Stay/Get Back In Shape.... Vol 2.0

[zerogravity23]

Originally Posted by SuperSaiyan415

Originally Posted by ZeroGravity23

any sites that sell supps for the low?

bodybuilding.com

ehh, their prices aren't good. i found this though

if you got a gold card @ gnc they give 20% off the first week of every month.

 

[dropten]

Just a lil summthing for you guys taking the EC stack or what ever ephedrine stack your taking

Ephedrine and caffeine: Little known facts about this dynamic duo

by Bryan Haycock - [NOTE: whenever I talk about taking ephedrine, assume I am also talking about caffeine] Ephedrine has truly moved into the mainstream over the last few years. With the onslaught of Metabo-whatever products in every mall and grocery store, nearly every housewife in America is on it. Today even the term "thermogenic" is a household word. Nevertheless, bodybuilders were the first to put ephedrine to widespread use and it remains today as one of our most important tools in contest prep.

Despite the widespread use of ephedrine, knowledge about how it works and how best to use it is rare. Even bodybuilders, who should know better, take it haphazardly without any rhyme or reason to their dosing schedule. Sure, most understand the synergistic 1:10 ratio of ephedrine to caffeine, but there is a lot more that can be done to further increase its effectiveness.

Ephedrine's mechanism of action

Let's start with ephedrine's basic mechanism of action. Ephedrine is a sympathomimetic, which means it acts to increase sympathetic activity. Why is this important? Because there is a drop in sympathetic activity when you cut calories. When you get a drop in sympathetic activity you get a decrease in metabolic rate and lower rates of lipolysis (fat mobilization). This can play a significant role in why you plateau on long-term diets. The use of ephedrine and caffeine can stave off this drop in metabolic rate and allow fat loss to continue unabated for several additional weeks.

People often want to compare ephedrine to Clenbuterol. This is fine as long as you realize that they act in different ways. Clenbuterol is a specific beta-2 adrenergic agonist. As such, Clenbuterol interacts directly with beta-2 receptors on muscle and fat tissue. Ephedrine, on the other hand, is not a direct beta-2 agonist. In fact, ephedrine is a poor ligand for the beta-2 receptor. Instead, ephedrine stimulates the release of noradrenaline from sympathetic nerve terminals. The noradrenaline then goes on to interact with muscle and fat cells as a nonspecific adrenergic agonist. This simply means that noradrenaline activates beta-2 receptors, but also other beta-receptors as well as alpha-receptors. So to compare ephedrine and Clenbuterol you must take into account their differences.

The differences between ephedrine and Clenbuterol are important. For example, Clenbuterol is a very potent beta-2 agonist. As a result, within 14 to 21 days, the beta-2 receptors on muscle and fat cells will be drawn into the cell membrane to reduce their availability to Clenbuterol. Then, if you continue to take it, they will be disassembled all together, leaving you insensitive to Clenbuterol. It then takes at least 2-3 weeks for receptors to replenish themselves on muscle and fat cells. Once again, ephedrine is different with respect to down regulation. Ephedrine, being a much weaker agonist, does not cause rapid desensitization and/or down-regulation of adrenergic receptors. This allows ephedrine to be used effectively for many months. Despite these differences, both drugs should be tapered over the course of several weeks before discontinuing them. If you don't, you will quickly replace the fat you just lost due to an increased appetite and a decreased ability of fat cells to mobilize stored fat.

Choosing the right diet to use with Ephedrine/Caffeine

Your diet will also make a difference in what effects ephedrine will produce. Insulin prevents lipolysis. Insulin has been shown to inhibit lipolysis in a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase- (PI3K) and phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3)-dependent manner and to stimulate fractional re-esterification of free fatty acids (FFAs), resulting in inhibition of FFA release (1,2). Even in the presence of ephedrine and/or noradrenaline, a high carbohydrate diet will reduce the fat mobilizing effects of ephedrine. This being the case, I generally recommend a low carb diet to get the most out of ephedrine and caffeine. Keep in mind, however, that over time, your body will not respond so well to ephedrine when on a low carb diet. This should not surprise you considering your metabolic rate (reflecting CNS activity) will drop like a led zeppelin on a low carb diet anyway. So, a periodic carb up is helpful in keeping ephedrine's thermogenic properties high. A carb up should last no longer than 2 days. I may be helpful to keep fat low during these two days, or if you must eat fat, make sure it is n-3 and/or n-6 fatty acids.

