Nutrition and Weight Training

Joined
Oct 7, 1998
Messages
61
Mr Caracci,
I was wondering on your take as to how important weight training is to a daily exercise regime vs. traditional PT workouts?
As for nutrition, I eat very healthy, but at times I am unable to get in a meal. I usually eat three main meals and an afternoon snack of some sort. What do you think of the meal in a shake drinks? I have never taken any sort of supplement like protein, creotine, ect, and don't believe in them, but I do want to reach my maximum physical potential while still keeping my flexiblility. Any suggestions would be great.
Thank you,
Peter
 
Peter,
It would appear to me that you are doing just fine. Maybe next time we will test that with a little sparring, we will check the aerobic health level then.
On diet, you’re right on; the supplements for the most part are there for those who don't eat right like me. On the other hand minerals are very important even when we eat right because to someone who trains hard, they can be depleted fast.
I primarily use Met-Rx for meal replacement and sometimes Hydroxycut (a metabolism boost); I also use a liquid mineral replacement that’s it.
I feel that weight training when done properly is truly critical for me but by no means necessary for everybody. One must really learn properly how to use weight training or injury will certainly set you potentially a long way back.
 
Mr. Caracci,
Thank you for the quick reply. I better go hit the pavement because I am lacking on the cardio right now. As for weight training, I alternate days for upper-body and legs; I use all free weights. Is there a good resource where I can double check my weight training regime? So far I have avoided injury, but better to check. Do you use the Met-Rx nutritional drink mix for meal replacement? Any weight training suggestions that you have would be great.
Thank you,
Peter
 
As Chris mentioned, be very careful when weight training. I wasn't so careful while lifting weights in school, and suffered a back injury because of it.

As Chris says in the videos, "Do 'em properly."
 
Peter,

Pick up a Muscle and Fitness or similar mag, or even check out their website. I'm not big on the hulking bulging body building aspect, but they DO show proper form for the excercises. Hope this helps.

Woody
 
Thank you all for the replies. I am also not inclined to bulk up a lot. I don't want to become muscle bound, but I do want to increase my strength conciderably. I also don't want to spend hours in the gym getting every muscle to look perfect. That is not why I want to gain muscle. I want to get into fighting shape not Mr. Universe shape. Again, thank you and all suggestions are welcome.
Peter
 
Work out like a fighter, unless you want to get too bulky to fight.
Do cardio(I should talk),
lots of squats and legs, minimal biceps, increase reps and decrease rest times.
I worked out like a traditional weight lifter for 15 years before I noticed that I was strong but not effectively strong.

You have to emphasize your base and tie in the muscle groups to be effectively strong.
Push pull type workouts are good. I do a lot of lunges and practice a plyometric like jump from crouching type thing.
Grappling magazine has good articles and training regimens from the fighters that I find very effective.
Im not as bulky anymore but have maintained the same weight and feel much stronger.
Id really like to take some Jiujitsu to get the muscle memory skills for combat but lately Ive been more of an intellectual warior.
I really liked the concepts I picked up from Francisco Bueno and Frank Shamrock via Grappling mag.
If you are trying to impress the chicks standard wieght lifting fare is great, but to be effective as I think we are striving for I think you should work out like a wrestler. Or of course our own beloved CJ
 
How often, if ever, do you guys take a period of time off to let your body rest? How many days and how often?
Thank you,
Peter
 
Good question. Not too long ago, many top athletes went all out all the time. Sports medicine has taught us that training intensity needs to be cycled and your body will tell you it's schedule. There's nothing wrong with extended periods of rest for up to a few months even if you've been very active your whole life. As we age, our responsibilities dramatically increase so sometimes we need to take time off to get everything in proper order and perspective. One can then gradually get back into the swing of things and tailor the training to suit needs and schedules with the ultimate goal typically being a lifetime of fitness, good health and ass-kicking ability.
 
Rest periods are VERY important. Working out every other day is too much for anybody. I know that I'm going to get jumped for that statement but it is true.

