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A series of goals. for my routine

 

Pre-workout and during workout ?'s:

 

What do you folks do about calusses on the hands?

 

What do you do about your hands, arms, shoulders fatiguing before you even get close to failure for the primary muscle group you are intending to target (think dumbell lunges or squats or calf raises)? Sometimes I can't even grip hard enough to hold the dumbell towards the end and thus cannot finish the sets.

 

Post workout ?'s:

 

What do you do about stiff, swollen and painfull hands after an intense lifitng routine?

 

I eat plenty of cinamon and tumeric post workout which are noted anti-inflamatories. I get plenty of my EFA's. I'm starting to think it might be time to switch to machines from the dumbells for certain exercises.

 

Firstly wear the Calusses on your hands with pride, it shows you have been working hard

(If you are a princess, then you can file them down with pumice and they will be hardly noticeable - or wear gloves)

 

Definitely do some grip training to improve your strength in this area.

It sounds as though you might be prone to stiffness etc in your hands,

so you might want to look into Straps.

They allow you to hit the muscles you are targeting before your grip fails

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Your hands will get more muscular with time, but it may still be a problem so you can work with a gripper between your training sessions like while watching tv, or while you're lifting weights you can roll a clothe around the barbell to make the grip even more difficult, your grip will fail even sooner but it will make it stronger for later.

 

 

I eat plenty of cinamon and tumeric post workout which are noted anti-inflamatories.
The scientists put some foods in a computer to analyze the contents and then they theorize about the effects in our organism, but fact is all spices by nature irritate walls of the digestive tube and all cells. It doesn't change anything if there's certain vitamins or antioxydants which you can find in fruits anyway without any adverse effects.
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I eat plenty of cinamon and tumeric post workout which are noted anti-inflamatories.
The scientists put some foods in a computer to analyze the contents and then they theorize about the effects in our organism' date=' but fact is all spices by nature irritate walls of the digestive tube and all cells. It doesn't change anything if there's certain vitamins or antioxydants which you can find in fruits anyway without any adverse effects.[/quote']

 

No offense sir, but you have made a number of unsubstantiated claims as far as nutrition and food are concerned since you have been a part of this community. The foods I mentioned above, were not placed by scientists in a computer to analyze them, so that they could theorize about their effects on the human body. They were noted empirically to have actually reduced swelling and inflamation in real bodies of real humans and other animals. These noted effects were then studied in controlled scientific experiments using animal and human patients who were afflicted with joint swellling and inflamation. The same anti-inflamatory and reduction in swelling effects were shown to be repeatable during the studies and the specific compounds that produce these effect isolated and identified. Your statement leads one to believe that these substantiated claims were divorced of tangible reality and are simply an untested hypothesis created by minds and machines further removed and divorced from objective reality. This is simply not true.

 

Furthermore, spices are not some entity aside from any other food with special properties that differentiate them through their irritation of our digestive tracts and all cells as far as I understand it. What defines a spice? Our intent of use or some inherent property of a particular type of plant? It's ability to season or flavor? It's size or texture? That its dried, powdered, crumbled, sprnikled, traded etc? Would tumeric be something other than a spice if it were eaten of its own accord as a side dish? Would it still irritate all cells in the body?

 

A spice is defined as a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavoring, and sometimes as a preservative by killing or preventing the growth of harmful bacteria.

 

At what point in your estimation would eating the bark of cinamon become more akin to eating a spice as opposed to a food? What if we decided to start using hemp seeds as an additive for flavoring? Would it thus cross some threshhold where it becomes an irritant? What of ginger root? When does it go from a food to a medicine that settles an upset stomach to an irritant of such proportion that it upsets the digestive tract and all cells in the body? Intent? Change in chemical structure? What of garlic or onion? What of herbs? Are they excluded because they are leafy and green? What of peaches, oranges, lemon or limes? They are fruit no? Yet they are spices when our intent is to use them as such. Do they then become something we shouldn't use so as to avoid irritating our very cells? Wouldn't this contradict your above statement concering eating fruit without adverse effects?

 

Please substantiate your claims.

