GRardB

Thanks for the advice, man.

When you find that you can't do even one more chin-up, try negative reps. I've heard that this helps. If you don't know what that means, this is what you do: 1) Place your hands on the bar as if you are going to perform a chin-up. 2) Jump (using your feet only) until you are in the "finish" position of a chin-up. 3) Hold yourself up and slowly let yourself down until you are back on your feet. 4) Repeat. I usually do these after a few sets of chin-ups. I haven't done it long enough to see if it really helps, but it should.

I see. And it could be different with grains, but isn't quinoa technically a seed?

So like...I've never eaten quinoa before. From what I've read, it's better for muscle growth than brown rice, and it has complete proteins (as if that really matters, lol). I'm thinking of giving it a try. I'm just not sure which kind of quinoa I should get. I've read that there is white, red and black (I think?) quinoa. Is there any difference in nutrition or quality? It seems to me that red and white are the main ones that people eat. I'm guessing the difference isn't the same as the kind between white/brown rice or white/whole wheat bread, but I'm just curious if there's any major difference. If so, should I get a mixture of both for variety or should I stick to one? I've tried looking up the differences on Google, but most people just choose based on taste, so I'm asking here Thanks, Gerard

I say you can never eat too much hummus, just because it's so damn good. I liked it for bulking season, cut down for cutting season...I just dip my pita bread it in, SOMETIMES scoop with it. I only use one loaf of pita bread.

Yeah, I guess you're right. I always heard about "traces" of things in certain foods, I was just amazed when I saw "Average of 80 or more insect fragments per 10 gram" in ground cinnamon . Also "Average of 150 or more insect fragments per 100 grams" in wheat flour. I know it's unavoidable, I just thought it was interesting/scary. Are there any studies about eating insects being healthy/unhealthy? It is the same as eating animals? Just wondering.

So I just watched Indiana Jones, and I decided to look up those huge ants in the movie. I came across this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy#Unintentional_entomophagy What do you guys think of it? Scary to me, but is it anything to worry about in terms of health/veganism?

I'm not sure if you guys have the same experiences, but I find the craziest labels on food. It amazes me that the FDA allows certain things to be printed on certain foods. Here's what I'm talking about: I once saw tortillas that were advertised as "100% Whole Wheat" although it had "wheat flour" in it (and we all know that "wheat flour" is "white flour" disguised as whole wheat). I once saw tortillas (I'm pretty sure) that were advertised as "100% Whole Wheat White." WHAT?! What does that mean??? The ingredients showed that it was a mixture of whole wheat flour and white flour, but still, that label is very misleading. Today my dad and I rode our bikes to Whole Foods. I noticed they sold a pizza crust (this is the first time I've seen it), and it was labeled as "Whole Wheat Pizza Crust." The second ingredient was "Unbleached Wheat Flour." The first ingredient was whole wheat flour, but again, the crust is not truly whole wheat. I once went to a bagel shop and asked "Do you have whole wheat bagels?" The response I got was "Yes, we have wheat bagels." As far as I know, all bagel shops make bagels out of wheat. He took the bagel off a shelf labeled "WW," which I understand as "whole wheat," although the bagel looked exactly the same, although maybe a tiny bit darker than the white bagels sold at the shop. How can people get away with this? The last complaint is not as bad, although it did trick my dad once. I notice lots of breads are labeled as having an X amount of grams of whole wheat per slice. This is fine, except when the label is: "15 Grams of WHOLE WHEAT Per Slice" It doesn't look as bad in the forum, but the words "WHOLE WHEAT" are always capitalized and in a font 3 times the size as the other words, trying to trick people into thinking that it's whole wheat bread. This kind of stuff reminds me of something my dad read about the FDA allowing companies to label their products as organic if some of the ingredients are not organic because they aren't available in enormous quantities, thus being "conventional." So that means that Smuckers and JIF can label their peanut butter as organic if they can't get enough organic peanuts. That's ridiculous. So my questions are: Have you guys ever seen these kinds of tricks? If so, does it anger you? Should something be done about it? Are there any people/groups fighting for better food labeling? I hope it turns out to be an interesting topic Gerard

