Cygen Labs Decimate is Coming!!!

After nearly 2 years of deliberation, Cygen Labs has finally decided to launch a brand new pre-workout formula to the public. What took us so long? We wanted to ensure that when our product developers designed a pre-workout formula, it contained the key blend of ingredients that would provide you with the absolute most intense workout of your life!!!

Decimate is a highly concentrated formula. Just one 8 gram scoop is all you need to experience the most extreme energy, amazing pumps, and skin bursting vascularity you ever thought possible. Decimate's formula also contains a powerful compound which stimulates the Central Nervous System (CNS), contributing to an increase in strength and mental focus throughout your workout.

Unlike other pre-workout formulas, Cygen Labs Decimate doesn't hide behind proprietary blends. We aren't afraid to show you what we put in our products because we refuse to cut corners just to make a quick buck.

If you're ready to experience the best workouts of your life, Cygen Labs Decimate is coming soon!!!

Cygen Labs Talkin' with Trainers Ep. #1 Darrin Robinson

Today marks the launch of a brand new video log for Cygen Labs, entitled: Talkin' with Trainers. We plan to sit down with some of Canada's leading fitness experts and ask them why they recommend Cygen Labs products to their clients when nothing but the best results will do.

In our first episode we sat down with Darrin Robinson, Owner and Head Trainer of Emerge Lifestlye and Fitness Training in Burlington, ON. Darrin trains a wide variety of clients, from everyday people looking to get into great shape to elite competitors such as IFBB Pro Fitness Competitor Silvana Silvati. The one thing ALL of Darrin's clients have in common is that they all use Cygen!

We can't thank Darrin enough for taking the time to sit down with us, and if you want to learn more about how Emerge can get you in the best shape of your life, visit their website at www.timetoemerge.com



As always, for all the latest updates on athlete news, new products, guest appearances, and other videos just like this one check Cygen Labs out on Facebook, Twitter, and on our homepage www.cygenlabs.com

Cygen Blogger Contest Winner!!!

At the end of February, we launched the Cygen Blogger Contest. It was a chance for people passionate about sports nutrition and training to let their voice be heard (a chance to win some free stuff)and today we've picked our winner!

Of all the entries we received, we felt that Steve Weigel's entry "Bodybuilding: Just Another Day" best emobodied the spirit of why Cygen Laboratories was created; for people like Steve.

For his efforts, Steve (pictured here) has won a Cygen Labs Prize Pack worth over $400!!! Congrats Steve!

Here is Steve's entry. Enjoy.

Bodybuilding: Just Another Day
By: Steve Weigel

Dedicated to all the guys and girls who push their limits every day

I sit at the table, watching the clock slowly count the hours away… 5 o’clock…6 o’clock…8 o’clock…I’m tired. Every slight movement of my body sends blistering pain deep into the battered muscle brave enough to even consider ascending from the comfort of rest. I look down at my plate. The rice and eggs that once occupied my plate have now been reduced to a few cold scraps. Even still, it’s valuable fuel which will be needed for the battle that lies ahead, and so I close my eyes, bite my tongue, and shovel the last of that god awful crap down my throat. Sometimes I believe cars have it easy. Some days I feel I would rather toss back a glass of gasoline, than have to muster down another bitter mouthful of egg, but that’s beside the point. I check the clock again…9’oclock…It’s time. The gym closes in two hours, which means it’s time to stop procrastinating, pull my balls out of my purse, and head to the dungeon. This will be the third night in a row I’ve given my body a pounding, and as I walk down the driveway to my car I consider calling the whole thing off. Then for a brief moment, I recall I have a date tonight with 1200lbs. What was I thinking?! I couldn’t stand her up! I’m not that type of guy! And so with that thought I hopped into my car, cranked the stereo to a level only a dog could hear, and bolted down the road I knew oh too familiarly. Upon arriving, my body was again a little hesitant to step out of the car, but time was ticking so I pressed on.

The first few sets are always the hardest. Not because you’re gassed and you have no energy left, by god no. They are hard because your mind is still picturing the five hundred other things you could be doing with your time right now, and your body is still in LaLa land, completely oblivious to the hundreds of torture devices surrounding it, just waiting to get their piece of you. So that’s it. I climb into a leg extension machine, and begin the first few sets of my workout. As my mind still wanders, I hardly notice the creaking of cold joints and the screams of the other members across the floor. Another two minutes, another set down. I think to myself “This is rather easy! At this pace I could put a wrap on my workout, shower, AND press the lady at the juice bar to let me “Squeeze the lemons” into my drink myself, all before closing call!” ….

