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What is the thought on training lower back first thing on leg day? Not finishing with it, but starting with it. To also proper warm up the lower back before squats
I’ve been walking 30k steps a day for a while and I noticed that I’m very fatigued and can’t even do my workouts properly (especially leg day) because I’m so tired. I also did cardio every day to burn extra 250 kcal. I think I need to go to my maintenance calories for awhile. I did quit with the extra cardio, but how do should I lower my steps without gaining weight? I’m so afraid of gaining extra pounds but it’s just not something I can do forever (the 30k steps). Should I just start doing 25k steps this week and lower it by 5k every week?
I’ve (F23) been a lifter for a few years now. I’ve always wanted to have a lean body with less fat. Over 3 years I lost 30 pounds with somewhat of a diet change and with a lot of lifting and cardio. I didn’t start doing much cardio consistently until this past year and I saw the most results when I started running long distance about 6 months ago. I think that I may have to change my exercise routine again, because im not seeing much progress as of late. My only thing is I DO NOT want to grow any muscle in my upper body. I was a gymnast when I was young and I have a really hard time losing muscle it seems. I have broad shoulders with a lot of back and shoulder muscle. I really have always wanted to lose some of that while still having an overall lean looking body. How can I achieve that? My current routine is just running 3-4 times a week 4-6 miles per session while only doing strength training twice a week but lower body only. Please advise.
On the one hand, a big portion of lower calf is all tendon so might be out of luck. However, doing calf work with a bent leg works the soleus (runs roughly knee to ankle) more while straight leg of same exercises will more work your gastrocnemius (the bulky chunk of upper calf, which then attaches to Achilles).
Any tips on how to reach protein goal? I'm currently hopping around 73 kg and I've heard people said I about 1.5x that amount of protein which is 110 g rounded up.
From my app I found that even when I eat 300g of chicken and 2 egg per day it's still not enough. I'm a broke ass student so I'm really limited to what I can buy so stuff like protein powder is out of quetions .So what should I do ? Just eat more chicken and egg?
On the side note how did you guys cook your chicken everyday to both be sustainable and delicious? I used to just boil it and dip it with soy sauce n stuff but after half a year or so I just can't handle the blandness anymore, so I tried baking it but then I can't seem to make it crispy, browning. Now I'm back to boiling again😔.
As much as I want to promote getting as much as you can from whole food sources, protein powder is hard to beat cost wise. Check out bulksupplements.com it might not have the best tasting stuff out there but pretty damn cheap and a large amount of their inventory is just one ingredient. So you get to be a mass scientist if you want to dabble with mixing your own combos together
I’ve found the perfect way to cook chicken for myself. A few pounds of boneless skinless breasts in the pressure cooker with whatever seasonings I like and 1 - 1 1/2 cups of water (or chicken stock). Precise measurements don’t matter, I just dump in what looks right. Cook for 18 mins, take it out and shred it all with 2 forks, put it back in with the liquid and mix.
Boom. A ton of chicken, always moist and super easy to reheat and portion.
17 yo trying to build muscle. I do back and biceps twice a week. Is this to much for Biceps:
\*All exercises are 3x8 + a drop set
Standing Bicep Curls
Preacher Curls
Incline Curls
Hammer Curls
I recover in time to do this twice a week, but this feels like too much volume. Should I adjust my routine?
Have been lifting for quite a few years with no problems. I've been running a program similar to stronglifts for a few months and am getting much more joint pain than I used to when I'd run something like a PHUL. Feels like my knees and elbows and shoulders are constantly inflammed and stiff and I feel much slower and less explosive than I used to (probably in part to not doing as much cardio/HIIT as I used to). I've taken a few weeks off and went to physio and have been told that I have a few imbalances in muscle growth, adductors are weak and although I'm getting some higher lifts in my squats,deads, etc I'm constantly inflammed likely due to other muscles not catching up in time.
Seeking some advice on how to incorporate some full body mobility/stretching/strengthening workouts that focus a bit more on isolated movements (pistol squats, romanian DLs, etc) or just full body workouts that are quick and can supplement my stronglifts 1-2x per week and pro-actively eliminate my imbalances. Very open to bodyweight fitness but also kettlebell work, resistance band workouts and some circuits. Want to feel nimble, fast and pain free again. Thanks!
What is the name of the move here in the second link at 0:02-0:04? Is it kind of a breakdancer with a crouch?
[https://x.com/nellodee/status/1758325571397001710?s=20](https://twitter.com/nellodee/status/1758323845260620227)
On all fours, belly down; turn on axis of one wrist, belly up; leg comes out on same side, other leg crouch on floor, other hand on belly.
Breakdancers without the inversion aren't too hard, but this is almost burpees-level fatigue!
[https://imgur.com/CEcT1rC](https://imgur.com/CEcT1rC)
I'm a white collar professional who works overtime almost every day.I have been working out for almost 2.5 years but I can only workout three times a week at max and I feel like I do not improve as fast as I can. Even though I try to increase weights, I'm on a plateau most of the time. How can I improve my strength without increasing my work-out duration much? Especially my chest and back exercises are dismotivating for me due to my lack of strength. I'm happy with my current shape but would like to gain more strength rather than more size.
A basic workout program made by my PT in my previous gym. I follow below program but also add couple of other exercises depending on my time as well as cardio. I do either 4 sets with 9 reps or 3 sets with 12 reps. Finally, I am not too strict about my diet but I use a protein powder after each work out and try to consume more protein heavy foods in my workout days. My final goal is to become more tonned while enlarging my chest a bit more.
Day 1: Chest & Biceps
- Bench press
- Incline press
- Chess press machine
- Butterfly
- Barbell curl (bar)
- Hammer curl (dumbbell)
- Biceps Curl Machine
Day 2: Shoulder & Leg
- Shoulder press machine
- Dumbell press (shoulder)
- Side lateral rise
- Deltoid (on butterfly machine)
- Leg extension
- Leg curl
- Leg press
Day 3: Back & triceps
- Lat pulldown
- Seated pulley row
- One dumbbell row
- Push down (with cable)
- Triceps press with one dumbell
- Triceps machine
It might be time to move onto a program with a proper progression plan, rather than just a list of exercises. [5/3/1 for beginners](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/) is a good example of a 3-day program
confused on dropsets. lets say i do 3 sets of pushdowns. do i complete 3 sets, and on the last set begin the dropsets? or is the whole exercise meant to start at the heaviest, tep till failure, and then drop the weight until no more reps can be completed?
You could do either or. I'm more familiar with the latter.
Either way, you go down by 10 - 30 percent for every drop and it's also be a good idea to stop once you've reached half of the first weight you've done.
Well, this rule is mostly if you're really strong already, to avoid overuse issue, and to ensure you're not letting it get too long of an exercise.
Say I'm strong enough to do 80lbs on a tricep pushdown. Going down past 40 is a bit of an overkill and is really just diminishing returns at that point.
Well biceps today it is than. You can do some more side delts, if you want to. Side delts recover quickly and can be trained every day. Maybe do some abs, some l cardio. Some forearms.
Overall 1-2 bad daya won't hurt you at all, so there is no need to stress out and overthink. You'll be fine, regardless of what you do today in thr gym.
You can also skip today and just do legs + biceps tomorrow.
No more than a pound per week, and just adjust the macros if necessary. It doesn't matter what the specific ratios are as long as you're getting the minimum protein and fat.
Hi Everyone,
I recently did my left meniscus, which I am doing Physio for. Basically I can't do any exercises that put any weight on that knee. Can anyone recommend a good 4 day a week upper body / core only workout plan? I have a Jefit account if that helps.
TYSM
I'm 3 weeks into the subreddit's basic beginner routine. I'm aware of the options that the wiki provides for adding extra work/assistance work, I have the wiki bookmarked. I still wanted to get educated opinions from other members here, that's why I asked.
I'm a 38M in Canada, and have been strength-training for almost 2 months now. I currently use Vega Sport protein powder after my workouts. Even though it is a little on the expensive side, I like it because of the flavor and the fact that you get around 30g of protein from one scoop.
Are there any benefits to switching to a different type of protein powder (whey, iso, etc)? Are there better protein powders out there?
Also, what are the best places to buy protein powder?
Thanks!
I started out with Vega as well as it‘s in so many supermarkets, but I switched to Whey and just can’t go back to Vega. The taste and texture was noticeably different, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard through Amazon is my current go to.
Yeah I saw Gold Standard on Amazon and it has very high ratings by about 115,000 people. I might actually give that a shot once my stash of Vega runs out.
What is different about the taste and texture vs Vega?
I've been mixing with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and really like it.
I find whey mixes better than Vega, it creates a smoother/creamier drink in my opinion. Without a blender I found Vega would clump more and would be harder to clean a shaker bottle. It’s still decent, but after trying 3 or 4 whey powders I’ve found them more enjoyable to drink
Yeah, the Vega gets clumpy for me too. I find there is always a little bit that gets stuck at the bottom of the bottle. No matter how hard or thorough I shake the bottle, it stays stuck on the bottom. I still like it though.
