When the boss is away.......(CONTEST)

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Picked this off another site about Icariin

The Chinese, however, have been using it since about 400AD (a LONG time), for various health problems. I will post a good summary below. Also, note that it does not have an accute pharmaceutical affect like Viagra (for instance). It works indirectly by lowering excess cortisol, which in turn can increase thyroid output (or other hormones) which in turn may increase libido. It may also increase "feel good" hormones like serotonin and dopamine. It's well known that stress greatly affects libido, so the theory is to try to lower the body's reaction to stress which may bring back libido. Obviously if the user is not under greater stress and/or does not have elevated cortisol levels (or poor thyroid output) then this herb may have no effect. But, I think a person should give it 4-6 weeks of consistent use - with enough of the standardized active ingredient - before you write it off.

Animal studies have shown that epimedium [horny goat weed] may function a bit like an adaptogen (such as cordyceps, rhodiola, ashwagandha, and ginseng) by increasing levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine when they are low (an energy-promoting effect), but reducing cortisol levels when they are elevated (an anti-stress effect). There is also evidence that epimedium can restore low levels of both testosterone and thyroid hormone (bringing low levels back to their normal levels) - which may account for some of the benefits of epimedium in improving libido (sex drive). Animal studies using epimedium have shown a reduction in bone breakdown, an increase in muscle mass, and a loss of body fat-each of which may be linked to the observed return of abnormal cortisol levels back to normal values (and rhythm). In a series of studies conducted in humans and animals by Chinese researchers, immune-system function was directly suppressed and bone loss was accelerated, by using high-dose synthetic cortisol (glucocorticoid drugs). Subsequent administration of epimedium extract reduced blood levels of cortisol and improved immune immune-system function (in the humans) and slowed bone loss and strengthened bones (in the animals).

It is interesting to note that although at least 15 fifteen active compounds have been identified in epimedium extracts, (luteolin, icariin, quercetin, and various epimedins), many supplement companies currently use alcohol extracts standardized only for high levels of icariin. The traditional use of epimedium, however, is as a hot-water decoction (tea), which would result in a very different profile of active constituents when compared to the high-icariin alcohol extracts that are more commonly used in commercial products. Although at least one test test-tube study has shown icariin to protect liver cells from damage with by various toxic compounds, other feeding studies (in rodents) have suggested that high-dose icariin may be associated with kidney and liver toxicity. There have been no reports of adverse side effects associated with the traditional preparation of epimedium (water-extracted) at the suggested dosage (250 to 1,000mg per day).

Because all of the existing scientific evidence for the anti-stress and cortisol-controlling effect of epimedium has been demonstrated for water-extracted epimedium (that is, as a tea), and because this form of extraction may result in a safer form of epimedium (compared to the high-icariin alcohol extract), it may be prudent to select supplements that specifically use a more traditional formulation. There have been no reports of adverse side effects associated with the traditional preparation of epimedium (water-extracted) at the suggested dosage (250-1,000mg/day in 2-3 divided doses).

