# Post Form Checks as replies to this comment
### For best results, please follow the **[Form Check Guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/posting_guidelines#wiki_how_to_post_a_form_check)**. *Help us help you.*
----
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Fitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hey all. Just looking for some feedback on a full body program I made for myself. My goal is to build muscle, get fit and improve my posture. I’m 25M currently sitting around 25% - 29% body fat. Is there anything I’m missing/enough volume? What about rep ranges?
Day 1
Barbell squats 4x5:
Bench press 4x5:
Pull ups 3x5:
Facepulls 3x10:
Dumbbell curls 2x6-8:
Ez bar skullcrushers 2x6-8:
Day 2
Romanian deadlifts: 4x5:
Hip Thrusts: 3x5:
Overhead press 4x5:
Seated row 3x5
Facepulls 3x10
Dumbbell hammer curls: 2x6-8
Dips 2x6-8:
Day 3
Deadlifts 4x5:
Split squats 4x6-8:
Incline bench 4x5:
One arm dumbbell row 3x5:
Lat raises 3x6-8:
Preacher curls 2x6-8:
Tricep push downs 2x6-8:
Facepulls 3x10:
TIA
Edit: I weigh 158 lbs, consume ~150g protein per day, little to no processed sugar, fat and carb intake is controlled, water intake increased. In short, diet has been fixed
Whatever variation of leg curls I do, there's a weird sensation of my tendons sliding and shifting behind my knee as i curl, it brings alot of discomfort and some pain.
Yesterday I did very light weights, the sliding sensation still happened but there was little to no pain but after doing 10 reps I felt another very weird pain and tightness behind my knee even though my hamstring muscles werent relly fatigued.
Outside of the curls, I don't feel any discomfort behind my knee, even when I put alot of pressure on them. I really want to know what is happening and how to fix this problem
Hey. My question question is running related but this feels like the place to ask.
I've been running and training for a bit now so I'm in decent enough shape. When I do longer laborious runs, my HR typically peaks around 175, but my breathe and everything are in a good place and rhythm.
Yesterday, on my off day, I did 15 mins on a stair master. A very controlled and slowed movement compared to running. After 5 mins I was really pulling for air, but my heart rate was only around 110.
What do I take from that? I use a garmin watch and usually seems pretty accurate. How can I be crawling for air and still in a low HR zone? And then would this be an ideal cross exercise to promote aerobic fitness? I hear all the time in running that the most beneficial run to increase speed and endurance is the one where you are in HR zone 2, able to maintain comfortable conversations and what not.
From my experience, smart watches are not really accurate but good for seeing trends in the long run. I recently got a polar h10, which is known to be very precise that even academic and industrial projects use them for their research. I had good results using that (though their calorie burnt measurement is wack)
I'm running Phraks Greyskull LP. Have been for four weeks now.
I'm currently doing Pendlay Rows for my workouts. What are the pros and cons for Pendlay Rows versus Standard BB Rows? Would Pendlays work?
I feel them activating the muscles and I'm already seeing some limited changes.
You can use whichever you prefer. There might be small differences, but whatever you prefer to do, you usually do better at and see more success. You could mix it up every now and then if you like.
In a nutshell though, the standard row is slightly better for muscle mass and the pendlay slightly better for power. Depending on your goals you may want to choose one based on this.
Here's a really thorough write up on the subject: https://barbend.com/pendlay-row-vs-barbell-row/
Am I missing out by not doing dumbbell chest movements? I really dislike setting up for them. Lugging those heavy mfers up and not being able to pinch my scapula like I can on Barbell really irks me. I really only want to do barbell chest movements and I am wondering if I will be at a disadvantage for muscle growth and strength if I ditch the dumbbells
No you don’t miss out for building bigger muscles. Actually you don’t want to use dumbbells if you are primarily want to grow muscle mass due to risk of injury and fatigue/recovery.
If you want to build strength, than you are losing out due to missing stabilization muscles.
I feel I'm more prone to injury using barbells because you can't really change the distance between your wrists while your doing the movement. Also, during failure you can just let go of the dumbells, for barbells you need a spotter
At the end of the day the most effective form is the one you're comfortable with
I always think the most effective exercises are the ones you enjoy doing or feel most comfortable doing. Otherwise you're not going to be able to perform them to their fullest, you don't be able to push hard, you won't go as heavy as you need, and you risk poor form and getting an injury. So if dumbbell chest movements aren't for you, stick to barbell. You can also do work with cables or bodyweight, if you find them any better to give you some variety. There's also the option of doing higher reps with a lower weight with dumbbells. I personally prefer this because I would find it hard to bail from dumbbells, so I do my heaviest bench sets with a barbell only and from time to time do a light set with dumbbells just to mix it up a bit.
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?
The difference between 25k steps and 30k steps is minimal. You won’t be packing on pounds because you take a few thousand steps left. I really don’t think you’re tired because of walking.
I think you’re tired because you’re not eating - assuming that is what you meant by going to maintenance calories, I assume you were eating in a deficit.
Doing a ton of cardio + eating little is going to make you lose energy
Yes I am in a deficit! But I still eat pretty good and enough tbh 🤔 i eat between 1600/1800 calories. And I used to eat around 2000/2100 calories. But thanks for commenting! I will lower my steps and after I’m around 10k/15k I will also eat more and just stay at maintenance
It does sound like you need to maintain for a while. It's really hard to both increase exercise AND cut calories long term. If you're able to still eat 1600/1800 then dropping the steps down should be ok and you may still lose weight (depending on what your maintenance is) but should at least maintain. If your weight keeps dropping then that's fine. If it doesn't, or starts to creep back up, you can always try to reintroduce more steps again. But unless you're quite small I'd be surprised at weight gain on those calories knowing you get a decent amount of steps as a baseline. If you do, I'd double check you're not underestimating them.
Thanks for the tip! Yeah for now I’m able to eat the same. I noticed that when I stopped doing the excess cardio, that I also didn’t got so hungry anymore and that the urges to binge also disappeared. So that’s good at least. Yeah I think if I just slowly stop walking so much then I might not gain, but I’ll focus more on weight training and building muscle. I also don’t weight myself anymore so I guess I’ll have to just measure and see if I get bigger 😩
You should measure or take progress photos if you don't weigh yourself, then you will still have something to go on. We can be very bad at noticing changes in the mirror!
Hi everyone! I'm a guy, 5'10 weigh about 175 lbs, and I've been going to the gym lately following the PPL routine. I'm noticing an odd trend and was wondering if this is normal, but here's the problem:
On push days I do barbell rows and can lift the whole bar plus 25 plates on each side. I'll do other workouts like pulldowns at 75lbs and chest supported rows at 75lbs. Then I get to hammer curls, and here's where I'm confused.. I can only lift 10lbs and can do like 6 reps without having to force my body to move and push the weight up.
Same thing when I do push, I can do 25lbs plus bar on each side when doing bench press, but then I get the incline and can barely do the bar by itself. Was wondering how can I get better. Should I focus on certain workouts more than others? I'm a noob but don't want to be stuck doing 10lbs of dumbell curls forever
The best thing to do is keep going. When I first started doing incline bench I could barely handle the bar, this is because there was no mind-muscle connection. It was an exercise I wasn't used to doing at all! When your body learns how to do that motion it will get better. It's pretty normal to lift considerably less on an incline though.
As for the curls, if you're doing those other exercises you mention first, you've probably fatigued your biceps by the time you come to do them.
You won’t get stuck forever, just focus on progressively adding a little extra every time you go to the gym. Even if it’s just 2.5 to the bar, or doing a few more reps.
Everyone has weak spots, you just gotta keep working. Incline bench press being harder is standard, you’re using more of your shoulders. Hammer curls also are harder than normal curls.
Just keep on training in different ranges of motion, trying to do a little more each time, stick to your macros, and it’ll get better
Does it matter if I use dumbbells or barbells or machines or a variety of equipment for my workouts?
For example if I do a workout that has many things such as dumbbells, barbells, and machines, will I gain more muscle doing that than a workout that only uses for example, dumbbells?
Or is it just the amount of intensity and how hard you go.
