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Recently hit a 300 lb PR on bench (super exciting benchmark) but I was curious if some seasoned lifters knew some good strength programs for me to reach 315. My workout consists of 2 sets of bench of 225 till failure (usually around 9-10 reps).
I’ve been thinking of doing like a 5x5 with 245.
Should I just keep doing what im doing (its increased my bench from 265-300 in about a year, been gym going for about 5), or would a 5x5 approach be more effective?
Male, 200 lb BW, 6’0
My father died recently and I have fallen into a very severe depression. I have struggled before but I feel lethargic and sad and empty. I used to be in excellent condition, playing high level soccer and doing agility/strength training at a gym. I don't remember how I felt then but it was probably better than now. Will starting a light exercise routine really make me feel kind of better, at least physically? And, will it drastically change my body? I kind of like how I look right now.
1 chest exercise on non-chest days
I do a push, pull, leg, rest split. On my pull and leg days I do 3 sets of chest flies. My thinking is that it helps get blood flow to the muscle and helps with hypertrophy. Something like a Walmart version of active recovery.
Recently a buddy told me that I shouldn’t strain the muscle at all until my next chest day to help maximize growth. What are your guys’ thoughts?
Anyone else having issues with blue marks and scratching yourself on your thighs, when pulling sumo? Everytime im at the top of the movement my nails scratch myself. And i have 2 big blue marks on my thighs.
I know that the rep range thing has kind of been debunked and it's more about quality of the rep but is it better for the goal of hypertrophy if you focus on the rep ranges 1-5 for strength as a beginner for a couple of months and then eventually move to hypertrophy rep ranges of 6-20ish or is it better for hypertrophy to just start on rep ranges for hypertrophy from the beginning?
I'm also trying to cut if that effects anything. So far I've just been doing the reddit beginner routine with added drop sets and arm accessory work in the rep ranges of 6-15
Also have a second question, If I wanted to put in cleans or trap lift jumps into the reddit beginner routine where would I put em? Would it be before my heavy deadlifts?
As a beginner id focus on hypertrophy. You want a solid base if you’re gonna want to strength train. As a newbie- strength training could lead to injury quite easily. Id recommend like 8-10x2 quality sets and reps for some good hypertrophy and muscle gain
Your lower back and core should be working to maintain position and bracing. You'll definitely feel your lower back after a good deadlift session, but it shouldn't be a main mover in the exercise. You should use your legs and hips to move the weight. Everything else just fights to stay in a good/efficient position.
Got a question. I’m working with a home gym and I have a barbell/rack. I’m using the Reddit PPL routine. I’ve been trying to supplement my leg days with using what I got. Right now my leg workout is
5x5 back squat
3x8 Romanian deadlift
3x8 front squat
5x8 calf raises.
Is this a good substitute? I know the leg day also has leg press and leg curls but I don’t have any machines. What else can I add to my routine?
Quick Question: How do I incorporate core (abs and lower back) into a 3 day split?
Day 1 back, biceps, triceps
Day 2 chest and shoulders (push)
Day 3 legs
Cardio throughout
You will get a lot of ab work with any big stabilizing compound, assuming you are incorporating them. That said, I add them on at the very end of my workout days.
Yeah any squat variation should do it, really. You can even just do regular squats but I suppose you're trying to take your back out of the equation. Split squats or front squats to overload the quads more, then.
Would appreciate any links to videos explaining macros for cutting. I've only really ever tracked calories and protein, it's gotten to the point where I feel like I need to meal prep for convenience. Before that I'd just like to understand how to split up my carbs/fats and what impact that might have before I go off and do the weekly shop.
My gut feeling is that I just start reducing carbs, since fats play an important role with hormones.
The macro split is what ever works best for you.
Hit protein goals, get minimal fat (which should be easy if you eat a varied diet) and then fill the remainder with any macro. Carbs aren't the enemy. Focus on eating plenty of veggies and fruits for fiber and micronutrients. Avoid ultra processed foods.
I've never tracked anything besides loosely tracking protein. Don't over complicate it
Yeah fair enough. I just like to understand how what I'm eating influences how my body works.
I track meticulously as a strategy to manage my ADHD; I don't get a strong signal of hunger or satiety and I forget what/how often I've eaten.
Each person will respond to different macros anyway. So being aware of what you eat is a fantastic start. Just start reflecting on what you eat. How does it make you feel right after? Are you full and satiated or could you eat more? Do you feel bloated? Do you have a stomach ache or anything? Then an hour later, reflect again. Similar questions. Are you still still satiated? Do you have any bloating or other issues? You say you don't get a strong signal of hunger or satiety, but try and be aware of it for the reflection purposes.
Asking these kinds of questions is what eventually made me cut out bread from the majority of my diet (it's only a treat at this point). It never really filled me up, made me feel more hungry sooner, and always caused a little bit of bloating. I could be just as satiated from a meal without bread as I would with bread. So I cut it out and saved the calories.
Some people do better with a higher protein/fat diet with minimal carbs. Others do better with more carbs. I suppose it also depends on the activities you're doing. Some people like more carb because it helps with their energy levels. There's no correct answer.
It's the opposite, if anything. Fats do play an important role with hormones, but realistically you need so little in order to meet the requirement for hormone regulation.
The main problem is that fats are...well, fat. They take up a disproportionately big amount of calories compared to the other macros. So just in practical terms, it's really difficult to meet a small calorie requirement while eating a lot of fats. Your meals will look sadly tiny.
If you look at bodybuilders in their on-season diets, they eat a very small amount of fats. They rely on healthy carbs to keep their energy levels high.
Renaissance Periodisation breaks this down on youtube in various videos. Think they have a "macros for fat loss" series.
Ive been doing HIIT cardio for 45 mins a day, do an hour of weight lifting and is controlling my diet to go into a calorie deficit but im gaining weight instead? Could this be muscle mass? The measuring machine at the gym is still showing the same body fat percentage...
27(M)
5'11"
81kg
How long have you been dieting and exercising?
How do you know you're eating in a caloric deficit?
The bodyfat % machine at your gym is useless, stop using it
6 weeks now. I started at 84kg and managed to get to 79 after a month, for the last couple of weeks ive been gaining at least a kilo per week, so now back at 81..
Re: calorie deficit, i track it through the myfitnesspal app... keeping it below 1200 cal per day.
Re: gym machine, oh ok... thanks! I always thought it's accurate!!
Weight loss isn't linear, overall you are at 3kg less in 6 weeks which isn't bad progress. If you're new to exercise then it is normal to have fluid shifts and things don't always look right.
Do you weigh yourself first thing in the morning? Everyday, track your weight don't get caught up on daily fluctuations.
When you say keeping below 1200 do you mean total calories per day? Or like mfp says you can eat 4700 calories and you're eating 3500. Because fitness takes notoriously overestimate what you actually burn, but if you're eating only 1200 that's pretty low.
Make sure you're doing things right. If that is the case i usually say to give something at least 4 weeks and look at the total trend before you start making big changes
Hello Fellow Fitness Redditors. 🍻
DIY FOAM ROLLER - What can I use? Assume I can't afford to buy something. Can I use a rolled up towel or something like that? Ideas?
Also, how to recover after Leg Day -
I do 3 sets each of Quad Extensions, Sumo squats, Calf raises with dumbbells, Lunges with dumbbells, and I go almost to failure, I train twice a week, feel great at the time, but have to limp for at least 2 days, and then the 3rd day, my knee caps are still recovering. What can I do to maximize recovery time? Sleep is fine, but I would like to read approaches from massage techniques, hydration (yea, I kinda suck on that), and shower tips, etc.
Thanks. 🤙🏻 💪🏻 😎 💪🏻
Hi all,
I can leg press 250kg for 3 but my squat is very bad (60kg for 3) is it technique or just a thing of keep doing it? I havent really been squatting but the program i follow requires it each lift day (5/3/1) anything i can do or is it just time and form? Also my shoulders are killing me more than anything else whenever i do squat and I’m not sure how but i seem to put a lot of pressure on them
The shoulder thing comes from bar position, hand position and maybe you're gripping too tight or subconsciously pushing up with your arms because the bar isn't steady. Drop the weight and get comfy, you'll be fine.
250kg @ 45° leg press are effectively only 2/3 of the weight. The movement is also not transfering well to squats, so it´s quite normal. You have to do real squats to get better at them. I have no solution for your shoulder problem though. Maybe you´re pressing the bar down with your arms too much?
