There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
What if getting 20g of protein took just one ounce?
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
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Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name. There is a a method to the madness.
Speaker 1:Before I get to today's show, I want to thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gildan Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412. All right, so we are going to talk about ProCharge, a great liquid protein enhancer with the amino acids. I know I've had Jimmy DiCatano on this show before talking about this, but we're going to talk about it again because, since he was last on, this thing has like blown up. This is getting really, really big and I have them on my shelf right now. So, without further ado, let me introduce Jimmy D Katana one more time and his son is here Jesse, who's going to give his input on a couple things.
Speaker 1:So how are we doing today, gentlemen?
Speaker 3:doing great, robert.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you having us on so, jimmy, why don't you tell us a little bit about the back story of how you got into making like making? It's not like you're. You know some people out there and don't want to throw people under the bus, but they get. Get all these supplements in there. They put their label on them like they made them. That's not what ProCharge is. You guys are making this here in Port Orange, florida, which I think is really cool. You wouldn't think that there'd be a laboratory for one thing that makes any FDA regulated drugs or supplements, which you guys, you know, do everything on the up and up.
Speaker 1:So tell us a little bit how you got into this bad boy.
Speaker 3:So with ProCharge I have a FDA consultant that comes, does internal audits. He writes all of our procedures and for anything that relates to regulatory. If there's a question, we defer to him. He is a biochemist by trade and my family has owned this business since I was a little kid. My dad started this, inherited the business in the 60s.
Speaker 3:The other products that we make have been around since the late 20s for hospital patients that required a feeding tube, and this was a way to get them the correct amount of protein they needed, because getting them nutrition is difficult, and so ProCharge was developed for that reason. But it kind of progressed that others were looking at it as a protein supplement and so it started to get some legs. In that regard, Al had the product on the market. His partner unfortunately had passed away and the family wasn't, so it kind of stopped for a short time. And then Al approached me about being involved and I said sure.
Speaker 3:So, having been in the pharmaceutical manufacturing for a very long time, it was easy for us to develop, tweak what he had already had, to get it so that it was appropriate for the current market and what feedback we've got from other people and what we needed to do market and what feedback we've got from other people and what we needed to do. So I think the product as is now is a very good version of it. We've worked on it very hard and now that all that has been worked out, we're ready to go. The product has actually been launched. It's live. We have a tremendous amount of interest from a lot of different people sports, athletes, gym owners so it's getting very popular and the reception to it has been phenomenal. Anybody that has taken any type of protein supplement in the past will understand and see how beneficial this is. The ease of it to get 20 grams of protein in just one ounce is. It's crazy, and it al came up with this and nobody else has been able to do it, so so it's, uh, the two ounce bottle.
Speaker 1:Right, right, it's two servings, two servings in one right, yeah, so there's 40 grams of protein in one bottle so when you said that um, the very first, um, I guess was it a drug back in 1920, you said was the first no no, it's oh it's.
Speaker 3:It's a dietary supplement no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1:Um, when you said I was just going back to your origin story of the company, yes, the very first in 1920. That yes that's a drug product. So what, when your dad inherited the business and then you inherited it from him, is that how it came about.
Speaker 3:Well, he inherited it, but my family, my sisters, you know, are still involved. I have other family that's involved, so it is still a family business, right? I run the daily day-to-day operations. So when it comes to other parts of the business, then I have, you know, my sister that's actual CEO of the company and we discuss it and make decisions based on that.
Speaker 1:So was the company that your father inherited? Was that in Port Orange or was that in another state?
Speaker 3:No, that my dad when he was young, not even a teenager. Our company name was Belasa Laboratories and my dad met Mr Belasa when he was 8 or 9 years old. Mr Belasa owned the corner drugstore and my dad swept the floor for a nickel or a quarter, but him and Mr Blassa stayed friends. They stayed close. And my dad, as he got a little bit older, he had my dad make deliveries for him and he inspired my dad to go to school and become a pharmacist, and nobody in the family had ever gone to school before my dad, so that inspired him. He went to want to become a pharmacist and mr Bloss passed away in, I believe was 1965 or 66, and he had no family, none whatsoever, here. So everything that he had he left to my dad, including his formulas, and the best formula that he had, the one that was the most popular, is the one that was still making sell today, which is a wart remover and a corn callus remover.