How to use ephedrine to keep that hard earned muscle

You may have heard the Clenbuterol prevents muscle loss during a diet. This is true. Beta-adrenergic stimulation can preserve muscle protein. If you ask your average bodybuilder they will usually tell you that indeed Clenbuterol saves muscle, but ephedrine won't. They are wrong, of course. In studies measuring body composition as well as weight loss, ephedrine has shown the ability to prevent lean tissue loss (3). In a small double blind study lasting eight weeks, two groups of obese women were given either 20 mg ephedrine with 200 mg caffeine (E+C) or placebo (P) three times daily. After eight weeks weight loss was not significantly different between the groups, but the E + C group lost 4.5 kg more body fat and 2.8 kg less fat free mass (FFM). That is a difference of more than six pounds in eight weeks. The expected decrease in 24-hour energy expenditure (EE) seen in the P group was 10% at day 1 and 13% at day 56, but was only 7% and 8% in the treated group. The higher EE in the E +C group was entirely covered by fat oxidation.

It?s no secret that Clenbuterol has potent anabolic effects in animals when used in dosages around 4 mg per kg body weight. What does seem to be a secret is that this effect is dependent on Clenbuterol?s long and steady activation of the beta receptors (4). The half-life of Clenbuterol is between 34-35 hours. All of the other beta agonists that have been labeled ineffective at preserving or even building muscle have half-lives much shorter, around only 6 hours. It has been demonstrated however, that when you infuse beta agonists with short half-lives, you can elicit the same anabolic activity (4). The reason is because infusion circumvents the half-life issue all together, providing a steady stream of agonist for the beta-receptors.

So what does all this have to do with ephedrine? Well, ephedrine also has a very short half-life, only about 3-4 hours. Keep in mind that this does not mean that ephedrine levels are high for the full 3-4 hours. In reality, they will peak early and then begin to decline quite rapidly. So if you are taking ephedrine every 4 hours, levels are pretty low for most of that time. What's the solution? Simple. Take ephedrine at least every 2 hours. You will find in doing so that you don't get the hills and valleys in your mood either. NOTE: if you are taking 20 mg ephedrine with 200 mg caffeine every 4 hours, you should half the dose to take it every 2 hours. That way you are still taking the same total amount over the course of the day. You will be surprised at how such a small change can dramatically improve the experience and results of using ephedrine and caffeine.

Points to take home

Keep carbs low while using ephedrine. Insulin counter-acts the effects of ephedrine and will ultimately hinder fat loss if carbs remain too high. This does not mean you must go on a ketogenic diet. If total calories are low enough, carbs become less of an issue. But if you are trying to keep muscle by lowering calories only slightly, the carbs will sabotage ephedrine's action.

Ephedrine and Clenbuterol have two different, yet similar mechanisms of action. Nevertheless, don't use Clenbuterol and ephedrine at the same time, or even in an alternating fashion. Both drugs work through the beta-adrenergic receptor, however, Clenbuterol will shut down beta-receptors within a few weeks. Taking ephedrine at that time will do little for you. Better to use ephedrine from the start of your diet, only switching to Clenbuterol no further than 3 weeks out from the contest.

In order to get the most benefit from ephedrine on muscle loss, adjust your dosing schedule to every 2 hours. This will enhance the duration and consistency of beta-adrenergic activity. Be sure to adjust the amount you take each time in order to maintain the total amount taken over the course of a day. For example, instead of taking 20 mg ephedrine and 200 mg caffeine 3 times daily, take 10 mg ephedrine and 100 mg caffeine 6 times daily.


