I dont like to lick balls but I have to say that is really a nice thread. Should be stickied right now
Thanks.
You’re not licking balls; this thread isn’t about licking balls. That is, there should be no worshiping of one poster or guru or expert - another kind of problem that has led newjacks and even some more experienced folks down the wrong path.
Peanut is a legume, not a nut. That alone should make people at least question some of Bricknyce’s advice. Most of the advice that has been given here is very good. I aggree with almost everything Brick said about training, and his nutrition advice is almost spot on, but I have some caveats. No culture of people has ever consumed 33% of their calories from polyunsaturated fats, neither should you. Grains contains phythic acid which binds to minerals in the body, thus making you unable to absorb them. The strong points of the Anaconda protocol is that it contains minerals think about that for a moment.
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
How to not fuck up your shoulders when benching…
- Keep your shoulders retracted and down.
- Press your head into the bench.
- Flex your glutes, quads, lats, and hams.
- Keep your elbow in line with your hands.
- Inhale on the way down and hold your air for the ENTIRE lift. No yelling as you finish the rep. You need the air in your belly for the entire lift.
This doesn’t apply as much to high reps, in which you might need to be more relaxed with form and breathing. I think these guidelines are important for a 1 - 10 rep range. [/quote]
good thread, man. about number 4:
- Keep your elbow in line with your hands.
This is only possible with your elbows in towards your body no? With the elbows in, the elbows are in front of the bar but “in line” with the hands. Or do you mean elbows back to where the bar is?
[quote]Zepto wrote:
Peanut is a legume, not a nut. That alone should make people at least question some of Bricknyce’s advice. Most of the advice that has been given here is very good. I aggree with almost everything Brick said about training, and his nutrition advice is almost spot on, but I have some caveats. No culture of people has ever consumed 33% of their calories from polyunsaturated fats, neither should you. Grains contains phythic acid which binds to minerals in the body, thus making you unable to absorb them. The strong points of the Anaconda protocol is that it contains minerals think about that for a moment.[/quote]
Who wrote that we should make 33 percent of our diet polyunsaturated fat? Did you read what I wrote? I wrote that a fat intake should be split into 1/3 poly, 1/3 mon, and 1/3 saturated.
If you want to nitpick, then I give you credit; peanuts are a legume, and I know this. I’m not interested in nitpicking for this thread.
I don’t think you’re challenging me, but I know ENOUGH on nutriton being that I’m an RD, have completed a dietetic internship, and have a BS and pending MS in nutrition. I don’t say this to brag, nor do I like even bringing it up much in the context of bodybuilding because I have no reason to make things more complicated than they are here. This board has gone fucking haywire with complication! I TOTALLY don’t mind SOME nitpicking–including yours right here–but I assume that NEARLY ALL people could interpret that by writing “nuts”, I included peanuts in that food choice/category.
Do you think it was necessary for me to write “legumes”; or “beans” and “nuts”. I wrote “beans” and “nuts”.
Good luck getting big without some starchy carb/grain intake! We should all take your advice and fear that our mineral and vitamin absorption is being affected by grain intake, all while consuming a shitload of fruits and vegetables (6 to 10+ servings per day). And by discarding grains, you’re also disregarding their health benefits too - fiber, B vitamins, energy. Quinoa and oatmeal are two of the most health-promoting grains.
[quote]hit the gym wrote:
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
How to not fuck up your shoulders when benching…
- Keep your shoulders retracted and down.
- Press your head into the bench.
- Flex your glutes, quads, lats, and hams.
- Keep your elbow in line with your hands.
- Inhale on the way down and hold your air for the ENTIRE lift. No yelling as you finish the rep. You need the air in your belly for the entire lift.
This doesn’t apply as much to high reps, in which you might need to be more relaxed with form and breathing. I think these guidelines are important for a 1 - 10 rep range. [/quote]
good thread, man. about number 4:
- Keep your elbow in line with your hands.
This is only possible with your elbows in towards your body no? With the elbows in, the elbows are in front of the bar but “in line” with the hands. Or do you mean elbows back to where the bar is?[/quote]
It’s hard to explain form in print. I apologize.
Keeping your elbows back means flaring them, putting you at a greater chance of injury and in a weaker position in the bottom to middle position. I don’t like this. (But then again, I’m not a bench press expert).
I’ve been to some bench press and powerlifting workshops put on by Sebastian Burns and Jim Wendler. I’m just going off of what they showed me and what I’ve seen done in hardcore gyms.
