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Here's what you need to know... Cannabis hinders gym and sports performance in every way, from reaction time to reduced exercise capacity and time to exhaustion. Pot interrupts mTOR, lowers testosterone, and raises cortisol, but these effects are short term. Used wisely, marijuana may help with overtraining, recovery, and appetite stimulation if needed. The two major strains of cannabis, indica and sativa, have different effects on the body. Men and women are affected differently by marijuana usage. Use of marijuana has little to no benefit for lifters and dieters, but occasional recreational usage is probably not that big of a deal. Dude, Where Are My Chocolates? It's 2011 and I'm walking down the street in Amsterdam. I've walked a mere four blocks from where I'd just purchased a hundred dollars in Belgium chocolates. I reach down to get another piece... and they're gone. I turn to my friends and frantically say, "What happened to my chocolates?! Did you take them? Did someone steal them?" Than I realize my friends are nowhere around. I look down at that huge box of chocolates cradled in my arms. What happened to the chocolates? I ate them. All of them! Then it dawns on me. I say out loud, almost shouting, "Bro, you are f*!cking high!" I had never been high before. I always hated the stuff because I couldn't stand to have anything in my lungs. But in Amsterdam a friendly dude at a coffee shop gave me a brownie. So I did what any hardcore lifter does post-workout. I ate it. And then I ate another one. So now I'm stoned out of my gourd and I only know two things: First, I felt so relaxed it was like I was floating on a cloud. Second, I was the hungriest I had ever been in my life! After scarfing those chocolates, I continued inhaling the equivalent of three big dinners over the next three hours... which to me felt like only 30 minutes. "I Lift, Get High, and Eat." You may be wondering what this has to do with you and your desire to build muscle and burn fat. A friend of mine in college had a philosophy he would repeat whenever I'd give him a hard time about his pot habit. He'd say, "I lift, I get high and then I eat. I lift to get jacked. I smoke so I'll eat. I eat to get jacked." He was going to smoke regardless, so he rationalized how it helped him. It's just like alcohol – people who are serious lifters also use recreational drugs and they want to know if that habit is hindering or helping their cause. That's what this article is about. To help you understand the ins and outs of marijuana usage and how it impacts training goals. The Endocannabinoid System My story above illustrates my first real world experience with the endocannabinoid system, one of the most far-reaching metabolic systems in the body. Scientists discovered that compounds in marijuana, the two main ones being tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), bind to two main receptors in our brains and bodies. These receptors were then named after the marijuana constituents and became known as cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 (CB1 and CB2). When these receptors are bound by exogenous cannabinoids (exogenousmeaning from an outside-the-body source, like marijuana) or endogenous cannabinoids (compounds our own body makes) multiple metabolic processes are impacted. THC and CBD act on the CB1 and CB2 receptors in much the same way AEA and 2-AG do. (If you want to sound smart the next time you're out with friends, just throw that sentence out randomly.) The endocannabinoid system controls pain sensation, appetite, temperature regulation, stress reactivity, immune function, and sleep as well as other processes. And perhaps even more interesting, muscle and fat tissue also utilize these receptors to control their processes. You can think of the endocannabinoid system as one of the body's major command and control centers for tweaking your metabolism's ability to adapt and react to the world around it. So when you smoke weed, or in my case eat it, you're basically like a computer hacker busting into your metabolism's mainframe. The Research Let's get a few things out of the way. First, there's not a ton of research on humans, exercise and marijuana. Most of what we know comes from rat studies (you should see how tiny their bongs are.) The problem is, the rat endocannabinoid system is slightly different than ours. So, we can't extrapolate directly from rats to humans. Another confounding variable when studying marijuana is that very little research exists in the realm of randomized double-blind clinical trials with weight lifters. So, much of what you're going to get from me here is extrapolation of research based on mechanism, animal studies and populations studies. Basically that means this info comes with a very strong caveat: More studies need to be done. All that being said, I've done my best to give you some real-world takeaways based on something other than just gym lore and hearsay. Building Muscle and Performance Enhancement The direct effect of cannabis on performance is clear: It hinders performance in every way and is notsomething that can aid your exercise endeavors. This can be confusing when you realize it's on the banned substance list for most regulating bodies in sports. However, this isn't based on any performance-enhancing benefit, but rather the fact that it's an illegal substance in most places and isn't seen as being in "the spirit of the game." So its inclusion is more a political one than a scientific one. Using marijuana to enhance performance is like taking Ex-Lax to control diarrhea. Marijuana... Decreases reaction time Interrupts concentration Disrupts hand-eye coordination Reduces exercise capacity and time to exhaustion. These effects have been shown to last up to 36 hours after usage. As far as muscle building, chronic pot use may interrupt mTOR signaling through down-regulation of the CB1 receptor (mTOR is one of the major signals for muscle growth). I use the word “may” here as studies show a relationship between mTOR signaling in the nervous system of rats. Acutely, studies seem to suggest lowered testosterone and higher cortisol post exposure. Together this information means that using weed in the hours before or after exercise isn't a great idea if you want to perform at your best and recover adequately from training. But There's More to the Story If we dig a little deeper and understand the endocannabinoid system, we realize there might be some utility in terms of dealing with overtraining and recovery. Remember, to gain muscle you must achieve a caloric surplus. For many hardgainers this is difficult. Short-term marijuana use increases appetite and can help in this regard. At the same time, cannabis use can be relaxing to the nervous system and might be able to play a role in overtraining syndrome. Cannabis has anxiolytic effects, it increases HRV (an indication of decreased nervous system stress) and it aids sleep. All of this could be useful for an overtrained athlete who has a long weekend to focus on recovery. Dual Effects on Appetite The effects of weed on appetite are interesting. Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) controls this effect. When you use marijuana, the many different cannabinoids, mostly THC and cannabidiol (CBD), interact with CB1 and elevate appetite. This happens acutely. Interestingly, chronic use may actually decrease appetite. Research on rats and population studies on marijuana users support this dual appetite effect. Short-term cannabis use elevates appetite. Long-term or chronic use may cause a down-regulation of appetite. This is believed to be due to two mechanisms. THC binds the CB1 receptor over our own naturally produced cannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). THC has a weaker impact on appetite compared to our own 2-AG. At the same time, continual marijuana use downregulates CB1 receptors over time and decreases appetite. This is supported by the fact that chronic users – those using three times per week or more for longer than a year – suffer less obesity and may actually eat less than non-users. Varying Effects of Different Strains The two major strains of cannabis are indica and sativa. Indica has a lower level of THC compared to cannabidiol (CBD). Sativa is the reverse. This is why sativa is often preferred by those who enjoy getting high – sativa has more brain effects than indica. Then of course there are varying blends that combine indica and sativa to get varying percentages of THC and CBD. In one study looking at high THC/low CBD, medium THC/medium CBD, and low THC/high CBD, it was found that appetite stimulating effects were lowest in the low THC/high CBD strains. In fact, there's some indication that cannabidiol may actually be an appetite suppressant. This is interesting info for those who use marijuana and want to know which strains are most likely to send them on a 3,000 calorie midnight Taco Bell run. The hardgainer may love this effect, while the hard-loser may not. Also, if you're using marijuana to aid in overtraining and recovery, you may be interested to know that the high CBD strains have equal fatigue recovery merits as the high THC strains, but with much less appetite effects. So for a hardgainer looking to aid recovery and pack in the cals, high THC levels in the brain are best (i.e. sativa). For the person overtrained and wanting to minimize fat gain and lose weight, low THC and high CBD may be best (i.e. indica). Ganja and Fat Loss As noted, the short-term and long-term effects of marijuana use may be different. Short-term use definitely increases appetite, relaxes, and has a demotivating effect. All of this would suggest that use leads to weight gain. However, long-term effects seem to suggest a down-regulation or adaptation by the cannabinoid receptors, inducing reverse effects. This leads to a reduced appetite. Again, this is supported in population studies where smokers are leaner than non-smokers. The different strains may again have a role to play here. THC may increase lipoprotein lipase, the body's major fat-storing enzyme – the same one insulin impacts. THC may also increase PPAR gamma which causes increased fat cell division – i.e. makes more fat cells. At the same time, cannabidiol (CBD) and another cannabinoid from marijuana I haven't yet mentioned, tetrahydracannabivarin (THCV), have shown in rats to decrease fat storage and increase fat burning. Given these considerations, we may be able to say that high THC marijuana (sativa) is more likely to cause fat gain than higher cannabidiol and lower THC strains (indica). I'm making these conclusions based on my extrapolation of human population studies, known effects on appetite, and some of the mechanisms we've seen in rats. Not perfect, but the best I can do given limited data. Interesting Gender Differences There are some pretty striking difference in marijuana use and its effects between men and women: Men are more responsive to the appetite-stimulating effects compared to women. Men have lower sex drive and sexual behavior compared to women who have greater effects from use. Men get greater effects on energy homeostasis, which could mean greater chance of metabolic change in a positive or negative direction. Women have greater pain-reducing effects and more anxiety alleviation from pot. Endocrine Effects The body stores cannabionoids in fat tissue. When you fast or exercise, research shows there's a marked increase in blood levels of cannabinoids. Don't worry, the research shows these levels likely don't go high enough to make you test positive on a drug test, but this may be a consideration for weight loss. The cannabionoids present in marijuana not only have effects on our cannabionoid receptors, but also interact as direct enzyme inhibitors for many of the sex steroid generating compounds. If you're a user and you notice lowered testosterone and progesterone or estrogen dominant effects, check your marijuana use. Realize that even if you haven't used in a while, you may be impacting your hormonal metabolism during your weight loss efforts due to these effects. Take-Home Points I realize this article has a lot of info with not as many useable tidbits as we'd all like. Some of the information may also seem confusing and contradictory. This is the problem with such a complex issue and incomplete or limited research opportunities. However, here are the highlights and usable points (with more research needed to confirm or deny): Short-term use increases appetite and relaxes the nervous system. For a hardcore lifter or athlete who's overtrained and undernourished, this could be one potential use for marijuana. Best used over a long weekend or a week off as you recover. Using marijuana in and around training will do nothing for performance or muscle growth and likely completely work against your efforts. Sativa is higher in THC and gives more of the high. It'll also have more pronounced appetite-stimulating effects and weight gaining aspects. Indicais lower in THC with higher relative levels of CBD. This means less appetite concerns, less brain effects (likely meaning less decrements in performance), and possible fat loss mechanisms. Women and men have different responses. Men may have more negative effects relating to lowered sex drive, decreased metabolic response, and increased appetite. Women may not have as many negative effects. Those who are losing weight and have been long-time users need to understand that fat loss means increased exposure, whether you're using currently or not, due to storage in fat cells. Marijuana can have endocrine-disrupting properties, so pay attention to changes in testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. Remember you can be getting these effects whether you're using or not if you're losing lots of fat. If you must use, it's better eaten (appropriately prepared edibles) than smoked. Weed may help with insomnia and GI distress. There are anecdotal reports from athletes saying smoking before competition helps them. While the research does not at all substantiate these claims, the cannabinoid system does help block out pain and relax the mind. Whether this eventually translates into anything meaningful in research remains to be seen. Not That Big of a Deal? Given the totality of the research and my extrapolations of the information, use of marijuana likely has little to no benefit for inclusion in a weight lifting and lean body lifestyle, especially given the many other activities that can cause relaxation and aid recovery. That being said, nothing I have found suggests that occasional recreational use of marijuana in the context of an otherwise healthy lifting and fat-loss lifestyle is that big of a deal.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of 104 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids found in marijuana plants. CBD lacks psychoactive properties and won't get you high the way THC does. This is appealing for people who want to experience the benefits from the plant without the side effects. What benefits? It's an emerging field, but people have successfully used CBD for the treatment of pain, anxiety, depression, migraines, inflammation, and much more. From an athlete's perspective, it's excellent for recovery from training as it helps ease muscle soreness and reduce chronic inflammation. Personally, I've been supplementing with CBD for a while to help treat my tendinitis, lower back pain, and headaches. It's been a lifesaver. I can train hard and concentrate on my lifts without worrying about the constant pain I used to have. I rely on this supplement stack daily for my recovery: 25mg CBD 2 capsules Curcumin 4 capsules Flameout® With the evolving cannabis laws in North America, it's becoming a lot more mainstream, and a less restricted topic. If you're fortunate enough to live in one of the states or provinces that allow the sale of marijuana extracts, you can check out your local dispensaries or online stores for more information. It's available in many forms, including tinctures, pills, vape pens, mints, candies, and more.

