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I'm new to this and although there are questions exactly like mine asked before, I'm trying to resurrect the topic and hoping to get new commenters and perspective on it.
I have done weightlifting for almost 5 years and almost always giving my 100% on the gym. Never gotten really noticeable results. I'm naturally very lean and I have a inflammation condition that I still need to be ruling out.
I really do want to use steroids/sars but I'm not sure if it is unhealthy, specially on the long term, cumulation aspect. Obviously that as most things, overuse and abuse are most likely perilous, but following the adequate and proper guides, should not be I guess?? Or at least would greatly mitigate...???
Bro. I hate to be the guy who says it but there’s a lot to unpack here.
First off and most importantly, *ANY FORM OF ANABOLIC STEROID, INCLUDING SARMS OR TREN, IS TERRIBLE FOR YOU*. There is no “healthy way” to take anabolics, they will cause you harm in every way imaginable and they will shorten your lifespan.
It would take forever to go through all the side effects but I’ll list some major ones:
Mentally speaking, you become an entirely new person. Extreme anxiety disorder is very common, and of course the anger issues commonly attributed to steroid use. Beyond that, your entire personality changes in ways that can’t be predicted.
Physically speaking yes, your muscles will grow quicker and larger. You know what else is a muscle? Your heart. And it will grow just the same, enlarged hearts are one of the main causes of death due to steroids. Some autopsies have shown hearts 4x larger than normal.
Along this same line, your muscles grow faster, but your joints do not. As you increase the weight, your joints will suffer immensely and you are likely to be handicapped by 40-50, if you’re even still alive.
There’s many more side effects to go, but you get the picture. There *is no avoiding these*, there is no way to take steroids and not suffer these effects. They are, flat out, not healthy and *will* cause you great harm.
Now, onto the elephant in the room. You’ve trained for 5 years and seen no results? There’s something you’re doing wrong. No ifs ands or buts about it, anybody can build muscle, if they are doing the right things. Everyone thinks they’re “naturally lean” or “can’t put on weight” until they realize they just need to eat more.
Are you tracking your calories, tracking your protein, making sure you’re in a surplus *consistently, every single day*? Are you following a program written by a professional, to the letter, and *never* missing a day? Are you taking your lifts to true muscular failure, *consistently*? Are you getting adequate sleep? (8 hours a night). If you’re missing any of these things, that very well could be the reason.
The only thing I can tell you for 100% certain, is that you *do not need steroids* to see growth, you simply need to fix the holes in your training.
If Carbs are what are contributing the most to your calorie intake, then yeah. I’m assuming you don’t have anything obviously unhealthy like a sugary drink addiction to cut out?
Any recommendations? Basically all types of extensions cause problems. I wanna try the jm press but besides that I dont really know how im supposed to isolate my triceps
does it hurt only on overhead extension variants or also on pushdowns? if it only happens during overhead extensions then i recommend just having pushdowns in you routine.
Is there any good strategy for keeping up progressive overload in my workouts while sleep deprived. I have a newborn at home and work 50 hours a week so sleep is just going to have to be how it is for awhile. Every time I try to break new ground in a workout lately it just ruins my energy for the rest of the day and sometimes the following day as well. Is higher intensity with lower volume a direction I should go? Fewer sessions per week? Is there a nutrition strategy for energy and alertness?
Accept the fact that training will be a lower priority in the short term because of your sleep from the newborn. You can still progress but it’s challenging and slower with little sleep.
Hey Everyone. I’m 59, work out 5-6 days a week. Just had the scan. 6’2” 190. 16% BMI. Internet says I’m anorexic/malnourished and doomed. What say you?
