Creatine and hair loss was the link

ah ok

Anybody down to do the Navy Seals 26-week BUDs training program? (from the navy seals official site)

Sounds like it would be too hard, but these guys def know how to make things simple.

I've been working on adding it to my routine for the past month and feel more than ready to do the full prgram.

What I love about it most is their strength training routine.

You are meant to do 4-6 strength (lifting) sessions per week, half for lower body and half for upper body.

Here's the sweet thing about it though... the guide says you are only supposed to do 8-12 exercises for one set each. As long as the set is to near failure, you are good to go.

Anyway... don't want to clutter the chat too much but I've gone through the trouble of reading their guides and will be starting the official training regime on monday.

Anyone down?

Hmm, looks interesting.
I'm looking for a new programme and this might be it

Disagree. Nothing about fitness is ever that simple 🫠

Don’t have access to a nearby pool so switched it for rowing

What is yall's take on the anabolic window and eating post-workout?

I recently shifted my bjj training to evenings. From my understanding the consensus is that you gotta eat within 1-2 hours after the workout to gain most benefits. If I just go to sleep fasted after training my understanding is that I'd miss out on good recovery and cannibalize some of the muscle.

Best time in the gym is around 3pm or 4pm. Late enough that my brain is drained from deep + busy work, but early enough that the 9-5 hordes haven’t yet stormed the machines. If you have your last meal as a protein shake you can fast for a pretty long time before bed. You sleep early Naz, which is also great. Without great sleep there are no gains.

Jeff is one of the most well-respected fitness influencers out there because he's a researcher and has skin in the game, so anything he says should be usually good to follow (as long as video is <2-3yo)

Personally, I try to eat either as soon as possible or before 1hr has passed. The best meal is usually a protein shake, recommend two scoops and some fruit (banana for potassium and berries for fiber) if you're making it the last meal of the day.

Interesting info here about bananas and blueberries: apparently bananas cancel out some of the benefits (mood and cognitive) of blueberries if consumed simultaneously

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EpOTf7pWq70&t=30s&pp=ygUWcmhvbmRhIGJlcnJpZXMgYmFubmFuYQ%3D%3D

I don't think it makes much of a difference, especially because there's more benefit from adding than from not. Also, "cancel out" is a strong statement, how was that studied in the first place? 😂

She mentions the study (a 2023 controlled trial) and the logic behind it at the 5:00 mark in the video. It is pretty simple: bananas contain polyphenol oxidase, which destroys polyphenols. Polyphenols are one of the important nutrients in blueberries linked to mood and brain function, as well as being antioxidant, etc.

The study gave participants a smoothie with blueberries and with or without a banana. They then took blood and urine samples and for those who had the banana smoothie, their polyphenol levels plumetted.

anyway i’m not trying to convince you in particular, i just thought to share the video for anyone who is interested in putting blueberries and banana in their smoothie

I will say it's a valid opinion and study but I don't know if it is worth taking into consideration because a) how soon were the samples taken after drinking the smoothie? b) does it take into account quantity of fruit? c) what other nutrients apart from polyphenols were "plumetted" or "canceled out" by the banana? d) did the study consider effects in long-term (days, weeks, months?)

What I'm trying to say is I don't think telling people "don't mix banana with blueberries because banana bad 😞" is a good idea, especially in the context of post-workout meal

Apart from that, I respect your opinion and understand why you brought it up thank you

Have had lower back problems for the past few years. Seems like a minor bulged disk and degeneration in L3/L5.

Unfortunately, my insurance won’t pay for steroid injections, which the doctor recommended. And here in Dubai they charge $4k for an injection.

Any cities/countries you guys can recommend where I can do it cheaper and safely?

Thinking of Bangkok - had a medical issue there before and was treated exceptionally well.

Not sure about this specific issue, but Bangkok has some of the best hospitals in the world. This one is considered top hospital in Thailand

https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/

Theres no scientific evidence for nothing that they dont want to sell you

Everything is funded by the people that want your money

I am not a doctor, but from personal injury experience finding a good physio/rehab doc could mitigate the need to even do an intervention like this. I'd try hard and work with someone on rehabbing hard before injecting anything into the spine

I also had lower back pain all my life , especially from walking alot,since i switched i no longer have back pain

You are suggesting supressing/reducing DHT with finasteride in order to take creatine? No, thanks

Fair, although for most people it's generally safe, it's recommended to try a few weeks before going all in

I think yes, it's safe for a lot of people. But side effects are often subtle. Lack of energy etc can be hard to detect. After one week i had mental fog and a weird feeling in my tits (finasteride)

I’ve been through all of the non invasive treatments. Nothing has helped.