Hey that's awesome hun I'm glad they really turned out good for you they are so damn good I love the protein pancakes and there's so many different variations that you can actually make too

Squeeze some lemon juice into a big glass of water, slug it down and you'll detoxify your liver, lose fat, improve digestion, prevent colds, and develop the ability to ride unicorns bareback across rainbows of Laffy Taffy. Or something like that. This advice has been around for decades. I think I remember my mom doing it in the 1970's before her Jazzercise class. And even some respected strength coaches today have recommended it for various reasons. But do any of those claims stand up to science? Well, Wyatt Brown and the guys at Examine.com dug through 42 studies to figure it out. Here's a quick summary. Does lemon water really detoxify the body? There's zero proof of this. While the D-limonene molecule in citrus can affect detoxification enzymes in the liver according to rat studies, it's unknown whether this works for humans or whether you could even get enough of it from lemon juice to have an effect. Probably not. Does it really give you energy and enhance mood? Not really, unless you have scurvy and you drink enough lemon water to cure your severe vitamin C deficiency. The mood claims come in part from the whole positive vs. negative ions movement, which is itself "sketchy as f*ck" as the science guys say. Does it really improve digestion? Maybe, but probably not. Lemon juice might increase bile-acid secretion a bit, but it's unknown whether or not this actually translates into "improved digestion." But what about the claim that it increases stomach acid? Maybe a little if you have hypochlorhydria – a medical condition where you can't produce enough stomach acid – but in that case you probably need to go see your doctor instead of relying on a home "cure." How about reducing the rate of gastric emptying which might help you absorb micronutrients and slow the absorption of carbs? Well, acidic foods may help you there, but there's no direct proof that a squeeze of lemon in your water will do this. Does it protect you from acidic diets? As the folks at Examine say, your body's own buffering system does a nice job balancing blood pH, unless you have cancer or liver disease. Even if you tried really hard to "alkalize the blood" you'd barely cause a temporary ripple in your blood pH. And lemon water alone certainly isn't going to do it. Does it help with fat loss? Nope. Lemon water is often recommended with low-carb diets and fasting diets. So while "weight" is lost, it's the low calories and loss of muscle glycogen ("water weight") causing it, not the magical lemon water. Now, drinking a big glass of lemon water before meals may cause you to eat less, but so would plain water. And again, it's the calorie reduction that leads to the fat loss, not the lemon juice. Does it really fight diseases? The phytochemicals lemon juice contains are healthy and "may affect the processes involved in cancer and cardiovascular disease" according to Examine, but you'd have to consume a lot of frickin' lemon water. There are other, denser sources of phytochemicals. Does it prevent colds? No, though vitamin C has been shown to shorten the lifespan of the common cold. Still, you're not getting enough vitamin C in lemon water to have a positive effect. Does it prevent kidney stones? Possibly. More studies are needed. I'd drink it just in case if I were prone to that painful problem. Okay, should I be drinking lemon water or not? If it helps you drink more water because you like the taste, then it's fine. But it's probably not doing most of the things the hippy-dippy internet bloggers say it's doing. And you probably don't want to overdo it anyway since acidic lemon juice can definitely erode your tooth enamel if you really go to town on it and don't brush your teeth after every glass.

