http://i.imgur.com/jOCmZnt.gif

http://i.imgur.com/kkMLcp2.jpg




what's better? chin-ups or pullups? or is it just a matter of bicep vs lat stimulation
chin ups engage the lats from the sagital plane, pullups from the coronal plane. the rom is bigger on chins so it gives off the impression it's better for/harder than bi's, which it is, but doesn't mean it's a "biceps exercise". it's all lats.

best ab exercise for overall aesthetic growth? hanging leg raises?
IS using the ab machine a bad thing?
hlr is definitely the better ab exercise. i incorporate them as well as decline crunches and muslim crunches. i'd rather stay away from the ab machine but i wouldn't ban it.

best forearm exercise?
best forearm exercises are shrugs, farmers' walk and any type of deadlift.

Best calve exercise?
best calves- smith standing raise and seated raise. do both.

at what % bf when cutting should u add in cardio?
no real % set for everyone, but i'd say 10-11% if you wanna go lower. which aerobics type, i'd say LISS

if u get to a low calorie amount.. 2200 @ 82 kgs 5'11 (prolly 14-17% bf) , and have been there for a while (2+ months), should u start incorporating more cardio? or can u keep lowering cals and have no detriment to muscle/metabolism ?

those calories are already low enough, it depends on your whole work regimen / current and past cardio regimens / refeed plans etc. can't just shoot you an answer with near zero info.

dont suppose u know really common misconceptions about lifting technique?
Like how for a bicep curl you only need to perform elbow flection up until palms are parallel with your nipples and no further.
the biceps curl is a common misconception indeed. people need to move their forearms only instead of raising their arms via shoulder flexion. another misconception could be raising the bench too high for an incline bench press and resulting in doing a shoulder press.

does alternating feet stance during calf raises change the way you target the soleus and gastrocnemius ? And actually make a difference in gains?
no, alternating feet stance is dumb. the vector path of travel is the same.

best way to fix muscle imbalances? a few extra sets at the end on the smaller side?
fix muscle imbalances with more barbell exercise and a few dumbbell isolations for the weaker part at the end. fixing form can have a lot to do with that too.

are leg extensions actually bad for ur knees? or is it only when u're stupid and have way too much weight on there?
no, it's bullshit that's only true in the theoretical realm. leg extensions are perfectly fine. -- has also said that they produce more tension on the patella of the knee than squats.

do isometrics build muscle?
isometric contractions produce 10% more mu-r than concentrics. so yes, of course.

is it worth it to do 4 second eccentrics as opposed to 2 second ones? if the concentric tempo is explosive ~0-1 second, and with say, 10-15 reps?
or is it only beneficial for overall TUT and thus best off with say ~ 5 reps (while aiming for hypertrophy. Why 5 rep sets for hypertrophy? I dont know lol)
try doing 4 second eccentrics and realize what hell it is. no, stick to 2.

best bicep curling variant? barbell, dumbbell, cables (and the different exercises too).. what's the best and why?
whichever variant is best for you. spider flat barbell / cambered bar / dumbbells. it's splitting hairs really.

how do you get shredded obliques?
you get shredded overall by dieting, not just obliques. keep to compounds and actually working on your abs and obliques will eventually show too.

wtf is up with gluten? is it really as bad as people think?
gluten is just another protein, if you're not one of the .01% that actually have celiac, don't even bother worrying about it.

i feel like my shoulders are naturally rolled forwards. Been to a muscle manipulator and he fixed me up for a short time, and commented on how tight my shoulder blades are.
Are there any exercises to specifically bring up those specific posture regulating muscles? My biceps/back dont appear to be disproportionately bigger than my tris/chest.
the best exercise to strengthen the rhomboids and bring your shoulders back to normal is lying trap adduction (like shrugs, but the pull is not upwards but backwards)

can u get a shredded mid section without any direct ab work, or deadlifts/squats?
you won't look as good as you'd like to be in the mid section without direct ab work.

Some people claim dips are superior to close grip bench press (for overall development of the tris and chest). Jason blaha disagrees. What's ur thoughts?
it's all about preference. if you can do cg bench well (not many can or do), it's the same. but dips play a bigger role in lower pec and anterior delt development, so in the overall i'll choose dips. just looking at tri's, they're the same in my book

Jason blaha recently cited some studies that showed that when an athlete had an injury to one limb, but still trained the other, it actually helped the injured limb retain muscle. Thoughts?
if the studies had a huge specimen of athletes and really showed high statistic t's confirming those claims, trust them. if not, it's a wild guess at best.

