DocKnight

Outside the fact we are posting on a two month old thread. Exercising while sick DOES NOT CAUSE MYOCARDITITS. People can develop a viral myocarditis (generally coxsackie virus) that will became more symptomatic when active due to poor Cardiac function. As for who knows? Regardless of what you did, the same outcome would have taken place. Jesus, you don't need to scare the s**t out of everyone. As for my input: 1. Anything above the neck (runny nose, congestion) your probably in the clear 2. Below the neck (deep cough, stomach bug, etc) sit it out for a few days..

I don't always agree with the whole deadlifts "are too taxing" Through the majority of strong lifts its not a problem. Once you plateau and going to failure and need to reset is when it's going to be too taxing (doing 5x5) Do either, once you plateau switch to 5/3/1 so you can get varying rep schemes and go higher volume on deadlifts. Or any other program that has want fits your needs. (ie more deadlifting) Personally, I think 1 set of 5 of deadlifts every week or so is a joke.. Not enough for neuromuscular coordination, not enough volume, not frequent, etc... But I love me some deadlifts...

The cure is more deadlifts..

Car keys...

It's been nice... I have four kids under the age of 7... So on the weekends I do cook breakfast and lunch for everyone and focus on feeding the kids while my wife relaxes and eats. Since I've started, I've lost attachment with food which has been nice. I used to weight myself every day or two, but since starting IF I haven't weighed myself in 6 weeks.. Don't see the need. I used to be strict about calories intake when cutting... Started the leangain's version, but then became much less compulsive about it.. I just aim for 4-8 hour window (depending on the day) and eat between 2000-3000 calories, (try to average 2500 daily, and try to eat more on workout nights). The only thing that is an absolute is I hit a minimum of 160 grams of protein. Only advice is track calories to make sure: 1. Your getting enough protein. 2. Your getting enough calories (struggled with in the beginning.) FYI: I used to be a 1000 calorie breakfast person and the transition was pretty easy.

Bacon!

Don't lift Eat at a caloric deficit Do cardio If you have a normal amount of muscle mass currently, you may need to eat a protein deficit to drop 10-15 pounds of muscle. Depends where your starting at...

About 2 months ago I switched over the intermittent fasting... I researched it for a week, sounded legit and tried for 3 days... Never went back... Basically drink coffee throughout the day, get home from work about 4-5, workout and "cram" 2000-3000 calories (depending if I worked out) in a 4-6 hour period. So far in 2 months, Strength still increasing, cutting still successful, mentally doing phenomenal, and addition to some other male benefits that I will not speak of here.. After a few days, I don't really get hungry during the day, and then at night, it's very satisfying to be able to take down a lot of food at once. Bonus: Sleep in (not having to prep breakfast) Bonus: Don't have to pack lunch. Disclaimer: Not for everyone.. Not a magic bullet..

What equation does 1percentage.comb use? 1. Using Harris-Benedict equation, BMR = 1500, x 1.375 activity factor (3x weekly workouts) = TDEE of about 2100. I'd have tendency to aim higher, as someone who has restricted eating is probably going to over estimate his daily intake. 2. Regarding fat: The MINIMUM should be 20% of you daily calories , so 2,000 calorie diet = 44grams of fat....that's factoring anyone, not accounting for a 18 year old male. Then minimum fat is about 44grams and a "low fat diet" would be around 60-70 grams. 3. I didn't mean "help" due to be sickly.. At your age, worrying about your caloric/fat/ protein intake and such isn't a great thing. I'm glad to see you taking control which is great, but sometimes with a history of eating problems, this path can lead down a very obsessive compulsive road. All this advice comes from a place of caring... Anyways... Free internet advice... Good luck

To answer your question, yes supplementing with that stuff is ok.. I'm going to be blunt and address the serious problem here. 1. At your height and weight, you BMI is 17.5, which puts you very underweight 2. Your not bulking with 2,000 calories. That is actually UNDER!! your maintenance. So your not even eating enough to maintain your weight. Given how underweight you are, you should be bulking with 2700-3000 calories per day.. 3. Your fat intake should not be lower than 60 grams. Low fat intake, especially at your age is going to mess with your hormones. The easy thing for me to say is just eat more... But given you are trying to bulk at less than maintenance, struggling to eat that for the day, getting too little fat, As well as considering quest bars and protein to be "dessert" my true medical opinion/advice is to seek some professional help if you haven't yet (or at least consider if you continue to struggle the next few weeks) Best of luck! I know we are all rooting for you! Please come back every few weeks with updates on progress... I'd be happy to hear how things are going..

I like to have hope and high expectations..... And then there's this.....

Damage to the kidneys from NSAID use doesn't cause pain. The kidney damage usually leads to gross hematuria. On a retrospective review over a 2 year period of time with our patients (100s on NSAIDS) the only presenting sign/symptoms was hematuria (brown/dark urine). This occurred only in two kids who had 1 year and greater use of maximal dose NSAIDS on a scheduled basis. Because of that, we don't even do screening labs or urine test on these kids with long term use. We just ask about urine color. The pain experienced was likely stomach irritation (gastritis or ulcer), which can sometimes present as back pain like the kidneys, depending on the area of ulceration/irritation.

