Physical & Mental health

[Korea 734]

I did angry man. So far it is still in the realm of alternative medicine. Of course do we need more study material. Ill post ALL the conclusions from Cochrane on the fields of study (yes copy pasta! )

1. Asthma: Authors' conclusions

There is not enough evidence to make recommendations about the value of acupuncture in asthma treatment. Further research needs to consider the complexities and different types of acupuncture.

2. Glaucoma: Authors' conclusions

At this time, it is impossible to draw reliable conclusions from available data to support the use of acupuncture for the treatment of glaucoma. Because of ethical considerations, RCTs comparing acupuncture alone with standard glaucoma treatment or placebo are unlikely to be justified in countries where the standard of care has already been established. Because most glaucoma patients currently cared for by ophthalmologists do not use nontraditional therapy, clinical practice decisions will have to be based on physician judgments and patient preferences, given this lack of data in the literature. Inclusion of the seven Chinese trials in future updates of this review may change our conclusions.

3. irritable bowel syndrome

Authors' conclusions

Sham-controlled RCTs have found no benefits of acupuncture relative to a credible sham acupuncture control for IBS symptom severity or IBS-related quality of life. In comparative effectiveness Chinese trials, patients reported greater benefits from acupuncture than from two antispasmodic drugs (pinaverium bromide and trimebutine maleate), both of which have been shown to provide a modest benefit for IBS. Future trials may help clarify whether or not these reportedly greater benefits of acupuncture relative to pharmacological therapies are due entirely to patients’ preferences for acupuncture or greater expectations of improvement on acupuncture relative to drug therapy.

4. Head aches (this one is actually a bit positive - it might be there is a working here)

Authors' conclusions

In the previous version of this review, evidence in support of acupuncture for tension-type headache was considered insufficient. Now, with six additional trials, the authors conclude that acupuncture could (read well!) be a valuable non-pharmacological tool in patients with frequent episodic or chronic tension-type headaches.

5. Depression

Authors' conclusions

We found insufficient evidence to recommend the use of acupuncture for people with depression. The results are limited by the high risk of bias in the majority of trials meeting inclusion criteria.

6. Schizophrenia

Authors' conclusions

We found insufficient evidence to recommend the use of acupuncture for people with schizophrenia. The numbers of participants and the blinding of acupuncture were both inadequate, and more comprehensive and better designed studies are needed to determine the effects of acupuncture for schizophrenia.

7. Shoulder pain (artritis)

Authors' conclusions

Due to a small number of clinical and methodologically diverse trials, little can be concluded from this review. There is little evidence to support or refute the use of acupuncture for shoulder pain although there may be short-term benefit with respect to pain and function. There is a need for further well designed clinical trials.

8. Ostheoarthritis: Authors' conclusions

Sham-controlled trials show statistically significant benefits; however, these benefits are small, do not meet our pre-defined thresholds for clinical relevance, and are probably due at least partially to placebo effects from incomplete blinding. Waiting list-controlled trials of acupuncture for peripheral joint osteoarthritis suggest statistically significant and clinically relevant benefits, much of which may be due to expectation or placebo effects.

The list goes on: either very small effects that can be attributed to other unknown effects or no effects. Where there are effects found it is in self reports on pain reduction (can be psychological - placebo)

Just read it yourself: http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/details/collection/691705/Acupuncture-ancient-tradition-meets-modern-science.html

So - they have not really "changed their minds". They are open for investigating, like scientists should. To already call acupuncture science is over the top.

Also: its not cause you write in bold that it is more true. Calm down.

Give me your id and password for these journals.

[Spike 12,049]

I've put on close to 20kg since I started university.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I've put on close to 20kg since I started university.

Happens to the best of us. I'd really underestimated how easy it is to put on the kilos at uni, unbelievable.

[iseah100 5,612]

I've put on close to 20kg since I started university.

Happens to the best of us. I'd really underestimated how easy it is to put on the kilos at uni, unbelievable.

Fatties:ph34r:...

Workout at night!

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Fatties:ph34r:...

Workout at night!

My schedule during non-exam time:

Day: Sleep, eat, sleep, repeat

Night: Drink

Schedule during exams:

Day: Sleep, eat, sleep, revise..

