Albert K. Park

The graffiti stained concrete walls inside Hocevar Performance, the “Training Laboratory”, stands 20 something feet tall and slightly intimidating. Training program formulas are scribbled all over whiteboards, the work of the mad scientist, trainer and owner, my mentor Luka Hocevar. The presence of passion can’t be ignored as even the graffiti screams the anonymous artist’s expressive signature style.

Even the cold bricks that makeup the building, permanently wear the gym’s creed. “He who conquers others is strong, but He who conquers himself is stronger.” Regardless of how many times I read it, my heart still drops to trigger goose bumps. It generates a certain aspect of the training experience that many tend to ignore. Some call it the Zone, some may call it therapy or even training atmosphere.

Hocevar Performance is no social gathering unless you consider puking together a bonding experience, actually I take that back, teamwork is an important aspect we emphasize but only after fearless training. This warehouse is the site where a myriad of individuals come to test their limits and then continue to push beyond them only to set new, higher goals. Do we have fun? Hell yeah! What’s more fun then getting results you never thought were possible.

Before I introduce you to a new and “fun” workout we use for conditioning at Hocevar Performance that you too can use in your training, I want to touch base on this so called “Zone”. Take some time to ask yourself:

“Am I really giving it everything, every time I train, to demand and not hope for a physiological response/change?”

“Am I pushing my limits to become better and to improve?”

If the answer is yes. Good. Great. Fantastic!

If the answer is no, maybe it’s time to stop, sit and revaluate what your doing. What are your goals and what happened to that determination? Why go through the motions when you can really challenge yourself both physically and mentally to produce a better you.

I believe Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has broken out of the brutal cock fight stereotype through the “Zone”. It has evolved into a sport where training becomes a lifestyle and the “Zone” becomes absolutely necessary. Train like a combat fighter, focused on the goal at hand to get better, stronger, faster, more fit. In their case if they aren’t mentally focused and in the “Zone” in both their training and the fight they get there faces smashed in, be lucky this isn’t what happens to you when your not focused on your training.


If you haven’t been working out/training with this mind set, your truly missing out. Your training develops meaning and purpose that in turn ends up fueling your drive.


“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
- Yogi Berra


Now the Workout

Warning: If you like poker, black jack, or even Magic tricks, you may never look at these things the same.

This is straight from the “Laboratory” at Hocevar Performance gym.

Deck of Cards Conditioning


From a deck of cards remove all cards from 1-4, leave the Jokers in them. Next write out exercises for each of the suits. Try to choose exercises that demand full body movements and challenge you.
Example.

1.) Hearts – Pull ups
2.) Spades – Pushups
3.) Diamonds – Mountain climbers
4.) Clubs – Lunges

Next pick an even more challenging exercise to assign to the Joker. You should have four in your deck. You can even make the task to double the reps for each of the exercises.

Example: Sprints, Jump squats, Weight work, Kettle bell work, Sled dragging etc.

Directions:
- The directions are simple. Shuffle the cards and lay them down on the ground. This “activity” is best done with a group of 4 or less, if your alone, you will be in my prayers.

- Pull each card up and do the corresponding exercise the amount of times of the card. Face cards are ten, Ace is 11. So if you pull a 5 of hearts, you will be doing 5 pull ups.

- Remember if you chose Joker to double your reps, your 5 of hearts will turn into 10 pull ups. We usually will say if you pick another joker your rep scheme goes back to normal.

- If your in a group, every individual chooses a separate card and goes until there are none left.

- Repeat up to 3-5 times through the entire deck. Speed is your goal on this exercise so don’t slack off. If your alone, again you will be in my prayers.


Albert’s Advice in Getting through

1.) Music can often abate some of the pain. Some common artists that make an appearnce on our stereo : Linkin Park, DMX, System of a Down, Tupac, Notorious BIG. (I like heavy metal too)


2.) Please eat something an hour or two before you train. Don’t be foolish and go into this on an empty stomach, you just won’t make it. A common thing to see in our training sessions is everyone slamming protein shakes, pre workout concoctions, and gallons on top of gallons of water.

3.) Try training with a group. The adrenaline is contagious and motivation is priceless.

When was the last time you actually did pull-ups, pushups, and bodyweight exercises in your workout at the gym? Why do pull-ups when you can do 200 pounds on the Lat pull machine right? Or Why do pushups when you can bench 225 pounds? I can’t do anything but let out a small chuckle when body weight training comes up. As Alwyn Cosgrove , renown fitness guru who writes for men’s health, and a number of other top health magazines would say, “why load excess weight when you can barely do bodyweight work!” .