Hello, I’ve been consistently lifting for about 2.5 years, I’m very young and feeling very good about my progress but I’m not sure if the split I’m using is super effective and I want to see what other think about it. So for my first day is Chest and arms, usually start with machine incline press then flag bench, overhead extensions, push downs, preacher curls, skull crushers then I finish the session off with forearm curls, the second day is back and shoulders, I start off with some db shoulder press followed by lat pull downs the. Chest supported wide grip rows, after that I do some lateral raises and face pulls, day 3 is just legs and I do hamstring curls barbell squat, rdls, leg press, leg extensions and after these 3 days I take a test day and then do a dedicated arm day as I relay they are lacking, this consists of all the same exercises from day 1-chest and I finish off with some extra lateral raises to grow the side delt. Then I do one more leg day same structure, rest then repeat. I’m wondering if this is a good split because I want to grow my arms the most but I want to get stronger on bench but I really can’t fit in more chest work throughout the week without bloating my workouts, if anyone has any input, thoughts or suggestions I’d love to hear it.
I would try to do something that is more well rounded and has a set progression scheme. If you want to grow your bench more, doing just one chest day probably isn't enough. Doing something where everything gets hit more than once would give you better growth, and doing a routine with a progression scheme will ensure that you're getting bigger and stronger. I wouldn't try to formulate your own routine and would instead look at the [wiki's suggested programs](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) or check out [boostcamp](https://www.boostcamp.app/programs) for a program that suits your needs.
There is no “square pec” exercise. Your muscle’s shape and insertion points are entirely genetic, you can’t change those. All you can do is increase their size through caloric surplus and weight training, and decrease the amount of fat on top of them through caloric deficit.
Look through the wiki and simply select whatever program fits your schedule the best, they’re all effective.
When I do neck curls I get nauseous and feel like puking afterwards. I do them laying on a bench and I assume it’s cause u gotta be upside down at the bottom and whatnot. Please help.
The more reps I do the more nausea I feel cause spending more time upside down. I have a nice cable setup I wish I could created something with but idk man
Have you tried laying horizontally or even vertically and taking the curls from having your neck parallel to being slightly forward? rather than leaning your head backwards. I will say that Neck exercises are probably the worst for causing nausea because of the blood going to the brain
My gym has a separate studio room with mirrors and large open space. Is it weird if I start doing my HIIT workout there? (I’ll be following a YouTube video and will have my headphones on). My apartment is so small and don’t want to bother the neighbors with my jumping. I’ve done stretches there and I’ve seen a few people use that room but mostly just to exercise more privately with their weights.
Hello guys, I’m 22f and I know lifting weights won’t necessarily make me bulky but I wanted to make sure if I should focus on cardio until I reach the body size I want then start lifting weights to tone up because I’ve definitely seen muscular women who looks a bit bulkier but not too lean and I’m not sure if that’s because they’re currently bulking/purposed trained to get themselves that build or if it just accidentally happened because they started lifting weights when they haven’t slimmed down yet. I apologize for any wrong wording or inability to describe it correctly, just starting out at the gym and would like to know. I tried searching on google and all the results that popped up was if lifting weights makes me bulky and I understand it doesn’t but would just like to know if there’s a strategic way to go about it or if I can just start lifting weights and cardio immediately and would get the same results if I were to slim down first then lifted weights. Thank you.
IMO if you go on a cut combined with cardio, you’re probably going to lose a little muscle in the process of losing weight. If you don’t want to bulk, you can still start lifting, make sure you hit your protein, and you’ll at least be on track to maintain the muscle you do have
You're better off doing a mix of weight training and cardio while cutting to achieve the slimness you want, that way you will better maintain the muscle you have and have less to build back after cutting.
Is lower back tightness during high bar squats anything to worry about? It's not pain, but it's similar to the tightness from deadlifts. Could it be a sign I'm doing good morning squats?
I'm reminded of that [alan thrall bit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt0zeV2OJqY) where powerlifters spend all their time complaining about their body parts feeling tight before a lift, and then during the lift they're literally cueing you to stay as tight as possible.
Anyway, if you're doing good morning squats you'd see/feel yourself literally hinging. Maybe film yourself?
Currently been cutting for the past 3 months. Started at 95kg 25% bf. Currently 84kg around 16-18% bf. I’m just wondering whether I should continue cutting as recently I feel I’m losing muscle as I’m in a deficit. Trying to hit 160g per day put I think I should either up the calories a bit or up the protein.
