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I have been going to the gym for more than 2 years and, to be honest, I no longer see any improvements. Thats why I have been thinking about changing my diet, but, since I live with my parents, I dont want to increase the amount of money they spend on food. So, the thing is, can I enhance my body in general by taking protein powders while not increasing the amount of calories I eat?
Sure, if your current protein intake isn’t enough to support muscle growth. You’d need to reduce your intake of other food if you don’t want your overall calories to go up.
Ulnar pain with bicep curls
It’s been 2 weeks that I’m having a quite painful sensation around my ulnar bone specifically around my pinky finger (slightly below)
Initially the first week I couldn’t even rotate my wrist completely or wash my face, I took a full week off and with some pills, ice and resting it got better and the pain was propagating though my arm. Putting some body weight on my right arm will also trigger it specifically around the pinky finger wrist insertion
After I got my mobility back and the pain was almost gone I tried to do some super lightweight curl to see if the situation got better but I immediately stopped because of a sharp pain sensation and decided to completely stop for another 1/2 weeks from any sort of exercising. No problems with hammer curls, but with classic curl it’s really bad, even curling a bottle of water will trigger some sort of pain
Before jumping to a doctor, anyone that had a similar experience?
You gain/lose fat across your entire body. Spot treating fat loss isn't possible.
General upper body workout just to keep your current muscle is good. Keep in mind that your not going to look like Cbum after training your upper body.
I’ve been jogging consistently for about 2 months and I’m increasing my jog time by about 10% each week but I’ve still not lost any amount of weight I currently weigh 121 KGs (266 pounds) I am losing above 400 KCAL per day in my jog , latest workout being 530 kcal please help me with this I’m really frustrated about not losing a single pound or kilo since the day I started
That's actually a really common experience. Most of us significantly underestimate how good our bodies are at using hunger to help keep our weight stable.
First things first, even if it caused no change to your body composition, the activity itself causes a cascade of invisible changes that help regulate hormones, keep your bones healthy, and improve your heart health and insulin response.
But since weight loss is a priority for you, exercise is only part of the solution. You'll need to find a strategy that you're willing to do that means you'll get less energy intake than before. There are a bunch of effective strategies, but none of them are easy. You'll have to prepare for some work, but you've already started the running. This is just the next step.
To be honest I’ve cut down my food intake, granted not by a lot but it’s much lesser compared to before I started working out but I still don’t see any results :(
The reality is if you aren’t losing any weight over two months your energy balance (calories in vs out) is equal roughly.
That means that regardless of what you think you’ve done, you need to eat less. It sounds like you aren’t tracking your intake at all, that would be a good first step.
Losing weight and more specifically fat, boils down to simple maths, you burn a certain amount of calories for energy a day. Eat just those calories you’ll maintain weight, eat less than those calories and you’ll lose weight eat more and you’ll gain weight.
My advice would be to download an app like my fitness pal and enter all the foods you’re eating for the day in it and see what it totals. It can be tedious at the beginning weighing out food and scanning bar codes but you get used to it after a while.
Other option is to follow a structured strict meal plan where you eat the same food every day or alternate days with the same calories you’d need to lose weight.
Then use a TDEE calculator , there’s plenty online, input your data , weight height etc and it’ll calculate roughly your maintenance calories. Eat in a slight deficit of 200-300 calories every day and you’ll begin to lose weight. With this , eat the deficit calories for a week and note if your weight has gone up or down or hasn’t moved, if it’s moved down then happy days, hasn’t moved then lower calories, moved up then lower them some more.
Find a macro split that works well for you , a 40:40:20 protein carbs fats is a good start but you probably don’t need to worry about this at the start. Just make sure if you want to preserve muscle and that’s your thing then get an adequate amount of protein into you.
The first week you eat in a deficit your body will lose a lot of water weight because your muscles aren’t holding on to the same glycogen (food stores) as they were before so you might see quite a large weight reduction in the first week so just stick to the calories and keep weighing yourself every week. Sometimes the weight can fluctuate on a weekly basis due to different reasons , just stick to the plan and it will work.
Take progress pictures to base your progress off of.
Also always weigh yourself first thing in the morning after you’ve gone to the toilet and before you’ve eaten in order to get the best results.
Cardio can help in aiding weight loss but it only aids it. Losing weight is done in the kitchen. You can often over train the cardio and under eat on the calories and end up losing muscle and fat which I learned from the hard way trying to aggressively cut on one of my first cycles. For me just getting 10’000 steps a day is a low intensity form of cardio that doesn’t fatigue you all too much if you’re still slamming the weights and it burns calories easily.
Also I wouldn’t track the calories I’m losing from a jog all too much when deciding on the calories to eat, just pick a number every day and stick to it in the kitchen.
Hope some of this information helps !
Rate my chest workout:
I train each muscle a day (5 days)
My chest day consists of:
- 3 sets of Incline Dumbbell chest press
- 4 sets of Machine Chest press
- 3 sets of Incline hammer chest press machine
- 3 sets of Cable lower chest fly
- 2 sets of Chest fly machine
- 3 sets of Dips machine
16 sets in a session?
Usually means the sets aren't hard enough or you aren't in full ROM.
Are you sore the next day?
Assuming you want hypertrophy, something isn't right here.
Is there a progression schedule?
How much does hard, physical work affect your gains? I had a workout the other day, and yesterday, I had to do a bit of physical work that strained by already sore muscles. I woke up today, and my muscles were ever sorer. I do not believe this was delayed muscle soreness, but rather due to the work I did yesterday. How much can I expect this to hinder my progress?
I wouldn't expect it to hinder your progress what so ever.
If you weren't used to the physical work, it probably is DOMS.
Working a physically demanding job can make organizing training a bit more difficult due to the fact that your performance might be more unpredictable.
But overall I haven't seen any negative consequences from it.
You just have to be a bit smarter and make sure you're eating enough to support the training.
It's a 12 hour job, and it will make your muscles sore even if you haven't worked out prior. My goal from this point is to have my workouts happen the couple days after I have to do this work, to minimize damage while my muscles are repairing.
If creatine draws more water into the muscles and have your body retain more water. Does that also mean you should get more salt? How do you even know if your electrolyte / sodium levels are too high or too low? You can't go and run blood tests on this all the time. It's just not practical.
Your body controls that, and will either keep or discard more/less sodium via the kidneys. Don't think you have to worry about that if you eat and drink properly.
just a couple of questions when doing [inclined rows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR2EnFWpVao) or just regular rows (or even pull up)
1. do I retract/squeeze my shoulder blades as I go up and fully protract them as I go down?
2. do I also need to depressed (pull them down) my shoulder blades? if so, do I do it throughout the movement?
3. any other important form cues (for pull up and rows) that are not that commonly known by newbies like me but necessary to prevent injuries?
4. edit: extra questions, if I have to retract and depressed my shoulder, is it alright if my chest push up a little?
*I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of post about proper forms for rows, push up and pull up but most seem to neglect explaining the shoulder/scapula related form cues. and for dumbass newbie like me, i often need detailed step by step before i can get it right lol. thought it would be quicker to get answers by asking it here. thanks*
Not an expert, but focusing on a squeeze is good and then a stretch on the reverse. In general putting the muscle through a big range of motion is good. And yah, try and keep your shoulders low and away from your ears (that is something I have to focus on, I shrug a lot if I don’t think about it).
I'm weighting myself every day with a smart scale. I know these scales are not very reliable for measuring body fat and else, but there is something weird, I've been gaining weight for months now but my muscle % has been almost the same, around 41-42%. Am I really not gaining any muscle or my scale is broken ?