I have a friend who can bench press 275 pounds for endless reps. Quite impressive for anyone really. He’s a frequent gym rat who loves his creatine and Muscle & Fitness magazines. But when I challenged him to do 25 proper, chest to the ground and fully extended arm, pushups he laughed a little in my face. A little rude I know.

When the tear ducts from my eyes finally ran dry from all the crying from laughing so hard he finally understood. By the 20th rep both of his elbow and shoulder complexes were cracking with painful cacophony, sweat had started to stain his affliction t shirt (I hate those shirts by the way), and the fast pace he had for the first 8 reps had transformed into a turtles pace as he painfully squeezed out the last 5. No matter how much you lift, you will always be able to find bodyweight training beneficial.

It’s appalling how often I see Personal trainers put their clients through loaded weight work when they can barely do bodyweight work. 20 correct form pushups should be a standard before putting someone onto a bench press with extra weight. Why jump under a squat rack when you can barely do 15 bodyweight squats properly? End result is usually injury.

Benefits of Body Weight.
Now let’s get to the good stuff.

1.) Bodyweight training is Safe.
- As long as I have been training, I have never heard anyone suffer a serious injury from doing a jumping jack, pushup, or bodyweight squat. The great thing about bodyweight work is that most of the movements and exercises are natural movements and it is at a weight that your body should be able to move. Bodyweight. You are never under a bar that’s loaded with 160% of your bodyweight that, if any bit of your form is off, can cause you serious injury. I’m sure all you lower back victims aren’t laughing right now, sorry I feel for you.

It was Monday, National Bench press day, so it was only right that everyone in the gym was working their chest out except for a couple ladies on the elyptical machines. They were looking quite fine I might add. LA fitness, another commercial powerhouse also tends to attract the bench press addicted meat head. I walked in on an active recovery day so I knew I would be doing some body weight exercises. After my first set of explosive pull ups (exercise is explained later) I got tons of evil stares and a 275 pound beast of a man was so disturbed he found it absolutely necessary to approach me.


275 Beast: “Hey bro, what the heck are you doing?”
Me: “Ummm just doing some pull ups.”
275 Beast: “Why? What is that really working?
Me: “It works my back and it’s pretty damn hard on my respiratory system.”
275 Beat: “Man if you want to get huge, you should load up that lat pull and do like max out 2 reps.:
At this point in the conversation, I just smiled and walked away. It’s just not worth the time and effort. The sad reality is that bodyweight training has been given this negative old school stereotype and completely ruled out as a form of training. The truth is that it can be one of the most effective weapons in your training. To Mr. Meathead, I can’t wait to see you when your forty, arthritis will have completely kicked in, and all that heavy lifting will have worn your cartilage down that you will be pushing a walker, the kind with the tennis balls on the end around everywhere. Not to mention your liver will have failed from all the non FDA approved supplements you have filtered through it that you will have a permanent dependency to senior citizen diapers.

2.) You can use it anywhere & anytime.
- No dumbbells, No benches, No cable machines. All you need is yourself and some time. Now that would make an awesome Infomercial. What’s up now Bowflex. Honestly this is probably the greatest aspect of bodyweight training is that all it requires is yourself. You can do it anywhere, at the park, in your room, inside of a hotel room while your on vacation. So if it can be accessed so easy, why isn’t everyone doing it? I know. I ask myself the same thing.


3.) The heavier you get the harder it is, there are always modifications to increase the difficulty.

- For you larger, more bench press focused, prehistoric men this will probably be a little bit harder to get through your brow bone into your head but let me try. You. Too. Can. Benefit. From. Body – weight. Training! This is true because the heavier you are, the more you have to push, pull, jump, sprint, you get the idea. So Mr.275 pound beast, I would love to see you attempt 5 explosive pushups without rupturing your spleen.

There are also tons of different modifications to body weight exercises that can increase the difficulty. So increasing your body weight is not the only way to provide extra resistance. Martin Rooney, the nation’s top NFL combine trainer form Parisi Speed Schools and MMA’s top strength and Conditioning trainer devoted a year to finding the best body weight training. He traveled the world training and studying in different martial arts including Muay Thai in Thailand, Sambo in Russia, and Brazilian Jiu jitsu in Brazil. The one main aspect he found in common with all their training was the body weight training. He incorporated this into the training he did as the Rutgers Wrestling strength and conditioning coach and the results speak for themselves. They broke an all time win record for the history of school! The school is like a million years old!