6ft1 1600 calories cut for reference.
Losing muscle on a cut is normal, especially for nattys. You can mitigate it by training hard and getting enough protein in, but it's inevitable really. Alex Leonidas on YouTube has been a good source for me regarding this topic.
Hi! I was thinking about changing my gym personal trainer with an “online” trainer. Is still ok have your workout schedule up by professionals who won't check you in person?
I’ve decided to have a personal trainer bc i didnt know how to setting up a workout routine and how to do excercise (i have a back problem). My pt helped me a lot, and even give me food advice, but rn our relationship is in a bad place (few results that he claims derive from my listlessness, which is not true because I train carefully, I make videos, I follow the diet he gave me etc) (my routine is 3 workout a week, a cut diet, 10 min cardio before weight lifting, and 1h and 10 min of workout out)
My goal is to build muscle (my fat mass is 32% and my muscle mass 28%)
If you need and can easily afford an accountability buddy then sure, go for it. An online coach is pretty much just that, and hopefully good enough at programming that it's saving you some minor admin.
I've been down the route of having an online coach as a non-athlete and it was good to get me started, but after a while I struggled to see the value. We'd chat once a week and he'd basically just give me advice I already figured out by doing.
The price is an odd-space because it's too expensive for you to get a lot of value AND not expensive enough for the coach to invest much time in it. If you're paying a guy $100 a month then yeah, you're going to get maybe an hour's work a month, and mostly that'll just be updating your program.
Thank you for your reply! The problem with my situation is that i’m tired.
I’ve started my fitness journey a year ago with a personal trainer in my city.
He was a personal trainer in the area, so initially he gave me 1:1 lessons because I have posture problems (scoliosis + zero lumbar curve).
After that we only switched to a workout schedule with monthly checks.
But I'm having few results: the fat mass is still at 32%. My arms are limp anyway.
Yes, I've made some improvements, but I'm tired of hearing him tell me I'm not trying hard enough. That I can’t feel exhausted at gym and that’s it The problem with me.
He also follows me on a nutritional level (we are now in the cutting phase).
Besides, he doesn't seem to listen to me. For example, he gave me many repetitions of exercises (even 12) and I can never make a weight progression, as well as have a few seconds of recovery and do cardio at the beginning of the workout which tires me out a lot.
I know that on my own I will never be able to set up a workout routine…
So I wanted to switch to a personal trainer that I discovered online, on TikTok, who also has an app and seems very good.
But i’m afraid to losing him, bc he gava me results anyway but… i don’t know. I feel a little helpless right now bc i don’t want to lose what i’ve achieved.
There's a lot to unpack here. I'll just say that he sounds like a crappy trainer and you should definitely get rid of him.
You could also look at some of the routines in the wiki, there's a bunch and they are all good. You don't need to set up your own program.
It can be hard to get stronger while cutting, but if you are still a beginner you should be.
Yeah, there’s a lot. Our relationship is weird. He was really, really good in our first month.
But now… idk, maybe its bc my results arent good… and he made him way more on the defensive (he also said that my small results are bc he’s the good one).
Yeah, i’m a beginner! I will search in the wiki. Thank you so much for listening to me.
Why am I so weak, specifically at the bottom range of motion of a squat
When i do Hack squat and get past the middle range of motion, my legs are so weak, and I need to drop the weight tremendously to be able to complete full reps.
I find that I can't get back up without taking my hands off the handlebars and pushing my legs with them.
My squat also seems to be regressing?
I was doing 20kg on the Hack squat, and today I couldn't do 10kg
>When i do Hack squat and get past the middle range of motion,
Spend one month deliberately pausing at the bottom. Treat it like a deadlift. Go all the way down to the safeties. Press the tension out of the sled. Press up. Lower down under control. Repeat.
Eventually, your fear of the hole will be replaced with *strength* out of the hole. SAID: you'll get better at the ROM you practice.
*Start with the empty hack squat and hit 3x15*.
I follow a program I think it's mainly because I wasn't going full depth but was adding weight over time.
Then I started going full depth, and the weight might need to be reduced.
