85 replies to this topic

[TheFountain]

I was going to try creatine some time last year but never got around to it.
I basically am doing alot of resistance exercises. The difference is I am not doing extremely heavy weights like alot of guys here are. I basically combine medium weights (40 pound dumbells, sometimes 50, depending on the exercise) with a bit of calisthenics (pushups, pyramid pushups, squats, ab workout, etc). I always sweat pretty well during my workouts. I am also currently minimizing cardio because I am trying to reduce the catabolic effect it seems to cause me. Is creatine only beneficial to people who lift extremely heavy weights or is it okay to take in conjunction with the regimen I outlined?

[leviathans]

Creatine is more for increasing pure strength, I would recommend Beta-Alanine if your doing higher repetitions. Beta-Alanine works insanely well btw. You will be able to easily increase the number of repetitions for a given weigth with it. Also, you will feel less tiredness from training.

[TheFountain]

Creatine is more for increasing pure strength, I would recommend Beta-Alanine if your doing higher repetitions. Beta-Alanine works insanely well btw. You will be able to easily increase the number of repetitions for a given weigth with it. Also, you will feel less tiredness from training.

I've taken beta-alanine for the past 3 months now. I know alot of people stack BA with creatine. Is there a drop off point though where combining supplements makes no sense anymore? Des taking beta-alanine+creatine really benefit us more than taking one or the other?

Edited by TheFountain, 20 November 2010 - 07:25 PM.

[nowayout]

I've taken beta-alanine for the past 3 months now.

Did it make any difference?

[leviathans]

Creatine is more for increasing pure strength, I would recommend Beta-Alanine if your doing higher repetitions. Beta-Alanine works insanely well btw. You will be able to easily increase the number of repetitions for a given weigth with it. Also, you will feel less tiredness from training.

I've taken beta-alanine for the past 3 months now. I know alot of people stack BA with creatine. Is there a drop off point though where combining supplements makes no sense anymore? Des taking beta-alanine+creatine really benefit us more than taking one or the other?

They make a good combination because they are very different. Creatine is about increasing ATP and Beta-Alanine is about increasing carnosine. So the combination should be better than taking only one of them.

For recovery you could also try BCAA and citrulline malate.

Anyways, excessive supplementation should not be necessary unless you do real bodybuilding/power-lifting.

[ritch]

It depends. If you're not eating at least 5 protein rich meals a day, taking in your essential fatty acids and so on, then no. Sine you don't plan on getting that strong I will take a guess and say that you don't. How about you write down your daily diet? I'm pretty good at helping people with that.

[TheFountain]

Creatine is more for increasing pure strength, I would recommend Beta-Alanine if your doing higher repetitions. Beta-Alanine works insanely well btw. You will be able to easily increase the number of repetitions for a given weigth with it. Also, you will feel less tiredness from training.

I've taken beta-alanine for the past 3 months now. I know alot of people stack BA with creatine. Is there a drop off point though where combining supplements makes no sense anymore? Des taking beta-alanine+creatine really benefit us more than taking one or the other?

They make a good combination because they are very different. Creatine is about increasing ATP and Beta-Alanine is about increasing carnosine. So the combination should be better than taking only one of them.

For recovery you could also try BCAA and citrulline malate.

Anyways, excessive supplementation should not be necessary unless you do real bodybuilding/power-lifting.

The thing that concerns me is potential kidney stones resulting from creatine consumption. What if I can't handle a gallon of water a day? What if I can only down ten 8oz glasses of water a day? Will I be left with a long term kidney ailment? Or is that whole creatne-kidney thing overstated?

[TheFountain]

It depends. If you're not eating at least 5 protein rich meals a day, taking in your essential fatty acids and so on, then no. Sine you don't plan on getting that strong I will take a guess and say that you don't. How about you write down your daily diet? I'm pretty good at helping people with that.

Now in terms of the content (meaning, the types of foods I eat) of my diet I really don't need help with it because I am pretty much content being a pescetarian at this time. Or shifting back and forth between pescetarian and vegetarian. But feel free to suggest more or less of something, or foods that are not land animals. Here is a sample day of my current diet.

Morning, 4-6 scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms or peppers in an omelet. This is about 30-40 grams of protein as it is. I also have a whey protein shake consisting of 25 grams whey protein isolate.

About an hour later is when I do my resistance exercises as outlined in my first post. These exercises and weight routine generally last about an hour to an hour and a half. And within a half hour of this exercise session i'll have another 25 grams of whey protein and an avocado or something.