Speaker 3:No, it doesn't sound glamorous, but there's a actually a very big need for it. So but my dad inherited the business then and since then we've been doing it. So when I was just, you know, six, seven years old, I was helping my dad make the product and we have since, you know, the company's grown, of course, and we now have gotten into dietary supplements, some. We have some cosmetic products. We do some contract manufacturing, which, technically, that's what this is, but it's not private labeled. We're making it for him under his name and it's not our product. Like you had mentioned earlier, it's not our product putting his label on it, right right, this is his product, his label. We're just the ones that are actually manufacturing it for him, but you're manufacturing it. This is his product, his label.
Speaker 1:We're just the ones that are actually manufacturing it for him, but you're manufacturing it Correct, which is pretty darn cool right here. So how many employees do you currently have?
Speaker 3:Vlasa Laboratories has 10 employees currently, so it's not huge, but we stay pretty busy now how?
Speaker 1:so you said the demand? Is the demand currently tough, making the pro charge like?
Speaker 3:so a pro charge. One of the one of the unique things about pro charge is that if you don't have a chemistry background and no, it's a very difficult product to make. That's the reason why you haven't seen it previously and it took him several years to develop it. It was not an easy process, so you need to have that experience. So not anybody's just going to say, oh, I just order some materials and make this protein product. Well, it doesn't work that way.
Speaker 3:There's a lot that goes into it and what Al did here is just amazing. And then to have no fat, no sugar, 80 calories, the BCAAs it's revolutionary. It's very different from anything else that's on the market and I think it's really going to change the protein supplement market. It's going to take it by storm. It really is. There's so much the interest is so huge that it's going to blow up very quickly. Now I think Al.
Speaker 1:Not only is he a chemist, but I've met Al before and he was on the show last time. Al did bodybuilding.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:So I'm sure he has a personal interest in this as well. Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I mean he still goes to the gym every day, he still takes his supplements. I mean to the gym every day, he still takes his supplements. I mean both of us now pro-charge is a daily routine. So, yes, he's still fit, he still works out. And yes, he did competitive bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting, competitions, and so, yeah, it's always been a passion of his and he still does, even today, right so, I think that's significant.
Speaker 1:You know, when you're making something that you think, oh man, I can't wait to use this, right, you know, I think you put a little more into it Now. You said the BCAA. So for the listener, that stands for branched chain amino acids and in this case it's leucine, isoleucine and valine. So if you've heard that before, that's what those are, and amino acids are the building blocks of protein. I'm you know, jimmy knows this saying this for the listener. And so that means when you break a protein down, they're going to be broken down into the amino acids. And if you listen to the last podcast I did on how the muscles break down and the individual protein filaments actin and myosin get broken down, they need the amino acids afterwards to help restore.
Speaker 1:So what I think is pretty neat is the fact that you can do that like instantaneously, right after your workout. You can just simply take a shot, so to say, of the protein and you're getting to the cells, the amino acids broken down to help. So you know, for the listener, I think that's pretty neat and definitely very useful. Um, so, jesse, what do you? What do you think? Think here, you were coming in here as a little kid and working out. Now you're older and you're getting back into working out. What have you seen with this with your dad? How cool is that that you guys are producing a product that we can very well be seeing in some pretty big fitness magazines pretty soon getting advertised yeah, um, I think that it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Um, that I mean, you know, I I've been watching my dad work since, like you said, since I was little, yeah, and um, now he's taking on this big project, um, and going to the gym frequently myself, um needing to get in all the protein that I need in a day. Seeing him make this kind of stuff is really cool to see.
Speaker 1:It's got to be pretty neat to know that you can go to the lab and get some right. Yeah, it's a little bit of a good boost to know that. So what's your favorite flavor? Yeah, it's a little bit of a good boost to know that.
Speaker 2:So, what's your favorite flavor? I haven't tried a whole lot, but I believe it was lemon-lime. That was my favorite one, the one that I've tried the most.
Speaker 1:I personally prefer the lemon-lime as well.
Speaker 3:I like all of them Ellen really likes the non-flavored one was going to say the two most popular by far is the lemon, lime and the natural yeah because the natural still tastes kind of sweet.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it is but I always like a little bit of lemon lime in like whatever sports drink or something I have.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it goes really well, like in Gatorade. You know it's, you don't even know you're drinking the protein.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and as I can attest from a person who's used this product, that going into a 5K, you know for the listener you don't necessarily need protein as you're going. You do need a little. But the reason why I would do it is because I know I'm going to need some afterwards. So I would drink some in my water bottle on my sports drink like literally before I run hard, and it assimilates really, really well. I've had zero absorption issues with it.
Speaker 1:And I can't say that for every protein product I've tried. I'm not going to try to have a scoop of whey protein in my water bottle before.
Speaker 2:I go run as hard as I can for 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:That's not going to happen or it's going to be all over the place. So you know I like the fact that it's not your typical protein supplement.