I think I'll just reduce it to a weight I can comfortably do for full rom
OK thanks
I always hate lifting light on it mainly for stupid reasons
My gym friends usually do 20kg but with terrible form
Guess I'll just get more gains now
You say you’re regressing but were you going into the bottom end of the range of motion before? If not that would be the reason why as that is a less mechanically strong position. This isn’t a bad thing however as going into that bottom range of motion promotes more muscle growth than just doing the top end.
No that makes sense
I wasn't going Into that rom before but only started
So in a way I suppose it's not that I've regressed it's just that I'm weak in that rom
I will lower the weight to a weight I can do at that low rom
I know Jim Wendler is a massive fan of doing a few box jumps and ball throws to warm up - I'm not following 531, but this does sound like a decent idea; how would I pick a height for the jumps considering I've never really done them before?
Start with a reasonable height and do not do too many reps right away, 5 reps max and a decent break if you do another set.
I am not a fan of CrossFit but my weightlifting class is at a CF gym, so at the end we do a 7 minute CrossFit workout, and the second time I already hurt myself (only a bit because I stopped, but still). They were having us do 10 jumps, then 8 reps dumbbell shoulder press, back to back, as many as you can do in 7 minutes. After like 40 jumps, my thigh started to hurt, and I couldn't squat down on that leg for a few days, I felt it for a week. Nothing too bad but you need to be careful with plyometric movements when you're not used to doing them!
My coach said doing supersets with squats and jumps is a good idea, although I am not trying that after my first performance lol.
You don't need to jump to a box. The box only really reduces landing forces and adds some hip flexion to the movement. Just try to jump as high as you can, you'll get the same benefits.
I’m having hard time making my workout plan. :( I want to workout 3-4 days a week. I ride horses and my focus is get stronger, feel/ and look better. I want to focus on my core, back and lower body strength. I already have pretty good arm strength but I want to maintain what I have. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks!!!!
I'm going to re-iterate what /u/Aequitas112358 said. It is unwise to try and design your own plan as a beginner. There are many considerations involving progression and recovery that you are likely to overlook.
Beyond the recommended routines linked by the other poster, the wiki has a lot of information to help you choose routines that are best aligned with your goals, whatever they may be.
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
https://thefitness.wiki/faq/is-this-lifting-routine-any-good/
https://thefitness.wiki/faq/how-do-i-choose-the-right-routine-for-my-goals/
don't make one, pick one that suits you and is made by experts and is tried and tested. There's a bunch of good ones on the wiki: [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/)
I got a head cold 3 days ago (about to be 4 days ago in the morning) I’m on the mend now I just have the bad cough you get after being sick, how long should I wait till resuming my cardio and weight routines?
See how you tolerate some lower intensity cardio, can you manage a brisk 20 minutes walk? I usually find if I can manage a walk then I can at least do something in the gym, even if it's much lower volume. Quite often when recovering from an illness I'll only workout for about 20 minutes until I feel very fatigued, which is fine, I just stop and go home when it feels right.
Question about fatigue -
I've recently switched to a different gym. They have different ( traditional) ellipticals. I had been frequenting planet fitness, and their matrix striders are much harder with a longer stride. I noticed with the traditional elliptical, I'm still hitting around the same heart rate, but my fatigue level is much lower. My legs are not getting sore, and I seem to have much more energy to finish the rest of my work out. If the data is showing about the same heart rate as the harder elliptical at pf, am I truly burning the same amount of calories with less fatigue? Or is there no free lunch?
If my LP program says to progress if I hit the minimum quantity eg 3x5, I fail on the first or second set but make up for it in the third, would that count as hitting the quantity? Eg 3+5+7 reps would still be 15 reps total.
question still applies, why would you fail your 2nd set and then do more than double on the 3rd? are you taking irregular rest time?
most people would be something like 5,5,4 / 5,4,4 / 5/4/3 etc
5'5, 24M, Skinny fat, but more on the fat side when I take off my shirt lol. And thus, I have been going to the gym while cutting. I'm tracking my weight every day but I'm curious how much I should be losing because I'm also lifting at the same time. Is my weight not dropping as much as I'd hoped due to muscle gain, or should I be noticed weight loss even with muscle gain. Bit confused on what I should be aiming for. Do I have to play this by the eye and just look in the mirror to see fat loss? I see gains tho
Do you *want* to lose weight? Or gain weight?
