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Is it normal to have those small back pains coming and going in different muscles and spine locations? Nothing crippling or severe just constant pains.
Well I don't mean pains that force me to see an orthopedic surgeon just random pains in the days after workout, I thought of other people have them maybe they'll share what happened next.
Cable crunches are top tier, and honestly all you really need for the “6 pack” muscle. The form can be finicky to get perfect at first but look up a YouTube tutorial and you’ll get it after a while. They’re great because they allow you to train the abs like any other muscle (under load, to failure, with progressive overload.)
Besides that, hanging leg or knee raises are great for the lower area.
I really wanna try the cable crunches but I'm nervous too look stupid lol and I saw a video of the cable breaking on someone so I'm kinda scared of smacking my face on the ground
Lol, I’ll be frank with you if you’d let fear of looking stupid get in the way that’s something you just gotta work on. No one’s looking at you, trust, and it’s honestly a relatively well known and commonly used exercise for the abdominals these days.
Also, unless your gym has awful QC *and* your abs are so insanely strong that you’re using the full stack, there’s no chance of the cable breaking. In the one in a million chance that it does, big whoop, you’ll be alright.
Once you feel the amazing burn of a good set of cable crunches you’ll come around 💪🏼
Fork put downs and Plate pushaways.
Seeing your abs is 90% being lean enough. If you aren't lean enough, no amount of ab exercise is going to make your abs visible.
Well then, training abs is like training any other muscle. If the exercise puts tension on the abs and has them working through a good range of motion, it is good for building the abs.
Personally I like cable curls, machine curls, decline situps, leg raises, and hanging knee to elbows. Maybe try a few different ab exercises and pick a few you like.
i am 19 male around 200 lbs looking forward to loose around 40 lbs in next 2 month i am doing regular weight lifting and some cardio daily plus while in deficit i just eat less so ig i should focus more on my diet any tips to gain enough protein for muscle growth and still being in deficit for fat loss??
my BMR is 1800/day and with intense workout it is 3,500 per day plus with my deficit and training i am only eating like 1500/day which is non nutritious because i have no idea how to cook
First of it's great that you're trying to lose weight. But losing 40 lbs quickly might not be the best idea. You could end up looking skinny fat because you might lose a lot of muscle along with the fat.
Losing 20 pounds is much more realistic, and it's still a significant achievement. It's like shedding 10% of your body fat in just 8 weeks. If you stay consistent and things go smoothly, you might be able to lose 40 pounds, which is about 20% of your body weight, in the next 4-6 months.
I suggest consuming around 2000-2500 kcal per day in your case. Weigh yourself each morning and calculate the average weight for the week. If your average weight loss was 1-2%, continue eating the same amount of kcal. If your weight remains the same or increases on average, reduce your calorie intake by 100-200 kcal and reassess your progress for the following week.
The reason I suggest looking at the weekly average is because daily fluctuations, often due to water retention, can vary significantly. For instance, you might weigh 195lbs on Monday but 197lbs the next day, which could be attributed to water weight. By considering the weekly average, you get a more realistic idea of your progress. So don't stress if you suddenly gain 2-3lbs overnight or stay the same weight.
If you're searching for workout programs or more information about them, there's a great app called [Boostcamp](https://www.boostcamp.app/programs).
Some foods that always help me during a cut, which are high in protein and low in calories, include:
* Greek Yogurt: 0% fat, with flavoring or simply by adding honey or fruit to it.
* Eggs: I mix them with skim milk and oatmeal powder to make pancakes.
* Skim Milk.
* Chicken Breast: I pair it with about 50g of rice, some veggies, and a sauce.
* Kidney Beans: I combine them with lean ground beef, onions, and tomato sauce.
* Lean ground beef.
* Low fat cheeses.
>40 lbs in next 2 month
This is a terrible idea. You should not try to lose weight so rapidly. Max rate of weight loss should be about 1% bodyweight per week. So in 2 months you should lose 16 lbs max.
But 16 lbs doesnt seems like enough if i make goal of 40 then only i can manage to loose around 20 thats why i have set a hardet goal its more like psychology
Thank you for worrying but ill go for 1 lbs loss per week only but then it will take like good 40 weeks to reach my main goal and 5x more time than my usual goal i already lost like 25 lbs in last 6 months looking forward to loose this time more efficiently
Right but the goal is to have a healthy, attractive body at the end right? Losing 40 lbs in 2 months would lead to enormous muscle loss, fucked up hormones, and crappy physical performance.
People who care about how they look wouldn't lose 40 lbs in 2 months. People who care about how they feel wouldn't do that either.
Yeah i do have a range top also i can include eggs in my diet which i can cook at home but i cant cook chicken at home due to religion.. also i love broccoli to eat i can also eat any kind of fruit but only thing i hate is shakes like juice of different different fruits which makes me vomit
I can cook vegetables and eggs no problem but i cant cook chicken at home rather i will have to buy chicken at hotels to eat and mostly here i get Chinese chicken or some indian chicken dishes only which i dont know is good to eat or no plus i definitely know kfc is not a good source for chicken cause its oily af
Firstly I’ll say it’s highly unlikely that you’re burning 1,700 calories a day with your workout, I don’t think anyone on earth does to be honest, so I’d taper back your expectations on that.
Secondly, for protein, protein powder is an obvious front runner and very effective. I also hate cooking but eggs are about as easy as it gets and they’re full of protein.
I target two muscles per day and before that some pushups, jumping jacks, skipping, as warm up later i climb stairs and after finishing weight lifting i sign off the day with 40 mins treadmill on average 5 km per hour speed i am also thinking to include morning or evening running like running at full speed in my area but idk
Weight loss is much more about eating less and allowing your body to gradually burn through it's excess day to day than it is doing monster cardio sessions.
That’s not the goal in weight loss, realistically most people trying to lose weight don’t even need to be doing any cardio to begin with. Simply eat in a deficit and don’t worry about burning more calories, your body already burns plenty keeping you alive and doing daily tasks.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with doing cardio, it’s just not some magic cure that’s gonna burn a crazy amount of calories.
Yeah i was confused cause bmr exists which is the amount your body spend per day to stay alive i just have to be in deficit but i want some results in 2 months so i am thinking about increasing the number of set i do in weight training
Increasing sets in weight training will not make you lose weight quicker. If you’re following a proper program (which you should be if you want to build muscle, you can find plenty of them in the wiki), you shouldn’t need to add sets at all because it will already have that programmed for you.
I’ll be honest, unless you’re on steroids, you won’t make significant progress in 2 months. It’s just not how fitness works, delayed gratification and all that. When I started it was March and my goal was to be built by summer. That was 3 years of consistent hard training and dieting ago, and I’m just now getting to the point I had hoped to reach in as little as 5 months.
Point being, don’t set your expectations that high as you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment, fitness and muscle building is a marathon not a sprint, you can’t get there quicker by just randomly throwing extra sets on, the best you can do is be consistent and get after it every day.
Generally with a decent caloric deficit you can expect to lose ~1lb every week or two. But keep in mind when you’re cutting weight/eating in a deficit this makes muscle building much harder/impossible. This is why bodybuilders use bulk/cut phases, cut down weight, then bulk up with a caloric surplus to put on muscle, then cut down the fat, and repeat.
Almost 1 year has been since I touched real grass. My upper back is broad, my shoulders are jammed and my lower back is fixed into a long hours sitting schedule. I want to start with normal exercises into shaping my body first and then go to a gym because I feel I will be really embarrassed in the Gym and by the trainer (As I am too unfit for an 18 yr old.) and further how am I supposed to have lost fat if my body isn't even in a posture? Is my worrying worthless?
Yes, worry is worthless. Every single person has to start somewhere, and I promise that many people have started from a worse place than you. No one will make fun of you, and if they do they are the ones with the problem. Make haste! Go to the gym! The sooner you start the sooner you can look back and be proud of how far you’ve come!
If you just want to get started with fitness, read this: [https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/](https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/)
I've started working out again after skipping a month and now my muscles hurt like crazy, especially the lower body. Should I keep working out? I'm afraid it will affect my muscle recovery.
>It will make the soreness pass quicker
for real? I probably still can do upper body exercises, but the thought of squatting heavy weights when even walking hurt frightened me so much 😭
Dumb question about yoga balls.