If you're kinda lean atm ~15% bf, and are going to be bulking for another 6 months, but in 2.5 months you've got a formal event ... is ther anyway to do a 1-3 week quick cut/depletion to scrub up a little leaner than u otherwise would?
Obviously this is counterproductive to gains, but if you're feeling uncomfortable about ur bulk and want to look the best possible, what should u do? less cals the night before, bulk water 2 days before then very little after, low sodium/carbs , bit of cardio night before?
no, that's dumb. stick to your bulk or don't do it. shit like that always comes up, you can't let it narrate your life. who cares if you come in 5 lbs less. the world on the outside doesn't really care if your'e shredded or regular or chubby, it's just a trainee's mindset. a fucked up one.
but to give you whatever answer- just fast, it'll give you the most bw/appearance change towards the 16 hour mark.

"How do you know when it's over?
> When you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you"


Something to think about:
The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let's scale that to 46 years. We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago. In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world's forests.

Relationships are mostly you apologizing for saying something hilarious

Most men aren't smart enough to realize that the higher you elevate your woman, the less available she is for other men.

"Choose a major you love and you'll never work a day in your life because that field probably isn't hiring"

Seek to be worth knowing rather than well-known.

If they don't know you personally, don't take it personal.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.




Independence
The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e, self-mastery)

Habit 1: Be Proactive
Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences that follow.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
A manager must manage his own person. Personally. And managers should implement activities that aim to reach the second habit. Covey says that rule 2 is the mental creation; rule 3 is the physical creation.

Interdependence
The next 3 habits talk about interdependence (e.g., working with others):

Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Genuine feelings for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Use empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving.

Habit 6: Synergize
Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone.

Continuous Improvements
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.

*Bonus'
Mistake 1 - Getting comfortable like you actually deserve down time
Unless you're chilling with Victoria's Secret models in Monaco this weekend, you shouldn't even be thinking about taking a break anytime soon. You need a vacation? What have you accomplished? Mark Cuban spent seven years building out his first business before he even took a break. Don't you get lazy now.




"The secret of Change is to Focus all of your Energy, Not on fighting the old, but on Building the New"




Think outside yourself
Ask yourself if you'd say what you're thinking about yourself to someone else. If not, stop being so hard on yourself. Think about less harsh statements that offer more realistic descriptions.

Allow yourself to be less than perfect
Many depressed people are perfectionists, holding themselves to impossibly high standards and then beating themselves up when they fail to meet them. Battle this source of self-imposed stress by challenging your negative ways of thinking.





Everything Happens for a Reason
You may not see it today or tomorrow,
but you will look back in a few years and be
absolutely perplexed and awed by how every little
thing added up and brought you somewhere
wonderful - or where you always wanted to be.
You will be grateful that things didn't work out
the way you once wanted them to.



The Cost of Ambition:
Late nights, early mornings.
Lots of associates, very few friends.
You will be misunderstood.
You will be single unless you are lucky enough to find some who understands your lifestyle.
People will want you to do good but never better than them... And for those reasons, you will do many things alone.





"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do Today?" And whenever the answer has been No for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." - Steve Jobs





Neil Degrasse Tyson selects the 8 most-must-read books
1 - The Bible (free ebook) - To learn that it's easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.

2 - The System of the World - To learn that the universe is a knowable place (Isaac Newton, free ebook)

3 - On the Origin of Species (free ebook) - To learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth. (Charles Darwin)

4 - Gulliver's Travels (free ebook) - To learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahos. (Jonathan Swift)

5 - The Age of Reason (free ebook) - To learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world. (Thomas Paine)

6 - The Wealth of Nations (free ebooks) - To learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself. (Adam Smith)

7 - The Art of War (free ebook) - To learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art (Sun Tzu)

8 - The Prince (free ebook) - To learn that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it. (Machiavelli)







"If you control yourself, you control life. You should not give in to every little problem. Be open, be determined, never play the cripple, but control yourself. Be the master of your pain and problems. Force yourself to be cheerfully faithful. Then you will find strength you did not know you had. Command yourself so that you can master yourself. Do something every day that you do not like to do, and avoid doing something every day that you would gladly have done. This is the secret of every great personality."