I hate double-posting, but... I just spent quite a while creating a spreadsheet with my usual meal plan for the day, and the macronutrients/calories. Apparently, I eat about 2208 calories a day. In terms of calories, 66% come from carbs, 25% come from protein, and 9% from fats. Not the ideal ratio for most people, but isn't this much looked down upon by those looking to lose fat? I don't know how I've lost this much weight eating like this. I can't imagine anyone telling me that I'm not eating enough at 2208 calories a day while cutting. For example, I'm Your Man, I had a post asking for advice about my cutting diet, and you referred me to a website that would tell me how many calories I will probably burn in a day. You then told me to subtract it by 500 calories and I would lose a pound per week. I did that, and I ended up with about 1400 calories a day. That would've been insane. My guess as of now is what veggieprincess said. :-\

If that's the case, I'm extremely happy. And yeah, I'm getting healthy fats in. Occasional peanut butter, hummus, etc. I'm going to start adding some hemp also.

Well, I've been trying to lose fat for the past 3 weeks. At the beginning of September I started my bulking season at around 163 pounds. I ended bulking season at the end of April at about 183 pounds. I know that almost everything I gained was muscle because I didn't gain much fat really, my muscles grew in size and my strength increased a lot. Some people said that I gained fat, although I think it was mostly because they saw me at times where I had already eaten A LOT of food throughout the day and my belly stuck out more than usual (before my 3rd-4th meal my belly didn't stick out much at all). Anyway, I've been cutting for the last three weeks. I always read about how 1 pound per week is considered healthy and that more than that is usually not good. I weigh myself most mornings and during most gym sessions, and it seems like I've lost 4-6 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I don't know if this is normal for guys like me who haven't done cardio in 8 months (like when beginning bodybuilders gain lost of muscle and lose lots of fat simultaneously) or if I'm doing something wrong. This morning I weighed 176lbs. I'm also not sure if it's because I'm just eating less food, so I'm not gaining as much weight throughout the day as before. I know that I'm not losing muscle because my muscles aren't showing any noticeable decrease in size and my strength is either staying the same or even increasing in some exercises, but I'm not getting weaker. I think it's also important to note that I do see a decrease in my belly size (which is where most of my fat is concentrated), although I don't think it looks like a 4-6 pound difference, but then again I never lost fat like this so I wouldn't know what it looks like. So should I be worried? Do you guys think I'm doing something wrong, have good genetics for losing fat, that it's a beginning cutting season thing, that it's mostly from having less food to weigh me down, or is the 1lbs per week not important? Thanks, Gerard P.S: For those who don't know. I'm 16. 5'9" My BF% is still unknown to me, but my electric skinfold caliper's highest reading was 16.2%, although I don't know if I'm doing it right.

Thanks for the tips, guys, but I'm, still wondering about my first two questions. What do I eat pre/post-workout? Sugars, nothing, or something else? Will raw fruits/veggies help me to lose weight? I'm sure veggies will, but there are conflicting sides on fruits.

Long story short, we were having some weird discussion on our school bus (I forgot what it was though) and I mentioned the "fact" that it's not possible to change your genetics once you've started growing in your mother's womb basically. This is what I was taught at my first high school in Biology during my freshman year. Then two of my friends jumped in and claimed that HGH alters your genetics. I didn't believe it and argued against it. I tried putting searches into Google such as "HGH changes dna," "HGH alters dna," "HGH dna," etc. I found nothing really. I then decided to look up HGH in Wikipedia to try to get a better understanding of it, but it was way too complicated for me to understand when they started mentioning rhDNA and all that stuff. So my question is: Does HGH literally change your DNA? Thanks, Gerard P.S: I'm definitely not interested in taking that garbage, I'm just wondering if it's true.