Nigh: Eat, revise, eat.

When do I work out? loool

[Spike 12,049]

Fatties:ph34r:...

Workout at night!

It's far too stressful to move at times.

[iseah100 5,612]

My schedule during non-exam time:

Day: Sleep, eat, sleep, repeat

Night: Drink

Schedule during exams:

Day: Sleep, eat, sleep, revise..

Nigh: Eat, revise, eat.

When do I work out? loool

Hmm. I could see how that could be a challenge, my girlfriend complains about the same thing during school. Don't eat junk? Lol

It's far too stressful to move at times.

[Spike 12,049]

Hmm. I could see how that could be a challenge, my girlfriend complains about the same thing during school. Don't eat junk? Lol

Cooking takes up a lot time. Not to mention to actually buy nice ingredients to cook with is outside most uni students budget. Living with parents Uni would be so much easier.

[Term-X 7,891]

In your opinion(s), what is the most efficient gym routine?, I've been looking through the thread but haven't seen you write down what it is you do for 7 days. I.e best time to skip a day and rest, ideal 'times' of the day to work out, when leg day should be.. etc.

*Not 'overall' fitness like cardio etc, just muscle gain workouts*

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

In your opinion(s), what is the most efficient gym routine?, I've been looking through the thread but haven't seen you write down what it is you do for 7 days. I.e best time to skip a day and rest, ideal 'times' of the day to work out, when leg day should be.. etc.

*Not 'overall' fitness like cardio etc, just muscle gain workouts*

Well, it all depends on your current physical state. When you want to start adding muscle mass, the best way is to ease into the routine, to give the body the chance to adapt and avoid injuries.

There's also a priority order in order to get results (in the given order):

1) Food - can't build a house without material, same with muscles and food. I'd recommend to count your calories for a day, see where you're at. To gain mass without adding too much fat (clean bulk is impossible!) it would be good idea to be around 300~ calories in surplus. It's all very individualistic aswell, depends on the metabolism. Theory is one thing, parctice is something else more often than not. You can just weigh yourself couple of times a week and see if you're gaining or losing. Another very important thing is protein in-take. Protein powders aren't meal replacements, they're purely supplements to get those needed grams of protein in the diet, which would be hard/expensive to get from meat for example. Normal person's (without strength training) protein intake should be 0,8g per every bodyweight kilogram. That number increases when you work out because you're adding/building musclemass, I'd say around 100-120g a day, depending on training intensity, metabolism, gender, age, height, weight, physiological state and so on. Do not underestimate the need of carbohydrates, they're also needed as much as sufficent intake of protein, if not more. Certain fats aswell.

2) Sleep - you need around 8 hours a sleep every night optimally, because when you sleep your body releases growth factors, that are responsible for muscle building and repairing, because training really is micro-damaging your muscle tissue to stimulate it to "scar" and grow.

3) Training - right amount of physical muscle stimulation is essential. Too much of it and you're not getting the wanted results and too light schedule will have no effect either. Listen to your body and be objective. More training doesn't always equal more and faster results.

Now that we got the basics out of the way, about training schedules.

I work out 5 times a week, seemes to work the best and gives time to recover both mentally (motivation) and physically. 3 times strength training 2 times cardio. I switch my strength training program every 1 month or so by adding weights/new exercises etc, to mix it up and break the comfort zone, body gets used to stuff quite fast. No strength workout should be over 45-60 minutes if you're doing strength training every other day. Keep in mind also that essentially cardio and strength training are two contradictory training types and cardio workouts do harm your gains especially if you don't eat enough, do not cut out cardio though or you'll end up with high bloodpressure and what not. Best types of movements are compound exercises (type of movement that uses multiple muscle groups) - for example deadlifts (very dangerous if done with incorrect form), bench press, squats... Isolation exercises just focus on some particular musclegroup for example biceps curls, also needed but compound movements work the best.

I remember when I started I did P90X, a 90 day workout programme. Gives you exercise ideas, teaches you correct form, everything is timed and easy to follow. All you need is some dumbells. Look it up if you're interested.

