THE first week on the Amazing 12 Chichester can hurt…sometimes. I won’t pretend otherwise.
Here’s why. Usually when you start the program, you either come from a place of inactivity or being untrained. It’s therefore a shock to the system and muscles and you get what’s called DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
Even if you do train regularly, the Amazing 12 being different – unfamiliar movements and different programming – can cause a reaction.
But then the muscles get used to it because you’re training five days per week (this is called conditioning) and, generally, that degree of muscle soreness doesn’t reoccur often.
I recommended that Jemma at the end of week one of our training at Core Results Gym, when she was telling me about her sore arms, take an Epsom Salt bath. Reg, now at the end of week 4 of an 8-week program, said he’d take one, too, but then admitted he probably wouldn’t be able to fit in his bath!
Epsom salts, though, contain magnesium and this incredible mineral relaxes and soothes the muscles.
It is MAG-ical stuff and that’s probably an understatement.
I’m not sure Jemma took my advice. But she’s at the end of week 2 now, half a stone lighter and still a little sore.
While Jemma likes to have a moan, she’s repeated umpteen times how “I can’t believe how much stronger I am.” She added, “I don’t think my upper body has every been this strong before and we’re only in week 2!”
Jade, also at the end of week 2, was sore all over during the first week but feels fine now. She’s getting stronger, but still battling her impatience. The Amazing 12 should work well for her because it’s having her do movements and rep schemes she isn’t used to and wouldn’t ordinarily choose for herself.
As for Reg, he’s still moving much better, improving from day to day and changing shape. He tried on some jeans he purchased from High and Mighty before he started the program and now they are too baggy.
He worked himself hard this week and, possibly as a result, has felt tired – and sore again. On the final day of week 4, he arrived at the gym and said (still smiling) he was aching from head to toe – that he could feel every muscle in his body. But he still brings with him to every session a jolly attitude that spreads throughout the group.
Catriona, who is at the halfway point of the 8-week program, continues to flourish even though, frustratingly for her, she had to miss one session this week because of a trip to London.
Strength-wise, Catriona’s progressing. It’s a pity she’s doing only eight weeks as she has so much unexplored potential. She’s moved from not being able to squat anywhere near parallel to down to a box. There’s still work to do on her mobility, particularly around the shoulders, but, fitness-wise, she’s like a real energiser bunny. She’s attacked everything I have thrown at her.
This week, though, she, too, was feeling some sore parts.
However, if (unlike Catriona) a lack of energy is an issue or, like some of my previous Amazing 12 graduates, getting quality sleep is a problem, maybe magnesium could hold the key. It is vitally important for our well-being.
Charles Polequin, one of the best-known and respected strength coaches in the world, calls magnesium “probably one of the best anti-ageing minerals”.
Magnesium is an anti-stress mineral and, because our lives are so stressful nowadays, many of us have become deficient.
We’re not just slightly deficient either. For example, it’s estimated that 80-90% of the United States population is low in magnesium. The chances are that in the UK the figure is not far behind.
So why is it so important and what can taking magnesium do?
Sleep
Magnesium boosts serotonin production. Serotonin is the hormone which helps us to sleep. As serotonin increases, cortisol, the stress hormone, decreases.
Strengthen bones and tendons
Magnesium is essential for strong bones. If our magnesium levels are low, calcium is leached from the bones. Weak bones will lead to osteoporosis.
To help keep our bones healthy, we must not only do some kind of weight-bearing exercise, but also make sure the ratio of calcium to magnesium is balanced.
Enhances healing
Incredibly, magnesium has over 300 unique biological functions (some say even more) in the human body which support our immune system.
Said another way, in the absence of magnesium these 300 enzymatic functions will not take place in the way they were designed to. When we are low on magnesium, we cannot operate optimally.
Magnesium purifies and purges the tissues in our body from acids, toxins, gases and impurities. It is so good at neutralising poisons that it is often used to reduce fever.
Relaxes muscles
Magnesium is the relaxation mineral. It helps with the contraction and relaxation of a muscle. If you get twitches and spasms, it could be that you have low magnesium levels.
Applied topically (to the skin) where we feel aches and pains, it can cause relief, which is how Epsom Salt baths work. Through the skin, our largest organ, is the purest way to absorb magnesium.
I wouldn’t recommend taking it orally, as magnesium has to pass through the kidneys. Unless your kidneys are very strong, this method can cause problems and severe diarrhea.
Regulate blood pressure
Studies have shown that a daily intake of magnesium can help to reduce blood pressure and assist in warding off illnesses like diabetes and obesity as well as reduce fatigue and insulin resistance. This was the finding in one particular study over 15 years using up to 5,000 people!
Nourishes the nervous system
In the same way that magnesium can help relax us when we are stressed, it sooths the nervous system, which comes under attack when we are under too much physical or mental pressure.
Stress quickly uses up our magnesium supplies. The nervous system, like our hearts and brains, depend on magnesium.
However, we live in a time when, if we get tired, we drive ourselves on instead of resting.
If you’re someone who, for example, uses caffeine or energy drinks to boost your system in these circumstances, what you’re doing is effectively adding further stress to the body and, consequently, depleting your magnesium supplies.
Crucial in the role of ATP (energy) production
Magnesium is a fuel supply. In the plant world it is magnesium that helps transform the energy from sunlight into the plant’s living energy. It is what gives plants their green colour and therefore all green foods are good sources of magnesium.
In human beings ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) is our energy which we get from the breakdown of glucose and fat into water and carbon dioxide.
Without getting too scientific, here’s the critical bit of information: ATP must be bound to a magnesium ion in order to be biologically active!
No magnesium, no ATP.
Regulate the menstrual cycle
This one is for the ladies, because it can help to cure menstrual cramping. It does this by assisting the powerful uterine muscles to relax. This also helps relieve PMS and headaches.
In the context of the Amazing 12, I need my group of four to be able to recover from workout to workout and for them to have the energy to perform optimally in each training session. I want them to sleep well, because it is during sleep that all the body’s reconstruction and growth takes place.
On the Amazing 12, I encourage everyone to eat as many greens or green vegetables as possible.
There are all sorts of diets out there claiming to do this and that. But the two consistencies I have found amongst all diets is (1) drink water and (2) eat lots of vegetables – and the greener the better.
The are other foods rich in magnesium, like almonds, cashews, buckwheat flour, cocoa powder, Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, pecans, cooked beans, garlic, green peas and potato skin.
However, food consumption may not be entirely sufficient if you are training hard or unable to cope well with stress or very anxious.
Agricultural changes over generations to the way food has been harvested and produced has diminished the levels of magnesium in our produce, which is why supplementing is sometimes required.
Which magnesium?
There are different types. In Tim Ferriss’ book Tools of Titans, Poloquin recommends magnesium threonate, which is said to be best for improving sleep. There is also magnesium glycinate, which tends to work best on liver and muscle tissue. Magnesium orotate is said to help the vascular system. The same book features an interview with Dominic D’Agostino, an associate professor in the department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida. He lists magnesium as one of his go-to supplements and recommends a citrate powder called Natural Calm.
Personally, I use a high concentration Transdermal Magnesium Chloride spray. I’ve also had the brand Magnesium Ease recommended highly.
Taking magnesium isn’t giving yourself an edge, it’s restoring your body to where it needs to be.