References:

1. Van Harmelen V, Reynisdottir S, Cianflone K, Degerman E, Hoffstedt J, Nilsell K, Sniderman A, Arner P. Mechanisms involved in the regulation of free fatty acid release from isolated human fat cells by acylation-stimulating protein and insulin.J Biol Chem 1999 Jun 25;274(26):18243-51

2. Paquot N, Schneiter P, Jequier E, Tappy L. Effects of glucocorticoids and sympathomimetic agents on basal and insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism.Clin Physiol 1995 May;15(3):231-40

3. Astrup A, Buemann B, Christensen NJ, Toubro S, Thorbek G, Victor OJ, Quaade F. The effect of ephedrine/caffeine mixture on energy expenditure and body composition in obese women. Metabolism Jul;41(7):686-688. 1992

4. Choo J, Horan M, Litlle R, and Rothwell N. Anabolic effects of Clenbuterol on skeletal muscle are mediated by beta2-adrenoreceptor activation. Am J Physiol 1992; 263:E50-E56

 

[topherr]

Originally Posted by Dropten

Just a lil summn for you guys taking the EC stack or what ever ephedrine stack your taking

Ephedrine and caffeine: Little known facts about this dynamic duo

by Bryan Haycock - [NOTE: whenever I talk about taking ephedrine, assume I am also talking about caffeine] Ephedrine has truly moved into the mainstream over the last few years. With the onslaught of Metabo-whatever products in every mall and grocery store, nearly every housewife in America is on it. Today even the term "thermogenic" is a household word. Nevertheless, bodybuilders were the first to put ephedrine to widespread use and it remains today as one of our most important tools in contest prep.

Despite the widespread use of ephedrine, knowledge about how it works and how best to use it is rare. Even bodybuilders, who should know better, take it haphazardly without any rhyme or reason to their dosing schedule. Sure, most understand the synergistic 1:10 ratio of ephedrine to caffeine, but there is a lot more that can be done to further increase its effectiveness.

Ephedrine's mechanism of action

Let's start with ephedrine's basic mechanism of action. Ephedrine is a sympathomimetic, which means it acts to increase sympathetic activity. Why is this important? Because there is a drop in sympathetic activity when you cut calories. When you get a drop in sympathetic activity you get a decrease in metabolic rate and lower rates of lipolysis (fat mobilization). This can play a significant role in why you plateau on long-term diets. The use of ephedrine and caffeine can stave off this drop in metabolic rate and allow fat loss to continue unabated for several additional weeks.

People often want to compare ephedrine to Clenbuterol. This is fine as long as you realize that they act in different ways. Clenbuterol is a specific beta-2 adrenergic agonist. As such, Clenbuterol interacts directly with beta-2 receptors on muscle and fat tissue. Ephedrine, on the other hand, is not a direct beta-2 agonist. In fact, ephedrine is a poor ligand for the beta-2 receptor. Instead, ephedrine stimulates the release of noradrenaline from sympathetic nerve terminals. The noradrenaline then goes on to interact with muscle and fat cells as a nonspecific adrenergic agonist. This simply means that noradrenaline activates beta-2 receptors, but also other beta-receptors as well as alpha-receptors. So to compare ephedrine and Clenbuterol you must take into account their differences.

The differences between ephedrine and Clenbuterol are important. For example, Clenbuterol is a very potent beta-2 agonist. As a result, within 14 to 21 days, the beta-2 receptors on muscle and fat cells will be drawn into the cell membrane to reduce their availability to Clenbuterol. Then, if you continue to take it, they will be disassembled all together, leaving you insensitive to Clenbuterol. It then takes at least 2-3 weeks for receptors to replenish themselves on muscle and fat cells. Once again, ephedrine is different with respect to down regulation. Ephedrine, being a much weaker agonist, does not cause rapid desensitization and/or down-regulation of adrenergic receptors. This allows ephedrine to be used effectively for many months. Despite these differences, both drugs should be tapered over the course of several weeks before discontinuing them. If you don't, you will quickly replace the fat you just lost due to an increased appetite and a decreased ability of fat cells to mobilize stored fat.