A little while later I will make a sweet potato with lots of butter on it to restore glucose levels or whatever.

A little while after that, a meal consisting of some kind of fish, like shrimp, salmon steak, herring, etc along with a vegetable like green beans or broccoli or spinach. I might put some cheese on the salmon steak.

Between this meal and dinner I will have some dark chocolate (85%) and maybe some macadamia nuts with yet another 25 grams of whey protein, mixed with either a little coconut milk or heavy cream and stevia extract for a little sweetness.

Dinner usually is another serving of some kind of fish with another 4-5 eggs, this time hard boiled with tomato paste and olive oil on it. A little kale on the side too. The fish meals are at least 20 grams of protein each. the egg meals are 30-40 grams of protein each. That already is 100 grams of dietary protein throughout the day (probably a little more). The additional whey protein supplemented is usually about 75-100 grams throughout a 10 hour period. So I am definitely getting adequate protein through the day and not trying to get it all in one sitting.

Edited by TheFountain, 21 November 2010 - 02:35 PM.

[nowayout]

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

[TheFountain]

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

How are you suppose to be on a low carb, high fat diet then? According to just about every man here who works out (even sporadically) you can achieve the 'lowest' body fat on said diet. Remember the carbs=aging thread? Duke basically dismissed everyone who said you cannot achive the lowest body fat on said diet. Said he worked out once a week while maintaining 10% body fat, etc etc etc.

Now while I myself am somewhere between 10-11% currently and have some visible ab definition, I would like to get it to just under 9% if possible. What diet are YOU on that is so successful with ab definition?

[leviathans]

The thing that concerns me is potential kidney stones resulting from creatine consumption. What if I can't handle a gallon of water a day? What if I can only down ten 8oz glasses of water a day? Will I be left with a long term kidney ailment? Or is that whole creatne-kidney thing overstated?

All I can say is that I've lurked on many bodybuilding forums for a long time and I've never heard of anyone saying that they got kidney stones from creatine. I don't think you should worry about that unless you have some kidney problems.

Also note that creatine has been studied and used by a lot of people. So if something was dangerous about creatine, we would surely know it by now.

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

lol, whatever

[nowayout]

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

How are you suppose to be on a low carb, high fat diet then? According to just about every man here who works out (even sporadically) you can achieve the 'lowest' body fat on said diet. Remember the carbs=aging thread? Duke basically dismissed everyone who said you cannot achive the lowest body fat on said diet. Said he worked out once a week while maintaining 10% body fat, etc etc etc.

Duke's and the other high-fat diet guys' view is a minority opinion. A vocal and strident minority, to be sure, but the fact that they are loud does not make them right.

Edited by viveutvivas, 21 November 2010 - 05:25 PM.

[leviathans]

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

How are you suppose to be on a low carb, high fat diet then? According to just about every man here who works out (even sporadically) you can achieve the 'lowest' body fat on said diet. Remember the carbs=aging thread? Duke basically dismissed everyone who said you cannot achive the lowest body fat on said diet. Said he worked out once a week while maintaining 10% body fat, etc etc etc.

Duke's and the other high-fat diet guys' view is a minority opinion. A vocal and strident minority, to be sure, but the fact that they are loud does not make them right.

You can be thin as much with a low-carb diet than a high-carb diet. Just check the studies. It's not a matter of opinion, it's a fact that low-carb leads to weight loss and it's also known that low-fat leads to weigth loss.

Btw, many bodybuilders use a cycling ketogenic diet to prepare for a competition, which means that they get like 5-6% bodyfat from doing the ketogenic or low-carb diet.

Edited by leviathans, 21 November 2010 - 06:12 PM.

[westcanuck]

This is a more recent and interesting study on Creatine. No mention of liver or kidney issues though.

The effects of age on skeletal muscle and the phosphocreatine energy system: can creatine supplementation help older adults

A long and worthwhile read but conclusion is:

Despite physiological adaptations that occur with aging that may reduce the effectiveness of creatine supplementation, well designed studies have found creatine supplementation to safely enhance muscle strength[17,22,24-26,56], hypertrophy[17,22,24-26,56], endurance[22,24,55] and performance in functional tasks[17,22] in older adults. Of equal interest, such results have been observed in response to relatively short interventions (5-7 days of creatine supplementation). Therefore, creatine supplementation should be strongly considered as a safe, inexpensive and effective nutritional intervention to help slow the rate of muscle wasting with age, particularly when consumed in conjunction with a resistance training regimen. Future research should examine factors that can affect creatine transport into muscle, such as creatine transporter protein concentrations and uptake from oral ingestion. Researchers also need to examine the effects of age on ATPase and creatine kinase levels, which are integral enzymes needed for phosphocreatine energy system functionality. Finally, research in older populations should focus on the ideal dosing and timing of creatine supplementation, along with the practicality of combining creatine consumption with protein, beta-alanine and/or beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyric acid (HMB) as each may benefit older adults.

