Welcome back to another Fitness Friday post – You can check out all the previous Fitness Friday posts at the bottom if you’d like to catch up on what you’ve missed so far.

Today we’re talking with trainer and co-owner of the barbell gym Capitol City Strength & Conditioning about nutrition, supplements, and the weightlifting Holy Grail – Protein powder.

Read on to not only find out about his personal regime, but to receive tips and suggestions for some changes you can make to improve your personal health routine. (1) Do you take any supplements on a daily basis? Yes, there are a few supplements that I take nearly every day and some a cycle on and off with. The ones that I take regularly are fish oil, vitamin C and D, and Magnesium.

• Fish Oil – I’ll usually take in the mornings and afternoons after a meal.  Fish oil has been purported to have a myriad of health benefits: Blood pressure, mental health, and metabolic functions all seem to be positively affected.   
• Vitamin C – I will usually take with the first meal of the day or at the end of the day if I don’t feel like I ate enough vegetables.  Vitamin C is good, take some.
• Vitamin D – This is will usually take with my first meal of the day.  Vitamin D deficiencies can have some very serious consequences, everything from bone health to depression seem to be related and Americans are chronically deficient.  Vitamin D is fat-soluble (i.e. it’s better absorbed by the intestines when taken in conjunction with fats) so I will always take it with a fat rich meal, which is usually my first meal of the day. I avoid taking this later in the day because I have heard that vitamin D can interfere with sleep.  I’m not sure of this is true, but it sounds logical, so what the hell.
• Magnesium – Magnesium is also something that a majority of people take in insufficient quantities.  Deficiencies can have a host of problems, including affecting the way in which your body metabolizes carbohydrates.  I’ll usually take this before bed (it is said to have a calming effect) and it has a natural citrus flavor so it tastes like orange juice. 

The following supplements I cycle through during particularly heavy training periods or to supplement specific eating patterns, such as periods of fasting.

• Whey Protein – I’ll usually take this after I workout, but I go through periods (due to budgetary restrictions) where I will take this nearly everyday.  Outside of Whey’s reported benefits in terms of workout recovery and muscle repair, it is also supposed to have very powerful antioxidant effects. An added bonus is that some of the brands taste pretty good. I’ll usually try to find a brand with the least amount of ingredients, little to no carbohydrates, and minimal preservatives or artificial sugars.
• Amino Acids – I will take these when I am not taking Whey protein and I will generally reserve this for times I  plan on working out in the morning when I am fasting.  Amino Acids have a lot of functions in the body, especially in terms of muscle repair. Here is a nice and short reference – Amino Acids 101.
• Creatine – Creatine is something I take during periods of especially heavy lifting, generally for a month or two at a time.  It helps with short-term energy production. I’ll usually take this before and after working out. 

(2)    Do you have a favorite protein powder? What do you look for in a protein powder?

My typical “go to” protein powder is usually Optimum Nutrion’s Whey protein Isolate.  It mixes with water and milk pretty well (not coffee though), meets most of my above stated requirements, and is readily available.  They also have a natural version which I have yet to try.

(3)    When do you take supplements and/or protein powder during the day? Does the time of day, proximity to workouts, or empty/full stomach matter?

Most of the regular supplements I take I will try to consume with meals.  Mineral and Vitamin absorption is very complicated and there are a lot of cofactors as to how efficiently some things can be absorbed.  To save myself the trouble of trying to figure that out I will just take them with food.  The supplements I cycle on and off with generally revolve around my workouts so I will generally take those shortly before or afterwards.  

(4)    Do you follow a special kind of diet? Have you had success with any popular diets in the past (i.e. Paleo, high fat/low carb, ketogenic etc.)?

I have tried many different ways of eating.  I am in a position where I am frequently asked about diets and I am not very comfortable recommending something that I have not at least tested on myself.  The way I generally approach eating is there is what to eat and there is how to eat. “What” I eat generally follows a whole natural foods approach (Paleo/Primal/whatever).  I make generally make whole meats (chicken breasts, steaks, fish) the basis of my meals and fill the rest in with dairy, veggies, sweet potatoes, nuts, and some fruit.  (I have experimented a lot with dairy and I seem to have little negative effects from consuming it). 

“How” I eat regularly shifts from a few methods I like and which I think are effective protocols for certain situations.  If I have no specific goals performance wise, I will generally stick to an ultra-low carb/ketogenic approach.  Once you get use to doing this it becomes very easy and if you are not doing a lot of metabolically demanding physical activity, I don’t really see the need for a large carbohydrate intake (there are always exceptions).  If I am consistently doing more physically demanding work or trying to get bigger, I will generally add carbohydrates following workouts and for dinner.  I am a strong believer in Carbohydrate cycling/back-loading.  John Kiefer of Dangerously Hardcore and Nate Miyaki of Intermittent Feast are great resources for anyone that is interested. 

(5)    What’s the first nutritional recommendation you would make for a client? What’s the first food you eliminate when you want to eat a cleaner, healthier diet?

The first recommendation I generally make is to make their own food.  I think people develop a much greater appreciation for what makes their body function when they prepare it themselves and making nutritional changes is simpler to do when you are controlling the ingredients.  Once people are cooking themselves, ill generally recommend people remove grains.  It’s a difficult transition for most but I think it has significant payoff.  

You can catch up on previous Fitness Friday posts here: Beginners Fitness, Beginners Fitness: Kettlebells, Beginners Fitness: Medicine Balls, {Guest Post} Women’s Health, {Guest Post} Fashion of the Fitness World, {Guest Post:}Food & The Daily Battle, {Guest Post} Interview With A Trainer & {Guest Post} A CrossFit Year.

Do you take any supplements? Protein Powders?

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