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Q: Is it worth taking?
A: Yes, definitely.

Q: Does it help raise GH levels?
A: Not likely.

Q: Does it have anti-catabolic properties?
A: Yes.

Q: When should it be taken—morning, bedtime, before or after workouts?
A: See below.

Q: What should it be taken with?
A: Water.

Q: How many grams?
A: See below.

Q: Should it be cycled?
A: No.

Q: Does it matter if it is taken with protein after a workout?
A: No.

Q: How does it work?
A: See below.

I highly recommend that all athletes take supplemental l-glutamine. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in muscle; it improves immune-cell function, stimulates protein synthesis, and prevents catabolism of muscle from the effects of cortisol. When cortisol docks at its receptor, it stimulates an enzyme, called glutamine synthetase, to break down muscle to release glutamine. The end result is that you're in a catabolic state and you lose muscle mass.

Well, you can stop this process cold simply by keeping glutamine levels up in the blood. Circulating glutamine actually inactivates the glutamine enzyme, which prevents it from doing its job of making glutamine out of muscle tissue. Pretty cool, huh?

Now comes the problem—how much glutamine, how often? The short answer is that science isn't sure at this point. And I know I've been all over the place with my recommendations. I've said 40 grams a day; and I've also suggested taking 5 grams before workouts and 5 grams afterward. So what I'd like to do now is give a set of guidelines that are based upon what the experts (doctors and exercise physiologists) are doing in the field.

How much? Your body's requirements for glutamine are directly related to the level of stress that it's under. In other words, the more stress—mental or physical—you're under, the more glutamine you need. For example, at the extreme levels, surgical patients dramatically speed recovery while on 30 grams of glutamine a day; and athletes, undergoing severe dieting, lose mostly fat and almost no muscle when taking 40 grams a day. On the other hand, some sports experts have argued that you only need 10 grams of glutamine a day to be effective.

And of even greater importance than how much to take is timing—when to take glutamine. Like when you go to bed, for example; most of us are conked out for at least six hours, and that's a long time to go without nutritional support for the muscles. Or how about right before and right after training? Those are critical times, too.

So, until research comes out to show otherwise, I recommend that you vary glutamine supplementation based upon two factors: levels of stress that you're under, and certain critical times. Try using the following formula—but by all means, use your judgement and tweak it to meet your needs.

• Minimal Stress (10-15 grams a day): Five grams taken twice a day, especially before and after workouts, and before bedtime.

• Moderate Stress (20-30 grams a day): Five grams taken four to six times a day, especially before and after workouts, and before bedtime.

• Extreme Stress (35-40 grams a day): Five grams taken every three hours while awake, and ten grams right before bed.

Growth Hormone (GH) is important because it offers dual benefits of promoting the addition of muscle while stripping away the fat hiding all that hard-earned mass. Here's how it works: GH increases amino acid uptake by the muscle tissue for growth and repair. Simultaneously, it causes the body to burn fat, rather than sugar, as fuel for hardcore training and physical activity. As a bonus, you'll have more residual sugar available for muscles. The upshot is glycogen levels stay packed to the max, regardless of whether you are dieting or seeking more mass.

1) Train Heavy: Exercise is an effective and pragmatic method of releasing GH. If you want to kick your GH into high gear, train with heavy weights and maximum intensity on all of your lifts.

2) Stick To The Basics: Compound multijoint exercises like squats, leg presses, and deadlifts (in which you utilize the heaviest poundages) are superior to leg extensions, leg curls and lunges when it comes to releasing GH. For optimal results, stick to the core exercises; those that allow you to handle heavy weights for packing on mass.

3) Train Fast: This edict applies only to the concentric phase of the movment. The faster and more aggressive the speed during the contraction, the more GH you will release. Studies show that elite sprinters can increase GH output tenfold by performing 30-second sprint intervals. Aggressively attacking your reps, but still following good form, helps to recruit type II-B (fast-twitch) muscle fibers, which in turn help to accelerate GH levels.

4) Rest Between Sets: Moving too quickly from one set to the next inhibits training intensity, but don't wait too long. One or two minutes is an ideal length of time, with greater GH responses occuring on the shorter end of that range.

