Tricks 'n Tips

This may more be for me. Not sure. You'd think I'd be an expert by now with all the years I've put into this lifestyle of mine. But when you work out solo and no one around to learn from, you can make alot of mistakes that take years before you realize your error.

Anyways, I was thinking this may be a cool place we can put some of our arcane secrets we have about our sport here in a public place and maybe enhance our collective body of knowledge a little.

This thread may bomb, not sure, but I'll go first.

A fellow member tipped me off it is better to do your cardio right after you wake up on an empty stomach. With low glycogen levels, it is much more effective at burning fat stores than after you have already eaten a meal. I've been following his advice, and I "think" I may have reduced my bf%... hard to tell since I'm constantly changing diet/routines.

Anyways, if any of you would care to share your "trade secrets"....

Great thread Roman I often wanted to start a thread like this but didn't have the balls..

Abs. I naturally have abs even at very high bodyfat (17-20 maybe even higher %). The reason for this is I have very very stiff posture going back to childhood. I suck my gut in and sit up straight even when no one is home. We're talking 15+ years of doing this. Now its utterly possible I am just a product of genetics but I really feel this has been a factor in my abdominal build.

Biceps. I see a lot of threads where people say they can't get their biceps to grow. I saw a lot of growth when I first started because I would sit down on the preacher curl bench and pick a weight that I would truly fail at around 12. Then I would keep going way past failure refusing to put the weight down and taking some quick breaths like 3-7 seconds between reps at the end. Talking about ez curl bar preacher curls.

NO products are hot right now. I keep dawdling back and forth on whether to use them. I believe they work. I read a testimony on the jacked ad (never used jack3d, I use No xplode and Black powder) and everything he said I could relate with. Greater focus and feeling like you want to kill the weights. Personally, I will use NO products when I don't have to do heavy compound movements like the deadlift, bench, squat etc. I get nauseous otherwise. Specifically with black powder I spoke to a powerlifter and he said take it immediately before workout. I have done this on days when I just wanted to train biceps for example and I totally killed it. A few times during the workout I felt like I was a gladiator or something, cheesy I know but Im telling you this shit does something.

Injuries. For 10 years I had a serious rotator cuff injury. It was bad enough that years after the fact it would sometimes keep me awake at night. After 10 years I had enough and started rehabilitating it on my own. I chose to do about 4 different exercises and 4 different stretches almost every time I worked out. After a few months the results were incredible. I would never again (unless the science and research said to ) sit on my ass and expect an injury to rehab itself on its own.

MMM... Should I share my secrets? haha

Well, here's a very simple one: Don't waste your hard-earned money on unnecessary supplements.
I've been taking just protein for more than a year know, destining more money to more quality food and you get a lot more from it.

Think like this: Something like creatine MAY work... But at what percentage? Does that percentage is worth the money you're paying for it? And that goes for anything on your mind... BCAA's, glutamine, EFA's, etc...

Maybe, I don't know... a 3-5% advantage over your total 100% worth 50 dollars? Your call.

Good idea of a post Times Roman.

Cheers

Squat.
Eat.
Repeat.

Nuff said.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RED26

Well, here's a very simple one: Don't waste your hard-earned money on unnecessary supplements.

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I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have about 30 bottles of vitamins that I am slowly but surely consuming. I think I may cut back to just the essentials like a multi, vitamin c, vitamin b, and then a half dozen that are related to joint health.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cherrydrpepper

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have about 30 bottles of vitamins that I am slowly but surely consuming. I think I may cut back to just the essentials like a multi, vitamin c, vitamin b, and then a half dozen that are related to joint health.

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I like to try everything once. 90% of everything I try, it's only once. For example, I bought a half gallon of Gamma-O for about $50, and won't be doing that anymore. Alot of this stuff has noticeable effects under the "microscope", but nothing you can really notice in the real world, and can be pricey.

Things I highly recommend that are a little off the beaten path:
Resveratrol (daily) 100 mgs of 40% purity
MSM... 5 to 10 gms daily
NAC - A great chelator of heavy metals in the body, taken orally, for 6 months every two years.

Stomach vacuum to make for quality abs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sldb...has_verified=1