Like Kook said just quickly thaw under water or purchase a sous vide.- I have done water cuts for a handful of meets. After my last one I promised myself I will never do one again, I'll just plan to be up a weight class even if I'm a pound or two over the one I have been traditionally. Some people do really well with them and drop a ton of water, but I don't eat enough sodium normally to see a huge drop by cutting it. Just not worth it.
- Kook, dudes of your vintage who are at the gym to work their asses off and respectfully play the "wise old godfather" character to younger lifters are a GIFT. They're rare, but they are absolute gems. One such OG took me and my husband under his wing when we were both newish powerlifters and he's been such a great friend to us.
- Extremely nerdy talk no one cares about ahead, feel free to skip. Slowly starting to ramp intensity up with my dynamic/speed days. For conjugate programming, you work in 3-4 week waves for dynamic effort days, so for 3-4 weeks in a row you do the same variation with escalating percentages of your 1RM. This last wave I did duffalo box squats against 54# in chain (one per side) and bench against doubled micro mini bands with 3 sets each of wide, mid and close grip. (I know it sounds super complicated but it's pretty intuitive when you get the hang of it.) After reacclimating to it body feels ready to go to two chains per side for squat. Kind of excited to add some resistance again, more like pretzel of yore. I've struggled with good positioning for bench since baby but I think I'm finally locking in again, so I'll do a bench wave of 5x4s with escalating percentages. Nothing fancy, just intentional work. /nerdery
- I really screwed myself for the whole week not getting meal prep completed on Sunday. Baby was cutting teeth and I was just exhausted, and I've been annoyed at myself for it every meal time since. Locking it up for next week, teething be damned. Semi-related, is it really better to thaw fish before you cook or can you make it decent cooking from frozen? I've been on a salmon kick.
Going to push back a little on this. You have the knowledge base acquired over years of doing this. You not ‘measuring anything’ is still informed in a way most novices aren’t equipped. Most people who have never measured if asked if they were getting enough protein will say they ‘eat a lot’, but if they log it will find themselves probably not even hitting 50% of what they need.-Speaking of, I appreciate everyone in here’s efforts, it’s amazing. That being said, some of you all are on what I would consider unsustainable regimens. Don’t overcomplicate, in my opinion. I’m not drinking EAAs or BCAAs intra-workout or measuring anything. I used to and quit and it made ZERO difference. Just my personal experience though. Saves plenty of moola too. I will eat a banana at the gym though.
You tried LMNT’s canned offerings? Wife said they were a bit too salty for even her.The science on EAAs is pretty weak but the science on intraworkout carbs/calories is very well established. I've been using the EAAs for flavor, because my TL cyclic dextrin and creatine are flavorless, and can't they hurt. I'll just use the new lemonade LMNT for flavor moving forward because that **** is tasty.
100% true and great points, I almost edited to say that about measuring food. For sure people new to it should measure food. After you’ve done 100+ meals measured out you’ll have a pretty good feel for it and also to know what fills you and what leaves you hungry.Going to push back a little on this. You have the knowledge base acquired over years of doing this. You not ‘measuring anything’ is still informed in a way most novices aren’t equipped. Most people who have never measured if asked if they were getting enough protein will say they ‘eat a lot’, but if they log it will find themselves probably not even hitting 50% of what they need.
That’s my go to. Like the carbonation. Citrus salt FTW.You tried LMNT’s canned offerings? Wife said they were a bit too salty for even her.
I hate him alreadyOne dude loads up a leg press machine and does single leg calf raises… freakish.
Not to mention the “power belly”. Same thing CrossFit women run into when they want to compete in bikini. Thick guts from all the core bracing throwing weights around.I haven’t seen the Isratel surgery posts or anything, I don’t follow him but I know it’s really hard for powerlifters to go to winning BBing comps partly because, many if not most, BBers don’t do much deadlifting or anything that’s going to grow those lower lats and obliques because they can cause you to lose the BBing desired V shape as you become more “rounded” like a U.
Which that’s exactly what I am as I do at least one if not two types of deads per week for over a decade. Still can keep those lines in the front but the V is tough to keep.
He's just whacked out. Knows a ton about the space but crazy af.Well, there's bulkier core muscles from bracing, and then distended guts from heavy HGH/anabolic use. Israetel has both. There's no money in bodybuilding, so I don't understand killing yourself for a pro card when you're a genuinely gifted athlete for strength. Just lean in and get strong as balls, it's fun?
Plus people's muscles attach in slightly different points and you can't alter that no matter how lean or strong you get. There's a ceiling on "shaping" your frame.

Full body, 3x a week hits each muscle group that many times but when you only do one set (heavy), you can recover in time for your next lift sesh.I would be deceased if I attempted legs 3x a week. She definitely needs extra sleep and extra carbs.
Yeah, the goal is hypertrophyThat makes sense (although whew, that would be such a massive switch I can't even picture it, ha.) sounds like mrs chulo isn't that low volume though.
Good thing about the creami is you control what is in it. Doesn’t have to be all the bad stuff. I’m an ice cream snob and wife makes me stuff that is a fraction of the fat and sugar that I’m used to and it is good enough that there’s no distraction that it isn’t full fat/sugar.Been a tough switch from bro splits for me too. Just SOOOO used to them and they’ve worked but it was time for that switch to Upper/Lower/P/P/L for now.
I honestly have no idea what I would do if I just went to the gym 3x/week. I need to burn those two hours and move around, I do enjoy 10-12 rides though on my new hybrid.
I, for a long time recently, hit legs 3x q 7-8 days. I divided it into Quads, Glutes, and Hams though. Boy did that kick off leg growth, my lower back was paying the price though, not sore just always muscle tiredness.
Would love a creami but I would eat it 7 days a week.
Do you have power meter pedals? I have a Garmin Edge 840, which is great. But I’ve been thinking about getting RK200’s to measure power output and cadence. I already have SPD SL cleats, so they’ll fit well. Just a cool $1k investment.Hills are all about gearing. You should be comfortbaly doing 80-90rpm in the saddle. A little more upright in your posture. Stay seated.
What did you do? Your name isn't searchable.LFG glad to see this thread back!