Bodybuilding and Med School?

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Haha dude I think you will find that the journey to single digit body fat is much much more time (and effort) consuming than eating how you eat and do things now.

masterofmonkeys, you mentioned above that a workout longer than 45 minutes results in your body becoming a "cortisol factory." I did a few pubmed searches and I really couldn't find anything supporting this. I am very interested in the stress response and how it screws with homeostasis, muscle synthesis, immunology etc so I would be interested in reading some articles.


edit: a few more searches resulted in a few articles that suggest after resistance training (no time specified) salivary (and by association serum) cortisol levels increased, but I don't know if these are "cortisol factory" concentrations.
 
Sorry, i don't keep a ref-list handy (which will change as I've now got a gig writing about this stuff), but I can give you some keyword hints.

Exercise DURATION as a search term will bring up more relevant hits. You should also try searching for the effects of BCAAs, carbs, and ZMA on cortisol rise. As well as myostatin release in response to cortisol.

I don't know what 'cortisol factory' concentrations are either. But I do know that ameliorating the cortisol response in athletes is beneficial for gains in strength and hypertrophy.
 
This thread has been quiet for a while. But hopefully there's still some bodybuilders looking here.

From reading this and other threads it seems like staying in shape is definitely possible in med school (although it maybe challenging). I got into weight training in the military and kept up with it ever since. My problem, like a couple of others on this forum, is that I've plateaued for a LONG time.

So I went to the book store about 4 months ago to learn more about gaining size. I found flex magazine's "HUGE" and got started on their 1 year muscle building program. Its worked out REALLY well for me so far. All the basics of bodybuilding are explained in a easy to read and follow format.

I started out at 5'10" 178 lbs (where I've been stuck at for a couple years) and now weigh 189 lbs (4 months later). I haven't gotten my official body fat checked but from the mirror its definitely gone down a couple of percent (probably the change in diet).

Some of the "tricks" I picked up from the book were:
1) MUST incorporate Barbell Squats, Deadlifts, Barbell Bench presses in the program to increase size.
2) Other important exercises: Barbel Curl, Incline Bench dumbell curl, Lat Pulldown, Bent Barbel Rows (not t-bar), and Tricep pressdowns.
3) Work with a two days on-1 day off-2 days on-2 days off split.
4) Train Legs and Abs together, Chest and Shoulders together, and Arms and Back together.
5) Peanut Butter is a great way to get high quality protein and calories. Mixing your casein powder (like muscle milk) with 2 TBSP of peanut butter helps prevent muscle breakdown even more than casein alone (at night).

I'm thinking about taking supplements. Has anyone tried ZMA at all? Does it work?
 
ayushman80 said:
1) MUST incorporate Barbell Squats, Deadlifts, Barbell Bench presses in the program to increase size.
2) Other important exercises: Barbel Curl, Incline Bench dumbell curl, Lat Pulldown, Bent Barbel Rows (not t-bar), and Tricep pressdowns.
3) Work with a two days on-1 day off-2 days on-2 days off split.
4) Train Legs and Abs together, Chest and Shoulders together, and Arms and Back together.
5) Peanut Butter is a great way to get high quality protein and calories. Mixing your casein powder (like muscle milk) with 2 TBSP of peanut butter helps prevent muscle breakdown even more than casein alone (at night).

I'm thinking about taking supplements. Has anyone tried ZMA at all? Does it work?
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You want to know what the best advice you'll ever get is? Do NOT use any of those bodybuilding magazines for advice. That being said, I can go through what is considered golden on that.

1.) YES, You have to do large compound movements. If you aren't then you will never build the mass needed. The general rule is to never do an isolation exercise unless you can flex that muscle consciously and actually see it moving. Variations of these are all great. (Close grip bench, sumo deadlifts, front squats, zercher squats, etc.) I also recommend lunges and bulgarian split squats for huge quads and glute ham raise and RDL/SDL for great hamstrings. Make sure to step it out though. If you do any of those things right you shouldn't be walking the next day.

