval work into my regime. My speed is coming back and the better work capacity should follow soon as well.
To be honest, it's not a bad idea to build an aerobic base of stamina first, because first and foremost you need to be able to keep going and also it helps your recovery from hard sessions.
As disappointed as I was with my loss of speed, the fact is I probably gave a better overall performance than the days when I had the speed, but lacked stamina.
Even when slow, I'd arrive in goalscoring positions and get back to defend a lot more, and this gives you more chance to use your hopefully decent skills and finishing. I also had more in the tank than other players as the game wore on, and started to influence the game more and score more.
It's not easy to go straight into a full fitness regime so maybe this was a decent approach. However, I'm happy the speed is coming back. It's a great thing to have, not just for running, but it also hugely helps your ability in having quick feet for skills and tackling.
The plan I have now is to play two 1.5-2 hour five a side games per week and do one tempo interval session as well, to cover aerobic fitness. All other sessions will be based on skills, strength, speed, agility and flexibility.
I'm replacing all jogging with the games and a tempo interval session, which is running repeats at 75% of max for 10 seconds and resting a minute or until heart rate goes to 130 bpm, and doing this for 15 to 30 minutes depending on if it is a light or full session. This is basically aerobic training done by easier sprints and work capacity training. It's not full out intervals, which are great for work capacity, and it's not jogging either. It's intervals for aerobic capacity and some work capacity.
This is what sprinters do for conditioning. They are afraid of jogging causing a loss of speed and so am I now!
However, I'm not sure jogging would have any effect on speed so long as you maintain your sprint and speed work. Some boxers and mma fighters maintain blinding speed with regular jogging on top of their speed routines, so that suggests it isn't a problem if not done in isolation.
But it may be better for athletes that need maximum speed to stick to games and tempo intervals. It is something to consider, it may be more specific to the needs of certain types of sports. In soccer for example, it is all bursts and recovery, which is more suited to tempo intervals and outright speed training on top of games and regular training.
All in all this is something that needs consideration. If you want to build an aerobic base from scratch you are probably better starting with walking alternating with jogging and building up to jogging. However, if you also need or want speed, then beware that this cardio work alone will take all speed away (over a period of months).
Have speed work as part of your routine as well, if so required.


text:
Story highlights
- The accused spy was arrested in southeastern Iran's Kerman province, news agency says
- The man allegedly met with British intelligence officers 11 times, ISNA reports
- The UK Foreign Office says it does not comment on intelligence matters
Iranian security officials say they have arrested an MI6 spy in southeastern Iran's Kerman province, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Saturday.
"The spy was arrested after several months of complex intelligence activities," ISNA quoted the head of Kerman's revolutionary court, Dadkhoda Salari, as saying.
The accused spy visited with British intelligence officers 11 times both in and outside Iran and has confessed to his crimes, Salari reportedly told ISNA. The MI6 is Britain's foreign intelligence agency.
The UK Foreign Office told CNN it did not comment on intelligence matters.
Relations between Britain and Iran have warmed somewhat in recent months. An Iranian envoy this week made the first visit to the United Kingdom since all Iranian diplomats were expelled in 2011, following an attack by protesters on the UK Embassy in Tehran.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said this week that relations were improving "on a step-by-step, reciprocal basis."
The reported arrest of an MI6 spy also comes in the same week as reports have emerged in the United States that former FBI agent Bob Levinson, who went missing on a trip to Iran in 2007, was working there for the CIA, the U.S. intelligence service.
The State Department and Levinson's family have denied he was working for the U.S. government ever since he disappeared.
The Associated Press and The Washington Post first reported the CIA angle on Thursday. Officials have maintained that Levinson was conducting private business in Iran.
At the same time, a bipartisan group of senators in Washington has been discussing possible legislation that would impose tougher sanctions on Iran. However, it is not clear whether the Democratic majority would bring such a deal up for a vote.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Well, I have taken another plunge. I finally got around to submitting a session for SQL Saturday Salt Lake City 2010 (Web | #sqlsat54 ). I had been planning on doing this since it was announced through the grapevine. The delay for submitting the first session really came down to a bit of confidence in writing an abstract on the topic. Writing abstracts is new territory for me. I plan on improving in this domain, thus will need to submit a few more abstracts to various different events. That said – SQL Sat SLC will be the first but not the last. If you check out the website for SQL Saturday 54, you will see that my topic is one of those that brings agony to many DBA's – Documentation. As I said in the abstract, I hope to share some scripts to help simplify some of the documentation tasks.
I am looking forward to this event and hope to see some of you there. Here's to hoping my presentation will be selected. In the meantime, I will be working on another abstract for a second topic to present at SQLSat54.