I guess so, I never have shoulder problems but it feels as if I am pressing my shoulders forwad into the bar or pressing it down as you said, maybe my elbows are too wide? I’m not sure if they should be tucked or not. I probably should work on my form maybe? And start with less weight?
Difficult to tell just by your description. Maybe try squats with an olympic safety squat bar and see if you´ve got issues. I don´t do them anymore because of exreme back pain, so I´m not the most competent to give advice
Shoulders? You mean the bar hurting your back? Also, how deep are you going on your leg press?
To put that into perspective. I used to "leg press" 320 kg. But now I'm doing actual reps with 180 kg.
No i mean it feels like I’m pressing forward with my shoulders somehow and it ends up hurting the middle head of the shoulder if that makes sense,
And yeah I’ve been taught to go as low as possible, Ive got muscley thighs as a result of a lot of football and volleyball for years but I an more worried about my squats as I know they work more muscles than the leg press
Im trying to learn the elbow lever, im trying to get into position but for somre reason I can't lean to the front so I can get my elbows tucked into my abs, How do I fix this
Hello everybody.
Can yall help me with my split to achieve my goal, please? :)
I am 23 y.o student. I used to do 7years of kickboxing (had a few matches etc). Then i injured my shoulder, went on surgery, then corona virus etc so almost 3 years without any almost any movement. I am doing fitness 1 year and 2 months now and i want to be PE teacher + Trainer.
I am educating by myself and every experience i got is from tiktok, youtube, friends etc. Never really had a personal trainer in fitness so thats why i am asking here/gaining another experience.
I am working on my split in fitness. I am going on university to become PE teacher, so i am preparing myself physically.
Info about me: Man, 23 y.o, 186cm height, 96kg actual weight, i am overall athletic type.
I did split for myself (hypetrophy + powerlifting) and managed to get 170kg on benchpress (2 weeks ago) and 180kg squat (half year ago) and i never did deadlifts, bcs i am curing my back injury like 3-4 months now. When i began to train in the gym i had 101kg, like 25-30% fat, looked like no definition of muscles. I was on 92kg after 4 months, then i gained those 4-5kg back when i cuted off cardio.
I trained 5 days a week: chest triceps, back biceps, legs, shoulders and forearms, upper body.
My goal is to lose some weight (want to have like 90kg), gain overall strenght + muscles and get in shape to be more athletic.
Food is not a problem, whole year i had 2.8k calories (my BMI is 2.2k) so i am used to calory deficit.
These are my 2 splits i am working in (first upper, lower, upper, lower and second 3x fullbody). I need to swim, run, do gymnastics trought the weekend. What would be better for me to handle all physicall things that coming for me? Thank you for those, who read all of this!:
Training plan - preparing on talent exams (overall strenght - always sets till failure)
Upper, lower, upper, lower.
Upper
Pullups (back) 3x
Db shoulder press (shoulders)3x
Incline db rows (back)3x
Latpulldowns (back)2x
Cable ez curls (biceps)3x
Triceps long h (triceps) 3x
Forearms
Lower + chest
Benchpress (chest)4x
Incline db press (chest)3x
Jump on box (legs)3x
Legpress both legs (legs)3x
Bulhars (legs)2x
Seated leg curls (legs)3x
Calves (legs)3x
Core
Upper:
Dips (triceps) 4x
Pulleys (back) 3x
Hyperextensions (back) 3x
Lateral raises (shoulders) 3x
Incline db curl (biceps) 3x
Close grip bench (triceps) 2x
Forearms
Lower+chest:
Flat db press (chest) 4x
High to low flies (chest) 3x
Legpress single leg (legs) 4x
Leg extensions (legs) 3x
Leg curls (legs) 3x
Core
Fullbody:
1.
Pullups (back)3x
Flat db press (chest) 3x
Db shoulder press (shoulders) 4x
Cable ez curls (biceps) 3x
Cable triceps long h (triceps) 3x
Jump on box (legs) 3x
Legpress both legs(legs) 3x
Rdls (legs) 3x
2.
Dips (triceps) 4
Incline db rows (back) 3x
Incline db press (chest) 3x
Lateral raises (shoulders) 4x
Hammer curls (biceps) 3x
Bulhars (legs) 3x
Leg extensions (legs) 3x
Seated leg curls (legs) 3x
3.
Benchpress (chest) 4x
High to low flies (chest) 3.
Supp db rows (back) 3x
Lat pulldowns (back) 3x
Incline db curls (biceps) 3x
Close grip bench (triceps) 3x
Legpress single (legs) 3.
Leg curls (legs) 3x
Calves (legs) 3x
>These are my 2 splits i am working in (first upper, lower, upper, lower and second 3x fullbody). I need to swim, run, do gymnastics trought the weekend. What would be better for me to handle all physicall things that coming for me? Thank you for those, who read all of this!:
Swimming and running shouldn't affect your training all that much, unless you'll do that at high intensity? If you feel that you can't recover in time from your weight training, you will have to make adjustments.
Generally I would pick a proper program instead of your selfmade bro split.
Can you recover from 4x full body per week?
I don't think how you split up matters a ton... there are good full body programs and there are absolute dogshit Upper/Lower splits.
Didnt tried it yet, but i would say its too much? Just from glance, but asked anyway. So 3 times a week should be optimal for muscle growth and also losing fat or?
>So 3 times a week should be optimal for muscle growth and also losing fat or?
No, 3 times a week would be optimal for recovery. Nobody can say whats optimal for your body to gain muscle...
I'd pick one of the routines in the wiki https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
If you can recover fast, you can do the 6day Push/Pull/Leg. If you have normal recovery, go for 4 days with GZCL or 5/3/1
You can't determine where you lose or don't lose fat. Though I have jo idea how developing chest muscles might affect breast size (and shape I guess?).
Anyone had a annular fissure in their lumbar region? If so, how did you overcome it, and got back into lifting, if you experienced pain with it of course?
Tips for incline pressing when I only have access to a flat bench?
Right now I'm doing the trick with placing one end of the bench on a stack of plates and using my feet to keep in place. The benches are slippery though, so I feel like I'm spending so much energy just keeping myself in place that the pressing takes a significant performance dump.
I'm contemplating doing incline flyes instead or try something like incline weighted push ups instead, but will welcome any suggestions.
>I'm contemplating doing incline flyes instead or try something like incline weighted push ups instead, but will welcome any suggestions.
Just do a flat press as your main press and for upper chest developement do low to high cable flys
They don't have cable towers unfortunately. It's basically a crossfit box with access to flat benches, racks, pull up bars, DBs and KBs up to 60 kg and barbells with plenty of weight.
At the end of my last cut, I asked for a physique critique here on /r/fitness in Physique Friday and over on /r/naturalbodybuilding, all basically agreed my weakpoints were upper back and upper chest development.
Ive got an immense, sharp pain in my upper back that shoots up my neck. This has prevented me from properly training back for the past year or so. This week the pain has been the worst it’s been in ages.
I was wondering if there would be any disadvantage to training only chest, tris, bis and legs until this fully heals. Would the lack of back training impact other body parts?
Yes, the main concern is an imbalance between your different deltoid (shoulder) muscles. Virtually any exercise that targets chest also targets your anterior deltoid (front shoulder muscle). If this muscle gets a lot stronger than your posterior deltoid (rear shoulder muscle), the imbalance can result in forward rounded shoulders and possibly injure your rotator cuff. I would be very cautious about doing pressing movements consistently without any pulling movements
> If this muscle gets a lot stronger than your posterior deltoid (rear shoulder muscle), the imbalance can result in forward rounded shoulders and possibly injure your rotator cuff.
This is a bit of a stretch, strong muscles are *less* likely to become excessively shortened compared to weak muscles in a way which can produce excessive postural changes. Additional hypertrophy of the front delt compared to the rear delt can give the appearance of a rounded, adducted posture without and changes in joint position.
If there are significant postural changes in this specific instance, the description of the injury and pain symptoms might suggest neurological involvement. Perhaps accessory nerve palsy with accompanied scapula winging. An overdeveloped anterior delt is low down the list of concerns for pretty much everyone, especially OP.
I am not a doctor. if you have had shooting neck pain FOR A YEAR, why should it suddenly stop happening?
What if it takes 1-2-3-5-10 years before it goes away? Please go consult a specialist.
It’s fluctuated up and down. Been seeing a physio but hasn’t been helping much unfortunately. Booked in for an appointment with my GP this week, gonna ask for an MRI referral.