2.) Start doing every variation of chin-up you can think of INSTEAD of pulldowns. This a shocker to a lot of people, including serious weight trainers but pull downs are worthless. How many have you seen that can move the entire stack of plates but can do only 1 or 2 half pullups? As a trainer, I can say a lot. Do not use straps during it either. Build that grip strength. Chin-ups are my favorite to do inbetween bench sets. You can do a dozen grips, (narrow pronated/supinated/neutral, medium grip, wide grip, hang ropes off of it...all sorts of stuff. Your bench will thank you) Tricep pressdowns certainly aren't bad, but the big bad beast of tricep development is the close grip bench. The other stuff is fine. I like to do anything that keeps me from the cheating the rep. I don't work biceps directly much though, they get rocked by the chinups. Next to chinups, I recommend dips a LOT. You have to think training economy, especially in med school. What will give you the most bang for your time investment? A nice deep dip times about 50 will build huge shoulders and triceps.

3.) No split is hard and fast. You just have to find out what works for you. Unlike powerlifting, bodybuilding doesn't have to worry as much about the CNS, so the spacing isn't as exact. You do need recovery time and shouldn't do squats/deadlift and shoulder/bench in consecutive days. It is also best to start the week off with low box squats or deadlifts. Research has shown that there is a slight testoterone increase when you start off with the big lifts first.

4.) Meh. If you want to get the most out of your lifts, which is usually more important then you don't want to fatigue a ton of muscle groups before going to other big lifts. In something like a superset you want opposing motions usually. So, if you doing bench then you can go do chin-ups or rows. Deadlifts? Go do some pushups or neutral grip dumbell presses. You can figure it out. If you aren't on steroids, which most of us aren't then you don't NEED the 15 exercises in a workout. To put things in perspective, while it isn't bodybuilding, I'm training for strongman, so I still want to gain tons of mass. I just deal with different rep counts and don't have quite the diet restrictions. I only do 3-4 exercises. IF there is a 4th exercise it is only barbell shrugs or something. It sounds easy, but go heavy with squat, bulgarian splits squats, and glute ham raises and see how you feel the next day. Abs can be twice a day. I do like to do pulling motions like side bends when I deadlift and standing motion ab stuff when I squat though. The biggest thing with abs is not be afraid of weight. They are a muscle too and spending 30 minutes doing every variation of crunch won't help you.

5.) I do like natural peanut butter because it is calorie dense and easy snack. That being said, the best supplement for night? Cottage cheese. Go out and buy a carts worth. Eat it before bed. Be happy and get big.

The most important thing is just to EAT. If you are in a bulking phase you should be eating so much that you actually dread food. You'll throw up a little every time. It is hard to hit those calorie requirements if you are eating clean. It takes a ton.

ZMA is great to help you sleep. If you have issues sleeping then I recommend it, otherwise it is kind of worthless. I don't go for most supplements personally. The marketing hypes them up too much. A solid protein powder for post workout, and a great multivitamin are the most important. Outside of that, I make a workout drink of waximaize, low cal gatorade, and BCAAs. I used to try creatine but didn't get results. I also take flax seed or fish oil.
 
MossPoh said:
You want to know what the best advice you'll ever get is? Do NOT use any of those bodybuilding magazines for advice. That being said, I can go through what is considered golden on that.
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You're right. Most of the time the magazines are full of &*(). However, I was surprised by how much info was in this book and how similar it was to more expensive "compendiums." I also use the "Strength Training Anatomy" book for exercise variation. So far its worked for me and the principals seem to be whats mentioned in this thread an in other books🙂

I got another question for ya. I'm not gonna be able to workout in the GYM for 3 weeks or so. Do you know of any good tips to hold on to the muscle I've gained in this time? I was thinking resistance bands but I'm not sure if that will be enough.
 
ayushman80 said:
I got another question for ya. I'm not gonna be able to workout in the GYM for 3 weeks or so. Do you know of any good tips to hold on to the muscle I've gained in this time? I was thinking resistance bands but I'm not sure if that will be enough.
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pushups, pullups, squats.
 
Mark Rippetoe is terrible to listen to for advice about bodybuilding.

If you want to learn something, watch Milos Sarcev, he'll teach you anything you need to know about anything you want to know about bodybuilding.

http://thefitshow.tv/remastered/season1/episode3.html

Any of the BB.com Fit shows with Milos are ridiculously awesome workouts. I always keep his info in mind when I'm lifting.

Anyway, there's NO WAY you can get to the gym?? I would buy some dumbells, probably even those adjustable weight sets and do pushups/situps/pullups/dumbell work, just make sure you hit it as hard as you can. You shouldn't have a problem using a chair, getting arnold curls, hammer curls, standing curls for biceps, doing kickbacks, dips, and overhead tricep extensions for bis and tris at least.

