Any multi that does not have added iron. The cheap ones are often just as good as the expensive ones.

I love doing legs and abs. It's the arms and shoulder stuff that kills me.

I hate leg day. Waaaay too much weight to push around and loading the bar is a workout on its own.

Still have to hit the legs hard though if you want to be big anywhere else.

I recommend not taking one.

http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2011...ivitamins.html

Been focusing on the nutrition aspect much more lately. Start each morning with a shake consisting of oatmeal, pb, banana, milk. On non-workout days I add whey and creatine.

Why only on non-workout days?

Because I'm taking whey and creatine after my workouts anyways.

You only take whey and creating on non-workout days? I'm confused.

That still makes no sense. It would make more sense to add the extra protein/calories/creatine on days when you are working out.

You guys sweat some small shit. You know that?

I guess i'm confused. You are recommended to take 5 g of creatine per day wheater your working out or not...thats what I do.

As far as not throwing whey into the morning blended shake, I'm just trying to conserve it a little bit since on those days I will be taking a couple scoops post-workout anyways. My focus is getting the rest of the protein through actual foods. I shoot for around 1g/lb of bodyweight.

I blame supplement company marketing.

Silock... You playing JoCo O30 this spring?

Haven't decided. Those fields kill my knees. And I'm still not sure I like my team.

It's something.

Let me break this down real simple.

Be strong. Be in shape.

That's it. That's the whole ****ing show.

You get stronger by adding more plates to the bar, or adding more reps with that weight.

You get in shape by doing shit from walking to sprinting to car pushing to bag work. Whatever.

You get the adipose off by dropping some food out. Usually carbs. I rarely eat carbs anymore and I feel great. I pulled 675 from below the knee last night easily and did shrugged it for a triple. Then did 585x11. This is on like 20 grams of carbs all day. I feel great and have never been this big and this lean at the same time.

It's not about vitamins or whey or creatine or shit like that. It's about consistency over a long period of time, busting ass, and doing basic shit. This stuff is very uncomplicated.

Obviously consistency is key. I've lifted 4 times a week for over the past year never missing a workout except for a recovery week here and there.

Now i've still been plateaud out on bench at 260 for quite some time. Which is in my context impressive being 100 lbs over my bodyweight. I'm now focusing on the nutrition aspect more as I stated earlier today with an emphasis in adding 10-15 lbs. Most everything I read says nutrition is probably 70-80% of lifting. You have some very impressive lifts what is your take on nutrition?

Who came up with 80%? How does one even quantify that?

As long as you're getting adequate protein and calories, it doesn't really matter.

fats and carbs aren't important? A can of pop and bowl of rice (carbs) have the same effect on building muscle?
A handful of almonds and a crispy cream (fats) assuming the same number of calories have the same effect on building muscle?

70-80% is general consensus from what I've read. I'm sure I could find claims out there.

My questions btw are honest questions not trying to contradict your beliefs. I don't think anyone has the exact formula for building muscle.

You answered your own question, get proper amounts of protein. How much? No one really knows but supplement companies sure would like you to think it is high. I have seen a mixture of high fat/low fat and high carbs/low carbs work with adequate protein intake. Depends on your bodies ability to utilize or not utilize those nutrients.

I am like "the guardian." I can get 50 grams of carbs or less everyday, for weeks on end and I feel stronger and leaner than doing any other diet.

If you are gaining too much weight or want to lose weight, cut out some calories from some where. It isn't rocket science. This is more simple than people make. Bust ass in the gym and you don't need to worry in the slightest about trying to always eat perfect and counting every single calorie you put in your body. Make smart food choices, get stronger and quite being lazy in and out of the gym....your body will change.

Make smart food choices you say. As in?

I bust my ass plenty, one of my jobs involves running up and down a playing field. And my hobby involves throwing weights around.

I never have counted calories or will. I try to make as you said smart food choices.
protein: tilipia, chicken breasts, eggs...
carbs:ww bread, rice, oatmeal...
fats: almonds, fish oil, eggs...

I believe the quality of your food choices matter and thats why I'm focusing more on the nutrition aspect to break through a plateau and bulk up.

Sorry, hope my post didn't come off as being a dick. I see you are honestly trying to learn.

I think you have it right as I was saying, make smart food choices but you don't have to count calories and measure stuff out like so many people do.

Bulking up comes down to lifting and being in a calorie surplus, for simplicity sake. Too many guys make the mistake of trying to eat too healthy when bulking up and somehow think they will get to a calorie surplus by eating chicken and rice for every meal. Healthy?....sure, but it won't help you reach your goals of added muscle or strenth. When bulking eat until you are full and then eat a little more. You don't have to be super strict and can even eat a few dirty meals if you like. Gotta eat to get big though.