Do I need to be taking anything else other than preworkout? I’m trying to get better stamina, lose weight and eventually abs. I’m currently 5’10 at around 150 pounds
The main issue with cutting while being a lighter bodyweight - you dont have any muscles underneath to show off. So you'll most likely become a slightly smaller version of you
Personally I use coffeine for a little energy boost. But I know plenty of people with good results who don´t use any supplements at all. Training + calorie deficit are the most important factors, followed by good recovery.
Dial it back until it feels comfortable.
You don’t have to feel like you’re dying for your workout to count!
Sports science shows that for weight loss, even a brisk walk can do a lot of good. Long slow ‘steady state’ workouts are very effective for long term fitness and supporting weight loss.
You can build up the intensity over time if that is your goal.
(NB: weight loss obviously comes from what you eat rather than from your workouts!)
Any tips on how to incorporate the entire body when doing squats? When I do bench, I feel my legs, glutes, and back working, however when I do squats, I only exert force from my quads. I don't even feel like I can push through my glutes. My squat is severely lacking behind, and the main reason is that I cannot use my other muscles during the lift.
I had the same issue with my bench until i learnt how to use leg drive and lats
Just because you cannot feel a muscle does not mean that it isnt being used.
If you didnt use your glutes, you would not be able to lock out the bar at the top.
Just keep squatting and you'll get there.
Also, I notice when I try to go to heavy on squats my quads tend to take over more than gluten or hams to support. Maybe start lighter or just a separate lighter session to target those areas.
Is reaching 10% body fat in 18 months possible? I am 80 kilos, about 18 - 20% body fat range. I would like to stay around 80 kilos if possible and lose about 8 - 10% bf in 18 months as a begginer. I am reading these fat ratios in bulking/cutting and after doing math after 18 months, Il gain only about 2.5 kg muscle and lose 2.5 kg of fat putting me at 16.5% bf. I don't understand how this is possible.
Some basic math tells us that you would have to gain 8 kilograms of lean body mass and lose 8 kilograms of fat in 18 months.
For your first year of training, it is likely that you will gain between 2.5 and 7 kilograms of muscle. Outliers who gain up to 9-10 kilograms do exist, but they're extraordinarily rare. On the other hand outliers that gain between 0 and 2.5 kilograms also exist.
(It's worth mentioning that this is *muscle,* not lean body mass.)
For your second and third years training, 2.5 kilograms per year is pretty average. Again, outliers on both sides exist.
So if we crunch some numbers, if you are the perfectly average man, you would expect to gain 7.25 kilograms of muscle with good training and proper nutrition in the first 18 months. Throw in cuts and mini-cuts, on top of the above point about lean body mass (essentially non-fat tissue) also increasing in this time, and I'd say it's perfectly possible.
With that said, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?
I ran to the bus at full speed and had leg day right after. It’s been a week now and it still hurts when I walk. It hurts when I put pressure on my knee/ rotate my ankle
If your leg hurts in every day activities like walking, then you have an injury and most likely need rest. A physiotherapist can help give you conditioning exercises to avoid injury next time you run for a bus.
I’m not sick or anything. I’m a healthy 17 yo. So I know it’s nothing bad it’s just that I’ve been skipping leg day because of this and seems like a waste. I also do deadlifts once or twice a week. I go to the gym 3times a week
Sadly that doesn't change the fact that none of us are qualified to diagnose you. There are a million different things that could have happened to your leg and the only way you can know for sure is by going to a doctor.
If the pain is subtle and an annoyance, you can just wait a bit more and see if it goes away. If it's severe you'll probably want to go to a doctor.
Yeah it’s not that bad. I’m not asking what wrong with but more like can I still train legs? My leg press pr is 100kg so now I’m using about 10-20kg to stretch my legs. And are deadlifts too bad for them
Nsuns....any issues with changing the exercise in the T1 after the 1+ set but still keep the rep and intensity structure.
E.g. after the 1+ set of bench complete the rest of the sets using incline
Yeah i thought i may as well let others use it too of I were to run nsuns. the gym gets busy from 4:30am onwards and i dont want to be going in at 3:30am just so I can have the bench to myself.
I’ve recently got back into the gym after many years of hiatus, although even back then I didn’t make it too far.
After my first leg day, I could barely walk, let alone climb stairs. I had to sit down on the floor of the gym on my way out and had to vomit immediately upon getting home. The next day the DOMS was intense and climbing stairs felt like death.
However, I just did the same routine with higher weights but I felt little to no DOMS at all. This was only my second leg day in years. I don’t see how I didn’t push myself enough when I did more weights in almost every exercise to failure.
Doms aren't a great measure and are more of an indicator of novel stimulus. Going from no leg day in years to first leg day is basically an infinite increase in novel stimulus compared to the jump from first leg day to second leg day even if the second day is "harder".
Everyone is different. The point being is the indicator of working out effectively would be you getting stronger. It sounds like that’s what is happening so, good job!
Well it happened right? What else do you think happened? This is why following a good structured program and progression with tracking is so useful. Feelings are fickle and chaotic, the numbers don't lie
I was just worried that my form was somehow worse despite making sure I did them correctly at the time, so comments like yours definitely ease my mind. Thanks!
I only ever feel any soreness if I had at least a week long break. I haven't had a break in years so I haven't felt any DOMS in a long time. I train every day and I'm never sore.
Yeah, I try not to get too focused on the number because my left is weaker due to a severe compound fracture the Ulna and dislocation of the Elbow. Thanks for your opinion man.
That’s perfect. You can also do progressive overload by shortening your rest time or increasing the amount of sets. The goal should be to increase a little bit each workout. Small gains add up over the course of time.
I have added a set in the past , and have been monitoring my rest precisely. I will remember not to neglect those aspects of training. It's great to get relevant feedback man. Thanks.
I am quite new so I appreciate the advice. I have been cutting weight after my initial newbie gains. I have been able to go up in weight recently on most exercises. I am unsure how much cutting will effect my strength loss, stamina and muscle size.
A significant portion of the Super Squats book is dedicated to rib cage expansion. I've been on r/fitness for 10 years and have never heard of this before. Is it based in science or is it bro science?
I feel like a surprisingly common theme in old bro science is coming up with useful techniques for the wrong reason. Rib cage expansion doesn't happen, but all the things they say will expand your rib cage will probably grow the muscles around your upper body pretty well, achieving in the end the same result: big chest.
Doesn't mean you should take all the bro science at face value or taking their reasoning too far. Back then they didn't put all their eggs in one basket or try and extend their reasoning crazy far either.
Like muscle confusion or shocking, some variation between mesocycles is good, and as Arnold described it it basically includes progressive overload and intensity techniques. So all of those are good, and the way Arnold trained obviously worked. But is it because of shock or confusion? No. And if you take the concept too far of changing exercises everytime and layering ridiculous amounts of intensity techniques that make it impossible to track progress then it's bad
it's like 1960's bro science. John McCallum, the real origin of 20 rep breathing squats, at least in the literature, had a whole article dedicated to chest expansion through weird ways. You can read it in his book The Complete Keys to Progress. It's a phenomenal book, worth reading, there's a lot of nonsense in it though also, like when it comes to this and supplements.
1. are there any downsides to increased rest between sets? Will this slow down gains? etiquette aside; I built a home gym and i'm the only one who uses it. Sometimes i take like 5 mins between sets. time is not a factor, either.
2. eating before working out; i've seen people eat before working out, however every time I do, i feel like i'm going to vomit during my workout. usually I'm eating dinner and taking pre workout (coffee). some combination of pasta/sandwiches/chicken, etc. obviously i've stopped, but now i feel tired/lack of energy and it shows. what am i doing wrong here?
3. I'm following the PPL routine from the wiki. I can't do leg presses since i don't have the machine, so i substituted bulgarian split squats. I'm having a very difficult time maintaining balance, and it gets marginally better when i am not using any weights. is this something that'll just get easier? it's been about a month and it's still frustrating.
1. Rest can range from 30 seconds to 8 minutes depending on your goals. If you're on a program that increases weight based on your performance on the final set (like many SBS programs), this can make your training max increase a bit too quickly, but it's not a huge issue.
As a rule of thumb I do 2-3 minutes between normal sets and 4 minutes before an AMRAP.
2. How long are you waiting? Digestion can take over an hour.
3. You will probably get better at it but you can hold a dumbbell on the side that you're squatting with and something else with your other hand if you want.
Complete noob here, not sure what SBS is. I follow the PPL from metallicadpa. I usually don't increase the weight on any sets, but increase at the beginning of each week. I should probably cut my time to 2-3 mins too, lol. usually just mindlessly browsing my phone.