text: International Conference on Emerging Trends in Electronics, Electrical and Mechanical EngineeringICEEME.It will be held on 24th November, 2019 at Chandigarh, India . ICEEME and is being organized by TECHNOARETE INTERNATIONAL to provide an opportunity to research scholars, delegates and students to interact and share their experience and knowledge in technology application. ICEEME will provide an excellent international forum for sharing knowledge and results in Electronics, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. The aim of the Conference is to provide a platform to the researchers and practitioners from both academia as well as industry to meet the share cutting-edge development in the field.


text:
Black sweetheart tulle sequin long prom dress, black evening dress
Product number: shop01
Material: sequin, tulle
Size: US 2, US 4, US 6, US 8, US 10, US 12
US 2 Bust(inch)32 1/2 Waist(inch)25 1/2 Hips(inch)35 3/4 Shoulder to Floor(inch)58
US 4 Bust(inch)33 1/2 Waist(inch)26 1/2 Hips(inch)36 3/4 Shoulder to Floor(inch)58
US 6 Bust(inch)34 1/2 Waist(inch)27 1/2 Hips(inch)37 3/4 Shoulder to Floor(inch)59
US 8 Bust(inch)35 1/2 Waist(inch)28 1/2 Hips(inch)38 3/4 Shoulder to Floor(inch)59
US 10 Bust(inch)36 1/2 Waist(inch)29 1/2 Hips(inch)39 3/4 Shoulder to Floor(inch)60
US 12 Bust(inch)38 Waist(inch)31 Hips(inch)41 3/4 Shoulder to Floor(inch)60
❤❤❤ How to measure your size, please click(how to measure) ❤❤❤
Delivery times:
Processing time: 5-10 working days
Shipping time: 7-14 working days
Custom sizes: 2-16 working days
For Custom Size, Please leave following measurement, You can find a message box in the shopping cart, leave your custom size, Thank You.
Bust:______ cm/inch
Shoulder to Shoulder :_______ cm/inch
Shoulder to knee( for knee length dress only):________ cm/inch
Hollow to floor___cm/inch
All of my Professional Effort and Care is to make Your Dress fit You well and the most important part of providing this is taking the most accurate measurements. That's why, It's very IMPORTANT for me if you follow my measurement instructions below.
❤❤❤ I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you to get your measurements with help of a PROFESSIONAL TAILOR and ACCORDING TO MY INSTRUCTIONS for correct results of the measurements to avoid any mistakes ❤❤❤
Tailors may have different measurement instructions which might not match with my instructions, that's why it's important if Your Tailor read my instructions carefully.
❤ Due to nature of custom orders, when you receive your dress you may need some alterations.
I suggest you to plan for alterations with help of a local tailor and YOUR BUDGET ACCORDINGLY.
❤ If you have specific body shape features then please inform me about that and I might ask you additional measurements which are not included in my instructions.
❤ I leave some room inside in my dresses.
❤ I may require additional fee, if the measurements are plus size. This can be cleared up after you place your order.