For example:

Monday: Legs and shoulders (unusual split but legs are a big muscle group and doing them with chest or back would be very exhausting, I'd be yawning for oxygen 20 minutes into the workout, not worth it. Shoulder exercises give time to rest legs muscles for next sets and the other way around, with shoulders be sure to hit anterior, middle and posterior deltoid muscles.)

Tuesday: Cardio

Wednesday: Chest and triceps (doing chest involves alot of triceps anyway so a good match)

Thursday: Cardio

Friday: Back and biceps (back is a big muscle group aswell, lot of pulling movement tire you out quick, but lot of stuff involve biceps movement so they're a good match)

Weekend: rest, ideally it would be best to move one of the training into weekend but I don't have time to work-out then, so I'm forced to squeeze them into the 5 day window and have rest-days on weekends.

I can't give you a specific workout plan because I don't know what you have in terms of equipment (if you go to the gym, if you're working out at home and so on) but I can give you pointers if you let me know what you have at your disposal. I read a good suggestion on one forum that when you first go to a new gym, on first day take a notebook and write down every machine there is, so later you've got an overview of what you can use and make a workout schedule. If you're at a gym, I'd suggest asking one of the trainers there, because he/she can see what you're capable of and give you a good pointers from where you can move on. Another tip would be to educate yourself about strength training, it will not only increase your awareness but also motivate you and helps you avoid common mistakes and even injuries, but again, anything you read on the Internet (including this post) you can't take word-for-word because we're all different and things that work for me could perhaps not work or suit for you. Good source to start with would be YouTube for example (Hodgetwins, Michael Kory (mostly nutrition), Ultimate Performance, Ben Pakulski to name a few)

Supplements: only scientifically proven and tested working supplement is creatine. I'd suggest taking creatine monohydrate IF you feel the need to take something. Basically what creatine does is it helps muscle tissue to absorb water (draws water into the muscle), giving you not only a "buffer" look but also more endurance. Again, before taking anything or doing anything I'd suggest to visit your doctor to check your heart, kidneys and so on, listen to his/her advise.

Hope it helped and remember: "Rome was not built in a day, neither was your body"

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Well, it all depends on your current physical state. When you want to start adding muscle mass, the best way is to ease into the routine, to give the body the chance to adapt and avoid injuries.

There's also a priority order in order to get results (in the given order):

1) Food - can't build a house without material, same with muscles and food. I'd recommend to count your calories for a day, see where you're at. To gain mass without adding too much fat (clean bulk is impossible!) it would be good idea to be around 300~ calories in surplus. It's all very individualistic aswell, depends on the metabolism. Theory is one thing, parctice is something else more often than not. You can just weigh yourself couple of times a week and see if you're gaining or losing. Another very important thing is protein in-take. Protein powders aren't meal replacements, they're purely supplements to get those needed grams of protein in the diet, which would be hard/expensive to get from meat for example. Normal person's (without strength training) protein intake should be 0,8g per every bodyweight kilogram. That number increases when you work out because you're adding/building musclemass, I'd say around 100-120g a day, depending on training intensity, metabolism, gender, age, height, weight, physiological state and so on. Do not underestimate the need of carbohydrates, they're also needed as much as sufficent intake of protein, if not more. Certain fats aswell.

2) Sleep - you need around 8 hours a sleep every night optimally, because when you sleep your body releases growth factors, that are responsible for muscle building and repairing, because training really is micro-damaging your muscle tissue to stimulate it to "scar" and grow.

3) Training - right amount of physical muscle stimulation is essential. Too much of it and you're not getting the wanted results and too light schedule will have no effect either. Listen to your body and be objective. More training doesn't always equal more and faster results.

Now that we got the basics out of the way, about training schedules.

I work out 5 times a week, seemes to work the best and gives time to recover both mentally (motivation) and physically. 3 times strength training 2 times cardio. I switch my strength training program every 1 month or so by adding weights/new exercises etc, to mix it up and break the comfort zone, body gets used to stuff quite fast. No strength workout should be over 45-60 minutes if you're doing strength training every other day. Keep in mind also that essentially cardio and strength training are two contradictory training types and cardio workouts do harm your gains especially if you don't eat enough, do not cut out cardio though or you'll end up with high bloodpressure and what not. Best types of movements are compound exercises (type of movement that uses multiple muscle groups) - for example deadlifts (very dangerous if done with incorrect form), bench press, squats... Isolation exercises just focus on some particular musclegroup for example biceps curls, also needed but compound movements work the best.

