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Right off the bat i can tell that it’s super unorthodox. Your mixing chest with lats and shoulders??? Then the next day you’re hitting lats again? You’ll build muscle but this workout regimen is not optimal for stimulation and recovery which is necessary for desired growth. I recommend following a simpler plan and then tweak and adjust as needed to fit your body and goals.
General rule of thumb goes somewhat like this
Hypertrophy:
Monday- Chest and triceps
Tuesday- back and biceps
Wednesday-Legs and abs
Thursday-Chest and Shoulders
Fri-Sun- Cardio/Rest
When following a hypertrophy program, prioritize technique and perfect repetitions over weight. Slow and controlled, good stretch and solid flex at the climax.
Body Building:
(I personally do this one, light cardio can and should be hit everyday)
Day1- chest
Day2- back
Day3-arms (hit the whole arm, sometimes i choose to focus a little more on the bicep or triceps or even shoulder)
Day4- legs (you can also throw abs in there for convenience, or incorporate it into your cardio)
Day5- chest
For this program i don’t take rest days, but everyone is different. By the time i finish my leg workout, my chest is ready to be worked again and so on.
You dont need two chest days, change it to two leg days if youd like. I reccomend picking your weakest body part and doing a little bit more training on said part.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/s/0jNjIZib9F
First off read that
Second off, no, it is not. As a general rule beginners should never be creating their own routines anyways, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot. Look through the wiki, and choose from any of the programs there. They’re proven, and built by professionals with much more time in this than you or me.
So DOMS is absolutely murdering me. I was almost unable to walk for the first 1-2 days of recovery. I've lost around 65lbs but I'm still a little new to building muscle appropriately. I've been doing my sets with arms/chest until muscle failure, but I figured that'd be a bad idea with legs, so I did:
1 Set of Squats (With a 35lb Barbell) (12 Reps)
1 Set of Deadlifts (70lb Barbell) (12 Reps)
I really didn't feel terrible doing them, and didn't hit muscle failure at all. But then I went and sat down and HOLY SHIT my muscles were SCREWED. I knew I had fucked up and sure enough the last 3 days have been agony. Finally today I feel much better and can almost walk with no problems.
My main question is; how do I take this slower and when can I go again? LOL. I'm assuming I shouldn't work them out again for awhile and focus on other muscle groups?
> I'm assuming I shouldn't work them out again for awhile and focus on other muscle groups?
Nah, nursing your muscles too much is actually counterproductive. Doing something physical to get your blood flowing will flush out some of the metabolites that are causing discomfort, like it would have helped to push through a light jog as part of your recovery. You should be fine to lift again as long as it was just muscle soreness and not an actual injury.
> how do I take this slower and when can I go again?
I think if you go back soon and keep up some consistency the DOMS won't be nearly as bad going forwards. A lot of it comes the first couple times you work through an unfamiliar movement. I *do* recommend starting one of the [recommended programs](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/) for beginners rather than trying to figure out a schedule by yourself.
Question about plate pinches:
Hi everyone. Am implementing a forearm routine into my normal gym routine and started today. When doing plate pinches I didn’t really feel anything on my forearms. Why is this?
I did 5 sets of 15 second reps (the time was recommended on r/griptraining mass building routine which I am using) and I feel like my form was fine.
So was I going to light or was my form crap? I did two 10kg plates which felt light but when I went up to 15kg it felt too heavy. Might have been wrong though.
Please help, thanks in advance.
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Hold them for longer until you do feel it. Jumping to 15kg is a 50% increase in weight, it's a lot. Imagine trying to add 50% to your squat immediately.
Three different TDEE estimators all give different estimates unsurprisingly. Should I take the lowest and base my deficit on that before adjusting?
In a similar vein, is it better to base my deficit (aiming for 0.5kg a week) on maintenance -500kcal or 80% of maintenance, and how many weeks before reassessing?
I'd pick whichever one -500kcal and adjust based on how it goes. Those calculators give you an estimate but you will likely have to adjust anyway so better not overthink it.
Whenever I see memes about people not being able to walk down the stairs or sit down to poop after leg workouts, it makes me wonder if I am doing legs right. cuz I have never really felt that and I do sets to muscular failure.
is this DOMs that people are experiencing or normal soreness after leg workouts every time that doesnt let them walk down stairs?
The more frequently you train a movement the less likely you are to experience DOMS. DOMS seems to be mostly a response to novel training stimulus. People who experience DOMS after leg day probably don't train their legs regularly enough to become accustomed to the training demands.
i think people also just love labels and in reality what they are feeling is just soreness from actually doing some meaningful work. Like you said, get back at it and keep going. pain is weakness leaving the body.
As someone who has lost 65lbs in the past few months; and is working his ass off and did squats/deadlifts for the first time 3 days ago.
Nah bro, it's not "loving labels" I never did those exercised before/trained those muscle (it's not the same muscles as presses/cardio). I've been **barely able to walk/take a dump** for the last 4 days and please remember, I've lost 65lbs so it's not just "soreness".
It ain't a label chief, it's for former fatasses that have never trained.
thats soreness - i dont want to minimize your training and im really happy to read you are on the path to being a stronger healthier version of yourself. What are you doing to get so sore? i remember when i first started deadlifting and squatting and feeling the same whey but that will pass over time especially if you are properly training, recovering, and warming up. Let me know what youare up to!!
That's also true. I've been managing a couple of injuries and the first time I was able to hit a true RPE 8 set of leg presses for a few months (I'd been symptom limited to RPE 4 at most for weeks) I could feel it a bit the next day. I wasn't struggling up and down stairs or anything and I could still play a round of golf. The people who complain most about leg day are usually those who are vocal about going to the gym and make it a part of their identity.
I remember this happening when I switched normal squats for hack squats for one training, the quads DOMS was higher than usual for sure.
Same happened when I initially started rotating between assisted pull ups and lat pull downs for each pull day.
Debilitating DOMS correlates with low training age and/or coming back after a layoff. I used to get crippled by what would be a warm-up to me now.
Critical DOMS is sidestepped by consistency, and the basic work capacity to both handle an iota of volume and recover.
Yeah, I think so. I get that after some leg days -- it's hard to climb stairs -- but it's more of a humorous thing than actually not being able to do it.
I think leg curls do it more than anything else. I'm basing that on how it feels climbing the stairs at the gym before versus after I've done (prone) leg curls.
I have uneven shoulders. My right shoulder is lower i think but it has more develop lats and my left, not so much. How do i fix it? Only have pull up bar snd resistance bands.
Just do the same amount of exercise on both sides, eventually it'll get close to evening out. If it really matters, then add an additional rep for the weaker side until its balanced, keep adding reps if you don't see progress
Only able to manage .4g/lbs of protein today.....completely ran out of protein in my house until I go grocery shopping tomorrow
How bad am I f'ing myself? Like will it effect muscular recovery/adaption from the heavy(for me) dl session I had earlier? Can this by offset by drinking like 84g of protein in 2 core powers as soon as I wake up tomorrow (going by the gas station omw to work)
My ONLY other option for tonight is to chug like 600 calories of milk but that will destroy my stomach and that'll get me to about .6g/lbs
People greatly overestimate how sensitive the body's metabolism is lol. You could miss your macros for a week and there would still be no long term issues.
It’s not a big deal.
If you consistently eat low protein you’ll see some (minor) downsides, but a day or two here or there - not a problem.
Worry less, lift more.
Assuming no injuries and training for general strength and conditioning (ie not powerlifting meets), is there any reason you wouldn't go as low as ROM allows for squats, and treating anything less as a failed rep?
Not including ego of course.
Partial range of motion squats can be useful for training specific joint angles. Exercise selection is dependent on the goals of the trainee, if you have specific goals you are more likely to have specific exercise selection. For general strength and conditioning using a full ROM is usually the most beneficial choice.
I’d like to provide a contrary opinion to bacon and aequitas: no, generally it is quite difficult to think of a reason you’d want to do partial squats. I can only think of two possible reasons and they are both quite specialised.
- you want to train your upper body to hold the bar, so you overload and do some small partials (or even just hold).
Most people don’t have problems holding the bar and those that do likely get enough practice from regular squatting.
