Howdy!!

[B0TT0M36]

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd finally introduce myself. I've been coming to the forum for a while now looking up information on various things (training, diet, new workouts, ect). Anyways, I've been lifting for about 5 years, though I've been sporadic for the past year due to health reasons.

I got myself a shiny new membership at Xtreme and am looking forward to getting back into it. Gotta get my diet and routine back on track so I figure who better to help me than a fine community such as yourselves. I look forward to reading what you good people have to say and to posting more often myself.

Cheers!!

B0TT0M36

[gicantor]

:welc

[BMac]

Welcome

[massabsamurai]

Welcome aboard. which extreme do u train at?

[JMP]

Welcome to the board !!!!

[CallmeB]

Howdy Partna! Im sure all your questions and more will will be answerd here!

[Mr Ontario]

Howdy! Is that you in your avatar?

[B0TT0M36]

Yeah thats me in my avatar. It was taken last February at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia. First time ever the UFC went to Sydney and coincidently, it was my first UFC event. I was so pumped, the energy in the stadium is just ridiculous. $50 tickets and amazing seat, as you can tell, me and my buddy definitely lucked out.

I train at the Xtreme in Whitby, ON. Signed up a while back but havent really been goin. Been trying to find work since I graduated, so the gyme kinda fell by the wayside.

[Mr Ontario]

You look familiar is all. Try to keep the below into account.

1.Am I getting enough sleep?
You need a minimum of 7-8 hours of quality sleep every night- if you can sneak in a nap in the mid day hours even better. This is when your body does the most growing and recuperating - take it seriously- going out til 4 am 3 night a week and thinking you will grow much less have productive workouts is asinine.

2. Am I overtraining?
Alot of people seem to be under the impression that when you are on you cannot overtrain...WRONG!
I have personally done it several times- in my overzealousness to be Dorian Yates I have trained extremely hard with high volume until my body finally drop dead.
Pushing yourself is good but extended periods of super high intensity are too much for the CNS to tolerate and usually with heavy weights the connective tissues dont handle the extended abuse to well either- training too many consecutive days in a row can be a killer too especially if life outside the gym has gotten stressful- remember some stress is good too much is a killer.

3. Am I eating enough?
This is perhaps the most important and most neglected aspect of training- if you hope to harvest a few ounces of new muscle tissue it takes a tremendous amount of constant eating. Eatin a ton of protein and good clean foods. I often times ask people who claim they eat ALOT but just cant gain-how much do you eat?
Response: ALOT
Me: How much is alot?
Response: Uh..a bowl of cereal at breakfast- soup and salad at lunch and some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.
Me: Good luck with that!
I mean really...what most people think is ALOT I eat in one sitting for Gods sake. Bodybuilding style eating is a JOB- get used to that- its not every day I feel like eating 8 meals and 500 grams of protein..but I do...I wake up at 3 am to eat-EVERY NIGHT- this is not to brag- this is to show how I eat and Im not even that big- most people are eating less calories and protein than it takes to sustain their current lean body mass!
And I cannot understate this aspect of eating to gain- your diet is the most important on your days away from the gym- thats when you grow and thats when the body needs the nutrients.

4. Should I suplement?
I think that the supplement industry has often times gave themselves a black eye by making ridiculous label claims that leave most trainees pissed and dissapointed.
I understand because I have worked in this industry for the last 7 years- I can tell you what works and what doesn't- here is a short list of some very helpful suplements that work.

1.Whey Protein- a must have for post work out nutrition in my opinion- whey has the highest biological value of most proteins and the body can rapidly uptake the amino acids and begin delivering them to the damaged muscle tissue for repair and growth.

2. BCAA's- yes I know we all eat enough protein allready why more aminos? These 3 - valine-leucine- isoleucine - are 3 of the most anticatabolic and anabolic amino acids of the bunch- whey protein is high in them but its great to supplement these before and after a workout- cuts whey down on workout catabolism- yes working out releases cortisol and breaks down muscle- BCAA's cut down on the bodies loss of nitrogen from training.

3. Glutamine- how many times I have heard guys on boards say "stuff is ****ing worthless" yes I guess its not the same as 12 weeks of test enanthate. Its not a suplement you take and say WOW! I can feel it working...your intestines are a 30 foot long tube of digestion, full of anarobes and microbes that finish the final stages of digestion- this organ is very sensitive to glutamine intake- in fact the intestines have the highest concentration of glutamine besides muscle tissue. When dietary glutamine is not brought in the body metabolizes it from it next largest supply in order to get it to the intestinal lining- this next largest supply would be your muscles- so by simply taking in 10 grams per day you can stave off this catabolic process. Also if the intestinal health is not maintained it becomes a drag on the immune system and a compromised immune system means illness and time lost from training and growing.