For chest you could do flys, pushups(as well as decline pushups for upper chest), lower chest will probably suffer most.

For lats, just find somewhere to do pullups. I can do pullups in the floor joists in the basement here, so I never worry about it if for some reason the stupid gym is closed for a holiday.

Abs should be a no brainer and you should hit them every other day anyway.

Delts: Rear delts raises, lateral raises, and front raises should at least keep size on you... You won't get to do any of the fun exercises, but I wouldn't complain about that too much, you can also get shoulder press in there with dumbells.

Legs: Do sprints, lunges, calf raises, this should also be a no brainer.

I guess lastly I'd say shoulder shrugs you won't be able to do crazy weights with a set of dumbells that only goes up to 55 lbs or so, but whatever, you're maintaining, not growing.

How often do you lift anyway? I lift between 8-12 times/wk right now, so I'd get pretty bored pretty fast...

I have something pretty similar to this:
http://www.workouthealthy.com/Dumbb...ells-5-to-60-Pounds-with-Stand/PFS-TB560.html

Get it, it's a lifesaver.
 
MossPoh said:
You want to know what the best advice you'll ever get is? Do NOT use any of those bodybuilding magazines for advice. That being said, I can go through what is considered golden on that.
Click to expand...

Hey now! T-nation.com is pretty good.
 
blew out the good old cuff doing 205 miltary press.... any tips on keeping dltoid mass?
 
masterofmonkeys said:
Hey now! T-nation.com is pretty good.
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T-nation is also frequented by people that actually know what they are doing when you sift through the crap. I much prefer most of the stuff from elitefts

Most of the advice I'm giving comes not only as a CSCS guy but someone that has spent more than a fair share amount of time discussing training techniques with some of the top people in the world. I'm not going to say who because then it gets a little flashy and douchebaggy.


As far as not being able to lift for a few weeks. Bodyweight anything. If you want to get a monster mini band or something you can but I can think of about 10 variations of pushups you can do. Not to mention dips, lunges, squats, pullups. Whatever else. That combined with eating a ton will equate to not losing too much. One of the problems I see is that people lift too hard week in and week out. Friggin cycle it. A deload week won't kill you. Seriously though, do lots and lots of pullups. I have people comment on how big my arms are quite a bit...I rarely do a biceps exercise. I do kroc rows and pullups. Lots of pullups. I try to do at least 100 a week...usually closer to 150. As soon as I threw those in my bench went up 15 pounds and I gained an additional 5 pounds of mass within 3 weeks. I was stuck on the same weight for a while too.

I love going to the gym and seeing the guys benching 315 like they do every other trip to the gym. They've been stuck on that weight for over a year and have no clue why they won't get bigger weights.
 
Try the H.I.T. method of bodybuilding. It's a system of training that prescribes brief, infrequent, high intensity workouts. You can significantly increase your muscular size and strength by training less than one hour per week. The workouts are brutally hard, but also immensely rewarding. It's ideal for med students.

Go to www.drdarden.com to learn more.
 
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HolyGrail said:
Mark Rippetoe is terrible to listen to for advice about bodybuilding.

If you want to learn something, watch Milos Sarcev, he'll teach you anything you need to know about anything you want to know about bodybuilding.

http://thefitshow.tv/remastered/season1/episode3.html

Any of the BB.com Fit shows with Milos are ridiculously awesome workouts. I always keep his info in mind when I'm lifting.

Anyway, there's NO WAY you can get to the gym?? I would buy some dumbells, probably even those adjustable weight sets and do pushups/situps/pullups/dumbell work, just make sure you hit it as hard as you can. You shouldn't have a problem using a chair, getting arnold curls, hammer curls, standing curls for biceps, doing kickbacks, dips, and overhead tricep extensions for bis and tris at least.

For chest you could do flys, pushups(as well as decline pushups for upper chest), lower chest will probably suffer most.

For lats, just find somewhere to do pullups. I can do pullups in the floor joists in the basement here, so I never worry about it if for some reason the stupid gym is closed for a holiday.

Abs should be a no brainer and you should hit them every other day anyway.

Delts: Rear delts raises, lateral raises, and front raises should at least keep size on you... You won't get to do any of the fun exercises, but I wouldn't complain about that too much, you can also get shoulder press in there with dumbells.

Legs: Do sprints, lunges, calf raises, this should also be a no brainer.

