Bodybuilding/Workout/Diet thread

[Eagaholic]

Traditionally, you need some pre and post-workout carbs to get the best muscle-building results. That said, I've found that carbs at night are like death for me. Put on weight instantly. For me, anyway, it's more about the right carbs, and not "low" carbs. It's more about cutting out the crap. I'm probably around 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fats right now. Just got down to 10% body fat, which I'm happy about. No matter what I grade out at, though, I always feel like I need to drop ten pounds...which is a pain in the ass. I'm fairly sure being Irish isn't really helping there ;-). My wife is Italian and she gets absolutely shredded just by looking at weights. Bitch.

Yes, this makes sense to me. I found I actually tended to lose some muscle mass with very low carbs, even with heavy lifting. I still can't seem to lose much fat, but I only do cardio 2 or 3 times a week.

On the bright side, cutting out most sugar/junk and getting acupuncture and chiropractic, it looks like I've gotten rid of my shoulder and knee bursitis. I feel like for the first time in 5 years (since I blew out my shoulder) I have my body back. Played volleyball on hard court today and had no problems diving or smashing the ball. This evening I might even play on the beach.

[Zanshin]

I gave up diet soda a few months ago, and I think that's made a difference. I've done a number of other things to feel better, but I think that was a biggie. I was drinking way too much of that crap. I've read that too much of those chemicals contribute to joint pain and memory loss.

The stuff was like an addiction, though. Wanted to give it up for a long time, but could never do it for more than a couple of days. Now, I have no idea what the big deal was and have no desire for the stuff. Weird.

[Eagaholic]

I think it's the same thing with McDonalds. Every time I ate something from there my heart rate went up by about 20, it didn't seem to matter if it was a shake or burger. I swear they put some kid of addictive shtein in it, maybe it's the same with diet soda.

[mpmcgraw]

Working out a part of your body that already has muscle soreness is retarded. If anything you'll lose muscle, not gain it

I don't know who said that I just read 5 pages but I thought I'd throw that out there.

[Sgt PSN]

Working out a part of your body that already has muscle soreness is retarded. If anything you'll lose muscle, not gain it

true, but not true.

it is retarded and you do lose strength, but you will quickly gain mucsle as well. 

if you work your upper body with pull ups, push ups, bench press, etc you will notice a decline in the amount of reps you can do because you're breaking your muscles down.  but eventually you will reach a point where the muscle will begin building back up and it will build back up fast and strong. 

it happened to me, and everyone else in my platoon, when i went through bootcamp.  excessive amounts of pushups, pull ups, etc etc.  when i got there i was doing about 13 dead hang pullups.  2 weeks later i could only do maybe 7 max.   a few weeks after that i was up to 20. 

same thing was true with running.  after a few weeks of bootcamp, everyone's run time got slower and slower.  then after another couple of weeks, we were all running faster than ever. 

of course, i wouldn't really recommend anyone to try and model their training regimen after bootcamp techniques but if you really want to put yourself through hell and feel some pain and have a hard time lifting your arms above your head, then by all means, feel free.   

[rjs246]

Do any non-athlete/non-day-laborer adults care about strength? I would sacrifice all strength to look great without a shirt on. Of course currently I neither look great without a shirt nor possess any strength, but I just can't imagine caring how much weight I can toss around now that I'm not playing a sport.

[mpmcgraw]

Agree with all of that but I don't think I explained what I meant well enough. I meant if you have muscle soreness from a previous days workout and work it out again all you are doing is interrupting the recovery period. There's really nothing to gain from it.

[Zanshin]

Do any non-athlete/non-day-laborer adults care about strength? I would sacrifice all strength to look great without a shirt on. Of course currently I neither look great without a shirt nor possess any strength, but I just can't imagine caring how much weight I can toss around now that I'm not playing a sport.

Unless you move refrigerators for a living, it doesn't matter.

[PhillyPhreak54]

I gave up diet soda a few months ago, and I think that's made a difference. I've done a number of other things to feel better, but I think that was a biggie. I was drinking way too much of that crap. I've read that too much of those chemicals contribute to joint pain and memory loss.

The stuff was like an addiction, though. Wanted to give it up for a long time, but could never do it for more than a couple of days. Now, I have no idea what the big deal was and have no desire for the stuff. Weird.

I did that during my big loss a couple years ago. I drink two-three diet cokes a day now. I'm going to drop them for awhile again though. I already drink a shteinload of water, so I will keep that up and toss in some crystal light flavor packs here and there to keep me sane.

[Diomedes]

this thread is so womanish it's revolting

[Zanshin]

Nothing more manly than trying to beat the hell out of your genetic proclivities.

[SD_Eagle5]

Agree with all of that but I don't think I explained what I meant well enough. I meant if you have muscle soreness from a previous days workout and work it out again all you are doing is interrupting the recovery period. There's really nothing to gain from it.

If you work out  your muscles to the point of exhaustion then you're right, slight muscle soreness you should work through. The whole 'Pumping Iron' way of lifting till you can't move mentality is slowly going away.

[paco]

this thread is so womanish it's revolting

So I shouldn't tell you that when I want a sweet snack, I reach for banana chips?

[mpmcgraw]

Anybody take any supplements or anything like that?

I'm up to two whey protein drinks ( one before workout one sometime after) and one sugar free red bull before. Between the two whey drinks there is 90 grams of protein (23 grams per cup and I put two cups in each drink) which seems pretty massive so I'm hoping to start seeing some major gains. I've been really running through the wall with my new routine.

   I don't have much of a dietary plan outside of the whey though. I'm only 18 though and I'm only trying to put on muscle not lose any fat so I'm not sure if it's necessary.

[SD_Eagle5]

General rule of thumb when trying to gain mass is 1.5 grams of protein per body pound. You want most of your protein to come from meats like fish, chicken, beef etc. Supplements like whey are great for post workout because they absorb fast into the muscle...your muscles have an hour or so window where they take in extra protein because the muscle rushes to recover. With diets find one one that works for you and stick to it. Also space your protein intake 2-3 hours apart, otherwise your body transforms it into fat.