text:
Story highlights
- The United States will not rest until al Qaeda is destroyed, John Brennan says
- John Brennan says U.S. officials "still have work to do" in order to defeat al Qaeda
- Officials believe bin Laden's successor could be hiding out in Pakistan's tribal region, he says
- The U.S. has "reduced significantly" the terror network's ability to attack, he says
Nearly a year after commandos killed Osama bin Laden at a compound northern Pakistan, U.S. officials "still have work to do" in order to defeat al Qaeda, a top counterterrorism official said Sunday.
"We're on a path to al Qaeda's destruction, and the president has committed that we're not going to rest until al Qaeda is destroyed as an organization in the Afghan-Pak area, as well as in other regions of the world," John Brennan, U.S. President Barack Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, told CNN's "State of the Union."
Killing bin Laden and dismantling the terror group's infrastructure in areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan have been key steps, Brennan said.
Officials believe Ayman al-Zawahir, the longtime deputy of bin Laden who took over leadership of al Qaeda after his death, remains in that region, Brennan said.
"We believe he's in that region of the world, as well as other al Qaeda leaders that continue to borough into areas of...the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. That's why we're working very closely with our Pakistani partners," he said. "We're not going to relent until they're brought to justice one way or the other."
The United States also has its sights set on al Qaeda targets in Yemen and Africa, he said.
When asked about a new political ad featuring former President Bill Clinton praising Obama for the decision that led to bin Laden's death, Brennan, who also worked with the CIA for 25 years, stressed, "I don't do politics. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican."
"It was a tough decision. As we know, the evidence was not there as far as an iron-clad case. A lot of it was circumstantial," the counterterrorism adviser said. "I just know that President Obama, when the time came for him to make a momentous decision like that, he took the action that did bring bin Laden to justice."
Speaking to reporters Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said there was no "silver bullet" that would destroy al Qaeda.
"The way this works is that the more successful we are in taking down those that represent their spiritual and ideological leadership, the greater our ability to weaken their threat to this country," he said.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security last week warned of the possibility of terrorist attacks leading up to and after the anniversary of the May 2, 2011, killing of bin Laden. There is no specific, credible terror threat, the agencies said.
The warning, released by the FBI and DHS, says individuals have posted messages on "violent extremist Web forums" vowing attacks on the United States around the anniversary, but adds that "such threats are almost certainly aspirational."
On Sunday, Brennan said the United States has "reduced significantly" al Qaeda's "ability to carry out attacks against the homeland."
"Their ability has been degraded significantly, and our defenses have improved significantly also in the past decade, so their ability to carry out an attack here in the United States now, compared to 10 years ago, is significantly diminished," he said.


text:
Events for December 24, 2019 › OPEN MIC
Events Search and Views Navigation
8:30 pm
Open Mic Tuesday
The Royal Esquire Club Presents - OPEN MIC TUESDAYS - Featuring the Sea-Town All Stars CALLING ALL PERFORMING ARTISTS!!!! Musicians, Vocalists, Spoken Word Artists and Dancers Come out to showcase your talents with an outstanding live band! NoCover - Donations Encouraged Never a cover for performing artists Doors Open @7pm […]Find out more »


text:
Fabric & Care
-Q11 fabric delivers unprecedented performance – it is completely opaque, buttery soft, slightly compressive, quick-drying, and breathable for incomparable activewear. Q11 contains no nylon, so colors stay saturated and intense, and the fabric retains its shape not only during an intense workout, but for the years to come.
-79% Polyester/21% Spandex
-Machine wash, tumble dry
Giving Tank Cameo Rose
True Legging Olive Night
Grace Tank Black


text:
The Prince Edward Island potato industry has recorded its history for posterity sake and to share with the public and the next generation of potato growers.
With funding from the sesquicentennial celebration PEI 2014 Fund, the Canadian Potato Museum and the PEI Potato Board hired journalist Ian Petrie to conduct video-recorded interviews of leading fresh market growers, exporters, seed certification pioneers, equipment manufacturers and processors.
The videos were edited to produce a 30-minute overview of the industry that can be viewed at the museum in O'Leary or online at YouTube.
A series of shorter videos that touch on individual subjects, such as specialized potato equipment, also can be viewed at the museum, on YouTube or the potato board's website.
Source: The Packer


text:
BCG's Airline Partnership Simulator (ALPS) tool helps carriers analyze joint-venture prospects.
Joint ventures currently account for more than 30% of the airline industry's passenger-carrying capacity. BCG's exclusive Airline Partnership Simulator tool analyzes joint venture synergies based on schedule and fleet data, both stand-alone and combined information. The analyses identify clear recommendations for potential partnerships based on key performance indicators such as existing networks, schedules, capacities, and fleets.