[ajnast4r]

creatine @ 5g per day isnt going to cause any kidney issues in healthy people... but theres no point in using creatine with those light weights. try heavy weights first

[TheFountain]

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

How are you suppose to be on a low carb, high fat diet then? According to just about every man here who works out (even sporadically) you can achieve the 'lowest' body fat on said diet. Remember the carbs=aging thread? Duke basically dismissed everyone who said you cannot achive the lowest body fat on said diet. Said he worked out once a week while maintaining 10% body fat, etc etc etc.

Duke's and the other high-fat diet guys' view is a minority opinion. A vocal and strident minority, to be sure, but the fact that they are loud does not make them right.

So basically you are calling them the Bill O'reillys of the health community? And what of all the studies constantly brought up throughout the forum which indicate positive association between low carb diet and fat loss? And again, what is YOUR current diet like eh?

[TheFountain]

I can see why you are complaining about ab definition. All that butter and heavy cream is not good for abs.

How are you suppose to be on a low carb, high fat diet then? According to just about every man here who works out (even sporadically) you can achieve the 'lowest' body fat on said diet. Remember the carbs=aging thread? Duke basically dismissed everyone who said you cannot achive the lowest body fat on said diet. Said he worked out once a week while maintaining 10% body fat, etc etc etc.

Duke's and the other high-fat diet guys' view is a minority opinion. A vocal and strident minority, to be sure, but the fact that they are loud does not make them right.

You can be thin as much with a low-carb diet than a high-carb diet. Just check the studies. It's not a matter of opinion, it's a fact that low-carb leads to weight loss and it's also known that low-fat leads to weigth loss.

Btw, many bodybuilders use a cycling ketogenic diet to prepare for a competition, which means that they get like 5-6% bodyfat from doing the ketogenic or low-carb diet.

I have an awkward view of bodybuilding too. I don't think you need to lift uber heavy to be a body builder. Gaining lean mass doesn't necessarily mean bench pressing 300 pounds. It could also come from conditioning the muscle fibers at high reps of lower weights. In other words endurance work outs. Do you think creatine would be beneficial for that?

[leviathans]

I have an awkward view of bodybuilding too. I don't think you need to lift uber heavy to be a body builder. Gaining lean mass doesn't necessarily mean bench pressing 300 pounds. It could also come from conditioning the muscle fibers at high reps of lower weights. In other words endurance work outs. Do you think creatine would be beneficial for that?

Not that much, it's mostly used in the high-intensity, low-duration efforts.

Here is a little interesting graph :
(source : http://www.brianmac.co.uk/energy.htm)


 energy.gif   14.03KB   97 downloads

[ritch]

OK, so you're diet isn't terrible, good news. You just need some tweaking... To make this as simple as possible here's what you should do. Have a protein carb meal before and after your training. The rest of the meals are protein and fats. Right now you have no carbs post workout so I would include some there. If you're a natural ectomorph then you can add another protein carb meal after your post workout meal and the 3 remaining meals are protein and fats. It's very simple and it works.

And no 5 grams of creatine will not kill you lol. These are old housewife tales that need to stop. How tall are you and how much do you plan on weighing? The word "bodybuilder" can have different meanings for different people. But most guys need to at least bench 2 plates a side and squat around 3 plates a side to have any type of mass that will make you look big in clothes... There are always exceptions....

Good luck with this, and again, I have lots of experience here (over 20 years of training) and take this very seriously, any questions on how to get bigger or stronger, just ask!

[kismet]

creatine @ 5g per day isnt going to cause any kidney issues in healthy people... but theres no point in using creatine with those light weights. try heavy weights first

No. We are not a bodybuilding forum so weights do not even come into the equation or not much. Creatine as a health supplement in (quasi)vegetarians is more than interesting (e.g. for intelligence or strength as in quality of life ).

But I do not have a strong opinion either way right now, esp. cause I am somewhat troubled by creatine raising DHT.

Edited by kismet, 21 November 2010 - 10:40 PM.