So if collegiate wrestlers, MMA pro athletes, and NFL pros are all incorporating body weight exercises into their training, why aren’t you.? Good, Bloody, Question!


Bodyweight Exercises?
There is a myriad of great exercises that you can perform to maximize gains in your training. A lot of these exercises will probably bring back horrible memories from junior high gym class, yeah I am talking about when you wore that stinky t shirt with your name hand written on it. Below is a list of those fun, traditional, but highly effective exercises to refresh your minds.

The Pushup: A military standard because it is so effective. Make sure you keep your elbows tucked in, as soon as those elbows flare out stop and refocus.

Pull up: This exercise requires you to lift your entire bodyweight. So take advantage and don’t cheat. All the way down and all the way up. Vary your grip to stress different areas of your back.



The Y Squat: Some people underestimate the body weight squat, when the truth is so many can’t do it with good form. With your arms in a Y position over your head and shoulder blades locked, perform a perfect form squat. This doesn’t mean just squatting down, this means hips retracting, the bottom of your hamstrings getting parallel with the floor, straight back, and hips pushing through at the top.

The Lunge: A staple in building your legs this exercise can be performed front lunges or reverse lunges. Take a step forward bending your front leg so that the hamstring is parallel to the ground and return. Make sure you push off your heel on the back up.

Advanced Bodyweight Exercises?

Modified pushups: You can change up your pushups easier than you think. Varying your hand width is probably the easiest way to change up the old gym class pushup. Also try elevating your legs to increase difficulty. Once you have mastered these try explosive pushups where you push yourself up off the ground, DON”T CLAP, catch yourself on the way down and repeat. This recruits fast twitch muscle fibers which in turn builds bigger Muscles.

Jump squat :
This should be performed just like a body weight squat but from the down position you will be exploding and lifting yourself off the ground like a vertical jump. The key is to use perfect form throughout the motion.

Burpee:
If you have ever wrestled, practiced MMA, or have just come across a good trainer than this exercise has probably shown up in a nightmare or two. From standing up your going to place your hands on the ground by your feet than kick your feet back so your in a pushup position. From here you are going to explode back up, jumping off the ground a little bit and repeating. Great exercise for conditioning.

Isometric Lunge holds:
Isometrics can be misleading in its difficulty just because the general consensus is that all you do is hold a position. This is true but when utilized with lunges, you will quickly realize that a little hold can turn into an entire work out. Try doing your lunges with the last rep of your set an isometric hold for 15-30 seconds. This is a quick way to increase strength in those legs.

Explosive Pull ups:
This one is for the Meat head at LA fitness. Once you can do a regular pull up, try making it explosive. From the hanging position, explode up so you fly well above the bar while releasing your grip. On the way down catch yourself and repeat.


Extra! Extra! Body Weight Circuits for Fat LOSS!
Melt fat away with body weight circuits. I know I have written a few blog articles on circuit training and how it’s a great way to melt fat. So I don’t want to bore you with the science of EPOC and the benefits of high intensity training. I will just get straight to the program, you lucky readers you.

All exercises are supposed to be performed one after another until you are completely done. Rest for 1 min to 1 min and a half after you perform all exercises.

Y squats 12 -15
Pushups 12 – 15
Lunges 12 – 15 both legs
Burpees 15
Toe touch crunches 12 – 15
40 yd sprint
REST

Advanced Circuit #1
Jump squats 12
Explosive Pushups 8
Reverse Lunges 12
Burpees 15
V sits or crunches 12
40 yd sprint
Rest

Advanced Circuit #2 (also known as hurricanes)
Jump squat 12
40 yd dash, rest on jog back
Varying width pushups 12
40 yd dash, rest on jog back
Lunges with last rep a 20 sec isometric hold- 8 reps
40 yd dash, rest on jog back
Burpees 12
40 yd dash, with rest on jog back
V sits 12-20
40 yd dash, with rest on jog back

Perform all circuits for 3 – 5 sets. The workout should take you 20 – 30 minutes tops. Stay consistent, dig deep, don’t let that little voice inside your head telling you “let’s just do 11 reps instead of 12 because nobody’s counting except for me” to shut the hell up, and watch the fat drip off your body!

Let’s keep attacking the Weight Gain Season with weapons like bodyweight work. Don’t forget about your goals and stay consistent.