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I eat plenty of cinamon and tumeric post workout which are noted anti-inflamatories.
The scientists put some foods in a computer to analyze the contents and then they theorize about the effects in our organism' date=' but fact is all spices by nature irritate walls of the digestive tube and all cells. It doesn't change anything if there's certain vitamins or antioxydants which you can find in fruits anyway without any adverse effects.[/quote']

 

No offense sir, but you have made a number of unsubstantiated claims as far as nutrition and food are concerned since you have been a part of this community. The foods I mentioned above, were not placed by scientists in a computer to analyze them, so that they could theorize about their effects on the human body. They were noted empirically to have actually reduced swelling and inflamation in real bodies of real humans and other animals. These noted effects were then studied in controlled scientific experiments using animal and human patients who were afflicted with joint swellling and inflamation. The same anti-inflamatory and reduction in swelling effects were shown to be repeatable during the studies and the specific compounds that produce these effect isolated and identified. Your statement leads one to believe that these substantiated claims were divorced of tangible reality and are simply an untested hypothesis created by minds and machines further removed and divorced from objective reality. This is simply not true.

 

Furthermore, spices are not some entity aside from any other food with special properties that differentiate them through their irritation of our digestive tracts and all cells as far as I understand it. What defines a spice? Our intent of use or some inherent property of a particular type of plant? It's ability to season or flavor? It's size or texture? That its dried, powdered, crumbled, sprnikled, traded etc? Would tumeric be something other than a spice if it were eaten of its own accord as a side dish? Would it still irritate all cells in the body?

 

A spice is defined as a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavoring, and sometimes as a preservative by killing or preventing the growth of harmful bacteria.

 

At what point in your estimation would eating the bark of cinamon become more akin to eating a spice as opposed to a food? What if we decided to start using hemp seeds as an additive for flavoring? Would it thus cross some threshhold where it becomes an irritant? What of ginger root? When does it go from a food to a medicine that settles an upset stomach to an irritant of such proportion that it upsets the digestive tract and all cells in the body? Intent? Change in chemical structure? What of garlic or onion? What of herbs? Are they excluded because they are leafy and green? What of peaches, oranges, lemon or limes? They are fruit no? Yet they are spices when our intent is to use them as such. Do they then become something we shouldn't use so as to avoid irritating our very cells? Wouldn't this contradict your above statement concering eating fruit without adverse effects?

 

Please substantiate your claims.

 

x2

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Pre-workout and during workout ?'s:

 

What do you folks do about calusses on the hands?

I love my calusses. Chalk is my best friend.. To get rid of them try a pumice stone and lotion daily... Personally I'd keep them with pride.

What do you do about your hands, arms, shoulders fatiguing before you even get close to failure for the primary muscle group you are intending to target (think dumbell lunges or squats or calf raises)? Sometimes I can't even grip hard enough to hold the dumbell towards the end and thus cannot finish the sets.

You need to work on your grip strength. Get a stress squeeze hand ball, or rubber small ball and work on your grip strength in your down times.

 

Post workout ?'s:

 

What do you do about stiff, swollen and painfull hands after an intense lifitng routine?

Two word for you Sage Tea. However, if thats not your thing, ice immediately after, then pop an ib profen.

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Pre-workout and during workout ?'s:

 

What do you folks do about calusses on the hands?

I love my calusses. Chalk is my best friend.. To get rid of them try a pumice stone and lotion daily... Personally I'd keep them with pride.

What do you do about your hands, arms, shoulders fatiguing before you even get close to failure for the primary muscle group you are intending to target (think dumbell lunges or squats or calf raises)? Sometimes I can't even grip hard enough to hold the dumbell towards the end and thus cannot finish the sets.

You need to work on your grip strength. Get a stress squeeze hand ball, or rubber small ball and work on your grip strength in your down times.

 

Post workout ?'s:

 

What do you do about stiff, swollen and painfull hands after an intense lifitng routine?

Two word for you Sage Tea. However, if thats not your thing, ice immediately after, then pop an ib profen.

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Pre-workout and during workout ?'s:

 

What do you folks do about calusses on the hands?

I love my calusses. Chalk is my best friend.. To get rid of them try a pumice stone and lotion daily... Personally I'd keep them with pride.

