JAYxMSxPES Member

I would suggest just leaving Starting Strength as it is without edits. Mark Rippletoe is incredibly experienced and I see no reason to change what he's written. If the person is truly a beginner and untrained, do they have the strength to do chins / dips? If he/she can, then maybe throwing some in isn't horrible on day 2.…

How long ago was the injury? And it still hurts? If the injury has gone on for a while, you should see a doctor to rule out a tear/rupture or even to see if your hips are misaligned. The problem with a hip injury is that in most lower body exercises the hip is either eccentrically or concentrically loaded. Not picking on…

I bought liquid chalk because the bars at my gym have next to no knurling. I ended-up using chalk for all lifts, part of routine now.

If you really feel you need it, checkout the JYM products. It's one of the few that is actually done right in-terms of PWO's. Not saying it's the only, just one of few.

That's kinematically impossible. If your triceps and pecs weren't firing, you couldn't move the bar upwards at all. Perhaps they're just not developed enough for the loads you want to move. It's hard to say what's going on without seeing you actually Press or Bench Press. If you want to post a video I'm sure many of us…

Pre-workouts are definitely not needed by any means. If you feel the need to take one, my suggestion would be JYM's pre-workout. It actually has more to it than a ton of caffeine and some creatine. It has a good mix of different supplements that can improve performance and at the correct quantity or the quantities used in…

I wouldn't do a damn thing to be honest. Work with your doctor, do what they tell you, get into physical therapy as soon as you're able to. I hurt my back about 9 years ago, (disc protrusion L4/L5) and I took some time off and just did the PT. If you rush it you're not going to heal well and risk additional injury.

That's good to know, didn't realize he wrote one. Thanks

I'd email somebody like John Meadows (Mountain Dog Training), Shelby Starnes, or even Layne Norton to see what they think. Try and find somebody with a background in prepping bodybuilders. It might exist, but I'm not aware of one specific to bodybuilding, at least not a legit one. NASM's OPT model has hypertrophy…

The queue to push your knees out is more for correct tracking of the knees and your lower body in-general. Since at the base of the squat your hips are in a flexed position, to extend your hips your glutes must fire which is where the glute activation comes from. Low bar can be more taxing to the CNS because the lifter can…

The supplement is interesting but some of the results seemed mixed, negative in some cases. Not to mention some of the studies are animal studies which are out-of-context anyway. For those involved in strength training, creatine, beatinine (spelling?), beta-alanine, etc., are all better options.

Yes. Definitely start tracking your nutrition better. It's possible you'll find out that you're not hitting that 4K. What does your training look like?

Your PT told you that squeezing your butt protects your back and engages the muscles? At the top of the squat the exercise is done. Correct breathing and bracing of your abs and obliques while maintaining a neutral spine is how you protect your back. And although the glutes, not hip flexors, play a big role in the…

I deadlift on "deadlift day". Not being a smart-*kitten*... The focus is the deadlift and then I do a couple accessory exercises to support improvement in the deadlift.

They did say that even with protein consumed above the 20-30gm (was it?) not all of it is oxidized and some is used for tissue repair, so it's probably not a complete loss.

It's hard to say without really seeing you squat. Assuming everything is fine, you can try going more low bar and you might notice a little more glute activation but probably not to the degree that you're interested in achieving. At the end of the day and regardless of bar position, your hips and knees flex and then you…

There really is no "blanket" best way to train. The best way to train is the way that accomplishes your goals and is something you can stick to for the long-run. 1. Understand your goals 2. If you're only goal is to lose weight, make sure your nutrition plan accomplishes that and then find a form of exercise that interests…

Yes, the peer-reviewed literature suggest cinnamon can help manage insulin levels. I believe the interventions were done with a 6gm dose of cinnamon per day; it's been a while since I read it myself. You can probably find abstracts on Google Scholar if you search Cinnamon and Insulin. Please consult with your doctor to see…

Nothing wrong with that. It's exactly why D1 / D2 colleges and professional sports teams have Strength & Conditioning coaches and not even the head coach dictates the training protocols, not usually at least. Focus on your sport and let a professional with an education in training athletes manage your training.

If you are tight and muscles are not moving correctly, how does performing a squat jump, for instance, loosen you up? It might for some, but definitely not everybody. I don't know what to say, I'm not going to argue; you have your opinion and I have mine. I studied this extensively in school, had many case studies, and…

No, stretching / mobility does allow one to improve their VJ or distance that needs to be trained. However, if one is too immobile to execute the jump correctly then it will diminish how high / far they jump and can affect how they land and landing badly is something that can result in an injury. Again, everybody is going…

That's the best bet. Don't want to hurt anybody else or yourself.

If you get stabled, just roll to one side the weight will pull the bar over but you can't have safety bars in the way. It's embarrassing as hell but it works. Not to mention you can hurt somebody else if they're not paying attention.

I will actually ask people how they want to be spotted. Some people just want to make sure they don't drop the bar on their neck, some want a lift-off, some don't, some want you help them cheat by keeping your fingers under the bar; so I always ask how they want to be spotted. My problem is that early morning there's only…

Could definitely be Rhabdo. Just keep working with your doctor and possibly find a specialist. Figure out why this is happening to you. Best of luck!

If you can move through a good range of motion, then you probably don't need more than a dynamic warm-up to get going before a workout. But if you're like the OP in this thread, you probably do need some additional mobility work. In-terms of benefit to strength-training, no it doesn't add strength. But if you can't move…

Not everybody has that knowledge, not everybody wants the knowledge.

Your training specific to a sport and the training should have some accommodation for what the sport requires. Find a new trainer, preferably one that has a NASM - PES or NSCA - CSCS; basically somebody that's familiar with training athletes.

It's not a bad program by any means. Personally I would like to see the author enter an intensity level for the compound lifts so you have a better gauage of what to lift. Additionally, a better progression model over time should've been provided. Unless it's in the PDF which I didn't take the time to read. Also, please…

What do you mean by keeping your legs closed? Like a really close stance? Or something else?