Even for bodybuilding/pec-building purposes, I see no benefit in using form in which the elbows are flared out, even if there is some more stress put on the pecs. If you can’t develop good pecs from bench pressing, then try using dumbbells and machines and isolation exercises.
Flaring out at the TOP of a bench press can allow for more leverage in a lock out. Most bench press specialists don’t bench in a straight line. Even Dave Tate and Louie Simmons don’t recommend that anymore.
Great thread. Sam sneed is right, this should be stickied and replies that aren’t useful (like mine) should be removed to keep things clean.
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
I’m not sure if this should apply to anyone else, but one of my top rules now is to avoid grinding out reps, they are not necassery and kill my progress.
I’ve added a good 30lbs to my bench in the past 2 months (265 for 5 reps to 315lbs for 2-3) and I feel fucking excellent, and it’s from following what Thibs said - treat each rep like it is a 1RM and make sure you always dominate the weight you are using.
–
Also another ‘rule’ of mine is: Don’t count calories or prot/carbs/fat, just measure out the food you eat, and increase/decrease to lose fat or gain muscle.
I also started training everything 2x a week, I was too worried about doing it before thinking that I’d burn out, but I’m progressing twice as fast. Don’t be afraid to experiment (within reason).[/quote]
Congratulations on your progress.
Right, grinding out reps is pointless. But OCCASIONALLY training to failure, either purposely or because of being overzealous, isn’t terrible.
Come to think of it, I think grinding and training to failure are different. Grinding is done by going on to complete shitty reps when it’s clear that you are shot. Failure occurs when you are shot and can’t complete another rep in good form and could only complete more reps by grinding. [/quote]
I am SO glad grinding was mentioned because it has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s hard for me to stop 2 reps short though, even if those reps would involve a hell of a lot of grinding. It’s like I’m cutting my set shorter than I should, and if I hit those 2 reps next week, how do I know I’ve improved if it’s possible I could have done them the week before? I feel as if I’m not trying hard enough with stopping short, but I guess I need to start, haha.
And now that we do have some nitpicking here, I’m inclined to bring up the subject of “nutrition communications”. I took a Nutrition Communications course in school. The basis of nutrition communications–or all health communications–is:
“How do we speak, write, and use media so that all, or nearly all, of our audience can understand us?”
That means that we don’t create a list of food items and worry that every last food choice is in the exact scientifically designated category. For example, when I write quinoa in the grains list, I don’t fret over the fact that quinoa is really a “grain-like crop” and not a grain. I’m not making a one-item list titled “Grain Like Crops”. Nor do I worry that people won’t include peanuts when “nuts” is written in the fat-recommendation list. I don’t mind these things being pointed out, but they’re not important enough for a health professional or recreational poster on this board to worry about.
This excessive anal-retentiveness and fretting only makes our audiences confused and having to interpret information more than is necessary. Scott Abel, although being a bright and competent fitness professional, is an example of someone who doesn’t communicate effectively with his audience.
If you want to see some of my science writing–you know, the boring intellectual shit including scientific references, all written a dull, academic format–then PM me with your email address and I’ll send you a nice PDF or MS word file for your viewing. I leave that shit on my computer, and in my portfolio.
Back to the culture thing and there being no group of people that have consumed a high amount of poly fats. I know a thing or two about food and culture having taken a class on this particular topic actually titled “Food and Culture”, “Community Nutriton”,i and discussing and studying some material on nutrigenomics. By the way, there ARE cultures–depending on how you define that word–that do take in a shitload of omega-6 poly fats and suffer the consequences of doing so - some of those cultures being right here in the USA.
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
[quote]Zepto wrote:
Peanut is a legume, not a nut. That alone should make people at least question some of Bricknyce’s advice. Most of the advice that has been given here is very good. I aggree with almost everything Brick said about training, and his nutrition advice is almost spot on, but I have some caveats. No culture of people has ever consumed 33% of their calories from polyunsaturated fats, neither should you. Grains contains phythic acid which binds to minerals in the body, thus making you unable to absorb them. The strong points of the Anaconda protocol is that it contains minerals think about that for a moment.[/quote]
Who wrote that we should make 33 percent of our diet polyunsaturated fat? Did you read what I wrote? I wrote that a fat intake should be split into 1/3 poly, 1/3 mon, and 1/3 saturated.
If you want to nitpick, then I give you credit; peanuts are a legume, and I know this. I’m not interested in nitpicking for this thread.
