408 - Help me out - How terrible is my work out routine?

[NotAPedophile]

Saw your response about the Velveeta diet and hastily threw this together to get your advice.


So, what am I doing to myself?

My diet is essentially shit, with some decent stuff mixed in at random. 4 Red Bulls a day, two in the morning. Breakfast - 2 Redbulls(12 Oz cans), a large ms fields chocolate chip cookie and a bag of lays potatoe chips. Lunch - McDonalds value meal or JJ or sometimes Sub way. Dinner - random as fk, sometimes a Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine, sometimes more fast food, sometimes something healthy like Salmon and rice and veggies that my girl cooks for me. I know, its garbage. Oh, and thoughout the day I'll follow your old advice of two primatine tabs, a caffine pill and an asprine, or just a caffine pill. Just do it for energy while at work - I usually do this during the day at work once or twice, and then also before I workout. How terribly unhealthy is this?

Edit: I also smoke. I drink socially 2 or 3 times a week as well. Today's BMI was 13.3 percent or some shit.

My workout is meh. Basic and I'm sure I'm overworking or doing the wrong things. I had been going every single day for approx 10 weeks, and then lately(past month a a half), it's dropped to 2 to 4 times a week. Trying to rev it back up for summer. Went 6 days in a row last week, took the past two days off(hangover recoveries) and hit it again today.

I rotate cardio and weights every other day/session.
Cardio:
10 minutes on the treadmill(walk a minute, run @ 9mph for 1.5 mins, walk a min, etc until I get to a mile)
10 minutes on the elliptical - usually try to knock out a mile in this span of time. I go pretty hard at it, and use the "Weight loss" setting which revs up the resistance and incline for half of it)
10 minutes on the bike - moderate pace - kind of a cool down

I had also been doing 10 minutes on the nautilus but read something recently that men should only do 30 minutes of cardio, as excessive cardio doesn't promote testosterone as much. Obviously simplifying this, but that's how I understand it. I had also been doing 25 basic situps, and 10 side bends on each side between each cardio 10 minute set, but recently cut this out as well because I figure it's allowing my heart rate to dip and reducing the effectiveness of the workout - I was doing these to try to get a fucking six pack for summer. Good idea to cut this or ?

On days where I do weights, I do workouts on approx 15 different machines, and cycle through this circuit 3 times.

Weights:
Sidebends - 10 to 15 on each side - lately I've been lifting a 10 pound weight while doing this
Pushups - max out first - usually at approx 40, then 30 and finally 25 or 20 - sometimes instead of pushup's I'll sub out for the inclined bench press machine 150 - 10 reps.
Situps - just do 25
Lat pulldown - 120lbs - 10 reps
Row pull? I don't know the name, - 100 to 120 pounds - 10 reps
Hammer curl - 25 pounds - 7 reps
That one thing where you lay down and kick your legs up - 100 pounds - 10 to 15 reps
leg thing - kick up from sitting - 150 pounds - 10 to 15 reps
bicep curl machine - 70 to 60 pounds - 10 to 6 reps
abductor and adductor - 100 pounds - 20 reps
pec fly machine? - 130 pounds - 8 to 10 reps
same machine but you face the opposite direction - 130 - 8 to 10
that fucking machine you push up with to work your calves - 150 pounds - 25 reps
shoulder press - 75 pounds - 8 reps
squat machine? - 320 pounds - 15 reps

repeat 3 x

I ususally rotate arms and legs to give them a rest. I also don't take any breaks - this usually takes approx 45 minutes to an hour...

So I know this shit is super basic, but I've been too cheap to pay a personal trainer. Can you tell me what I'm doing to myself, and suggest any tweaks or clear up any misconceptions?

[408Mike]

*HAVEN'T PROOFREAD BUT I WILL*

Your goal is technically "getting a 6 pack by summer" right? So 90-120 days?

Besides the junk for breakfast lunch and dinner do you ever find the time to cook anything yourself? I need a little more basic info.

Age?
height/weight?
Is what you listed your total experience working out or have you lifted in the past?
Any particular reason you don't combine cardio and weight training in the same workout or day?
Why are you using ephedrine when you are not on any kind of legitimate program?
The gym you have access to has more than the circuit equipment listed y/n?

