[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

 Assail, on 12 March 2013 - 05:28 AM, said:

Yeah as far as I know, and the military over in the states has rather rigorous drug testing, the only way to test for steroids or any real illegal substance as far as weight lifting supplements goes is by a blood test. Even then it's extremely expensive.

Do your research, find out what they're talking about being "banned substances", and just be careful if that's how it is in Sweden. I know that there are plenty of testosterone boosters (completely legal, atleast in the U.S.) and supplements that will give you a little more umph in that department. If you ever intend on taking steroids, let me know personally, as I can offer some advice (not much), in that field, and I feel it would be better to get advice from people rather than jumping into it blindly. Just a friendly heads up, because it's certainly an area that has undergone a lot of research over the years since it was first used in conjunction with weightlifting, and while it can provide a vast number of benefits, there are still quite a few drawbacks if abused... might like anything though.

That's an entirely different tangent, I just wanted to throw that out there as at some point you may be exposed to it and I'd rather you had a heads up about it before you either start leaning toward the "OMG ITS FUCKING AWFUL FOR YOU NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER", or "FUCK YEAH IM GOING TO PUMP MYSELF FULL OF 4CCs OF D-BOL AND ANADROL EVERY DAY FOR 12 WEEKS!".

Hope all is well mate

I checked a website of what I think is a government affiliated association against steroids and the like, and there it said that steroids can be tested through both blood test and urine sampling. So I'd wager that the gym (or any form of organized sports association) has the right to request a urine sample. It hardly seems unreasonable. Testosterone boosters may be harder to check, unless I devour shitloads of it, as they'd really need both a before and an after sample for that. I don't feel like doing steroids or testo in any case, so it hardly matters to me. I feel that I'm getting more and more into working out purely for the joy of doing it, as opposed to doing it for the results (which was why I started).

As far as I understand, substances that directly increase testosterone levels are not legal in Sweden, like... testosterone. There are, however, a lot of shit that claim to indirectly increase testosterone levels, but they all just seem like ineffective and very expensive pieces of crap to me.


And regarding my strained shoulder, I did legs today after a week off, and it feels better now. It probably benefitted from the increased bloodflow. I bumped into my physical therapist at the gym, and she suggested doing some very light shoulder exercises to speed up the recovery. It'll probably be fine within a week, but damn, that was one bitch of a strain I managed.

 Miss Savagely Wishy Washy, on 12 March 2013 - 07:47 AM, said:

alritey!
so - i have had a look at what's around, i didn't really like any dvds i saw but i found this website here with this particular vid (1 of 4) which is great because i got to take a close look at it and could see whether it's any good or not. it is!

http://www.myfreeyog...ga-1-of-4-.html

I thought this is a nice introduction to sun salutations. don't be fooled by the name- except it will get you hot. I suggest you start with this, do it for a couple of weeks, see if it works for you. if you feel the 3 As and 3 Bs are no longer challenging you, add one more each, and in the end try and do 5 As and 5 Bs. Once this feels easy and you feel comfortable with the poses, speed it up!

She gives clear instructions and pays attention to a lot of details and says a lot of the stuff we were told to say in our teacher training.

The plank stuff in between is to add more strength and increase the heat, it's not classically part of the sequence.
The only thing I would like to add is: take it easy when starting, try and get good technique, good alignments and move with awareness, so that you know what you are doing and where your body parts are in space and what they are doing. This develops balance and this funny thing called proprioception.

When starting, keep a microbend in your knees when you are doing forward bends if your hamstrings aren't super flexible. If holding all the planks gets too much, go on your knees - but blokes don't have that problem so much , men have better upper body strength than women. When in Warrior pose (the lunge), make sure to keep the backleg straight ,no bend- that can damage your knee in time. Important! the shoulders-try not to crunch up the shoulders or round your upper back but keep the shoulders at ease and back and down, this will work the muscles of the upper back and will make a big difference when you progress.

I picked up that you have strained your shoulders: be careful- try gently whether these exercises are okay with your shoulders, if not, wait until you're better. There are a lot of upside down positions that will work the shoulders -and importantly the wrists.

Here is a great intro to dynamic yoga where he addresses the issue (unfortunately, you need to be a member to get the whole vid, but what he says about shoulder movement and wrists and hand position in the first three minutes is really good and important):

http://www.myyogaonl...a-for-beginners

As to the breath, this is what makes yoga yoga and not gymnastics: try and use Ujjay Breath from the beginning. It's a breathing technique that will increase the heat of the body but it is also calming, particularly useful when you take your body into weird places - http://www.youtube.c...h?v=iy4PRzHP9XM

I don't want to go into great length (but can do if you are interested ) but breathing is intimately connected with the state of our physiology and by manipulating the breath you can change your physiology: if stressed or anxious the breath becomes shallow,where as if you are happy or lauging or relaxed you breathe more deeply, and you can induce either state by changing the way you breathe.

I think that should get you started safely.If you like it, you can go through the other 3 vids of the first one- I like them because they are only short, and to be honest, all the big Yogis say that all you need to do really to keep healthy and flexible are the sun saluts anyways!

If you have any more questions, just drop me a line.
let me know how you get on!

have fun wohooooo!