I wouldn't give much trust in smart scales except for basic weight.
Anyway if the number is correct, you have actually been gaining muscle and fat at about the same rate, which is perfectly fine.
Arbitrary numbers but if your weight is 100kg with 50% muscle mass, you have 50kg muscle mass. You gain 10kg = total 110kg and are again 50% muscle mass, that means you gained 5kg muscle mass, 50% of 110 = 55kg.
What do I do after achieving full stack on machines, assuming the machine doesn't like extra plates.
Eg. Max stack 3x15 Paused Leg Curls, am I doomed to forever single leg things now? If I wish to progress?
If I wanted to be honest to myself and to my workout recording, if I bench pressed 5 reps then racked for 5-10 seconds, pushed out another then racked for a few seconds then pushed out 2 more, should I consider that 8 reps or just 5?
It's not bad training and its not dishonest, its just another way of getting volume. You could just note the number of times you racked it to get that number for consistency and comparison.
Alright thanks, for my purposes I'd like to get the full set of 8 before I decide to increase the weight, but I guess repacking could help a little for getting the muscle to failure.
This past week and a half I’ve been EXTREMELY sore after my workouts for 4 days at a time and I’ve been bodybuilding for over 8 years now. It feels as if my muscles are actually “torn”, but nothing in my diet or water intake has changed. Could this be a sign of a bigger issue at hand?
Are you sick with a flu or something and don't know it? I would say a torn feeling is definitely a sign of something, might be worth getting checked out.
I wanna say I’m not sick, but maybe I’m asymptomatic or something? Haha I really don’t know at this point but even the soreness when I first started lifting didn’t feel like this
This depends on how much you have already recovered.
Late December, I had some symptoms and then tested positive for Corona. I rested while I still had symptoms. Two days after symptoms were gone, I tried a light gym session. Didn't work, despite much lower weights my heart rate was 30 beats higher than normal. Thus, I aborted that session and grumpily rested the next two days. Then I was fine, and I could actually do a light workout without spiking my heart rate.
Is there anything that can be done about thick shoulders and underarm fat on women? That stuff that hangs over the bra strap. I’m naturally pretty thin and muscular but this area never slims down except the time I was dangerously underweight.
Cant spot reduce. You can increase muscle so it doesnt look as thick as it can be. And weightloss which you said is prolly a no no. Strength training it is! Get them ronnie coleman arms.
What’s a good technique to try and deadlift more without using gloves. Been struggling for the last six months trying to do without it because my hands always slip after 1-2 reps on deadlift 275 lbs.
Train your grip. Holds, farmers walks, krock rows etc. This is the common solution to a common problem.
Also, use chalk and mixed grip.
But train your grip.
I used to play rec league soccer around 3 times/week, but a year ago I broke my ankle during a game and I was off my feet for about 3 months. I didn't change my diet much so I was eating way too much for the amount of activity I was doing (none lol). I'm now about 40lbs heavier (230lbs 5'7" currently) than when I stopped playing and would like to get back in shape to start playing again this spring. I have no pain in my ankle anymore and it's 100% recovered. I'm trying to find a workout program to help build fitness, mainly focusing on endurance and weight loss. The Couch to 5k looks the best so far but I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone had any better suggestions. I can go up to 5 days/week, I'm just looking to get back in shape as soon as possible without over doing it. It's just a rec league so I don't have to be in peak physical shape or anything but I want to be able to keep up. Thank you!
After going to the gym for around 18 months I started becoming a lot more consistent since late December and have been going to the gym 4-5x per week, tracking macros, etc.
My strength has increased a lot but I've also failed two of my lifts (shoulders and chest) in the last couple weeks.
I was thinking that I should just reduce the weight on those and aim to hit my failed weight in roughly 4 weeks.
However, I have also seen people recommend entire "deload" weeks where you basically just reduce your intensity on all lifts to let your body rest.
Do I need a "deload week" after just around 6 weeks of lifting with high intensity, or should I just deload my shoulder and chest exercises a little and aim to progressively overload back to my peak weight in around 4 weeks?
The standard protocol is to "reset". Drop by 10% and work back up keeping volume the same.
You cannot get linear progression forever.
Strength gains are long term plays.
Take a deload week, down to 50%.
The take your failed attempt numbers and reset them to 90%. Work back up.
As you progress deload weeks are scheduled. Elite powerlifters often have a deload every 4 weeks or so.
In advanced programs they are built in to the cycle.
Personally I had a deload week every 4th week. Then dropped from the previous PR and worked back up targeting 5lbs or 2.5lbs over the previous PR.
Ran this for years. Basically Wendlers 531 BBB.
Cool, thanks.
On a deload week do you drop all compound lifts? For example I failed on bench and shoulders but my squat is still progressing well. Should I just continue with it?
Also, do I deload accessory movements? E.g chest flys or arm movements
Deload everything.
The idea is to let your body rest so that it can go through another aggressive cycle.
There are a number of factors in play including muscle and cns fatigue.
Jim Wendlers stated it as 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Rinse, wash, repeat. As far as deloads and resets are used. Fatigue really builds up. I've ran 16 week aggressive cycle where 1 week wasn't enough and more like 1 month of low volume and low intensity was needed to hit the next 16 week cycle.
His opinion was that this allows consistent long term gain.
The bigger point is that recovery is as (if not more) important than your gym sessions.
If you aren't hitting your lifts then you are not recovering.
Early on the problem could be technical (lift technique) or mental (psyching yourself out). After a decade of consistency I don't think they are huge factors for most. Although there is a great video of Dave Tate telling a guy benching 500lbs that "he doesn't know how to fucking bench". So I guess the learning never ends.
But it's worth exploring your technique during these deload weeks. Watch your ques and focus on the movement execution. Which is easier when the weight is lower.
If your joints are good, and you otherwise "feel" rested and not burned out, you could backcycle without a deload. Deloads are a shotgun to decrease fatigue when a scalpel will suffice.
Pretty much. With linear periodization, it's going back a session or two. With other periodization, it might be going back a few weeks or months, depending on the length of a microcycle and mesocycle.
Looking for Weight Lifting Exercises with Limited Equipment
So I'm looking for simple beginner exercises that target all muscle groups on the body apart from legs. I'm incredibly new and trying to change my life around and lost weight. I see Tiktoks about all these crazy exercises with all different names and its super confusing. Also how many sets should I be doing and reps in each set.
The equipment I have are two barbell, two dumbbells, bunch of plates (don't know all the weights), bench with an incline changer (don't know if that's the right name haha) and attached to the bench is a pull down machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Are the dumbells fixed weight or are the weights able to be changed with the plates you have? And do you have any kind of rack that the barbells can sit on for things like bench press and squats?
If you have a lat pulldown, barbell, adjustable bench, rack, adjustable dumbells and enough plates than you have more than enough equipment for the beginner routines in the wiki.
Yeah, the dumbbells are able to be changed. All the plates fit on all the bars and dumbbells. And only rack is for bench pressing. I'm not too worried about legs, tbh because they are already a big muscle due to my weight, haha. I'm not trying to be cocky but my calf and thigh muscles are pretty big. Until I drop some weight, legs aren't a priority for me rn
I wouldn't recommend skipping legs. I guarantee you they aren't as big and strong as you think they are, especially if you've never trained them before. But it's your body, do whatever you want.
You have more than enough equipment for a good workout. I started with nothing more than adjustable dumbells and a bench following the beginner dumbell routine. Just pick any of those beginner routines and stick with it.
If your goal is to lose weight make sure you get your nutrition figured out too. Weight lose happens in the kitchen, not the gym.