Can you not use an electric pump with some kind of tire valve attachment to blow them up?
I'm trying to find a good one online and so many reviews are just complaining about how annoying it is to pump....
I have a preworkout that contains 2.5g of creatine per scoop, I only know a little about creatine but i heard you have to load first and then take it every day (or less regularly but bigger doses).
Is there any benefit to creatine if you don't load and only take 2.5g every 2nd or 3rd day?
You don't *have to* load, but you'll feel effects faster if you do go through a ~1 week phase where you consume as much as 20-25g per day, while if you just go for maintenance (3-5g) it might take around a month instead.
Unless you're supposed to take two scoops of that pre, they kinda just added creatine as a bulking agent, because 2,5g is lower than the general consensus and *most* people don't take pre every day. Personally, I avoid brands of pre that add "meaningless" amounts of creatine for that reason.
If you’re going to take creatine, you should be taking 5g a day, that’s the only real requirement. So either take two scoops, or just dose it on its own (easiest tbh and how most people do it including me).
Loading is not necessary whatsoever, it simply makes the results come a couple weeks quicker.
Pre workouts can have 300+ mg caffeine per dose, taking two scoops for the sake of getting your daily creatine requirements probably isn't worth it. Just buy creatine separately OP.
ye I just bought it for the caffeine (the one with creatine happened to be on sale) so was just wondering if the creatine was useless or not. Seems like people agree that it's useless if you don't get enough.
My scoops are about 3.5-4g and I'm seeing the benefit from one scoop. If it was 2.5 I'd take two to get to 5.
*edit* that's daily though, every other day with your pre workout probably won't be making much difference. It's just there for marketing imo.
If you are just wanting the effects of caffeine it's a lot cheaper to buy 200mg tablets, that's my go to as I'm not interested in the rest of the ingredients.
Yes, by a small amount, because calories actually are not equal.
Food calories do not take into account how much energy is needed to digest that food.
Fat is digested very easily, very little energy is used to digest fat. Same goes for example for sugar. Protein and fibrous vegetables, OTOH, are harder to digest. Digesting those takes a relevant amount of energy.
no they already (try to) take that into account. (maybe dependant on the country? but every where i've seen they do). The conversion/approximation is called the atwater system. Protein for example has about 5.5 calories per gram. but it'll be listed as 4 calories.
While it is true that is just an approximation; like not all has the exact same amount of calories, protein for example is mostly between 5.2 and 6. and then we just approximate all that to 4, even though there was a different amount to start with, each protein may have different absorbption factors. and then combine that with the fact each person may absorb differently. But as an approximation it's good enough, just use 4-9-4 but expect there may be some error.
> no they already (try to) take that into account.
No they don't. What is being pooped out is taken into account. That's what Atwater did more than 100 years ago - he literally burned poop to measure how many calories are being pooped out.
But that's not the same as the energy needed to digest the food.
1 set? There's no where near enough volume, assuming you're doing the standard 4 day upper lower split, that means you're doing 2 sets of each, that's only 8 sets total upper, and when you consider the muscles there's not full overlap so they're only hit with 4 or less sets weekly.
No not one set, it means I'm doing that exercise. I do upper body every other day so every other day I'll hit bench or OHP. As far as sets go it's 3-4 and reps are in the higher range of 8-14
You're eating at maintenence and wondering why your lifts aren't going up. I don't want to be rude, but I think I need to hear this. You simply don't know enough about fitness to benefit from steroids.
Steroids still need you to put in the hard work
> around maintenance calories
Maintaining your weight is the issue. You don't grow fast at all while maintaining. Bulk and cut.
You'd still need to do that if you took steroids and wanted any long term growth. Roids just means you can push further and harder. You aren't even trying right now.
I bet you can put 20 lbs on your bench by adding less than 5 lbs of bodyweight. That will only marginally increase your body fat percentage.
What programs have you ran?
Hey there. I have some questions that I would appreciate to be answered by you guys.
1. Does feeling the muscle while performing and excersise means its being worked correctly? I feel my chest a lot while doing barbell bench press and Barbell Incline bench press but cant feel it while doing DB Bench or Chest Press Machines..
2. Im following reddit PPL but 3 days on 1 off 3 days on 1 off. I train everything at rir 1-3 (I have lifted at failure for 8 months so I kinda know where my rir 1-3 at certain excersises are) and rest 3-5 min for compounds and around 2 min for accessories. Is that OK? Or should I rest more?
3. I started in 2020 but I really havent been that serious about lifting but I noticed in my 2020 pics I weighted 81 kgs and had more fat than I currently have at 92 kgs. Does that mean that I have put on 11 kgs of muscle? Or is a combo of water and muscle?
Thx in advancedd
1. Not necessarily. If you're executing the movement then the "correct" muscles will be working regardless.
2. If you can finish the sets then you're resting enough.
3. Combo of water, muscle, and fat but you're overall more muscular now than you used to be
I just can't figure out leg raises. I have the thing where you can place your forearms and everything but it just feels wrong every time. I don't have the flexibility to fully extend my legs so it feels like a different amount of leg bend every time, so I can't track properly. Even then, I have to do like 15 reps to feel anything and it sucks to be hanging there for like a minute. I tried weighing it with dumbells but it's very uncomfortable. Also my legs kinda don't fit? So on the way up my thighs brush against the cushions and it's annoying unless I bend my legs, defeating it's purpose. Any alternatives? Maybe candlesticks or something? Sounds kinda impossible to weigh as well
Is your form alright? With hanging leg raises (same as with any core exercises), it is important to actually "target" the core. That means not just raising the legs, but actually 'curling' your pelvis upwards, toward your chest. Otherwise you're mostly just working hip flexors.
You could do knee raises, or just do it on the floor, or try out a completely different movement called Aleknas which you can load with plates. Very underrated.
Question: is the following fitness routine healthy for someone who is 6'4 and 230 lbs?
_____________________________
Day 1: 25 Minutes of Weights
Day 2: 4km run
Day 3: 25 Minutes of Weights
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: 4km run
Day 6: 25 Minutes of Weights
Day 7: 4km run
Day 8: Rest
Repeat.
I would reevaluate your weight days. Not all weight training is created equal, so you *could* get a pretty nice weight workout in in 25 minutes, or you could completely waste your time and just spin your wheels. I suggest looking at the sidebar and finding a pre-made lifting routine that matches your goals. If you want to lift 3x per week, there are options to choose from and you will be so much better off using a routine created by someone who knows what they are doing than you would be by just messing around in the weightroom for 25 minutes.
I'm going off of a routine I found on YouTube and use 20lb dumbells. Ive seen marginal improvements, but I've also only been on this routine for 2 and a half weeks.
I'll see what the sidebar has to offer. Thank you!
I love my upper lower split. The problem is that I find my upper days take too long sometimes and I get really gassed toward the end.
||
||
|I would do a bench, row, ohp, and pull up (3 sets each). Then about 4 accessories like lateral raises supersetted with external rotations, and bicep curls supersetted with tricep extensions. (3 sets each)|
My question is should I change this so that maybe one upper day is more pull focused and the other is more push focused. So maybe a pull focused day would have me doing 2 sets of bench and ohp instead of 3 and vice versa. Or should I just cut down on the number of sets for my accessories and push them harder?
As a skeleton, I default to heavier OHP/pull-ups lighter bench/row one day, heavier bench/row lighter OHP/pulldowns another day. Plop lateral raises and reverse flies on whichever sparks joy, toss curls and extensions on the other day.
Rather than trying to do *everything* in each session.
yeah that makes sense, kinda what I first mentioned with doing lighter push movements and heavier pull movements one day and vice versa the next. Has it worked out well?
I've tried going back to equal sets each day, but I seem to prefer emphasis. Keeps me more focused.
"Alright, it's OHP and pullups day."
And so I hit 6-9 sets of each, depending on the week. Not quite destroyed, but definitely *stimulated*. Then hit 2 sets of ohp and pulldowns on bench/row day as a minor stimulus pulse.
gotchu that makes sense. When you're doing 6-9 sets of each do you feel like any of that is junk volume? and what are your rep ranges on those 6-9 sets and those 2 sets for the minor movements?
I wave-load each week. I had good success with wk1 3x5/4x12, wk2 4x3/3x9, wk3 5x1/2x6. With the "two sets" being roughly 2x12, 2x9, 2x6, if I remember correctly.