To address a couple things that jump to mind- How many doses of the eca are you taking every day? You mention primatene but are you taking 1 2 or 3 per dose? I have personally taken up to 100mgs of ephedrine hcl daily for a while (weeks) with no ill effects but I am genetically blessed with low blood pressure. For the normal average human being 50mgs of ephedrine hcl per 24 hour period is more than enough to lose bodyfat and cut appetite. I am concerned you are taking way more than you need because you are attempting to circumvent poor diet decisions -or- you don't feel as strong an effect as you had in the past so to compensate you bump the dosage.

You are aware that the eca stack will actually increase in effectiveness over time yet the thermic effect you can feel diminishes? What I mean is, you feel it less over time but it's actually getting better and better at doing it's job. Please be careful with how much you take and watch out for the dangers- dizzy spells, confusion, insomnia, cold sweats, heart palpitations etc. See a doctor immediately if any of these symptoms manifest.

You smoke and drink a few times per week-not the best decision best decision but its your choice. What kinds of health effects are you setting yourself up for? It depends- you seem in decent shape you have that much going for you. Smoking increases your blood pressure and makes your blood also much thicker not to mention it attacks certain fibers in your skin which ultimately ages you dramatically. You can get the whole spiel from your doctor.

Of importance to you is how does the smoking and social drinking mix with eca? It is really a very unhealthy combination. On the one hand your blood pressure is already very high from the nicotine you ingest regularly, to compound that fact nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. It makes your blood vessels shrink essentially, partly why it spikes your blood pressure. So take a closed system (your circulatory system for example) where your heart is already stressed having to pump blood through constricted blood vessels COMPOUND the vasoconstriction by adding in the ephedrine and what would you expect to happen?? Google cardiac myopathy it's no fucking walk in the park and I am being very real- it can VERY REALLY HAPPEN TO YOU.

You can mitigate your risk by (aside from not smoking or taking ephedrine obviously) taking larger amounts of aspirin (up to 900mgs ed or so) taking fish oil (very effective- up to 9grams per day) or by taking low dose cialis (10mgs ed is fine). Either way what I want you to pay attention to here- smoking on it's own is very bad for your health, ephedrine on it's own is only slightly less of a risk factor- COMBINING the two??? No, flat out NO do not do it. If you must PLEASE at least take the aspirin and fish oil.

Of course, in writing the above I forgot to factor in your diet! And what a lovely diet it is, full of all the saturated fatty goodness a healthy strong body needs. Red Bulls, smoking, eca, horrible diet- you had better hope you have some very blessed genetics kid. You are literally a high alert situation for any pcp, if you are even honest with him or her. You could only make things worse by maybe not working out or picking up a meth habit or something but you exhibit most of the major risk factors that lead to an early death. Guys dropping DEAD at 28 from a heart attack, 31 in their sleep etc usually looked and functioned fine right up till they died. After some research though certain trends emerge- bad diet, high stress, combinations of risk factors such as smoking and concurrently taking ephedrine, family history etc. If you can look down your lineage and it seems like males in your family usually die very old and rarely from cancer or heart issues than count yourself lucky and still try to make changes soon. If it becomes clear cardiac issues run in the family, cancer that sort of thing, you need to cut some risk factors NOW. TODAY. I would start with cleaning up the diet and dropping the social drinking. From there quit smoking. This will leave you lean and mean with a great diet and workout routine and a life of blessed health (hopefully) ahead of you. Btw I did not rec quitting smoking first because I know how tough it is to quit and attempting to do so while radically modding you diet and workouts etc is probably unlikely. Only you know for sure.

[tony bagadonuts]

Mike's Cardio routine that I saved...very, very good info.


1. Understanding cardio- cardio for fat loss, cardio for heart health, variations etc
Cardio is the name of the game when it comes to shedding body fat. But there are so many types you can do, and so many schools of thought that figuring out what's best for YOU can be quite challenging. How do you differentiate?

Well firstly it's important to understand the differing types, their advantages and flaws and make a decision based on your goals and current level of fitness.