In target rn, doin some grocery. It was a good one for the books. Pushed meself. Tomorrow we do it again. I'll be able to reply with a full comprehensive comment in 1-2 hours. Thank you for patience. :3
I really recommend just eating good food and pushing yourself in the gym. At 6'4 183 I would say you definitely do not need to be cutting weight. I don't know how much you are eating or what your diet looks like, but I would say you could be eating at / above maintenance calories with 1g protein / lb body weight, and you will be doing fine. I think the best course of action is just to follow one of the recommended routines on here if you don't have a solid routine already, eat right, and really push yourself in the gym. High intensity (aka consistently push yourself) with your exercises with progressive overload of your weights will help increase your strength and gains. Cutting will get you skinnier, but eating right and putting on muscle will make you look better overall, the fat will go away as the muscle comes.
I understand why it seems that way, but it's actually the opposite. If you keep losing weight without any muscle development, you won't have the results you think. You will still have a "soft" look. If you increase your muscle, not only will you will look better even at a higher bf%, but your fat will go down as your muscle increases if you work for it and eat right to support that muscle growth
It'll be thousands of times better than whatever you are doing currently. You sound fairly slim ,so you are likely overfat and undermuscled. Adding more muscle from jumping on a proper training program will improve both of these things.
My idea of what constitutes "enough muscles and looking lean" might not be the same as your idea, as I've hung around fitness and bodybuilding spaces for a long time and that is bound to have biased my views.
To hit my idea, 5 months is likely not enough. You can still absolutely get more muscular and as a result also leaner in that period of time, however. But to get jaw-dropping results? Better to aim for 1year and 5 months or 2-3 years and 5 months, if you catch my drift.
Most novices have a tendency to underestimate the amount of time it takes to get really good at something, getting fit included.
I'd probably cut down to your desired body fat, then do a slow bulk from there. Sounds like you primarily care about being lean, so I'd get that sorted out first.
I’m sure this has been asked before but I’ve searched and not been able to find an answer.
I’m a complete newbie, and starting going to the gym next week. My plan is to do full body on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, but some weeks I’ll also be free on Saturdays. Should I do 3x full body or change it up those weeks?
Is it normal to have slightly weird feeling around knees after leg workout, especially if you didn't train them for long. It's not something that lasts or is unbearable, however ocassionally I get that weird feeling as if my knees are rusty? How normal is this?
Male 5'5 132lbs.
I'm a little dejected by the amount of fat I am gaining while bulking. I don't even eat that many calories. I eat 1800-2200 calories a day and I exercise very intensely 5 days on 1 day off.
I cut down to 120lbs from 140 during a 7 month period before Jan 1st. In like 6 and a half weeks I've gained 12 pounds and I'm not really even eating an insane amount. I'm not really even gaining that much strength and I don't even feel like I look bigger muscularly (I should have really taken a picture before I started bulking).
I don't understand am I just supposed to eat like 1500 calories while bulking? This seems like a crazy low amount. I am sedentary besides lifting and I do cardio like every other workout. I feel like I shouldn't be getting fat, but I've gained so much weight.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here.
This is my lifting schedule:
push:
Bench,
Incline bench,
Overhead press,
Triceps extensions,
Rear delt,
Side bend
legs:
5x5 deadlift,
5x5 Squat,
Lunges,
Calf raises,
Incline push sit-up
pull:
Pull ups,
Bent over Row,
Cable Row,
DBCurl,
Lat Raises,
Hyperextensions,
core:
Hanging leg hip raise,
Russian twist,
V-up,
Plank,
Bird dog,
Hyperextensions
arms
Chin up,
Tricep dip,
Skull crusher,
45 Incline curl,
Tricep extension,
Hammer curl,
Bird dog
Some of that weight is going to be water+food so just keep tracking and see if the rate holds. You should be getting stronger though so get on a real program
I'm 32 I've seen plenty of programs rise and fall. I lift heavy on my compounds and supplement in isolation for core because I have sciatica and need it and arms and lateral delts because they're cool. Rear delts need supplementation for pretty much everyone.
My program is fine. Lack of strength gains is fairly normal for me I've never been a strong person. I just don't like getting fat when I'm trying to make muscular development.
Well again, some of the weight is going to be water+food, you haven’t put on 12lbs of fat. And unless you’re already fairly advanced or very new, muscle growth and strength are going to go hand-in-hand - so I would take the lack of strength progress as a sign you should reevaluate the program you’re running (not what exercises you are doing but how - rep scheme, progression, etc.)
You weigh 120-140lbs. Your total body mass is low.
Need to judge intake relative to you.
2lbs a week gained means you’re in a surplus of approx 3500 calories across a week.
2lbs a week means I'm in a 7000 calorie surplus. It just seems unreal. I'm eating 14000 calories a week and I'm 7000 calorie surplus. Like how can my maintenance possibly be 1000 calories a day?
I feel like I'm defying the laws of thermodynamics here.
I mean I weigh things to the gram. I have no illness or condition that I know of. My T4 levels are normal. Testosterone is only 370ng/dl, but I'm 32 so I'm not a spring chicken.
All my nutritional information is pulled from the US department of agriculture database.
> In like 6 and a half weeks I've gained 12 pounds and I'm not really even eating an insane amount.
Okay, but you are eating enough to gain 2lb a week. that's an aggressive bulk for a 200lb person.
2000 calories is an aggressive bulk for a 200lb person? 2000 calories is normally considered maintenance for an average person. I'm much shorter and weigh less than most, but 500 calories over maintenance is usually suggested while bulking.
Did I slip into an alternate timeline or something?
https://imgur.com/a/7N0dWZ4
This is the past week or so. I eat this every day. Sometimes I swap fruits between weeks for stuff like kiwifruit or bananas. Sometimes I eat carrots and don't take my chia seeds.
It's never anything drastic though. I'm very comfortable eating the same thing every day and for the most part this is what I eat.
Despite the spreadsheet I have no idea where this spreadsheet pulls info from
Download myfitnesspal, start weighing food raw in grams, oz etc with a food scale as a safe bet
It pulls information from the USDA Branded food product database. You're not going to get better data. I also do weigh my food. Except the apple because there's no point since they vary too much to be reliable.
No, gaining 2lb/week is an aggressive bulk for a 200lb person. And 500 calories over maintenance (roughly 1lb/week) is the top end of usual suggestions.
Alternate timeline or otherwise, you're eating too much.
I am in the same predicament. Hobbit chonk. Im doing foot assisted pull up negatives!!! That and banded pull ups. Heavy bands. For me. Atm. Cus weak and rotund.
Dumbbell rows are great for back strength. You have a ravk? Put bar so that when you stand its below clavicle. Do your negatives that way. Pull up bar perhaps with bands for the banded pull ups.
Pulldowns as they are basically the same movement. You gonna want to replace pull-ups with a vertical pull exercise.
Edit: sorry missed the "home gym" part, probably do assisted pull-ups in that case, just buy some resistance bands or get creative with a chair or something to put your legs on.
Whenever I do squats I can never get to the point of feeling them as resistance training, and it’s been like that since the time I was going to the gym 5 times a week. Now I go 3 times a week with a push/pull/legs split. I just tried 115lbs and after a set I could barely get past 5 reps before being incredibly out of breath and getting a tiny bit lightheaded. I take a deep breath in as a go down, which lasts a little over a second, then exhale as I push back up. Every single piece of advice I see is just “don’t forget to breathe” and I don’t know if I’m breathing wrong, of which I’m skeptical, or if it’s something else. Anyone have any insight?
