Ask me any Health/Fitness/Nutrition/Supplementation questions you want!

I went from being skinny as hell to pretty damn big and quickly.. I have read countless articles and studies to do with fitness and nutrition. I have sifted through all of the nonsense and bro science. I have found out not only what works, but I have found out what works well!

To put it simply, I put on around 2 stones of muscle in a year and a half. I stopped simply because I was getting too big and wanted to give my body a chance to keep up and get used to the muscle I had built. After about a years break (and a healthy bit of fat added ) I am now back on it and after a few blistering workouts I have already started seeing good gains.

Post any workout, fitness or nutrition questions you want and I will do my best to answer them. Depending on how good a response this thread gets I may do bumper guides on this site.

I'm about to hit the bath so I'll answer any questions when I get back.

Peace!

P.S: I forgot to add that I did all of this outside of the Gym. Gyms are most definitely not needed, and you can get significant results using bodyweight exercises, such as different variations of pull ups, chin ups, dips and push ups.

a reply to: TechUnique

Please teach me about portion control and provide a one day sample menu....thank you!

a reply to: TechUnique

How can one man feed 5,000 people with a single basket of bread and fish?

Okay, I'll bite. I'm in my early 50's and want to drop my body fat level. I've put on a decent amount of muscle over the years so I'd rather cut up and not loose too much if possible.

Here's where it gets tough. I've got a partially torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder and my right shoulder was surgically repaired. I also have recurring back pain although we (meaning the doctors and I) can't find any structural damage.

Oh and by the way, I've had chronic achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis from too many years of teaching group fitness. I'm not trying to be a wise guy...but if you have some ideas I'm all ears.

My current plan is a push/pull split on Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday should be an off day but I've been working with a trainer on functional mobility. Thursday/Friday is Push/Pull again. Saturday and Sunday are off.

A side note is I study Iaido twice a week as well. Usually Tues or Thurs night and Saturday. It sounds like a lot but I've got vacation coming up soon. I'll regroup after that.

I've never really been able to put on weight even when weight training. Now I know I need the calories, and I'm also lactose intolerant so products containing that or milk for me are a no go. Some would call me in the industry a hard gainer.

Is there any advice you can give a hard gainer with a rapid metabolism and is lactose intolerant, to be able to put on a couple of stone of muscle?

a reply to: TechUnique

The battle of the bulge. I've had many battles and have lost everyone. I recently lost 30 lbs eating nothing but chicken breast, salads, egg whites and vegetables for breakfast. I was walking 2 miles a day with my dog. Than winter hit, the walking stopped, and holiday temptations became overwhelming. Simply put, I fell off the wagon.

What pisses me off more than anything, I was on this diet since May of last year. It seems like it takes forever for the pounds to fall off, but it takes only a couple months to gain it all back! It just isn't fair. I really have great will power when I set my mind to it, but it seems like as soon as I eat a carb or something sweet, it's like I start craving it. I really believe sugar and carbs are worst than a drug. They're addicting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ate so much chicken on this past diet I'm surprised I didn't start growing feathers!

So what's your secret, and how do you keep the weight off? One thing I won't compromise on is keeping pizza out of my diet.

originally posted by: caladonea
a reply to: TechUnique

Please teach me about portion control and provide a one day sample menu....thank you!

Get some kitchen scales and then you can search on Google how much macro/micro nutrients and how many calories are in the foods you are eating.

What do you want a one day menu for, muscle mass building? Fat loss?

originally posted by: nerbot
a reply to: TechUnique

How can one man feed 5,000 people with a single basket of bread and fish?

Cute comment.

originally posted by: RomaSempre
Okay, I'll bite. I'm in my early 50's and want to drop my body fat level. I've put on a decent amount of muscle over the years so I'd rather cut up and not loose too much if possible.

Here's where it gets tough. I've got a partially torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder and my right shoulder was surgically repaired. I also have recurring back pain although we (meaning the doctors and I) can't find any structural damage.

Oh and by the way, I've had chronic achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis from too many years of teaching group fitness. I'm not trying to be a wise guy...but if you have some ideas I'm all ears.

My current plan is a push/pull split on Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday should be an off day but I've been working with a trainer on functional mobility. Thursday/Friday is Push/Pull again. Saturday and Sunday are off.

A side note is I study Iaido twice a week as well. Usually Tues or Thurs night and Saturday. It sounds like a lot but I've got vacation coming up soon. I'll regroup after that.

What you want to do, in my opinion, is hill cycle on the days that you workout. This would involve warming up cycling somewhere and then when you get to a hill really push yourself up it and repeat until you are very, very tired. Then cycle home to cool down.

As for keeping the muscle mass, just make sure you are getting enough carbs and fats and you won't be eating any of your muscle away. You honestly only need about 100 grams of protein a day. You can make do with 60-80 but if you're pretty big I would go for 100 to be safe.

I say hill cycling because it is high intensity cardio which is the best thing for losing weight.

What can you tell me about the popcorn and whisky diet. So far Iv'e lost a few kilos but I get tired quite easily.

originally posted by: DAZ21
I've never really been able to put on weight even when weight training. Now I know I need the calories, and I'm also lactose intolerant so products containing that or milk for me are a no go. Some would call me in the industry a hard gainer.

Is there any advice you can give a hard gainer with a rapid metabolism and is lactose intolerant, to be able to put on a couple of stone of muscle?

Don't focus your training around weights. Do bodyweight exercises instead. Focus on form and aim for 2 slow seconds down (3 if you can) and 1-2 seconds up.

