October Top 5 Q/A Round Up

Taking The Top 5 Questions And Breaking Them Down

This is the monthly round up of the Top 5 Questions from the Paid Substack Q/A that I think will be most helpful to you.

This way the free subscribers can have access to some of the best questions asked over the course of the month.

Q/A’s are held every week on Sunday, so if you are interested in being a part of these, upgrade to paid today for our extensive Q/A sessions.

Question #1:

Question:

“Hey - Gym I am joining only has smith machines [planet fitness]; do you think this is okay for someone new to lifting?”

Ox:

So, believe it or not I first started at a Planet Fitness. However, if I could go back in time I would have gotten a membership at a better gym.

Planet Fitness was great at the time because they had no contract and were only $10 a month, and I was absolutely broke.

If you aren’t in this type of circumstance, I would opt to go to a gym with better equipment and a better “real gym” atmosphere. The gym should be taken serious so you need a serious (not purple) gym.

The biggest downside is your lack of free weights—you should absolutely be learning proper form and movement pattern development with free weights.

Any gym is better than no gym, but a gym is an investment in your health and fitness, so pick the best one for you.

Question 2:

Question:

“Hey Ox! I drive quite a bit. Any recommendations or resources for maintaining diet when on the road?”

Ox:

This is a great question and I have some decent answers as I am no stranger to frequent work trips and vacation road trips (hard to fly with two 60lbs dogs).

Deciding what you should do will depend on how long you are going to be on the road and your level of commitment and flexibility. I am no stranger to simply packing my meals for the day and eating them on the road.

Also, I sometimes rather not deal with the hassle and plan to just pick up something from a gas station or fast food place. I am a big fan of Subway or Chick-Fil-A on the road—usually opt for the Chick-Fil-A (except Sundays obviously and unfortunately).

If I’m being very strict with my diet I will simply go to their website and track my calories/macros for the meal. If not, I focus on at least getting 40-50g of protein, so 2 grilled chicken sandwiches.

If I’m just going to go to a gas station, I’ll pick up a protein shake, maybe some beef jerky, a protein bar, and often a little assorted veggie tray. If I’m on the road for more than 4 hours (and need more than 1 little meal/snack), I’ll try to find something of more substance so I don’t tear my stomach up with protein shakes. I’ll usually find some greek yogurt, a salad, or something protein-based that’s actually more or less a food.

Same principles with tracking: If strict then detailed. If flexible, get enough protein.

Sometimes, if the schedule lines up and I’m feeling froggy, I’ll just fast for the entire car ride.

Question 3:

Question:

“Best way to incorporate sprints into your Push Pull Legs Program?”

Ox:

This is going to depend on your goals and recovery capabilities.

If your goal is gaining muscle/losing fat, more or less physique goals, then we want to keep our sprints on days we are the most recovered and does not hurt our performance in the gym.

If your goals are more athletic-based, then doing sprints 2-3x a week on days that make sense to you is a good plan of attack.

Personally, I find Push Days to be the most convenient for sprints. You’ve had a day off from leg day, and are the furthest way from leg day in your training split. This is important because: 1. Legs are going to be the most sore after leg day. 2. We won’t be affecting our recovery or performance on leg day.

If you stick to this type of template, sprints are being done 1-2 times a week depending on what rotation of the PPL split you’re on.

The day you feel most recovered could also very well be Pull Day which again works because we have 1 day off after Pull before Legs, and it shouldn’t affect your recovery much.

If you want more sprinting volume and your body can handle it, you can add more days. The one note of caution I want to make is avoiding sprints on Leg Day. You will hurt performance and recovery.

Sprints and Training should be kept as far way from each other as we can get them—with sprints preferably happening more than 4-6 hours before training (1-2 meals between for recovery). If you cannot do this, I would do my sprints directly after training and ensure I’m hydrating between weights and sprints.

Question 4:

Question:

Diet advice for a college student?

Ox:

No Top Ramen and Frozen Pizza! Lol, this will entirely depend on your dining situation, physique goals, and finances.

If you have access to good dining facilities and are on a meal plan, take advantage of this and get your money’s worth—eat as much, good whole food as you can, especially if you’re bulking and trying to put on muscle.

If you have the money, definitely use whatever resources you can to eat at dorm/apartment/frat house, whatever. You can do this extremely cheap and eat pretty healthy.

Again, everything is going to depend on your situation and what you have access to—at the end of the day you’re young, active, and you can probably get way with not being too strict. As long as you’re eating nutritious whole foods and avoiding excess alcohol and junk like your peers.

Question 5:

Question:

“DOMS after 72-96 hours. Still hit the gym?”

Ox:

If you’re relatively newer to a gym, or following high-intensity programs like the ones on my substack, being sore for a few days is normal. As long as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is not completely debilitating your ability to workout—you should still hit your workout.

If you are still experiencing severe DOMS for 72-96 hours after a few months of lifting, and if your workouts haven’t changed any, this is a sign that you are either not recovering properly after your workouts, or you are doing too much volume in the gym.

When in doubt, if the soreness is relatively minor, continue with your planned workout. If it is a common occurrence, you need to consider if you’re doing everything right with recovery, or whether you’re simply doing too much in the gym/cardio/outside activity, etc.

Soreness is not an indication of a good workout, you should not seek this feeling—I am personally only sore occasionally after a workout.

Looking Forward

Saturday’s paid substack will be all about athletic-based training if your goal is to be a better rounded athlete, this is for you. This will take the lessons and coaching I have had in my Army Special Operations career and turn it into a fully comprehensive guide.

The goal of the guide is to make you: bigger, quicker, stronger, faster, and more physically resilient.

Monday, we have a special guest on the podcast—stay tuned.

If you haven’t already, check out BowTiedIsland.com to see the other incredible talents in the BowTiedJungle. I will vouch that this is the most skilled and talented group of individuals I have ever worked with in my life.

#WAGMI

Your friend,

- BowTiedOx

DISCLAIMER

This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Please consult a medical professional before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol. These are opinions from a Cartoon Ox.