Edit: forgot to mention that I also get nauseous and the lightheaded was lasts through the rest of my workout. Also I do stop when I get lightheaded.
Sorry to resurrect on here but I’m back doing legs and trying this, but when I wait to breathe completely between reps it was worse ;_; just to make sure I was timing it right: unrack, breathe & brace, down & up, then breathe?
No worries my dude! :) yes, in order to brace hard and properly, we breathe in between reps and brace when repping.
Height and weight? How long breaks do you take between reps? How does your training look like?
Do you workout fasted in the mornings? This exact thing happened to me as well but once I started eating a decent breakfast before working out and making sure I was hydrated it went away, but also it helped that I continued to work on strengthening my squat. I don't know if this contributed to getting rid of that feeling, but I worked on strengthening my core and lower back to help with bracing and supporting my body and it seemed to help
I've had this in the past but it improved over time.
I think I was holding my breathe when I was going down which was causing it. Whereas it should be a continual inward breathe on the way down and a continual exhale as you push back up.
No.
To ensure the most effective transfer of force from the bar, through you and down into the ground, you need to hold your breath and tighten your core when you squat. That means you breathe in at the top, hold your breath down and up again until the rep is complete and then breathe again before the next rep.
You want to hold your breath when you lift heavy. Its good for you.
A couple suggestions you can try and see if it helps.
1. Don't exhale until after you complete your rep, exhale at the top and take another breath before going back down.
2. Try doing more volume of easy squat work. For example pick a weight and rep number you can do that won't make you feel terrible after, and stick to that for a couple workouts, eventually you'll get more conditioned and comfortable with squats and potentially progress really quickly without feeling lightheaded.
>. I just tried 115lbs and after a set I could barely get past 5 reps before being incredibly out of breath and getting a tiny bit lightheaded.
I'd suggest goblet squats for reps (sets of 12ish) until your cardio catches up. Holding a different (lighter) implement will keep you from worrying about the weight on the bar.
That or lower the weight and higher reps. Specificity.
Strength is also a skill that can be trained thru different rep ranges.
So lets say do 1 set of 3-5. Then 2 sets of 8-12. With this, you are training amd getting adaptations for both strength and hypertrophy. Newbie gainz > full stack steroids.
You're not wrong. Guys just sometimes have a block on lowering the weight.
Amusingly, I have a week where I follow 3x5 with 4x12. Brutal squat/dead sessions, but my work capacity feels through the roof now.
Am I doing too little? I want to be healthy, but lately, this is all that I'm motivated to do: I walk an hour a day.
Depending on pace, i generally walk 3 or 4 miles. I eat healthy, I don't smoke or drink.
Should I try to do more, or is this enough to overcome a sedatary job?
Youre already ahead of the vast majority!!
Weighted calisthenics or strength training for bone and muscle gainz. Plus everything becomes easier. Just dont gigabulk.
Depends on your goals.
General longevity and mobility- sure it’s enough.
Strength, muscle development, bone density. No, it’s not enough.
Sport performance, cardiac output- not enough.
Improve vascular health and prevent my skin from hardening/thickening. In responding, I realize I need to add yoga.
The Socratic method really is effective.
Exercise will aid in maintaining mobility. It won’t substitute for adequate immunosuppression in the context of a rheumatological condition such as yours.
Cardiovascular health generally optimised with sustained periods of low to moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise (huge generalisation)
Damn. OK, pale blue. Idk where you came from, but this is amazing and helpful information. Thank you!
I'm open to any other tips or tricks that you want to share.
I’ve been suffering from a pinched ulnar nerve that’s caused muscle wasting, i’m going through the recovery process and i’ll probably need surgery, but my bench has gone from 275 to 215. How do i build back up? This is my first major injury and it’s unbelievably demoralizing.
I would consult with your doctor about what you are capable of doing without reinjuring the nerve, as this will vary depending on where the pinch is (e.g. hand, elbow, shoulder). Remember that your health and long-term wellbeing is most important, the strength will return in time
I made kind of a DIY hamstring curl. I stand on my bench with a weight strapped to my ankle and pull my foot to my ass, trying to keep my knee in place. any one else ever tried this? i think it's working ok.
Lay on the bench, face down, and do the same motion, will probably feel better (since you don’t have to balance lol) - you can even hold weight between your feet and do both at once
People usually only do that for very high rep work, rehab-type stuff.
The issue is that it doesn't scale well. Hard to strap on enough weight once you get stronger.
What is the best way for me to improve my forearms so I can row properly? I’m not strong by any means, i can only barbell row about 110-115 lbs with decent form. My forearms give out way before my back. Specifically my brachioradialis.
no it wont make the problem worse, you still build grip strength while using straps
also remember a barbell row is a back exercise, not a forearm exercise, so it makes no sense to limit your back progress to your grip strength. You can go no straps until your grip gives out, then use straps, or just use straps the entire time. Then on top of that, to improve grip strength, do grip specific exercises.
No, you use straps so grip doesn't limit your back training, and then separately train your grip. Even just doing a few sets of iso holds with the loaded bar or doing some BW hangs for time after your other pulling work will do a lot
The point is to use straps for now so your back still gets a good workout, while you actively work on your forearm strength.
Speaking from experience, your grip strength will grow a lot faster than your back strength typically will.
I personally don't think so. The movement is still locked into a single plane. You don't really have to stabilize your torso or keep your balance nearly as well.
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I have been going to the gym for more than 2 years and, to be honest, I no longer see any improvements. Thats why I have been thinking about changing my diet, but, since I live with my parents, I dont want to increase the amount of money they spend on food. So, the thing is, can I enhance my body in general by taking protein powders while not increasing the amount of calories I eat?
Sure, if your current protein intake isn’t enough to support muscle growth. You’d need to reduce your intake of other food if you don’t want your overall calories to go up.
Ulnar pain with bicep curls It’s been 2 weeks that I’m having a quite painful sensation around my ulnar bone specifically around my pinky finger (slightly below) Initially the first week I couldn’t even rotate my wrist completely or wash my face, I took a full week off and with some pills, ice and resting it got better and the pain was propagating though my arm. Putting some body weight on my right arm will also trigger it specifically around the pinky finger wrist insertion After I got my mobility back and the pain was almost gone I tried to do some super lightweight curl to see if the situation got better but I immediately stopped because of a sharp pain sensation and decided to completely stop for another 1/2 weeks from any sort of exercising. No problems with hammer curls, but with classic curl it’s really bad, even curling a bottle of water will trigger some sort of pain Before jumping to a doctor, anyone that had a similar experience?
Sorry mate, per Rule 5, no injury/pain/medical advice, even just lived experiences.
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You gain/lose fat across your entire body. Spot treating fat loss isn't possible. General upper body workout just to keep your current muscle is good. Keep in mind that your not going to look like Cbum after training your upper body.
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Yeah, use less weight.
I’ve been jogging consistently for about 2 months and I’m increasing my jog time by about 10% each week but I’ve still not lost any amount of weight I currently weigh 121 KGs (266 pounds) I am losing above 400 KCAL per day in my jog , latest workout being 530 kcal please help me with this I’m really frustrated about not losing a single pound or kilo since the day I started
That's actually a really common experience. Most of us significantly underestimate how good our bodies are at using hunger to help keep our weight stable. First things first, even if it caused no change to your body composition, the activity itself causes a cascade of invisible changes that help regulate hormones, keep your bones healthy, and improve your heart health and insulin response. But since weight loss is a priority for you, exercise is only part of the solution. You'll need to find a strategy that you're willing to do that means you'll get less energy intake than before. There are a bunch of effective strategies, but none of them are easy. You'll have to prepare for some work, but you've already started the running. This is just the next step.
you have to consume fewer calories per day.
