CCrew Bodybuilding

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Credit to Rich Piana who at the very end, had the courage to confront Mike on what should be obvious to most; that Mike O’Hearn is not natural.

He’s not guys.

Rich doesn’t claim to be natural, but he like many others know when others are not being entirely truthful - they’ve been in the game far too long to know what’s possible as a natural bodybuilder.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Aesthetic resurgence!!

I'm totally in favour of this. Please read my previous posts on the likes of Flex Wheeler and Frank Zane.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Around 3 months ago I was doing standing shoulder press with my training partner John. Now we just came in and we decided to skip warm up to get straight into it, though we had done a short run before hand. As a side note when doing chest or shoulder we usually use this thing that looks like a really big elastic band, which enables us to stretch the muscles while offering some resistance.

We had decided to start quite heavy and I ended up injuring myself; something I've never done before - actually I did injure myself once while doing the clean and jerk but that was so long ago now I've forgotten what became of it.

John's a lovely guy and he felt guilty, though it wasn't his fault at all.

Anyway at the time I thought I was having a heart attack, as the pain seemed to be coming from around my heart area. Turns out that I just sprained a muscle, though I had already decided to take a few days off to recover.

I went to see my dad soon after and he asked me why I wasn't going to the gym. I explained the situation and he told me off! I was like "what the hell, I'm injured and I need to rest it" (because I was still getting this stabbing pain inside the chest). John kept reassuring me that it wasn't my heart because I was still doing tough cardio at the end of most sessions.

Anyway my dad explains that I shouldn't rest it and told me to do light to moderate weights instead. Obviously my body was telling me not to, but I took his advice and did just that. The problem is that when you're used to doing heavy weights, doing light weights feels as though you're not doing a proper workout, but I had to get out of that mindset. It's embarrassing as well, but it needed to be done.

Now strangely enough by the end of the following day I was feeling a lot better! So basically my dad was absolutely right, and I think it's something Lui inadvertently points out here as well.

So yeah it's actually sometimes better not to stop altogether unless you've snapped your spine (hopefully not that extreme but you get the picture), else your recovery might last a lot longer otherwise.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Flex deserved to win here. This was his best ever form (the year 1993 before his car accident). Just think symmetry, proportions and muscle bellies. Supreme!!!

This is Flex's own Youtube channel as well by the way.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Suckers, don't you just love em? Just ask them to put their hand in their pockets to see to what extent they will really go.

[liftsomeheavyshit-blog1]

Nutrition Post #1 - Chicken Breast Burger

One of my favourite current meals I eat daily. Although this may look like your average colossal burger, I assure it is not. This is by far the healthiest burger I have ever eaten/made. I also like to experiment with the sauces i use, sometimes I will use ketchup, sometimes I like to use reggae reggae sauce or any source that savours the flavours together. I don’t really count calories when I use sauces, a lot of sauces tend be low fat and calorie friendly, unless you are using heavy fat content sauces such as mayonnaise I think the majority of burger sauces should do just fine in this low fat and high protein meal :)

NOTE: If by any chance you are not able to get the exact brands listed on the nutritional info, then just try and find generic brands from your local super-market. You will find as long as the serving sizes are the same then the nutritional information should not differ! :)

More nutrition posts will be on the way soon! 

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

"The Cornish are to be recognised as a national minority on a par with the Welsh, Irish and Scots, giving a fresh pride to hundreds of thousands of people"

[back-then]

Strongest of them all

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Steroid abuse. It's a touchy subject really.

There's been a lot of news from here in the UK related to steroids and steroid-related deaths that have become global. I'll tell you now that it's media sensationalism. The issue should not be on the legality of the drug, but rather on the fools who populate the world - fools who've been around since the dawn of mankind and who will always be there to annoy you!

Steroids are actually legal here in the UK to own for personal consumption (something many Americans cannot fathom when they first hear about it seeing as it's strictly regulated over there), though this is not the issue. As mentioned we'll always have buffoons who abuse something whether it be drinking or anything else and pay a heavy price, but to blame it on the drug's status here is ludicrous.

The strange situation we find ourselves in is that even though the drug is legal here, there is still a tremendous lack of information available to the public on the matter. It's a touchy subject mainly because people that use it are afraid to admit it, and because of this it's still an 'underground' topic.

It's as if a policeman were to raid a house and find some dianabol or tren (a tremendously strong form of the drug) only to say "okay buddy just.....just put that away......so no-one sees......QUICKLY!" Everyone acts as if it's like a banned substance when it clearly is not. It's weird.

So I don't think steroids should be banned, but I think the answer once again lies with education education education!

