We hear the abbreviations all the time, BCAAs and EAAs… So, what exactly are they and what do they stand for?
BCAAs stands for Branched Chain Amino Acids, and constitutes 3 out of the 9 essential amino acids. Then we have EAAs, or Essential Amino Acids. This is the 9 amino acids that are essential in our diet. These 9 essential amino acids, are amino acids our body cannot create on its own therefore, its necessary from dietary sources, including supplements.
BCAAs comprise of three amino acids; Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine. Researchers have found that BCAAs are helpful in promoting muscle protein synthesis and prevents muscle break down. They are highly beneficial for post-workout soreness and promoting a speedy recovery.
What are the benefits of taking a supplement like this?
When in a calorie deficit, when wanting to lose weight, if we do not provide our bodies with enough amino acids through protein, the body will break down muscle to use its amino acids for energy. This is the last thing you want when trying to change body composition. Usually, the aim is to maintain muscle mass and also lose fat mass.
Taking Aminos when in a calorie deficit, gives you that peace of mind that your body isn’t breaking down any muscle. Also aiding in muscle recovery after whatever type of training to you – it is bound to help your training regime.
It enhances muscle protein synthesis, better known as muscle building, as it’s providing your body with all the essential amino acids to do so.
Believe it or not, it’s an excellent way to drink more water too. Add it to your water bottle to have a little more flavour to your water! It is seriously the most versatile product out!
When to take it?
You can take it any time of any day. If you had to really put a time frame on it, adding into your post training regime will enhance muscle growth and recovery. If you struggle to drink adequate amounts of water and stay hydrated across the day, adding some BCAAs can be a problem solved. Add some flavour and sweetness, you could see yourself reaching for the water bottle.
So what makes ours better?
Most products on the market contain solely BCAAs therefore, only containing the 3 amino acids. However, get your hands on some Athletic Sport Aminos and not only will you get BCAAs but you will also get EAAs. Not just 3, but all 9 essential amino acids.
We bet you didn’t know that glutamine is the most abundant free amino acid in the body? Don’t worry, we are here to provide all the juicy facts around glutamine and why your gut is crying out for this product!
Did you know that around 30% of glutamine the body is used for the health of the gut?
The health of the cells, that line the wall of our gut, is essential for the absorption of nutrients for the health of humans and animals. These cells hold together tightly to create a barrier against the outside world. Stopping any nasties getting into our body. If there is severe damage to these cells, it can be detrimental to our health.
But have no fear, Glutamine is here! Glutamine is known as a non-essential amino acid, meaning our body makes it itself. However, this may not be the case now that we know glutamine is vital for good gut health.
Glutamine has many roles in the body but the most predominant role is being the main fuel source for the intestinal cells in our gut. The most researched functionality of glutamine on the gut is the ability to assist in proliferation. Meaning that glutamine is the main driving factor for increasing the number of healthy cells that line our gut. Therefore, maintaining its integrity. Better yet, maintaining its ability to act as a barrier for unwanted substances such as bacteria and viruses to get into the body.
As mentioned before, the cells hold together tightly however, they don’t do this on their own. They have proteins holding them together called tight junctions. These tight junctions are critical when it comes to that barrier functionality of the gut. When there are issues with these proteins (tight junctions), it is what you may have heard as leaky gut or in sciency terms, increased gut permeability. Increasing the likelihood of toxins and bacteria being able to cross this barrier and entering the blood. Glutamine is essential for the upkeep of these tight junctions.
During times of stress, the human body may not be able to produce enough glutamine to support the cells in the body that use it in high demand. Such as our intestinal cells, renal and immune cells. Living very busy lifestyles, our body can be under constant stress. You may not even know it! This is why supplementing with glutamine, whether it be in your morning lemon water or your breakfast smoothie, is a great way to compliment a gut friendly diet.
Not only living busy lifestyles, but did you know that exercise is a form of stress on the body? During exercise, the gut becomes more permeable. Meaning that ‘barrier’ isn’t as strong as it usually is therefore, glutamine supplementation can amplify the integrity of the gut. Whether it be the general population or athletes undertaking long distance, endurance type events, there is high risk for gut discomfort. Glutamine supplementation may help with this gastrointestinal discomfort, lowering the risk.
Believe it or not, glutamine even holds anti-inflammatory properties through influencing inflammatory signaling pathways.