5) More Sets For More GH Release: Training to failure for one set will not do much to increase GH. Multiple sets are necessary. Make sure, however, that you are lifting heavy and working hard in each exercise to maximize muscle gains. When you can't squeeze out one more repetition at that weight , it's time to move on to the next exercise in your program.

6) Keep Rep Ranges Low To Moderate: Training in the eight to twelve rep range is the most effective method of keeping GH high and recruiting and overloading all targeted muscle fibers. Higher reps (more than twenty) and very heavy weights (two to three rep range) don't increase GH to the same degree.

7) Go For The Herbal Blast: A combonation of 334 milligrams of mahuang and 150-200 milligrams of caffeine (I prefer a pre-made herbal blend such as Xenadrine) prior to a workout acts as a stimulant to increase the force of muscle contractions while boosting norepinephrine levels in the brain. Norepinephrine can help you train harder. It also spares glycogen and may help you increase GH if you don't go overboard. Training too hard increases cortisol excessively, which suppresses IGF-1 and limits effects of increased GH.

8) Eat Low-Glycemic Carbs Before Training: Oatmeal, yams, and cream of wheat cereal are the best carb choices for your preworkout meal, as they're digested slowly and promote the release of small to moderate amounts of insulin. High-glycemic carbs such as cold cereal, rice cakes, and sugar, promote surges of insulin that inhibit the release of GH.

9) Eat Right Postworkout: Fast acting carbs, such as fruit juices, mashed potatoes and carb drinks, should be paired with easy to absorb protein sources, such as egg whites and protein powders, to increase GH output in the first two hours after intense training.

10) Glutamine Gets It Done: Try this one on for size; Take two to five grams of the amino acid glutamine both before training and after your postworkout meal for a GH spike.

This FAQ isn't actually mine, but it will show you the basics of High Intensity Training (HIT). I suggest you take a look at it because this program has been known to build mass and strength in a fairly short amount of time. It combines heavy weights with very high intensity, while keeping the reps and sets considerably low.

For those of you who don’t know, the Marine Corps has just switched from the old daily 7 physical training (PT) program to the new daily 16. In an attempt to be more injury conscious, the new daily 16 consists mainly of stretches and mobility exercises followed by a cool-down period of stretches.

• The first exercise of the daily 16 consists of a slow jog around the field (1).

• The second event is slow joint rotations (10 count both directions). With the slow joint rotations, there are approximately four of them. Neck rotations, arm circles, hips and knee & ankle rotations. With the neck rotations you will just rotate your neck slowly in circles for a count of 10. The arm circles are conducted by holding your arms out to your sides, palms down and rotating your arms in circles. Rotating your hips is like doing the hoola hoop. Finally, rotate your knees by bending them slightly and rotating them in circles. To go along with the knee rotations are the ankle rotations. Rotate your ankles in circles.

• The third event is reach for the sky. This is where you hold your hands in the sky and reach as far as you can.

• The fourth event is the chest stretch. Interlace your fingers behind your back and straighten your arms. Start to raise your arms upward, keeping them straight to stretch your chest.

• The fifth event is the upper back stretch. Interlace your fingers in front of you with your palms facing away from you. Push forward as far as you can.

• The sixth event is the triceps stretch. Hold one arm up in the air. Bend your arm at the elbow until your hand is in the center of your back at the base of your neck. Use your other hand to grab your bent elbow and stretch the triceps.

• The seventh event is the hip and back stretch. Sit on the ground with your legs straight out. Bring your left knee up until your foot is flat on the ground near your other knee. Take your right elbow/triceps and place it to the left of your left knee, rotating your hips and back. Switch to the exact opposite to work the other side.

• The eighth event is the groin stretch. Sit on the ground similar to the Indian style with the bottoms of your feet together. Grab your feet around the toes and place your elbows close to your knees. Start to stretch the groin muscles.

• The ninth exercise is the thigh stretch. Stand up straight and lift one of your feet behind you. Grab that foot that is lifted with either of your hands. Stretch your thigh muscles.

• The tenth event is the hamstring stretch. Stand up straight and bend at the waist to stretch your hamstrings.