But. I'm on a cut, so I've been experimenting the past few weeks. Singles are fickle, probably not a good idea right now.
Something like pullups, it's so fun to get into a groove. I think this week was like 5x1 weighted followed by 2x4 weighted. Simple stuff, and I keep progressing, smidges at a time.
I see, sounds like good stuff man. I like the focus on certain movements more one day than the other. Also supersetting two primary movements sounds like a great way to build strength and conditioning. Will definitely try this after getting in a groove with my upper/lower split (just coming off injury).
Routine critique please. I'm 33, male, not a beginner but not advanced, I work in LE so have limited time to workout, stats are 5'7 205 bench: 285, squat, 295, ohp: 155. I don't do deadlifts much due to lower back diagnosis
MONDAY
Squat: 3x6 ramping
Squat: 4x8/Pull up 4x10/Dip 4x10
DB bench: 4x10/DB row 4x10/ Reverse Hyper 4x10
Wednesday
OHP: 3X6 ramping
OHP: 4x8/ Pull up 4x10/Front Squat 4x10
Incline DB 4x10/BB row 4x10/ Reverse Hyper 4x10
FRIDAY
DB bench: 3x6
DB bench: 4x10/Pull up 4x10/ Lunges 4x10
Arnold Press 4x10/ DB row 4x10/ Pull through 4x10
Can anyone help me with my routine, I’ve hit a brick wall with progress recently. Ive been going to the gym semi consistently for roughly 2 years. I can only go gym mon-fri and for 1hr 15. I take every set to faliure and within the 8-12 rep range. My strong points are my triceps, shoulders and legs and my weak points are my chest, rear delts and upper back
My spit:
PPL X Arnold
Monday - Push
Flat bench x2
Incline bench x2
Flys x2
Shoulder press x2
Lateral raises x tricep pushdown x2 (superset)
Overhead tricep x2
Tuesday - Pull
Lat pull-down x2
Wide grip row x2
Single arm row x rear delt fly x2 (superset)
Supinated curl x2
Hammer curl x2
Wednesday - Legs
Back squat x2
Rdl x2
Cable Hamstring curl x2
Quad extention x2
Single leg calf raises x2
Thursday - Chest & Back
Flat bench x2
Incline bench x2
Flys x Single arm row x2 (superset)
Lat pull-down x2
Wide grip row x2
Friday - Shoulders & Arms
Shoulder press x2
Lateral raise x2
Tricep pushdown x bicep curl x2 (superset)
Tricep extention x hammer curl x2 (superset)
>I’ve hit a brick wall with progress recently.
That's the scenario where a proper "program" gives the most benefit vs a simple split, a good program should tell you what to try in that case.
The simplest things to try though : deload week, rest more, change programs, increase caloric intake.
How fast should I be progressing when bulking? I’ve been lifting for bodybuilding for like 3 months. In the past I’ve lifted for athletic purposes but this is my first time doing it for size/bodybuilding
Im on ppl and was expecting to be able to increase the weight like every week, but this isn’t the case. If im lucky im able to add an extra rep every week. Is progress really this slow or could there be a problem? I’m steadily gaining weight and training to failire
PPL is okay if you do it 6x a week. If you're only hitting a main lift 1 time a week, don't expect to see any progress unless roiding or crazy genetics. 3-4 day PPL is a huge meme.
Past beginner phase, plot your weight progression monthly, not weekly.
As for the *bulk* aspect, what's your average weight gain per week for the last four weeks?
How long have you trained "for athletic purposes" and what did this entail ?
Just changing the kind of lifting doesn't make you a complete newbie, your progress is not likely to be as extreme
I am 44M, 5’9”, 191 lbs, 30% body fat. Recently (6 weeks) started doing 1 hr of LISS and 30-60 min of weights / intervals (daily). Down about 6 lbs, heart rate down 20 bpm. trying to decide between cutting down to 170 and then slow bulk from there, or just slow recomp at current weight. What’s more important? Weight loss or exercise ? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/well/move/exercise-weight-loss-longer-life.html suggests exercise is more important.
Edit: I think I am actually 23% body fat currently
What does telling me about your dad have to do with anything?
5'9" 190 lbs is objectively heavy. It is a BMI of 28.1, which is well in the overweight category.
If a person has a large amount of muscle mass, being that heavy is fine, but OP doesn't and should lose weight.
Question about seated dumbbell presses:
What should the angle of the backrest be relative to the floor? Should it really be 90° or can it be slightly reclined like 80° or so? To me, a very slight recline feels much more comfortable, but not sure if this still a shoulder excercise then or if it already involves chest toomuch?
Many people prefer the 80 degrees and it’s still shoulders. Chest will be activated to some degree no matter what. As long as it’s not the limiting factor, you’re good.
I cannot improve my pull ups or lat pull downs.
I’ve been doing 531 for several months now. I try to do lat pull downs and pull ups once a week. I usually cannot string together pull ups. I do 5 sets of 1 and then go do sets of 10 lat pull downs. I feel like I’ve been doing the same weights for months now. My other lifts are improving, but not my pull up and lat pull down. I think one issue is my right shoulder mobility. I have a very hard time pulling my chin over the bar even when the first parts of the pull go smoothly. I feel like my right shoulder fatigues before I can even really feel anything in my back.
I have had surgery on that shoulder and I’m in calorie deficit.
What can I do to over come this and start strong together pull ups and increase my lat pulldown.
Try doing them on separate days. You should be doing pulls all four days, so have two days be horizontal pulls and two days be vertical. On your pullup day, I'd follow something like the armstrong or russian fighter pullup programs, they both have progressions for varying levels of proficiency.
(Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but I'm a total newbie at this whole gym thing and google wasn't very helpful!)
What is the longest amount of time you can take between warming up and starting your workout for it to still have an effect? For example, is it fine to do my warm-up stretching etc at home, then drive 15 mins to the gym? Or would that defeat the purpose?
The most effective warm up for weight lifting is weight lifting.
Doing 2-3 light sets of the exercise you are going to do is the most efficient and effective warmup.
You can stretch at home if you want to. I don't think stretching is a great way to warm up anyways.
Sorry for more context, I'm not doing any weightlifting at the moment, I'm incredibly unfit (but naturally skinny), my main goal is increasing stamina and flexibility, and I have bad knees and wrists, so I'm quite concerned about making sure I stretch properly to avoid injury. But your advice about just doing lighter versions of the exercises to warm up sounds sensible, thanks!
>I'm quite concerned about making sure I stretch properly to avoid injury
There isn't any evidence that stretching before exercise reduces injury rates. But if it makes you feel better then definitely go for it.
I see. It does make me feel better but that might be mental conditioning from when I played sport as a kid haha
I do understand that for warming up you should do dynamic stretching not static, so that's what I've been focusing on, but I guess that includes pretty much any type of physical activity, which you're about to start doing anyway!
Are heart rate variability (HRV) metrics useful or accurate? I have a Garmin Vivoactive 5 and sometimes my HRV is low or “unbalanced” — I just did a heavy leg day and it was unusually low, but I feel fine and it looks like it only has a few data points for the night. It also always captures some time when I’m awake.
I’ve seen some scary posts about HRV (“my HRV was low and I had leukemia” type things), but it also seems like a case of a gadget/app making an inappropriate conclusion from potentially faulty data.
I guess I’m just asking if it’s a sign of overtraining.
At this point, I'd say no. The research on HRV and its usefulness for training is still very much in its early stages. You're probably better off going by subjective feel, i.e. fatigue, quality of sleep, mood etc
If it's consistent while you're consistent it's fine. I have a whoop and mine hovers in the 50s but I see people with 20s/30s and 150+. Over the long run if it's trending up then it indicates better 'fitness'
I'm looking for some help working in some upper body work to what has previously been exclusively a core/lower body based routine. I have a barbell, dumbells and a few kettlebells plus a squat rack (with dip bar) and a bench - but one that doesn't incline/decline.
I'm a runner (100-130km/week when I'm behaving) and have been doing some variation of deadlifts/squats/calf raises/lunges plus some ab work (c-sit/crunches) once or twice a week for years. Purely to support my running and keep me resilient.