What do you do about your hands, arms, shoulders fatiguing before you even get close to failure for the primary muscle group you are intending to target (think dumbell lunges or squats or calf raises)? Sometimes I can't even grip hard enough to hold the dumbell towards the end and thus cannot finish the sets.

You need to work on your grip strength. Get a stress squeeze hand ball, or rubber small ball and work on your grip strength in your down times.

 

Post workout ?'s:

 

What do you do about stiff, swollen and painfull hands after an intense lifitng routine?

Two word for you Sage Tea. However, if thats not your thing, ice immediately after, then pop an ib profen.

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I eat plenty of cinamon and tumeric post workout which are noted anti-inflamatories.
The scientists put some foods in a computer to analyze the contents and then they theorize about the effects in our organism' date=' but fact is all spices by nature irritate walls of the digestive tube and all cells. It doesn't change anything if there's certain vitamins or antioxydants which you can find in fruits anyway without any adverse effects.[/quote']

 

No offense sir, but you have made a number of unsubstantiated claims as far as nutrition and food are concerned since you have been a part of this community. The foods I mentioned above, were not placed by scientists in a computer to analyze them, so that they could theorize about their effects on the human body. They were noted empirically to have actually reduced swelling and inflamation in real bodies of real humans and other animals. These noted effects were then studied in controlled scientific experiments using animal and human patients who were afflicted with joint swellling and inflamation. The same anti-inflamatory and reduction in swelling effects were shown to be repeatable during the studies and the specific compounds that produce these effect isolated and identified. Your statement leads one to believe that these substantiated claims were divorced of tangible reality and are simply an untested hypothesis created by minds and machines further removed and divorced from objective reality. This is simply not true.

 

Furthermore, spices are not some entity aside from any other food with special properties that differentiate them through their irritation of our digestive tracts and all cells as far as I understand it. What defines a spice? Our intent of use or some inherent property of a particular type of plant? It's ability to season or flavor? It's size or texture? That its dried, powdered, crumbled, sprnikled, traded etc? Would tumeric be something other than a spice if it were eaten of its own accord as a side dish? Would it still irritate all cells in the body?

 

A spice is defined as a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavoring, and sometimes as a preservative by killing or preventing the growth of harmful bacteria.

 

At what point in your estimation would eating the bark of cinamon become more akin to eating a spice as opposed to a food? What if we decided to start using hemp seeds as an additive for flavoring? Would it thus cross some threshhold where it becomes an irritant? What of ginger root? When does it go from a food to a medicine that settles an upset stomach to an irritant of such proportion that it upsets the digestive tract and all cells in the body? Intent? Change in chemical structure? What of garlic or onion? What of herbs? Are they excluded because they are leafy and green? What of peaches, oranges, lemon or limes? They are fruit no? Yet they are spices when our intent is to use them as such. Do they then become something we shouldn't use so as to avoid irritating our very cells? Wouldn't this contradict your above statement concering eating fruit without adverse effects?

 

Please substantiate your claims.

Since I'm part of this community ? You must be a hard and fast reader if you already read my 2000 posts in the last 20 days since you're a member of this community.

You ask me what defines what is food and what is a spice ?

 

Spice: Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French espece, espis, from Late Latin species product, wares, drugs, spices, from Latin, appearance, species — more at species

Date:

13th century

1: any of various aromatic vegetable products (as pepper or nutmeg) used to season or flavor foods

2 aarchaic : a small portion, quantity, or admixture : dash b: something that gives zest or relish

 

What is the line between a spice and a food ? Do you eat a plate full of cinnamon sticks as if it was pastas ? Do you eat all day some hot peppers, ginger roots, mustard ? Do spices provide energy (calories) to the body? Why does the body wants to expel and get rid of spices as soon as it gets in? Eat some pepper with your food and you'll see what I mean. Ever heard of coffee enemas? Why does the body of Indians try to get rid of all those spices by all the pores of their skin? Some plants are food and some others are not.

Maybe they made some tests with some isolated substances from turmeric and stuff like that and it gave good results. Scientists have this bad habit to dissect the universe into separate substances in order to be able to analyze each element, and they never take into account the whole thing. If life wouldn't use the synergy of everything to make it a whole, the universe would collapse in a fraction of second. Unfortunately for the scientists, a food or any substance work like this too, you cannot observe the effect of an isolated molecule and claim that this is how the whole substance acts. So yes curcumin (which the body doesn't even absorb well... they suggest to combine it with pepper... another poison) in turmeric has the potential to help joint swelling and inflammation but if you try with the whole product turmeric it's a complete different story and you may see this joint just getting more swollen.