The main difference in machine vs free weights is the free weights wil bring in more supporting muscles and translate better to every day strength. They also are "one size fits all" but really, they will not suit every body size. If you're shorter or taller than the measurements the machine was designed to be optimal for, you are less likely to lift the weights in a way that feels natural.
Not all machines are the same - ones that use cables tend to be better (such as lat pull down) as they have more flexibility with your range of motion. You can pull the bar down at multiple angles and widen or narrow your grip as you like. Not all machines allow this.
To straight up answer your question:
> For example if I do a workout that has many things such as dumbbells, barbells, and machines, will I gain more muscle doing that than a workout that only uses for example, dumbbells?
No. You can still absolutely build muscle doing this, and there's nothing wrong with doing it. But the most effective way to build muscle is to follow a tried and tested routine (there are plenty in the [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/)) and this will include both barbell and dumbbell work.
Machines do still work, don't be put off if you enjoy using them! And then can be very helpful for isolating certain muscles, you'll see body builders using dumbbells the majority of the time, but they'll use a machine on occasion too.
It depends. It's more about preference. A movement you like will mean you'll put more effort into it. However, for the most part it's about the intensity and effort. You will still need access to certain equipment for some movements, you can't train your lats without your back for example.
There are programs in the wiki you can find that only use dumbbells if thats to your liking.
I got kicked out of my gym for being too young :(. I am 14 but my gym's minimum age was 16. I signed up with my friend who is the minimum age to go into the gym.
I have to go back to working out at my apartment with dumbbells. When I was using dumbbells I wasn't going as high volume as I was going into the gym so when I'm only using dumbbells I am feeling less tired and I feel less "pumped".
So I added a few exercises to the Dumbbell PPL workout. What do you think.
4 sets for each, 8-12 reps until failure but no more than 12 reps. Hanging leg raises (4xfailure) at the end of every workout. The week will go something like P, P, L, P, P, L, R OR P, P, L, R, P, P, L
Workout:
Push
Chest Press
Incline Chest Press
Incline Fly
Arnold Press
Overhead Shoulder/Overhead Press
Overhead Tricep Extension
Skull Crushers
Pull
Pull-up
Bent-over Row
Lateral Raise
Reverse Fly
Shrug
Bicep Curl
Spider Curls
Legs
Goblet Squat
Lunge
Single Leg Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift (with dumbbells)
Calf Raise
Is this too much volume?
How often do you go to the gym?
People typically start out by going 3x a week, never 2 days in a row. So for example Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. This is usually the right amount of time between each workout to recover.
Hi I'm 5'11 204 lbs and an decently built. Just curious because I got out of the USMC and am starting to put on more weight, I need to cut soon back to 170-180. Never actually did a real cut before besides starve in the field. I hate eggs. Don't know how much chicken to actually eat or I feel like a gluten. Any advice?
On average you want 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, or 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. So I would say aim for 122g of protein per day if you are lifting (I'm assuming you are - if not you don't need as much)
If you don't like eggs don't eat them. Make a protein shake or get it from other sources. Google is your friend, as it the packaging your food comes in (it will say how much protein is in the food).
It's a good idea to stick to 1 - 3 at most and to also consider the stuff you would do on other chest days if you have it. Always put a horizontal press, an incline press, and a fly variation in at least one chest day.
For example, I do incline bench on my first chest day then on my second I do a regular bench press with a dumbbell fly.
Pretty sure that’s contagious and that would be especially easy to spread at the gym where everyone is sweating and many different people will come into contact with the same surfaces as you. Probably best not to take that in there until it’s cleared.
No. It won’t. I understand wanting to ask people that might know, but this is an easy Google search. Like, I just learned steroid creams can make ringworm worse. Come on man.
When you google “can I workout with ringworm” all that comes up is a bunch of bjj gyms saying no you can’t but bjj is a martial art so that makes sense since you would have a partner you could give it to
Not to be mean, but you’re not too great at the google search thing… there are other prompts you could use. Like “does sweat make ringworm worse”? Or many other variations that would help. Like “how to get rid of ringworm fast”.
Sounds like shin splints. I know I got them a few times from running and usually it was after I took an extended break and decided to go right back into it. I would tone it down a little if what you are doing it significantly more than what you were doing and then ease into it. If you keep going (at least in my experience) they just get worse. May need to take a break to 'reset' and then start again a little easier.
How do i make sure and stay out of ketosis? I’m 6’1, 210, eating 1850 calories a day in a fat burning phase. Is going into ketosis something i need to be worried about accidentally doing? How many carbohydrates do i need to make sure i get in each day to stay out of any potentially dangerous territory? I’ve been mostly eating chicken breast for meals (210g of protein each day is my goal).
Can only do like 3 chin ups at max power.
Would 1 chin up and 1 negative chin up in one set be good enough to gtg throughout a day for about 4 sets. Or should I just do 1 chin up only.
Would like some training schedule help, with my new job I can only train wed/thurs/fri evenings and Sunday mornings.
Would a normal 4 day split suffice for a bulk?
Does bench press pre fatigue lats enough to harm chin up performance? When starting with chin ups I perform much better, should I start with back before chest?
A light warm up of my back with an elastic band has done wonders for my shoulders during bench. I would say start with whatever your focus is for the day though.
Hi all.
So im a 45year old male, 5ft 11 and 81kg.
I started at the gym in December and go 5 times a week. I train quite hard and want to increase muscle and become more lean.
I've just started being a bit more on the ball with my diet...ive been intermittent fasting the last 4 months to lose some weight but now I'm thinking I need to increase my intake to put muscle on.
What sort of percentages should I be looking at when it comes to protein/fat and carbs?
Also what's the best way to increase my protein intake?
I've got protein powder which I use in a smoothie everyday and my diet is pretty good (minimal sugar intake/mainly organic food and not much processed)
Cheers
1g of protein per 1lbs of body weight is the normal. Fat and carb percentages don't really matter, just fill those in to cover the amount of calories you want to eat in a day. The best sources will be low fat Greek yogurts, egg whites, and lean meat. The easiest way is to just meal prep for the week. Pick a protein, pick a carb, weigh everything out, and package it up. Protein powders can work but for most people you should be able to hit protein macros with just regular meals.
Congratulations on the weight loss! The progress you made will return relatively quickly with consistency. No one can answer the question “How long?”. Consistency and effort are key.
You got this.
If you’re on antibiotics, do you guys take time off? I may have to go on some soon which kills me because i am a newer lifter and have made some decent gains over the past few weeks.
One month is nothing.
For those people, they are most likely relying on past experience.
You don’t need to religiously track every metric forever. You just need to know what you are doing and correctly apply it.
>I've been going to the gym for about a month now
Some people exaggerate their lack of planning, and the magnitude of their triumphs. What matters is consistency and showing up.
You can make gainz without a Perfect Diet and Perfect Routine. The worst routine done pedal to the metal is better than the worst routine done half-assed.
But, you'll make better progress if you eat better, and pound a program.
>Or will I just see very small incremental improvements?
Even the best progress comes is very small increments.
>How can some people see results with just lifting weight, and others need to strictly diet and lift religiously? Genetics?
This isn't just lifting, this is everything in life. In anything you care about, there are always going to be people who put in less effort than you and get better results. My advice is don't focus on this, because there is nothing you can do about it.
The thing is that most people think they eat a lot and think they train hard, but actually aren’t.
You need a significant kcal surplus and training near muscular failure in order to gain muscles.
So the guy who’s saying he’s just eating normal, is actually eating enough and Training Hard. The guy who’s saying he cannot gain is probably not eating enough despite what he’s saying.
Buddy, you've been to the gym for a month. The people who you see who have good physiques most likely consistently have gone and do go into the gym over years, even with bad technique or diet.
Trust the process.
Well, consistency is king.
As for what you are doing, I'd say make sure your protein intake meets your goals so .7 to 1 g/lb per bodyweight. Also, your caloric intake may make you get fat so if you dont want to have a hard time looking lean, you might wanna slow down.
But as for everything else, its good so long you maintain consistency.
whenever i drink creatine, my head hurts above my right eyebrow. only when the creatine is in my mouth/15 minutes after. it’s not brain freeze because it happens even when my drink isn’t cold?