I'm just letting you know that I've taken a quick look at this, and that I greatly appreciate you taking the time. I'm planning to go through it more thoroughly tomorrow, and I'll most likely be back with a few questions. Cheers!

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

Alright then, Miss Savage...ly Wishy Washy... I've taken a look at the first video, and excluding the forward bends (which will require very generous micro bending of the knees if I'm to put my freaking palms on the floor), and, well... It doesn't look all too hard. Althought she looks like she's made of rubber and I'll probably look like a dried and bent tree log, I think I can manage that. The back of my shoulder is healing up quite nicely, but we'll have to see about all of the stances that require a lot of movement of the wrists, as I sustained a pesky wrist injury about four years ago while drumming, and it still bothers me from time to time. It just doesn't give up xD.

Right now, I've pretty much only got one question. Seeing as I work out 5 times a week at the moment, that gives me 2 days of rest. Should I do these yoga exercises on one of those days of rest, or should I do it on a day of working out? Or should I do it several times a week, even?

Thanks for picking this out, by the way, I wouldn't even have known where to start looking (there seems to be quite a lot of kinds of yoga). I do need to limber up a bit. I remember that right before I got sick last year, if I were to lie down on the floor, I could not reach over to the other side because my pecks were so stiff. Granted, I had been skimping out on the stretching, something I know take a tad bit more seriously (I stretch for about ten minutes after every session, and not only the muscles that I target that specific session, but the supporting muscle as well).

No, wait, I had another question, about the breathing. The point is to do the breathing at the same time as I'm doing the exercises, right?

Thanks!

EDIT: I had yet another question, but this one's for Assail (well, Miss Wishy Washy, feel free to answer this as well if you have any experience with weighted squats): How far down do you go when squatting? I've seen people go down so far as to more or less plant their asses on their heels, and others just go down so that their thighs are parallel to the floor (and obviously, everything in between). I usually go down just below being parallel to the floor.

EDIT 2: I did as you suggested, Assail, and went for a 20 min jog just now (about to go to bed), in spite of the minus 11 degrees celsius plaguing the lands. It felt pretty nice, jogging at night is good stuff.

This post has been edited by ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle: 15 March 2013 - 09:40 PM

[Assail]

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 14 March 2013 - 04:17 PM, said:

 Assail, on 12 March 2013 - 05:28 AM, said:

Yeah as far as I know, and the military over in the states has rather rigorous drug testing, the only way to test for steroids or any real illegal substance as far as weight lifting supplements goes is by a blood test. Even then it's extremely expensive.

Do your research, find out what they're talking about being "banned substances", and just be careful if that's how it is in Sweden. I know that there are plenty of testosterone boosters (completely legal, atleast in the U.S.) and supplements that will give you a little more umph in that department. If you ever intend on taking steroids, let me know personally, as I can offer some advice (not much), in that field, and I feel it would be better to get advice from people rather than jumping into it blindly. Just a friendly heads up, because it's certainly an area that has undergone a lot of research over the years since it was first used in conjunction with weightlifting, and while it can provide a vast number of benefits, there are still quite a few drawbacks if abused... might like anything though.

That's an entirely different tangent, I just wanted to throw that out there as at some point you may be exposed to it and I'd rather you had a heads up about it before you either start leaning toward the "OMG ITS FUCKING AWFUL FOR YOU NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER", or "FUCK YEAH IM GOING TO PUMP MYSELF FULL OF 4CCs OF D-BOL AND ANADROL EVERY DAY FOR 12 WEEKS!".

Hope all is well mate

I checked a website of what I think is a government affiliated association against steroids and the like, and there it said that steroids can be tested through both blood test and urine sampling. So I'd wager that the gym (or any form of organized sports association) has the right to request a urine sample. It hardly seems unreasonable. Testosterone boosters may be harder to check, unless I devour shitloads of it, as they'd really need both a before and an after sample for that. I don't feel like doing steroids or testo in any case, so it hardly matters to me. I feel that I'm getting more and more into working out purely for the joy of doing it, as opposed to doing it for the results (which was why I started).

As far as I understand, substances that directly increase testosterone levels are not legal in Sweden, like... testosterone. There are, however, a lot of shit that claim to indirectly increase testosterone levels, but they all just seem like ineffective and very expensive pieces of crap to me.

And regarding my strained shoulder, I did legs today after a week off, and it feels better now. It probably benefitted from the increased bloodflow. I bumped into my physical therapist at the gym, and she suggested doing some very light shoulder exercises to speed up the recovery. It'll probably be fine within a week, but damn, that was one bitch of a strain I managed.

 Miss Savagely Wishy Washy, on 12 March 2013 - 07:47 AM, said:

alritey!
so - i have had a look at what's around, i didn't really like any dvds i saw but i found this website here with this particular vid (1 of 4) which is great because i got to take a close look at it and could see whether it's any good or not. it is!

http://www.myfreeyog...ga-1-of-4-.html

I thought this is a nice introduction to sun salutations. don't be fooled by the name- except it will get you hot. I suggest you start with this, do it for a couple of weeks, see if it works for you. if you feel the 3 As and 3 Bs are no longer challenging you, add one more each, and in the end try and do 5 As and 5 Bs. Once this feels easy and you feel comfortable with the poses, speed it up!