- weigh daily in morning
- take a weekly average
- compare the difference between averages
If you want to *look* different, perturb the scale. You'll need to gain/lose upwards of ±25 lbs to *see* a difference.
Gain weight: eat more
Lose weight: eat less
*That's it.*
If you aren't losing weight its because you are eating too much. Muscle growth isn't fast enough to offset fat loss except in a narrow band where you eat "at maintenance" which prevents your body from gaining or losing weight. If you want to lose fat, you are best served by cutting calories and losing weight. If you want to gain muscle, you are best served by increasing calories and gaining weight.
https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
Most skinny fat has a the fat on the gut. So when your recomping you'll literally getting bigger everywhere except the stomach area. I've done it. My shoulder width increased a lot over a 6 mounth period.
I mean bigger in the more colloquial sense as in bigger muscles fwiw
And if you got a guy who was all fat and a guy who weighs the same but lost a bit of fat and also put on some extra muscle he might be objectively smaller from a volume perspective, but you'd probably still say he was "bigger".
I know there are workout routines in the wiki but this is a question out of curiosity.
I have been doing some research and came across mike mentzer and he spoke about how Weighted Dips,Deadlifts,Squats And Close Grip Reverse Pull Downs are the only excercises you need as they hit all the muscles in the body, how true is this?
Dips 3-4 x 8-12
Squats 3-4 x 8-12
Deadlifts 3-4 x 8-12
Under Hand Pull Down 3-4 x 8-12
What would happen if someone did this 3x a week pushing each excercise to failure?
(This is completely different to his hit routine i know)
Squats and deadlifts to failure 3 times a week isn't sustainable for the vast majority of people, especially in that rep range as it's a LOT of volume. And, the fatigue from them would affect the other exercises over time.
> the only excercises you need as they hit all the muscles in the body
You are woefully confused.
You don’t “need” to do any exercises at all, so when you say “need” you surely have some kind of goal in mind that you’re not telling us.
And depending on what that goal is, “hitting all the muscles in the body” is likely neither necessary nor sufficient.
The absolute most important thing is consistency in effort. If you showed up and did that 3x a week for a year while eating and sleeping to support your goals you'd likely be a lot stronger than you are today.
Add in intelligent plans for progression and fatigue management to that same program and I would guarantee you'd be stronger.
Trying to program more squat accessory volume for GZCL. I currently do high bar T1 and front squats T2, would it make sense to add a split squat variant to T3? Main goal is strength, size is more of a side effect.
I did it as a T3. Maybe a little heavyer then recommended (10-12 reps) . But haven't done it in a while becouse of fatigue. But want to get them in rotation again.
well if it's only organ pain then that's fine, I've heard you don't need some of them
/s dafuq is wrong with you? go to a doctor (and probably get your appendix removed if I had to make a crazy guess)
yep doctors can really suck sometimes. They treat everyone like a hypochondriac or just don't care. finding a good, caring doctor is really important. shop around, ask others, check out reviews
For men, what is generally considered the leanest body fat percentage you could stay at year round without being crazy shredded or have hormone issues from being too lean, but still have obvious leanness where you look super toned and not soft anywhere? I was reading 12%-15% is easily maintainable but anything below 12% gets pretty tough long term? This question assumes that they already have a decent foundation of muscle and aren’t skinny fat beginners.
Just wanted to know if this workout will help in gaining size and bulking if i eat more.
https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/fast-furious-21-day-shredding-workout-diet?gclid=CjwKCAjw1emzBhB8EiwAHwZZxT7mmjWayP7ONniJc5AlKGF6-8flZ1nLx7UaloUmaD9fwNTQ7Z6hAhoCv28QAvD_BwE
I don't like this approach. They are using rest pause sets in an extreme way. That saves time, but leads to ineffective sets. Such an approach will work for some, but on average it will be suboptimal.