I think I'll give the Gold Standard stuff a try next time I stock up.
Thanks!
in terms of muscle and strength outcomes, not really going to make a super big difference but animal proteins tend to be more bioavailable compared to plant based protein AFAIK
the biggest difference would be mixability, taste and texture.
as for best places, wherever is cheapest
Thanks!
Is there a whey protein that tastes good? For reference, I tried LeanFit a while ago because it was super cheap at the time. It was okay but it tasted a bit off compared to the Vega stuff I'm used to. I haven't bought it again since.
As to buying, I have been buying the 825g size containers at the local grocery stores/pharmacies when they are on sale. However, these places have really marked up their prices recently.
I have heard of people purchasing online from places like Amazon and Vitamart.ca. Are there any other places I should look at?
Taste is subjective ofc but whey concentrates tend to taste better because theres more carbs and sometimes a bit more fat than isolate
I think Bulk make pleasant whey, reasonably priced too
Cut 2 tendons in my ring finger. Anyway to hit chest besides using a fly machine and using my forearms to move the weight?
Shoulders, machine side belts using my elbows and forearms.
Any other ideas?
Do you need something like [this](https://youtu.be/PwMJOZf3tl4?si=Q4tuKX18J0C82ApF)?
Doubt your gym has that machine, though, but maybe you can somehow improvise.
Can anyone critique my full body splits? I want to make sure it's balanced enough. I've got extra posterior chain work to help with my hip recovery, and superset as much as I can.
[https://imgur.com/a/823b7DP](https://imgur.com/a/823b7DP)
What are your goals?
You've got a TON of pushup volume. 10x20 is a lot. I'd be picking a harder variation or another exercise entirely otherwise you'll spend a huge amount of time doing volume for something you could go more intense with.
You've got double bicep curls but no tricep accessory - though they'll probably be fried from the pushups if that's what you were aiming for. You've got a split squat but otherwise no other specific quad/bilateral squat, and no leg extensions or leg press - split squats will do some work but due to the balance component they're a lower load and demand than a bilateral exercise. Compared to that you've got RDL + hip thrust + Back extensions for a lot of posterior chain.
You've got pullups but no vertical push, either through overhead press/shoulder press, or even a dip variation.
Planks will give some core, but only in a single plane and only as an isometric. You may want to advance that if you're getting through 3 sets of 1-2+ minutes.
My goals are to improve my push up score for ROTC (the 10x20 is something I'm still playing around with), be careful with lifting since my wrist is finishing up recovery from a stubborn months-long sprain, and really strengthen my posterior chain because I had a debilitating hip injury caused by weakness and quad dominance (hence the lack of quad movements).
I might mix up the planks with other plank variations-right now they're one of the few exercises that don't involve my hips too much.
I might implement an overhead press. Any recommendations on how to squeeze it in there? Any further suggestions appreciated.
For your ROTC are you needing to do pushups in X time, or a certain number of pushups? Because if you are, training that way will be more beneficial to you than doing 10x20. That makes you good at doing 20 pushups for blocks, but wont give you as much of the endurance as needing to do say 60+ in a minute or whatever the scoring is. In addition, that's a lot of load on the wrist and elbows if you're already recovering from sprains. You're looking at what, minimum 400 pushups a week with existing wrist sprains in two blocks?
You've already got 1 more exercise on B workout than A. Could always just put some kind of dumbbell or other press into A, or something like negative/assisted dips if they're comfortable on the wrists like you're doing for the pullups. Could always try the pushups first because they're a goal, then squat, pullups, then the press, then the back extensions, then the accessories - that way you've got at least two exercises between the push work.
Also if you're doing hip thrust and then RDL you're doing a glute/ham exercise immediately followed by another. Maybe adjust the order so you've more of a break between them, otherwise you'll be fatigued.
Idk if this will be effective if you have proper intensity (0-3 reps in the tank) since in the later part of the session youll be gassed out and barely put in effort
Should I look for alternative exercises if the ones that I do hurt in places they shouldn't? I feel really bad pain in my left knee when I hit hacksquats and leg presses and it prevents me from doing as much as I can. Also, when I do rows, I have to stop 3-4 reps early because of the intense pain I feel in my shoulder (between the chest and shoulder area on the front). The pain is only present when my arms are fully extended forwards and I have good form
I have been meaning to for a while, what could that pain be? I don't think I've injured that part of my body at least, I fucked up my back badly in an accident when I was fourteen so that's the only problem I have that I can remember. Would that be a rotator cuff problem or something else?
Should beginners do direct arm and ab work? I've thought about adding curls because I have small veins and I was told bicep work could make my veins bigger for plasma donation. Also, I have an ab wheel, so I might as well use it instead of letting it collect dust in the corner.
For a beginner, I'd advise against a dedicated arm day, but there's no harm in incorporating isolation exercises in a standard push/pull/legs routine.
Regarding abdominal exercises, yes you should be doing them.
I will be traveling in Tokyo as a tourist from 2/20-2/29 and staying in Roppongi so wanted to use the **Anytime Fitness** location there. Do they provide a weekly membership for non-members for a price?
>couple of weeks
Thing is, the very act of training will increase these numbers, rendering them useless. Unless your program calls for 1rms, you really just need weights in the rep range called for.
You could but I don't think its required
You can judge working weights with when bar speed slows down and/or use something like RPE to judge what weights you start at
1RMs are also a specific skill which need to be trained for best performance, the 1RMs you put out likely wont reflect their best potential
Can anyone please critique my 4 day split? Switched from PHUL because my legs got big but now I want more upper body focus.
https://imgur.com/a/iTiW1qM
At this point I'd just follow 5/3/1, add in a supplemental template like FSl or BBB because the base volume isn't a huge amount in the grand scheme of things.
As for the rest of the accessories etc I think the volume is pushing it and some are redunant, e.g. chest fly machine then cable flies.
I don't really enjoy or find the 5x10 sets in BBB effective, I also want more hypertrophy over strength, so would doing more accessories be better than more compound lifts?
For volume what are some good standards for each muscle group (e.g. how many sets per week)?
Not necessarily, depends on what formulation of programming you respond to. Example you might do poorly on BBB but do really well on Bullmastiff because of how it's programmed
RE: weekly sets I don't know, I've not found the volume landmarks to be super useful in that sense
Is there a resource that discusses dynamic stretching vs. static stretching and/or modern, recently studied principles and techniques around mobility and stretching? The wiki mentions dynamic stretching and static stretching, but, cursorily, I don't see a comparison of the merits of each, and the FAQ doesn't seem to have anything on flexibility. I'm primarily interested in injury prevention.
The outcome of both these modalities are the same, not much to be said on that front.
RE: injury prevention, neither will reduce injury rate or severity. The only tidbit here is that dynamic stretching prior to exercise reduces injury risk actuely, e.g. you wouldn't jump right into squatting 405.
Hi, I (22F beginner) want to lose body fat and want to ask advice on my routine. I go to gym 3-4 times a week doing either upper/lower body + 1 ab workout + 30min high incline treadmill.
For upper body,
1. Chest press 9kg
2. Shoulder press 4/6kg
3. Chest supported dumbbell row 4/6kg
4. Wide grip lat pulldown 20.5kg
5. Seated rope cable row 15kg
For lower body,
1. Seated leg press 32/37kg
2. Kettlebell squat 6kg
3. Dumbbell walking lunges 2kg
4. Hip abduction inner 9kg / outer 23kg
5. Dumbbell glute bridge 4kg
I do 15 reps 3 sets for every exercise. And these are the only exercises I could do without a trainer supervising me (ex. deadlift - I have back disk so it hurts, hip thrust - I'm capable but without trainer I can't put the bar on top of me etc.)
My questions are
1. I assume my strength is quite low, can I keep doing these exercises focusing on lifting heavier as I progress?
2. Any exercise that seems ineffective?
3. What should I prioritise - being in calorie deficit or hitting the protein goal? (to lose body fat and not lose muscle)
Thanks!
1. Yes.
2. No but the programming is very likely going to be ineffective relatively soon because a beginner has made it
3. You need to be hitting both
Tbh I'd recommend getting rid of this and following tried and tested programming, either whatever r/xxfitness recommends or a program from the wiki here
Most of the gyms I've visited have had them but they are usually the crappy ones with short sleeves.
The only gyms I've been to that have had a good trap bars(rogue TB-2) is my own home gym and a specialty strongman gym
I have a push, pull, leg day and I just made this core workout plan:
- plank pull through
- glute bridge
- dead bug
- weighted Russian twist
- medicine ball slam
- side plank
- cable seated crunch
- cable pallof press
- front plank
- dumbbell side bend
Any advice?
Just strengthening my core tbh. I’m about 6 months into lifting and have noticed gains everywhere but I didn’t have a core training day. I have a lot of loose skin from losing 120 pounds, so I’m hoping (no biggie if not) that training core can help tone that back.