Jesus said "He who lives by the sword will die by the sword" - and it has been pointed out to me that Jesus himself lived as a carpenter and died by being nailed to a piece of wood..

"You sure can do something along the lines of 5x5 and follow it with 5x10's or whatever. You can slo have sets with certain ranges like 10-15, or 3-5.
Doing 20-15-10-7-3-5-1 or some shit like that literally pisses over the specificity rule. Agin, im not talking about ramping up strength sets like in 5-3-1" - Lm

Isolated machine movement with no pressure on joints. Stretch, warm up and shouldn't do anything to your knees at all, how is leg extensions high risk?
"Extensions have more joint stress on the patella than heavy squats." - Lm







"Our best thoughts come from others"

http://i.imgur.com/g8VILHI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/miCVxxN.jpg

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new" - Socrates

"I no longer have patience for certain things, not because ive become arrogant, but simply because I have reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost th will to please those who do not like me, to those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that's why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragment. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of eerything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience". - Meryl Streep





"A person who is nice to you but is not nice to the waiter is not a nice person."

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant... It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." - Mewtwo

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" - Ghandi

"If you are humble Nothing can touch you, Neither praise or discouragement Because you know who you are."

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony" - Ghandi

"Don't promise when you're happy. Don't reply when you're angry and don't decide when you're sad"

"Before it's your favourite place, it's a place you haven't been before"

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove they should value it?
If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument would you provide to show the importance of logic?" - Sam Harris




How to build a good routine
"The main compounds remain dominant, one muscle group a week + supplementing at another day of the week tends to work well.
Add 4-5 accessories per daily agonist. Each rep scheme should have 3-5 sets of 12-15 reps, 10 reps for major compounds."


How to make fake wounds
Mix vaseline and flour, to make putty. Smooth it on your skin with the back of a spoon, make a cut. Add fake blood (glycerin and red dye).



Roulette
Bet on the same 1/3 chunk of the wheel each time.
Miss first time, double the second time.
Miss again, double again.

You should win atleast once out of every 3 rounds.

So a $3.50 bet ($0.25 on each number) would pay $9 if it hit any one of the numbers under the 1/3 of the wheel i selected, $7 ($0.50/number) paid $18, and $14 ($1.00/number) paid $36.

"Absence diminishes small loves and increases the great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire."

"The magic of first love is the ignorance that it will never end."

"You may only be one person to the world, but to one person you're the world."

"To love and win is the best, to love and lose, the next best."

"All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon the sand."

"Take away love and our earth is a tomb."

"The irony of love is that it guarantees some degree of anger, fear and criticism."




I NEVER SAID SHE STOLE MY MONEY



The Paradox of Our Age
We have bigger houses but smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgement;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet
the new neighbour.
We built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever,
but have less communication;
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods
but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.
... His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

It’s breathtaking to consider: You have two eyes, each composed of 130 million photoreceptor cells. In each of those cells, there’s 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) atoms— that’s more than all the atoms in the Milky way galaxy.

However, each atom in each cell in each eye formed in the core of a star, billions of years ago, and yet, here they are today. ..However, each atom in each cell in each eye formed in the core of a star, billions of years ago, and yet, here they are today, being utilized to capture the energy released from that same process, all to expand the consciousness of you. The universe has an interesting sense of irony, in that you are the universe experiencing itself… And all you are is a thought.

11 things to give up

1- self-doubt
2- Negative thinking
3- Fear of failure
4 - Destructive relationships
5 - Gossiping ?
6 - Criticising yourself and others
7 - Anger ?
8 - Laziness
9 - Procrastination
10 - Anything excessive
11 - People pleasing

youtube - life hacks

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FX4TYG/?tag=awesomestufftobuy-20 - 3 man chess board - $50

http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/iphone-shaped-flask

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSJG2QS4mvI&index=2&list=PLMNj_r5bccUwZY7RCZnS2e5-vjaA7wSNw&spfreload=10 - truth about breast feeding

How to Military Press - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfow8SeK4Hg

Kettlebell Deadlift/Swing Hybrid - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KURQjF_QLOk

How to Perform Sumo Deadlifts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQH2od4odU

The Goblet Squat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xwGFn-J_Q4

Layne Norton talks Science of the Squat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2b8UdqmlFs