Strength Renewed

00:19
So many questions. Oh yeah. Yeah. Hi, Max. Hey, Des, how are you? I always push record. so happy to see you. We get you. But the way I see this is like, I can never have enough time with you. I can never have enough like.

00:36
questions and things to chat about. And I love it because you're like, I don't care if you're ready, that water is not going to get any warmer. I feel like you and I are at the edge of a pull deck and it's 6 a.m. We're putting our goggles and our swim caps on and we're getting ready to go jump in the water. And we know it's not very warm, but it's not going to get any warmer. like, let's go jump in. Exactly. And you know what we like, Jess? We could spend an hour talking and then doing the podcast.

01:03
None of us, both of us do not have time for that. I know you've got dinner about to be served after our podcast and I've got about 10 client chickens. I know, but this is so important to me and I always hope that whenever I'm done with this and recording and creating another episode of Strength Renewed with you, I do feel renewed. I like literally get a little high and I'm like, lot of people benefit from this. So I know we have 50 things on our plate.

01:32
but like 500 people and energies get the benefit of this exchange with you. I agree. Love it. So much. And it's a real, you're right, it actually gives a breather, a little bit of time to think about things which, and discuss questions that listeners have and that you have and allay fears if that's what we're doing, depending on who the person is.

01:58
Right. fact, there's always fears. There's always questions and fears. You know, I think any time anybody comes in. So tonight, everybody, we're doing a little bit of a morning for you afternoon. What is it? have Auckland on my phone. But it's a it's you know, there's any time I think you do a Q &A, there is that the question comes a little bit from unknown. And usually that unknown can sometimes be a little fearful. So so I

02:27
I think one important piece of answering questions is just to kind of alleviate some of that fear. And I think when it comes to strength, when it comes to nutrition, which is just so broad and vast, there's a lot of information and there's a lot of questions and there's a of a little bit of fear. So that comes rooted in that. Yeah, and I guess as well is that you can describe and chat about something.

02:55
10 different times and it will take the 11th time that it clicks for someone. Okay, cool. Now I'm ready to give this thing a bash. And of course, creating is to your point and on the topic of what your client was asking you about, it is one of those supplements where there is a little bit of gray as to whether or not you're going to benefit. Do you want to go ahead the question of what like, so the question is, you go ahead and say it was like, what kind of like,

03:25
sort of like why should I take creatine? And then it's sort of like, I'm not sure what the side effects might be because I'm sort of hearing that I may take it and I may retain a little water or, you know, there's a little unknown. So that's the question around it. Yeah. And I think my question back is something to the line of, you retain, so well, the first thing is, is with creatine is what are the benefits? And

03:54
They're really well understood now. in the performance arena, which is where creatine was originally sort of used, like we're thinking like rugby, for example, is a really good example. Wrestling maybe as well, I'm not sure. Anyway, might've made that up. Boxing would be actually another one. We know that it can increase strength and power.

04:21
And it also can help create energy because creatine is, part of that fast, I want to say it's the fast energy system, the creatine phosphate cycle, but you know, I don't have my textbook in front of me and it's not something I think about every day, but it helps to strengthen power. But, and then we also know that it can help with recovery.

04:46
And we also know that it is outside of that performance arena from a health perspective. It can help with cognitive function. It can potentially help with not necessarily muscle mass to the, you get a little like there's a potential can help with muscle mass, it's benefit with muscle really is in that sort of strength and power and recovery aspect. It may help with bone density, particularly if you're doing resistance training.

05:16
and it works like an antioxidant in the brain and it can help with mood. So there are so many reasons to take it and I just think the brain benefits and the bone benefits are two really important reasons why women particularly should consider taking it because women naturally don't have as many stores of creatine. So, and part of it is because we

05:42
This is a generalization, of course, but we're smaller. have less muscle mass. there's less creatine from that perspective. We have less sort of blood levels or plasma levels of creatine as well. We don't eat as much animal protein, which is where you would find creatine. So creatine like just like is what? What is it? Yeah, it's a compound in animal protein. you find it in animal protein. And I mentioned all of the

06:12
reasons why we want to be taking it. that's sort of what it does in the body. so I think people sometimes think that it will help build muscle. Is that a myth? Is that true? It's, it's undetermined. I don't think that's true, actually. So if we look at studies, what they do is they measure and they use it, I think they use a Dexamachine actually, to measure sort of muscle mass, pre creatine, then you take it for a week.