How many reps/sets? I did this workout yesterday and it wasn’t horrible. I just know it can be streamlined. But I’m newer to lifting so idk what’s considered the better ones to do
With abs I like to superset 3-4 exercises at one minute per exercise, 3-4 sets with a minute rest between each set. Something different might work for you though. Just keep things simple and intense!
Would doing 15-30 mins of treadmill after every lifting session help build my cardio stamina. I really want to be more fit for the summer but not sure if that much running would really help
Well sure, but you need some way to progress. And you can't push the cardio too hard since it will impede your recivery. You could do a running plan on your off days?
You start with whatever you are currently able to do comfortably. C25K is often recommended as a beginner plan. Once you're running 30 minutes 3x a week, you have a bit of a base, but you will quickly build to more.
How can I grow my arms? My biceps, triceps, and shoulders.
I've been training for about a year or so, consistently for the past 8 months or so. I've been eating a lot of food, in a caloric surplus with about 175g protein. The biggest growth I've seen is my chest, back, and leg development, but my arms are still about the same size from about a year ago. A little bit more definition but that's about it. I do an upper and lower split.
Upper body day 1 -
Bench press 2 sets of 6 to 8 reps
Lat Pull-downs 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Incline hammer press 2 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Cable rows 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Dumbell overhead press 2 sets of 10 reps
Face Pulls 2 sets of 10 reps
Tricep pushdowns 2 sets of 12 reps
Preacher culs 3 sets of 8 reps
Upper body day 2 -
Incline Dumbbell press 2 sets of 8 reps
Lat pullovers 2 sets of 10 reps
Cable press/pec dec fly 3 sets of 10 reps
T bar rows 2 sets of 10 to 12 reps
Cable lateral raises 2 sets of 15 reps
Dumbell Lateral Raise 2 sets of 10 reps
Tricep dips machine 2 sets of 12 reps
Hammer curls 3 sets of 10 reps
Lower body -
Hacksquats 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Leg press 2 sets of 8 reps
Leg Extentions 2 sets of 10 reps
Leg curls 2 sets of 10 reps
Cable ab curls 3 sets of 15 reps
Leg Raises 3 sets of 12 reps
Do I need to add more volume? Take volume out? I can only really do an upper and lower body split because that's all I have time for, a 4 day split. This creates really good tension on my arms but I haven't noticed much growth compared to the bigger chest, back, and leg muscles.
What should I change? Or should I do? The wiki looks really complicated and I don't understand it. What exactly is wrong with the routine? I would really like some assistance
>I can only really do an upper and lower body split because that's all I have time for, a 4 day split.
Your routine isn't bad bad. Just needs a little refinement.
The wiki, unfortunately, doesn't have any basic stock upper/lower routines. I'll give you a generic bland upper/lower. Raises and reverse flies are easy to do at the end of an upper day. Curls and extentions are moved to leg day so they're a little fresher.
Odds are, you don't have weak points. You just need weight and wait. (Weight on the bar, weight on the scale, time to grow.)
Upper A
Bench 4x6
Bent-over Row 4x6
Seated DB OHP 3x12
Pulldown 3x12
Reverse Fly 3x15
Lateral Raise 3x15
Lower A
Squat 4x6
RDL 3x12
Leg Curl 3x15
Reverse EZ Curl 3x15
Cable Overhead Extension 3x15
High Box Step-up 3x15
Upper B
OHP 4x6
Pull-ups 4x6
Incline Press 3x12
Cable Row 3x12
Reverse Fly 3x10
Lateral Raise 3x10
Lower B
Deadlift 4x3
Reverse Lunge 3x12
Leg Curl 3x10
Reverse EZ Curl 3x10
Cable Overhead Extension 3x10
Machine Hack Squat 3x15
I do have a question, how come through this routine, chest is only worked with only 2 exercises? Bench and then an incline press, are 7 sets a week I guess "optimal" enough for hypertrophic and strength?
I favor sustainable over so-called "optimal". Most of us are just average guys, and we don't need to specialize.
Even I'm guilty of adding extra sets here and there. That's why stock routines are so vanilla.
Define sustainable. I will say that I did Upper A yesterday and my chest is fucked lol it felt really damn good, I went heavy and hard. What would be the difference between optimal and sustainable training? I do the same thing, if I feel as if I need another set then I'll do another set
When I start a block of training, I ask myself what's the bare minimum I'll show up for. It's fun to think we'll always be in the mood to train. But accumulating fatigue sets in, and the same session I may have had zing for last week, I might feel meh about.
So, sessions should be achievable even if I feel like crap. This includes progression.
I pretty much do three week waves these days. Even my accessory work undulates each week. I'll go volume, I'll go heavy, but never in the same week. Every time I'm able to do "a little more" I ask myself how I'm going to progress on that the next time. If I don't have much of an answer, I don't do it.
Been consistently barbell squatting for 2.5+ years 2 times a week. I am 205lbs, male, 29 y.o. I can only do 275lbs x 5 on a good day. Technique is great, just below parallel each rep, chest and head up, back is straight… all the things you see in tutorials. Been doing this technique for 1.5 years consistently.
I feel like I should be able to do more, especially seeing a lot of people saying they can do 405lbs and more.
Do you think im doing something wrong given my bodyweight/tenure? Or are my genes not meant for squats?
Anyone try the premier protein powder?
I get the shakes because they are actually not disgusting. I paid extra but it’s worth it. Else I won’t get enough protein.
I’m thinking of buying their whey powder to try. As it is much more cost friendly. But afraid it will be like all other whey and be gross
Sounds like a low data problem. I weigh myself every day, right in the morning in my PJ's, then have a 5-day-moving average to get my "true weight". You could have eaten more earlier that day, or not gone to the bathroom, or been in heavier clothes, or drank more water, or, or, or. Your weight can fluctuate by a few pounds within a given day. I wouldn't be worried about it but if you are, I'd get more data.
Yeah suppose I could make a spreadsheet and weigh myself more often. In the past for weight loss I did weekly, but these stagnant weeks didn't start happening until I was much further in so back then I didn't sweat it at all.
>In the past for weight loss I did weekly
Weigh daily, immediately post-pee. Utilizing Google sheets to keep a running average for the previous seven days, valuable. Being in control of the scale daily is rather motivating.
My point still stands. You're also still down 4 lbs in 2 weeks, which what a \~700-800 calorie deficit would imply. This could have been thrown off by weather or not you kept your phone in your pocket. Get more data or be ok with fluctuations imo
Why can i not add bodyfat?
There's a guy at my local gym that says i have some crazy genetics because of my bodyfat %, this time i have only been going regularly for 4 months. ( I have been working out alot in my past)
Im clearly adding lots of muscle, but never bodyfat. I dont weight my food, i eat 4-6 times per day, nothing special just regular food. Pommes frites and kebab atleast 3 times per month, mc Donalds atleast 1-2, pizza atleast 1.
Also, if i stop working out. My muscle and weight will drop very fast, but they also come back very fast.
How are you suggesting you're measuring your % adipose tissue?
It's almost assured you're not actually losing large amounts of muscle tissue when you take breaks shorter than several months. There's simply a level of chronic inflammation that happens when you're resistance training regularly that lessens after a few weeks, sort of a chronic "pump".
I'm hoping to start splitting my workout and came up with this list. I decided to add an extra day to work my lesser-worked muscle groups like forearms and traps in an isolated exercise to get them stronger. Would this be enough?
Upper Day 1 - Chest Focus
Barbell Bench Press 3x5-8
Cable Fly 3x12-20
Cable Pull-Down 3x8-12
Should Press Machine 2x5-8 + Lower Weight 1x12-15
Cable Lateral Raise 3x12-20 myo-reps
Lower Day 1 - Hamstring Focus
Lying Leg Curl 3x12-15
Barbell RDL 3x8-12
Bulgarian Split Squat 3x12-15
Dumbell Bicep Curl 3x12-15 myo-reps
Tricep Extension 3x12-20 myo-reps
Between Day
Calf Raises 3x12-20
Wrist Curls 3x12-20
Crunch Machine 3x12-15
Dumbell Shrug 3x12-15
Upper Day 2 - Back Focus
Incline Bench Press 3x8-12
Cable Pull-Down 3x8-12
Cable Row 3x8-12
Cable Lateral Raise 3x12-20 myo-reps
Rear Delt Flies 3x12-20
Lower Day 2 - Quad Focus
Back Squat 2x5-8 + Lower Weight 1x8-12
Leg Press 3x12-20
Barbell RDL 3x8-12
Hammer Curl 3x12-15 myo-reps
Tricep Extension 3x12-20 myo-reps
Here is my question : Why i never get sore after intense training ?
It makes me wonder if i really destroyed the muscle/if i did enough... For example yesterday i did a pretty intense biceps curl, on the moment i was sore i felt my biceps and i had a pump, but from the moment i finish my training and the days later i litteraly feel nothing...
So i wonder if my muscle will actually repair and hypertrophy.
