The off-season is the perfect time to focus on muscle-building and growth.   With practices limited, you have the opportunity to spend your time in the weight room increasing strength and in the kitchen feeding your body the fuel it needs to grow.  Here are a number of important diet tips as well as supplement recommendations to help you make the most out of this off-season.

Importance of Daily Diet: Muscles cannot grow without the proper fuel.  That would be like expecting a car to run without gasoline.   The body needs large amounts of the following macronutrients: protein, amino acids, carbohydrates, fat and water in order to rebuild and repair muscle and tissue, keep energy stores high, and keep the circulatory system functioning.  If the body is not being fueled every 3 hours, it will begin use muscle as an energy source (muscle catabolism).  This means it is extremely important for student athletes to be consuming meals rich in protein and carbohydrates every 3-4 hours as well as drinking water frequently.

Supplementation:

 A Supplement is defined as: “1. Something added to complete a thing, make up for a deficiency, or extend or strengthen the whole.” –Webster’s Dictionary

It is important to understand that supplements are not a replacement for a sound diet, training, or ample rest.  HOWEVER….

Supplements are essential for athletes and all those who are pushing their body to the limit and past it, depleting vital amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and H20.

Q:  It is extremely difficult to prepare an adequate amount of foods to intake 5-750 calories per meal every 3 hours, how can I do this as a student athlete?

A: It is almost impossible.  This is where the importance of a Meal Replacement/ Weight Gain Shake comes into play.  A quick and easy way to increase meal frequency of protein and carbohydrates.

Muscle Growth and Recovery:

Daily diet is a very important component of growth as we’ve stated earlier.  In addition, the Pre and Post-workout windows are another very important component of increasing strength, building muscle and adding size

            Pre – Workout:

            It is important to pre-fuel the body before a workout if the goal is to add size and strength.  Eating a meal 2-2.5 hours prior that is rich in complex carbohydrates and Protein is important to supply the muscles with the amino acids and Glycogen (carbohydrates) needed to fuel your workout

            Supplements:

            BCAA: Any athlete looking to increase muscle mass should be drinking Branch Chain Amino Acids before work outs.  These essential amino acids are necessary for muscle growth and recovery.

            Post-Workout- “The Anabolic Window”

            Supplements:

            Post-workout is where a lot of the growth in our muscles occurs.  This is a point where it is extremely important to provide the body with the following nutrients: Protein, BCAAs, Carbohydrates, and Glutamine.  The body requires these nutrients as quickly as possible and this is the optimal time to drink a Post-Workout Recovery Shake.

Vitamins/ Minerals

Getting all the vitamins and minerals the body needs is another extremely important aspect of muscle growth and recovery, but most importantly immune function.  You can’t improve upon your performance if you are sick! A number of these vitamins and minerals are supplied to our bodies through consumption of fruits and vegetables.  However, 99% of people are not getting the USDA recommended 5-9 servings per day.  Our bodies require many of these vitamins and minerals in order to properly absorb and derive energy from the foods we consume:

Supplements

In order to fill the gap between what you consume through foods and what your body requires as an athlete, it is imperative that you use a whole-food based multivitamin.  In addition, a number of athletes use greens supplements, to deliver the proper dose of vegetables to improve recovery.

In summary, there are a number of aspects that play a role in improving performance, increasing strength, and building muscle.  There isn’t one thing that can be substituted for another and in order to excel at the highest level, athletes must take advantage of everything that is available with regard to training, diet, and supplementation.