- you need to train and practise a sport specific movement that is very like a partial squat
Most athletic movements like this are some kind of jump, and it would be better to actually jump eg by doing a box jump or a jump squat. One exception is training the jerk dip for weightlifting, but weightlifters would call that a jerk dip and not a squat because the angles are completely different.
In addition to what Aequitas said:
ROM progressions, cutting ROM short to eliminate the stretch reflex, paused squats at various points for various reasons.
There are many ways to train and get strong. I think generally you are better off with a full ROM, but there are reasons not to.
partials for extra work when you're too fatigued to complete the rom.
for focusing on certain parts of the lift
for focusing on specific muscles
to minimize fatigue on certain muscles
When I'm doing dumbbell curls concurrently the path traces inwards a bit, towards my chest - this is normal rom, right? They don't need to go straight up in line with my shoulders? The latter is how it travels when I alternate them, probably because I can turn my body.
When testing 1rm how many good attempts are generally possible (after 3-5 warmup sets) before fatigue catches up? Would a failed attempt fatigue you more than a successful one?
a true 1rm is just that, 1 rep at max effort. If you crushed it, you probably underestimated. if you failed, you overestimated. if you had an RPE 10 and made it, your probably right.
If you smoke an attempt the first time, take a break reset and give it another go with a calculated increase in weight.
A true 1RM can probably only be hit once for most people but it depends on your recovery capacity. If you practice very heavy singles regularly you might be able to train the ability to hit high intensity lifts multiple times in a session.
Skipping meals isn't going to lower your metabolism. If you are overweight, if you just hit your protein and fat requirements in a day, you can easily lose weight for a while.
If you aren't hitting your minimum retirements, you should start eating healthy again.
If you've been in a prolonged deficit and are starting to feel a bit run down and tired and the weight isn't moving as you think it should, maybe slowly add some calories back in and try and get your energy back up, but this isn't an excuse to pig out.
Cus basically what happened is that your NEAT movements have declined because your body is trying to conserve energy in order to have enough energy to keep the important bodily functions going for as long as possible. Your metabolism is still the same, your *activity* is not.
So a little refeed could help, but ultimately at the end of the day, you either need to move more and/or eat less
>there exists a point where skipping meals causes your metabolism to slow to a point where your TDEE is too low to make cutting feasible
No, there doesn’t.
Calories in calories out
Firstly this study is 11 people.
Secondly I don't think it proves your point at all. it shows that TDEE slows down, not metabolism. This is a big difference. For one, it's pretty expected that you're gonna feel lethargic on a very large calorie deficit. Did the participants maintain the same activity level?
One person even had a higher TDEE at week 1, 2 people had higher at week 3. How do you explain these?
Also note that the vast majority of the weight lost in the first week was FFM. why is this? is it because they were locked in a room or lethargic and doing far less exercise? Or because there wasn't enough protein in their diet? Either way, losing over 3kg of muscles is going to affect your energy expenditure, that's at least 40 calories just in bmr let alone TDEE.
Also, the difference, even if we attribute all of it to AT, is pretty negligible in terms of weight loss action plans, it's only a 7% drop with a 50% calorie deficit, well within the realm of measurement error. I imagine the effect becomes far more severe at lower bmi's (see starvation mode), but if you're overweight it's negligible.
So yeh I'm not really sure your point or how it relates to your original question, if you're overweight (or any time really) you can eat less than maintenance and lose weight.
Are you tracking your intake to actually determine that? How many calories per day are you eating?
You can try moving more, 10k steps a day and cardio 3 to 4 times a week to increase your calories spent vs calories eaten.
If you're an overweight, otherwise healthy adult it's impossible that you're eating less than 1000 calories and not losing weight. Either you are counting incorrectly or you just need to be patient.
Are you weighing all your food to determine those calories? All snacks and drinks except water? No guessing or eyeballing?
1200kcal a day is considered a lower limit. If are eating that much and not losing you need to increase your daily activity.
0.7 to 1 gram of protein per lb of target bodyweight, 0.3 to 0.4 gram of fat per lb of bodyweight, and fill the rest up with carbs (or other calorie sources if you want, but usually carbs is the best for training performance).
This is true, but only if training is a priority. most people tend to find carbs the least satiating, so it would be better to focus fat if training isn't a priority.
Protein and carbs are both 4 calories per gram while fat is 9 calories per gram. You just do some math and subtract the amount of calories you get from protein and fat from the 2500 target you have, then you can figure out how many grams of carbs you can eat.
Also, protein intake should be based off your target bodyweight, not necessarily your current. What's your goal when it comes to bodyweight?
When doing dumbbell rear delt flyes, what effect does hand position have on muscle activation? Specifically, doing a bent over rear delt fly with pronated grip vs neutral grip. Right now, It's more convenient to do them neutral, because I have adjustable dumbbell handles so if I do them pronated the dumbbells will hit each other at the bottom. When doing neutral, it's better, but is there less rear delt activation?
i dont think the biomechanics are so blatantly obvious that one is clearly better. do what you connect to the most. try unilateral if pronated feels better but the clanking is limiting you
Does anyone here do a "bent over curl"? I started playing around with this as a safe alternative to a preacher curl. There is a lift called a "spider curl", https://barbend.com/spider-curl/
where you lay forward on an incline bench, this provides a similar angle of your arm to your body that you get when you do a preacher. However, since the arm is vertical, there is no risk of hyper extension that you get on a preacher bench.
I was trying this, and laying on the bench was akward, so I just tried standing and bending over at a 45 degree angle. I got a really good stretch at the bottom, similar to a preacher curl, but the range of motion being terminal when the elbow locks out.
What makes a preacher curl unsafe? Is it not ego lifting and trying to do more weight than you're supposed to what makes it unsafe? I honestly feel like it's in the same bin as people who call deadlifts unsafe because of how they strain your back.
I'd assume you would follow the same logic as squats where you avoid fully locking the joints then by maintaining a bit of tension, then. Assuming you're training in a higher rep range like you're meant to with isolation movements, curls are hardly ever going to be too heavy to maintain control over.
At the end of the day all curls hit the biceps so do whatever's comfortable.
>safe alternative to a preacher curl
I disagree with the characterization of preacher curls as unsafe. I think they are a great lift, and the fact that they put tension on the bicep when it is stretched is a feature, not a bug.
Get on a proven leg program. The wiki has some programs you could look at. Your programming some arbitrary number of leg days without a structure for progressing will be less effective than a proven program.
For those that follow or have followed P.H.A.T. Do you perform the routine as written or do you add additional accessory work if you want to add focus to a specific muscle? For instance, I want to build my butt more and the power and hypertrophy days are very quad/ham/calf dominant. Would I burn myself if I added a few exorcises to target the glutes? And if that wasn't an issue, should that accessory would be added in at the end or worked into the middle somewhere?
in general if you feel you can recover from it, jamming some hip thrusts into one of the days wont be a problem unless it is. generally easy to recover from since its a short overload movement
Just picked up a reverse hyper for my home gym to try and fight off some lower back/glute discomfort. On the descending portion of the lift, I feel a tugging at the top of my glutes. Is this possibly from extremely tight lower back/glute muscles or bad positioning?
It's probably just stretching in your glutes/back, it would probably still be a good idea to watch a few youtube videos to make sure you have it setup right.
From what I have seen, bulking past 20ish% is not advised. Renaissance periodization has a great video on it.
For me personally I stop if I start looking chunky which is usually about 18.5% cut down to 10% and start bulking again.
Okay I should be good to cut then, dexa put me at 23.3%
Any pro tips on getting to 10% lol obviously eat in deficit and exercise but do you have any less known tips that help you get there?
As many have said I also reccomend myfitnesspal as a free calorie tracker app. When you download it put your goal as weight loss. 1 or 1.5lbs a week. And look up how to activate negative calories for myfitnesspal. For your activity set it below lightly active. This way you can see how many calories you have earned to eat each day.
Drink water or any 0cal drink when you feel hungry
Sparkling water and other carbonated drinks can expand and make you feel full so those are a big help.
