do you work out?

  On 8/29/2012 at 10:38 PM, zkreso said:

I've been trying to learn squats but I'm sooo far away from doing them in terms of flexibility that I've pretty much given up before I've started. The worst part is it has ruined my motivation to work out at all since all I keep reading about is how machine exercises are useless compared to barbell lifts.

Just do them with the bar to start - you want to get good form with the barbell straight away.

  On 8/29/2012 at 10:38 PM, zkreso said:

I've been trying to learn squats but I'm sooo far away from doing them in terms of flexibility that I've pretty much given up before I've started. The worst part is it has ruined my motivation to work out at all since all I keep reading about is how machine exercises are useless compared to barbell lifts.

machine lifts are great for assistance work. the problem with them is that they don't train stabilizer muscles. but it's definitely a good jumping off point

dont know if i mentioned them but this is a great company. quality, all natural (no aspartame), great prices and they ship quick.

http://www.musclefeast.com/

God damnit it's killing me.. I feel like i'm in dietary limbo and don't know what to do.

I either:

1) Don't restrict carbs and be able to use muscle and liver glycolysis. But, I experience more inflammation, don't heal as quick, and my skin breaks out more often.. Also can't go as long without food before experiencing wide fluctuations in blood glucose.. More hungry, more frequently.. Hypoglycemia is a pain in the ass.

2) Restrict carbs and stay high fat, low carb.. My skin gives me far less problems, I heal fast, none of my joints ever seem to hurt from damaging them, and I can go without food effortlessly for long periods of time with stable blood glucose and no hypoglycemia. But, my bike commutes are suffering horribly even and fat adaptation isn't helping. I can't do any anaerobic exorcise with nearly the same intensity without muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis just isn't efficient enough and the difference is night and day.

  On 8/30/2012 at 11:30 PM, fiznuthian said:

God damnit it's killing me.. I feel like i'm in dietary limbo and don't know what to do.

 

I either:

 

1) Don't restrict carbs and be able to use muscle and liver glycolysis. But, I experience more inflammation, don't heal as quick, and my skin breaks out more often.. Also can't go as long without food before experiencing wide fluctuations in blood glucose.. More hungry, more frequently.. Hypoglycemia is a pain in the ass.

 

2) Restrict carbs and stay high fat, low carb.. My skin gives me far less problems, I heal fast, none of my joints ever seem to hurt from damaging them, and I can go without food effortlessly for long periods of time with stable blood glucose and no hypoglycemia. But, my bike commutes are suffering horribly even and fat adaptation isn't helping. I can't do any anaerobic exorcise with nearly the same intensity without muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis just isn't efficient enough and the difference is night and day.

I'm sure you have, but just in case you haven't, have you tried experimenting with different sources of carbs?

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:36 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 8/30/2012 at 11:30 PM, fiznuthian said:

God damnit it's killing me.. I feel like i'm in dietary limbo and don't know what to do.

 

I either:

 

1) Don't restrict carbs and be able to use muscle and liver glycolysis. But, I experience more inflammation, don't heal as quick, and my skin breaks out more often.. Also can't go as long without food before experiencing wide fluctuations in blood glucose.. More hungry, more frequently.. Hypoglycemia is a pain in the ass.

 

2) Restrict carbs and stay high fat, low carb.. My skin gives me far less problems, I heal fast, none of my joints ever seem to hurt from damaging them, and I can go without food effortlessly for long periods of time with stable blood glucose and no hypoglycemia. But, my bike commutes are suffering horribly even and fat adaptation isn't helping. I can't do any anaerobic exorcise with nearly the same intensity without muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis just isn't efficient enough and the difference is night and day.

 

I'm sure you have, but just in case you haven't, have you tried experimenting with different sources of carbs?

Do you mean sticking to tubers, sticking to fruit, etc?.. well those are really my only two options when it comes to whole foods. I don't consider grains food anymore.

Well then there's vegetables but with my activity level they hardly cut it.. I still eat them, been making vegetable soups lately and they've been great. Had some brocolli too.. going to by some brussels sprouts! :)

are you a scientist?

Should probably add that tubers are nice.. I think of all foods, maybe even more so than meat itself, a generous portion of potatoes shuts down appetite extremely quick. Their relationship with leptin and grehlin I don't really understand, but I know of studies I skimmed that attempted to construct a satiety index of foods and potatoes were usually high up there, if not topping the charts.