So after my trip to Ireland for spring break (April 19-26), I'm going to start [trying to] lose body fat. I'm planning on using this workout plan minus some nutrition and definitely using no supplements. It looks like a program that I'll be able to do. The problem is, I don't know how much to eat and when to eat certain foods. I've just ordered a skinfold caliper so that I can measure my bodyfat percentage and use the guy's calculation to determine how many calories I will probably burn in a day. I'm guessing I'm somewhere between 16-18%, but I'm not sure. So my questions are: 1)During bulking, I eat sugars (usually fruits) before my workouts and after my workout (usually orange juice, soy milk + sugar, sometimes fruits, potatoes, etc.). I read this is good for energy and healing, but do I want these sugars when I'm cutting? If not, then what do I replace them with? 2)What should I eat throughout the day? During bulking, I eat about 6 meals a day, give or take 1-2 depending on the day. I'm guessing I do the same during cutting. I'm probably eliminating a lot of the sugar I eat and a lot of the fat (peanut butter and hummus especially). I'm thinking I should eat a lot of raw fruits and veggies during cutting. Will this help? 3)I've read that a "cheat" day is somewhat necessary to keep your metabolism up and keep your body away from "starvation mode." I've read some places "eat whatever you want that day" but I've also heard "don't increase your calories much, just choose some fattening foods instead of what you usually eat" or something along those lines. So is a cheat day helpful or harmful? If helpful, which advice do I listen to? These are the only major questions I can think of now. If I think of anything else, I guess I'll just post more. Thanks in advance! Gerard EDIT: I forgot to mention, I'm trying to get to around 10%bf or less (no less than like 7 or 8 though as I've read it's not very healthy). I currently weigh about 186, but I am unsure of my current body fat %.

Why thank you And yeah, I get that same reply all the time. Some people even say that they WANT to die in their 60's because they don't want to "suffer" as a senior citizen. It never occurs to them that they may never suffer if they just lived healthier. Most people's logic is totally backwards. I wish it was that easy :-\ It's hard to see people I care about digging an early grave. I guess you're right. Some vegetarians are better than none. They're easier to hang out with in a group, that's for sure. As for the religion thing, nobody I know who claims to be Catholic (but not Christian) has never been introduced to those kinds of arguments. They just assume that they aren't Christians because Protestants usually describe themselves as "Christians" to other people, so my friends say "Oh, then I'm not Christian." If they had valid arguments, that'd be a different story. I'll definitely make an effort to keep my beliefs to myself unless brought up...It's just hard to keep it inside because I wish someone had pointed it out to me at an earlier age. I grew up most of my life overweight and unhealthy because nobody guided me. As for my girlfriend, the health issue is really the only thing that bothers me about her, but the only other person I know that I would say eats healthy is my dad. Leaving her because of the way she eats would be useless and unnecessary (and probably cause me more frustration). And my mom...the problem with her is that she rarely goes shopping, and when she does, I don't really have a chance to go with her. Not only that, but another one of her complaints is that the food I eat is too expensive for her and since I only go to her house once a week, she doesn't want to waste food and money. I've brought food to her house before for myself, but it's actually not an easy task because her apartment is not properly equipped for my food preparation methods (as weird as that sounds, it's true). I'm glad it didn't take me so long to change my diet. My parents became vegetarian when I was about 7 (although my mom gave up a few years later) so I followed them out of choice. Although I still ate unhealthy as a vegetarian up until a few months ago, I'm sure I would've been much worse as a meat-eater. I can definitely feel the effects as I haven't been sick for over a year now. Most people I know get sick every few weeks or months. It's sad. Entirely true. Many times people will tell me that their doctors tell them what foods to eat, and say "Why would people say that milk and meat is good for you if it wasn't?" I bring up money and people start shutting me out and saying that I'm wrong. I can't imagine listening to doctors in general, especially after past experiences. Most of them are just concerned about shoving as many pills down your throat as possible to get some cash. This isn't true for all doctors obviously, but for many doctors it is. I guess the best thing for me to do is just keep to myself...If anyone watches The Boondocks, I feel like Huey Freeman most of the time. I think he said it best: "Sir, would you like to hear about how the government wants you dead by 62 so you can't collect on Social Security?"