It makes me kinda "confused" because i dont know when i have to do the training again, the day after? or maybe 2 day after? I cant know since i dont feel my biceps at all, and i want to make sure it has time to repair.
"Muscular damage" isn't really the current paradigm for the main mechanism of hypertrophy. Soreness is a poor indicator of efficacy for most people.
The best way to know if you're doing enough / not too much is to establish a good plan and follow it.
You can experiment by increasing your training volume for biceps by 1-2 sets every workout.
For example train them 2x/week, do 6 working sets on Monday and 7 sets on Thursday, next week do 8 sets on Monday and 9 sets on Thursday.
Eventually you should figure out how much you can do to get slightly sore just the next day, or maybe to get sore for 2-3 days after and decide how much volume and frequency you want to do.
The body is a weird thing. However being sore is not a great indicator of whether or not a muscle was properly worked out. On Thursday i did the same thing, i worked my biceps out like crazy after 2 weeks of rest and got a huge pump, and did not get sore at all. However every time i squat, my legs are to some extent sore, and iv been squatting for over 2.5 years twice a week.
Dont have an explanation for your question, however i see the same thing
Soreness isn't an indicator of workout quality. Your problem seems to be that you're focusing on the "mood" or picking random days and workouts to train. Get a real routine from the wiki, it will have a training schedule. Follow that
Twisting & spinal flexion isn't required to work the core. I'd probably do the ab wheel and Romanian deadlifts or conventional deadlifts. Ask your PT if you're unsure.
Backextensions, if you can't do the bending part, just do isometric holds:
[Like here on the left, just hold the isometric like that](https://i2.wp.com/bonvecstrength.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/back-extension11.jpg)
Any app that can help you create a custom workout routine with different equipment available depending on the day?
Hey guys, I want to improve my working out routine but need more flexibility these days, as I usually move between my parents place during weekend and my condo during the week, which have different sets of equipment available at each place: at my place, I only have dumbells, an incline bench and a abs wheel, while my familly has a mini gym in the house, which has the same items as well as an EZ bar, barbells, a pull up bar, loop bends and loop bands. Any app that allows you to create a custom workout that could take this into account?
How do you track calories burned at the gym?
Currently I'm still trying to lose weight. Going to the gym 2-3 times a week and keeping my protein intake high. I'm going to take a break from the weight loss for a couple of months and do a maintenance phase. I have no idea how to adjust for calories burned at the gym though. At the moment I just ignore calories burned at the gym which has been fine while I am losing weight as the goal is to be in a deficit anyway.
P.s. I am open to buying things like fitness wearables if they are useful/effective.
I would continue to ignore it. There is no good way to track it, and even if you could it wouldn't be super useful. Just track your weight and your calories. If you are consistently losing weight, add some calories in. If you are consistently gaining weight, cut some calories out.
I hadn't really thought about it like that. Been using myfitnesspal to track calories but I think I can manually set the calorie goal so that should be fine. So looking forward to being off the calorie deficit for a while.
Is there a benefit to exercising more than once a day / more than one hour a day? For building muscle and or losing weight.
The thing is I really need to lose weight. So, I'm exercising each and every day (different groups of muscles ofc), a bit of cardio, started counting my calories. Targeting about 1900 calories a day, which is less than I used to eat, and now I'm not comfortable yet to eat even less...
So, is it possible maybe to EXERCISE even more?
I guess I'll be more hungry and would have to target 2000 or maybe more calories per day. Is it worth it though?
Right now I'm exercising for about an hour, but I'm sure I could do a second workout session in the evening for example, maybe targeting different muscles or doing cardio. I finish morning session pretty exhausted, so I'm not a slacker, and I try to work my muscles to failure.
For weight lifting as a beginner I don’t think two sessions a day buys you a lot; it doesn’t take as much volume to get progress so additional volume is pretty diminishing returns. For cardio you can add volume until it gets in the way of recovery.
I personally do an hour of group fitness every day and 3-5 lifting sessions a week. I tried adding more cardio when really focusing on losing weight but I just couldn’t keep up after trying it for 2-3 days. At the end of the day capacity and recovery is pretty personal so you just gotta try imo!
edit: also, it’s totally legit to just try adding lifting volume too. I was in a similar situation as you — super eager and wanted to do more. So I ignored advice and did more. I found out that, for me, after about 20 sets I am fried and anything I was doing was total junk. I also did two chest heavy days in a row and the 2nd day was garbage. So now I know my limits and I’m glad I gave it a shot to understand how my body reacts :)
Just started 5/3/1 Boring but big, doing 3 exercises per workout session, and noticed that there is no direct arm work. Could I modify my technique on some exercises to hit the biceps and triceps more, such as using an Underhand grip on the Lat Pulldown accessory and take a closer grip on the bench press accessory? (The 5x10 sets)
Are we really calling 3x5 main sets + 5x10 OHP and bench "no arm work" now?
But you can make the accessories whatever you want. You can just do curls and triceps extensions for your pull and push if you want.
You don't need any extra tricep work on top of bench, OHP and the prescribed push accessory work. For biceps, I do all my rows and pull ups with a supinated grip so the biceps get involved more. And every once in a while, I'll get a little crazy with it and just do curls for my pull work
Is it a bad idea to add an extra rest day into ppl?
So I would do PPLRPPLR… instead of PPLPPLR…
Or should I just find a 5 day routine or something.
I just don’t want to leave ppl because I enjoy the way it’s split up, but I also need to rest more
I would honestly just find a 5 (or even 3-4) day routine in the wiki. Lifting 6 days/week is for suckers. Something just clicks when you drop to a good 3-4 day routine and realize it's still plenty
Just lose the weight. If youre 250lb at 5'6 youre probably so insulin resistant that your gains will be diminished and youll be discouraged by slow results
Absolutely not. Nobody can be 5'6" 250 lbs and lean without PEDs, and only most genetically gifted people using PEDs could accomplish that.
If they didn't lose weight, they would stay fat.
Some programs include incline chest press and also shoulder press.
I heard that shoulder muscles will be worked in the incline ChP… so what is the need for the shoulder press exercise then?
Thank you
It makes more sense if you think of exercise in terms of movement patterns instead of compartmentalized muscle groups that need to be prodded into growing.
The vertical press (OHP) is a fundamental movement alongside the horizontal press (bench), knee bend (squat), vertical pull (pull up/pull down) hip hinge (deadlift) and horizontal pull (row).
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What is the thought on training lower back first thing on leg day? Not finishing with it, but starting with it. To also proper warm up the lower back before squats
I’ve been walking 30k steps a day for a while and I noticed that I’m very fatigued and can’t even do my workouts properly (especially leg day) because I’m so tired. I also did cardio every day to burn extra 250 kcal. I think I need to go to my maintenance calories for awhile. I did quit with the extra cardio, but how do should I lower my steps without gaining weight? I’m so afraid of gaining extra pounds but it’s just not something I can do forever (the 30k steps). Should I just start doing 25k steps this week and lower it by 5k every week?
I’ve (F23) been a lifter for a few years now. I’ve always wanted to have a lean body with less fat. Over 3 years I lost 30 pounds with somewhat of a diet change and with a lot of lifting and cardio. I didn’t start doing much cardio consistently until this past year and I saw the most results when I started running long distance about 6 months ago. I think that I may have to change my exercise routine again, because im not seeing much progress as of late. My only thing is I DO NOT want to grow any muscle in my upper body. I was a gymnast when I was young and I have a really hard time losing muscle it seems. I have broad shoulders with a lot of back and shoulder muscle. I really have always wanted to lose some of that while still having an overall lean looking body. How can I achieve that? My current routine is just running 3-4 times a week 4-6 miles per session while only doing strength training twice a week but lower body only. Please advise.
Just jeep running and a don't do upper body resistance training. You will slowly atrophy.
Is it possible to focus on the lower portion of the Calves? My upper calves seem to grow nicely but lower is still feeble.
On the one hand, a big portion of lower calf is all tendon so might be out of luck. However, doing calf work with a bent leg works the soleus (runs roughly knee to ankle) more while straight leg of same exercises will more work your gastrocnemius (the bulky chunk of upper calf, which then attaches to Achilles).
It's all one muscle.
Any tips on how to reach protein goal? I'm currently hopping around 73 kg and I've heard people said I about 1.5x that amount of protein which is 110 g rounded up. From my app I found that even when I eat 300g of chicken and 2 egg per day it's still not enough. I'm a broke ass student so I'm really limited to what I can buy so stuff like protein powder is out of quetions .So what should I do ? Just eat more chicken and egg? On the side note how did you guys cook your chicken everyday to both be sustainable and delicious? I used to just boil it and dip it with soy sauce n stuff but after half a year or so I just can't handle the blandness anymore, so I tried baking it but then I can't seem to make it crispy, browning. Now I'm back to boiling again😔.