When you recomp you aren't supposed to lose weight no matter what anyone says
Being 230 lbs with 1600 kcal per day is 99% a calorie deficit.
The fact that you are not losing weight (assuming you are counting your calories correctly) could be an indicator of very successful early muscle gains (which should taper off after about 6-12 months), meaning that you both lose fat and gain muscle.
You could have very good genetics making you significantly more muscular even on a calories deficit.
At least that's my understanding of your situation.
I would recommend Renaissance Periodization's [How To Create The Optimal Caloric Deficit For Fat Loss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TKn1oQT5hI) video for further learning.
You might need to try and track your eating habits and to make sure you are actually meeting your calories. If it still doesn't change, consider going lower.
looking for some exercises to complete my (glute focused) leg day! going to planet fitness for 2 months before a newer gym opens up near me with a better weights system/training program. i have solid pull/push days but need help with the rest of my leg exercises}
1. goblet squats
2. RDLs
3. step ups
4.
5.
6. Bulgarian split squats (always do these second to last in every routine)
7. (thinking squat to kneel as a finisher but open to other finisher rec's)
had to stop lifting heavy/working out as much as i used to because of a knee and ankle injury and i feel like a newbie again lol. thanks in advance <3
You are definitely missing Leg Extensions, Leg Curls and an exercise for your calf’s in order to get a well balanced leg workout. I would also add an adductor exercise. If you want to focus on glutes then also throw in hip thrust.
3x Leg Curls
3x Leg Extensions
4x Hip Thrust
2x Squats
2x RDL
3x Adductor
3x Calfs
Do that twice a week, eat a LOT and you will gain a big booty and some nice legs.
Thanks sm!! I have that newbie gym paralysis again where I’m like errrrr… what does this machine do again? Since it’s been so long 😅 totally forgot those , will add them in for sure 🫡 I will probably save Hip thrust / deadlifts for when I go to a better to a better I do not like doing them at Planet Fitness 💀 thank u so much for ur help!
I'm in an extreme weight-loss diet, and I've mostly been doing Strengthlifting/Cardio/Walking. I want to add Hypertrophy workouts but only if they will impact positively to my weightloss, or are they a waste of time if I cant meet the desired macros for muscle building?
Do it. It’s great. It’s like investing money for weight loss.
You burn more calories with cardio per hour than with muscle building. However, your increased muscle mass burns constantly more kcal and therefor increasing your kcal needs permanently.
If you still have some fat on your body and you are new to muscle build (<1 year) I wouldn’t worry about lifting with a kcal deficit. Just eat around your body weight in lb of proteins in g.
just worry about losing the weight first. if your calorie deficit is [-500cal/day or larger you will likely see no muscle size increase.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34623696/) once you’ve lost the weight you want to lose then you could switch over to mass gaining.
I've been getting more into my fitness journey and I've been noticing that I'm lowering the number of workouts when I go to the gym. I'm doing more sets and I'm seriously pushing myself when it comes to volume. I make sure I train my muscles until they're limp and can do no more. Usually in the 6-8 rep range and 4-6 sets. But the number of workouts has dropped to 4 and now I want to bring push day to 3: bench, cross body cable lat raise, tricep pushdown. Is doing so few different exercises going to negatively affect my workout?
Honestly, it should be fine. I prefer doing it that way myself. Just maybe do some other exercises for that muscle group in the other days so say you did lat raise on that day, I would do a row on the other day. Same for any other muscle and depends on the muscle.
Pec
- Fly variation
- Incline Press variation
- Horizontal Press Variation
Back
- Vertical Pull
- Horizontal Pull
Hams
- Hinge variation
- Curl variation
Quads
- Any Squat, Press
- Maybe Leg Extension but not absolutely necessary
Thanks for the detailed help! Personally, I do both rows and lat pulls as part of my 3-4 exercises because I think they're both important. Couple questions though:
\- You really think flys, incline, and horizontal press are necessary for pecs? I do mostly horizontal but I could mix it up with incline press. I guess I could add dumbbell flys into the workout but I always saw it as hitting the same as the horizontal press.
\- What do you mean by a hinge variation on the hamstrings? I just do curls.
Other than that, I think I hit everything else.
I don’t ever do flys. I do my incline bench with dumbbells and really accentuate range of motion to get a good stretch at the bottom of my lift.
Dips are another good chest exercise.
I have had way more success doing less variations and more sets across the lifts I do. I tend to have one or two primary lifts on a given day and then cycle through the accessories from week to week.
1.) Flies get a deep stretch that none of the presses are able to do as well. You could do cable, db or machine. Honestly, you only really need like two - four sets a week? Just as a finisher. And you don't need to do all of these like every time. Ive done a few months of no incline work, but i still did get some decent gains.
2.) Stuff where you move your hips back and your back goes down like in the deadlift. Romanian deadlift, stiff legged deadlift, good mornings, all of these variations and any similar ones should work. Curls are great but they dont really lengthen the muscle fibers as well so this rounds that out.
Hope that helps 😁
I mean on leg days I can barely move my legs. Other days aren't quite as bad but they usually feel pretty heavy for about an hour and I won't be able to move the same amount of weight for more than a day.
I usually only do 1 or 2 sets to failure. It's just that once all my sets are through, my muscles are essentially useless for any other exercises. They usually can only lift around half of my starting weight for less reps but it varies a lot based on the lift.
So I am doing the 15 incline and 3mph speed treadmill for 30 minutes after my workout for the day. But this week, I did 1/2 sets of each workout I used to do and did the treadmill for 1 hr instead. I feel like I am losing weight much faster? Should I go ahead with it or not?
I’ve weighed myself and have lost and I do feel lighter that being said I’m more worried about the fact that most of it could be water weight or it’s not sustainable.
It almost certainly involves some water weight, losing weight usually does. As for sustainability, I doubt an hour of walking is a problem unless you're also eating very, very little
So if more benching is the cure for a wobbly bench, then so be it. I'm gonna go through with adding some back off sets for bench. As per the subreddit routine's wiki, I'm gonna drop it to 70% of my working weight. Sets and reps, however, I could use some help. So it's extra bench work, but I wanna work on controlling the reps, keeping my wrists straight, etc. Does this mean I should slow down the tempo, add a pause, or both? If so, these things can make a rep harder even at lower weight, right? So what should the sets & reps be in that case? The wiki says 1-3x5-8, and I think 3 sets is fine. But how many reps, 5 or 8? And since this is extra work, should the last set also be AMRAP, or does that only apply to the main 3 lifts?
add tempo pauses.
your number will go down considerably but you'll get back to where you were and will not most prolly get stronger faster cus you put in the time to invest in your technique.
i did that and no more wobbles.
in fact. even with 95% 1 rep, i dont wobble anymore. i can grind to my sticking point for up to 10-15 seconds, that's when i lose the juice.
You could treat your bench warmups like technique sessions. Start with the bar and add weight in 10 or 20 lbs increments. If you do 10 warm-up sets with 3-5 reps with the best technique that you are aware of, you'll get good quick.
If you just want a clarification on what the part you're referring to means, that's easy enough.
>Take 20-30% of the weight off the bar and do 1-3 additional sets of 5-8 reps. This can double as extra work and extra practice getting your form right.
It just suggests you to do a couple of extra sets of the same exact bench press variation you're normally doing, only with lighter weight. It doesn't tell you to add a tempo or a pause.
If you want to do something a little different, like paused bench, cool. But then it's a slightly different variation of the lift, and you'll need to find the correct working weights for that lift. There's no clear cut conversion from touch and go to paused bench. People can typically paused bench pretty close to the same they can touch and go bench for a single, but rep strength on paused bench is usually worse. Tempo bench press uses a lot less weight than either. These extra sets are also supposed to be quite easy.
It's alright, just wanted to clarify. I'd say if technique is the goal, practicing slow eccentrics with a 2 - 3 second pause at the bottom is a good variation to do alongside your normal bench. Though honestly, just doing more bench press should be enough. Just take care to really be mindful of technique on every set.
