Gym And Supplement Discussion

[tweety bird]

what stretches do you boys do out of curiosity?

[Dani Boi]

Birds, keep training those obliques! the thought that someone would deliberately avoid strengthening a muscle so they appeared larger/stronger is just a tad retarded... I have huge respect for BBers and what they do but sometimes............ face palm

Considering birds is doing it for appearance I don't think its retarded, the most aesthetic feature is the v taper (nohomo). Obliques are worked in a lot of your compound movements and also some abdominal exercises so imo they are not worth isolating.

I don't stretch I just do a few quick warm up sets.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Dani Boi

[TM7GTR]

I don't do static stretches as the beginning of a workout, only dynamic.

TTT's post is one of the best exercises to do before any upper body workout as it lubricates the joints and promotes full ROM.

Matt's post is perhaps the most important for me as I've had shoulder injuries before, so it really strengthens my rotator cuff.

Shoulder rolls, arm circles, and arm cross-overs are all just as good, as well as some yoga poses that open up the chest especially.

At the end of a workout, head to toe static stretches

[vspecIInur]

AKA penis pointers. Mine shows but lack a nice midsection due to body fat.

[10 4]

+1 with warmup sets and not stretches.

Also totally irrelevant, just downed KFC meal & 20 meatball n chips Ikea combo in an hour... fml -.-

Edited July 24, 2012 by 10 4

[dezz]

Smashed tacos chips and gems for dinner. Filthy bulk

[GHOSTrun]

smashed salmon, salad, chips, toasted butter and melted cheese roll things, more salad, coke, wine, fuurrrrrkkkk

[God_speed]

I don't do static stretches as the beginning of a workout, only dynamic.

TTT's post is one of the best exercises to do before any upper body workout as it lubricates the joints and promotes full ROM.

Matt's post is perhaps the most important for me as I've had shoulder injuries before, so it really strengthens my rotator cuff.

Shoulder rolls, arm circles, and arm cross-overs are all just as good, as well as some yoga poses that open up the chest especially.

At the end of a workout, head to toe static stretches

Did some of those cubans yesterday, only used a 10kg barbell then a 12.5; will continue to move up and keep doing them in the hope it loosens me up a bit. The tightness in my shoulders bugs me so much.

[Birds]

I always stretch arms and shoulders before any workout. Rotator cuffs are a point of focus - you don't want to upset one of these. Without getting into one of those un-settle-able stretch vs no stretch debates, my rationale is that if anything is out of line you will pick up on it in stretch mode rather than under weight where it can cause damage...even with light weight you are creating strict movement for a joint or soft tissue that could be out of place. I do some pretty joint demanding exercises and there's no way I could get through them injury-free without my stretches IMO. Haven't had a shoulder or elbow injury since I started stretching years ago.

Ahhh screw the debate: I have a friend who tried running and complained about how sore it made her, whinged that she couldn't keep doing it. I suggested she try stretching before running..."blah blah my sister's a personal trainer and she says stretching does nothing / is bad for you, so I refuse to even try it." Meanwhile I stretch before each run and have no leg issues at all. Myheadisfulloffuck.jpg

Considering birds is doing it for appearance I don't think its retarded, the most aesthetic feature is the v taper (nohomo). Obliques are worked in a lot of your compound movements and also some abdominal exercises so imo they are not worth isolating.

My woodchops work them and I would consider them a compound movement. I wouldn't bother with side situps or any of the isolation movements for obliques as woodchops do them fine and get the rest of your core too. The main reason I do woodchops though, is the three dimensional strength they give you. Most exercises are front to back, push or pull...hardly anyone does side to side movements (at least at my gym) and yet we spend all day twisting and turning.

[NickR33]

many shoulder problems are caused by muscle imbalance... too much pressing, not enough posterior delt work... reverse flyes are the obvious one but I also like face pulls

I see guys do 3 or 4 different exercises for front delts, then throw in 2 or so sets of rear flys or lateral raises (12/2 ratio)... usually done with waaaay too heavy weight, leaving them with a bent arm, half row, body swinging abortion of an exercise

[Trozzle]

Face pulls really hit the spot sometimes, I just forget to do them all too often

[TM7GTR]

many shoulder problems are caused by muscle imbalance... too much pressing, not enough posterior delt work... reverse flyes are the obvious one but I also like face pulls

I see guys do 3 or 4 different exercises for front delts, then throw in 2 or so sets of rear flys or lateral raises (12/2 ratio)... usually done with waaaay too heavy weight, leaving them with a bent arm, half row, body swinging abortion of an exercise

Wish more people would observe this. Nothing wrong with bending your arms though

[Birds]

My seated rows do a good job of the rear delts. Should probably do something isolation for them though.

[NickR33]

bent arms are okay as long as your not bending them because the weight is too heavy

as soon as I try and go heavy I start 'shrugging' it up and feel it it my mid back instead of posterior delts... I try and concentrate on lifting it out and away from my body

I'm trying to build my shoulders a bit as I'm very lat/trap heavy... I'm finding it hard to isolate the medial/posterior delt without using the bigger back muscles... finding light weights the best for this... as soon as my form drops off a finish the set

[R-SPEC]

does anyone else get a tingly feeling in the genitals area when doing a heavy'ish cable tricep push down?

or should i be concerned?

