July's FitBox by My Platinum Box review!

Whatsup GymBuddies!? I have been itching to get this blog post live but have been swamped with work but it is finally here! This post is the review of July's FitBox. The folks at My Platinum Box were nice enough to hook me up with a box for me to write about. Check out their website here! This months box had some real high quality products in it, so without any further complications lets get right into it!

First up we have Bullnox Androrush by Betancourt Nutrition. This product is a testosterone optimizer pre workout mix. Using this concoction 15-30 minutes pre workout is just what you need to get the juices flowing. Obviously using a product that claims to help out with test production you would need to take for more than a day to feel the effects of, but as far as a pre workout product goes this is top notch stuff. The flavor I had was fruit punch and it was one of the better ones of that particular taste that I have had. Definitely this is a product worth giving a shot to see how it performs for you.

Next on the list we have a energy snack bar by the folks at NOW Energy. Honeycomb Chia Raisin  is one of the best bars I have had in a while. The honey was the perfect compliment to the raisins and it was not at all too overpowering. The chia seeds provide a perfect texture all wrapping up this bar into one hell of a snack sized power punch. I cant wait to order these!

Now we have Muscle Shot Gel by the folks at MusclePharm. For some reason I always find myself gushing over the products that these guys put out. Definitely top of the line stuff. This is the most interesting way I have found so far to get protein into my diet. Twenty-two grams of protein per one of these pouches, which is a good amount for such a small sized product. The flavor I sampled was Tropical Mango and the only negative I have about it is that it was a little on the bitter side. I feel that comes with the territory as I think MP was trying to achieve as much power into as small a dose as they could without all the fillers. They definitely struck gold with this, as you get all the nutrients you need without feeling full.

NO3 Pump Optimizer by Cellucor is up to bat now, and is another product they put out that works fabulously. My favorite thing about this is the lasting pump it gives you in the gym. Nitric Oxides are the behind the scenes supplements that give you the extra push you need to get through sets. Definitely go to their website to get hooked up with such a wonderful product. These work by expanding your blood vessels so you get more of the life juice into your muscles.

It had to happen at some point so here we go. MonsterPump by Cytosport is a pre workout product. Unfortunately I did not feel the effects of this product. I am not going to write it off though because I know what kind of quality products CytoSport puts out, so I am willing to give this one a mulligan in hopes that it was a fluke not working for me. Everyones bodies are different and therefore react different so what might not be good for me may be excellent for you. The flavor I had was grape and it was one of the better tasting grape products I have had, albeit strong.

Last to review we have Syntha-6 by BSN! I absolutely love this product! My favorite thing about this besides the flavor is that it can be a meal replacement or a meal addition, and the consistency of it is not too thick. I took this pre workout to give my body some fuel and it didn't make me feel bloated after I took it. The chocolate was milky tasting and smooth without any chalky taste like some products can get. Definitely one of my new favorites. #FinishFirst!

Well folks I hope you enjoyed this review of the FitBox. Be sure to travel over to the the My Platinum Box website so you can get the best the supplement world has to offer right to your door every month for only 10 dollars. This is a great way to sample products before you fork out the money for a product you may not agree with. Be sure to follow me on Twitter here and Follow the MyPlatinumBox folks here!

MusclePharm Creatine Review

                       Fit Freaks! Whats up? Mind4Fitness here and I was so impressed with the way this product has been performing for me so I just had to get on here and review it for you guys. It's MusclePharm's Creatine. Its a micronized version, that won't make you gain water weight. I have been taking it solid for the last month doing high weight and low reps, and already improved my max by 15 pounds... IN ONE MONTH. This is by far the best creatine I have ever taken. Definitely come here to BodyBuilding and order it. They have a great deal on it right now. Normally I don't like creatine because I haven't ever really felt the effects of it, but what this product has done for me is nothing short of amazing. Thanks for stopping by and keep doing work in the gym!

Check out my review of FitBox by MyPlatinumBox!

Hey guys this is just a quick run through of what is in the box! Enjoy!

           
Be sure to check out My Platinum Box right here! Thanks for visiting my page #FitFreaks!

Bulu Box's Newest Bulugan!

Hey fellow fitness freaks! I am back today with another review of some fine products sent to me by the guys at Bulu Box! They send you vitamin and fitness supplements monthly and I highly recommend them! This June was the first month I had received from them, and I must say it was very rewarding!

Let's start with my most favorite thing in June's box.. It is the full size 30 serving bottle of vitamin D3 made by Pure Matters. The reason it is my favorite is because or the next month, every day, I will have this wonderful supplement to take every single day. For those of you who don't know, vitamin D3 supports cardio health, can enhance calcium absorption, and in turn maintain bone health. I think it is awesome that the Bulu folks included a whole months supply of this wonderful vitamin in the box.

Next we will move on to something I have had before, and I really like. Super HD by Cellucor is a fat burning matrix that provides an increase to your metabolism, energy, focus, and last but definitely not least, appetite control! I love taking this in the mornings after I eat breakfast, because it keeps me satisfied and it lets me make it through the mornings without any issues of being groggy or jittery. Check it out!

Now up to the plate we have Nightfood. I was very excited by this product which is essentially a candy bar that is good for you and promotes sleep, so it is perfect to satisfy those late night cravings we all get. The flavor I samples was cookies and creme, and it was delicious. Not too light, but not too heavy like a lot of bars we eat to keep our figures. It contains protein, fiber, and it also has melatonin in it when is the chemical that your brain produces when your body is saying that its tired; hence you have the sleep promoting quality of the bar. If you travel to their website which i tagged previously you can get a box of these delicious morsels for only 9.99 and a second box for only a penny! Let them know who sent you!

Next to last on this review we have the most interesting product in the box by far. Ladies and gentlemen I give you RevHoney which was presenting in a little tube with a honey comb design. The flavor I had the pleasure of trying was peach, and it was in fact very delicious, if not different. Upon researching their webisite I found that honey, the main ingredient in their products, is one of the most complex super foods to date and supports healthy glucose levels. They have honey drinks on top of the honey snack tubes and I can't wait to try more!

Finally on the list we have good ole' fashioned fish oil made by the people at Life Equals. This Omega-3 beast is fresh from Norwegian anchovies and sardines. It contains 1000 MGs of Omega-3, has a citrus glaze, and is anti-fish burp. Whats not to love about that?! Also a little known fact about fish oil is that it promotes healthy levels of testosterone in your body. Take two of these bad boys daily, and you are good to go.

Well guys I want to say a big thank you for reading my blog, and I hope that you gained some knowledge from this. Also thank you so much to the folks at Bulu Box for hooking me up with Junes box and giving me the opportunity to review such great high quality products. Everyone be sure to vista their website here and follow them on twitter @BuluBox . Have a wonderful night guys! Follow me on twitter here!

Ways to Improve Quickness and Vertical Jump

Hey guys I wanted to pass on some advice to you that I gave to one of my twitter followers this morning. This little bit is about improving vertical jump, and quickness. The guy who asked me for some tips is in the middle of basketball offseason and wanted to know how to improve these so here y'all go:

For improving your vertical jump do not underestimate the power of squats. When you jump you are using mostly your quads to propel you into the air, so make sure that when you workout you show those muscles some love. Also it will help for you to do calf raises along with your squats, and incorporate single leg squats in there as well. What I personally like to do if I don't have a barbell and some plates around is just grab some dumbbells and hold them up at my shoulders and squat with them, and stand on my toes to stretch and work out those calf muscles. For improving quickness I shared that one thing to do is run with ankle weights on while doing sprints or cone drills; but also that working your legs out in the gym will help develop the fast twitch muscle fibers in your legs, and will give you an extra burst. One thing I have always found interesting about the fast twitch muscle fibers are that bodybuilders have been known to be able to keep up with world class sprinters for the first 20 or 30 yards strictly because of the explosive power their bodies possess. I think this picture should give you some motivation for todays workout sesh guys. Enjoy!

Final review of June's JackedPack!

Whats up fit fiends? I have had a busy month, so I am glad to finally be able to report in and finish up these reviews for the guys at JackedPack.

The things I am talking about today will include BodyForm, Amino2, HydroWhey, and AfterShock.

First up is BodyForm which is a thermogenic. However unlike typical ones that are found in todays market, this is a powder that you mix into your water. The taste I had was orange and it turned out to be very pleasant. I think my favorite thing about taking this was what it did for my appetite control. Also this product contains fiber and green tea, which I thought was very interesting. Overall this is a product I wouldn't mind adding to my arsenal.

Next we have Amino2 which is made by Myogenix. Amino2 is a concoction of BCAAs and Nitric Oxide. When I took this product I replaced my usual pre-workout with it and I loved what it did. Not only did the flavor taste delicious, which was green apple, but i felt like it gave me a lasting pump without any jitters what so ever and it kept me feeling fresh through the whole workout. This ia another product that I would add to my supplement intake.

Now we have HydroWhey by Optimum Nutrition which was my most favorite product in the box. The flavor was Turbo Chocolate, and the reason I liked it so much was it wasn't too overpowering. I take protein before I work out because I like to have something to feed my muscles while they work, and this product definitely did not disappoint me. Next time I am shopping for protein, I am picking up this bad boy. With 30 grams of the good stuff per serving, you can't go wrong!

Finally on the list we have AfterShock by Myogenix. Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy this one that much. The taste I had was Tropical Typhoon, and it was my least favorite thing in June's box. Nonetheless this is a post workout recovery shake, and it did help with soreness and how rejuvenated I felt after my workout, but I would buy this one again.

Well guys that does it for this months JackedPack! Be sure to check them out here on their website and you can follow their twitter here. And while you are on twitter follow @Mind4Fitness!

Energy, Rocket Fuel, and Chocolate awesome!

Whats up Fit Fiends? I have another view for you tonight. This will include more products that were in this months JackedPack.
So lets hop right into it!
So the first item I want to talk with you all with is the ABB TURBO Half and Half drink. It is essentially an energy shot that is 1/2 tea and 1/2 lemonade. The taste of it was excellent. For being an energy shot it didn't taste like it. A big problem I have with energy drinks and shots is that they all taste like they are immediately dehydrating you, and that is not the case with this bad boy. It has no sugar in it, no carbs, and no calories, so honestly when your trying to keep that figure you worked so hard for; what is better than that? You can also take this as a pre workout as opposed to anytime you need it energy; just take it 20 minutes before you get your sweat on.

Next thing on the list is a pre workout supplement made by the folks at Betancourt nutrition. It is called D-Stunner and it will knock your socks off. I tried this after I drank my protein shake and within 10 minutes my mind was clear and I could focus 100%. The only complaint I have about it is it made me a tad bit more jittery than I would have like, but on the plus side there was absolutely no crash. I guess the real test of something is whether or not you would take it again, and I have to admit I would give this one another shot.

The last thing I am reviewing tonight is the PowerCrunch protein bar! This thing was delicious! It was by far the best protein bar I have ever had. My favorite thing about it was that it wasn't very heavy. It was actually a wafer bar, so it was actually like a big healthy Kit Kat bar. I do believe that I found the only protein bar I will be eating until something better comes along!

Check these products out and let me know what you think! And don't forget to get your own JackedPack and follow me on twitter @Mind4Fitness!

Protein Chips in my JackedPack?!?!

What's up fellow fitness fiends?! I have excellent news. Alex and the good folks at JackedPack hooked me up with Junes box for me to do a review on. After a little complication with the mail man I finally received this box of awesome yesterday. I wanted to hop on and do a quick little review of one of the products I had the chance to try today, Protein Chips! I know, I know, sounds way too good to be true, but I am here to tell you it is all the facts and more. The particular chips I had are lemon herb, and they have an excellent taste to them, and a very pleasing texture.

