Articles:

	What's Happening?! Click Here
	Powerful Thoughts! Click Here
	Reader Mail Click Here
	Part 2 : How can creatine help the athlete?  Click Here
	Ask the Master  Click Here
	Vitamins available online!  Click Here
	Product Update  Click Here
	Seminar Update  Click Here
	Passing Thought  Click Here

We are now planning our next North American tour (September 2002) so look out for the dates in the next issue of the GB newsletter.  At the same time, we are preparing for our upcoming Brisbane and New Zealand seminars. For more info on this click here.

Now for some late-breaking news - we have decided to release a special offer, limited time frame, commencing in the next day or two!  We will get back to you in email shortly, but don't pass it off.  Check the offer out - could be one of the smartest training moves you have made recently! For more hints click here!

I have a question for you? If you add the about to be released Get Buffed!™ product, how many different products (books and videos) are now in the Get Buffed!™ range?  Think you can guess? Want to get a special gift for guessing correctly? Click here to learn more!

The Powerful Thoughts quote we have chosen for this issue ties in very well with some of the questions in the 'Ask the Master' column!  As does the quote we chose for the Passing Thought section!

In this issue we have provided the next installment of the 'Creatine' chapters, based on the book I wrote some years ago!  How many chapters will we end up publishing? Who  knows!

We also share in this issue information about how you can order online the exact vitamins that we personally use and recommend to our athlete clients!

Enough talk - let's do it!

"Take time to gather up the past so that you will be able to draw from your experiences and invest them in the future."

-- Jim Rohn

Part 2 : How can creatine help the athlete?

Here is Part 2 of a series of articles using chapters from my no longer available book ' Creatine : A guide for athletes and coaches', in this newsletter.  

Creatine is recognized as an ergogenic aid.  And one of the most effective. We believe it to be one of the most significant (if not the most) breakthrough in nutritional supplementation for the athlete in our lifetimes. Creatine clearly has the potential to enhance performance.    This has been demonstrated empirically and scientifically.  But how does it enhance performance, and which sports will benefit the most?

Creatine supplementation has typically been considered as an aid to the energy systems, and therefore creatine has been traditionally considered as an aid in short term or short term intermittent sports from an energy system perspective only. 

It is quite clear that creatine supplementation aids performance in energy system activities.   Numerous studies have shown that when compared to athletes not supplementing with creatine, creatine supplemented athletes  :

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Table 2 - Benefits in energy system activities from creatine supplementation                         (subjects supplements vs. subjects in control groups)

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1.     have higher pre-effort stores of creatine and phosphocreatine, and therefore produce higher levels of effort (in short duration efforts)

2.     recover between bouts of intermittent exercise more quickly, and therefore show higher outputs in subsequent efforts

3.     fatigue at a slower rate, again showing higher outputs in subsequent efforts

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However the role of creatine supplementation in performance enhancement via improved strength rather than solely improved metabolic function is often overlooked.  A lesser number of studies, combined with empirical observation and the opinions of various experts, suggest that when compared to athletes not supplementing with creatine, creatine supplemented athletes :

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Table 3 - Benefits in muscular strength/power activities from creatine supplementation (subjects supplements vs. subjects in control groups).

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1.     have higher pre-effort stores of creatine and phosphocreatine, and therefore produce higher levels of force

2.     recover between bouts of intermittent exercise more quickly, and therefore show higher outputs in subsequent efforts

3.     fatigue at a slower rate and therefore expose to greater overload in multiple set/effort training or competition

4.     hold more fluid in the muscle cell, providing an enhanced ability to express strength via a mechanism often described as ‘cell leverage’  (thereby providing a greater training stimulus/overload or competitive effort)

5.     a more rapid increase in lean body mass due to the increased overload allowed by all of the above factors

6.     a greater rate of hypertrophy (increase in diameter) of muscle fiber (Type II in particular) due to the elevated levels of creatine in the muscle (exact mechanism unclear)

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As a general rule the shorter the sporting event, the greater the benefit of creatine supplementation.   But just because the contribution of creatine decreases relatively as the sport duration extends, doesn’t exclude creatine as a performance benefit to the athlete involved in longer duration activities.

Because creatine is involved in and associated with the short term energy system, all focus has been on this aspect.  There is a reluctance to recognize it’s contribution to longer term endurance.   Another common belief is that ‘there is no evidence that creatine can improve endurance’.  This may be also because most research has focused on the contribution of creatine to performance in intermittent anaerobic sports. 

