Gym And Supplement Discussion

[The Bogan]

On a sad note that last program I put up had me getting into the overtraining zone, getting old sucks arse, recovery is not what it use to be.

I will need to remove some of the fluff exercises so I can just concentrate on the important stuff, so basically doing the big 4 with 1 main lift and 2 assistance per day.

At least this will free up some more time for more warm up and cool down exercises and stretches.

I try and resist the aging process but every so often it lines me up kicks me in the balls.

f**k YOU OLD MAN TIME, I'LL KILL YA, I'LL f**kING KILL YA..

[r31slpr]

yeah I put on a couple of kg over xmas, can't go on a calorie deficit yet, as I've got my first PL comp coming up. After that though I'm going to spend the rest of the year or so trying to get down from 120-125kg to 105-110.

what numbers are you aiming for at the comp?

Semi related, what pants are you guys and girls squatting in? I just had a massive blow out

[Trozzle]

^^^^ pair of full length compression tights with basketball/cycling shorts, and barefoot/socks

[PWND]

Christmas and New Years was brutal. Between shit diet and starting Creatine, I am up to 119kg.

Time to cut out carbs and sugar for a few weeks to drop 10kg and then go from there.

[No Crust Racing]

Mixed bag here.

After upsetting my shoulder, I gave it 2 full weeks then had a light session which it didn't like, gave it another week and then had an even lighter session which was OK but then spend 3 days working on my sister in law's car to fix her aircon and had to skip another few sessions, so for 4 weeks I've done 2 shitful sessions.

I've also had more than enough to eat and drink. My weight hasn't changed but my composition certainly has.

On the plus side, I've been for at least 4x 2.5k jogs in the last 2 weeks without major ankle soreness.

2015 will be a slow and steady rebuild I think, plus I'll look to take the next step in ankle rehab/mobility and see if I can improve on that and get back to some half decent cardio (might get my exercise bike back too as I'm a shit squatter so bike will help with legs and cardio at the same time).

Hope you all had good xmas and new years.

Oh and completely stopped DAA, basically any dosage of it killed my sleep patterns and there was no other discernible gain beyond feeling more awake/alert/focused. I should try that maca root powder you guys mentioned, seems interesting.

[Trozzle]

I've been giving the MACA a shot....the problem I have with these kind of supplements is that they have next to zero scientific studies done on them to actually PROVE their claims, and the claimed effects themselves are that f**king subtle they might as well be placebo. 10 minutes extra sleep in the morning probably makes more of a noticeable difference in alertness etc etc than the teaspoon of MACA powder you ingested shortly after waking.

[No Crust Racing]

If your sleep was that easily affected I'd agree for that person, mine is not. 6hrs or 9 has no bearing on how I feel the next day.

The QUALITY of that sleep, however has a big impact as is obvious the instant I wake up.

By that I mean how many times have I woken up, was it too hot, too cold etc.

That will of course vary for others, but I'm neither light sleeper nor a log so the quality of my sleep can be a bit up and down.

[r31slpr]

^^^^ pair of full length compression tights with basketball/cycling shorts, and barefoot/socks

Not a fan of compression gear and it was a pair of basketball shorts I destroyed haha

[Trozzle]

If your sleep was that easily affected I'd agree for that person, mine is not. 6hrs or 9 has no bearing on how I feel the next day.

The QUALITY of that sleep, however has a big impact as is obvious the instant I wake up.

By that I mean how many times have I woken up, was it too hot, too cold etc.

That will of course vary for others, but I'm neither light sleeper nor a log so the quality of my sleep can be a bit up and down.

Missed my point Dan I was emphasising the fact that any claimed effects from things like MACA are going to be barely noticeable, and for the average person it's impossible to conclude the MACA played any role whatsoever in their circumstances changing. My point was that it'd be impossible to discern whether the teaspoon of MACA is responsible for any elevations/improvements over other tiny seemingly irrelevant changes that would go unnoticed - like the 10 minutes of sleep I mention. Good sleep, shit sleep - makes no difference in my point - on a scale of 1 - 100 for gauging the impact of something, consider that extra 10 minutes sleep might make an improvement of 15 points, while the MACA made an improvement of 5. Really, they're both such pissweak improvements alone there's no way you could definitively conclude it was either one responsible.

Hell, accidentally inhaling some saliva in your sleep causing your subconsciousness to cough a whole bunch without waking you up probably has just as much of a detrimental impact on how you feel when you wake as MACA does an improvement

Make sense?

Not a fan of compression gear and it was a pair of basketball shorts I destroyed haha

hahaha that's fair if not compression gear, I can't see any type of clothing making a difference - as long as it doesn't stick to your skin and/or bind up hindering the movement.

[r31slpr]

Yep need to find something that doesn't stick haha

[Birds]

I used to wear knee length shorts and longer when squatting and occasionally they would catch on my knees and hinder movement or at the bottom of my squat I actually tore a couple of pairs lol...worst sound ever.

I now wear stretchy material / loose running shorts, which finish a few inches above the knees. When you're a tall guy with long legs this makes you look like leg day is a once a year occurrence for you, but the range of motion is awesome and uninhibited - might as well be squatting naked.

[Birds]

Dan, ditch the shoulder exercise for at least 2 months. It was 6 months before I even touched bench press again and these days I'm smashing records again. Play the patient game and you will be grateful in the long term. You won't lose that much muscle and strength will come back quickly, but take that time off man or you could make it worse.

Just do the internal/external rotation work with bands (provided the injury allows it) and rehab exercises with very light dumbells - these are miracle workers for shoulder rehabilitation.