This month, September, symbolizes so many new beginnings. The back to school rush, the glorious start of the NFL and NCAA college football seasons, the end of summer and beginning of fall (in Seattle’s case this means the welcome back of rain), and returning the old routine of work blues.
It also is the notorious beginning of what I call the “Weight Gain Season”. It is a potent mixture of Halloween sweets, thanksgiving feasts, Christmas parties on top of Christmas parties filled with delicious food, and finally approaches the finish line with end of the year guilty pleasures. An average American will put on around 15 pounds in the next 3-4 months before swearing to themselves to lose it plus another 20 on New Years. Does this sounds familiar? Yeah, I thought so.

I got into this industry because I absolutely have a passion for training but I also have an equally serious passion for helping people. I want to help you fight this years “Weight Gain Season” by slapping it in the face and starting your change now. How great would it be to get a jump start on that New Year’s resolution by getting into better shape by January. So when January comes around, you won’t have to worry about losing weight because your waistline will already be lean and mean. You can save your resolutions for bigger problem areas like saving up more money and not blowing it going to the bars, spending more time with your family and friends, or finally going on a trip somewhere to show off that new hard body on the beach!

Does this mean I won’t be able to eat any of the good food?


Of course not! I would never be that evil, plus thanksgiving and Christmas are my most favorite holidays of the year. (I absolutely love all thanksgiving food, mMMmm stuffing) By being on a program, it will help you maintain and keep your goals within grasp and one or two days of indulging in home cooked meals won’t phase you. It will just mean busting your ass a little harder next workout and with how high your metabolism will have spiked and the resiliency your body will have learned to burn fat, turkey and gravy won’t have nothing on you.

How do I get started?

1.) Write down your goals on paper with a pen!
Yeah Microsoft word is great and yeah I used it to write this article. But there is something about goal setting and manually writing it that makes it more genuine and real. It’s like signing a promise/contract to yourself. Who can be more real with yourself than You! The more specific the better folks.
Example.
- An example could be a goal of Fat Loss. Specifically twenty pounds and toning up the stomach and lower body. Also to gain more endurance/energy In order to play longer with the kids at the boys and girls club I volunteer at.


2.) Write down what you will have to do in order to reach those goals!
This can include starting to workout twice a week and progressively make it to four times a week. Living a healthier lifestyle by walking more and eating more clean by eating out less. This step can really be an eye opener because you quickly realize that there are a lot of little things that you can do already to start the change.

3.) Stop talking and Get started!
Don’t stare at the piece of paper with these things written on it! Go to the grocery store and buy some fresh clean foods. Get outside and say goodbye to the sun with a workout. Just get the ball rolling.

What I am going to do for YOU!

The next group of articles will be focused in helping you tackle the Weight gain Season with killer workouts, nutritional advice, and tons of great ways to stay motivated. I know it will get hard but keep reading the piece of paper with your goals on it to remind you how serious you were, are, and will be.

Nutritional advice Bonus!

This can come to you as Breaking News or repetitive banter but please use it in your fight against the Weight Loss Season.

1.) Eat 5-6 smaller meals
- This will curb your hunger so you don’t gorge yourself whenever you get a chance to eat, resulting in an increase in metabolism meaning you get to burn calories quicker and more efficiently.
- Don’t think that a meal is always something big. It can be a replacement meal like a protein shake or a light snack like apples with a little peanut butter.

2.) Eat fresh!
- No this isn’t an advertisement for Subway! This just means anytime you can cook with fresh produce, lean meats, and fruits take advantage of it. This will give you an opportunity to give your body clean calories and productive fuel to workout.

3.) Eat out LESS!

- One thing that has helped me to eat out less is reading the nutritional facts that are mandatory at all restaurants in Washington now. I found out that one of my favorite meals at the Cheesecake factory had nearly 3,000 calories in it. Woops!

With September here, I always get reminded of back to school. The biggest problem I had was deciding on what I was going to wear the first day back. What would have all the girl’s wishing they were with me and all the guys wish they were me? Maybe a Tommy Hilfiger polo shirt, Levi’s double wide leg jeans (baggier the better) and some Adidas Sambas on the feet! Now there are bigger problems in our youth like this epidemic called Obesity. Ever heard of it?

Think with me, really hard to way back when you were that bright and happy 11 year old kid. I know it might be hard, but reach far back into your memories past the college parties, behind all the high school drama, and files and files of junior high hormones. Do you remember what you used to do for fun?