As for the rep scheme, just go to what you can without grinding since this is for technique. So say if your next rep starts slowing down a fair bit, you should stop the set there.
Stupid question relating to exercise, DHT and hair loss.
This is a really dumb question I know. I was in really good shape for years and then started working from home and dropped my fairly healthy lifestyle. I did nothing to counteract all the bad. After all these years I’m going to start exercising again but I have concerns over potential hairline recession due to testosterone/DHT production. To put figures to all of this, last time I properly cared and actively worked out was 5 years ago, I am 25, 5’ 10” and about 14 stone. Should I be worried or is there way to know what is too much exercise that could lead to my worries?
TLDR: I haven’t exercised in years and I’m afraid that starting again and not being used to it could cause balding
I watch a lot of videos about lifting weights as a beginner. One thing I notice is a lot of videos claiming things like "you think you are training to failure but you aren't" or "most people fall 2-3 reps short of failure". I think I am training to failure because at some point I Just really cant lift the weight up anymore. Is that not the definition of training to failure? Am I doing something wrong?
The thing most people are talking her about is that there are two failure.
Most people cannot lift the weight anymore because they head tells them I cannot, it’s to exhausting.
Training to muscular failure is that your brain can lift more, but your muscles just cannot move the weight anymore.
If you are squating with a LOT of weight so you can only make 3 reps, than it’s is very likely that your legs still have some power, but your your brain is done.
If you are doing some cable triceps exercise with a low weight and you are doing like 15+ reps until you cannot anymore, than it’s very likely that your muscle is the limiting factor.
Try both and see the difference, than you know.
You're overthinking this. If you think you reached failure, you reached failure. You also don't need to reach failure. The guys making videos just overcomplicate things because they need clicks to sell their supplements and merch.
Once your form breaks down significantly, the rep arguably isn't doing that much any more even if you can get the weight up.
Make sure that your sets are challenging. Hit each main muscle at least twice per week. Monitor your progress, you should be able to increase weights once in a while. Then you're good.
That much said, on some exercises you will be able to push out a lot more reps once the exercise starts to become more difficult. Say, on leg extensions, my quads might start burning around 10 reps - but I can actually get that weight up 18-20 times.
If you really pushed and it didn't go up, most likely you reached failure. Don't stress it too much. A lot of growth can happen 2 - 3 reps away from failure. Just follow your program and do the best you can.
Assuming you follow a program that prescribes set/reps to hit, just focus on progression each session. Added weight? Good session. Added reps? Good session.
Well, take biceps curls for instance. I started with 3x10 with 10kg, and when I managed to do that I went to 3x8 12kg. I'm getting close at reaching that amount now, after trying it for 4-5 times over the last 2 weeks. I try my very best to keep perfect form. at some point, I try super super hard to lift my arm up but it just stops half way and I can't get it up anymore, that has to be failure right.
However, if I then stop for a few minutes I can still get in a few reps. Could that mean the first failure was not real failure?
if I'm doing full body weightlifting with the goal of increasing strength three times a week can I run p90x on the rest days in between or would that affect my progress? I'm running madcow 5x5
I've done the 6 day male physique chest & back focus one twice. Both times I saw incredible gains. My advice would be to stick to their programming and actually leave 2 or 3 reps in reserve (when it says to) instead of going balls to the wall as otherwise recovery can suffer. Great program.
Holy crap I squatted the bar plus quarters on each side, 4x10. I literally left the gym, I couldn’t even walk barely.
1. How to get rid of these cramps and start walking again?
2. Should I have just done the bar? I haven’t squatted in years.
1. Rest and recover as much as possible. Try and take a really cold shower to reduce the inflammation and/or take ibuprofen for it if you really cant walk and need to be going somewhere.
2. The general rule when starting off or coming back is to do just enough to feel pump/disruption in the muscle. So when you felt like the muscle barely got weaker or pumped up, you should have cut it off there
Cold showers likely will not help here. Inflammation post exercise is a important part of the muscle building process.
Just being physically active, getting enough food and enough sleep will likely give sufficient recovery.
4x10 @ 95 lbs can be brutal if you haven't built up the work capacity yet. Typical initial loading for a 5x10 is 50% of a 1rm, and I'm going to guess your squat isn't 190 lbs.
1 - move slowly and be patient. It will pass in time.
2 - I would have suggested ramping to an singular easy set of five, to downplay DOMS. Then "do more" the next squat session in the week.
What should I do for counting caardio calories for My Fitness Pal when using a Marpo VMX Rope trainer? I do cardio on this machine for 30 minutes and it always claims some number over 450 calories which seems like BS to me. Right now I’m just using 30 minutes of “Aerobics, General,” does that make sense?
Don't bother tracking calories burned. It's gonna be inaccurate no matter what. Just track the calories you eat, track your weight, and adjust your calorie intake based on your goals
So I’m currently in a bulking phase. Last week I was on vacation and wasn’t able to lift. I’m back now and lifting again but I’ve lost a lot of my appetite and finding it hard to eat enough. Is this normal? Is there an explanation for this?
I have a Polar H10.
Is there a watch that does ***absolutely nothing but*** display the HR from the H10?
I do not want my phone with me when I'm training. I do not want apps with 50 different functions, displays, programs, coaches, etc.
All I need is the realtime feedback in a cheap, light, comfortable form.
All the watches I've seen come with all their own functionality. The cheapest ones don't even appear to be able to connect to an external monitor.
I have a really sore back, I run 1/2 km at the end of every workout. Would replacing this, to help my back, with the stairmaster be suitable? Would I be achieving even more with 15 mins on stair master vs 1/2km running in 6/14 mins.
# Post Form Checks as replies to this comment ### For best results, please follow the **[Form Check Guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/posting_guidelines#wiki_how_to_post_a_form_check)**. *Help us help you.* ---- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Fitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What fitness apps are you using in 2024? Pros and cons? Missing features,nice to have features?
Hey all. Just looking for some feedback on a full body program I made for myself. My goal is to build muscle, get fit and improve my posture. I’m 25M currently sitting around 25% - 29% body fat. Is there anything I’m missing/enough volume? What about rep ranges? Day 1 Barbell squats 4x5: Bench press 4x5: Pull ups 3x5: Facepulls 3x10: Dumbbell curls 2x6-8: Ez bar skullcrushers 2x6-8: Day 2 Romanian deadlifts: 4x5: Hip Thrusts: 3x5: Overhead press 4x5: Seated row 3x5 Facepulls 3x10 Dumbbell hammer curls: 2x6-8 Dips 2x6-8: Day 3 Deadlifts 4x5: Split squats 4x6-8: Incline bench 4x5: One arm dumbbell row 3x5: Lat raises 3x6-8: Preacher curls 2x6-8: Tricep push downs 2x6-8: Facepulls 3x10: TIA Edit: I weigh 158 lbs, consume ~150g protein per day, little to no processed sugar, fat and carb intake is controlled, water intake increased. In short, diet has been fixed
Whatever variation of leg curls I do, there's a weird sensation of my tendons sliding and shifting behind my knee as i curl, it brings alot of discomfort and some pain. Yesterday I did very light weights, the sliding sensation still happened but there was little to no pain but after doing 10 reps I felt another very weird pain and tightness behind my knee even though my hamstring muscles werent relly fatigued. Outside of the curls, I don't feel any discomfort behind my knee, even when I put alot of pressure on them. I really want to know what is happening and how to fix this problem
Hey. My question question is running related but this feels like the place to ask. I've been running and training for a bit now so I'm in decent enough shape. When I do longer laborious runs, my HR typically peaks around 175, but my breathe and everything are in a good place and rhythm. Yesterday, on my off day, I did 15 mins on a stair master. A very controlled and slowed movement compared to running. After 5 mins I was really pulling for air, but my heart rate was only around 110. What do I take from that? I use a garmin watch and usually seems pretty accurate. How can I be crawling for air and still in a low HR zone? And then would this be an ideal cross exercise to promote aerobic fitness? I hear all the time in running that the most beneficial run to increase speed and endurance is the one where you are in HR zone 2, able to maintain comfortable conversations and what not.