text:
Created for: The Sims 3
Here are my another realistic looking eyebrows. Thick but well defined.
Hope you like them :)
Gender: Female, Male
Age: Teen to Elder
Recolourable: YES - 1 colour channel
Custom Launcher Thumbnail
Short URL: https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/1118101
ItemID: 1118101
Filesize: 170 KB kB
~ TSRAA: Yes
~ Created with TSR Workshop 2.0.28
~ High Resolution DDS file (2048x2048 pixels)
~ Tested on Sims 3 with Late Night and Generations EPs
*** Please DO NOT re-upload or claim as your own! Thanks! ***
HAIR by Newsea@TSR: Lola Hairstyle and EA
Credits: TSR Workshop, Photoshop
Please report any offensive comments so we can remove them. Use of bad language, unsuitable links or flaming may result in deletion of your account.
This Creation requires what's listed below in order to work properly.
Note that those downloads are not required for the Creation to work!
We have detected that you are using an Ad-blocker plugin. This means our main source of income to cover bandwidth costs is blocked when you are using our free service. We would ask that you whitelist us and allow ads to show.
Anyone using an Ad-blocker plugin will be forced to wait 180 seconds instead of 10 on the "please wait" page.
VIP Membership
For as little as $4.00 per month you can become a VIP member. This lets you use our service free of all ads and unlocks access to our popular Download Basket and Quick Download features.
Not a Member yet?
Click here to Register now


text:
Tuesday's Tip - 28 Sept 2010
New Daily Blogging Themes
Entering the second week of my second year of this genealogy related blog, I was thinking about the Daily Blogging Themes. I had noticed some new ones popping up, and thought I'd go take a look at the GeneaBlogger site, and see what Thomas had to say on this, lately. Under the About section - not to my surprise, Thomas stays on top of these things - I discovered "Participate in Daily Blogging Themes," which was recently updated - which I encourage all new bloggers to do.
Here is what it said:
One of the fastest ways to become part of the fold is to post about your ancestors via a variety of "prompts" to help feed you ideas on blogging topics. As of September 2010, we're offering more than just one blogging theme per day – there are as many as five per day? Check the Genealogy Blogging Beat each day for the daily blogging themes which include:
• Sunday: Black Sheep Sunday, Church Record Sunday, Sentimental Sunday, Sunday Supper, Sunday's Obituary.
• Monday: Amanuensis Monday, Madness Monday, Mappy Monday, Maritime Monday, Military Monday, Mobile Monday, Motivation Monday, Mystery Monday.
• Tuesday: Talented Tuesday, Tech Tuesday, Tombstone Tuesday, Tuesday's Tip.
• Wednesday: Wedding Wednesday, Wednesday's Child, Wisdom Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday.
• Thursday: Thrifty Thursday, Thriller Thursday, Treasure Chest Thursday.
• Friday: Family Recipe Friday, Follow Friday, Friend of Friends Friday, Funeral Card Friday.
• Saturday: Sorting Saturday, Sports Center Saturday, Surname Saturday.
So, there you have it. A whole set of themes - something for about everybody - yeh, sure - there will be more to come, I'm sure - but, this will give us some new life as we move into the new year! I see a half dozen that I would like to adopt, a couple I already have, including this one. How about you?
Families are Forever! ;-)


text:
Bryson is a character in Grand Theft Auto who gives the protagonist a mission of collecting a briefcase from an alleyway. However, the case is armed with a bomb and the protagonist drives and walks to various locations, following orders from Bryson, in an attempt to disable the bomb. Bryson then sends some hitmen after the protagonist, who are all killed.
Bryson then gives the protagonist another mission of collecting some merchandise from a car. However, it turns out to be armed with another bomb too. The protagonist once again drives and walks to various locations in an attempt to disarm the bomb. Bryson then gives the player a challenge: kill him before he reaches a location. Once the protagonist kills him, the bomb is disarmed.