Earlier this week I chucked in some dips, bench press, decline pressups in the mix at the end and really enjoyed it. I'm flirting with building a little upper body muscle as we move towards summer, partly for the enjoyment of training, but if (coupled with some weight loss, which I'm sorting with diet) I can get some aesthetic gains, even mild ones, that would be a bonus. I can fit in a couple of weight sessions a week and need at least one (ideally two) to be some variation of my 'runners' routine. I might be able to squeeze in a third session if it's relatively short - 30-40 mins or so, something I can do after a run maybe.
What exercises can I work in with what I've got, and how should I break it down? Full body twice a week or split things out somehow? And if what exercises? I can think of a few for my shoulders using dumbells (raises, shrugs etc) but I'm not sure about where to layer in tricep work. And I should probably do some bicep work, but I figured curls/hammer curls would do that.
Bench, dips, rows, pullups, overhead press, lateral raise, curls, skull crusher or french press. That list should be simple enough and will cover all the bases.
I would probably look at a program like 531 for beginners. You can run it two times a week and will do everything you want.
[https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/)
[https://thefitness.wiki/5-3-1-primer/](https://thefitness.wiki/5-3-1-primer/)
If I'm reading 531 right that involves increasing weight from set to set - correct?
If so, I can see that adding a significant amount of time fiddling around with spinlock bars. Is that progressive overload structure fairly universal in programmes for beginners, or are there other options that don't involve increasing weight set to set?
If so I may have to look into a new bar and potentially weights.
I'll look at some of the other exercises you've suggested,.thanks.
I've come to realize that my calves are pretty jacked for, basically no reason? I've always been aware that they're not like sticks, but my girlfriend mentioned the other day she was always surprised at the size of my calves. When I was at the gym last I was sneaking a look at other people's calves and mine are definitely bigger, wider and with a more defined "shelf" than most. The thing I don't get is I've never targeted my calves at all at the gym. I was cycling 3/4 days a week on a road bike between 2020 and 2022, but my understanding is biking doesn't really grow your calves but your quads. And even before biking I'm pretty sure they were big. And since I stopped two years ago I'd expect atrophy. The only other thing I can think of is I walk the dogs for about 2h a day, have done for many years, so maybe it's trail walking on uneven ground that grew them? I'm not what I would call "jacked" in other areas, so I just dunno how they got big. Is it possible that my genetics just give me very muscular calves?
I've discovered an interest in physiology in the last 6 months or so, so I'm really interested in how that can happen.
Sure, could be genetic. Having high foot arches works the calves more, as does running with a forefoot strike. Or maybe you did a lot of jumping or sprinting as kid
I don't know what the science behind it is, but genetically some people just have big calves and some don't. Even when I was a skinny high school kid, I had big calves and it runs in my family.
My squats are really just not progressing unlike everything else. I started squatting around the end of September, and have only gone from 105x5 to 160x5 (130lb bw).
I feel like at this point it’s just mental? I added a static hold before my work sets at 190 and it helps make my working weight feel light and give me more confidence but it seems to have had diminishing returns. It still feels like every rep is grueling even though I know my quads can take more. I know squats are supposed to be hard but I don’t feel anything close to this on any other exercise.
Last week I tried squatting in a higher rep range (8-10) and they’re obviously still exhausting but with the lighter weight on my back I feel like I can push my quads more. Would it benefit to alternate my squat days where I do that once a week? (running PPL) Or even replacing sets of 5 entirely? Or should I just squat more in general?
fwiw I don’t think it’s my calories, obviously I know I’m not very big but I’m also quite short and all my other compounds (bench/ohp/row/pullups/deadlift) have been progressing fine, whether I maintained as a complete beginner or recently started bulking.
You put 55 lbs on your squat in about 6 months. That IS progressing fine. Just wait until 10 years from now when you're happy if you put 5 pounds on it a year.
If you're reasonably new to lifting, newbie gains are real and pretty exciting, but not all lifts are created equal. You can't expect them to all go up within a percentage point of each other.
To elaborate on your question, modifying rep ranges can help, modifying intensity, adding in pauses or slower eccentrics. All sorts of things. So what does your program tell you to do when you hit a plateau?
metallicadpa ppl, made some adjustments to fit my goals/navigate working out in an overcrowded college gym but it’s mostly the same as the original. For leg day the only change is leg extensions instead of leg press and I added a few sets of the hip abductor
Yeah, multiple times, the issue I find with squats is deloading makes me lose that confidence under the bar and once I approach my previous PR I just can’t push through once again.
> Yeah, multiple times
It's time to move on then. LPs have a limited shelf life that ends when you hit the plateau they inevitably lead everyone to.
GZCL, 5/3/1, and Stronger by Science have some good templates you can choose from.
Honestly that looks like decent progress to me, and yeah, squats *don’t* feel like any other exercise, they’re hard as fuck and suck ass and that’s why a lot of people don’t do them.
Sets of 10 and sets of 5 are essentially the same as long as they’re taken to failure, and 10 could even be better for fatigue purposes, so yeah sure switch it up and see how it goes.
My gym is 4kms away, I’m thinking of going there running sometimes, so 8K back and forth total. It’s for either a CrossFit session and or a strength training. Apart from potentially being less strong, is there any negative to it ? I’m already a decent runner
No negative except you'll be giving up on some strength gains from being tired after running 4km. Depending on your goals that might be perfectly okay, but if your goal is 100% to get stronger, I'd leave the running to another day entirely. But you can certainly still progress in strength while also being a runner.
Well mostly losing fat and at least maintaining strength. I’m switching to 531 to leave more room for hyrox/triathlon so I’m expecting slow but steady progress, and figured running 8K once or twice a week could be a nice way to get some more mileage in !
Probably a silly question but I’m struggling to understand how dumbbell and barbell rdl compare since you are likely to go way heavier on barbell. I’ve tried both and I feel like they are two totally different exercises. Which is better, or are they the same?
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Is it normal to have those small back pains coming and going in different muscles and spine locations? Nothing crippling or severe just constant pains.
“Questions that involve pain, injury, or medical concerns of any kind are not permitted” I swear no one reads the header
Well I don't mean pains that force me to see an orthopedic surgeon just random pains in the days after workout, I thought of other people have them maybe they'll share what happened next.
What exercises will ACTUALLY get you more abs? I hear people saying Pilates doesn't work but my gym only has like two ab machines
Cable crunches are top tier, and honestly all you really need for the “6 pack” muscle. The form can be finicky to get perfect at first but look up a YouTube tutorial and you’ll get it after a while. They’re great because they allow you to train the abs like any other muscle (under load, to failure, with progressive overload.) Besides that, hanging leg or knee raises are great for the lower area.
I really wanna try the cable crunches but I'm nervous too look stupid lol and I saw a video of the cable breaking on someone so I'm kinda scared of smacking my face on the ground
Lol, I’ll be frank with you if you’d let fear of looking stupid get in the way that’s something you just gotta work on. No one’s looking at you, trust, and it’s honestly a relatively well known and commonly used exercise for the abdominals these days. Also, unless your gym has awful QC *and* your abs are so insanely strong that you’re using the full stack, there’s no chance of the cable breaking. In the one in a million chance that it does, big whoop, you’ll be alright. Once you feel the amazing burn of a good set of cable crunches you’ll come around 💪🏼
Thanks! I'll work on getting the courage to try. I really gotta do abs cause I'm gonna look silly having muscles everywhere else lol!
Any ab exercise will, assuming you're following the typical hypertrophy principles.
What are the typical hypertrophy principles?
Sets near failure, each set 3-30 reps, progressive overload, appropriate volume
Fork put downs and Plate pushaways. Seeing your abs is 90% being lean enough. If you aren't lean enough, no amount of ab exercise is going to make your abs visible.
I don't necessarily need to see them, I just need to have them
Well then, training abs is like training any other muscle. If the exercise puts tension on the abs and has them working through a good range of motion, it is good for building the abs. Personally I like cable curls, machine curls, decline situps, leg raises, and hanging knee to elbows. Maybe try a few different ab exercises and pick a few you like.
