I would personally pick pre-workout but either way would work. I am a fan of stacking Micro-PA and Indigo-3G together pre-workout before my Plazma and I that’s why I mentally gravitate toward taking it at that time. I have always used Plazma during my workout but I feel like Surge is the new greatest thing so I’m going to order some and try it with my Indigo-3G.
Also, I have taken it twice a day in the past and it was very helpful for me during that time. I was eating a disgusting amount of carbs because I was trying to move up a weight category and didn’t want to pack on a bunch of unwanted weight and I didn’t!
What was your experience like when you took it before? How long did you try it for?
Honestly my Indigo-3G experience previously wasn’t a fair shot. I was just leaving the army and on my first try of a real job and taking care of a family and actually lifting but not having all day to just train, etc etc.
So I really didn’t have any habits down or have any variables controlled that I could say what did anything. I’ll try it now, though. We’re in a good place for this to be a real look at it.
That makes sense. When you can’t control the variables it’s really hard to figure out what’s working and what’s not and taking care of your family is always the most important priority!
In the beginning, I was very interested in the physical benefits from C3G (shrinking fat cells, reduced fat gain etc.) and as I get older that aspect still intrigues me but the overall health benefits (there’s a long list!) from the supplement make it worth my while. You probably already know this… it helps prevent eye fatigue which is important for someone like myself who spends a lot of time on the computer. Also, it’s supposed to help night vision and that comes in handy for me because I have 2 young boys who think it’s funny to scare me in the dark!
Keep me posted on your experience with it @TrainForPain
I am wanting to get to my first unassisted pull up. Any help/suggestions. I used to be on the assisted pull up machine but have since switched to “negatives.” I think I have made a little progress but I suspect I can do more. I would prefer not to have to use a band if possible.
You’ve come to the right place… pull ups are my favorite exercise and way back in 2010 I wasn’t able to do unassisted pull ups either. I worked my way up to doing over 30 unassisted bodyweight pull ups and weighted pull ups.
You can do it!!! How come you don’t want to use a band? I find bands much more useful than the assisted pull up machine.
Negatives are good. How many are you doing and how many times a week?
If you told me the band was the way to get to the unassisted pull up, I will follow your advice. I think I “don’t want to use a band” so as to avoid any assistance at all and just do it cold turkey. Is that lame - lol? Or maybe just poor thinking and poor application behind the mechanics of pull ups…
I am doing 8 reps of negatives twice a week, holding the decline for about 10 seconds. And yes, I said reps - at this point, each rep almost feels like its own set. This is an improvement from when I first started of doing 3 reps of negatives at a time. Also, sometimes as I do the decline, I attempt to do “micro pull ups” and those also seem to be getting better.
I suspect twice a week is not enough if the goal is to get to unassisted.
I have completely stopped using the assisted pull up machine as I felt like I could not progress using it.
@DTX What you’re doing is a step in the right direction and going from 3 reps to 8 shows me that you’re definitely making improvements. Good work
I wouldn’t say that twice a week isn’t enough because it very well could be depending on what the rest of your programming looks like. I am going to suggest another step that you can add for progression here:
Start with a 5 second hold in the top position
10 second negative
5-10 second hang at the bottom position
*try and do this for all 8 reps. If you run out of steam just go back to the 10 second negatives for the remaining reps.
When that becomes too “easy” let me know and I’ll add another step
What is a micro pull up?
I love bands and I think they would be very helpful in your case. Pick the lightest band that you can that you can do 3 full pull ups with and do 5 sets of 3. If you can’t finish the sets with the light band then switch to a thicker band so you can complete the sets. No shame in using bands… I dislocated my shoulder about a year and a half ago and used the hell out of my bands for pull ups and dips!
A micro pull up is when I am holding at the top - and slowly going down/running out of steam - I will see if I can pull myself back up even a smidge, aka, a micro amount, it might be an inch or a few, but at least I am seeing what it feels like to actually “pull up". Honestly it feels very difficult, and that is just a few inches. Hard to imagine at this point being able to start from the bottom and going all the way up but I know I have to start somewhere.
I will try the bands, I agree, they can be enormously helpful, just thought it might be a good part of the cold turkey strategy. When doing a pull up with band assistance, does it matter if you put your foot or your knee in the band? I have seen people do it both ways. Hopefully you will be running this forum long enough for me to report back!
Ok, that’s what I thought you meant but I wanted to ask just to make sure.
When you’re ready for these I would start by doing these micromovements from the bottom position (it’s usually the hardest part of the movement for most people). I will make a video for you so you can see what I mean. It can help you to learn how to engage your back from the beginning so you don’t end up over compensating with your arms or being one of those people who are swinging all over the place on the bar.
I’ll be here! Please report back… I’m looking forward to following your progress
Apologies if this is stepping on @Bronwen_Blunt toes, i’ll happily delete this post if so.
Have you tried dead hangs? That could be a way to help build some of the grip strength and core strength needed for a pull up, without beating your elbows up.
Tried the pull-ups with 5 seconds at the top, 10 down (more like 8-10) and 5-10 seconds at the bottom….harder than I thought. I thought since I was already progressing on negatives that this method would not be any more difficult, which is saying a lot since negatives themselves are quite challenging.
Question: when holding 5-10 seconds at the bottom, do you go to straight dead hang or try to maintain the pull up position integrity, i.e. hold enough tension in the arms as if you are in the starting position to do an actual pull up. Hopefully this question makes sense.
I just feel like this is going to take such a long time, I hope I don’t give up. I know everyone had to start similarly.
I tried pulling up from the bottom and maybe I can get up millimeters but it is so incredibly difficult to imagine being able to pull your entire body up….
Don’t give up, you can do it! Every thing takes time and it’s always worth the effort when you reach your goal. How long have you been focused on this goal?
@dagill2 brought up a good point about grip strength. How is your overall grip strength? If doing dead hangs are boring for you I would highly recommend going to a park and playing on the monkey bars… not kidding! I have spent a lot of time doing playground sessions and it works wonders for grip strength and it’s fun
Be careful with the bands if you are using them around your feet. I just saw an IG video of a girl doing pull ups with a band around her feet and it slipped off and hit her in the crotch… funny but not funny! No one wants to get snapped in the butthole with one of those bands so use them with caution
I think you’re right… I suppose some people enjoy that kind of thing.
Boy am I glad that a guy replied to this comment because when I wrote it I was thinking that getting hit in the ol’ ballsack would be so much worse!! HAHA!
Welcome and thank you for joining the party here. It’s exciting when we have lots of people to interact with and learn from so it’s good to know we have a dietitian here. Let’s keep this forum going strong and get more women in here… I’m looking forward to it!!
I try hard but I’d be fibbing if I said that I’m consistent with my vegetables. I don’t even have an excuse so I’ll suck it up and work harder!!
I’m a knee-in-band kind of guy myself, just in case.
would be so much worse!! HAHA!