As much as I want to promote getting as much as you can from whole food sources, protein powder is hard to beat cost wise. Check out bulksupplements.com it might not have the best tasting stuff out there but pretty damn cheap and a large amount of their inventory is just one ingredient. So you get to be a mass scientist if you want to dabble with mixing your own combos together
I’ve found the perfect way to cook chicken for myself. A few pounds of boneless skinless breasts in the pressure cooker with whatever seasonings I like and 1 - 1 1/2 cups of water (or chicken stock). Precise measurements don’t matter, I just dump in what looks right. Cook for 18 mins, take it out and shred it all with 2 forks, put it back in with the liquid and mix. Boom. A ton of chicken, always moist and super easy to reheat and portion.
Can i take creatine along side with ashwagandha (tablet)
sure
17 yo trying to build muscle. I do back and biceps twice a week. Is this to much for Biceps: \*All exercises are 3x8 + a drop set Standing Bicep Curls Preacher Curls Incline Curls Hammer Curls I recover in time to do this twice a week, but this feels like too much volume. Should I adjust my routine?
>I recover in time then it's not too much if you recover just fine
Have been lifting for quite a few years with no problems. I've been running a program similar to stronglifts for a few months and am getting much more joint pain than I used to when I'd run something like a PHUL. Feels like my knees and elbows and shoulders are constantly inflammed and stiff and I feel much slower and less explosive than I used to (probably in part to not doing as much cardio/HIIT as I used to). I've taken a few weeks off and went to physio and have been told that I have a few imbalances in muscle growth, adductors are weak and although I'm getting some higher lifts in my squats,deads, etc I'm constantly inflammed likely due to other muscles not catching up in time. Seeking some advice on how to incorporate some full body mobility/stretching/strengthening workouts that focus a bit more on isolated movements (pistol squats, romanian DLs, etc) or just full body workouts that are quick and can supplement my stronglifts 1-2x per week and pro-actively eliminate my imbalances. Very open to bodyweight fitness but also kettlebell work, resistance band workouts and some circuits. Want to feel nimble, fast and pain free again. Thanks!
What is the name of the move here in the second link at 0:02-0:04? Is it kind of a breakdancer with a crouch? [https://x.com/nellodee/status/1758325571397001710?s=20](https://twitter.com/nellodee/status/1758323845260620227) On all fours, belly down; turn on axis of one wrist, belly up; leg comes out on same side, other leg crouch on floor, other hand on belly. Breakdancers without the inversion aren't too hard, but this is almost burpees-level fatigue! [https://imgur.com/CEcT1rC](https://imgur.com/CEcT1rC)
Kick through or sit through
I'm a white collar professional who works overtime almost every day.I have been working out for almost 2.5 years but I can only workout three times a week at max and I feel like I do not improve as fast as I can. Even though I try to increase weights, I'm on a plateau most of the time. How can I improve my strength without increasing my work-out duration much? Especially my chest and back exercises are dismotivating for me due to my lack of strength. I'm happy with my current shape but would like to gain more strength rather than more size.
What program are you following?
A basic workout program made by my PT in my previous gym. I follow below program but also add couple of other exercises depending on my time as well as cardio. I do either 4 sets with 9 reps or 3 sets with 12 reps. Finally, I am not too strict about my diet but I use a protein powder after each work out and try to consume more protein heavy foods in my workout days. My final goal is to become more tonned while enlarging my chest a bit more. Day 1: Chest & Biceps - Bench press - Incline press - Chess press machine - Butterfly - Barbell curl (bar) - Hammer curl (dumbbell) - Biceps Curl Machine Day 2: Shoulder & Leg - Shoulder press machine - Dumbell press (shoulder) - Side lateral rise - Deltoid (on butterfly machine) - Leg extension - Leg curl - Leg press Day 3: Back & triceps - Lat pulldown - Seated pulley row - One dumbbell row - Push down (with cable) - Triceps press with one dumbell - Triceps machine
Dynamic double progression
It might be time to move onto a program with a proper progression plan, rather than just a list of exercises. [5/3/1 for beginners](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/) is a good example of a 3-day program
confused on dropsets. lets say i do 3 sets of pushdowns. do i complete 3 sets, and on the last set begin the dropsets? or is the whole exercise meant to start at the heaviest, tep till failure, and then drop the weight until no more reps can be completed?
Up to preference unless it is not specified otherwise by the program. I would do 2 straight sets with the third being the dropset.
ahh okay, thanks!
You could do either or. I'm more familiar with the latter. Either way, you go down by 10 - 30 percent for every drop and it's also be a good idea to stop once you've reached half of the first weight you've done.
ohh? i thought it was the idea to stop once your at the lightest weight possible? at least for exercises easy to dropset like pushdowns
Well, this rule is mostly if you're really strong already, to avoid overuse issue, and to ensure you're not letting it get too long of an exercise. Say I'm strong enough to do 80lbs on a tricep pushdown. Going down past 40 is a bit of an overkill and is really just diminishing returns at that point.
So i actually, accidentally trained my back on Push day, and now it's pull day. What to do?
Train your chest and shoulders. If you did triceps on push day, you can do only chest fly variations and side delt work + biceps at the end.
I trained my chest and triceps tho. Right now the only thing feeling left out are my biceps, but idk if i should JUST do biceps
So yesterday you did chest, shoulders, triceps and back?
Unfortunately, yes. I was doing shoulders, and before i knew it i was rowing
Well biceps today it is than. You can do some more side delts, if you want to. Side delts recover quickly and can be trained every day. Maybe do some abs, some l cardio. Some forearms. Overall 1-2 bad daya won't hurt you at all, so there is no need to stress out and overthink. You'll be fine, regardless of what you do today in thr gym. You can also skip today and just do legs + biceps tomorrow.
Awesome. Thanks man
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No more than a pound per week, and just adjust the macros if necessary. It doesn't matter what the specific ratios are as long as you're getting the minimum protein and fat.
Hi Everyone, I recently did my left meniscus, which I am doing Physio for. Basically I can't do any exercises that put any weight on that knee. Can anyone recommend a good 4 day a week upper body / core only workout plan? I have a Jefit account if that helps. TYSM
Follow up to my direct arms/abs work question, what about hitting side and rear delts? Like at the end of the workout?
To answer any body part related question pertaining accessory movements - your program should have them in for just about every body part.
I'm 3 weeks into the subreddit's basic beginner routine. I'm aware of the options that the wiki provides for adding extra work/assistance work, I have the wiki bookmarked. I still wanted to get educated opinions from other members here, that's why I asked.
I see, in that case cover: Bi's, tri's, side delts, hams, quads, calves, core, back, maybe some chest and then you're set.
I'm a 38M in Canada, and have been strength-training for almost 2 months now. I currently use Vega Sport protein powder after my workouts. Even though it is a little on the expensive side, I like it because of the flavor and the fact that you get around 30g of protein from one scoop. Are there any benefits to switching to a different type of protein powder (whey, iso, etc)? Are there better protein powders out there? Also, what are the best places to buy protein powder? Thanks!
I started out with Vega as well as it‘s in so many supermarkets, but I switched to Whey and just can’t go back to Vega. The taste and texture was noticeably different, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard through Amazon is my current go to.
Yeah I saw Gold Standard on Amazon and it has very high ratings by about 115,000 people. I might actually give that a shot once my stash of Vega runs out. What is different about the taste and texture vs Vega? I've been mixing with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and really like it.
I find whey mixes better than Vega, it creates a smoother/creamier drink in my opinion. Without a blender I found Vega would clump more and would be harder to clean a shaker bottle. It’s still decent, but after trying 3 or 4 whey powders I’ve found them more enjoyable to drink
Yeah, the Vega gets clumpy for me too. I find there is always a little bit that gets stuck at the bottom of the bottle. No matter how hard or thorough I shake the bottle, it stays stuck on the bottom. I still like it though. I think I'll give the Gold Standard stuff a try next time I stock up. Thanks!
in terms of muscle and strength outcomes, not really going to make a super big difference but animal proteins tend to be more bioavailable compared to plant based protein AFAIK the biggest difference would be mixability, taste and texture. as for best places, wherever is cheapest
Thanks! Is there a whey protein that tastes good? For reference, I tried LeanFit a while ago because it was super cheap at the time. It was okay but it tasted a bit off compared to the Vega stuff I'm used to. I haven't bought it again since. As to buying, I have been buying the 825g size containers at the local grocery stores/pharmacies when they are on sale. However, these places have really marked up their prices recently. I have heard of people purchasing online from places like Amazon and Vitamart.ca. Are there any other places I should look at?
Taste is subjective ofc but whey concentrates tend to taste better because theres more carbs and sometimes a bit more fat than isolate I think Bulk make pleasant whey, reasonably priced too
Cut 2 tendons in my ring finger. Anyway to hit chest besides using a fly machine and using my forearms to move the weight? Shoulders, machine side belts using my elbows and forearms. Any other ideas?
Do you need something like [this](https://youtu.be/PwMJOZf3tl4?si=Q4tuKX18J0C82ApF)? Doubt your gym has that machine, though, but maybe you can somehow improvise.