text:
Another update for Randy's Crowd Sourcing project that I have been working on. FTM2014 - Thought about Shaky Leaves - Status
This project had turned into a great study for a presentation that I have done several times in the past and am scheduled to give in in 2014. I great opportunity to sharpen my (limited) skills and to update the presentation at the same time.
I started with CrowdSourcing Opportunity: When and Where did John Louis Powell Die?
I created a file based on the 5 items, in Red, in his blog and wanted to determine if I could find the answer to his question. Very quickly, the CrowdSourcing team (his readers) found the answer. I always remind myself, that not everything in online. And that was certainly the case on that question.
But I had started my normal research pattern to try to construct the "family" based on that data, looking at Census Records and the use of the Find-A-Grave website. I have blogged about that recently.
But, here is an update: probably the last, because I have pretty well accomplished what I wanted to do and have found some great examples for my presentation.
First an updated view of the Ancestry Member Tree Hints:
The tree has grown to 269 people and have 58 of them with hints (Shaky Leaf).
I am not planning on following all of those hints. If this were my file, still to many.
But, what does FTM2014 tell me about this file.
The same 269 people, 97 Marriages, 7 Generations and 74 Surnames.
How did I get there?
I have looked at over 150 records. Some have been reports from FTM2014, like timelines for people, The Map feature (not counted in the 150 records). But, I have found 29 US Federal Census Records to help fill out these family units and 65 Find-A-Grave Memorial Pages. The two records have complimented each other about 98% of the time. Those names, dates, places, and relationships have been found in other sets of "records".
It has worked both ways. Finding a Census Record helped with locating a Find-A-Grave Memorial and the Find-A-Grave Memorials helped locate Census Records.
As you can see, I have used 57 SOURCES, all are using the Template Feature of FTM2014. The pay off for that was a Genealogy Report that I handed off to Randy, with very clean (for me) set of EndNotes. What would have taken 10 - 12 pages in the past was 3 or 4 pages. Mostly due to the way FTM2014 handles the EndNotes.
Along the way, it was obvious that a couple of the Contributors to Find-A-Grave were related to the person on the Memorial Page. I think that I have identified 3 "cousins" for Randy's friend John, if he is interested in making those contacts.
What is not on this list above, is that I have 202 items on my ToDo List. Things like Find-A-Grave memorials that are there, but I have chosen not to follow up with them right now. Mostly they are NOT direct Line people.
One of my earlier blog posts was about being distracted. I have worked very hard at not doing that. One reason for those ToDo lists for Find-A-Grave. BUT, I am and will work a little more on the Direct Line Hints. I have 41 Direct Line People, direct from John, and I have identified 27 hints to follow on those 41 people.
Bottom Line here, for me, I think the file is relatively clean, about 6 of the 119 Place Names are "on the map", using the Place Name Authority in FTM2014, all 57 Sources are using Templates, and I have NO facts without at least one Citation.
What the 113 Citations doesn't mention, is how many FACTs are linked to those Citations.
Also picked up 141 media files, such as Census Images, Headstone Images (can not see them Online as they are marked Private in FTM2014 to avoid copyright issues), several obituaries, Research Logs on every one, with notes on all Residence Facts (who what in the household in that Census year, but head of household), and data from the Find-A-Grave website.
A big Thank you to Randy Seaver for the challenge !!!
Copyright © 2013 by H R Worthington


text: AdMob, a mobile advertising marketplace releases what they call a Mobile Metrics Report every month. Since they serve ads for more than 5,000 mobile web sites around the world, they claim they are capable of storing and analyzing the data from every ad request, impression, and click. For every ad request, AdMob determines device capabilities using information available in the user's mobile browser. They claim that over 5 million ad requests and impressions flow through their network every month. The reports reveal some interesting data regarding worldwide share of smartphone traffic. Contrary to popular opinion (and even here in this blog), the iPhone is nowhere close to holding the top spot in this list. Nokia's Symbian OS takes that honor on a worldwide basis, while out here in the States, RIM's BlackBerry browser takes the top spot. In fact, as the accompanying charts show, while Symbian's (driven primarily by Nokia's N-Series handsets) market share has been steadily growing from 44% to 64% on a worldwide basis in the past six months, iPhone's share has been hovering around in the 4%-6% category. Not a bad number for a platform that has been in existence for hardly over a year, but a far cry from the market share numbers reported by Net Applications. In fact, even if you assume that Net Applications measure browsing statistics only in the United States, their numbers are not consistent with what is shown here – RIM, Windows Mobile and Palm handsets all have a higher share of Internet traffic to that of the iPhone.