Firstly is steady state cardio both fasted (meaning before you eat, empty stomach) and not fasted. Fasted is vastly superior here, taking advantage of both low insulin levels and very low circulating glycogen levels. What this means it two-fold. Because you have no glucose to run off of, your body must almost immediately dip into body fat stores for energy. Where else is it going to get energy from if you haven't eaten for 6-7 hours? Hence the term fasted. Secondly, anytime your blood glucose levels get down to nothing, your body kicks out HGH. Growth Hormone is never secreted in the presence of insulin. Hidden secret to why low carb diets work.

So you get two-fold kick here, both a spike in HGH which burns fat all on its own plus you push your body to burn fat for energy. Keep heart rate between 100-125 range. Walking is king here though you can also bike if you keep an eye on HR and find the magic zone of 100-125 and no higher. Keep sessions to an hour or so, going longer will not help, shorter is not that effective. To make this better consume 200mgs or so caffeine prior to walking. You may also add either yohimbine hcl or ephedrine depending on your goals.

Second and very common is moderate intensity cardio. anything with a heart rate of 126-160 is moderate cardio. This is typically what you see people doing in the gym, and these are the same people who look the same day in and day out. It's not that great for fat burning because you are both working your cardiovascular system and your muscles are working too hard to be working 100% aerobically. This type of cardio is best if you are starting out and trying to "get in shape" meaning fat loss is not totally your goal, you want to increase cardio capacity as well. Get your muscles toned a bit. Best for women as they tend to not want to mess around with weights, this type of cardio will both tone you and lead to some moderate fat loss as well. Best done on treadmill via walking on an incline, the Stairmaster or elliptical.

This cardio is also best suited for heart health. It stresses your cardiovascular system a good deal but it not as intense as HIIT. HIIT will ultimately build the healthiest heart you can but for most it's not feasible thus stick with medium intensity if building a healthy heart is your goal. The low intensity walking is solely for body fat loss. Sessions should be between 30-45 minutes. An hour is pushing it; less than 30 is not long enough. At least 3 times a week, 6-7 is preferable if you are in ok shape.

Last is HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. King of all things fitness related, you could literally just do wind sprints and build a great body. Look at most Olympic sprinters and tell me you would not kill to have their bodies. HIIT works through a wide variety of mechanisms and I think it best to avoid a technical discussion and just say this- your body uses certain hormones and enzymes to trigger fat loss and HIIT kicks these into HIGH gear. Doing HIIT is tricky and best explained briefly as intervals of maximum intensity followed by an interval twice as long of recovery intensity. I will give some examples below.

Treadmill HIIT- walk for 5 to get blood in your knees and ankles and then spend a minute or two stretching till you are loose. Get back on, walk at 2.8 for 2 minutes, then run at 8.0 for 1 minute then back to 2.8 for 2 minutes, run at 8.0 for one minute etc. Repeat until you have done 8 intervals at 8.0 then walk for a cool down of 5 minutes and you are done.

The key here is you need to figure out what is the fastest you can run for the 1 minute. You might only do 7.0 to start; you might be able to do 9.0. Depends on how fast you can run honestly. I can do 9.0 for 8 one minute intervals with an incline of 2% and I am fairly advanced. On the upper end of the spectrum I know a guy personally who could do unlimited with a speed of 12 and incline of 12%. He was maybe 165 6ft1 and just sick to your stomach low body fat. They freaking work trust me.

Stairmaster HIIT- not recommended for beginners but you can try it. Use the interval setting and try level 6 and go higher. I can do 6 sometimes 7 if I have taken ephedrine. If you can do level 9 you are GOD of all things HIIT related.

Bike- same as treadmill, float between level 2 and however high you can go. Intervals of 1 min all out, 2 min recover etc. Try to get 10 intervals as biking is not as stressful as running.

Elliptical- same as bike and treadmill, toggle around the intensity levels to suit you.


