aj_rock

I've heard of similar things being done. It's a new avenue of research, I've heard, to see if we can satiate obese people merely by having them think about food rather than consuming it. But I would agree, lean people tend to enjoy what little food they do eat a lot more

Haha thanks ETF now I'll just avoid addressing that to avoid sounding like a pompous asshole You're right that I forgot about non CV factors, but I guess the real final message is that no matter what you have to listen to your body, while realizing that it doesn't always know what's best for it. But if you wake up one morning feeling awesome and like you can give it 110%... then do it! Take the opportunities given to you to strive for excellence!

From what I've heard and concluded (sorry, no papers to peruse guys), it's less consumption of saturated fats and more saturated fat level in your blood stream at any given moment. Certain factors can increase that concentration, of which consuming saturated fats is only one of them. Obviously, eat them, and you use them. However, when your body has a relatively large store of them, well, you'd use what you have, ne c'est pas? The conclusion reached from this logic says that saturated fat is much less of a 'danger' when you're a leaner individual who burns out the saturated fats within a short time from ingesting them. The take away message would be to just get less fat so you don't have to worry as much Not sure how accurate this is, but the logic seems in line with what you were thinking ETF.

Your assumption is correct. Subways and underground paths get much busier in the winter.

Short answer: never ignore tendon pain; it can lead to bigger problems. Long answer: would you describe the tendon pain as being along the outside, inside, or middle of your arm? I ask to identify what you did in the first place to injure your tendon.

T DOT YEAH. Really though, if you can't stand it in December, do yourself a favour and never come in the 2 months following that. February is the coldest, wettest, most miserable month of the year. You see some interesting sites in this city, no doubt. It's consistantly rated as one of the safest metropolitan downtown areas in the world though

There are a few... check out the NF member map thread. We're definitely a minority

YAAAAAY another Canuck! Welcome aboard!

I'll probably catch some flak for this (puts flak jacket on*) but I'm a huge fan of D&B and dubstep and all sorts of electronic nonsense. I'll listen to rock and metal and stuff too, but really I just need the deep deep bass to get me going. Generally, anything that would cause a mosh pit if occuring anywhere besides between my ears.

Everyone is saying 24-48. The right answer, as far as I know, is actually smack dab in the middle, 36 hours. That being said, some muscle groups are capable of faster recovery than others, depending on size, work done in previous workout, and nutrient flow to that area (e.g. legs can train far more often than say, your forearms). Let it be known that a lot of professional athletes do work the same muscle groups on consecutive days; just make sure you don't go hard twice in a rox. One easy, one hard, or similar. For more advanced people, training frequency definitely requires tweaking. ETF: Yes, push-ups really are that versatile. The main focus is for sure in the pec/tricep area, but core is a very, very close second. Form affects the amount of core involvement a lot more than pecs though; if you don't keep the core tight, and let your hips and lower back sink, then not only is your core dis-engaged, but you probably look quite ridiculous as well. Planks are definitely just as good at developing your core, as your core is used predominantly in static holds anyway. Squats build your core more than enough though; as an example, they don't take your core through any range of motion at all. Ok, original question: it depends on your training level. If you're relatively untrained and still getting into the exercise habit, by all means wake yourself up with a couple sets. It's also great for muscle maintanence once you've reached strength goals. Once you're more advanced, however, you would ideally specialize your routines, as the basic stuff just won't cut it any more.

Sucks to be in the UK Mob milk is plenty fortified here in Canada! Still take a couple sups of D a day though. I just HATE HATE HATE getting sick in the winter.

Playing in outdoor field games, I hardly think it practical to go barefoot whilst my peers have METAL SPIKES on the bottoms of their shoes. At the same time, I do run indoors sometimes and use crosstrainers, but for most outdoor activity, I use cleats, through and through.

Your egg:bacon ratio is disturbing to me. REQUIRES MOAR BACON

It's like they tell horse riders; you aren't really experienced until you've fallen off a few times. It's happened to everyone. When it happened to me, I had to side-ditch the plates, and that was LOUD. So just as embarrassing.

10 rep deadlift? You're mad.