Prebiotics
Prebiotics are essentially food for our gut bacteria. They are found in plant fibres and are not fully digested by the body. This means they stay in the digestive tract and reach the large colon, or bowel, and act as a source of food for the healthy bacteria that lives there.
There is sound scientific evidence for the benefits of prebiotics including improving blood-sugar control, helping keep the gut microbiome healthy, appetite regulation, helping calcium absorption therefore supporting bone health and some emerging trials suggesting they can help optimise immunity.
Prebiotics are a type of dietary fibre and are widely found in our diets. However, to gain prebiotic status the food has to demonstrate its health benefits via scientific studies - not all fibres are prebiotics.
Examples of foods containing prebiotics include fruits such as apples, stone fruit, watermelon; vegetables such as onions, leeks, garlic, asparagus, beetroot; grains like spelt, rye, barley; some nuts e.g., almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and legumes & pulses e.g., chickpeas, black beans.
Variety of Plant Foods
The American Gut Health Study looked at stool samples from the US, UK and Australia, concluding that people who ate 30+ different plant-based products per week had a more diverse microbiome than those who ate 10 or less. Those who ate more than 30 different plant-based products also had less antibiotic resistant genes.
SO WHAT COUNTS TOWARDS YOUR 30?
Fruit (e.g., apples, pears, grapes)
Veggies (e.g., asparagus, broccoli, carrots)
Wholegrains (e.g., brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat)
Nuts and seeds (e.g., almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds)
Beans and pulses (e.g., chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans)
Herbs and spices (e.g., basil, cumin, turmeric, parsley. Note that each counts ¼ point when adding up to your 30)
You could choose 30 different vegetables to include each week, but this would not be as beneficial as choosing a variety of the above types of plant-based products. Different fibres have different properties and so to benefit from each of these, you need a good ratio.
Each day aim for the following:
5-7 portions of veggies/salad
2-3 portions of fruit
3 portions of wholegrains
1-2 portions of nuts/seeds/legumes
A variety of herbs and spices
Probiotics
The tiny little organisms we call gut bacteria reside in our gut. They have many, many physiological functions, even if they are tiny! Probiotics are specific strains of good bacteria that provide a health benefit when consumed in adequate amounts. But not all the gut bugs word the same; the health benefits depend on the strain! You can find probiotics in yoghurt, sauerkraut, kefir, miso, tempeh and small traces in kombucha.
Stress Management
We know that there is a constant two-way communication between our gut and our brain called the gut-brain axis and so stress can have a direct impact on our gut. For some people that can trigger diarrhoea or difficulty going to the bathroom. We also know there is growing evidence to support a role for our gut health in managing and even preventing mental health problems. So, it’s really a two-way street.
It’s extremely important for your gut health to manage your stress levels. We understand that stress is a day to day feeling but it is also something that us as human can consciously manage. Find a time each day to do absolutely nothing for 10 minutes, focus on breathing and relaxing. Mindfulness apps like Headspace and Calm, and a little yoga every day could be helpful too.
Happy gut bugs, will hopefully lead to a happy you!
Minimise processed sugars, saturated fats and alcohol
Processed sugar, saturated fats and alcohol consumption can all cause inflammation in the gut and significantly change the bacteria species variety in your gut changing the ratio to higher numbers of bad bacteria rather than good bacteria. This can link to a number of chronic diseases. Too much alcohol consumption can result in the wall of your gut lining becoming more 'permeable'. This means that whole food particles may cross the gut lining and enter your bloodstream, which you don't want!
Top 5 Tips to Stop Binge Eating
What is Binge Eating?
Binge eating is an objective and subjective action that is characterized by eating an excessive, significantly larger amount of food than is generally considered to be a normal meal in a 2-hour time period or less. People will also experience a lack of control during these episodes. They may feel as though they can’t stop themselves or aren’t intentionally eating.
So Why Am I Binge Eating?
If you find yourself binge eating, I am sure you probably ask yourself this question when you get home from a big day at work, uni or school and the hunger finally hits you – you raid the cupboard and the fridge until you find yourself in a severe food coma, questioning why you made that decision.
Usually, you don’t know and that’s exactly it. Going back to the fact that the lack of control makes the person unaware of why they’re actually binging in the first place. That’s why it is good to get a better understanding of what is actually triggering you to fall into the binge eating tendencies.
