1 Diamondbacks
2 Angels
3 Red Sox
4 Cubs
5 Athletics
6 Cardinals
7 Twins
8 Mets
9 Brewers
10 Phillies
11 Braves
12 Yankees
13 Marlins
14 White Sox
15 Orioles
16 Mariners
17 Rays
18 Blue Jays
19 Astros
20 Tigers
21 Rockies
22 Dodgers
23 Indians
24 Royals
25 Giants
26 Reds
27 Padres
28 Pirates
29 Rangers
30 Nationals

The eary season leaders were Kevin Garnett (as a result of Boston’s amazing start), Dwight Howard and LeBron James. But as the season continued, two more players begun making their bid for the MVP honor: Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and Chris Paul of the Hornets.

What criteria should be used? Offense, defense, leadership? Should a team’s record figure in? It will come down to what the voters value most in the end.

These creatine monohydrate formulas help take the guess-work out of making consistent and continual gains with creatine.

By combining pure creatine monohydrate, the high glycemic, insulin-releasing carbohydrate dextrose, and sodium from sodium phosphate these creatine products have made creatine supplementation easy, exact, and inexpensive.

Recommended products include:

Creatine HSC from AST Research - A personal favorite by many bodybuilders. AST Sports Science uses only Micronized Creatine in all their Creatine HSC products.

Phosphagen HP from EAS - One of the first creatine monohydrate drinks and still one of the best on the market.

Cell-Tech from Muscletech - An extremely potent creatine formula, with twice the usual amount of creatine per serving.

Any of these creatine supplements can help you maximize your creatine uptake, which means more cell volume and therefore more explosive power.

For a complete list of creatine products offered at ProExercise.com, click here.

Creating your Initial Exercise Log

Once you have decided upon an exercise routine, it is time to create your initial exercise log and begin tracking your progress. At a minimum, your first exercise log should contain columns for the date, the type of exercises performed and any notes you wish to record about the workout. This “beginner’s” log can easily be kept in a notebook or journal. The main purpose of this initial log is to help you plan your workouts and get accustomed to entering data from your workouts into a log book.

Expanding your Exercise Log

After about two or three weeks of actively logging your workouts you can begin expanding your exercise log to include additional information. One addition should be a list of goals. Goals should include the date each goal is entered, the anticipated completion date for each goal and a description of each goal. Setting goals is a great way to motivate yourself and stay committed to your exercise routine for the long term. In addition to goals, you may wish to start tracking elements unique to the exercises in your workouts. For example, if running is part of your exercise routine, you may want to begin tracking the distance ran, your half mile pace, your one mile pace, etc. With most types of exercises, you should be able to track a variety of items such as repetitions, duration, and pace. This information is valuable not only for tracking your progress, but the information can also assist you in setting obtainable fitness goals.

Advanced Exercise Logs

Over time, you may find that your initial exercise notebook is no longer adequate to keep track of your growing number of workout entries or the expanding number of exercises that make up your exercise routine. One option available for creating a more advanced exercise log is exercise log software. This software varies from small freeware programs with basic features to larger commercial software packages that have built in logging for almost every type of exercise imaginable. As an alternative to specialty software, you can also use a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel to create your advanced exercise log. The drawback is that you will have to create the exercise groups, formulas, etc. yourself.

Beyond the Exercise Log

Exercise is only one component of a healthy lifestyle. Diet is another. Similar to an exercise log that records fitness workouts, you can also create a nutrition log to track your food intake. The nutrition log can be used to set dietary goals and instead of tracking items such as exercise repetitions and duration it is used to track items such as food calories and saturated fat.

Used together, the exercise and nutrition log provide you with two excellent tools to assist you in setting and obtaining your overall fitness goals.

HDL versus LDL Cholesterol

Because cholesterol does not dissolve in the blood, it must be transported by lipoproteins to and from the cells within the body. HDL, or “good” cholesterol is high density lipoprotein and it carries up to 1/3 of the blood cholesterol throughout the body. HDL is considered “good” cholesterol because high levels of HDL have been shown to protect against heart disease and heart attack. LDL, on the other hand, is considered to be “bad” cholesterol. When excessive amounts of low density lipoprotein are in the blood, it can accumulate within the inner walls of the arteries over time and form plague that can restrict blood flow through the arteries.

The Sources of Cholesterol

The cholesterol in your bloodstream comes from both the food you eat as well as naturally from your own body. Nearly 75 percent of the cholesterol located in your blood is produced by your liver and other cells within your body while the other 25 percent comes from the food you eat. LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, is produced naturally by the body, but hereditary factors may cause your body to produce too much of the cholesterol. This is why it is important to make healthy dietary choices to better control the 25 percent of cholesterol production that comes from food.

Food to Avoid

Food high in saturated and trans fats: Avoid eating food high in saturated and trans fats. Read food labels to determine the amount of saturated and trans fats they contain. These labels will help you avoid foods high in fat and allow you to choose more healthy alternatives. Also look for foods with the heart-check mark symbol on their label. This label indicates that the food is approved by the American Heart Association as part of a healthy diet.

Whole fat dairy products: Avoid whole fat dairy products such as whole milk, butter, full-fat cheese and yogurt. If possible, replace them with fat-free, reduced-fat or low-fat dairy products.

Foods high in dietary cholesterol: Avoid foods high in dietary cholesterol including whole eggs, shellfish, and organ meats. Replace whole eggs with egg whites and organ meats with lean meats. As a goal, try to limit your intake of cholesterol to less than 300 mg a day.

Foods to Lower “Bad” Cholesterol

Almonds and walnuts: Almonds and walnuts have been shown to lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. Just about a handful of almonds or walnuts a days can significantly lower your cholesterol levels while improving the health of your blood vessels.

Foods with soluble fiber: Oatmeal contains soluble fiber that can lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, while keeping HDL, or “good” cholesterol, constant. Additional foods containing soluble fiber include apples, pears, barley and rice.

Foods with omega 3 fatty acids: Fish contains omega 3 fatty acids which have been shown to lower LDL while raising HDL cholesterol. Recommended fish with omega 3 fatty acids include salmon, sardines, albacore tuna and mackerel. Food other than fish containing omega 3 fatty acids include canola oil, flaxseed and soybean oil.

Preparing a Diet

Begin by determining your dietary goals. Do you need to lower your cholesterol considerably or only slightly? Do you want to lose weight at the same time as you lower your cholesterol? Will this be a short-term dietary change or a complete lifestyle change?

Only once you know your goals can you properly plan your new diet plan and begin to lower your bad cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease.

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