[fine69]

I finally got Heinz's Glucon-D powder which has >99% glucose (not sure how much of it is dextrose) which I've started mixing with Whey protein post workout.

[alpha1]

I guess a few people here may be aware of this:


I have found that this really works!
If you wish to make continued progressions in the loads lifted and stay un-sick.

Every time I have overshot the recommended total reps (labeled OPTIMAL) for the desired load (labeled PERCENT of 1RM) especially for heavy grinders like squat and deadlifts I have fallen sick with cold or flu in few weeks. EVERY DAMN TIME.


By the way I am seeing much better results in hypertrophy by doing low rep stuff (1-5) compared to the hypertrophy money range (8-12)

[pramodkumar]

What do you guys think of the DTP regime by Kris Getthin. This guy talks about workout till the point of failure, i still feel it can lead to injuries but the kind of suplements you take during your regime would make you muscular regardless to the workout, you will anyhow bulk out.


I tried just the workout with natural supliments such as eggs, coconut water and whey protien, i tried it for 3 weeks, then i stopped seeing no results. Time was the biggest bottleneck and it still is.

Pramod

[alpha1]

In my experience doing each and every working set till failure = training for injuries and sickness. A natural's body just cannot handle it. (Unless you are genetically gifted and/or supplemented with hormones)

Supplements are useless for the body if your body doesn't have the ability to utilize them. This efficiency of using the nutrients being rammed down the throat, ability to recover fast, ability to not fall ill - is what separates the genetically gifted from those who ain't.

Besides, what magical actually happens at muscular failure?
Actually what happens at failure?
Why can't the muscle keep doing rep after rep of the maximum force that it can generate?

[KINI]

Hi guys
I have been working out for over a year now, but I'm not happy with the pace of progress. My goal is cut down my flab totally and build muscles. I am halfway through, I am not fat anymore and have a good muscle base, but I have a long way to go. I have recently started following "Shortcut to Shred" featured on bodybuilding.com. I know I need to change to my diet. I need your opinion on how to go ahead.

My diet..
05:30 - Black coffee and carrot
07: 15 - One scoop protein(post workout)
08:30 - Corn flakes(strawberry + museli)
11:00 - Six egg whites
13:30 - 3 chappatis + one scoop protein
16:30 - Six egg whites
20:30 - 5 chappathis(with Paneer) + protein shake

Now I know my diet is nowhere near perfect. Need your help in correcting the same. I am an eggitarian

[nareshov]

Originally Posted by alpha1

In my experience doing each and every working set till failure = training for injuries and sickness. A natural's body just cannot handle it. (Unless you are genetically gifted and/or supplemented with hormones)
...

Isn't this fine for body weight exercises? Push-ups, etc.?

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by nareshov

Isn't this fine for body weight exercises? Push-ups, etc.?

Oh boi, I need to first answer my own question about muscle failure first.
Lets say you'r muscles have an ability to generate 100 kg force. This means you put maximum effort and concentration and contract all your muscle fibres to produce 100 kg of force.

Once you are done with this, there are certain changes in your muscles (mainly to do with some Calcium ions, ATP etc which actually deliver the energy/produce movement). It takes a huge time to replenish this - thus you cannot do another rep, unless you perhaps rest for 5 minutes or so.

Now lets say you want to generate only 90 kg force. You still recruit all your fibres, however since your system is geared for 100 kg, you do not lose all your chemicals. And hence you can do another rep. And perhaps another. The moment you muscle fibers lose the chemicals your will FAIL.

It was found that this recruitment of all the fibres usually happens till the load is 80-85 kg (for most people). If you lift 70 kg, not all muscle fibres will be recruited. BUT, as the muscle fibres run out of their fuel, the standby ones come into picture and keep running the show until all the fibres run out of their juice. (SO in both cases, all your muscle fibres are eventually recruited)

Note that the only magical thing that happens when you reach the failure is that your muscle fibres are unable to generate the contractions even though your nerves are firing on all cylinders. (Spark is there, but you're carburettor is run out of petrol).

Since the nervous system senses this, it tries to fire even more and then gives up.
This "firing even more" is what causes CNS burnout, over training, getting sick frequently, also since your muscles are not really able to produce desired force, you may end up contorting in order to move the load - ergo injuries.

For the purpose of hypertrophy - your muscle fibres have not suddenly encountered unimaginable force at the event of failure. So why should the fibres adapt differently (compared to the case where your muscles did not reach failure) to become stronger (and thus increase their size).

To be honest, you should look at the previous century strongmen (pre-steroid era). They mostly did 1 rep training, not to failure (which means pick up a weight which is actually 2-3 RM) and keep doing one rep. Rest for 2-3 minutes. One rep. Rest. Repeat 5-10 times.
(incidentally do you notice that this matches with Prilepin's table which was actually developed about half a century later based on observations of weightlifters)
They got fabulous results. (Yes you may claim that their chest is not really large, or their upper back is not really deep - but that is because bench press and rows were not at all utilized in their era)



Now lets come to the body weight exercises.