Choosing the right diet to use with Ephedrine/Caffeine

Your diet will also make a difference in what effects ephedrine will produce. Insulin prevents lipolysis. Insulin has been shown to inhibit lipolysis in a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase- (PI3K) and phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3)-dependent manner and to stimulate fractional re-esterification of free fatty acids (FFAs), resulting in inhibition of FFA release (1,2). Even in the presence of ephedrine and/or noradrenaline, a high carbohydrate diet will reduce the fat mobilizing effects of ephedrine. This being the case, I generally recommend a low carb diet to get the most out of ephedrine and caffeine. Keep in mind, however, that over time, your body will not respond so well to ephedrine when on a low carb diet. This should not surprise you considering your metabolic rate (reflecting CNS activity) will drop like a led zeppelin on a low carb diet anyway. So, a periodic carb up is helpful in keeping ephedrine's thermogenic properties high. A carb up should last no longer than 2 days. I may be helpful to keep fat low during these two days, or if you must eat fat, make sure it is n-3 and/or n-6 fatty acids.

How to use ephedrine to keep that hard earned muscle

You may have heard the Clenbuterol prevents muscle loss during a diet. This is true. Beta-adrenergic stimulation can preserve muscle protein. If you ask your average bodybuilder they will usually tell you that indeed Clenbuterol saves muscle, but ephedrine won't. They are wrong, of course. In studies measuring body composition as well as weight loss, ephedrine has shown the ability to prevent lean tissue loss (3). In a small double blind study lasting eight weeks, two groups of obese women were given either 20 mg ephedrine with 200 mg caffeine (E+C) or placebo (P) three times daily. After eight weeks weight loss was not significantly different between the groups, but the E + C group lost 4.5 kg more body fat and 2.8 kg less fat free mass (FFM). That is a difference of more than six pounds in eight weeks. The expected decrease in 24-hour energy expenditure (EE) seen in the P group was 10% at day 1 and 13% at day 56, but was only 7% and 8% in the treated group. The higher EE in the E +C group was entirely covered by fat oxidation.

It?s no secret that Clenbuterol has potent anabolic effects in animals when used in dosages around 4 mg per kg body weight. What does seem to be a secret is that this effect is dependent on Clenbuterol?s long and steady activation of the beta receptors (4). The half-life of Clenbuterol is between 34-35 hours. All of the other beta agonists that have been labeled ineffective at preserving or even building muscle have half-lives much shorter, around only 6 hours. It has been demonstrated however, that when you infuse beta agonists with short half-lives, you can elicit the same anabolic activity (4). The reason is because infusion circumvents the half-life issue all together, providing a steady stream of agonist for the beta-receptors.

So what does all this have to do with ephedrine? Well, ephedrine also has a very short half-life, only about 3-4 hours. Keep in mind that this does not mean that ephedrine levels are high for the full 3-4 hours. In reality, they will peak early and then begin to decline quite rapidly. So if you are taking ephedrine every 4 hours, levels are pretty low for most of that time. What's the solution? Simple. Take ephedrine at least every 2 hours. You will find in doing so that you don't get the hills and valleys in your mood either. NOTE: if you are taking 20 mg ephedrine with 200 mg caffeine every 4 hours, you should half the dose to take it every 2 hours. That way you are still taking the same total amount over the course of the day. You will be surprised at how such a small change can dramatically improve the experience and results of using ephedrine and caffeine.

Points to take home

Keep carbs low while using ephedrine. Insulin counter-acts the effects of ephedrine and will ultimately hinder fat loss if carbs remain too high. This does not mean you must go on a ketogenic diet. If total calories are low enough, carbs become less of an issue. But if you are trying to keep muscle by lowering calories only slightly, the carbs will sabotage ephedrine's action.

