Quote :

"btw, ON caramel toffee fudge is absolutely amazing with milk"

Damn, I may have to try that. I have tried ON flavors:

Delicious Strawberry
Double Rich Chocolate
Extreme Chocolate Milk
Creamy Vanilla

All are good with milk; strawberry with milk is the best. Extreme Chocolate Milk is the best for mixing with yogurt/fruit, in my opinion. Strawberry and Vanilla are good for making protein cheesecake.

[Edited on November 11, 2012 at 11:39 AM. Reason : ]

11/11/2012 11:38:22 AM

strawberry ON is delicious with gatorade.

11/11/2012 2:57:08 PM

^^ yea, give it a shot. I've tried the double rich and extreme chocolate you mentioned and liked those. The caramel toffee is absolute garbage with just water, fyi.

I cut my workout in half tonight. My forearms have started to hurt like crazy again - looks like I just need to keep the weights lower until they catch up I'm not a very patient person.

11/11/2012 8:29:54 PM

Check your shoulder mobility/stability... Usually forearm and elbow pain is rooted in an inability to hold correct positions in the shoulder/scapula

###

Just posted a new article on nutrition tips on my site, check it out!

http://www.capitalstrength.com/2012/11/12/persontal-trainer-tips-prepare-your-food-in-advance/

11/12/2012 7:21:39 AM

I will admit that I do not prepare my food ahead of time. One of the main reasons ( although people will say that's stupid) is I hate reheated food. I buy enough groceries to prepare dinner, but I rarely prepare or buy anything for breakfast or lunch.

I work on a medical campus and I just a few floors up from the hospital cafeteria. And some of the girls who ring my food up like me, so I get a 30% discount. So I never really pay anything beyond $8.00.

I just make wise choices when I am down there, and knowing that I get a 30% discount, I usually put things together from different bars. They usually have healthy options.

A typical meal from the cafeteria for me is, tilapia, spiced mashes sweet potaoes, roasted asparagus, a side salad with low fat dressing, granny apple.

For breakfast, I'll do oatmeal and egg beaters or go to McDs and buy 2 egg mcmuffins ( toss the english muffins and scrape cheese off).

I do bring my own snacks.

11/12/2012 10:30:42 AM

If you know how to make good food choices, preparing food in advance is not as critical. But, it can help big time and cut down on expenses if you batch with efficiency.

11/12/2012 12:50:07 PM

I need to move back to raleigh so matt can fix my terrible terrible body

11/13/2012 9:27:13 PM

A few recent training videos from my gym :

11/20/2012 10:50:52 AM

Hey Matt...

Have you heard of Body Beast? It's by a guy named Sagi Kalev. I'd be curious to see what you think of it as a home fitness program. It's something I'm planning on starting at the beginning of February after I finish this P90X / Insanity hybrid program.

11/20/2012 2:01:32 PM

I've never heard of it, but if you are not using external resistance that is progressively loadable (e.g. a barbell), there is a giant gaping hole in your strength training program.

11/20/2012 3:12:53 PM

One of my clients making 135lbs look like cake weight!

11/30/2012 10:40:05 AM

^Thank you for posting that video, by the way. After watching it, I finally did effective squats yesterday morning, and I feel so fantastic now!

12/2/2012 11:17:07 AM

You're welcome... Her form needs a little tweaking. She is very flexible and can maintain an upright torso more-so than other people.

I'd like to see her knee position getting set earlier, rather than gliding forward through the bottom half of the decent. She also needs to get her hips back a little more and knees wider.

I am a squat technique nazi though. Most important thing is that you keep your spine neutral, with slight extension through the whole range. You are hitting full depth. Weight is staying balanced over your mid foot. Knees are tracking with the toes.

[Edited on December 2, 2012 at 11:48 AM. Reason : moar words]

12/2/2012 11:35:52 AM

MattJMM2 any experience with PH's?

12/11/2012 8:12:49 AM

Prohormones? No, not really. I don't really mess with anything like that, nor AAS.

If you think you have low T, try covering all your bases with micronutrients.... Zinc, selenium, Magnesium, Fish Oil, and a few others first. I've read interesting stuff about D-aspartic Acid, a little about Tribulus (not much supporting it though).

To be honest if you really want to raise your T effectively, go find a doctor who will run the right blood tests and who's willing to prescribe you clomid, Androgel, or other HRT solution.

I don't have any first hand experience with it though.

12/11/2012 9:41:22 AM

stay away from prohormones, especially the ones on the market now that are just unlisted oral steroids. They are extremely tough on the liver and will severly mess up your blood lipid profiles.

12/11/2012 5:46:31 PM

Matt, that girl has always been in the State gym beasting it so that video is NO surprise!

12/12/2012 3:31:04 AM

Yea, she's impressive and works hard. I've never claimed to have developed her from scratch. But she's definitely making great progress in here!

12/12/2012 2:43:48 PM

you having her do any cardio?

12/14/2012 12:16:15 AM

Yea, about 30-45min of walking on an incline on her off days.

12/14/2012 6:28:08 AM

Quote :

"deeper, knees out."

That's what I said!

12/14/2012 6:49:41 AM

I find myself saying almost ridiculously provocative cues unintentionally...

"Squeeze! Don't jerk!"
"Squeeze Your Cheeks!"
"Get your butt up!"
"Show me your chest!"
"Slam your hips!"
"Hump the bar!"

12/14/2012 7:13:04 AM

What's the best way to prevent bruising to my vertebra prominent during squats? Is there a padding that works the best? Or maybe I should just suck it up.

12/18/2012 12:06:10 PM

i would normally tell my wife to "suck it up" until she gets bigger traps. might want to also double check you bar placement. (there is high bar and low bar placement for squats)

some might argue that at lighter weights, bar padding will change your balance by pushing the bar away from your back. while at heavier weights it doesnt do much of anything.

12/18/2012 2:30:33 PM

Check bar placement first. For a low-bar squat, which I recommend for most people, put the bar right above the spine of scapula (the top of your shoulder blades).

Make sure you are squeezing your shoulders back. Kiss your shoulder blades together while puffing your chest up. This will create a meaty shelf of muscle and skin that will protect anything boney.

12/18/2012 5:38:54 PM

I've had shoulder surgery and haven't gained full motion in my shoulder. Yesterday was the first time I was able to do squats without significant pain in my shoulder. Maybe I should wait until I gain more flexibility, assuming that I do gain more flexibility.

12/18/2012 6:32:03 PM

Rehab your shoulder!

I'd program goblet squats, or something else effective that doesn't bother the shoulders. Also, I recommend spending quality time on healing and strengthening the injury.

I've rehabbed my achilles tendon rupture pretty effectively...

Today was dynamic effort lower body day:
Power cleans 3x3
Box Squats + chains 8x2
Speed DL + chains 8x1
Reverse Hyper superset w/ Banded Glute Thrusts




[Edited on December 18, 2012 at 8:55 PM. Reason : more]

12/18/2012 8:40:24 PM

A heavyish set after my dynamic work yesterday. 315x2. Form is off slightly and I am drifting to my strong side. Not too bad since I fully exploded my achilles tendon 5 months ago. Still needs work!

12/19/2012 8:53:48 AM

Nice work Matt!


Hit my front squat year end goal...275#

Hoping to hit 250# C&J before 2013

12/19/2012 9:15:29 PM

Thank you!

Nice work on your PRs, whats your body weight?

12/20/2012 12:49:39 PM

nice work, looks like you even had another rep ready to go.

12/20/2012 1:18:30 PM

^^ about 182

12/20/2012 1:37:33 PM

Yea, it felt a lot heavier than what the video looks like. My squat is feeling good though. Its just taking longer than I'd like to grow back the muscular atrophy from the injury.

It really pisses me off when I think about where I would be if I hadn't gotten hurt. The day before my injury I squatted 335 3x5 with ease.

I'd like to compete in a power lifting meet... If my progress continues, I have a shot at a 1200 total which would be very competitive in the 165lbs class.

12/20/2012 2:03:03 PM

Quote :

"I have a shot at a 1200 total which would be very competitive in the 165lbs class."

thats right where im at now. i have my eyes on some competitions in 2013.

12/20/2012 2:06:22 PM

Got my 250 clean...arms were wasted from previous stuff, so I didn't attempt a jerk.

12/22/2012 11:14:15 AM

Nice, now you've motivated me to catch up

I did some cleans at 185 for 3x3 earlier this week. But, it made my ankle swell up . I don't think I'm ready to push my explosive power yet...

12/23/2012 10:27:03 AM

Yeah, I'm impressed you were even squatting after 5 months. My gf tore her Achilles a little more than a year ago and couldn't do much for 8 months. Hers was like 98% torn though.

[Edited on December 23, 2012 at 2:36 PM. Reason : ]

12/23/2012 2:35:54 PM

want to seriously increase your bench press? hit a wall? plateau got you? try this. it sucks. it's time consuming. and you will be a miserable prick while doing it. but it works.


http://www.seriouspowerlifting.com/2362/articles/smolov-jr

12/26/2012 4:18:53 PM

^ I may do that next month. My bench needs a boost. I want to compete in my first power lifting competition later this year. Right now my bench is bench is at 285x1, I want to hit 315 in competition at 165. Going to be tough and a lot of work to get there!

##

Here's some strongman conditioning from earlier today at my gym:

12/28/2012 8:15:37 PM

I haven't read through the entire thread, nor have I read through the other threads on the same topic.

Do any of you use weight belts for deadlifts?

I know I am performing the lift correctly, but it just kills my lower back. I have had a bad lower back my entire life, but also know the benefits of the deadlift.

I've been thinking about getting a belt to see if that helps.

1/4/2013 8:25:10 AM

I only use a belt for deadlift sets that are more than 90% of my 1RM.

[Edited on January 4, 2013 at 9:42 AM. Reason : ]

1/4/2013 9:42:06 AM

^^Pain is indicating something is wrong. It's either your form, mobility, or stability.

Can't really help you with out seeing you dead lift.

1/4/2013 11:00:46 AM

Had my last post-op follow up appt. today and was cleared by the doc to return to full activity, except extreme plyos...

Went back to my gym and crushed 405/415x1 on the dead lift. It was easy and flew up! I should crush 500lbs before summer

1/4/2013 1:50:11 PM

Hit a dynamic upper body work out today. Here's a video clip:



Here's a shameless promotional video for my gym that we put together yesterday:

1/6/2013 4:16:26 PM

I quit deadlifting because my lower back was not capable of recovering from a squat dominant training day and a deadlift dominant training day each week. Squats are my favorite exercise and irreplacable for leg development, so deadlifts got dropped.

1/6/2013 7:32:13 PM

Have you tried working on your mobility and programming so that your low back doesnt get so banged up?

I know you are moving heavy weight, and that's going to cause some aches and pains at any rate.

You ever do any olympic lifting? Or just focus on body building style?

[Edited on January 6, 2013 at 7:56 PM. Reason : words]

1/6/2013 7:55:44 PM

Tsunam barbells guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFBcOrZe6IE

1/6/2013 10:43:32 PM

That would be a novel training device, but I wouldn't spend more than $100 on it. Looks a little dangerous IMO, probably not worth any of the claimed benefits.

There's the bamboo bandbell bar from west side which is very similar. You can make something comparable with pvc pipes.

I did some bench pressing with KBs suspended from bands on a barbell, that was pretty chaotic.

1/7/2013 7:53:33 AM

What's the difference between strengthening your back and overstraining your back? Is it a good rule to just never bend it during a weighted exercise?

I've read about formerly pregnant/fat people having their abdominal muscles surgically pulled back together. Is this something that should generally require surgery, or can one slowly rebuild an abdominal wall through exercise? I was remarkably sedentary for a long time, and I'm concerned about possible hernias/hip problems/whatnot as I age.

[Edited on January 14, 2013 at 9:18 PM. Reason : I don't want to get old. ]

1/14/2013 9:18:01 PM

I think I may have asked this before, but....

to MattJMM2 or anyone else who is well-versed in these areas:

What are your opinions on things like wrist-rollers, Fat Gripz, hand grippers, etc.? Do you recommend any of these? If so, how would you suggest they be implemented?

1/14/2013 10:11:14 PM