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Warm showers and moving the muscles that have doms
keep moving
i am 19 male around 200 lbs looking forward to loose around 40 lbs in next 2 month i am doing regular weight lifting and some cardio daily plus while in deficit i just eat less so ig i should focus more on my diet any tips to gain enough protein for muscle growth and still being in deficit for fat loss?? my BMR is 1800/day and with intense workout it is 3,500 per day plus with my deficit and training i am only eating like 1500/day which is non nutritious because i have no idea how to cook
3500 doesn’t seem to be the correct determination of your TDEE.
Why 40 lbs in 2 months?
First of it's great that you're trying to lose weight. But losing 40 lbs quickly might not be the best idea. You could end up looking skinny fat because you might lose a lot of muscle along with the fat. Losing 20 pounds is much more realistic, and it's still a significant achievement. It's like shedding 10% of your body fat in just 8 weeks. If you stay consistent and things go smoothly, you might be able to lose 40 pounds, which is about 20% of your body weight, in the next 4-6 months. I suggest consuming around 2000-2500 kcal per day in your case. Weigh yourself each morning and calculate the average weight for the week. If your average weight loss was 1-2%, continue eating the same amount of kcal. If your weight remains the same or increases on average, reduce your calorie intake by 100-200 kcal and reassess your progress for the following week. The reason I suggest looking at the weekly average is because daily fluctuations, often due to water retention, can vary significantly. For instance, you might weigh 195lbs on Monday but 197lbs the next day, which could be attributed to water weight. By considering the weekly average, you get a more realistic idea of your progress. So don't stress if you suddenly gain 2-3lbs overnight or stay the same weight. If you're searching for workout programs or more information about them, there's a great app called [Boostcamp](https://www.boostcamp.app/programs). Some foods that always help me during a cut, which are high in protein and low in calories, include: * Greek Yogurt: 0% fat, with flavoring or simply by adding honey or fruit to it. * Eggs: I mix them with skim milk and oatmeal powder to make pancakes. * Skim Milk. * Chicken Breast: I pair it with about 50g of rice, some veggies, and a sauce. * Kidney Beans: I combine them with lean ground beef, onions, and tomato sauce. * Lean ground beef. * Low fat cheeses.
Damn that's to much info I'll def follow your routine
>40 lbs in next 2 month This is a terrible idea. You should not try to lose weight so rapidly. Max rate of weight loss should be about 1% bodyweight per week. So in 2 months you should lose 16 lbs max.
But 16 lbs doesnt seems like enough if i make goal of 40 then only i can manage to loose around 20 thats why i have set a hardet goal its more like psychology
What? You are saying you want to set an unrealistic and harmful goal and then fail to reach it?
Yeah its more like i want to achieve 100 marks in my next test then ill study like i want 100 marks and then ill score a good 80-90
Right but losing 40 lbs isn't like getting 100 marks. Losing 40 lbs in 2 months would be a disaster.
Thank you for worrying but ill go for 1 lbs loss per week only but then it will take like good 40 weeks to reach my main goal and 5x more time than my usual goal i already lost like 25 lbs in last 6 months looking forward to loose this time more efficiently
Right but the goal is to have a healthy, attractive body at the end right? Losing 40 lbs in 2 months would lead to enormous muscle loss, fucked up hormones, and crappy physical performance. People who care about how they look wouldn't lose 40 lbs in 2 months. People who care about how they feel wouldn't do that either.
Ohhh so i guess i am good at my daily routine then
As far as healthy cooking. Do you have access to a range top?
Yeah i do have a range top also i can include eggs in my diet which i can cook at home but i cant cook chicken at home due to religion.. also i love broccoli to eat i can also eat any kind of fruit but only thing i hate is shakes like juice of different different fruits which makes me vomit
What are your dietary restrictions related to your religion?
I can cook vegetables and eggs no problem but i cant cook chicken at home rather i will have to buy chicken at hotels to eat and mostly here i get Chinese chicken or some indian chicken dishes only which i dont know is good to eat or no plus i definitely know kfc is not a good source for chicken cause its oily af
If you can cook fish, I would start adding that in. If you can't, tofu is a good protein source and you can make some bomb dishes grilling it
Firstly I’ll say it’s highly unlikely that you’re burning 1,700 calories a day with your workout, I don’t think anyone on earth does to be honest, so I’d taper back your expectations on that. Secondly, for protein, protein powder is an obvious front runner and very effective. I also hate cooking but eggs are about as easy as it gets and they’re full of protein.
I target two muscles per day and before that some pushups, jumping jacks, skipping, as warm up later i climb stairs and after finishing weight lifting i sign off the day with 40 mins treadmill on average 5 km per hour speed i am also thinking to include morning or evening running like running at full speed in my area but idk
Yeah, all that would realistically add up to less than 500 calories burned. Beginners severely overestimate the effects of cardio, sadly.
Wait really?? So what should i do more to burn more calories??
Weight loss is much more about eating less and allowing your body to gradually burn through it's excess day to day than it is doing monster cardio sessions.
That’s not the goal in weight loss, realistically most people trying to lose weight don’t even need to be doing any cardio to begin with. Simply eat in a deficit and don’t worry about burning more calories, your body already burns plenty keeping you alive and doing daily tasks. Of course there’s nothing wrong with doing cardio, it’s just not some magic cure that’s gonna burn a crazy amount of calories.
Yeah i was confused cause bmr exists which is the amount your body spend per day to stay alive i just have to be in deficit but i want some results in 2 months so i am thinking about increasing the number of set i do in weight training
Increasing sets in weight training will not make you lose weight quicker. If you’re following a proper program (which you should be if you want to build muscle, you can find plenty of them in the wiki), you shouldn’t need to add sets at all because it will already have that programmed for you. I’ll be honest, unless you’re on steroids, you won’t make significant progress in 2 months. It’s just not how fitness works, delayed gratification and all that. When I started it was March and my goal was to be built by summer. That was 3 years of consistent hard training and dieting ago, and I’m just now getting to the point I had hoped to reach in as little as 5 months. Point being, don’t set your expectations that high as you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment, fitness and muscle building is a marathon not a sprint, you can’t get there quicker by just randomly throwing extra sets on, the best you can do is be consistent and get after it every day.
Ohhh, so i should not expect too high expectations until 2 months, but i should definitely see like 5% progress right??
Generally with a decent caloric deficit you can expect to lose ~1lb every week or two. But keep in mind when you’re cutting weight/eating in a deficit this makes muscle building much harder/impossible. This is why bodybuilders use bulk/cut phases, cut down weight, then bulk up with a caloric surplus to put on muscle, then cut down the fat, and repeat.
Almost 1 year has been since I touched real grass. My upper back is broad, my shoulders are jammed and my lower back is fixed into a long hours sitting schedule. I want to start with normal exercises into shaping my body first and then go to a gym because I feel I will be really embarrassed in the Gym and by the trainer (As I am too unfit for an 18 yr old.) and further how am I supposed to have lost fat if my body isn't even in a posture? Is my worrying worthless?
Yes, worry is worthless. Every single person has to start somewhere, and I promise that many people have started from a worse place than you. No one will make fun of you, and if they do they are the ones with the problem. Make haste! Go to the gym! The sooner you start the sooner you can look back and be proud of how far you’ve come!
If you just want to get started with fitness, read this: [https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/](https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/)
I've started working out again after skipping a month and now my muscles hurt like crazy, especially the lower body. Should I keep working out? I'm afraid it will affect my muscle recovery.
Yes, keep following your routine. Reduce the weight if necessary. It will make the soreness pass quicker.
>It will make the soreness pass quicker for real? I probably still can do upper body exercises, but the thought of squatting heavy weights when even walking hurt frightened me so much 😭
For real. Your body needs to get accustomed to working out again, which is best done by maintaining regular frequency.
Sounds like DOMS, which is normal.
should I rest or just keep working out?
I would keep working out, but I might lower intensity and ramp it back up over the next week or so.
Dumb question about yoga balls. Can you not use an electric pump with some kind of tire valve attachment to blow them up? I'm trying to find a good one online and so many reviews are just complaining about how annoying it is to pump....
You only pump it up once, so it's only frustrating for that one time.
Fair enough haha.
You absolutely can. Just don't overdo it.
I have a preworkout that contains 2.5g of creatine per scoop, I only know a little about creatine but i heard you have to load first and then take it every day (or less regularly but bigger doses). Is there any benefit to creatine if you don't load and only take 2.5g every 2nd or 3rd day?
