Addai

Eek yeah, what was I thinking. Well, after I injured my shoulder, once I got the range of motion back I was able to do barbell squats. Front squats wouldn't have been do-able. Bodyweight squats and lunges can still have an effect when coupled in with a cardio program, however--at least for aiding in cutting fat and toning up a bit. So ermm, nevermind, ignore everything my other post said...*shrinks back into the corner*

ahah, that would be cool if girls would do this with me... but it depends which girls of course. It happened once more today, and I was on a bench that was about 3 feet back from a wall/mirror, doing shoulder presses, and this girl managed to actually get herself directly in front of me, in those few feet of space between my legs and the wall that nobody is meant to occupy. And she was wearing short shorts, and a skimpy top that showed her midriff. I mean seriously.

I second that, Gina is amazing.

I think there are many ways you could get the Brad Pitt in fight club looks, it's not exactly special or amazing. If you've got his body type, add some muscle, and keep your body fit very low, you'll get there imo. Now just add his genetics and a perfect tan, haha. Most guys like him in movies, and I know it was true for Hugh Jackman in wolverine, their strategy isn't to get big which doesn't necessarily look great on screen, it's to get ripped, so they do lots of compound exercises, cardio, many meals throughout the day, that sort of thing. At least from what I've read.

I wonder if you have craigslist in Germany? You must at least have something similar, where people can post goods they want to sell for others. That's typically the cheapest way to get weights here, I've even seen some people post that they're leaving their plates out by the side of the road for free.

I hear you about the shoulder. I had a similar problem and was sidelined for nearly a year, and I was into all the same things as you too (mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking). Many of the best exercises for hamstrings are also the best gym exercises for abs as well, as they burn off the most fat. They say it takes something like 3,500 situps to burn a pound of fat, making direct ab work one of the most ineffective things you can do to improve your stomach, as the most important thing is just getting rid of the fat. Squatting is one of the best exercises, but front squatting would be even better as it'll involve your abdominal muscles that much more. They can be done at home, with dumbbells, kettlebells, or even just bodyweight, but I think using a barbell in the gym is best as most people outgrow the amount of weight they can comfortably grip quite quickly. Deadlifting would be excellent for that too. The next best exercises to those might stiff leg/straight back, or good mornings. You could do lunges as well, and if you take a longer stride while doing them you'll take the emphasis off your quads and put it on those hams. Lower back extensions would also be good. I think most people are going to recommend squatting and deadlifting though, they can't be beat for what you're looking to do. Then just throw in some isolation exercises for your abs 2-3 times a week (crunches, bicycles, etc.) and keep up the cardio!

I love your motivation, it's awesome. I read your intro, and feel like I can really understand where you're coming from in more ways than one. I'm no expert, but I'd suggest doing an upper/lower body split every other day, rather than a full body, at least to start off so you can build up a strong base. Your muscles are going to need more time to rebuild, so that you can properly put on strength and mass. You only get bigger, and stronger, when you're resting. Over training is a serious risk. Also, you should eat more than 2,400 calories a day! Somebody here gave me great advice: peanut butter. Also you might want to seriously consider mixing in some sort of protein shake, bar, etc. just to really help you gain some weight. Injuries happen too man, and you can't let them discourage you if one happens. I really hurt my right calf a couple weeks back, was limping around, but I kept working out and just did what I could. Also, do you have a gym around you? I ask because with the equipment you have, you're going to need heavier weights in a hurry to keep making gains.

This is now the 5th healthcare thread that you've created in maybe 3 days, all along the same theme, and none backed up with a single original thought from you. Back it up!

Not to mention that libraries are supported at a local level, completely stripping all validity of comparison. It'd be sort of nice if the whole healthcare discussion was kept in one thread. This is the 4th in three days I think. Anywho, silly article by a not very smart person.

again, chances are you just had a poor quality torrent. also, for a bit torrent program, utorrent is really the best thing out. i doubt whatever you used left anything to troll your computer as well.

Every faction has it's crazies. Vegans sure do. Socialists sure do. Libertarians sure do. Catholics, Muslims, and more! It's most ignorant to mock those against healthcare, and even more so to portray the worst as a representation of the whole. Especially coming from a vegan, who I'm betting has had people cite the Animal Liberation Front to them, calling vegans terrorists. I've been called intelligent a couple times in my life, so I'm just going to quote myself from the Bill O' Reilly supports healthcare thread. It should take you less time to read my few paragraphs than it did to watch that video. I'll be interested to hear your take.

torrents work on a tit-for-tat system. those who upload most get the highest amount of download bandwidth. theoretically. i generally can still get strong download speeds with quality torrents, and i've never been exactly generous. p2p is a generally a very bad idea though. granted torrenting is a bit better off than using kazaa or limewire or some other horrible, horrible piece of software that ought never be touched...but it's still p2p. there are much better ways.