If you work any muscle group to complete fatigue more than once a week you will suffer from over-training problems. After you have been lifting for some time (several months) your rest period will need to increase between workouts. You might eventually find yourself resting 2 weeks or more between workouts and that is OK. In fact, it's necessary.

Here is a good rule of thumb - if you can not lift more that you did in your previous workout, you did not rest long enough. I recommend a couple of books that can revolutionize your thinking about weight training methods - Power Factor and Static Contraction Training by Pete Sisco. They give some great advice.
 
Hi guys, good thread. I'm a competitive powerlifter not a martial artist, just wanted to give you a heads up about Metrx. Some people will experience raised blood pressure from it because it contains epinephrine which is an over the counter asthma medication used by alot of folks as a stimulant. It is listed on the label as Ma Huang, which is another name for it. As long as you're aware of it and want it, there's nothing wrong with it, unless you have to pass drug tests at competitions as I do, the USAPL has banned it for us.
Not a criticism, just think the info should be made known.

Dave
 
Metrix should be banned, because of how dangerous it is. Ephdrefine can cause serious complication and even death! If you want a little lift in your workout may i suggest make yourself extra strong coffee and some sugar.

I've been training over 12 years now, and here what I've learned.

1. If you want that body it doesn't come easy

2. Everyone body is different so there no one set rule for everyone when it comes to taining however rest and proper diet are needed for everyone some more than others.

3. You may not be as big or bulky as you really think you are. Once you lose a lot of the fat its amazing how small you actually are

4. Do an overall body workout, from head to toe. Also work on your neck and forearms most guys, abs and lower back never work on those areas and when it comes to a fight they are vital.

5. Don't use straps to hold onto heavy weight, if you can help it. Force your body to build a strong grip. Once again you need it in real life.


Creatine doesn't work for everyone but weight gainers with extra protein do.
 
Good points Hannibal(bet that's not your real name ;) ). It's amazing how so many people aren't aware that they put ephedrine in alot of products and/or try to disguise it by calling it Ma Huang.
Also, if you are taking creatine, you should be drinking a gallon of water or more a day. If you don't, the creatine pulls water from other sources, like your muscles, which is self defeating. Creatine also shouldn't be taken constantly, it work better when cycled, like 8 weeks on, 4 weeks off.

Dave
 
muscle mag international beats muscle and fitness all to hell imho, and powerlifting magazine is good too - musclemag gives ya lots of shots of babes too - i leave an issue in the 'potty room' for reading, and my wife HATES it - hell i think she would rather me read playboy lol - but lotsa good info too - and metrx makes a lot of stuff, certainly not all has eph or ma huang in it - and rarely does anyone have to worry about becoming muscle bound lol - just dont happen - and do be carefull, an individual, an ex-texas aggie football player by the way, was spotting me w/295 lbs benching, and he gave me a lift off except he lifted the bar way OUT towards my feet almost, and my rotator cuff has never been the same since - he was looking at a 'babe' not paying attention to what he was doing - 4 years, 8 shots, and lotsa rehab and i can BARELY do 300 anymore, used to do sets of 5-8 - so be carefull and watch your spotter too - about 10 yrs ago, was 6'3 260, not real fat lol, but bench 400, squat 500, dead lift almost 500 - not tooo bad for no juice - and 30+ yrs old - now down to 205, more running, etc - BUT only BARELY 300 lbs bench so injury certainly can mess ya up - one of my buds lives in abilene texas and the owner recently did 750 ata meet (ken lane i think is his name ) and this other guy, mark henry i think, did 780, and BARELY missed 800 - WOW - 20 yrs ago 700 was considered impossible benchpress - of course they all juice - and dont forget your deadlifts, they work almost every muscle group, and are great for other lifts too - and good for the ego, its pretty easy for most to work up to 275 or so pretty easy, but again, dont show off ya are asking for injury