• The eleventh event is the calf stretch. Sit on the ground and pull your toes toward your body and hold.

  Events twelve through fifteen are actual exercises. They are conducted in the regular four count, 10 repetition manner of the Marine Corps.

• Number twelve is called stride jumps. These are done just like side straddle hops or jumping jacks with the difference being the arms do not come all the way up. They are brought to shoulder length, so as not to put added stress on the shoulders.

• The thirteenth is called steam engines. You will be standing up with your hands behind your head. You will lift your left knee to meet your right elbow and then lower your knee. Then you will alternate and lift your right knee to your left elbow. You will alternate back and forth between your left and right knees and elbows.

• The fourteenth event is called cross country skiers. You will be hopping as if you were skiing. It's sort of like doing a hopping march in place.

• The fifteenth event is called bicycle crunches. These are done in the same manner as the steam engines with the difference being, you will be lying on your back.

• The sixteenth and final event is a compilation of cool-down exercises repeating events four through eleven.

So let’s get a clear list of the daily 16.

Warm-up Stretches
1. Slow jog around field
2. Slow joint rotations (10 count both directions)
neck rotations
arm circles
hips
knee & ankle rotations
3. Reach for the sky
4. Chest stretch
5. Upper back stretch
6. Triceps Stretch
7. Hip and back stretch
8. Groin stretch
9. Thigh stretch
10. Hamstring stretch
11. Calf stretch

Mobility Exercises -- 4 Count-10 Reps
12. Stride jumps
13. Steam engines
14. Cross country skiers
15. Bicycle crunches
16. Cool-down stretches
calf stretch
hamstring stretch
thigh stretch
groin stretch
hip & back stretch
triceps stretch
upper back stretch
chest stretch

Periodization is one way to increment some variety into your routine. Each phase may take anywhere between 2 to 8 weeks depending on the person and their goals. For example, if your aim is to get as strong as possible, spend more time in the peak phase or if you've been lifting weights for years then you can shorten the prep phase or skip it all together, it's up to you. Periodization has also been proven to give you better results after a certain period of time as compared to a steady weight training routine.

Prep Phase- During this period, you prepare your body for the challenges ahead with a basic workout. Use light weights, perform 1 to 4 sets per muscle, 12 to 15 repetitions per set, and rest 90 seconds between sets.

Pump Phase- In this phase, you step up your efforts a bit. The pump phase is a good time to introduce a few of the advanced training techniques such as super sets (performing two different exercises without resting between the sets) and giant sets (when you perform three exercises in a row without resting between sets). You lift slightly heavier weight, perform 10 to 12 reps per set, do 3 to 8 sets per muscle group, and rest only 60 seconds between sets.

Push Phase-This is where you learn advanced training techniques such as: pyramids (when you do multiple sets starting with a light weight with a high amount of repetitions and work your way up to the heaviest weight you can lift for one or two repetitions. You can also do this the other way around with the heavy weight first and the lighter weight last or even more do it both ways), breakdowns (when you do multiple sets of an exercise without resting between sets; meanwhile you’re decreasing the weight for each set), and negatives (when someone helps you lift the weight, then you’re on your own for the lowering, or negative, phase of the lift). In this period, you do 8 to 15 sets per muscle group, resting 30 seconds between sets, while only doing 3 to 4 exercises per muscle group.

Peak Phase- In this phase you focus on building maximum strength. This phase is your last big effort before you take a break from heavy training. Do 10 to 15 sets per muscle group and 6 to 8 repetitions per set. Rest a full 2 minutes between sets so that you can lift more weight.

Rest Phase- In this phase, you either drop back to the light workouts you did in the prep phase, or you take a break from weight training altogether. Resting gives your body a chance to recover from all the hard work you’ve been putting in. After your break, you move back into your next periodization cycle with fresh muscles and a renewed enthusiasm for your training. If you’re hell bent on toning or building up your body, you may be tempted to skip the rest phase. Don’t. If you never rest, at some point your body will start to break down. You stop making progress and you may get injured. If you want to get fit, resting is just as important as working out.

Basically this is what periodization looks like in a nutshell: