Sorry for the lack of posts lately fellow bros and brodettes, but things have been busier than ever over at Brotein Enterprises as we prepare for the SUMMER OF BROTEIN!
Today we would like to let our readers know about an event this summer that we are all truly pumped for: On June 1st and 2nd, Team Brotein will be participating in the 2013 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Chicago! Five of our Bros will be taking two days off at the gym to walk 40 miles (steady-state cardio for days) in the heart of Chicago all in support of Breast Cancer research and support. We here at Brotein enjoy having fun while getting our business done, but we also believe in being passionate for causes we truly care about, such as this one. Breast Cancer has affected each of our lives in various ways and we hope that the money we raise through this walk can bring us closer to finding a cure.
Before June rolls around, each of the Bros will raise a minimum of $1800. This adds up to a total of $9000, but we are hoping to surpass five digits and raise as much money for this great cause as we can. Here are a few fundraisers Brotein will be hosting in the coming weeks:
2013 Brotein Bra Crawl at the University of Illinois
Next weekend, Brotein will be hosting its first annual Bra Crawl on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana. That’s right, no typo there, we are hosting a BRA crawl at a few fine drinking establishments in the Champaign-Urbana area. Above is the design for the tank top that our crawlers will be wearing. We hope that the bars will be filled with pink as all proceeds from the tanks will go directly to our Avon fundraising goal. Here is the facebook link for this event: click “Attending”, order a tank, and be prepared to hang with the Brotein gang for a night of fun in pink!
https://www.facebook.com/events/130472813809218/
Chicago Backyard Bash
Attention Bros and Brodettes in the Chicagoland area, do you enjoy any of the following activities:
Beer in Kegs
Jungle Juice
Burgers
Hot Dogs
Bags
Drinking Games
Hot Brotenders
Kissing Booths
If you said yes to any or all of the above, check out the event page below and bring $20 for all you can eat, all you can drink, and a pink BroBand to support the cause. Again, all proceeds will be donated directly to Avon and our efforts to walk in this great event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/131399297049635/
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read our blog and read about our upcoming events. If you can’t make it to any of the events and still would like to contribute, here is the link to our Avon page. Donate to our team or an individual bro and help bring us closer to curing Breast Cancer!
http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/Chicago?pg=team&fr_id=2210&team_id=119722
Team Brotein
#time2grow
#walkingforacure
Everyone knows there are certain things in life that are so-not-bro. Whether it be a shirt with sleeves or some dude at the gym curling in the squat rack, far too often we encounter these so-not-bro moments in life. However, without a doubt, every bro can agree that cardio is the pinnacle of something so-not-bro. Up until recently, I thought walking from my car too the gym was considered cardio. In reality, cardio is an essential asset to your “get shredded in one month workout routine” and understanding the best time to perform it can mean the difference between your 1-pack or 2-pack set of abs.
On a more serious notes bro’s and broddette’s, one of the most common questions I used to receive from clients, friends and family is “When is the best time to perform cardio; before or after weightlifting?” Some may argue that it is best to have two workout sessions in a day, one dedicated to cardio and the other to weightlifting. However, let’s be realistic, everyone has a life to live and may not have the time to go to the gym twice a day. Having said this, in my opinion the best time to perform cardio is directly after a workout. In human nutrition carbohydrates are used as a source of energy, which is called glycogen. Our bodies use this source of energy to perform and function throughout the day. If glycogen is our bodies primary source of energy then it is fair to say an intense cardio session or weightlifting session will greatly deplete glycogen stores. It makes more sense to preserve your bodies’ stored energy for a challenging weightlifting routine. If you do cardio before resistance training you will fatigue your muscles, in turn, this will hinder your results and potential while lifting weights because of the lack of energy. Furthermore, by depleting your energy source before weightlifting you also pose a risk of injury. Performing anything with a low amount of energy poses a risk so why not do everything possible and take preventative measures, progressing as safely as possible should always be your goal in the gym.
Lastly, if your overall fitness goal is to lose body fat then post workout cardio will be very beneficial for you. As mentioned earlier weight training depletes glycogen, since your primary fuel source is now gone your body will be more likely to release fat to be used as energy during cardiovascular exercise.
So, next time you’re at the gym and you realize spring break is next week or you’re going to the beach with some of your bro’s and broddette’s be sure to remember if you’re going to do cardio, save it for after your weight lifting. You’ll be much happier with the results and hopefully a little more shredded for that special upcoming event.
Stay Shredded,
Team Brotein
Facebook/broteinbars.com
Bros love protein.
Whether it’s to chase down your shots, bust out during class, or throw it in a bag on your way to work because you skipped a meal, added protein is going to be included somewhere in a bro’s diet. It’s a sure way to let everyone around you know that you live an active life style and mere human food cannot support your daily protein needs. However, anti-bro mainstream media has spent more time researching the downfall of protein supplementation rather than the benefits, inadvertently providing the public with faulty research and inaccurate findings. For some reason, a negative stigma has been placed on those who use protein bars and powders, leading the general public to feel only bodybuilders and gym rats need extra protein in their diet.
Here at Brotein, we don’t think that protein is only reserved for bodybuilders and workout fiends, we believe that it should be for everyone who looks to lead a healthy, active lifestyle (and no ladies it won’t make you bulky). For any guy or girl trying to gain muscle or lose fat, protein is a staple supplement necessary to achieve success in the gym. Protein helps build quality lean muscle and, (in our opinion) lean muscle is the foundation to developing an amazing physique! If you are participating in regular exercise, then it is a known fact that you are burning calories and breaking down muscle so it only makes sense that you would need extra protein to help replenish your body’s nutrients.
HERE COMES THE BIOLOGY:
Proteins are essential to numerous functions in your body. Protein promotes cell signaling, support of the immune system, and even functions of the metabolism. Your body turns protein into amino acids through digestion and distributes those amino acids as needed throughout your body. If you are lacking these amino acids as a result of inadequate protein intake, then muscle protein synthesis will suffer. Basically, your body can’t handle the stress caused by your workout regimens, the lack of protein makes it hard for your body to repair itself and this in turn causes you to stagger in the gym and potentially even become sick or get hurt easier. Now many will argue that one should always strive to get their daily protein intake from all natural sources. Although I agree, I also know that sometimes it is not a feasible option depending on your day to day schedule. Having that said, protein supplementation has a place in every active person’s life. Whether you’re a bro on the go or newbie at the gym – never neglect that protein!
Keep an eye out for an upcoming post on where you can get good protein sources from in your diet!
Stay Jacked Bros,
Brotein
We’ve decided to include a segment of posts called the “Brofile”, where we write about our fellow Brotein members so you can learn a little bit more about us. After all, we’re just normal bros like you guys. Enjoy.
Dan is the resident Bro of Team Brotein. He surprisingly navigated his undergraduate term at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Brobana in only 4 years while also fratting it up as a member of Beta Theta Pi. After graduation he aced the LSAT like a true bro & then moved to Washington D.C. to pursue opportunities in the office of Senator Mark Kirk, & later Senator Marco Rubio. He’s also been known to dabble with some fitness modeling (Eat Brotein & you could too).
Now, he’s on his way back to Chicago to pursue the post college bro-lifestyle full time, & spread the wonder of Brotein to the entire world.
But, when he isn’t championing the benefits of Brotein you can find him moving hundreds of pounds of weight at the gym, “straight LeBronin’ dudes” on the basketball court (he said it, we didn’t), or hanging out with his puppy Leonidas (there is nothing unmanly about Dan, including the name of his dog).
To describe Dan in a few pictures:
Be on the lookout for our introductions to the rest of the BroTeam in posts later this week!
Brotein
‘Would you rather…?’ is a game that always starts out so innocently. Usually, on a long road trip with friends, someone gets bored and starts asking questions about choosing between two embarrassing public atrocities, you choose, everyone laughs, the end.
However, when you’re in a car full of bros who want to test the boundaries of the unthinkable, it will always take a turn for the worst.
Things we’ve learned from playing Would You Rather with Bros:
- Some guys will do almost anything to get with Meagan Fox. Some of it’s a little disturbing and can never be repeated outside of this circle.
- Everyone always picks Jennifer Aniston with some weird deformity over Roseanne.
- Farting uncontrollably from any orifice of the body is just not a problem for some, so no point in using that one.
- The worst ones always include your parents
We thought we’d come up with some Would you rather…?’ about things that piss us off at the gym. You can share these with friends (Or go up to someone in the locker room and whisper them into a stranger’s ear. Try it and let us know what happens):
WOULD YOU RATHER… find someone curling in the squat rack for 30 min straight on leg day or go into a gym and find that the dumbbells only go up to 70lbs (yeah we’re talking about you, Planet Fitness)
WOULD YOU RATHER… forget to wear a tank on shoulder and arm day or wait for a bench to clear when clearly the guy using it doesn’t even lift
WOULD YOU RATHER… get explosive diarrhea while on the squat machine (we’ve actually seen this one happen in real life) or have to buy hemorrhoid cream after leg day.
(We do realized that the person that created this meme misspelled the word ‘first’ but we what we can’t figure out is whether or not they did it purposefully. Oh well. For the record, we do not squat for the ‘fist time’ here at Brotein.)
These are just a few things that get us really annoyed when we’re getting our pump on. We’d love to hear about any other workout pet peeves you guys have when you go to the gym, maybe we’ll feature them in a part 2 because we all know there’s more to come.
Stay Jacked Bros,
Brotein
Hey Bros,
As we all know, the staple characteristic of any bro is the constant need to hit the gym. Nothing complements that spring break tank like a pair of pythons and skin tearing vascularity. As all bros know it’s pretty hard to step foot in a gym and avoid people mirin at your aesthetics. But sometimes that mirin you receive is for the wrong reasons. The bros at Brotein want to save you the embarrassment of having someone come up to you in the gym and legitimately ask “ Do you even lift bro?”
Having that said, we want to show you two of the biggest exercise mistakes that we see at the sanctuary of iron. If you are a perpetrator of these lifting mistakes it’s not too late to stop but keep it up and we can guarantee your bro card will be revoked.
Let’s start with the infamous behind the neck lat pull-down. I have no idea how this became so popular but you can guarantee every time you step foot in a gym you’re bound to see this exercise performed. Supposedly this exercise is meant to train your lats and upper back, however this exercise forces your shoulders into an unnatural position that can cause pinching in the shoulder joint that will eventually damage your rotator cuff. For those of you that are unfamiliar with shoulder injuries this exercise is sure way to get you diagnosed with shoulder impingement syndrome. Basically bros, if you’re still doing this lift, ditch it ASAP!
Next on our list is bench press. Now by no means am I saying to stay away from the bench press because I know firsthand the mental pump you get from knowing Chest day is approaching, this is the ultimate bro day at the gym. What I am suggesting is to avoid the extremely common mistake of flaring your elbows out as you perform the exercise. For some reason, people think that flaring out your elbows isolates your chest more, that’s debatable but what isn’t debatable is the risk you create for injury by having improper form on the bench press. By flaring your elbows you narrow the distance between your arm bone and your shoulder blade, this movement is a recipe for disaster. With elbows flared out you over work your deltoids and create an imbalance in the rear deltoids. Instead of flaring you elbows out tuck them in at a 45-60 degree angle, it may feel weird at first but at least you aren’t going to need rotator cuff surgery after a couple of years in the gym…..which is so not bro.
IF YOU ARE DOING THIS STOP ASAP!
We’re trying to save you from a potential injury which could put you out for the entire summer season; then imagine what your arms would look like in that tank.
You’re welcome.
Joking aside, we all make these mistakes and eventually have had someone tell us that we were doing it wrong. I have a personal training certification, so I didn’t just pull this info off the internet and paste it into here. I’ve had friends really injure themselves and don’t want to see that happen to any other bros out there.
Stay Jacked Bros,
Brotein
Bros,
Lots of things have changed since we’ve last blogged in August. The world is now a new place full of wonder and amazement. Also, we feel really bad for not having post so we wanted to make a list of everything awesome that happened so that we’re all caught up with each other.
Here are 13 really important, life-changing events that have happened since we last spoke to you guys in the unlikely instance that this was your only news source (which, in that case, you might want to start following CNN on Twitter):
1. The Mayans screwed up and we’re all still here. We also partied like it was 1999 (mostly because in 1999 we were only 12)
2. Twinkies are now selling for $900.
3. Redbull can give you wings…but should not be mixed with your vodka
4. Kate Upton is on the cover of another S.I issue. (we thought the bathing suit couldn’t get any smaller, but we were so thankfully wrong)
5. A show about the consequences of childhood obesity called “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Child” became a drinking game (Drinking every time someone passed gas is a sure way to get wasted for the night.)
6. Bar Rafaeli made out with a really awkward guy with rosacea for GoDaddy.com
7. Gangnum Style has the most views of any Youtube video ever (adults we know have learned the dance and now perform it at family functions. There are videos out there with proof of this)
8. Kimye is a thing (yeah, we’re embarrassed for writing it too)
9. Manti Te’o made up a girlfriend online and then killed her off.
10. The Ravens won the Superbowl (but more importantly, Destiny’s Child reunited)
11. The iPhone 5 came out and it’s basically just a thinner version of the phone you bought last year.
12. We went to an expo in Florida where we met some pretty awesome people, but also lots of hot babes in bathing suits. (thank you for not disappointing us Florida)
13. LASTLY: BROTEIN re-launched in November!
We’re super excited to have launched our new products and gotten such awesome feedback from so many people. We have a lot in store for the upcoming months and can’t wait to share it with you guys through our blog, so stay tuned!
Stay Jacked Bros,
Brotein
Thanks to our buddy Mike for sending us this photo. He loves Brotein Bars as much as we do. Why? Because they’re the perfect snack ratio of protein to carbs; and they’re sugar free!
Rocknasium is an awesome family owned rock climbing gym. The staff is super friendly and the instructions are clear cut for first time belaying. Check out the Brotein Bar samples too!
Rocknasium
720 Olive Drive, Suite S
Davis, CA 95616
Brotein Bars 