Anyone else *facepalm*? Also, the proper link is: http://pol.moveon.org/insurance_execs/?rc=fb.6 Not sure if you tried hiding moveon.org behind a url redirect like tinyurl, but somebody thought to.

You should google on what torrenting is so that you understand it, then come back and I'll answer any questions if you're still confused. I'd have to type a page or two for you to fully understand what torrenting is, how it works, so that you could understand why yours was slow. Short answer: get a better torrent. Most list how healthy they are. You want lots of seeders, lots of leachers. And make sure you're uploading lots, as leachers will get less bandwidth.

It's absolutely possible and easy to run heel-toe in vibrams, but that would defeat the point of owning/running in them. The proper way to run, bio-mechanically speaking, is with a forefoot strike. People who run with a forefoot strike are capable of running FAR greater distances, injury free. Of course, it does take time to build up the strength to run with a forefoot strike. I suggested earlier that the first time you run in them you do no more than a quarter mile, and slowly increase your mileage. They've done studies where they'll have people run in sneakers, and they'll all run heel-toe. Then they ask them to run barefoot, with no instruction or explanation, and over 80% of people naturally run with a forefoot strike when barefoot. That's how you're supposed to run, how you were born to run. You can look up a hundred studies on this, videos, etc., and really look at the bio-mechanics yourself. When you run heel-toe you're bypassing your bodies natural system for shock absorption--so where does all that force with each footstep go? Knees, shins, hips. When you run with a forefoot strike your body does an amazing job of absorbing the force, dissipating it into the largest most powerful endurance muscles in your lower body. I've tried hard, but I really can't run with a forefoot strike to save my life in sneakers (as they're specifically built for heel-toe). Vibrams are awesome in that they give you all the biomechanical advantages of being barefoot, while still giving some protection to your soles. If you're in a race though, you should run heel-toe, as it's faster.

I wouldn't be discouraged by that, some runners are dumb. Many people have been injured in dead lifting, but that doesn't mean it's not an excellent exercise. In the barefoot world, running injuries are truly nonexistent, except by new people who get into it and don't take it seriously that it's going to take time to build up the muscles needed. There was a fantastic book put out by a man named Christopher McDougall, called Born to Run. In it he talks about this tribe that lives in one of the most remote regions in North America, the Copper Canyons in Mexico. And everyone in this tribe runs distance, and they run barefoot or minimalist. When I say distance, I mean tens and sometimes hundreds of miles. They have records of one man who ran 450 miles without stopping. And this tribe has no instances of running injuries, nor any instances of heart disease, cancer, etc. They have guys in their 80's out there running. And it's all about barefoot. (They actually sent some Ultra Marathoners down there from the United States and elsewhere to race these guys, and half of the top 10 finishers were these tribal men). I highly recommend giving this a listen, very interesting: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-august-18-2009/christopher-mcdougall But the problem is people have wrecked the development of their feet and lower legs by wearing sneakers, so when they try to go barefoot, they tend to overdo it, get injured, and call it a bad idea. I saw one video of some crazy woman online who got the fivefingers, went out and ran 5 miles, wrecked her feet, toes bleeding, yadda yadda. The reality is that if you take it slow, and build up your strength, you're going to be in much better shape, you're going to avoid injuries, and if ever you want to run distance you'll be capable of going so much further. The human body evolved for distance; I've heard that in a long enough race a well trained human can outrun any land animal on earth, and I believe it. But anyways, great for balancing properly while lifting.

that was awesome, never seen home movies before.

Exactly, inches not shoe size. They have a fun little measuring thing at the one place I went to. It all depends what you're going to use them for! I'd prefer the sprint, so that I could run and jump and do crazy stuff in them without fear of them falling off. Personally I'm outdoorsy so I also didn't want debris getting in so I went with the KSO, plus it looks more shoe-like so it should be passable in my gym. Eventually I'd love to get a classic though. They're so nice and minimalist, they must feel great to walk around in the summer with.

Yeah, I really don't go for fatty stuff, so I'll need to up my game there. But I'll have you know I totally ate a couple spoonfuls of [natural] peanut butter before bed last night. As for protein I want to get a better mix of proteins, but as for the amount I make sure I'm well over the RDA. I'm probably around 70g a day-ish, and for my body weight 50ish is considered what I "need." I've never had hemp either, so I'm going to give that a go. I just realized that if I ever actually get bigger, I'm going to have to eat even more. Eeek.

Thank you! And as for being a hard gainer, I just have the skinny shit gene. Be thankful you don't.