Speaker 2:It's more like a gel.
Speaker 1:Like for endurance athletes that use goos and gels. You know it's more like that. A gel like for endurance athletes that use goos and gels. You know it's more like that. I just I mean some people I heard put it in their water bottle and shake it for like use, like that here and there, but other times I've just opened up the cap and squirted it in my mouth.
Speaker 3:Doesn't taste bad at all no, it doesn't, and and it just depends on what you like or what you have with you at that moment. So if you just have ProCharge, you don't have water or something else. Just take it straight. One of the things that we've tried to make people understand is this is not a meal replacement. This is truly a supplement meal replacement. This is truly a supplement. So you can't you don't want to, you know replace a meal with just pro charge, right, and so it's important that you get your hydration as well, which we know. So taking it straight from the bottle is it's convenient, but you need to be careful, because you do want to make sure that you're still getting enough fluid. So we always recommend that they put it into something, but it's not necessary. It just really is going to depend on what you like and the people that have been using it.
Speaker 1:So far, the feedback has been positive either way so it's convenient that you can throw it in your suitcase, so like if you're traveling, if you're an avid exerciser like me, you're going to go out of town for a few days you don't have to pack extra supplements, you can just throw it in your suitcase or your bag. By the way, I've done that on a plane and it's no problem at all. It's not one of those things they toss out. So you know that's good to know. So you said it's a family affair. I think that's pretty neat. So you know, being a local business here in Port Orange, can you talk a little bit more about that? Like your roots to Port Orange and you know a little bit about how that's worked out for you yeah, so you know, we originally came to Florida from New Jersey 1973, lived in South Florida.
Speaker 3:I went to high school in South Florida and we had other friends and family that moved from New Jersey to Florida. We moved to South Florida because my, my dad's family was there my grandfather, his brother but subsequently they my parents decided they wanted to move to Daytona Beach area. Had some friends that had moved down that were here. So in 78 79 we moved to Port Orange and have been here since, seen it grow from dirt, literally dirt roads over road, to what it is today. So it's it's developing fast. So so I've been in Port Orange, um, since like 1979.
Speaker 1:And, um, we were talking a little bit before we started about distribution. So, you know, we we hear about that from the big boys, you know dealing with manufacturing and all that, so do you have to deal with that? Like you know, this is audio, not visual, so people can't see the bottle, but it's a small probably. What, how many inches would you say bottle here? Definitely can hold it in my fist right now. So it's small.
Speaker 3:It's the size of one of the other water enhancer bottles if you use, like a Mio or one of those types of products.
Speaker 2:It's the size of one of the other water enhancer bottles If you use a Mio or one of those types of products.
Speaker 3:It's similar to that.
Speaker 1:The shape might be a little different, but it's fairly similar in size and do you have to deal with any manufacturing issues? Is it a problem getting your supplies from places?
Speaker 3:It can be.
Speaker 3:So normally what we would do is establish um ahead of time what the normal lead time would be to give us an idea that how soon do we need to order and prepare for that.
Speaker 3:But there are times where even that they can't even meet that lead time because of demand or there's, you know, supply chain issues. So we try to stay in contact with the vendors and make sure that the products available and if there is an extended lead time then you know we put in a purchase order then and prepare for it. But for the most part it's not really been an issue. The biggest thing is if you have stuff coming from overseas and unfortunately in today's world a third of what anybody else would sell it for and they put them out of business. So there's a lot of companies that would have made this container previously but they can't compete with China so they got out of that particular market with China. So they got out of that particular market and I've talked to several companies that that you know bottle manufacturers that that's been the case. So can be an issue.
Speaker 1:But yeah, but it sounds like you're on top of it yeah that's good and it's kind of cool that the you know Al it's Al's design essentially right, correct, so and and he's an fda guy, yes, like knows. So everybody can rest assured that everything's been gone through all the you know legal channels and all that. I mean I know you, I've known you a long time and I know like you really do your homework, you do everything you need to do, you do stuff before you're audited. That's good. I mean, that's good to know that you've got a nice, safe product out there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, with Al's experience for as long as he's been in this industry, from college to today he's extremely knowledgeable and we have never cut corners. So, whatever the regulation is, that's what we're going to do. We're going to follow that, and sometimes it may seem as if it's kind of silly what they expect and what they, but what they expect and what they. But there's nothing you can do about it. There is obviously a need for the FDA. Without it it would be total chaos.
