The TFP Health Club

You should consider adding carbs to your pre-workout shake in a 1:1 ratio with protein. Quick-burning carbs (even if it's a bit of fruit or pure fruit juice) 1 or 2 hours before you workout will help keep your muscles fuelled to give you a better workout. Your muscles tap into glycogen stores when working out, but your body will seek glucose to replenish it. If it needs to convert too much from other sources, you could be putting a dampener on your energy/intensity.

I remember reading in the book Power Eating that many overemphasize protein and underemphasize carbs in their strategies for building muscle. Carbs play an important role in building muscle both in training and in recovery.

 

Cool. I just wanted to point out what I feel is something people sell themselves short on when it comes to building muscle. In my own case, I was consuming as much as 5,000 calories a day to build muscle. At least 40% of that was carbs. I was around 170 lbs. at the time.

Have a look at these as "food for thought." Both of these authors are registered dieticians (as opposed to "nutritionists"), and both are familiar with sports and performance nutrition.

Eat carbs before and during your workout (excerpt)

Time Your Carbs Perfectly To Crush Your Goals

 

going to the gym
no waiting til spring to be buff

 

And my arms are now noodles
Can't even lift my damned laptop

But at least, I went for it...started curling 75 lbs (3 sets of 6)....and went down from there doing various bicep techniques.
Had to be careful, my old injury on my left elbow started acting up...could'n't even straighten my arm.
Had to alter my style a bit...so it wouldn't be stressed...took the time to stretch nicely between each set.
It calmed down and was decent by the end...
Ended by mimicing a few katas on the resistance machine, smooth out the arms after stiffening them...and get a good cardio arm workout in on them.

And of course, a bit of core in there.
Something to emphasize the obliques and lower abs this time.
Some heavy hammerthrows, but mostly lighter.

Good late night workout.

 

Well, I didn't just get into it...I've been at for awhile.
Averaging 2-3 times a week...the snow threw it off for bit...but shoveling was a huge routine unto itself.
Typically, these days...I do lighter...with a broad range of styles and areas during a long paced visit.

But this time, I decided to push it...going heavy to exhaustion on my bi's ( a part that doesn't come naturally to me...I'm much more of a Tri guy)
It was just to get an edge off and not hold back.

Although, since I work alone I still don't go all out...there's reason.
75 lbs...isn't 100
Plus I back off when needed.
No worries.

 

I've tweaked my home routine to where I want it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works over the long term.

The biggest factors are:

1. finally figuring out what to do with my lower body workout (stiff-legged deadlifts + split squats)
2. learning how to "jack up" my pushup routine (add a resistance band)
3. switching from front and side crunches to front and side planks.

I've also set some benchmarks to aim for.

I'll check in with these when I make some progress.

A quick rundown of the exercises is as follows:

1. Dumbbell stiff-legged deadlift
2. Dumbbell split squat
3. Dumbbell bent-over row
4. Pushups
5. Standing dumbbell shoulder press
6. Dumbbell pullover
7. Front plank
8. Side plank

My goal is to do the routine twice a week, but I might have to stick to once a week until I know I'm recovering well enough between workouts while I continue my martial arts training as usual.

 

I'll drop this here:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/which-type-of-exercise-is-best-for-the-brain/?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

 

Major caveat: the study was done in rats, which while interesting, it leads the article to come to some overgeneralized conclusions.

 

Of course! Wouldn't want to dissect a bunch of human brains. But it's an interesting preliminary study. I'd be curious to see how the differences stack up to pre/post tests and PET scans in humans.