Ephedrine and Clenbuterol have two different, yet similar mechanisms of action. Nevertheless, don't use Clenbuterol and ephedrine at the same time, or even in an alternating fashion. Both drugs work through the beta-adrenergic receptor, however, Clenbuterol will shut down beta-receptors within a few weeks. Taking ephedrine at that time will do little for you. Better to use ephedrine from the start of your diet, only switching to Clenbuterol no further than 3 weeks out from the contest.

In order to get the most benefit from ephedrine on muscle loss, adjust your dosing schedule to every 2 hours. This will enhance the duration and consistency of beta-adrenergic activity. Be sure to adjust the amount you take each time in order to maintain the total amount taken over the course of a day. For example, instead of taking 20 mg ephedrine and 200 mg caffeine 3 times daily, take 10 mg ephedrine and 100 mg caffeine 6 times daily.


References:

1. Van Harmelen V, Reynisdottir S, Cianflone K, Degerman E, Hoffstedt J, Nilsell K, Sniderman A, Arner P. Mechanisms involved in the regulation of free fatty acid release from isolated human fat cells by acylation-stimulating protein and insulin.J Biol Chem 1999 Jun 25;274(26):18243-51

2. Paquot N, Schneiter P, Jequier E, Tappy L. Effects of glucocorticoids and sympathomimetic agents on basal and insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism.Clin Physiol 1995 May;15(3):231-40

3. Astrup A, Buemann B, Christensen NJ, Toubro S, Thorbek G, Victor OJ, Quaade F. The effect of ephedrine/caffeine mixture on energy expenditure and body composition in obese women. Metabolism Jul;41(7):686-688. 1992

4. Choo J, Horan M, Litlle R, and Rothwell N. Anabolic effects of Clenbuterol on skeletal muscle are mediated by beta2-adrenoreceptor activation. Am J Physiol 1992; 263:E50-E56

not sure if you know what a 'lil summary' is.....

 

[rawex5]

^ Nice. Thanks.

 

[BranchLifestyle]

Originally Posted by topherr

not sure if you know what a 'lil summary' is.....


He said summn though...sumthin...not summary.

 

[dropten]

Originally Posted by topherr

not sure if you know what a 'lil summary' is.....



My bad....fixed

 

[scott frost]

Appreciate you posting that. If taking that article @ face value, it offers some very insightful and useful info.

 

[joe camel smooth]

good stuff...i started breaking up my doses from 200/25 3x a day to 100/12.5 6x a day right away, its way smoother that way
i sort of want to try clen the more i read about it though. 

i just get sort of confused about it.......on the one hand it seems to be a lot more "refined" than ephedrine, yet i have heard from most people who have tried both the EC(A) stack and clen  that the former was more effective

could be that they dosed the clen too low or didnt cycle it properly since you do get desensitized to it quickly, i have no idea. whereas everyone who does EC pretty much does the standard dose of 600 mg C 75 mg E spread out throughout the day.

 

[dropten]

Originally Posted by JOE CAMEL SMOOTH

good stuff...i started breaking up my doses from 200/25 3x a day to 100/12.5 6x a day right away, its way smoother that way
i sort of want to try clen the more i read about it though. 

i just get sort of confused about it.......on the one hand it seems to be a lot more "refined" than ephedrine, yet i have heard from most people who have tried both the EC(A) stack and clen  that the former was more effective

could be that they dosed the clen too low or didnt cycle it properly since you do get desensitized to it quickly, i have no idea. whereas everyone who does EC pretty much does the standard dose of 600 mg C 75 mg E spread out throughout the day.

I cant see why ppl say clen doesnt work better than ec. The problem with ppl and clen is that clen doesnt surpress the apetite in everyone.like ec. Its mildly does for me. Also clen wont give you the energy boost as ec does. Clen actually makes me sleepy. So for the people expecting those things, they may be dissapointed. As far as clen and its bad rap about killing heart cells, thats studies done on animals with doses of mgs per lb of body weight. The max ive seen any idiot clam to take is 160mcg...1000mcg = 1mg.(correct me if im.wrong) So you see, it would take alot of.clen to do.damage.

