CON-CRĒT Concentrated Creatine Blog

The six-foot, 230-pound 21 year-old athlete, John Norcott took home the Junior Nationals Title this month at The USAPL Raw Nationals in Denver, CO, on July 16-18, 2010.  Last year John (from Norton, Massachusetts) placed second in his weight class.  However this year, even after bumping up to a heavier weight class (242 lbs), he pushed past his competitors with a total of 1,531 pounds.  This total was an all-time best and new American record in the 242 lb weight class, with records also broken in the bench and deadlift.  John’s final results were:  556 lb squat, 369 lb bench press, and 606 lb deadlift.  John was actually able to get up a 584 lb squat, but missed on his 2nd and 3rd attempt.

What’s even more impressive with John’s final results was his condensed training schedule leading up to this competition.  Focused on his school work and off-season football training this past winter and spring, John only started training for the National Powerlifting Competition two months prior to the Nationals event.  Even with a shortened training schedule of strict lifting in preparation for Nationals, John believes he was still able to perform at explosive levels due to his regular conditioning for football ( including plyometrics) and his healthy protein-rich diet and supplementation routine, consisting of CON-CRET Creatine HCl pre-workout and on off-days, and Serious Mass (a protein blend) 3 times a day, 5 days a week.  As starting fullback for Angelo State University’s football team in San Angelo, TX, John has been trying hard to gain weight and get bigger.  Since coming to Angelo State, John has increased his weight from 205 lbs up to 230 lbs, with his goal weight at 235-240 lbs.  He attributes much of his increased strength, explosive lifts, and the ease of  his intensive workouts during conditioning drills to his supplementing with CON-CRET.  CON-CRET also helps John with muscle recovery.

“My lifts during training for Nationals were strong, but my hip has just been a reoccurring injury that has always been painful, affecting my squat,”  said Norcott.  “However, it never hurt enough to the point that I couldn’t go heavy,”  he continued.

John’s strength coach, Kelsey Hite, determined after the competition that John may have over trained for his squat, which may have contributed to him missing his last two.  John also feels that he may have opened too high. 

“Warming up for my squat, I could tell that I just wasn’t feeling it,” said John.  “I tried doing dynamic stretches and static stretches, but sometimes you just have bad days, and I had a bad ’squat day’ at Nationals I guess.”

John felt however, that his bench was really strong and was consistently getting stronger throughout the year.  Although he benched 369 lbs, John felt he could have even done 380 lbs if he had given it his all.  At a full 16.5 lbs behind the competition after his squat, John knew that he needed to work hard to make up ground.  After the bench press John passed his competition by 22 lbs, which gave him a 5.5 lb lead going into the deadlift.  Anyone who knows John well will tell you that he can make up a deficit with his deadlift.  And that he did! John opened up with 556 lbs, just trying to stay ahead of his competitor, who opened with 550 lbs but then jumped to 584 lbs.  Aware of his top competitor’s results, John jumped to 589 lbs himself.  His competitor then jumped to 600 lbs!  John jumped to 600 lbs as well.  John quickly noticed that his competitor had changed his lift, and then John adjusted his to 606 lbs to out-match the competition and win the title. 

A member of Team CON-CRET, John Norcott has won many powerlifting competitions over the years, including the Mass High School Championships in 2006 and 2007, the Teen Nationals in 2006 and 2007, the New England Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the RAW (no lifting suites allowed, only a lifting belt, wrist wraps, and knee sleeves) Nationals in 2008.  Last year Norcott finished first in the RAW Challenge at the 2009 Arnold Classic and second place at the Junior Nationals in Denver, CO, 2009.

With another title under his belt, John is switching gears again to focus on college ball and end his college career on top.  He has hopes and dreams of helping his team, the ASU Rams to win a NCAA National Championship this year.  John reported that the team has a great coaching staff and a lot of great players, with many seniors on the team this coming year.  So they definitely have a shot!

Please see the article entitled: “Secret Ingredients: Several new supplements may have more to offer than empty hype,” By David Barr.  CON-CRET is highlighted as a product with the secret ingredient “creatine hydrochloride” with extreme solubility and no side effects.  Read all about it!

In POWER Magazine’s most recent online “One to Watch” section, you can read an impressive profile on powerlifter Eric Kupperstein, who has won many national and world titles, and has set and holds many national and world records. At under 132 lbs, Eric currently competes in the USAPL, with his best raw competition lifts in the 60 kilogram weight class (132.25 lbs.) at: squat: 197.5 kg (435 lbs.), bench press: 110 kg (242 lbs.), deadlift: 262.5 kg (578 lbs.), totaling: 567.5 kg (1251 lbs.).

From Cohasset, MA, Eric did extremely well this year at the Arnold Classic, and won the CON-CRET Raw Challenge event in his weight class.    Eric’s overall lifting results totaled 1,234 lbs, which helped him claim the title as the #1 lifter in the men’s raw division with USAPL (United States Powerlifting Association).   As his lifting preference of choice, the “raw lifting” event is a newer and exciting venue, where there is no supportive gear, no bench shirts, knee wraps, braces, etc.  Under the Wilke’s formula (which is based on your body weight composition and what you can lift) Eric was awarded best lifter of the event.  Competing in the 148 lb weight class, his results included a 435 lb Squat, 236 lb Bench and an impressive 562 lb Deadlift.

In addition to being an extremely successful powerlifter, Eric is an average every-day guy in his 40s who is juggling work (as an attorney of his own firm in Boston), along with his family.  When asked about his nutrition plan, Eric is quoted stating, “As a competitor in the lightest weight classes, my bodyweight needs to be monitored.  As such, I tailor my eating habits based upon feedback I receive from the scale and how I feel physically. I do not count calories and/or follow any specific eating regimen. The only constant is my use of Con-Cret. It is one of the very few supplements that I take and I consider it to be a staple of my nutrition plan.”

