re: supplements. Get your food right first. Take a good multivitamin (I like oriange triad - dye free version for the joint complex). BCAAs are good for fasted training. I use 10-20g scivation xtend because it tastes good and is cheaper than powerade/gatorade. Otherwise only supplement worth taking is 5g creatine daily. If you really want to take a pre-workout just make sure its not some proprietary blend, research any stims you aren't familiar with (most or meth analogues), and be careful of caffeine and serving sizes (most will be in the 15-250g per scoop range but some are 3 scoops per serving). Some people like beta alanine products for the tingle and other like NO based products for the vasodilation. Intra-workout, bcaas are good. Again for the taste/hydration, not so much for performance. If you're doing marathon sessions you could try a carby intra. I like 25g glycofuse + 10g bcaa because its easy on the stomach and tastes good. IMHO the best preworkout is a high protein/moderate carb/high clean fat meal followed by a nap and some creatine. Then stay hydrated. Lean out? lol Try carb cycling for a while if you want to lose some fat. But really at this point you shouldn't even be worrying about weight. With your could easily gain 20-30lbs in the next couple years with minimal fat if you dial in your nutrition. Speaking of which, decided to let my weight go until I hit a 500lb squat. Currently floating around 195 and squatting high 400s. Hoping to hit 500 this spring on a peaking wave program.
aminox is stimulant free so not really sure what's giving you guys the energy boost. Probably something in the proprietary blend http://www.dsld.nlm.nih.gov/dsld/Ingredient.jsp?db=adsld,&item=EFFORSORB+ENDURA+COMPOSITE
The contents that make a good pre workout supplements in my opinion are: mono hydrate creatine, BCAA's, NO2 inhibitor, and a stimulate (some form of caffeine) mixed with natural sources (green tea extract etc.). Nothing more, nothing less. This blend of ingredients in the right quantity will benefit anyone in and out of the gym. Finding what stuff works for you is truly a science experiment. With that said, there and thousands of products out there so good luck haha. Best thing to is start to use something and consistently use it for a few months. If you don't, you will never truly understand its benefits to your body. JUST MY OPINION OF COURSE
Interesting.... maybe this wasn't caffeine jolt, but when i first took it I felt so focused and wanted to work out. Probably combined with SuperHD
Yeah 160mg caffeine per cap plus some other stimulants explains the focus/energy. The capsimax blend probably had you sweating more than usual too... that's sometimes an indirect motivator "omg I'm sweating so hard I must be making gainz..." dunno, I don't really mess with pwo supplements. Make me feel too cracked out and too much shadiness from previously reputable companies lately. re: capsimax (capsaicin extract blend): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2876434 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0067786
Yup, I already take multivitamins and feel as though I have a decent diet (high protein, low fat, medium carbs, whole, non-processed foods....and then eat whatever I want on the weekends), but I'm sure it could be a bit better. I guess I shouldn't say "lean out" because as you know, I'm pretty scrawny. I just have some stubborn stomach fat that I would like to lose. Sounds like there are quite a few different options, so I may need to do some more research and trial and error. I do know that my body is fairly sensitive to caffeine, so I will be avoiding anything with caffeine. I thought that I had "heard" that creatine basically just makes you retain water? Not sure if that is accurate or not. Yea, the energy "boost" from aminoX wasn't nearly as intense as the hydroxycut, but it was noticeable. Thanks for your input too...sounds like I have some experimenting to do lol. yup, about how I would describe it, although I still felt pretty alert after my workout and for an hour or so after.
Thanks bud. Yeah most of my working sets were in the 375x5 to 395x3 range. got to mid 400s then tore my hamstring again this summer. Didn't really feel fully rehabbed till probably last month.
going for 375/250/400 by february @ 175 pounds. i'm sure its obtainable. currently at 315?/225?/350? dl/b/s at 165 pounds
Quick update...this morning during my squats I felt like I had one of those "ah-ha!" moments...seemed like I was making the proper tweaks to my form to relieve the back pain and perhaps some knee pain. The ah-ha (ya'll can correct me if this sounds wrong): on my way up from the bottom of my squat, I've been focusing on starting back up with me posterior chain and maintaining the (bent-over?) back angle for a while longer (maybe this is what Sheen meant by using more hips...). In addition, I've still been focusing on tightening my core and also not allowing my back "round" on the way back up. This seems to take a significant amount of load off of my lower back (even looking back at my videos, it looks like a funky arch and upward movement) and also allows me to use my hammy's and gluts without trying to sit way back on my heels. I think this is helping with my right knee pain too, but its tough to tell because my knee was pretty agitated after being crammed in a little kart for some competitive karting last night.