Interesting read for the hell of it:: If you're a bodybuilder – and by bodybuilder, I mean anybody who lifts weights to change the shape of his body for esthetic reasons – you probably spend at least a little time pondering the "hot or not" paradox. Part of the reason you lift probably has to do with making yourself more appealing to the opposite sex but you know, through various articles and studies that have appeared throughout the years, that women just don't always go nuts for muscle the way we expect them to. Case in point, an oft-quoted study of women from the U.S. and New Zealand found that they considered the average male physique to be just as attractive as a slightly muscled male body. And, disappointing to some yet comforting to others, the women also found an average length penis to be just as arousing as the more ponderous ones that make furrows in the earth into which Boy Scouts plant apple seeds. Generally speaking, though, extremes in either category didn't do well, and fat guys lost out entirely. But something doesn't quite fit. We've all seen women ogling muscular men, and we know they didn't all flock to see "Magic Mike" to see Channing Tatum flex his acting chops as his character struggled with self-actualization. Clearly, there are instances of women practically going intro estrus over muscle. There appears to be a reason for these "mixed signals" regarding muscle, though. There also seems to be another physical trait of men that's clearly a turn-off for the majority of women, or at least the majority of younger women. Muscles Ain't for Marryin' The authors of an earlier University of California study on what gets women going concluded that while women thought less-muscular men were a better fit for long-term relationships, they were more likely to be quite happy having short-term relationships or one-night stands with guys who had big muscles. We're probably all familiar with the trope that bigger muscles send an evolutionary signal, perhaps inaccurately, that muscular guys produce healthier offspring. In short, women might have sex with muscular guys, but they marry "regular" guys. So, as weightlifters, are we all doomed to live lonely lives, holed up in our hovels, sifting through old, gray underwear in order to find our lifting straps before we head to the gym? Actually, it's easy to see the cause of this dating/marrying discrepancy. Women have no frame of reference when it comes to muscular guys, except for what they see on TV. Muscular guys, like beautiful women, are considered by the bulk of society to be shallow, unintelligent, and overly focused on their looks. So this prejudicial attitude towards guys with muscles isn't grounded in aesthetics, but preconceived notions. There is, however, one physical trait that women, especially younger women, find almost universally repellant, and that's body hair. No Carpets That same study of a couple of hundred women from the U.S. and New Zealand that gave a big ho-hum to big muscles and big penises also showed that the more hairless a male body was, the more women liked it. Clearly, a carpeted back has long been a well-known turn-off, but today's women don't want any carpets or shag rugs anywhere. They're turned on by men who have smooth, shiny, tile floors, or at least close to it. Whether this is because women want to infantilize us all so they express suppressed maternal instincts or because, paradoxically, despite their professed aversion to muscle, they want to see muscle definition, no one seems to know. It's enough to make your head hurt. Barnaby J. Dixson, Alan F. Dixson, Phil J. Bishop, Amy Parish. "Human Physique and Sexual Attractiveness in Men and Women: A New Zealand–U.S., Archives of Sexual Behavior," June 2010, Volume 39, Issue 3, pp 798–806. David A. Frederick, Martie G. Haselton, "Why Is Muscularity Sexy? Tests of the Fitness Indicator Hypothesis," Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, August 1, 2007.

Interesting article: Steroids have always been the blue-collar anabolic drug of choice. You got them from guys named Rick or Bobby or Moose who wore faded World Gym T-shirts and always hung around the locker room at the gym. Alternately, you'd get them through the mail and you'd get a box that contained a couple of vials enclosed in a box that was enclosed in another box that was enclosed in yet another box, all with so much wrapping tape that the post office inspector would take one look at it, say, "Oh momma, I don't need this crap," and let it pass. And they were relatively cheap, too. You could easily afford them if you were willing to miss a car payment or two. But growth hormone? That was the ghastly expensive white-collar drug. It was for athletes or pro bodybuilders or masters of the universe stockbrokers who got it from some guy named Horst who worked at the clinic. GH was what blue collar guys aspired to – a "clean," elegant drug produced by genetic engineering that was hardly ever tested for and did all its magic without making your back all oily and pustular, or shrinking your testicles until they were indistinguishable from some Green Giant brand frozen peas. But here's something the blue-collar guys can lord over the white-collar guys: Growth hormone doesn't build muscle. It's not exactly a hoax, because a hoax suggests someone was trying to fool people. No, in the case of GH, we all fooled ourselves. My GH Mea Culpa For years I've described foods, nutrients, and exercise programs that increase growth hormone production, but I always did so half-heartedly because I've never really found evidence that increasing GH production, even by injecting it, amounted to much, at least muscle wise. And neither was there any proof that GH allowed Barry Bonds to hit more home runs or helped Peyton Manning throw passes with any more zip or accuracy. It may have, however, helped Yankee's pitcher Andy Pettitt recover from his torn flexor tendon a lot quicker, and this is where the real worth of growth hormone lies. It's 100-proof dumbassery that the law doesn't allow both professional and amateur athletes of all stripes to use GH to facilitate healing. Regardless of this fact, millions of people, including just about anyone involved in overseeing professional and amateur sports, continues to believe that GH muscles you up – that it's a PED. Why Does Everyone Think GH Grows Muscle? The beliefs about its efficacy are all based on two-dimensional thinking. We know that GH is instrumental in the muscular and skeletal growth of young people, and we see that old people lose muscle and suffer reductions in GH as they age, so we assume there's a correlation. There are also numerous studies that show GH supplementation increases lean body mass and decreases body fat in GH-deficient patients. We also see GH-enhanced athletes accomplishing amazing feats on the field, and who can dismiss the gargantuan IFBB pros, all of who are no doubt using lots and lots of GH? The trouble is, those studies that showed GH led to increased lean body mass in GH-deficient patients? The increases weren't from additional muscles. Instead, they were due to hypertrophy of connective tissue and increased water in cells (cell volumization), along with increased water in tissues because of changes in electrolyte balance. Furthermore, these changes were observed in GH-deficient patients. GH supplementation in healthy young people hasn't been shown to promote any significant changes in muscle or strength. What About Athletes and Bodybuilders? Yes, what about those athletes and bodybuilders who supposedly got superhumanly good and large because of GH? Well, no IFBB athlete takes GH without also taking frighteningly large amounts of anabolic steroids. The same is true of athletes like Barry Bonds who were clients of Balco Labs, purveyors of fine anabolic cheese. The benefits they experienced might have been solely from the steroids they were taking, or, there might be a synergy between GH and steroids that needs further exploration. But GH by itself? Piffle I say, piffle. But Doesn't Weight Training Boost GH? Yes, weight training increases the production of GH, but that doesn't mean muscular growth and GH are somehow directly intertwined. Cardio increases GH, too. So does burning yourself, as does sitting on a block of ice. Going without food increases GH. So does slamming the door on your schlong. So What Is GH Good For? Don't get me wrong, it's important to at least have normal levels of GH. Without normal levels, it'd be hard to add muscle under any circumstances, but increasing GH levels beyond normal has little if any effect on strength or hypertrophy. But despite all I've said, GH is, or could be, incredibly effective in speeding up healing and for that reason should be legal and used in sports rehab as often as ice, massage, or physical therapy. Granted, there haven't been that many studies supporting its use in this capacity. A 2010 Danish study showed that it increased collagen production in healthy individuals by 6 times without any negative side effects (1). The men were given GH and then asked to complete a few sets of a leg exercise (extensions). The GH didn't lead to any increases in muscle fiber thickness or density, but it did stimulate the production of collagen. Another study, this one in Spain, found that researchers were able to speed up Achilles' tendon injuries through the use of different growth factors, including IGF-1 (the production of which is stimulated by GH) (2). Likewise, there are at least a couple of animal studies that show GH's value in speeding up the healing of damaged cartilage. But given what we know about GH, given what I've seen GH do, it would almost surely be effective in speeding up virtually any kind of healing, potentially saving millions and millions of patients from additional weeks, months, or years of half-baked therapy and rehab. Doessing S1, Heinemeier KM, Holm L, Mackey AL, Schjerling P, Rennie M, Smith K, Reitelseder S, Kappelgaard AM, Rasmussen MH, Flyvbjerg A, Kjaer M, "Growth hormone stimulates the collagen synthesis in human tendon and skeletal muscle without affecting myofibrillar protein synthesis," J Physiol. 2010 Jan 15;588 (Pt 2):341-51. Sánchez M1, Anitua E, Azofra J, Andía I, Padilla S, Mujika I., " Comparison of surgically repaired Achilles tendon tears using platelet-rich fibrin matrices," Am J Sports Med. 2007 Feb;35(2):245-51