- The TN Team

North Crowley (24-12) vs. Lubbock Monterey (22-8)
6:00 Friday at Clyde HS

Lubbock Coronado (25-6) vs. Arlington Bowie (28-6)
6:00 Friday at Merkel HS

Plano West (33-2) vs. Cedar Hill (28-6)
7:00 Friday at Flower Mound HS

Irving MacArthur (32-2) vs. Keller (27-6)
6:30 Friday at Colleyville Heritage

Arlington Martin (16-15) vs. Amarillo (27-6)
6:00 Friday at Vernon HS

EP Bel Air (21-7) vs. Arlington Lamar (23-12)
5:30 Saturday at Midland Christian

SL Carroll (30-3) vs. Mans. Timberview (25-9)
8:00 Friday at Richland

Duncanville (34-1) vs. FM Marcus (23-12)
6:30 Thursday at Euless Trinity

CLASS 5A REGION II AREA ROUND

Harker Heights (34-1) vs. Gar. Naaman Forest (16-16)
8:00 Friday at Glen Rose

Sachse (28-7) vs. Temple
7:00 Friday at Waco High

Pflugerville (38-0) vs. Klein Collins (25-10)
6:00 Saturday at A&M Consolidated

The Woodlands (30-2) vs. Round Rock
8:00 Friday at Hearne

DeSoto (31-5) vs. Garland (25-8)
7:00 Friday at North Forney

Skyline (28-4) vs. Mesquite (21-10)
7:00 Friday at South Garland

Austin Anderson (29-4) vs. Humble Atascocita (20-12)
7:00 Friday at Navasota

Spring Dekaney (35-1) vs. Georgetown
7:00 Friday at A&M Consolidated

CLASS 4A REGION I AREA ROUND

Amarillo Palo Duro (16-13) vs. EP Irvin (24-6)
6:00 Friday at Odessa High

Clint Horizon (30-2) vs. Wolfforth Frenship (25-8)
6:00 Friday at Odessa College

Stephenville (18-16) vs. Kel. Timber Creek (22-11)
7:00 Friday at Brock

FW Western Hills (27-6) vs. Granbury (28-7)
6:00 Friday, FW’s Wilkerson-Greines AC

Canyon (27-3) vs. EP Burges (21-11)
4:30 Friday in Odessa College

EP Chapin (31-0) vs. Plainview (26-7)
7:30 Friday at Odessa College

Mansfield Summit (31-3) vs. FW Trimble Tech (23-10)
6:30 Friday at Richland

Aledo (29-4) vs. Arlington Seguin (25-10)
7:00 Friday at Mansfield HS

CLASS 4A REGION II AREA ROUND

Lincoln (28-0) vs. Wylie (23-11)
TBD

Rockwall (29-7) vs. Kimball (16-9)
7:30 Friday at North Mesquite

Bryan Rudder (31-5) vs. Royse City (25-8)
7:00 Friday at Fairfield HS

Longview Pine Tree (24-7) vs. RR Cedar Ridge (26-10)
6:00 Friday at Corsicana

Carter (19-10) vs. Highland Park (23-7)
7:00 Friday at Conrad

McKinney North (20-12) vs. Bryan Adams (16-10)
7:30 Friday at Garland Naaman Forest

West Mesquite (28-7) vs. Tyler John Tyler (24-8)
7:00 Friday at Wills Point

Sherman (25-6) vs. Pflugerville Connally (23-13)
6:30 Thursday at Glen Rose

Behind the play of McDonald’s All American Marcus Smart, Marcus High School fought their way to a 29-2 record playing a national schedule. Ranked #1 in the state of Texas Marcus HS looks to repeat as State Champions.

Marcus will play Flower Mound High School Tuesday, Feb. 14th for their season ender in hopes to cap off an incredible regular season and gain momentum for the Texas 5A State Tournament.

(if you don’t have a lot of time, skip to the 25 second mark)

On the season, Moutry averages 26.9 ppg on 47% shooting from the field leading all McKinney High Basketball Players. Moutry’s incredible 11-12 stats are a major improvement over his Junior year where he averaged close to 12 ppg. So far, the highlight of Moutry’s season, and the McKinney Lions, was a 54 point effort against Pearce. The Lions clinched the game in double overtime as Moutry hit the game winner with under 2 seconds remaining.