sifu
 
Sifu, some good advice there.
The 2 names you mentioned are both very well known to me and most national and world powerlifting competitors. As you said, they are both juiced to the max. Lain owns the Power Shack gym in Texas. Yes, Lain is a great bench presser but in powerlifting his benches mean nothing because he's just a bench specialist. First, there's 4 people benching more, but more importantly, they do their benches in competition after heavy squats. The current record holder, Anthony Clark, also from Texas, benched 800 after squatting 1025. Believe me, it makes a big difference. Marcus Henry had the potential to be maybe the greatest olympic lifter and powerlifter but never fulfilled his potential deciding to go into proffessional wrestling instead. He squatted and deadlifted well over 900 lbs. and as you said, has an excellent bench.
But what does any of it mean if you're all drugged up. It's ruined the sport. We have to have different organizations now, drug free and open(meaning anything goes), and different sets of records. Of course I only lift where there is testing but there are still some who find ways around the tests. I've been involved in powerlifting for about 25 years and have seen alot of them come and go, some in body bags. Of course they never blame the drugs. Bob Dempsey, a great lifter from Mass. is a good example. Thought the drugs were just helping his muscles grow, till he found out the cancerous tumor grew just as fast, he's dead now. There's been quite a few heart attacks too in lifters in their 20's and 30's. I've seen guys take steroids for accelerated muscle growth, speed or coke and injections of pure adrenaline to rev them up for workouts and competitions,diuretics to drop weight to lift in a lighter weight class, and on and on. All for a trophy.
No thanks. I'm 44 years old now, still competing, still getting stronger, won the nationals a few weeks ago on 10/7, and will be training and competing for alot more years. These guys all burn out way before 40 and usually end up with all kinds of health problems. Our records may not be as high but at least when I look in the mirror or at my accomplishments, I know I did it, not some drug.
Sorry for the rant, you hit a sore spot.
 
absolutely agree - drugs have screwed the whole thing up - when i did 2 cycles, in the mid 80's, the only thing drs said was the stuff didnt work, and everyone new that was BS - imho the records now do mean something though, because if they dont, then ALL records probably are bogus due to drugs (baseball players, boxers, biking, most if not all olympic sports) all have been touched by drugs, not just pwerlifting by any means.......and i think mark henry, cuz he wa an olympic lifter, MIGHT have been clean when he did 700+, but who knows?? i do know he barely trained for it, and hadnt benched a lot before, so if he would really work on it, but lol, he went for the $$ and ya cant blame him(and what about HGH, growth hormone, the current hot tip along w/insulin, ya cant test for either, have heard that a certain mr olymia goes to mexico 2 times a month and scores HGH in mexico, a 2 wk supply, declares to US customs and LEGALLY brings it into the US - AND he is a cop, dallas PD lol) - larry allen a O-lineman for dallas recently did 700, but it woulda never been a legal lift in a meet imho, he has worse form than i used to lol.......and yes ken's gym is in abilene tx - my bus says he has seen him triple 650 'messin around', and 'claims' no juice but...........come on now - to be honest w/ya guys, have arthritis/bad rotator cuff and dont even work out like i should/used to, as long as i can do 300 and 225 X10 i'm OK i guess, but really miss the old days w/all the guys, being in the top 5 guys or so strength wise in the gym, etc - ya never know what ya got till its gone...it sucks getting old, and i aint but 45!!!!!!and the worst thing is i always wanted to do 400, and know now i prob never will, got SO SO SO close though, it hurts - only someone whos been there would understand, and all you young guys get your butts into the gym and kick some tail and dont moan about hurting or being sore, wish i could still do it like when i was 25 ( or 30 or 35 for that matter lol)


sifu
 
did 750 ata meet (ken lane i think is his name ) and this other guy, mark henry i think, did 780, and BARELY missed 800 - WOW - 20 yrs ago 700 was considered impossible benchpress - of course they all juice

pat casey benched over 800 in the mid to late 60,s
harley
 
MET-Rx and Ma Huang?????? Since when? I have a package of the stuff in front of me and I cannot find it anywhere. This is kinda important to me since my wife has high blood pressure and drinks the stuff occasionally. Please let me know if it goes under any other alias other than ephedrine, ma haung (sp?), etc.
 
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