I don’t think you’re challenging me, but I know ENOUGH on nutriton being that I’m an RD, have completed a dietetic internship, and have a BS and pending MS in nutrition. I don’t say this to brag, nor do I like even bringing it up much in the context of bodybuilding because I have no reason to make things more complicated than they are here. This board has gone fucking haywire with complication! I TOTALLY don’t mind SOME nitpicking–including yours right here–but I assume that NEARLY ALL people could interpret that by writing “nuts”, I included peanuts in that food choice/category.
Do you think it was necessary for me to write “legumes”; or “beans” and “nuts”. I wrote “beans” and “nuts”.
Good luck getting big without some starchy carb/grain intake! We should all take your advice and fear that our mineral and vitamin absorption is being affected by grain intake, all while consuming a shitload of fruits and vegetables (6 to 10+ servings per day). And by discarding grains, you’re also disregarding their health benefits too - fiber, B vitamins, energy. Quinoa and oatmeal are two of the most health-promoting grains.
[/quote]
Oops that was a slip on my hand, I did not mean to suggest 33% of calorie intake, but 33% of fat intake. I agree, - you’ll never get big without starchy carbs. I just think that you shouldn’t purposefully seek out foods which might have questionable properties like grains, phytic acid. And regarding the fiber, you’ll get plenty of that if you consume mostly vegetable, and a little amount of berries/fruit/nuts, for your carb sources. B vitamins you would get from animal sources, as these should be the stable of your diet if you have any intention of being very muscular.
Sidenote: If people follow your advice, then they’ll probably be beyond 90%, if not higher, of the people lifting weights. And I shouldn’t have included this line in my first port “That alone should make people at least question some of Bricknyce’s advice” I was just ircked with the use of the word Bible in your thread title.
Great stuff Brick - people really ought to shut the fuck up and listen, lest this thread turn into yet another pissing match…
I had to take “Cultural Aspects of Food” as one of my requirements last year - I suppose it’s a similar course to what you mentioned. Obviously this thread attempts to back away from the exact type of pedantic horseshit that winds up confusing the shit out of all the newbs. I’ll contribute what I can…
The acronym K.I.S.S. applies here - keep it simple stupid. In other words, there are many, many different methods of resistance training, but the tried and true formula of compound & appropriate isolation movements and heavy weight will absolutely produce results, provided it is done properly. Use a set/rep scheme that’s simple as well. Something along the lines of three or five sets per exercise and two or three movements per body part. You can adjust these suggestions depending on your personal situation, perhaps adding more volume as you get stronger on the basic lifts, and always striving to increase the load each workout. Obviously, you can’t infinitely add five pounds to the bar every session, but try to increase the weight a reasonable amount when you’re strong enough.
Seriously, what ever happened to following a simple progressive plan to get bigger and stronger? Lift, eat, grow - it really doesn’t have to be much more complicated than that. Most people bullshit themselves that they are consistent with their training and eating, but they’re actually not. Probably one of the biggest reasons people don’t progress. They keep taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
As for cardio, I do think it’s an important component along with lifting and nutrition. While some experts disagree about the need for energy system training, I personally find it has many benefits, provided you don’t over-do it. Some of these include reduced risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type-2 diabetes. As well, EST will keep your arteries clear by increasing the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and decreasing the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in your blood.
While the debate between steady state and high intensity interval cardio rages on, I’d personally suggest using both types, depending on your current goals.
Zepto:
Dude, do you really think I titled this seriously - that I wrote it thinking that I’m the world’s foremost expert on training, or that I use the word “bible” here in a literal sense?
The thing with phytic acid has presented a problem for those with suboptimal nutrition as a whole - like those in poorly developed countries whose diet consists of a SHITLOAD of grains.
There are cultures that eat a shitload of polys. (In order to keep things PC–I’m racist towards no one, but god knows who you’re gonna offend these days with even neutral words like Amerindian, African-American, and mestizo–I’ll use geographic terms to refer to people. I’m Jewish and admit that in this day and age, you even have to be wary of calling a Jew a Jew, especially one that does some underhanded shit). Many lower income populations here in the USA, like Caribbeans and South Americans put a shitload of oil into their cuisine and eat at fast-food places and rely on cheap, omega-6-oil- and trans-fat-laden convenience foods (when do you see a Mickey D’s in a rich area?). I guess pointing this out is my own form of nitpicking, but it’s something I know. Obviously, these people do suffer some consequences of this intake.