Ehh I dunno...I'd be a little skeptical about getting extensions of hair grown with nutrients obtained from meat. Make sure it's the hair of a vegan! Just kidding I was never a fan of this sort of stuff though. It goes against my survival of the fittest/natural selection beliefs along with wigs, hair dye, make-up, plastic surgery, etc.

If anyone's interested (not that I'm advertising), www.tufat.com sells a $5 Flash Chat that can be easily integrated into this forum (so no separate registry necessary). I actually have a license (which is good for a lifetime of upgrades), although I'm not sure if you guys are against piracy

I can always rely on Potter for a helping reply. I go to a public high school, so I can't really bring up religion because most people don't even know half of what their religion is (I know a bunch of Catholics that claim they aren't Christians; I know, retarded). In fact, I can't really bring up anything besides health because kids seem to be so oblivious to everything around them that I can't even mention something and expect another kid to know about it or understand it. And you also mentioned becoming vegan for reasons other than health. That's actually another slap in the face to me around here. I know a few vegetarians and even one vegan, but none of them do it for health. They either do it because they're Hindu or because they don't want to kill animals. Besides that, they eat the same garbage that meat-eaters eat, just minus the meat! (Although I used to be the same, so I can't complain TOO much about them). Even they think I'm crazy! That's the reason I love these forums so much. Everyone's into health. Yeah, I actually forgot to mention all of my concerns about that kind of stuff (processed foods, sodium, etc.). It was a long post anyway, so I guess it's alright. But yes, people are truly ignorant about health. I talk about the saturated fats in meat, how animal protein leaches calcium from human bones, how milk is the cause of so many different cancers, The China Study, cholesterol and how we don't need any extra (plus the kind in meat is the kind we want very low), sodium and high blood pressure, etc. The reply I get ranges from "Whatever" to "I don't believe that's true." The thing that angers me the most is that when people disagree with my beliefs, they have NO research or education under their belts to back up what they believe. They just don't like hearing what I believe, so they deny the truth of it.