Thats pretty much spot on to what I do. I realize many of the "healthy" things I eat packed with micronutrients are low calorie. I just got home from eating a burger, fries, and soda.

Sounds like you have it down then. Too many think eating burgers/fries is bad but it you are bulking up and wanting to gain strength, a few meals like that a week aren't a problem, especially for guys with fast metabolisms.

Curious what routine you are running to gain strength and bust through a plateau? I was going to private message you instead of clogging up this thread but I don't see that an an option for you?

No idea must be cause I'm new or something.

My routine is simple:
Chest/Triceps and Back/Biceps on average about twice a week.

I go to a couple different gyms and one of them you can't squat in.. so when I go to the other one (15 miles aways/ I go there atleast once a week) I throw legs in with whichever workout I'm on.

I also do abs once a week as well. I'll throw in shoulders with a chest/tri workout once a week.

It may look pathetic but it's what works out for me. Tonight I'm planning on doing some concentric bench press at 50% of my 1RM. Working in more incline and dumbell presses. Limiting to benching heavy once a week.

Sure they have. We've known the formula for decades and decades now.

Eat a shit ton.

Lift a shit ton.

????

Profit.

that's basically it. I spent whole summers eating until I would gag on food. If you're a skinny guy there is always a rite of passage that must occur where you have to go through this in order to grow. The body doesn't want to grow muscle unless you TELL it to. This just means eating a shit ton of food, and living under the bar for a while. Add more weight to the bar over time, or more reps with that weight, and keep eating, and you'll grow.

It's not complicated.

understandable...I'm looking to stay lean yet. I've put on several pounds so far.

I posted my workout on the previous page. To avoid overtraining: I hit bodyparts twice a week do you recommend lower reps earlier in the week and higher reps later in the week? Typically with bench I'll go heavy the first workout of the week and lighter the second workout but my auxiliary lifts are typically 3x6 or 3x8.

Depends on your goal. If strength is what you want, go lower reps, higher weight. If you're looking for hypertrophy (muscles that look bigger), higher reps, lower weight. It's much more complicated than that, but you get the idea. Not sure what the benefit of mixing the two is.

Biggest bunch of BS that has ever been spread around the world. You have to lift heavy and get stronger to get bigger muscles, even more so if you are training naturally.

I think the guardian will agree with me.

I also think bodypart splits are a way for most trainees to skip doing the big lifts or focus on getting stronger. Instead they use these routines to pump out the reps and get a sweet looking pump, which does little for actually changing your physique for the long run.

Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy

Sarcoplasmic muscular hypertrophy involves an increase in the sarcoplasmic volume of a muscle cell with no corresponding increase in muscular strength. A strength increase is something you normally expect with an increase in muscular hypertophy, however sarcoplasmic volume increases serve very little to no functional purpose in terms of strength development.

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is a response to hard training at relatively high volumes. In order for muscles to increase in size as a result of an increase in sarcoplasmic volume, they have to be trained within a higher repetition range. This is generally in the range of 8-12 and even beyond. This causes sufficient micro-trauma for the muscle to respond.

Endurance athletes also experience a small level of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy in response to extremely high volumes of training.

Obviously this form of muscular hypertrophy is not desirable for anyone aiming to increase strength or sports performance. Bodybuilders and those wanting beach muscles are likely the only ones concerned with sarcoplasmic muscular hypertrophy. This form or muscle size increase is the main reason you see strength to weight ratio decrease as a person gets larger, even with no evidence of excess body fat. It can seem a mystery to some as to why bodybuilders and frequent gym goers seem to be huge but only moderately strong.


Myofibrillar Hypertrophy

Myofibrillar muscular hypertrophy is what most people want. This is an increase in the size of the actual contractile proteins, resulting in more available muscle for contraction applied to resistance. This form of muscle increase is commonly seen in athletes that perform dynamic sports or strength and power. Weightlifters experience myofibrillar hypertrophy as a result of their training. When a load is lifted that is beyond 75% of maximum a corresponding increase in contractile proteins occurs in order to adapt and lift a heavier load next time.

Myofibrillar muscular hypertrophy is attained through high intensity, lower volume training. However this is not always the case, it is just ideal. A muscle will not increase in strength to any great amount through repetitive lifting until fatigue. It doesn't make sense that lifting something 12 times will increase the amount you are able to lift in one-off efforts that are close to maximum strength. This is why myofibrillar hypertrophy occurs most notably as a result of training in the range of 3-7 repetitions. It's not ideal for a bodybuilder but it will build actual functional strength you can use and not unnecessary bodyweight. The size of the muscle will increase at a slower rate because the hypertrophy involves growth of functional units of muscular tissue as opposed to simply volume.