Lets get down to the nutrition portion of them. Per bag they have only 120 calories, and they also have 4g of fiber. 15g of carbs are also included to give you the good energy that you need and of course the most intriguing part of this and what is going to make you muscles swell instead of your gut is the whopping 12g of protein that you will find in this bag of decadence. 12g may not seem like a lot compared to your shakes and puddings you take pre and post muscle blasting, but I can assure you it is for sure much better a snack than that bag of Cheetos in your pantry. On a gluten free diet? No problem because these chips are 100% gluten free with no trans fats.

You can find these chips online at Kay's Naturals, and of course do not forget to subscribe to your own little bit of heaven every month by heading over to JackedPack. It is the most wonderful way to try before you by and they have two different plans to choose from based on how many samples you want to receive each month. Let them know that you got sent there by Mind4Fitness! Check me out on twitter @Mind4Fitness and follow my friends @JackedPack!

Stay Strong!

10 minute workout!

Hey guys!

 I know Im a little late on this post as I said on my twitter I would be doing it last night, but here it is:
Sometimes things can come up and plans change for us so we don't get to spend the time we want to in the gym, and I wanted to share with you a workout that I actually do at work so I can sneak some gym time in there. The only thing you really need is a pull-up bar!

So basically all it is is you have 10 minutes to complete this cycle of workouts. Each minute you do 5 pull-ups, followed by 10 crunches, and then 10 push-ups. You can tweak this how you like. For instance, if you have something you can hang on you can replace the crunches you can just do leg lifts to work your abs. Also something else I like to do is modify the pushups to make it more cardio based. Same old push-ups, but you elevate your legs on a chair or a bench. Don't forget you can switch your grips between wide, diamond, and regular!

Thats all for today! Try this out and see if you can crush it in under 10 minutes! Before you know it you will have done 50 pull-ups, 100 crunches, and 100 pushups!

Make some GAINS for yourself!

Whats up guys??
This has been a long time coming. Ive been super busy with work and taking leave the last few weeks but here is the highly anticipated Mind4Fitness post!

So, I worked out tonight and I wanted to give you a little preview of my workout, and you can tell me what you all like to do when y'all are working out. Lately I have been working my arms out differently in an effort to make bigger gains for myself, however, I cut down my creatine intake to see what happens. Before I was mostly working out on low weight with high reps, and fewer sets. But I have reversed that trend with higher weight, lower reps, and more sets. So far I must say I really like the change. Reading some articles online enlightened me to my new favorite bicep exercise. Ole Arnie showed me this. Do the same type of alternating bicep curls, but arch your back while you do it. You will feel from the first rep that you are now lifting with your pectorals and your biceps. Make sure you don't throw your back out! I have found that this engorges my muscles much better, and it makes me feel the right kind of pain when I get done working out!

Try it out, let me know what you think!
One Love!

Good Good Friday!

I hope you guys are having a great Good Friday! I will be going to the gym today so i am going to be posting pictures and go over my workout that I do today. Have a fantastic day! Do something for yourself!

Product Review!!!!!

My first product review! Today I am going to go through a review of Recon by MusclePharm and Blox by BPI.

Now the particular one I have is OrangeMango flavored. I am a huge fan of mango so thats why I chose this flavor. The taste of this product honest isn't that bad. The only thing I have to say about it really is that its very sweet. You need to mix it with a lot of water to make it bearable to drink.

Now on the the actual product performance. I have been taking this for around two months, and it has by far been my favorite post workout drink ever. I have never been sore after taking it. It contains 833% percent of the daily value of Vitamin C, 250% of B-6 and 250% of Vitamin E. Vitamin C can work wonders for your immune system, Vitamin B-6 can coexist with other vitamins and enzymes in your body to help out your metabolic processes, and Vitamin E will fight free radicals, and also help with muscle growth. The active ingredients in this product are your typical ones found in post workout items, but built into MusclePharm's own proprietary blends. Their Anabolic Primer Matrix of course contains your standard 3:1:2 BCAA blend. They also have a Recovery Accelerator, Anti-Stress Matrix, and a Muscle Detoxifier amount other things. Overall this is a fantastic product and I would recommend it to anyone. I have already told some of the guys I work with about it and I think I have them convinced to give it a shot.