06:40
and you measure muscle mass again. And then this is one particular study. What they did is they were on a resistance training program. Before they started the program, they took creatine. Then they had a week before starting the program. Then they redid the dexa. So two dexas were taken before starting the training program. And then 12 weeks later, they did another dexa and they had two groups.

07:08
Essentially what they found was the difference in muscle mass accretion between the group that took creatine and didn't actually was before they even started training. it was more of a muscle, but it was more about the muscle holding onto water, which appeared to have shown an increase in muscle mass. Whereas when you then added resistance training to the mix, didn't make much difference to muscle mass. So if it makes any difference, it's really minuscule.

07:38
But what it can do is help with bone density. And I think that's important, like from an aging perspective and an aging well perspective. So to your point, Jess, it could well be a myth that it helps build muscle mass, albeit it's interesting.

07:57
I'm just thinking now because I don't have these studies on hand. This is a talk of my head. It's us chatting and talking. Yeah, but I'm just thinking about because there are, know, if you look at like the, that was one study and you look at the broad picture, I do think the fact that creatine helps with strength and power means that you're able to do more in the gym and under the right conditions, as long as you get the recovery and the nutrition you need, then you will build better muscle.

08:27
and more functional muscle and more muscle. it's suffice to say studies are mixed. Yeah. Okay. As always. Still totally in the world of like supplements. I know you've said this before, but like when people are like, you know, do I take it or not take it? You're like, it's kind of ridiculous not to, because there's a lot of benefits that outweigh, you know, not having it on board. So obviously cognitively and

08:56
you know, bone protection and, you know, the possibility of enhanced performance, right. In the gym and in your activities. And if there is, you know, kind of the best way, if people do have like any kind of water retention concerns about it, then the easiest way to kind of figure that out is maybe just like cut the serving size in half and try it for 14 days, try it for a week, see how you feel. Yeah. And I guess, and then also, so

09:26
So a couple of other things to caveats, guess, is that what we're looking for is saturation of muscle cells with creatine and that takes time. So if you're cutting the dose, it's a longer time to saturation, but you will still get there. So don't worry about that. The other thing is, is that the water retention is only an issue if it comes with it bloating and or nausea and or

09:55
increased water retention in your luteal phase for women, and that can happen. Other women also get insomnia from taking creatine because, and it might be a male thing as well, I don't know, I've never talked to a guy about insomnia with creatine, it's only ever been females. Maybe the guys haven't put two and two together, but creatine in the brain can bind to a receptor that keeps us alert.

10:24
So, which is one of the reasons why creatine, taking creatine after a night of sleep deprivation means you get that same alertness that you might get from taking caffeine, but you're not going to get wired and feel wired and tired. You just actually feel alert. But for some women, it can sort of kick off some insomnia as well. there are real side effects and a couple of considerations then if this is you,

10:51
Well, the first thing to do is you've got to give it a couple of weeks. Like there will always be a transition and a shift in how your body sort of holds water, but that should settle down. If it doesn't settle down and it persists that you have bloating and your breasts are really tender and you have the insomnia or you feel nauseous, creatine isn't your supplement and that's okay.

11:19
It is like out of all of the supplements, it's most well studied. is a creatine monohydrate is cost effective, but it's still a supplement to an otherwise healthy lifestyle. you're not going to, it's not going to be a disadvantage if you're not taking creatine. It would be a nice to have, but it's not an absolute must have. do think.

11:46
waiting a couple of weeks to sort of see what happens is a good idea because like for a lot of people, the scale does go up and there is some water retention, but that doesn't mean you're going to be fluffy or feel puffy. It just means that you're holding more water on the scale. And it might be to the tune of, you know, one to two kilos. And I have a friend who he puts on three kilos with creatine and he trains for high rock.

12:15
And so, and he's very competitive. And so what he just does is, and he used to do triathlon and now he does high rocks. What he just does now is he just stops taking it two weeks before his race because that's when it really matters. Like he doesn't get the bloating. He doesn't feel the puffiness, but his weight does shift up. Whereas I know women really struggle with their weight shifting up.