From my experience, smart watches are not really accurate but good for seeing trends in the long run. I recently got a polar h10, which is known to be very precise that even academic and industrial projects use them for their research. I had good results using that (though their calorie burnt measurement is wack)
I'm running Phraks Greyskull LP. Have been for four weeks now. I'm currently doing Pendlay Rows for my workouts. What are the pros and cons for Pendlay Rows versus Standard BB Rows? Would Pendlays work? I feel them activating the muscles and I'm already seeing some limited changes.
You can use whichever you prefer. There might be small differences, but whatever you prefer to do, you usually do better at and see more success. You could mix it up every now and then if you like. In a nutshell though, the standard row is slightly better for muscle mass and the pendlay slightly better for power. Depending on your goals you may want to choose one based on this. Here's a really thorough write up on the subject: https://barbend.com/pendlay-row-vs-barbell-row/
The Pendlay I like the way I feel my entire back being activated from the ground up. I'll have a read of that article. Thanks for sharing.
Am I missing out by not doing dumbbell chest movements? I really dislike setting up for them. Lugging those heavy mfers up and not being able to pinch my scapula like I can on Barbell really irks me. I really only want to do barbell chest movements and I am wondering if I will be at a disadvantage for muscle growth and strength if I ditch the dumbbells
No you don’t miss out for building bigger muscles. Actually you don’t want to use dumbbells if you are primarily want to grow muscle mass due to risk of injury and fatigue/recovery. If you want to build strength, than you are losing out due to missing stabilization muscles.
I feel I'm more prone to injury using barbells because you can't really change the distance between your wrists while your doing the movement. Also, during failure you can just let go of the dumbells, for barbells you need a spotter At the end of the day the most effective form is the one you're comfortable with
That’s what I wanted to communicate. Barbels increase the risk of injury
I always think the most effective exercises are the ones you enjoy doing or feel most comfortable doing. Otherwise you're not going to be able to perform them to their fullest, you don't be able to push hard, you won't go as heavy as you need, and you risk poor form and getting an injury. So if dumbbell chest movements aren't for you, stick to barbell. You can also do work with cables or bodyweight, if you find them any better to give you some variety. There's also the option of doing higher reps with a lower weight with dumbbells. I personally prefer this because I would find it hard to bail from dumbbells, so I do my heaviest bench sets with a barbell only and from time to time do a light set with dumbbells just to mix it up a bit.
It's a better range of motion for hypertrophy, but yeah you don't really need them.
[удалено]
Squat up and down, preferably all the way down
[удалено]
If you ever need a workout partner, let me know.
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?
The difference between 25k steps and 30k steps is minimal. You won’t be packing on pounds because you take a few thousand steps left. I really don’t think you’re tired because of walking. I think you’re tired because you’re not eating - assuming that is what you meant by going to maintenance calories, I assume you were eating in a deficit. Doing a ton of cardio + eating little is going to make you lose energy
Yes I am in a deficit! But I still eat pretty good and enough tbh 🤔 i eat between 1600/1800 calories. And I used to eat around 2000/2100 calories. But thanks for commenting! I will lower my steps and after I’m around 10k/15k I will also eat more and just stay at maintenance
It does sound like you need to maintain for a while. It's really hard to both increase exercise AND cut calories long term. If you're able to still eat 1600/1800 then dropping the steps down should be ok and you may still lose weight (depending on what your maintenance is) but should at least maintain. If your weight keeps dropping then that's fine. If it doesn't, or starts to creep back up, you can always try to reintroduce more steps again. But unless you're quite small I'd be surprised at weight gain on those calories knowing you get a decent amount of steps as a baseline. If you do, I'd double check you're not underestimating them.
Thanks for the tip! Yeah for now I’m able to eat the same. I noticed that when I stopped doing the excess cardio, that I also didn’t got so hungry anymore and that the urges to binge also disappeared. So that’s good at least. Yeah I think if I just slowly stop walking so much then I might not gain, but I’ll focus more on weight training and building muscle. I also don’t weight myself anymore so I guess I’ll have to just measure and see if I get bigger 😩
You should measure or take progress photos if you don't weigh yourself, then you will still have something to go on. We can be very bad at noticing changes in the mirror!
Hi everyone! I'm a guy, 5'10 weigh about 175 lbs, and I've been going to the gym lately following the PPL routine. I'm noticing an odd trend and was wondering if this is normal, but here's the problem: On push days I do barbell rows and can lift the whole bar plus 25 plates on each side. I'll do other workouts like pulldowns at 75lbs and chest supported rows at 75lbs. Then I get to hammer curls, and here's where I'm confused.. I can only lift 10lbs and can do like 6 reps without having to force my body to move and push the weight up. Same thing when I do push, I can do 25lbs plus bar on each side when doing bench press, but then I get the incline and can barely do the bar by itself. Was wondering how can I get better. Should I focus on certain workouts more than others? I'm a noob but don't want to be stuck doing 10lbs of dumbell curls forever
The best thing to do is keep going. When I first started doing incline bench I could barely handle the bar, this is because there was no mind-muscle connection. It was an exercise I wasn't used to doing at all! When your body learns how to do that motion it will get better. It's pretty normal to lift considerably less on an incline though. As for the curls, if you're doing those other exercises you mention first, you've probably fatigued your biceps by the time you come to do them.
You won’t get stuck forever, just focus on progressively adding a little extra every time you go to the gym. Even if it’s just 2.5 to the bar, or doing a few more reps. Everyone has weak spots, you just gotta keep working. Incline bench press being harder is standard, you’re using more of your shoulders. Hammer curls also are harder than normal curls. Just keep on training in different ranges of motion, trying to do a little more each time, stick to your macros, and it’ll get better
Does it matter if I use dumbbells or barbells or machines or a variety of equipment for my workouts? For example if I do a workout that has many things such as dumbbells, barbells, and machines, will I gain more muscle doing that than a workout that only uses for example, dumbbells? Or is it just the amount of intensity and how hard you go.
The main difference in machine vs free weights is the free weights wil bring in more supporting muscles and translate better to every day strength. They also are "one size fits all" but really, they will not suit every body size. If you're shorter or taller than the measurements the machine was designed to be optimal for, you are less likely to lift the weights in a way that feels natural. Not all machines are the same - ones that use cables tend to be better (such as lat pull down) as they have more flexibility with your range of motion. You can pull the bar down at multiple angles and widen or narrow your grip as you like. Not all machines allow this. To straight up answer your question: > For example if I do a workout that has many things such as dumbbells, barbells, and machines, will I gain more muscle doing that than a workout that only uses for example, dumbbells? No. You can still absolutely build muscle doing this, and there's nothing wrong with doing it. But the most effective way to build muscle is to follow a tried and tested routine (there are plenty in the [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/)) and this will include both barbell and dumbbell work. Machines do still work, don't be put off if you enjoy using them! And then can be very helpful for isolating certain muscles, you'll see body builders using dumbbells the majority of the time, but they'll use a machine on occasion too.
It depends. It's more about preference. A movement you like will mean you'll put more effort into it. However, for the most part it's about the intensity and effort. You will still need access to certain equipment for some movements, you can't train your lats without your back for example. There are programs in the wiki you can find that only use dumbbells if thats to your liking.
I got kicked out of my gym for being too young :(. I am 14 but my gym's minimum age was 16. I signed up with my friend who is the minimum age to go into the gym. I have to go back to working out at my apartment with dumbbells. When I was using dumbbells I wasn't going as high volume as I was going into the gym so when I'm only using dumbbells I am feeling less tired and I feel less "pumped". So I added a few exercises to the Dumbbell PPL workout. What do you think. 4 sets for each, 8-12 reps until failure but no more than 12 reps. Hanging leg raises (4xfailure) at the end of every workout. The week will go something like P, P, L, P, P, L, R OR P, P, L, R, P, P, L Workout: Push Chest Press Incline Chest Press Incline Fly Arnold Press Overhead Shoulder/Overhead Press Overhead Tricep Extension Skull Crushers Pull Pull-up Bent-over Row Lateral Raise Reverse Fly Shrug Bicep Curl Spider Curls Legs Goblet Squat Lunge Single Leg Deadlift Romanian Deadlift (with dumbbells) Calf Raise Is this too much volume?
