Q: I’m a guy in his mid-thirties who loves to train heavy. Problem is I did some major damage to my lower back as a result of a skiing accident last Fall. How can I modify my mass building workouts to put less stress on this weak link? A: There are four areas that you need to give attention to in order to prevent your already fragile back situation from worsening. Let’s take them one at a time: (1) Choose exercises that reduce the risk of lower back injury. That means taking out heavy squats and replacing them with heavy leg presses, swapping bent-over and t-bar rows for seated machine rows (use the machines that have a chest pad), and cutting out heavy shrugs and dead-lifts. Do as many of your exercises as you can seated to improve back stability. Ideally, you ...

A battle rages inside every bodybuilder. It is a conflict between two compounds, of polar opposite function in the muscle gain/loss spectrum. It is a lifetime struggle between the two, each more determined than the other to dictate the level of muscle you hold. It’s the battle between myostatin and androgens, and it’s taking place in your body right now! Okay, perhaps that is a tad dramatic. The truth is that there are always positive and negative agents at work in your body, competing for resources, and countering each other’s effects in order to keep your body’s natural levels in check. Myostatin and androgens are no exception. Let’s learn more about them! Myostatin is a natural regulator of muscle growth. In other words, it prevents muscle growth. People with too much myostatin are scrawny and lean. People with too little (those fabled ...

First off, what is Testosterone Cypionate? Testosterone Cypionate is a hormone injected into the body. It helps aid in muscle gain and fat loss, improves bone density, and increases the sex drive. It essentially returns our adult testosterone levels to our elevated teenage levels, and beyond. What are the side effects of Testosterone Cypionate? Any testosterone supplementation will lead to increased estrogen production. This causes unwanted side effects such as Gynecomastia, water retention, and testicular shrinkage. For this reason, many bodybuilders stack an anti-estrogen compound with their testosterone. Additionally, prostate swelling occurs from testosterone use. Acceleration of male pattern baldness is common also. Higher cholesterol levels ...