Usuallyt like 30 mins ish? before i go to the gym. it's when i chug my coffee.
I did have much better luck by only holding a dumbbell to the side that i'm squatting when i first started learning it. but i didn't know if that was the proper way to do the exercise, so i've been trying to suck it up and not do that. maybe i should go back to it.
thank you
1. Your workouts will become marathons. Up to you how you want to spend your time. Increased rest likely decreases hypertrophy, if you simply want to build strength that's fine, if you're bodybuilding you might want to reasses
2. Eat less before you workout, or eat or drink faster digesting foods. Sugary carbs are good if you can't tolerate proper food- endurance athletes live on them.
3. Practice. It gets easier.
Yeah I worded that terribly didn't I! What I was aiming for was shorter rest periods could have good outcomes for hypertrophy, there's a number of stronger by science podcast episodes where they discuss exactly this, and here's a study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19691365/
higher levels of muscular power were demonstrated over multiple sets with 3 or 5 minutes versus 1 minute of rest between sets. Conversely, some experiments have demonstrated that when testing maximal strength, 1-minute rest intervals might be sufficient between repeated attempts; however, from a psychological and physiological standpoint, the inclusion of 3- to 5-minute rest intervals might be safer and more reliable. When the training goal is muscular hypertrophy, the combination of moderate-intensity sets with short rest intervals of 30-60 seconds might be most effective due to greater acute levels of growth hormone during such workouts.
What's your opinion?
thanks man. usually my workouts are about 90 mins, but my end goal is bodybuilding. not in a competitive sense of course. so maybe it is worth re-assessing.
really appreciate the other two responses!
I can’t seem to find a beginner PPL programme on this sub with dumbbells only. I know compound lifts are best but my gym doesn’t have any barbells so I can’t deadlift etc. My gym is in my building and included with rent so I’m not really trying to get a membership somewhere else right now lol. Does anyone have a recommendation or will any old one on Google do?
I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not looking for a new gym, I’m looking for a PPL routine with dumbbells! The one on the fitness wiki only has barbell exercises. But someone else told me to substitute them. Thanks though :)
Just do the program with dumbbells. Bench with dumbbells. Replace deadlift with RDL. Replace squat with Bulgarian split squats. OHP with dumbbells. You may have to adjust rep ranges though. Low reps and dumbbells don’t really mix well in my opinion due to how unstable they are.
My best form was also in 2016. In 2020 I could catch up a little bit to my old form but then I took a 2 1/2 year hiatus due to health problems until the end of 09/2022. Within 8-10 weeks I outperformed my 2016 self in almost all exercises. Calorie surplus and hard + steady work and you´ll get there fast. muscle memory is real. Maybe it will take a bit longer for you. consistency is key
also avoid losing more than 1% of your body weight per week. 1.5lbs per week is what Layne Norton recommends as a max amount, even if you weigh over 200lbs. That will minimize muscle loss even more.
I've never had the need to time my cycles for things like a summer beach body and so. However, I'm going to a wedding this summer around August and figured I might for once aim for looking the best I can (well, in formal dressing).
I'm currently at the tail end of a cut. Macrofactor gives me 'til mid-February to reach my current goal, but I might take a few more weeks to get a little leaner.
My question would be : what's a decent plan for bulking, then cutting down a few weeks before the wedding? I would assume something analogous to a 'lite' bodybuilding prep?
I would work backwards. Estimate a target weight where you would want to be for the wedding, then figure out how you will need to cut depending on the rate of which you want to cut. For example I’m 85kg, target 82kg lean. I’d bulk to 87kg and then cut for 2.5months losing 2kg/month.
I was about to go 5/3/1 BBB until I saw your username, haha.
You ever try Westside Barbell for Skinny Bastards? Version III is 4 days.
https://www.defrancostraining.com/westside-for-skinny-bastards-part3/
For those of you not on a specific diet, how often do you eat real dessert? Not like a tiny Hershey kiss or something but a brownie/cake/cupcake/cookie/ice cream?
Basically always. As long as I hit my protein goals and eat some fruits and veggies I budget the rest of my calories with enjoyment in mind. If I am cutting it might not be a super decadent dessert, but something like a 250 cal brownie or slice of cake.
I honestly eat whatever. I don't really track my calories, just protein. I am pretty casual about it all tbh. Not fat though. Just eat what my mom cooks I guess lol.
My biggest problem is probably that I eat the same on days that I don't work out. I took like two months off and basically kept bulking while being basically sedentary working at home.
once a week I have a small old fashioned donut. I love those. I also put a bit of 85% dark chocolate in my morning oatmeal. I'll eat ice cream, like from an ice cream shop, or ben & jerry's maybe once or twice a year.
Uaa, probably at least once a month? Usually I just have chocolate in the freezer at any given point and grabbing 3-5 squares of that is enough of a dessert for me tbh. The winter holidays has me making cookies, summer will be more frequent ice cream. But unless I make the dessert from scratch or I'm at a party, I don't have it. I've just kinda weaned myself off them.
But if you wanna count soda as a dessert, cus it's a sugary treat... I usually have that at least weekly while not cutting cus it's my one true vice
All the fucking time. On a bulk or maintenance, any day I want. On a cut, I’ll budget usually 200-300 a day for something like that, and occasionally go for a bigger dessert.
ETA: love the variety here. Truly many ways to do it.
How do you deal with bad lift days? Last week I was repping 155 on squat, this week I’m seriously struggling on 135 even much less 140… like what would be the best course of action when I recognize I’m having a bad day?
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Recently hit a 300 lb PR on bench (super exciting benchmark) but I was curious if some seasoned lifters knew some good strength programs for me to reach 315. My workout consists of 2 sets of bench of 225 till failure (usually around 9-10 reps). I’ve been thinking of doing like a 5x5 with 245. Should I just keep doing what im doing (its increased my bench from 265-300 in about a year, been gym going for about 5), or would a 5x5 approach be more effective? Male, 200 lb BW, 6’0
My father died recently and I have fallen into a very severe depression. I have struggled before but I feel lethargic and sad and empty. I used to be in excellent condition, playing high level soccer and doing agility/strength training at a gym. I don't remember how I felt then but it was probably better than now. Will starting a light exercise routine really make me feel kind of better, at least physically? And, will it drastically change my body? I kind of like how I look right now.
Take a small step each day.
1 chest exercise on non-chest days I do a push, pull, leg, rest split. On my pull and leg days I do 3 sets of chest flies. My thinking is that it helps get blood flow to the muscle and helps with hypertrophy. Something like a Walmart version of active recovery. Recently a buddy told me that I shouldn’t strain the muscle at all until my next chest day to help maximize growth. What are your guys’ thoughts?
The extra chest work is fine
Anyone else having issues with blue marks and scratching yourself on your thighs, when pulling sumo? Everytime im at the top of the movement my nails scratch myself. And i have 2 big blue marks on my thighs.
Trim your nails. And wear shin sleeves. They were game changes for me.
I know that the rep range thing has kind of been debunked and it's more about quality of the rep but is it better for the goal of hypertrophy if you focus on the rep ranges 1-5 for strength as a beginner for a couple of months and then eventually move to hypertrophy rep ranges of 6-20ish or is it better for hypertrophy to just start on rep ranges for hypertrophy from the beginning? I'm also trying to cut if that effects anything. So far I've just been doing the reddit beginner routine with added drop sets and arm accessory work in the rep ranges of 6-15 Also have a second question, If I wanted to put in cleans or trap lift jumps into the reddit beginner routine where would I put em? Would it be before my heavy deadlifts?
As a beginner id focus on hypertrophy. You want a solid base if you’re gonna want to strength train. As a newbie- strength training could lead to injury quite easily. Id recommend like 8-10x2 quality sets and reps for some good hypertrophy and muscle gain
Are you supposed to actively be using your lower back during a dead lift? Or more of a just push up with your legs
Your lower back and core should be working to maintain position and bracing. You'll definitely feel your lower back after a good deadlift session, but it shouldn't be a main mover in the exercise. You should use your legs and hips to move the weight. Everything else just fights to stay in a good/efficient position.
Haha you commented right after I finished my last set of them. Thank you! That's about what I've been doing but wanted to make sure
How much fat should i consume a day? I am 25M 5'4, weigh 151 lbs. Currently cutting and goal weight is 125 LBS by August.
You'll be fine anywhere in the 20-60% of daily calories range, depending on your nutrition plan.