The amino acid glycine isn't considered to be an essential amino acid because the body can go into the biochemical kitchen and make it from other chemicals, most notably serine, but also from choline with a dash of threonine. Regardless, the typical human ingests about two grams of glycine a day, mostly through meat, fish, dairy, and other foods heavy on the protein side. I'm here to lobby for glycine, though. It's "non-essential" label, while chemically correct, diminishes its perceived value. It gets short-shrifted by biochemists and nutritionists because they're not taking some of its recently discovered talents as a nutraceutical into consideration. Specifically, supplementing the diet with glycine may dramatically enhance collagen synthesis, potentially leaving other alleged collagen resurrectionists like glucosamine and chondritin in the dust. Glycine may also be the cheapest and possibly the most effective longevity drug there is. Glycine for Collagen Resynthesis The regeneration of cartilage requires large amounts of the amino acids proline, lysine, and glycine, but Spanish scientists wanted to evaluate the comparative contributions of each in making the cartilage molecule. To figure it out, they cultured bovine chondrocytes using a large range of concentrations of these amino acids. Both proline and lysine enhanced the synthesis of collagen, but the effects decayed before reaching 1.0 mM (a measure of the concentration of a chemical in solution). Glycine also enhanced the synthesis of collagen, but the effects didn't decay before reaching a 1.0 mM concentration. In fact, the increase in synthesis continued by 60-75%. The researchers concluded the following: "Thus, increasing glycine in the diet may well be a strategy for helping cartilage regeneration by enhancing collagen resynthesis, which could contribute to the treatment and prevention of osteoarthritis." Glycine for Longevity Mitochondria, as I wrote in Grow Muscle, End Disease, Live Longer, are tiny cellular "organelles," which, as you can tell by the word, are kind of like teeny-tiny organs. Like organs, they each have specific functions, in this case the production of energy in the form of ATP, the energy currency of the cell. They do this by metabolizing sugars, fats, and other chemicals with the assistance of oxygen. Metabolically active cells like liver, kidney, heart, brain, and muscle have so many mitochondria that they may make up 40% of the cell, whereas other slacker cells like blood and skin have very few. In addition to producing all the energy our bodies require, they also play a giant role in the process of aging. There are several theories as to how they do this, but a group of Japanese researchers believe that it's largely because old mitochondria just don't work as hard as younger mitochondria. The Japanese team knew that the GCAT gene was involved in the production of glycine, and when they deactivated the GCAT gene in young fibroblasts, their energy expenditure decreased. Conversely, when they activated that same GCAT gene, energy expenditure went up again. They decided to tinker with things further, but this time, they exposed old fibroblasts directly to glycine and presto, energy levels increased significantly. Their results suggest that simply adding more glycine to the diet could make old cells act young again and possibly delay aging. Other Benefits of Glycine Aside from helping to heal joints and extend lifespan, glycine is also a powerful anti-inflammatory. Other benefits include improved sleep, better skin, gut health, and reduced blood pressure. Humans typically ingest about 2 to 3 grams of glycine from food and the body usually makes another 3 grams on its own, but some studies suggest we could benefit from a lot more, up to about an additional 10 grams or so. Weight lifters normally have a leg up on glycine intake over the average human because they're normally taking in a lot of protein, thereby inadvertently fortifying their glycine stockpile. Still, it might be smart to ingest an additional 3, 4, or 5 grams of glycine a day, either through a daily collagen supplement (collagen is rich in glycine), or from a dedicated glycine powder. Either route is dirt cheap.

Powerlifters and strongman competitors have strong, massive triceps. Why? Because to be a great powerlifter or strongman, you must have great lockout strength, and there are a lot of ways to build it. Although many strength athletes aren't concerned with what their triceps look like, their triceps are bigger than most people's legs. And it's pretty damn cool. So here's how to take a page from their book and build a monstrous set of triceps. The Three Types of Triceps Exercises 1 – Heavy Partials Here we're talking about partial presses with a variety of positions/grips. There's an endless number of variations, but here are a few that'll have a profound effect on your triceps' size and ability to press a shit-ton of weight. Heavy-partials done off pins in a power rack work well for this, and they're great for developing absolute strength: Dead Stop Bench (Or Floor) Press Use standard bar or a football bar (as shown) for a neutral grip. Brace and press. Add accommodating resistance if you'd like (chains or bands). Dead Stop Press Off Pins Set the pins high enough that you're working just the top half. Brace and press. Close-Grip Fat Bar Dead-Press Against Doubled Mini-Bands For an extra challenge, use a fat bar and attach bands for this pin press. Seated Safety Squat Bar Press Off Pins This overhead press will challenge your triceps, grip, and forearms because of the awkwardness of the bar. Some of the variations here allow accommodating resistance. If you're able to, use it to get even more variability in your training, not to mention the benefit of maximal tension when you're strongest – at lockout. But it's certainly not a requirement. By that same token, specialty bars are not needed either. You need your presses done from a dead-stop, no bouncing off the pins. Use a moderate or close grip, and perform this work for maximal effort, building to a 1-5 rep max. This work should take place first in your upper-body training session. 2 – Floor Press Variations The floor press will build massive triceps and lockout strength. The purpose of the floor press is to work the top-range of your pressing. Since you aren't able to use any leg-drive, as you would in a traditional bench press, most people can't handle the same loading. This will actually allow you to recover faster between workouts. The floor press can provide insight into whether or not your bench press technique needs work. It says a lot if your floor press numbers are close to your bench press numbers. It indicates that you're not effectively using your legs in your bench press. You can do floor presses with a barbell, dumbbells, or specialty bars like a football bar. Typically, the floor press will be done with max effort work, building to a 1-5 rep max, but that's not to say you couldn't use this with higher-rep ranges. Floor Press Review Watch this video to make sure you nail the floor press. Dumbbell Floor Press Try a pronated grip for this, engage the triceps, and keep your knees bent to make it more back-friendly. Medicine Ball Floor Press Try a less conventional implement, like a heavy med-ball for a high-rep finisher. In this case, you'll need anywhere from 75-150 pounds to get the job done. 3 – Direct Triceps Work We could certainly go down the rabbit hole of variations that target all heads of the triceps, but I won't do that to you. Instead I've picked a smaller list of the ones I've found to be most effective over the years. Most won't come as surprise to you. For all of these variations I typically train higher-volumes of 50-100 total reps. JM Presses Use this underrated accessory movement to build your triceps. Take a look at how they're done. Rollback Tricep Extensions Lay on your back on the floor and do a tricep extension. At the bottom of the movement place the dumbbells on the ground near your head. Barbell Tricep Extensions from the Floor Use the same movement you'd use with standing tricep extension, but laying on the floor. Allow the plates to touch the ground behind your head. Specialty Bar Tricep Extensions from the Floor You can use a different bar to get a neutral grip, or add accommodating resistance with bands and repeat the same tricep extension movement. And let's not forget about pushdowns when it comes to tricep growth. These variations are winners: Rope Pushdowns Keep your elbows tight to the body, then with control allow the rope to move back up to the starting position. Band Pushdowns Attach a band to the rig, keep your elbows tight to the body and spread it apart at the bottom. Try for 100 reps. Reverse-Grip Banded Tricep Pushdowns Do these pulldowns with palms facing up to hit the medial head of the triceps. The Best Way to Add These Depending on the type of split you use, you'd want to keep it simple and choose one heavy movement to perform first. It could be done using any variation for a maximal effort. You'd then follow that up with one assistance exercise. Yep, just one assistance exercise. You'll more than likely find that after your main lift and one assistance exercise, your triceps will be thoroughly smoked. Just remember, more exercises won't necessarily lead to better results, and in this sense, quality over quantity is a more effective approach. Vary your selection in each session and rotate those variations weekly to find what works best for you. Just because one program or variation worked for your buddy, it doesn't mean it's going to necessarily work for you. Being innovative with your training will facilitate long-term results.