I guess lastly I'd say shoulder shrugs you won't be able to do crazy weights with a set of dumbells that only goes up to 55 lbs or so, but whatever, you're maintaining, not growing.

How often do you lift anyway? I lift between 8-12 times/wk right now, so I'd get pretty bored pretty fast...

I have something pretty similar to this:
http://www.workouthealthy.com/Dumbb...ells-5-to-60-Pounds-with-Stand/PFS-TB560.html

Get it, it's a lifesaver.
Click to expand...

And why is that? I've had, and have plenty of friends who have had, enormous success using "Starting Strength." It emphasize full body exercises like squatting, benching, press, deadlifts and rows, and strict nutrition.

If you go on the forums of bodybuilding.com, Rippetoes "starting strength" is easily one of the top 5 endorsed programs for beginners, and these guys know what they are talking about.
 
basupran said:
blew out the good old cuff doing 205 miltary press.... any tips on keeping dltoid mass?
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you saying you tore your supraspinatus doing military? if you did, you are probably going to want to get it surgically reattached if it was severe. Or you'll never be the same.

If it's a mild partial tear, don't worry about it. The mass lost will be mostly glycogen anyway for the first three weeks. Glycogen will come back relatively rapidly.

I've had a few partial tears. Biceps (two), triceps, supraspinatus, intercostals, etc. Never been out of the game longer than a three-four weeks.

If this is going to be a longer recovery than 6 weeks you can do limited ROM front and side raises. Using ABSOLUTELY NO body english, simply lift the weights from your sides to about 45 degrees off of vertical. If you're being strict, you'll get plenty of delt activation.

My lateral delts developed a significant amount of mass just from farmer's walk (strongman event) because of the muscular effort of abducting my arms just that tiny little bit so my hands wouldn't rub on my legs.
 
MossPoh said:
T-nation is also frequented by people that actually know what they are doing when you sift through the crap. I much prefer most of the stuff from elitefts
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I was actually referring to the articles. Cressey changed the way I rehab and turned me into the exercise phys freak and advocate for exercise phys education in medicine that I am today.

Most of the advice I'm giving comes not only as a CSCS guy but someone that has spent more than a fair share amount of time discussing training techniques with some of the top people in the world. I'm not going to say who because then it gets a little flashy and douchebaggy.
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You have your CSCS? Very cool. I'm working on mine right now. Not so much that I don't know enough to pass the test already, but need to learn the answers they want lol.

Also, I'm training for strongman too. Eventually. sigh.
 
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ronaldo23 said:
And why is that? I've had, and have plenty of friends who have had, enormous success using "Starting Strength." It emphasize full body exercises like squatting, benching, press, deadlifts and rows, and strict nutrition.

If you go on the forums of bodybuilding.com, Rippetoes "starting strength" is easily one of the top 5 endorsed programs for beginners, and these guys know what they are talking about.
Click to expand...

Notwithstanding the dubious quality of an endorsement from bb.com frequenters, Starting Strength is a great program. As is the Bill Starr 5x5.

As Dave Tate loves to say, 'you can't flex bone'. While Rip is not a bodybuilder and programs like those outlined by Rippetoe or Starr are not going to work for a bodybuilder, very few people are ready for an advanced or even intermediate bodybuilding routine when they start out. Or, for that matter a powerlifting one.

Weight training is a bit like medicine in that you need your foundation before you start specializing. You need to build muscle, you need to build work capacity, you need to build a mind-muscle connection, before you can 'specialize'.

You have to walk before you can run. And it's totally inappropriate for a beginning weight trainer with average genetics to move straight to a bodybuilding training program. Just as it'd be completely ridiculous for someone straight out of medical school to start a cardiology fellowship.
 
Partial tear but each time I try to do a shoulder press, it hurts. I am just laying off the presses for now. Military press is one of the greatest deltoid developers but it also causes a lot of injuries.

I am sticking with light side raises for now and gonna wait until things get better.


masterofmonkeys said:
you saying you tore your supraspinatus doing military? if you did, you are probably going to want to get it surgically reattached if it was severe. Or you'll never be the same.

If it's a mild partial tear, don't worry about it. The mass lost will be mostly glycogen anyway for the first three weeks. Glycogen will come back relatively rapidly.

I've had a few partial tears. Biceps (two), triceps, supraspinatus, intercostals, etc. Never been out of the game longer than a three-four weeks.