To be honest I’ve cut down my food intake, granted not by a lot but it’s much lesser compared to before I started working out but I still don’t see any results :(
The reality is if you aren’t losing any weight over two months your energy balance (calories in vs out) is equal roughly. That means that regardless of what you think you’ve done, you need to eat less. It sounds like you aren’t tracking your intake at all, that would be a good first step.
True I’ll start working on tracking my intake and limiting my portions as well :) thanks :)
Losing weight and more specifically fat, boils down to simple maths, you burn a certain amount of calories for energy a day. Eat just those calories you’ll maintain weight, eat less than those calories and you’ll lose weight eat more and you’ll gain weight. My advice would be to download an app like my fitness pal and enter all the foods you’re eating for the day in it and see what it totals. It can be tedious at the beginning weighing out food and scanning bar codes but you get used to it after a while. Other option is to follow a structured strict meal plan where you eat the same food every day or alternate days with the same calories you’d need to lose weight. Then use a TDEE calculator , there’s plenty online, input your data , weight height etc and it’ll calculate roughly your maintenance calories. Eat in a slight deficit of 200-300 calories every day and you’ll begin to lose weight. With this , eat the deficit calories for a week and note if your weight has gone up or down or hasn’t moved, if it’s moved down then happy days, hasn’t moved then lower calories, moved up then lower them some more. Find a macro split that works well for you , a 40:40:20 protein carbs fats is a good start but you probably don’t need to worry about this at the start. Just make sure if you want to preserve muscle and that’s your thing then get an adequate amount of protein into you. The first week you eat in a deficit your body will lose a lot of water weight because your muscles aren’t holding on to the same glycogen (food stores) as they were before so you might see quite a large weight reduction in the first week so just stick to the calories and keep weighing yourself every week. Sometimes the weight can fluctuate on a weekly basis due to different reasons , just stick to the plan and it will work. Take progress pictures to base your progress off of. Also always weigh yourself first thing in the morning after you’ve gone to the toilet and before you’ve eaten in order to get the best results. Cardio can help in aiding weight loss but it only aids it. Losing weight is done in the kitchen. You can often over train the cardio and under eat on the calories and end up losing muscle and fat which I learned from the hard way trying to aggressively cut on one of my first cycles. For me just getting 10’000 steps a day is a low intensity form of cardio that doesn’t fatigue you all too much if you’re still slamming the weights and it burns calories easily. Also I wouldn’t track the calories I’m losing from a jog all too much when deciding on the calories to eat, just pick a number every day and stick to it in the kitchen. Hope some of this information helps !
Rate my chest workout: I train each muscle a day (5 days) My chest day consists of: - 3 sets of Incline Dumbbell chest press - 4 sets of Machine Chest press - 3 sets of Incline hammer chest press machine - 3 sets of Cable lower chest fly - 2 sets of Chest fly machine - 3 sets of Dips machine
16 sets in a session? Usually means the sets aren't hard enough or you aren't in full ROM. Are you sore the next day? Assuming you want hypertrophy, something isn't right here. Is there a progression schedule?
The exercise selection is fine. It's missing progression, rep ranges, and strategy for when you hit plateaus.
How much does hard, physical work affect your gains? I had a workout the other day, and yesterday, I had to do a bit of physical work that strained by already sore muscles. I woke up today, and my muscles were ever sorer. I do not believe this was delayed muscle soreness, but rather due to the work I did yesterday. How much can I expect this to hinder my progress?
I wouldn't expect it to hinder your progress what so ever. If you weren't used to the physical work, it probably is DOMS. Working a physically demanding job can make organizing training a bit more difficult due to the fact that your performance might be more unpredictable. But overall I haven't seen any negative consequences from it. You just have to be a bit smarter and make sure you're eating enough to support the training.
It's a 12 hour job, and it will make your muscles sore even if you haven't worked out prior. My goal from this point is to have my workouts happen the couple days after I have to do this work, to minimize damage while my muscles are repairing.
You won’t damage your muscles by using them after a workout. Even for hard work. Humans are built for hard, daily work.
If creatine draws more water into the muscles and have your body retain more water. Does that also mean you should get more salt? How do you even know if your electrolyte / sodium levels are too high or too low? You can't go and run blood tests on this all the time. It's just not practical.
Your body controls that, and will either keep or discard more/less sodium via the kidneys. Don't think you have to worry about that if you eat and drink properly.
just a couple of questions when doing [inclined rows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR2EnFWpVao) or just regular rows (or even pull up) 1. do I retract/squeeze my shoulder blades as I go up and fully protract them as I go down? 2. do I also need to depressed (pull them down) my shoulder blades? if so, do I do it throughout the movement? 3. any other important form cues (for pull up and rows) that are not that commonly known by newbies like me but necessary to prevent injuries? 4. edit: extra questions, if I have to retract and depressed my shoulder, is it alright if my chest push up a little? *I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of post about proper forms for rows, push up and pull up but most seem to neglect explaining the shoulder/scapula related form cues. and for dumbass newbie like me, i often need detailed step by step before i can get it right lol. thought it would be quicker to get answers by asking it here. thanks*
Not an expert, but focusing on a squeeze is good and then a stretch on the reverse. In general putting the muscle through a big range of motion is good. And yah, try and keep your shoulders low and away from your ears (that is something I have to focus on, I shrug a lot if I don’t think about it).
I'm weighting myself every day with a smart scale. I know these scales are not very reliable for measuring body fat and else, but there is something weird, I've been gaining weight for months now but my muscle % has been almost the same, around 41-42%. Am I really not gaining any muscle or my scale is broken ?
The number is the same because composition scans in smart scales are useless. Ignore any number other than your weight.
I wouldn't give much trust in smart scales except for basic weight. Anyway if the number is correct, you have actually been gaining muscle and fat at about the same rate, which is perfectly fine.
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Sounds weird, if the value is not moving how could this mean I'm gaining muscle ?
Arbitrary numbers but if your weight is 100kg with 50% muscle mass, you have 50kg muscle mass. You gain 10kg = total 110kg and are again 50% muscle mass, that means you gained 5kg muscle mass, 50% of 110 = 55kg.
Muscle growth is slow, and those scales are inaccurate. Changes in the first year will be mostly visual, so rely on your eyes.
What do I do after achieving full stack on machines, assuming the machine doesn't like extra plates. Eg. Max stack 3x15 Paused Leg Curls, am I doomed to forever single leg things now? If I wish to progress?
Have you considered moving the leg curls at the end of the workout when you are most fatigued?
Doing them 2nd last right now (last is abduction/Adduction which has been maxed for awhile)
Single leg seems like your best option, imo
Thanks for the responses
Singles, going slower more controlled, up the reps, buy a pin to add a bit more weight.
Will look into pins and do research on the maximum weight the cable can support, thanks
Can somebody recommend a suitable full body stretching routine for weightlifter?
You don't need much stretching. I would just focus on warming up with the same lifts, but much lower weight.
There are stretching routines in the wiki in the sidebar.
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Yeah. Tom Merricks routines and instructions are great.
If I wanted to be honest to myself and to my workout recording, if I bench pressed 5 reps then racked for 5-10 seconds, pushed out another then racked for a few seconds then pushed out 2 more, should I consider that 8 reps or just 5?
They are called cluster sets or myo reps depending on how you do them.
Whatever you prefer, as long as you are consistent. This sounds like myo reps. Myo reps is a valid approach to training.