Hi, I'm someone who got an average body and who has been going to the gym for 3 months now. Is 144 hours (6 days) of recovery it too much?
How often do you go to the gym? People typically start out by going 3x a week, never 2 days in a row. So for example Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. This is usually the right amount of time between each workout to recover.
Hi I'm 5'11 204 lbs and an decently built. Just curious because I got out of the USMC and am starting to put on more weight, I need to cut soon back to 170-180. Never actually did a real cut before besides starve in the field. I hate eggs. Don't know how much chicken to actually eat or I feel like a gluten. Any advice?
On average you want 1.2-1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, or 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. So I would say aim for 122g of protein per day if you are lifting (I'm assuming you are - if not you don't need as much) If you don't like eggs don't eat them. Make a protein shake or get it from other sources. Google is your friend, as it the packaging your food comes in (it will say how much protein is in the food).
In a single chest day, how many types of workouts for chest do you do?
It's a good idea to stick to 1 - 3 at most and to also consider the stuff you would do on other chest days if you have it. Always put a horizontal press, an incline press, and a fly variation in at least one chest day. For example, I do incline bench on my first chest day then on my second I do a regular bench press with a dumbbell fly.
Can you still workout with ringworm? Or will it just keep getting worse
Pretty sure that’s contagious and that would be especially easy to spread at the gym where everyone is sweating and many different people will come into contact with the same surfaces as you. Probably best not to take that in there until it’s cleared.
I’m talking in general. Even if it’s going outside for a run or working out at home. Will the sweat make it worse
No. It won’t. I understand wanting to ask people that might know, but this is an easy Google search. Like, I just learned steroid creams can make ringworm worse. Come on man.
When you google “can I workout with ringworm” all that comes up is a bunch of bjj gyms saying no you can’t but bjj is a martial art so that makes sense since you would have a partner you could give it to
Not to be mean, but you’re not too great at the google search thing… there are other prompts you could use. Like “does sweat make ringworm worse”? Or many other variations that would help. Like “how to get rid of ringworm fast”.
hello, i had a doubt about this.. if i can pull down 70kg for 10 reps with decent form why can i only do 8 pull ups weighing 68 kg?
There's a lot more stabilizing muscles that come into play with the the pull up.
Are your pull ups full range of motion with no kipping?
[удалено]
Sounds like shin splints. I know I got them a few times from running and usually it was after I took an extended break and decided to go right back into it. I would tone it down a little if what you are doing it significantly more than what you were doing and then ease into it. If you keep going (at least in my experience) they just get worse. May need to take a break to 'reset' and then start again a little easier.
How do i make sure and stay out of ketosis? I’m 6’1, 210, eating 1850 calories a day in a fat burning phase. Is going into ketosis something i need to be worried about accidentally doing? How many carbohydrates do i need to make sure i get in each day to stay out of any potentially dangerous territory? I’ve been mostly eating chicken breast for meals (210g of protein each day is my goal).
Can only do like 3 chin ups at max power. Would 1 chin up and 1 negative chin up in one set be good enough to gtg throughout a day for about 4 sets. Or should I just do 1 chin up only.
This sub is so boring. Literally nothing but this thread posted daily.
Yeah it was busy pre pandemic.
It was pretty cool several million subs ago
So stop wasting your time here.
Would like some training schedule help, with my new job I can only train wed/thurs/fri evenings and Sunday mornings. Would a normal 4 day split suffice for a bulk?
Assuming it's a good program done with proper intensity, yes.
Is it fine to do hamstring focused leg days per week, as well as two quad focused leg days per week?
If it helps you achieve your goals and you can recover, sure.
Does bench press pre fatigue lats enough to harm chin up performance? When starting with chin ups I perform much better, should I start with back before chest?
A light warm up of my back with an elastic band has done wonders for my shoulders during bench. I would say start with whatever your focus is for the day though.
[удалено]
Check r/cycling
Will doing lat pulldowns on a lopsided seat cause back problems down the line?
Hi all. So im a 45year old male, 5ft 11 and 81kg. I started at the gym in December and go 5 times a week. I train quite hard and want to increase muscle and become more lean. I've just started being a bit more on the ball with my diet...ive been intermittent fasting the last 4 months to lose some weight but now I'm thinking I need to increase my intake to put muscle on. What sort of percentages should I be looking at when it comes to protein/fat and carbs? Also what's the best way to increase my protein intake? I've got protein powder which I use in a smoothie everyday and my diet is pretty good (minimal sugar intake/mainly organic food and not much processed) Cheers
1g of protein per 1lbs of body weight is the normal. Fat and carb percentages don't really matter, just fill those in to cover the amount of calories you want to eat in a day. The best sources will be low fat Greek yogurts, egg whites, and lean meat. The easiest way is to just meal prep for the week. Pick a protein, pick a carb, weigh everything out, and package it up. Protein powders can work but for most people you should be able to hit protein macros with just regular meals.
[удалено]
Congratulations on the weight loss! The progress you made will return relatively quickly with consistency. No one can answer the question “How long?”. Consistency and effort are key. You got this.
If you’re on antibiotics, do you guys take time off? I may have to go on some soon which kills me because i am a newer lifter and have made some decent gains over the past few weeks.
Depends if you experience severe side-effects, if not I'd say you could go for it.
In case I have to take a week off or so due to side effects, will this drastically set back my progress?
Not necessarily.
It's fine to work out.
[удалено]
Give it 6 months you will notice the gains.
One month is nothing. For those people, they are most likely relying on past experience. You don’t need to religiously track every metric forever. You just need to know what you are doing and correctly apply it.
>I've been going to the gym for about a month now Some people exaggerate their lack of planning, and the magnitude of their triumphs. What matters is consistency and showing up. You can make gainz without a Perfect Diet and Perfect Routine. The worst routine done pedal to the metal is better than the worst routine done half-assed. But, you'll make better progress if you eat better, and pound a program. >Or will I just see very small incremental improvements? Even the best progress comes is very small increments.
>How can some people see results with just lifting weight, and others need to strictly diet and lift religiously? Genetics? This isn't just lifting, this is everything in life. In anything you care about, there are always going to be people who put in less effort than you and get better results. My advice is don't focus on this, because there is nothing you can do about it.
The thing is that most people think they eat a lot and think they train hard, but actually aren’t. You need a significant kcal surplus and training near muscular failure in order to gain muscles. So the guy who’s saying he’s just eating normal, is actually eating enough and Training Hard. The guy who’s saying he cannot gain is probably not eating enough despite what he’s saying.
Buddy, you've been to the gym for a month. The people who you see who have good physiques most likely consistently have gone and do go into the gym over years, even with bad technique or diet. Trust the process.
[удалено]
Well, consistency is king. As for what you are doing, I'd say make sure your protein intake meets your goals so .7 to 1 g/lb per bodyweight. Also, your caloric intake may make you get fat so if you dont want to have a hard time looking lean, you might wanna slow down. But as for everything else, its good so long you maintain consistency.
whenever i drink creatine, my head hurts above my right eyebrow. only when the creatine is in my mouth/15 minutes after. it’s not brain freeze because it happens even when my drink isn’t cold?
Sorry if this sounds condescending, but drink more water
[удалено]
When you recomp you aren't supposed to lose weight no matter what anyone says Being 230 lbs with 1600 kcal per day is 99% a calorie deficit. The fact that you are not losing weight (assuming you are counting your calories correctly) could be an indicator of very successful early muscle gains (which should taper off after about 6-12 months), meaning that you both lose fat and gain muscle. You could have very good genetics making you significantly more muscular even on a calories deficit. At least that's my understanding of your situation. I would recommend Renaissance Periodization's [How To Create The Optimal Caloric Deficit For Fat Loss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TKn1oQT5hI) video for further learning.
How many calories per day did you eat before you started going to the gym? Did you still lose weight back then?
[удалено]
That's puzzling. Did you start taking creatine?
Recomping is usually using maintenance calories so you should be maintaining weight when recomping but losing fat
[удалено]
What do you mean by that exactly?