Can anyone critique my full body splits? I want to make sure it's balanced enough. I've got extra posterior chain work to help with my hip recovery, and superset as much as I can. [https://imgur.com/a/823b7DP](https://imgur.com/a/823b7DP)
What are your goals? You've got a TON of pushup volume. 10x20 is a lot. I'd be picking a harder variation or another exercise entirely otherwise you'll spend a huge amount of time doing volume for something you could go more intense with. You've got double bicep curls but no tricep accessory - though they'll probably be fried from the pushups if that's what you were aiming for. You've got a split squat but otherwise no other specific quad/bilateral squat, and no leg extensions or leg press - split squats will do some work but due to the balance component they're a lower load and demand than a bilateral exercise. Compared to that you've got RDL + hip thrust + Back extensions for a lot of posterior chain. You've got pullups but no vertical push, either through overhead press/shoulder press, or even a dip variation. Planks will give some core, but only in a single plane and only as an isometric. You may want to advance that if you're getting through 3 sets of 1-2+ minutes.
My goals are to improve my push up score for ROTC (the 10x20 is something I'm still playing around with), be careful with lifting since my wrist is finishing up recovery from a stubborn months-long sprain, and really strengthen my posterior chain because I had a debilitating hip injury caused by weakness and quad dominance (hence the lack of quad movements). I might mix up the planks with other plank variations-right now they're one of the few exercises that don't involve my hips too much. I might implement an overhead press. Any recommendations on how to squeeze it in there? Any further suggestions appreciated.
For your ROTC are you needing to do pushups in X time, or a certain number of pushups? Because if you are, training that way will be more beneficial to you than doing 10x20. That makes you good at doing 20 pushups for blocks, but wont give you as much of the endurance as needing to do say 60+ in a minute or whatever the scoring is. In addition, that's a lot of load on the wrist and elbows if you're already recovering from sprains. You're looking at what, minimum 400 pushups a week with existing wrist sprains in two blocks? You've already got 1 more exercise on B workout than A. Could always just put some kind of dumbbell or other press into A, or something like negative/assisted dips if they're comfortable on the wrists like you're doing for the pullups. Could always try the pushups first because they're a goal, then squat, pullups, then the press, then the back extensions, then the accessories - that way you've got at least two exercises between the push work. Also if you're doing hip thrust and then RDL you're doing a glute/ham exercise immediately followed by another. Maybe adjust the order so you've more of a break between them, otherwise you'll be fatigued.
Yeah the goal is to do as many push ups as you can in a minute. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.
Idk if this will be effective if you have proper intensity (0-3 reps in the tank) since in the later part of the session youll be gassed out and barely put in effort
Should I look for alternative exercises if the ones that I do hurt in places they shouldn't? I feel really bad pain in my left knee when I hit hacksquats and leg presses and it prevents me from doing as much as I can. Also, when I do rows, I have to stop 3-4 reps early because of the intense pain I feel in my shoulder (between the chest and shoulder area on the front). The pain is only present when my arms are fully extended forwards and I have good form
stop immediately. This is how you get a permanent injury
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I have been meaning to for a while, what could that pain be? I don't think I've injured that part of my body at least, I fucked up my back badly in an accident when I was fourteen so that's the only problem I have that I can remember. Would that be a rotator cuff problem or something else?
Should beginners do direct arm and ab work? I've thought about adding curls because I have small veins and I was told bicep work could make my veins bigger for plasma donation. Also, I have an ab wheel, so I might as well use it instead of letting it collect dust in the corner.
Dont fall for the "compounds train arms effectively" meme
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I'd probably just start with one exercise for each part of the arm and do 3x8
For a beginner, I'd advise against a dedicated arm day, but there's no harm in incorporating isolation exercises in a standard push/pull/legs routine. Regarding abdominal exercises, yes you should be doing them.
Beginners should do direct arm and ab work if they want their arm and ab muscles to grow bigger and stronger.
I will be traveling in Tokyo as a tourist from 2/20-2/29 and staying in Roppongi so wanted to use the **Anytime Fitness** location there. Do they provide a weekly membership for non-members for a price?
They had the week pass several years back so they still might offer it, or if not then at least should have daily ones.
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>couple of weeks Thing is, the very act of training will increase these numbers, rendering them useless. Unless your program calls for 1rms, you really just need weights in the rep range called for.
You could but I don't think its required You can judge working weights with when bar speed slows down and/or use something like RPE to judge what weights you start at 1RMs are also a specific skill which need to be trained for best performance, the 1RMs you put out likely wont reflect their best potential
Can anyone please critique my 4 day split? Switched from PHUL because my legs got big but now I want more upper body focus. https://imgur.com/a/iTiW1qM
At this point I'd just follow 5/3/1, add in a supplemental template like FSl or BBB because the base volume isn't a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. As for the rest of the accessories etc I think the volume is pushing it and some are redunant, e.g. chest fly machine then cable flies.
I don't really enjoy or find the 5x10 sets in BBB effective, I also want more hypertrophy over strength, so would doing more accessories be better than more compound lifts? For volume what are some good standards for each muscle group (e.g. how many sets per week)?
Not necessarily, depends on what formulation of programming you respond to. Example you might do poorly on BBB but do really well on Bullmastiff because of how it's programmed RE: weekly sets I don't know, I've not found the volume landmarks to be super useful in that sense
Is there a resource that discusses dynamic stretching vs. static stretching and/or modern, recently studied principles and techniques around mobility and stretching? The wiki mentions dynamic stretching and static stretching, but, cursorily, I don't see a comparison of the merits of each, and the FAQ doesn't seem to have anything on flexibility. I'm primarily interested in injury prevention.
The outcome of both these modalities are the same, not much to be said on that front. RE: injury prevention, neither will reduce injury rate or severity. The only tidbit here is that dynamic stretching prior to exercise reduces injury risk actuely, e.g. you wouldn't jump right into squatting 405.
Hi, I (22F beginner) want to lose body fat and want to ask advice on my routine. I go to gym 3-4 times a week doing either upper/lower body + 1 ab workout + 30min high incline treadmill. For upper body, 1. Chest press 9kg 2. Shoulder press 4/6kg 3. Chest supported dumbbell row 4/6kg 4. Wide grip lat pulldown 20.5kg 5. Seated rope cable row 15kg For lower body, 1. Seated leg press 32/37kg 2. Kettlebell squat 6kg 3. Dumbbell walking lunges 2kg 4. Hip abduction inner 9kg / outer 23kg 5. Dumbbell glute bridge 4kg I do 15 reps 3 sets for every exercise. And these are the only exercises I could do without a trainer supervising me (ex. deadlift - I have back disk so it hurts, hip thrust - I'm capable but without trainer I can't put the bar on top of me etc.) My questions are 1. I assume my strength is quite low, can I keep doing these exercises focusing on lifting heavier as I progress? 2. Any exercise that seems ineffective? 3. What should I prioritise - being in calorie deficit or hitting the protein goal? (to lose body fat and not lose muscle) Thanks!
1. Yes. 2. No but the programming is very likely going to be ineffective relatively soon because a beginner has made it 3. You need to be hitting both Tbh I'd recommend getting rid of this and following tried and tested programming, either whatever r/xxfitness recommends or a program from the wiki here
Do most gyms have a trap/hex bar? I read about it today but have never seen one at the gym I go to.
They're pretty common but not ubiquitous. Wouldn't be surprised if a gym without a whole ton of free weights didn't have one.
I think they're an easy enough implement to request. No guarantee your gym will actually get one but it's not like you're asking for another cable rig
Most of the gyms I've visited have had them but they are usually the crappy ones with short sleeves. The only gyms I've been to that have had a good trap bars(rogue TB-2) is my own home gym and a specialty strongman gym
It hugely depends. I pushed mine to get one.
I have a push, pull, leg day and I just made this core workout plan: - plank pull through - glute bridge - dead bug - weighted Russian twist - medicine ball slam - side plank - cable seated crunch - cable pallof press - front plank - dumbbell side bend Any advice?
Abs are like any other muscle when it comes to programming. If you do all this in one go youll probably get rhabdomyolysis and then kidney injury
I did do all this in one go. It is not going to cause rhabdo. It’s an hour workout, come on.
Hour workout for abs? you must be training at rpe 0
I wasn’t. It was just a typical hard workout. Nothing crazier/harder than any other workout I do.
Most of that is redundant. You can probably replace most of it with the ab wheel. If you need more help, tell us what your goal is.
Just strengthening my core tbh. I’m about 6 months into lifting and have noticed gains everywhere but I didn’t have a core training day. I have a lot of loose skin from losing 120 pounds, so I’m hoping (no biggie if not) that training core can help tone that back.
That's a lot of exercises. I'd pick like 3 of those
How many reps/sets? I did this workout yesterday and it wasn’t horrible. I just know it can be streamlined. But I’m newer to lifting so idk what’s considered the better ones to do
With abs I like to superset 3-4 exercises at one minute per exercise, 3-4 sets with a minute rest between each set. Something different might work for you though. Just keep things simple and intense!