Single-joint exercises provide a positive transfer into improved performance and injury risk reduction. For example, a comprehensive hamstring program should also contain at least one exercise where movement is focused at the hip joint (like the deadlift) and one exercise where movement is focused at the knee joint (like the leg curl machine). This is because different regions of the hamstring complex can be regionally targeted through exercise selection. So, each type of exercise offers unique but complementary training benefits. So it makes sense that the same applies to the benefit of regularly using knee extension-based exercises like machine leg extensions or backward sled pulls, along with more multi-joint knee-oriented exercises like squats, lunges, and step-ups. Research shows the leg extension creates much higher levels of activation in the rectus femoris compared to the squat (1), which is likely why other research shows the rectus femoris seems to grow more from single-joint, machine-based knee extension training relative to the other three quadriceps. (2) Even if you're not motivated by that research, we can all agree that muscles respond (make strength adaptations) to how they're loaded, which is the principle of specificity. Well, as you descend into the bottom of the squat or lunge (in hip flexion and knee flexion), the rectus femoris is trying to lengthen at the knee but shorten at the hip, and ends up staying roughly the same length. Then as you ascend (performing hip extension and knee extension), the muscle is trying to shorten at the knee but lengthen at the hip, and again ends up staying about the same length. (3) In other words, to improve your strength in movements like backpedaling, decelerating forward momentum to change direction, or to walk down stairs or downhill, you need to train such actions. Reverse sled pulls and leg extensions are my top two options for the task. Additionally, many of the arguments against utilizing the knee extension in healthy populations (out of concern for patella femoral joint forces and ACL health) are unfounded and logically inconsistent. (4) Not to mention, when it comes to strengthening the quads, there's a multitude of studies showing better quadriceps strength gains (even in post ACL reconstruction patients) when combining open-kinetic chain exercises like leg extensions along with closed-kinetic chain exercises like squats and lunges over using only closed-kinetic chain exercises. (5) References Ebben, W. P., Feldmann, C. R., Dayne, A., Mitsche, D., Alexander, P., & Knetzger, K. J. (2009). Muscle activation during lower body resistance training. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 30(1), 1-8. Ema, R., Wakahara, T., Miyamoto, N., Kanehisa, H., & Kawakami, Y. (2013). Inhomogeneous architectural changes of the quadriceps femoris induced by resistance training. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 113(11), 2691-2703. Beardsley, C. Can you "just squat" for maximal leg development? Retrieved 2018 from www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com Tumminello N, Vigotsky A. Are the Seated Leg Extension, Leg Curl, and Adduction Machine Exercises Non-Functional or Risky? NSCA Personal Training Quarterly 4.4: 50-53, 2017. Treubig, D. Why You Should Be Using Knee Extensions After ACL Reconstruction. Retrieved 2018 from www.themanualtherapist.com

I love training arms its one of my favorite bodyparts to train besides back.... Advanced training techniques usually aren't that important for newbies, and you're selling yourself short by rushing into them. Don't get me wrong, there are advantages in their application, but understanding how to use them appropriately is what makes your body more responsive once you do add them in. In the case of biceps, a few sets of good ol' barbell curls once or twice a week is generally enough volume since you're already working them indirectly every time you do a back exercise. But if you've been training for some time and your biceps are lagging, adding a novel stressor will get them bigger. Try this: How to Do It Start with the incline curl. Your objective here is to hit the peak of your biceps. Set up on an adjustable bench with your elbows positioned slightly behind your torso. Most people make the mistake of bringing their elbows too far back. This puts your shoulders in a precarious position. And, if you have pre-existing shoulder issues, a steep incline can exacerbate it. Work within your capacity. Immediately follow that up with eccentric hammer curls. With a neutral grip, you'll mainly focus on the brachialis. And that's a good thing since this part of the bicep doesn't get nearly enough attention. Finish off with regular standing hammer curls. At this point, your arms will feel like noodles. So, it's perfectly fine to use a little momentum to eke out a few more reps. The whole point of this is to drive hypertrophy, so there's no need to go heavy. Use this sequence once a week

Sleep is like hitting the reset button every night. It's when your body is focused on recovery, stress levels are low, hormones are rebalancing, and you're recuperating for the upcoming day. For men, sleep is when your body produces most of its testosterone levels. One study gathered a group of healthy men and tested their testosterone levels first thing in the morning after a night of sleep. The guys who slept for four hours had testosterone levels within the 200-300 ng/dl range. However, the guys who slept for eight hours woke up with testosterone levels hovering between 500-700 ng/dl. The more sleep you get, the higher your anabolic hormones will be. So quit spending hours at night Googling "how to increase testosterone" and go to sleep. But Wait, There's More... Sleep deprivation can reduce insulin sensitivity, which can lead to fat gain, diabetes, and adverse heart conditions. One study found that lack of sleep impairs your body's ability to respond to insulin, one of the hormones that regulate your metabolism. In the study, seven healthy men and women spent eight days and nights in a sleep lab. On the first four days, they slept "normally." But on the final four days, their sleep was restricted to 4.5 hours. After the four nights of sleep deprivation, blood tests revealed that the participants' overall insulin sensitivity was 16% lower than after the nights of normal sleep. Moreover, their fat cells' sensitivity to insulin dropped by 30% to levels typically seen in people who are obese or who have diabetes. The senior author of the study said, "This is the equivalent of metabolically aging someone 10 to 20 years just from four nights of partial sleep restriction. Fat cells need sleep, and when they don't get enough sleep, they become metabolically groggy." If you don't take sleep seriously, your body won't take building muscle seriously. Plan what your week is going to look like. Set a goal time to get to bed every night that will allow for at least 8-hours of sleep. You'll increase growth hormone, keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders, and best of all, build muscle.

Thats friggin awesome nothing is better than extreme pumps...sounds like you got a good solid cycle down now..

Looking good wow keep it up hun....

