Sean

I have yet to try Rooibos. I will. I drink alot of tea. I like white tea too as it isn't as processed as green so holds more antioxidants. Black tea is pretty worthless, but if I go out to eat I typically drink it.

I also have heard that light steaming is the best. I do steam and stir fry some things, but I am sure to eat alot of raw too. I guess it must be tough for someone who has a hard time handling the raw foods(stomach problems).

I'll be doing probably every other day. It's hard to keep a steady consistent routine given my insane schedule. I do my best though. Since the back is so large, wouldn't it be worthwhile to do the two pulling exercises which kind of work different parts of the back?

I think that I was overtraining, I've been back into it for 4-5 months or so now and think it's time to try some of your guys' advice. So here's my new routine I'm going to give a shot over a month or so to see how it works. If it doesn't work too well, at least it will be a change of pace to get out of the same workout rut. I did this dfor two days so far and I have found that I was able to maintain a better level of intensity towards the end of the workout, hitting the tris and bis better(for the two isolation exercises). I picked this one from IDS as it had alot more compound exercises and seems to be similar to a workout I did when I first started working out when I was 18 and had excellent results. Back to basics. And I added legs, not to kill them at all, but to do lighter weight keeping perfect form to keep the muscles pumping. 3 sets of each 7-12 reps Day 1 Bench Press Incline Fly Military Press DB French PRess Day 2 Squats Lunges Leg Curl Pull Down Seated Row Barbell Curl Cardio on off days or for 15-20 min before weights. I'll try to start a journal and keep it up to get results.

Flax seed, flax meal, flax oil. All can upset my stomach.

Sorry if i wasn't clear enough on this point. I only say it's best to do cardio and weights in different sessions. It depends on the individual metabolism how much cardio is necessary, if at all. I think it's okay, but don't see the benefit of the 20min low intensity cardio (in regard to muscle building and fat burning). Of course it is good for your heart, health and fitness. I have found that it works well for me to do cardio on days off also, it keeps my intensity of lifting by not doing cardio the same day. I have a question, I always read and thought that it was actually better to do cardio prior to lifting if you do both on the same day. The reason being that you can burn more fat before the lactic acid builds up in your muscles will which then make your body tap into its glycogen levels. Then I read a few articles recently stating that if you do cardio on lifting days do it after lifting because then your glycogen level will be depleted and your body will have to tap into stored fat. Opinions?

Thought I'd throw up a good "recipe" idea here. I was just thinking that you all may enjoy this if you haven't tried it yet as I just heard of this idea a month ago and love it. I love homemade stirfry but really don't always want the carbs for rice. So take a head of cauliflower(sp), throw it in a food processor, and chop it up until it's rice size pieces. Use it in place of rice. Super good, and so good for you. And very carb conscious if you're dieting or watching calories.

With the exception of adding legs, this seems like a much easier routine. Although I do actually enjoy working out legs(or I did years ago), so it wouldn't be a miserable thing for me. I also remember reading years ago in a muscle mag that actually working your quads will help out your workout because it releases some more hormones into your system giving your body a bigger boost, don't know the validity to it. But that reason would be good enough to start up. How many sets and reps are you doing for these? Any other thoughts on this routine? Not that I'm downplaying Jonathan or anything, just was curious of any feedback. My only fear is that from doing my method that I've been on for I guess 4 months now I have seen pretty good results. I mean I have gotten back to my peak strength from 8 years ago when I worked out really heavy. But I guess there is always the possibility that if this is better then I'd be even bigger now over the last 4 months. I'll try to post how much weight I do for each exercise too, I have to run now.