 

Yes the scientists can come up with some funny experiments and funny conclusions. But here's some very simple tests that you can try at home and see by yourself. Put some jalapenos, ginger, cayenne pepper and even cinnamon on your tongue, and dare to say that you like it, while your face starts to get red, your eyes are weeping, your ears feel like they're under 200 bars of pressure. If you swallow this, it will irritate your throat, stomach, bowels, and your rectum will be swollen for the week. Maybe some decades later of such experiments you'll shit some blood, then a good ol' colon cancer or prostate or rectum cancer, then they might make a beautiful surgery and you'll have to shit by your belly button into a bag.

 

You might want to read these articles by Herbert Shelton here, like "Super-Foods", "What Is A Poison?", "Herbal Medicine — Phytotherapy - 1978", "Enervation — Toxemia - 1964"

 

 

You know what's the last "scientific" study I heard they made? They say that if you're a woman and you're wearing a perfume made of grapefruit, men who walk nearby and smell it will think that you are 12 years younger. Not 2, not 11, not 13, but 12 years younger than your real age. Isn't it fabulous?

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Try with more than just a tiny thing. Cinammon is the light weight, but you'll have to admit that it left your tongue strange, kind of rough. Why don't you try with the heavy weights now like cayenne pepper, which, ironically, is used by the police force and at the sametime they say it has wonderful medicinal effects.

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Dude I didn't hijacked your thread YOU asked me to answer your questions. I'll answer your new questions in my own thread. But before this I would just like to make an observation: it's funny that babies know more about what is good and bad in life than adults do. No baby on Earth prefer to eat meat if we offer a fruit too. Which baby would eat some spoonfuls of cinnamon powder, or some mashed jalapenos rather than apple sauce? But then as adults, we believe blindly what others say instead of trusting our own feelings and instinct, so if doctors and scientists tell us that we need to drink milk and dairies, now they bring the pre and probiotics argument, or that we need to eat meat, etc. Why is it that no animal on Earth eat the plants we label as spices, except us.

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I use this stuff on my hands: http://www.maxgreenalchemy.com/item--Sun-Rescue-Cream--MGASU.html

or the http://www.maxgreenalchemy.com/item--Naked-Rescue-Cream--MGANRC.html

if you don't like fragrance (though the sun cream is more heavy and stays on the skin longer - the naked rescue cream goes right into the skin as it is lighter weight).

It takes a couple of nights to get the calluses soft (I do not put it on in the morning as I need my grip during the day - unless it is a cardio day and will be mindlessly running on a treadmill for the winter months). I hate calluses too.

 

For the swelling, I would look into that more. You might have a condition that warrants a closer look to something going on inside of you. Edema is a symptom of something more. Like look at what you are drinking during your workouts. Is it the carb loading drink that could flood your blood/system with glucose? And your body can't process it quickly enough (insulin or glucose metabolism could be off a little). What kind of EFAs are we talking about? Flaxseed oil? Some people can not process the ALA into the DHA/EPA needed. Or is it the algae oil EPAs? Are you taking enough for your body and size? Maybe you could be allergic to cinnamon? I guess you need to see what you are eating to see if there is any change: whether it increases or decreases. I know that my hands swell when I use my straps cause it cuts off the circulation in my hands when the straps are the only things keeping the weight up (my wrists are not strong enough for what my back and traps can handle yet), but that is temporary. Mmmm. . . . what else? Hands are an extremity and are prone to poor circulation also, which could cause fluid to buildup. Perhaps you should check on sodium levels too - you can see edema from sodium when you have very low bodyfat (a competition nightmare - had a horrible experience with the sodium in pasta sauce before a comp one time - flatten me out completely with the water retention - though that was an all over body experience). Maybe an imbalance of supplements could also be causing the edema (magnesium, calcium, zinc, etc.).

 

Just some things to look into maybe.