I remember when I started I did P90X, a 90 day workout programme. Gives you exercise ideas, teaches you correct form, everything is timed and easy to follow. All you need is some dumbells. Look it up if you're interested.

For example:

Monday: Legs and shoulders (unusual split but legs are a big muscle group and doing them with chest or back would be very exhausting, I'd be yawning for oxygen 20 minutes into the workout, not worth it. Shoulder exercises give time to rest legs muscles for next sets and the other way around, with shoulders be sure to hit anterior, middle and posterior deltoid muscles.)

Tuesday: Cardio

Wednesday: Chest and triceps (doing chest involves alot of triceps anyway so a good match)

Thursday: Cardio

Friday: Back and biceps (back is a big muscle group aswell, lot of pulling movement tire you out quick, but lot of stuff involve biceps movement so they're a good match)

Weekend: rest, ideally it would be best to move one of the training into weekend but I don't have time to work-out then, so I'm forced to squeeze them into the 5 day window and have rest-days on weekends.

I can't give you a specific workout plan because I don't know what you have in terms of equipment (if you go to the gym, if you're working out at home and so on) but I can give you pointers if you let me know what you have at your disposal. I read a good suggestion on one forum that when you first go to a new gym, on first day take a notebook and write down every machine there is, so later you've got an overview of what you can use and make a workout schedule. If you're at a gym, I'd suggest asking one of the trainers there, because he/she can see what you're capable of and give you a good pointers from where you can move on. Another tip would be to educate yourself about strength training, it will not only increase your awareness but also motivate you and helps you avoid common mistakes and even injuries, but again, anything you read on the Internet (including this post) you can't take word-for-word because we're all different and things that work for me could perhaps not work or suit for you. Good source to start with would be YouTube for example (Hodgetwins, Michael Kory (mostly nutrition), Ultimate Performance, Ben Pakulski to name a few)

Supplements: only scientifically proven and tested working supplement is creatine. I'd suggest taking creatine monohydrate IF you feel the need to take something. Basically what creatine does is it helps muscle tissue to absorb water (draws water into the muscle), giving you not only a "buffer" look but also more endurance. Again, before taking anything or doing anything I'd suggest to visit your doctor to check your heart, kidneys and so on, listen to his/her advise.

Hope it helped and remember: "Rome was not built in a day, neither was your body"

Terrific post mate. quick question, what do u feel about whey protein? specifically the Optimum nutrition Gold Standard one. Will drinking them post workout help?

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

Terrific post mate. quick question, what do u feel about whey protein? specifically the Optimum nutrition Gold Standard one. Will drinking them post workout help?

Whey proten is the best kind, it is absorbed by your body the fastest. ON's Gold Standard is one of the best, I've heard a lot, top quality. Not tried it myself. Try it out, see if it works for you!

Usually the instructions on the protein box say that you've got to take it 2-3 times a day, 1 scoop every time (~30g) but that's not needed if your diet covers your protein need. Body can't absorb protein very fast, so you'll just waste your money because it's going to be "thrown out" from your body. Taking protein powder after workout is perfect timing, because there's a window of 30-40 minutes after workout where your body is "grabbing" new nutrients to cover the deficit caused by training. So taking any kind of supplement (protein, creatine etc) and food will be more likely absorbed and not going to waste.

One thing about supplements: things like pre-workout etc are not healthy in the long run, it essentially is cofein packed sugar drink. Rather skip it and take a cup of coffee or just motivate yourself etc, will save you from possible health problems. Not saying that they don't work, they most likely do, but they are not needed and are waste of money.

[Term-X 7,891]

1) Food - can't build a house without material, same with muscles and food.

Appreciate the response.

