Ok then do reps. I really don't give a damn.

The only real reason I could imagine it being valuable is if you struggle replicating your first rep for multiple reps thereafter. The 2nd rep would give some practice with the setting up between reps at a heavier weight.

But this is the beginners thread, not the Sheiko powerlifting coach extraordinaire thread. If you really think 90%x1 vs 90%x2 prior to your work set is going to make significant difference over the course of your training career, then have at it.

It's a pretty normal phenomenon.

The more you squat the bigger jumps you can make. Like if your 1RM is 550 you are not going to waste time doing sets at all 135 185 225 275 increments. Maybe more like 135 225 315 etc.

Sheiko trains beginners. There is a Sheiko forum with his programs with 130k posts. This is for ONE coach and his spreadsheets. This isn't uncommon training at all. Maybe in USA.

90x1 vs x2 is totally not that important, agreed. If the goal of the workout is to squat 100x2 and that's a max, then doing 90x2 or 95xanything is arguably extra workload that could detract from the main set. Sheiko definitely programs days like this too.

However, in terms of the training philosophy this represents, it's a much bigger problem. If the vast majority of your volume comes from max intensity work sets, then (1) you won't be getting in near as much volume as you can because of the toll of the max intensity work sets, and (2) if you aren't an elite lifter with perfect form even at maxes, some or all of your reps will be performed with worse technique than your warmup reps.

(2) appears to me to be a big problem on this forum. Tons of people are doing squats and deadlifts with 200-350 with unacceptable technique, and thats MOST of their volume. It's not like they are just deteriorating a little on max sets, multiple sets per workout will have bad reps, and that's basically their entire program. Those people will never lift as much as Aidan, because their technique would never hold up at higher weights and progress would stall, whereas his technique is sick.

What do you think is going to develop a stronger athlete, someone who is at 100% intensity for several sets a week with the form inconsistencies that working at your max brings, or someone who does multiple times that volume with near perfect form at slightly lower intensity? Said athlete moves from that stage into higher intensity as the program progresses, and peaks for a competition or 1RM test. Everyone but beginners who don't even have a 1RM can train this way, so it's not super advanced theory or something.

If im going from bar to 100, I skip the 40 and 95 in that example. It goes pretty fast because you dont need any rest between warmups, just load the bar for the next one straight away and go again.

Awesome conversation about an almost meaningless topic. This reminds me of wether we should cut first and then bulk or recomp?

The realities of natty training state this all completely meaningless. We are talking peanuts, do whatever the fack you wanna do. Just don't go zero to hero in one swoop.

am I the only one who read that in the voice of the Hodge twin?

No trolling in the BQ thread

Not trying to sell, but would anyone be willing to hypothetically buy a set of six 0.625lb powder coated washers for microloading for around ~$25 USD? I'm trying to determine if there's a market for these on Etsy/Ebay etc. since I can procure and finish them quite easily.



If I can see there's a market for them I'm happy to sell them to anyone here at cost which would be ~$15 USD for the set.

I own 1.25s already, so personally I'd only need two, but I'd think there'd be a market for these (especially at that price).

Yea from what I see commercial ones are already hard to find readily available and even then they're ridiculously expensive, rivaling prices of 5lb, 10lb even 25lb plates. Would just have to find out how to cheaply ship across Canada & the US.

Does anyone here have an informed opinion about finasteride (Propecia)? Specifically, whether it would interfere with (or possibly enhance) gains in a natty lifter? I've been considering taking it for hair loss, but I care so little about my hair that I wouldn't risk my gains to fix it.

All I know about finasteride comes from a handful of books about TRT so take this with a grain of salt, but I've read a few times 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (like Finasteride) also inhibit the production of DHT and have been known to cause erectyle disfunction.

I think it's important to realize it's a pretty serious drug that affects the endocrine system and if you do not care a lot about hair loss it sounds like a smart choice to stay away.

Keep in mind fin is more about keeping what you have then regrowing - and the fun part is you have no idea if you're done losing or not or how long its going to take to "get worse"

"They" say it takes about ~50% loss before most guys realize its happening beyond the normal widows peak type recession. If you're well beyond 50% I'd almost say you shouldn't bother. Work on your body, don't let the potential for a drug to interfere be on your mind - because the second you stop moving forward you'll want to blame it when it might not even be the problem.

I'm pretty sure there are wide reports of hair loss reversal with finasteride/dutasteride use over a long period of time.

The problem is that DHT appears to have many important roles in the body, including anabolic ones. Steroid forums and a few studies I've seen report that there is no detectable difference in gains non-natties who use finasteride from non-natties who don't, but it's hard to compare that with naturals.

I think I agree with the idea of not taking it now, at least until I'm well out of the intermediate phase of lifting.

I took it for a year. Didnt notice much in the way of negatives or positives. Think its overblown in both directions tbh. I personally just decided Id be more comfortable not taking a drug purely for vanity reasons, so I stopped, but didnt really experience anything negative from it, including lifting related (or penis )

There's a known case of a successful beans-only diet but have there been cases of a beans + eggs + low-calorie vegetables diet? It strikes me that the sum of 250 g of cooked beans and 1 jumbo egg provides an almost balanced supply of macros in terms of the caloric ratio because eggs are low-carb and beans are low-fat - they're complementary cheap sources of protein.

I would think the only thing you would be successful at with a beans and eggs only diet is clearing the room.

Don't worry - I'd live and grind in solitude regardless of what I'd eat.

By beans, I meant those soaked overnight, not canned.

They did discover the role of DHT in boys who didn't develop more fully sexually until later in life when T production ramped up. So its important to sexual function and other things "male" at least in early life.

Keep in mind "wide reports" - its very easy to find reports of just about any correlation or causation - but with the Internet it is easy to conflate a few easily found reports as having more meaning than reality bears out. On the Internet often times the minority has the loudest voice. This goes for the ED thing PJo mentions as well. Yes, it might be an honest thing for some guys, guys who likely were low on DHT in the first place who nearly eliminated it and thus wound up with sexual dysfunction - or were "super responders" and the same 5 or 1mg dose had a more profound effect.

So my point is, yeah, you might find a few hundred reports of guys with honest regrowth very easily (if they are honest) - but in the realm of population across the world taking finasteride that's a rounding error on a rounding error of a rounding error.

I would get a Total T panel to find out where your Total T, Free T and DHT are at.

If you have an unusual amount of Free T, suppressing what DHT you do have may very well lead to more E2 conversion.

Oh the dangers of mucking with hormones...

Is whey protein concentrate better than them in terms of side effects (for those with no lactose intolerance)?

The main goal of propecia is to prevent future hair loss. You don't wait til it's gone and then take it.

I have a friend that's been on the 'peesh since college (when we started seeing hair in the shower drain and nicknamed him "Plugz"); he still has a full head of hair and I look like a Jewish Alien. Pretty sure he won that one.

Happened to me when I turned 26 or 27. Hair started thinning a lot and I'd fill the shower drain with my hair, but after awhile it slowed on its own and is still holding on.

Maybe I should try this, but it's been 5 years and has never resumed falling out at that pace again.

Odds it wasn't him are pretty good.