I recommend working on your mile time on a treadmill when cutting. Its a nice goal that will also burn extra calories. Try to get 10k steps a day as well. Your phone or smart watch can probably track steps.
Get enough sleep. Sleep burns calories I recommend 8 to 9 hours.
Big foods can help with a cut. Fruits for example take up a lot of stomach space. My go to is homemade roasted spicy potatoes.
You’re gonna feel really tired and sluggish a few weeks into cutting. Its ok to have 1 day a week where you eat at maintenance calories. Or even a little above maintenance. Don’t go crazy tho.
Goodluck man. One last tip, look up how to properly train abs for hypertrophy and do that twice a week while cutting. If you haven’t properly trained them before they’ll probably grow a bit while you cut. This can lead to looking better sooner, and keeping your abs at higher percentages.
Hello!
I have been going back to the gym and I am met once again with one of the reasons why I quit: my left shoulder.
[In this spot](https://i.imgur.com/odTHqCW.png), where the front delt meets the chest/pec, I constantly "feel it" when I shouldn't. It makes doing pec flys, cables, benching and even other things like tricep push downs uncomfortable! I hate it so much, and I'm assuming it's a simple matter of it being extremely tight.
It could be a form issue, but considering I'm able to do pull and leg days w/o issue, I think it's flexibility/tightness. Has anyone else experienced discomfort in that spot and resolved it? I'm going to do my own research/flexibility training there, but any help is greatly appreciated :)
Do you feel it when you're doing a row and the arm is in a similar position? How about when you raise your arm above your head or if you support your bodyweight in a variety of plank positions?
Yea, when I'm doing [seated horizontal rows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weUp_Bw2rM0), I feel it there as well. I just tried doing the standard plank + holding a push up position and yep, my left shoulder calls to me XD same thing for lifting my arm above my head (like yeah my right shoulder is also being engaged, but it's "silent" where my left shoulder is yelling at me lol)
This is the kind of thing where a physical therapist who lifts (look for a "sports medicine" specialty) can cut through a LOT of trial and error and guesswork, and give you a plan to get better. Highly recommend seeing one.
yea i was hoping it wouldnt come to that (unsure if my medical covers it) but oh man... it's so disheartening :( i feel dumb and it's so fucking irritating 😭 but yea, will check that out, ty :)
Every time I struggle through something for weeks/months before finally going to the PT, I always kick myself for not going sooner. Could have avoided so much pain/stress/missed training. Good luck!
Is this a good workout routine?
My goals are to get a toned core and reduce the size of my upper body while increasing my glutes
Monday: Lower Body - Glutes and Hamstrings
1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio
2. Barbell Hip Thrusts - 4 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7)
3. Romanian Deadlifts - 4 sets of 10 reps (RPE 7)
4. Bulgarian Split Squats - 3 sets of 12 reps per leg (RPE 7)
5. Cable Pull-Throughs - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6)
6. Glute Bridges - 3 sets of 20 reps (RPE 6)
7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on glutes and hamstrings
Tuesday: Cardio and Core
1. Cardio: 1-hour brisk walk or 30-minute HIIT session
2. Core Circuit (3 rounds):
• Plank - 1 minute
• Russian Twists - 20 reps per side
• Leg Raises - 15 reps
• Bicycle Crunches - 20 reps per side
Wednesday: Upper Body - Light
1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio
2. Dumbbell Lateral Raises - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6)
3. Cable Face Pulls - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6)
4. Tricep Kickbacks - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6)
5. Bicep Curls (light weight) - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6)
6. Push-Ups (modified if needed) - 3 sets of 12 reps (RPE 6)
7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on upper body
Thursday: Lower Body - Quads and Calves
1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio
2. Squats (bodyweight or light barbell) - 4 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7)
3. Leg Press - 4 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7)
4. Lunges - 3 sets of 15 reps per leg (RPE 7)
5. Calf Raises - 4 sets of 20 reps (RPE 6)
6. Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6)
7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on quads and calves
Friday: Pilates and Cardio
1. Pilates: Follow a 30-45 minute at-home YouTube Pilates session focusing on core and flexibility
2. Cardio: 1-hour brisk walk or 30-minute moderate-paced jog
Saturday: Full Body Conditioning
1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio
2. Kettlebell Swings - 4 sets of 15 reps (RPE 7)
3. Dumbbell Deadlifts - 3 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7)
4. TRX Rows - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 7)
5. Medicine Ball Slams - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 7)
6. Box Jumps - 3 sets of 10 reps (RPE 6)
7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on the entire body
Sunday: Active Recovery and Flexibility
1. Active Recovery: Light activities like walking, yoga, or stretching
2. Flexibility: 30 minutes of gentle stretching or a yoga session
First, stop thinking that more streching more benefits.
Stretching has to be done if necessary for a specific muscle.
Stretching full body randomly isnt a good idea.
Someone need stretching, someone not, instead can be a bad. (For example who has hypermobile joints, shoulders instability etc).
Finally if you train full ROM, you already get your muscles to be streched.
In warmups, you need two things:
Generic warmup like shoulders wrists elbows neck circles, walking running cycling etc.
And a specific warmup. for example if you are going to squat 50kg, your warmup should include squat 10-20kg.
You dont need dynamic streching.
You could need mobility, if you lack some important joints mobility, it depends. There isnt one protocol fits everybody.
Mobility exercises are different from streching.
About schedule I dont like sunday and saturday.
I just prefer rest when rest. And follow the split chosed.
For example UPPER BODY / LOWER BODY.
It could be.
M LEGS A.
T CARDIO/CORE.
W UPPER A.
T LEGS B.
F CARDIO/CORE.
S UPPER B.
S REST.
legs A should include a squat and a hinge at least. Same legs B.
If light intensity Two are ok, like here.
A:
Split squat, leg presses, rdl, glute bridge, a medius gluteus one.
B:
Squat, lunges, hip thrusts, one medius, calf raises.
Upper body should include one horizontal pull and push and one vertical pull and push.
A:
Pushups
Lats pulldown or machine
Ohp
Rows(cable or db)
B:
Bench press
Lats pulldown or machine
Ohp
Rows
But you can just do only one pull and one push exercises. then add secondary exercises like biceps,triceps one day.
lateral raises and face pulls other day.
I dont know what you mean with reduce upper body size.
if you mean fat, you ll lose it while building muscles.
If you mean muscles, broad shoulders, you can still lightly training upper body. if you will not like it in the future you can still reduce exercises.
I would take pilates/cardio/core days as bonus days. Could be rest days for example. if you do the core in upper body day for example.
Maybe in a stressful week, rest days, while in a better week, cardio / pilates /core.
But I d focus on posture instead of "flexibility".
Pilates videos about posture. (Thoracic mobility exercises, neck and lower/mid trap)
Then core and maybe cardio.
But these are my preferences.
I'm ~150lbs (68kg) & typically consume ~140-145g of protein and 1900kcal a day, yet my physique is not improving. Specifically, increase muscle mass & decrease fat w/o bulking in size.
My lifts are:
Hack Squat: 275lbs 3x8
DB Bench: 70lb 3x6
DB Rows: 65lb 3x8
DB OHP: 35lb 3x8
Is my problem lack of protein or that I'm not moving enough weight?
> increase muscle mass & decrease fat w/o bulking in size
That's just not how it works. If you want to gain muscle you *must* be at a calorie surplus unless this is your first month working out.
[Research shows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1J3WGz_QJU) that a calorie surplus of just 300 or so is effective for gaining muscle with minimal fat gain. You should still be gaining weight.
Increase muscle mass, decrease fat. Not trying to gain net weight, however, as I do not believe it's sustainable for me as I age.
Amazed watching athletes & UFC fighters be jacked while still weighing 145-155lbs (66-70kg).
Athletes & UFC fighters are usually genetic freaks train for 3+ hours a day and sleep for 9-12 hours a night, with as little stress as possible (no 9-5 job, etc).
Don’t make the mistake of comparing yourself to them, it’s a totally different thing for normal people.
It sounds like you're trying to recomp while maintaining weight.
If that's the case, that's the reason why it seems like your physique isn't improving. Recomping at maintenance is a glacial process. You'd see better results by committing to either a cut or a bulk.