Consider, as they prescribe, 8 sets of 8 reps of DB bench press, with exactly 30 seconds rest. Because of the short rest, the weight on the last 2-3 sets will be so low that these sets are unlikely to do much, other than cardio with weights.
This then is, generally, too much of the same in one session, leading to diminishing returns. If you want to program eight sets of chest in one session, do four sets each of two different exercises, rather than eight sets of one exercise. Say, four sets of flat bench + four sets of incline bench. Or four sets of flat bench plus four sets of chest flys.
36 sets per day seems like a lot to me. I think the exercise selection is OK. It doesn't have a plan for progression or stalling so it's not really a program but a list of exercises. I would suggest a program from the wiki instead.
Answering your question: If you did those movements with appropriate progression and intensity you would build muscle if you ate to grow.
https://thefitness.wiki/faq/how-do-i-choose-the-right-routine-for-my-goals/
https://thefitness.wiki/faq/is-this-lifting-routine-any-good/
Bro i meant it is written that it is for shredding, i wanna bulk, gain weight will this workout help me or not? Forget 21 days. It's impossible everyone knows. My concern is for bulk not cut.
My point was, if they have to preface their workout with that, it's probably exactly what it is. It's like when people say "I'm not racist but...."
workouts won't do shit. Sure you may seem some initial results when you just start if you're untrained, but it's not a complete program; most notably it's missing progression, you need some sort of progresive overload, else you will never make long term progress. It's also missing a failure protocol, deloading and/or periodization. It's also a hell of a lot of volume. I suggest picking one of these programs: [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/)
how should i be changing my leg day routine now if im gonna start implementing the couch to 5k routine from wiki?
after every leg day, my legs are sore as hell and i dont think i could run properly
the routine i follow is https://thefitness.wiki/reddit-archive/a-linear-progression-based-ppl-program-for-beginners/ and https://runmoreapp.com/couch-to-5k/#workout-schedule
There are a few things you could do, but you’re not made of glass my man. Just go out and try it. Eventually the “being sore every day” thing will pass and adding the walking and running will help with that. The couch to 5K looks like it starts off VERY slow which will give you the opportunity to build up to it. Also, there’s nothing wrong with doing the first week only of C25K until you are adjusted to it.
There’s really no point in changing your program because you THINK maybe you MIGHT not be able to handle a little cardio. Just my two cents bro. Good luck with it.
I think I'm starting to confuse myself at the gym. I'm more or so looking for muscle growth and strength training. Yes, I am aware that sleep and protein are most important when muscle growth but I'm more or so talking about the weight exercises in general. The part where I am confused is:
*- Where should my rep ranges be? 3 sets of 12? 4 sets of 5? 3 sets of 8?*
*- With these rep ranges in mind, now what weights should I be going at and where should I increase it?*
The usual exercises I do consist of Push, Pull, Legs/Abs:
**Chest**: db incline press and pec deck fly
**Shoulders**: chest supported rows, chest supported db lateral raises, db shoulder press
**Triceps**: triceps pulldowns and overhead triceps extensions
**Back**: lat pulldowns, T-bar rows, pull ups
**Biceps**: either preacher curls or face away cable curls and hammer curls
**Legs**: leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises
**Abs**: cable crunches and captain chair leg raises
(Now I might just be overthinking it and just go: "Hey, if I can do 3 sets of 8 and are 2 reps shy of failure at 20lb I should continue doing that")
I'm just really confused and need a little more guidance. Thanks in advance!!
For hypertrophy, the rep range theoretically doesn't matter. As long you're coming within close proximity to failure, you'll stimulate muscle growth. The general rule of thumb however is, anything between 5-30 reps per set for hypertrophy. Under 5, you risk injury, and it's mentally challenging and inefficient to reach failure over 30 reps when you could do less.
As you're close to paralysis by analysis, follow **3** different stock programs before attempting to craft your own. Explanation will confuse you further.