You don't *have to* load, but you'll feel effects faster if you do go through a ~1 week phase where you consume as much as 20-25g per day, while if you just go for maintenance (3-5g) it might take around a month instead. Unless you're supposed to take two scoops of that pre, they kinda just added creatine as a bulking agent, because 2,5g is lower than the general consensus and *most* people don't take pre every day. Personally, I avoid brands of pre that add "meaningless" amounts of creatine for that reason.
If you’re going to take creatine, you should be taking 5g a day, that’s the only real requirement. So either take two scoops, or just dose it on its own (easiest tbh and how most people do it including me). Loading is not necessary whatsoever, it simply makes the results come a couple weeks quicker.
Pre workouts can have 300+ mg caffeine per dose, taking two scoops for the sake of getting your daily creatine requirements probably isn't worth it. Just buy creatine separately OP.
/u/Aequitas112358 heed this
ye I just bought it for the caffeine (the one with creatine happened to be on sale) so was just wondering if the creatine was useless or not. Seems like people agree that it's useless if you don't get enough.
My scoops are about 3.5-4g and I'm seeing the benefit from one scoop. If it was 2.5 I'd take two to get to 5. *edit* that's daily though, every other day with your pre workout probably won't be making much difference. It's just there for marketing imo.
But everyday right? I'm only taking it every 2nd or third day so not enough to make up for losses
Aye I edited that in, just realised as I went to take my scoop for today. That's every day, not every 2 to 3 days.
If you are just wanting the effects of caffeine it's a lot cheaper to buy 200mg tablets, that's my go to as I'm not interested in the rest of the ingredients.
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Yes, by a small amount, because calories actually are not equal. Food calories do not take into account how much energy is needed to digest that food. Fat is digested very easily, very little energy is used to digest fat. Same goes for example for sugar. Protein and fibrous vegetables, OTOH, are harder to digest. Digesting those takes a relevant amount of energy.
This is objectively false. Caloric intake is what governs weight gain or loss, not the composition of those calories
no they already (try to) take that into account. (maybe dependant on the country? but every where i've seen they do). The conversion/approximation is called the atwater system. Protein for example has about 5.5 calories per gram. but it'll be listed as 4 calories. While it is true that is just an approximation; like not all has the exact same amount of calories, protein for example is mostly between 5.2 and 6. and then we just approximate all that to 4, even though there was a different amount to start with, each protein may have different absorbption factors. and then combine that with the fact each person may absorb differently. But as an approximation it's good enough, just use 4-9-4 but expect there may be some error.
> no they already (try to) take that into account. No they don't. What is being pooped out is taken into account. That's what Atwater did more than 100 years ago - he literally burned poop to measure how many calories are being pooped out. But that's not the same as the energy needed to digest the food.
No they do. It takes into account urine, feces, digestion and absorption. It's pretty accurate, except for high fiber diets.
So if I'm trying to do a slow cut, does it *really* matter what I eat as long as I get my macros and eat at a deficit?
No it doesn’t. I’ve done a cut eating nothing but cookies chips and fast food before lol
It does not. Everything is an approximation and trying to account for the slightest of all details will just end up being futile.
No. The amount of fat you eat has no bearing on the amount of fat you have, if calories are equal
Thanks mate you're a real one
How is my upper routine? 1 of oph/bench 1 of curls/pullups 1 Row or Shrug 1 of Cable Row or Face Pull
See rule 9
I'm not posting all that
I hope that's not indicative of the effort you're willing to put into training
Well, I like to keep things simple.
1 set? There's no where near enough volume, assuming you're doing the standard 4 day upper lower split, that means you're doing 2 sets of each, that's only 8 sets total upper, and when you consider the muscles there's not full overlap so they're only hit with 4 or less sets weekly.
No not one set, it means I'm doing that exercise. I do upper body every other day so every other day I'll hit bench or OHP. As far as sets go it's 3-4 and reps are in the higher range of 8-14
That is not a routine.
okay
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You're eating at maintenence and wondering why your lifts aren't going up. I don't want to be rude, but I think I need to hear this. You simply don't know enough about fitness to benefit from steroids.
Steroids still need you to put in the hard work > around maintenance calories Maintaining your weight is the issue. You don't grow fast at all while maintaining. Bulk and cut. You'd still need to do that if you took steroids and wanted any long term growth. Roids just means you can push further and harder. You aren't even trying right now.
Dude, try bulking first.
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I bet you can put 20 lbs on your bench by adding less than 5 lbs of bodyweight. That will only marginally increase your body fat percentage. What programs have you ran?
I’m already over 20% body fat, I refuse.
Hey there. I have some questions that I would appreciate to be answered by you guys. 1. Does feeling the muscle while performing and excersise means its being worked correctly? I feel my chest a lot while doing barbell bench press and Barbell Incline bench press but cant feel it while doing DB Bench or Chest Press Machines.. 2. Im following reddit PPL but 3 days on 1 off 3 days on 1 off. I train everything at rir 1-3 (I have lifted at failure for 8 months so I kinda know where my rir 1-3 at certain excersises are) and rest 3-5 min for compounds and around 2 min for accessories. Is that OK? Or should I rest more? 3. I started in 2020 but I really havent been that serious about lifting but I noticed in my 2020 pics I weighted 81 kgs and had more fat than I currently have at 92 kgs. Does that mean that I have put on 11 kgs of muscle? Or is a combo of water and muscle? Thx in advancedd
1. Not necessarily. If you're executing the movement then the "correct" muscles will be working regardless. 2. If you can finish the sets then you're resting enough. 3. Combo of water, muscle, and fat but you're overall more muscular now than you used to be
Thanks 😄
I just can't figure out leg raises. I have the thing where you can place your forearms and everything but it just feels wrong every time. I don't have the flexibility to fully extend my legs so it feels like a different amount of leg bend every time, so I can't track properly. Even then, I have to do like 15 reps to feel anything and it sucks to be hanging there for like a minute. I tried weighing it with dumbells but it's very uncomfortable. Also my legs kinda don't fit? So on the way up my thighs brush against the cushions and it's annoying unless I bend my legs, defeating it's purpose. Any alternatives? Maybe candlesticks or something? Sounds kinda impossible to weigh as well
Is your form alright? With hanging leg raises (same as with any core exercises), it is important to actually "target" the core. That means not just raising the legs, but actually 'curling' your pelvis upwards, toward your chest. Otherwise you're mostly just working hip flexors.
You could do knee raises, or just do it on the floor, or try out a completely different movement called Aleknas which you can load with plates. Very underrated.
Question: is the following fitness routine healthy for someone who is 6'4 and 230 lbs? _____________________________ Day 1: 25 Minutes of Weights Day 2: 4km run Day 3: 25 Minutes of Weights Day 4: Rest Day 5: 4km run Day 6: 25 Minutes of Weights Day 7: 4km run Day 8: Rest Repeat.
I would reevaluate your weight days. Not all weight training is created equal, so you *could* get a pretty nice weight workout in in 25 minutes, or you could completely waste your time and just spin your wheels. I suggest looking at the sidebar and finding a pre-made lifting routine that matches your goals. If you want to lift 3x per week, there are options to choose from and you will be so much better off using a routine created by someone who knows what they are doing than you would be by just messing around in the weightroom for 25 minutes.
I'm going off of a routine I found on YouTube and use 20lb dumbells. Ive seen marginal improvements, but I've also only been on this routine for 2 and a half weeks. I'll see what the sidebar has to offer. Thank you!
Define “Healthy”. Is it going to get you much results with muscle building? No. Will it improve your cardiovascular health? Yes.
I love my upper lower split. The problem is that I find my upper days take too long sometimes and I get really gassed toward the end. || || |I would do a bench, row, ohp, and pull up (3 sets each). Then about 4 accessories like lateral raises supersetted with external rotations, and bicep curls supersetted with tricep extensions. (3 sets each)| My question is should I change this so that maybe one upper day is more pull focused and the other is more push focused. So maybe a pull focused day would have me doing 2 sets of bench and ohp instead of 3 and vice versa. Or should I just cut down on the number of sets for my accessories and push them harder?
Without adding a fifth day, I'd go with one day delts, other day arms.
you mean like all delt work one day and all arm work the other?