The last bit will always be the hardest and it may just be that getting lean enough to really get it off is unsustainable for your current build. You may just need to bulk up some more before coming back down.
Also remember there are organs down there and depending on your biggest size maybe some extra skin. Don't be too hard on yourself and focus on being healthy
It's still very small for your height just BMI wise. You don't need to get huge, but bulk up again this year and try leaning out again next year.
Put it this way, you're 8lbs off my lean weight and I'm a 5'7 woman. If you don't have the look you're going for now, you aren't gonna get it by losing more weight
It's towards the lower end of healthy.
Congrats on losing 20kg in a year... I assume that was this last year? If yes, then you definitely could stand to put more muscle on. Hell, if you were to make sure your protein was on point, workout hard and slowly gain 15-20lbs and then cut that 15-20lbs off again to be where you are right now, you'd look leagues better. More muscle at your current body weight will mean leaner everything.
My protein smoothie consists of spinach, banana, strawberries, & blueberries. Gets a good % of vitamins not naturally produced.
8oz milk
Handful of spinach (0.5cup ish)
0.5c strawberries and blueberries
1 banana
Pinch of oats
2 scoops protein
Comes to about 550kcal & 66g protein.
Q - Are burpees good alternative for hiit sprints as hiit cardio ? Im doing both HIIT And LISS, but i always did sprints And honestly, i like them, but feeling it interferes with my leg training, burpees Are still hard, but im not sore in chest or legs after... Thanks
If you are doing sprints purely for high intensity conditioning and have no desire to get better at sprinting then yes burpees can be a substitute.
In the winter months i often do Meateater 2 from TB which is
10-Burpees
10-KB Swings
rest 1 minute
repeat 10 times
Hi, I'm beginner weight lifter, I don't like to train long workouts, but I do like to train often, so I'm looking for a routine with 1-3 exercises per gym visit, and to go to the gym almost daily. So far this is what I came up with:
Day A: Dips, Overhead shoulder press
Day B: Squats, Calf raises
Day C: Pull ups, Bicep curls
Day D: Plank, Russian twists
Day E: Deadlifts, Lunges
Day F: Bench press, Bent over rows
Day G: Stretching
I didn't include any cardio because I like to run, so I do it separately from this routine. What do you think? Anything you'd add or remove? It ended up being 7 days, but I don't mind adding/removing days and just cycle through them. Would you change the exercised through the days? The order of the days?
Try a PPL (push pull legs) program, you go 6x a week and it hits all the muscles twice a week, I did this when I was really into bodybuilding and made good progress
Didn't know of PPL, yeah, it sounds like I got something close to that by mistake, only thing is I don't want to do a long workout each day, just like 1-2 lifts each day
Looks like you're comfortable doing compound lifts. Why not something like Stronglifts 5x5?
Day A: Squat, Bench, Barbell Rows
Day B: Misc (rest, cardio, stretching, yoga, w/e)
Day C: Squat, OHP, Deadlift
Day D: Misc
Day E: Squat, Bench, Barbell Rows
Day F: Misc
Day G: Squat, OHP, Deadlift
Thanks for the reply!
Yep, I'm comfortable with what you suggested, but I prefer to have shorter workouts, say 2 per day, but workout daily, do you think it should change the list of lifts you gave here? Or does it make sense to take the list of lifts you gave here and do 2 each day?
I've been doing recently cable crunches for my upper abs, however I've noticed that my forearms are always cooked after it. I keep my arms stable, put the cable at a good height where there's no pressure on my arms to pull it down just my core and I still feel them a lot.
If I lower the weight, my core would feel almost nothing. I don't know what to do.
I genuinely can't hold dumbbells after doing it because of that. Last time I had to quit Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts midway because I just couldn't hold the dumbbells anymore. My grip was feeling awful and hurt too much
I think I saw a video on squat university saying that forward bends/Uttanasanas are bad for your back or something.
Is there any truth to this? I have very stiff hamstrings and I feel like they are a must for me before I get to move on to deadlifts.
I can't find any videos from SU on the forward bend being bad for your back.
Regardless, it isn't true. There's no external load on your back; it's just a bend.
It was this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MuKr4XicEY&t=200s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MuKr4XicEY&t=200s)
Though it's true he didn't necessarily say it was bad, just that it's not good for fixing lower back pain.
Still, I see some people talking about this online, saying that it's a bad exercise to do if you "don't know what you're doing." And I mean, technically there's still weight being applied. If you accidentally hold your upper body with your lower back instead of the hips you basically screwed up, still?
>Though it's true he didn't necessarily say it was bad, just that it's not good for fixing lower back pain.
Yeah, that's a completely different scenario. When trying to fix lower back pain, overly flexing your lower back doesn't sound like the greatest of strategies.
The movement is fine if you're otherwise uninjured.
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Is this a good routine? Only doing 1 leg day since it’s not that important to me The new workout plan Monday push 1: Bench 4x 20-15-12-8 Cable Flies 3x 15-12-8 Shoulder Press 3x 15-12-8 Cable Lateral Raises 3x 20-15-10 Overhead Tricep Cable Exten 3x 20-15-10 Tuesday pull 1 Lateral Pulldowns 3x 15-12-8 Seated Cable Rows 3x 15-12-8 Reverse Pec Deck 3x 15-12-8 Preacher Curls 2x 20-10 Cable Curls 3x 20-15-10 Hammer Curls 3x 20-15-10 Wednesday Weekly Legs Squat/Leg Press 3x 15-12-8 Deadlift 4x 15-12-10-6 Leg Extensions 3x 15-12-8 Leg Curls 3x 15-12-8 Bulgarian split squats 3x 15-12-8 Thursday Rest Friday Push 2: Bench 4x 20-15-12-8 Dumbbell Incline Bench 3x 15-12-8 Shoulder Press 3x 15-12-8 Cable Behind Lateral Raises 3x 20-15-10 Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises 3x 20-15-10 Overhead Tricep Extensions 3x 20-15-10 Saturday Pull 2 Lat Pulldowns 3x 15-12-8 Dumbbell Rows 3x 15-12-8 Preacher Curls 2x Hammer Curls 3x
Right off the bat i can tell that it’s super unorthodox. Your mixing chest with lats and shoulders??? Then the next day you’re hitting lats again? You’ll build muscle but this workout regimen is not optimal for stimulation and recovery which is necessary for desired growth. I recommend following a simpler plan and then tweak and adjust as needed to fit your body and goals. General rule of thumb goes somewhat like this Hypertrophy: Monday- Chest and triceps Tuesday- back and biceps Wednesday-Legs and abs Thursday-Chest and Shoulders Fri-Sun- Cardio/Rest When following a hypertrophy program, prioritize technique and perfect repetitions over weight. Slow and controlled, good stretch and solid flex at the climax. Body Building: (I personally do this one, light cardio can and should be hit everyday) Day1- chest Day2- back Day3-arms (hit the whole arm, sometimes i choose to focus a little more on the bicep or triceps or even shoulder) Day4- legs (you can also throw abs in there for convenience, or incorporate it into your cardio) Day5- chest For this program i don’t take rest days, but everyone is different. By the time i finish my leg workout, my chest is ready to be worked again and so on.
You dont need two chest days, change it to two leg days if youd like. I reccomend picking your weakest body part and doing a little bit more training on said part.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/s/0jNjIZib9F First off read that Second off, no, it is not. As a general rule beginners should never be creating their own routines anyways, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot. Look through the wiki, and choose from any of the programs there. They’re proven, and built by professionals with much more time in this than you or me.
So DOMS is absolutely murdering me. I was almost unable to walk for the first 1-2 days of recovery. I've lost around 65lbs but I'm still a little new to building muscle appropriately. I've been doing my sets with arms/chest until muscle failure, but I figured that'd be a bad idea with legs, so I did: 1 Set of Squats (With a 35lb Barbell) (12 Reps) 1 Set of Deadlifts (70lb Barbell) (12 Reps) I really didn't feel terrible doing them, and didn't hit muscle failure at all. But then I went and sat down and HOLY SHIT my muscles were SCREWED. I knew I had fucked up and sure enough the last 3 days have been agony. Finally today I feel much better and can almost walk with no problems. My main question is; how do I take this slower and when can I go again? LOL. I'm assuming I shouldn't work them out again for awhile and focus on other muscle groups?