So now that we have the main types of cardio listed, what is right for you? That depends on goals and level of fitness. Let's start with the average male in ok shape who's trying to lose some belly fat. I recommend medium to start and HIIT after a few weeks. The added muscle from HIIT will take care of body fat loss so the low intensity is not needed. You may try starting with HIIT but if it's too much shelve it for a couple weeks and do medium intensity to build up.

Let's say you are overweight and out of shape, start with the low intensity fasted in the morning and again at night after dinner. Duration of 1 hour each session. Stick with this until you have lost enough weight to be light on your feet and then add in a session of medium intensity for 2-3 weeks then ditch the medium and replace with HIIT. Start slow and work your way up with the intervals.

Women- same for men really, though if your goal is toning your body I recommend sessions of 45 minutes 3-4 times a week on the elliptical or Stairmaster, medium intensity. This will tone as well as burn fat.

Say you are athletic and trying to lose that last bit of flab, HIIT is the way to go. 4 days a week, the other 3 do low intensity walking fasted in the morning. Basically the HIIT will make your fasted cardio 3x better for body fat loss. If you have the endurance feel free to bump it to 5 days of HIIT and a 1 hour walk every single morning fasted.

Questions/comments fire away.

[408Mike]

Mike's Cardio routine that I saved...very, very good info.


1. Understanding cardio- cardio for fat loss, cardio for heart health, variations etc
Cardio is the name of the game when it comes to shedding body fat. But there are so many types you can do, and so many schools of thought that figuring out what's best for YOU can be quite challenging. How do you differentiate?

Well firstly it's important to understand the differing types, their advantages and flaws and make a decision based on your goals and current level of fitness.

Firstly is steady state cardio both fasted (meaning before you eat, empty stomach) and not fasted. Fasted is vastly superior here, taking advantage of both low insulin levels and very low circulating glycogen levels. What this means it two-fold. Because you have no glucose to run off of, your body must almost immediately dip into body fat stores for energy. Where else is it going to get energy from if you haven't eaten for 6-7 hours? Hence the term fasted. Secondly, anytime your blood glucose levels get down to nothing, your body kicks out HGH. Growth Hormone is never secreted in the presence of insulin. Hidden secret to why low carb diets work.

So you get two-fold kick here, both a spike in HGH which burns fat all on its own plus you push your body to burn fat for energy. Keep heart rate between 100-125 range. Walking is king here though you can also bike if you keep an eye on HR and find the magic zone of 100-125 and no higher. Keep sessions to an hour or so, going longer will not help, shorter is not that effective. To make this better consume 200mgs or so caffeine prior to walking. You may also add either yohimbine hcl or ephedrine depending on your goals.

Second and very common is moderate intensity cardio. anything with a heart rate of 126-160 is moderate cardio. This is typically what you see people doing in the gym, and these are the same people who look the same day in and day out. It's not that great for fat burning because you are both working your cardiovascular system and your muscles are working too hard to be working 100% aerobically. This type of cardio is best if you are starting out and trying to "get in shape" meaning fat loss is not totally your goal, you want to increase cardio capacity as well. Get your muscles toned a bit. Best for women as they tend to not want to mess around with weights, this type of cardio will both tone you and lead to some moderate fat loss as well. Best done on treadmill via walking on an incline, the Stairmaster or elliptical.

This cardio is also best suited for heart health. It stresses your cardiovascular system a good deal but it not as intense as HIIT. HIIT will ultimately build the healthiest heart you can but for most it's not feasible thus stick with medium intensity if building a healthy heart is your goal. The low intensity walking is solely for body fat loss. Sessions should be between 30-45 minutes. An hour is pushing it; less than 30 is not long enough. At least 3 times a week, 6-7 is preferable if you are in ok shape.

Last is HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. King of all things fitness related, you could literally just do wind sprints and build a great body. Look at most Olympic sprinters and tell me you would not kill to have their bodies. HIIT works through a wide variety of mechanisms and I think it best to avoid a technical discussion and just say this- your body uses certain hormones and enzymes to trigger fat loss and HIIT kicks these into HIGH gear. Doing HIIT is tricky and best explained briefly as intervals of maximum intensity followed by an interval twice as long of recovery intensity. I will give some examples below.