Now on to Blox by BPI. This product is a little more expensive, but well worth the price. It is a Silk Amino Acid Mix, with is a step up in my opinion over the common Branch Chained Amino Acid mix. The best part about this product is that taken as a post workout, a serving size is only 5 grams. Not a lot to drink at all. Taking a look at the active ingredients all it shows is BPI's own proprietary blend, SAA Sequenced Proteins. This mix contains alanine, glycine, serene, valine, and threonine. The flavor I have right now is lemonade and it is delicious. I actually just bought my second jar of this product and it is watermelon flavored and that tastes even better. My favorite thing to do with this product is actually mix it with the Recon, and then throw in a little MusclePharm creatine or use some concentrated micronized creatine called Con-cret, another fantastic product to help increase strength without the water weight gain.

I hope you all enjoyed this review, and I hope you give these products a shot. I believe in them and I believe that they have helped me. One love.

You will love yourself for your ambition.

Have you ever realized how much more satisfaction you get when you do something for yourself and not for something or someone else?

How many times have you been at the point where you say you are going to do something but you never end up doing it because you put it off. You put it off because your mind isn't right for it. Because you don't have a strong enough desire for it. You don't have a do or die attitude about it. Im sure there are many different things that we are all guilty of doing this with.

This is my first blog, and that being said, it may be a little rough around the edges, but I can work on that. My name is Reese and I am in fact guilty of being addicted to working out. I want this blog to be my public projection of what I go through and what I experience in my trials of becoming a stronger person, physically and mentally. 

This blog will accomplish a few things (hopefully):

1) My experience with workouts

2) My reviews of products and supplements

3) Do's and don'ts of products and exercise. 

That is mainly what this blog is supposed to be about, but I am sure from time to time I will throw other things in there that I talk about. Something I want to get to now is why I chose the name I have for this blog. Previously I wrote about not having your mind right for something. I am quite positive you know what I mean by that. I started working out several months ago. Probably last June. I wasn't very avid about it when I started. I was doing it to do it. I didn't enjoy it very much, I didn't love it like I do now. Before I started working out I can recall countless times telling myself I would. Telling myself I would make it in to the gym today. But I never did. Then when I finally started going, there would be some days where I just wasn't "feeling it" and I would leave the gym after about 15 minutes. I did not have a mind for fitness. A mind for bettering myself. I think the reason I was going was to try and impress other people, whether it be my family, my girlfriend, or my friends. I wanted to look different so they would see me different. Then one day, in all of its glory, my mind said forget them and do you. So I went for myself. And I started falling in love with it. I started to enjoy the way it felt when I was picking up heavy shit just to set it back down. I started enjoying that awful burning sensation in my arms and legs when I finished a session. From the first time I really starting lifting for myself and really enjoyed it, it was incredible.  

A little about my fitness journey: I weigh 23 pounds less than I did a year ago, but if we are being honest with each other that is due to a combination of things. The majority of the reason is Navy bootcamp. Before I left home I weighed a whopping 183 pounds and I was 5'8". Now I wasn't really fat, but I was a little thick and chunky in some places. When I graduated bootcamp I weighed 155. I went to school for my rate and I dropped to 149ish. I remember telling my mother at some point I was going to go to the gym. That was in April of last year. Then May rolled around, still no gym time. Then came June and I have been going steady since. I now weigh about 162 on a good day, and I still plan on gaining. Ideally I would like to get up to 175, but I have found now that I eat semi-right and I work out nearly ever day, it is extremely difficult to gain weight and keep it.

I hope you all enjoy reading this blog and share it if you feel its worth sharing. Hopefully I will be able to help you achieve some of your goals by doing this, and you will all be happy and satisfied with yourself. I will leave you guys with some before and after pictures of me. One love.