:shrug:

MoreLemonPledge

Yes I am aware of the types of hypertrophy and I should have clarified my post. If we are talking about the most efficient way to gain muscle, one should focus most of their routine on gaining strength for their main lifts in the low to medium rep ranges. I do not discount higher reps sets, especially for certain exercises and I include them in my training as well. However, too many guys do high rep sets with flys and cable crossovers or machines and wonder why they can't gain muscle. Consistent strength progress in lower rep ranges 1-6 (with main lifts), which is what you should build your workout around, will be the most efficient way to gain muscle. Not saying they are the only things you should do or that only lifting heavy on everything is the way to go.

The guardian can chime in too as he obviously is a beast and has been around the iron a decent amount of time and has far more strength than I ever will.

No, I agree with you. Getting more weight under the bar is absolutely the best way to build strength, which is the best way to grow muscle. I rarely go over 5 reps and I'm happy with my results. I was just saying that hypertrophy can serve a purpose for some people.

If you're controlling for protein, then the answer is: pretty much.

Sure, you need some fatty acids in there, but as long as you're getting adequate protein, the other stuff is pretty irrelevant. It's just calories. Once they're broken down and processed, your body doesn't really care where they come from.

This is more overthinking. And I know the difference between the two.

But it's still as simple as I wrote it out.

Started working out yesterday. School I teach at is having a weight loss challenge. I typically don't join them because they are so short and it seems like I gain more back than i lose but this will be a 2 month challenge. My wife is going to also diet/exercise with me which will make it easier. Bball on Monday nights/league, bball at 6 am on Tues/Thurs, and will hit the Y at least 4 days a week. This is going to suck but I'm weighing the most i ever have in my life and I'm about to turn 30. I know if I don't lose some weight now, it may never happen.

I have the hardest time going heavy in my early morning workouts (5:30 am). I think I'm going to have to start running on the treadmill or something to wake up prior to lifting. There is a significant difference in the way it feels to deadlift 315 at 5:30am than at 4:30pm. The problem is that I need to be able to work out at both times due to my family's schedules. Anyone have suggestions for overcoming early morning lethargy/weakness?

A shit ton of stimulants?

Seriously though my body feels so much different in morning than at night and my warmups in the early morning are more intense. I may even throw in some box jumps before squats or deads just to wake up my hips because everything feels so tight.

So I've given up drinking pop. What are some good alternatives other than water?!

Coffee? Tea?

You can also get those packets or drops to add into water to make it have a taste. If you like the fizz of sodas, you might try flavored seltzer water which tends to be much better for you than the traditional soda. I'd stay away from the ones with artificial sweeteners, though (that's just me).

I'm a taste guy. I've tried the powder packets to help flavor water and still have yet to find one I really enjoy.

I like tea (flavored), orange juice and Gatorade.

I'm not trying to avoid all sugars, or other unhealthy things but just trying to find a viable replacement for my beloved mtn. Dew.

I've heard good things about the Mio drops.

http://www.kimkins.com/mio-water-flavor-drops/

Tried them. Not too bad. My main focus is making more healthy food/drink decisions and working out -- primarily the bike at the gym. My main concer is shedding pounds, rather than adding muscles, bulk, etc.

As far as beverages, other than pop, what should I avoid?!

With beverages, I'd just watch the calories (and sugars to a lesser extent). People don't realize that they can suck down 1/3-1/2 of their daily caloric needs in a coffee shake (assuming that you're trying to restrict calories, not bulk up). They can completely screw their diet without feeling like they've eaten anything.

So, essentially stick with water, some flavored water and plain tea?!

Man, it's going to be hard going w/o OJ.

And how ironic I'm drinking an AMP while posting in this thread.

I don't think there's anything wrong with drinking juice. Just realize that it has calories and don't suck it down all day. Water should definitely be your "all day" drink for staying hydrated.

I've heard juice, especially OJ should be drank in smaller quantities. Someone else told me OJ makes people more hungry.

Looks like water it's gonna have to be water and water only.

OJ is also very acidic and can eat a hole in your stomach. Friend of mine ended up in the ER with horrendous stomach pain and drinking ass loads of OJ and combining it with Alieve was the cause.

That reminds me. I used to drink a large glass of OJ with my hot sauce, jalapeno-covered pizza. Perfect combination.

Those were the days.

What's everyone's best advice to shed some easy pounds?!