Speaker 3:I don't think we'd want to drink a lot of things. I mean seriously, it is. I mean, well, I don't know if you know this, but just real quickly, as to why the FDA was even formed back in the late 30s was because of glycerin. So glycerin is used in children's cough medicines and so they didn't know that there is a inherent contaminant in glycerin and so these kids were taking this and hundreds of children were dying from taking just a cough medicine and they didn't know. So eventually they realized that it was the glycerin and in order to regulate it, so that they could stop what was happening, they formed the FDA to then take control of drugs, food, that sort of thing. So there was regulatory standards.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we do have to have them right.
Speaker 3:Oh, there's definitely no question. I mean, they may be a little extreme at times, but without it, chaos, yeah, total chaos we couldn't live like we do now.
Speaker 1:Because you really can't just trust that somebody is going to do something Even today with that.
Speaker 3:Rob. I mean, look at society the way it is today. You see on the news all the time these kids they're taking these street drugs and it's got fentanyl and kids are dying. And so it's still out there, no matter how much you try to control it and regulate it. It's impossible, you can't do it. But think about how much worse it would be without somebody like the FDA. I agree, and as much as people don't want government in their business and I get it there is a place and there is a need and especially in the case of like the FDA, without it we really would be in trouble.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and as we joked before we went on the air here, you know I read the bottle and you know your sister will be happy to know that I'm wearing contact lenses that can see up close, but at the same time his sister is an eye doctor, by the way. That's why I said that. But I could you know I'm having a hard time reading the label and and I made a joke to Jimmy and he said that the FDA literally regulates that, that the font size or whatever they dictate what can be on the bottle. I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:Yes, now you know a lot of companies don't follow all the rules Right. Follow all the rules right. I can pick up a product on a shelf from a major, major company and probably find five or six violations in labeling. It happens all the time. They not necessarily intentional, but some of the regulations, if you're not totally aware of it, could be a little bit obscure maybe, but what I always do, my rule of thumb is I always talk to my attorney. So we have an FDA attorney and before I proceed or move forward on anything that has any regulatory implications at all, it always goes through the attorney first and if he has an issue with something, we correct it. A lot of times.
Speaker 3:The wording is you have to be very specific and you have to make sure that you are following the FDA guidelines. So when you see a label, whether it be pro-charge or anything else, and if you take the time you look at it, a similar product will have the exact identical wording. Now why is that? That's because the FDA says if you want to use this ingredient, this is the only thing that you can use it for and you have to use their terminology and their wording for it. So if you look at a label, say, for instance, like Tylenol, right, and you take different the labeling, as far as the drug, facts will almost be identical. There might be some variations. Obviously ingredients could could change that. But as far as what's allowed for pain relief, it's going to dictate exactly what you can and can't say, and so you have to use that verbatim what the FDA is. It has dictated. It's going to dictate exactly what you can and can't say, and so you have to use that verbatim what the FDA has dictated.
Speaker 1:And it's like everything you know. Like you said, there has to be a balance. I'm sure they've got a reason for that. Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And the thing is that even any type of packaging, like those labels, have to be controlled. It's not like you just throw them in the trash. You can't do that. It has to be controlled. You have to reconcile so that you can account for every label or every box that you put it into, because if somebody was to get a hold of those labels, they could put anything into it and put that label on. You think you're getting this product, but actually it's something totally different.
Speaker 3:Makes sense and so the FDA makes sure that you control labeling just as you would the drug ingredient itself, so it falls under the same criteria.
Speaker 1:So this thing is live. Now we got a few minutes left, so the product's live. What do you want to tell the listeners about the, where you want to go with this? Um, what do you want to tell us?
Speaker 3:So this product really is revolutionary in the protein supplement market, and people that are used to taking some sort of supplement will immediately recognize the advantages of ProCharge. Now are they going to question what's there? Of course, and you should, and you yourself did, rob you wanted to make sure You're not trusting as much. As well as we've known each other for years, you still have to do your own due diligence and make sure that there isn't something that's not right for you personally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I had a physician, look at it Right, and so what you will?
Speaker 3:find. If you go on the site, we post the testing which is done by an independent third-party lab and we have different labs that do different testing and we will show. We post the results of what those independent tests are, so you will see that, yes, yes, it actually has 20 grams of protein in one ounce and anything else that would be relevant. Whatever other testing you know would be required is. We're transparent with that so that you know that the product is safe and people want to get their protein and this is the best way to, like you said, travel. Are you throwing your blender and your shaker bottles into your gym bag to go to the gym?