If this is going to be a longer recovery than 6 weeks you can do limited ROM front and side raises. Using ABSOLUTELY NO body english, simply lift the weights from your sides to about 45 degrees off of vertical. If you're being strict, you'll get plenty of delt activation.

My lateral delts developed a significant amount of mass just from farmer's walk (strongman event) because of the muscular effort of abducting my arms just that tiny little bit so my hands wouldn't rub on my legs.
Click to expand...
 
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basupran said:
Partial tear but each time I try to do a shoulder press, it hurts. I am just laying off the presses for now. Military press is one of the greatest deltoid developer but it also causes a lot of injuries.

I am sticking with light side raises for now and gonna wait until things get better.
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Have you considered figuring out if you have T-spine stuff going on (stiffness, limited ROM, poor extension, etc) and scapular stability issues (poor serratus function, poor retraction or depression?)

If you have a somewhat kyphotic posture and upwardly rotate your scapulae when you do OHP, yeah, that'll definitely make you injury prone. If you have good t-spine extension and good scapular mobility/stability, your rotator cuffs really shouldn't be an issue.
 
masterofmonkeys said:
Have you considered figuring out if you have T-spine stuff going on (stiffness, limited ROM, poor extension, etc) and scapular stability issues (poor serratus function, poor retraction or depression?)

If you have a somewhat kyphotic posture and upwardly rotate your scapulae when you do OHP, yeah, that'll definitely make you injury prone. If you have good t-spine extension and good scapular mobility/stability, your rotator cuffs really shouldn't be an issue.
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I have been working out hardcore for over 10 years and never had a cuff issue. I was working out a little heavy one day and must have been a little lax on form which lead to the partial tear. Just gonna stick with light side raises for now.
 
gotcha. I read this:

Military press is one of the greatest deltoid developer but it also causes a lot of injuries.
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And thought maybe this was a recurring thing.
 
Any MS3's or MS4's around? Is it possible to eat 6x/day while rotating? (small portions)
 
As long as its pre-prepped, yeah it is. Been there, done that.

I got smart and realized I didn't have to though. The important thing isn't eating often but keeping blood levels stable.

A med with a short half life might have to be dosed QID. A med with a longer half life only needs to be dosed once a day.

Same deal with foods. Simple carbs will spike. Complex carbs won't. Whey and BCAAs spike. Casein doesn't.

If you get long-digesting nutrients it's like taking a long-acting drug.

That said there are certain times of the day where you WANT that spike.

Namely breakfast (knock your cortisol down). And after workout (take advantage of the post-exercise increase in muscle uptake of nutrients).
 
thought i'd throw out my thoughts on some of the bodybuilding forums out there:

mindandmuscle.net - personal fave, pretty intellectual, evidence based, but small member base, good for nootropic stuff
elitefts.com - great articles on strength development
bb.com - most active boards, lots of broscience unfortunately
t-nation.com - slightly better than bb.com, honestly not that familiar with them
anabolicminds.com - good for PH/legal steroids, if you're into that sort of thing

From Urban Dictionary:

Broscience
Broscience is the predominant brand of reasoning in bodybuilding circles where the anecdotal reports of jacked dudes are considered more credible than scientific research.
 
whoisthedrizzle said:
thought i'd throw out my thoughts on some of the bodybuilding forums out there:

mindandmuscle.net - personal fave, pretty intellectual, evidence based, but small member base, good for nootropic stuff
elitefts.com - great articles on strength development
bb.com - most active boards, lots of broscience unfortunately
t-nation.com - slightly better than bb.com, honestly not that familiar with them
anabolicminds.com - good for PH/legal steroids, if you're into that sort of thing

From Urban Dictionary:

Broscience
Broscience is the predominant brand of reasoning in bodybuilding circles where the anecdotal reports of jacked dudes are considered more credible than scientific research.
Click to expand...

t-nation and elitefts.com are the best for the bunch. Granted I would say that as I occasionally write articles for the former. I am not familiar with mindandmuscle.net but I'll have to check them out.n

T-nation's nutritionists and actual strength coaches just plain rock. Lonnie Lowery, Eric Cressey, Jonny Bowden, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove and Michael Boyle are the ones I read religiously. Nikhil Rao and Dan John aren't bad when they bother to write an article. I am not a BBer, but I have a very positive view of articles by Thibideau and Waterbury.
 
This year I am hoping to find a way to maintain my gym days during exams.
After all it's hard to have a good workout when you can't stop worrying about your exam tomorrow!