I recently got a gym membership at Maximus in Topeka. I do the bike for 30 minutes and it kills calories like whoa. I'd like to shed 20-30 pounds before I go back to Wichita for my birthday in March. I've avoided pop and fried foods for the most part. I'm no cook by any stretch of the imagination, but I need to eat healthier -- for sure.

Weights + Cardio + Counting calories(stay at a reduced calorie intake) = Winning!

There some other proven stuff out there that may help a bit that's safe. Green Tea extract and 7-keto come to mind.

Man, I haven't lifted weights since high school LMAO at this point in my life I'm much more comfortable doing cardio. I feel the most comfortable on the bike while I get back into the swing of things.

Can I ask how old you are? I understand and I can't find the study at the moment, but combing weight training and cardio is much more efficient at weight loss then cardio alone.

I do Crossfit 2-3 days a week and a regular workout out 1-2 of the other days. It's a good balance, I get both the strength and cardio! I only workout 1 time a day, but some of the Crossfit guys that are the best goes in the morning for the strength workouts and do the CF workout later in the day. There are a few that are phenomenal.

The best program I have ever been around!

I'm 27 in March. I'm not questioning the combination, but I do the bike because it makes me feel comfortable. I know that sounds lame and doesn't make sense to some. If I felt comfortable I would be on the elliptical rather than the bike. But, it's just awkward to me.

And as far as weights go I wouldn't even know what weight to begin at.

My 15 year old son go to a CF trainer and has done some pretty phenomenal stuff for his age. Two weeks ago he did his maxes. 5'10 195lb
Bench 275
Deadlift 475
Squat 405
Clean 275

LMAO

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The horrible Journey playing in the background makes it even better. Shit like that is why headphones are a MUST for me at the gym. Holy hell.

They ripped the stereo out at my gym.

Now everyone gets to hear me watching Star Trek reruns, and I hide the channel changer. LMAO

Stop eating so much. You can gain weight eating healthy food, too. It's all about your calories. Count them. If you get 1500 per day, you can easily hit your goal by March.

You shut your whore mouth. Faithfully is a great song.

Food recommendations for a 26 yr old bachelor who doesn't cook?!

Hey Silock, what's a good starting weights routine for women? I got a bitch who is clueless and skinny as shit. She needs a simple guide.

Can you at least cook a chicken breast or steak in a skillet? Seriously, I never thought I would cook but when I lived on my own I learned how and actually really enjoy it now.

Tell her to get her ass in the kitchen and lift some pots and pans until she finishes dinner.

who wants to help a brother out?

I'm about to start running again...I'm talking intervals mainly...probably 6 2 minute intervals of hard running, 1 minute rest, 2 minute etc...

so I have my cardio down...

I want a few basic lifts to add into that...

I'm 6'3" 200 lbs. I'm looking to tone up a bit...drop a few lbs off the ol' gut.

Anyone have like 3 or 4 lifts I can do on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to add in to my cardio workouts? I'll probably run 4 or 5 times a week...I have access to a gym...I don't do cleans because I don't like doing cleans in a busy gym...and I prefer free weights but don't mind squats or bench.

Someone help me out, please =)

All you really need is squat, bench, deadlift, and bent-over row. All compound exercises that, together, hit every major muscle group.

+1

5x5?

Yessir.

Boom!

I also would recommend that Hootie. Lookup "Madcow 5x5" on a google search and you can find all you are looking for.

I'm becoming increasingly obsessed with crossfit. Quite a cihange for me.

Buy a grill.

Same as for men. Starting strength and 5x5. She won't get hyooooj. That requires testosterone. But she will be strong and fit. And women who do squats have great asses.

See first post in thread.

I thought most hiit workouts were more in the minute sprint/minute jog or less. I haven't looked a ton, but I haven't seen much of anything over a minute, but I've found lots that were shorter. I've been do a 10 minute/minute intervals and it has definitely been kicking my ass a lot more than a good run.

I'll not that I do mine up on an elliptical, 'cause that is what I have available to me.

I am reading a shit ton about cardio and weights. Not much about stretching. Hopefully you guys are integrating a good stretching program into your regimens. It may not be of utmost importance in your 20 or early 30s but as you age it become huge.

If you are going to stretch do not do it cold. You should never stretch a muscle before it has 'warmed' up.

Personally I find stretching worthless.

Only before sex.

Everything I've been reading says this. I do a warmup and some light stretching (mostly out of habit) before my workout & then some light stretching as I cool down. Exception: I do stretch my calves quite a bit after running barefoot. That seems to help.

A little off topic: I had a doctor recently tell me that I should never stretch an injury. He said that stretching usually does more harm than good with an injury.