Best products from r/naturalbodybuilding

Idk if you can get this were you live but I can for about 2/3 of the amazon price and its easy, low cal and adds a lot of flavor.

I love adding teriyaki flavor to my meats, here is a super simple sauce recipe I use with monk fruit extract (erythritol) in place of sugar so you get a lot of flavor compared to the calories it adds. I make this so often I just eyeball it and record how much I use so I can calculate the macros per portion of cooked final product. Here it is, this for 1 batch which for me is about 2-3 lbs minced meat. 2/3 Cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup rice vinegar. 2-3 tsp minced ginger. 1-2 tbsp minced garlic. 1-2 tbsp sugar or brown sugar (or other sweetener, just adjust to your tastes as many artificial sweeteners taste a lot stronger then sugar imo). I recommend cooking your meat first to 80% done or more. Remove from pan, drain fat and then add sauce to pan and reduce volume by about a quarter or more. If you like a thicker sauce that clings to the meat (and I often do) add some corn starch (1tbsp) to a little water and add that to your sauce while reducing it. Add your meat back and finish cooking. You can use powdered garlic and ginger over fresh, its a lot cheaper and easier, just be sure to add a little water to let them re-hydrate before mixing in with everything else. In my experience this little step makes a big difference with the garlic. I love spice (heat) and you can add as much red pepper flake as you can tolerate to this recipe for spicy teriyaki.

Sriracha sauce is always good, really any hot sauce as long as its not got a lot of sugar.

Gochujong is a Korean red pepper sauce and is hands down one of my favorite.

Most salsas are low cal and add a lot of flavor and moisture to food, especially a pico de gallo.

A good balsamic reduction can add a ton of flavor to veggies, fruits and proteins. Its super easy and relatively cheap to make, just get a good balsamic vinegar that you like and simmer it down in a sauce pan until its about half its original volume. Bonus tip: Roast veggies (for this my favorites are brussels sprouts or broccoli), a little crumbled bacon with the fat drained off (roast the veggies with the bacon fat IFFYM), crumbled creamy goat cheese (buy it in the tubes and freeze for 30 mins to make crumbling easy, saves a lot of money vs buying it already crumbled) and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

This kind of a sauce kind of not, but I love it: add a fried or poached egg to any salad or just to minced meat/carb/veggie bowl. Good protein from the egg white and the yolk is an instant rich and delicious sauce.

These aren't sauces but they are go-tos for me when I want to add flavor to a dish: caramelized onions (just cook 'em down, no need to add sugar but you can), pickled carrots and pickled beats (I can often gets these pre-made in bulk for a great price).

Sliced grapes, strawberries and apple can do a lot for salad and create a lot of pleasing textures and flavors with small amounts of various nuts (toast nuts to add flavor as well).

Maybe you should read some books on this subject instead of relying on bro science. Modern bodybuilding encyclopedia gets into this, Natural bodybuilding guide gets into this, as well as many other books. I have quite the library, and these are some of the only points multiple science based books agree on.

Also, the Navy seal physical fitness guide they hand out to new recruits to teach them proper training methods in their down time covers this. They have those guys rotating rep counts every few month to go up as high as 50+ reps for muscular endurance without getting too heavy. Book was written by a group of military doctors who train people for a living. Ill trust that book over your opinion.

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Navy-Guide-Fitness-Nutrition/dp/1607963884/ref=sr_1_2?crid=5OIFMYIIL8TF&keywords=navy+seal+physical+fitness+guide&qid=1555698337&s=gateway&sprefix=navy+seal+physic%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-2

"Developed for Navy SEAL trainees to help them meet the rigorous demands of the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community, this comprehensive guide covers all the basics of physical well being as well as advice for the specific challenges encountered in extreme conditions and mission-related activities. Topics covered include calculating energy expenditure; definitions, functions, and daily allowances of carbohydrates, fats, and protein; nutritional considerations for endurance and strength training activities; active recovery from injury; cardio-respiratory conditioning; appropriate gear for running and swimming for fitness; exercising in extreme and adverse weather; and more. Compiled by physicians and physiologists chosen for their knowledge of the NSW and SEAL community, this manual is a unique resource for anyone wanting to improve his or her health, strength, and endurance."

Do you really think these doctors are just guessing when they tell them to change rep counts to match desired results. Would you really trust a Reddit sub or mens bodybuilding magazine over what doctors are telling the most elite group of men in the world to do? Men who's lives rely on their training.

I have also used targeted lifting to cut fat from places I want fat gone from. Like high rep oblique crunches.

