Known as Canada’s #1 bodybuilder, Pakulski has earned himself the title of being one of the top 15 bodybuilders in the world.

“Ben is one of the youngest rising stars in the IFBB,” FLEX Editor-in-Chief Allan Donnelly said. “He’s a next-generation mass monster and the fans love him. He’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the very near future.

“I am so honored and privileged to be part of the ALLMAX team,” said newly signed Team ALLMAX member Ben Pakulski. “I have been using ALLMAX products since I began my bodybuilding career because of their reputation for a high standard of quality.

“I wanted to align myself with a company with a great deal of credibility and integrity to maintain a great reputation in the sport, while still growing and moving forward. ALLMAX is a perfect fit for me. We both have clear visions of where we see ourselves in the next few years. It is a blessing to have found a company that not only wants to be at the top of their game but has the true potential to reach it.

“I love the team and can’t wait for the amazing things we will be able to accomplish together as we ascend the ranks of the health and muscle-building world, together.”

BPak, as he is affectionately known, placed 5th at the 2011 Flex Pro and was a top 10 bodybuilder in the prestigious 2011 Arnold Classic. Pakulski has been recognized as having some of the best legs and delts in the sport of bodybuilding. Many bodybuilding experts feel that Pakulski has everything he needs to be a top Olympian contender. In time he is going to be a real threat on the IFBB circuit.

ALLMAX is truly honored to have a top athlete like Ben Pakulski, who is not only extremely knowledgeable about training, nutrition and supplementation but who is also a great person.

The year of 2010 brought us the hip hop club anthem from The Far East Movement G6 but in the dietary supplement  world a new company rose out of the ashes like a Phoenix which happens to be their logo.
Enter: Redefine Nutrition. Redefine made big waves in the nutritional supplement/sports nutrition industry with their FINAFLEX line. An innovative company looking to change the game and the way it’s played in this market offering new ideas in formulation of products and unique combination of compounds using what is proven to have effect on body composition and ridding itself of useless fillers and other junk that is used to make a product looked “stacked to the max”.

Last week I was able to try a sample packet of their Rest/Recovery formula known as G8. Sleep aid formulas have been getting popular as of late. We’ve always heard that we grow and change from rest or when we sleep and the most savvy of serious trainers know that natural release of growth hormone is released during deep sleep. There is definitely something to be said about the benefits of quality sleep. Something so misunderstood and so abused. We live in a society that dubbed the phrase “Sleep? Overrated. I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. Lack of deep sleep accelerates the aging process and gradually works against our complex human bodies wrecking havoc in a long run and blunting real gains and change we work so hard to induce.

I know what it’s like to lose sleep. Being a rotating shift worker who still hit the weights I often find myself at night tossing & turning trying or flipping my pillows over and over again. I’ve tried Tylenol PM and even Nyquil but both can make me feel groggy and achy the next morning. Then I tried G8.

I knew based on some of the ingredients that I would have to try it on a day when I don’t have to be up at 6am for work so I picked “my Friday” and poured one packet (one serving) in a glass of water right around 11:00pm. It turned the water into a green murky color but to my surprise it was quite easy to drink. The Lemon Freeze tasted like juice with a slight hint of that medicine-like aftertaste. Tolerable.  Like usual I laid in bed and posted on Muscleweek.com and did my round of creeping facebook and downloading music. By 11:30 my eyelids were heavy and sand filled my eyes. I knew it was time to log off and post another day.

What I noticed 11hrs later…

That’s right. I slept like a slumbering dragon for an uninterrupted 11 straight hours. Not once did I toss & turn or wake up to empty my childlike bladder.  Here are the dynamics on how it works:

Recovery/Sleep Inducing Matrix – It has L-Glutamine, L-Arginine and L-Dopa in it. L-Dopa is known to be a mood elevating compound that studies show has an effect on our serotonin levels or “feel good hormones”. Glutamine & Arginine I am guessing to support anti-catabolism while we sleep giving us a trickle of important amino acids in our bloodstreams. Also, it has phenibut in it which is actually a prescription drug in Europe used for sedation and promoting calmness and well-being. Very powerful and works much better than the active ingredient in Benedryl in my opinion.

Mood Elevators: Besides the L-Dopa it also contains Tyrosine, L-Phenylalanine and 4 butanoic acid, 2 amino -3 propanoic acid.  All chemistry jargon for other active ingredients that can help increase a positive feeling of well being, recovery and restoration of body functions impaired by lack of quality sleep such as sex drive and sensation.

It has Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 in it which I am not sure why exactly. I’m surprised it doesn’t have Magnesium and Zinc in it giving it a ZMA feature.

I woke up feeling as light as a feather and full of energy that can’t be obtained from some STIMULANT or favorite thermogenic. Nothing was aching and it didn’t take me time to “get going”. I wasn’t groggy or crabby like I usually am in the morning before I start my day with coffee and newspaper. I was Alert & Orientated and ready to take on the day. In other words. I felt young, ready, willing and able.

If anything I would say that a full serving might be a bit too much. Most people work most days during the week and I am inclined to believe that a full serving may make you sleep through your alarm on your cell phone and miss work or be very late. The way I would advise to use this product would be on the days you have OFF the next day where you can afford to sleep in a bit but if it were to be used on a nightly basis I would recommend that a half serving or 3/4 serving be used to assess your personal tolerance. I also would suggest it be cycled and tapered off a little. In other words it should be used strategically and responsibly. It’s very effective and worth the price of admission.

But it seems like no matter where you go these days, someone is shit-talking that OTHER ‘handsome man with glasses.’ What strikes me as odd about this is that people dog Hiney Rimjob and others for doling out advice without having ‘walked the walk’ but then when we have a guy like Shelby who not only talks the talk but actually takes the risk and puts himself out there to be judged and WINS, he still gets a boatload of crap.

If people hate on Shelby for being ‘too self-promotional’, I’d hate to hear what they’d say about Tony Robbins, Tony Little, Tony Soprano or any other successful person who took their destiny in their own hands and made something from nothing.

The bottom line is that unlike nearly EVERY OTHER GURU out there, Shelby is putting his name and reputation on the line by stepping on stage wearing nothing but a thong and contact lenses and proving his detractors wrong. Could he remember to Pro-Tan his face? Of course, but that doesn’t warrant all the disparaging remarks. Could he lose the coke bottle rims? Sure he could but Donald Trump could lose the bad hair and Bob Cicherillo could lose the pirate shirts. But they don’t. Why? Because it’s their SIGNATURE.

Shelby’s brand is modeled after another successful American icon: SUPERMAN!

By day, he’s Clark Kent — a bespectacled, mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Mail (T-Nation) and by night, he takes off the suit and tie (and pants, socks, shoes, shirt, glasses and underwear) and morphs into a real-life Superman with inhuman muscles and a penchant for sending emails to girls he works with. Sure, in this episode, Lois may have a deeper voice than Clark and he’d be lucky to lift her up much less fly away with her, but the point is the same: A Hater like Blockhead gets a real (gay) Superman tattoo on his shoulder but Shelby Starnes wears an INVISIBLE ‘S’ across his chest. That puts Mr. Starnes up 2-0.

Haters wanna hate, but why pick on a successful bodybuilder who’s backing up his talk with his walk?

Oh yeah, because he’s SUCCESSFUL. Successful at competing. Successful at writing. Successful at coaching. And most troubling (to me), successful at registering ShelbyStarnes.com before I did!

Shelby Starnes

The most hated word in the industry is SUCCESSFUL. If you succeed, you will be hated.

So don’t fear the hate, Shelby.

Embrace it.

And for the record, Special Ed LOVES Shelby Starnes.