[John]

That specific brand or just massage guns I general? And in what regard? Like for relieving DOMS or improving muscle contraction, etc?

[John]

Yeah good catch on that. Implement the single leg hip thrust body weight 3x per week 2×15 reps to start.

[John]

Hi Jelle!

So we need to ask the question, what causes a pump? Then this can help answer it. An increase in metabolic stress with metabolite accumulation will draw blood into the area, causing the pump. Of course gear and insulin sensitivity will be a promoter of this. But why is the lower back having such metabolic work put on it during basic movements. What if find is that these conditions (higher body weight, gear, strength, food ,etc) expose weakness in muscle compensation that is likely been happening for a while but is not noticeable. Personally my piriformis and glute medius were very weak and not stablizing my hips, so my erectors were overcompensating for the hip stability. The was also leading eventually to knee issues.

So, mobility and stability work need to be in place. I like Jordan Shallows Prescript mobility, stability, strength model. Start with hip mobility to gain the range of motion (hip 90 degree internal and external rotations), then move to stability movements that are unilateral body weight. We are training to find the ones you really shake on and challenge you. This might be a single leg glute bridge, single leg RDL, side plank while performing abduction. Train these then move into your “strength” leg work. This is likely getting down to root cause of issue. Chiro and massage can help, but the best neural stimulus to make change is the internal stimulus you do for yourself like training rehab.

Of course stay hydrated and 3-4g of taurine can help. 800mg Magnesium Citrate at bed time as well.

[John]

You will get into this material in the “bulk, cut, recomp” lecture. A main driver behind this issue is systemic inflammation, localized within liver, and leading to some insulin resistance.

So we have a few things to manage systemic stress and inflammation:

Sleep (poor sleep increase insulin resistance)

Stress management (cortisol increases visceral fat)

Don’t overfeed excessively when massing, also limit overfeeding on added sugars and saturated fats.

Limit cheat meals

3-4 servings fruit and veg per day

3g omega3 per day

Limit all Oral AAS

Have times of decreased AAS usage to normal physiological levels

Implement Metformin year round (personally I uses 500mg daily with last meal)

Keep body weight and body fat lower, this is a big one.

[John]

Hey Pavlos, those specific supplements the absorption won’t get impeded by food. I would still take them with the meal to limit any GI upset though.