Those who want to use them should be taught how to do so safely which is a given because unlike drinking, when you take steroids you simply HAVE to take a cocktail of other drugs to counteract the negative (or potentially negative) side-effects it has on the body. These include things like 'milk thistle' to protect the liver and other drugs to lower estrogen levels, though I'm sure there are many more!

My advice is to just avoid drugs altogether. Luckily my training partner John has never been interested in taking pro hormones or steroids for he sees it as an easy way out - which it is. I mean only 2 months ago we met a guy who we knew from our former gym but who decided to join ours, and he said he hadn't trained in months. He was as skinny as a doornail! Anyway I saw him again earlier in the week and he's huge now. Yes it's disheartening to those who keep it natural like John and myself, but everyone has their own choices to make and the consequences to have to bear.

See ya!

--

Btw I'm also not implying that the guy in the image Zyzz was a fool but as you may or may not know, he admitted to taking steroids which in my view contributed to his premature demise.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman: two of the greatest bodybuilders that ever lived (via).

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Pull ups!!! Bigplayray here briefly demonstrates how the pull up machine works. I did my pull ups today (9 sets of 10 reps), so do I get a prize other than aches and pains? 

[deforest]

Joan Crawford photographed for Dancing Lady (1933)

[thisposthasbeendeleted]

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

I have to say that Leroy is wrong here when he states that the deadlift is nothing special, though I will say that he does have a point when it comes to approaching it like any other exercise. What I mean by this is that I for one do not believe in placing one particular exercise over all others, for they all play their part in what we want to achieve.

I have to admit I wasn't a huge proponent of the deadlift and avoided it whenever possible before I started training with my training partner, and this was in spite of the knowledge that there would be noticeable strength and muscle gains from having done them. The simple reason was because of what John (my training partner) once said to me "because it's hard work" - which it certainly is.

The deadlift is difficult because being a compound movement (which means it incorporates more than one muscle group), it utilizes most of the largest muscles groups within the move which can often make you feeling dizzy and light-headed. It can also make you feel like you've just run a marathon. In fact here is the list of all the muscles that are used with the deadlift (taken from Wikipedia):

The deadlift is a compound movement that works a variety of muscles groups:

The grip strength (finger flexors) and the lower back (erector spinae) work isometrically to keep the bar held in the hands and to keep the spine from rounding.

The gluteus maximus and hamstrings work to extend the hip joint.

The quadriceps work to extend the knee joint.

The adductor magnus works to stabilize the legs.

The deadlift activates a large number of individual muscles:

Torso

Front

Abdomen

Rectus abdominis (under aponeurosis)

Abdominal external oblique muscle

Abdominal internal oblique muscle

Back

Iliocostalis

Intertransversarii laterales lumborum

Latissimus dorsi

Levator scapulae

Longissimus

Quadratus lumborum

Rhomboideus major

Serratus posterior superior

Serratus posterior inferior

Splenius cervicis

Teres Major

Trapezius muscle

Legs

Quadriceps

Rectus femoris

Vastus lateralis

Vastus intermedius

Vastus medialis

Hamstrings

Biceps femoris muscle

long head

short head

Semitendinosus

Semimembranosus

Hips

Gluteal muscles

Gluteus maximus

Gluteus minimus

Piriformis

Superior gemellus

Forearms

Flexor digitorum profundus

Long list isn't it? Indeed it's very hard work!

Now what's important here is that you've already figured out your goals.

Because the deadlift incorporates so many muscle groups, you may feel that you are tiring yourself out on other exercises, in which case you won't be fulfilling your maximum potential on them due to fatigue. If you're a strength athlete (powerlifter, weightlifter, strongman and so on) it's a given that the deadlift be incorporated into your training regime, however for bodybuilders the motivation may be slightly different. I do know of some bodybuilders who don't do deadlifts anymore simply because of the reasons stated above, however this is not to say that they can't do them! Some bodybuilders may feel that they just aren't getting the most out of their isolation movements because of the groups involved within the deadlift (which is totally understandable) however if not, you need to make damn sure that you are getting the most out of them.

We should all know by now that deadlifts and squats are great ways to generate natural testosterone levels - which helps to develop muscle mass and improve strength and which in turn has led to the exercise gaining almost mythical status, but we have to remember that deadlifts alone will not create the physique that we all yearn; hence why I don't rate just one exercise over all others.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Just my thoughts on the latest bodybuilding news.

There's been a protracted 'war' between two Youtubers which I've avoided talking about until now.

It involves a famous natural bodybuilder named Layne Norton (who now has a sizeable subscriber base on said Youtube) and another guy called Jason Blaha - an American national who emigrated to the UK and who also has a large Youtube following.