Speaker 3:No of course not. So the convenience of this and the ability to make yourself protein compliant. Because it's so easy, I leave it sitting next to the couch on the table. I'll leave a bottle there, so if I think about it, I have it. Oh, it's right there, I take it. It stays right in front of me all the time, so it makes it easy to stay compliant. So the response so far has been fantastic. Everybody likes the product, everybody understands the benefits of it. And then, on top of that, you've got this collagen protein that is as pure protein as you're going to get at 90 90 absorption, and you've only got 80 calories in a serving right. You can't get that from your, your powders. No, that's true so.
Speaker 1:so if somebody wants to um buy the product currently I you know some here, but a lot of listeners don't come here all the time what's the best way that they can now reach you? What site could they go to?
Speaker 3:You have a page right. Yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, go directly to my website, which is fittothemaxnet, and click the link, and click the link. That's going to be on there. It's coming live very soon, right, and there'll be some initial discounts that we'll offer.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of specials that we have, discount for volume and that sort of thing, and there's more coming. But try it. I think once somebody tries it, they're going to be very surprised.
Speaker 1:I mean I'll be honest with the listeners now, as I always try to be on the show or always am on the show. I mean I've given out a bunch of samples and that's been the idea over the last year and everybody has liked it. And I loved what jimmy said. I mean you know, protein isn't a miracle nutrient but we do need it and it's the convenience factor of having it right here in a little bottle that all you have to do is squirt it into your mouth or into your water bottle. I mean you know, that's the key to me, right, there is just the true convenience factor.
Speaker 3:One other thing, Rob. Yeah, go ahead, you have your Max.
Speaker 1:Fit Games coming up very soon. Yes, August 9th.
Speaker 3:And ProCharge will be there handing out samples. So anybody that's listening. If you're coming to Rob's event, you can come then and try the product right there.
Speaker 1:Meet Jimmy or Jimmy's staff, or both.
Speaker 3:I'll be there.
Speaker 3:Jimmy will be here, so that's a good way to try it and see if you like it and ask questions, and it's a good way to get the information that you need and understand that this product is a very, very well-made product. It's very clean. Everything that's in there is very clean and rigorous testing. And we do just one other thing. There's a another FDA test that you have to do when you have supplement. It's called a USP 51 challenge. What USP is? It's the United States Pharmacopoeia and they're an independent company. They're not a government agency but the government defers to them because they set the standards for purity and whatever else might need to be tested in a particular ingredient. So you'll see that a lot. You'll see if you see it in ads, you'll see it on bottles. It's USP.
Speaker 3:So we go through rigorous testing and the USP 51 challenge what happens is when you open that product, just by nature you're going to get bacteria is going to be there, okay, and you want to know is that bacteria going to be harmful? So a usp51 challenge. What it does is you take a bottle, they open the bottle and then seal the bottle back again and then they test if there's any contaminants. Now there's going to be. Initially, you're going to see some microbes that are there, but what the USB 51 challenge tells them is that it can't survive. So they will test this product a week later and it comes back with no contaminants whatsoever. Then they'll do it another week later.
Speaker 3:So it goes through a period of of different intervals of testing and each, each step, they make sure that the product is still safe and it is our testing and again that will be on the website will show the usb 51 channel a challenge where we had no contaminants at all because the product is safe, that they cannot survive because you can't avoid it. It doesn't matter what. You open a bottle of water, it's, it's there, it's just it's. You can't, you can't avoid it. But a lot of products, a lot of contaminants, can't live. You know, in certain things if they need water or, but in this case, by the nature of the product, they can't survive. So that's awesome to hear.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so, I know we got it and so I know what I'm hearing is we definitely have us a safe product.
Speaker 3:Yes, I have a hundred percent confidence in that. And we don't cut corners. I mean very simple we don't. Whatever is required. And in fact, a lot of times you know they'll get on me because I'm probably doing more than is actually necessary. But I want to make sure I don't want to tell you that this is safe and it's okay, and it's not.
Speaker 1:Right the buck's not Right the buck stops here, Right.
Speaker 3:So I take full responsibility for it and I have 100% confidence in the product.
Speaker 1:Well, gentlemen, thanks for coming out. Thank you, jesse, for your input as well, of course. Good seeing you, and I love what Jimmy said there. So come out on August 9th to the max fit games and, uh, meet jimmy and see some of the product, get some samples and also be looking for the link that will be on the website soon. Thank you, man, thank you appreciate it rob thank you for listening to today's program.
Speaker 1:I ask you to please follow the show wherever you get your podcasts and please select automatic download, because that really helps the show. Now I want to thank overhead door of daytona beach, the area's premier garage door company. They have the best product. They have the best service. I personally vouch for jeff and zach hawk, the owners. They are great people with a great company. If you have any garage door needs, please give them a shout at 386-222-3165.