A Load is a load, whether it is a dumbell or your body. Muscle will remain muscle whether it is trying to lift the body up or trying to pull the rope/load down.

The only change that happens is that when we do weights, we usually pick up something that will allow us say max 10 reps or so. There is no such selection in case of body weight exercises. Hence, very quickly you may develop capability to do far more reps.

Once you are able to do about >20-25 reps it is not muscle failure of the kind described above that causes you to stop, but a kind of fatigue that is caused by the build up of metabolic waste. (This is why you get burn sensation). You may do one more rep (or perhaps 10), but you don't because of the intense burn sensation.

Since you are not training to failure, your central nervous system doesn't get strained the way it does when you lift heavy loads. THUS you can do terrifying amount of volume (reps x sets) and get away easily with it.

And note that your are not really doing training to failure as such.

[Samurai]

A correction... Kg is a unit of mass, not force. That would be Newtons. I have been very active in this thread all of this week, so I had to point it out.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by Samurai

A correction... Kg is a unit of mass, not force. That would be Newtons. I have been very active in this thread all of this week, so I had to point it out.

Kg is very often used as force also in engineering (kg-f actually)
The only thing is the it is implicitly understood that 1 kg force = gravitation force on 1 kg mass.
Hence it makes 1 kgf = 9.8 N.

Of course if we go by SI system, we should only use newtons as unit of force.
But in engineering and in daily life we have alternative systems (like using hands for length measurements ;-)
We still use horse power for our cars, whereas we should be using kilowatts (which makes more sense because then you can correlate everything to electric energy/power)

Originally Posted by KINI

Hi guys
I have been working out for over a year now, but I'm not happy with the pace of progress. My goal is cut down my flab totally and build muscles. I am halfway through, I am not fat anymore and have a good muscle base, but I have a long way to go. I have recently started following "Shortcut to Shred" featured on bodybuilding.com. I know I need to change to my diet. I need your opinion on how to go ahead.

My diet..
05:30 - Black coffee and carrot
07: 15 - One scoop protein(post workout)
08:30 - Corn flakes(strawberry + museli)
11:00 - Six egg whites
13:30 - 3 chappatis + one scoop protein
16:30 - Six egg whites
20:30 - 5 chappathis(with Paneer) + protein shake

Now I know my diet is nowhere near perfect. Need your help in correcting the same. I am an eggitarian

To be honest, you need to be realistic about your body type.
Are you naturally (lets say before you started exercises) athletic, or naturally pudgy?
Are you naturally heavy weight, or light weight (based on bone structure)?

You cannot change you body type, but only improve upon it.
ALSO At this moment what exactly do you want to do - put on more muscles, OR reduce fat. ??

[AbhishekB86]

Originally Posted by KINI

Hi guys
I have been working out for over a year now, but I'm not happy with the pace of progress. My goal is cut down my flab totally and build muscles. I am halfway through, I am not fat anymore and have a good muscle base, but I have a long way to go. I have recently started following "Shortcut to Shred" featured on bodybuilding.com. I know I need to change to my diet. I need your opinion on how to go ahead.

My diet..
05:30 - Black coffee and carrot
07: 15 - One scoop protein(post workout)
08:30 - Corn flakes(strawberry + museli)
11:00 - Six egg whites
13:30 - 3 chappatis + one scoop protein
16:30 - Six egg whites
20:30 - 5 chappathis(with Paneer) + protein shake

Now I know my diet is nowhere near perfect. Need your help in correcting the same. I am an eggitarian

Roughly your daily estimate of protein intake is around 130 grams(assuming that one scoop of your whey powder is close to 25 grams). Now all natural protein doesn't get digested you can deduct a few grams from that as well. Ideally you should be taking as much protein as your body weight in pounds.
You didn't mention if you're specifically looking to put on muscle or lose fat but I am assuming you want both. What is your training like? What is the balance between cardio and weight training? Unfortunately, I consume a lot of chicken breasts so I wouldn't know what sources of veg/egg food can help you touch the protein required per day but then again you'll find a lot of info on bodybuilding forums. Only suggestion I can give in terms of muscle gain is to increase the amount of proteins you consume. Also I personally feel 5 chappatis at dinner isn't a good idea. Maybe you can consume 2 less and have something else instead. Maybe egg whites with the paneer and a couple of chappatis.

[KINI]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

Roughly your daily estimate of protein intake is around 130 grams(assuming that one scoop of your whey powder is close to 25 grams). Now all natural protein doesn't get digested you can deduct a few grams from that as well. Ideally you should be taking as much protein as your body weight in pounds.
You didn't mention if you're specifically looking to put on muscle or lose fat but I am assuming you want both. What is your training like? What is the balance between cardio and weight training? Unfortunately, I consume a lot of chicken breasts so I wouldn't know what sources of veg/egg food can help you touch the protein required per day but then again you'll find a lot of info on bodybuilding forums. Only suggestion I can give in terms of muscle gain is to increase the amount of proteins you consume. Also I personally feel 5 chappatis at dinner isn't a good idea. Maybe you can consume 2 less and have something else instead. Maybe egg whites with the paneer and a couple of chappatis.

