Hey raynor, just a quick question regarding cardio.

I'm taking policing in college, and of course there is a lot of running and strength training. I'm very confident in my strength capabilities as I had been training for a few years now.
Me cardio is an issue right now though, I trained using the treadmill as well as soft landscapes ( running on sand) etc for as long as I have strength trained( 3.5 years)But I'm still not confident with my cardio capabilities .on the beep test (shuttle run) I usually get about a level 5-51/2. And I have extreme shin splints and joint pain due to running on hard surfaces . My question is: I have a pool at my gym, if I use that for cardio will it help with my running speed/ endurance? I know it'll take pain away from joints and shins. But I'm looking for something to increase running speed/endurance. while swimming.

DMAA is fine as long as you aren't already at risk of cardiovascular issues (hypertension, stroke, heart attack, etc). Realistically, its a mild stimulant in the small doses contained in most supplements.

My person opinion is that drugs are too over-regulated by our least favorite 3-letter organization (you know which one). Many years ago, people could buy most "prescription" drugs at pharmacies, just with a pharmacist's guidance. As time went on, in order to provide more complete control and increase the cost of everything, including medical school, price of drugs, price of medical care, etc., drugs became more and more regulated. For a while, the only regulated drugs were narcotics, and eventually has become everything, including basic antibiotics.

Illegal drugs are always illegal drugs and should not even enter the picture - however, I will go back 100 years when cocaine was actually legal and used in many forms of drugs, including cough syrup. There was no cocaine epidemic that most politicians claim there would be. If anything, the illegal nature of most drugs has caused the so-called epidemic.

Onto the sympathomimetic drugs in pre-workouts. As long as they are LEGAL, and the ingredients are clearly listed on labels, let the consumer make his/her decision if they want to consume that product. DMAA for example is not the evil heart-attack inducing, brain swelling, liver shrinking devil-powder that the FDA originally touted it to be. It's a mild stimulant in the doses provided in most of these supplements. Prolonged use of ANY supplement builds tolerance to it, and leads to pre-hypertension (this is why we cycle off things like stimulants).

That being said - I have no issue, one way or another, with people doing as they wish to their own bodies, so long as its legal.

Glutamine/citrulline/bcaa's are excellent pre-bedtime and/or on a fast, especially pre-workout. For cutting, this is fine. Fasted cardio is just as good, if not better, due to the non-muscular-breakdown related training involved.

BCAA's should be used every 45 mins during/pre/post (OR just sip them the entire time in liquid form), when bulking and 2-3 hours fasted.

For bulking, casein before bed is excellent. For cutting, it is not necessary, as the fast during sleep helps assist with fasted morning cardio to burn additional fat while glycogen is depleted.

Hey there.

The 5x5 can be used in pyramid form (same exercises, pyramid scheme instead of 5x5). Hypertrophy for any type of flexibility sport, or in your case break dancing, is NOT a good idea. Hypertrophy leads to much larger muscle mass, thus reducing flexibility, and not greatly increasing strength like 3x5/5x5. If strength increase is the key here, stick to 5x5 or 3x5.

As far as break dancing goes, yoga would be incredibly helpful to you. 1 hr a day, 4 days a week, and you will see enormous changes within the month.

Not really, no. Protein synthesis occurs when you have sufficient amino acids for the body to break down and begin using. If I remember correctly, Leucine in larger quantities is necessary for increased uptake.

No, taking BCAA's only prevents catabolism during a workout. It doesn't prevent protein synthesis afterwards.

1.5 lbs per week is standard on a basic cut. If you were to add 500 additional calories per day, you might not lose any more fat. If you feel deeply depleted, tired, and under-fed, then try adding the 500 cals per day and see what happens.

I actually have this:

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&f=60&p=443443567
Police Academy Training Guide


Secondly, to answer your question directly - Yes, swimming will help with cardio endurance, as long as you are swimming at a cardio pace (engaged in prolonged laps at medium to high speed). For your shin splints, use some good calf sleeves to minimize the pain while running.

Hey Raynor,

Do you think I would benefit from a 5x5 plan? I'm juggling with the thought of doing it, but not sure if it would be the best for me..

Right now, I'm going to the gym 7 days a week. I do 3 sets of 10/12 reps, 3 exercises per group usually.

Day 1:
Chest/Shoulders/tris
Day 2:
Cardio
Day 3:
Legs/Abs
Day 4:
Cardio
Day 5:
Back/Bis/Cardio
Day 6:
Cardio
Day 7:
Rest/Cardio

I feel that a 5x5 plan would cut deeply into my weight loss, I'm sitting at about 240..

Hey Raynor,

Glutamine is the precursor to citrulline.
Citrulline is the precursor to arginine.

I am confused about supplementation of arginine, citrulline, and glutamine.

I have read that glutamine is already abundant in protein, and so it's only useful in a similar fashion to BCAA's. But then I found out it's a precursor to citrulline, which confuses me.
I have read that citrulline is *AMAZING*, and that I should take 6g per day.
I have read that arginine isn't as good as it used to be touted to be... but then I've also read that arginine & citrulline taken together have amplified and prolonged benefits... but I'm confused, since others say that citrulline already produces arginine... so I'm not sure why both together would be beneficial.

Do you have insight into this?

Thanks! And thanks for the help with the previous questions.

This post was edited by Canadian_Man on Sep 29 2016 03:05am