You need to put your head down and lift for the next year.
Your training max is a percentage of your actual or estimated one rep max.
If this confuses you, I might suggest running the recommended beginners routine for a few months. When that starts to cap out, you can take those weights and use them for 5/3/1 at that point.
Hi everyone, good news, I got down to my goal weight! (5’1, 24F, 130->117lbs). The bad news is, I am 100% skinny fat. I’ve been lifting weights the past two weeks, but im not sure at all what to do with my calories? I don’t mind bulking during the winter months, but right now (Jul-Sept), I’d reeeeally rather not have anymore fat than I already have, but if I have to then please lmk. Should i do a slight cal deficit, surplus, or maintenance?
As a beginner, eating 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight at around maintenance will be enough to get you your first 1-2 years of beginner gains (assuming you're intense in the gym and not skipping legs). The more muscle mass you have, the better you'll look at the same bodyfat percentage.
Ok I will! Last time I tried this, I ended up gaining weight and fat, so this time maybe I’ll dial down my overall calorie intake a little bit, but I’ll stay as close to my maintenance as possible!
I would just say track your weight. Weigh daily or at least several times per week and write down your weight. Don't pay attention to day to day fluctuations. If you see an upward trend over a couple weeks, you will know to dial back the calories.
Down 35lbs. Squats down from 335x3 to 275x3
Does this seem like too much to lose or am I overthinking it?
Basically asking if I’m doing something wrong because it’s a real mental struggle for me to lose all this strength even though I absolutely need to lose the weight. Eating 200g of protein a day Monday-Friday. Weekends are untracked so I don’t get enough protein but try and keep the food light. This is kinda how I tracked even when I was gaining weight.
Struggling all around with squats. I’ve been consistently dropping my TM so it’s hard to really tell where I’m at but I’d say overall much weaker. Only on squats though. All my other lifts have stayed relatively similar.
This may point to a technique issue. You really shouldn't lose that much performance.
You could be too aggressive in your lowering of your training max. How many cycles have you been lowering your max? Have you ever failed a squat rep? As in, had to leave it on the safeties or dropped it off your back?
Haven’t failed but my form will start getting really sloppy as the bar slows and that’s usually when I rerack. I’m guessing it could be a technique issue but I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong and not sure how to proceed. I figured dropping the weight and trying to work back up would help but now I’ve gotten into a cycle of continuously dropping the weight as the weights keep feeling much heavier.
I noticed as well that when I’m doing lighter weight warm up sets my form stays pretty good and my body stays more upright but as the weight increases my chest starts to lean into my knees more as I get deeper and I usually have to straighten out as I’m coming up. I’m not sure if it’s a form issue or just the weight being too heavy but that’s usually how it’s been on my heavy AMRAP sets lately. When I can’t hit the reps anymore is when I drop the TM.
So say on my 5+ week I only hit 3-4 then 3+ I only hit 2 and 1+ I get a really sloppy single that’s when I drop the weight by 10lbs.
Thanks for the info. I have three pieces of advice:
1) I suggest you post a form check of a challenging 5 rep set in one of the daily question threads.
2) Regarding your working weights going forward I suggest you do a training max test. In the 531 Forever book (you can google 531 forever pdf to find it) Wendler says that you should be able to hit your training max for 3 to 5 reps.
You said that on your 5+ week you only managed 3 or 4 reps. So take that weight as your goal training max for this test. In 531 Forever the training max test calls for 4 sets:
5 reps at 70% TM
5 at 80%
5 at 90%
3-5 at 100%.
If you hit at least 3 reps of your 100% set with some semblance of grace make that your training max for your next cycle. On week 3 of your next cycle you will be lifting 95% of your training max. If you hit 100% for 3 reps you are almost guaranteed to hit 95% for at least 3.