References
1. Cai D, Shen S, Chen X. Clinical and experimental research of Epimedium brevicornum in relieving neuroendocrino-immunological effect inhibited by exogenous glucocorticoid. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 1998 Jan;18(1):4-7. 2. Chen MD, Kuang AK, Chen JL. Influence of yang-restoring herb medicines upon metabolism of thyroid hormone in normal rats and a drug administration schedule. Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 1989 Feb;9(2):93-5, 70. 3. Gau S, Fu D, Zhang H. Advances in the study on the treatment of osteoporosis with Epimedium brevicornum and its compound prescription. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 1999 Apr;24(4):249-51. 4. Gu Y, Meng G. Preparation conditions for decoction of Epimedium grandiflorum Morr. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 1990 Jul;15(7):412-3, 446. 5. Kuang AK, Chen JL, Chen MD. Effects of yang-restoring herb medicines on the levels of plasma corticosterone, testosterone and triiodothyronine. Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 1989 Dec;9(12):737-8, 710. 6. Lee MK, Choi YJ, Sung SH, Shin DI, Kim JW, Kim YC. Antihepatotoxic activity of icariin, a major constituent of Epimedium koreanum. Planta Med. 1995 Dec;61(6):523-6. 7. Liang HR, Vuorela P, Vuorela H, Hiltunen R. Isolation and immunomodulatory effect of flavonol glycosides from Epimedium hunanense. Planta Med. 1997 Aug;63(4):316-9. 8. Liu ZY, Yang YG, Zheng B. Effect of improving memory and inhibiting acetylcholinesterase activity by invigorating-qi and warming-yang recipe. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 1993 Nov;13(11):675-6, 646. 9. Peng G, Fu M, Zhang D. The experimental study about the relations between Chinese herb-epimedium leptorrhizum stearn (CH-ELS) and endogenous cAMP in alveolar bone of orthodontic tooth in rats. Zhonghua Kou Qiang Yi Xue Za Zhi. 1997 Jan;32(1):40-2. 10. Wu T, Cui L, Zhang Z, Chen Z, Li Q, Liao J, Huang L. Experimental study on antagonizing action of herba Epimedii on side effects induced by glucocorticoids. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 1996 Dec;21(12):748-51, 763. 11. Yu S, Chen K, Li S, Zhang K. In vitro and in vivo studies of the effect of a Chinese herb medicine on osteoclastic bone resorption. Chin J Dent Res. 1999 Feb;2(1):7-11.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

A) Hormonal factors: If your natural anabolic hormones (Testosterone, growth hormone, IGF-1) are on the low side, your insulin response is suboptimal (insulin resistance) and your catabolic hormones are chronically elevated, then it'll be next to impossible to add muscle mass.

Sounds like IGF-2 would help out if you suffering from homonal factors, or maybe increase potential.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

B) Nutritional factors: If you don't ingest enough nutrients to fuel muscle growth then chances are you won't be able to build new muscle tissue. Digestive problems also fall into this category. If you eat a lot but can't absorb all the nutrients, then it's as if you didn't give your body enough of them to begin with.

I generally eat Activia and take Digestive Enzymes. Espcially with protein.

Charles Poliquin also talks about Hydrochloric acid

Hydrochloric acid presents a few dilemmas for those of us seeking better supplements on a daily basis.


On one hand, it must be handled with appropriate safety precautions because it is a highly corrosive liquid. It is used in various industrial applications including leather manufacturing and PVC plastic production, as well as the removal of rust from iron and steel.1

Of course another great use for hydrochloric acid, or HCl, is to help us digest our food. Our bodies are protected from this corrosive acid by a mucosal barrier in our GI tracts. Many times when people think they have too much acid, they actually have too little barrier and not enough acid. Yes, this acid is a good thing.

Acid is one of the main things that help us to break down those big forkfuls of food into useable nutrients. Despite the popularity of acid-neutralizing and acid-blocking drugs, stomach acid is crucial not only to health, but also to achieving optimal function. When you block acid, you limit nutrient absorption and create an environment that is actually favorable to disease. Even if you don’t use these drugs, studies dating back over 70 years show that our ability to secrete acid decreases as we age.2-4

Having appropriate acid levels is step one. Before you start analyzing your percentage of fat, carbohydrates and protein intake, make sure your acid level is good. Before you start buying expensive supplements, make sure your acid level is good. Before you start analyzing your sets, reps, tempo and frequency, make sure your acid level is good. If you can’t break down your muscle-building nutrients, you’re putting in a lot of money and hard work and not getting the most from them. Again, it is step one.

Testing acid levels

Fortunately, this is easy to test and easy to fix. Very rarely can one put in so little effort for so much return. In order to test, I like to use a method recommended by Drs. Michael Murray and Joe Pizzorno, NDs.

