wonderbeard101 Member

Squat: 529 Bench: 353 Deadlift: 463 (only managed my opener) @ 181 raw Shooting for a 1500 total by IPL Worlds in November

Yup! Belly breathing, or if your prefer, diaphragmic breathing. Inhale into your stomach and brace them by pushing your belly out. The basic gist is that a thicker core (torso) give more stability to your spine versus the narrower core that sucking in would give you. Imagine trying to break a really thick tree branch…

This is also a great source for zero carb recipes: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/ I've done my share of keto. Just one peice of advice-- One high carb meal a week. It won't hurt your progress, it's a good mental break, and will prevent your thyroid from slowing down after prolonged periods of no insulin spikes. You'll want…

It helps to have something that you enjoy and want to improve in. Then, set goals for yourself. For me, it's strength training and hitting certain numbers by the end of the year. Maybe for you it's cycling sprints, or being able to hold a really advanced yoga position for an extended time, or climbing that one wall, or…

Bah. Double post. My bad!

Strength is tied to both muscle size and central nervous system development-- The mechanism in your body that signals your muscles when and how hard to contract. These are utilized in different ratios in different people. I.E. You can have very developed muscles and be relatively weak due to poor CNS development. Likewise,…

Is he possibly talking about glycogen depletion? If so, the majority of that should be burnt during strength training. After that, your body has to switch to a fat-sourced fuel (Triglycerides or ketones, can't remember which). Otherwise "...burning calories but they're coming from carbs and not fat," doesn't make a ton of…

My current best is 529 lb @ 181 lb Raw (with wraps), back in September 2013. Shooting for a 1500 total by IPL Worlds in November.

For me, at least, motivation isn't always excitement and smiles. Sometimes it means trudging and dragging your feet. The point isn't to always be upbeat, it's to always keep moving.

This might not be what you want to hear, but you may not have enough muscle on your frame to be visible, even at low a BF%. Hit the weights, hit the food, and revisit your cut a couple years (at least) down the road. I started out in your situation, as well, and this is what I've had to do.

Well said!

Lifting does elevate testosterone levels in both men and women, though generally not "abnormally" so. It may be a contributor, but my (totally amateur) guess is that it's not the sole cause. Hypergonadism is a thing for both men and women, and should be totally treatable.

1) Don't go if you think you're contagious. Even if you think you're in the clear, disinfect everything you touch. That's common courtesy. 2) If you're running a fever or feel weak or lethargic, don't go. You feel crappy because your body is working hard to fight infection. Don't add more stress into that. Also, refer to…

Anger. I was mad at myself for a long time for not making the changes that I so badly wanted. The two things that took it over the tipping point were 1) my dad getting sick and 2) seeing pictures of myself and my chins out with my friends.

Kind of a toss up... Depending on the dose your doc sets you up with, it may keep you in a normal range, but it might show up as a positive. As far as ethically, it also depends. Personally, I compete untested. I would hate to have an amazing meet just to be DQed. Plus, I have no way of really knowing if my particular…

I'm up in the Portland area, but have some PL teammates who migrated from Eugene... Let check in with them.

If it's swollen, ice and ibuprofen. If it's not swollen, ice will not help. Take it easy for a couple of days. Doing things to increase circulation to the painful muscles will help, such as self massage, heat pads, LIGHT stretching. Don't do any rehab that hurts. If you have a physical therapist or someone familiar with…

The big benefit from green tea for weight loss is the caffeine-- As a stimulant, it makes your body burn marginally more calories. There's a popular belief that green tea extract is also a weight loss agent, but as far as I know, that's totally unsubstantiated. Basically, green tea MIGHT have some very minor effect on…

If you've got a plan laid out for yourself, maybe try sitting down and going over it with your mom so that she can see that you have a handle on it. Go over your planned calories, the pros and cons of Insanity, etc. Show her that you've thought this through and that it's a reasonable approach. For the workouts, it might…

If I'm training alone, I think about life. If I'm with the team, I'm usually coaching or spotting.

What everyone else said-- if you're drinking higher than average water, your electrolyte intake needs to be higher, as well. Secondary to that, another thing to consider is that if you're doing zero carb consistently, your body will be lacking one of it's main energy sources, glycogen. As a result, many people can feel…

This seems appropriate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOBIq0R4iQY

I'm in the same boat as you, OP. I was 24 when I was put on TRT, after having spent the years since puberty unknowingly dealing with ever worsening problems related to low T + high estrogen. It's not fun.

Carb Nite is great, and yeah, you're going to have less energy for lifting if you're doing low carb--- The whole point is to keep a main source of energy, glycogen, depleted, only replenishing it once per week. It works wonders, but it can make some people feel pretty run down since you're forcing your body to use a less…

Out of curiosity, how long have you been eating at a deficit, and have you been doing low carb?

Low carb can be really effective, but your body absolutely NEEDS carbs to function properly in the long term. Without them, your thyroid will start slowing down and hormones will start falling out of balance. Most ketogenic or low carb diets will recommend a high carb meal once a week. If you're not doing that, you should…

It's really a very individual thing, involving many systems of your body, as well as being affected by training and diet. It takes time for the nervous system to pick up new skills. Think of a child learning how to throw a ball. There's a cognitive part where they learn the technique (release the ball at this point to make…

Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe is a great into to strength movements for both men and women. It'll have information on programming as well as how-to's for performing lifts correctly. Highly recommend it for beginners.

Honestly, he's probably a pretty terrible "bodybuilder" if he is only in the gym for 30 per session. There are too many 13 year old bros on many bodybuilding sites and it sounds like you hit the jackpot. Edit to say: You're on the right track, and he's a giant doodieface who's giving terrible advice. Even you were trying…

Honestly, the shin splints are the least concerning bit of all that. For those, they take a bit longer to un-sore because they don't get a lot of blood flow. Nothing you can do for immediate relief, especially if you're continuing the exercises that are causing it, but here are some things that will help with shin splints…