The brain adapts quickly to their intake and if all you're eating is potatoes all day you will end up consuming far less calories than you expend super quickly. Strange that such a high GI food can do that..

Fruit is a different story. I could eat fruit endlessly.

Perhaps to solve my appetite problem at work I should just bring my own pre-cooked potatoes and microwave them..Keeps me from going hungry, and when I bike home i'll have plenty of glycogen to utilize.

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:43 AM, tauboo said:

are you a scientist?

Nope

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:38 AM, fiznuthian said:

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:36 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 8/30/2012 at 11:30 PM, fiznuthian said:

God damnit it's killing me.. I feel like i'm in dietary limbo and don't know what to do.

 

I either:

 

1) Don't restrict carbs and be able to use muscle and liver glycolysis. But, I experience more inflammation, don't heal as quick, and my skin breaks out more often.. Also can't go as long without food before experiencing wide fluctuations in blood glucose.. More hungry, more frequently.. Hypoglycemia is a pain in the ass.

 

2) Restrict carbs and stay high fat, low carb.. My skin gives me far less problems, I heal fast, none of my joints ever seem to hurt from damaging them, and I can go without food effortlessly for long periods of time with stable blood glucose and no hypoglycemia. But, my bike commutes are suffering horribly even and fat adaptation isn't helping. I can't do any anaerobic exorcise with nearly the same intensity without muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis just isn't efficient enough and the difference is night and day.

 

I'm sure you have, but just in case you haven't, have you tried experimenting with different sources of carbs?

 

Do you mean sticking to tubers, sticking to fruit, etc?.. well those are really my only two options when it comes to whole foods. I don't consider grains food anymore.

 

Well then there's vegetables but with my activity level they hardly cut it.. I still eat them, been making vegetable soups lately and they've been great. Had some brocolli too.. going to by some brussels sprouts! :)

Why wouldn't you consider grains? Humans have been eating rice for tens of thousands of years. It's an excellent source of energy and carbs. Domestication of rice is at least on par historically with tubers.

Wheat has also been domesticated for tens of thousands of years.

Obviously if you have gluten issues then wheat is not an option, but to rule it out completely is to not take advantage of science. Many many many world class athletes have diets which contain grains.

just saw an ad on youtube that had the text:

aids recovery

protects muscles

and thought it was saying that recovering from aids protects your muscles and was like wtf

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:56 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:38 AM, fiznuthian said:

  On 8/31/2012 at 12:36 AM, chenGOD said:

  On 8/30/2012 at 11:30 PM, fiznuthian said:

God damnit it's killing me.. I feel like i'm in dietary limbo and don't know what to do.

 

I either:

 

1) Don't restrict carbs and be able to use muscle and liver glycolysis. But, I experience more inflammation, don't heal as quick, and my skin breaks out more often.. Also can't go as long without food before experiencing wide fluctuations in blood glucose.. More hungry, more frequently.. Hypoglycemia is a pain in the ass.

 

2) Restrict carbs and stay high fat, low carb.. My skin gives me far less problems, I heal fast, none of my joints ever seem to hurt from damaging them, and I can go without food effortlessly for long periods of time with stable blood glucose and no hypoglycemia. But, my bike commutes are suffering horribly even and fat adaptation isn't helping. I can't do any anaerobic exorcise with nearly the same intensity without muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis just isn't efficient enough and the difference is night and day.

 

I'm sure you have, but just in case you haven't, have you tried experimenting with different sources of carbs?

 

Do you mean sticking to tubers, sticking to fruit, etc?.. well those are really my only two options when it comes to whole foods. I don't consider grains food anymore.

 

Well then there's vegetables but with my activity level they hardly cut it.. I still eat them, been making vegetable soups lately and they've been great. Had some brocolli too.. going to by some brussels sprouts! :)

 

Why wouldn't you consider grains? Humans have been eating rice for tens of thousands of years. It's an excellent source of energy and carbs. Domestication of rice is at least on par historically with tubers.

Wheat has also been domesticated for tens of thousands of years.

Obviously if you have gluten issues then wheat is not an option, but to rule it out completely is to not take advantage of science. Many many many world class athletes have diets which contain grains.