What do you guys do? Do exam weeks throw you off your rhythm?
 
I take a break (or when I hit a wall) from studying by going to the gym...helps me clear my mind
 
I've watched some of those BB.com videos with Milos Sarcev, in particular his bench series, and that is a surefire way for someone new to lifting to have lifelong, terrible shoulder problems. His leg stuff isn't too bad, but it's nothing new: squat and lunge.

Rippetoe's SS is the "holy grail" (ironic) of novice training programs. When most people say they want to train/look like a bodybuilder, they don't actually want to train/look like a bodybuilder. What they usually want is the athletic, beach body look at around 10% BF. Sub-10% BF is extremely hard to maintain for most people, especially for our demographic, and it's no surprise that bodybuilding is 90% diet.

Almost all programs I can think of in the beginner-intermediate zone are heavy compound because they affect all stabilizers and train the CNS very quickly i.e. SS, practical programming, any 5x5, Texas Method, Westside, etc. Specific isolation is useful later on, but really is just a waste of time for most of us (literally). It's not time efficient to be supersetting 900 hammer curls into some tricep extensions with some quad extensions randomly thrown in when you can just bench press, squat, and deadlift. You will still get enormously huge doing the big 3 and other compound movements.

Look at olympic lifters and strongmen: these guys train very few movements, but are ripped/ginormous and could easily compete in bodybuilding with a bodybuilder's diet.

As far as websites, I like elitefts, but I don't really like T-nation or BB.com because they play the supplement game so hard. Devil's advocate here: they have to in order to stay in business so I see why they do it.

Really, any strength program combined with a good diet will get you very good, time efficient results. You don't have to spend 3 hours in the gym 5x/wk on some ridiculous steroid-driven split to get huge. That's not to say that it won't work because it certainly will, but my time is a valuable commodity.
 
thzone1986 said:
This year I am hoping to find a way to maintain my gym days during exams.
After all it's hard to have a good workout when you can't stop worrying about your exam tomorrow!

What do you guys do? Do exam weeks throw you off your rhythm?
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This is exactly what I'm talking about. My school tested M1/M2 mostly every 3rd Friday. My split was 3x/wk MWF, for about 1 hr. each lifting session with HIIT after the easy benching day and furthest away from leg day. Every few months I could even schedule a deload week for test week.

You study your balls off during test weeks but that doesn't mean you don't have 2 spare hours to go to the gym on Mon. and Wed. I found that lifting was a good stress reliever to the endless cramming during test weeks anyways.

My gains haven't been nearly as good as they were when I was in college, but they haven't been stagnant (like I thought they would be when I started). Mostly I just really lost the desire to be ever huger (If you're <5'10, you will get huge very fast i.e. within 6mo on the proper diet and new, and i'm 5'9) and focused on trying out different things like kettlebells, sport-specific training, etc.
 
I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine. In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
 
Pharmacy Kid said:
I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and rigorous exercise routine. In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
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:laugh: You gotta admit though that Christian Bale had a ridiculous physique for that movie
 
masterofmonkeys said:
t-nation and elitefts.com are the best for the bunch. Granted I would say that as I occasionally write articles for the former. I am not familiar with mindandmuscle.net but I'll have to check them out.n

T-nation's nutritionists and actual strength coaches just plain rock. Lonnie Lowery, Eric Cressey, Jonny Bowden, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove and Michael Boyle are the ones I read religiously. Nikhil Rao and Dan John aren't bad when they bother to write an article. I am not a BBer, but I have a very positive view of articles by Thibideau and Waterbury.
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I take back what I said about T-Nation. Their articles are fantastic.
 
thzone1986 said:
:laugh: You gotta admit though that Christian Bale had a ridiculous physique for that movie
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Bale's physique in American Psycho was one of the most impressive I've ever seen. He was lean and muscular but not big. Pitt's body in Fight Club is also enviable. I also have to plug in my idol, Bruce Lee. He's a bit too skinny, but you can't get leaner than that.
 
BB MISC in the house!

http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/Krebs-Cycle/
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19


3990472orig.gif
 
Old school Arnold Encyclopedia for the win. 🙂
 
GH253 said:
Try the H.I.T. method of bodybuilding. It's a system of training that prescribes brief, infrequent, high intensity workouts. You can significantly increase your muscular size and strength by training less than one hour per week. The workouts are brutally hard, but also immensely rewarding. It's ideal for med students.