Treadmill HIIT- walk for 5 to get blood in your knees and ankles and then spend a minute or two stretching till you are loose. Get back on, walk at 2.8 for 2 minutes, then run at 8.0 for 1 minute then back to 2.8 for 2 minutes, run at 8.0 for one minute etc. Repeat until you have done 8 intervals at 8.0 then walk for a cool down of 5 minutes and you are done.

The key here is you need to figure out what is the fastest you can run for the 1 minute. You might only do 7.0 to start; you might be able to do 9.0. Depends on how fast you can run honestly. I can do 9.0 for 8 one minute intervals with an incline of 2% and I am fairly advanced. On the upper end of the spectrum I know a guy personally who could do unlimited with a speed of 12 and incline of 12%. He was maybe 165 6ft1 and just sick to your stomach low body fat. They freaking work trust me.

Stairmaster HIIT- not recommended for beginners but you can try it. Use the interval setting and try level 6 and go higher. I can do 6 sometimes 7 if I have taken ephedrine. If you can do level 9 you are GOD of all things HIIT related.

Bike- same as treadmill, float between level 2 and however high you can go. Intervals of 1 min all out, 2 min recover etc. Try to get 10 intervals as biking is not as stressful as running.

Elliptical- same as bike and treadmill, toggle around the intensity levels to suit you.


So now that we have the main types of cardio listed, what is right for you? That depends on goals and level of fitness. Let's start with the average male in ok shape who's trying to lose some belly fat. I recommend medium to start and HIIT after a few weeks. The added muscle from HIIT will take care of body fat loss so the low intensity is not needed. You may try starting with HIIT but if it's too much shelve it for a couple weeks and do medium intensity to build up.

Let's say you are overweight and out of shape, start with the low intensity fasted in the morning and again at night after dinner. Duration of 1 hour each session. Stick with this until you have lost enough weight to be light on your feet and then add in a session of medium intensity for 2-3 weeks then ditch the medium and replace with HIIT. Start slow and work your way up with the intervals.

Women- same for men really, though if your goal is toning your body I recommend sessions of 45 minutes 3-4 times a week on the elliptical or Stairmaster, medium intensity. This will tone as well as burn fat.

Say you are athletic and trying to lose that last bit of flab, HIIT is the way to go. 4 days a week, the other 3 do low intensity walking fasted in the morning. Basically the HIIT will make your fasted cardio 3x better for body fat loss. If you have the endurance feel free to bump it to 5 days of HIIT and a 1 hour walk every single morning fasted.

Questions/comments fire away.

I still remember writing it. Brings a tear to my eye Tony. You know China never even warned me the forum was going away? I had no time whatsoever to save anything. I was pretty hurt but I got over it. I do wish things had gone differently but such is life.

[tony bagadonuts]

I still remember writing it. Brings a tear to my eye Tony. You know China never even warned me the forum was going away? I had no time whatsoever to save anything. I was pretty hurt but I got over it. I do wish things had gone differently but such is life.

I got your back Mikey.

[408Mike]

I still remember writing it. Brings a tear to my eye Tony. You know China never even warned me the forum was going away? I had no time whatsoever to save anything. I was pretty hurt but I got over it. I do wish things had gone differently but such is life.

I got your back Mikey.

[ErickAA]

Your workout is a humungous waste of time. Machines are pretty much useless, and once you exhaust extreme novice gains you will never progress. Ask yourself, have you ever seen a real strong guy doing the bicep curl machine or adductor machine?

For a novice, which you pretty much guaranteed are based on your current workout routine, to build lean muscle (which burns fat) and stimulate T production all you need to to is squat, deadlift, bench, pullups, working out 3 days a week max.

The rest is just balancing calories in vs calories out with diet and cardio, and if you are into that kinda thing you can take amphetamines like 408Mike suggests.

[NotAPedophile]

Thanks for the response Mike and honest opinion about my crappy diet and habits. Gotta make some changes. I'm at work now but will hit this up in detail this evening.

[408Mike]

Thanks for the response Mike and honest opinion about my crappy diet and habits. Gotta make some changes. I'm at work now but will hit this up in detail this evening.

