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HumanJHawkins

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  1. On the other hand, there is something to be said for Jack LaLane's view that "If man made it, don't eat it." As non-scientific blanket statements go, that's not a bad one. And Agave is good stuff, so why bother with a big corporate product like aspartame if there are good alternatives. Back to the original topic: Is the goal to remove sugar, or is the goal to remove processed white sugar? Because I'm pretty sure many of the alternatives mentioned actually have a lot of sugar. If you are trying to avoid an insulin spike, you can't just replace white sugar with fruit juice sugar or agave sugar.
  2. Just, whatever you do, don't put any dihydrogen monoxide in your body. That stuff sounds really scary.
  3. I got a really good piece of advice once. It went something like this: "For every person, there is usually an exercise that they hate. Whatever that exercise is that you dread doing, that is the exercise that you should do every week without fail." The reasoning is that there is a reason you hate the exercise. It is because you are weak in it, so it is really hard. Thus, it is identifying for you exactly the muscles most in need of work. I used to hate sit-ups. I followed this advice and now have no problem with heavy weighted situps. I thought my stomach was strong then until I tried the Plank Hover. Ohhhh... I hated the plank hover until I did it for a while. Now I can do it for 6 minutes without wanting to kill myself to end it. Anyway, it sounds like you need to keep doing lunges (and maybe I need to start... I have never really done them. Maybe I'll hate them too.) You also asked about deadlift: IMPORTANT: You absolutely must learn to do deadlift right, and you must learn what weights are safe, before going aggressively into deadlifting. That said, deadlift is an incredibly good exercise. It is well worth learning how to do it safely, and then doing it. In one exercise, you work out the entire posterior chain. There is nothing else like it for getting results out of your time and effort. Do your own research too, but here's my advice on deadlifting: 1) Use YouTube! Don't trust any single source. However, you can watch several videos on how to deadlift properly in a short amount of time. It will become clear who to trust and who not to. 2) Start light and progress slowly. If you think you can do 200 pounds, start with 100. Unless that just feels silly light to you, increase by no more than 10% per week. At 10% per week, you'll be back at 200 in 9 weeks. And you will have your form down much better by then, and will be able to judge the weight much better. 3) Shoot video of yourself and review it. Are you keeping your back straight? Letting it curve under the weight is a danger sign. If your back is curving, hold the weight steady (or lower it) until you get that under control. Then start increasing again. Good luck!
  4. My 2 (or more) cents on this: 1) Workout in multi-week phases. It doesn't matter whether you want a 4-week phase or a 9-week phase. You should be focusing on one goal consistently for several weeks. Then take a deload week. Then start a new phase. Personally, I work out for 8 weeks, with the 9th as deload. For example: Phase 1: 8 weeks of hypertrophy work. Focus on gaining size. Allow a little body fat increase (though don't let it go crazy). This might be a reverse pyramid where you do 4 sets of increasing weights for 12, 10, 8, and 6 reps. Phase 2: 8 weeks of hardening those muscles you just built for size. Continue to allow a little fat to be added, though not letting it go too far. Maybe do multiple sets of very heavy weights for 4 reps each. Phase 3: 8 weeks of cutting. Reduce calories to a few hundred under maintenance levels. Keep the protein high, and increase aerobic activity. Maybe do circuit training with very light weights and no rest between sets/reps. You should be able to maintain all the strength and size from the first 2 phases, while cutting fat to below where it was when you started. Phase 4: Next goal... 2) Diet: Eat smaller portions more frequently. Keep protein levels high (including supplements). Soy is good, but you need to research the issues surrounding phyto-estrogens. Being male and not wanting breasts, I personally don't use soy supplements. And I eat other soy products in moderation. I'm not a nutritionist, so that's all I will say about food. Others here will have a lot more and better info about food.
  5. NOTE: I am a noob here. Take this with a grain of salt... Well, maybe not. Sodium is bad for you. As an adult woman, it seems like you would be safe to load up on soy protein. The levels of phyto-estrogen in soy products can make it troublesome for males or children. But it seems like this wouldn't make a noticeable difference in an adult woman. Anyway, you'll get lots of well rounded nutritional advice around here for meals, etc. But adding 20 or 25mg of soy protein supplements per day and a few other soy products should give your body plenty of protein to work with. Good luck either way.
  6. 1) Protein breaks down and gets purged from the body very quickly. And, your muscles have the largest growth potential immediately after stimulation (via workout). So, taking a protein supplement directly after your workout, or even right before your last set is ideal. Most people suggest taking it within an hour after your workout. Protein from whole foods is digested more slowly. So it's probably good to have a high protein whole food source an hour or two before your workout. This can keep the protein levels in your blood high for several hours. But the supplement (at least one of them) should happen right after the workout. For maximum gains, you should keep a steady supply of protein in your blood though, so further supplements or small meals spaced throughout the day are good too. 2) Between free weights and machines, many people will tell you that free weights are better. However, I think of them as simply being different tools for different jobs. Free weights require more balance and control, and activate more muscle groups. So, as far as efficiency of working out, and development of usable strength they are much better. However, machines are better at isolating certain muscles. So, if for example you want to focus on a muscle that a machine hits well, then the machine becomes the better tool for that purpose. My generic advice is, use free weights for the bulk of your workout. Learn to lift them safely, and advance your weights cautiously until you have a really good sense of what you can safely lift, etc. Once you are at that intermediate to advanced level, you will know enough to decide when to use machines for yourself.
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