I have a high metabolism, so will be starting the GOMAD diet tomorrow, which consists of eating every 3 hours and consuming 1 gallon of whole milk a day (around 7 pints/4 litres) for a month. I’m pretty lean (although a healthy weight for my height), but this is the only ‘realistic’ way of adding the calories. I might do as you suggest and at some Creatine though, if necessary..

GOMAD - http://stronglifts.com/gomad-milk-squats-gallon-gain-weight/

do not cut out cardio though or you'll end up with high bloodpressure and what not. B

Could I skip cardio ‘initially’ during that period of bulking without fucking up my blood pressure too much?, the idea of bulking and doing any kind of cardio seems counter-productive.

Monday: Legs and shoulders (unusual split but legs are a big muscle group and doing them with chest or back would be very exhausting, I'd be yawning for oxygen 20 minutes into the workout, not worth it. Shoulder exercises give time to rest legs muscles for next sets and the other way around, with shoulders be sure to hit anterior, middle and posterior deltoid muscles.)

Tuesday: Cardio

Wednesday: Chest and triceps (doing chest involves alot of triceps anyway so a good match)

Thursday: Cardio

Friday: Back and biceps (back is a big muscle group aswell, lot of pulling movement tire you out quick, but lot of stuff involve biceps movement so they're a good match)

Weekend: rest, ideally it would be best to move one of the training into weekend but I don't have time to work-out then, so I'm forced to squeeze them into the 5 day window and have rest-days on weekends.

I will be going to a gym..

What types of equipment do you use for these workouts typically? (thinking of typical/generic commerical gym equipment you find in most places). I can Youtube the tutorials if you could brief me on them..

[SinineUltra 1,170]

Agree what Metsaj said, some very solid advice. Though, I'm always very careful when someone wants to start living a healthier lifestyle by working out AND jumps on the extreme diets, workouts immediately. Even though you seem a mature person with stable mindset and well above average IQ, focus I don't think it is wise to start drinking 4liters of milk a day. What is the purpose of it? To gain weight? You gain weight when you consume excessive amounts of calories (mainly from carbonhydrates through the nature of the metabolic paths and cycles). You can get the calories and OTHER nutrients from a normal diet, you just have to eat more than you spend and eat frequently. Milk will sure help you gain weight, but where do you draw the line? You can't keep 4l a milk a day for the rest of your life to maintain / gain weight. It is better to start eating proper food from the start that is 25%-30%fat (10% PUFA, 10% MUFA, 10% saturated - I'm on the side of people who dont think saturated fats are the devil and cause atherosclerosis and what not), 55%-60% carbonhydrates from good sources (potato, pasta, rice, bread, meat etc and 10-15% proteins from ANIMAL products mainly due to the nature of the proteins they contain (all the 20 essential amino acids, milk also contains 20 amino acids but it's absorption in the body may not be as good even though it contains casein - the protein that makes digestion easier for infants when their bile acid production is very low or non existent in the first year of their life, thats why the need to breast feed). Don't disregard greens, vegetables etc, they give you vitamins that are needed for healthy organism (we are not dogs that can produce our own vitC, we need to get it from plant sources, same with E vitamin and provitamin of A). Generally that i've read and heard is that half of the plate should be a salad. Also drink plenty of water to make it easier for you kidneys, they are not used to filtrating (or rather stop filtrating) this amount of protein before. Extreme diets can fuck up your kidneys. Visit a sports doctor, your family doctor - get a check up, physical tests done and talk to them about your wishes and views of the diets, exercises and ask if they could assess your health accordingly. I know, blablabla, seems very generic but it is for a reason, Again ,if youre serious about this, don't shy away from possible inconveniences, because in the long run this might save you from medical bills. Soon youll volunteer to do the physical exam bcs it gives you loads of info about you and your body PLUS you have a starting point you can compare yourelf after x amount of time has passed and follow your progress opposed to subjective glance in the mirror and weight scale numbers which can be deceiving,

The key to gaining PROPER weight and not just lard is to install good eating, training and sleeping habits. The sooner the better, there is no magic cure for gaining muscle. Train like previous poster advised, eat clean (count calories at start if youre serious about gaining weight but not going fat, otherwise it is easy to get used to over-eating and when there is time to start cutting youll have bad habits of eating junk and will keep on putting on bodyfat). You might not see it this way but having a fast metabolism puts you in a prime position for weight training in the long run - you can eat and not gain as much meaning lower body fat %, being leaner and more defined. Just the start is hard.

