Arkk's Weight Lifting / Fitness Thread

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Cad

scientia potentia est
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T-nation is the place for that, man. From what I've seen here since the FOH days, is guys juicing to get to 160 pounds dripping wet, and no idea what they are doing.
We can't all be as fat as you bro.
 

Shonuff

Mr. Poopybutthole
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We can't all lift as much as you bro.
fixed that for you.

I'm of a mindset that if you don't weight at least 210 pounds and your arms aren't 18 inches, you shouldn't juice. I've seen so many guys juice and then lose it all when they go off cycle. And it was because their diet sucked. They didn't eat enough protein, and missed training sessions.
 

Itlan

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The general consensus is 3-5 minutes for compound movements where you're trying to build strength (so basically S/B/D at 85%+ 1RM).

For iso shit or getting a pump, 30 seconds to a minute and a half seems to be where most fall.
 

Itlan

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fixed that for you.

I'm of a mindset that if you don't weight at least 210 pounds and your arms aren't 18 inches, you shouldn't juice. I've seen so many guys juice and then lose it all when they go off cycle. And it was because their diet sucked. They didn't eat enough protein, and missed training sessions.
Well I weigh about 206 and have 15 inch arms because I don't do any iso arm work (which I'm trying to fix as of last month lololol). As for your other two points, my diet is dialed in (I cook for myself and weigh everything) and I rarely ever miss a training day, unless I'm sick or something important comes up.

If I decide to do it I'll document everything and share it at the end of the cycle. Still mulling it over, weighing risks vs. rewards etc. and just trying to come to a better understanding of what I'm doing. If I were to do it, I don't want to as you say "lose it" when I cycle off. It's impossible to retain all of it obviously, but having your diet dialed in and your sleep schedule on track are the two biggest factors outside of hitting the weights.
 

Shonuff

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Well I weigh about 206 and have 15 inch arms because I don't do any iso arm work (which I'm trying to fix as of last month lololol). As for your other two points, my diet is dialed in (I cook for myself and weigh everything) and I rarely ever miss a training day, unless I'm sick or something important comes up.

If I decide to do it I'll document everything and share it at the end of the cycle. Still mulling it over, weighing risks vs. rewards etc. and just trying to come to a better understanding of what I'm doing. If I were to do it, I don't want to as you say "lose it" when I cycle off. It's impossible to retain all of it obviously, but having your diet dialed in and your sleep schedule on track are the two biggest factors outside of hitting the weights.
T-nation would be your friend, but you should research the shit out of PED's before taking them. And for God's sake, don't post you need help on a first cycle until you've researched for 50 hours. They'll tear you to shreds.

From what I've seen from guys on cycle, they eat everything under the sun (4-6k calories). And they eat non stop. That weighing stuff goes out the window. They get bloated during cycle, but when the cycle is over, water drops and they look totally different. Remember those drugs that Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar got busted for? They were not steroids, they were drugs to mitigate the side effects (estrogen rebound, bitch tits, and start up). On the last subject, don't be a moron and not do a proper PCT. Anyone can gain 30 pounds on a cycle, but not everyone can keep 20 when it's over. The guys don't realize that their natural test production drops to 0, and you have to boost it back up. I've seen guys gain 20 pounds, and then be 10 pounds under their starting weight after an improper PCT.
 

Shonuff

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Personally, I'm too much of a pussy to pin. You never really know where the drugs are coming from, and I just imagine that whatever I'd be injecting myself with was made in some dirty factory in Tijuana. And I've heard of stories of guys putting crisco in ampules and then selling them.

When steroids were legal, then they were made to pharmaceutical grade standard.
 

Itlan

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T-nation would be your friend, but you should research the shit out of PED's before taking them. And for God's sake, don't post you need help on a first cycle until you've researched for 50 hours. They'll tear you to shreds.

From what I've seen from guys on cycle, they eat everything under the sun (4-6k calories). And they eat non stop. That weighing stuff goes out the window. They get bloated during cycle, but when the cycle is over, water drops and they look totally different. Remember those drugs that Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar got busted for? They were not steroids, they were drugs to mitigate the side effects (estrogen rebound, bitch tits, and start up). On the last subject, don't be a moron and not do a proper PCT. Anyone can gain 30 pounds on a cycle, but not everyone can keep 20 when it's over. The guys don't realize that their natural test production drops to 0, and you have to boost it back up. I've seen guys gain 20 pounds, and then be 10 pounds under their starting weight after an improper PCT.
Like I said, I'm not an idiot. I've already looked into everything, including estrogen suppressants like clomid and proper PCT. The last thing I want to do is fuck up my natural test production.

As for the potency of the drugs you're buying, I'm getting them from a close friend who I've seen them do fucking wonders for him. Does that mean it's 100% pure? Who knows, but I know it works and he's healthy and just had a kid (so at least for him it didn't make him sterile). Mind you, he's been on the juice since he was 18 and he's now 24 and taking a shitload more than what I'm interested in taking.
 

Gravel

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Personally, I'm too much of a pussy to pin. You never really know where the drugs are coming from, and I just imagine that whatever I'd be injecting myself with was made in some dirty factory in Tijuana. And I've heard of stories of guys putting crisco in ampules and then selling them.

When steroids were legal, then they were made to pharmaceutical grade standard.
Personally I wouldn't be quite as worried about the actual steroids, just the legality issue. It's still weird to me how birth control, which is essentially a dose of female hormone, is legal, but steroids are not.