However research is reported that perhaps has been overlooked by those claiming no research exists to support the benefit of creatine in endurance events  e.g.. reported performance increases in 10 middle distance runners who underwent four by three hundred (4 x 300m) and four by thousand (4 x 1000m) meters runs with four (4) and three (3) minute rests respectively (29).

We also believe that creatine supplementation may benefit endurance athletes in less direct ways.  For example, an endurance athlete who is deficient in strength  may gain strength more rapidly using creatine.  This may provide a performance aid provided no undesirable weight is gained.

Men's Health - Part 4 question

Hi,

I've been following the workouts in Australian Men's health. I'm very happy with my progress so far. A quick question regarding the Get Back in shape: part four workouts (November issue) 

For the bench press workout (advanced), the suggested reps/weights are:

Warm-up 1 - 10 @ 30%

Warm-up 2 - 8 @ 60%

Warm-up 3 - 6 @ 80%

Work set 1 - 4

Work set 2 - 3

Work set 3 - 2

Work set 4 - 4 (negatives)

Work set 5 - 10-15

The question is, at what weight in percentage terms should work set 5 be at? The same question in regards to the seated row, shoulder press, etc, that have a set of negatives, then a set following.

Cheers, Tim.

Tim - work set 5 should be a weight that allows you to do between 10 and 15 reps.  What percentage that will be of the loads you used in the prior sets will be influenced by your fiber type, training history, psychology etc. I don't like to give specific number because people get attached to them, and over-ride their intuition because someone else said do 'x'.  From experience I have found it to be about the same weight as your final warm up set, or warm up set 3 in this case.

Ian King

Dear Ian,

I am eternally grateful to a good friend of mine for putting me onto your generic programs at T-Mag, they are great. However, I have a few questions for you that I don't think he could answer!

I am a 24YO Aussie female and have been training with weights from the age of 17 mainly for fitness. Up until I started your "12 weeks to Super Strength" and "Limping Into" program, I had only been doing the very basic programs that the (mostly uneducated) gym instructors had given me and trying to listen and learn as much as possible in between. 

I would consider myself a little bit smarter than the average Joe when it comes to the gym and am quite passionate about training hard and more importantly, training properly. Hence, a lot of friends and family come to me for advice when starting out. Now for the question ...... I would really like to buy your book, "How To Write Strength Programs" but wanted to ask first if it is geared towards those with a 'formal education' in fitness or if someone like myself could also understand, and benefit from it? My interest in weights has now gone a little beyond basic fitness and is more important for strength and endurance as I am starting work as a NSW Fire-Fighter towards the end of this year.

Also, I am also interested in your "get buffed" book but I have been downloading your 12 week programs from the T-Mag site and was wondering if the book was based on the workouts you have published there? Is there a big difference in the programs on the site and in the book and/or is there extra information in the book I can benefit from? Now that the questions are out of the way ...... I read in one of the newsletters that you can only purchase your books/videos in Oz from your Australian office. You probably already know this but I'll tell you anyway, you can purchase the 'Get Buffed' book from Australian Body Building supplies, I have seen it listed on their website. 

To finish up, thank you for getting me motivated and excited about my training again. It is so easy to get in a rut if you don't have variety and interesting programs. Now I can't wait to start the new phases and the hardest part of my programs is taking the week of rest!! (And as you said, if you choose not to rest, you will learn.... I have!) Once again, thanks for all the great information, please keep it coming!

Keira

(Sydney Australia)

P.S, one more thing, are you planning on doing a seminar on Get Buffed in Sydney anytime soon? I would love to go!

Keira - thanks for your email and great to hear of the positive impact my writings have had! 'How To Write'- you will gain a lot from this book. All you need is the desire to learn and you have this!

The GB program in the book is similar to what is on the net, but there are chapters and chapters of really valuable info that yes, you will benefit from!

To our knowledge, the only way to get GB the book in Australia is mail order through our Brisbane office. We have not made any wholesale orders to any retail outlet in Australia, so that is news to us re the bodybuilding supplies web site.

Seminars in Sydney? Not currently planned, but as the awareness grows, it's only a matter of time!

All the best and continue to enjoy training!

Ian King

Interval training

Hello Mr King,

My name is Tim Daniels and I have a relatively simple question that my doctor and I need an answer to.  Almost two years ago I had By-Pass surgery for a congenital heart defect I had since birth. This defect has created several other complications that made the normal steady-state aerobic centered rehabilitation ineffective in my case. Three months ago I began the get back in shape program that you wrote for the Men's Health magazine (I am on part two-get big-).  My question is this : I believe Interval Training will be much more effective in restoring "reserve Capacity". My doctor and trainer are rooted in the assumption of the traditional dogma. Am I wrong? Your program is working exceedingly well so far and I value your wisdom.