12:41
regardless of whether they're about to race and regardless of there's no bloating or whatever, but that is literally your, it's like your gravitational pull on the earth is greater and big deal. Like, and we have to get it because there are so, like if that is your thing, that is the only reason that is not a good enough reason. Like bloating, nausea, insomnia, and also, you know, like

13:07
It's fine for you not to even want to take it, regardless of how it feels. If you don't want to, no big deal. if the scale's the only thing, I would say that you then need to examine your relationship with the scale. I totally agree with that last little point on it. If there is some insomnia, in the morning, it's probably a good time to take it then. Then to that same question, people will ask this.

13:34
What are kind of the must take supplements then let's just take, you know, creatine. Well, we'll table it. Obviously that kind of, or goes in with that. Are there other others like in your opinion that are like, yes, you should definitely, if you are looking to continue to build strength and perform better and feel better, what are sort of those must haves? Cause maybe people do it kind of like a terminal velocity. I know that that happens a lot. They're like, I don't want, I don't want to take too many, but if there was like three, what would they be?

14:04
Mmm, such a great question. And I think there are some must haves. I think magnesium is one, which we've talked about a lot. yeah. I always tell them to. And looking for a magnesium, either glycinate or citrate. Citrate's good for the bowel as well as like muscles. threonate, an option like that. I think as well fish oil.

14:32
because it's so important for reducing inflammation, increasing our plasma levels of omega-3 fats. a pill form or what's the best way to take the fish oil? Yeah, yeah. In a capsule. take it, keep it in the fridge. And that doesn't have to be taken with food or?

14:53
Yeah, it does actually. does. Yeah. Yeah. Take it with a meal because it's just better absorbed that way. Okay. Yep. And then the third one would be for most people, particularly during winter would be a vitamin D slash K. Can you, is that often found in a maltsi? Cause I get asked a lot too. They're like, well, I'm taking a maltsi vitamin and I'll say, that's great. And sometimes would, would the D and the K be in the maltsi? It will be, but not in the amounts that we need it. So the maltsi you say is a good idea that can't hurt you.

15:23
the must haves are magnesium fish oil and vitamin D. I think if anyone is in a calorie deficit, a multivitamin is good insurance. then these other things are what I would suggest most people take. It'd be very, very seldom would I say, oh, no, you don't want to be taking these. mean, I think if you can, then I would. And then any other supplementation really comes down to

15:52
targeted to support a deficiency or how much money do you have? Because there are so many things you could take that can help with all sorts of things. Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, help your body's systems work. You know, so many things you could be taking. But I like the easiest and people are like, look, what are the must so creatine comes up? Should we be taking this? Because it's something, you know, been around, but now kind of is positioning itself as like the hot supplement.

16:22
So if so put that there, what are the like, you the top three that I absolutely need to be taking because time is money and money's time, but I don't necessarily have time to do more than three. So what would they be? So those would be the three. I think that's a good, I reckon. And are you taking all three of those, Jess? I'm taking magnesium. I take a multivitamin. Nice.

16:46
Fish oil is just a good reminder. love, should def, I love like fish oil is just kind of the magic potion. So I will definitely, and perhaps we'll include on the show notes, the brand of fish oil, but that's just a really good reminder. Cause I don't get enough fish in my diet. And so that's an easy thing to put in. And then yes, I know about vitamin D and K same thing, but I think I've just walked right past the

17:15
flood of options. probably also knowing the one, I mean, this is good too. These are questions from our audience, but they're also like, you know, things that I'm like, that's a good question. I should look, I'll ask for that, right? So this, you know, this comes up regularly, but what I take regularly will now be, I'll add vitamin D and K, what was it, vitamin D and K one? K two. And I gotta say as well, but those are separate. vitamin D is that, that's not this, that's not,

17:45
That's not as married. They are together. So you want them, do you want to take them together? This is so good. Okay. So yeah, that's why I say D slash K. Perfect. Okay. So vitamin D and K too. And I will say, like I listened to, no, like on people position themselves as gurus on social media and one guru was, you know, it said, me anything. And she's not trained in nutrition. She's a new PhD. And she's like,

18:12
Someone said, do I need to take K with my vitamin D? And she's like, no, absolutely not. And I'm like, mate, you're an exercise physiologist. What do you actually know? And, and I see it actually you do because you need the K2 to help activate enzymes that help vitamin D do its job. So might as well take them all at once. And to your point, Jess, you're so right. Like we have these conversations and these are the things that I talk to people about. This is what you should do. But in other areas, you know, I'm so the same. I'm like, there's so much that I could do.