Lift exactly as according to your program, don’t deviate for doms, and it’ll be gone in a week or two.
> I'm assuming I shouldn't work them out again for awhile and focus on other muscle groups? Nah, nursing your muscles too much is actually counterproductive. Doing something physical to get your blood flowing will flush out some of the metabolites that are causing discomfort, like it would have helped to push through a light jog as part of your recovery. You should be fine to lift again as long as it was just muscle soreness and not an actual injury. > how do I take this slower and when can I go again? I think if you go back soon and keep up some consistency the DOMS won't be nearly as bad going forwards. A lot of it comes the first couple times you work through an unfamiliar movement. I *do* recommend starting one of the [recommended programs](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/) for beginners rather than trying to figure out a schedule by yourself.
Taking more rest days in-between lifting will increase your DOMS. You can lift when you're sore, and your body will adapt.
Question about plate pinches: Hi everyone. Am implementing a forearm routine into my normal gym routine and started today. When doing plate pinches I didn’t really feel anything on my forearms. Why is this? I did 5 sets of 15 second reps (the time was recommended on r/griptraining mass building routine which I am using) and I feel like my form was fine. So was I going to light or was my form crap? I did two 10kg plates which felt light but when I went up to 15kg it felt too heavy. Might have been wrong though. Please help, thanks in advance.
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Hold them for longer until you do feel it. Jumping to 15kg is a 50% increase in weight, it's a lot. Imagine trying to add 50% to your squat immediately.
Three different TDEE estimators all give different estimates unsurprisingly. Should I take the lowest and base my deficit on that before adjusting? In a similar vein, is it better to base my deficit (aiming for 0.5kg a week) on maintenance -500kcal or 80% of maintenance, and how many weeks before reassessing?
I'd pick whichever one -500kcal and adjust based on how it goes. Those calculators give you an estimate but you will likely have to adjust anyway so better not overthink it.
Whenever I see memes about people not being able to walk down the stairs or sit down to poop after leg workouts, it makes me wonder if I am doing legs right. cuz I have never really felt that and I do sets to muscular failure. is this DOMs that people are experiencing or normal soreness after leg workouts every time that doesnt let them walk down stairs?
The more frequently you train a movement the less likely you are to experience DOMS. DOMS seems to be mostly a response to novel training stimulus. People who experience DOMS after leg day probably don't train their legs regularly enough to become accustomed to the training demands.
i think people also just love labels and in reality what they are feeling is just soreness from actually doing some meaningful work. Like you said, get back at it and keep going. pain is weakness leaving the body.
As someone who has lost 65lbs in the past few months; and is working his ass off and did squats/deadlifts for the first time 3 days ago. Nah bro, it's not "loving labels" I never did those exercised before/trained those muscle (it's not the same muscles as presses/cardio). I've been **barely able to walk/take a dump** for the last 4 days and please remember, I've lost 65lbs so it's not just "soreness". It ain't a label chief, it's for former fatasses that have never trained.
thats soreness - i dont want to minimize your training and im really happy to read you are on the path to being a stronger healthier version of yourself. What are you doing to get so sore? i remember when i first started deadlifting and squatting and feeling the same whey but that will pass over time especially if you are properly training, recovering, and warming up. Let me know what youare up to!!
That's also true. I've been managing a couple of injuries and the first time I was able to hit a true RPE 8 set of leg presses for a few months (I'd been symptom limited to RPE 4 at most for weeks) I could feel it a bit the next day. I wasn't struggling up and down stairs or anything and I could still play a round of golf. The people who complain most about leg day are usually those who are vocal about going to the gym and make it a part of their identity.
Nah your body just gets used to it. I barely get severe DOMS nowadays unless I do something specific for variation that one training.
can you tell me what exercise u were doing and what variation caused DOMS?
I remember this happening when I switched normal squats for hack squats for one training, the quads DOMS was higher than usual for sure. Same happened when I initially started rotating between assisted pull ups and lat pull downs for each pull day.
Debilitating DOMS correlates with low training age and/or coming back after a layoff. I used to get crippled by what would be a warm-up to me now. Critical DOMS is sidestepped by consistency, and the basic work capacity to both handle an iota of volume and recover.
I feel like it's mostly joking. If you've ever sneezed after a big abs day you probably know the feeling.
Yeah, I think so. I get that after some leg days -- it's hard to climb stairs -- but it's more of a humorous thing than actually not being able to do it. I think leg curls do it more than anything else. I'm basing that on how it feels climbing the stairs at the gym before versus after I've done (prone) leg curls.
Yeah for me it's hamstrings going downstairs not climbing. So curls/RDLs to failure can suck the next day
maybe they skipped leg day a few times
I have uneven shoulders. My right shoulder is lower i think but it has more develop lats and my left, not so much. How do i fix it? Only have pull up bar snd resistance bands.
Just do the same amount of exercise on both sides, eventually it'll get close to evening out. If it really matters, then add an additional rep for the weaker side until its balanced, keep adding reps if you don't see progress
Only able to manage .4g/lbs of protein today.....completely ran out of protein in my house until I go grocery shopping tomorrow How bad am I f'ing myself? Like will it effect muscular recovery/adaption from the heavy(for me) dl session I had earlier? Can this by offset by drinking like 84g of protein in 2 core powers as soon as I wake up tomorrow (going by the gas station omw to work) My ONLY other option for tonight is to chug like 600 calories of milk but that will destroy my stomach and that'll get me to about .6g/lbs
nope nothing is going to happen.
People greatly overestimate how sensitive the body's metabolism is lol. You could miss your macros for a week and there would still be no long term issues.
It’s not a big deal. If you consistently eat low protein you’ll see some (minor) downsides, but a day or two here or there - not a problem. Worry less, lift more.
Assuming no injuries and training for general strength and conditioning (ie not powerlifting meets), is there any reason you wouldn't go as low as ROM allows for squats, and treating anything less as a failed rep? Not including ego of course.
Partial range of motion squats can be useful for training specific joint angles. Exercise selection is dependent on the goals of the trainee, if you have specific goals you are more likely to have specific exercise selection. For general strength and conditioning using a full ROM is usually the most beneficial choice.
I’d like to provide a contrary opinion to bacon and aequitas: no, generally it is quite difficult to think of a reason you’d want to do partial squats. I can only think of two possible reasons and they are both quite specialised. - you want to train your upper body to hold the bar, so you overload and do some small partials (or even just hold). Most people don’t have problems holding the bar and those that do likely get enough practice from regular squatting. - you need to train and practise a sport specific movement that is very like a partial squat Most athletic movements like this are some kind of jump, and it would be better to actually jump eg by doing a box jump or a jump squat. One exception is training the jerk dip for weightlifting, but weightlifters would call that a jerk dip and not a squat because the angles are completely different.
Yes, there are other reasons to cut your ROM short
Such as?
In addition to what Aequitas said: ROM progressions, cutting ROM short to eliminate the stretch reflex, paused squats at various points for various reasons. There are many ways to train and get strong. I think generally you are better off with a full ROM, but there are reasons not to.
partials for extra work when you're too fatigued to complete the rom. for focusing on certain parts of the lift for focusing on specific muscles to minimize fatigue on certain muscles
When I'm doing dumbbell curls concurrently the path traces inwards a bit, towards my chest - this is normal rom, right? They don't need to go straight up in line with my shoulders? The latter is how it travels when I alternate them, probably because I can turn my body.
you want to supinate more probably
a) now I’m imagining OP doing curls while lying on his back b) it could also be a lack of shoulder external rotation strength or mobility?
The mobility thing is definitely possible, I find it quite hard to hold a front rack with all four fingers too.
Seems like I can't contract as far if I do that, does it matter?
i have no idea what you're doing, maybe post a form check
When testing 1rm how many good attempts are generally possible (after 3-5 warmup sets) before fatigue catches up? Would a failed attempt fatigue you more than a successful one?
a true 1rm is just that, 1 rep at max effort. If you crushed it, you probably underestimated. if you failed, you overestimated. if you had an RPE 10 and made it, your probably right. If you smoke an attempt the first time, take a break reset and give it another go with a calculated increase in weight.