I'll also add, my gf of many years earned her doctorate at Cornell in molecular biology and studied nutritional biochemistry. She used to laugh at what a joke it is for people to split hairs on training and nutrition when they are no where near the elite level. Until you plateau a few times after years of training, many things people harp on that pros do are a waste of time and money for the average lifter.

I feel like I remember seeing a paper on that as well but I'm unable to look it up at the moment. One thing that is highly recommended for any connective tissue recovery is Gelatin + Vitamin C. Take 5-10g gelatin + a couple 100 mg of Vitamin C (I use a powder so hard to get a small amount, some people just mix it with orange juice or similar) 30-45 min pre workout that you'll be using the joint in question.

I also take this preventively before every workout to help keep everything strong and recovering properly. (Its becoming common practice for a lot of collegiate and professional teams as well, a lot of times they'll make a bunch of jello cubes with it to help distribute if thats easier)

Might be off topic but if you want to improve your grip I suggest something like this.


https://www.amazon.com/Yes4All-Wrist-Forearm-Blaster-%C2%B2SJCTZ/dp/B00HGPLEX4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468527504&sr=8-2&keywords=wrist+roller


You put a 5lb-10lb weight at the end and roll it. It's amazing for improving your grip strength.

I'm really liking these Neleus men's compression tank tops. Fit like a glove, comfortable, and pretty cheap.

If you can make it fit your macros everyday and flexible diet your way there good for you but it sounds like you weren't able to do that with 8 years of training.

A plan helps, it's how I was able to diet from 220+ back down to a ripped 180.

If not go ahead with your 30 bananas a day but a simpler way would just to drink Dextrose Shakes which would be better for muscle gains since fructose is mainly metabolized in the liver instead of the rest of your body.

https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Sports-Dextrose-Powder-10-Pound/dp/B002JNM8YM/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1538534765&sr=8-3&keywords=dextrose&th=1

If your intake is variable of different fruits and vegetables and good amount of meat/chicken (for protein) like me all is good. So my supplements are only a preworkout this is the one i take maybe others might recommend a better one. I also take from time to time omega3 and magnesium pills if i feel a little bit of calf muscle traction.

I purchased it off of Amazon. They have different flavors/sizes

this is the link for the 2.5LB tub of vanilla, im sure you can find your way from there

For comparison, flavor wise, it is pretty similar to Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, I find it to be slightly richer though.

For me, I split this into two categories--those in the pre-PED era in the United States (1959 and earlier) and those in the modern era (1960+).

For the pre-PED era: Clancy Ross

For the PED era: Skip LaCour


I particularly like Skip for his mass, symmetry and conditioning. It's hard to compete as a lifetime natural at about 220lbs. Skip only entered drug-tested shows his entire career and finished with 5 Natural Mr. Universe titles.

I do appreciate all the other mentions from various folks here.


Craig

Author of Bodybuilding: From Heavy Duty to SuperSlow

BulkSupplements Creatine Monohydrate 1kg - $0.09 per 5g serving

BulkSupplements Beta Alanine 500g - $0.15 per 4g serving

BulkSupplements Citrulline Malate 1kg - $0.27 per 8g serving.

Total in bulk - $0.51 per serving
Total with pre-made - $0.83 per serving

I'd say overall it's not bad, but it'll certainly be cheaper per serving to buy in bulk. And while it's refreshing to see more supplement companies not using proprietary blends and using effective doses I find it odd they decided to include creatine and beta alanine in a product marketed as a pre-workout, given these supplements are not timing dependent.

Also, unless you're doing a large volume of high rep work (15+ rep sets) you might not be getting much benefit from beta-alanine.

I picked up this Norelco electric shaver on /u/danny_b87 recommendation. It is very good and all you need in terms of shaving as it is designed to take care of hair "from the neck down."

As far as when, the sooner the better is fine. I personally waited no more than 8 weeks out just to make sure I didn't have weird skin reactions.

The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books are great. If they're interested in health, they'll probably want both the nutrition and training volumes.

I took it from his book. But yeah, i've found it really good and have made a lot of progress on it. The rep schemes also give me a good range of lower weight - high reps and higher weight - low reps, which has pushed on strength and hypertrophy.

Yes, I use Completegest, as it's one of the few that have phytase in it. Full-spectrum; great stuff!

I've used NOW Sports Carbo Gain and noticed in the Amazon reviews people saying they used it post-chemo to get their weight up.

NOW Foods Carbo Gain, 8 Pounds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013OUNRM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ODTHxbHH9FNJ7

Cancer sucks. Wishing you the best.