To see more of this exciting article, go to http://www.thepowermagazine.com/power-exclusive/131-one-to-watch-eric-kupperstein.html

CON-CRET was one of the major sponsors for the Strongman Competition at the Los Angeles Fitness Expo this past Winter, 2010.  Pictured here in the June issue of IRONMAN Magazine, is the familiar CON-CRET ring of stones, one of the six grueling strongman events over the course of two days.  Fifteen professional strongmen from four countries participated in this amazing contest of the “world’s strongest men”.  The top three received invitations to the Mohegan Sun Grand Prix, and the overall champion, Nick Best, also received an invitation to compete in the 2010 Arnold Classic Strongman Competition.  CON-CRET also played a big role at The Arnold Classic in March 2010, as the sole sponsor of the CON-CRET Raw Challenge powerlifting event. 

Fancy, colorful labels?! Amazing claims of “instant strength” or “extreme physique enhancement”?!  What about provocative images of bulging muscles and sexy women…?!?!

What’s to keep a young weight lifter or gym rat from grabbing the “latest & greatest” product that’s being passed around at the gym BUT which may have harmful effects to their health or often turns out to NOT be all it’s cracked up to be?   These are REAL concerns and for college or professional athletes, these products (that may contain banned substances) could have some serious risks for their careers.

The following bullet points are taken from an article we posted back in August of 2009 entitled “Just Say ‘No’ to Steroids” – How to avoid purchasing sports supplements with hidden banned substances.  We have decided to re-post this list on its own because the sports supplement industry continues to be flooded with products that contain questionable ingredients, many of which are listed with “proprietary matrix” descriptions that leave the consumer confused and unclear as to the possible medical or doping control dangers of these “hyped” products.  What is the consumer supposed to believe about such labels? And how does the consumer make the right choice with thousands of sports supplements from which to choose? Here is a simple guideline to help you with your decision:

• Do not use sports enhancement or body building products marketed as containing pro-hormones, steroid-like substances, or that claim to alter the hormone (testosterone) profile of the consumer.  They can cause serious and permanent health damage.  Altering the Endocrine (hormone) Profile is VERY dangerous.  The body attempts to keep hormones in a careful balance and disrupting that balance can cause cancer, heart disease, liver damage, high blood pressure, and can even result in death.  Other serious health risks also include jaundice, increase in cholesterol and blood sugars, enlarged heart, heart attacks, strokes, and unstable mood swings (”roid rage”)infertility, impotency, severe acne, and baldness.  And of course, the ramifications for the collegiate, professional or amateur athlete who tests positive because of having taken products with illegal substances could mean partial suspension to complete termination of their competitive career.
•  Avoid products where companies have made claims or statements “to good to be true.”  Simply use logic and trust your instincts on hyped claims.  Supplement companies are not currently as closely regulated by FDA as some would like and therefore some companies make claims without effective scientific testing or safety data.  The only time the FDA gets involved is when there is a serious adverse reaction/death or evidence of the presence of a controlled substance – then the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) is called in.  But because there is little testing and regulation involved, little is known about the long-term health effects of some of these products. 
• Make sure claims made are backed by real science from recognized universities and institutions that have legitimacy in sports nutrition science. A product that promises to be an “extreme muscle mass volumizer” should have a legitimate (non-hyped) scientific explanation about how the compound is assisting your body and how you can obtain these results.    The science should be able to stand up to scrutiny by credentialed 3rd parties.
• Read labels carefully!  TheAmerican diet usually gets plenty of sugars, additives, and stimulants (caffeine, etc.) so you probably don’t need them in your supplements.   Some of the ingredients being put into products claim to effect a person’s insulin levels — like hormones, insulin levels are NOT something to disturb.  Altered blood sugar or insulin manipulation can result in diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and a variety of other very dangerous medical conditions.
• Companies do not always disclose all the ingredients on their labels.  Beware!  If the label makes claims that cannot be traced to listed ingredients, it can mean other additives or drugs are present or that there may be high levels of legal substances that are deemed illegal for competition above certain thresholds.
• Don’t ignore WARNINGS on labels.  Many companies will have a small description on the bottom of the label warning the consumer of possible dangers from taking their product.  This is to cover themselves from legal allegations should problems occur for the consumer.  These should not be ignored!  For instance, if the product reads: “Athletes or anyone subject to banned substance testing should check with your governing body before using this product,” that’s a pretty good indication that the product may have unlisted banned substances or excessive levels of restricted substances.   Additionally, products should not have adverse effects to any pre-existing medical conditions. 
• Make sure the products you are taking comply with all drug and supplement standards issued by professional and amateur athletic organizations.  Check and see if the company has performed Doping Control testing on the product and/or on athletes taking the product.
• Make sure the products were manufactured according to cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) and have QC / QA processes for safety and purity.  Does the company have a reports of QC / QA analysis performed?

CON-CRET’s pure concentrated creatine is safe and natural.  It contains only ONE ingredient.  And it offers both athletes and work-out enthusiasts dramatic results in strength, endurance. and recovery.  There are no illegal substances in CON-CRET.  As a matter of fact, no other legal supplement has proven to be as effective in increasing athletic performance (strength, endurance and recovery) as CON-CRET. 

CON-CRET is backed by real science from two major universities, with study designs and results displayed on our website.  Because CON-CRET offers dramatic results backed by outstanding science, CON-CRET users can feel good about what they’re taking.  Good luck with your decision!