She gives clear instructions and pays attention to a lot of details and says a lot of the stuff we were told to say in our teacher training.

The plank stuff in between is to add more strength and increase the heat, it's not classically part of the sequence.
The only thing I would like to add is: take it easy when starting, try and get good technique, good alignments and move with awareness, so that you know what you are doing and where your body parts are in space and what they are doing. This develops balance and this funny thing called proprioception.

When starting, keep a microbend in your knees when you are doing forward bends if your hamstrings aren't super flexible. If holding all the planks gets too much, go on your knees - but blokes don't have that problem so much , men have better upper body strength than women. When in Warrior pose (the lunge), make sure to keep the backleg straight ,no bend- that can damage your knee in time. Important! the shoulders-try not to crunch up the shoulders or round your upper back but keep the shoulders at ease and back and down, this will work the muscles of the upper back and will make a big difference when you progress.

I picked up that you have strained your shoulders: be careful- try gently whether these exercises are okay with your shoulders, if not, wait until you're better. There are a lot of upside down positions that will work the shoulders -and importantly the wrists.

Here is a great intro to dynamic yoga where he addresses the issue (unfortunately, you need to be a member to get the whole vid, but what he says about shoulder movement and wrists and hand position in the first three minutes is really good and important):

http://www.myyogaonl...a-for-beginners

As to the breath, this is what makes yoga yoga and not gymnastics: try and use Ujjay Breath from the beginning. It's a breathing technique that will increase the heat of the body but it is also calming, particularly useful when you take your body into weird places - http://www.youtube.c...h?v=iy4PRzHP9XM

I don't want to go into great length (but can do if you are interested ) but breathing is intimately connected with the state of our physiology and by manipulating the breath you can change your physiology: if stressed or anxious the breath becomes shallow,where as if you are happy or lauging or relaxed you breathe more deeply, and you can induce either state by changing the way you breathe.

I think that should get you started safely.If you like it, you can go through the other 3 vids of the first one- I like them because they are only short, and to be honest, all the big Yogis say that all you need to do really to keep healthy and flexible are the sun saluts anyways!

If you have any more questions, just drop me a line.
let me know how you get on!

have fun wohooooo!

I'm just letting you know that I've taken a quick look at this, and that I greatly appreciate you taking the time. I'm planning to go through it more thoroughly tomorrow, and I'll most likely be back with a few questions. Cheers!

I just did some research on it, and I guess I was wrong. The only thing regarding urinalysis steroid tests is that it's incredibly expensive, and most people will only test for recreational drugs. Unless you're juicing mate, I wouldn't even really stress it. I know for a fact that testosterone levels require analysis, in regards to taking a sample, checking your levels, waiting a couple weeks/months, and checking your levels again. Our levels of testosterone naturally fluctuate anyway. Legs are always going to take a long recovery time, don't stress that, and yes! Listen to your PT. Take it from someone with a surgically repaired shoulder injury. Take care of your shit, because if you break it, it takes a long long time to get it back to where you want it, on top of more patience than you probably have

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 15 March 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

Alright then, Miss Savage...ly Wishy Washy... I've taken a look at the first video, and excluding the forward bends (which will require very generous micro bending of the knees if I'm to put my freaking palms on the floor), and, well... It doesn't look all too hard. Althought she looks like she's made of rubber and I'll probably look like a dried and bent tree log, I think I can manage that. The back of my shoulder is healing up quite nicely, but we'll have to see about all of the stances that require a lot of movement of the wrists, as I sustained a pesky wrist injury about four years ago while drumming, and it still bothers me from time to time. It just doesn't give up xD.

Right now, I've pretty much only got one question. Seeing as I work out 5 times a week at the moment, that gives me 2 days of rest. Should I do these yoga exercises on one of those days of rest, or should I do it on a day of working out? Or should I do it several times a week, even?

Thanks for picking this out, by the way, I wouldn't even have known where to start looking (there seems to be quite a lot of kinds of yoga). I do need to limber up a bit. I remember that right before I got sick last year, if I were to lie down on the floor, I could not reach over to the other side because my pecks were so stiff. Granted, I had been skimping out on the stretching, something I know take a tad bit more seriously (I stretch for about ten minutes after every session, and not only the muscles that I target that specific session, but the supporting muscle as well).

No, wait, I had another question, about the breathing. The point is to do the breathing at the same time as I'm doing the exercises, right?

Thanks!

EDIT: I had yet another question, but this one's for Assail (well, Miss Wishy Washy, feel free to answer this as well if you have any experience with weighted squats): How far down do you go when squatting? I've seen people go down so far as to more or less plant their asses on their heels, and others just go down so that their thighs are parallel to the floor (and obviously, everything in between). I usually go down just below being parallel to the floor.

EDIT 2: I did as you suggested, Assail, and went for a 20 min jog just now (about to go to bed), in spite of the minus 11 degrees celsius plaguing the lands. It felt pretty nice, jogging at night is good stuff.