text:
SNOBELEN: Time to try a different approach to tackle climate change
In my younger days I spent a lot of time learning how to train horses.
Darned if the study of equine behavior didn't teach me a few things about human endeavors.
One such bit of insight came from the late Bill Horn.
Bill was a famous horseman who hailed from the not-so-urban landscape of Cable, Ohio.
He was, in the grand tradition of horsemen, long on doing and short on talking.
I spent many days riding with Bill, learning mostly through osmosis.
One day, when I was struggling with a young horse, Bill noticed my frustration and, after allowing that frustration to build, he rode over to offer some wisdom.
Trouble, he asked.
Well, he said, better do something wrong.
I was hoping for a technical training suggestion. What I got was do something wrong.
Turned out to be great advice.
In horse training and life, if you are doing everything right and not getting the result you want, it's time to do something (darn near anything) different.
Heck, doing something wrong is kind of liberating.
The normal response when results don't match up with intentions is to do the right thing harder, louder and faster.
In the long history of humans (and horses), doing something that is not working harder, louder or faster has never made things better.
Do something wrong was a light bulb moment in my neophyte horse training days. It might be something the cabal of global climate warriors could learn from.
Certainly doing the right thing (read taxing carbon) harder, louder and faster isn't producing the desired effect.
We just celebrated the Kyoto Protocol's 21st birthday.
Those with long memories will recall the Kyoto Protocol was the first global economic document written entirely by environmentalists.
As economic agreements go, it was a doozy.
Building on the sagacious work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the bold folks who met in Kyoto, Japan created a new global currency based on a common essential element, carbon.
In the stroke of a pen (actually 192 pen strokes from the initial signatories), the environmentalists had turned air into hard currency. Not a bad trick.
But the UN folks had even greater aspirations.
The environmental warriors set out for global climate revenge by making the developed world (read the U.S.) pay the developing world (read China) for past carbon sins.
They devised a plan, aptly named the Green Investment Scheme (GIS), to transfer wealth from "rich" nations.
Oddly enough some countries (notably the U.S.) seemed reluctant to exchange hard currency for nebulous carbon credits.
The Kyoto Protocol withered.
The unblinking climate cabal gathered in Paris in 2015 to do global carbon pricing again, this time harder, louder and faster.
Based on the yellow vest protests in France, the Paris Agreement isn't doing so well either.
Notwithstanding all of this, the Trudeau government is hurtling into an election whipping carbon taxing (and taxpayers) as hard as they can.
The theory, I suppose, is that folks can be persuaded Carbon dioxide is a pollutant and the world is dependent on Canada adopting a carbon pricing scheme that other nations are resisting.
This is a level of absurdity that can only be attained when you apply harder, faster and louder to a failed idea.
I suspect if Bill Horn was still with us, he would tell the Trudeau government's climate warriors that it's time to do something wrong.