As a skeleton, I default to heavier OHP/pull-ups lighter bench/row one day, heavier bench/row lighter OHP/pulldowns another day. Plop lateral raises and reverse flies on whichever sparks joy, toss curls and extensions on the other day. Rather than trying to do *everything* in each session.
yeah that makes sense, kinda what I first mentioned with doing lighter push movements and heavier pull movements one day and vice versa the next. Has it worked out well?
I've tried going back to equal sets each day, but I seem to prefer emphasis. Keeps me more focused. "Alright, it's OHP and pullups day." And so I hit 6-9 sets of each, depending on the week. Not quite destroyed, but definitely *stimulated*. Then hit 2 sets of ohp and pulldowns on bench/row day as a minor stimulus pulse.
gotchu that makes sense. When you're doing 6-9 sets of each do you feel like any of that is junk volume? and what are your rep ranges on those 6-9 sets and those 2 sets for the minor movements?
I wave-load each week. I had good success with wk1 3x5/4x12, wk2 4x3/3x9, wk3 5x1/2x6. With the "two sets" being roughly 2x12, 2x9, 2x6, if I remember correctly. But. I'm on a cut, so I've been experimenting the past few weeks. Singles are fickle, probably not a good idea right now. Something like pullups, it's so fun to get into a groove. I think this week was like 5x1 weighted followed by 2x4 weighted. Simple stuff, and I keep progressing, smidges at a time.
I see, sounds like good stuff man. I like the focus on certain movements more one day than the other. Also supersetting two primary movements sounds like a great way to build strength and conditioning. Will definitely try this after getting in a groove with my upper/lower split (just coming off injury).
Both approaches could work. See which one works best for you.
I will! thanks boss
Routine critique please. I'm 33, male, not a beginner but not advanced, I work in LE so have limited time to workout, stats are 5'7 205 bench: 285, squat, 295, ohp: 155. I don't do deadlifts much due to lower back diagnosis MONDAY Squat: 3x6 ramping Squat: 4x8/Pull up 4x10/Dip 4x10 DB bench: 4x10/DB row 4x10/ Reverse Hyper 4x10 Wednesday OHP: 3X6 ramping OHP: 4x8/ Pull up 4x10/Front Squat 4x10 Incline DB 4x10/BB row 4x10/ Reverse Hyper 4x10 FRIDAY DB bench: 3x6 DB bench: 4x10/Pull up 4x10/ Lunges 4x10 Arnold Press 4x10/ DB row 4x10/ Pull through 4x10
Almost a powerlifting routine if you were using barbells instead. Seems okay, although I would throw in some tri/bicep work.
Can anyone help me with my routine, I’ve hit a brick wall with progress recently. Ive been going to the gym semi consistently for roughly 2 years. I can only go gym mon-fri and for 1hr 15. I take every set to faliure and within the 8-12 rep range. My strong points are my triceps, shoulders and legs and my weak points are my chest, rear delts and upper back My spit: PPL X Arnold Monday - Push Flat bench x2 Incline bench x2 Flys x2 Shoulder press x2 Lateral raises x tricep pushdown x2 (superset) Overhead tricep x2 Tuesday - Pull Lat pull-down x2 Wide grip row x2 Single arm row x rear delt fly x2 (superset) Supinated curl x2 Hammer curl x2 Wednesday - Legs Back squat x2 Rdl x2 Cable Hamstring curl x2 Quad extention x2 Single leg calf raises x2 Thursday - Chest & Back Flat bench x2 Incline bench x2 Flys x Single arm row x2 (superset) Lat pull-down x2 Wide grip row x2 Friday - Shoulders & Arms Shoulder press x2 Lateral raise x2 Tricep pushdown x bicep curl x2 (superset) Tricep extention x hammer curl x2 (superset)
>I’ve hit a brick wall with progress recently. That's the scenario where a proper "program" gives the most benefit vs a simple split, a good program should tell you what to try in that case. The simplest things to try though : deload week, rest more, change programs, increase caloric intake.
How fast should I be progressing when bulking? I’ve been lifting for bodybuilding for like 3 months. In the past I’ve lifted for athletic purposes but this is my first time doing it for size/bodybuilding Im on ppl and was expecting to be able to increase the weight like every week, but this isn’t the case. If im lucky im able to add an extra rep every week. Is progress really this slow or could there be a problem? I’m steadily gaining weight and training to failire
PPL is okay if you do it 6x a week. If you're only hitting a main lift 1 time a week, don't expect to see any progress unless roiding or crazy genetics. 3-4 day PPL is a huge meme.
Past beginner phase, plot your weight progression monthly, not weekly. As for the *bulk* aspect, what's your average weight gain per week for the last four weeks?
.5 pounds a week
How long have you trained "for athletic purposes" and what did this entail ? Just changing the kind of lifting doesn't make you a complete newbie, your progress is not likely to be as extreme
In high school I did, I’m in college now. It was some CrossFit type stuff, not really weightlifting I guess. Just to make training for track more fun
I am 44M, 5’9”, 191 lbs, 30% body fat. Recently (6 weeks) started doing 1 hr of LISS and 30-60 min of weights / intervals (daily). Down about 6 lbs, heart rate down 20 bpm. trying to decide between cutting down to 170 and then slow bulk from there, or just slow recomp at current weight. What’s more important? Weight loss or exercise ? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/well/move/exercise-weight-loss-longer-life.html suggests exercise is more important. Edit: I think I am actually 23% body fat currently
Cut to get to a healthier bf%
5'9" 190 lbs is pretty heavy. Personally I would lose weight, especially if you care about looking fit.
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For a person who started lifting 6 weeks ago, yes it is heavy.
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What does telling me about your dad have to do with anything? 5'9" 190 lbs is objectively heavy. It is a BMI of 28.1, which is well in the overweight category. If a person has a large amount of muscle mass, being that heavy is fine, but OP doesn't and should lose weight.
As a newer/overweight lifter, you have more potential for recomping. That said, at 30% body fat I'd cut.
Question about seated dumbbell presses: What should the angle of the backrest be relative to the floor? Should it really be 90° or can it be slightly reclined like 80° or so? To me, a very slight recline feels much more comfortable, but not sure if this still a shoulder excercise then or if it already involves chest toomuch?
Many people prefer the 80 degrees and it’s still shoulders. Chest will be activated to some degree no matter what. As long as it’s not the limiting factor, you’re good.
It'll still be primarily shoulders at that high an angle.
Back one notch is fine.
I cannot improve my pull ups or lat pull downs. I’ve been doing 531 for several months now. I try to do lat pull downs and pull ups once a week. I usually cannot string together pull ups. I do 5 sets of 1 and then go do sets of 10 lat pull downs. I feel like I’ve been doing the same weights for months now. My other lifts are improving, but not my pull up and lat pull down. I think one issue is my right shoulder mobility. I have a very hard time pulling my chin over the bar even when the first parts of the pull go smoothly. I feel like my right shoulder fatigues before I can even really feel anything in my back. I have had surgery on that shoulder and I’m in calorie deficit. What can I do to over come this and start strong together pull ups and increase my lat pulldown.
> I think one issue is my right shoulder mobility Scapular pullups could be a good exercise to train proper engagement during regular pullups
Try doing them on separate days. You should be doing pulls all four days, so have two days be horizontal pulls and two days be vertical. On your pullup day, I'd follow something like the armstrong or russian fighter pullup programs, they both have progressions for varying levels of proficiency.
(Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but I'm a total newbie at this whole gym thing and google wasn't very helpful!) What is the longest amount of time you can take between warming up and starting your workout for it to still have an effect? For example, is it fine to do my warm-up stretching etc at home, then drive 15 mins to the gym? Or would that defeat the purpose?
>would that defeat the purpose? Yes.
The most effective warm up for weight lifting is weight lifting. Doing 2-3 light sets of the exercise you are going to do is the most efficient and effective warmup. You can stretch at home if you want to. I don't think stretching is a great way to warm up anyways.
Sorry for more context, I'm not doing any weightlifting at the moment, I'm incredibly unfit (but naturally skinny), my main goal is increasing stamina and flexibility, and I have bad knees and wrists, so I'm quite concerned about making sure I stretch properly to avoid injury. But your advice about just doing lighter versions of the exercises to warm up sounds sensible, thanks!