 

Could be that the weight is just so much that you are cutting off your circulation, like me with my straps

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Dude I didn't hijacked your thread YOU asked me to answer your questions. I'll answer your new questions in my own thread. But before this I would just like to make an observation: it's funny that babies know more about what is good and bad in life than adults do. No baby on Earth prefer to eat meat if we offer a fruit too. Which baby would eat some spoonfuls of cinnamon powder, or some mashed jalapenos rather than apple sauce?

There are plenty of babies who prefer apple sauce with cinnamon to plain apple sauce. Babies also love love love milk. Many of them prefer juice, true, but that's because juice is sweet. They would prefer cotton candy over almost anything if we let them eat it, but I doubt anyone would advocate a breastmilk and candy diet for an adult.

 

But most importantly, babies poop themselves, fall on their heads, put everything in their mouths, run face-first into dangerous animals, and are notoriously stupid. This is why we don't have any baby philosphers or baby physicists or baby professors. Doing something just because babies do it is completely idiotic and makes for a remarkably silly, baseless argument.

 

 

But then as adults, we believe blindly what others say instead of trusting our own feelings and instinct, so if doctors and scientists tell us that we need to drink milk and dairies, now they bring the pre and probiotics argument, or that we need to eat meat, etc. Why is it that no animal on Earth eat the plants we label as spices, except us.

If we followed our instincts, most of us would be eating omni, so that's out the window. Also, it seems that birds aren't animals, since they definitely do eat peppers. Unless you're saying peppers aren't spices, just as you seem to be with oranges and lemons. And do you know what many dogs do when they have an upset stomach? They eat grass and herbs, including ones labeled as "spices." Dogs do it indiscriminately, but chimps will actually eat specific herbs. Squirrels, of course, love nutmeg, which is definitely a spice.

 

Animals also eat their own poop, so, just as with babies, I'm not sure where you're going with all this. They eat meat, insects, whatever they need to. So should we ignore some things that animals do and just pay attention to the ones that agree with your argument?

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As far as the "new questions" you seem to think I asked you go, the only one I can see is if you are, or are not, a crazy person.
There was plenty of other questions but if you deny it, that's ok. So to answer your question: when a crazy person asks me if I'm crazy, I take it as a compliment.

 

Blabbate, I never said we should do what babies do, I sadid we shouldn't do what they don't do. By the way I don't know where you get the idea that I said lemon and oranges are spices, that's vladamiraaron who said he sprays some lemon juice on food to add flavor.

 

I know babies are stupid, but they don't do the supid things adults do, like dropping a nuclear bomb on people. That's a good thing there aren't any scientist babies, otherwise we would be doomed. When I talked about what babies eat naturally, I meant also young kids, like 4, 5, 6 years old. Do you know any kid of this age who puts spices or even just salt and pepper on his food? Do you know any parent who feeds his 2 years old child with tumeric and ginger? Of course babies love milk, the only food for babies is breast milk until the baby has a full dentition to chew solid food. If there's no human milk, of course cows milk is an alternative. You're right, human babies are stupid and they need much more attention from parents, who must teach everything to the baby, compared to some other animals who can walk since the first day they're born. But this is not a reason to teach stupid things to our kids, or feeding them with hot peppers, tumeric or with chicken wings.

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Blabbate, I never said we should do what babies do, I sadid we shouldn't do what they don't do.

That's just semantics. They don't do a lot of things that we should do, like eating vegetables instead of candy or wiping ourselves. There's just no comparison. They do things we shouldn't and they don't do things we should. It's like comparing us to raccoons.

 

By the way I don't know where you get the idea that I said lemon and oranges are spices, that's vladamiraaron who said he sprays some lemon juice on food to add flavor.

I said you're insisting that they're not spices under any circumstances, which seems absurd. What would you call dried lemon zest?

 

I know babies are stupid, but they don't do the supid things adults do, like dropping a nuclear bomb on people. That's a good thing there aren't any scientist babies, otherwise we would be doomed.

I dunno. I think we'd probably be safer, and everything would be much, much more adorable.

 

When I talked about what babies eat naturally, I meant also young kids, like 4, 5, 6 years old. Do you know any kid of this age who puts spices or even just salt and pepper on his food?