 

[joe camel smooth]

Originally Posted by Dropten

Originally Posted by JOE CAMEL SMOOTH

good stuff...i started breaking up my doses from 200/25 3x a day to 100/12.5 6x a day right away, its way smoother that way
i sort of want to try clen the more i read about it though. 

i just get sort of confused about it.......on the one hand it seems to be a lot more "refined" than ephedrine, yet i have heard from most people who have tried both the EC(A) stack and clen  that the former was more effective

could be that they dosed the clen too low or didnt cycle it properly since you do get desensitized to it quickly, i have no idea. whereas everyone who does EC pretty much does the standard dose of 600 mg C 75 mg E spread out throughout the day.

I cant see why ppl say clen doesnt work better than ec. The problem with ppl and clen is that clen doesnt surpress the apetite in everyone.like ec. Its mildly does for me. Also clen wont give you the energy boost as ec does. Clen actually makes me sleepy. So for the people expecting those things, they may be dissapointed. As far as clen and its bad rap about killing heart cells, thats studies done on animals with doses of mgs per lb of body weight. The max ive seen any idiot clam to take is 160mcg...1000mcg = 1mg.(correct me if im.wrong) So you see, it would take alot of.clen to do.damage.

yeah the appetite thing could be what's making the difference....i've heard most people say that clen boosted their appetite a little. normal stimulants like E and C bring it way down obviously. 
yeah 160 mcg is a very high dose, mg would probably be fatal 

can't stand BS studies like that, if that dosage is correct what the %%%% is it supposed to demonstrate? 

i've actually read it has cardioprotective properties in more realistic doses, maybe not on all heart cells but on some. i've also heard stuff about it causing crazy left ventricle enlargment though, which is what makes me sort of wary of it.....that sort of stuff already happens to athletes/weightlifters as it is

 

[dmvbatman]

I got money now to get back in the gym and pay for a membership but I just haven't been focused, even though I keep telling myself I'm going to get back in.

smh.

 

[topherr]

lets bump this

 

[jewseejay]

im under 200 lbs...

#progress

199.2

 

[upt88]

Originally Posted by JOE CAMEL SMOOTH

good stuff...i started breaking up my doses from 200/25 3x a day to 100/12.5 6x a day right away, its way smoother that way
i sort of want to try clen the more i read about it though. 

i just get sort of confused about it.......on the one hand it seems to be a lot more "refined" than ephedrine, yet i have heard from most people who have tried both the EC(A) stack and clen  that the former was more effective

could be that they dosed the clen too low or didnt cycle it properly since you do get desensitized to it quickly, i have no idea. whereas everyone who does EC pretty much does the standard dose of 600 mg C 75 mg E spread out throughout the day.

i've heard of taking the second and third doses without the caffeine because it would be too much for your body to handle, so just the E the second and third doses
i find on days i take a second dose after workout with out the caffeine i find myself staying up later at night.
dude how do you sleep taking 600 mg of caffeine  day??????

 

[dacityslanga]

Originally Posted by JewSeeJay

im under 200 lbs...

#progress

199.2

When I hit under 200 in 2009 I was feeling like

Now Im at 182 and loving it.  Motivation is on 1000 right now

 

[i3]

Hey yo, at my new gym a guy came up to me and said my squat form was good.. except I was going too low?  I always thought the lower the better? He said long-term it'll cause back injuries etc.. and that parallel is all you need to do.  Ive done a 1RM of 130kg once with ****e form (weigh on 65kg). But this season I started back at 80kg going ATG, currently at 95kg adding 2.5kg a workout.

Im not ever going to squat like 120-130kgs for a good 5x5.  Im training for sport, so the most i'll ever probably go is 100kg 5x5 - what's the point in going past that?

Anyway dude had some good advice.. one of his sayings:

"Train the muscle not the ego"

 

[theemperor45]

Originally Posted by I3

Hey yo, at my new gym a guy came up to me and said my squat form was good.. except I was going too low?  I always thought the lower the better? He said long-term it'll cause back injuries etc.. and that parallel is all you need to do.  Ive done a 1RM of 130kg once with ****e form (weigh on 65kg). But this season I started back at 80kg going ATG, currently at 95kg adding 2.5kg a workout.

