questions for the gym rats
- Thread starter NAOS
- Start date
It's fun reading all of the responses here and I think the person that mentioned everyone is different said it best. What works for me may not necessarily work for you.
That said I have recently been reading a couple of theories that I have heard before but they seem to get regurgitated every few years.
1. Traditionally, it has been recommended that your first meal, and every meal up to your workout be low fat, moderate carbs and high protein. The theory is that you are priming your body to have adequate glycogen stores and protein for building muscle during a strenuous workout. Then, within 30-40 minutes after working out you have a high carb, high protein meal to replenish your muscle glycogen stores and then cut the carbs drastically for any remaining meals for the day and load up on protein for muscle growth.
This new theory is just the opposite. You actually eat nothing but fat and protein up to and through your workout and then peri workout you tank down the carbs and continue to do so until you go to bed. It's called carb back-loading. The theory here is that by completely depleting the muscle glycogen stores that when you do ingest carbs after the work out your muscles just suck in the glycogen and protein. More so than the traditionally practiced method. I've been wanting to try it but haven't gotten around to it.
That said I have recently been reading a couple of theories that I have heard before but they seem to get regurgitated every few years.
1. Traditionally, it has been recommended that your first meal, and every meal up to your workout be low fat, moderate carbs and high protein. The theory is that you are priming your body to have adequate glycogen stores and protein for building muscle during a strenuous workout. Then, within 30-40 minutes after working out you have a high carb, high protein meal to replenish your muscle glycogen stores and then cut the carbs drastically for any remaining meals for the day and load up on protein for muscle growth.
This new theory is just the opposite. You actually eat nothing but fat and protein up to and through your workout and then peri workout you tank down the carbs and continue to do so until you go to bed. It's called carb back-loading. The theory here is that by completely depleting the muscle glycogen stores that when you do ingest carbs after the work out your muscles just suck in the glycogen and protein. More so than the traditionally practiced method. I've been wanting to try it but haven't gotten around to it.
Yeah, information on nutrition is one of the most rapidly evolving sciences. There are new findings all the time, many that goes against old ones. For example, I remember everyone use to say that eating the whole egg was bad for, that egg yolks are unhealthy fats. Now, reputable sources are saying the whole egg is much better and that leaving the yolk out takes out many of the nutrient value the egg has to offer.
I am too lazy to look for a link. But I quoted that directly out of my NSCA text book which I am certified through. NSCA is the premier personal training standard. I have other certifications such as ACE and they are all the same. Its not really opinion of how muscles react to different loads.
LogGrad98
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I have more or less based my weight training on this. I really enjoyed this program and use this when I get to the gym. Right now I have been into P90X mainly because I don't have a gym membership here and can't really afford one right now.
https://bodyforlife.com/library/exercise/weight-training
Basically, pick one exercise (say inclined press) and do reps as follows: x12, x10, x8, x6, increasing the weight between each, waiting about a . The goal is to use enough weight that you could maybe do one more rep at that weight but no more. Then drop back to your starting weight for x12 more reps. Then switch to a different exercise for the same muscle group (say dumbell flies) at a weight where you can just barely get off another 12 reps. You are trying to work the muscles to near-failure. Repeat for each major muscle group.
This is really a modified version of supersets.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/andy2.htm
Or, more precisely, this is a combination of supersets and pyramid sets.
You can add mass pretty fast this way, and good strength, although this is not really strength training. I did this for about a year 8 or so years ago and saw some great results. If I had kept it up I wouldn't need P90X now to get back into shape.
https://bodyforlife.com/library/exercise/weight-training
Basically, pick one exercise (say inclined press) and do reps as follows: x12, x10, x8, x6, increasing the weight between each, waiting about a . The goal is to use enough weight that you could maybe do one more rep at that weight but no more. Then drop back to your starting weight for x12 more reps. Then switch to a different exercise for the same muscle group (say dumbell flies) at a weight where you can just barely get off another 12 reps. You are trying to work the muscles to near-failure. Repeat for each major muscle group.
This is really a modified version of supersets.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/andy2.htm
Or, more precisely, this is a combination of supersets and pyramid sets.
You can add mass pretty fast this way, and good strength, although this is not really strength training. I did this for about a year 8 or so years ago and saw some great results. If I had kept it up I wouldn't need P90X now to get back into shape.
Did you ever accomplish that 25 lb goal?
Describes himself pretty much like the pic GVC posted, no?