Okay in regards to squatting, this is the rule I go by. A lot of people call it safe and say keep your thighs parallel at a 90 degree with the ground, and that should be good. You can judge this by using mirrors, obviously. The way I like to do it, because I don't like staring at myself trying to get the exact angle, is that I go down to the point where I feel my legs are still engaged in the squat. If you go down to the point where your ass is basically hitting your heels, you'll notice that your knees and back are really supporting that weight, not your legs. So find the lowest point at which you feel your legs completely engaged by the weight, then push back up.

Yep, jogging on an empty stomach right before bed is going to 1) Tire you out and 2) Boost your metabolism. Switch it up as you see it comfortable with you though mate. Also, how much sleep are you getting a night? You should be getting no less than 8, and 10 hours is preferable.

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

 Assail, on 16 March 2013 - 09:57 PM, said:

I just did some research on it, and I guess I was wrong. The only thing regarding urinalysis steroid tests is that it's incredibly expensive, and most people will only test for recreational drugs. Unless you're juicing mate, I wouldn't even really stress it. I know for a fact that testosterone levels require analysis, in regards to taking a sample, checking your levels, waiting a couple weeks/months, and checking your levels again. Our levels of testosterone naturally fluctuate anyway. Legs are always going to take a long recovery time, don't stress that, and yes! Listen to your PT. Take it from someone with a surgically repaired shoulder injury. Take care of your shit, because if you break it, it takes a long long time to get it back to where you want it, on top of more patience than you probably have



Okay in regards to squatting, this is the rule I go by. A lot of people call it safe and say keep your thighs parallel at a 90 degree with the ground, and that should be good. You can judge this by using mirrors, obviously. The way I like to do it, because I don't like staring at myself trying to get the exact angle, is that I go down to the point where I feel my legs are still engaged in the squat. If you go down to the point where your ass is basically hitting your heels, you'll notice that your knees and back are really supporting that weight, not your legs. So find the lowest point at which you feel your legs completely engaged by the weight, then push back up.

Yep, jogging on an empty stomach right before bed is going to 1) Tire you out and 2) Boost your metabolism. Switch it up as you see it comfortable with you though mate. Also, how much sleep are you getting a night? You should be getting no less than 8, and 10 hours is preferable.

The urinalysis (is that even a word?) is most likely funded by the government, and no, they aren't likely to test anyone who's not blatantly obvious about his juicing (i.e. gaining 20 pounds of muscle in a couple of months). And I'm not worried about it, it's just kind of a strong deterrent from going the 'roid way ^^.

I'm trying to take care of my shit, but I'm such a natural at breaking stuff. That goes for everything, I just break things without the intention of doing so.

Alright, I'll keep that in mind for my next leg session.

I'd say I average around 7-8 hours a night when I have a good period and I go to bed roughly 9-10 hours before I need to get up. When I'm having bad sleeping periods, it's more like max 7 hours, and sometimes goes down all the way to 2 or none at all. I'm kind of a semi-insomniac at times, and it's been like that for as long as I can remember. I wake up alot and take my sweet time going to sleep in the first place, and sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night I just don't fall asleep again. So yeah, sleeping is kind of a sore spot for me. Doing my best, though.

[Assail]

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 17 March 2013 - 11:50 AM, said:

 Assail, on 16 March 2013 - 09:57 PM, said:

I just did some research on it, and I guess I was wrong. The only thing regarding urinalysis steroid tests is that it's incredibly expensive, and most people will only test for recreational drugs. Unless you're juicing mate, I wouldn't even really stress it. I know for a fact that testosterone levels require analysis, in regards to taking a sample, checking your levels, waiting a couple weeks/months, and checking your levels again. Our levels of testosterone naturally fluctuate anyway. Legs are always going to take a long recovery time, don't stress that, and yes! Listen to your PT. Take it from someone with a surgically repaired shoulder injury. Take care of your shit, because if you break it, it takes a long long time to get it back to where you want it, on top of more patience than you probably have



Okay in regards to squatting, this is the rule I go by. A lot of people call it safe and say keep your thighs parallel at a 90 degree with the ground, and that should be good. You can judge this by using mirrors, obviously. The way I like to do it, because I don't like staring at myself trying to get the exact angle, is that I go down to the point where I feel my legs are still engaged in the squat. If you go down to the point where your ass is basically hitting your heels, you'll notice that your knees and back are really supporting that weight, not your legs. So find the lowest point at which you feel your legs completely engaged by the weight, then push back up.

Yep, jogging on an empty stomach right before bed is going to 1) Tire you out and 2) Boost your metabolism. Switch it up as you see it comfortable with you though mate. Also, how much sleep are you getting a night? You should be getting no less than 8, and 10 hours is preferable.

The urinalysis (is that even a word?) is most likely funded by the government, and no, they aren't likely to test anyone who's not blatantly obvious about his juicing (i.e. gaining 20 pounds of muscle in a couple of months). And I'm not worried about it, it's just kind of a strong deterrent from going the 'roid way ^^.

I'm trying to take care of my shit, but I'm such a natural at breaking stuff. That goes for everything, I just break things without the intention of doing so.

Alright, I'll keep that in mind for my next leg session.

I'd say I average around 7-8 hours a night when I have a good period and I go to bed roughly 9-10 hours before I need to get up. When I'm having bad sleeping periods, it's more like max 7 hours, and sometimes goes down all the way to 2 or none at all. I'm kind of a semi-insomniac at times, and it's been like that for as long as I can remember. I wake up alot and take my sweet time going to sleep in the first place, and sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night I just don't fall asleep again. So yeah, sleeping is kind of a sore spot for me. Doing my best, though.