Glad to hear you are taking my advice seriously and want to make actual changes to your life. I hate to waste my time on someone who won't take shit seriously. I know you would NEVER do that, I mean it's very clear by your actions that you are definitely serious and would *never* waste my time.

[Team Razor]

Thanks for the response Mike and honest opinion about my crappy diet and habits. Gotta make some changes. I'm at work now but will hit this up in detail this evening.

Glad to hear you are taking my advice seriously and want to make actual changes to your life. I hate to waste my time on someone who won't take shit seriously. I know you would NEVER do that, I mean it's very clear by your actions that you are definitely serious and would *never* waste my time.

Mike chill the fuck out.

[408Mike]

Thanks for the response Mike and honest opinion about my crappy diet and habits. Gotta make some changes. I'm at work now but will hit this up in detail this evening.

[NotAPedophile]

Sorry Mike, my ability to put shit off is pretty amazing.

Yes, 6 pack by summer. Overall I just want to be leaner. I'm not in horrible shape right now but def want to muscle up and burn off the excess fat. The self read thing I did at the gym yesterday said 14.9% body fat.

I'm 29
5'7 - 160
I have just done basic lifting in the past - bench press, curls and dumbells - no complex free weight exercises - no kettle bells or anything like that
I don't know what a legitiment program would be to use ephedrine - I used Ripped Fuel in the past when working out, and used that formula you shared on DD awhile back to recreate it when exercising. I have started abusing it a bit at work, just doing it for any energy boost. Since your response, I've stopped using the primatine tabs as much - only for some workouts, but will still take a caffeine pill once or twice a day at work. What kind of negative long term effects can I expect from that? For the record, I was not taking it as a diet pill/miracle fix at work, but an energy booster - not that that makes it ok, but it's not tied to trying to be fit.

I go to a club fitness, and yeah they have a whole lower level dedicated to free weights, not just machines. The eye candy doesn't hang out there though brah! I am open to things besides the machines though.

The smoking I need to quit for sure, I've tried a couple of times this year. Am contemplating Chantix, but I hear that shit turns you psycho - litterally makes you see shit for the month that you're using it to quit. I'm not too worried about the aging yet as I always get mistaken for a lot younger than I am, but I do need to do it for the actual long lasting health reasons. I don't see the social drinking stopping, it's a big part of my social life. I really don't take the ECA stack anywhere near the time I do drink, will 4 or more hours prior cause issues if mixed?(this wouldn't be regularly, but on occasion). So what about just using caffine, and maybe aspirin? Are the risk factors reduced greatly this way?

No cancer or heart issues in the family to speak of, we tend to run into late age - bone crunching arthritis and back issues are what gets to us.

What can you tell me? Thanks again by the way Mike, I really appreciate your help.

[FPS_Russia]

Here's a good workout for you two lovebirds.

[NotAPedophile]

Here's a good workout for you two lovebirds.

Doesn't seem very high intensity brah.

[408Mike]

Sorry Mike, my ability to put shit off is pretty amazing.

Yes, 6 pack by summer. Overall I just want to be leaner. I'm not in horrible shape right now but def want to muscle up and burn off the excess fat. The self read thing I did at the gym yesterday said 14.9% body fat.

I'm 29
5'7 - 160
I have just done basic lifting in the past - bench press, curls and dumbells - no complex free weight exercises - no kettle bells or anything like that
I don't know what a legitiment program would be to use ephedrine - I used Ripped Fuel in the past when working out, and used that formula you shared on DD awhile back to recreate it when exercising. I have started abusing it a bit at work, just doing it for any energy boost. Since your response, I've stopped using the primatine tabs as much - only for some workouts, but will still take a caffeine pill once or twice a day at work. What kind of negative long term effects can I expect from that? For the record, I was not taking it as a diet pill/miracle fix at work, but an energy booster - not that that makes it ok, but it's not tied to trying to be fit.

I go to a club fitness, and yeah they have a whole lower level dedicated to free weights, not just machines. The eye candy doesn't hang out there though brah! I am open to things besides the machines though.