When muscle growth comes to a screeching halt there are dozens of plateau-busting training tactics – anything from technical improvements and rest-pause training to recovery and dietary changes. They can all help you make progress faster, but one training tactic may stand above them all – drop sets. Drop sets are an advanced muscle building tactic where you perform a heavy, near failure set, decrease the weight, and continue training until you reach technical or muscular failure. A Brief History of Drop Sets The earliest known use of drop sets, called the "Multi-Poundage System," originated in 1947 by Henry Atkins. Atkins firmly believed that the final few reps in a set had the greatest value when it came to building muscle. Though he didn't have the science to back it up at the time, he was on to something. The last few reps of a set have the highest metabolic stress, a key driver for muscle growth. When you combine heavy, high-tension weight training with skin-splitting metabolic stress, you have the perfect recipe for rapid muscle growth. (1) 1 – Classic Barbell Strip Sets This one's probably the most commonly used in gyms across the world. After your final working set, you'll strip off about 15-20% of the load, catch your breath, and get back to work for another few reps. Once you hit the point of technical failure, when you can no longer lift with pristine technique, stripe off another plate from each side and repeat. Do 3 strip sets. Example: Complete your final rep using 250 pounds on bench press, then... Strip Set 1: A set of 200 pounds x failure Strip Set 2: A set of 155 pounds x failure Strip Set 3: A set of 135 pounds x failure 2 – 50% Drop Sets These are also called the "halving" method. Use this particular drop set after a low-rep, heavy load exercise. After your final working set, strip off 50% of the weight. Give yourself 15 seconds of rest and lift the weight as many times as you can before failure. Repeat this process one more time after the initial 50% drop. Naturally, by halving the weight twice, your last drop set will be a weight you probably haven't put on the bar since you first stumbled into the gym. But it actually won't be as easy as it sounds since you'll be going to failure. It's high-tension weight training along with joint-friendly, skin-splitting pump. Example: Complete your final rep using 325 pounds on the bench press, then... Drop Set 1: 165 pounds (rounded up from 162.5) x failure Drop Set 2: 85 pounds (rounded up from 82.5) x failure 3 – Power Drop Sets These were a favorite of the first ever Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott. He was a firm believer that the fastest track to massive muscle was lifting heavy weight with few reps, every time. Power drop sets won't give you as much of a pump as the others will, however, it'll encourage strength gains while improving muscle density. Unlike the halving method, you'll only decrease the weight after your final working set by 10%. Because the weights will be heavier, keep a spotter nearby. Example: Complete your final rep using 325 pounds on the bench press, then... Power Drop Set 1: A set of 295 pounds (rounded up) x failure Power Drop Set 2: A set of 265 pounds (rounded down) x failure Power Drop Set 3: A set of 240 pounds (rounded up) x failure 4 – Descending Drop Sets (12-8-4-2) Descending drop sets decrease the reps on each set while decreasing the weight only by teeny increments. So your load stays close to what it was at the beginning of the drop set. Because the reps of the descending drop sets are already pre-planned with this particular pattern (12, 8, 4, 2), you'll want to hit 12 reps on your final working set. Then reduce the weight by 5% every set thereafter with 15-30 seconds of rest between sets. (Just round the numbers up or down as needed.) Example: Complete your final rep using 225 pounds on the bench press (12 reps), then... Drop Set 1: 215 pounds x 8 reps Drop Set 2: 205 pounds x 4 reps Drop Set 3: 195 pounds x 2 reps 5 – Zero-Rest Drop Sets Most people shy away from the zero-rest drop sets because of how challenging they are. The goal here is to get your rest time in between your final set and your drop sets as close to 00:00 as possible. To do an honest zero-rest drop set you'll need a spotter... and maybe a puke bucket. I recommend using full 45 or 25 pound weight plates that are easy to strip off the bar. Aim for speed between sets, not necessarily precision in load percentages. Example: Complete your final rep using 365 pounds on the bench press, then... Drop Set 1: 315 pounds x failure Drop Set 2: 225 pounds x failure Drop Set 3: 135 pounds x failure 6 – Drop Super Set This is an excellent drop set for a de-load week, and if you have a lagging muscle group this technique is awesome for combining both heavy compound lifts and lighter pump work. Now, keep in mind that unlike the others, drop super sets make up the entire set. First, select two exercises to do during this drop set. Stick with a weight with which you can complete between 18-15 reps. Aim to keep your rest time between 0-15 seconds. Since most lifters won't skip chest training, come hell or high water, we'll keep our focus there for both exercises. This example uses a barbell bench press with a cable chest flye – a potent chest-building combo. Here's how it works: Bench press (200 pounds x 15 reps) then cable chest flyes (70 pounds x 15 reps) Bench press (185 pounds x 12 reps) then cable chest flyes (60 pounds x 12 reps) Bench press (170 pounds x 10 reps) then cable chest flyes (50 pounds x 10 reps) Bench press (165 pounds x 8 reps) then cable chest flyes (40 pounds x 8 reps) Try It For A Month These drop sets will help you blow any muscle-building plateau to smithereens. Add a couple of these to your workout routine for the next month, shock your muscles for even more growth, then go back to your typical training cycle. Related:  Masochistic Mechanical Drop Sets Related:  Extended Sets For Size and Strength Reference Ozaki, H, et al. "Effects of Drop Sets with Resistance Training on Increases in Muscle CSA, Strength, and Endurance: a Pilot Study." Journal of Sports Sciences., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Mar. 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Most people know apple cider vinegar as the stuff you reluctantly pour over your salad when you're out of ranch dressing, but it actually has a fairly noteworthy past. The ancient Persians allegedly used it to prevent weight gain, and if that lean Xerxes from the movie 300 is evidence of its efficacy, sign me up. Samurai warriors were also said to drink it for added strength and power, and in more recent times it was used in the Civil War and WWI to treat battlefield wounds. Previous generations of mommas and grand mommas counted on it to treat mushroom poisoning, dandruff, toothaches, myalgia, neuralgia, arthralgia, mastalgia, and any other kind of algia that ailed ya'. But the medicinal purposes of apple cider vinegar (ACV) largely faded into memory until some modern studies on its effects began to surface, along with some renewed interest from granola crunchers. It seems this elixir, made from fermented apples, has a whole host of healthful benefits, among them the following: 1 – ACV improves insulin sensitivity Several studies have confirmed this, and one study reports that ACV raised insulin sensitivity at the 60-minute post-meal point by an impressive 34%. It does this because acetic acid (vinegar) suppresses disaccharidase activity, giving it physiological effects similar to metformin, a drug used to treat type II diabetes. Another study took 29 people and divided them into three groups: One group with type II diabetes, one with pre-diabetic signs, and one group that was healthy. All were given apple cider vinegar before a meal. The results were pretty impressive: All three groups had better blood sugar readings with vinegar than with placebo. The group with diabetes improved blood sugar by 25 percent. The group with pre-diabetic symptoms had lower blood sugar than even the healthy group. The group with pre-diabetic symptoms benefitted the most as their blood glucose concentrations were cut almost in half. A follow-up study also revealed that the continued use of vinegar led to an average weight loss of two pounds in four weeks, and another found that when people with type II diabetes took two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed, their fasting blood sugar test the next morning was lowered by 4 to 6 percent. 2 – ACV is good for your gut There's some question as to whether ACV is a prebiotic, a probiotic, or both. The unpasteurized version appears to at least promote the health of the microflora in your gut. However, labeling ACV as probiotic is a little trickier. The unpasteurized version contains what purveyors of ACV call "the mother," which are the strands of protein, enzymes, and bacteria that give the product its murky appearance. Since the unpasteurized version contains these bacteria, it's thought by some to be a probiotic, but in truth, the bacteria contained in ACV have not, as of yet, been shown to survive GI transit. Regardless, ACV does appear to be beneficial to existing bacteria, along with aiding in the digestion of proteins and fats by stimulating the release of stomach acid. 3 – ACV is the ultimate natural deodorant I don't know for a fact that commercial deodorants and antiperspirants are unhealthy. There aren't really any conclusive studies on the subject, but it just makes sense that slathering some perfumed, aluminum-based chemical muck on your armpit isn't the healthiest thing you can do to your body. As such, using ACV as a "natural" deodorant makes a lot of sense. Soak a cotton swab with it and then wipe your armpits. Let it dry and then squirt on a few puffs of cornstarch baby powder. The acetic acid in the ACV wipes out the bacteria that cause body odor and the cornstarch will keep you relatively dry. Maybe you'll smell like the Cobb salad at Denny's, but at least you won't gradually turn your armpit into an aluminum frying pan or get cancer. No, no, just kidding. The distinct ACV scent wears off in a few minutes. How to Use ACV First off, opt for the unpasteurized, organic, unfiltered stuff that's made by earth mothers who wear bras made out of macraméd hemp and who sleep in the forest. Secondly, don't drink it straight. If you do so for long enough, it'll wear away the enamel on your teeth and maybe even start to burn a hole through your esophagus. It is, after all, an acid. Mix two tablespoons in water or use it over your salad. One 2-tablespoon serving per day is probably all you need. Related:  Increase Insulin Sensitivity to Get Lean Related:  Balance Gut Bacteria. Get Leaner. Get Happier Reference Johnston, Carol S., et al, Vinegar Improves Insulin Sensitivity to a High-Carbohydrate Meal in Subjects With Insulin Resistance or Type 2 Diabetes Care, January 2004 vol. 27 no. 1 281-282

Absolutely i can i have posted i think 1 or 2 videos in my personal log for everyone to see....