Yeah it's a word, analyzing your urine GOOGLE SON! hahaha

Right on, I totally get what you're saying though mate. Like I said, the only reason I mentioned it was in case you had any questions regarding it, which everyone eventually does when you start lifting seriously. Hahaha, unintentionally breaking stuff, I understand that mate. Youth only lasts so long, so we have to watch that shit.

Well I hope you can work on the sleep mate, because after nutrition, getting that amount of sleep is vital to getting as big as you want to get. Now only deployment I was averaging a couple hours a night for the most part, so it can be done, but you'll have better results yielded if you can manage 8-10 hours a night.

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 15 March 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

Alright then, Miss Savage...ly Wishy Washy... I've taken a look at the first video, and excluding the forward bends (which will require very generous micro bending of the knees if I'm to put my freaking palms on the floor), and, well... It doesn't look all too hard. Althought she looks like she's made of rubber and I'll probably look like a dried and bent tree log, I think I can manage that. The back of my shoulder is healing up quite nicely, but we'll have to see about all of the stances that require a lot of movement of the wrists, as I sustained a pesky wrist injury about four years ago while drumming, and it still bothers me from time to time. It just doesn't give up xD.

Right now, I've pretty much only got one question. Seeing as I work out 5 times a week at the moment, that gives me 2 days of rest. Should I do these yoga exercises on one of those days of rest, or should I do it on a day of working out? Or should I do it several times a week, even?

Thanks for picking this out, by the way, I wouldn't even have known where to start looking (there seems to be quite a lot of kinds of yoga). I do need to limber up a bit. I remember that right before I got sick last year, if I were to lie down on the floor, I could not reach over to the other side because my pecks were so stiff. Granted, I had been skimping out on the stretching, something I know take a tad bit more seriously (I stretch for about ten minutes after every session, and not only the muscles that I target that specific session, but the supporting muscle as well).

No, wait, I had another question, about the breathing. The point is to do the breathing at the same time as I'm doing the exercises, right?

Thanks!

EDIT: I had yet another question, but this one's for Assail (well, Miss Wishy Washy, feel free to answer this as well if you have any experience with weighted squats): How far down do you go when squatting? I've seen people go down so far as to more or less plant their asses on their heels, and others just go down so that their thighs are parallel to the floor (and obviously, everything in between). I usually go down just below being parallel to the floor.

EDIT 2: I did as you suggested, Assail, and went for a 20 min jog just now (about to go to bed), in spite of the minus 11 degrees celsius plaguing the lands. It felt pretty nice, jogging at night is good stuff.

Howdy! Soz for taking so long, was off galavanting.
My pleasure! I know, there's so much stuff out there....


Make it a macrobend in your knees! It eases pressure on the lower back as well and is still beneficial for the hamstrings too.

The wrists are at risk.... The trick is - as the guy in the 3 min vid says - to push the knuckles and fingers down, this will take pressure off the wrists. Make sure the hands are aligned well too: the middle finger or first finger have to point straight forward. I prefer the middle finger straight forward, some
people find it easier to slighty shift the hands and point the first finger forward. Importantly, spread the fingers as much as you can to increase the area the hand covers. If they start hurting real bad, lay off, or- you can go on your knees in the downward facing dog and plank.

As to when to do the exercise: you can do it any time as often as you like. Since you have an intensive work-out programme, I would say start with twice and do them on two days you do work outs, maybe in the morning when you go to the gym in the evening, so that you have 2 completely free days. If you fancy doing a little bit on the free days, you can always go through the 10 minutes of the vid. Find out what works for you, but it shouldn't be a big problem if you breathe - see below.



So- Breathing! Yes a very important concept with yoga, crucial, even. Every move is accompanied by a breath and generally whenever you move into a pose, you inhale, hold the pose for five breaths, then exhale as you move out of the pose. Through sunsaluts, you move without holding poses and each move is a breath, and you only hold the last pose (called downward facing dog , the upside down V) for five breaths. I can send you my script where every breath with every move is indicated - it follows much the same sequence as shown in the vid. Yoga should never tire you and you should feel refreshed even after a hard session of yoga (besides the feeling of having exercised) because you consciously take control over your breathing. Normally, we don't think about our breathing, but with yoga, breathing is everything. Consciously coordinate your movements with inhalation and exhalation, and you should walk away refreshed and well oxygenated. The idea is only to move as fast as you can breathe easily and deeply. No judgement attached to it. Slower isn't bad or worse than faster- it's the rhythm of your breath. But, the more you exercise, the more you increase your capacity and will be able to go faster, but start at a speed that doesn't get you out of breath.

Btw, breathing is generally very important. Pay attention to that when you lift weights. Never ever hold your breath! One of my teachers used to say that we can go without food for 3 weeks, without water for 3 days, but without breath not even 3 minutes.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Maybe I'll even come up with my own vid after all. I mean, 10 minutes of sunsaluts should be doable!