Local steroid injections don’t pose any major risks as far as I’ve read and been told by various back specialists.

Do you do hyperextensions in gym? Helped my low back issues

Yeah I’ve been doing hyperextensions and the likes for over a year.

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connection/dp/0446557684

This solved mine, and for several people I've recommended it to

Thanks, will check out!

Ironically, Tim Ferriss still hasn’t solved his back pain issues. Was talking about doing stem cell therapy in one of the recent pods

I don't think it matters that much, the side effects being subtle are also a way of saying they don't matter that much imo. And things like that you can always get over with improving lifestyle and (as last resort) taking other things.

At the end it's the person making a cost/benefit analysis about how much having hair and enjoying the benefits of creatine is worth risking a bit of "lack of energy". The worst side effect would be related to impotency and/or mood, but that's why most doctors (which I recommend visiting before taking any medication) will make you do medical tests and give you a certain testing period before giving you a last diagnose/recipe.

In your case I would even argue (and that's considering I'm not a doctor) that these side effects may have gone away if you stuck longer (say a few weeks). But obviously, it's your choice and life at the end, hopefully you did this from medical advice and not straight up self-medicating which is obviously something NOT TO DO FOR ANYONE

Hey everyone!

After spending a few years in Abu Dhabi, I'm looking for a place to get back into shape with fresh air, easy access to a lap pool, and and well equipped gym w/ classes. I know that Phuket and Thailand generally is a common rec, but the air quality seems to be a serious issue. If anyone has recommendations, I will definitely take them. Thanks!

Can you post your prompt?

Chiang Mai is great for this but during June-January

It’s been awesome man. I’m now into full routine mode with it. Performing a strength, cardio, and core/calisthenics session everyday.

Strength training takes about 45-60 min to complete.

Cardio takes the longest on LSD days, shortest on CHI days.

Calisthenics and core I actually have the set up at home to perform, so I do this to break my working blocks.

Bottomline I spend about 3 hours a day exercising.

How do you track all of these? I mean, reps, sets, which workouts to do, etc. and do you calculate progressive overload manually?

No such window according to studies cited by Nippard and Ethier IIRC

placebo’s and nocebo’s are a thing right. that has only to do with mindset and could definitly have empirical results

Didn't quite see the point when the most effective exercises are already published by Ethier (focus on the stretched part) and Nippard (time efficiency)

I don't like Ethier's and Nippard's approach to training programs.
I like the style of Andy Galpin, Ben Bruno, Nsima Inyang, Luka Hocevar, David Weck, Beth Lewis, Menno Henselmans and Ben Patrick.
That's what I tell AI to take into consideration and I'm getting great results

I use Whoop's strength trainer and activity tracker.

I up the weights by understanding my rep range on hypertrophy days (where I do 8-12 reps), If I did 12 reps for an exercise I'll add some 5% 10% more on the next go so I am not able to complete the 12 reps with proper technique and full ROM.

For strength days (4-6 reps) I follow the same approach but weight normally is 15-30% more than on hypertrophy days.

For muscular endurance days (15-20 reps) I follow the same approach but weight is 15-30% less than on hypertrophy days.

The guide has all the metrics to follow for calisthenics, core, running and swimming/rowing based on your maxes or the week you are into the program.

I am testing my push up, sit up, pull up maxes every other week. The core and cardio routines are based on fixed weekly increments.

Februrary is going to be my first full consistency month with the program, so if you remind me I'll be happy to share the data from the monthly report with you.

Thanks for the info. Yes, if you're up for sharing I'd like to take a look

For example, yes

oh ok, what is the result? can you share?

This is great!

started playing with prompts according to styles (e.g., Any style of training you prefer? e.g., Andy Galpin, Arnold Schwarzenneger, etc.) but the results didn't change that much

How do you approach protein powder + creatine while nomadding?

Do you bring it with you in your baggage? I am one-bagging and not quite stationary enough to be considered “slowmadding” (in which case I would just buy it on site and keep it at my room).

So am curious about options here as these would take up precious bag space.

I do travel with a battery powered blender + creatine + whey. It has made a huge difference, it's just such a diet hack. Don't really have any advice for you regarding bag space, I've only started doing this after moving away from pure carry-on travel.

that is cool, i doubt i will go as far as investing in a travel blender, due to strict space requirements, so it seems just carrying smallish amounts of the necessary powders and doing very basic mixing in a bottle will be my best option

Yeah, that's exactly what I do. I buy the smallest I can find the then basic mix them in a normal plastic water bottle