Gorilla

Welcome to the team of awesomeness : )

Harr yes! This is often the case. I often find this true in other scenarios, like negativity or negative self-image. You won't improve if you are 100% positive. You have to be able to appraise what needs improving in order to improve: IE you need to be negative about some aspects in order to realise that they are in need of correction. Someone who is totally positive about everything will never improve. So when someone tells me I have a negative self-image, I tend to think that really they have a deluded self-image, and I am just realistic. Definitely. I've found that constant self-appraisal helps me to keep on learning from my mistakes and improve : )

Thanks so much Jonathan. I finally bought myself a blender! I didn't bring one to Germany and kind of forgot about it. Smoothies rock!

That's really cool. People say I have a totally obsessive personality too. But do you know what? "Obsession" is a word that lazy people use to describe the Dedicated. Organisation and discipline in all aspects of your life keeps you on track towards your goals.

There are a lot of health and fitness magazines out there. When I started training I bought a lot of them. Then I started just reading them in the shop without buying them . Now I just read this regular column in T-Nation: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=585917EAD83D0D7C99AE39A23ECC8315.hydra?id=900705 This gives you a concise round up of the main bodybuilding and fitness magazines. It shows how they all contradict each other and how it's really a waste of money to buy them because it's mostly adverts trying to get you to waste more money on supplements. There might be like 2 paragraphs in the whole magazine that are actually useful! Don't thank me. Well you can if you want : )

Thanks Richard. Yep definitely: eat big lift big seems to be a widely-recognised principle for building strength and size. My "stats": 1.86 m 76 kg = 168 lb

Thanks for the feedback. Yes I'm prepared to put on some fat whilst gaining strength and putting on some more size. You gained 50 pounds, Jay? Mostly muscle, I presume...

Nice one guys. That's great. I really appreciate your support. I've also found a really good oat drink in one of the health food shops in town: http://www.vitaquell.de/techno/index_produkte.php 1 litre of that gives you 420 calories. And you're right about my calorie intake. When I started training seriously I kept a very detailed diary, counting every calorie I consumed, and I know how much I need to consume to reach 3000-4000 calories a day. It just takes a bit of forward planning and determination. Yes I'm increasing portion size and frequency: bowls and bowls of cereal, fresh fruit, oat milk. They've got blueberries and raspberries in the stores here now, which is great. I'm resisting the temptation to use creatine again. I was using it last year in Oxford when I was training with a champion powerlifter. I don't know if it was just a placebo but it did seem to help with my lifting. However I found it really messed with my bladder: I don't have any problems in that department any more. Plus when I stopped using it I got really bad muscle cramps. I think that's a no to creatine then. I think I can get bigger and stronger by just increasing my calories and of course keeping it clean: a serving of fruit with every "meal".

Yep I would definitely delete that : )

Definitely. I also find it really cool to concentrate on the breath of life as much as possible: breathing really deeply and imagining all that energy going into your muscles and making you energised! I'm going to take a break now to do some yoga!

That's cool. But I'm really confused: I'm in Germany and it's like 10.50AM. And you're posting now. I thought you North Americans were like 5 or 6 hours behind...

A little known English comedian called Ricky Gervais. <>

Yes you're absolutely right about sleeping pattern and eating pattern. Cf Topher's post about sleep the other week. The only trouble is that you get invited to go out to clubs and parties and general hanging out with friends. Then you end up staying up too late. At the end of the day you just have to prioritise: if you know you are more productive when you are in tune with your body clock and getting up early every day and going to bed early every night then it makes sense to arrange your activities accordingly: e.g you spend time with friends early in the evening and excuse yourself later on because you know you need time to wind down. This film "What the BLEEP do we (k)now" makes the following clear: it makes sense to give yourself time to collect your thoughts: write down on paper everything you are happy about in your life but also things that you would like to improve, along with strategies for achieving your goals. Visualise yourself just as you want to be. Visualise yourself doing the things you want to do, where you want to be, who you want to be with. Why visualise? Because then you will dream about being in your ideal world. Once you are living your ideal in your subconscious you have the power to live it in "reality". Sorry for rambling but the ideas in this film are amazingly powerful. I'll be quiet now.

Cool! Yes, very powerful. I also want to see it again : )

Looking awesome. Deinitely looking bigger and the lats are definitely wider. Nice work!

Yep, been there. A few drops of lavender oil on a tissue under your pillow should make you drift silently into slumber. There are also some herbal teas out there that really knock you out. This one, for example, is really effective: http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/458248.html If they don't stock this particular one in your local store try to find something similar. Some just make you feel relaxed while others actually send you to sleep so find those ones. zzzzzz.........zzzzzzzzzzz..............zzzzzzzzzz..............zzzzzzzzzzzz........zzzzz I love dreams. Who's seen the film "What the BLEEP do we know?"? It's really cool.

Sehr lustig! Gute Uebersetzung : )

Glad I wasn't the only one who found it laugh-out-loud funny. I feel awful now. It must have been terrible for the poor woman. I'm going to go say a prayer for her and go to bed. Peace.

Nice one dude! I love that feeling of barely being able to walk down the stairs too. Every single step you feel all the muscle in your quads, hams and calves contracting. Ouch..ouch..ouch..ouch. Likewise with inner pecs when washing your hands. Yep it's pretty high on the old awesomness scale

Hi. I've been absent from the forum for a bit. I assume you've already had feedback on this. I've also started a thread on diet for bulking up (Help with mass-building).

Nice one Bigbwii! I remember that picture. I've been without easy access to the internet since mid-October. Looking forward to seeing the results of your hard work. Best wishes, Gorilla

Hi. What are crips? Crisps?

Good stuff

Yeah I'm the same! I do crazy stuff and people can't believe that I don't drink! You da man Rob. Cheers!!

Hey guys, This is me when I had just arrived in Germany 3 months ago. Weedy! http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4931/picture2669um.jpg Here are a couple of photos I took last week: http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/5246/guitar7ev.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4999/sculpted16lw.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/9788/sculpted28cb.jpg http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/1323/sculpted37jp.jpg I'm happy with my progress but I know I need to eat more and build more mass!! All the best, Gorilla