Starting Strength Review

This is a review on both the starting strength program and the book that goes with it. Although I haven't done the exact workout program I have done the exact exercises, techniques and workout parameters that are described for the program and in the book.

The book is a great tool to use if you are new to lifting or are looking to try out heavy compound lifts for the first. It is especially good if you have any kind of kinesiology or mechanics background as the book goes in to great detail about how the muscles work during each lift. This makes it easier to understand why the particular form of the exercises is so important and how it affects the particular muscles that are being used. The book also includes additional exercises and stretches that will supplement the program and maximize the users results. If you are planning to workout for the first time, I recommend getting this book even if you done plan on using the workout program as it can still be useful as source of valuable information that will still help you.

If you are unsure as to whether you want to try it or not, I can tell you that the majority of what I have experienced from these exercises has been positive and an improvement to my body. The exercises I am talking about are heavy compound lifts like the squat, dead lift, bench press, etc. as well as different variations of them. Most of what I noticed was an increase in strength and an increase in muscle and body weight. I also became more flexible especially in the hips and legs and my core became stronger. Doing these lifts also helped with other exercises, mainly isolation exercises, and increased ability to do everyday activities and physically demanding tasks. This is because a lot of these exercises mimic natural movement patterns of the human body that you would use for tasks such as picking a heavy box up off the floor and setting it on a high shelf. I would definitely recommend trying this program out if you haven't already.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein Powder Review

I recently switched from purchasing my protein powder at GNC to purchasing it on bodybuilding.com. I decided to go with Optimum Nutrition's gold standard 100% whey powder because the price looked good and most of the reviews on the website were good. I went with the flavor white chocolate because I had previously tried chocolate and vanilla with the protein powder I had before. The white chocolate protein powder tasted surprisingly good both with milk and water. It also went well with rolled oats for oatmeal both mixing and taste. When I had finished the bottle of white chocolate protein powder I purchased more from bodybuilding.com and again went with Optimum Nutrition's 100% whey powder. There was a sale the day I purchased it so purchased a 10 lb bag. The previous one I purchased was a 5 lb bucket. The flavors for 10 lb are more limited than for smaller amounts so I couldn't go with white chocolate this time so I picked double rich chocolate.

 I was somewhat disappointed by this flavor as it did not seem to taste as good with anything but milk. Using it for oatmeal made a very bland breakfast. It has a somewhat bitter chocolate taste to it almost like unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate. For my next protein powder purchase I will probably go back to the white chocolate or a vanilla ice cream flavor. I would recommend the white chocolate flavor both for people looking for taste and for use in baking. The double rich chocolate flavor I would not recommend as much for taste other than with milk. I have not used this flavor yet for baking but I imagine it would go best with making things that more so require the extra protein.

Everlast Chinup Bar Review

I was looking to workout at home and one of my favorite exercises to do is chin ups. I found myself a chin up bar at Zellers called the Everlast multifuntion chinning bar. It was around 50 bucks and I was able to put it together easily and quickly with a few wrenches. The bars that came with it already had the pads on them so I didn't have to spend time putting them on. The last chin up bar I got I had to put them on which was very tedious. 

The bar consisted of 5 metal bars and one wooden piece for the grip that goes against the wall above the doorway. The chin up bar also came with rubber caps to put over the protruding ends of the bolts to make it safer to use. These caps did not fit as expected so I could only put 2 of them on and they still fall off. Another issue was the grip part was very rough so could scratch the paint on the wall. It was also a sticker placed on the piece of wood and the ends of it began to come off from the bar being pulled down from use. All in all I would still say this is a decent chin up bar to get even though it is a bit more expensive than other bars. It makes up for it with it's easy assembly, range of different grips and how easily it can be moved around. 

Review on Marked Protein Powder by Mark Wahlberg

This is a review on a protein powder supplement we tried called Marked developed by the collaboration of actor Mark Wahlberg and leading experts. The flavor that we tried was gourmet chocolate because it was the only one available at GNC and because chocolate is awesome. This is also part of a complete line of Marked products.

The flavor was great, it tasted like chocolate like the bottle suggests and is probably one of the best tasting protein powders we've ever tried. It wasn't hard to mix with a shaker bottle and it goes well with both water and milk. 

We tried taking the protein powder during a workout and also as a meal replacement. There were no negative effects in either case in fact during the workout it helped give us more energy during the workouts. The Marked mass gainer was also purchased as well also at GNC. Currently we are not using that because we are not looking for the extra calories but we will have a serving of it every once in a while.