18:41
And they're so like, but you can't be perfect as well. You know, like there's got to be, you've got to give yourself some grace. That's why I think it's just important to be like, you hear some kind of things to debunk. And I think it's good that we did with Create Team because people ask this constantly, like, should I be taking it? Why don't you take it? And will I get, know, what are these kind of like puffy side effects around it? So I think we've at least kind of helped that. You'll be OK also if you don't take it.

19:06
So, but here are the supplements that probably are your must have takes, you know what mean? That don't, that have a very clean side effect profile, are fairly cost effective and will net big, big rewards for your overall health, fair? I hundred percent, I think that's totally fair. And with fish oil, keep it in the fridge. So this is good. So the fish oil stays in the fridge. Does the vitamin D need to be in the fridge too? And can you take them together?

19:30
Can you take them at the same can take them together actually. And in fact, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. So taking it with a form of fat or with a meal, they're actually really good for its absorption. Well, I absolutely love that. I don't know if we have time for like two small additional questions. Yeah, do it. So one is this constant like, you how much protein do I actually need to have a day? And

19:58
people hear, mean, is it really my body weight? Is it a hundred grams? I always answer with that. That's a big range. I always say kind of aim for a hundred, but where are you now? Is my normal, my first question. know, what are you currently getting in now? So I usually say aim for a hundred, but if you're currently getting 20 or 30, let's talk about some ways in which you can kind of bulk it up.

20:26
and not have it be so overwhelming. is that about a sort of a fair way in which you might answer that question? and I, of course, I would probably add on, you know, if your goal is fat loss, you ideally, it would be, you know, at least 0.7 grams to a pound or two grams per kilo. Like that's, that's where you would love it to be.

20:48
but a hundred is that sort of metabolic threshold, which I've tried to find in a research paper. I just heard Don Layman has said it several times and I can't see a research paper that says that, but to his point. But absolutely, Jess, you're so right. You've got to start where you're at. Like to go from 40 grams of protein a day to 140, which might be more appropriate, like your gut is going to seriously struggle with that. So we need to be mindful of that for sure.

21:17
And it's also interesting to know that like the people are like, I don't even, can't even do it. I'm going to like gain weight. It's going to make me like, so I just say, you know, it's actually does kind of the reverse of that. So really the more protein you eat, actually the kind of the, the, the more lean and probably like energetic and good you'll feel. And quite frankly, you'll probably like take in less calories because all those like breads and crackers and kind of filler food are huge. They have a ton of calories in them and you don't really get much paying for your book. Whereas like chicken breast is like 20 grams and you're full.

21:47
So again, I'm trying to use this sort of research. Third question, and we will expand on this, but I thought it was when I was asked this question that comes up so often, it's usually like, should I just go on a GLP? I did five to 10 pounds. just need this. I'm doing all the things and it's not working.

22:14
Should I just go on this for like six months? And it's such an interesting question, because I like, and I listened to, I don't even know if you care for, do you like Dr. Mark Hyman? Like what you're feeling about him? don't know, but he's got kind of a different, I know. mean, I sometimes really like him. Sometimes I don't, you know, I'm feeling neutral most of the time. Fair. He's kind of like one of those sort of like rock star, like he kind of, he kind of like sits back, you know what I mean? And kind of like his legs are kind of, like, okay.

22:43
But his answer, he was on a podcast and it was like not just one focused on nutrition, but I thought his answer was really good. He was like, look, these GLPs have come out, they've been around, they'd certainly help this obesity epidemic, right? He's like, but I wish that people would understand that they're not really for the, I wanna lose five to 10 pound person. You know what I mean?

23:12
just so you know, if you're on them, there's a really good chance that when you go off them, the weight comes back on. So all of those habits that you may or may not have been putting into place, like still have to be put into place. And they also come with side effects. They're not free from them. So this is the question. I've done everything right. And I still have five to 10 pounds that I really want to lose. Should I just?

23:42
on a GLP and lose the five to 10 pounds. And by the way, is that even a guarantee you're going to lose five to 10 pounds? I'm not sure. And what is right? People say they do, whereas actually you just need to be patient. If you only have five to 10 pounds to lose, the rate at which you need to be losing that is 0.5 to 1 % of your body weight. for anyone in that situation, it's likely that their body weight is already quite close to where the ideal weight is.

