That's a real shame.

The original natural whey is very good. Muscle Milk natural is also good. NOW! Whey protein is always good.

All the protein bars I've ordered online are fine. I get Power Crunch and VPX zero impact from BB.com and Amazon without any issues.

Yes, force yourself to eat. Probably 20g shake + 1 banana and about 20 oz of water would be enough to prevent the light headed feeling.

That's actually a very good question. I'm glad you brought it up.

There is a point at which the front delts engage to assist with the transition of the weight to the pecs and triceps. It is at this point that you are seeing weakness.

I would try to target the front delts as much as possible on your shoulder days to improve this.

HOWEVER, recreating the actual motion, with dumbbells instead of a barbell would be very helpful in building stabilizers.

Grab some dumbbells, lay on the flat bench, and train only from the bottom of the rep (at the chest) up to parallel (90 degrees). These are half-reps only from elbows parallel and down to force the constant stimulation of the stabilizers.

If you do this, as well as the front delt work, you should be able to better your lower bench rapidly.

5x5 or 3x5 for sure.

Are you familiar with this scheme??

Damn it, I was hoping to get off easy.

Anyways, thanks for help. Bronated.

No im not how do you recommend I go about it ? Just do 5x5 of each exercise?

Raynor,

In your opinion, when is the best time for someone to bulk and cut weight to fill in a weight class? Early in a training macrocycle or closer upon competition? (in this case, weightlifting).

Is it better to bulk during the early stages of training and lean out and stabilize a month-two away from peaking?

Could cutting too close to a competition hurt peaking performance? (Str/Str-power/Power)

Assuming you are ONLY interested in those particular exercises and not accessories, please refer here:

http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

I've personally found that it is best to start WAY before the bulk with a solid cut to get BF% down as low as possible. You then follow up with a stringent bulking cycle, making sure to keep fat losses at a minimum throughout the weeks leading up to the comp. Then, approximately 2 weeks out, you need to start reducing sodium, increasing water intake, and cutting down the carbs (not full keto, but low carb). 3-4 days prior, just distilled water, low sodium, lean meat, and non-fiberous carbs. Do a 24 hour fast + distilled water only, right before WEIGH IN (ASSUMING the weigh in is at least 24+ hours away from the comp)

If the comp and weigh in are on the same day, try to get a massive amount of simple carbs and BCAA's POST weigh in and before the comp.


Could you possibly give me an exact timeline here?

Thanks man ima soak as much info as I can