I've never taken creatine so don't read this post.

But from what I've read, you can get an extra 1-2 days of saturation if you do in fact load, so why not? The stuff's supposed to be cheap, right? I've also read that non-responders exist because they already have the creatine from their diet. Nuclear, do you eat a lot of beef? Or maybe their body's just better at making it?

IIRC one sign that you're a non-responder to creatine is that you don't gain that initial few lbs of water weight when you start taking it (of course you may or may not have been keeping track of that).

Nah. Maybe a few pounds a month tops ranging from something like a beef stew to hamburger to a steak.

I really didn't track my weight, but I do know I was hovering around 163 for quite awhile and probably due to the Creatine then its been around 165-166.

You're understanding just fine. I disagree with high volume assistance work (it's for hypertrophy), but that's part of the program.
I did heavy assistance work and my lifts were progressing fine.

Someone help me understand how heavy rows and chins will not help your press and bench press more than light, volume work?

Why do you want to do yoga?

I believe Wendler lays out his reasoning in 5/3/1 and Chad Jones copied it in Juggernaut, and Paul Carter echoes it as well.

The purpose of accessory lifts is to:

1) strengthen weakpoints
2) build mass
3) complement the main lifts
4) aesthetics

Wendler (& even Rippetoe has said similar things) mentions how, if your goal is to drive the main lifts, high intensity accessory lifts will eventually hurt your gains. Plus, heavy bb rows are cool and all, but eventually, everyone starts cheating. No one cares how much someone rows, good mornings, shrugs, curls, etc.

On this comment...

Ever since my mind flipped in doing this for deadlift, I've PR'd now 3 weeks in a row and I can feel it in the G/H every time too. Granted its been a +5lbs each time and just a 1RM PR. But that's also after working up to the weight.

I probably could have pulled 2x bodyweight tonight, but I'll settle for 1.96x for now. I know that's not terribly impressive, but to my tinybroness its fine by me and I don't give a **** what anyone else thinks.

I need to start doing GHR's somehow and I'm sure I could explode in my DLs..

Ok **** it I'm still struggling with this shoulder/bench issue and I'm sick of it. I wanna start fixing it NOW.

Do I have to look into shoulder rehab work or something? I've been reading some articles but I'm not sure whether it's right for me.

I have a stingy left delt pretty much every time I have to put force onto it, even without holding weights. Almost 2 months now. Cannot bench.

PS I don't have any resistance bands or anything

I've seen some Yoga that is basically mobility work. Most Yoga I've seen is a combination of static stretching, dynamic stretching, mobility exercises and breathing. I'm not so interested in the static stretching but definitely interested in dynamic stretching, mobility and breathing.

I have started getting up a little earlier and doing some sort of mobility exercises in the morning - band work, foam rolling - but I thought Yoga would be a good addition too, I just don't want to spend hours doing it...

Dont bench while this is a problem.

The place where you feel pain is not likely to be where there problem is if the problem is coming from trigger points, which is a strong possibility. Read Yugo's SMR thread.

I dont have a lot of time right now, but search this thread for my posts about shoulder stuff. Google "cressey shoulder" and read stuff that he says. The Buchberger 12 program is a solid rehab/prehab shoulder program.



Some yoga moves are good mobility exercises. Some are bad and have led to people exploding discs in their backs. Doing those kinds of moves, especially in the morning when your discs are most susceptible to injury is a bad idea.

Whatever mobility stuff you do, dont do anything that twists or flexes or hyper-extends your lower back, especially if you're doing it in the morning.

No, you dont need to spend hours. You should be able to do a very good good rolling & mobility routine in under a half hour. Its good to do that stuff pre-workout or at the end of the day.

Thanks Cha.

Also... Cha for mod!

Lets say you're at a typical friday lunch with your work buddies and you drink 1L of beer (2 pints). What are the negatives on your 6pm workout that day? Should you move it to the next day?

Same question for after a workout. How negative is drinking 1L of beer in the evening after a workout for recovery? What about getting blasted (6 pints+)?

Before - I would drink extra water, work out and not worry about it. After - again, as long as you're not dehydrating yourself from the alcohol, and you dont care about the calories, its no big deal.

Getting blasted might be a bigger deal. There's been some debate on that, but some people think that can hamper your progress for up to two weeks from getting really blasted.

oops

+1

How does one self diagnose and differentiate between lower back spasm, strain or something else?

was squatting heavier than normal; on my 3rd rep on my way up i felt a discomfort in the lower back/hip area like i was using far more in that area than i should be. my 4th rep repeated it. i stopped it

now it hurts everywhere i go and everything i do. if i'm lying on my back on the bed, it's neutral. if i try and raise either of my legs slowly up, my back hurts. if i try to hold the knee towards my upper body, it hurts. walking kind of hurts. it's like my lower back is in shambles and feels very fragile

i'm not sure how to approach it I've already had this happen once 3 years ago while working. last time it took me like 6 months to fully recover with chiropractic visits heat/ice and stretching.

To do it thoroughly, you'd want to go to medical school & specialize in the spine or neurology.

For quicker stuff you can do yourself, read my log beginning June 2011. You're going to want to read Stuart McGill's books - read Low Back Disorders first and then read Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.

It sounds bad. See a professional. If your chiropractor does not do Active Release Technique, I strongly suggest finding a different one who does, preferably one who is certified at the biomechanics level. To go to a chiropractor who is not good at ART is a waste of time imo.

Either that or see a back specialist, but I would hesitate & get another opinion if they suggest surgery.

OK, I tweaked my back yesterday doing squats. It really stiffened up afterwards and was stiff today. Today was my run day and I wasn't expecting to be able to do it. But, I wanted to roll. So I found a spot which may or may not be the piriformis. It's sort of on the side of my butt. When I googled how to roll it, whatever I was doing hit something. So, I got the lacrosse ball on it. Jeebus it was tender. I worked it as much as I could.

But, when I got up and walked around, the stiffness was gone. I went on a pretty long run without any issues.

hurp. I've had this my entire life. What cha is telling you is good. Because of this forum I've learned to roll, learned some about trigger points, and have been seeing a chiro that does ART.

I am not completely out of the woods. I still have episodes. (see above) However, what I don't have any more are the sorts of debilitating episodes that you are describing. I get that twinge or discomfort now, it is much less painful, much less stiff, and doesn't last more than 2 or 3 days. It used to be weeks/months.

My advice is to listen to what cha says. He definitely knows his stuff.

hey guys i stopped taking whey maybe a year ago or so and cant for the life of me remember what brand it was. looking for recommendations - it was chocolate flavor, and mixed well when blended with peanut butter+milk+ice.

cross post from the fatties thread.

it seems like 2p2ers take optimum nutrition

Anyone switched to the SS 3rd ed press technique? It looks... well, a bit silly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMAiN...TbI7YTD0pxqMgH

I'm torn given I'm inherently bad at pressing, and Rip clearly knows better than me, but I still feel like I'd rather grind out progress on the classic lift. Might have missed the discussion on this one since I've been out of touch for a while...

Looks like a hip assist instead of leg assist.