General Tips - Improve Muscle, Hair Quality

Hey guys,

So i recently moved out to my own place and i want to invest in my appearance a bit.

I'm already kind of tall, and kind of muscular. I'm about 6'1 (186cm) and i have quite a bit of muscle and some hair left. I would like to ask some questions on how to grow taller (i opened a thread before, and how to buff up).

My plan is to wake up in the morning, do about 20 minutes of stretches (Grow taller), followed by the Ferox method (inversion table, which i assume can only do good for both causes). Then workout 2-3 times a week to buff up, and 1-2 times playing volleyball. I also started using Res+Curcumin and i take biosil/hyalorunic acid/L-NAC cysterine and few other goodies (Fo-Ti, Dandelion and Milk Thistle). Bought some Ortho Shampoo and Rejueplex to go along with it.

My questions are:
- Hands down, do you think it's possible to grow my height by 2-3 cm? (1inch)?
Providing, i do the rigorous regimen stated in "naturally increase your height" book you can find on http://immortalhair.forumandco.com/t7754-is-it-possible-to-grow-taller. (Quick summery - a lot of stretching, taking supplements like calcium magnesium and zinc, getting good sleep to increase GH, reduce meals before bedtime to hinder insulin secretion, inversion table, sleeping on your bed and elevating your feet to counter gravity/increase spinal gaps etc)
- I want to tone up my muscles a little bit and grow about 3-4 kg's of muscle. One thing i could never figure out is whether i need to eat something before i work up? (to give energy) if so, how much time prior? Also, is it recommended to eat Tuna/eggs immediately after the workout or wait some time? What kind of meal should i eat after the workout (big meal)?
- Can anyone give tips on how to stretch my muscles before/after exercises? Any general tips on how to create the body i want?

I am not a bodybuilder but atleast my experience is to workout on an empty stomach is best - dont eat several hours ahead -and then eat a protein combination shortly after you are finished. Maybe a banana or two. In the evening eat a big meal.

Thanks for that. I would love for some other opinions...

Firefist,

I was reading the following article on Ray Peat's site and came across an interesting excerpt (below) re growth.

Article: Food-junk and some mystery ailments: Fatigue, Alzheimer's, Colitis, Immunodeficiency.

Peat's quote:

"I have previously discussed the use of antibiotics (and/or carrot fiber and/or charcoal) to relieve the premenstrual syndrome, and have mentioned the study in which the lifespan was extended by occasionally adding charcoal to the diet. A few years ago, I heard about a Mexican farmer who collected his neighbors' runt pigs, and got them to grow normally by adding charcoal to their diet. This probably achieves the same thing as adding antibiotics to their food, which is practiced by pig farmers in the US to promote growth and efficient use of food. Charcoal, besides binding and removing toxins, is also a powerful catalyst for the oxidative destruction of many toxic chemicals. In a sense, it anticipates the action of the protective enzymes of the intestinal wall and the liver."

Figured it was worth passing along, and given the amount of supplements discussed on this site, it's interesting that charcoal doesn't come up more often as a potential chelator. Also, not sure what your overall posture is like, but i'd highly recommend the structural alignment exercises created by Pete Egoscue. When you eliminate things like pelvic tilt, excessive curvature of vertebrae, knee rotation, etc., your skeletal structure can return to its normal vertical height, rather than being pulled horizontally by various muscle issues. Check out his book called: Pain Free, A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain.. This book has genuinely changed my life in terms of posture, speed, athletic performance, ability to think, strength, etc., and while I haven't been formally measured, I definitely stand taller than I did before implementing the exercises from the book, so i wouldn't be surprised if I "gained" an inch on my overall height.

Good luck.

mike78 wrote:implementing the exercises

If it wouldn't be any trouble, would you mind posting your daily exercise routine of these exercises? Thank you.

FireFist,

First of all, there is no way of increasing your height once you've reached a certain age. Again, there is a physiological limitation in the bone. Many people will tell you that boosting HGH will increase your height but this is incorrect. HGH acts on the epiphyseal plate during your adolescence, while it is still mostly cartilage. As you reach maturity, that plate fuses with the remainder of the bone and becomes mineralized to the extent it can no longer expand with the HGH stimulus. The only option is a surgical procedure that lays you up for 6 months and on average only increases height be .5-1 inch. To me, not worth it.

