so whenever i tell anyone who's interested that i aim for 200g protein/day and that 1-1.5g/lb. bodyweight is recommended for people lifting regularly, i'm told that my body can only process 30g every 4 hours or something silly and that the excess does nothing. i've heard it from a couple people whos opinions i usually respect too.

seems like they are obviously wrong, but i can't tell them why. help?

i've heard the same thing and have always wondered if by "processing the protein" it also includes the calories in the protein. ie. you eat 100g of protein in a sitting, "process" only ~50g and therefore 200 calories of the meal. i have no knowledge of the human body in this regard, but it seems that you wouldn't have one without the other.

if i rinse my poop off will there still be white meat in it after eating chicken breast is basically what i'm asking.

lol I was drunk wondering the same/similar thing the otehr day... If I'm out drinking 15 beers... but I piss like 3 times... I must be pissing out some calories, right?

Quick question about SS progression.

If I remember correctly, if you start your lifts too high, you will stall too quickly. So you should start them at a nice low weight so your body can see good gains. Here's my question:

Can you start your weights too low, causing them to stall too early? Since weight lifting was so completely alien to me when I first started, I started off the weights very, very low. I even did 80lbs twice on squat because I was so unsure how to do it and it felt so heavy and awkward. I feel like esp my press really sucks, and I'm wondering if I would have just started the weights a little higher, that I would be higher now.

i highly doubt that could happen. i also don't really agree that if you start too high you'll stall quickly. you'll just have to lower your increments sooner (though i've seen many people here start with 5lb jumps on the squat).

What kind of shoes would provide the best cushioning for jumping rope?

Same thought here. I don't know if it's possible but it sure feels like my body doesn't process all the beer-calories.
Especially when a lot of beer is consumed in a short time frame and I keep running to the bathroom.

I have a foam roller laying around, I never use it. What would be the best way of using it 5 minutes a day?

Think about that in the context of evolution, survival and replication.

Eta: Not foam rolling.

cookie,

Take a look at Mike Robertson's SMR free ebook. Figure out places you are likely to have the most adhesions and restrictions. Start slowly.

My order if pressed for time is hip flexors, IT band, adductors (post-injury), thoracic extensions, lats.

The caveman used to foam roll with dinosaur tails.

White or black?

I have lots of time, I just want to start actually using the roller. Is foam rolling done pre or post WO? Do you need to warm up or is it fine to do it at any time a day?

The science hasn't been refined for optimization so far. Since you have time, consider doing mobility work before training, and foam rolling after (fwiw, I do both before.) There are some guys (z-health) of the opinion that it may have the neuromuscular effects of static stretching so they prefer it after training. It's also fine at any time of the day.

Ease into it in the beginning in terms of frequency. There are a couple of good articles by cressey, gentilcore and boyle that go over some nuances (how to add extra pressure, not rolling the lumbar spine, blah blah).

Mark Twight quote:

'For endurance athletes he recommends "fundamental strength drills, executed in a manner that improves recruitment rather than mass."
What manner recruits fiber but doesn't bulk you up?'


We follow the basic rules of "what does what", i.e. how many reps/sets at what percentage with how much rest produces which results ... On this particular subject we go with Yessis and some of those old Russian guys:

1-4 reps increase pure strength but do not increase muscle mass
4-9 reps increase strength together with muscle mass
10-15 reps increase muscular strength, muscular endurance and muscle mass
16-30 reps increase muscular endurance with little to no increase in muscle mass
31-50 reps increase muscular endurance with no effect on muscle mass
50-100 reps increase muscular endurance, cardio-respiratory endurance, and there will be a possible loss of muscle mass (or fat) but absolutely no increase in strength

This is straight from Yessis' book "The Kinesiology of Exercise" however it is echoed by many other, equally sharp guys.

No one has ever gained weight training at Gym Jones (except those who took fights in a heavier weight class than normal and needed to swell up). All of our endurance athletes have a 2x BW DL, respectable FS, blah, blah, blah, and the requisite ****ty BP.

To be sure, diet affects hypertrophy. However, in our (20+ years) experience, the way weights are lifted has a greater influence on how muscles respond than the food that fuels the exercise. If you eat too much you'll become a pig. Old news. If you do 3x 8-12 and go to failure muscle remodels larger (given adequate calories). If you lift 3-6x 1-3 at >85% and chase with a variety of explosive drills you will likely get strong, explosive, fast, and not put on much weight percentage-wise so oxygen efficiency will not be compromised by mass of dubious utility. We have done this over and over for so long it's habit.



So if a woman wanted to get stronger without "bulking up" she could do SS with 4 reps instead of 5 and a guy who wants to put on muscle as well as get strong could do 6 reps?

Thats another thing I have wondered too...

If 8-12 reps is best for hypertrophy, why don't we tell guys that come here wanting to get ripped or toned or whatever to eat a deficit and do ss but with 8-12 reps?

rank novices can do **** for weight in that rep range and should finish SS before starting any kind of bodybuilding routine.

Again, this is something Rippetoe has already commented on elsewhere. For people overly worried about their physique, he advocates adding some high-rep work on some days. I can't remember exactly.

Regardless, all novices are nearly the same and should come close to completion of SS before starting bodybuilder nonsense.

Some quick sign-posts. At work, so I can't elaborate now.

> Why would train in a "hypertrophy range" if you are eating at a deficit?
> Myofibrilar v sarcoplasmic hypertrophy
> Progression gets harder
> The entire "8-12" reps is best for hypertrophy is marginal at best, and arguably meaningless when compared to total volume

For intermediates on the texas method or other similar intermediate program he advocates a back off set at higher reps after the main work sets. His opinion on novices is pretty firmly in the do not **** with the program.

Yea, the more I read, the less rep ranges seem to matter. As long as you're lifting something "heavy" (70%+ 1rm) and you're progressively going heavier, you will gain muscle provided you eat a surplus.

The problem for a novice doing a set of 12 squats is his concentration and technique is going to go to **** at about rep #6.

Mine go to **** on rep 4 in the standard 3x5, FFS.

Ah, that's it. Thanks.

Here's my question:

So you generally need a caloric surplus to get stronger, but why *precisely* is this so?

I noticed a bunch of people on Lyle's forum advocate the idea that you only need a 500 calorie per day surplus because this is the energy equivalent of about 1 pound of LBM in a week which is according to them the most you can realistically gain.

Ignoring the second part of that theory, aren't they grossly simplifying the actual function of caloric excess with respect to strength gain?

It seems to me that the major function of the excess calories has more to do with putting the body in an anabolic state, stabilizing hormones, and generally reversing the effects of the stress you have put on your body rather than just providing legos to build muscle out of.

I have NFI tho.

Yes.

Their idea of maximal LBM gain is also false. You can gain significantly more LBM if you just eat a **** ton of food.

Yes, the 2-4 lbs of LBM per month for rank beginners is the biggest WTF on Lyle's forum. It makes literally no sense.