Forget that thought.

All of a sudden, it hits you like a pissed-off freight train full of starving bulls. As I near the end of my third set, the burn begins to set in. Now, the burn, for those of you who aren’t aware, is a love/hate relationship. The burn is what we fitness fanatics aim to achieve, though when achieved, it is not uncommon to see us cry like little women in the corner of the nearest vacant squat rack. Others, who shall remain nameless…okay, Arnold Schwarzennegar…have equated the burn feeling to that of “cumming”. Now, I don’t exactly know what his definition of cumming is, but I can assure you it most likely involves being whipped in the ass by a 300lb dominatrix, and no safe word. Plain and simple, the burn BURNS!

Now I’m in the zone. Everything else going on in my life disappears. It wanders off to god knows where, probably the ladies section. Now I am free, I have nothing to worry about except accomplishing my mission. And my mission, you ask? To train until I can’t breathe…to sacrifice my body to a greater purpose…to train until I have puke climbing up my throat and knocking on the back of my teeth.

Next up: Leg Presses. Now, although I don’t smell as nice as I probably should, nor have I brought flowers, my date is waiting for me just as I’d pictured. I stumble towards the leg press machine, and it grins at me, as if to say “Come on, I dare you...” It takes nearly five minutes to gather all the plates that I need, and hustle a spot off of a trusted friend. The spot is not so much to help me push the weight back up if I fail to lift it, but rather to call the ambulance if shit goes down. And so we begin. I drop my ass into the seat of the dreaded leg sled, and momentarily close my eyes. “Here goes nothing”, I say to myself, and unclip the last bit of comfort known as the safety pins. Some find pleasure in golfing. Some find pleasure in shopping at the local malls. Some find pleasure in drinking on the weekend. Me? I find pleasure in strapping a small Toyota to my feet, and saying “To hell with it!” This is what I live for, this is what I know. This is me.

The workout progresses and I take comfort in knowing the worst is over with – for this week, at least. Although I’m out of the trenches, this war is anything but over. I hop between machines and free weights, giving my muscles a lashing they won’t soon forget. The barky calluses protruding from my palms serve as a reminder that this has all been done before, and so I continue to press on. Despite every single voice in my head (there’s quite a few!) telling me to give up and go home, something drives me and others like me to muscle through the pain. Does anyone care if I push out an extra rep on this set? No. Do I have a coach threatening to bench me if I slack off? No. Then why, people ask me, do this to yourself day in-day out? Why, you ask? Because if I don’t, I have to answer to probably the most terrifying critic I know; myself. I refuse to submit to mediocrity. I see way too many people just accept whatever is thrown their way, and I, for one, will have none of that. I don’t want to be just another Joe, another lifeless man running the same routine day after day with no dream or aspiration. Regardless of if I actually become something bigger than life or not, the very action of resisting normality at least gives me a reason to live.
As the clock nears 11, the gym has cleared out. I think I’m the only one still in this place. The screams from each corner of the gym have at last come to a halt. The dungeon is at rest, and the iron may finally sleep. The only noise to be heard is the soft hum of the janitor’s vacuum cleaner. My workout is at last complete, and I stumble down the stairs towards the exit in a fashion reminiscent of my ninety-three year old grandfather. I open the doors to a blast of cool air and a starlit sky. I waddle over to my car, toss my gym bag in, and climb into the driver’s seat. I look at the clock – 11:11…make a wish. What do I wish for? I smile to myself, and wish that I can still feel my legs tomorrow morning.

At home, after sitting for some five minutes to catch a breather, I get to work. Time to pound back another shake, cook my last meal for the night, and catch some late night Jay Leno before I hit the sack. I think I’ve probably spent more hours in the kitchen than Martha Stewart, though my culinary skills would surely not attest to that! Anyways, I eat my meal, watch my show, and then snap off the lights in anticipation of my well-deserved sleep. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention I have Buzz Lightyear pyjamas?
‘Just another day in the life of a bodybuilder…'

For updates on new products, athlete news, and other awesome contests like this one, visit our website or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

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.