Just a post to get some things off my chest. It's hard being different. For those who don't know me too well... Age: 16 Area: NYC metropolitan area (New Jersey) Lacto-ovo vegetarian (although I eat vegan almost every day) I have no idea what to do about people I care about anymore. It seems like everybody is shielding me out of their lives because I annoy them about health. Nearly everybody I know thinks I'm too much of a health freak and always argue with me about my beliefs. It seems like nobody else I know even cares just a little bit about their health. People drink milk by the gallon, eat animals by the pound, eat sugar by the kilograms, and spread oil by the liters. Every time I see somebody eating something terribly unhealthy, I kindly say "Do you know how bad that is for you?" The response I usually get is "No, it's not" or "Who cares?" Occasionally it becomes a debate as to whether or not milk or candy is bad for you. Just yesterday a girl I know was eating commercial chocolate covered raisins, so I said "Those are unhealthy" and she says "No, they're not" without even thinking about it. This girl eats candy and bakes goods on a daily basis in school, so I thought I'd let her know about what she's putting into her body, but with no success. I have a hard time eating at my mom's house (yes, my parents are divorced) because she loves dairy and meat products. Another downside is that she smokes cigarettes. I try to educate her on health, but she refuses to listen. The problem is that because she doesn't care, my health is directly affected. It's rare that I go a day at my mom's house without eating cheese. Not only that, but the smoke is terrible. Even though she's courteous enough to go out onto the balcony and smoke, she doesn't realize that I still receive some of the second hand smoke. Studies show that children whose parents leave the house to smoke still have 8 times the amount of nicotine in their bodies as children with parents that don't smoke. Thank God I only come to my mother's house once a week. She gets extremely frustrated with me because she doesn't think she can cook anything that will satisfy me. One week I had no other choice but to eat a cheese empanada (Hispanic dish for those who don't know) fried in butter (because we had no oil). I had loose stools for about 4 days after eating it. Last week we ordered pizza, and I ordered a pie with no cheese and the other with light cheese. Today she was talking on the phone about it and she said that I ordered them like that because I'm "crazy" and "insane". She speaks very loudly on the phone so I heard her perfectly. I'm sure many of you realize how much this hurts. The next is my girlfriend. She loves eating meat and dairy as well. She eats our school's cafeteria food which is terrible. Her parents are Polish immigrants and while they make some great food like pierogi and kopitka, they refuse to believe that animal food is bad for people to eat. My girlfriend also has doubts, even after everything I've shown her, but the main reason she won't limit her unhealthy food is because she "can't eat food she doesn't like". I talked to her seriously about it today and told her that the only reason I try to get her to eat healthier is because I care about her and it could mean the difference between living to be 75 and 105. Most of you guys will probably think "Well you're 16, you guys won't be together forever." That may very well be true, but it still hurts me nonetheless. It's extremely hard for me to live my life like this, but I know that in the end it will pay off. On my father's side, both of my grandparents passed away because of cancer. My grandmother and grandfather were in their low 80's and mid 70's (I think) respectively. On the other hand, my dad has an Indian Hindu friend who's been a vegetarian his whole life and came from India. He won't tell us his age, but my dad is pretty sure he's over 100 (and he has no birth certificate because during the time that he came to the USA, India had no birth certificates). I seem to be the only kid around here that realizes living a long life is something to be desired. I know that if there is no god or an afterlife of any kind, I want to live my life as long as possible. Going to sleep and never waking up is a terrible and scary thought to me. This is why I live my life as healthy as I can. I don't want to face the same fate my grandparents did. I'm sure that the reason they got cancer was because when they grew up (and even still today), people didn't understand health and the USA is the biggest meat-eating, milk-drinking society in the world. I don't care what anyone says, I can honestly say that my grandparents died because of their diet and lifestyle. I loved them and I wish they were still here. I don't want my grandkids to feel the same way when they're 12 or 15. I just can't explain it any better in words. Sisters #1 and #2 eat whatever they want. Sister #3 is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but eats more cheese than most non-vegetarians. My brother is 8 and eats whatever he's fed. He's obese as of right now (he weighs over 100 pounds already). I try to alter his diet, but there's no chance I can help him. My mom eats whatever she wants, drinks alcohol, and smokes. She doesn't care. My dad lives fairly healthy as a lacto-ovo vegetarian. A bit more dairy than me, but considerably less calories (he's not bulking or growing haha). My girlfriend eats whatever she wants. All of my friends eat whatever they want. Honestly, the only people that I seem to relate to in this world are people on these forums. I just wish other people saw the light and at least cut their animal product consumption to 1/4 of what it is now. I can imagine it now. I'll be in my 90's and everyone else I ever knew in my life will be dead. To some I might seem a little radical, but that's truly how I feel. People think I'm crazy and nobody seems to understand me. I'm sure you guys do. Any other people that can relate at least a bit? Thanks for reading, Gerard

Wow, that's a lot of food. Just a note, though. Some of your meals have well over 50g of protein in them. From what I've read, the average human can only absorb 50g of protein in one sitting. I guess the rest turns to fat? I'd recommend cutting a little out of those meals. It's enough food to get big, even without those extra grams of protein. Any thoughts?