Ah, rice i'm okay with. It's not a nutrient dense as a potato but pretty good and primarily starch anyway which I consider innocuous. The other grains not so much.

Corn is okay in it's whole form, IMO..

Scientific studies of wheat consumption never looked all that good anyway. This study published recently in J Am Gastro for one.. Here's another suggesting not just celiacs are affected by wheat. Wheat germ agglutanin increasing intestinal permeability being another problem. Intestinal permeability is a recurring theme in discussions of wheat proteins.. here it is mentioned again with regard to gliaden and demonstrated with non-celiacs who were seemingly asymptomatic. Markers of innate immune system activation (aka inflammation) were recorded 5/6 people in the control group. Here's wheat germ agglutanin increasing the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines once again.

Wheat is not terribly nutritious anyways and most any other whole foods fair better in comparison nutritionally. Rice is a better choice probably.

Wheat: a perfect source of useless insoluble fiber and vitamins+minerals you could get more of eating other food anyway.

Plus eating wheat doesn't help the issue of hunger.. Lets face it bread doesn't satiate much..

Doesn't help that wheat proteins produce opioid peptides during digestion..

But all of this is besides the point anyway.. The metabolic milieu of a high-fat, low carb diet controls inflammation better than a high-carb diet in my experience.. there's a lot of research verifying why as well..

But I prefer carbs, and can't cycle, run, lift, etc at nearly the same intensity without them :(

edit: ah fuck it.

Sorry chen, i'm pretty set in my ways and stubborn about it

today i ran 11 km, on concrete

a lot of kettlebells the other days of the week

first month stats (finished heavy week, now I get a week of lighter lifting to recover)

bench press: 135 4 times

deadlift: 165 10 times

squat: 150 8 times

military press: 95 4 times

i know these are nowhere near impressive but i have made massive strides in a month!

Starters SS + Cardio on rest days except weekends

hey i think there was a post on this somewhere in the thread but i can't be arsed.

anyone have suggestions for a beginners yoga program/book? been wanting to improve flexibility since forever and the lady friend is interested in yoga as well.

Id be up for yoga too if the classes weren't so damned expensive.

I really need to figure out what my game plan is to bulk up my body. Ive reached this plateau where I see increases in strength and the amount of weight I am able to lift, but my body looks exactly the same. I don't understand this? Surely there must be growth happening somewhere? I am starting to worry that I am not eating enough, or taking enough time in between workouts. Ive toned down my cardio....apparently I weigh even less than I did a month ago...that's not good news.

Any suggestions as to what's going wrong? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

  On 9/5/2012 at 7:47 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

Id be up for yoga too if the classes weren't so damned expensive.

 

I really need to figure out what my game plan is to bulk up my body. Ive reached this plateau where I see increases in strength and the amount of weight I am able to lift, but my body looks exactly the same. I don't understand this? Surely there must be growth happening somewhere? I am starting to worry that I am not eating enough, or taking enough time in between workouts. Ive toned down my cardio....apparently I weigh even less than I did a month ago...that's not good news.

 

Any suggestions as to what's going wrong? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

Usually to increase size, I increase the max weight and decrease the max reps. For example for curls, instead of doing 15 reps per arm with 50lbs, I do 8 reps per arm with 75lbs....

If you do max reps like 15-20 with lower weight, you will be toning your muscles. I think this is the basic understanding/consensus from people trying to increase size.

I'm sure fizboss has a more advanced understanding of this though.. hopefully he will jump in.

Just finished assembling this guy ..

My goal is to do an hour and a half a day, 6 days a week (rest on sunday), i also bought Muscle Milk which seems to be pretty popular although i haven't read enough about protein shakes.

  On 9/7/2012 at 1:27 AM, YO303 said:

Just finished assembling this guy ..

 

 

My goal is to do an hour and a half a day, 6 days a week (rest on sunday), i also bought Muscle Milk which seems to be pretty popular although i haven't read enough about protein shakes.

Sweet! I have an exercise bike too but mine isn`t fancy like that lol. The best thing about an exercise bike or elliptical... you can blast your tunes while you exercise!

Good luck on all the cardio man!

  On 9/5/2012 at 8:53 PM, StephenG said:

  On 9/5/2012 at 7:47 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

Id be up for yoga too if the classes weren't so damned expensive.

