Stephen Williams
Forum Replies Created
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Have carbohydrates in the two meals at end of previous day.
If the goal is to build muscle I would recommend consuming protein and carbs in an intra drink. Or even have a quick protein and carb shake before training. This will help reduce cortisol, which has been shown to be a predictor of muscle growth. There were some studies in Australia (I’ll link one below) that showed carbohydrate consumption during training reduced cortisol and this reduced muscle protein breakdown.
If the goal isn’t to maximise muscle growth then don’t worry and just get in the gym, train and eat after!
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Ashwaghanda, Magnesium Biglycinate and Reishi mushroom extract (no sufficient evidence for reishi, but anecdotally I’ve heard and noticed benefit).
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Cardio, potassium, magnesium and sensible gear use are a few suggestions.
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Split squats will help with glute activation and reduce load going through lower back.
Do you have a lower back injury?
If not you should address the reason for why your lower back is effected during certain exercises. Have your foot function and hip alignment checked by a professional. Are you bracing your core effectively? What’s your general mobility like? Say if you had to clean the skirting boards at home, are you comfortable with squatting down to do so? Have a look at your hamstring and hip flexor flexibility also.
Hope some of these suggestions are useful.
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I forget to mention potassium intake. Ensure potassium is up around 4.5-5g per day. I find when I’m a deficit my cravings become really bad around the time I start getting cramps. Increasing my potassium helps to reduce this significantly!
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Sorry to be a bit off topic, but just wanted to chime in on the plant based question.
Just be aware that the plant based food industry is fast becoming a multi trillion dollar industry and that Arnold is a businessman and no longer a bodybuilder.
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Don’t get caught up on the whole “total volume subject”. I think we can say with confidence that squatting 150 for a set of 8, but it’s a very challenging set, is going to grow your legs better than 150 for 3 sets of 3 despite the total volume being greater.
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Ensure the foods you are eating are as dense in micronutrients as possible. Liver is incredibly nutritious and is very cheap. Rotate vegetable sources, consume garlic, tomatoes etc.
When you’re particularly struggling with hunger try meditative breathing, it can really make you feel comfortable with being hungry.
Another one which is hard to do when you’re hungry, is try and have fun and have a laugh with friends/significant other.
Keep yourself busy so you’re not constantly thinking about food.
One last thing is to ensure that you’re on top of your sleep and that’s not suffering. As soon as that starts sliding, cravings and hunger increase dramatically!
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You swap meal 1 and 3 so that you have carbs in what is essentially post post workout. Then the higher fat meal will be as far away form the previous session as possible.
In reality though it’s the tiniest of details and should instead come down purely to your personal preference.
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If it’s literally the amount you’ve mentioned then don’t stress about it. One could even argue that the psychological benefit of enjoying time with friends will outweigh the cons of a couple of drinks! Don’t stress about it as that often makes things worse and sends people down the recreational drug path instead.
Like said above, weigh up your goals and make a decision based on those.
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Agree with what Clare said. Just keep your veg intake consistent rather than drop out broccoli. The amounts of sulforaphane found in broccoli can have a positive effect on oxidative stress, insulin sensitivity, lipid and glucose metabolism and indirectly fat loss. Just track the amounts eaten rather than drop foods at this point as eating nutrient dense foods is particularly vital when your calories are so low.
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The benefits of beta alanine come from it increasing carnosine levels over time. There’s no real benefit as far as I’m aware to including it in an intra shake, unless muscle contraction can help with uptake (I’m unsure if this is the case).
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I have found that I need to deload even when my lifts aren’t stalling on cycle.
Typically I’ll have low energy through the day, low mood, disrupted sleep and achy joints. I find deloading when these creep up on me tends to give me a good leap forward in strength.
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Hi Dean.
When using androgenic steroids could there be a benefit to supplementing with magnesium (biglycinate) to reduce dopamine activity in brain and aid with sleep?
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Expanding on that, do you think there is a greater magnesium requirement for someone using aas?