Uhm, I see nothing wrong with that split per se, except the lack of a day for legs. There is nothing in that kind of split that excludes compound exercises, is there? But with a split like that you dont need to isolate muscles, on chest/trics/delt day you can do exercises that hit all of those muscles, nice stuff like bench and dips and whatnot . Same with backs/bics, barbell rows anyone ? Yeah, thats allways a good question . I don't do legs for a few reasons. One is lack of time. I squeeze into the gym 3 days a week. On the two that I do weights too, I only have enough time to do like 15 min of cardio, so I keep the 3rd for closer to 30 min of cardio. Another reason is that my legs are already very big. Seriously, they're seriously easily the strongest natural part of my body. When I begin working them out they get huge, and I really don't want to have huge legs. Another is because I am so afraid of overstressing the knee joints. I have seen my dad go through a knee replacement and am kind of terrified of it. I don't even jog for the same reason, I use an eliptical to go easier on the knees. Yet another reason is I hate the soreness, and if they get sore I can't do cardio, I don't want to kill the muscles. I seriously appreciate all feedback, I'm not one of those ego kind of guys who doesn't like critique, so I appreciate it all! Here's my workout that I've been doing. I think that maybe I should focus more on the compound exercises. For the workout breakdown, I typucally do this: Day 1 4 sets barbell curls 4 sets dimbell curls(either incline or preacher) 4 sets pulldowns 4 sets rows 3 sets forearm reverse barbell curls Day 2 4 sets incline dumbell press 4 sets decline or flat bench 4 sets flys 4 sets shoulder press(military or dumbell) 4 sets sidearm dumbell raises(or upright rows) 2 sets shrugs 4 sets behind neck dumbell extentions(or lying tricep extentions) 4 sets tricep pushdowns 4 sets dips

I go to the gym about 3 days a week. I usually do cardio/weights those days and then another day of more cardio. For me to keep from overtraining I do each bodypart only once a week. I split my exercises into two workouts. back/biceps and chest/delts/triceps. I am curious of how you guys can do these more often than that. To me it's overtraining, I need that much time to rebuild, I am either sore or noticebly weaker if I workout with less recovery time. I also had to split it up this way because I can't do triceps and then chest a few days later because obviously chest workouts include alot of triceps as do shoulders. So, I guess I'm asking "Am I missing something?". How do you guys do it, work out shoulders, then chest a few days later or whatnot. Do different people recover at different paces?

I don't have a most favorite, I guess my least would be biceps for sure. I hate the feeling that I may be overtraining the next day when I lift the groceries, haha. Also not favorite is shoulders. I carry my stress in this area so I forget if I worked out or if I'm just stressed causing the soreness. 'm glad this topic was brought up, I was wondering about others opinions on soreness after a workout. Because it seems as though some body parts regularly get sore for up to a week while others barely do however it seems like both are progressing at the same pace. I have a related question but it's off topic so I'll start a new thread.

I'm wierd, depends on my mood. Some regulars: Morrissey Dead Prez Game 7 Seconds Bury Your Dead Dead Kennedys Throwdown Youth Of Today 108 Templars Matisyahu Jedi Mind Tricks

Monterey County

Thanks for the warm welcome. I typically hate forums, butthis one really does seem awesome. To answer the question, I'm from Nor Cal. I forgot to mention that I'm 26 too. So I look forward to decades of great health and staying young. I'm super stoked to see so many of you out there also are young, congrats to everyone for making such great commitments to health and ethics while others our age are still stuck in the "party now, worry later" phase.

I like to take black beans and blend them up with some soy/rice/almond milk(unsweetened), and add some salsa. Kind of a good bean dip/spread for burritos or something.

I have checked out the page before on multiple occasions and find people to be very insightful and intelligent. I have been a vegan for a little over a year, have had a few slips(not eating meat or eggs or anything, but had cheese a few times). Before that I began a weight loss bodybuilding plan but after going vegan the weight loss went into high gear and I lost 70 lbs in about 4 months. I am in the best shape of my life(not because I'm the most cut) because I eat the best ever, and even though I was athletic and worked out alot in my late teens, I never did as much cardio as I do now. I currently weigh about 195, am 6"2. I have about 10-15lbs of extra fat I'd like to shred and keep building up the muscle. After a relocation 7 months ago I stopped working out temporarily and quickly lost the muscle, but am back now building it back up. I look forward to hopefully helping some people out on some things I'm knowledgeable on and getting alot of advice from those more knowledgeable than me.

This stuff is seriously great. Scramble it with some tofu, potatoes, and throw in some black beans and corn. Then a nice whole wheat tortilla