Place a frog in boiling water, it'll jump right out. Place a frog in room temp water and slowly heat the water, the frog will not perceive danger and will cook to death. POINT: Slow gradual steps will lead to better success....

General rule is if it's under 50 calories it won't break your "fast". Coffee/Tea (with caffeine) helps as an appetite suppressant. (Note) I do intermittent fasting, eating between 5PM to Midnight. Coffee is my friend. Just see how you respond with Gum. Physiologically: Chewing something, leading to stimulation your salivary glands can cause your body to think it's actually eating, making you become hungry. Mentally: They act of chewing something leads to satisfaction.

Thirded! I took the plunge a year ago and got and Edwin Jagger DE razor, some shave soaps and a Boar bristle brush. (Also a 100 pack of razor blades for $10, for which I have only used 10-15 in a year period) Now, I shave probably just as fast as I did with the disposables, with less irritation. Plus it makes me feel Dapper... Bonus: Sentimental value to the razor. It's nice knowing I can teach my son with this razor and pass it down to him, because I know it will last forever..

Ha! Love it!! I never judge or rip on things I don't agree with in terms of fitness, but nothing rustles my jimmies more than Planet Fitness and there "We are judgement free, but actually are the most judgmental gym in the world based of our commercials and core philosophy." They're whole concept of profit involves targeting people who don't actually want to work out. Think about it... A small percentage of the total profit from all gyms are from regulars. The rest (majority) are from those who sign up and then fall off the wagon.. Planet fitness is stealing all those people who fall off, hence stealing off the the business sustaining profits of real "gyms". My previous Gym, that seemed always packed with lifters and dedicated fitness enthusiast, ended up closing its doors within a year of the Planet fitness opening and I'm seeing the trend of a lot of gyms closing because of this. I can't complain though, now I have my awesome home gym set-up..... Back to the OP... A smith machine is the physical equivalent of a Planet fitness. /End Rant....

Sounds about right

1st off, I think you may be underestimating your body fat %. In terms of simple math ( not accounting for water weight, etc) if you are 220lbs at 20% body fat, when you hit 178 (anticipating no loss of muscle), you'd be 0% body fat. As pointed out above Caloric deficit + low carbs + strength training + steady state cardio + HIIT = Crash and Burn. I purposely cut out any forms of cardio (HIIT/Running) and just stick with walking when dropping the LBs because recovery is so much more difficult and exhausting. Start with your lifting and caloric deficit. Then slowly over the course of a month or two, add in the cardio slowly.

Aim to train in off-times for heat if possible (evening/morning)... Your lifts will probably suffer a little (mine usually do), but you'll feel like superman in the fall.. This may be antedoctal, but I seem to do better in the heat with compression clothes on underneath (shirt for upper body days, compression shorts for squats and deadlifts)... In my only personal experience...

Although you can cut/lose weight on Starting Strength/Stronglifts, its not the best idea for someone newer to weightlifting (newb per say), the frequency of lifts (squatting) three times a day can be extremely taxing in a caloric deficit. Consider Squatting every other workout, instead of every workout to allow for recovery. I would reset all your lifts by 25-30% and decrease the rate of progression (Increase squats and deads by 5lbs at a time, Increase bench, ohpress by 5lbs EVERY OTHER workout {or 2.5lb every workout if you have incremental plates}) Remember, you should be feeling really good after a workout, not like s**t.... If thats the cause, you need to back down your intensity, especially when cutting. Based off your height/weight your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1944 Calories per day, and your total daily energy expediture (TDEE) is around 2700. When cutting, you really should never go below your BMR (this is the amount your body requires just for living/normal function... TDEE is your daily needs based off activity). For AGGRESSIVE weight loss, aim for 15-20% less than your TDEE So your daily calories for aggressive cutting should be around 2150-2300.... So: 1. Reset your weights, slow your progression 2. Increase your calories. 3. Aim for minimum of 120g Protein for muscle preservation. Consider working out every 3rd day, versus every other as well.

Typically not a fan of weighted push-ups. I like to leave body weight exercise for what they are.... bodyweight exercises. To make it more challenge, I would aim for different variations....Supended push-ups (using TRX, blast straps, or rings), narrow grip, diamond grip, clapping push-ups (plyo), Alternating stability ball push-ups (walkovers), one handed, etc....... I would leave the strength progression for bench press, etc..

Sorry I should have clarified... this rule applies only if you are questioning whether you should bulk or cut... In your instance, you know you want to and need to bulk. If you have enough muscle mass to the point the BMI system is invalid... Generally you aren't asking advice on when to bulk or cut... But good point though.

I agree with Luds, Too many exercises and too much Isolation exercises. Since your goal is strength, switch to a strength program, such as Mark Riptoe's starting strength, or Stronglifts 5x5. Full body, highly effective, highly efficient. If you want, add 1-2 extra Bonus exercises at the end (biceps, abs, neck, etc), but nothing too taxing. And yes, you can lose weight on these programs if your eat for weight loss.