In the middle of your next solid meal, take one capsule of Digestzyme (200 mg HCL.) Continue to increase the dose by one capsule at each subsequent meal until you can feel warmth in your stomach. DO NOT EXCEED SEVEN CAPSULES.

Once you’ve determined the dose that produces a warm sensation, you now know that similar sized meals require one less tablet than that dose. You have now determined how much acid your body should be producing on its own, but isn’t. (i.e. the dose that you take with every meal.) Smaller meals might require less and larger meals might require more.5 You should immediately notice changes like a decrease in bloating, belching, and less indigestion.

This one little change to your program can have an incredible impact. Protein that never made it to your muscles is suddenly getting broken down for use. Carbohydrates that could have given you energy are now being digested and utilized. Healthy fats that were needed to improve the integrity of your cellular membranes finally have a chance. Expensive supplements that used to just “pass” on by, now get dissolved and released into your system.

Beyond that, acid in your stomach can protect you from bacteria, specifically helicobacter pylori, known to be one of the leading causes of ulcers. There are other things to consider, like enzymes, but the first step is having enough acid. It may sound too simple, but it really can make a huge difference.

Findings from the field

Since writing the article Maximize Your Progress with Hydrochloric Acid, and after giving multiple Biosignature seminars, we have found that an alarming group of people are basically generating very little stomach acid for themselves.

Dr. Bob Ratkowski estimates that 98% of the American population is deficient in HCL because of increased stress levels. I would concur with him on that one, as we have found similar results with our PPC s clientele. Colleagues of mine have found similar results in elite athletes in soccer and rugby. Even young athletes, such as a top college American football player I am training, are turning out to be completely HCL deficient.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

C) Metabolic factors: Some people do have a revved up metabolism. This is sometimes due to hyperthyroidism. When someone's metabolic rate is high, then he might require even more food than he should need "in theory." If you don't eat enough for your metabolism, then you won't gain muscle.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

D) Improper training: If you neglect a certain muscle group by not training it hard enough or without enough volume, then its growth will be slower.

I've made the biggest gains by employing effective training techniques and routines.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

E) Muscle fiber dominance: The more fast-twitch dominant a muscle is, the better it can grow. So if a muscle group doesn't have a large proportion of fast-twitch fibers, or if your nervous system isn't effective at activating these fast-twitch fibers, then muscle growth will be slower.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

Reasons A to C can't explain a lagging muscle group; they can explain lack of overall growth. But if you can develop all your muscles except for one or two stubborn groups then the problem isn't general, so it can't be hormonal, nutritional, or metabolic.

Reason D could explain it. If you're doing little to no biceps work and they aren't growing as fast as the rest of your body, then the training you perform for that muscle group might need to be reevaluated. But if you're training your lagging muscle group just as hard as the rest of the body, then the problem might be elsewhere.

If a muscle is almost devoid of fast-twitch fibers, then it'll be more growth-resistant. However, it's pretty rare to find someone whose major muscle groups have fewer than 30% fast-twitch fibers. And according to the work of professor Tihanyi, a muscle that's 30% fast-twitch can become as strong and grow as much as a muscle that's 70% fast-twitch, if trained properly.

So the real reason for the absence of growth might not be so much the lack of fast-twitch fibers in the muscle, but rather the relative incapacity of the nervous system to recruit the FT fibers that are actually present in the muscle group.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

Basically, to make a muscle grow you must be good at activating that muscle! There can be two levels of activation:

Level 1: You have problems recruiting a muscle because it's your weakest link in a chain. For example, if pecs are a weak point when training chest, you recruit more delts and/or triceps. As a result, the delts and triceps grow and get stronger while the pecs are left relatively un-stimulated.

In all fairness, the pectorals are recruited, but since the delts and triceps will do most of the work, the pecs aren't under maximal loading. As a result, you don't recruit the fast-twitch fibers. Over time your nervous system becomes good at recruiting the delts and triceps but less efficient at doing the same for the chest. In that particular case, the more "chest" work you do, the bigger your problem becomes!