Oh heck yes. I was with three over the holidays. One 16 months, one 3, and one 5. And they all adore cinnamon and nutmeg. But then again, that doesn't really mean anything. It doesn't mean we should or shouldn't use those spices for anything. It doesn't they're healthy or not. All it means is that some kids like some spices sometimes.

 

Do you know any parent who feeds his 2 years old child with tumeric and ginger?

Honestly, I'll have to ask. I know some Indian parents who were feeding their children food spiced with turmeric, ginger, cumin, coriander, etc at least by 3, probably earlier, but I don't know off-hand how much earlier. It's not that unusual. What really surprised me is seeing an East African infant eating a dish spiced with berbere. I doubt that's common, though. But again, none of this really means anything.

 

Of course babies love milk, the only food for babies is breast milk until the baby has a full dentition to chew solid food. If there's no human milk, of course cows milk is an alternative.

Babies can eat rice milk right from birth. (Cow's milk is a no-no because their little baby tummies and intestines can't properly digest it. Also, it can be quite allergenic.) But if you give them a choice between cow's milk, rice milk, fruit/veggie juice, and breastmilk, they're going to choose breastmilk most of the time. This is not only because of the taste and nutrition, but the conspecific odor. This is just another example of how comparisons between babies and adults break down.

 

 

You're right, human babies are stupid and they need much more attention from parents, who must teach everything to the baby, compared to some other animals who can walk since the first day they're born. But this is not a reason to teach stupid things to our kids, or feeding them with hot peppers, tumeric or with chicken wings.

First of all, sir, how dare you call babies stupid?? Anyway, my only point in this whole thing is that comparing adult humans to babies or to animals is largely pointless. There are too many differences to draw reliable conclusions. I don't care, for these purposes, whether spices really are good or bad or neutral or made of people or the dried droppings of mole-men. I'm just pointing out that the logic you're using to defend your position is fatally flawed.

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I'm not saying we should compare babies with adults, I'm saying sometimes it can be a good idea to follow their example in certain of their behaviors, which haven't yet been biaised by society, publicity, or by what other people try to tell us what we should do, eat or what we should like and dislike.

 

If you've seen babies and young kids eating all those spices, that just proves what I was saying about parents and society.

 

I know babies can drink rice milk but that's not the optimal food for babies, you'll agree on this.

 

Yes, Indians probably put a lot of spices in the food to their babies, that's why I said earlier that Indians eat so much spices that it goes out by their skin, like the body does for any other wastes to clean itself and detox, but vladamiraaron didn't understand what I meant. I'll explain: I remember when I was taking a bus and everyday the Indian workers of a factory entered the bus then it smelled tumeric and curry all over the place, even if they weren't eating at this moment of course.

First of all, sir, how dare you call babies stupid??
I hope this is a joke. I'm not so sure anymore with the kind of posts I read lately, how to make the difference when something is ironic or not. In case you're serious, here's what you wrote :
babies (...) are notoriously stupid. This is why we don't have any baby philosphers or baby physicists or baby professors.
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For your grip try hanging on a chin-up bar. Hang for as long as possible a couple of times every workout. Also, just holding a loaded bar for as long as possible works the grip. Are you doing wrist curls, reverse wrist curls and reverse curls? Everyone responds differently, but my grip responds best when worked at every workout. Same with my calves.

Sore hands and feet? Try a warm water soak with arnica oil. For extreme soreness and swelling try alternating between an ice water soak and a hot water/arnica oil soak; as in 5 minutes ice-5 minutes hot. It's intense, but it does work.

As for spices? Science has proven that spices are a subversive Alien plot to steal our brainwaves by lulling us into complacency as we enjoy our tasty food.

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Missed this one as I was getting ready for vacation when it was posted, but it's never too late to chime in!

 

What do you folks do about calusses on the hands?

 

Like others have said, callouses come with the territory. Some people who get them either cut them off periodically or file them down (one of those Ped Egg things would probably do the trick nicely), but unless you wear gloves when lifting, you're sure to get them. Me, I just tear them off when they get thick, but sometimes one gets ripped a bit deep, and then there's that whole fun of having a painful hole in your hand for a day or two afterward...