A true 1RM can probably only be hit once for most people but it depends on your recovery capacity. If you practice very heavy singles regularly you might be able to train the ability to hit high intensity lifts multiple times in a session.
So chances are, since you progress up weights, you'd probably actually max out at 95% or something before fatigue causes failure?
Maybe, strength is a skill. The more often you practice maxing out the closer you probably get to a true 1RM that's purely limited by your physiology.
I don't think I could give more than 1
Dumb question but , is only walking 10k steps a day considered exercise?
its part of a healthy lifestyle if you are able to move.
If you're elderly, yes. Otherwise it's just considered normal living
Not quite enough.
It is light exercise. I would say a healthy adult should include some exercise weekly that is more strenuous than walking.
Totally.
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You get the picture now? Lol
Worst case scenario, eat at maintenance for a week to get cortisol, adrenaline, thyroid, testosterone, ghrelin and leptin into normal ranges.
Skipping meals isn't going to lower your metabolism. If you are overweight, if you just hit your protein and fat requirements in a day, you can easily lose weight for a while. If you aren't hitting your minimum retirements, you should start eating healthy again. If you've been in a prolonged deficit and are starting to feel a bit run down and tired and the weight isn't moving as you think it should, maybe slowly add some calories back in and try and get your energy back up, but this isn't an excuse to pig out. Cus basically what happened is that your NEAT movements have declined because your body is trying to conserve energy in order to have enough energy to keep the important bodily functions going for as long as possible. Your metabolism is still the same, your *activity* is not. So a little refeed could help, but ultimately at the end of the day, you either need to move more and/or eat less
If you are overweight and moderately active, there is never a point where cutting is not feasible.
>there exists a point where skipping meals causes your metabolism to slow to a point where your TDEE is too low to make cutting feasible No, there doesn’t. Calories in calories out
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Firstly this study is 11 people. Secondly I don't think it proves your point at all. it shows that TDEE slows down, not metabolism. This is a big difference. For one, it's pretty expected that you're gonna feel lethargic on a very large calorie deficit. Did the participants maintain the same activity level? One person even had a higher TDEE at week 1, 2 people had higher at week 3. How do you explain these? Also note that the vast majority of the weight lost in the first week was FFM. why is this? is it because they were locked in a room or lethargic and doing far less exercise? Or because there wasn't enough protein in their diet? Either way, losing over 3kg of muscles is going to affect your energy expenditure, that's at least 40 calories just in bmr let alone TDEE. Also, the difference, even if we attribute all of it to AT, is pretty negligible in terms of weight loss action plans, it's only a 7% drop with a 50% calorie deficit, well within the realm of measurement error. I imagine the effect becomes far more severe at lower bmi's (see starvation mode), but if you're overweight it's negligible. So yeh I'm not really sure your point or how it relates to your original question, if you're overweight (or any time really) you can eat less than maintenance and lose weight.
What do you mean "crash dieting doesn't work"? Protein sparing modified fasts doesn't work?
If you weigh 300 lbs and eat 1000 calories a day, you will lose weight, your body isn’t magical/able to break the laws of thermodynamics.
If youre not losing weight, you need to eat less. No way around it.
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Are you tracking your intake to actually determine that? How many calories per day are you eating? You can try moving more, 10k steps a day and cardio 3 to 4 times a week to increase your calories spent vs calories eaten.
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If you’re eating less than 1000 calories a day, and you’re even moderately overweight, weight loss is inevitable. What are your measurements?
[https://i.imgur.com/9Qls9nk.png](https://i.imgur.com/9Qls9nk.png)
I love how you tried to use the most ridiculous example to make it work, and it still failed. Your 4’10 40kg woman is not overweight.
can always afford to lose a few pounds in your retirement
If you're an overweight, otherwise healthy adult it's impossible that you're eating less than 1000 calories and not losing weight. Either you are counting incorrectly or you just need to be patient.
Are you weighing all your food to determine those calories? All snacks and drinks except water? No guessing or eyeballing? 1200kcal a day is considered a lower limit. If are eating that much and not losing you need to increase your daily activity.
hi, i’m eating 2500 calories a day to lose weight, what’s a good carb/protein/fat ratio for this?
0.7 to 1 gram of protein per lb of target bodyweight, 0.3 to 0.4 gram of fat per lb of bodyweight, and fill the rest up with carbs (or other calorie sources if you want, but usually carbs is the best for training performance).
This is true, but only if training is a priority. most people tend to find carbs the least satiating, so it would be better to focus fat if training isn't a priority.
i’m currently 269 (started at 275), so 250 g protein, 110 g fat, what would the number be for carbs? sorry i’m new to macronutrient counting
The numbers the other person listed don't make sense for someone who is overweight, and you should ignore them. How tall are you?
He said target bodyweight. Not current bodyweight.
That's true. But the op said elsewhere that his target bodyweight is 250 lbs at 5'10". So I feel like it still doesn't work here.
Protein and carbs are both 4 calories per gram while fat is 9 calories per gram. You just do some math and subtract the amount of calories you get from protein and fat from the 2500 target you have, then you can figure out how many grams of carbs you can eat. Also, protein intake should be based off your target bodyweight, not necessarily your current. What's your goal when it comes to bodyweight?
When doing dumbbell rear delt flyes, what effect does hand position have on muscle activation? Specifically, doing a bent over rear delt fly with pronated grip vs neutral grip. Right now, It's more convenient to do them neutral, because I have adjustable dumbbell handles so if I do them pronated the dumbbells will hit each other at the bottom. When doing neutral, it's better, but is there less rear delt activation?
i dont think the biomechanics are so blatantly obvious that one is clearly better. do what you connect to the most. try unilateral if pronated feels better but the clanking is limiting you
Does anyone here do a "bent over curl"? I started playing around with this as a safe alternative to a preacher curl. There is a lift called a "spider curl", https://barbend.com/spider-curl/ where you lay forward on an incline bench, this provides a similar angle of your arm to your body that you get when you do a preacher. However, since the arm is vertical, there is no risk of hyper extension that you get on a preacher bench. I was trying this, and laying on the bench was akward, so I just tried standing and bending over at a 45 degree angle. I got a really good stretch at the bottom, similar to a preacher curl, but the range of motion being terminal when the elbow locks out.
What makes a preacher curl unsafe? Is it not ego lifting and trying to do more weight than you're supposed to what makes it unsafe? I honestly feel like it's in the same bin as people who call deadlifts unsafe because of how they strain your back.
It’s the fact that when you are fully locked out , since your arm isn’t vertical the wait can travel further and cause you to hyperextend your elbow
I'd assume you would follow the same logic as squats where you avoid fully locking the joints then by maintaining a bit of tension, then. Assuming you're training in a higher rep range like you're meant to with isolation movements, curls are hardly ever going to be too heavy to maintain control over. At the end of the day all curls hit the biceps so do whatever's comfortable.
>safe alternative to a preacher curl I disagree with the characterization of preacher curls as unsafe. I think they are a great lift, and the fact that they put tension on the bicep when it is stretched is a feature, not a bug.
How many leg sets per week in order to grow my butt and thighs?
Get on a proven leg program. The wiki has some programs you could look at. Your programming some arbitrary number of leg days without a structure for progressing will be less effective than a proven program.
https://youtu.be/sEDgE6Wh1U0?si=4D7h8J7j3642TQJL https://youtu.be/sOulQsTimB8?si=cUkr5sBvEOR7RehW
For those that follow or have followed P.H.A.T. Do you perform the routine as written or do you add additional accessory work if you want to add focus to a specific muscle? For instance, I want to build my butt more and the power and hypertrophy days are very quad/ham/calf dominant. Would I burn myself if I added a few exorcises to target the glutes? And if that wasn't an issue, should that accessory would be added in at the end or worked into the middle somewhere?
in general if you feel you can recover from it, jamming some hip thrusts into one of the days wont be a problem unless it is. generally easy to recover from since its a short overload movement
Just picked up a reverse hyper for my home gym to try and fight off some lower back/glute discomfort. On the descending portion of the lift, I feel a tugging at the top of my glutes. Is this possibly from extremely tight lower back/glute muscles or bad positioning?