There can be a number of different reasons why and we have outlined them so hopefully it can help you to be aware of the ‘why’ and change these habits/patterns.
Not Eating Enough During the Day: Let’s create an analogy here. You’ve been lost in the bush for a few days and have no food left in your bag. You haven’t eaten in 2 days at this point and your body is going into starvation mode. Physiologically, your body falls into fight or flight response due to the fear of your body shutting down from no fuel in the tank. You run into two boxes, one full of fruit and the next full of cookies, biscuits, chocolate and ice cream. Our hunger hormones are flying through the roof and all they are thinking is “I need to eat the most energy/calorie dense food right now just in case I don’t get fed again for another 2 days”. Believe it or not, you will run for the cookies, chocolate, biscuits and ice cream box rather that the healthy fruit because your body goes for the higher energy foods. Point of the story, re-evaluate how much you’re eating during the day.
Not Snacking: This comes back to the not eating enough concept. Snacking is an excellent way to one, get a larger variety of healthy nutrients into your diet and two, control blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels drop, so does the care for what you put in your mouth. Three, you are able to get more calories/energy into your diet therefore, ensuring we are meeting our energy requirements.
Not Eating Enough Protein: Protein is an important macronutrient for muscle growth or muscle maintenance. It also has a satiety affect and slows down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates; the nutrient that is the biggest contributing factor to blood sugar levels. To avoid blood sugar level spikes and significantly fast drops, add in protein to your meal or snack.
Not Eating Enough Fibre: Fibre is similar to protein in the sense that it has a satiety affect. Keeping you fuller for longer. Choosing complex carbohydrates, that are full of fibre, is guaranteed to keep you feeling full and satisfied throughout the day. It also again, avoids blood sugar spikes and falls.
Not Drinking Enough Water: Did you know that the body cannot actually distinguish between hunger and thirst? You may think you are hungry but really, you have only had one glass of water all day and your body is crying out for the good old H20.
Not Having Adequate Sleep: Studies show that sleep deprivation can lead people to eating over 300 calories more each day. Sleep deprivation will also alter how the hunger and satiety hormone’s function leaving them out of whack and unable to regulate your hunger and fullness cues accordingly.
Stress and Unresolved Emotions: This is actually a very common cause of binge eating. More common than one may think. When one has not adopted healthy coping strategies for negative emotions or stress, eating can be an unhealthy coping mechanism. Distracting yourself from the emotion by eating palatable, tasty foods, in the moment might be great but also creates a lot of guilt and anger towards oneself afterwards. It’s not eating from hunger; it’s eating to ease the pain or stress. The dopamine release (happy hormone), can lead you into a reoccurring pattern of eating being your reward system. Food equals release of happy hormones.
Not Eating Balanced Meals: A balanced meal looks a little something like this. Whole food sources of protein, starchy and sugary carbohydrates, non-starchy carbohydrates, colour (fruit and veg), fats, and flavour factors. When your meals don’t contain balance and you may be missing certain food groups (whether intentionally or unintentionally), it can possibly lead to episodes of binge eating. The body essentially craves these components because they allow the body to feel satiated and energized. When an individual’s meals are primarily comprised of processed foods, they can experience a loss of control around food and consume an excessive amount as a result due to the lack of adequate nutrients i.e., fibre!
Take these notes away and take it slow. If you are on the hunt to find the reason behind your binging, don’t change everything at once. Tick the list off slowly allowing yourself to identify the culprit.
Testosterone is a male sex hormone that plays a role in sex drive, fertility, bone health and muscle health. As men age, their testosterone levels decrease however, particular lifestyle factors can speed this reduction process up quicker that naturally designed.
Some medical treatments can raise low testosterone levels, especially in younger men, but it is encouraged to do this the natural way. Making some changes to the diet and lifestyle will be a significant factor in this.
Things for men to consider when it comes to testosterone support..
Enough Daily Calories and Protein – Nutritional status has huge effect on testosterone levels. When males don’t eat enough to support their day to day lives, this will decrease their testosterone levels as our re-productive system is the first to go when we aren’t supporting ourselves with enough calories. If you’re feeling symptoms such as low sex drive, injury, loss of body hair, loss of lean muscle mass, fatigue and many more, it is recommended to reassess your caloric intake.