Like i said before, I think you are a person that has the MENTAL capabilities to stick to a program with eyes on the prize attitude. That's why I'm sure you'll succeed but don't go on extreme diets, workouts from the start - you will hurt yourself and your body, drain out mentally and what not. People who are super fit have been working out for YEARS with proper diets etc, if you're ready to follow their example. only then you WILL succeed. WIthout knowing you in person nor your previous exercise levels, I'd suggest start doing 100 push up series (google it), pull ups etc for the first weeks, ease into it - if youre serious about this then it will be the best option to let your body adapt to the new regime and those 3-4 weeks wont make or break your goals,though, vice versa can slowly destroy your body.

Usually people have asked me irl how to rather lose weight, some how to gain also, but one thing that is common is that they are not committed to the cause. They want the beach body of models but dont realise it takes discipline to pull it off. They might theatrically eat one small carrot or a dry rice cake in front of me and complain that they cant lose weight but the truth is I have no idea what they eat or consume when they are home or out in the town - thats where discipline comes in. People accuse genetics too easily for their troubles, but it all comes down to motivation, discipline and staying HONEST with yourself. You can lie to yourself but it will reflect in the mirror afterwards.

Milk contains calcium, calcium is needed for many functions but also for bone structure. Calcium and phosphate stores are regulated by thyroid gland (PTH, calcitonin) and vitD3 in form of calcitriol. If you consume so much milk, can it make your thyroid gland dysfunction? Too much calcitionin would mean over reactive thyroid gland -> higher metabolism -> weight loss. Underactive (due to lack of need of PTH) could theoretically lead to hypothyroidism. So it is a dangerous tinkering when it comes to extreme diets. This jibber jabber about insulin spikes - milk has relatively low glycaemic index meaning it will not spike insulin that much or so rapidly. So its anabolic properties are not that great as advertised in the GOMAD diet plan. Not that high GI is good, but low isn't great either in terms of absorption.

I don't take any supplements, though, creatine is a relatively safe way to go. Only side effect noted according to a rather inconclusive study indicated a raise in DHT ( a metabolic product of testosterone that amounts to 5% compared to testosterone itself) that binds to the their according receptors. Raised DHT levels have been correlated to cause balding in the head and hair growth other parts of the body (usually men with male pattern baldness tend to be hairier - their receptors are receptive to DHT and too much DHT can not necessarily cause one go bald but if it is in your genetics then it can make it happen quicker. It's all theoretical so far but just thought you might want to know. When I used it I didn't feel any difference. In creatines defense, the raise in DHT was still noted to be in the normal reference range and as said the study was not well run. Creatine will help you gain weight through water weight and will give you energy in from of creatine phosphate to push out more reps -> more muscle stimulation -> gains. Regarding protein powders - if you can get enough protein from good sources (animal protein) then there is no need for them. Too much protein does not mean more gains - it means expensive stools and -in extreme cases- urine.

Ask questions if youve got any about nutrition or workouts, I'll gladly help you.

[lucio 5,418]

Appreciate the response.

I have a high metabolism, so will be starting the GOMAD diet tomorrow, which consists of eating every 3 hours and consuming 1 gallon of whole milk a day (around 7 pints/4 litres) for a month. I’m pretty lean (although a healthy weight for my height), but this is the only ‘realistic’ way of adding the calories. I might do as you suggest and at some Creatine though, if necessary..

GOMAD - http://stronglifts.com/gomad-milk-squats-gallon-gain-weight/

Could I skip cardio ‘initially’ during that period of bulking without fucking up my blood pressure too much?, the idea of bulking and doing any kind of cardio seems counter-productive.

I will be going to a gym..

What types of equipment do you use for these workouts typically? (thinking of typical/generic commerical gym equipment you find in most places). I can Youtube the tutorials if you could brief me on them..

you could try doing sprinting for cardio.

that way , you actually build the muscles of your legs and waist. and still keep healthy. only problem is , that it would interfere with your regular lower body training. so keep them far apart.

