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Not sure whether this is still of interest but here's my input...:

Cold weather reduces the proportion of energy that is used from fat stores, especially subcutaneous fat from the extremities,...

Totally normal.
If you train your back the day before, it may be fatigue that's also been accumulated from the day before. The biceps are a relatively small muscle group, so will wear very quickly....

Hi,

I have also suffered with sleepless nights, and still do on a regular basis. I suffer with chronic insomnia. :'(

It makes training, and functioning during the day very difficult, but I...

Your body will react to its environment in order to function optimally/efficiently.

The body's reaction to a training stimulus (resistance training in this case) is to adapt (by increasing in...

Make sure you invest in a quality joint supplement too - joints are often forgotten about until they become a problem.

A glucosamine/chondroitin/msm blend will help you. Along with your fishoil.

I'd go for the IGF-1.

In my experience, although it is a little more costly, the protein blend (as opposed to pure whey) and added glutamine helped greatly with my recovery. Although not as...

Doubt they'd make it legal if a breakthrough occurred. Would probably be used to treat muscle wastage diseases and the like.

Myostatin acts as a regulator for muscle tissue mass - I'm sure it has...

This.

Anything high intensity is likely to hinder your recovery times, and take away too many of the surplus calories you'll be eating to put on the size.

Agreed. Beta alanine has helped my recovery no end. Didn't think much of it, until I came off cycle - especially post-squat workouts!

Very normal.

To make sure your deadlifting correctly, check out some of Mark Rippetoe's videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/timdonahey - this youtube profile has some good introductions of...

This depends. If your current routine is getting you satisfying gains, then why change it? However, if you're finding that you're failing to recover between sessions, are feeling tired, or aren't...

As above, and:

I recently broke through a plateau by incorporating speed deadlifts into my workouts. Using about 60-70% 1RM, do sets of 5 in an explosive manner (not to failure), keeping form...

I have suffered from insomnia for about 5-6 years myself too. It played havoc with not only my fitness goals, but daily life (schooling, social capacity etc.).

Before you start looking into pills...

This.

Getting a six pack will probably mean creating a calorie deficit - which is totally opposite to that needed to bulk! :) Put on some size first.

Agreed! Liquid chalk I find is better than the block type - spreads more evenly, lasts longer and doesn't create the mess that the other stuff does :)

PNF stretching has two procedures, each of which involves different mechanisms to allow for the muscles to be stretched further:

Procedure 1: Contract and Relax (CR)

This involves:

-Place...

Ditto. After dynamic warm ups, I find that doing a few lighter sets (not to failure), increasing up to your working sets is the most helpful.

I've had pretty awesome experiences with Beta Alanine and Creatine together.

Getting a few more reps out, and that's after only 2ish weeks of taking the stuff.

My beta bottle of pills...

I've been doing some reading recently, and there seems to be a lot of talk about the benefits of supplementing creatine with beta alanine. Has anyone had any positive/negative experiences?

Also,...

The Macronutrient side of your cutting plan looks good :)

I would advise throwing some more veggies in there where possible. Maybe brocolli in with your chicken and rice, and some other dark...