24:10
we might be thinking, okay, you want to be losing, you know, 0.4 of a pound a week. And that person might not be happy with that. And they just need to be patient. And if someone's doing everything, if you only have five or 10 pounds to lose, and you're thinking GLP, I'm thinking you're not doing everything right. So I think you need to actually speak to someone who can look at that for you and let you know. I know that sounds harsh, but it's actually true. Like these medications are not for people who have five or 10 pounds to lose.

24:39
And then what are you going to do once you lose them? What then? How much happier is this going to make you? what change it like it isn't the elixir. It's not the this one thing is not the magic bullet that will save you from yourself. Okay, it won't. So you have to find something else. It's very cringy to me because I really don't like that part of that peptide has been marketed to this.

25:08
particular person, this five to 10 pound person, I absolutely see the point to it. And clearly I'm glad that people are asking these questions and are coming to us and it's like part of the dialogue, but it's completely, you know, it's really misleading. Cause I don't think that you, it's, you're doing that is, is talk about a side effect. You know what I mean? Like what you may or may not. And I just think it also like, and maybe I'm crazy, but doesn't it kind of like,

25:37
change the structure of the gut a little bit. you it's like, kind of take those and doesn't it kind of like, can it potentially like change things inside of your body? Like that's other way. What's your feeling about that? don't know the answer to that. Yeah, I don't know. mean, obviously it suppresses your appetite and that'll change the food going in. Anything that changes what's going in will change your gut. I don't know beyond that though. So you might know, I haven't heard much about the gut.

26:06
Yeah, obviously it slows down. It's mechanism of action is to slow digestion down. Correct. Yeah. That's what I've heard, right? It's slowing digestion down and that's how it works. Quieting the food noise and making you less hungry. The more that I think about it, like even when we're breaking it down exactly what it's doing. So I think people can like, hear that. I think it actually is slightly like, I'm like, how do you even get enough nutrients in? Like if it's making you.

26:34
not hungry, slowing your digestion down. If anything, I might be frightened of those two things. Right? Like now my body's like less metabolically efficient and I'm not getting this sort of comprehensive nutrition plan just cause my body doesn't want to eat. I think it sounds, I don't know. So to me, when I talk about it, I just try to talk about things logically and answer people's questions logically, not in a,

27:04
super biased way, but just in a way that they have the information. Just so you know, when you do this, this is actually potentially what is going on structurally in the body. Yeah, 100%. Okay, so covered protein supplements, creatine, and always the never ending, probably don't want to take a GLP for a five to 10 pound meal loss. The more that we talk about that, amazing. There's a lot more to go there. What are you grateful for?

27:33
So many more questions and answers. We will do this more by the way, because I know you guys have a lot of it too. Honestly, today I'm grateful that I've got my puffer jacket on, because far out it's cold here today. And there's no sun. And when there's no sun, the house doesn't heat up. So our house is really nicely insulated. So if there's sun on winter day, it just feels like summer. And now it just literally feels like winter, but that's fine. What are you grateful for?

27:58
It's the opposite here. is sun. And I've got a fan right here on the floor and a tank top and a lot of sun. I am grateful for you. I'm grateful for this. I love it. It's always really restorative. I'm also grateful to every time I think about how we can dissipate fear inside of the body. know, fear stops us from making moves, frankly. So anytime we can kind of lessen.

28:27
that for people, myself included. feel, I feel better. So I am grateful for that. Yeah. That's my juice. I'm excited for your trip. hear you. That's such a great question. I am doing satay chicken. So we've been doing that more lately is just like, you know, cooking more because like all of you, I find it sometimes hard to get the protein in. But whenever I think about what we talked about last week, when I want to overeat chocolate, I

28:56
I'm reminded that I'm hungry. So typically it just meant that I probably under fueled and that's why I want to eat a lot of Sometimes I just like chocolate though too. So I've been cooking more chicken and taco meat and things like that. So we're having chicken and I'm having some vegetables and I might have a couple of bites of some pizza that they got because it just sounds really good. So I might have a little bit of that chicken, vegetables, salad off to the races. Amazing. Enjoy that, Jase.

29:26
See you later. I will. Bye. Bye.