You don't need more training volume (at least not right now); you need to work smarter to teach your nervous system how to activate the chest. Once your nervous system is good at recruiting the pectorals, then you can move back to regular chest work and it'll grow optimally.

 
Level 2: You can recruit a muscle just fine but you have trouble tapping into those high-threshold motor units. Once again, doing more work (volume) isn't the answer. High-threshold motor units/FT fibers are recruited mostly when the tension is high. Tension is maximized either by using heavy loads or explosive movements.

Adding more volume will just create fatigue and will result in an even greater reliance on the slow-twitch fibers. What's worse is that over time the fast-twitch fibers that you're able to recruit could take on slow-twitch properties.
 
Strategy 1: If you have problems recruiting a muscle because it's getting overpowered by others when you perform an exercise, you should use either the pre-fatigue or post-fatigue method. This means supersetting an isolation exercise for the muscle you have problems recruiting with your main training movement.

The isolation exercise is either placed before (pre-fatigue) or after (post-fatigue). Normally I prefer to use the post-fatigue technique, but an activation problem is one of the cases where I actually prefer to use the pre-fatigue method. In that situation, the isolation exercise serves two purposes:

1. It can improve your capacity to activate the target muscle during the main movement via enhanced feedback. By enhanced feedback I mean that the isolation movement will create a localized fatigue and pump that will result in your feeling that muscle group more during the performance of the main movement. Since you can feel that muscle working during your set, it's easier to develop a good mind-muscle link.

2. By creating a certain amount of fatigue with the isolation movement, you make sure that this muscle will be fully stimulated even though it normally doesn't receive maximum stimulation during the multi-joint exercise.

Post-fatigue (performing the isolation exercise after the main movement) does allow you to fully stimulate the target muscle if it hasn't been thoroughly worked with the main, multi-joint exercise. However, you don't get the enhanced feedback effect. That's why when you have problems recruiting a certain muscle, pre-fatigue is a better option: it'll allow you to develop the capacity to recruit that hard-to-target muscle group.

Pre-fatigue isn't as effective as post-fatigue at stimulating maximal growth because you can't use as much weight on the multi-joint movement (because you pre-fatigued a muscle group involved in the lift). That's why you should see pre-fatigue as a "learning tool."

It allows you to become better at recruiting the muscle you want to build. Before being able to fully stimulate growth in a muscle, you must first be able to recruit it optimally! That's the reason why pre-fatigue, which on paper is an inferior muscle-building method, can become very effective for a specific purpose.
 
Lagging Muscle Groups

Strategy 2: If you can recruit a muscle just fine but it's still stubborn, it can mean that you have problems maximally activating the fast-twitch fibers. Here are a few tips to help you change that:

• Always try to lift the weight with as much acceleration as possible. If the weight is heavy, or fatigue sets in during the last few reps of a set, then the actual speed/acceleration might not be very high. But neurally, the intent to accelerate is the key. This will maximize force production at a given weight which will facilitate FT fiber recruitment.

• Control the weight during the eccentric (lowering) portion and opt for exercises where the target muscle is put in a stretched position. When a muscle is stretched prior to contracting, more fast-twitch fibers will be recruited and it increases force production at high rates of acceleration (which also increases FT recruitment).

• You can combine maximal functional or maximal isometrics with regular lifting movements. You can recruit up to 10% more muscle fibers during a maximal isometric action as during a maximal concentric movement. Performing a maximal isometric action immediately before a regular lifting set will also allow you to recruit more FT fibers during the regular lifting set.