[ritch]

creatine @ 5g per day isnt going to cause any kidney issues in healthy people... but theres no point in using creatine with those light weights. try heavy weights first

No. We are not a bodybuilding forum so weights do not even come into the equation or not much. Creatine as a health supplement in (quasi)vegetarians is more than interesting (e.g. for intelligence or strength as in quality of life ).

But I do not have a strong opinion either way right now, esp. cause I am somewhat troubled by creatine raising DHT.

creatine increasing dht? Dear lord, stop the madness!

[TheFountain]

I have an awkward view of bodybuilding too. I don't think you need to lift uber heavy to be a body builder. Gaining lean mass doesn't necessarily mean bench pressing 300 pounds. It could also come from conditioning the muscle fibers at high reps of lower weights. In other words endurance work outs. Do you think creatine would be beneficial for that?

Not that much, it's mostly used in the high-intensity, low-duration efforts.

Here is a little interesting graph :
(source : http://www.brianmac.co.uk/energy.htm)


 energy.gif   14.03KB   97 downloads

What to me qualifies as high intensity could be a couple sets of pyramid push ups, some other calisthenics and a hard core work out. I sweat alot during my exercises which seems to indicate alot of energy expenditure so I don't see how creatine wouldn't activate more intensity through increased muscle hydration.

[TheFountain]

OK, so you're diet isn't terrible, good news. You just need some tweaking... To make this as simple as possible here's what you should do. Have a protein carb meal before and after your training. The rest of the meals are protein and fats. Right now you have no carbs post workout so I would include some there. If you're a natural ectomorph then you can add another protein carb meal after your post workout meal and the 3 remaining meals are protein and fats. It's very simple and it works.

And no 5 grams of creatine will not kill you lol. These are old housewife tales that need to stop. How tall are you and how much do you plan on weighing? The word "bodybuilder" can have different meanings for different people. But most guys need to at least bench 2 plates a side and squat around 3 plates a side to have any type of mass that will make you look big in clothes... There are always exceptions....

Good luck with this, and again, I have lots of experience here (over 20 years of training) and take this very seriously, any questions on how to get bigger or stronger, just ask!

Is it alright if the carbs in the protein/carb meals come from sweet potatoes and other vegetables like string beans, etc? I feel very strongly about staying away from high glycemic processed carbs. I have even completely rid myself of oatmeal and all other types of grains in an effort to assuage any serious blood sugar spikes.

I am not going to get into my opinion of being big and what have you, but my goal is not that. Lean mass yes, whether or not it is visible or intimidating to other's is really not my goal here. Bruce Lee was a very muscular guy but it wasn't necessarily visible through clothes. Small but lean is my goal. I am pretty much there now but I want to make some minor improvements still. Do you think Creatine will help with fat burning if I make the dietary tweaks you suggest?

[ajnast4r]

No. We are not a bodybuilding forum so weights do not even come into the equation or not much.

someone hold shepard back.

i disagree... i think heavy weight lifting should be and is of concern to anyone interested in LE. Now I'm not talking regular bodybuilding style training, but heavy resistance training will do a lot of positive things for you in a lot of different areas.

Do you think Creatine will help with fat burning if I make the dietary tweaks you suggest?

there are some studies showing creatine actually inhibits fat loss.

Edited by ajnast4r, 22 November 2010 - 01:41 AM.

[ritch]

OK, so you're diet isn't terrible, good news. You just need some tweaking... To make this as simple as possible here's what you should do. Have a protein carb meal before and after your training. The rest of the meals are protein and fats. Right now you have no carbs post workout so I would include some there. If you're a natural ectomorph then you can add another protein carb meal after your post workout meal and the 3 remaining meals are protein and fats. It's very simple and it works.

And no 5 grams of creatine will not kill you lol. These are old housewife tales that need to stop. How tall are you and how much do you plan on weighing? The word "bodybuilder" can have different meanings for different people. But most guys need to at least bench 2 plates a side and squat around 3 plates a side to have any type of mass that will make you look big in clothes... There are always exceptions....

Good luck with this, and again, I have lots of experience here (over 20 years of training) and take this very seriously, any questions on how to get bigger or stronger, just ask!

Is it alright if the carbs in the protein/carb meals come from sweet potatoes and other vegetables like string beans, etc? I feel very strongly about staying away from high glycemic processed carbs. I have even completely rid myself of oatmeal and all other types of grains in an effort to assuage any serious blood sugar spikes.

