I had a debate about milk with a guy recently at the gym

Now, the person I was talking to at the gym was defending his skim milk usage. His main argument was simply this: "I drink it and I'm fine! Doesn't hurt me!"

Thing was, it did seem to be hurting him.

Or at least in the three years I'd known him I'd never seen him reduce the size of his gut, even though he trained hard at least 4-5 days a week.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you're still fat after years of gym-going, then something is wrong, most likely your diet. Everyone say it together now: You can't out-train a bad diet!

Thing was, I don't think he "knew" he had a bloated, overly-fat belly. Denial is a powerful thing. I spent a while swimming down that river in Egypt myself, so I know.

Or maybe some people would rather be "right" than be healthy and lean?

Anyway, the whole incident reminded me of something all of us need to keep in mind: Is what we're doing (eating plan, training style, etc.) really working for us?

Too often we vehemently defend our diets or our preferred training methods without really taking a step back and saying, "Okay, is it working for me?

is it just me or most of you are having a gut/muffin top and looking to lose that, and what you are doing is clearly not giving the results, why not take a NEW approach. If you are happy with your physique, keep at it ! and more power to you !.

happy cny peeps and time to set new goals.

Hi guys,
1. Just wanna ask how much carbs and calories should I consume per day?!
I usually workout 3--4 times per week. After workout I will consume 1 scoop of ON Whey(24g protein).

2. Should I consume whey on normal day?! I mean without workout but only cardio.

3. Should I strictly follow the nutrition value in every single meal to maintain a good body shape?! (usually I just eat without consider hw much of carbs,protein,fat, calories does the food contain)

Thanks

Thanks for answering yea!!! =p

==>My height is 172cm,weight 68kg. I look 'fit' but i am not. I mean I am not fat or skinny with 'fit look' but with soft muscle.
Do you mean the calculation for calories intake is like this?! (68kg x 15)+500 calories *assume that i have slow metabolism rate.

==>'Divide the protein , carbs and fats accordingly. 40/40/20, 33/33/33 (zone approach),' I dont really understand what you are mention about. Sorry~

haha..my defination of good body shape is getting fit, with 'hard' muscle,6pack, etc. and of coure healthier. ^^

Everywhere i read, it says sleeping time is catabolic and muscle breaks down during sleep.

On the other hand, everyone seems to say we grow when we sleep.

I don't seem to be able to reconcile both of these statements. Is there something i don't 'see' ?

Hey,

What will be a good replacement for DL and squat? I cant do workouts that are too demanding on my knees.

Peace

Is it quite inevitable, normal and even a pre-requisite to have some padding around the mid in order to bulk ? From yr pm & angrydog's foto, i surmise it is. Just wanna be sure before i go down that path because looking at my pouch last time really turns me off.

Sorry sorry, it is suppose to be Jim Wendler 321 raw strength program .

icic i plan to start with HIIT. But HIIT itself lasted around 12mins. If 30mins... thats mean i can proceed to other steady state cardio stuff (i mean if i still can proceed)?

Great reference for the cycle Ken.

Get ur idea on the Booster. Just getting too excited aft seeing my fren bought in one huge s root in the gym lol.

Thanks in million buddy.

I've been cutting for the past 4 weeks following an 8-month bulking phase from which I gained 17 kg (70kg ==> 87kg).

My daily calorie intake is 2500 which is roughly 500 below maintenance. I'm doing cardio too (I've never done cardio while bulking). The problem now is that I'm losing too much mass. I've lost 6 kgs in the past 4 weeks. My arms have gone down by 1/2 an inch and my shoulders have shrunk. I know that I'm losing fat too cause my love handles are reducing in size but the loss of muscle mass is pretty darn devastating.

Do you guys think that this is normal or should I up my calorie intake? Am really hoping to get some sound advise as I really want to PRESERVE my mass while losing fat. Thanks.

Do back squats with a stick. Slowly descend to maximal depth and then pause. Remember the feeling, of how deep you descended and then bounce out. And then repeat. Ensure weight is constantly at the heels and that your hips aren't rising faster than your shoulders and neck. Shoulders and neck always always rise at the same speed as the hips, or your angle will move your squats into being a hamstring dominant exercise even past parallel. Now repeat this about 15x for 2 sets and then proceed to doing your actual squats.

As for your butt-tuck, people suggest to stretch the hamstrings and glutes. I've got a better idea. Hold a 40KG bar over your head and do over head squats. If your butt tucks, you'll fall backwards. If your bar's not in the middle of your center of gravity, you'll fall forward or backwards. If your butt isn't pushed out hard enough, you'll fall over. So anytime you fall, you'll have to get up and figure out what the hell didn't you do right and repeat. Fantastic isn't it the overhead squats? That's why it's known as one of the best postural assessment tools in the industry.

Poliquin I believe, once said that getting stronger is like learning a new language. You need to keep doing (speaking) it over and over and over and over again consistently, over a period of time. He was summarizing Doug Hepburn's method of getting stronger, which is using many many many many sets. This principal is also applied to learning of the squatting (of course) movement. You need to keep doing squats over and over again, with that empty stick to be able to get the technique right. When you're tired, rest. Then repeat with the empty stick. Squats is one of the most difficult exercises to learn and you've got to keep practicing.

You'll notice that your squat technique evolves with time. Mine has changed numerous times as well.

Aw shit, I think I've really done it for my back this time. During football today, I jumped to take a header, got pushed and fell hard and flat on my back. Made the pain from my not-yet-healed lower back injury worse, and what's more, now I can feel some pain going down my right leg. Going to the doctor tomorrow. =/