Im not ever going to squat like 120-130kgs for a good 5x5.  Im training for sport, so the most i'll ever probably go is 100kg 5x5 - what's the point in going past that?

Anyway dude had some good advice.. one of his sayings:

"Train the muscle not the ego"

if your form is good and you can handle the weight then a deep squat should be no problem

 

[luckyluchiano]

You guys reccomend a good diet? I already have the physical frame I want, now I`m just trying to tone up and lose the pounds I gained since I stopped playing sports smh.

I was thinking a straight Meat,Fruit,Veggie, Water diet.

cutting out:
juices
bad sweets
bread
pasta (bad carbs?)

pretty much the cave man diet.

In regard to meal portions per day, do you guys agree with the 3 normal meal thing, or 5 small meals?

 

[doublejs07]

Originally Posted by JewSeeJay

im under 200 lbs...

#progress

199.2

that's what's up!

I was 210 about 3 weeks ago, and now I'm down to 203.  I got a lil too bulky and my ideal weight is between 195-199.  I just cut a lot of carbs and upped my running before work in the AM. 

*Let me ask yall....there's an exercise I'm interested in (I think it's part of a power-lifting routine), but I don't know the name of it.  I'll do my best to describe...

You use a barbell/plates and have the same range of motion as an upright row, but there is a slight jump.  What is it? 

 

[nealraj006]

Originally Posted by JewSeeJay

warm ups are overrated and studies show that they can actually hinder peak performance... jus do some of the traditional arm stretches (tris, corss arms, shoulder rotations)

Ive had a bad right shoulder since my playing days and what i did prior to starting to lift heavy again was alotta resistance stuff to strengthen the stabilizers... so i knew I repped around 205/225... so for a few weeks i did 185 doing the last 2 reps as slowly as humanly possibly... basically at times jus holding the weight for a few seconds until I was forced to bring it down another inch or two... fast forward to now, no shoulder/scapula pain and i can do that w/ 225... eccentric/concentric contractions/expansions are equally as important

that plus using an IT band (resistance cord) has worked wonders, my shoulders feel great


Warm ups are a necessary part of a sound workout plan. If you're doing static stretching in your workout, you can certainly hinder peak performance though. Other forms of stretching can be useful to warm up with. If you're interested, check out "Stretching Scientifically" by Thomas Kurz. Dynamic stretching, working with some resistance through the proper range of motion of the joint, etc. are all very useful ways to warm up. 
Resistance bands are a great tool for shoulder stability and overall strength. They're also good for developing shoulder ROM as well. If you're looking for a routine to do with bands, I strongly recommend the routines that Ido Portal has posted on his youtube account: portaldo 

 

[nealraj006]

Originally Posted by LuckyLuchiano

You guys reccomend a good diet? I already have the physical frame I want, now I`m just trying to tone up and lose the pounds I gained since I stopped playing sports smh.

I was thinking a straight Meat,Fruit,Veggie, Water diet.

cutting out:
juices
bad sweets
bread
pasta (bad carbs?)

pretty much the cave man diet.

In regard to meal portions per day, do you guys agree with the 3 normal meal thing, or 5 small meals?

Meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, and tubers. Paleo, Primal, Caveman, etc. Diet. I'm a fan of this style of eating.
Meal frequency is individual based on schedule, nutritional needs, activity levels, etc. Generally I prefer larger meals to smaller meals. If you're an athlete training 5+ hours per day, smaller meals can be useful. If you workout an hour per day at most, less frequent meals won't hinder performance, and will help with satiation. But keep in mind that your body will adjust to whatever you're doing, so large meals will start to feel less filling. I'm not suggesting you count calories or anything, but make sure you know the difference between your mouth and a vacuum.