AJ’s Maxpreps profile can be viewed here and a collection of his highlights from this season can be viewed on the video profile.

The 2011 Texas Associated Press Sports Editors Class 4A all-state high school football team, released Wednesday. Voting based on regular-season performance. Players are listed in alphabetical order at each position.

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

Linemen:

— REGGIE HARRIS, Killeen, Sr. — Graded 95 pct., no sacks allowed, 40 pancakes, 35 knockdowns

— LATHAM JOHNSON, Aledo, Sr. — Graded 94 pct., 2 pancakes per game; offense averaged 533 yds, 58 pts per game

— JORDAN MATHEWS, Mansfield Summit, Sr. — Graded 99 pct., 2 sacks allowed on 226 passes, 61 knockdowns

— JOHN MICHAEL MCGEE, Texarkana Texas, Sr. — Army All-Star Game selection

— TANNER STONE, Dallas Highland Park, Sr. — Top lineman on offense that averaged 463 yds per game

Receivers/ends:

— DYLAN CANTRELL, Whitehouse, Jr. — 78 catches, 1,277 yds, 19 TDs

— TRE-MUND MOORE, Brenham, Sr. — 60 catches, 833 yds, 18 TDs

Quarterback:

— DALYN WILLIAMS, Lake Dallas, Sr. — 3,211 passing yds, 31 TDs, 4 INTs; 68 pct. completion; 537 rush yds, 7 TDs

Running backs:

— JOHNATHAN GRAY, Aledo, Sr. — 2,422 rush yds, 47 TDs; 405 receiving yds, 5 TDs

Johnathan Gray was named AP Class 4A Offensive Player of the year. Gray has racked up awards this year including Gatorade National Player of the year and the Landry Award. Gray has participated in Performance Course programs at Aledo High School with coach Kirk Byerly.

— DARRELL HARRIS, Waco, Sr. — 2,318 rush yds, 21 TDs; 207 receiving yds, 1 TD

— CAMERON WASHINGTON, Corsicana, Sr. — 1,960 rush yds, 29 TDs

Kicker:

— JUAN CARRANCO, Dayton, Jr. — School-record 21 FGs

Offensive Player of the Year: Johnathan Gray, Aledo

___

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

Linemen:

— GLYNN CHEEKS, Manvel, Sr. — 56 tackles, 18 TFL, 15 sacks, 14 hurries, 3 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles

— MARIO EDWARDS, Denton Ryan, Sr. — 56 tackles, 28 TFL; 10 sacks; 3 forced fumbles; 1 safety

— LUIS HERNANDEZ, Edcouch-Elsa, Sr. — 88 solo tackles, 41 assists, 19 sacks, 21 TFL, 3 forced fumbles, 2 TD fumble returns

— DEQUAN RAINDLE, Corsicana, Sr. — 84 tackles, 9 sacks, 8 TFL, 2 forced fumbles, 8 QB hurries

Linebackers:

— J.D. ALLEN, Canyon Randall, Sr. — 150 tackles; 2-time district defensive player of year

— CORBIN CROW, Lake Travis, Sr. — 121 tackles, 41 solo, 8 TFL, 5 sacks

— NICK MCCRORY, Port Lavaca Calhoun, Sr. — 106 tackles, 10 sacks, 15 TFL, 4 defensive TDs, 6 punt/kick blocks

Defensive backs:

— DANE BALAZS, Lake Travis, Sr. – 12 INTs, 56 tackles, 24 solo, 3 sacks

— PAUL CASTILLO, CC Calallen, Sr. — 86 tackles, 47 solo, 10 TFL, 6 INTs, 10 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles

— XAVIER HOWARD, Houston Wheatley, Sr. — 9 INTs (2 TD returns), 33 pass breakups, 32 solo tackles

— ADRIAN NORWOOD, Waco, Jr. — 8 INTs, 4 pass breakups, 56.5 tackles, 42 solo

Punter:

— ANDREW MITCHELL, Northwest Nelson, Sr. — 45-yd avg. on 35 punts; 8 over 50 yds, long of 68; 12 inside 20

Defensive Player of the Year: Dane Balazs, Lake Travis

___

SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE

Linemen (six listed because of voting tie):

— T.J. Armstrong, Lake Travis, Sr.; Carlos Cuellar, Weslaco East, Sr.; Roclan Drain, Corsicana, Sr.; Chris Edling, Corsicana, Sr.; Kyler Nicotre, Port Neches-Groves, Sr.; Taylor Romero, Manvel, Sr.

Receivers/ends:

— Jonathan Aldridge, Whitehouse, Sr.; Corey Coleman, Richardson Pearce, Sr.

Quarterback:

— Hunter Taylor, Whitehouse, Sr.

Running backs:

— Bobby Huey, Wolfforth Frenship, Sr.; Daje Johnson, Pflugerville Hendrickson, Sr.; Tim Wright, La Marque, Sr.

Kicker:

— Austin Shoemake, Frisco Centennial, Jr.

___

SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE

Linemen:

— Derriel Collins, Killeen, Sr.; Roland Gonzales, SA McCollum, Sr.; Jesse Hooper, Montgomery, Sr.; Taiwan Johnson, Manvel, Sr.

Linebackers (four listed because of voting tie):

— Keegan Bradley, Austin Travis, Sr.; A.J. Davis, Kilgore, Jr.; Alex De La Torre, Denton Ryan, Sr.; Alex Faoro, FW Arlington Heights, Sr.

Defensive backs:

— Mookie Carlisle, Stephenville, Soph.; Braden Coverdale, Stephenville, Sr.; Trey Ingram, Canyon Randall, Sr.; Cameron O’Reilly, Richardson Pearce, Sr.

Punter:

— James Potts, Pflugerville Hendrickson, Sr.

___

HONORABLE MENTION OFFENSE

LINEMEN: Jacob Aguilar, Waxahachie; Chase Anderson, Killeen; Derek Baldeschwiler, Burleson; Andrew Billings, Waco; Jake Brearton, CC Calallen; Moises Castaneda, Sherman; Christian Garcia, Weslaco East; Reese Harred, Sulphur Springs; Joey Hunt, El Campo; Donald Jackson, Kilgore; Bryan Manley, Stephenville; Tevin McCray, Denton Ryan; Travis Romero, Manvel; David Roulston, Canyon Randall; Thaelen Villarreal, Port Lavaca Calhoun; Gabe Whitman, Pflugerville Hendrickson; Jordan Williams, Denton Ryan.

RECEIVERS/ENDS: Marcell Ateman, Wylie East; Zach Austin, Lake Travis; Addison Bustos, Amarillo Caprock; Cody Clayton, Sulphur Springs; Kason Fornes, Kerrville Tivy; Chance Garey, Wichita Falls; Griffin Gilbert, Lake Travis; Brice Gunter, Stephenville; Brandon Moss, EP Chapin; Jayce Nelson, Port Neches-Groves; Deon Price, Austin McCallum; Robbie Rhodes, FW Southwest; Fred Ross, Tyler; Mike Williams, Pearland Dawson.

QUARTERBACKS: J.T. Barrett, WF Rider; Collin Bowen, Canyon Randall; Michael Guerrero, Amarillo Caprock; Dean Haveman, Brenham; Andres Herrera, Dayton; Gary Kimble, Pearland Dawson; Don King III, Waxahachie; Baker Mayfield, Lake Travis; Jacorey McQueen, Manor; Greg Ward, Tyler.

RUNNING BACKS: Jabari Anderson, Wylie East; Chase Bertrand, Port Neches-Groves; Calvin Burns, Mansfield Summit; Johnathan Garner, Victoria East; Ryan Jackson, Angleton; Jakobi Jones, Beaumont Ozen; Arthur Lockett, Houston Yates; Lawrence Mattison, Smithson Valley; Preston Miller, Dallas Highland Park; Aaron Munguia, Weslaco East; Marcus Price, CC Calallen.

