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Caged Dog's Questions &Answers

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Answers to bodybuilding questions are for entertainment purposes only, and are not intended to treat or as a solution to any problem. Responses are only solutions that I would take it I was in that same situation. By using this site you are agreeing to consult a personal trainer or health care professional before you follow any instruction, or suggestion found on this site. And are following these suggestions at your own risk and are removing any blame from smart-bodybuilding, its affiliates and its owner.

Question 1 I just started doing calf raises at home, I did not have proper equipment before. The thing is, I don't know how strong my calves are, and how strong they should be related to my other muscles.

Answer 1 In the older Muscle and Fitness magazine, back when it was called Muscle-Builder magazine you would see pictures of Arnold of Franco doing calf raise with 600 700 hundred pounds, and you could easily think that these outrages poundage were what is expected of bodybuilders. But then people like Chris Dickerson came alone with possibly the greatest calves in the history of the sport and said moderate weight with high repetition is the best way to develop calves. I’ve seen film strips of my favorite bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman do calf raises with giant poundage and in truth his form stunk for all heck. And if your goal is to build strong calves without concern for form or injury than train as heavy as possible, your soon to be destroyed back can handle. However, if your goal is to develop quality muscle that will quickly come in line with your upper body that process is a little different. There are three different angles of the body when doing calf work they are:

With your back straight (standing calf raises)

Bent at the waist (donkey calf raises or leg press calf raises)

Bent at waist with upper thighs parallel to floor (seated calf raises) When I train people I teach them to do all three angles in their workout with rep ranges as follows Week 1,3 Keep weight as heavy as you can and still complete the first set only (remember your goal is still to complete all sets but as soon as you can add weight) 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Week 4-6 Same theory as applied above, 3 set of 15 to 25 reps

Week 7 and 8 3 sets of 35 to 40 reps.

If you can follow this routine you will never worry about calves again

Question 2 What are the best things to eat or take to help speed up recovery cuz my major body parts stay sore for days? e.g. today is Monday and i did my legs last Tuesday and they are still a little tight

Answer 2 Glutamine is good, but if the body is missing other ingredients then glutamine goes from a non-essential amino acids, to a conditionally essential amino acid. What this means is that enough glutamine must be available in order for glutamine to work. This is why branch chain amino acids should be taken seconds before the workout and also right after.

BCAAs have an effect on all protein metabolism are required at higher amounts than any other amino acids. Moreover BCAA may actually build muscle by decreasing protein breakdown and increasing protein synthesis, and are glutamine sparing.

I would suggest that you take about 5 to 10 grams each in addition to 5 to 10 grams of glutamine. Finally try arginine 3-9 grams per day to allow greater nitrogen uptake this is the theory behind NO products which I don’t use at all. I have a supplement schedule that I think is very useful on my new website http://www.smart-bodybuilding.com/supplement_regimen.html and some excellent choices for which product to use in the supplement review section

Question 3 I know that the basic principle of cutting is that you burn more calories than you consume, however I have come to know that it is pretty important to watch how many carbs you are taking in during your cutting phase. I am a 6'0 185 pound ectomorph, doing cardio and weightlifting 4 days a week, and am consuming around 2800 calories a day with close to 200 grams of protein. How many carbs should do I need? Im thinking somewhere in the area of 250?

Answer 3 Don’t get too tied up in that ectomorph thing it can be confusing. But a pure ectomorph should have no problem cutting I will tell you this you are taking in quite a few calories. for someone only 18 lbs. but if you weight is stable at that calorie count don't drop it. I would say that in almost 10 years of contest training I have never being able to see result with less than 1.4 grams of proteins for every pound of bodyweight I think 200 grams of protein is really low. I think you need around 250 to 300 grams of protein per day. Try doing this without increasing your calorie count by replacing carbs with protein. If you are doing cardio three to four times per week you should see results in about three to five days.

Question 4 hey every i've been taking creatine for about 2 months now i usually take it 15mins before working out and i get the pump and i feel my arms get huge when i'm taking it. then as these 2 months have been going on i started to get stretch marks on my biceps can this be caused by the pump if so should i stop using it does anybody else have this problem

Answer 4 Stretch marks are actual tears in the endodermis and they will not go away. They stretch marks are caused by the body growing quicker than the outer skin can flex hence the tears.

When I was a kid my grandmother used to make my aunts and mother put cocoa butter on their stomachs to stop stretch marks. I went to a doctor and he said that it was from a drop in the level of vitamin E in the body and that cocoa butter was a waste of time. Today science has determined that if you know that you are pregnant you should start rubbing you stomach with cocoa butter Palmers has a commercial proudly advertising that fact.

Any bodybuilder that wants to eliminate stretch marks and is in a mass phase should finish his day by massaging area like the shoulder chest tie-in, lower stomach and even his behind with cocoa butter each night. We do know that no male bodybuilder will follow this advice but I have seen some female bodybuilders that do that after showers (I'm told they do. I’m not allowed in the women's locker room) and regularly after bath at home as well. Cocoa butter has a smoothing effect on the outer skin and should be used by anyone who has to keep his/her body in the public view.

Troy " Caged Dog " Pearsall