Cygen Athlete Thomas Beach Qualifies for the Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup

Earlier this month, one of our Cygen sponsored athletes, Thomas Beach travelled to Montreal to take place in the North American Abu Dhabi Pro Jiu-Jitsu Trials for a chance to qualify in the prestigious Abu Dhabi World Pro Jiu-Jitsu Cup in the United Arab Emirates. After winning all four of his matches, Thomas qualified and will be heading to Abu Dhabi in a couple of weeks to represent himself, his school Toronto BJJ and of course Cygen Labs. I asked Thomas to sum up the experience of the trials for me, and this is what he had to say:

I had four matches.

In my first match I pulled closed guard and quickly swept the opponent to mount. He then turned over and I took the back and I put him in an arm bar and ended the match by submission.

My second match was the toughest of the tournament for me. I pulled open guard and quickly closed up the guard. I spent most of the match attacking, opening and reclosing the guard with not much luck. I put him in a tight triangle and spent a lot of energy trying to finish but I was unable to get a submission. He tried to finish me at the end with a Kimura but was never really close to having the submission. My opponent was very strong both technically and physically, but I won the match by decision.

My third match I pulled close guard and spent a minute or so attacking until I was able to cross his arm and take the back. Like I did in my first match, I switched to an arm-bar and finished the match by submission.

My last match I pulled half guard and attacked some chokes. I changed gears and attempted a sweep giving me room to close the guard. I finished the match by crossing his arm going to the back and right away I cinched in the choke and got him to tap.

I am leaving for Abu Dhabi on April 12th and compete on the 16th and 17th.
Here’s a link to a video recap of the tournament:

Tom

Thanks for the update Thomas! All of us here at Cygen Labs are confident that you will represent us well at Abu Dhabi. Best of luck; we can’t wait to hear how things go over there.

Is New York City Law the Way to End Obesity?

A couple of weeks ago, an editorial was published in the New York Times about the outcome of Standford University study on the way that New York City’s “Calories-on-Menu” law has had on people’s buying habits since the law came into effect in 2008. To sum the study up, researchers were granted access to receipts from Starbucks encompassing every transaction which occurred between January 1, 2008 (just before the law was put in place in NYC) through to February 28, 2009. They compared the receipts from New York City to transactions from Philadelphia and Boston (cities where the calories are not posted) to see if knowing the calorie counts made any difference in what people ordered. The findings showed that before the law went into effect, the average calorie count of orders in New York, Philadelphia and Boston were very similar. After the law however, the findings showed that the average calorie count for orders in New York dropped by 6% (or a 15 calorie reduction), while Philadelphia and Boston were both unaffected. If you’re interested, the editorial is posted here.

After reading this editorial though, I decided to dive into the subject a little bit further, and I began to wonder if simply posting calories on a menu is enough to affect people’s overall health the way in which the law was intended? Is cutting calories the answer to beating the obesity epidemic in NYC (or all over the world
for that matter), or is this law just a public relations tactic?

For starters, the editorial mentions briefly that similar studies conducted using fast food chains in low-income neighbourhoods in New York showed no significant change in people’s eating habits after calorie counts were posted. What it doesn’t mention however, is that although New Yorkers cut an average of 6% of their calories over the entire 13-month period of the study, it also showed that during what some experts call “eating season” (between Halloween and the Super Bowl), the average calories per order in New York was still equal to that of Philadelphia and Boston. What this suggests to me is that nutritional education, more so than posting calorie content alone is the real answer to fighting weight gain, because what we put into our bodies is just as important as how much.

The problem with counting calories is that the final number doesn’t tell the whole story. For example, Meal A has 410 calories and Meal B has 428. Simple math will tell you that the difference of 18 calories per meal over the course of a year will contribute to approximately a two-pound weight gain. Based on that information, most people would tell you that Meal A is obviously healthier because it has fewer calories. What’s the problem with that? Meal A is a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder, and Meal B is a standard serving of chicken breast, broccoli, and brown rice. One is going to give you a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals; the other is going to give you an expanding waistline. I don’t think I need to tell you which is which.

So the next time you are faced with a calorie conundrum while dining out (or cooking at home for that matter) consider the overall benefits of what you are putting into your body and not just the caloric count. If you want help planning your meals ahead of time, there are some great (and free) websites like Calorie Count and Fit Day that will tell you the nutritional breakdown of almost any food you can imagine.

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Starting February Off...

SAF Model Gorretti Francisco has been doing some great things as of late with Cygen Labs, including being featured on our website as well as some of our upcoming ads for the new year. Below is a journal entry written by Gorretti as part of her Winter 2009-2010 Training Journal on the Girls of SAF website. The original journal is posted here but you can read it in it's entirety below. If you are interested in following Gorretti's journal, you can register on the Girls of SAF website or you can follow it right here on our blog.

Written by Gorretti Francisco

Here we go onto yet another month; it really reinforces that time goes by so fast. February 2 was my 30th birthday. Many of us women, once we turn 29, seem to stay at 29 for a few years before accepting the reality. But I am really excited and proud to say I am 30. To me it’s a new beginning and a start to a new phase of my life. I have a new career, a new place, and a renewed sense of myself, or as Patti LaBelle might sing, I’ve got a new attitude.