KICKERS: Jake Brearton, CC Calallen; Dalton Hestand, Denison; Conner Hollabaugh, Amarillo Caprock; Austin Lightle, Hallsville; J.B. McBride, Frisco Liberty; Mark Orozco, Denton Ryan.

___

HONORABLE MENTION DEFENSE

LINEMEN: Andrew Allen, Frisco Liberty; Chase Appleby, Frisco Centennial; Jay Arnold, Rockwall-Heath; Dominique Banks, Denton Ryan; Tyus Bowser, Tyler; Corbin Carr, Nederland; Eric Davis, Tyler; Andrew Garza, Edcouch-Elsa; Jaylen Hill, Aledo; Jude Jefress, Lake Travis; Dylan McDorman, WF Rider; Richard McKinney, Denison; Chris Paige, Kilgore; Drew Percle, Frisco Liberty; Jordan Points, Rockwall-Heath; Derick Roberson, Northside Brennan; K.J. Smith, Frisco Centennial; Michael Wiser, CC Calallen.

LINEBACKERS: Amir Adkins, Hutto; Chris Belmares, Weslaco East; Nick Bush, Frisco Centennial; Daniel Carrillo, El Paso; Ian Compton, Dallas Adams; Dayne Davis, Aledo; Colton Estill, Wolfforth Frenship; Padyn Giebler, Stephenville; Frankie Guerra, Rosenberg Terry; Bryson Haywood, Jacksonville; Shaquille Jones, Dallas Molina; Webster Jones, Angleton; Justin McMath, CC Moody; Braylon Mitchell, Sherman; Skylar Nelson, SA Alamo Heights; Montana Quirante, Vidor; Jordan Richmond, Denton Ryan; Justin Richter, Hewitt Midway; Mason Shaw, Dallas Highland Park; Stephen Smith, Wolfforth Frenship; Jacob Studdard, Hutto; Alex Trevino, Port Lavaca Calhoun; Kahlee Woods, Sherman.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Steven Aikens, Arlington Seguin; Victor Davis, Rosenberg Terry; Marquise Elder, Angleton; Mark Gottsacker, Dallas Highland Park; Mario Henderson, Rockwall-Heath; William Jackson, Houston Wheatley; Justin Kalinowski, Victoria East; Tre Mask, Sherman; Bryant McClendon, Livingston; Kameron Miles, West Mesquite; Trey Mohair, Denton Ryan; Aaron Potter, Smithson Valley; Ryan Reid, Sherman; Chase Romero, Port Neches-Groves; Ty Scott, Dripping Springs; Zach Streuling, Lake Travis; Shea Wood, Aledo.

PUNTERS: Leland Hamilton, Beaumont Ozen; Conner Hollabaugh, Amarillo Caprock; Roy Patti, Denison; Ethan Perry, Smithson Valley.

PC Trained Apparel

Have your participated in Performance Course programs before? If you have then you are PC Trained! Be proud, you are in the top 1% of the nation. Performance Course trained athletes prove to hold an competitive advantage over all other athletes. Let it be known you are PC Trained!

Adult Finess Course

Is there a better gift to give then fitness? We don’t think so! Performance Course is offering an Adult Fitness Course just in time for New Year’s resolutions. Have fun, improve your fitness and learn the “dos and don’ts” of fitness and nutition. Learn more about the New Year Course.

Vitamins and Supplements

Performance Course has partnered with Total Nutrition to offer athletes Performance Course Approved Supplements. Visit their website or stop by one of their TWO new locations. http://www.totalnutritiondallas.com

Remember, PC Trained Athletes receive 10% off everyday! (so don’t forget to where your PC Trained shirt)