Interesting read....i do a lot of cables for shoulders.... Most shoulder routines look stupidly similar. They begin with some heavy overhead presses, followed by some "dancing" side laterals. That's where the lifter bobs up and down in some kind of monkey mating dance because he's using momentum to move dumbbells that are way too heavy. These are followed up with a few half-assed sets for rear delts on the boob machine. Even though that routine is common, it doesn't mean it's the best way to build a complete set of shoulders, especially for those who are suffering from DDS – Deficient Deltoid Syndrome. Where Most Lifters Have It Wrong Most people believe that simply progressing on the overhead press is going to cure their spindly little delts. Here's the reality: If you're already bench pressing and incline pressing and/or doing various chest pressing movements, then you're already smashing the anterior or "front" delts. I've literally never met one dude who was lacking in anterior delt development. Zero. Not one. On top of that, the guys who don't have impressive shoulders spend very little time building the posterior delts because, well, it's not fun or sexy. Too bad, because it's posterior delt development in conjunction with medial delt development that actually gives you that capped off boulder-shoulder appearance! This is why movement "syntax" for the delts should flow from back to front: Start with the rear delts Move on to the medial delts Finish off with anterior delts Accordingly, give the greatest amount of volume to the rear and medial delts and minimal volume to the anterior delts. The Beauty of Cables The other problem with the standard free weight approach is that there tends to be a lot of wasted range of motion in most standard shoulder exercises. Take barbell overhead pressing, for instance. The resistance curve is descending, so the top portion of the movement offers little in the way of tension for the delts. With dumbbell lateral raises, the resistance curve is ascending so that the bottom quarter of the movement is kinda "meh" as far as deltoid tension goes. This is why cables are extremely effective for shoulders. They provide a constant amount of resistance throughout the range of motion, regardless of what exercise you're performing. Here are the most effective ones. 1 – Seated Cable Rear Laterals (for Posterior Delts) Despite the fact that lots of guys and gals actually do include rear delt work, they usually initiate the exercises with the traps and rhomboids, so the poor little posterior delts get very little attention. Going too heavy can be one of the culprits here, but the other problem is that they don't begin the movement with the scapula properly set. Ideally, you want to begin with the cables set up in line with the rear delts, and with the scaps in protraction. Then you should feel the posterior delts catch fire during the set. If that isn't happening, then you're still most likely initiating with the traps and upper back or calling them into play too much during the set. It's also difficult to establish a mind/muscle connection with the posterior delts, which is another reason why this muscle group often lags behind. The bigger and stronger areas of the upper back are built for big work and love to take over on pulling movements. The posterior delts still get some love, but not enough to grow to their potential. This is why movement execution is paramount – even more important than progression. Feel the rear delts. Kill the rear delts. See the growth happen. Intensity Method: Drop Sets Once you've mastered the form, bludgeon your rear delts into growth with this intensity method: Choose a weight that allows you to hit 10 solid reps in good form, but most likely not 11. Do a set there. Without rest, reduce the weight and shoot for 10 more reps. Immediately reduce the weight again and shoot for another 10 reps. Rest for a couple of minutes, then repeat that drop set two more times for a total of 90 reps. If you can't feel your rear delts getting blasted, then you simply aren't in possession of posterior deltoids and can skip this portion of the workout. 2 – Incline Cable Lateral Raise (Medial Delts) This exercise naturally engages the lower traps, which play a huge role in providing shoulder stability and maintaining overall shoulder health. They're also a great movement for fully contracting the medial delts... and I promise you they'll get smoked. Intensity Method: Rest/Pause For those unfamiliar with rest/pause, you're going to perform a set to failure, rest for 20 seconds, and then go again. Rest for another 20 seconds and go one more time. That's one set. Do three. Shoot for around 12 reps on your first set. There's no "ideal" rep ranges to hit after that, as long as you're giving it your all. 3 – Cross-Body Upright Row (Traps/Medial Delts) These are great for smashing the medial delts and traps, with the posterior delts getting a little bit of action as well. One thing I like about this version is that the physical therapy police can't pooh-pooh it like they do the traditional upright row, which involves elevation of the shoulders in conjunction with internal rotation. With these, you're going to actually get some external rotation action happening as you pull the cable across your body, with the arms going behind you. This eliminates all bitching, moaning, complaining, and traffic stops from the physical therapy shoulder-police brigade. Intensity Technique: Partials Oh yes, this is going to hurt so good. After getting in 12 tough full reps, start doing half reps until you start to hallucinate. At that point, cut the range of motion in half again and crank out as many reps as you can. Three sets like this will have you wondering if I'm truly a maniac. (I am.) 4 – Parallel-Grip Cable Press (Anterior Delts) This variation does a great job of smashing both the anterior and medial heads. It's also another example of how cable work has some advantages over a barbell in that the loading curve matches the strength curve, so there's constant tension on the delts from start to finish. The other advantage is that most of the initiation of the movement comes at the shoulder joint rather than the elbow joint. The synergy between these two components makes this movement an awesome shoulder developer. Intensity Technique: Accumulative Volume Accumulative volume is sort of like the old "run the rack" technique that Arnold made popular: Start with a light weight and perform a certain number of reps. Without resting, immediately increase the weight and perform that same number of reps. This is what I call one "hop." You continue performing hops until you can no longer hit your target number of reps. For example, if you start with 8 reps, you'll continue making hops up the weight stack until you can't hit 8 reps. The total work done with these hops is what I call a "round." As far as the parallel-grip press, do 2 rounds, shooting for around 6 hops in each round, at 8 reps per hop. The Rundown To make it easy for you, here's the cable training session for shoulders all laid out: Seated Cable Rear Laterals: Drop sets, 3 sets of 10/10/10 Incline Cable Lateral Raise: 3 sets of 12 reps (rest/pause two times per set) Cross-Body Upright Cable Row: 3 sets of 12 reps (using partial reps to extend the set) Parallel-Grip Cable Press: 2 rounds of 6 hops at 8 reps per hop This is a full-on metabolic stress training session, so if you've been doing the progressive overload thing as your mainstay, expect some terrific soreness and possibly feeling like a total wuss throughout. That's good for you, but even better for your shoulder growth.

Thanks hun

Some people don't train their calves because they think their other leg work is sufficient. But that doesn't really work well for calf growth, unless you're a genetic freak. You need to hit them directly... and hard. Here are three things you can do to force them to grow: 1 – Use momentum in standing calf raises. You need to train your calves heavy, and a little momentum is going to help you maximize the load. Many people get the heavy part right, but where they go wrong is with their quarter-rep bouncing. So don't go overboard with momentum. I'm not talking about loading up a ridiculous amount of weight on the seated calf raise and using your Achilles tendons like springs. I'm talking about the standing calf raise in particular, using a jumping-type motion to begin the movement, and finishing it with a full, peak contraction. This "jumping calf raise" is something I was first introduced to by Menno Henselmans, and it's a fantastic way to help force your calves to move more weight while still achieving full range of motion and contraction, all with little risk of injury. This works with a barbell or a standing calf raise machine. 2 – Take a 3 second pause on the seated calf raise. Pause in the bottom, stretched position. That's going to achieve two key things crucial for calf growth: It'll prevent the tendency to bounce and force your calves to hold an isometric contraction under load, which in turn will... Force your calves to initiate the movement and continue to contract through a full range of motion. 3 – Up the volume and frequency. Training heavy is only part of the puzzle. By using momentum, you're going to be able to train them heavily with high volume, which is crucial. And I'm not talking like 3 sets of 10. I'm talking like 4-5 sets of 20 or more reps. Train your calves at least twice per week for growth. How much work do your calves do on a daily basis? They move your entire bodyweight thousands of times per day! So doing 3 sets of 10 isn't going to cut it. Just like other muscles, they don't just benefit from volume, but from training frequency as well. A simple way to program this into your workouts is to finish your session with: Standing calf raise with momentum Seated calf raise with 3 second pause in the bottom Do each for 4 sets of 20 reps, twice per week, at the end of any of your workouts. Work on increasing your volume each session and watch them grow.