The reason why I didn't subscribe to the arguments between the two is because it's not my goal to get caught up in anything other than what I know or want to achieve personally. This basically amounts to the fact that while everyone is entitled to their own opinions, one needs to employ better judgement than to just wade in unprepared.

Though my opinions are based on my own particular methods of research (having already finished my own Master's degree which has arguably afforded me the necessary level of expertise required to do so), it works in conjunction with personal experience and my better judgement - which happens to come about from such extracurricular activities. 

While I understand that Jason's agenda was to make people aware of the known flaws and corruptions within the bodybuilding scene, I do feel he could have gone about it in a much better way. As mentioned earlier everyone is entitled to their own opinions and whether those opinions are based on fact or some misguided allegiance is totally up to them, but Jason would have been better just providing the methods of his rationale, rather than implicating (whether directly or indirectly) examples of 'practitioners' to that particular mode of thought.

I'd heard of Layne Norton long before he became a Youtuber because he was well known throughout the natural bodybuilding fraternity, however whether he used illegal substances or not (which I'm not saying he has) should have no relevance to anyone apart from those who a/ are specifically looking to somehow get involved in that sort of thing b/ those who haven't or cannot be bothered to do their own research c/ those who are gullible and ignorant of the 'wider' bodybuilding scene.

We should also bear in mind that while channels like Jason's have an amazing avenue from which to help inexperienced/aspiring bodybuilders, we all have to take into account the fact that illegal substances have been perpetrated throughout the bodybuilding scene for decades! Yes we have social media which one would presume would lead to better coverage; an elevation in levels of awareness, but the proliferation of substance abuse will continue unabated regardless of what we (as those who are experienced and who know otherwise) tell people. You'll always get your gullible lot, which is why doing your own RESEARCH to make better-informed judgements is my number one piece of advice!!!

Indeed what Jason said in one of his videos about how he could tell what substances users were taking due to their physique meant absolutely nothing to me personally, for I openly admit to that which I have no personal experience in. 

Secondly and I think more importantly, is that I never took Jason's opinions as fact simply because I had never done my own research on the subject (which I should also add I have no intention of doing). This is not a personal attack on Jason either, because no-one should take anyone's opinions at face value.

So as long as you can just ignore all the aspects of the bodybuilding world that bear no relevance to your own particular goals, research or better judgement, you've got nothing really to get involved in. If you've done the necessary research you'll be in a better position to make your own decisions on for example, whether or not someone who purports to be natural but who is actually on an illegal substance, and to then take measures by acting in the appropriate manner - which usually means just ignoring them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw9A4381FBQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyhFFufToIg

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Sean has now joined the supplement scam bandwagon (which is good news). Here's his take.

[ccrew-bodybuilding]

Why taking multivitamins is a waste of money

Even when I was growing up as a kid, I would hear UK news headlines talking about how multivitamins were a waste of money. Unfortunately I never got to see what those stories actually said, because I only caught just the headlines and nothing more.

However now that information is freely available to us on the web and as recent as December 2013, scientific studies suggest multivitamins specifically are a waste of money; implying yet another ploy by the supplements industry to try and relieve you of your hard-earned cash.

Now the idea behind this stems from the notion that certain vitamins can only be absorbed by the body provided the right conditions are met (such as in conjunction with some other vital nutrient or possibly in combination with some other vitamin or mineral). If the right conditions are not met, then it will simply pass through the body unabsorbed - which would therefore make it a waste of money.

It may sound ridiculous today that con artists existed in the American Wild West, that would sell magic elixirs and patented medicines that apparently cured a multitude of different illnesses from back pain to heartbreak. Well unfortunately no such thing exists and neither is there a magic pill that can make up for any nutritional deficiencies we may have in our diets. It just doesn't exist!

However as Jason Blaha points out in his video there needs to be a differentiation between multivitamins and single vitamin intake, because certain vitamins taken in isolation may be absorbed by the body independent of any other extraneous factor. In his example he takes "D3" because he lives here in rainy England¹. In these instances it 'can' be justified.

Indeed a couple of years ago while studying at university I happened across an article on Scandinavian countries, which argued that there was a relationship between Multiple Sclerosis, sunlight and Vitamin D.

Based on those findings, other sources urged Scandinavians to increase their vitamin D intake as a means by which to prevent the likelihood of developing the disease. If I remember rightly it was found in one of the studies, that those Scandinavians who worked night-shifts (which meant they had even less contact with direct sunlight) were more likely to go on to develop MS².

Anyway that's all for now.

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¹ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wilU05p7DVo

² - http://www.dnva.no/geomed/solarpdf/Nr_16_Kampman.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLJuqxGT-4Y

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/news/20131216/experts-dont-waste-your-money-on-multivitamins