I don't want to come across as a hypocrit, so I'll come right out and say I currently use creatine. I do carb-loading/cycling, and creatine greatly increases my ability to metabolize the increased carb intake into muscle glycogen (hypothetically at least). The reason it won't do much for beginners is because you tend to grow at a fast rate already (assuming a good diet/training program). So you're already getting stronger at pretty much the optimal rate. When you've trained for a year or two, it gets harder to activate the same growth response, and so any increase in training potential is going to help increase growth. Andygates: that was kinda what I was trying to say; kudos on explaining it better anxiety: a seperate set of problems when you supplement is some people tend to believe that taking the supplement will allow you to dick around in the weight room and still make gains, just letting the supplement do the work. I highly suspect that is what happened to your friend.

What's the crossfit like? I'd say it was fine, as long as you're not doing the heavy compound lifts in Xfit the next day.

The key to digging deep is knowing when to push yourself and when to let off. Obviously you can't go that extra mile every time you work out. A good measuring stick for how hard to push is your resting heart rate, which is a good measure of how primed for work your system is. Get an idea where it's supposed to be, and track it every time you wake up. If you wake up on a training day and it's a little high, go easy. If it's normal, or even a little lower, you know you can push hard that day. I know it's not really on-topic with how to dig deep, but I felt it was relevant

This. If I ever abandoned a rack or bench to go do some other exercise, I might lose it. Hell, I've lost them just from going to the water fountain, as if leaving 200 pounds on the bar wasn't enough of a sign.

This means we get spandex pics, right? OH PLEASE TELL ME THERE'S SPANDEX INVOLVED XD

Dude, that sucks. Like balls in your mouth sucks. The only other advice I could give to you is s*** you prolly dun heard already. Good luck man.

Blaaaaaaaaaaah I almost don't want to explain creatine but hopefully some of the other knowledgeables around here chime in and back me up. So basically, your muscles' main source of energy is glycogen, a.k.a. carbs that are stored directly in the muscle. But they can only store so much. Too much carbs, and your body a) uses them almost exclusively as regular fuel and stores fat. Creatine is a compound in the body that helps your body store glycogen. It's already present in some foods you eat, and your body naturally produces it in order to assist with glycogen storage. If you supplement it, your body now has EXCESS creatine, meaning that you store EXCESS glycogen. This excess storage exists for about as long as you are taking the creatine. Normal creatine loading requires elevated intake over a few days, and then lower daily supplementing in order to facilitate continued upregulation. The reason it dehydrates you is that glycogen stores water in a 4:1 ratio weight-wise. When you're talking an extra 100g of carbs or similar, thats almost a pound of water getting sucked into your muscles. The result is bloated muscle and dehydration, unless you drink extra water. So, basically, taking creatine can make you 'feel' stronger, but you're only stronger while taking the creatine, yah dig? If a particular lift is normally, say, 200 lbs, and on creatine you can add another 20, you can lift the 220, but ONLY when you're taking creatine. It will go back down once you stop taking it. The reason some ADVANCED trainers take it, is that it helps bust plateaus, can boost normal muscle growth, and boost recovery, BY SMALL PERCENTAGES. For an untrained lifter, you won't notice any differences in your progressions, other than you feel like a beast when you take the creatine. Which is not a good reason to take it. That being said, normal dosing goes on cycles, and I can't be bothered to remember what the recommendations are. Hopefully the physiological explanation helps you decide whether to take it or not. Almost forgot, in order to STORE more glycogen, you still need to consume it. So up those starchy foods and drink lots of water at least. If you take it.

There is no such thing as a carb-free alcoholic beveridge. The process itself involves converting carbs to alcohol, and the process is never complete, otherwise you could'nt standardize your alcohol content. It *is* correct to surmize that straight liquor will contain far fewer calories overall than a beer, wine, or mixed drink ever could, and there do exist beers where efforts have been made to reduce carb content. Lite beers don't count; they basically just water them down.

^^ This. I know a lot of people wanna nay-say about the hormones and 'OMG IT MENT 4 TEH BABIEZ' about milk, but bottom line, it's formulated to make things GROW. So if you wanna grow, drink the damn stuff. One qualifier: chocolate milk has been identified as THE hands-down ultimate post-workout drink. All the macros in the right amounts.