Dropping diet sodas to be an example seems like a great thing to do Jeremy but this whole conversation seems a bit odd to me since it seems that bunch of these guys live off of ephedrine/caffeine stacks anyhow. Getting rid of a soda ain’t gonna help the problems that you cured when they’re popping a few pills equivalent to 6 Mountain Dews. Know what I mean?
I've been between 7% and 14% and drank sodas, sometimes in excess, for the same reason you did. I needed the caffeine to keep my sorry tail awake while working two jobs and lifting weights in between. I never noticed a big difference either way and I did the recommended insulin sensitivity testing from the Berardi article both times and didn't see any substantial difference either so go figure.
Of course, your results may differ, blah, blah, blah.
Believe it or not, I’ve had quite a few students tell me that they have quit sodas completely because of my story. So, I consider it a success in that area. Regarding the amount of ECA stacks being taken, I’m not sure what population you are talking about. If we are talking about the Forumites, then I would assume that you are correct.
If, on the other hand, we are talking about my students, I’ll admit that I have attempted to get them NOT to use ECA. Before people throw a hissy, understand that it is a damn small percentage of the population that wants to be muscular and “ripped”, even in a university environment like A&M. So, I teach my students as if they were the general population that need more diet and exercise, including weight training and cardiovascular training. If someone comes to me outside of class, we may have a different conversation, but only after I have determined that they have every other factor where it should be. Besides - my recommended fat burner: Renegade training.
Finally, it is possible that the cessation of other ingredients in the diet Cokes (not the caffeine, but all of the various chemicals used for coloring and flavoring) is what caused the changes that I personally experienced. At the same time, I also quit drinking Propel (an artificially flavored and sweetened water), so I pretty much cut out all of the various chemicals I was putting in my body. Who knows for sure???
Oh no, I wasn’t trying to diminish your success in any way and it’s great that some of your students have dropped the habit. Caffeine is the most pervasive “drug” in our lives and a great deal of the population is on it. I’m just not sure that it has any real negative effects besides keeping me up at night. I’ve never seen any differences in weight loss.
Yes, you're correct, I'm referring to a lot of the folks that haunt this forum and ECA stacks seem very common in the "bodybuilding" community, at least until the government puts an end to it. We won't even go into that. Lots of guys aren't necessarily using them to burn fat. They're getting buzzed up on 'em to push around a bunch of weight.
I don't follow a Renegade style training course persay (at least what I've seen of Davies stuff) but my workouts don't follow the conventional bodybuilding style either. I'm definitely not "hooooogggeee" and don't ever intend to be, especially not at age 33. I'm a small boned guy (I wrestled at 130lbs in high school) in pretty good shape overall and I pretty much follow a boxing/martial arts style training regimen. I run, jump rope, heavy bag work, some plyometrics, etc and I lift weight three days per week. Pretty basic.
Well, from the looks of your training program, you’re probably doing better than 90% of the guys that just lift weights. Good job.
As far as my position at A&M, I actually don’t coach a sport. I teach strength training, running, tumbling, intermediate tumbling, fitness & conditioning, and ultimate frisbee. All of these are 1 credit hour activity classes. I have also taught archery, gymnastics, and assisted a mountain biking class. Quite frankly, I get paid to play all day and love my job. I have about 400 students per semester and teach 11 activity classes that meet twice per week. Fortunately, I do not have to be active in all of my classes (22 per week), and I can act as a coach and facilitator the majority of the time. It is unbelievably rewarding.