Yes, you can limit the calories or stick to good old fashioned keto.

Just stick to meats and fats...avoid the carbs. I think the keto would be easier personally...but if you really want to enjoy your vacation, you will need to just simply try to limit your caloric intake and keep a good level of cardio up while you're there.

Also you can check out this product called BSN Cheaters Relief. It can help!

Hey there Raynor.

I've been having some lower back pains for a few week now. I figured it would jst go away, and well it has not.

- Lower back
- Hurts to contract forward. Like to bend down and tie my shoe. or to put on pants.
- hurts wen trying to train abs
- hurts during deadlift, ESP the first rep & at the beginning of the lift
- almost impossible to squat, at the bottom of my squat is wen it hurts the most. Was able to do super light front squats on the smith without it hurting tho.
- hutrs when I wake up & is very tight

THINGS I CAN DO W/O IT RLLY HURTING

- BB rows... I can even go semi heavy... jst hard picking it up from the ground
- hyperextensions actually made it feel better
- usually if I stretch/warm up it feels slightly better

I have tried taking 2x advil before lifting.. hasnt rlly helped.

Ne idea what the injury cld b? & wat are the best proticals to help recover?

I kno its pretty hard to dignose over the internet, jst want ur opinion.

Thanks again.

edit

It might have something to do coming out of contest prep? (3wks post today)

This post was edited by TheOak on Jul 30 2011 11:49am

This sounds like it could be a few things.

However to make this easier for you...the treatment for all of those things but one is the same.

First of all, you need to rest it completely. I know this sucks, but consider being out for 2 weeks now....vs being out for 8 months later. I've learned in my years that treating an injury immediately is absolutely necessary. If you let it go and train through it, eventually you will hurt yourself so bad that you will miss tons of training and even possibly see permanent injury. To this day I have a hard time bench pressing because of how heavy I used to go and how much shoulder pain I worked through and ultimately tore my rotator cuff.

Anyway, enough about me...here is what you require:

1. Rest - stay out of the gym and stay away from lifting ANYTHING for the next 1-2 weeks depending.
2. Stretch lightly AFTER the first 2-3 days of total rest. This means, after you give yourself sufficient rest, begin a routine of light stretching (mostly toe touches, lower back extensions, dead hangs from a pullup bar, and even the yoga pose the cobra http://www.holisticonline.com/yoga/images/yp_cobra.gif
3. If after stretching you notice the pain to start alleviating, do not start working out again. Keep stretching and resting for the next few days for a total of about 1.5-2 weeks.
4. If stretching seems to make it worse, STOP immediately.
5. Go to a chiropractor and have them diagnose you and possibly do some traction and a few adjustments. You might have a pinched nerve which is what I'm assuming it may be (also hoping because this is much easier to fix than a true injury)
6. If at any point the pain becomes VERY bad or starts hurting even when you are not moving, stretching, or lifting anything - see a doctor right away.


The lower back is an area you don't want to mess with. Too much importance of the body comes from there....and it is tremendously injury prone. For that reason I try to work on straight leg deadlifts a lot to maintain a strong lower back.

Keep me posted on this....1-2 weeks of rest will not kill you =)

hey raynor..ive been having some issues with joint pain. its mainly while im sitting down but my hips and my knees start to hurt a lot.
and ive been trying to avoid sitting on my bed with my legs crossed over each other (with my feet under my legs)

suggestions?

Thanks... bud idk .. hmm .. I cant take time off! Especially with fighting my hunger (binges) if I lower my gym activity ill get so fat

I'll try & take it easy on it tho. Ill toss out trying to build my squat/dl strength up idea out the window

wat about ice/hot pad?

This post was edited by TheOak on Jul 30 2011 04:32pm

Three things.

1. Try taking joint support supplements (Universal Animal Flex) and NOW! Super Omega 3-6-9 regularly.
2. Try doing stretching activities and yoga (these help joint pain tremendously when done correctly and assuming no injury is present)
3. See a chiropractor for adjustments/traction as needed.

You can easily take 1-2 weeks off....don't sweat the fat gain BS, you'll be fine. You can take some BSN Cheaters Relief if you feel you are taking in too many carbs/fat cals and want to minimize fat gain.

To be quite honest, a de-load at this point might be exactly what you need to start breaking further barriers.

However, you can keep up the cardio. I'd actually recommend swimming after the first few days of TOTAL rest. The swimming will help the lower back tremendously, also supply necessary cardio, and give you a full muscular workout (for helping stimulate muscle fibers and avoid atrophy)


edit: I wouldn't hit it with heat or cold just yet....if it's inflamed - heat will make it worse. As far as cold goes - if it's muscular, you could tighten it further and make it hurt worse. Remember, ice to treat inflammation, heat to treat muscle spasms and tightness.

This post was edited by SKCRaynor on Jul 30 2011 11:51pm

unfortunately i cant afford any more supplements..though im taking cl orange triad, cal-mag caps, omega 3 fish oil

hmm ill try some stretching and yoga..i dont have any hip or knee injuries

i cant afford a chiropractor either unfortunately


I do have another question on posture

I have had problems with my shoulders being hunched forward since I can remember..I think it may be due to the UNCOMFORTABLE way that I sleep. I sleep directly on my side and well im a bigger guy, so my shoulders are a little wider...
I have only been using 1 pillow as well so it typically has my neck in a bend

any advice on improving the shoulders and neck posture?
is there a better way to position myself in my sleep to avoid doing this
there anything i should perhaps buy like a specific pillow? or two pillows? something to put over my bed, its a spring mattress with no pillowtop fml lol

and 1 more thing, my neck is hunched forward as well, for some reason ive always hunched it forward from sitting at school reading the chalk board (my sights fine, but i just do that)..as well as from being on the PC, i used to hunch it forward big time

ill show you a picture to give you an idea of the neck



PS. I know a chiropractor would prob be the best bet, but I cant afford it and I dont think I have any coverage for it

This post was edited by Darkblue on Jul 31 2011 09:20am

Hey there.

Well to be totally honest the yoga method woudl be the most helpful for you at this point.

In addition you need to make a CONSCIOUS effort to get your posture in line. Just pull your shoulders back, square up your trunk, and walk/sit straight at all time. Eventually it will become muscle memory.

As far as your bed goes, it doesn't seem to be the underlying issue - however a chiropractor might say otherwise. Your insurance should cover a few adjustments there...check into it.

Not trolling at all (figured I'd clarify ahead of time)

But if I wanted to look like a complete upper body warrior without necessarily even having the strength, but just the appearance, what kind of split/rep scheme should I focus on?