Hmmm....So I'm getting the idea that my posture hasn't changed much or at all then. Many people claim that I have my arms out far, like Couture said, but in reality, if my arms were any closer to my body I'd be slapping my thighs with every step. Other people claim I pop my chest out, also untrue. Other people have told me I walk with my arms out in front of me (I can't really explain this one online), but that one's definitely not true. I doubt it's not lifting properly...I work out each body part equally. The only injury I've had since I started was a shoulder injury but that was from falling off my bike, not lifting weights. Maybe I just walk differently than other people naturally. Either that or people are just retarded, because I know for a fact that I'm not TRYING to walk a certain way. I dunno :-\ Thanks for the info guys, Gerard

Long story short: Ever since I started lifting weights, I've noticed that I stand and walk a little differently and people are always telling me things like "Gerard, why do you walk around like you're big?" or "Gerard, you walk like a robot. You're not that big." Just for the record, I'm much bigger than most people who say these things. I've got tons of people saying that about my friend and me (who goes to the gym with me). I don't walk or stand a certain way purposely, and I'm not very cocky about my size or physique at all, because I'm not entirely content with it myself. So does weightlifting affect posture? Thanks, Gerard

That sounds like a good idea. I'll be sure to try out this method of working out. I'm sure it won't hurt any, seeing as how I'm not progressing much anymore. Nowhere to go but up Thanks

So let's see....I started my training routine in the beginning of September (30 weeks ago to be exact). 3 of the weeks were off due to a shoulder injury, and not many days were skipped. I used to train 6 days a week, but for the last 3 weeks I've been training every other day instead. My first week's log shows that I started off doing 6 chin-ups for my first set, 3 for my next, and then I went off to the assisted chin-up machine for 2 more sets. Since then, my reps have improved, but it doesn't look impressive compared to other exercises. In my last workout it looked like this: 10 reps (8, then short rest, then 2) 6 reps (5 reps, short rest, then 1) 2.5 2.5 As you can see, all these months of training didn't seem to do much for me. I do chin-ups until I can't pull my self up, so I do all sets until true failure. Although one excuse I can give is that I've gained 20 pounds (although probably about 95%+ muscle) since day one. Is this "progression" expected, seeing as how I've gained 20 pounds and it's a bodyweight exercise? Should I do more sets, a different exercise, or what? Thanks, Gerard P.S: I hate pulldowns. I've been doing them for 3 weeks and I will not continue them for a long time. They feel extremely unnatural and I can't do much weight on them because of that. I don't recognize them as a good alternative to chin-ups at all :-\

For most people, forearm work isn't a big deal for being a major necessity. However, if you find that your grip gives out before you finish your sets while lifting, then it's not a bad idea to incorporate some grip work into your routine. If your forearms don't grow well, added forearm work (different from grip work) will help a bit, too. Direct work to improve the grip can make a difference in forearm size, but it's not the always the best way to increase your forearm development (such as, using grippers will have little if any impact on your forearms - crushing strength is very different from other types of grip strength and carries over differently). My forearms went from around 12.5" to 15" over the years without doing work specifically to build size, due mostly to ditching straps or anything to help hold on to the bar and some varied types of grip strength work that was done for a few years (crushing, pinching, thick bar lifting, bending, and other things). I've met some guys with big forearms, but many of them had poor grip strength since size does not equal strength in that department by a long shot. A guy who has a job doing manual labor every day that taxes his grip may be able to crush your hand in his during a handshake, but he may have a hard time holding a 100 lb. DB in his hand for 60 seconds. It's all relative to what you work - just like you can have massive legs but a terrible squat, you can develop just about any muscle group and still have weakness in it for pure strength. I compare it to the fact that I've met some lightweight stronman competitors (231 lbs. and under) that are SUPER strong, putting up weights that some heavyweight BB competitors would struggle with even when they're weighing in at over 300 lbs. during the off-season. If you don't train specifically for strength, your returns will be limited to a degree. Therefore, if you have a weakness, pound it hard to build it up, and grip/forearm strength (and forearm size) is definitely one of those things can some people need to pursue extra work for. I see. I'm still very confused about forearms though. I see many people recommend wrist curls for size (or exercise there in general). I also see grip exercises, etc. But don't muscles only move one way? I always thought top forearms moved your hand up while bottom forearms moved your hand down. How can forearms control fingers, AND move different ways? Are these different muscles that need to be worked out separately for maximum results or is the forearm extremely complex? I might be diving into a completely different topic...I'm just so confused about forearms.