Yeah, seems like everywhere has great difficulty keeping them in stock. Crazy popular. I wear them barefoot, though I plan to buy some Injinji socks (brand recommended by Vibram) eventually for them. I have heard that those socks work perfectly in the fivefingers, so if you plan on wearing socks in them you do not need to buy a size up so they'll fit right. Could be worth the investment, as a lot of people complain of cold toes as you no longer have the mitten effect going for you. I've been fine though. Depends the conditions you're going to use them in. For fall/spring hikes I'll definitely want socks. It also depends on what model you go for. The "Flow" model is much, much warmer than the KSO which basically does nothing for you heat wise.

That's amazing to me that someone would just photograph you. Most of the real complaints I've heard about from people in gyms, probably all of them, I haven't experienced. Perhaps going to a College gym, and given what college I go to, it just attracts a nicer group of people. But this works both ways. I'm quite sure I've been ogled while working out. Girls very definitely do it too. I just don't mind it, or pay any attention to it. As long as no girls stick their ass a few inches from my face while I'm trying to lift something heavy, I'm good.

They have individual toe pockets as you can see; if you wanted to wear a sock with them, you would need to purchase socks with individual pockets. Vibram recommends Injinji. I havn't purchased any yet but I hear they're great for keeping your feet warm, and that they fit just fine in the fivefingers. As for arch support, they have absolutely ZERO. That is, in fact, the reason why you should wear them, and really why they exist. They have zero support of any kid. The shortest explanation I can give as to why this is good for you (I've read books, I was sort of a running nerd...): You weren't born wearing sneakers. When you wear a sneaker, it changes the biomechanics of your stride, and it changes how you balance. Sneakers are, in short, the reason why people have running injuries, foot problems, and all sorts of other maladies. They promote lazy feet. They prevent your feet and lower legs from developing properly and working properly. For instance, let's take running. Put on some sneakers and go run a few yards. Hundred bucks says you just ran with a heel to toe strike. Take them off, run again. Over 80% of people who try this, once running barefoot and with no instruction or explanation, now run with a forefoot strike, as nature intended. Biomechanically sound just by removing the sneaker. In the barefoot world, running injuries are non-existent. This matters for non-runners too, however. Perhaps you've had arch problems in every day life, plantar fasciitis, whatever. These are almost always caused by sneakers. You asked about arch support. In all the times you've seen arches supporting bridges, walkways, etc.--have you ever seen anything filling up the space in an arch? Of course not, the weakest place, structurally, to support an arch is from underneath. The key is to strengthen. This matters with weightlifting too. You've probably heard that let's say squatting is bad to do in running sneakers (something I did last year). And it really is, you can just feel how wrong it is, your balance is off. The sneakers are designed to shift your weight forwards, so when you do a squat, you're trying to compensate and stay back more on your heels, which becomes terrible when you get to the last few reps of your last set. For me it did at least. I've heard a few trainers say that ideally speaking, you should lift barefoot. Gyms, however, don't allow barefoot. They do allow fivefingers though, which give you all the same biomechanical advantages of being barefoot. Plus you'll develop all those little foot and lower leg muscles the way they were meant to be developed, and be a stronger better athlete for it. The only caveat is that if you're going to wear these things around a lot, or run in them, you need to take it very slow. You pretty much need to learn how to walk/run again. You'll be using all sorts of muscles that have been neglected for years. So take it slow, no more than a couple hours the first day, and very slowly increase how much you're using them. If you plan on running, I'd say only run a quarter of a mile the first time you wear them. Seriously that little. Then maybe up to a half mile the next time, and after 2-3 weeks you should be up to a couple miles. I was used to 10 mile runs when I went out, and pushed my luck a bit too far in them because I thought I was hot stuff. Bad idea. But anyways I had running injuries for years, I tried everything, and all to no avail. Till I got onboard this summer with the barefoot concept (i.e. fivefingers, as I'd rather not tread barefoot over broken glass or god knows what), and now for the first time I have been 100% running injury free. Plus, my calves have increased in size and strength faster than calf raises ever did for me, AND squatting and deadlifting are now 100% more enjoyable for me (granted I switched from running shoes, something I'm sure not many would have been using for those exercises). Also, I always used to get arch pain in my one foot if I walked around for more than a couple hours hours, and now that's gone too. ...That post got really long, sorry.

Just thought I'd post this little article Ron Paul wrote that is fairly in sync with what I've said. I understand many dislike speak of free markets solving problems, and I can sympathize with that. But try to look past that and see the main point of the message.

Well, I took a look at other peoples logs, and though their "conventions" for recording stuff differed they were all far more concise than my way. But whatever, I like seeing each set written out and I don't mind writing a bit more.