I am not going to get into my opinion of being big and what have you, but my goal is not that. Lean mass yes, whether or not it is visible or intimidating to other's is really not my goal here. Bruce Lee was a very muscular guy but it wasn't necessarily visible through clothes. Small but lean is my goal. I am pretty much there now but I want to make some minor improvements still. Do you think Creatine will help with fat burning if I make the dietary tweaks you suggest?

For the carbs I would have complex carbs before your workout. A good 1.5 to 2 hours before. Post workout many including myself like fast acting carbs like gatorade to cause an insulin skike which shuttles more aminos from the protein into your muscles. Some however prefer even slow carbs post workout. If your a guy who gains fat easily, then no gatorade. The sweet potatoe option is a great one. Have your source of lean protein with that and your gtg.

As far as creatine, it simply makes you better at anything you do. More atp being available the better you perform. That and the full round look it gives your muscles. Don't mistake that with water retention. This is intra cellular water retention... The people who claim water retention are people who sell the much more expensive creatines like the creatine ester, malate, orotate and so on... There is a small chance you won't respond to it, but chances are you will like the look and performance it gives you.

However for the Bruce Lee look, no way do you need it! Just get very low body fat and you will be ripped. To get that lean it's 80% diet. Do some cardio empty stomach when you can, low intensity longer duration of choice the machine dosen't really matter, but the stairmaster pays off big time.

Just watching what you eat, the type of training you do with some martial arts done 3 times a week should get you that look.

If you want a diet to get you crazy lean go to rxmuscle.com and look up Dave Palumbo's keto diet. Super easy to follow, but the 1st 2 weeks can be hell for some, But if you follow that diet you won't need to do martial arts for the extra calorie burning. It would even overtrain you if you hit the weights too hard. But calisthnetics (sp?) isn't really that high intensity wise so maybe you could pull it off.

Is this getting more clear?

[ritch]

No. We are not a bodybuilding forum so weights do not even come into the equation or not much.

someone hold shepard back.

i disagree... i think heavy weight lifting should be and is of concern to anyone interested in LE. Now I'm not talking regular bodybuilding style training, but heavy resistance training will do a lot of positive things for you in a lot of different areas.

Do you think Creatine will help with fat burning if I make the dietary tweaks you suggest?

there are some studies showing creatine actually inhibits fat loss.

Inhibits fat loss huh? You guys need to stop looking at these so called studies and actually try the stuff. The best and most ripped bodybuilders in the world use creatine. Sure they use tons of other drugs, but please don't spread such terrible information. No offense.

And to all of you who post these bullshit claims on creatine, go to rxmuxle.com, t-nation or any other bodybuilding forum, and say it's bad for your kidneys, inreases dht, and inhibits fat loss and make sure you're wearing a flame suite because you gonna get burned by some real pro's who will post rapidly change your outlook on this supp.

You want a morew scientific explanatijon ask Carl Lanore from Superhumanradio.com You can contact him there.

If that dosent' convince you, then there's no pleasing you.

[TheFountain]

No. We are not a bodybuilding forum so weights do not even come into the equation or not much.

someone hold shepard back.

i disagree... i think heavy weight lifting should be and is of concern to anyone interested in LE. Now I'm not talking regular bodybuilding style training, but heavy resistance training will do a lot of positive things for you in a lot of different areas.

Do you think Creatine will help with fat burning if I make the dietary tweaks you suggest?

there are some studies showing creatine actually inhibits fat loss.

I think you can get alot of benefits lifting medium weights too. As in 40-50 pound dumb bells. I don't know why some people think lifting this amount of weight is useless. Alot of people can't even lift that much. I am not saying it is super amount of weight obviously but when done properly and with the right repetitions muscle fiber conditioning is certain.

[TheFountain]

OK, so you're diet isn't terrible, good news. You just need some tweaking... To make this as simple as possible here's what you should do. Have a protein carb meal before and after your training. The rest of the meals are protein and fats. Right now you have no carbs post workout so I would include some there. If you're a natural ectomorph then you can add another protein carb meal after your post workout meal and the 3 remaining meals are protein and fats. It's very simple and it works.

And no 5 grams of creatine will not kill you lol. These are old housewife tales that need to stop. How tall are you and how much do you plan on weighing? The word "bodybuilder" can have different meanings for different people. But most guys need to at least bench 2 plates a side and squat around 3 plates a side to have any type of mass that will make you look big in clothes... There are always exceptions....

Good luck with this, and again, I have lots of experience here (over 20 years of training) and take this very seriously, any questions on how to get bigger or stronger, just ask!

