I'm talking about endogenous and exogenous hormones. Peptides, steroids, sarms and the like. But with training, recovery is always the most important factor for muscle growth with synthesis, so unless you have perfect conditions all the time (impossible for a natural) it's better to optimize around recovery than being in the gym. Starting Strength is great for beginners like OP.

I've been doing a volume Bench Squat 5x5 Dead 1x5/intensity (start by doing heavy weight for sets of 5, when that's too heavy do sets of 3, then down to 5 sets of 1, 3 sets of 1, a single max, then reset) 2 day split with one light day with band work to improve ligaments and neck work to avoid another herniated disc. I honestly consider this the best for naturals in both recovery and time, but with more exercises added in. I'm restricting to the main lifts for powerlifting competition, but adding accessories to focus more on triceps, or rack pulls, etc would be good. Since starting this a few months ago my squat has gone from a 1x5 315 squat to a 415 max and 325 5x5 as a 6'2 natural powerlifter (I've only been lifting seriously for 3 years and powerlifting for a year and a half, my trainer has been training for 15 years and hit a 610 deadlift naturally but now in his 30s with low 300 free test he takes TRT)

5x5s are great, Practical Programming is a good book to follow Starting Strength, I recommend reading Alex Leonidas' Naturally Enhanced for a more hypertrophy approach. The Texas Program is good. Most of these are designed around the same concept of a 2 day full body one volume heavy the other intensity.

Also helps that if you're eating protein from a whole foods perspective, an 8oz chicken breast is a lot of food for only ~380 calories. Same goes for all lean proteins and even the fatty kind. You can fit a whole lot more in for equal calories going at whole foods than eating a 1200 calorie muffin.

That and fighting millions of years of evolutionary instinct screaming at you to eat everything you can when you start reducing calories in case you won't eat again for a few days.

It's only been MAYBE ~150 years that all classes of society had ready access to food.

Unless you take drugs, doing two or three full body workouts a week separated by 72 (for 2) or 48 (for 3) hours is far more optimal for protein synthesis operation. PPL and upper lower bro splits only work when you literally don't have to worry about recovery (perfect T and other hormones).

But the rest of this is great advice and would recommend Starting Strength before 5x5.

Some of you are city dwellers and it shows

I worked on the river so I got used to every southern and local accent as the line boats came through.

Also from IL, southern. Near StL. The accents change like a proximity ring the further or closer you get to downtown, and even then going Ozarks MO is still different from Troy IL.

Lmao.

There's more wealth being transferred in circulation than ever before

There's more food being produced than ever before

Your points are invalid without the context we need better regulation and methods to prevent collapse and waste. We're literally outgrowing by production over our knowledge.

This Creative Assembly is a dogshit remnant of the past. Until they stop treating their developers like gig workers and stop rising prices under the lie that they’re losing money (record profits once again), I don’t want shit they make. WH3 has been abysmal so far

I think it’s more that most of these issues would never actually reach the CEO if brought up through standard channels. Some bs middle management explanation of why it’s not possible, even though they never passed it up. CEOs are still people, and if they just randomly receive an actual personal email that wasn’t debated over by a board meeting or considered inconsequential by people they hired to micromanage, they’re likely to just say fuck it why not.

Otters are apex predators simply because they have the ability of tactical genius working in strike group squads. If you’ve ever seen the videos of them taking down and drowning crocodiles, then you know. They are not omg adorbs so cute!! They can and will destroy you. Walking navy seal copypastas.

That’s contradictory. Prevention is preparedness. As in pre-emptive. As in it’s not an action to be ready for something before it happens, as the action only comes when needed. I keep a first aid kit not for fear, but use. Do I fear coming along to someone with a deep wound that needs suturing because I own it? Obviously not. You must have never heard the phrase, better to have it and not need it than be without.

I’ve yet to see any return of investment from an entire foreign industrial collapse but sure. I guess the projections of global economic growth going from 5% down to 0.3% is just my imagination.

You’re probably thinking of Switzerland and they can’t own personal ammunition.

As for the rest of your point, the second amendment is the hot button because those who want to take away the fundamental right to own arms are basically saying that rights are affordable. That’s not how they work. As someone in this thread said, the bill of rights do not grant you these rights, they already existed and the bill is acknowledging them. IE, under no circumstances does the government have any capability or authority to deny or revoke it under any guise. The very concept of the people for the people would be erased otherwise.

If the culture of America legitimately swung overwhelmingly in favor of handing in their arms (never going to happen) cosmopolitanism tells us that is fine and good. If the government decides for you that everyone is in agreement, that is a spit in the face of liberty and a complete fabrication of their ability to revoke rights (which as stated they don’t have).

I’m sure it was just a coincidence that Pritzker then also passed a bill that lawsuits regarding this anti-gun bill (among others) could only be tried in the courts of Chicago and Springfield, the only two courts willing to allow this dogshit. Right, it was really a fair trial.

I’m from Illinois, every county outside those has stated their dislike and contempt for this law enough that sheriffs have made mention they will not zealously enforce this. It is overwhelmingly a hated bill and there are piles upon piles of lawsuits in the lower courts that are now invalidated thanks to Pritzker’s bullshit. They will be up for federal review and hearings on why the upper courts have made this faulty judgement despite the contempt, citing those lawsuits.

I’m sure it was also a coincidence that right after it was passed, the Pritzker family made notice they would be building a giant megaplex gun range and firearm museum directly on the border in Wisconsin where the banned items would be available for rent.

It’s not fear, lmao, it’s prevention. Do you wear a seatbelt because you fear dying in a car crash every day you enter it? Or is it preventing the possibility of that hypothetical serious injury?

No licensed CCW owner here is walking around armed like a schizo looking over their shoulder and afraid of every person they meet ready to fire. They simply understand there are humans in this world that would take advantage of you if they could, and if that situation occurs, why handicap yourself.

Government data itself from the DOJ shows you’re less likely to be a victim of injury in crime by having a gun compared to simply not doing anything, hell having a personal knife could be more likely to get you killed. The point made is it’s not the government’s right to decide for us if we want to arm ourselves. The individual is enough to make that decision.

It was “shot down” because congress was not allocating the funds he wanted to spend to enact the relief. How dare the court actually uphold the constitution in respect to checks and balances and not let the president use executive power to supersede congressional debates and hearings.

It’s so disingenuous to fight for something because you find it morally right in idea without understanding every nuance of the path it follows. I’d like young adults relieved of the debt economy we’re building just as much as anyone else, but not at the expense of our institutional sanctity. Bad precedent is a slope.

E: meanwhile our dipshit congressmen that wouldn’t allow the funds allocated are allowing 40 billion to foreign aid and repeatedly fueling our debt economy. Unironically indict Congress on corruption charges.

Love the cognitive dissonance of the populist backlash to Trump where even if you look at his 4 years and realize that logically he was pretty much an average (we haven’t had a decent one in a loooooong time) president in all categories, he’s somehow responsible for every bad in all industries, even where the checks and balances would have prevented him any influence over.

Beans are cheap and if you just want nutritional value they hit both carbs and protein in a great amount per ounce. Of course there’s the studies showing regional genes benefit more from specific macro sources over others (IE an Asian would utilize rice glycogen better than oats), but if you want to hit the basics: beans