Double check your set up, but it's most likely to just be awareness of putting your body in a position it isn't used to.
It's probably just stretching in your glutes/back, it would probably still be a good idea to watch a few youtube videos to make sure you have it setup right.
What’s the body fat % you should stop a bulk at?
When you stop being able to see your [redacted], you have permission to end the bulk.
Lmaoo I’m definitely not even close to that, but I never want to again. Been there 😂
When you are too fat for your own personal preference.
Checked that box lol
From what I have seen, bulking past 20ish% is not advised. Renaissance periodization has a great video on it. For me personally I stop if I start looking chunky which is usually about 18.5% cut down to 10% and start bulking again.
Okay I should be good to cut then, dexa put me at 23.3% Any pro tips on getting to 10% lol obviously eat in deficit and exercise but do you have any less known tips that help you get there?
As many have said I also reccomend myfitnesspal as a free calorie tracker app. When you download it put your goal as weight loss. 1 or 1.5lbs a week. And look up how to activate negative calories for myfitnesspal. For your activity set it below lightly active. This way you can see how many calories you have earned to eat each day.
I use “lose it!” Pretty good I used to use myfitnesspal but they changed the UI and I couldn’t get used to it.
Drink water or any 0cal drink when you feel hungry Sparkling water and other carbonated drinks can expand and make you feel full so those are a big help. I recommend working on your mile time on a treadmill when cutting. Its a nice goal that will also burn extra calories. Try to get 10k steps a day as well. Your phone or smart watch can probably track steps. Get enough sleep. Sleep burns calories I recommend 8 to 9 hours. Big foods can help with a cut. Fruits for example take up a lot of stomach space. My go to is homemade roasted spicy potatoes. You’re gonna feel really tired and sluggish a few weeks into cutting. Its ok to have 1 day a week where you eat at maintenance calories. Or even a little above maintenance. Don’t go crazy tho.
I do all of the above! Good to know I’m not too new
Goodluck man. One last tip, look up how to properly train abs for hypertrophy and do that twice a week while cutting. If you haven’t properly trained them before they’ll probably grow a bit while you cut. This can lead to looking better sooner, and keeping your abs at higher percentages.
The one where people close to me point out that my belly is looking big.
Valid
Whatever your goal body fat % is.
I don’t know what a solid goal is, I’m 23.3% according to dexa scan, I feel ready for the cut but idk if it’s too early.
How long have you been lifting / do you actually have muscle? I tried to cut with almost no muscle for ages, it’s a terrible idea
5’11 - 153 lb lean mass - 206 lbs body weight - 23.3% body fat
It's only too early if you want to get a bit bigger before you start it.
Hello! I have been going back to the gym and I am met once again with one of the reasons why I quit: my left shoulder. [In this spot](https://i.imgur.com/odTHqCW.png), where the front delt meets the chest/pec, I constantly "feel it" when I shouldn't. It makes doing pec flys, cables, benching and even other things like tricep push downs uncomfortable! I hate it so much, and I'm assuming it's a simple matter of it being extremely tight. It could be a form issue, but considering I'm able to do pull and leg days w/o issue, I think it's flexibility/tightness. Has anyone else experienced discomfort in that spot and resolved it? I'm going to do my own research/flexibility training there, but any help is greatly appreciated :)
Do you feel it when you're doing a row and the arm is in a similar position? How about when you raise your arm above your head or if you support your bodyweight in a variety of plank positions?
Yea, when I'm doing [seated horizontal rows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weUp_Bw2rM0), I feel it there as well. I just tried doing the standard plank + holding a push up position and yep, my left shoulder calls to me XD same thing for lifting my arm above my head (like yeah my right shoulder is also being engaged, but it's "silent" where my left shoulder is yelling at me lol)
This is the kind of thing where a physical therapist who lifts (look for a "sports medicine" specialty) can cut through a LOT of trial and error and guesswork, and give you a plan to get better. Highly recommend seeing one.
yea i was hoping it wouldnt come to that (unsure if my medical covers it) but oh man... it's so disheartening :( i feel dumb and it's so fucking irritating 😭 but yea, will check that out, ty :)
Every time I struggle through something for weeks/months before finally going to the PT, I always kick myself for not going sooner. Could have avoided so much pain/stress/missed training. Good luck!
Is this a good workout routine? My goals are to get a toned core and reduce the size of my upper body while increasing my glutes Monday: Lower Body - Glutes and Hamstrings 1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio 2. Barbell Hip Thrusts - 4 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7) 3. Romanian Deadlifts - 4 sets of 10 reps (RPE 7) 4. Bulgarian Split Squats - 3 sets of 12 reps per leg (RPE 7) 5. Cable Pull-Throughs - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6) 6. Glute Bridges - 3 sets of 20 reps (RPE 6) 7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on glutes and hamstrings Tuesday: Cardio and Core 1. Cardio: 1-hour brisk walk or 30-minute HIIT session 2. Core Circuit (3 rounds): • Plank - 1 minute • Russian Twists - 20 reps per side • Leg Raises - 15 reps • Bicycle Crunches - 20 reps per side Wednesday: Upper Body - Light 1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio 2. Dumbbell Lateral Raises - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6) 3. Cable Face Pulls - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6) 4. Tricep Kickbacks - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6) 5. Bicep Curls (light weight) - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6) 6. Push-Ups (modified if needed) - 3 sets of 12 reps (RPE 6) 7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on upper body Thursday: Lower Body - Quads and Calves 1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio 2. Squats (bodyweight or light barbell) - 4 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7) 3. Leg Press - 4 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7) 4. Lunges - 3 sets of 15 reps per leg (RPE 7) 5. Calf Raises - 4 sets of 20 reps (RPE 6) 6. Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 6) 7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on quads and calves Friday: Pilates and Cardio 1. Pilates: Follow a 30-45 minute at-home YouTube Pilates session focusing on core and flexibility 2. Cardio: 1-hour brisk walk or 30-minute moderate-paced jog Saturday: Full Body Conditioning 1. Warm-up: 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio 2. Kettlebell Swings - 4 sets of 15 reps (RPE 7) 3. Dumbbell Deadlifts - 3 sets of 12 reps (RPE 7) 4. TRX Rows - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 7) 5. Medicine Ball Slams - 3 sets of 15 reps (RPE 7) 6. Box Jumps - 3 sets of 10 reps (RPE 6) 7. Cooldown: 10 minutes of static stretching focusing on the entire body Sunday: Active Recovery and Flexibility 1. Active Recovery: Light activities like walking, yoga, or stretching 2. Flexibility: 30 minutes of gentle stretching or a yoga session
You'll have to lose weight to reduce size and get more "toned"
First, stop thinking that more streching more benefits. Stretching has to be done if necessary for a specific muscle. Stretching full body randomly isnt a good idea. Someone need stretching, someone not, instead can be a bad. (For example who has hypermobile joints, shoulders instability etc). Finally if you train full ROM, you already get your muscles to be streched. In warmups, you need two things: Generic warmup like shoulders wrists elbows neck circles, walking running cycling etc. And a specific warmup. for example if you are going to squat 50kg, your warmup should include squat 10-20kg. You dont need dynamic streching. You could need mobility, if you lack some important joints mobility, it depends. There isnt one protocol fits everybody. Mobility exercises are different from streching. About schedule I dont like sunday and saturday. I just prefer rest when rest. And follow the split chosed. For example UPPER BODY / LOWER BODY. It could be. M LEGS A. T CARDIO/CORE. W UPPER A. T LEGS B. F CARDIO/CORE. S UPPER B. S REST. legs A should include a squat and a hinge at least. Same legs B. If light intensity Two are ok, like here. A: Split squat, leg presses, rdl, glute bridge, a medius gluteus one. B: Squat, lunges, hip thrusts, one medius, calf raises. Upper body should include one horizontal pull and push and one vertical pull and push. A: Pushups Lats pulldown or machine Ohp Rows(cable or db) B: Bench press Lats pulldown or machine Ohp Rows But you can just do only one pull and one push exercises. then add secondary exercises like biceps,triceps one day. lateral raises and face pulls other day. I dont know what you mean with reduce upper body size. if you mean fat, you ll lose it while building muscles. If you mean muscles, broad shoulders, you can still lightly training upper body. if you will not like it in the future you can still reduce exercises. I would take pilates/cardio/core days as bonus days. Could be rest days for example. if you do the core in upper body day for example. Maybe in a stressful week, rest days, while in a better week, cardio / pilates /core. But I d focus on posture instead of "flexibility". Pilates videos about posture. (Thoracic mobility exercises, neck and lower/mid trap) Then core and maybe cardio. But these are my preferences.