The smoking I need to quit for sure, I've tried a couple of times this year. Am contemplating Chantix, but I hear that shit turns you psycho - litterally makes you see shit for the month that you're using it to quit. I'm not too worried about the aging yet as I always get mistaken for a lot younger than I am, but I do need to do it for the actual long lasting health reasons. I don't see the social drinking stopping, it's a big part of my social life. I really don't take the ECA stack anywhere near the time I do drink, will 4 or more hours prior cause issues if mixed?(this wouldn't be regularly, but on occasion). So what about just using caffine, and maybe aspirin? Are the risk factors reduced greatly this way?

No cancer or heart issues in the family to speak of, we tend to run into late age - bone crunching arthritis and back issues are what gets to us.

What can you tell me? Thanks again by the way Mike, I really appreciate your help.

Well for starters you have been handed a decent hand in the game of life, at least physically (assuming you are being honest which I think you are). Normally being misjudged as much younger than you really are has a lot to do with a layer of fat the covers your body and head and this fat tends to resist wrinkling. You can fuck it up of course by smoking and having a poor diet, not exercising etc. I am not here to lecture you.

Drinking after taking ephedrine- Do you know what the half life of ephedrine hcl is? You're no dummy, why are you putting potentially harmful substances into your body without knowing their interactions with one another? Google in the future, it is useful information. The half life for Ephedrine HCL (what is in primatene) is roughly 6 hours. The half life for Ephedrine Sulfate (this would be Bronkaid you might end up grabbing these because nothing else is available) is much shorter, maybe 2.5-3 hours or so. Also the enteric coatings differ substantially and the net effect is a time released dose with one vs a shotgun like release in the other. FWIW HCL is the way to go for fat loss hands down. It seems to be less habit forming as well.

You should be ok taking your primatene before your drink. Four hours is plenty of time and if you feel anything weird drink more water and chill out. Hour or two you will be right as rain.

Long term effects are very hard to predict. I can tell you what the dangers are but google can do that much faster. Truthfully being young and in pretty good shape with solid genes to boot chances are nothing you are doing now is going to have a major effect on you. The ephedrine shouldn't bother you but keep in mind something- rarely did the crack addict or heroin junkie you see start out big timing it. Don't fuck around, if you notice you like the feeling of mixing substances and get frustrated you aren't getting that same good feeling so you up the dose get help ASAP.
You have already admitted taking ephedrine with no proper protocol, just for an energy boost. Thats a warning shot right there.

I actually don't mind some social drinking, it's the smoking that HAS TO GO. I can't explain why any better than google can, but once again you want to mitigate risk factors over time, not compound them. The warnings on the side of the box be it cigs ephedrine chew or whatever do not really apply to someone mixing multiple risk factors. Smoking alone can kill you some 20-30 years young, adding in potent stimulants and drinking and an imperfect diet- what do you expect here? You will probably feel fine on the outside but trust me, you are tempting fate. I advise against it.


You are young enough with a solid base that I can recommend that you go all out with the cardio and that means windsprints. At your level jogging may not be taxing enough and walking would bore you so high intensity interval training sounds ideal. Windsprints will not only cut fat but the added spikes in natural testosterone will help you build muscle doing free weights and what not. A protocol might be something like 3- 4 workouts per week. The front half in is all about heavy lifting, the last 20 minutes devoted to windsprints. Rinse and repeat, take time off when you feel like your body needs it.

The windsprints are simple 2-1's, two minutes walking cool down 1 minute all out sprinting. I like to do 2.5mph for my walking and 9-9.5 for my sprinting. You have to COOL DOWN when you walk and GO ALL OUT when you sprint. I used to throw up when I was getting the hang of it.

Working out with free weights is absolutely the way to go. Machines are unnatural and that's all you need to really know. If you get curious the next five years will be very enlightening, but you will just reach the exact same conclusion anyway so save yourself the time.

Here are a couple legit routines to get your started. What I think works best might not be what the next guy things and so on and so on. Don't rush anything, try advice here and then bounce around and try advice there, keep what works and discard the rest.

You may sub any workout days you want for example I say mon-tues-thurs-fri you can start that spit on any day of the week. Could be thurs-fri-sun-mon for example. You don't want to life more than two days in a row and get in no less than 2 days of full recovery in per week. 3 would be ideal.

