Posts by slydriver52

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wiredpilot30 said:Nothing is supposed to be a problem here—I’m just stating my opinion. And honestly, I think you know perfectly well that cortisol is tied directly to intensity.
I already made it clear that I couldn't care less about cortisol levels. Anyone stressing over their hormone output while training is genuinely wasting their time.
There are a million different programs out there, and they all work, regardless of how much cortisol you pump out during any given session. The absolute prerequisite for success across the board is nutrition. I find it hard to believe people are killing themselves in the gym without having even a basic grasp of what they eat. If they don't get it, that's on them. Even those clueless types will see some results, unless they're living exclusively on cheesecake.

It feels like you're either messing with me because you're bored or you know me well enough to be playing games. If you actually know me, you know I won't play this game for long... if you think I'm wrong, then provide a correction... specifically regarding 😬

As for the stuff mentioned below, I'm not boycotting anything... I'm not running right now (shin splint issues) and I'm not hitting the gym at the moment, but I train regularly and consistently, even if I'm using lighter weights currently due to my diet. Anything else you want to know? ☕

We've completely derailed the topic, so since we're off-topic anyway, are you heading to the game this Saturday? And I'm not mocking you; I'm just surprised that you're so interested in athletic conditioning, sports nutrition, and all that—assuming, of course, that you are the same wiredpilot30 I know.😁

wiredpilot30 said:Look, kid, let me make this quick, because I have no intention of revisiting this topic ever again.

Look, I don't claim to be an expert on the subject. I spend my time buried in books and then posting my thoughts online; I’ve never even set foot in a gym or picked up a dumbbell. So, by all means, enjoy your hunt for those catabolic lifters. Good luck to you. The struggle. Cortisol is a killer. If you aren't managing your stress levels, you might as well be throwing money down the drain and wondering why your body is breaking down. It’s like running an engine redlined for months on end—eventually, the whole thing is going to seize up. 😛

I don't want to come off as rude, so I'll address the second part of your point reasonably. A decent moderate anaerobic session should last about an hour—assuming you aren't doing a full-body routine—and involve minimal downtime without pushing your muscles past their absolute limit. Personally, I’ve always been against marathon workouts and grinding out sets until total muscular failure. By the way, you really ought to look into the actual role of cortisol. It isn't some monster under the bed; like everything else in the body, it’s all about maintaining balance, which is easy enough for a healthy person to manage. It’s honestly ridiculous watching people freak out over cortisol and treat it like nothing more than a muscle-wasting demon.

I'm out of this thread. Peace. 👋

So, you're asking if a workout really needs to be capped at an hour?😕 Is it because cortisol levels spike based on the duration of the workout rather than just the intensity?
Anaerobic training shouldn't exceed an hour, and that’s exactly why. Most people aren't even pushing themselves to true failure anyway. But more importantly, nobody wants to talk about the fact that this type of training essentially eats away at your muscle mass—amongst other things.
wiredpilot30, why are you still holding out on this boycott? You’re running all over New York City, but as far as I can tell, you haven't set foot in a gym in ages.

wiredpilot30 said:Catabolism—it’s a word everyone fears, yet almost nobody actually understands.
Spiking cortisol during a workout is perfectly normal; it doesn't mean squat for a healthy person who eats a balanced diet.
It's the same logic you'd use if we spent all day obsessing over growth hormone surges during training.

We can only talk about cortisol being an issue when we're discussing overtraining or extreme, chronic stress.
If your goal is to absolutely wreck your body until you hit total failure, then sure, let's have a serious conversation about cortisol levels.

Eat well, train moderately, and don't waste your time on nonsense.

Is this coming from actual experience? Do you truly believe this works in practice, or are you just reciting what you read in textbooks? It seems to me like you rarely even step foot in a gym. Please, enlighten me: how exactly do you define "moderate" anaerobic training?

wiredpilot30 said:Great... except you're veering off track. I know exactly what you’re trying to pull here—I'm currently in ketosis myself, so I understand the mechanics inside and out. As for this idea of "unhealthy" eating, we could debate that for hours. 😛

If you're maintaining even a semi-normal diet, you aren't going to completely deplete your glycogen stores. Ketosis is a different animal entirely; the rules regarding glycogen change once you're there. Plus, as I said, you won't just bottom out your glycogen levels because the body monitors its status and adjusts accordingly.

You likely assume that being in ketosis leads to muscle wasting because you're hyper-focused on glycogen and have noticed a drop in muscle volume. But we're dealing with a completely different set of biological rules here. It isn't that simple or pathetic... the human body isn't some basic, predictable machine. 🙂

Anyway, this thread isn't the place to get bogged down in gluconeogenesis, triglycerides, and all that other technical jargon... so I'll end this here.

The body can never fully exhaust its glycogen reserves, but that's not the point here—the point is catabolism.

Intense (high VO2 max) or prolonged physical exercise stimulates cortisol release to increase gluconeogenesis and maintain blood glucose.[65] Proper nutrition[66] and high-level conditioning[67] can help stabilize cortisol release.

Essentially, anaerobic training ramps up glycogen consumption, which spikes stress levels, eventually forcing the body to ramp up cortisol production.

wiredpilot30 said:I understand exactly how glycogen depletion works. But let’s be realistic: you aren't going to burn through your entire body's supply unless your diet is an absolute disaster and you're training like a complete maniac. I'm dropping my end of this conversation there; I have no interest in arguing about it.