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

 Assail, on 17 March 2013 - 07:35 PM, said:

Yeah it's a word, analyzing your urine GOOGLE SON! hahaha

Right on, I totally get what you're saying though mate. Like I said, the only reason I mentioned it was in case you had any questions regarding it, which everyone eventually does when you start lifting seriously. Hahaha, unintentionally breaking stuff, I understand that mate. Youth only lasts so long, so we have to watch that shit.

Well I hope you can work on the sleep mate, because after nutrition, getting that amount of sleep is vital to getting as big as you want to get. Now only deployment I was averaging a couple hours a night for the most part, so it can be done, but you'll have better results yielded if you can manage 8-10 hours a night.

It felt like my youth ended at 14, then more and more of the machinery started to malfunction -.-

I've been sleeping like ass for 20 years, so I'm not expecting a breakthrough in that area any time soon, unfortunately.

 Miss Savagely Wishy Washy, on 18 March 2013 - 08:21 AM, said:

Howdy! Soz for taking so long, was off galavanting.
My pleasure! I know, there's so much stuff out there....


Make it a macrobend in your knees! It eases pressure on the lower back as well and is still beneficial for the hamstrings too.

The wrists are at risk.... The trick is - as the guy in the 3 min vid says - to push the knuckles and fingers down, this will take pressure off the wrists. Make sure the hands are aligned well too: the middle finger or first finger have to point straight forward. I prefer the middle finger straight forward, some
people find it easier to slighty shift the hands and point the first finger forward. Importantly, spread the fingers as much as you can to increase the area the hand covers. If they start hurting real bad, lay off, or- you can go on your knees in the downward facing dog and plank.

As to when to do the exercise: you can do it any time as often as you like. Since you have an intensive work-out programme, I would say start with twice and do them on two days you do work outs, maybe in the morning when you go to the gym in the evening, so that you have 2 completely free days. If you fancy doing a little bit on the free days, you can always go through the 10 minutes of the vid. Find out what works for you, but it shouldn't be a big problem if you breathe - see below.


So- Breathing! Yes a very important concept with yoga, crucial, even. Every move is accompanied by a breath and generally whenever you move into a pose, you inhale, hold the pose for five breaths, then exhale as you move out of the pose. Through sunsaluts, you move without holding poses and each move is a breath, and you only hold the last pose (called downward facing dog , the upside down V) for five breaths. I can send you my script where every breath with every move is indicated - it follows much the same sequence as shown in the vid. Yoga should never tire you and you should feel refreshed even after a hard session of yoga (besides the feeling of having exercised) because you consciously take control over your breathing. Normally, we don't think about our breathing, but with yoga, breathing is everything. Consciously coordinate your movements with inhalation and exhalation, and you should walk away refreshed and well oxygenated. The idea is only to move as fast as you can breathe easily and deeply. No judgement attached to it. Slower isn't bad or worse than faster- it's the rhythm of your breath. But, the more you exercise, the more you increase your capacity and will be able to go faster, but start at a speed that doesn't get you out of breath.

Btw, breathing is generally very important. Pay attention to that when you lift weights. Never ever hold your breath! One of my teachers used to say that we can go without food for 3 weeks, without water for 3 days, but without breath not even 3 minutes.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Maybe I'll even come up with my own vid after all. I mean, 10 minutes of sunsaluts should be doable!

I'll make it the macrobend of the ages. And I'll make sure to watch and rewatch the video about the safety precautions before I start doing this stuff.

This breathing might help me improve my lifting, as I sometimes, when I strain to the limit and beyond, lose track of my breath, hold it, and end up with a very brief (it lasts maybe 20-30 seconds) but equally massive headache. At this very moment, I'm on my two days of rest, and my shoulder is still feeling a bit funky. I expect to start doing yoga on monday next week, I'll most likely get back to you then.

[Assail]

Good diet, regular exercise and regular working out and you'll sleep better, feel more youthful and generally feel great. You'll be fine

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

So, here's an update. On the bright side, my shoulder feels pretty good. On the not-so bright side, I was at my grandparent's countryhouse this weekend, and while sleeping the heating took a nap (only in my room), and the temperature dropped significantly below comfy. An hour or so ago I woke up with shivers, a headache and a nasty cough. It's 3 am now, and I doubt I'll get any more sleep. Sick for five months, healthy for about a month and a half, sick again. I'm just gonna go shoot myself now.

[Assail]

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 01 April 2013 - 01:04 AM, said:

So, here's an update. On the bright side, my shoulder feels pretty good. On the not-so bright side, I was at my grandparent's countryhouse this weekend, and while sleeping the heating took a nap (only in my room), and the temperature dropped significantly below comfy. An hour or so ago I woke up with shivers, a headache and a nasty cough. It's 3 am now, and I doubt I'll get any more sleep. Sick for five months, healthy for about a month and a half, sick again. I'm just gonna go shoot myself now.

Eat. Eat. Eat. Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.

Atleast a gallon of water a day, atleast 5 meals. Then if you can manage it, get in your sweats and go for a light jog for 3 miles or so. Rinse repeat. Keep taking the multivitamin, take some NyQuil (Or the equivalent) at night to help with sleep. Don't stress about lifting right now, just do some easy cardio that'll keep you hot and sweating, and keep drinking and eating.