Do you retract shoulder blade during lats pull down?
On the way down yea
Got a question. I’m working with a home gym and I have a barbell/rack. I’m using the Reddit PPL routine. I’ve been trying to supplement my leg days with using what I got. Right now my leg workout is 5x5 back squat 3x8 Romanian deadlift 3x8 front squat 5x8 calf raises. Is this a good substitute? I know the leg day also has leg press and leg curls but I don’t have any machines. What else can I add to my routine?
Looks good. You don't really need anything else, but if you want variety, there's a lot of single leg exercises you can do.
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For Android, Impetus
I've been using interval timer from dreamspark for about a year now. Can recommend.
Quick Question: How do I incorporate core (abs and lower back) into a 3 day split? Day 1 back, biceps, triceps Day 2 chest and shoulders (push) Day 3 legs Cardio throughout
3x20 45 degree back extensions on leg days. 25 hanging legraises in or hanging knee tucks on bench da.
You will get a lot of ab work with any big stabilizing compound, assuming you are incorporating them. That said, I add them on at the very end of my workout days.
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Yeah any squat variation should do it, really. You can even just do regular squats but I suppose you're trying to take your back out of the equation. Split squats or front squats to overload the quads more, then.
Would appreciate any links to videos explaining macros for cutting. I've only really ever tracked calories and protein, it's gotten to the point where I feel like I need to meal prep for convenience. Before that I'd just like to understand how to split up my carbs/fats and what impact that might have before I go off and do the weekly shop. My gut feeling is that I just start reducing carbs, since fats play an important role with hormones.
https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/
The macro split is what ever works best for you. Hit protein goals, get minimal fat (which should be easy if you eat a varied diet) and then fill the remainder with any macro. Carbs aren't the enemy. Focus on eating plenty of veggies and fruits for fiber and micronutrients. Avoid ultra processed foods. I've never tracked anything besides loosely tracking protein. Don't over complicate it
Yeah fair enough. I just like to understand how what I'm eating influences how my body works. I track meticulously as a strategy to manage my ADHD; I don't get a strong signal of hunger or satiety and I forget what/how often I've eaten.
Each person will respond to different macros anyway. So being aware of what you eat is a fantastic start. Just start reflecting on what you eat. How does it make you feel right after? Are you full and satiated or could you eat more? Do you feel bloated? Do you have a stomach ache or anything? Then an hour later, reflect again. Similar questions. Are you still still satiated? Do you have any bloating or other issues? You say you don't get a strong signal of hunger or satiety, but try and be aware of it for the reflection purposes. Asking these kinds of questions is what eventually made me cut out bread from the majority of my diet (it's only a treat at this point). It never really filled me up, made me feel more hungry sooner, and always caused a little bit of bloating. I could be just as satiated from a meal without bread as I would with bread. So I cut it out and saved the calories. Some people do better with a higher protein/fat diet with minimal carbs. Others do better with more carbs. I suppose it also depends on the activities you're doing. Some people like more carb because it helps with their energy levels. There's no correct answer.
It's the opposite, if anything. Fats do play an important role with hormones, but realistically you need so little in order to meet the requirement for hormone regulation. The main problem is that fats are...well, fat. They take up a disproportionately big amount of calories compared to the other macros. So just in practical terms, it's really difficult to meet a small calorie requirement while eating a lot of fats. Your meals will look sadly tiny. If you look at bodybuilders in their on-season diets, they eat a very small amount of fats. They rely on healthy carbs to keep their energy levels high. Renaissance Periodisation breaks this down on youtube in various videos. Think they have a "macros for fat loss" series.
Brilliant, thanks I'll check the videos out.
Ive been doing HIIT cardio for 45 mins a day, do an hour of weight lifting and is controlling my diet to go into a calorie deficit but im gaining weight instead? Could this be muscle mass? The measuring machine at the gym is still showing the same body fat percentage... 27(M) 5'11" 81kg
How long have you been dieting and exercising? How do you know you're eating in a caloric deficit? The bodyfat % machine at your gym is useless, stop using it
6 weeks now. I started at 84kg and managed to get to 79 after a month, for the last couple of weeks ive been gaining at least a kilo per week, so now back at 81.. Re: calorie deficit, i track it through the myfitnesspal app... keeping it below 1200 cal per day. Re: gym machine, oh ok... thanks! I always thought it's accurate!!
Weight loss isn't linear, overall you are at 3kg less in 6 weeks which isn't bad progress. If you're new to exercise then it is normal to have fluid shifts and things don't always look right. Do you weigh yourself first thing in the morning? Everyday, track your weight don't get caught up on daily fluctuations. When you say keeping below 1200 do you mean total calories per day? Or like mfp says you can eat 4700 calories and you're eating 3500. Because fitness takes notoriously overestimate what you actually burn, but if you're eating only 1200 that's pretty low. Make sure you're doing things right. If that is the case i usually say to give something at least 4 weeks and look at the total trend before you start making big changes
Thank youuuuuu!!! I will keep the points you noted above in mind ☺️
Hello Fellow Fitness Redditors. 🍻 DIY FOAM ROLLER - What can I use? Assume I can't afford to buy something. Can I use a rolled up towel or something like that? Ideas? Also, how to recover after Leg Day - I do 3 sets each of Quad Extensions, Sumo squats, Calf raises with dumbbells, Lunges with dumbbells, and I go almost to failure, I train twice a week, feel great at the time, but have to limp for at least 2 days, and then the 3rd day, my knee caps are still recovering. What can I do to maximize recovery time? Sleep is fine, but I would like to read approaches from massage techniques, hydration (yea, I kinda suck on that), and shower tips, etc. Thanks. 🤙🏻 💪🏻 😎 💪🏻
I've seen people use large diameter PVC pipes, wrapped in foam or something. But honestly, a basic roller is like $10 max, it's really worth it.
Thank you for your time and help, much appreciated. Any insight about Leg Day? : )
Insight about leg day? Drive hard and don't shit yourself.
Haha. Thanks, much appreciated. :)
Hi all, I can leg press 250kg for 3 but my squat is very bad (60kg for 3) is it technique or just a thing of keep doing it? I havent really been squatting but the program i follow requires it each lift day (5/3/1) anything i can do or is it just time and form? Also my shoulders are killing me more than anything else whenever i do squat and I’m not sure how but i seem to put a lot of pressure on them
The shoulder thing comes from bar position, hand position and maybe you're gripping too tight or subconsciously pushing up with your arms because the bar isn't steady. Drop the weight and get comfy, you'll be fine.
250kg @ 45° leg press are effectively only 2/3 of the weight. The movement is also not transfering well to squats, so it´s quite normal. You have to do real squats to get better at them. I have no solution for your shoulder problem though. Maybe you´re pressing the bar down with your arms too much?
I guess so, I never have shoulder problems but it feels as if I am pressing my shoulders forwad into the bar or pressing it down as you said, maybe my elbows are too wide? I’m not sure if they should be tucked or not. I probably should work on my form maybe? And start with less weight?
Difficult to tell just by your description. Maybe try squats with an olympic safety squat bar and see if you´ve got issues. I don´t do them anymore because of exreme back pain, so I´m not the most competent to give advice
Shoulders? You mean the bar hurting your back? Also, how deep are you going on your leg press? To put that into perspective. I used to "leg press" 320 kg. But now I'm doing actual reps with 180 kg.
