There is something that will directly improve our ability to recover, our performance, our overall energy levels and metabolism, and which is key to overall health more than almost anything else (though we'd never think it was).

This is something that very specifically controls or improves or decreases our body's overall ability to repair itself, recover, and function correctly.

It directly affects our longevity, our ability to gain lean muscle, our cardiovascular health, our ability to keep weight off more easily, our energy levels and mood, and which allows us to keep improving over time.

And it's also something that directly affects and increases or decreases our overall health.

It's called VO2 Max. V is for Volume, O2 is for Oxygen, and Max is for Maximum.

VO2 Max is literally the maximum amount of oxygen our cells can use to produce energy at any given time. It's how much horsepower our body has.

A person who is unwell in one way or another has a low ability to produce energy. A well person has good energy ability. And an athlete has high energy production capability.

Conversely, a person who has a low ability to produce energy will become unwell over time, and a person with high energy production will remain well, barring emergency situations.

From a performance view, VO2 max is literally the maximum amount (volume) of oxygen that your cells can utilize to produce energy during intense exercise before you burn out.

Our cells only have so many energy-making "engines" (mitochondria). So even if we increase oxygen to the cells, if there are not enough mitochondria to use that oxygen, we don't increase energy.

If we can increase the number of these engines, our body's horsepower, then we increase our VO2 Max, and how much energy we can produce.

Raising this allows us to raise overall performance, energy, endurance, recovery ability, and overall health. And leads to greater longevity.

Let's dive in.

This is the first issue in a series on Extreme Athletes, those who push themselves to the max to achieve their goals and, possibly, greatness.

But, while the information in this series applies very strictly to extreme athletes, it applies just as much to anyone else trying to achieve peak performance for themselves in fitness and athletics, while staying healthy overall.

Also, while we will cover points individual to specific sports, most of the information is applicable to all sports and performance, energy, and recovery as a whole.

In this first article we’ll start with one of the key, over-riding aspects to maximize not only the ability and performance of an elite athlete, but of anyone.

Because, when you put your body through as much stress and pressure as an athlete does, every one of your organs, muscles, nerves, bones, hormones, etc., all play a part.

And, while any weak links will bring down the rest, improving any weak spots in health will help increase the energy production and performance of the overall.

Did you know that whey protein powder spikes insulin levels, building as much body fat as sugar in many cases?

Insulin is the hormone responsible for shuttling sugar (glucose) to our cells.

But, when our cells can’t take any more sugar, then it attaches the glucose to fatty acids to create body fat. This is how body fat is created.

And, while insulin is present in the blood stream, fat loss cannot occur.

Now, normally sugar is what causes insulin to be released. But whey is unique among proteins in that it can cause as much or more insulin to be released than sugar can.

This is one of the biggest reasons that we build so much excess body fat along with muscle when bulking — because we’re also taking whey.

And it’s what causes our cuts to take so long.

Because, even when we cut calories and cut down on carbs, if we’re still taking high levels of whey, then to a large degree the whey is causing new fat creation.

And, at the same time, it’s also preventing fat loss.

All because of the high levels of insulin it stimulates.

But why is this and how does this work?

Let’s dive in.

In this article we cover how PerfectAmino has a near zero caloric impact on our body, and this is important.

When we work out and take 20 or 30 grams of whey or pea protein, or collagen powder, we think our bodies are getting 20-30 grams of protein or collagen.

But that's not true.

This is because protein and collagen aren't used by our bodies in the forms they arrive in.

Instead, they're broken down into their building blocks — the amino acids.

Amino acids are what our body actually needs, and are the only things of value in protein from our body's point of view.

But the ratio of amino acids present in different proteins determines how much actual useable protein we get from them and how much calories.

And this has a larger impact on our fitness goals than most people think.

How does PerfectAmino actually work? And what is it really doing in our bodies?

PerfectAmino is the perfect protein source. But there is a point there. It’s the perfect protein source. It isn’t protein in itself, but amino acids, the building blocks of protein.

When these amino acids are bonded together into chains, that’s when it becomes a protein.

That’s what any protein molecule you eat is — hundreds or thousands of different amino acids all bonded together into a long chain.

But PerfectAmino is different than other protein sources you’ve had. Very different.

There is a lot of debate today about how much protein is too much.

And this includes what causes protein toxicity, something that overloads our kidneys and liver, affecting our overall health, and which can be more severe with those who already have issues with their kidneys, liver and insulin levels.

It’s basically consuming more protein than our body can use at the time.

But that’s a very general description, and doesn’t help us to determine how much is too much, or even tell us how this happens.

Saying: “You’re eating too much protein,” is both too general, but also incorrect.

Too much of which type of protein? Because different proteins, consumed in large amounts, cause different effects.

To understand protein toxicity, what causes it, and ensure we aren’t consuming too much protein, we need to take a step backwards.

Because with anything that doesn’t seem to have a direct answer, there is some missing piece of information.

And in this case it’s a big one: there is no such thing as protein toxicity.

You see, our body doesn’t use the protein we eat.

It uses the building blocks that make up the protein, the amino acids.

And unless we look at these, we don’t actually know what protein toxicity is or what causes it, and we don’t know how much protein is too much.

Because what we’re talking about when we say Protein Toxicity is actually Amino Acid Toxicity.

It doesn’t come from eating too much protein, it comes from eating too much of the wrong kinds of proteins that contain too many of the wrong amino acids.