[NickR33]

are you looking in the mirror at the same time? lol

[SRS13]

Taken from a retailer about the ban of DMAA in Australia;

News has been received today that DMAA (also known as 1,3 dimethylamylamine, Geranium & 4-methylhexane-2-amine) shall be banned and a likely date has now been set. In the US supplements containing this ingredient are no longer being produced due to a directive & warning from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In Canada the ingredient is illegal for sale. As of April 9^th DMAA was banned in New Zealand & now in Australia there has been an early TGA interim decision on the legality of DMAA.

In short the ingredient DMAA shall most likely become illegal for sale from July 31st, 2012. Regulatory authorities have made an interim scheduling which fast-tracks this ingredients ban in Australia. This means all products containing DMAA shall be classified under Schedule 9 of the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP). Thus making the manufacture & sale of DMAA likely prohibited by law after July 31st.

As a result, the following products would be illegal for sale by this months end & include; USPlabs Jack3d, Nutrex Hemorage Ultra Concentrate, APS Mesomorph, USPlabs Oxy Elite, Mutant Mayhem, Neogenix Cryochock, CTD Labs NoxiPro, Dorian Yates Nox Pump, VPX Clenbutrx Hardcore, Promera Beta-Cret, Nutrabolics Hemorush & Neogenix Neuroblast. Reports are Muscletech Neurocore shall also be unavailable.

We advise we are holding limited stocks of DMAA products. In New Zealand when a similar regulatory decision providing 14 days notice was announced, all retailers sold out within 7 days due to massive & overwhelming consumer demand. The firm ban was then enforced as forecast. Thus we expect it likely all DMAA products shall be sold well before the final day of July 31^st (approximately 50% of products and flavors have already sold out in the past month). In the very unlikely event any products containing DMAA remain unsold once this ban takes place. They then, shall not be sold by MrSupplement under any circumstances. Such goods would be destroyed. As a responsible Australian retailer we shall abide completely with regulations once this ban takes effect.

The wash up then is if you are wanting supplements containing the soon to be banned ingredient DMAA. It is recommended that you purchase immediately & without delay. With abnormally high demand for DMAA supplements we anticipate selling out very quickly (before the ban date of July 31st is imposed). This ingredient shall never be available in Australia again.

Further comprehensive information pertaining to the Australian DMAA ban may be viewed on the TGA web site

Edited July 26, 2012 by SRS13

[SRS13]

On the topic of shoulders, can you guys share a good shoulder workout or your own, thanks. One that targets all aspects of the shoulder and does not lead to shoulder imbalances (dont ask me to google, I am asking those that have specifically discussed this)

Edited July 26, 2012 by SRS13

[TM7GTR]

bent arms are okay as long as your not bending them because the weight is too heavy

as soon as I try and go heavy I start 'shrugging' it up and feel it it my mid back instead of posterior delts... I try and concentrate on lifting it out and away from my body

I'm trying to build my shoulders a bit as I'm very lat/trap heavy... I'm finding it hard to isolate the medial/posterior delt without using the bigger back muscles... finding light weights the best for this... as soon as my form drops off a finish the set

Light weights do work the best imo because as you said, you can concentrate on squeezing the head of the shoulder you want to work the most, without it feeling like a huge compound movement. As gay as this may sound, stand in front of a mirror and try to flex your medial or posterior delts. This will build your mind --> muscle connection, so next time your do a lateral raise or rear delt fly you can really squeeze the muscle at the top of the ROM.

For lateral raises, try them seated as this takes out the sway to get the weight up. I usually use 12kg per hand as I don't wanna go heavier considering it's a somewhat fragile joint.

For isolation of your rear delts, do bent over seated rear delt flys (chest pretty much touching knees) and turn your thumbs inwards so that your little fingers are facing upwards, and bring your arms out beside you as straight as possible. This is hard to do at first as it completely targets the posterior delts (started by using something like 6kg).

You can also try a high pulley reverse cable crossover (arms crossed over, pulling back and out).

[TM7GTR]

does anyone else get a tingly feeling in the genitals area when doing a heavy'ish cable tricep push down?

or should i be concerned?

I'm sorry but this made me laugh like crazy.... never heard of it. How hard are you squeezing?

On the topic of shoulders, can you guys share a good shoulder workout or your own, thanks. One that targets all aspects of the shoulder and does not lead to shoulder imbalances (dont ask me to google, I am asking those that have specifically discussed this)

Military Press

BB Upright Row

DB Seated Rear Delt Fly S/S with Seated Rear Delt Pull

DB Shoulder Press (optional)

DB Lateral Raise

High Pulley Reverse Cable Crossover

This is a hard question to answer because I don't know your fitness goals (strength? endurance? hypertrophy?), so It can't really be tailored to suit your goals on that limited info provided.

The example above is one of my current routines, and it follows a bodybuilding hypertrophy style phase, so 5-6 sets of each exercise, 8-12 reps, tempo of around 2:4, rest intervals of 45-90 seconds.