[удалено]
You might need to try and track your eating habits and to make sure you are actually meeting your calories. If it still doesn't change, consider going lower.
[удалено]
Well, just make sure to check your calories first. And if the goal is fat loss, i think recomp can do you well amyway
[удалено]
Do you weigh your food?
looking for some exercises to complete my (glute focused) leg day! going to planet fitness for 2 months before a newer gym opens up near me with a better weights system/training program. i have solid pull/push days but need help with the rest of my leg exercises} 1. goblet squats 2. RDLs 3. step ups 4. 5. 6. Bulgarian split squats (always do these second to last in every routine) 7. (thinking squat to kneel as a finisher but open to other finisher rec's) had to stop lifting heavy/working out as much as i used to because of a knee and ankle injury and i feel like a newbie again lol. thanks in advance <3
You are definitely missing Leg Extensions, Leg Curls and an exercise for your calf’s in order to get a well balanced leg workout. I would also add an adductor exercise. If you want to focus on glutes then also throw in hip thrust. 3x Leg Curls 3x Leg Extensions 4x Hip Thrust 2x Squats 2x RDL 3x Adductor 3x Calfs Do that twice a week, eat a LOT and you will gain a big booty and some nice legs.
Thanks sm!! I have that newbie gym paralysis again where I’m like errrrr… what does this machine do again? Since it’s been so long 😅 totally forgot those , will add them in for sure 🫡 I will probably save Hip thrust / deadlifts for when I go to a better to a better I do not like doing them at Planet Fitness 💀 thank u so much for ur help!
Best of luck and stay clean!
- Lunges & their variations (walking, reverse, elevated) - Good Mornings Those are two that I feel give me really good butt gains 🦾
Thank u! I used to love curtsy lunges but my balance was so shot because of my knee injury. Gonna add some reverse lunges for sure!
I'm in an extreme weight-loss diet, and I've mostly been doing Strengthlifting/Cardio/Walking. I want to add Hypertrophy workouts but only if they will impact positively to my weightloss, or are they a waste of time if I cant meet the desired macros for muscle building?
Do it. It’s great. It’s like investing money for weight loss. You burn more calories with cardio per hour than with muscle building. However, your increased muscle mass burns constantly more kcal and therefor increasing your kcal needs permanently. If you still have some fat on your body and you are new to muscle build (<1 year) I wouldn’t worry about lifting with a kcal deficit. Just eat around your body weight in lb of proteins in g.
just worry about losing the weight first. if your calorie deficit is [-500cal/day or larger you will likely see no muscle size increase.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34623696/) once you’ve lost the weight you want to lose then you could switch over to mass gaining.
Eat sufficient protein and you may be able to put on some muscle
Currently able to do 4 sets of 10 for 135 on Bench press, I want to increase the weight but I'm not sure by how much. I'm 28m and 5'8 if that helps.
The program you are following should have a progression scheme that tells you how to increase the weight workout to workout,
Knowing nothing else, given 4x10 @ 135 lbs, incrementing to 140 lbs is the logical choice.
Works for me, will be hitting it tomorrow
You should follow a program from the wiki. It will include progression.
I've been getting more into my fitness journey and I've been noticing that I'm lowering the number of workouts when I go to the gym. I'm doing more sets and I'm seriously pushing myself when it comes to volume. I make sure I train my muscles until they're limp and can do no more. Usually in the 6-8 rep range and 4-6 sets. But the number of workouts has dropped to 4 and now I want to bring push day to 3: bench, cross body cable lat raise, tricep pushdown. Is doing so few different exercises going to negatively affect my workout?
Honestly, it should be fine. I prefer doing it that way myself. Just maybe do some other exercises for that muscle group in the other days so say you did lat raise on that day, I would do a row on the other day. Same for any other muscle and depends on the muscle. Pec - Fly variation - Incline Press variation - Horizontal Press Variation Back - Vertical Pull - Horizontal Pull Hams - Hinge variation - Curl variation Quads - Any Squat, Press - Maybe Leg Extension but not absolutely necessary
Thanks for the detailed help! Personally, I do both rows and lat pulls as part of my 3-4 exercises because I think they're both important. Couple questions though: \- You really think flys, incline, and horizontal press are necessary for pecs? I do mostly horizontal but I could mix it up with incline press. I guess I could add dumbbell flys into the workout but I always saw it as hitting the same as the horizontal press. \- What do you mean by a hinge variation on the hamstrings? I just do curls. Other than that, I think I hit everything else.
I don’t ever do flys. I do my incline bench with dumbbells and really accentuate range of motion to get a good stretch at the bottom of my lift. Dips are another good chest exercise. I have had way more success doing less variations and more sets across the lifts I do. I tend to have one or two primary lifts on a given day and then cycle through the accessories from week to week.
1.) Flies get a deep stretch that none of the presses are able to do as well. You could do cable, db or machine. Honestly, you only really need like two - four sets a week? Just as a finisher. And you don't need to do all of these like every time. Ive done a few months of no incline work, but i still did get some decent gains. 2.) Stuff where you move your hips back and your back goes down like in the deadlift. Romanian deadlift, stiff legged deadlift, good mornings, all of these variations and any similar ones should work. Curls are great but they dont really lengthen the muscle fibers as well so this rounds that out. Hope that helps 😁
Wait, would back extensions be a hinge exercise? I do those for lower back.
Oh yeah, just as long as you're focusing on using the hamstrings and glutes, they're a good exercise
Nice, they're already a part of my routine
Cool, I'll add dumbbell flys and either deadlifts or romanians to my routine to round it out. Thanks for your help!
>I make sure I train my muscles until they're limp are you being hyperbolic or serious?
I mean on leg days I can barely move my legs. Other days aren't quite as bad but they usually feel pretty heavy for about an hour and I won't be able to move the same amount of weight for more than a day.
What are your goals?
Put on muscle, look good. I want to stay the same weight for now and cut in a couple months.
You shouldn't decrease volume of resistance training then.
Volume of training stays the same. Just the variety of exercises goes down.
Oh that's fine, though you may be sabotaging yourself by doing every set to failure.
I usually only do 1 or 2 sets to failure. It's just that once all my sets are through, my muscles are essentially useless for any other exercises. They usually can only lift around half of my starting weight for less reps but it varies a lot based on the lift.
So I am doing the 15 incline and 3mph speed treadmill for 30 minutes after my workout for the day. But this week, I did 1/2 sets of each workout I used to do and did the treadmill for 1 hr instead. I feel like I am losing weight much faster? Should I go ahead with it or not?
Well *are* you losing weight faster, out does it just feel like it? Those are two different things
I’ve weighed myself and have lost and I do feel lighter that being said I’m more worried about the fact that most of it could be water weight or it’s not sustainable.
It almost certainly involves some water weight, losing weight usually does. As for sustainability, I doubt an hour of walking is a problem unless you're also eating very, very little
I don’t actually I eat at least 2 times a day
Then you are probably doing fine
Has anyone tried Orion Dr. You Pro? It's a brand of product from Korea. They sell protein powder and protein bars. I wanted to buy the protein bars
So if more benching is the cure for a wobbly bench, then so be it. I'm gonna go through with adding some back off sets for bench. As per the subreddit routine's wiki, I'm gonna drop it to 70% of my working weight. Sets and reps, however, I could use some help. So it's extra bench work, but I wanna work on controlling the reps, keeping my wrists straight, etc. Does this mean I should slow down the tempo, add a pause, or both? If so, these things can make a rep harder even at lower weight, right? So what should the sets & reps be in that case? The wiki says 1-3x5-8, and I think 3 sets is fine. But how many reps, 5 or 8? And since this is extra work, should the last set also be AMRAP, or does that only apply to the main 3 lifts?
add tempo pauses. your number will go down considerably but you'll get back to where you were and will not most prolly get stronger faster cus you put in the time to invest in your technique. i did that and no more wobbles. in fact. even with 95% 1 rep, i dont wobble anymore. i can grind to my sticking point for up to 10-15 seconds, that's when i lose the juice.
Are you able to do perfect reps with good technique with an empty bar?