Mon-Chest and Heavy Arms
Tues-Legs
Weds-off
Thurs-Shoulders and Light Arms
Fri- Back and anything that needs extra work.
Sat-sun- Rest

Do some googling and check out sample workouts that look like they interest you and take it from there. The schematic is very sold, it doesn't get much better. Tinker to make it perfect.

[DABADASS]

Mike, can you help me out with my diet and exercise routine?

I'm 6'2" and 195 pounds. I'm kind of soft at the moment, because I just haven't had time to eat properly or exercise. I haven't exercised over the last few months because I have been dealing with some pain in my knees. The last few weeks it seems to have gone away.

I've never really lifted weights in my life so I'm fairly weak. My normal exercise routine is running on the treadmill for 30 minutes or 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the rowing machine.

What I have been eating the past week or so:

Morning- Omelet (three egg whites and one whole egg) w/ a little feta and a little lunch meat


Afternoon- two pieces of chicken with three baby potatoes.


Protein Shake w/ skim milk

Dinner- two pieces of chicken with an apple (w/ a little peanut butter)


protein shake w/ skim milk




Can you tell me what to change w/ my diet? I have been told you need a little over 1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh. I feel like getting 200 grams of protein is next to impossible. Is there anyway I can have a workout routine where i just do situps, pushups, and a little cardio? I would prefer to stay away from the free weights.

My goal is to be more defined, and shrink my waist. My love handles aren't too bad, but I definitely need to lose some weight in my hips. Also, a six pack is the end goal.

[Team Razor]

? I would prefer to stay away from the free weights.

Why?

[DABADASS]

? I would prefer to stay away from the free weights.

Why?

Mainly because I'm a pussy and I've never done it in the past so it intimidates me. I'm weak as fuck for my height.

[DABADASS]

Mike, I came up with a sample diet that I hope to follow. Let me know what you think of it.


Morning- Omelet (Four egg whites- 64 calories, 14 g protein; spinach, tomatoes, salsa, feta) = Roughly 145 calories and 18 grams of protein

Afternoon- Two Pieces of Chicken (180 calories, 44 grams protein); two baby potatoes (220 calories)= roughly 400 calories and 50 grams of protein

Protein Shake w/ water= 200 calories, 22 grams of protein

Snack- Apple (115 calories) with a tablespoon of peanut butter (95 calories, 3.5 grams of protein) = 210 calories and 4.5 grams of protein

Dinner- Salad w/ cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and two pieces of chicken= roughly 350 calories and 48 grams of protein

Before Bed- Protein Shake w/ two cups of skim milk= 360 calories and 38 grams of protein.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total for the day: 1,665 calories with 180.5 grams of protein.



How should I alter my diet?

Thanks Michael!

[DRK Star]

Thanks for all this advice Mike.

I just turned 41 and am 6'4 but way the F out of shape due to back surgery and other lingering physical problems with my hips/legs so I am around 240 at this point. I eat like shit (late night snacks, chocolates at work sitting out on desk every day for free), so I made the decision to start your routine you provided. I woke up and did a warm up, then did the sprint on the treadmill for 1 minute then rest for around 90/120 seconds, then sprint. I had the treadmill at 7 though instead of 9 just because I need to get my body used to this again. There is something wrong with my right hip (out of alignment every day and tendons/muscles out of whack...doing hot yoga to assist with this pain) so it will be a while until I feel safe moving any faster than 7. Did 7 reps of these today and my body was definitely feeling it. Felt great. My heart was pumping for at least 10 minutes after the workout, so I know my fat ass is out of shape. Hoping to eat around 5 small meals a day, and follow the weight schedule you provided. Protein shake before and after workouts as well. Going to take a multi vitamin and some fish oil capsules too.

Any advice you can offer in addition to the stuff above due to my age, I would welcome. I played competitive sports for over 20 years (from 5 through college and a few years beyond) and now my metabolism is a freaking mess. I want to lose 20 pounds and get toned (not bulk up that much) by Mid May.