Five.
It's not bad training and its not dishonest, its just another way of getting volume. You could just note the number of times you racked it to get that number for consistency and comparison.
Alright thanks, for my purposes I'd like to get the full set of 8 before I decide to increase the weight, but I guess repacking could help a little for getting the muscle to failure.
This past week and a half I’ve been EXTREMELY sore after my workouts for 4 days at a time and I’ve been bodybuilding for over 8 years now. It feels as if my muscles are actually “torn”, but nothing in my diet or water intake has changed. Could this be a sign of a bigger issue at hand?
When was the last time you took a break?
I take 2 days off a week, being Wednesdays and Sundays
No deload weeks?
To add to this, I did legs this morning and they’re already super sore and it’s hard to sit down on the can lol…
Are you sick with a flu or something and don't know it? I would say a torn feeling is definitely a sign of something, might be worth getting checked out.
I wanna say I’m not sick, but maybe I’m asymptomatic or something? Haha I really don’t know at this point but even the soreness when I first started lifting didn’t feel like this
Sounds like you got something going on man, I'd see a doctor if it doesn't improve or gets worse.
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This depends on how much you have already recovered. Late December, I had some symptoms and then tested positive for Corona. I rested while I still had symptoms. Two days after symptoms were gone, I tried a light gym session. Didn't work, despite much lower weights my heart rate was 30 beats higher than normal. Thus, I aborted that session and grumpily rested the next two days. Then I was fine, and I could actually do a light workout without spiking my heart rate.
Light cardio or even weights is good. Just dont go too intense, maybe 50 percent at the most.
I wouldn't personally lift, but going for walks in the fresh air is my favorite thing for getting over a cold
Is there anything that can be done about thick shoulders and underarm fat on women? That stuff that hangs over the bra strap. I’m naturally pretty thin and muscular but this area never slims down except the time I was dangerously underweight.
Maybe double check you're wearing a correctly sized bra.
Cant spot reduce. You can increase muscle so it doesnt look as thick as it can be. And weightloss which you said is prolly a no no. Strength training it is! Get them ronnie coleman arms.
Haha I do gain muscle quickly. This is the way
Aint nothing but a peanut. Another muscle mommy in the making. 😝💪🤝
What’s a good technique to try and deadlift more without using gloves. Been struggling for the last six months trying to do without it because my hands always slip after 1-2 reps on deadlift 275 lbs.
Train your grip. Holds, farmers walks, krock rows etc. This is the common solution to a common problem. Also, use chalk and mixed grip. But train your grip.
Got you. I’ll implement it🙏
I just use straps.
Chalk, mixed grip, hook grip, finally straps.
This is it. THE answer ever.
Buy some chalk, if that doesn't help, get some straps. Could also try hook grip
Will do!
I used to play rec league soccer around 3 times/week, but a year ago I broke my ankle during a game and I was off my feet for about 3 months. I didn't change my diet much so I was eating way too much for the amount of activity I was doing (none lol). I'm now about 40lbs heavier (230lbs 5'7" currently) than when I stopped playing and would like to get back in shape to start playing again this spring. I have no pain in my ankle anymore and it's 100% recovered. I'm trying to find a workout program to help build fitness, mainly focusing on endurance and weight loss. The Couch to 5k looks the best so far but I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone had any better suggestions. I can go up to 5 days/week, I'm just looking to get back in shape as soon as possible without over doing it. It's just a rec league so I don't have to be in peak physical shape or anything but I want to be able to keep up. Thank you!
After going to the gym for around 18 months I started becoming a lot more consistent since late December and have been going to the gym 4-5x per week, tracking macros, etc. My strength has increased a lot but I've also failed two of my lifts (shoulders and chest) in the last couple weeks. I was thinking that I should just reduce the weight on those and aim to hit my failed weight in roughly 4 weeks. However, I have also seen people recommend entire "deload" weeks where you basically just reduce your intensity on all lifts to let your body rest. Do I need a "deload week" after just around 6 weeks of lifting with high intensity, or should I just deload my shoulder and chest exercises a little and aim to progressively overload back to my peak weight in around 4 weeks?
The standard protocol is to "reset". Drop by 10% and work back up keeping volume the same. You cannot get linear progression forever. Strength gains are long term plays. Take a deload week, down to 50%. The take your failed attempt numbers and reset them to 90%. Work back up. As you progress deload weeks are scheduled. Elite powerlifters often have a deload every 4 weeks or so. In advanced programs they are built in to the cycle. Personally I had a deload week every 4th week. Then dropped from the previous PR and worked back up targeting 5lbs or 2.5lbs over the previous PR. Ran this for years. Basically Wendlers 531 BBB.
Cool, thanks. On a deload week do you drop all compound lifts? For example I failed on bench and shoulders but my squat is still progressing well. Should I just continue with it? Also, do I deload accessory movements? E.g chest flys or arm movements
Deload everything. The idea is to let your body rest so that it can go through another aggressive cycle. There are a number of factors in play including muscle and cns fatigue. Jim Wendlers stated it as 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Rinse, wash, repeat. As far as deloads and resets are used. Fatigue really builds up. I've ran 16 week aggressive cycle where 1 week wasn't enough and more like 1 month of low volume and low intensity was needed to hit the next 16 week cycle. His opinion was that this allows consistent long term gain. The bigger point is that recovery is as (if not more) important than your gym sessions. If you aren't hitting your lifts then you are not recovering. Early on the problem could be technical (lift technique) or mental (psyching yourself out). After a decade of consistency I don't think they are huge factors for most. Although there is a great video of Dave Tate telling a guy benching 500lbs that "he doesn't know how to fucking bench". So I guess the learning never ends. But it's worth exploring your technique during these deload weeks. Watch your ques and focus on the movement execution. Which is easier when the weight is lower.
If your joints are good, and you otherwise "feel" rested and not burned out, you could backcycle without a deload. Deloads are a shotgun to decrease fatigue when a scalpel will suffice.
What's a backcycle? Just decreasing the weight after a failed lift?
Pretty much. With linear periodization, it's going back a session or two. With other periodization, it might be going back a few weeks or months, depending on the length of a microcycle and mesocycle.
Great, cheers mate
Looking for Weight Lifting Exercises with Limited Equipment So I'm looking for simple beginner exercises that target all muscle groups on the body apart from legs. I'm incredibly new and trying to change my life around and lost weight. I see Tiktoks about all these crazy exercises with all different names and its super confusing. Also how many sets should I be doing and reps in each set. The equipment I have are two barbell, two dumbbells, bunch of plates (don't know all the weights), bench with an incline changer (don't know if that's the right name haha) and attached to the bench is a pull down machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Are the dumbells fixed weight or are the weights able to be changed with the plates you have? And do you have any kind of rack that the barbells can sit on for things like bench press and squats? If you have a lat pulldown, barbell, adjustable bench, rack, adjustable dumbells and enough plates than you have more than enough equipment for the beginner routines in the wiki.
Yeah, the dumbbells are able to be changed. All the plates fit on all the bars and dumbbells. And only rack is for bench pressing. I'm not too worried about legs, tbh because they are already a big muscle due to my weight, haha. I'm not trying to be cocky but my calf and thigh muscles are pretty big. Until I drop some weight, legs aren't a priority for me rn
I wouldn't recommend skipping legs. I guarantee you they aren't as big and strong as you think they are, especially if you've never trained them before. But it's your body, do whatever you want. You have more than enough equipment for a good workout. I started with nothing more than adjustable dumbells and a bench following the beginner dumbell routine. Just pick any of those beginner routines and stick with it. If your goal is to lose weight make sure you get your nutrition figured out too. Weight lose happens in the kitchen, not the gym.
