Whey Protein

No supplement says "I'm a lifter" as much as the post-workout whey protein shake! And with good reason. Whey protein supplies the body with a high amount of protein and amino acids that help to jump-start the anabolic process.

Whey is most often consumed after a workout to increase protein synthesis and to improve muscle recovery and restoration, although as Nick Coker writes in the article "The Case for Pre-Workout Protein," it can be equally effective when taken before training.

1. Fast digesting and more easily absorbed than other protein sources
2. Increased muscle mass, especially when taken post-workout
3. Improved appetite control, and greater feelings of fullness when dieting
4. Contains more leucine than any other protein source

Recommended Dose: 20-30 grams of whey protein at a time, preferably before or after a workout. You can also take it as a meal replacement or to boost your protein intake at other times. Supplemental protein should not be your primary protein source, though. You still need to get the majority of your mass gain tablets.

Branched-Chain Amino Acid (BCAA)

Another category of muscle-building supplements that lifters and bodybuilders use to improve their results are branched-chained amino acids (BCAAs), or BCAAs. Of the 20 amino acids that make up protein, just three are referred to as BCAAs: leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These are the specific amino acids that have been shown to stimulate protein synthesis and help regulate protein metabolism.

Benefits Of BCAA Supplementation

1. Increased levels of muscle protein synthesis
2. Decreased levels of muscle damage during exercise
3. Decreased muscle soreness from exercise
4. Improved endurance during exercise

Recommended Dose: 3-6 grams before or during exercise. A ratio of two parts leucine to one part each of isoleucine and valine appears to be most beneficial. As Krissy Kendall, Ph.D., explains in "The Top 7 Supplements to Boost Endurance Performance," BCAAs can be just as effective for endurance athletes like runners, rowers, and cyclists as they can be for lifters and bodybuilders.

Caffeine

Pre-workout formulas usually include caffeine to help you perform at full throttle. In addition to getting you stoked to work out, caffeine can lower feelings of exertion, fatigue, and even post-workout soreness.

Pre-workout supplements help you train harder, keeping both your mind and body in the game for just a little longer. The caffeine jolt can make the difference between a workout that maintains muscle and one that builds muscle.

Benefits Of Caffeine Supplementation

1. Improved motivation to work out 
2. The decrease in perceived exertion 
3. Delayed muscle fatigue 
4. Increased endurance 

Recommended Dose: In Shannon Clark's article, "6 Ways To Get More Energized For Your Workouts", Dr. Chris Lockwood recommends between 1.36 and 2.5 milligrams of caffeine per pound of bodyweight. That would be 200-375 milligrams for a 150-pound person. If that leaves you jittery, try less. Determine your tolerance and find the dose that works best for you.

10 Essential Wedding Planning Tips and Tricks

SARAH ELIZABETH DUNN PHOTOGRAPHY

When planning your wedding, there are things that are nice to know, and there are things you need to know—advice so essential any bride who's lucky enough to hear it thinks, "I'm so glad someone told me that!" If you're wondering whether there's something you may have missed (or even if you've got everything under control), check out our indispensable planning secrets below. 

1. Guests Come First

Get a grip on the approximate number of guests you'll invite before settling on a venue. This will ensure there's ample space for your crew. As a rule of thumb, allow for 25 to 30 square feet per guest. That may seem like a lot, but it's really not if you count the space you'll need for the tables, bustling waiters, the band and a dance floor.

2. Investigate Wedding Blackout Dates

Know ahead of time if your wedding tips on the same day as a trade conference, charity walk or other local events that could affect traffic and hotel room availability. Here's a handy list of potentially problematic wedding dates coming up in the calendar.

3. Listen to Mother Nature

Heed the weather and other potential annoyances. Guests have been known to skip out early from hotter-than-hot summer tent weddings and improperly heated winter loft receptions. Bugs (gnats, deer flies and mosquitos) also swarm in certain areas during certain seasons. Consider renting pest control tanks to alleviate the problem or including bug repellent in guests' gift bags. And if you want a sunset ceremony, make sure you know when to say your vows. Oh—and always, always have a Plan B for unexpected weather snafus.

4. Check Your Credit

Take advantage of the high cost of weddings and sign up for a credit card with a rewards program. Whether it gives you airline miles or great shopping deals, consolidating all wedding-related purchases to this card will help you accumulate thousands of rewards points (which could be used for your honeymoon).

5. Pay It Forward

Let one vendor lead you to another. Your wedding photographer can tell you which florist's blooms really pop, and your reception manager should know which band consistently packs the dance floor.

