Any tips for someone a little bit more advanced in pull-ups, but still having a great deal of trouble moving up? I've been stuck at 3 sets of 8 reps forever it feels like.

Regarding foam rollers -- the local sporting goods store is selling two types of foam rollers, one for $35 and one for $29. They're also selling those foam "water noodle" toys at $3 apiece. They feel like they're made out of the same material, except that the foam rollers are a couple inches wider in diameter and the noodle toy is much longer. There doesn't appear to be much of a difference in rigidity, at least while they're new.

Would the noodle toy be an OK substitute for the roller? Otherwise, anyone know where foam rollers would be available more cheaply? I'd feel pretty stupid paying $35 for a small cylinder of blue foam.

A water noodle will be much too soft. The foam rollers sold at most sporting goods stores are too soft to be really beneficial as well.

I would get a piece of PVC pipe, 6 inches in diameter, 2 feet long.

I'm having trouble reconciling my weight loss goals with understanding how eating under a ketogenic diet or a more balanced diet will be more beneficial. Some stats:

I'm about to turn 23, I'm 5'11" and I'm 265 lbs. My goal is to get down to 205 while not losing much muscle.

I hear from everyone that you need to eat carbs around workouts otherwise performance will suffer. I work out 6 days a week. I would be looking to eat around 2500 calories a day which isn't a gigantic deficit but would lead to steady weight loss over time. My question is which diet would be better? Assuming I do 2500 calories under the ketogenic and the balanced, I don't understand which is better. Eating more protein under the keto makes me believe I would lose less muscle but eating carbs (and not being in ketosis) in a balanced diet leads me to believe I'll be able to function better in working out. How does the body perform in the absence of carbs when working out when a person is in ketosis? Thanks!

you're overcomplicating it. set protein, set total caloric intake, fill in the rest however.

the keto diet is not a fun one. i'm not sure it gives any benefits besides a massive loss of water weight in the first week. you still require carb refeeds.

and FAQ.

Ok MI101, say I set caloric intake at 2500 per day. I'm not sure what the estimated percentage has to be protein to not lose muscle mass. Basically if I know that then the problem becomes very simple and then my diet wouldn't have to be so strict in the foods I eat, only the calories I take it. So what would the proper percentage of calories from protein be for my goal?

1-1.5 g protein/lbs of LBM.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...ieting-qa.html

i don't know if muscle mass is something you need to be concerned about. just because you're dieting doesn't mean it's going to start falling off. if you were losing more than 1% of bw per week, then maybe you should be concerned.

This is what I have: http://www.amazon.com/Black-High-Den...3419930&sr=8-4

6x36 Round, it's like $24 and pretty rigid.

Thanks.

Hey guys, random question for the runners. Not worthy of a thread, I think.
I've been running for a while, and am now up to 9-12 miles a week, running three times a week. (Some might remember the first time I posted here about a year ago and was still trying to be able to run a 5k. The advice I got here really got me on the right track.) I want to run a marathon by the end of 2011, and the first stage is training for a half marathon.

I'm planning to use this schedule to plan my training: http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm

My question is, is there any reason I couldn't swap the Friday rest day and Saturday cross training days? I'm actually moving this calendar around the week a little because I don't work a typical five Mon-Fri schedule. My rest day would fall on Saturday instead, but if it was Sunday that would be optimal. Any thoughts from the crew here?

No problem switching those. Hal Higdon is pretty solid but I'm not sure I'd want to run a half with only ~20 miles per week of training. Feel free to stretch that a month or more extra and get your miles per week up a little more.

Thanks man, thats the type of article I was looking for. Basically its pretty simple setting up a diet based on my %BF and my goals, the hard part is following through :/

What would you recommend a week to run a half marathon?

Also, my goal here is to finish the distance, even if I have to walk. If I manage to run the entire time I'll be thrilled, but if I have to walk for a significant period, I'm ok with that just so I can have the experience of doing it.

It's worth exploring the articles over there- some are research heavy if that's what you like, and others are simple and practical.

Here's a practical guide to setting up a diet focusing on the keys (there are links to more details as well):
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...ts-part-2.html

so my left arm (well, left everything upperbody) is weaker than the right now because of an injury. is it a good idea to replace all of my barbell pressing and rowing exercises with dumbell versions to rectify this?

also, if anyone has any general knowledge or links for barbell vs. dumbell, anything is greatly appreciated. ty

Ahhh, good point about your goals. I was thinking that you'd definitely want to run the whole thing. Building to 30+ miles per week and running that distance for at least a few weeks before the race (and good programming like a long run per week of at least 10) would let you run the whole way pretty reasonably. Hal's program as written would definitely let you run/walk the whole way. Good luck!

Is the injury healed? Could the strength be theooretically balanced now or are you going to have to live with the imbalance and want to get both sides stronger or as equal as possible?

Have been getting an awkward feeling in my right knee, Ive had it happen over the years. Never extended like this, its been 4/5 days on off. Its like something in my knee joint in the back, and it extends down my leg and a litte bit into my hamstring. I feel it most with my leg completely strait with foot perp. to leg. It feels like a strained muscle but it also goes into my knee. Wtf is this?

Ook, i broke my humerus and have metal in my arm. it is healed now and i've been back in the gym for a month or so, kind of taking it easy.

doctor says i'm cleared for anything i want to do, so it should be theoretically possible to even them back up, but can't be sure i guess.

Given the above info, this would be the math for my ideal diet right? It turns out to be 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat, seems normal enough.

5’10”
265 pounds

61.3% LBM
38.7% Body Fat

Aim for 2500 calories

• Protein: 4 calories per gram (16.8 joules/gram)
• Carbohydrate: 4 calories per gram (16.8 joules/gram)
• Fat: 9 calories per gram (37.8 joules/gram)
• Alcohol: 7 calories per gram (29.4 joules/gram)
Aim for .613 *265 * 1.5 = 243 grams of protein
= 974 (1000) calories from protein = 40% of diet = protein

Fat = 265 * .22 g/lb = 58.3 grams per day = 524 from fat = 20% fat

Leaving 40% for carbohydrates (1000 calories) == 250 grams of carbs

Assuming my maintenance calories is about 3000, I would be looking at losing 2 pounds per week cause I would lose 500 * 7 = 3500 calories from food and I think I could burn off 500 per day at the gym between my lifting and running.

Have you considered the Abject Misery Diet?

Just stop eating!

Financier,

looks good. You don't need to nit it up too much about the carb/fat distribution though.

Someone tell me if David Zinczenko is full of **** or decent to follow.

tweettweet

Seems like a mix of nutritional info on common foods, some FPS and some useful information.