The Weekly Dose

The Weekly Dose – November 24, 2019 THE WEEKLY DOSE [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [The Weekly Dose]( LATEST ARTICLES [Control Estrogen]( [Boost Testosterone, Control Estrogen – Naturally]( by TC Luoma This healthy plant extract raises testosterone and lowers estrogen, along with making muscle fibers grow thicker. [Realistic Gains After 40]( [Tip: Realistic Gains After 40]( by Christian Thibaudeau How much muscle can an advanced, natural lifter gain in middle age? Here are the facts. [The Game Changers]( [The Game Changers – Exposed]( by Christian Thibaudeau Do the documentaries popularizing veganism hold up? Not this one. Here's what you really need to know. [Overhead Flexibility]( [Tip: How to Test & Improve Overhead Flexibility)]( by Tom Morrison Can you really overhead press safely without compensation? Here's how to find out. [Strength Exercises]( [The 7 Best Strength Exercises You Don't Do]( by Daniel DeBrocke Trying to add more plates? Eliminate the weaknesses holding you back. Use these unique exercises for bigger numbers on the big three. [Hamstring Exercise]( [Tip: The Weirdest-Looking Hamstring Exercise]( by Gareth Sapstead You'll get some stares in the gym, but the results will be worth it. [Stuff We Like Footwear 2]( [Stuff We Like – Footwear 2]( by T Nation We asked T Nation fans about their favorite gym shoes. Here's what they like, plus some staff faves. [Need to Rock n' Row]( [Tip: Why You Need to Rock n' Row]( by Lee Boyce Guess what? The best form for cable and barbell rows isn't super strict, no matter what the Form Police say. [Cortisol Article]( [The Best Damn Cortisol Article Ever]( by Christian Thibaudeau It's been called the stress hormone, the belly fat hormone, and the thief of gains. But it doesn't have to be any of those. Here's how to control it. [Squat Day Do This First]( [Tip: Squat Day? Do This First]( by Gareth Sapstead This little trick will make your squat feel strong, smooth, and stable. Check it out. [Small Doses of T]( [Tip: Should Women Take Small Doses of T?]( by TC Luoma Here's what happens when women start using testosterone replacement gel. [Professional Butt]( [Tip: How to Build a Professional Butt]( by Gareth Sapstead Isometronics will turn your peach into a pumpkin, fast! Here's what to do. [Serious Athletes]( FEATURE ARTICLE [Train Abs First]( by Tim Henriques [Train Abs First]( Conventional wisdom says to train abs last because they're stabilizers and we don't want our stabilizers to be fatigued during other exercises. Seems reasonable, right? But for me and a lot of my athletes, training abs first flat out works better. This is best for those who don't really enjoy training abs, but like to train everything else. Why? Because once you're finished training the good stuff and just have abs left, you'll have nothing to look forward to. Plus, you may be tired from the workout and may not have as much time left as you'd like for abs. So what happens? You either half-ass it through the ab workout, cut it short, or just skip it altogether. So start training abs first while you're fresh so you can go hard on 'em. You'll still have lifts to look forward to afterwards. And instead of not wanting to hit abs, you might even begin to like doing them. Sort of like the kid who holds his nose and begrudgingly eats his veggies just to get to the ice cream. So basically, you never skip them now. You'll likely find that your performance doesn't suffer at all; you can still bench heavy with tired abs. Abs recover super fast, and the more trained they are, the quicker they recover. Even when moving on to legs after training abs, if you spend enough time warming up for squats or any other big lift, you'll find that your abs are no longer fatigued. For example, I like to do abs, bike for five minutes, then do some dynamic stretches. And by that time my abs are fine. If you have a super heavy leg day scheduled then don't train abs that day. But that's probably about once a week so you should still be able to train 'em with a pretty high frequency (I like two to four times a week). Plus, I've gotten better visible results doing it this way, so it's a win-win. TRENDING [Unwritten Rules of the Gym]( [The 6 Unwritten Rules of the Gym]( by John Romano Are you the person in the gym that other people secretly hate? You are if you break these rules. [Squat, Carry Heavy Stuff]( [Tip: Squat, Carry Heavy Stuff, & Shut Up]( by Dan John Three things every lifter and athlete should be doing. Get the details here. [Velocity Diet]( POWERFUL WORDS Athletes eat and train. They don't diet and exercise. – [T Nation (Facebook)]( Don't waste time in the gym, but don't race against the clock, either. Time is a guide – not a be-all and end-all. Doing quality work and eliciting a powerful training effect trumps all else. – [Charley Gould]( Accept this fact now: keeping a food log is a pain in the butt at first. But you won't have to do it forever. Eventually you'll be able to ease off and eat instinctively. Instinctive eating still takes self-control, but once you've kept a food log for a long period of time, you'll start to develop that sense of control. – [Chris Shugart]( [How to read a label]( [Start lifting]( [Everything happens for a reason]( [Worst thing]( Copyright © 2019 T Nation LLC, All rights reserved. 1850 Reliable Circle, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 [Unsubscribe From List](