Comments on: 5 Shortcuts to Muscle Growth This Week

By: Shortcuts To A Beach Body This Summer | Zen to Fitness

Shortcuts To A Beach Body This Summer | Zen to Fitness — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:08:29 +0000

[...] Volumize Training – One thing I find important in getting beach ready is to do some volume training in the weeks running up to the holiday. I would suggest aiming for a total of 40-80 reps [...]

By: How to Avoid Overtraining | Zen to Fitness

How to Avoid Overtraining | Zen to Fitness — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:04:00 +0000

[...] Are you training in the gym doing high volume training a few times a [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:22:17 +0000

@ Dan: Glad you enjoyed it!! For weeks of training, I perosnally never take total weeks off, I will usually get some kind of physical activity every week.
As for time of hard weight training that is another matter; if you have been doing volume work consistently I would recommend a week off volume training every 4-8 weeks in which you do more lifestyle stuff like run, play sports, go for long walks, some high rep push-ups etc…. Definitely a good topic for a blog post, maybe sometime later this week I will do one on the topic and delve in deeper. Thanks Dan….

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:01:34 +0000

Good post Chris! Now that I am cutting down on my time in the gym and getting out more I will definitely try this routine sometime in the next few months.

On the opposite side of things, how often do you think that a week off of weight training is necessary, if at all? Perhaps this is a topic for another post

By: Methuselah - Pay Now Live Later

Methuselah - Pay Now Live Later — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:40:03 +0000

Thanks Chris – good links – I’ll look into the vit A side in more depth as it would be good to be able to debunk the toxicity thing next time I encounter it. Sounds like vit A from supplements remains a threat though, although it seems like a no brainer that you’d drop the supplements, stick with the cod liver oil and just eat plenty of fruit and veg.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:09:41 +0000

@ Keith. Thats awesome thanks for sharing, I love digging up the old school pictures of him in his prime….. His Charisma is up for all of us to see in the epic “Pumping Iron” definitely a DVD for everyone’s collection…..

By: Keith Norris

Keith Norris — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:04:50 +0000

I met Arnold when I was a kid, back in the mid-70’s. He was promoting the opening of a new sporting goods store in San Antonio, Texas (Oshman’s, I think it was). Franco Columbo was there as well. Both of them were very cordial, down to earth guys. The funny thing is, is how unknown Arnold was at that time and how few people were there. But even as a kid (I was 11 or 12 or so)I remember thinking that, along with being the biggest human being I had ever seen, he had an unmistakable charisma about him. Women just fawned over him, and it wasn’t just because of his build, either (although I’m sure that didn’t hurt). For lack of a better word, he just had “it” — a certain,vibe or magnetism.

Keith

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:26:52 +0000

As for Post Workout nutrition my view is that unless you are a hard gainer (naturally very skinny) its not worth it, as from my experience it leads to fat gain and guzzling pure sugar can’t be good for insulin sensitivity. I would suggest having a Banana and a Whey Protein shake if anything as a post workout drink, otherwise wait 60 minutes then eat.
If you haven’t read it this article @ the NYT is great and it explains how are bodies repair around the clocks not in the magical “post workout window” see here: http://tinyurl.com/6nu65r

For Vitamin A, fruits and vegetables contain vitamin A from Beta-Carotene which is not the same as the type yu get from FIsh Oil. The way I see it even eating a large amount of Carrots and Pumpkin (high in Beta Carotene Vit A) plus 1TBSP of Cod Liver Oil won’t lead to Toxicity, only benefits, plus the Vitamin D will do us good in the coming months…. See this article on Weston A Price: http://tinyurl.com/2mhsy6

Hope that helps and thanks for stopping by, your last Blog post was great BTW…

By: Methuselah

Methuselah — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:14:10 +0000

Chris – good post. By coincidence I am hitting myself with a routine very close to that this week after 2 weeks of that 300 workout I mentioned. You can’t beat a bit of volume for waking up the next day with that satisfying muscular stifness.

Couple of thoughts

- what are your views on post-workout nutrition? You mention Devany’s guidelines and he is someone who advocates waiting at least 60 mins before eating to allow GH release to continue anf avoiding things like protein shakes with simple carbs. I have been waiting 90 mins or more and have certainly not lost muscle as you would expect if you listen to the shake-guzzling muscle-heads. Following Devany’s guidelines is also a good way to ensure natural hunger can be followed, as higher carb diets tend to disrupt hunger mechanisms.

- cod liver oil’s high vitamin A content can actually be a threat if your diet already contains lots of fruit and veg, since vit A is one of the few vitamins where long term over-consumption can cause problems. From memory, I think it affects the bones. I always use ‘fish oil’ since reading about that – same levels of essential fatty acids but no vit A.