Over Exercising - This comes hand in hand with meeting calorie target and protein targets. When people over exercise, generally their body requires more food for fuel and recovery. When people over exercise and don’t fuel for this additional exercise, a relative energy deficiency can lead to a significant drop in testosterone. Monitor how you’re feeling and if you’re low in testosterone, reconsider the amount of exercise you partake in.
Ginger - The mechanisms through which ginger enhances testosterone production are mainly by increasing LH production, increasing the level of cholesterol in testes, reducing oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation in the testes, enhancing the activity of certain antioxidant enzymes, normalizing blood glucose, enhancing nitric oxide production and increasing blood flow in Leydig cells, increasing testicular weight, and recycling testosterone receptors.
Sleep –During our REM sleep, the later part of a sleep cycle, testosterone production is at its peak. This is the stage of the sleep cycle imperative to the replenishment of the body. Poor sleep = poor testosterone production. A study has shown that participants showed at 10-15% decrease in testosterone from a week of sleep restriction. Sleep is very underrated by the general population but is by far, the number factor when it comes to health.
Tongat Ali - Long term stress can affect testosterone levels significantly. A study conducted in 2013 found that Tongkat Ali reduced levels of the stress hormone; cortisol, by 16% and increased testosterone levels by 37%. Test Pilot contains 150 mg of Tongkat Ali and many ingredients that aim to help support stress and natural testosterone levels.
There is still the need for growth in the research behind food and testosterone levels. It is important to note that most of the studies conducted regarding testosterone are done in animals.
Day 1: Move it Monday. Increasing your movement? Make sure to increase your protein to support post workout recovery!
Day 2: Menstrual Health. Menstrual health should not be such a taboo topic. It’s a topic that should be spoken about. This day and age, there are so many factors effecting female hormone balances that will then affect the menstrual cycle. Try our Estro X aiming to support healthy, happy hormones!
Day 3: Sex & Relationships. An imbalance of hormones can have an effect on a female’s sex life, impeding on our sex drive. Test pilot is developed to support healthy testosterone levels, not just in men but women also.
Day 4: Mental Health. Did you know that the gut and brain communicate on the daily with each other? Heard of the gut brain axis? Our food affects our mood. Ensuring our gut is healthy is primitive to a healthy mind. One serve of gut greens daily can assist in gut support.
Day 5: Sleep. A good night’s sleep empowers the body to recover and lets you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day. People truly underestimate the effects of sleep or lack thereof. A study conducted in 2016 showed that 33-45% of Australians have trouble with sleep. With being in such a stressful, high paced environment, adrenal cort is developed to support mental stress to help send us into relaxation mode!
Whey protein is good for body composition and muscle protein synthesis post workout whereas, collagen protein is heavily focused on tendon and ligament support and recovery. Rather than having to purchase both products, why not kill two birds with one stone and get two for one!
Whey protein and collagen peptides are both easily digested and a great way to get protein to the muscle fast! If you have sensitive digestion or symptoms similar to IBS, you can still get the combination of nutrients in one quick hit!
Whey protein is made up of a different amino acid profile than collagen protein. Collagen protein is just made up of proline, hydroxyproline and glycine. Having the combination of them both ensures you are covering all basis when you are aiming to get adequate protein in your diet, supplementing with Athletic Sport Whey with Collagen Peptides can be a great addition to a healthy diet to enhance your nutrient intake.
5 Minutes in the Locker Room with Scotty Fitz aka Top Dog!
"Kids, don't do this at home!"
How long have you been riding for?
I've been riding for 12 years.
How did you get into it?
I had friends that rode dirt bikes and basically got peer pressured into doing a backflip and the rest is history!
What kind of fitness routine do you keep to be able to ride for Nitro circus / at your level?
I train at the gym to keep my fitness up but mostly it's about keeping current and try and ride my bike as much as I can.
How do you recover / keep injury free?
I have to keep active and train daily or as much as I can so that when I do crash my body is fit and healthy to take a hit... The goal is to not crash!
What the worst injuries you have had?
I have had multiple injuries and broken over 20 bones including legs, arms, fingers, ankles, collar bones, multiple concussions and also ruptured spleen and kidney.
What’s the next big event you’re training for?
I suppose the next thing I will be training for is Nitro Circus Australian tour in November, fingers crossed that goes ahead. In between that time I'll be doing local shows and sky diving as much as I can to keep busy.
Do you have any superstitions you do before you go out for a show?
Not really any superstitions but I always put my right knee brace on before my left, not sure if that counts or I am just weird.