I am following "Shortcut to Shreds" featured in bodybuilding.com. The idea is to both shed fat and increase muscle. I do cardio for 30-40 seconds(should increase to a minute) between each set. I am able to see some visible results after the first week. I ate out a lot last week but I still managed to bulk up and loose some flab. My body weight is 82.5. I guess i need to increase my daily protein intake by 40 grams atleast. Is a low carb protein bar post dinner a good idea?? Any recommended bars??

I read that one whole egg per day is highly recommended. Unfortunately in office I get only bread omelet. Is it a good idea to eat that??

Thanks

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by KINI

I read that one whole egg per day is highly recommended. Unfortunately in office I get only bread omelet. Is it a good idea to eat that??

Thanks

Remove the bread and have only the omlette I do that whenever I get such dishes!!

[AbhishekB86]

Originally Posted by KINI

My body weight is 82.5. I guess i need to increase my daily protein intake by 40 grams atleast. Is a low carb protein bar post dinner a good idea?? Any recommended bars??

I read that one whole egg per day is highly recommended. Unfortunately in office I get only bread omelet. Is it a good idea to eat that??

Thanks

If I remember correctly Protein Bars like Max(?) available at medical stores like 98.4, Apollo or major groceries have good amount of calories however they do claim to give 20 grams of protein. If you were to consume it post dinner would be a bad idea. If you do want to consume the bar the best time according to me should be post the work out or you can consume it through the day. They are available as single pieces but are also available in packages of 6-7.

I am no expert at listing out diets but from my limited knowledge your carb intake is already set. So maybe you can dispose the bread and eat the omelet only. I know it can get rather difficult at office so I guess this is the best that you can do.

Now that you've figured out you need 40 more gms of protein you should look to alter your diet based on the research you do. Although not recommended it isn't easy on some days to have all food items at your disposal so for such odd days you can consume an extra scoop of whey. Again, am no expert so check out the nutritional video on shred posted on bodybuilding or articles meant for people who do not consume meat. Best of Luck and happy new year

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by amitk26

also try 100 pushups program it really works here is the link

http://www.hundredpushups.com/

There is an android app as well which is lot more user friendly.

Very soon you will realise it is no big deal.

About 20-22 years back I could do 120 pushups anytime, with no warmup. Then I got distracted by other type of workouts. Last year I was stuck at 50 pushups, but I am 20kg heavier than I was in the 20s. So I figured I have to settle for it.

Then I saw the link provided by Amit. Decided to try that routine. But their ramping is too fast, I slowed it down to suit my age. I kept more gap between sets and also varied the reps to suit my needs.

Improvement was dramatic, so I kept it. I was not very regular, since I keep travelling. But I managed to do at least 2 times a week, if not 3 times. During Christmas-Newyear time, there was a 10 day break since I was attending too many functions and eating too much. But I hoping to achieve it by my 45th birthday.

However, I made it happen today, 2 months ahead of schedule.

Today at 12PM, I did 5 sets as follows: 50 + 70 + 50 + 50 + 100!!!
[I had even missed breakfast today]



Thanks Amit. Took me little less than 5 months to go from 50 to 100. Now I gotta pick a new fitness goal... may be pullups.

[CliffHanger]

Originally Posted by KINI

I am following "Shortcut to Shreds" featured in bodybuilding.com. The idea is to both shed fat and increase muscle. I do cardio for 30-40 seconds(should increase to a minute) between each set. I am able to see some visible results after the first week. I ate out a lot last week but I still managed to bulk up and loose some flab. My body weight is 82.5. I guess i need to increase my daily protein intake by 40 grams atleast. Is a low carb protein bar post dinner a good idea?? Any recommended bars??

I read that one whole egg per day is highly recommended. Unfortunately in office I get only bread omelet. Is it a good idea to eat that??

Thanks

If your height is 182cm, then you can think of taking say ~120gm of protein a day. If your height is something else, then you need to subtract 100 and multiply 1.5 to that to arrive at the required protein intake for you for a day.

Protein intake of more than 'your weight x 1.5' will harm your kidneys and hence highly not recommended. at least for Indian body types. Ideally though, protein of 'your weight x 1.3' grams is enough even if you are on high intensity workouts daily.

And remember, your body will consume only around 20-30gm of protein a meal, anything about that will not add anything. Also, if you are going to take just 6 egg whites or a shake after workout, it will again not be effective, as you need some carbs along with them for the protein to get absorbed by your body.

Avoid easy carbs and oil. Easy carbs such as sugar gets easily absorbed and gets converted to fat. Oil slows digestion, so in case you eat omlette prepared with oil and some carbs along with it. Your body will absorb the carbs first and keeps the egg protein to the last eventually ending up not getting absorbed.

Take protein from different sources such as milk, fish, meat,etc. Also if you are not seeing results, understand your body type and change your workouts accordingly. You can read about GVT and alter the workouts under it to suit your needs. From my experience, I 've seen GVT giving wonderful results in Indian bodies. Try that out.