Go to www.drdarden.com to learn more.
Click to expand...

ha...yeah those workouts are beyond sick...just finished reading his most recent book about the H.I.T. method and its origins.....i think I'll hold off on something like that for a little while😉
 
thzone1986 said:
Any MS3's or MS4's around? Is it possible to eat 6x/day while rotating? (small portions)
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you can try protein bars and stuff. But there will be times when you are busy for 6 hours straight (eg. a long surgery) and it might be bad for you to leave for food.
 
Body building is highly encouraged... especially guys 😉 this announcement should be made during orientation week haha
 
OpalOnyx said:
Body building is highly encouraged... especially guys 😉 this announcement should be made during orientation week haha
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Tell my damn med school that...clearly they dont encourage good habits...They say make time to workout and then keep us in class till almost dark (4pm) and then give us at least one exam per week.

I am currently trying to enhance my efficiency to the point where I can spend regular time in the gym (again) like mospoh and dedikated2liftin (or whatever his name is) and continue to make gains....

I'll get to that point soon...I hope...at least before spring quarter
 
I reread the title of this thread to see if it actually says "Brainbuilding and Med School?"
 
riceman04 said:
Tell my damn med school that...clearly they dont encourage good habits...They say make time to workout and then keep us in class till almost dark (4pm) and then give us at least one exam per week.

I am currently trying to enhance my efficiency to the point where I can spend regular time in the gym (again) like mospoh and dedikated2liftin (or whatever his name is) and continue to make gains....

I'll get to that point soon...I hope...at least before spring quarter
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I'm up to 6'5", 270 now. 😛 I will probably cut down a bit when I hit 280ish.
 
PGY-1 now. 70-90hrs/week. Unless my radiculopathy/myelopathy gets out of control, I'm able to make it to the gym for my absurd workouts 4x/week. Heck, even put on some size and strength this year. Soon to be erased when I get shoulder surgery lol (not from a lifting injury...a decade-old swimming injury that's just now causing problems)
 
Look into getting a safety squat bar. It will allow you to keep your back and legs up without putting pressure on your shoulder. Also, if/when you bench make sure you are using the "bending the bar" motion. Basically, you keep your elbows tucked and try to pull the bar down your stomach. (You won't actually be ABLE to do that) Combine with a narrower grip and some scapulae movement stuff (like neutral grip face pulls or holding the bar above your head and shrugging). It probably won't stop surgery, but it will delay it a bit.

The safety squat bar has been great for me. My deadlift shot up, my squats went up, good mornings are awesome with it, lunges are awesome. Really is a great bar that takes the stress off the shoulders.

If you already know that then sorry. 😉 My 730 bench pressing mentor has worse shoulders than me and has staved off surgery for quite some time. Wearing a loose bench shirt helps too.
 
Lol. Apparently you've forgotten my input in this thread in the year since it was started. 😉

Naw, the problem is that the left anterior-inferior labral tear (Bankart) has led to scar tissue formation which is now causing a neurovascular compression syndrome. I thought this was odd since I pay a lot of attention to scapular stability and although I definitely do have some anterior instability of the humerus, I don't when I'm actually lifting. But apparently it's not terribly uncommon and that's why they now recommend early repair even for people who used to be relatively asymptomatic. Would have been nice to know that 10 years ago lol.

Since my right arm has pretty extensive nerve damage courtesy of a hep b vaccine, I decided I should probably go ahead and get this one repaired so I have at least one good limb. And, also, you know, get back to a 300+ raw bench.

Was looking into an SSB so I could get back as early as possible doing squats and GMs.

Sigh, I was hoping to start training implements soon. Really tired of the gym.

Also, you should join Marunde-muscle.com They have a good strongman forum. Although it has died down a bit in activity since Jesse died.
 
While I don't necessarily bodybuild, I have been gaining muscle mass and have my abs back while handling the med school work. I'm sure it's in this thread at least 20x already, but TIME MANAGEMENT is key. After all, doctors need to be healthy and fit, and I'm sure there are quite a few buff guys that are physicians that have time to work out and maintain their diets. The diet thing is probably gonna be the hardest to keep depending on your circumstances. Hopefully you'll have a grocery close by and I'm sure you'll have time to make a trip there. Because the workload is intense you might resort to eating a bunch of crap foods or skipping gym days, but it's possible! Just like how you make goals to tackle school and try to develop a stragety, the same thing can apply to other aspects of your everyday life.
 
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