Sincerely Yours,

Timothy Daniels

Timothy - not sure what you mean by 'reserve capacity', or why in your case normal steady state aerobic training is ineffective.  Bottom line - trust your own intuition.  We are all influenced by our own paradigms, and when I say we I mean professionals who you and others rely on for advice.  The most important advisor you can listen to is your intuition.

At the end of the day what someone else believes is meaningless - what you learnt from doing it is all powerful!

Great to hear the progress you are getting with the program!

Ian King

Which program should I do?

I first wanted to say, IAN king is the best strength coach Ever.. the question.. I've read your BRING the pain series, and I have a question.. Although the instructions are VERY clear, I'm a bit confused If I should go for beginner, or intermediate.. I've been working out for a year and about 4 months.. and I've basically have done every Ian king program I could find.. What I am looking for is BRUTE size, for now, and that's all... will I get the same size results from Hypertrophy-neural, or should I just go for the beginner (hyper ony)..

Garratt

P.S I'm 19

Garratt - whether a person receives hypertrophy training effects  from any given training protocols is influenced by many factors. Rather than boring you with this, I say this - what was the most recent average rep or typical training method you got a great result on? Then pick the options (beginner or intermediate) based on which method is closer to the method you got that great result on recently.

From time to time our responses do shift and what worked last time doesn't work next time, which is a message to look to move on. But until that happens, work from recent successful experiences. 

Now go and Get Buffed!™

Ian King

Vitamins available online!

For the last 16 years we have been responsible for the success of elite athletes in over 20 sports, from more than 10 countries. History tells the story - World Champions, World Cup Champions, Commonwealth and Olympic medallists - our association with success is beyond coincidence!

Have you taken a multi-vitamin in the past and been unsure as to whether it is doing anything for you? Simply by taking these supplements you may (based on the feedback we have received) experience MORE ENERGY, BETTER RECOVERY, and HEALTH. And from the extensive research now available on longevity, these vitamins may also increase the LENGTH AND QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE. We have. Forget about average vitamins! We're totally convinced your experience with these vitamins will be different! Here is our challenge - find out for yourself! (If you don't, you may truly regret it!) We strongly recommend you do this : 

TO ORDER ONLINE: (US or Canada only) you can order online by clicking here, and at this site go to the 'Shop' icon in the top right hand corner of this page.   If you are not living in North America, you can still order by phone (in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Taiwan).

If you want to use the best possible vitamin range - if you believe you and your family deserve the best - don't wait another day - TAKE ACTION NOW!

Product Update

Here's some insider information! We are about to release a new product - in the next day or two!  This product is a trial product and the initial offer will only be in place for about 7 days. So don't miss it - take action as soon as you see it in your email in box! 

If you read this you are the first to hear about it, even though I appreciate I haven't elaborated on exactly what it is. Let me give you a hint. I have a strong belief in the need to record what you did in your workouts...

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In the 'What's Happening?' section of this issue of the GB newsletter, I asked how many products are in the Get Buffed!™ range, including the soon to be released product.  What did you answer?  Here's an offer for you : if can correctly list all the current products in the Get Buffed!™ range WITHOUT needing to go to the order page or another page in the web site, we will send you a FREE special report titled 'Your Health is in Danger' by New York Times best belling author Robert Allen.  All you need to do is send us an email with the names of the current products - we don't expect you to know the name of the upcoming product!  And no, you don't have to be exact in the wording of each one, as long as we know what you are talking about!

Seminar Update!

We have released the dates for our 2002 Australian and New Zealand seminars.  For the dates and a description of each of the seminars click here!

As a quick review, check out the following. Brisbane and Auckland are our next locations for seminars!

Brisbane 13 July 2002     Endurance Specialization Course 

Brisbane 14 July 2002     Periodization Specialization Course 

Brisbane 15-17 July 2002  3 Day Boot Camp 

Auckland  9th August 2002   7-9pm Ian King's Guide to Getting Buffed! 

Auckland 10-11 August 2020     Ian King's Athletic Preparation Systems      

Auckland 12-14 August 2002     3 Day Boot Camp 

Brisbane 26-27 October 2002    Strength Specialization Course 

"Don't let the learning from your own experiences take too long. If you have been doing it wrong for the last ten years, I would suggest that's long enough!"

-- Jim Rohn

Do you use vitamins?  Do you have friends who use vitamins? Would you like to create an extra stream of income? Working part-time from home? If you want to do all this, and in doing so work with successful, like-minded people to create your financial freedom -  click here  - TAKE ACTION to change your life!