_Bropollo_ Member

My GF used e-cig/vaping to quit. Gradually stepped down nictotine to 0%, then just stopped altogether. She said it helped her gradually get used to having less and less nicotine, plus keeping the e-cig charged all the time was a enough of a pain to make smoking a tedious activity for her.

Planning to compete in 2017

Honestly we would need to see a video for a form check. Knees hurting can be a couple things: -Knees coming "over" toes. If your heels are lifting at all, you are too far forward. -Knees not tracking with toes. Everybody has a differently spaced out stance based on body mechanics, but the rule is that the wider you squat,…

Why you need rest day, summed up in one picture:

Could be a lot of things, OP: -Too few calories (your weight loss goal is too aggressive) -Possibly you are not making enough of the calories come from carbohydrates (glycogen stores are depleted) -Iron/vitamin D deficient -Sleep deprived -Bored with current routine Everything but the last one are easy enough to fix. If…

15 lbs in a few weeks? Yeah don't do that. Women can put on about 0.25lbs of muscle a week. That is it, and that is only if you are training and eating properly. If you shoot for 15lbs in a few weeks its going to be 90% fat and not really a healthy move. As @nakedraygun said, you only need to be 250 calories over your TDEE…

I have never seen this chart before, but I may steal it as a response for future questions, it's fantastic!

Sounds like you are lactose sensitive. I would avoid it to help you feel better, but it's not what is keeping you from losing weight. I would seek out non-dairy creamer for your tea (there are all kinds of them in the store), and use lactose-free milk. I'm dairy sensitive myself, I feel pressurized and have to use the…

Just get a hoodie and sweatpants for the ride home OP. Keeps you warm, keeps the car from getting all sweat-a-fied....problem solved

Are you making sure to include progressive overload into the program? Try alternating between higher rep days (hypertrophy) and strength days where you slap on 5-10lbs (depending on the lift obvisously) and do reps in the 5-8 range. You need to be constantly pushing to add more weight to not stall. Having a spotter can…

What kind of lifting routine are you following?

You need to be taking steps to cut and not just lose weight if you want to keep muscle. A cut involves: -A calorie deficit of no more than 20% under maintenance -Frequent lifting. You should be hitting the same muscle groups roughly every 48 hrs. -Adequate protein. Aim for 0.8g/lbs of bodyweight Made a similar post here:…

erm....not entirely sure how to answer. If you aren't in a calorie surplus, the vast majority of the strength increases you experience will be from improved CNS connection since your body doesn't really have any extra energy left over to synthesize new muscle fiber. Eating more calories won't make you stronger, per se,…

Strength = number of muscle fibers x control signal being pumped to them. So you can get pretty big and have ppl somewhat smaller than you outlifting you if they have a better trained CNS. But at the same time, your CNS can only pump out so much juice and make so many connections; at some point, you just have to add more…

Cutting involves picking a moderate deficit, lifting consistently, and battling to keep those lifting numbers from dropping. You have to signal to your body, through the stimulus of lifting, that it is not allowed to thrift muscle to stay calorie efficient because you need that muscle to "survive". Your body just needs to…

OP mentioned someone gave her that advice. Not anybody here (I hope)

A year to bulk?!? Yeah, no. That is bad advice. Maybe 2-3 months, as you can put muscle on even in a small deficit during the "newbie phase". It definitely won't hurt though to be in a small surplus even in the newbie phase. 22% is about middle of the range if I am looking at the numbers for females correctly, so you can…

Buff Dudes are awesome. Love their channel, its hilarious.

I only stayed on for 20 weeks. It's not a forever program. You would probably benefit from some hypertrophy work at this point. I have done best switching between strength and hypertrophy focus every few sessions, helps bust plateaus. I modified the program right from the start to include pull-ups as part of the 5x5…

The "best" is subjective and varies on person, but here is a list of some better ones that will have the stimulating effect you are looking for. There are more out there not on this list that are probably just as good: bestworkoutsupplementsblog.com/top-10-pre-workout-supplements/

Which one? Muscle Ignition likely won't be very helpful, as it is just creatine monohydrate and some carbs. Creatine will absolutley help you lift better, as it increases the work capacity of your muslces, but you can take it any time of day and it will have ultimately the same effect when you get the to gym (you just have…

Honestly, try a couple and see what you like best. C4 is good mix of stimulants, a bit pricey. I personally use and like it, although you will build up a tolerance to it after a couple weeks and will need to take a week or so off, although you will need to do that with any pre-workout. If you are sensitive to caffeine,…

Visible ab definition is the result of low enough bodyfat % + training your abs enough to have visible separation. You seem pretty thin already based on PP, what is your estimated bodyfat %? How did you measure it?

Core strength is never a bad thing. Start yesterday. If your goal was to have ab definition however, that is 90% from a low bodyfat level. For guys, you need to be at least 12% bodyfat or lower to have visibly separated ab muscles.

Likely your knees travel over/past your toes. Common issue during squats. Make sure to keep your back upright. Using a low-bar squat position and a slightly wider stance can help, just make sure to adjust your foot angle accordingly so your knees track in line with your foot if you do so.

Both. Weight training will take a big majority of your training time, but you need to bust out 20 mins or so of high-intensity cardio work a few times a week to help increase your aerobic endurance and improve your stamina. The majority of your fat loss is done in the kitchen though. Remember you can't really lose fat and…

You can't spot reduce. Your body unfortunately chooses to lose fat there last. Keep dropping fat through a calorie deficit and it will come off.

Valsalva maneuver. Increases your lifting ability/stability by increasing your core pressure. You can utilize this technique without a belt by inhaling and squeezing your core hard during normal reps, but having something to "push" against with your gut maximizes the effectiveness of this technique. If you have heart or…

Depends on what I am sick with, but if I do I take it easy and deload my lifts and cut my training volume. Goal is just not to backslide too hard but also not make the illness worse.

Pretty much this. Try busting out an extra rep or two on the weaker side for each set with dumbbells. Between iso movements and slightly pushing volume up, you can correct the split. I have the same problem with my triceps; left significantly behind the right. Makes bench awkward.