(Part 3) Top products from r/leangains

First off, you don't need to worry at all about the concepts I bring up in this comment before you've spent a good 3-6 months getting into the routine I laid out earlier.

So about running

You have to run for a mile, 1600m, to burn around 100 calories; this takes 10-12 minutes to do. Which is roughly the same as one and a half of my big sugar free wheat biscuits. Or 2 simple low fat ham sandwiches.

Cardio for weight loss is a pointless waste of time. If you're going to do cardio then do it after strength work (so that you still keep good form during the strength work).

However, there are other valid reasons for doing cardio. Improved oxygen capacity helps against drowsiness and makes it easier to concentrate intently for longer periods of time. Very useful if your main job is mentally demanding. I also personally find it a lot easier to sleep on the days where I've run.

If you have feet issues, flat feet, then specific exercises to fix that with a later addition of barefoot running will keep it in check. This will have a knockon posture effect on the rest of your body.

So since I've mentioned that then lets get on with the very real preexisting issues you might be faced with as you begin hitting those 3 month and 6 month marks.

First off you need to cross off a checklist of extremely common body dysfunctions to make sure nothing will get worse as you lose weight and strength train.

We'll start in the order you will have to fix them in. The order is from the bottom to the top.

Because each muscle balance issue that exists lower in the body will affect the issues above it. If you decide to fix upper back issues first then that will simply stall out on its own or worsen your pelvic issues.

1.Preexisting injuries:

• Broken a bone in your wrist? - > Add wrist mobility exercises
  
  Consequence if you do not add wrist mobility exercises: depends on the injury itself and how the healing/treatment went. At a minimum you can expect that that wrist will have less mobility, less range of motion, at worst you will develop chronic pain for a variety of reasons. A physiotherapist or doctor can fill you in there if you're interested. Visit the local clinic and ask /r/askdoctor for good measure.
  
  My local clinics for example are staffed by utter morons who can't fix a rotator cuff or send me to someone competent enough to devise a treatment plan to fix it if so their very own bare balls where on the line.
  
  
• Dislocated shoulder? - > Add rotator cuff mobility & strengthening exercises (You probably should to rotator cuff strengthening exercises anyway for injury prevention) This book is very good. It exists as an ebook too.
  
  Consequence if you do not rotator cuff exercises: reduced mobility in shoulder girdle (especially upwards mobility), as strength grows in the shoulder girdle you will end up spontaneously dislocating your shoulder (I re-dislocated twice while stretching out laying in bed). Instability of the shoulder socket. Chronic radiating pain.
  
  
• Flat feet? - > Do the towel toe grasping strength exercise and find strength progression exercises from there. I progressed to barefoot jogging in sand, and then in forests. For a couple of weeks I had an issue walking up stairs.
  
• Any odd recurring aches or pain anywhere? - > Go see a physio to get it examined and cleared
  
  
  Consequence if you do not fix flat feet: Chronic pain. Difficulty walking. Knees will rotate inwards which in turn will lead to lordosis which in turn leads to kyphosis and forwardleaning vulture neck. Bones in the foot will fuse together (happened to a relative of mine).
  
  2.Check for/treat lordosis (Forward leaning pelvis. Inwardly rotated knees. Lower back pain/soreness.)
  
  Easy to check in the mirror: https://2xm0t92b1vo22py83u40kcv7-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/lordosis-treatment-kyphosis-treatment.jpg
  
  Another live photo: https://st2.depositphotos.com/2171279/11628/i/950/depositphotos_116289940-stock-photo-woman-with-impaired-posture-position.jpg
  
  Forward leaning pelvis example: https://2xm0t92b1vo22py83u40kcv7-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/anterior-pelvic-tilt.jpg
  
  As for the exercises to fix that I've pretty much forgotten what I used. Think it was weighted squats and then I used hip flexor stretches. Very simple fix. Still do the exercises today. You can look it up online and get a progression that works for you. The key thing here is progressively more difficult exercises until you hit the goal you want.
  
  The key thing is to activate the glutes and use them more while at the same time stretching out the hip flexors.
  
  Consequence if you do not fix lordosis: Lower back pain. Radiating pain down the leg. Leg weakness. Difficulty doing a proper deadlift. Possible hernias if you deadlift improperly with lordosis still there.
  
  3.Check for/treat Kyphosis (Hunchback, forward leaning posture, forward leaning neck, inwardly collapsed chest)
  
  This one is easy to check. If you are at a decent low BF % (10-20%) and look at your upper back then are the spinal ridges poking out more at around chest height than in other areas? Also check your shoulders, are they rounded and leaning forward?
  
  Take a picture from the decide and compare it to the example picture below.
  
  If any of those are true then you need to work at restoring thoracic mobility & stability (Your ability to twist and turn around the chest spine, as well as the core strength, spinal erector strength, and shoulder girdle strength needed to support it.
  
  Example picture: https://scoliosistreatmentalternatives.com/wp-content/uploads/Kyphosis-Normal-vs-Hyper.jpg
  
  I'll come back and add the exercises I use later with sources.
  