 

What do you do about your hands, arms, shoulders fatiguing before you even get close to failure for the primary muscle group you are intending to target (think dumbell lunges or squats or calf raises)? Sometimes I can't even grip hard enough to hold the dumbell towards the end and thus cannot finish the sets.

 

Again, to second both of the common replies, both training your grip and lifting straps can help. If you go the route with straps, just about any brand will work (pretty well all sporting goods stores have some), but if you want the thinnest and strongest, go to www.ironmind.com and get their standard lifting straps (not the "Short But Sweet" ones, which aren't ideal for most training). They're WAY stronger than most common wraps, and are about half as thick, so you don't end up with a giant wadded ball of material in your hand or a foot of excess hanging off. I recommend building your grip first and foremost, then going with straps as a secondary option. The grip work will be most beneficial, so if you get the chance, go that route first and incorporate some timed holds with dumbbells or other work into your training and in time, things will come around. When worked regularly, grip usually comes along pretty quickly, unless you do TONS of grip-intensive training or manual labor daily, in which case it might be a bit slower for progress. In cases such as that, straps are not a bad way to go. I spent years training without them, but these days, I ALWAYS use them on my high-volume upper back days because even when my grip is great, it can't keep up with the volume of my training.

 

What do you do about stiff, swollen and painfull hands after an intense lifitng routine?

 

Never head swollen hands, but stiff and painful, yes. One trick that the grip champs use is to do contrast baths with your hands after training. Basically, you want to alternate hot and cold water soaks for 30-60 seconds for a few alternating rounds (some people just do it a few times, others will alternate for up to 10 minutes), which apparently promotes greater circulation and speeds recovery. A lot of guys who do grip competitions swear by them, so it's worth a shot. If you've got 2 sinks, just fill one with hot water and one with cold and alternate for some timed soaks, but otherwise, just run hot water for 30 seconds, change it to cold and repeat as necessary. The only other things that people have sworn by is doing lots of active recovery such as light to moderate squeezes on a stress ball, or, wearing mittens to bed at night. The mittens option sounds weird, but guys who normally tax their grip to hell and back have sworn that it makes a world of difference. Never tried it myself, but if you don't mind the weird-factor of it, it's worth a try. If you don't mind joining one more message board, check out www.gripboard.com and send in a request to become a member - you won't find more grip and hand training info anywhere else online, and it's occupied by guys who unarguably have the strongest hands on earth. Worth checking out for both the training and recovery info if you get the time.

 

I eat plenty of cinamon and tumeric post workout which are noted anti-inflamatories. I get plenty of my EFA's. I'm starting to think it might be time to switch to machines from the dumbells for certain exercises.

 

Can't say I'm any help on things like anti-inflammatories (I'm not even going to tread into the whole debate over spices being poisons that I see going on here ), but I'd think that you'll have better luck in doing the proper active recovery and healing techniques to see if they'll get the job done.

 

Machines will never give you the same balance in your workout, and often, I've found that heavy machine work taxes my grip just as much as DB or BB work. Also, machines take out the majority of stabilizer muscle work, so I'd suggest only using them as a secondary option after you get in the bulk of your regular DB training done. Also, if you're, say, doing DB rows with 60 lbs. in hand pulling the weight vertically or doing machine rows horizontally with the same weight pulling against you, your hands are going to get taxed either way, so working to fix the problem in the hands will be more important than experimenting with different ways to beat your hands up

 

Hope this helps!

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Science has proven that spices are a subversive Alien plot to steal our brainwaves by lulling us into complacency as we enjoy our tasty food.

So that was you in Yucca Flat, on the Extraterrestrial Highway (State Route 375), south of Rachel, in the Summer Of Love.

 

vladamiraaron I just don't follow IYM, I don't confront him much, I'm not sure if it's because of him being French Canadian and the language difference or what. otherwise he seems like a nice guy, who has a belief. Oh well some people knock me for alot of things. no big deal.

VE was one of the posts I was looking at.

I think developing stength, and this might come through some discomfort is one way to get past the wrist thing. I notice this to be true for me. The weeker they are the more disconfort I feel, The more I work on wrist exercises the better they work. Dang can't hardly spell must be these muscle relaxants and such. lol

Best of things for you!

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