You'll feel better in a few days, I would bet money on it.

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

 Assail, on 01 April 2013 - 01:57 AM, said:

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 01 April 2013 - 01:04 AM, said:

So, here's an update. On the bright side, my shoulder feels pretty good. On the not-so bright side, I was at my grandparent's countryhouse this weekend, and while sleeping the heating took a nap (only in my room), and the temperature dropped significantly below comfy. An hour or so ago I woke up with shivers, a headache and a nasty cough. It's 3 am now, and I doubt I'll get any more sleep. Sick for five months, healthy for about a month and a half, sick again. I'm just gonna go shoot myself now.

Eat. Eat. Eat. Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.

Atleast a gallon of water a day, atleast 5 meals. Then if you can manage it, get in your sweats and go for a light jog for 3 miles or so. Rinse repeat. Keep taking the multivitamin, take some NyQuil (Or the equivalent) at night to help with sleep. Don't stress about lifting right now, just do some easy cardio that'll keep you hot and sweating, and keep drinking and eating.

You'll feel better in a few days, I would bet money on it.

Water I can manage, meals are harder. I have serious trouble getting my fill even when working out, when I'm confined to quarters it becomes excruciating to eat. I don't think I can jog, the cold is bad enough when I'm healthy, and being sick makes my asthma a lot worse. And there's nothing like NyQuil in Sweden, from what I've gathered it's some kind of mixture drug (several active ingredients, or something like that), which is not allowed here. Besides, for anything stronger than a regular painkiller, one needs to get a doctor's appointment and from the doctor, a prescription. I've tried prescribed cough medicine with morfine a LOT of times, but it never has any effect whatsoever.

I wouldn't. My second-rate immune system combined with the sleep deprevation that comes of being sick usually causes me to stay sick for quite some time..

[Assail]

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 01 April 2013 - 02:40 AM, said:

 Assail, on 01 April 2013 - 01:57 AM, said:

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 01 April 2013 - 01:04 AM, said:

So, here's an update. On the bright side, my shoulder feels pretty good. On the not-so bright side, I was at my grandparent's countryhouse this weekend, and while sleeping the heating took a nap (only in my room), and the temperature dropped significantly below comfy. An hour or so ago I woke up with shivers, a headache and a nasty cough. It's 3 am now, and I doubt I'll get any more sleep. Sick for five months, healthy for about a month and a half, sick again. I'm just gonna go shoot myself now.

Eat. Eat. Eat. Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.

Atleast a gallon of water a day, atleast 5 meals. Then if you can manage it, get in your sweats and go for a light jog for 3 miles or so. Rinse repeat. Keep taking the multivitamin, take some NyQuil (Or the equivalent) at night to help with sleep. Don't stress about lifting right now, just do some easy cardio that'll keep you hot and sweating, and keep drinking and eating.

You'll feel better in a few days, I would bet money on it.

Water I can manage, meals are harder. I have serious trouble getting my fill even when working out, when I'm confined to quarters it becomes excruciating to eat. I don't think I can jog, the cold is bad enough when I'm healthy, and being sick makes my asthma a lot worse. And there's nothing like NyQuil in Sweden, from what I've gathered it's some kind of mixture drug (several active ingredients, or something like that), which is not allowed here. Besides, for anything stronger than a regular painkiller, one needs to get a doctor's appointment and from the doctor, a prescription. I've tried prescribed cough medicine with morfine a LOT of times, but it never has any effect whatsoever.

I wouldn't. My second-rate immune system combined with the sleep deprevation that comes of being sick usually causes me to stay sick for quite some time..

You need the food. Soups, some starch, vegetable soups. Until you can't stomach it anymore. A couple servings of red meat too. Force yourself to eat, you need it. How cold is it? If it's that bad, find your way to a treadmill indoors, even though the fresh air is better for you.

Get a sleeping aid if you can then, just keep drinking and keep eating. It's important.

Damn doggy, whats your address, I'll send over some NyQuil disguised or something.

Eat, drink, try to get yourself sweating, sleep, and get a little active.

But seriously, I'll ship you some NyQuil, either liquid or pill form. They can't be that thorough when checking mail to find some pills hidden or some NyQuil in a soda bottle.

[Assail]

Used to think Sweden was cool.

Then I'm told NyQuil is banned.

The fuck.

[Grimjust Bearegular]

Too much text, not enough pics!

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

 Assail, on 01 April 2013 - 03:04 AM, said:

Used to think Sweden was cool.

Then I'm told NyQuil is banned.

The fuck.

Lol, Sweden is the most stuck-up, pretentious country I've ever been to (I've been around the world quite a lot). Around here, there's nothing more important than being politically correct.

Anyway, I took a brisk walk, but honestly, it didn't feel so good. Right now, I'm in bed, fresh out of a hot bath, tucked into a bath robe and... stuff, sweating all over the place. I also ate an 800 calorie pie for lunch and right now I'm munching nuts like a madman. I've also drunk around 0,8 gallons of water. Hopefully I'll feel decently tomorrow, because I was supposed to hang out with my friend, his girlfriend and her friend today, but I pushed it back to tomorrow.

 Bearmione TROUBLEMAKER Grimger, on 01 April 2013 - 11:06 AM, said:

Too much text, not enough pics!