  Consequence if you do not fix kyphosis: Upper back pain, weak shoulder girdle, difficulty standing or sitting for medium to long periods of time (1 hour - 12 hours). Shallower breathing.
  
  4.Check for/treat forward neck
  
  Very easy to check, take a picture from the side with a relaxed posture.
  
  I'll come back and add the exercises I use later with sources.
  
  Consequence if you do not fix forward neck: Sore neck, pain, basically the higher up you go in these common dysfunctions the less serious and less debilitating the symptoms are.
  
  5.Learn how to sit and stand relaxed with good posture
  
  I personally use the esther gokhale method. It's easy, relaxing and helps me breathe better. Heres a preview of her book.
  
  Stretchsitting, that way of standing and stretchlying in particular have been big things for me. She also has a side chapter of exercises to fix common issues.
  
  6. Learn the main lift in the RPT (reverse pyramid training) strength routine that the leangains routine is based on, record your lifts, and stick to it
  
  From here on you simply reap gains and maybe add some accessory exercises when you run into trouble (hand grip strength for example).
  
  7.Do a dexa scan for 100-200$ every 3-9 months & Learn the numbers on how quick you can do a leangains cut at different body fat percentages. Also learn how to to a leangains bulk.
  
  That's it. You know have a perfectly healthy, practical, and safe routine that will keep you strong and lean until breathing appears to difficult and someone spends an afternoon shovelling dirt on top of you.
  
  If you want to add cardio for a specific purpose -> Fits into the routine after the strength training
  If you want to learn a complex physical movement (hanstands whatever) -> Do it after strength training.
  Want to stay nimble and mobile? -> Do a whole body stretch routine daily (starting stretch is a programme you can use. Then find progressions for the exercises there)
  
  Wanna do something sporadic like rock climbing? Go ahead, its low effort cardio and no issue whatsoever with your newfound strength.
  
  I know I've made a lot of unsourced claims in the past few comments and I'll set to fixing that during the week so you can check out the validity yourself. This is something I'm putting together for myself anyway.

For you I wouldn't worry about cycling macros for now. I'd eat 100g carbs, 275g protein, & 80g fat daily. Focus on lean meats, healthy fats, and whole grains.

Here's a chart to help with heart rate. Not exact, but will give you a good idea.

Take fish oil! This is a good cheap brand with good amounts of DHA & EPA. For a calculator as to how much you need go here

Oh, and be sure to track everything you eat for at least a month to make sure you're getting the right number of calories/macros - I like myfitnesspal.com but there's tons of options.

1. Do you mean 5 sets or 3 sets of 5 reps each? While the former is not necessarily a terrible idea, it does depend on some factors. Are you trying to cut, bulk, or recomp? How advanced of a trainee are you? If you are cutting and are going to be in a caloric deficit, more sets may actually prove detrimental. One of the benefits of Reverse Pyramid Training is how well it pairs with Leangains for preserving/building muscle during a cut.
   
   Also, I'd avoid broscience ideas that sets/reps create more "definition." How defined you look is going to depend on the amount of muscle mass you have and how low your body fat is.
   
   2)I'd modify that plan so that your first work set is a weight that you can do AT LEAST 3 reps with, and then work your way up to 6 or so reps before adding more weight to the bar.
   
   I think always starting with a ORM is likely to sacrifice form and unnecessarily fatigue you prior to your real work sets. I'd be happy to see any evidence to the contrary, but my understanding/experience has always been that using a weight which allows me to crush out several reps with proper form will yield the greatest improvement.
   
   I think part of this is that it will naturally take longer to double the number of times you can press or pull your ORM than it will to add another rep to a weight you can already press/pull more times. Once you become an advanced trainee (or if you already are) you will be fighting even harder for every extra pound or rep, and you must train accordingly
   
   *One helpful tip Stuart Mcrobert mentioned in his classic Beyond Brawn is to get yourself a pair of 1.25 lb plates, so that you can still increase the weight by a total of 2.5 lbs should 5 lbs be too much. When it comes to progressive overload, every improvement counts.
   
   **Typing that was my finger workout for the day.
   
   
   
   

I had to go on a dairy free diet during a bulk for two weeks not too long ago. At first I found it quite difficult, as my diet staples included cheese, milk, and yogurt. However, after a few days I was able to find stuff and realized it really isnt that difficult.

This egg protein powder was a huge help. Dymatize also has a decent egg protein powder. Other items include chicken, salmon, lean pork (pork sirloin/tenderloin), most white fish, tuna, eggs, egg whites, beef jerky, Quinoa (has full amino acid profile actually), peanut butter (PB2 if you're cutting), almonds, Jennie-o Turkey Sausage and Brats, and of course grainy sources such as peas, brown rice.

Hope that helps somewhat.

So while this is sort of a dumb post, there is a point.

Individuals of west african descent, (notice I did not say black) do have a genetic predisposition to be advantaged at strength and power sports - They are usually naturally lean, have an increased neural drive, and put on muscle quite easily




The book Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports And Why We're Afraid To Talk About It by Jon Entine is a really great read if anyones interested in finding out more.