Is there a consensus on time between sets?
When I was doing more of a powerbuilding (3-5 rep range on compounds, 8-12 on iso) routine, I would do 2.5-3 minutes.

I've basically switched completely to bodybuilding (almost everything 8-12, some up to 15 reps) I'm aiming more for 1.5-2.5 minutes.

I don't think aiming for 60 seconds or whatever people say has any value. The point is to break the muscle down. By doing super short rests you're really just fatiguing your CNS and depleting ATP, while also getting a massive pump of blood to the muscle. For me, taking the extra rest time allows me to do cleaner, heavier reps (or more reps) than if I take a shorter break. Which in turn means breaking the muscle down as opposed to just tiring out.
 

Itlan

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It's going to vary from person to person. For me, I have a very hard time getting a pump on certain muscles, mainly my arms and delts, so I keep the rest times for those shorter.

But I've also switched from powerlifting to bodybuilding atm. I may run 5/3/1 for S/B/D and then do completely bodybuilding type work, not sure yet.
 

Shonuff

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Is there a consensus on time between sets?
Being that I'm an ex-powerlifter, for some reason, on bench and squats, I still take five minutes between sets. If I'm going for a PR, I'm going to make sure I'm good and rested. For me:

Bench and squat: 5 mins
Back exercises: 3 mins
Smaller muscle groups: 1-1.5 mins

Smaller muscle groups aren't as taxing. Hell, for forearms, I'm like 30 secs between sets. You recover faster from the smaller muscles.
 

Shonuff

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Personally I wouldn't be quite as worried about the actual steroids, just the legality issue.
In college, I remember my frat brothers sharing needles. Mind you, they'd get drunk and bang chicks in the ass bareback, and not remember their names the next morning. They always had syphillis, gonorrhea or the clap at any given time. That always stuck in my mind about pinning. I think needles are easier to get now. I remember, they'd have me pin them once a week. I'd think to myself, what if one of them has HIV? We'd just go from one ass to the other with the same needle.

I've taken prohormones before they were illegal, but that's it. After they were banned, I never took them again. And the irony is that the injectables are easier on the body than prohormones. Prohormones really fuck with you while you are on them, but the sides clear two weeks after you get off. I'm not sure I got a huge benefit from prohormones, because I'd be too tired to train, as they were trashing my liver and kidneys (temporarily). I had a Doctor measure my vitals, and they were fucked up while on them, but came back to normal when I got off. But with prohormones, they were made in sterile labs when they were legal. Now you have to mail order them for Eastern Uzbekhistan, and have no idea who made them. I could actually drive to the prohormone lab in the US, when they were legal. There was a good one 100 miles away from me. The allure of prohormones was that they were legal. I don't want to have a bunch of illegal drugs in my house.
 

Shonuff

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On a side note, I think I broke myself yesterday. A one hour MMA workout and a 1.5 hour weight workout. My ass is kicked today. As I get older, my strength and joints are fine, but my recovery is shit. Ugh.
 

Itlan

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Yeah I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who will be using my own fucking needles lol.
 

Deruvian

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I had been taking some of that Arnold Creatine Nitrate CR3 stuff for a while and started feeling like I was having some heart issues. After a few months of this, I decided to switch to another C4 to see if the formulation would make me feel better. First time taking it, energy was insane and I think I had personal bests in half of my workouts and was able to push myself really hard for over an hour. After I got home, I'm not sure what was up but I felt like I legit had a heart attack. I don't think I could even muster a grip hard enough to crush an orange and I felt really faint and out of body like I was going to pass out.

Since then, I've noticed even caffeine effects me like 30% as much as it used to. I've totally stopped with the powder keg of bullshit pre-workouts and go with straight Beta Alanine, regular Creatine powder, and a bit of caffeine. It definitely doesn't put me in the same mindset as the Arnold stuff used to, but my heart has felt great and I can still sustain a high intensity workout for quite a while - about all I'm really looking for.

Any of you armchair scientists want to troubleshoot my 'heart attack' or whatever happened to me and recommend anything I can do to repair whatever damage I may have done?
 

Shonuff

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Over two decades in the gym, and I saw something I never saw before. A guy was squatting in his skinny jeans. Shortly after that, he starts deadlifting. Apparently, this is a trend? My friend said he saw a guy doing it at his gym this week.
 

Shonuff

Mr. Poopybutthole
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I had been taking some of that Arnold Creatine Nitrate CR3 stuff for a while and started feeling like I was having some heart issues. After a few months of this, I decided to switch to another C4 to see if hte formulation would make me feel better. First time taking it, energy was insane and I think I had personal bests in half of my workouts and was able to push myself really hard for over an hour. After I got home, I'm not sure what was up but I felt like I legit had a heart attack. I don't think I could even muster a grip hard enough to crush an orange and I felt really faint and out of body like I was going to pass out.

Since then, I've noticed even caffeine effects me like 30% as much as it used to. I've totally stopped with the powder keg of bullshit pre-workouts and go with straight Beta Alanine, regular Creatine powder, and a bit of caffeine. It definitely doesn't put me in the same mindset as the Arnold stuff used to, but my heart has felt great and I can still sustain a high intensity workout for quite a while - about all I'm really looking for.

Any of you armchair scientists want to troubleshoot my 'heart attack' or whatever happened to me and recommend anything I can do to repair whatever damage I may have done?
If you think you've done damage, go see a Doctor. For real. Also, stop being a retard and taking stimulants until it's all sorted out. Why are you still working out?

Maybe I'm taking the phrase "heart attack" too serious.