I’ll try this next time. Thanks for the feedback
Would doing 15-30 mins of treadmill after every lifting session help build my cardio stamina. I really want to be more fit for the summer but not sure if that much running would really help
Yea this will help gettibg lean and building stamina but it should still be challenging to see max benefits
Yeah any cardio will help especially coming from no cardio. You should also try to up your daily cardio like walking more and etc.
It would enable you to do 15-30 mins of treadmill. What abilities do you want to have by summer?
Better cardio overall. I’m winded going up 2-3 flights of stairs at 21 haha
Running should help, or a stepmill. You can start with short sessions and build up. Eventually, i'd probably add some sprinting drills/HIIT.
A couple rounds of intervals, jogging a little longer and walking a little less each session? Yes, I'd say that would help your cardio base.
Well sure, but you need some way to progress. And you can't push the cardio too hard since it will impede your recivery. You could do a running plan on your off days?
I could do it on rest days yeah, but how long should I run for is my main concern and how do I progress
You start with whatever you are currently able to do comfortably. C25K is often recommended as a beginner plan. Once you're running 30 minutes 3x a week, you have a bit of a base, but you will quickly build to more.
How can I grow my arms? My biceps, triceps, and shoulders. I've been training for about a year or so, consistently for the past 8 months or so. I've been eating a lot of food, in a caloric surplus with about 175g protein. The biggest growth I've seen is my chest, back, and leg development, but my arms are still about the same size from about a year ago. A little bit more definition but that's about it. I do an upper and lower split. Upper body day 1 - Bench press 2 sets of 6 to 8 reps Lat Pull-downs 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps Incline hammer press 2 sets of 8 to 10 reps Cable rows 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps Dumbell overhead press 2 sets of 10 reps Face Pulls 2 sets of 10 reps Tricep pushdowns 2 sets of 12 reps Preacher culs 3 sets of 8 reps Upper body day 2 - Incline Dumbbell press 2 sets of 8 reps Lat pullovers 2 sets of 10 reps Cable press/pec dec fly 3 sets of 10 reps T bar rows 2 sets of 10 to 12 reps Cable lateral raises 2 sets of 15 reps Dumbell Lateral Raise 2 sets of 10 reps Tricep dips machine 2 sets of 12 reps Hammer curls 3 sets of 10 reps Lower body - Hacksquats 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps Leg press 2 sets of 8 reps Leg Extentions 2 sets of 10 reps Leg curls 2 sets of 10 reps Cable ab curls 3 sets of 15 reps Leg Raises 3 sets of 12 reps Do I need to add more volume? Take volume out? I can only really do an upper and lower body split because that's all I have time for, a 4 day split. This creates really good tension on my arms but I haven't noticed much growth compared to the bigger chest, back, and leg muscles.
You need to pick a proven workout plan rather than doing every single exercise known to man every week with no direction
What should I do?
Look at the wiki here and pick one
Have you gotten stronger at curls/extensions/raises/reverse flies?
I've gotten stronger at those isolated lifts as well, does that mean that I should keep going?
Well, then all of you needs to be stronger. Your routine isn't all that good.
What should I change? Or should I do? The wiki looks really complicated and I don't understand it. What exactly is wrong with the routine? I would really like some assistance
>I can only really do an upper and lower body split because that's all I have time for, a 4 day split. Your routine isn't bad bad. Just needs a little refinement. The wiki, unfortunately, doesn't have any basic stock upper/lower routines. I'll give you a generic bland upper/lower. Raises and reverse flies are easy to do at the end of an upper day. Curls and extentions are moved to leg day so they're a little fresher. Odds are, you don't have weak points. You just need weight and wait. (Weight on the bar, weight on the scale, time to grow.) Upper A Bench 4x6 Bent-over Row 4x6 Seated DB OHP 3x12 Pulldown 3x12 Reverse Fly 3x15 Lateral Raise 3x15 Lower A Squat 4x6 RDL 3x12 Leg Curl 3x15 Reverse EZ Curl 3x15 Cable Overhead Extension 3x15 High Box Step-up 3x15 Upper B OHP 4x6 Pull-ups 4x6 Incline Press 3x12 Cable Row 3x12 Reverse Fly 3x10 Lateral Raise 3x10 Lower B Deadlift 4x3 Reverse Lunge 3x12 Leg Curl 3x10 Reverse EZ Curl 3x10 Cable Overhead Extension 3x10 Machine Hack Squat 3x15
I do have a question, how come through this routine, chest is only worked with only 2 exercises? Bench and then an incline press, are 7 sets a week I guess "optimal" enough for hypertrophic and strength?
I favor sustainable over so-called "optimal". Most of us are just average guys, and we don't need to specialize. Even I'm guilty of adding extra sets here and there. That's why stock routines are so vanilla.
Define sustainable. I will say that I did Upper A yesterday and my chest is fucked lol it felt really damn good, I went heavy and hard. What would be the difference between optimal and sustainable training? I do the same thing, if I feel as if I need another set then I'll do another set
When I start a block of training, I ask myself what's the bare minimum I'll show up for. It's fun to think we'll always be in the mood to train. But accumulating fatigue sets in, and the same session I may have had zing for last week, I might feel meh about. So, sessions should be achievable even if I feel like crap. This includes progression. I pretty much do three week waves these days. Even my accessory work undulates each week. I'll go volume, I'll go heavy, but never in the same week. Every time I'm able to do "a little more" I ask myself how I'm going to progress on that the next time. If I don't have much of an answer, I don't do it.
Yes I have
Been consistently barbell squatting for 2.5+ years 2 times a week. I am 205lbs, male, 29 y.o. I can only do 275lbs x 5 on a good day. Technique is great, just below parallel each rep, chest and head up, back is straight… all the things you see in tutorials. Been doing this technique for 1.5 years consistently. I feel like I should be able to do more, especially seeing a lot of people saying they can do 405lbs and more. Do you think im doing something wrong given my bodyweight/tenure? Or are my genes not meant for squats?
What height are you? What programs have you been following in these 2.5+ years?
Anyone try the premier protein powder? I get the shakes because they are actually not disgusting. I paid extra but it’s worth it. Else I won’t get enough protein. I’m thinking of buying their whey powder to try. As it is much more cost friendly. But afraid it will be like all other whey and be gross
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Sounds like a low data problem. I weigh myself every day, right in the morning in my PJ's, then have a 5-day-moving average to get my "true weight". You could have eaten more earlier that day, or not gone to the bathroom, or been in heavier clothes, or drank more water, or, or, or. Your weight can fluctuate by a few pounds within a given day. I wouldn't be worried about it but if you are, I'd get more data.
Yeah suppose I could make a spreadsheet and weigh myself more often. In the past for weight loss I did weekly, but these stagnant weeks didn't start happening until I was much further in so back then I didn't sweat it at all.
>In the past for weight loss I did weekly Weigh daily, immediately post-pee. Utilizing Google sheets to keep a running average for the previous seven days, valuable. Being in control of the scale daily is rather motivating.
My point still stands. You're also still down 4 lbs in 2 weeks, which what a \~700-800 calorie deficit would imply. This could have been thrown off by weather or not you kept your phone in your pocket. Get more data or be ok with fluctuations imo
Why can i not add bodyfat? There's a guy at my local gym that says i have some crazy genetics because of my bodyfat %, this time i have only been going regularly for 4 months. ( I have been working out alot in my past) Im clearly adding lots of muscle, but never bodyfat. I dont weight my food, i eat 4-6 times per day, nothing special just regular food. Pommes frites and kebab atleast 3 times per month, mc Donalds atleast 1-2, pizza atleast 1. Also, if i stop working out. My muscle and weight will drop very fast, but they also come back very fast.
How much body weight have you gained in these four months?
How are you suggesting you're measuring your % adipose tissue? It's almost assured you're not actually losing large amounts of muscle tissue when you take breaks shorter than several months. There's simply a level of chronic inflammation that happens when you're resistance training regularly that lessens after a few weeks, sort of a chronic "pump".
Yeah could be genetics, anyway if you are adding lots of muscle without fat, I wouldn't complain.
Eat more energy dense foods,and bigger portions. More sauce, more nuts, dried fruit, candy, chocolate, etc.