I'm lactose intolerant as well (though ice cream affects me less badly than straight milk). I just buy these off amazon. Not a bad price for being able to ingest sweet, delicious dairy products again. Just pop one right before you eat anything milk related.

Pay $20 more to get a nice leather one that will last forever (i.e. one that won't break once you go above 90lbs). I like this one and have been using it for years:
http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Heavy-Duty-Leather-Belt/dp/B000BR3Z22/

However the chain was a tiny bit short for me (45lb plates would brush against my balls) so I had to extend it with a large carabiner (hell, you could probably just get a pack of carabiners and extend it that way if you have a wider waist--mine is ~31")

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Programming-Strength-Training-Rippetoe/dp/0982522754

This book has been eye opening as far as programming is concerned. I’m not an expert. Not trying to be. Not strong enough to be. But this book has helped me more clearly see the bigger picture and WHY strong people do what they do and WHY it works.

Try googling the Stress-Recovery-Adaptation Model or the Fitness Fatigue Model too.

I too enjoy cooking with oil that's sprayed on.

Also, agree that roasted veggies are far better than steamed; weather you use oil or not. Alternative to chilly flakes is garlic (and olive oil).

BTW: you can get sprays in disposable aerosol cans, but also one of these reusable bottles:

https://www.amazon.com/Misto-Brushed-Aluminum-Olive-Sprayer/dp/B00004SPZV/

I use that stuff for baking and it also makes a good low carb pizza crust.

Lysine is cheap at Whalemart.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-Valley-L-Lysine-Tablets-1000mg-100-count/17324899

I got this Gluten online for a good price

https://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Vital-Gluten/dp/B000EDK5LM

I herniated my L5-S1 disc about a year ago. Couldn't move for 5 weeks, physical therapy, slowly got back to the gym. One year later I squat 315 and dead lift 285 (note that I am EXTREMELY careful with my DL, hence the lower number when compared to my squat- I have no desire to be bed ridden and on lortab again). Anyway, the physical therapy helped some, but I'll echo what others have said about Foundation Training. It helped so, so much.

Here is the book. Buy it, use it, check out their website too!!

As far as exercises, I just started with body weight squats and dead lift motions (found in the Foundation protocol), and then I VERY slowly added some weight. To be honest, my dead lift still isn't great, but I don't think it will ever be amazing again, but that's ok. I'd rather be pain free than try and best my old PR.

As below, I hope you are using a mixed grip- it immediately improved my DL by like 30 lbs. Having a similar effect was chalking up my hands. Turns out most of the slipperiness was sweat. Chalk is cheap as hell too. 12 bucks for eight bars or so. of the stuff

I removed the twist in ones, and actually use something like this, i.e. generic spring collars (that aren't even matching) http://www.amazon.com/SPRING-COLLAR-2inch-ONE-PAIR/dp/B000BKV08U

as they are way more convenient. I assume it won't be an issue, maybe once it's 100lbs on the dumbbell it's worth considering.

I think I'm still at the point where I still think about working out too much on my off days because I use to do a bro split (gym 4-5 times a day).

Jaybird has shitty customer service. My $150 x3 stopped working in 1 ear after 2 years and I couldn't get them to respond to my email, or phone calls. The wires will fray at the connection to the earpiece and there are multiple reports of this happening.

Ended up buying some generic wireless in-ear brand on Amazon for $40 and they've been great so far. You can control the music via the earpieces themselves and it has good sound isolation and decent bass. At least if these break in a couple years I won't be pissed I spent $$$.

This is the one that I have. I put a few knots in it to get it to the right length for me. But it swivels really well and it's not heavy.

I eat alot of the Kodiak cake waffles from my Belgian waffle maker. Lately I've been adding a scoop of protein.

Brings the macros to:

• 500 calories
  
• 63 carbs
  
• 5 fat
  
• 52 protein
  
  Just have to add a bit more water until the consistency is right.

Supple Leopard by Kelly Starret.
http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Supple-Leopard-Preventing-Performance/dp/1936608588
Even Berkhan should read this book!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAX94eA2zrA

This may very well be part of the problem, but definitely not the whole problem. There is excess fat for sure.

As far as loose skin, I fear I might have a similar fate as you. To fight off loose skin issues, I started taking Gotu Kola in pill form in August. http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Gotu-Kola-certified/dp/B0009ETACG.

According to Charles Poliquin on the Tim Ferriss Show, http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/07/21/charles-poliquin/, using 6 capsules per day in 3 doses, morning noon and night, has had tremendous effects on eliminating loose skin on his clients who have lost a lot of weight via diet or child birth. According to him, it is not a gradual process though. Basically, he says after about 6 months of consistent use, you will see a major reduction in excess skin.

I'm not sure if I am a believer, but the herb is cheap so I've been taking it. Might be worth a look for you, sir. It's a pretty decent podcast to listen to as well. I highly recommend it.

No. It takes several days of very low carb to get into ketosis. You can prove it to yourself by pissing on ketostix.