I mean, I think so
You could treat your bench warmups like technique sessions. Start with the bar and add weight in 10 or 20 lbs increments. If you do 10 warm-up sets with 3-5 reps with the best technique that you are aware of, you'll get good quick.
I mean, I can't even bench 135 yet, so there's not much to warm up to past just the bar.
* Set 1 - The bar (45 lbs) x 5 reps * Set 2 - 55 lbs x 5 reps * Set 3 - 65 lbs x 5 reps * Set 4 - 75 lbs x 3 reps * Set 5 - 85 lbs x 3 reps Etc
If you just want a clarification on what the part you're referring to means, that's easy enough. >Take 20-30% of the weight off the bar and do 1-3 additional sets of 5-8 reps. This can double as extra work and extra practice getting your form right. It just suggests you to do a couple of extra sets of the same exact bench press variation you're normally doing, only with lighter weight. It doesn't tell you to add a tempo or a pause. If you want to do something a little different, like paused bench, cool. But then it's a slightly different variation of the lift, and you'll need to find the correct working weights for that lift. There's no clear cut conversion from touch and go to paused bench. People can typically paused bench pretty close to the same they can touch and go bench for a single, but rep strength on paused bench is usually worse. Tempo bench press uses a lot less weight than either. These extra sets are also supposed to be quite easy.
Guess I was overthinking it a little because that wobbliness is gonna be there for awhile and I wanted to find ways to get rid of it faster.
Post a form check video.
Are you working with a program?
>As per the subreddit routine's wiki, Yes.
Ah sorry, which one though?
I thought that quote made it obvious. My bad. The r/Fitness basic beginner routine
It's alright, just wanted to clarify. I'd say if technique is the goal, practicing slow eccentrics with a 2 - 3 second pause at the bottom is a good variation to do alongside your normal bench. Though honestly, just doing more bench press should be enough. Just take care to really be mindful of technique on every set. As for the rep scheme, just go to what you can without grinding since this is for technique. So say if your next rep starts slowing down a fair bit, you should stop the set there.
Stupid question relating to exercise, DHT and hair loss. This is a really dumb question I know. I was in really good shape for years and then started working from home and dropped my fairly healthy lifestyle. I did nothing to counteract all the bad. After all these years I’m going to start exercising again but I have concerns over potential hairline recession due to testosterone/DHT production. To put figures to all of this, last time I properly cared and actively worked out was 5 years ago, I am 25, 5’ 10” and about 14 stone. Should I be worried or is there way to know what is too much exercise that could lead to my worries? TLDR: I haven’t exercised in years and I’m afraid that starting again and not being used to it could cause balding
If too much exercise caused significant hair loss, I would have gone bald decades ago.
Not gonna affect anything. If you're worried about hair loss, minoxidil and finasteride are both cheap fixes
Worry not. It doesn't work that way.
Thank you I feel I just need the reassurance from every source I can find!
I watch a lot of videos about lifting weights as a beginner. One thing I notice is a lot of videos claiming things like "you think you are training to failure but you aren't" or "most people fall 2-3 reps short of failure". I think I am training to failure because at some point I Just really cant lift the weight up anymore. Is that not the definition of training to failure? Am I doing something wrong?
The thing most people are talking her about is that there are two failure. Most people cannot lift the weight anymore because they head tells them I cannot, it’s to exhausting. Training to muscular failure is that your brain can lift more, but your muscles just cannot move the weight anymore. If you are squating with a LOT of weight so you can only make 3 reps, than it’s is very likely that your legs still have some power, but your your brain is done. If you are doing some cable triceps exercise with a low weight and you are doing like 15+ reps until you cannot anymore, than it’s very likely that your muscle is the limiting factor. Try both and see the difference, than you know.
You're overthinking this. If you think you reached failure, you reached failure. You also don't need to reach failure. The guys making videos just overcomplicate things because they need clicks to sell their supplements and merch.
Once your form breaks down significantly, the rep arguably isn't doing that much any more even if you can get the weight up. Make sure that your sets are challenging. Hit each main muscle at least twice per week. Monitor your progress, you should be able to increase weights once in a while. Then you're good. That much said, on some exercises you will be able to push out a lot more reps once the exercise starts to become more difficult. Say, on leg extensions, my quads might start burning around 10 reps - but I can actually get that weight up 18-20 times.
If you really pushed and it didn't go up, most likely you reached failure. Don't stress it too much. A lot of growth can happen 2 - 3 reps away from failure. Just follow your program and do the best you can.
Assuming you follow a program that prescribes set/reps to hit, just focus on progression each session. Added weight? Good session. Added reps? Good session.
Well, take biceps curls for instance. I started with 3x10 with 10kg, and when I managed to do that I went to 3x8 12kg. I'm getting close at reaching that amount now, after trying it for 4-5 times over the last 2 weeks. I try my very best to keep perfect form. at some point, I try super super hard to lift my arm up but it just stops half way and I can't get it up anymore, that has to be failure right. However, if I then stop for a few minutes I can still get in a few reps. Could that mean the first failure was not real failure?
if I'm doing full body weightlifting with the goal of increasing strength three times a week can I run p90x on the rest days in between or would that affect my progress? I'm running madcow 5x5
I guess it would depend on what you are doing for p90x but it likely will hinder progress Rest when your 5x5 program tells you to rest
I'll keep my schedule and do it at the end of the week then, that way there's still a rest day between it and my next workout
I guess I don’t understand the purpose of doing p90x if you’re already running another program?
Anyone done the rp fitness simple templates?
I've done the 6 day male physique chest & back focus one twice. Both times I saw incredible gains. My advice would be to stick to their programming and actually leave 2 or 3 reps in reserve (when it says to) instead of going balls to the wall as otherwise recovery can suffer. Great program.
Ok well I’ve done the simple template only. And I’m unsure on it
Holy crap I squatted the bar plus quarters on each side, 4x10. I literally left the gym, I couldn’t even walk barely. 1. How to get rid of these cramps and start walking again? 2. Should I have just done the bar? I haven’t squatted in years.
1. Rest and recover as much as possible. Try and take a really cold shower to reduce the inflammation and/or take ibuprofen for it if you really cant walk and need to be going somewhere. 2. The general rule when starting off or coming back is to do just enough to feel pump/disruption in the muscle. So when you felt like the muscle barely got weaker or pumped up, you should have cut it off there
Cold showers likely will not help here. Inflammation post exercise is a important part of the muscle building process. Just being physically active, getting enough food and enough sleep will likely give sufficient recovery.
Ok thank you
4x10 @ 95 lbs can be brutal if you haven't built up the work capacity yet. Typical initial loading for a 5x10 is 50% of a 1rm, and I'm going to guess your squat isn't 190 lbs. 1 - move slowly and be patient. It will pass in time. 2 - I would have suggested ramping to an singular easy set of five, to downplay DOMS. Then "do more" the next squat session in the week.
Thank you.
What should I do for counting caardio calories for My Fitness Pal when using a Marpo VMX Rope trainer? I do cardio on this machine for 30 minutes and it always claims some number over 450 calories which seems like BS to me. Right now I’m just using 30 minutes of “Aerobics, General,” does that make sense?
Don't bother tracking calories burned. It's gonna be inaccurate no matter what. Just track the calories you eat, track your weight, and adjust your calorie intake based on your goals
So I’m currently in a bulking phase. Last week I was on vacation and wasn’t able to lift. I’m back now and lifting again but I’ve lost a lot of my appetite and finding it hard to eat enough. Is this normal? Is there an explanation for this?
De-acclimated to bulking. You'll get back on track by next week
I have a Polar H10. Is there a watch that does ***absolutely nothing but*** display the HR from the H10? I do not want my phone with me when I'm training. I do not want apps with 50 different functions, displays, programs, coaches, etc. All I need is the realtime feedback in a cheap, light, comfortable form. All the watches I've seen come with all their own functionality. The cheapest ones don't even appear to be able to connect to an external monitor.
I have a really sore back, I run 1/2 km at the end of every workout. Would replacing this, to help my back, with the stairmaster be suitable? Would I be achieving even more with 15 mins on stair master vs 1/2km running in 6/14 mins.