[quote]SkyNett wrote:
Great stuff Brick - people really ought to shut the fuck up and listen, lest this thread turn into yet another pissing match…
I had to take “Cultural Aspects of Food” as one of my requirements last year - I suppose it’s a similar course to what you mentioned. Obviously this thread attempts to back away from the exact type of pedantic horseshit that winds up confusing the shit out of all the newbs. I’ll contribute what I can…
The acronym K.I.S.S. applies here - keep it simple stupid. In other words, there are many, many different methods of resistance training, but the tried and true formula of compound & appropriate isolation movements and heavy weight will absolutely produce results, provided it is done properly. Use a set/rep scheme that’s simple as well. Something along the lines of three or five sets per exercise and two or three movements per body part. You can adjust these suggestions depending on your personal situation, perhaps adding more volume as you get stronger on the basic lifts, and always striving to increase the load each workout. Obviously, you can’t infinitely add five pounds to the bar every session, but try to increase the weight a reasonable amount when you’re strong enough.
Seriously, what ever happened to following a simple progressive plan to get bigger and stronger? Lift, eat, grow - it really doesn’t have to be much more complicated than that. Most people bullshit themselves that they are consistent with their training and eating, but they’re actually not. Probably one of the biggest reasons people don’t progress. They keep taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
As for cardio, I do think it’s an important component along with lifting and nutrition. While some experts disagree about the need for energy system training, I personally find it has many benefits, provided you don’t over-do it. Some of these include reduced risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type-2 diabetes. As well, EST will keep your arteries clear by increasing the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and decreasing the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in your blood.
While the debate between steady state and high intensity interval cardio rages on, I’d personally suggest using both types, depending on your current goals. [/quote]
Right. I do both forms of cardio now, steady-state and interval. But keep in mind that, as I’ve written before, I don’t follow an all-out bodybuilding program anymore. I train three times a week with one leg session, a la Defranco.
As I’ve written before, I switched back and forth between a bodybuilding program and a Westside program when I was trying to get as big as possible. I’d do six months of bodybuilding and six months of a Westside program.
With the Westside program, I only did steady-state cardio. Two leg workouts (both intensive - speed and max effort) a week and weighing over 230 at 5’10" just didn’t allow for recovery (for me) in order to include high-intensity cardio, especially running.
While on the bodybuilding routine, I trained legs once per week. I did interval training once per week and the rest of cardio was steady-state.
Now I do two to three interval sessions per and three steady-state sessions per week.
great thread. sticky this…and maybe add butter into the list of fats.
LOL, I highly doubt the mods of a SUPPLEMENT company forum are going to sticky a thread where the OP says supplements are for the most part unnecessary.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
LOL, I highly doubt the mods of a SUPPLEMENT company forum are going to sticky a thread where the OP says supplements are for the most part unnecessary. [/quote]
I said MOST are worthless. Biotest has some good ones that I recommend some people take. Any time someone asks me about what fat burners I recommend, I mention HOT-ROX first. Surge, Superfood, and Metabolic Drive are all great supplements.
[quote]dratner wrote:
great thread. sticky this…and maybe add butter into the list of fats. [/quote]
Yeah, butter and lard can be used sparingly for cooking to get some saturated fat in.
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
This is one of the most straight-forward statements that simplifies a ton surrounding bodybuilding splits. Great thread Brick. This is very similar to what I have done in the past and motivated me to change my routine back that type. [/quote]
No doubt! Thanks!
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
Here’s more genius stuff on how to progress in weights and reps…
Let’s say your set-and-rep scheme is 8 to 12 reps. Here’s how it works:
Week 1: 100 x 10
Week 2: 100 x 11
Week 3: 100 x 12
Week 4: 105 x 9
Week 5: 105 x 10
Week 6 (back-off week): 105 x 10 (no attempt to break last week’s record)
Week 7 (back-off week): 105 x 10 (no attempt to break last week’s record)
Week 8 (back to the grind): 105 x 11
Granted, you might not make that much progress in 8 weeks, but this example can give you an idea of how progress happens. Once again, this is NOT genius material. [/quote]
I think it’s important to note for some that, although it may seem like “crap, I’m only going up 5lb. in 7 weeks!”, if you can keep that up it’ll be close to a 40lb. gain in a year which is pretty damn good on most lifts after the beginner stages of lifting.
Pumped340:
That’s not bad for someone whose been training for quite some time. Over the course of years, slow and steady gains add up substantially.
Best thread in the bodybuilding forum in awhile.