During the off season, I had a great opportunity to shoot for Cygen laboratories in mid-December. I was a bit nervous as I was in off-season shape, but I was still very happy and excited for the opportunity. I got to shoot with bodybuilder Stephen Edwards where we did some fun shots together as well as some individual pictures. It turned out to be a very fun photo shoot. I am looking forward to seeing how the ads will turn out! You can check out the whole Cygen product line at http://www.cygenlabs.com.

Part of my fitness goals this year is to become more familiar with the fitness industry. One way I have decided to achieve this is to take the opportunity to attend iconic fitness events. Two of the events I want to attend this year are the Arnold Classic and the Olympia Weekend. I have already started to make plans to attend the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It is being held March 4-7. I am looking forward to seeing the expo and being motivated by the incredible physiques that will be on display.

Training is continuing along. I must admit I had a tough time getting back on the strict, clean eating plan. I was overindulging on raw almonds and walnuts so, as a result, I was having too much fat on some days. I am embarrassed to say it but when it comes to nuts I have no will power, so the only solution is to not have them at home. Even though nuts are full of good fats, having too much is not a good thing when it comes to clean eating.

Believe you can and you're half way there.
-- Theodore Roosevelt

(The picture above right is one of the pictures from the Cygen shoot.)

Protein Wars: NUTRIWHEY vs. YOUR Brand of Blended Protein

Protein powder is the staple nutritional supplement of almost every person who walks into a gym. Looking at the nutritional panel seems like a cut and dry way to decipher which protein powders are superior to others. But is it really that simple? Is more protein ALWAYS the right answer? Some companies would definitely want you to believe that to be the truth. Well friends, unfortunately sometimes in the world of protein powder, more is not always better. We need to look at the label more closely to better understand the supplements that we are putting into our bodies. Let’s take a look at some claims that various companies make to try and get their brand to stand above the crowd:

YOUR Brand Claims: Comprised of 100% Whey Protein
Whey Protein is the most biologically available source of protein on the planet. Better than fish. Better than beef. Even better than chicken. What many people do not know however is that there are different kinds of whey protein. The first kind of whey is Whey Protein Isolate (WPI). WPI is a highly processed form of whey, which is calculated as 90% protein by weight. WPI is very pure, it is absorbed into the body very quickly, and is typically present in most whey protein blend formulas. The second type of whey is Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC). WPC is usually the majority of the whey protein used in blends. It is not as highly processed as other forms of whey, and therefore it is usually less expensive to produce; hence the reason why pure isolates will cost you more than a blend. The last type of whey is Whey Protein Hydrolysate (WPH). WPH is the most highly processed form of whey protein, making it more absorbable than WPI or WPC, and therefore ideal for pre and post workout consumption. Although studies have shown WPH to be superior to WPI and WPC, many companies have stayed away from including it in their blends because of the higher cost. This is what makes NUTRIWHEY stand above other protein blends. It contains a blend of WPI, WPC, and WPH. So yes, YOUR Brand does contain 100% whey protein, but based on price I’m sure you can decide which brands use more WPC, and which brands contain more WPI and WPH.

YOUR Brand Claims: 40 grams of protein per serving
This is a classic example of why it is important to read the nutritional panel of your protein powder carefully. Yes, it is true that YOUR Brand’s protein blend does contain 40 grams of protein per serving, but that is because the size of the scoop is 57 grams! If you’re curious, by comparison if you were to use the same 57 gram scoop in NUTRIWHEY, you’d get 41 grams of protein per serving. Protein content can vary from flavor to flavour, but for the most part all blended proteins contain very similar amounts of protein in them when placed on a level playing field (see: same scoop size).

YOUR Brand Claims: Contains 4 grams of L-glutamine and 5 grams of BCAA per serving
This type of claim is a slippery slope. While some companies may add additional L-glutamine and BCAA’s (branched-chain amino acids) to their protein powder, typically these amino acids are naturally occurring in protein powder already! In an attempt to grab your attention, some companies will put these claims on the front of their label, or even include an amino acid profile on the side to impress you with its content. Rest assured that NUTRIWHEY, and most other brands on the market that DON’T include these claims or profiles on the label still offer very similar amino acid content.

With the astounding amount of nutritional supplement companies in the market place today, it’s sometimes difficult to decide which product is right for you. With all of the different claims and marketing strategies directed at helping you choose a brand, the issue of quality can get lost in the shuffle. As you can tell based on the above comparisons, Cygen is committed to providing athletes with the most innovative and effective products imaginable, for the best prices possible. So the next time you step foot into a supplement store looking for a blended protein, remember that you can always find a cheaper brand, but you’ll never find a more superior product than Cygen Laboratories NUTRIWHEY.

For further information on Nutriwhey and other Cygen Laboratories products, please visit www.cygenlabs.com or email us at info@cygenlabs.com. As always, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

New Cygen Ad

Here is a preview of our first brand new ad for 2010!

It will be appearing in the February/March issue of Inside Fitness Magazine.

The photography was done by Arsenik Photography.

The graphic design was done by Scott Andrews Design.

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