[SinineUltra 1,170]

you could try doing sprinting for cardio.

that way , you actually build the muscles of your legs and waist. and still keep healthy. only problem is , that it would interfere with your regular lower body training. so keep them far apart.

Great alternative mate, but it has its limitations. I forgot to add in my post above that neglecting cardio is not a solution to gaining weight, Only thing you can gain from not doing proper cardio is higher blood pressure and the ability to sweat after going up the stairs.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

I agree with the stuff Sinised wrote. We know eachother irl but we're not the same person

Avoid extreme diet plans. Just stick with eating proper food, just more and more frequently. Add protein powder (and creatine if you feel the need) to your diet and you'll be set. Drink plenty of water instead. A lot of diets are short term solution and more often than not will cause some deficit in the long run. Biggest joke of all is the KETO diet (zero carbs in diet, carbs are the main fuel of human body and glucose is the only fuel for your brain and neurons, so limiting carb intake will make brain use keto acids, hence the name keto diet) but it is no solution and will cause problems sooner rather than later.

Check that video out on compound movements, they are the basics for weight training, good form is essential. And weight training has no place for ego when it comes to picking weights, too much weight and you can't perform exercises with proper form and risk injuries, too light and you're in the comfort zone. Aim for a weight that you can do an exercise 10-12 times without risking form failure. You can search YouTube for example training schedules, bodybuilding.com has quite a few up there aswell.

To aswser your cardio question then you can skip long cardio sessions but don't cut cardio out entirely. I'd say 10min~ warmup on rowing machine/ treadmill and so on before workout and 15~ minute light cardio after workout to cool down is a good idea. Good warmup will give you that warm, pumped feeling so it's also very needed.

Luciobrazil007's suggestion to do sprints could work but it's contradictory to some extent. To build endurance and strength of your heart you need to do AEROBIC training (which basically means during the workout your body gets the oxygen it needs and avoids building up lactic acid by anaerobic glycolysis.), sprinting is ANAEROBIC training, just like strength training, hence the need for AEROBIC exercises. It could work but it's a short term solution.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

I agree with the stuff Sinised wrote. We know eachother irl but we're not the same person

Avoid extreme diet plans. Just stick with eating proper food, just more and more frequently. Add protein powder (and creatine if you feel the need) to your diet and you'll be set. Drink plenty of water instead. A lot of diets are short term solution and more often than not will cause some deficit in the long run. Biggest joke of all is the KETO diet (zero carbs in diet, carbs are the main fuel of human body and glucose is the only fuel for your brain and neurons, so limiting carb intake will make brain use keto acids, hence the name keto diet) but it is no solution and will cause problems sooner rather than later.

Check that video out on compound movements, they are the basics for weight training, good form is essential. And weight training has no place for ego when it comes to picking weights, too much weight and you can't perform exercises with proper form and risk injuries, too light and you're in the comfort zone. Aim for a weight that you can do an exercise 10-12 times without risking form failure. You can search YouTube for example training schedules, bodybuilding.com has quite a few up there aswell.

To aswser your cardio question then you can skip long cardio sessions but don't cut cardio out entirely. I'd say 10~ warmup on rowing machine/ treadmill and so on before workout and 15~ minute light cardio after workout to cool down is a good idea. Good warmup will give you that warm, pumped feeling so it's also very needed.

Luciobrazil007's suggestion to do sprints could work but it's contradictory to some extent. To build endurance and strength of your heart you need to do AEROBIC training (which basically means during the workout your body gets the oxygen it needs and avoids building up lactic acid by anaerobic glycolysis.), sprinting is ANAEROBIC training, just like strength training, hence the need for AEROBIC exercises. It could work but it's a short term solution.

Sadly I still do not have the strength to do even a single pull up. Recently,I've changed my workout routine to help build some kind of strength,so hopefully I'll see some progress. Even negatives were kind of a problem because I couldn't control my legs and they kept going forward. Crossing them also did not help,so any advice on how to improve this? Or should I just concentrate on my routine( does not include pull ups) and try them after a few weeks.