4. Creatine- there are so many to chose from now but- plain and simple creatine hydrates the cells- in this state they are the most anabolic. My mother years back gave me an article about a University Hospital that has one of the best burn centers in the country- when dealing with 3rd and 4th degree burn victims, who have lost tissue and are in a highly catabolic state, they IV them pure water and supersaturate the patient- this stops the nitrogen loss in its tracks- and gets the body to begin to assimilate new proteins to repair the damaged tissue. Sound familiar? Thats what a trained muscle is experiencing on a smaller scale- in comes creatine to rehydrate and create an anabolic environment- the best creatines are a matter of opinion but I personally have had good success with creatine ethyl ester and tri-creatine-malate.
5. Multi Vitamin- just dont be foolish and get some crap like Centrum who just barely meets the USRDA on the Vitamins and minerals in there formula- the USRDA is a guage that has not been updated in 60 years. 60 mg of Vit C wont do shit for a hard training athlete- 1000 mg split into 2 (500mg) doses is much better- so when chosing a multi get one that is high potency and can be absorbed well- all those stories about sewer workers finding undigested pills in the sewer are true- so make sure you are getting the nutrients absorbed.

5. Do I need to change my training program?
10 sets of 10, HIT, DC, yo mama, alphabet soup, etc ... etc...Training programs are all over the place- one of the things that gets people is homeostasis- you go to the gym you lift heavy doing all your favorite exercises and you come home and you eat hard...then....your body yawns and kicks its feet up and says "yeah - yeah - big ****ing deal hahah"
Remember when you first started training? Your workouts were new- and you were sore as hell it seemed for days after a workout?
Well your CNS plays a big role in strength training and muscle building- back when you first started training your body went into a type of shock response and said "holy shit!" I need to make this guy stronger for the next time this happens. So your muscles grew to accomodate a higher work load i.e. more reps and more weight. Well after a while that all plateauded out and the gains seemed to stop dead in their tracks...you need to change your workouts so that you re-introduce an unfamiliar shock- such as higher weigh/ low reps, or high reps- rest pause- drop sets- tri sets-compound sets. Think of exercises you never do- use them instead of the same favorites you are so in love with. There is an old cliche in training " it all works, just not for very long" keep the stimulus new- when you feel the stagnation hit try a new workout- maybe HIT, or DC for 5-6 weeks, be creative thats what keeps the body off balance and homeostasis at bay.

Those are just a few of the many basics that are involved in getting the ball rolling in your favor for muscle building- so before you blame the drugs or assume taking more is the answer- take a look at your training, rest, and nutrition- because more often than not - the problem lies there.


Yeah thats me in my avatar. It was taken last February at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia. First time ever the UFC went to Sydney and coincidently, it was my first UFC event. I was so pumped, the energy in the stadium is just ridiculous. $50 tickets and amazing seat, as you can tell, me and my buddy definitely lucked out.

I train at the Xtreme in Whitby, ON. Signed up a while back but havent really been goin. Been trying to find work since I graduated, so the gyme kinda fell by the wayside.

[B0TT0M36]

Thats honestly one of the best articles I've read on getting up and getting going. I really appreciate it, though I suspect youve posted it prolly a few hundred times hahahaha

Either way, there was a lot of stuff in there I didnt know before, like the glutamine stuff. I knew its used for muscle repair, but I didnt know how or why, same goes for the amino acids. I knew they were good and needed, but didnt have the first clue as to why theyre such a big deal.

Again I appreciate your help Mr. Ontario, the article was definitely a good idea, thanks :)

[Mr Ontario]

First time posting that one actually... but you can find allot of good threads here from a few people.

http://www.canadabodybuilding.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28


Thats honestly one of the best articles I've read on getting up and getting going. I really appreciate it, though I suspect youve posted it prolly a few hundred times hahahaha

Either way, there was a lot of stuff in there I didnt know before, like the glutamine stuff. I knew its used for muscle repair, but I didnt know how or why, same goes for the amino acids. I knew they were good and needed, but didnt have the first clue as to why theyre such a big deal.

Again I appreciate your help Mr. Ontario, the article was definitely a good idea, thanks :)