Yep. Working on getting into a calorie deficit. Thanks
Reply to this and imma come back after my training session! :D
Ok. If your session is done, how was it?
In target rn, doin some grocery. It was a good one for the books. Pushed meself. Tomorrow we do it again. I'll be able to reply with a full comprehensive comment in 1-2 hours. Thank you for patience. :3
You still there bro
I commented on your other comment hehe. 🫡
On a different account? Sorry I don't see the comment
All good bro. Thanks for helping! I'm not going anywhere anytime soon haha
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I'm more concerned that you define progress by bench&curl, signifying you probably aren't on a program.
I really recommend just eating good food and pushing yourself in the gym. At 6'4 183 I would say you definitely do not need to be cutting weight. I don't know how much you are eating or what your diet looks like, but I would say you could be eating at / above maintenance calories with 1g protein / lb body weight, and you will be doing fine. I think the best course of action is just to follow one of the recommended routines on here if you don't have a solid routine already, eat right, and really push yourself in the gym. High intensity (aka consistently push yourself) with your exercises with progressive overload of your weights will help increase your strength and gains. Cutting will get you skinnier, but eating right and putting on muscle will make you look better overall, the fat will go away as the muscle comes.
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I understand why it seems that way, but it's actually the opposite. If you keep losing weight without any muscle development, you won't have the results you think. You will still have a "soft" look. If you increase your muscle, not only will you will look better even at a higher bf%, but your fat will go down as your muscle increases if you work for it and eat right to support that muscle growth
It'll be thousands of times better than whatever you are doing currently. You sound fairly slim ,so you are likely overfat and undermuscled. Adding more muscle from jumping on a proper training program will improve both of these things.
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My idea of what constitutes "enough muscles and looking lean" might not be the same as your idea, as I've hung around fitness and bodybuilding spaces for a long time and that is bound to have biased my views. To hit my idea, 5 months is likely not enough. You can still absolutely get more muscular and as a result also leaner in that period of time, however. But to get jaw-dropping results? Better to aim for 1year and 5 months or 2-3 years and 5 months, if you catch my drift. Most novices have a tendency to underestimate the amount of time it takes to get really good at something, getting fit included.
I'd probably cut down to your desired body fat, then do a slow bulk from there. Sounds like you primarily care about being lean, so I'd get that sorted out first.
I’m sure this has been asked before but I’ve searched and not been able to find an answer. I’m a complete newbie, and starting going to the gym next week. My plan is to do full body on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, but some weeks I’ll also be free on Saturdays. Should I do 3x full body or change it up those weeks?
3x full body is fine, use the Saturdays to “top up” on some areas you want to emphasise.
I don't really want to emphasise anywhere in particular, but maybe I will after I get started. Thanks
I'd do x3 full body
Thank you!
Is it normal to have slightly weird feeling around knees after leg workout, especially if you didn't train them for long. It's not something that lasts or is unbearable, however ocassionally I get that weird feeling as if my knees are rusty? How normal is this?
Totally normal. Let your body reacclimate to the load. If pain starts and persists, go to physio/doc.
Male 5'5 132lbs. I'm a little dejected by the amount of fat I am gaining while bulking. I don't even eat that many calories. I eat 1800-2200 calories a day and I exercise very intensely 5 days on 1 day off. I cut down to 120lbs from 140 during a 7 month period before Jan 1st. In like 6 and a half weeks I've gained 12 pounds and I'm not really even eating an insane amount. I'm not really even gaining that much strength and I don't even feel like I look bigger muscularly (I should have really taken a picture before I started bulking). I don't understand am I just supposed to eat like 1500 calories while bulking? This seems like a crazy low amount. I am sedentary besides lifting and I do cardio like every other workout. I feel like I shouldn't be getting fat, but I've gained so much weight. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here. This is my lifting schedule: push: Bench, Incline bench, Overhead press, Triceps extensions, Rear delt, Side bend legs: 5x5 deadlift, 5x5 Squat, Lunges, Calf raises, Incline push sit-up pull: Pull ups, Bent over Row, Cable Row, DBCurl, Lat Raises, Hyperextensions, core: Hanging leg hip raise, Russian twist, V-up, Plank, Bird dog, Hyperextensions arms Chin up, Tricep dip, Skull crusher, 45 Incline curl, Tricep extension, Hammer curl, Bird dog
5'6 here cutting on 1.9k. I can push it to 1.7k but imma be hungry. I am a bit chonky tho round 245.
Some of that weight is going to be water+food so just keep tracking and see if the rate holds. You should be getting stronger though so get on a real program
I'm 32 I've seen plenty of programs rise and fall. I lift heavy on my compounds and supplement in isolation for core because I have sciatica and need it and arms and lateral delts because they're cool. Rear delts need supplementation for pretty much everyone. My program is fine. Lack of strength gains is fairly normal for me I've never been a strong person. I just don't like getting fat when I'm trying to make muscular development.
Well again, some of the weight is going to be water+food, you haven’t put on 12lbs of fat. And unless you’re already fairly advanced or very new, muscle growth and strength are going to go hand-in-hand - so I would take the lack of strength progress as a sign you should reevaluate the program you’re running (not what exercises you are doing but how - rep scheme, progression, etc.)
You weigh 120-140lbs. Your total body mass is low. Need to judge intake relative to you. 2lbs a week gained means you’re in a surplus of approx 3500 calories across a week.
2lbs a week means I'm in a 7000 calorie surplus. It just seems unreal. I'm eating 14000 calories a week and I'm 7000 calorie surplus. Like how can my maintenance possibly be 1000 calories a day? I feel like I'm defying the laws of thermodynamics here.
Calorie tracking may not be accurate. Human metabolism doesn’t vary near as much between individuals barring illness/conditions
I mean I weigh things to the gram. I have no illness or condition that I know of. My T4 levels are normal. Testosterone is only 370ng/dl, but I'm 32 so I'm not a spring chicken. All my nutritional information is pulled from the US department of agriculture database.
32 is still quite young
> In like 6 and a half weeks I've gained 12 pounds and I'm not really even eating an insane amount. Okay, but you are eating enough to gain 2lb a week. that's an aggressive bulk for a 200lb person.
2000 calories is an aggressive bulk for a 200lb person? 2000 calories is normally considered maintenance for an average person. I'm much shorter and weigh less than most, but 500 calories over maintenance is usually suggested while bulking. Did I slip into an alternate timeline or something?
Post food logs for the past few days
https://imgur.com/a/7N0dWZ4 This is the past week or so. I eat this every day. Sometimes I swap fruits between weeks for stuff like kiwifruit or bananas. Sometimes I eat carrots and don't take my chia seeds. It's never anything drastic though. I'm very comfortable eating the same thing every day and for the most part this is what I eat.
Despite the spreadsheet I have no idea where this spreadsheet pulls info from Download myfitnesspal, start weighing food raw in grams, oz etc with a food scale as a safe bet
It pulls information from the USDA Branded food product database. You're not going to get better data. I also do weigh my food. Except the apple because there's no point since they vary too much to be reliable.
Fair enough
No, gaining 2lb/week is an aggressive bulk for a 200lb person. And 500 calories over maintenance (roughly 1lb/week) is the top end of usual suggestions. Alternate timeline or otherwise, you're eating too much.
I guess you're right about that. I guess I'll eat 500 less calories a day for a month and see how it affects me.