Remember, fats are easy to overeat with as well, being that they have the highest calorie density of any macronutrient. I'm not saying that you avoid them, but keep an eye on problematic food sources. For example, many people don't get full when they eat nuts. Either limit yourself to a set amount when you eat nuts or you can decide to simply eliminate them from your diet. Your choice.

Some good sources of information include: 

robbwolf.com 

archevore.com 

marksdailyapple.com 

 

[hippo]

^high pull

 

[luckyluchiano]

Originally Posted by nealraj006

Originally Posted by LuckyLuchiano

You guys reccomend a good diet? I already have the physical frame I want, now I`m just trying to tone up and lose the pounds I gained since I stopped playing sports smh.

I was thinking a straight Meat,Fruit,Veggie, Water diet.

cutting out:
juices
bad sweets
bread
pasta (bad carbs?)

pretty much the cave man diet.

In regard to meal portions per day, do you guys agree with the 3 normal meal thing, or 5 small meals?

Meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, and tubers. Paleo, Primal, Caveman, etc. Diet. I'm a fan of this style of eating.
Meal frequency is individual based on schedule, nutritional needs, activity levels, etc. Generally I prefer larger meals to smaller meals. If you're an athlete training 5+ hours per day, smaller meals can be useful. If you workout an hour per day at most, less frequent meals won't hinder performance, and will help with satiation. But keep in mind that your body will adjust to whatever you're doing, so large meals will start to feel less filling. I'm not suggesting you count calories or anything, but make sure you know the difference between your mouth and a vacuum.

Remember, fats are easy to overeat with as well, being that they have the highest calorie density of any macronutrient. I'm not saying that you avoid them, but keep an eye on problematic food sources. For example, many people don't get full when they eat nuts. Either limit yourself to a set amount when you eat nuts or you can decide to simply eliminate them from your diet. Your choice.

Some good sources of information include: 

robbwolf.com 

archevore.com 

marksdailyapple.com 

So with the 5 meal a day thing, technically I`m assuming it really translates into 3 meals and 2 snakcs ie: Breakfast,Snack,Lunch Snack,Dinner?
Like would eating an orange and a cup of nuts, count as a meal?

And I`m a "retired" athlete lol, so I plan on just doing cardio in the gym or walking, and lifting weights.

 

[jewseejay]

Originally Posted by nealraj006

Originally Posted by JewSeeJay

warm ups are overrated and studies show that they can actually hinder peak performance... jus do some of the traditional arm stretches (tris, corss arms, shoulder rotations)

Ive had a bad right shoulder since my playing days and what i did prior to starting to lift heavy again was alotta resistance stuff to strengthen the stabilizers... so i knew I repped around 205/225... so for a few weeks i did 185 doing the last 2 reps as slowly as humanly possibly... basically at times jus holding the weight for a few seconds until I was forced to bring it down another inch or two... fast forward to now, no shoulder/scapula pain and i can do that w/ 225... eccentric/concentric contractions/expansions are equally as important

that plus using an IT band (resistance cord) has worked wonders, my shoulders feel great

Warm ups are a necessary part of a sound workout plan. If you're doing static stretching in your workout, you can certainly hinder peak performance though. Other forms of stretching can be useful to warm up with. If you're interested, check out "Stretching Scientifically" by Thomas Kurz. Dynamic stretching, working with some resistance through the proper range of motion of the joint, etc. are all very useful ways to warm up. 
Resistance bands are a great tool for shoulder stability and overall strength. They're also good for developing shoulder ROM as well. If you're looking for a routine to do with bands, I strongly recommend the routines that Ido Portal has posted on his youtube account: portaldo 

my b I shoulda clarified... warm up reps... like i said i do some static and even dynamic stretching before jus nuthing with weights (besides using a 5 lb dumbell for shoulder rotations)

like I said studies show that warm up sets arnt very if at all useful when trying to hit performance PEAKS.

and tru that. resistance bands have fixed my shoulder for the most part and gotten my back ripped. even my obliques from different trunk rotation exercises

 

[rawex5]

I start my cut today and will start on EC tomorrow. Starting weight 188.