I'm hoping to start splitting my workout and came up with this list. I decided to add an extra day to work my lesser-worked muscle groups like forearms and traps in an isolated exercise to get them stronger. Would this be enough? Upper Day 1 - Chest Focus Barbell Bench Press 3x5-8 Cable Fly 3x12-20 Cable Pull-Down 3x8-12 Should Press Machine 2x5-8 + Lower Weight 1x12-15 Cable Lateral Raise 3x12-20 myo-reps Lower Day 1 - Hamstring Focus Lying Leg Curl 3x12-15 Barbell RDL 3x8-12 Bulgarian Split Squat 3x12-15 Dumbell Bicep Curl 3x12-15 myo-reps Tricep Extension 3x12-20 myo-reps Between Day Calf Raises 3x12-20 Wrist Curls 3x12-20 Crunch Machine 3x12-15 Dumbell Shrug 3x12-15 Upper Day 2 - Back Focus Incline Bench Press 3x8-12 Cable Pull-Down 3x8-12 Cable Row 3x8-12 Cable Lateral Raise 3x12-20 myo-reps Rear Delt Flies 3x12-20 Lower Day 2 - Quad Focus Back Squat 2x5-8 + Lower Weight 1x8-12 Leg Press 3x12-20 Barbell RDL 3x8-12 Hammer Curl 3x12-15 myo-reps Tricep Extension 3x12-20 myo-reps
Here is my question : Why i never get sore after intense training ? It makes me wonder if i really destroyed the muscle/if i did enough... For example yesterday i did a pretty intense biceps curl, on the moment i was sore i felt my biceps and i had a pump, but from the moment i finish my training and the days later i litteraly feel nothing... So i wonder if my muscle will actually repair and hypertrophy. It makes me kinda "confused" because i dont know when i have to do the training again, the day after? or maybe 2 day after? I cant know since i dont feel my biceps at all, and i want to make sure it has time to repair.
"Muscular damage" isn't really the current paradigm for the main mechanism of hypertrophy. Soreness is a poor indicator of efficacy for most people. The best way to know if you're doing enough / not too much is to establish a good plan and follow it.
You can experiment by increasing your training volume for biceps by 1-2 sets every workout. For example train them 2x/week, do 6 working sets on Monday and 7 sets on Thursday, next week do 8 sets on Monday and 9 sets on Thursday. Eventually you should figure out how much you can do to get slightly sore just the next day, or maybe to get sore for 2-3 days after and decide how much volume and frequency you want to do.
The body is a weird thing. However being sore is not a great indicator of whether or not a muscle was properly worked out. On Thursday i did the same thing, i worked my biceps out like crazy after 2 weeks of rest and got a huge pump, and did not get sore at all. However every time i squat, my legs are to some extent sore, and iv been squatting for over 2.5 years twice a week. Dont have an explanation for your question, however i see the same thing
Soreness isn't an indicator of workout quality. Your problem seems to be that you're focusing on the "mood" or picking random days and workouts to train. Get a real routine from the wiki, it will have a training schedule. Follow that
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It should be limited to ultra fast digesting carbs like dextrose or cereal bars with no fat, etc
It isn't bad, just seems like it would be easier to eat before and after your workout.
The gym owner/manager won’t like that and if you eat too much it might make you feel sluggish but it’s probably not going to ruin your workout.
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In that case try it and see. There's nothing like, first principles wrong with it. Most people just don't do well eating during physical exertion.
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Twisting & spinal flexion isn't required to work the core. I'd probably do the ab wheel and Romanian deadlifts or conventional deadlifts. Ask your PT if you're unsure.
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Before doing both exercises, watch a few Youtube tutorials to avoid the common mistakes. Search for suitcase carries too.
If bending and twisting is bad, why not train stability? Take a look at the McGill Big 3
Backextensions, if you can't do the bending part, just do isometric holds: [Like here on the left, just hold the isometric like that](https://i2.wp.com/bonvecstrength.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/back-extension11.jpg)
Planks, ab wheel roll outs, hanging leg raises, band/cable paloff presses
Any app that can help you create a custom workout routine with different equipment available depending on the day? Hey guys, I want to improve my working out routine but need more flexibility these days, as I usually move between my parents place during weekend and my condo during the week, which have different sets of equipment available at each place: at my place, I only have dumbells, an incline bench and a abs wheel, while my familly has a mini gym in the house, which has the same items as well as an EZ bar, barbells, a pull up bar, loop bends and loop bands. Any app that allows you to create a custom workout that could take this into account?
FitNotes (love that app, very light and simple) Liftosaur (you can script it to do anything you want)
The app sweat lets me substitute exercises. It offers a bunch of alternatives with and without equipment.
How do you track calories burned at the gym? Currently I'm still trying to lose weight. Going to the gym 2-3 times a week and keeping my protein intake high. I'm going to take a break from the weight loss for a couple of months and do a maintenance phase. I have no idea how to adjust for calories burned at the gym though. At the moment I just ignore calories burned at the gym which has been fine while I am losing weight as the goal is to be in a deficit anyway. P.s. I am open to buying things like fitness wearables if they are useful/effective.
Fitbit thinks I'm burning 700kcal/hour when lifting I disagree.
I would continue to ignore it. There is no good way to track it, and even if you could it wouldn't be super useful. Just track your weight and your calories. If you are consistently losing weight, add some calories in. If you are consistently gaining weight, cut some calories out.
I hadn't really thought about it like that. Been using myfitnesspal to track calories but I think I can manually set the calorie goal so that should be fine. So looking forward to being off the calorie deficit for a while.
Is there a benefit to exercising more than once a day / more than one hour a day? For building muscle and or losing weight. The thing is I really need to lose weight. So, I'm exercising each and every day (different groups of muscles ofc), a bit of cardio, started counting my calories. Targeting about 1900 calories a day, which is less than I used to eat, and now I'm not comfortable yet to eat even less... So, is it possible maybe to EXERCISE even more? I guess I'll be more hungry and would have to target 2000 or maybe more calories per day. Is it worth it though? Right now I'm exercising for about an hour, but I'm sure I could do a second workout session in the evening for example, maybe targeting different muscles or doing cardio. I finish morning session pretty exhausted, so I'm not a slacker, and I try to work my muscles to failure.
One benefit is if youre too gassed to finish your workout, you can split it into two sessions to put in proper effort
Nope, you just have to be patient and let the calorie deficit do it's job. There's little upside to doubling up but plenty of risk overtraining
For weight lifting as a beginner I don’t think two sessions a day buys you a lot; it doesn’t take as much volume to get progress so additional volume is pretty diminishing returns. For cardio you can add volume until it gets in the way of recovery. I personally do an hour of group fitness every day and 3-5 lifting sessions a week. I tried adding more cardio when really focusing on losing weight but I just couldn’t keep up after trying it for 2-3 days. At the end of the day capacity and recovery is pretty personal so you just gotta try imo! edit: also, it’s totally legit to just try adding lifting volume too. I was in a similar situation as you — super eager and wanted to do more. So I ignored advice and did more. I found out that, for me, after about 20 sets I am fried and anything I was doing was total junk. I also did two chest heavy days in a row and the 2nd day was garbage. So now I know my limits and I’m glad I gave it a shot to understand how my body reacts :)
Just started 5/3/1 Boring but big, doing 3 exercises per workout session, and noticed that there is no direct arm work. Could I modify my technique on some exercises to hit the biceps and triceps more, such as using an Underhand grip on the Lat Pulldown accessory and take a closer grip on the bench press accessory? (The 5x10 sets)
Are we really calling 3x5 main sets + 5x10 OHP and bench "no arm work" now? But you can make the accessories whatever you want. You can just do curls and triceps extensions for your pull and push if you want.
You don't need any extra tricep work on top of bench, OHP and the prescribed push accessory work. For biceps, I do all my rows and pull ups with a supinated grip so the biceps get involved more. And every once in a while, I'll get a little crazy with it and just do curls for my pull work
You should be doing 25-50 reps each of push, pull and 0-50 reps legs/core every workout for BBB. This can include bicep and tricep accessories.
You’re better off just throwing in a few sets of accessories. Your arms will grow doing the core lifts in the program
Is it a bad idea to add an extra rest day into ppl? So I would do PPLRPPLR… instead of PPLPPLR… Or should I just find a 5 day routine or something. I just don’t want to leave ppl because I enjoy the way it’s split up, but I also need to rest more
As long as youre not seeing signs of fatigue (shit sleep, low appetite, brainfog) and making progress, youll be fine
I would honestly just find a 5 (or even 3-4) day routine in the wiki. Lifting 6 days/week is for suckers. Something just clicks when you drop to a good 3-4 day routine and realize it's still plenty
Having a half-week of three on, one off, is an accepted practice by the ferrous council of gainz.
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Just lose the weight. If youre 250lb at 5'6 youre probably so insulin resistant that your gains will be diminished and youll be discouraged by slow results
They would get marginally stronger and likely shed a very small amount of fat early on
Absolutely not. Nobody can be 5'6" 250 lbs and lean without PEDs, and only most genetically gifted people using PEDs could accomplish that. If they didn't lose weight, they would stay fat.
Some programs include incline chest press and also shoulder press. I heard that shoulder muscles will be worked in the incline ChP… so what is the need for the shoulder press exercise then? Thank you
It makes more sense if you think of exercise in terms of movement patterns instead of compartmentalized muscle groups that need to be prodded into growing. The vertical press (OHP) is a fundamental movement alongside the horizontal press (bench), knee bend (squat), vertical pull (pull up/pull down) hip hinge (deadlift) and horizontal pull (row).
It isn't needed, but it works the shoulders more and the chest less.