text:
In June the Associated Press reported that Barnes & Noble's future may be bleak. Its stock dropped 17.1% from the previous quarter. It reported a loss of $118.6 million with a 7% drop in overall revenue. William Lynch resigned as CEO and the company announced the end of Nook production. Will Barnes & Noble, the last remaining large scale book store, survive the current retail climate?
Far beneath the surface, in the tunnels underneath the Wild Hunt, we contemplated the fate of Barnes & Noble. There was more at stake here than just another superstore filing for chapter 13. Personally speaking, I bought my first witchcraft book from a Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue in New York City. For many people, book stores are access keys to the world. Sometimes that key is even accompanied by a cappuccino and good conversation.
So, here we are discussing the possible end of Barnes & Noble, the last of the large scale book sellers. What would a future without the bookseller look like? Would our access to metaphysical and holistic literature become limited? Would the publishers of such texts disappear without large scale distribution?
In order to get a clearer glimpse at the situation, I took the question directly to industry professionals working within the metaphysical book market. I spoke with Bill Krause at Llewellyn, one of the oldest metaphysical, holistic and spiritual book publishers in the industry. Based in Minnesota, Llewellyn has been successfully operating since 1901. Then I contacted Candace Apple, the owner and operator of Phoenix & Dragon, the largest metaphysical book store in the Atlanta metro area.
I asked publisher Bill Krause the question at hand, "would the loss of Barnes & Noble affect Llewellyn and, if so, how?" He responded:
Barnes and Noble is an important trading partner and we are happy for the relationship we have with the people there. They are certainly feeling the changes and challenges of the publishing business but despite the prognostications of the "doomsdayers" we don't see them going away any time soon.
He continued on to say that:
We already have experience with the demise of a major trading partner. Borders and particularly Walden [were] big customers for Llewellyn. There is no denying it was a blow but the reality is the market for the kinds of information we provide does not die with the bookstore chain. It moves to where people are most comfortable shopping. It can be on-line at Amazon or Llewellyn.com or a host of other websites.
If Barnes & Noble did falter, Llewellyn would certainly feel a lull or a dip in its revenue stream but over the long haul, it would be able to compensate, as it did with the loss of Borders. Krause explained that Llewellyn is more adaptable than any of the big six publishing houses. Why? Llewellyn serves a niche market with a focused output. As such it can readily, "move to where people are more comfortable shopping."
Krause also explained that Llewellyn's ability to thrive for over 100 years has been rooted in its "history with the small stores." He notes:
Llewellyn is fortunate to have long-standing relationships with the many fine metaphysical and independent stores across the country. Many of these relationships predate the advent of the superstore. We have seen this business grow by double-digits since Borders was shuttered.
The publisher prides itself on these relationships. Not only does it keep in close contact with the stores, it also offers mutually-beneficial marketing programs such as Llewellyn Week. This particular program, for example, brings renowned Llewellyn authors to the stores for various events. This serves the author and publisher while also driving traffic into the store. It's a win-win-win situation. The most recent Llewellyn Week was held at Namaste in New York City and the next will be held at Mystic Journey Bookstore in Venice, CA.
After speaking to Krause, I turned to Candace Apple, one of these local shop owners. Phoenix & Dragon has been in business since 1987, supported by Apple's hard work, time, heart and money. I asked her the same question: How would the loss of Barnes & Noble affect your business?
Her answer was unexpected. Apple explained that brick-and-mortar superstores, like Barnes & Noble, are not competitors. Where those type stores are generalists, she is a specialist. When a reader can't find a specific metaphysical book in a Barnes & Noble, the store clerks send them to Phoenix & Dragon. The superstore's local presence benefits her and other independent, specialized book merchants.
Like Krause, Apple lamented the loss of Borders in 2011. The superstore played home to many Pagan meet-up groups who would then shop Phoenix & Dragon for their needed reading material. Now those groups don't exist and Barnes & Noble hasn't picked up the slack. Despite the loss, Phoenix & Dragon only suffered a small dip in revenue.
Apple emphasized the need for versatility in the changing market. She saw the "writing on the wall" years ago. She said:
Some 20 years ago at the American Booksellers' Convention…I attended one of the early discussion panels on online sales. As the floor opened for questions, a publisher got up and stated, "With the internet, we won't need bookstores anymore because we will be able to sell our books directly to the consumer." Then an author raised his hand, "Well, with the internet, we will be able to sell our books directly and we won't need you publishers or bookstores anymore." I [as a store owner] raised my hand and said, "My customers come into my store to experience that serenity and energy they receive there. They want to take that energy home with them. Perhaps I will be selling them rose quartz hearts to take home to hold that energy and will not need either of you."
She added:
As it came to pass around 2009, many [independent] bookstores around the country experienced a 50% decrease in book sales. Online discounted sales were going strong. By that time Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore had expanded into numerous categories of transformational tools and when my book sales dropped by 50%, I only lost 15% of my overall sales.
That 15% loss was to Amazon, Apple's biggest competitor, even to this day. Consumers visit her bookstore, use her bathrooms, enjoy her air-conditioning and then leave to purchase a book online for a discounted price. As Apple said, when they do that "they [are making] a choice of what they want their community to become."
Krause also lamented this popular consumer behavior. Llewellyn values its small retailers which it sees as its backbone. He noted that many of the metaphysical shops like Isis in Denver have actually turned to online sales as a result.
Apple and Krause both recognize the continued instability in the publishing industry. But they are lucky. Their companies are flexible due to the almost grass-roots nature of their business models. Both will continue to thrive with or without Barnes & Noble.
However, there are other complications and difficulties that plague the publishing world. One of these is the increasing popularity of self-publishing. For Llewellyn, it's a brand new type of competition and for the independent retailer it presents a marketing challenge. Tomorrow, I will return to this discussion to look closer at self-publishing with comments from Bill Krause, Candace Apple and several published Pagan authors.