Is it alright if the carbs in the protein/carb meals come from sweet potatoes and other vegetables like string beans, etc? I feel very strongly about staying away from high glycemic processed carbs. I have even completely rid myself of oatmeal and all other types of grains in an effort to assuage any serious blood sugar spikes.

I am not going to get into my opinion of being big and what have you, but my goal is not that. Lean mass yes, whether or not it is visible or intimidating to other's is really not my goal here. Bruce Lee was a very muscular guy but it wasn't necessarily visible through clothes. Small but lean is my goal. I am pretty much there now but I want to make some minor improvements still. Do you think Creatine will help with fat burning if I make the dietary tweaks you suggest?

For the carbs I would have complex carbs before your workout. A good 1.5 to 2 hours before. Post workout many including myself like fast acting carbs like gatorade to cause an insulin skike which shuttles more aminos from the protein into your muscles. Some however prefer even slow carbs post workout. If your a guy who gains fat easily, then no gatorade. The sweet potatoe option is a great one. Have your source of lean protein with that and your gtg.

As far as creatine, it simply makes you better at anything you do. More atp being available the better you perform. That and the full round look it gives your muscles. Don't mistake that with water retention. This is intra cellular water retention... The people who claim water retention are people who sell the much more expensive creatines like the creatine ester, malate, orotate and so on... There is a small chance you won't respond to it, but chances are you will like the look and performance it gives you.

However for the Bruce Lee look, no way do you need it! Just get very low body fat and you will be ripped. To get that lean it's 80% diet. Do some cardio empty stomach when you can, low intensity longer duration of choice the machine dosen't really matter, but the stairmaster pays off big time.

Just watching what you eat, the type of training you do with some martial arts done 3 times a week should get you that look.

If you want a diet to get you crazy lean go to rxmuscle.com and look up Dave Palumbo's keto diet. Super easy to follow, but the 1st 2 weeks can be hell for some, But if you follow that diet you won't need to do martial arts for the extra calorie burning. It would even overtrain you if you hit the weights too hard. But calisthnetics (sp?) isn't really that high intensity wise so maybe you could pull it off.

Is this getting more clear?

The problem I have with cardio is I can't seem to do more than about an hour a week (if that) without it becoming catabolic to muscle growth. I begin to lose muscle and gain fat with too much aerobics basically.

The calisthenics are just an added supplement to burn more calories without going overboard with aerobics exercises. The central work out involves resistance with both weights and my own body. I am almost as muscular as bruce lee was when he was young but not as low in body fat. He probably had about 3-4% lower body fat than I do. I am guessing he was somewhere around 7% whereas I am somewhere between 10-11%.

Also, is the myth about rest period necessarily true? If you're not doing extremely heavy weights is that 48 hour rest period really necessary? What is a good way to alternate exercises so you can do something everyday without overworking any one group of muscles? Upper body work out one day and lower body the next? What about overtraining the abs by doing ab work outs every day? Is this an issue or just hyped up?

[ajnast4r]

I think you can get alot of benefits lifting medium weights too. As in 40-50 pound dumb bells. I don't know why some people think lifting this amount of weight is useless. Alot of people can't even lift that much. I am not saying it is super amount of weight obviously but when done properly and with the right repetitions muscle fiber conditioning is certain.

dont get me wrong, i think lifting weights in any amount if beneficial. i just think that heavier + progressive overload will lead to better outcomes in the long run as far as longevity goes.

[TheFountain]

I think you can get alot of benefits lifting medium weights too. As in 40-50 pound dumb bells. I don't know why some people think lifting this amount of weight is useless. Alot of people can't even lift that much. I am not saying it is super amount of weight obviously but when done properly and with the right repetitions muscle fiber conditioning is certain.

dont get me wrong, i think lifting weights in any amount if beneficial. i just think that heavier + progressive overload will lead to better outcomes in the long run as far as longevity goes.

I don't know I think that there might be a cut off point where, if you lift more than a certain amount it is not only useless to longevity but detrimental. I am not suggesting that cut off to be 50 pound dumbells of course, but it could be 200 pounds, 300 pounds, anything really. And if you want to look at it in that ever so popular paleo perspective, did our ancestors lift concentrated amounts of weight? I think it was alot more random than that. That's not the reason I am doing various forms of resistance exercises, but it's a consideration too. I intend to lift heavier at some point, but for right now I feel the benefits of lifting this moderate amount of weight in the correct way and proper repetitions.