An example workout regime would be this:

Monday - 3-5 sets of close grip chin ups.
3-5 sets of military push ups.
3-5 sets of squats.

Wednesday - 3-5 sets of jumping squats.
3-5 sets of planks.
3-5 sets wide grip push ups. (Extra points if you do it on a decline)

Friday - 3-5 sets of tricep dips.
3-5 sets of wide grip pull ups.
3-5 sets of diamond push ups.

Do all of these in a circuit with minimal to no rest in between. Sip water in between sets. Make sure to follow the slow going down and faster going up. Breath in when going down and out when going up. Then each week you can switch it up slightly to keep your body guessing. All days not mentioned are rest days but moderate stretching can/should be done but keep cardio to a bare minimum if possible.

As for food. Eat eggs. Loads and loads of eggs. If you can stomach Tuna then it is a cheap whey(lol) to get protein. I am lactose intolerant as well otherwise I would just drink gallons of milk

You really don't need as much protein as is made out on the internet.

I would like to improve my stamina for cycling.

What would be the best meals to eat after a several hour training session? I am not allergic to anything, nor do i have any problems eating any animals.

a reply to: TechUnique

Ok I'm going to try this.

A few questions though.

Is one day of squats enough for the legs? because I don't want to end up with skinny legs.

Do I have any extra weight for the squats or simply body weight?

For the pull ups do I use one of those bars, put in a door way?

And finally, how many repetitions per set?

Cheers

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: TechUnique

The battle of the bulge. I've had many battles and have lost everyone. I recently lost 30 lbs eating nothing but chicken breast, salads, egg whites and vegetables for breakfast. I was walking 2 miles a day with my dog. Than winter hit, the walking stopped, and holiday temptations became overwhelming. Simply put, I fell off the wagon.

What pisses me off more than anything, I was on this diet since May of last year. It seems like it takes forever for the pounds to fall off, but it takes only a couple months to gain it all back! It just isn't fair. I really have great will power when I set my mind to it, but it seems like as soon as I eat a carb or something sweet, it's like I start craving it. I really believe sugar and carbs are worst than a drug. They're addicting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ate so much chicken on this past diet I'm surprised I didn't start growing feathers!

So what's your secret, and how do you keep the weight off? One thing I won't compromise on is keeping pizza out of my diet.

Honestly, the only real way to stop yourself from gaining fat is calories in vs calories out. What you eat does indeed help but its more how much you are eating. If you're one of those unlucky people who just gains fat easily then you would probably respond very well to the following things:

1. High potency Omega 3 supplementation.
2. High quality Green Tea every day.
3. Start your day with Honey and Hot Lemon water. (real honey)
4. L-Carnitine supplementation.
5. If you're a male then keeping your testosterone levels at their peak will help a great deal.
6. Eating foods that promote weight loss such as spices like Cayenne pepper and food like Garlic and Onions.

There are loads of things you could do in reality but having a better idea of your overal diet and lifestyle would better equip me to give you advice.

All of the things I mentioned above are good for unlimited reasons and could be done regardless of whether or not you wanted to lose weight.

I'd be happy to give you more personal one-to-one advice outside of the thread if you wanted.

Are you going through puberty?

originally posted by: Biigs
I would like to improve my stamina for cycling.

What would be the best meals to eat after a several hour training session? I am not allergic to anything, nor do i have any problems eating any animals.

The absolute best things you can eat after a training session are things that are going to restore the glycogen levels in your muscles. White bread is very good at this, although white pasta and white rice are both good as well. You want some good high quality, fast acting and very bioavailable protein to go down with this as well so eggs or dairy would be ideal.

A good example of a post workout meal would be one of the following.

1. Egg sandwich on white bread with real butter.
2. Chicken with white rice and cheese.
3. Any flavour milkshake you want with a banana and some nutella and/or peanut butter in it.

EDIT TO ADD: I forgot to mention. A good way to increase stamina when doing any exercise is to hold your breath for a little while when doing it. Be very careful at first though obviously as this could be very dangerous! But once you have tested the waters a bit then you could go full out by holding your breath and powering up a hill. This would work absolute wonders for your stamina as your muscles will be more suited to working without fuel and your body will become better at working with a lack of oxygen. As I said be very careful though.. but you sound like you're quite up on the health and fitness already which is why I thought it worth mentioning.

originally posted by: CallYourBluff
Are you going through puberty?

No I'm 22 but thanks for asking.

a reply to: TechUnique

Great, im not that far off now then. Thanks.

What about things to avoid? simply fatty stuff and candy?

originally posted by: Biigs
a reply to: TechUnique

Great, im not that far off now then. Thanks.

What about things to avoid? simply fatty stuff and candy?

Check my first response again I added some stuff that could really help! As for things to avoid..

1. Anything with artificial sweeteners or incredible amounts of refined sugar in.
2. Anything with too much protein in. Go for 20 grams maximum.
3. Bad fats only. Good fats on the other hand would help you after a workout!!

originally posted by: DAZ21
a reply to: TechUnique

Ok I'm going to try this.

A few questions though.

Is one day of squats enough for the legs? because I don't want to end up with skinny legs.

Do I have any extra weight for the squats or simply body weight?

For the pull ups do I use one of those bars, put in a door way?

And finally, how many repetitions per set?

Cheers

There are 2 days of squats there man, Monday and Wednesday. I would test the waters first and see how you feel by Friday/Weekend before you add any weight. As soon as it starts getting easy then add some weight!

Yeah man those bars are the absolute best thing ever as you can do all sorts of variations plus use them for dips and push ups.

One like the following is ideal and very cheap!

Ebay