I can get some pics up in a few days, but there hasn't exactly been too much improvement over the last two months, what with injuries and sickness and all.

[Assail]

 Bearmione TROUBLEMAKER Grimger, on 01 April 2013 - 11:06 AM, said:

Too much text, not enough pics!

You.... you... you creeper!

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 01 April 2013 - 04:00 PM, said:

 Assail, on 01 April 2013 - 03:04 AM, said:

Used to think Sweden was cool.

Then I'm told NyQuil is banned.

The fuck.

Lol, Sweden is the most stuck-up, pretentious country I've ever been to (I've been around the world quite a lot). Around here, there's nothing more important than being politically correct.

Anyway, I took a brisk walk, but honestly, it didn't feel so good. Right now, I'm in bed, fresh out of a hot bath, tucked into a bath robe and... stuff, sweating all over the place. I also ate an 800 calorie pie for lunch and right now I'm munching nuts like a madman. I've also drunk around 0,8 gallons of water. Hopefully I'll feel decently tomorrow, because I was supposed to hang out with my friend, his girlfriend and her friend today, but I pushed it back to tomorrow.

 Bearmione TROUBLEMAKER Grimger, on 01 April 2013 - 11:06 AM, said:

Too much text, not enough pics!

I can get some pics up in a few days, but there hasn't exactly been too much improvement over the last two months, what with injuries and sickness and all.

Hahaha, I would not jive well with Sweden I think. At all. Being politically correct isn't exactly my strong point.

Keep that up. Calories don't matter, just have food in your body. Keep your metabolism working and keep sweating and go on those walks or jogs. And keep pounding water. Most importantly.

Oh and in regard to this thread and it's original purpose, I'll be starting a pretty intense bulking cycle around the beginning of May, and it's about 10 weeks long, after which I'll cut for about a month. I'll be taking weekly pictures for progress and I'll post them. With that being said, that's down a road a ways.

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

Well, I've gotten worse, probably the flu. Just my type of luck. I'm trying to eat and drink, but I'm having trouble keeping it down. Fever's jumping up and down, and I'm having trouble breathing as anything but slow and shallow breaths instigates coughing. I can't go for walks or anything the like. If I stay sick for a prolonged amount of time again, I think I'll just quit this whole working out business. I've already been sick for over six months this past year, and I'm slowly but surely losing my mind. It's like the fucking drums all over again.

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 04 April 2013 - 02:01 PM, said:

Well, I've gotten worse, probably the flu. Just my type of luck. I'm trying to eat and drink, but I'm having trouble keeping it down. Fever's jumping up and down, and I'm having trouble breathing as anything but slow and shallow breaths instigates coughing. I can't go for walks or anything the like. If I stay sick for a prolonged amount of time again, I think I'll just quit this whole working out business. I've already been sick for over six months this past year, and I'm slowly but surely losing my mind. It's like the fucking drums all over again.

If you don't mind me asking, why were you sick for such a long time? Do you know what it was and where it came from?

Also, whilst I generally agree with Assail's suggestions about working out, maybe you want to think about pushing the eating/exercising; if you don't feel like it, don't do it. Your body tells you what you need. Some people eat lots when they're down with a flu, others eat very little or fast, even.

This post has been edited by Miss Savagely Wishy Washy : 04 April 2013 - 08:57 PM

[ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle]

 Miss Savagely Wishy Washy, on 04 April 2013 - 08:56 PM, said:

 ForkassalOfTheInnerCircle, on 04 April 2013 - 02:01 PM, said:

Well, I've gotten worse, probably the flu. Just my type of luck. I'm trying to eat and drink, but I'm having trouble keeping it down. Fever's jumping up and down, and I'm having trouble breathing as anything but slow and shallow breaths instigates coughing. I can't go for walks or anything the like. If I stay sick for a prolonged amount of time again, I think I'll just quit this whole working out business. I've already been sick for over six months this past year, and I'm slowly but surely losing my mind. It's like the fucking drums all over again.

If you don't mind me asking, why were you sick for such a long time? Do you know what it was and where it came from?

Also, whilst I generally agree with Assail's suggestions about working out, maybe you want to think about pushing the eating/exercising; if you don't feel like it, don't do it. Your body tells you what you need. Some people eat lots when they're down with a flu, others eat very little or fast, even.

I don't know, I'm just sick a lot. I guess I have a poor immune system. Maybe I caught something when I was in Russia that summer, I was sick over there for a while, and then I got sick just a few weeks after coming home.

As for working out, I've been so sick the past few days that getting out of bed to take a pee left me shaking with exhaustion. I'm a tad better today, but it's still pretty bad. The back of my right shoulder has started to hurt real bad as well, it's worse now than it was right after I injured it.

[Rictus]

If you haven't already, you might want to check out Convict Conditioning. It's all about working with your own bodyweight and the author claims that the exercises may help injured joints(if that's the problem with your shoulder). I can't vouch for that because I had no injuries when I ditched my handweights and started this method, but I like the moves a great deal. They are pretty easy and start at the very beginning too. Actually, I'm nearly two months in and the results are already visible (arms and chest mainly).
Anyhow, it's just a suggestion, hope it helps you some.