The nutrition world is driven by trends. And one of the biggest diet trends right now is intermittent fasting. It's funny that people think intermittent fasting is a new idea. It's been around in our field for at least twenty years. In fact, T Nation published a few articles on this style of dieting in 1999! One of them was called the Warrior Diet, which instructed you to fast all day and eat a single meal at night. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I've used intermittent fasting on and off pretty much ever since I read those original T Nation articles. I'm not anti-intermittent fasting. There are several benefits to eating during a restricted timeframe. However, many people today are really screwing it up. These mistakes can lead to problems ranging from making the diet less effective to completely ruining it. Mistake 1 – Not Fasting Long Enough The standard intermittent fasting schedule uses the 16:8 approach. You fast for 16 hours and you have an 8 hour feeding window. The first problem? People see that feeding window – the period where you're still digesting and absorbing – as an "eating window." Here's the issue: Digesting takes time. If my last meal is at 6:00 PM then I'm not "fasted" at 6:05, 7:00, or even 8:00 PM. Even a moderately-sized meal will take longer than two hours to digest. After a meal you'll likely have nutrients entering your bloodstream for 3-5 hours or even longer! The nutrients don't ALL have to be absorbed to start the physiological reactions to fasting, but you certainly need to have digested and absorbed the vast majority of them. If a guy decides to eat only during an 8-hour window, in reality he'll be in a fed state for at least 12 hours. That means he's not doing a 16:8 fast, but more like a 12:12 fast. When I do intermittent fasting, I stick to the original Warrior Diet method, which was to have one large meal and maybe a little extra food two hours later. That gives me a 3-4 hour eating window – much closer to a real 8-hour feeding window. Mistake 2 – Taking the Easy Way Out The original intermittent fasting approach was based on human cycles – you had a "sympathetic/active" phase and a "para-sympathetic/rest and recover" phase: Sympathetic/active phase: Don't eat Para-sympathetic/rest and recover: Eat Simple. Basically, this meant not eating during the day when you're active and then eating in the evening when you have to recover. You used food (or the lack of food) to help put yourself in the best physiological/neurological state for what you had to do. Nowadays a lot of people do an easy (but less logical) version of intermittent fasting. They count the time they're sleeping as fasting. For example, they stop eating at 8 PM and start eating again at noon the next day (a 16 hour "fast"). Of course, the first issue is – as we saw earlier – they're not truly fasted for 16 hours. But the other problem is that not eating while sleeping doesn't have the same effect as not eating while you're physically active. Do you know what I call it when I stop eating at 8 PM and start eating at noon the next day? Skipping breakfast. That happens to be the most common habit of overweight people. The fact is, when you're sleeping everything is slower. And you're also inactive. See, the main benefits of fasting come from an increase in AMPK. And AMPK is increased when you're in a significant caloric deficit. When you're sleeping your energy expenditure is drastically lower than when you're awake, sometimes twice as low. So an hour of "fasting" while sleeping is, at the most, equivalent to a half-hour of fasting while awake. So let's look at an intermittent fasting guy who stops eating at 8 PM and starts again at noon. He goes to bed at 11 PM and wakes up at 7 AM. So he spends 8 hours sleeping and counts those hours as part of his fasting period. But in reality it's closer to 3 hours. Why? First because he won't be "fasted" until midnight because of digestion... and that's a best-case scenario. So right off the bat he'll be fasted only from midnight to 7 AM during his sleep. That's 7 hours. And since he's inactive/sleeping the impact will be that of 3-4 hours of fasting while awake. So to have the same impact as 16 hours of true fasting, our bro would need to have his first meal at 6-7 PM and he would have about 2 hours to eat. Those who believe they're intermittent fasting simply because they skip breakfast will argue that you'll still get benefits from not eating from 8 PM to noon the next day. Maybe so – because they're simply consuming fewer calories – but not anywhere close to the real benefits of actual intermittent dieting. I think you should get as many hours of fasting while awake as possible. This will be a lot more effective than using the "easy version" and making yourself believe you're fasted for 16 hours. Mistake 3 – Eating Crap This is the most common mistake. People use intermittent fasting to be able to eat all the crap they want without feeling guilty. I've had several clients ask me if they could start intermittent fasting. Not surprisingly, these were the guys who just couldn't stick to eating a normal, healthy diet. While being truly fasted for 14-16 hours a day will make fat loss easier, and likely gives you a bit more leeway when it comes to caloric consumption and food choices, it's not a license to eat crap. If you eat a 1000 surplus calories per day when intermittent fasting – and even more so if that surplus comes from fast food, pastries, candy, etc. – you will gain fat. And eating like this will simply reinforce your desire for high-satisfaction junk. Before you know it you'll be eating more and more crap every week. And if you try to go back to a "normal" diet, your desire for junk food will be even worse than it was before. Listen, intermittent fasting is not a diet – it's an eating pattern. You could do keto intermittent fasting, high-carb intermittent fasting, Zone intermittent fasting, vegan intermittent fasting, etc. You simply eat the foods you would eat on a regular diet, but in a more condensed time period. You might be able to get away with a few more cheats here and there, but it should still be less than 10-15% of your diet. If you use intermittent fasting to be able to eat anything you crave, you'll fail and end up much worse psychologically than you were before you started. Mistake 4 – Using BCAA's I'll confess to being guilty of this one in the past. This is an attempt to decrease catabolism or muscle breakdown during the fasted period. But it's both unnecessary and counterproductive. First of all, protein breakdown isn't as elevated as most people believe during a 14-20 hour fast. Fatty acid mobilization/oxidation (the use of fat for fuel) will be elevated the most. Dumping muscle tissue as soon as you go without nutrients for 14 hours makes no evolutionary sense. We wouldn't be here as a species if we started to lose muscle that quickly. I'm pretty sure cavemen went foodless fairly often. I'm guessing they rarely ate more than once or twice per day. And they likely had days where they didn't eat at all. If we were designed to quickly burn muscle for fuel as soon as we were deprived of food for a short time, our ancestors would've been as weak as 90-year old grandmas and not suited for survival in rough times. You will not waste away and lose your gains by fasting for 16 hours! Also remember that a large portion of the benefits of fasting come from an increase in AMPK. This enzyme is antagonistic to mTOR. When you increase one, you normally decrease the other. The BCAAs, especially leucine, increase mTOR which would contribute to decreasing AMPK, making you lose some of the benefits of fasting. Plus, leucine can lead to a significant release of insulin, which can also increase mTOR and decrease AMPK. Not to mention that releasing insulin when you're not eating isn't a great idea. Can you can say hypoglycemia? When you're trying to achieve the benefits of a fasted state, you should avoid consuming anything that will increase insulin. Mistake 5 – Not Eating Enough Protein While a natural lifter doesn't need the humongous quantities of protein that some "enhanced" bodybuilders recommend, science is clear that there's a benefit in consuming a higher intake when it comes to building muscle. The age-old recommendation of ingesting 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight seems to hold true, maybe even going as high as 1.25 grams per pound for leaner individuals. Getting that amount of protein won't be a problem for most people, but if you weigh 225 pounds or more it might become a challenge if you're restricting your food intake to a few hours per day. It could require up to two pounds of meat or 36 eggs in a day for example. And most foods high in protein are quite satiating, which could also make it hard to get enough calories in. I'm not saying that getting enough protein is impossible. I've done it and still do. And with a tasty, quality protein powder like Metabolic Drive® Protein it's easier. But for larger individuals it could end up being a challenge, if not a chore. As a result, it's quite possible to limit muscle growth and not get the results you're expecting. Fast Wisely... Intermittent fasting, if properly used, can be an interesting option. I believe the potential health benefits are significant, and for some people it can also be a good fat loss tool. It might not be the best way to eat to maximize muscle growth, but it's not impossible to gain muscle while on it. So it could be a cool option for older meatheads who value longevity and health more than piling on even more muscle to an already muscular frame. But even if it is a viable option, if you make any of these mistakes you could very well limit the benefits you're after, if not negate them altogether.

Just took these updated pics today damn i cant believe the changes...feeling great too...i love you BT thankyou for your awesome products...

Welcome aboard

Welcome aboard

Welcome aboard