And that can cause real issues.

Let’s dive in.

There are key things causing hormonal disruptions in men and women today, even in our children, affecting their overall growth.

Testosterone levels have been dropping for decades while estrogen levels have risen sharply.

Levels of growth hormone and progesterone are lower and cortisol levels are too high.

And hormonal imbalances are now much more than just being deficient in one or another hormone.

There are exact chemicals in the environment today which block hormones from being created, block them from being used, disrupt their normal action, or impersonate them entirely.

And they're increasing each year.

While this affects muscle-building and fat loss significantly, its effect goes far beyond this to our sleep, stress levels, overall health and how fast we age.

In this article we cover what's happening and what you can do about it.

Your digestive tract’s ability to fully digest and absorb protein determines, in large part, your body's ability to build muscle and lose body fat.

It also affects our energy levels, hormones, inflammatory response, and overall health.

When protein isn’t properly digested, this triggers a sequence of actions, involving our immune system, which leads to higher levels of cortisol, the hormone that prevents fat loss and breaks down muscle.

Even more, without full digestion, our body receives less of the protein we consume in a form it can actually use.

So we get less protein for muscle, properly balanced hormones, and overall health and energy, while at the same time we’re eating more that goes to waste.

This is a big deal. Due to processed foods and sugars, many of our digestive tracts don’t function at optimal levels, preventing a significant amount of the food we eat from being fully broken down so our body can use it.

Beyond this, improper digestion leads to not only heart burn, acid reflux, GERD, and gas and bloating, but also allows for harmful bacteria, parasites, and fungi to take root, further causing us trouble.

Everything hinges on protein.

So, understanding exactly how digestion works and how to keep or get it working properly is very important.

We know about amino acids, hormones, and how different foods affect our ability to build lean muscle, burn fat and stay healthy.

But if we want to achieve maximum levels of energy, recovery, health and performance, and build the most lean muscle, then we need to go down to the cellular level.

After all, our bodies are just one big mass of some 100 trillion cells all bonded together.

How well we're doing is an exact reflection of how well our cells are doing.

And they require a multitude of nutrients and biochemicals, all held in equilibrium, to ensure they can work properly, produce energy, build muscle, and keep our body going.

When these aren't properly balanced we can get headaches, brain fog, low levels of energy, muscle cramps, slower recoveries from workouts, and imbalances in hormones.

But when everything is in place, we have the most powerful you that you can be.

So let’s see how this works.

Getting good sleep is one of the most important things we can do, not just for muscle building and fat loss but for our mood, energy levels, and overall health.

Sleep is when our body is able to recover and repair cells, a lack of it even affects our aging process, speeding it up internally, as well as visibly causing wrinkles and sagging skin.

During the first few hours of deep sleep is when many hormones, including growth hormone and IGF (major fat-burning hormone) are released.

Getting enough sleep also helps to keep cortisol levels lower and balance estrogen, testosterone, progesterone and thyroid.

So if we want a lean, toned or muscled body, then we need deep sleep every night for full recovery, muscle building, natural fat loss and hormonal balance.

Yet a third of Americans get poor sleep, and those with the worst sleep generally have poor health.

So what causes this and what can we do to not only get better, deeper, more refreshing sleep, but also to reverse the effects of poor sleep?

Let’s dive in and see.

Did you know that when Estrogen levels rise too high, it can unbalance other hormones? And this significantly impacts body fat gain and loss?

We've covered several hormones now, from Insulin and Cortisol causing fat gain and preventing fat loss, to Growth Hormone and IGF, the hormones that come out while we sleep and which are largely responsible for fat loss.

We cover all of these because they all work together, each influencing the other, and if we want sustainable fat loss, we need to address each one.

But high Estrogen also plays a large role in all of this in both women and men, building excess body fat and lowering testosterone and growth hormone.

It also lowers thyroid, a hormone that regulates our metabolism, which in turn regulates body fat and energy levels.

And it lowers progesterone in women and men, a calming, fat-burning, testosterone-building hormone.

All of this leads to excess body fat, decreased muscle mass, worsened mood, higher stress levels, slower recoveries, and lower energy.

So let's see what's actually happening here, what causes this, and what we can do about it.

If we want to build and keep lean muscle, or have a lean, toned, and shaped body without the excess body fat, there are key hormones we need to look at:

Cortisol is our stress hormone, released in times of physical or mental stress. It's necessary, but when it goes too high it acts to break down the muscle we do have, prevent or slow new muscle gain, and create and hold onto body fat.

Estrogen and Insulin also play a large role here. 

On the other side we have Growth Hormone, Testosterone, and IGF, Hormones that act to repair muscle, bone, ligaments, etc, build lean muscle, burn excess body fat, and shape our body in both men and women.

But cortisol, estrogen, and insulin work on a sort of seesaw-reaction basis with growth hormone, testosterone, and IGF. 

Raise one side and the other side lowers, and vice versa.

Increase cortisol and we decrease testosterone and growth hormone levels, causing fat gain, preventing muscle gain, and even breaking down the muscle we do have. 

But raise testosterone and growth hormone and we lower cortisol, estrogen and insulin levels.

So while we've covered how to prevent cortisol, estrogen, and insulin from going too high in the above linked articles, in this article we cover how to increase levels of growth hormone, testosterone and IGF.

Let's dive in.