6. Lighten Your List

The easiest way to trim your wedding budget? Cut your guest list. Remember, half of your wedding expenses go to wining and dining your guests. If it's costing you $100 per person, eliminating one table of 10 can save you $1,000.

7. Ask and You Might Receive

Request an extra hour for cocktails or for your band to throw in that Frank Sinatra sound-alike before you sign on the dotted line. Most vendors would rather secure the reservation than nickel-and-dime you early on (which might turn you off of them). Later on, though, they may be less inclined to meet you halfway.

8. Make a Meal Plan

Another unforeseen expense? Feeding your wedding day crew. Before you sign the contracts, make sure you're not required to serve the same meal to your vendors that guests will receive. Otherwise, you could be paying for 20 additional lobster tails. Choose a less expensive (but equally hearty) meal for them instead. You will have to let your wedding caterer know a couple of days before the wedding exactly how many vendors you need to feed (don't forget photography assistants and band roadies) and what you want them to serve.

9. Get Organizationally Focused

In a three-ring binder, compile all your correspondences with vendors, notes you make during meetings, and photos or tear sheets from magazines you want vendors to see. Set up a special email address dedicated to your wedding, and store important vendor numbers in your cell phone. For on-the-go planning that keeps everything in one place, download The Knot All-In-One Wedding Planner app to keep all of your planning info digitally on-hand at all times.

10. Tend to Your Bar

Typically, you need one bartender per 50 guests to keep the line at a minimum. But if you're serving a signature cocktail that cannot be made ahead of time (or in large quantities), consider adding an extra server designated to this task.

The Top Content Shared On Facebook In 2017

For the content articles below we have shown the total engagements across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest for each article. For shorthand, we often refer to total shares though technically the Facebook figure is engagements as it also includes Likes and Comments, both of which can cause content to be shared. You can argue that a share is stronger engagement than alike, and a comment is stronger still, and we should weight them, but that’s a long argument, and it’s nearly Christmas. So let’s keep it simple.

To find out more about the headlines that engage people on Facebook to see our review of 100m headlines and the top phrases that engage people on Facebook.

To search for the most shared content on any website or for any topic go to BuzzSumo.

Music Videos

The most shared content on Facebook this year was a YouTube music video ‘Despacito‘ by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee.  This song reached the top of the charts of 47 countries and was the first song primarily in Spanish to top the Billboard Hot 100 since 1996. Not heard it? Yes, you have. The video has been viewed 4 billion times, yep that is billion. But why not add one more count to the pile and give it another whirl.

Music videos remain one of the most shared forms of content. This video by Ed Sheeran was the second most shared content on Facebook gaining almost 10m shares.

The third biggest music video was the Thai video ‘I’ve been crying’ by Prue Nakarin which gained over 4.5m interactions.

Videos by Coldplay, Taylor Swift and Enrique Iglesias also gained over 3m Facebook interactions. Disclaimer: BuzzSumo makes no endorsement of the quality or earworm-ness of these tunes. What do we know? Less than Tay Tay it seems.

Breaking News and Exclusives

People are quick to share breaking news on Facebook. Over 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook (fake or otherwise). However, the sharing can be very fragmented as there are often tens if not hundreds of articles on the same news story. In this example, the initial exclusive reporting of the suicide of Chester Bennington by TMZ gained over 7m Facebook engagements. This particular story may have gained extra traction as it is about a musician but also because it was a very tragic human story.

Viral Quizzes

Viral quizzes still appear to do well though we are seeing less engagement than in previous years. Possibly this format’s hitting saturation point, though this quiz from Women.com gained over 5m shares.

As we have reported in previous studies, viral quizzes may get shares on Facebook but no one links to them, possibly because they’re more just fun and not evergreen referenceable content. This quiz got backlinks from only 7 domains according to Majestic and only 16 links from 5 domains according to Moz despite over 5m shares. If you want to build content that gains links there are better forms of content than quizzes.

Encouraged by the success of this post in January, Women.com ran another version “Can You Pass This Advanced Grammar Test?” which gained 3.7m shares. Following the old publisher adage ‘if it works, do it again’ the site published over 200 quizzes this year, 19 of which gained over 1m shares each.

Another popular form of the quiz is the personality type. Thanks to Cosmopolitan and many other magazines for this format. The trick about this is to ensure the answer makes the user looks intelligent, unique and all-round amazing, so they share the results. What State Should You Move To Based On Your Personality? gained over 3m Facebook Interactions. See you in Idaho.