Maybe it was riding your bike down to the lake to go swimming, meeting up with friends to play a pick up game, or even just running around the neighborhood raising hell! For me I was always climbing and propelling off of really high things. (Thanks to Rambo)

Why do you bring this up Albert?
I bring your childhood memories up to mainly draw a contrast to the activity levels of youth today.
What do all these things have in common?
The main commonality between the childhood activities of my youth was the focus on the physical activity level. I remember dripping sweat pedaling my blue Schwinn up my best friend’s humungous hill with only the pleasure of playing with Nerf guns fueling my drive. I remember working 2 months straight in the scorching summer heat, hammering and cutting for 6 hours a day trying to build our neighborhood fort. In previous generations, youth have always been able to maintain a balance between their nutrition and activity levels. This higher level of physical activity allowed kids to maintain a healthy frame. What has changed so much that a youth obesity epidemic has been hurled into our lives?

Differences between then and NOW!
People listen up! This increasing problem with youth obesity has developed exponentially in the last 8 years. I am only 23 years old and youth obesity was barely even a topic of interest when I was young. (and I was a chubby kid) So what factors are leading to childhood obesity increases.

1,) Active parents who practice healthy lifestyles are more likely to have active kids.
This is a no brainer. Your kids look up to you, practically worship the ground you walk on. I remember trying to do everything my dad did whether it was play golf, play catch, and even drink a beer. (hey I was 9 and curious okay!) So if your not active and wondering why your kids obese, then this should be a revelation to you now. Your child has probably never seen someone do something active in real life, try getting up and doing something with them.

Healthy eating habits are another thing kids can learn from you. By educating and showing them what healthy alternatives are out there, you can completely change a child’s life. Crack! Glug, glug, glug! If this is you murdering a can of soda, I can guarantee your kid are going to be cracking and glugging to 300 pounds with you.

2.) Increase in technology!
It’s interesting thinking about how my friend’s little sisters have always grown up with the luxury of the internet. What ever happened to doing a report using books and the ENCYCOLPEDIA! Yeah that paper version of wikipedia. (probably sitting in your attic now) When I visit him at home, it’s the exact same scene every time. I know he is down in the basement so one of his sisters will answer the door.

Little Jane, about 4 foot 2, missing one of her two front teeth, will run to the door unlock and run back into the family den.
The door creaks, as I let myself in and routinely greet the two little girls “How do you do ladies?”
They yell “good!” as I peak in the den.
Two girls, one 6 the other 9, are glued to the computer screen, sitting on their knees in order to see the screen.
This is the scene on a summer day with no school at his house.
I will sometimes ask, “why aren’t your sisters outside playing or something?”.
“I don’t know, they probably don’t want to!”
Wow!
I’m speechless.


I hate to bring up another example of how technology is affecting our youth obesity levels but this next one, I have seen take down multiple age groups like the bubonic plague. Are you ready for this?
Video GAMES!!!!
All you guys are probably chuckling a little bit right now. This is directed at males because you know there is a weakness in your genetics for this. I will admit, I am guilty for sitting glued to a screen for hours playing NCAA college football or GTA! When I was a kid it was more like Mortal Kombat 3, Contra, and Blitz! But then what is the difference. Yeah I played video games when I was a kid but I also played outside!

Now kids come straight home from school and go straight into their rooms where they have X BOX, Wii, and Play station 3 to choose from. They only leave their room to piss and eat.
Attention Grown ass Men!!
If you’re an obese man and still find yourself sitting in front of the tube playing hours on top of hours of video games. Get off your ass, and go do something active! Don’t call me a love Doctor but you might even find yourself with a girlfriend in a couple months!

3.) Physical Education and participation in Youth activities!
My foot cheated off the line as I eyed and salivated after the foam ball that would soon be squished in my little hands. Adrenaline overflowed into my 9 year old veins as I anticipated the floor burn my left knee would sacrifice for the win. Mr. Matilla’s whistle was the sweet sound of freedom for all our 4th grade animal hearts as we unleashed in a savage but very strategic game of SOCUM! Also known as dodge ball. P.E. for me was the best class of the day. It was a recess that was actually a class, I thought the school system had gotten something mixed up.

The really upsetting thing is that now, there are thousands of physical education programs across our country that are losing funding and are forced to shut down. This is huge in our fight against childhood obesity. Now there is a lack of education on the importance of physical activity at an elementary level and the kids are now moving even more less at school. So with no one telling them to stay active at school and no one telling them stay active at home, they are basically doing what they know. Not moving. Sad, yes I know.