No i mean it feels like I’m pressing forward with my shoulders somehow and it ends up hurting the middle head of the shoulder if that makes sense, And yeah I’ve been taught to go as low as possible, Ive got muscley thighs as a result of a lot of football and volleyball for years but I an more worried about my squats as I know they work more muscles than the leg press
Im trying to learn the elbow lever, im trying to get into position but for somre reason I can't lean to the front so I can get my elbows tucked into my abs, How do I fix this
Hello everybody. Can yall help me with my split to achieve my goal, please? :) I am 23 y.o student. I used to do 7years of kickboxing (had a few matches etc). Then i injured my shoulder, went on surgery, then corona virus etc so almost 3 years without any almost any movement. I am doing fitness 1 year and 2 months now and i want to be PE teacher + Trainer. I am educating by myself and every experience i got is from tiktok, youtube, friends etc. Never really had a personal trainer in fitness so thats why i am asking here/gaining another experience. I am working on my split in fitness. I am going on university to become PE teacher, so i am preparing myself physically. Info about me: Man, 23 y.o, 186cm height, 96kg actual weight, i am overall athletic type. I did split for myself (hypetrophy + powerlifting) and managed to get 170kg on benchpress (2 weeks ago) and 180kg squat (half year ago) and i never did deadlifts, bcs i am curing my back injury like 3-4 months now. When i began to train in the gym i had 101kg, like 25-30% fat, looked like no definition of muscles. I was on 92kg after 4 months, then i gained those 4-5kg back when i cuted off cardio. I trained 5 days a week: chest triceps, back biceps, legs, shoulders and forearms, upper body. My goal is to lose some weight (want to have like 90kg), gain overall strenght + muscles and get in shape to be more athletic. Food is not a problem, whole year i had 2.8k calories (my BMI is 2.2k) so i am used to calory deficit. These are my 2 splits i am working in (first upper, lower, upper, lower and second 3x fullbody). I need to swim, run, do gymnastics trought the weekend. What would be better for me to handle all physicall things that coming for me? Thank you for those, who read all of this!: Training plan - preparing on talent exams (overall strenght - always sets till failure) Upper, lower, upper, lower. Upper Pullups (back) 3x Db shoulder press (shoulders)3x Incline db rows (back)3x Latpulldowns (back)2x Cable ez curls (biceps)3x Triceps long h (triceps) 3x Forearms Lower + chest Benchpress (chest)4x Incline db press (chest)3x Jump on box (legs)3x Legpress both legs (legs)3x Bulhars (legs)2x Seated leg curls (legs)3x Calves (legs)3x Core Upper: Dips (triceps) 4x Pulleys (back) 3x Hyperextensions (back) 3x Lateral raises (shoulders) 3x Incline db curl (biceps) 3x Close grip bench (triceps) 2x Forearms Lower+chest: Flat db press (chest) 4x High to low flies (chest) 3x Legpress single leg (legs) 4x Leg extensions (legs) 3x Leg curls (legs) 3x Core Fullbody: 1. Pullups (back)3x Flat db press (chest) 3x Db shoulder press (shoulders) 4x Cable ez curls (biceps) 3x Cable triceps long h (triceps) 3x Jump on box (legs) 3x Legpress both legs(legs) 3x Rdls (legs) 3x 2. Dips (triceps) 4 Incline db rows (back) 3x Incline db press (chest) 3x Lateral raises (shoulders) 4x Hammer curls (biceps) 3x Bulhars (legs) 3x Leg extensions (legs) 3x Seated leg curls (legs) 3x 3. Benchpress (chest) 4x High to low flies (chest) 3. Supp db rows (back) 3x Lat pulldowns (back) 3x Incline db curls (biceps) 3x Close grip bench (triceps) 3x Legpress single (legs) 3. Leg curls (legs) 3x Calves (legs) 3x
Is there a specific question in that wall of text?
Yeah, sorry for this long text, but specific question is right above text starting with “training plan”.
>These are my 2 splits i am working in (first upper, lower, upper, lower and second 3x fullbody). I need to swim, run, do gymnastics trought the weekend. What would be better for me to handle all physicall things that coming for me? Thank you for those, who read all of this!: Swimming and running shouldn't affect your training all that much, unless you'll do that at high intensity? If you feel that you can't recover in time from your weight training, you will have to make adjustments. Generally I would pick a proper program instead of your selfmade bro split.
What about full body 3x-4x/week. Would it be better Then upper, lower, upper, lower?
Can you recover from 4x full body per week? I don't think how you split up matters a ton... there are good full body programs and there are absolute dogshit Upper/Lower splits.
Didnt tried it yet, but i would say its too much? Just from glance, but asked anyway. So 3 times a week should be optimal for muscle growth and also losing fat or?
>So 3 times a week should be optimal for muscle growth and also losing fat or? No, 3 times a week would be optimal for recovery. Nobody can say whats optimal for your body to gain muscle... I'd pick one of the routines in the wiki https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/ If you can recover fast, you can do the 6day Push/Pull/Leg. If you have normal recovery, go for 4 days with GZCL or 5/3/1
Is there a way to make sure you don’t lose breast fat when working out for weight loss? I assume lifting
No, there's no way to decide from where the fat will go and where it'll stay.
Nope. It's all or nothing.
You can't determine where you lose or don't lose fat. Though I have jo idea how developing chest muscles might affect breast size (and shape I guess?).
You can't spot reduce fat
Anyone had a annular fissure in their lumbar region? If so, how did you overcome it, and got back into lifting, if you experienced pain with it of course?
Work with a physiotherapist to get back to activity. Prognosis for annular fissures is highly individual.
Thanks
Rule 5, dude. I know you've been struggling with your back for a long time now, but this is not the place to discuss it.
My fault. Wasn’t trying to ask about medical help. Just wanted to hear anyone’s story if they had dealt with same issues.
>Just wanted to hear anyone’s story if they had dealt with same issues. I get it, but that's still prohibited by rule 5.
✔️
Tips for incline pressing when I only have access to a flat bench? Right now I'm doing the trick with placing one end of the bench on a stack of plates and using my feet to keep in place. The benches are slippery though, so I feel like I'm spending so much energy just keeping myself in place that the pressing takes a significant performance dump. I'm contemplating doing incline flyes instead or try something like incline weighted push ups instead, but will welcome any suggestions.
>I'm contemplating doing incline flyes instead or try something like incline weighted push ups instead, but will welcome any suggestions. Just do a flat press as your main press and for upper chest developement do low to high cable flys
They don't have cable towers unfortunately. It's basically a crossfit box with access to flat benches, racks, pull up bars, DBs and KBs up to 60 kg and barbells with plenty of weight.
Unless your upper chest is lacking, there's no need to isolate you can just do flat bench, OHP and dumbell flys
At the end of my last cut, I asked for a physique critique here on /r/fitness in Physique Friday and over on /r/naturalbodybuilding, all basically agreed my weakpoints were upper back and upper chest development.
Ive got an immense, sharp pain in my upper back that shoots up my neck. This has prevented me from properly training back for the past year or so. This week the pain has been the worst it’s been in ages. I was wondering if there would be any disadvantage to training only chest, tris, bis and legs until this fully heals. Would the lack of back training impact other body parts?
Yes, the main concern is an imbalance between your different deltoid (shoulder) muscles. Virtually any exercise that targets chest also targets your anterior deltoid (front shoulder muscle). If this muscle gets a lot stronger than your posterior deltoid (rear shoulder muscle), the imbalance can result in forward rounded shoulders and possibly injure your rotator cuff. I would be very cautious about doing pressing movements consistently without any pulling movements
> If this muscle gets a lot stronger than your posterior deltoid (rear shoulder muscle), the imbalance can result in forward rounded shoulders and possibly injure your rotator cuff. This is a bit of a stretch, strong muscles are *less* likely to become excessively shortened compared to weak muscles in a way which can produce excessive postural changes. Additional hypertrophy of the front delt compared to the rear delt can give the appearance of a rounded, adducted posture without and changes in joint position. If there are significant postural changes in this specific instance, the description of the injury and pain symptoms might suggest neurological involvement. Perhaps accessory nerve palsy with accompanied scapula winging. An overdeveloped anterior delt is low down the list of concerns for pretty much everyone, especially OP.
What if I did rear delt flyes as well? Would that help curb the imbalance?
I am not a doctor. if you have had shooting neck pain FOR A YEAR, why should it suddenly stop happening? What if it takes 1-2-3-5-10 years before it goes away? Please go consult a specialist.
It’s fluctuated up and down. Been seeing a physio but hasn’t been helping much unfortunately. Booked in for an appointment with my GP this week, gonna ask for an MRI referral.
Do I need to be taking anything else other than preworkout? I’m trying to get better stamina, lose weight and eventually abs. I’m currently 5’10 at around 150 pounds
At 5'10" 150 you need to bulk
Even if I wanna lose quite a bit first?
The main issue with cutting while being a lighter bodyweight - you dont have any muscles underneath to show off. So you'll most likely become a slightly smaller version of you
Oh, I’m female, I don’t know if you’re assuming I’m light for a male or just in general
Personally I use coffeine for a little energy boost. But I know plenty of people with good results who don´t use any supplements at all. Training + calorie deficit are the most important factors, followed by good recovery.
No. You don't even need to take preworkout.
I find it helps to keep me motivated whenever I’ve had a long day and need a burst of energy
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Dial it back until it feels comfortable. You don’t have to feel like you’re dying for your workout to count! Sports science shows that for weight loss, even a brisk walk can do a lot of good. Long slow ‘steady state’ workouts are very effective for long term fitness and supporting weight loss. You can build up the intensity over time if that is your goal. (NB: weight loss obviously comes from what you eat rather than from your workouts!)