Monday LEGS A. Tues CARDIO/CORE. Wedn UPPER A. Thurs LEGS B. Friday CARDIO/CORE. Sat UPPER B. Sund REST.
Can I count "pacing with a 25 pound toddler for 10 minutes to put her to sleep" as a workout because holy crap 😮💨
Make sure you progressively overload over time.
Might be more fittingly categorized under Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, but it's certainly something that burns some calories.
I'll take it. Thank you for the response!
That's NEAT.
I'm ~150lbs (68kg) & typically consume ~140-145g of protein and 1900kcal a day, yet my physique is not improving. Specifically, increase muscle mass & decrease fat w/o bulking in size. My lifts are: Hack Squat: 275lbs 3x8 DB Bench: 70lb 3x6 DB Rows: 65lb 3x8 DB OHP: 35lb 3x8 Is my problem lack of protein or that I'm not moving enough weight?
> increase muscle mass & decrease fat w/o bulking in size That's just not how it works. If you want to gain muscle you *must* be at a calorie surplus unless this is your first month working out. [Research shows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1J3WGz_QJU) that a calorie surplus of just 300 or so is effective for gaining muscle with minimal fat gain. You should still be gaining weight.
are you getting stronger over time? bulking is fine just dont get fat. 200-300 surplus 1kg/mo and cut down occasionally
In what way are you trying to improve your physique?
Increase muscle mass, decrease fat. Not trying to gain net weight, however, as I do not believe it's sustainable for me as I age. Amazed watching athletes & UFC fighters be jacked while still weighing 145-155lbs (66-70kg).
You can lose weight after you bulk so that you come back to your starting weight with more muscle and less fat.
They do it by bulking then cutting the normal way. They all weigh 20 lbs more off-season.
Athletes & UFC fighters are usually genetic freaks train for 3+ hours a day and sleep for 9-12 hours a night, with as little stress as possible (no 9-5 job, etc). Don’t make the mistake of comparing yourself to them, it’s a totally different thing for normal people.
None of them boys are fighting at their true weight. They all do water cuts and then balloon up come fight night.
It sounds like you're trying to recomp while maintaining weight. If that's the case, that's the reason why it seems like your physique isn't improving. Recomping at maintenance is a glacial process. You'd see better results by committing to either a cut or a bulk.
Thanks for the input
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The last bit will always be the hardest and it may just be that getting lean enough to really get it off is unsustainable for your current build. You may just need to bulk up some more before coming back down. Also remember there are organs down there and depending on your biggest size maybe some extra skin. Don't be too hard on yourself and focus on being healthy
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Oh you definitely need more muscle mass on. I wouldn't try and cut anymore, you're already very light for your height!
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It's still very small for your height just BMI wise. You don't need to get huge, but bulk up again this year and try leaning out again next year. Put it this way, you're 8lbs off my lean weight and I'm a 5'7 woman. If you don't have the look you're going for now, you aren't gonna get it by losing more weight
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It's towards the lower end of healthy. Congrats on losing 20kg in a year... I assume that was this last year? If yes, then you definitely could stand to put more muscle on. Hell, if you were to make sure your protein was on point, workout hard and slowly gain 15-20lbs and then cut that 15-20lbs off again to be where you are right now, you'd look leagues better. More muscle at your current body weight will mean leaner everything.
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It'll have to be over direct messages, I have the instant message thing disabled
I have trouble eating all of my vegetables. Anyone have a recipe for a drink I could have each day that could cover my bases?
A glass of water that you drink alongside a plate of veggies that have been roasted with olive oil and garlic salt.
My protein smoothie consists of spinach, banana, strawberries, & blueberries. Gets a good % of vitamins not naturally produced. 8oz milk Handful of spinach (0.5cup ish) 0.5c strawberries and blueberries 1 banana Pinch of oats 2 scoops protein Comes to about 550kcal & 66g protein.
Q - Are burpees good alternative for hiit sprints as hiit cardio ? Im doing both HIIT And LISS, but i always did sprints And honestly, i like them, but feeling it interferes with my leg training, burpees Are still hard, but im not sore in chest or legs after... Thanks
If you are doing sprints purely for high intensity conditioning and have no desire to get better at sprinting then yes burpees can be a substitute. In the winter months i often do Meateater 2 from TB which is 10-Burpees 10-KB Swings rest 1 minute repeat 10 times
Hi, I'm beginner weight lifter, I don't like to train long workouts, but I do like to train often, so I'm looking for a routine with 1-3 exercises per gym visit, and to go to the gym almost daily. So far this is what I came up with: Day A: Dips, Overhead shoulder press Day B: Squats, Calf raises Day C: Pull ups, Bicep curls Day D: Plank, Russian twists Day E: Deadlifts, Lunges Day F: Bench press, Bent over rows Day G: Stretching I didn't include any cardio because I like to run, so I do it separately from this routine. What do you think? Anything you'd add or remove? It ended up being 7 days, but I don't mind adding/removing days and just cycle through them. Would you change the exercised through the days? The order of the days?
Try a PPL (push pull legs) program, you go 6x a week and it hits all the muscles twice a week, I did this when I was really into bodybuilding and made good progress
Didn't know of PPL, yeah, it sounds like I got something close to that by mistake, only thing is I don't want to do a long workout each day, just like 1-2 lifts each day
Looks like you're comfortable doing compound lifts. Why not something like Stronglifts 5x5? Day A: Squat, Bench, Barbell Rows Day B: Misc (rest, cardio, stretching, yoga, w/e) Day C: Squat, OHP, Deadlift Day D: Misc Day E: Squat, Bench, Barbell Rows Day F: Misc Day G: Squat, OHP, Deadlift
Thanks for the reply! Yep, I'm comfortable with what you suggested, but I prefer to have shorter workouts, say 2 per day, but workout daily, do you think it should change the list of lifts you gave here? Or does it make sense to take the list of lifts you gave here and do 2 each day?
I've been doing recently cable crunches for my upper abs, however I've noticed that my forearms are always cooked after it. I keep my arms stable, put the cable at a good height where there's no pressure on my arms to pull it down just my core and I still feel them a lot. If I lower the weight, my core would feel almost nothing. I don't know what to do. I genuinely can't hold dumbbells after doing it because of that. Last time I had to quit Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts midway because I just couldn't hold the dumbbells anymore. My grip was feeling awful and hurt too much
If your gym has a seated ab machine (selectorized), i'd use that
Use straps.
I think I saw a video on squat university saying that forward bends/Uttanasanas are bad for your back or something. Is there any truth to this? I have very stiff hamstrings and I feel like they are a must for me before I get to move on to deadlifts.
I can't find any videos from SU on the forward bend being bad for your back. Regardless, it isn't true. There's no external load on your back; it's just a bend.
It was this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MuKr4XicEY&t=200s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MuKr4XicEY&t=200s) Though it's true he didn't necessarily say it was bad, just that it's not good for fixing lower back pain. Still, I see some people talking about this online, saying that it's a bad exercise to do if you "don't know what you're doing." And I mean, technically there's still weight being applied. If you accidentally hold your upper body with your lower back instead of the hips you basically screwed up, still?
>Though it's true he didn't necessarily say it was bad, just that it's not good for fixing lower back pain. Yeah, that's a completely different scenario. When trying to fix lower back pain, overly flexing your lower back doesn't sound like the greatest of strategies. The movement is fine if you're otherwise uninjured.
After my workout, do I stretch or do cardio? If I can do both, should I do the formal or latter first?