Where exactly did you even get the idea about ketosis? And for heaven's sake, how many athletes or fitness enthusiasts actually stay in constant ketosis? 😁

During anaerobic training, the body relies on muscle glycogen as its primary fuel source—assuming we're talking about classic sets with rest periods. I'm still pinning down exactly when catabolism kicks in, though. I’ll look into it and circle back to the forum once I have some clarity.😁

You don't need to train like a maniac to see results. It’s enough to slash your carb intake down to a minimum—around 50 grams a day—to effectively deplete your glycogen stores. I’ve tested this on myself, and while it’s incredibly efficient for stripping away body fat, I wouldn't recommend staying on such a restrictive regimen long-term. It’s simply not healthy.
Fine, I'll just copy and paste it too.😁

Ketosis is essentially what happens when your blood concentration of ketone bodies spikes. It’s a metabolic shift triggered when the liver starts converting fat into fatty acids and ketones to meet the body's energy demands.

Ketone bodies are essentially byproducts generated during the beta-oxidation of fatty acids. This process produces acetyl-CoA, which then feeds directly into the Krebs cycle.

Ketosis typically kicks in when the body starts leaning heavily on fatty acids for fuel—much like how you’d switch to backup generators when the main power grid goes down due to a glucose shortage during fasting.

Look, it’s pretty straightforward: once you burn through your liver's glycogen stores, the body begins its slow transition into ketosis.

wiredpilot30 said:Glycogen is the least of any lifter's worries. You aren't hitting those UH levels because of glycogen—unless you’re some kind of maniac running marathons every single day, crushing two-a-day sessions at the gym with insane intensity, or you're a pro cyclist...

You all need to wrap your heads around the fact that you can't just "drain" your glycogen stores on a whim. Hardly anyone actually understands how this works. Honestly, the way people constantly obsess over it is ridiculous, because glycogen replenishes far too quickly for that to even be a practical concern. 🙂

Actually, muscle glycogen is absolutely depleted during anaerobic training. We are talking specifically about the glycogen stored within the muscles themselves. To truly bottom out those reserves, you would need a very specific dietary regimen paired with intense training; after about 3 or 4 days of that kind of discipline, the stores should be exhausted. That state is what we call ketosis.

hollowharbor14 said:Don't be so naive about skipping protein supplements... if you have the cash, go ahead and drink them. It won't kill you, and it'll definitely help you recover and pack on muscle mass. For the record, I even use horse power. People love to downplay it or spread rumors about how it’s "dangerous" or whatever—it's all nonsense. I haven't had a single issue, and my physique has improved significantly; my arm went from about 15 inches to 16.5 inches. Honestly, go talk to any serious bodybuilder in your local gym. If you ask them how to get huge, they'll tell you straight up: you can't do it without gear. So there you go, hope that helps!

The problem is that these types of supplements are often contaminated with banned substances like anabolic steroids, which can be extremely hazardous to your health.

wiredpilot30 said:Post-workout, especially if you're hitting some carb-protein blend, you'll see an uptick in growth hormone levels. Some studies even show a spike in Insulin-like growth factor 1.
It’s essentially the same logic applied to pure carbs.

On the flip side, slamming carbs right before bed is going to suppress your growth hormone release.

To put it bluntly: Carbs after training? Fine. Carbs before sleep? Not fine.

What if someone trains late at night? What's the play then?

David Long27 said:I appreciate the response; that was exactly the point I was trying to make when I laid out my goals earlier.

Now, I’m going to ask you one more time: leave Ante Kostelić out of this. To be clear, I have nothing against you personally, but stop acting like an expert in areas where you clearly aren't qualified.

Stick to discussing your own field if you actually have something useful to contribute. If you have legitimate questions regarding training, feel free to reach out. We professionals aren't the caricatures you're trying to paint us as—if you had ever actually met someone in the industry, you might realize that.

Regards to the lurkers watching this play out! And tell that guy from Oakland to reach out when he's ready for a beer; he's definitely earned it.!!!!

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Charles Perez81 said:Some people hit the gym to pack on mass, others to drop weight, and some just want definition. You’re going to see much faster results in a weight room than you will with bodyweight exercises. I doubt even 0.1% of people go to the gym just so they can be better at chopping wood. I also find your conclusion—that people with "sedentary" lifestyles don't need physical activity—to be quite interesting.

It’s clear some people here can’t distinguish between strength and power training versus muscular endurance training, which is actually what someone would need if their goal was purely chopping wood. If you want to understand why a 260-pound powerhouse can't chop wood as efficiently as a laborer who does it daily, you need to actually study human anatomy, training methodologies, and biomechanics....................

Charles Morales10 said:For the most part, I’m with you.
Heavy isolation movements are arguably the fastest way to wreck your joints.
However, what works for me—and what I actually do—is using isolation exercises at the end of a session. I use light weights and high rep ranges just to get a massive pump, which helps drive blood flow into the muscle and aids recovery.

That’s exactly my point! There is zero reason to avoid machine isolations entirely. Instead, save them for the end of your workout when the muscles are already primed and you don't have the raw strength left to move heavy loads safely. For example, I always finish off my quads with leg extensions after I've already absolutely destroyed them with squats and Bulgarian split squats. I never jump straight into heavy isolation; I earn it. You can apply this logic to any muscle group to effectively eliminate injury risk.