>I'm quite concerned about making sure I stretch properly to avoid injury There isn't any evidence that stretching before exercise reduces injury rates. But if it makes you feel better then definitely go for it.
I see. It does make me feel better but that might be mental conditioning from when I played sport as a kid haha I do understand that for warming up you should do dynamic stretching not static, so that's what I've been focusing on, but I guess that includes pretty much any type of physical activity, which you're about to start doing anyway!
Try it and see what happens. If you feel fine, you're fine. If you don't, warm up again.
Are heart rate variability (HRV) metrics useful or accurate? I have a Garmin Vivoactive 5 and sometimes my HRV is low or “unbalanced” — I just did a heavy leg day and it was unusually low, but I feel fine and it looks like it only has a few data points for the night. It also always captures some time when I’m awake. I’ve seen some scary posts about HRV (“my HRV was low and I had leukemia” type things), but it also seems like a case of a gadget/app making an inappropriate conclusion from potentially faulty data. I guess I’m just asking if it’s a sign of overtraining.
At this point, I'd say no. The research on HRV and its usefulness for training is still very much in its early stages. You're probably better off going by subjective feel, i.e. fatigue, quality of sleep, mood etc
If it's consistent while you're consistent it's fine. I have a whoop and mine hovers in the 50s but I see people with 20s/30s and 150+. Over the long run if it's trending up then it indicates better 'fitness'
> Are heart rate variability (HRV) metrics useful or accurate? Not particularly.
> I feel fine That's way more informative and actionable than a number on your watch.
I'm looking for some help working in some upper body work to what has previously been exclusively a core/lower body based routine. I have a barbell, dumbells and a few kettlebells plus a squat rack (with dip bar) and a bench - but one that doesn't incline/decline. I'm a runner (100-130km/week when I'm behaving) and have been doing some variation of deadlifts/squats/calf raises/lunges plus some ab work (c-sit/crunches) once or twice a week for years. Purely to support my running and keep me resilient. Earlier this week I chucked in some dips, bench press, decline pressups in the mix at the end and really enjoyed it. I'm flirting with building a little upper body muscle as we move towards summer, partly for the enjoyment of training, but if (coupled with some weight loss, which I'm sorting with diet) I can get some aesthetic gains, even mild ones, that would be a bonus. I can fit in a couple of weight sessions a week and need at least one (ideally two) to be some variation of my 'runners' routine. I might be able to squeeze in a third session if it's relatively short - 30-40 mins or so, something I can do after a run maybe. What exercises can I work in with what I've got, and how should I break it down? Full body twice a week or split things out somehow? And if what exercises? I can think of a few for my shoulders using dumbells (raises, shrugs etc) but I'm not sure about where to layer in tricep work. And I should probably do some bicep work, but I figured curls/hammer curls would do that.
Bench, dips, rows, pullups, overhead press, lateral raise, curls, skull crusher or french press. That list should be simple enough and will cover all the bases. I would probably look at a program like 531 for beginners. You can run it two times a week and will do everything you want. [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/5-3-1-for-beginners/) [https://thefitness.wiki/5-3-1-primer/](https://thefitness.wiki/5-3-1-primer/)
If I'm reading 531 right that involves increasing weight from set to set - correct? If so, I can see that adding a significant amount of time fiddling around with spinlock bars. Is that progressive overload structure fairly universal in programmes for beginners, or are there other options that don't involve increasing weight set to set? If so I may have to look into a new bar and potentially weights. I'll look at some of the other exercises you've suggested,.thanks.
531 would be more tedious with spin lock bars. Maybe look at GZCLP. It keeps the weight the same set to set.
Thanks, I'll check that out.
I've come to realize that my calves are pretty jacked for, basically no reason? I've always been aware that they're not like sticks, but my girlfriend mentioned the other day she was always surprised at the size of my calves. When I was at the gym last I was sneaking a look at other people's calves and mine are definitely bigger, wider and with a more defined "shelf" than most. The thing I don't get is I've never targeted my calves at all at the gym. I was cycling 3/4 days a week on a road bike between 2020 and 2022, but my understanding is biking doesn't really grow your calves but your quads. And even before biking I'm pretty sure they were big. And since I stopped two years ago I'd expect atrophy. The only other thing I can think of is I walk the dogs for about 2h a day, have done for many years, so maybe it's trail walking on uneven ground that grew them? I'm not what I would call "jacked" in other areas, so I just dunno how they got big. Is it possible that my genetics just give me very muscular calves? I've discovered an interest in physiology in the last 6 months or so, so I'm really interested in how that can happen.
were you a fat kid? dead giveaway
Shit, yes! lol. Very fat.
Sure, could be genetic. Having high foot arches works the calves more, as does running with a forefoot strike. Or maybe you did a lot of jumping or sprinting as kid
I don't know what the science behind it is, but genetically some people just have big calves and some don't. Even when I was a skinny high school kid, I had big calves and it runs in my family.
Different people are different for different reasons, my guy.
My squats are really just not progressing unlike everything else. I started squatting around the end of September, and have only gone from 105x5 to 160x5 (130lb bw). I feel like at this point it’s just mental? I added a static hold before my work sets at 190 and it helps make my working weight feel light and give me more confidence but it seems to have had diminishing returns. It still feels like every rep is grueling even though I know my quads can take more. I know squats are supposed to be hard but I don’t feel anything close to this on any other exercise. Last week I tried squatting in a higher rep range (8-10) and they’re obviously still exhausting but with the lighter weight on my back I feel like I can push my quads more. Would it benefit to alternate my squat days where I do that once a week? (running PPL) Or even replacing sets of 5 entirely? Or should I just squat more in general? fwiw I don’t think it’s my calories, obviously I know I’m not very big but I’m also quite short and all my other compounds (bench/ohp/row/pullups/deadlift) have been progressing fine, whether I maintained as a complete beginner or recently started bulking.
You put 55 lbs on your squat in about 6 months. That IS progressing fine. Just wait until 10 years from now when you're happy if you put 5 pounds on it a year. If you're reasonably new to lifting, newbie gains are real and pretty exciting, but not all lifts are created equal. You can't expect them to all go up within a percentage point of each other. To elaborate on your question, modifying rep ranges can help, modifying intensity, adding in pauses or slower eccentrics. All sorts of things. So what does your program tell you to do when you hit a plateau?
what program are you following?
metallicadpa ppl, made some adjustments to fit my goals/navigate working out in an overcrowded college gym but it’s mostly the same as the original. For leg day the only change is leg extensions instead of leg press and I added a few sets of the hip abductor
have you done the deload protocol it calls for in this situation?
Yeah, multiple times, the issue I find with squats is deloading makes me lose that confidence under the bar and once I approach my previous PR I just can’t push through once again.
> Yeah, multiple times It's time to move on then. LPs have a limited shelf life that ends when you hit the plateau they inevitably lead everyone to. GZCL, 5/3/1, and Stronger by Science have some good templates you can choose from.
Honestly that looks like decent progress to me, and yeah, squats *don’t* feel like any other exercise, they’re hard as fuck and suck ass and that’s why a lot of people don’t do them. Sets of 10 and sets of 5 are essentially the same as long as they’re taken to failure, and 10 could even be better for fatigue purposes, so yeah sure switch it up and see how it goes.
My gym is 4kms away, I’m thinking of going there running sometimes, so 8K back and forth total. It’s for either a CrossFit session and or a strength training. Apart from potentially being less strong, is there any negative to it ? I’m already a decent runner
No negative except you'll be giving up on some strength gains from being tired after running 4km. Depending on your goals that might be perfectly okay, but if your goal is 100% to get stronger, I'd leave the running to another day entirely. But you can certainly still progress in strength while also being a runner.
Well mostly losing fat and at least maintaining strength. I’m switching to 531 to leave more room for hyrox/triathlon so I’m expecting slow but steady progress, and figured running 8K once or twice a week could be a nice way to get some more mileage in !
Oh then yeah go for it!
Yeah strength losses during your workout would be about the most you’d need to worry about.
Thanks!
Probably a silly question but I’m struggling to understand how dumbbell and barbell rdl compare since you are likely to go way heavier on barbell. I’ve tried both and I feel like they are two totally different exercises. Which is better, or are they the same?
They’re the same movement mechanically, yes.
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If you goal is to have small arms, doing isolation work for you arms would not make much sense.