[No Crust Racing]

Missed my point Dan I was emphasising the fact that any claimed effects from things like MACA are going to be barely noticeable, and for the average person it's impossible to conclude the MACA played any role whatsoever in their circumstances changing. My point was that it'd be impossible to discern whether the teaspoon of MACA is responsible for any elevations/improvements over other tiny seemingly irrelevant changes that would go unnoticed - like the 10 minutes of sleep I mention. Good sleep, shit sleep - makes no difference in my point - on a scale of 1 - 100 for gauging the impact of something, consider that extra 10 minutes sleep might make an improvement of 15 points, while the MACA made an improvement of 5. Really, they're both such pissweak improvements alone there's no way you could definitively conclude it was either one responsible.

Hell, accidentally inhaling some saliva in your sleep causing your subconsciousness to cough a whole bunch without waking you up probably has just as much of a detrimental impact on how you feel when you wake as MACA does an improvement

Make sense?

hahaha that's fair if not compression gear, I can't see any type of clothing making a difference - as long as it doesn't stick to your skin and/or bind up hindering the movement.

Yeah I get what you're saying.

I thought everyone here loved the maca powder? Clearly no great impactfor you? Given how much impact the DAA had on me, I'm not opposed to the idea of a teaspoon of something not being able to affect me.

[No Crust Racing]

I used to wear knee length shorts and longer when squatting and occasionally they would catch on my knees and hinder movement or at the bottom of my squat I actually tore a couple of pairs lol...worst sound ever.

I now wear stretchy material / loose running shorts, which finish a few inches above the knees. When you're a tall guy with long legs this makes you look like leg day is a once a year occurrence for you, but the range of motion is awesome and uninhibited - might as well be squatting naked.

Dan, ditch the shoulder exercise for at least 2 months. It was 6 months before I even touched bench press again and these days I'm smashing records again. Play the patient game and you will be grateful in the long term. You won't lose that much muscle and strength will come back quickly, but take that time off man or you could make it worse.

Just do the internal/external rotation work with bands (provided the injury allows it) and rehab exercises with very light dumbells - these are miracle workers for shoulder rehabilitation.

Already lost a heap of strength and muscle, at least in terms of size has notable dropped, but my body responds fairly quickly to losing it and going back to "normal" as I'm naturally a rake.

I dropped 30kg off the bench and it felt OK, did chins and dips with no added weight, just bodyweight and it felt OK too, dropped some off the squat also and it felt 'OK'

If it wasn't for having spent 3 days working on the aircon in a FWD euro car I'd be feeling better. I skipped last night completely to allow more rest time after being my mechanic stint and went for a jog instead, I'm in no mega rush.

[Trozzle]

I used to wear knee length shorts and longer when squatting and occasionally they would catch on my knees and hinder movement or at the bottom of my squat I actually tore a couple of pairs lol...worst sound ever.

I now wear stretchy material / loose running shorts, which finish a few inches above the knees. When you're a tall guy with long legs this makes you look like leg day is a once a year occurrence for you, but the range of motion is awesome and uninhibited - might as well be squatting naked.

This is me 100% hahahahaha. Actually looks worse when I'm wearing full length tights under my normal cargo shorts. Since they're long, you can't see anything above the knee....and since they're baggy, they emphasise the scrawniness of my calves lol

Yeah I get what you're saying.

I thought everyone here loved the maca powder? Clearly no great impactfor you? Given how much impact the DAA had on me, I'm not opposed to the idea of a teaspoon of something not being able to affect me.

Oh, I love it already if only for the interesting flavour it adds to my shakes hahahaha. All I'm saying is don't expect miracles, and likely anything you THINK you notice in regards to improvements upon starting MACA supplementation is going to be either placebo, or a completely unrelated occurrence/change you just didn't notice (like the extra sleep ).

Regardless, for the price (when you consider the dosage), I can't see ANY reason not to give it a shot, save for disliking the taste/texture or it having a negative impact through intolerance/allergy

Edited January 6, 2015 by Trozzle

[No Crust Racing]

Oh, I love it already if only for the interesting flavour it adds to my shakes hahahaha. All I'm saying is don't expect miracles, and likely anything you THINK you notice in regards to improvements upon starting MACA supplementation is going to be either placebo, or a completely unrelated occurrence/change you just didn't notice (like the extra sleep ).

Regardless, for the price (when you consider the dosage), I can't see ANY reason not to give it a shot, save for disliking the taste/texture or it having a negative impact through intolerance/allergy

I'm more interested in feeling awake/alert/focused without relying on caffeine/stimulants etc.

[Trozzle]

Which is precisely why I'm saying don't expect to notice it making a difference, as it'll be so subtle it'd probably make that morning regular flat white feel like a point of meth in comparison

Bottom line - get on it anyway. I'll still call placebo on you, but I'm more than happy for you to call me out on the above claims by telling me it's doing leaps and bounds over caffeine for ya

[No Crust Racing]

If it's that subtle, it's not worth the effort in my eyes. Won't know til I try, but if the comments are that muted, why try...

Edited January 6, 2015 by ActionDan

[Trozzle]

And with all that said, personally I still place quite a bit of value on the placebo effect. Even if it's all in your head - if it's the result of taking a supplement, THINKING it's doing something, and then mind over matter takes over the reigns and makes this thought a reality....that's still one-up on having taken nothing at all.

Even placebo is worth something

[Trozzle]

Coz it's cheap and tasty (imo).

Why do we augment our intake in any way at all, if it's not actually benefiting us (like flavouring)?