As far as eating prior to exercise, its going to depend upon your goals. If you are trying to lose weight and lower body fat %, working out fasted is effective. Working out in a fasted state is going to deplete glycogen if you have fasted for long enough, but working out this way is also a great stress on the body. You will be raising epinephrine and cortisol quite high so I would definitely recommend a recovery meal or two to at least replenish liver glycogen. I would also include a good deal of protein in the diet if this is your plan, as those same stress hormones are going to decrease protein synthesis as protein is used to produce glucose in that state.

If you are trying to gain mass, I wouldn't advise working out in a fasted state. Its unnecessarily stressful on the body if rapid fat loss is not your goal. Eat a meal about 2-3 hours prior to a workout. Eat a recovery meal afterward, but not to soon. You still want to maintain the increase in oxidizing fatty acids after your work, which you can achieve by waiting to eat until 30 minutes to 1 hour after your workout. This will also optimize the growth hormone response. Get 20-30% of your calories from fat. Optimize your testosterone by getting plenty of D3 (cod liver oil), cholesterol from egg yolks, zinc, saturated fats (grass-fed butter and coconut oil), and plenty of sleep. Work a muscle group once a week and allow it to recover fully. Focus on compound movements and emphasize intensity, trying to stay in the 4-10 rep range. I personally (if I'm not periodizing my workouts) like to pyramid my sets: 10-8-6-4-6-8-10. Build your mind muscle connection and don't get distracted during your workout. Eat. Sleep.

You can potentially increase your height by .25 to .5 inches max. That is a big if though. You aren't looking at truly increasing your height but more along the lines of spinal elongation, which sounds like what you are doing. Depending on how your spinal column reacts to the elongation, you may get a little bit of height increase. But that is something you'll need to keep up on daily.

I'm not too sure about growing in height, but am always keen to learn about other people's methods for building muscle fast naturally.

Thanks.

re building muscle, a few simple steps:

1. you have to overfeed
2. the total calorie surplus will account for the total mass gained
3. out of this calorie surplus the calories from protein will account for lean mass gained*
4. fortify your meals with additional bcaa**
5. some important, ganeral information about the sole potential to build muscle: http://muscleevo.net/how-fast-can-you-build-muscle/

* http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1103993
** http://www.ergo-log.com/bcaas.html

Thanks PPM!

At the moment, all the bodybuilding supps I am taking are Cissus Q, Leucine (but have considered cycling off this, but may not now), Glutamine, Beta-Alanine and an All Natural Whey Powder. Is there anything else I should add?

I lift very heavy (Max OT - AST Sports Science) and only train one body part a week.

I am strictly following the IH regimen.

I am hoping to add another inch to my arms in 6 months. This may be unrealistic though...

Thanks.

PPM, thanks for the links man. That ergolog website is great.

I think hands down that Fred Hatfield's training is the best way to gain muscle. I was never ever able to gain until I started doing it and since starting it I gain about 1-2 pounds of muscle a month (the max most people can gain).
He basically 'invented' the bible for bodybuilding from the late 70s on and has refined the system a bit since. It's loosely based on some of the old Soviet Unions training routines for their gymnasts and power lifters. You can look up his free website too
He also uses a science that gets touched in this forum with his methods inducing hypoxia and such. Everybody is different, but for me his training style is the ONLY thing that ever worked and it works AMAZINGLY well. It take a tiny bit more involvement because you have to really engage with your body and manipulate your training program to keep the muscles optimally stimulated/resting in phases but trust me it's well worth the effort.

Duketronix wrote:I think hands down that Fred Hatfield's training is the best way to gain muscle. ...

I'm intrigued. Any training blogs/PDF's or other materials that you can point me to ?

Here's a basic outline of some of the stuff on his page. There's more about it if you google it/him. Some forum discussion on bodybuilding.com as well if you do a search.

http://drsquat.com/blog/drsquat/2010/03/09/simplicity-periodicity

http://drsquat.com/content/knowledge-base/abc-training-made-real-simple-part-i-movements

The site could be laid out a little better, but that's the basics there.

Just wondering if you have tried Max OT (AST Sports Science)?

http://www.ast-ss.com/maxot.php
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/MaxOt-Complete-Routine-m390.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=daPB4poOjZQ
http://www.jeffwillet.com/

Please don't think that I am a rep for AST or anything. I actually no longer take their supplements (mostly due to price, because their stuff is good). I have just found that their training system just makes sense to me. I have trained off and on for 22 years and just feel that this system works pretty solidly. You have to eat well and sleep well though. Body needs to recover as the work outs are intense...