Then What do we DO!
My free time as a kid, was not so much up to me. I was always either participating in little league, a soccer league, basketball, and violin practice. (don’t tell too many people about that last one) With local youth organizations like the Little League, Youth Soccer leagues, YMCA, and the Boys and Girls club, there are tons of resources for kids to not only stay active but get the opportunity to develop great characters. I remember meeting lifelong friendships, developing teamwork and leadership skills, and also sweating a lot. This is just a great tool to use in overcoming this youth obesity problem we have.

Conclusion
As cheesy as it sounds “I believe the Children are the future”. How are we going to let the future of our world lie victim in the hands of something so solvable as obesity. Seriously here, we are not speaking on the terms of terrorism, energy conservation, or even war. This is childhood obesity, not astrophysics. The main concept that people and trainers lose is that kids are not adults. You can’t reason with them the same way you would with a weight loss client. Kids are not going to care about love handles and not looking good in a bikini. They just don’t want to get made fun of at school which probably causes them to eat more snickers bars at home. Here are just some things to consider in helping kids fight obesity.

1.) Lead by example
- exemplify how to do it by staying active yourself and practicing healthy eating habits. Maybe by doing active things together you may even be able to develop a better relationship and lose weight together.

2.) Make exercise FUN!
- I think that this is the most important one. If it isn’t fun, kids won’t do it. This is plain and simple. I didn’t think violin lessons were fun so I never practiced. I thought soccer was fun so I played in and outside of the house, all the damn time. Plain and simple! So keep this in mind when your making your kid do 100 yard suicide wind sprints. Ask yourself this “Is this fun for him?” Maybe it is, I don’t know, just make sure they are enjoying it.

3.) Educate them!
- This is can go either way with kids. If you make the physical education fun than it’s going to be a hit. If you approach this process like you would an adult, chances are you are going to lose the kid at “we need to lose weight!” . So find a fun way to talk about eating healthy, maybe by going out and sampling different flavored health shakes!

I hope this is just a small wake up call to the growing epidemic of child hood obesity. Whether you want to believe that it is a problem or not, the epidemic is snowballing into a massive problem and the more the general population stays apathetic about this the larger the obese population will grow. These are going to be people fighting for our country, teaching our kids, and leading our country. Where do we draw the line!

Greetings from Las Vegas, yes I’m on the road. It has been awhile and I didn’t want to take anymore time away from my blog because yes, it has been a little neglected. But after recharging my batteries for the later half of August I am ready to charge 110%. So this piece was inspired by all my friends and coworkers who have asked me “ugghh, Albert what are you drinking?” or “What’s in that it looks gross!”. Well thank you all for you have been this piece’s inspiration.

These are a few of my favorite, great tasting protein shakes to help you out in all different times of the day and stages of your training.


Java time
This is a great shake to drink when you need a little zip in your day before or during work. Don’t just get a coffee, make it have more substance by mixing it with your protein shake . It has a café, kind of mocha taste when used with the chocolate protein and more of a coffee taste when used with Vanilla. Also a great shake to have before you workout, the caffeine is utilized like a pre workout boost.

- Iced Americano no cream
- 2 scoops of chocolate or vanilla whey/soy protein
- cup of ice water

Good Morning Strawberries
Great shake to drink when you wake up. If your like me, I can’t always eat a large breakfast so instead I drink shakes. This one is one of my favorites that is packed with a lot of great stuff.

- 2 scoops of vanilla whey or soy protein
- 1 cup of plain oatmeal
- 1 cup of sliced strawberries
- 1 banana
- 1 cup of blueberries



Peanut Butter Big!
I make this shake when I am trying to pack on some pounds. It can be taken almost anytime during the day but make sure you get one after your workout. It will help you recharge the batteries you just fried trying to get big. Also if your looking for meal replacement, this is a great one with a bunch of great calories. Did I mention it has peanut butter in it!

- 2 scoops of chocolate whey protein.
- 1 ½ cups of plain oatmeal
- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
- 1 serving of creatine
- 1 banana

Enjoy!
These are three of my favorite protein shakes that I use all the time. Trust me, I am probably more particular on taste than your average protein drinker. All these shakes are delicious and healthy. They will help you gain lean muscle and melt fat away. Don’t ever skip a shake because you think it tastes gross, get creative!