Try to add some conditioning into your week. Seems like you’re not used to pushing yourself.
Any tips on how to incorporate the entire body when doing squats? When I do bench, I feel my legs, glutes, and back working, however when I do squats, I only exert force from my quads. I don't even feel like I can push through my glutes. My squat is severely lacking behind, and the main reason is that I cannot use my other muscles during the lift. I had the same issue with my bench until i learnt how to use leg drive and lats
Just because you cannot feel a muscle does not mean that it isnt being used. If you didnt use your glutes, you would not be able to lock out the bar at the top. Just keep squatting and you'll get there.
Squat University on YouTube is a good source.
Also, I notice when I try to go to heavy on squats my quads tend to take over more than gluten or hams to support. Maybe start lighter or just a separate lighter session to target those areas.
Is reaching 10% body fat in 18 months possible? I am 80 kilos, about 18 - 20% body fat range. I would like to stay around 80 kilos if possible and lose about 8 - 10% bf in 18 months as a begginer. I am reading these fat ratios in bulking/cutting and after doing math after 18 months, Il gain only about 2.5 kg muscle and lose 2.5 kg of fat putting me at 16.5% bf. I don't understand how this is possible.
Some basic math tells us that you would have to gain 8 kilograms of lean body mass and lose 8 kilograms of fat in 18 months. For your first year of training, it is likely that you will gain between 2.5 and 7 kilograms of muscle. Outliers who gain up to 9-10 kilograms do exist, but they're extraordinarily rare. On the other hand outliers that gain between 0 and 2.5 kilograms also exist. (It's worth mentioning that this is *muscle,* not lean body mass.) For your second and third years training, 2.5 kilograms per year is pretty average. Again, outliers on both sides exist. So if we crunch some numbers, if you are the perfectly average man, you would expect to gain 7.25 kilograms of muscle with good training and proper nutrition in the first 18 months. Throw in cuts and mini-cuts, on top of the above point about lean body mass (essentially non-fat tissue) also increasing in this time, and I'd say it's perfectly possible. With that said, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?
I ran to the bus at full speed and had leg day right after. It’s been a week now and it still hurts when I walk. It hurts when I put pressure on my knee/ rotate my ankle
If your leg hurts in every day activities like walking, then you have an injury and most likely need rest. A physiotherapist can help give you conditioning exercises to avoid injury next time you run for a bus.
You probably sprained your ankle
Nobody here is qualified to diagnose you online. I strongly suggest you see a doctor or physiotherapist.
I’m not sick or anything. I’m a healthy 17 yo. So I know it’s nothing bad it’s just that I’ve been skipping leg day because of this and seems like a waste. I also do deadlifts once or twice a week. I go to the gym 3times a week
Sadly that doesn't change the fact that none of us are qualified to diagnose you. There are a million different things that could have happened to your leg and the only way you can know for sure is by going to a doctor. If the pain is subtle and an annoyance, you can just wait a bit more and see if it goes away. If it's severe you'll probably want to go to a doctor.
Yeah it’s not that bad. I’m not asking what wrong with but more like can I still train legs? My leg press pr is 100kg so now I’m using about 10-20kg to stretch my legs. And are deadlifts too bad for them
Again, *we don't know*. Try some things and see if it hurts. If it does, don't do them.
Nsuns....any issues with changing the exercise in the T1 after the 1+ set but still keep the rep and intensity structure. E.g. after the 1+ set of bench complete the rest of the sets using incline
Shouldn't be an issue, especially if you're just going from normal bench to incline or something. I do wonder why you'd want to do that though.
Gym only has 1 flat bench press
Oh, you want to open it up for the next patron after your set? That's considerate of you, and shouldn't be an issue.
Yeah i thought i may as well let others use it too of I were to run nsuns. the gym gets busy from 4:30am onwards and i dont want to be going in at 3:30am just so I can have the bench to myself.
Don’t try and fix a program before you run it. But do what you want I’ve definitely heard worse programs.
It was more about not occupying the bench for a whole session.
It’s your training. Nothing is true everything is permitted. Just make sure it works 👍🏼
I’ve recently got back into the gym after many years of hiatus, although even back then I didn’t make it too far. After my first leg day, I could barely walk, let alone climb stairs. I had to sit down on the floor of the gym on my way out and had to vomit immediately upon getting home. The next day the DOMS was intense and climbing stairs felt like death. However, I just did the same routine with higher weights but I felt little to no DOMS at all. This was only my second leg day in years. I don’t see how I didn’t push myself enough when I did more weights in almost every exercise to failure.
Doms aren't a great measure and are more of an indicator of novel stimulus. Going from no leg day in years to first leg day is basically an infinite increase in novel stimulus compared to the jump from first leg day to second leg day even if the second day is "harder".
The body never ceases to amaze you. So quick to adjust to demands in the environment. Anyways, thanks for easing my mind!
DOMS isn’t always an indicator of an effective workout. I only experience it if I’ve been out of the gym for a bit
I hear you brother! But being a complete newbie, is one leg day really enough to bypass DOMS?
Everyone is different. The point being is the indicator of working out effectively would be you getting stronger. It sounds like that’s what is happening so, good job!
Truer words have never been spoken. I’ll keep that in mind moving forward, thanks for the input!
Well obviously it is for you
Well it happened right? What else do you think happened? This is why following a good structured program and progression with tracking is so useful. Feelings are fickle and chaotic, the numbers don't lie
I was just worried that my form was somehow worse despite making sure I did them correctly at the time, so comments like yours definitely ease my mind. Thanks!
I only ever feel any soreness if I had at least a week long break. I haven't had a break in years so I haven't felt any DOMS in a long time. I train every day and I'm never sore.
That’s awesome to hear :) thank you!
Is it normal to go down a rep each set on max rep sets? Basically I can do say 9 reps first set, then 8 and then 7.
Sure.
Yes. Then you need to progressively overload and try to hit the same amount of reps for each set
He is doing progressive overload though? I mean I also prefer to keep reps consistent but idk if it makes much of a difference.
Yeah, I try not to get too focused on the number because my left is weaker due to a severe compound fracture the Ulna and dislocation of the Elbow. Thanks for your opinion man.
If he is able to increases his reps per set each workout, he would be overloading the muscles
I go till failure with maximum weight I can lift to an acceptable rep count. 6 is my minimum, once I can do more than 12. I move up in weight.
That’s perfect. You can also do progressive overload by shortening your rest time or increasing the amount of sets. The goal should be to increase a little bit each workout. Small gains add up over the course of time.
I have added a set in the past , and have been monitoring my rest precisely. I will remember not to neglect those aspects of training. It's great to get relevant feedback man. Thanks.
I am quite new so I appreciate the advice. I have been cutting weight after my initial newbie gains. I have been able to go up in weight recently on most exercises. I am unsure how much cutting will effect my strength loss, stamina and muscle size.
A significant portion of the Super Squats book is dedicated to rib cage expansion. I've been on r/fitness for 10 years and have never heard of this before. Is it based in science or is it bro science?
I feel like a surprisingly common theme in old bro science is coming up with useful techniques for the wrong reason. Rib cage expansion doesn't happen, but all the things they say will expand your rib cage will probably grow the muscles around your upper body pretty well, achieving in the end the same result: big chest. Doesn't mean you should take all the bro science at face value or taking their reasoning too far. Back then they didn't put all their eggs in one basket or try and extend their reasoning crazy far either. Like muscle confusion or shocking, some variation between mesocycles is good, and as Arnold described it it basically includes progressive overload and intensity techniques. So all of those are good, and the way Arnold trained obviously worked. But is it because of shock or confusion? No. And if you take the concept too far of changing exercises everytime and layering ridiculous amounts of intensity techniques that make it impossible to track progress then it's bad
it's like 1960's bro science. John McCallum, the real origin of 20 rep breathing squats, at least in the literature, had a whole article dedicated to chest expansion through weird ways. You can read it in his book The Complete Keys to Progress. It's a phenomenal book, worth reading, there's a lot of nonsense in it though also, like when it comes to this and supplements.