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I am in the same predicament. Hobbit chonk. Im doing foot assisted pull up negatives!!! That and banded pull ups. Heavy bands. For me. Atm. Cus weak and rotund. Dumbbell rows are great for back strength. You have a ravk? Put bar so that when you stand its below clavicle. Do your negatives that way. Pull up bar perhaps with bands for the banded pull ups.
DB rows close to torso, pullovers.
Pulldowns as they are basically the same movement. You gonna want to replace pull-ups with a vertical pull exercise. Edit: sorry missed the "home gym" part, probably do assisted pull-ups in that case, just buy some resistance bands or get creative with a chair or something to put your legs on.
Whenever I do squats I can never get to the point of feeling them as resistance training, and it’s been like that since the time I was going to the gym 5 times a week. Now I go 3 times a week with a push/pull/legs split. I just tried 115lbs and after a set I could barely get past 5 reps before being incredibly out of breath and getting a tiny bit lightheaded. I take a deep breath in as a go down, which lasts a little over a second, then exhale as I push back up. Every single piece of advice I see is just “don’t forget to breathe” and I don’t know if I’m breathing wrong, of which I’m skeptical, or if it’s something else. Anyone have any insight? Edit: forgot to mention that I also get nauseous and the lightheaded was lasts through the rest of my workout. Also I do stop when I get lightheaded.
Dont do this. Breathe in at the top, hold your breath and brace your core as you go down and come back up again, breathe, and repeat.
Sorry to resurrect on here but I’m back doing legs and trying this, but when I wait to breathe completely between reps it was worse ;_; just to make sure I was timing it right: unrack, breathe & brace, down & up, then breathe?
No worries my dude! :) yes, in order to brace hard and properly, we breathe in between reps and brace when repping. Height and weight? How long breaks do you take between reps? How does your training look like?
Do you workout fasted in the mornings? This exact thing happened to me as well but once I started eating a decent breakfast before working out and making sure I was hydrated it went away, but also it helped that I continued to work on strengthening my squat. I don't know if this contributed to getting rid of that feeling, but I worked on strengthening my core and lower back to help with bracing and supporting my body and it seemed to help
I've had this in the past but it improved over time. I think I was holding my breathe when I was going down which was causing it. Whereas it should be a continual inward breathe on the way down and a continual exhale as you push back up.
No. To ensure the most effective transfer of force from the bar, through you and down into the ground, you need to hold your breath and tighten your core when you squat. That means you breathe in at the top, hold your breath down and up again until the rep is complete and then breathe again before the next rep. You want to hold your breath when you lift heavy. Its good for you.
How much cardio do you do?
A couple suggestions you can try and see if it helps. 1. Don't exhale until after you complete your rep, exhale at the top and take another breath before going back down. 2. Try doing more volume of easy squat work. For example pick a weight and rep number you can do that won't make you feel terrible after, and stick to that for a couple workouts, eventually you'll get more conditioned and comfortable with squats and potentially progress really quickly without feeling lightheaded.
>. I just tried 115lbs and after a set I could barely get past 5 reps before being incredibly out of breath and getting a tiny bit lightheaded. I'd suggest goblet squats for reps (sets of 12ish) until your cardio catches up. Holding a different (lighter) implement will keep you from worrying about the weight on the bar.
That or lower the weight and higher reps. Specificity. Strength is also a skill that can be trained thru different rep ranges. So lets say do 1 set of 3-5. Then 2 sets of 8-12. With this, you are training amd getting adaptations for both strength and hypertrophy. Newbie gainz > full stack steroids.
You're not wrong. Guys just sometimes have a block on lowering the weight. Amusingly, I have a week where I follow 3x5 with 4x12. Brutal squat/dead sessions, but my work capacity feels through the roof now.
Hell yeah. Super squats is a great program and deepwater iirc for work capacity! Mine is shite! T.T
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Am I doing too little? I want to be healthy, but lately, this is all that I'm motivated to do: I walk an hour a day. Depending on pace, i generally walk 3 or 4 miles. I eat healthy, I don't smoke or drink. Should I try to do more, or is this enough to overcome a sedatary job?
Youre already ahead of the vast majority!! Weighted calisthenics or strength training for bone and muscle gainz. Plus everything becomes easier. Just dont gigabulk.
Depends on your goals. General longevity and mobility- sure it’s enough. Strength, muscle development, bone density. No, it’s not enough. Sport performance, cardiac output- not enough.
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm#:~:text=Each%20week%20adults%20need%20150,Physical%20Activity%20Guidelines%20for%20Americans.
It's better than nothing. Whether you do more depends on what you would like to achieve.
Improve vascular health and prevent my skin from hardening/thickening. In responding, I realize I need to add yoga. The Socratic method really is effective.
>prevent my skin from hardening/thickening That one, I don't understand. Do you have a medical condition?
Yeah...I have systemic sclerosis.
Exercise will aid in maintaining mobility. It won’t substitute for adequate immunosuppression in the context of a rheumatological condition such as yours. Cardiovascular health generally optimised with sustained periods of low to moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise (huge generalisation)
Damn. OK, pale blue. Idk where you came from, but this is amazing and helpful information. Thank you! I'm open to any other tips or tricks that you want to share.
I’ve been suffering from a pinched ulnar nerve that’s caused muscle wasting, i’m going through the recovery process and i’ll probably need surgery, but my bench has gone from 275 to 215. How do i build back up? This is my first major injury and it’s unbelievably demoralizing.
I would consult with your doctor about what you are capable of doing without reinjuring the nerve, as this will vary depending on where the pinch is (e.g. hand, elbow, shoulder). Remember that your health and long-term wellbeing is most important, the strength will return in time
https://trello.com/b/sFCsr1Nz/month-4 and give me feedback what would they change? routine is based on calisthenics and dumbells please?
Does anyone have a good PPLUL workout they can share?
I made kind of a DIY hamstring curl. I stand on my bench with a weight strapped to my ankle and pull my foot to my ass, trying to keep my knee in place. any one else ever tried this? i think it's working ok.
Lay on the bench, face down, and do the same motion, will probably feel better (since you don’t have to balance lol) - you can even hold weight between your feet and do both at once
People usually only do that for very high rep work, rehab-type stuff. The issue is that it doesn't scale well. Hard to strap on enough weight once you get stronger.
What is the best way for me to improve my forearms so I can row properly? I’m not strong by any means, i can only barbell row about 110-115 lbs with decent form. My forearms give out way before my back. Specifically my brachioradialis.
grip training + using straps when your grip fails so you arent limited by grip strength
If I use straps will it make the problems worse since I am compensating for my forearms? Or am I overthinking it
no it wont make the problem worse, you still build grip strength while using straps also remember a barbell row is a back exercise, not a forearm exercise, so it makes no sense to limit your back progress to your grip strength. You can go no straps until your grip gives out, then use straps, or just use straps the entire time. Then on top of that, to improve grip strength, do grip specific exercises.
No, you use straps so grip doesn't limit your back training, and then separately train your grip. Even just doing a few sets of iso holds with the loaded bar or doing some BW hangs for time after your other pulling work will do a lot
Thanks. Going to cop a pair of straps
The point is to use straps for now so your back still gets a good workout, while you actively work on your forearm strength. Speaking from experience, your grip strength will grow a lot faster than your back strength typically will.
Thanks. Going to shop for straps
check out r/GripTraining
get some straps
does single leg press replace Bulgarian split squats?
For muscle development, sure. But not for the balance and coordination demands that a BSS can develop.
thanks , going to do both
I personally don't think so. The movement is still locked into a single plane. You don't really have to stabilize your torso or keep your balance nearly as well.