 

I really need to figure out what my game plan is to bulk up my body. Ive reached this plateau where I see increases in strength and the amount of weight I am able to lift, but my body looks exactly the same. I don't understand this? Surely there must be growth happening somewhere? I am starting to worry that I am not eating enough, or taking enough time in between workouts. Ive toned down my cardio....apparently I weigh even less than I did a month ago...that's not good news.

 

Any suggestions as to what's going wrong? Or am I worrying unnecessarily?

 

Usually to increase size, I increase the max weight and decrease the max reps. For example for curls, instead of doing 15 reps per arm with 50lbs, I do 8 reps per arm with 75lbs....

 

If you do max reps like 15-20 with lower weight, you will be toning your muscles. I think this is the basic understanding/consensus from people trying to increase size.

 

I'm sure fizboss has a more advanced understanding of this though.. hopefully he will jump in.

Probably not the wisest on this subject, tbh.. I absolutely obsess over nutrition, although very little has changed in my diet for a long time now.

If I had to suggest anything i'd recommend you scan over bodycomposition.com, Lyle McDonalds website. Probably more than anyone on the internet this guy is serious business about his research, and has a very unbiased approach. Alan Aragon is another good source, and also Martin Berkhan from Leangains.com. The leangains thing is awesome, but fairly radical and probably not what you're going for.

When it comes to bulking i'll admit I don't know much.. I'm a person who doesn't blow up with mass quickly, but I do get larger and larger the more low-rep, high intensity compound lifts I do. I'm willing to bet money that high-intensity weight lifting, and especially compound lifts, induce a different neurological and endocrine response than high-rep bodybuilder style lifts..

Deadlifts, squats, and presses are extremely popular lifts among powerlifters..

But not that you can't get bigger with more reps, isolation exercises, etc. People do it all the time. Bodybuilders and people who lift for sheer strength will need varying approaches.

Maybe some combination of low-rep lifts and the occasional the heavy compound lifts?

  On 9/5/2012 at 7:30 PM, theSun said:

hey i think there was a post on this somewhere in the thread but i can't be arsed.

 

anyone have suggestions for a beginners yoga program/book? been wanting to improve flexibility since forever and the lady friend is interested in yoga as well.

a lot of yoga studios do community yoga classes. at my place, it's $5 and they do it once a week. you could try a couple of those to get the hang of basic poses with a trained instructor and then move on to videos. from what i've heard, just learning it from videos can lead to injury because you might be doing the pose incorrectly and not even realize it.

  On 9/7/2012 at 1:27 AM, YO303 said:

Just finished assembling this guy ..

 

 

My goal is to do an hour and a half a day, 6 days a week (rest on sunday), i also bought Muscle Milk which seems to be pretty popular although i haven't read enough about protein shakes.

Haha, great.. You can do some tabata style sprints!

I guarantee in 4-5 minutes your legs will turn to complete jelly..

Last time I was in the gym was with a kid I worked with.. he was pumped about trying to HIIT with me.

After two high resistance sprints on the bike he gave up and refused to do any more of them..

Maybe it's my unwillingness to spend more time than I have to to get the results I want, but I greatly prefer the painful high intensity work over lengthy cardio and high-rep lifting..

  On 9/7/2012 at 3:14 AM, fiznuthian said:

  On 9/7/2012 at 1:27 AM, YO303 said:

Just finished assembling this guy ..

 

 

My goal is to do an hour and a half a day, 6 days a week (rest on sunday), i also bought Muscle Milk which seems to be pretty popular although i haven't read enough about protein shakes.

 

Haha, great.. You can do some tabata style sprints!

I guarantee in 4-5 minutes your legs will turn to complete jelly..

 

Last time I was in the gym was with a kid I worked with.. he was pumped about trying to HIIT with me.

After two high resistance sprints on the bike he gave up and refused to do any more of them..

Maybe it's my unwillingness to spend more time than I have to to get the results I want, but I greatly prefer the painful high intensity work over lengthy cardio and high-rep lifting..

im the exact opposite usually...i like the slow burn...the feeling that an ordeal is about to end....i dunno

but anyway, i think im at the point now where im comfortable with the size im at, i figure as long as strength is increasing theres nothing to logically worry about.