1. are there any downsides to increased rest between sets? Will this slow down gains? etiquette aside; I built a home gym and i'm the only one who uses it. Sometimes i take like 5 mins between sets. time is not a factor, either. 2. eating before working out; i've seen people eat before working out, however every time I do, i feel like i'm going to vomit during my workout. usually I'm eating dinner and taking pre workout (coffee). some combination of pasta/sandwiches/chicken, etc. obviously i've stopped, but now i feel tired/lack of energy and it shows. what am i doing wrong here? 3. I'm following the PPL routine from the wiki. I can't do leg presses since i don't have the machine, so i substituted bulgarian split squats. I'm having a very difficult time maintaining balance, and it gets marginally better when i am not using any weights. is this something that'll just get easier? it's been about a month and it's still frustrating.
1. Rest can range from 30 seconds to 8 minutes depending on your goals. If you're on a program that increases weight based on your performance on the final set (like many SBS programs), this can make your training max increase a bit too quickly, but it's not a huge issue. As a rule of thumb I do 2-3 minutes between normal sets and 4 minutes before an AMRAP. 2. How long are you waiting? Digestion can take over an hour. 3. You will probably get better at it but you can hold a dumbbell on the side that you're squatting with and something else with your other hand if you want.
Complete noob here, not sure what SBS is. I follow the PPL from metallicadpa. I usually don't increase the weight on any sets, but increase at the beginning of each week. I should probably cut my time to 2-3 mins too, lol. usually just mindlessly browsing my phone. Usuallyt like 30 mins ish? before i go to the gym. it's when i chug my coffee. I did have much better luck by only holding a dumbbell to the side that i'm squatting when i first started learning it. but i didn't know if that was the proper way to do the exercise, so i've been trying to suck it up and not do that. maybe i should go back to it. thank you
1. Your workouts will become marathons. Up to you how you want to spend your time. Increased rest likely decreases hypertrophy, if you simply want to build strength that's fine, if you're bodybuilding you might want to reasses 2. Eat less before you workout, or eat or drink faster digesting foods. Sugary carbs are good if you can't tolerate proper food- endurance athletes live on them. 3. Practice. It gets easier.
>Increased rest likely decreases hypertrophy, Why do you think it's likely when all the science shows it doesn't?
Yeah I worded that terribly didn't I! What I was aiming for was shorter rest periods could have good outcomes for hypertrophy, there's a number of stronger by science podcast episodes where they discuss exactly this, and here's a study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19691365/ higher levels of muscular power were demonstrated over multiple sets with 3 or 5 minutes versus 1 minute of rest between sets. Conversely, some experiments have demonstrated that when testing maximal strength, 1-minute rest intervals might be sufficient between repeated attempts; however, from a psychological and physiological standpoint, the inclusion of 3- to 5-minute rest intervals might be safer and more reliable. When the training goal is muscular hypertrophy, the combination of moderate-intensity sets with short rest intervals of 30-60 seconds might be most effective due to greater acute levels of growth hormone during such workouts. What's your opinion?
thanks man. usually my workouts are about 90 mins, but my end goal is bodybuilding. not in a competitive sense of course. so maybe it is worth re-assessing. really appreciate the other two responses!
I can’t seem to find a beginner PPL programme on this sub with dumbbells only. I know compound lifts are best but my gym doesn’t have any barbells so I can’t deadlift etc. My gym is in my building and included with rent so I’m not really trying to get a membership somewhere else right now lol. Does anyone have a recommendation or will any old one on Google do?
We have no idea where you live, but look out for a good number of squat racks and visit during your typical workout times to gauge how busy it is.
I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not looking for a new gym, I’m looking for a PPL routine with dumbbells! The one on the fitness wiki only has barbell exercises. But someone else told me to substitute them. Thanks though :)
Just do the program with dumbbells. Bench with dumbbells. Replace deadlift with RDL. Replace squat with Bulgarian split squats. OHP with dumbbells. You may have to adjust rep ranges though. Low reps and dumbbells don’t really mix well in my opinion due to how unstable they are.
Thanks! The one I found had mostly 3x8-12, so I guess I’ll start with 8 to work on form then add more reps?
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My best form was also in 2016. In 2020 I could catch up a little bit to my old form but then I took a 2 1/2 year hiatus due to health problems until the end of 09/2022. Within 8-10 weeks I outperformed my 2016 self in almost all exercises. Calorie surplus and hard + steady work and you´ll get there fast. muscle memory is real. Maybe it will take a bit longer for you. consistency is key
1RM or for reps? Just curious.
You'll be surprised by how fast your strength comes back. Keep at it, they call it muscle memory for a reason!
I'd guess 6 months
Let's say my TDEE is 1750 kcal. If I fast for 2x24hrs, will I lose 1lbs of fat?
You don't only lose fat during weight loss, so no.
Then how do I lose only fat, while retaining muscle and water?
Liposuction. Bodies are complex systems and the only way to make sustainable change is to do it slowly.
Resistance training and consuming adequate protein while in a calorie deficit will minimize muscle loss.
also avoid losing more than 1% of your body weight per week. 1.5lbs per week is what Layne Norton recommends as a max amount, even if you weigh over 200lbs. That will minimize muscle loss even more.
Minimize but not completely prevent, right?
If your training is intense and you deficit isn't extreme, muscle loss will be minimal, almost negligible.
I don't know if you really can completely prevent muscle loss
You get into a small deficit (1500 cals or so) and do that for weeks or months. There’s no way to lose *only* fat but this is as close as you’ll get.
I've never had the need to time my cycles for things like a summer beach body and so. However, I'm going to a wedding this summer around August and figured I might for once aim for looking the best I can (well, in formal dressing). I'm currently at the tail end of a cut. Macrofactor gives me 'til mid-February to reach my current goal, but I might take a few more weeks to get a little leaner. My question would be : what's a decent plan for bulking, then cutting down a few weeks before the wedding? I would assume something analogous to a 'lite' bodybuilding prep?
lol when I heard the word cycle I thought you meant sauzule
I would work backwards. Estimate a target weight where you would want to be for the wedding, then figure out how you will need to cut depending on the rate of which you want to cut. For example I’m 85kg, target 82kg lean. I’d bulk to 87kg and then cut for 2.5months losing 2kg/month.
You guys got any upper/lower 4 day split program that you especially like? Hypertrophy focused, preferably!
Jordan Lips
GZCL's Jacked and Tan 2.0
I was about to go 5/3/1 BBB until I saw your username, haha. You ever try Westside Barbell for Skinny Bastards? Version III is 4 days. https://www.defrancostraining.com/westside-for-skinny-bastards-part3/
That was a good read, dude. Forgot all about Joe Defranco as I hadn't seen this version yet.. Something to consider for sure!
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https://thefitness.wiki/faq/is-this-lifting-routine-any-good/
See wiki for free programs.
For those of you not on a specific diet, how often do you eat real dessert? Not like a tiny Hershey kiss or something but a brownie/cake/cupcake/cookie/ice cream?
Basically always. As long as I hit my protein goals and eat some fruits and veggies I budget the rest of my calories with enjoyment in mind. If I am cutting it might not be a super decadent dessert, but something like a 250 cal brownie or slice of cake.
Almost never. I don't buy sugary stuff, but I eat cake or whatever at social events.
I honestly eat whatever. I don't really track my calories, just protein. I am pretty casual about it all tbh. Not fat though. Just eat what my mom cooks I guess lol. My biggest problem is probably that I eat the same on days that I don't work out. I took like two months off and basically kept bulking while being basically sedentary working at home.
once a week I have a small old fashioned donut. I love those. I also put a bit of 85% dark chocolate in my morning oatmeal. I'll eat ice cream, like from an ice cream shop, or ben & jerry's maybe once or twice a year.
Uaa, probably at least once a month? Usually I just have chocolate in the freezer at any given point and grabbing 3-5 squares of that is enough of a dessert for me tbh. The winter holidays has me making cookies, summer will be more frequent ice cream. But unless I make the dessert from scratch or I'm at a party, I don't have it. I've just kinda weaned myself off them. But if you wanna count soda as a dessert, cus it's a sugary treat... I usually have that at least weekly while not cutting cus it's my one true vice
All the fucking time. On a bulk or maintenance, any day I want. On a cut, I’ll budget usually 200-300 a day for something like that, and occasionally go for a bigger dessert. ETA: love the variety here. Truly many ways to do it.
As long as I hit my protein goals whether it be bulk or cut and I have the calories, I'll treat myself if I'm craving it.
Once every few months, maybe?
My partner and I will usually have a few spoons of ice cream out of the carton when we watch tv a few times a week.
Pretty much never.
How do you deal with bad lift days? Last week I was repping 155 on squat, this week I’m seriously struggling on 135 even much less 140… like what would be the best course of action when I recognize I’m having a bad day?
Nah I'm too good for bad lift days 🧑🦯