For example:

A1. Functional isometric bench press
Use a bar weight that is around 50-60% of your maximum and push it against the pins as hard as humanly possible for 6 seconds.
Rest 60-90 seconds

A2. Bench press

3-5 reps (heavy load)
120 seconds of rest

Perform complex 4-5 times

* Heavier weights can also be used since the more force you have to produce, the more FT fibers you'll recruit. You don't have to shoot for a 1RM; anything in the 4-6 reps range will do, especially if you focus on contracting the muscle as hard as possible during the set.

by Christian Thibaudeau​
 
xjsynx said:
Ah, but I want to try in conjunction with a solid enzyme supp.
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yeah

I had tried Labrada's sorenzyme, which is like a mega-dose of protease, supposed to help reduce inflammation and muscle recovery time from DOMS

I think it only felt like it helped reduce my soreness by about a day or a little more
 
I usually get sore from a new workout, other than that my recovery is pretty good. I try to take 50g+ of BCAA's though.

Will see if this is what has been keeping me from getting sore, since I am running low on Xtend.
 
xjsynx said:
I usually get sore from a new workout, other than that my recovery is pretty good. I try to take 50g+ of BCAA's though.

Will see if this is what has been keeping me from getting sore, since I am running low on Xtend.
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Yeah, I'm rationing everything right now until I can start getting some income.
 
bitterplacebo said:
I suspect it was just from doing some real light behind-neck pulldowns where it felt like I was pulling all with my lower traps
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I got some good pumps from Haney-Shrugs.

Here is nice lil trap-wo by CP

Workouts 1-6 (Working traps every fifth day)

A) Power snatch from mid-thigh
• Five sets of five to six reps on a 10X0 tempo, resting for three minutes between sets.

B) Trap tri-set
• Seated dumbbell shrugs, three sets of six to eight reps on a 2022 tempo
• Rest for ten seconds
• Standing barbell shrugs, three sets of 10-12 reps on a 1110 tempo (note a pause at the top of the movement)
• Rest for ten seconds
• Upright cable rows, three sets of 12-15 reps on a 2010 tempo
• Rest for two minutes
• Repeat all steps two more times

Workouts 7-12

A) Power cleans from blocks
• Ten sets of two to three reps on a 10X0 tempo, resting for three minutes between sets
B) Single-arm dumbbell shrugs
• Five sets of six to eight reps on a 2011 tempo, resting for three minutes between sets (single-arm shrugs allows for a greater range of motion)

and another one

1) Seated Dumbbell Shrugs*: 1 set of 6-8 reps, done using a 202 tempo.

2) Rest 10 seconds.

3) Standing Barbell Shrugs: 1 set of 10-12 reps, done using a 111 tempo (pausing at the top of the movement).

4) Rest 10 seconds.

5) Hammer Neck Extensions**: 1 set of 12-15 reps, done using a 202 tempo.

6) Rest 2 minutes.

7) Repeat steps 1 through 6 two more times.

* Perform these with your palms facing each other, and make sure you keep an upright position while doing these or the standing barbell shrugs.

** Very few people realize that neck extensions will help you thicken your traps. The truth is, when the shoulders are fixed in position, the clavicular division of the upper trapezius draws the occiput towards the shoulder. In other words, trapezius involvement is necessary to move the neck.
 
xjsynx said:
5) Hammer Neck Extensions**: 1 set of 12-15 reps, done using a 202 tempo.
** Very few people realize that neck extensions will help you thicken your traps. The truth is, when the shoulders are fixed in position, the clavicular division of the upper trapezius draws the occiput towards the shoulder. In other words, trapezius involvement is necessary to move the neck.[/COLOR]
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The first time I did these. It actually hurt to swallow...
 
ARE YOU KIDDING ME I LEAVE FOR A FEW DAYS AND COME BACK TO THIS AM MADNESS!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!


YOU GUYS ROCK!!

:pizza: ALL AROUND
 
xjsynx said:
Get in here with some training tips, etc...so we can all be BUFFHUNKS :bb3:
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HAHA What do you guys want to know?!! I mean we cannt all be Buffhunks but i will only disclose information for AM'ers!! YOU ALL WILL HAVE THE SECERETS!!!

You guys want me to post up 13 week out pics from last weekend?!
 
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