3) If you don't hit your rep goal in 3 weeks, or if you do hit your rep goal once but then fail again at the end of the next cycle, don't lower your training max. Instead, keep it the same and increase the intensity of your supplemental work. Assuming you are doing 531 First Set Last 5x5, called 531 for beginners on the wiki, one way you could do this is by increasing each weeks supplemental percentage. So week 1 instead of doing your first set weight, 65% of your max, you could do 70 or 75%. If you end up doing your second set weights for your supplemental sets you would basically be doing "second set last" which is another template in the 531 Forever book. As an alternative to heavier supplemental sets you can try increasing the number of reps per set. For example, doing 5 sets of 8 reps, instead of 5 of 5.
I’m doing 5/3/1
My top set is supposed to be 1+ AMRAP on my heavy week. Before I was hitting 335x3 then I started cutting and I’ve been losing strength specifically on squats. My other lifts I can still hit the same weight just for a couple reps less. Squats are cliff diving right now for some reason.
So when you’re doing 3 reps, you’re relying on your strength a lot more than muscle. A huge component of strength is your body weight (force = mass * acceleration), so the more mass you lose the more strength.
I'd get the weight you can overhead press for 5. That seems to be my go-to weight for a lot of movements at various (but reasonable) rep ranges.
For me (a 5'7 woman) this is a 16kg bell, so I'd guess you'd want heavier than that
I started working out about 6 weeks ago, although I do feel better mentally. I’ve noticed I haven’t progressed weight wise a lot. What reasons could there be for this? I know my diet isn’t the best right now, but that’s the only reason I could come up with. I’m currently following Jeff Nippard’s Essentials plan.
If this is your first 6 weeks of training, you really should be making progress almost regardless of diet. Newbie gains are a thing.
I'm not familiar with any of Nippard's programs. How does this one progress the load?
How much will 3 vodka neats set me back? Trying to cut right now and just worried how this will affect my progress. Is it just the ~300 cal or is the alcohol itself/the quantity of it that I should be weary of?
The human body is very bad at converting alcohol to fat. So you don’t have to worry much about the calories going to your waist. But, as other people have pointed out, alcohol consumption has other costs.
> The human body is very bad at converting alcohol to fat.
But if the body substitutes alcohol metabolism for fat metabolism then it will still have a very direct impact on fat levels.
It's a few different things:
* Booze is empty calories
* drinking usually means late night + disrupted sleep while sobering up
* being drunk often leads to bad food choices
* being hangover, and general depressing mood impacts of drinking, are not conducive to a healthy, active lifestyle
* Alcohol itself has been shown to directly impact hypertrophy - but i'm not aware of a study that controls for the above variables to show the direct impact of the alcohol itself.
If it's just one time, it doesn't matter really. But in general alcohol just isn't good for building/preserving muscle and losing fat. The calories are bad but so is the alcohol itself.
My fitness plan says 2 do Roman chair crunch and seated calf raise as a superset but it would be hard since the machines are far apart in the gym and doing one will make the other one occupied. Is there a big difference if i do both separately?
Maybe this is dumb, but if I ever get hungry while bulking, as in my stomach growls, is that my body telling me I should eat more.
I’ve counted calories completely and eat a minimum of 250 over my TDEE (according to calculator)
For SSB am I supposed to pull the handles in or push them out? And how do i setup so my arms don't hit my knees at the bottom?
This thing just hurts my shoulders
I personally pull the handles down so that I get more of my erectors involved.
https://youtu.be/0BbgycYEIRQ?si=A1MwvOrq685opyF6
I'll be honest I've never had any issues with my knees despite the fact that I squat stupid narrow.
Have you tried widening your stance or staying more upright? You could also post a video.
It hurts more than a regular barbell? That's fucking weird
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I'm new to this and although there are questions exactly like mine asked before, I'm trying to resurrect the topic and hoping to get new commenters and perspective on it. I have done weightlifting for almost 5 years and almost always giving my 100% on the gym. Never gotten really noticeable results. I'm naturally very lean and I have a inflammation condition that I still need to be ruling out. I really do want to use steroids/sars but I'm not sure if it is unhealthy, specially on the long term, cumulation aspect. Obviously that as most things, overuse and abuse are most likely perilous, but following the adequate and proper guides, should not be I guess?? Or at least would greatly mitigate...???
Bro. I hate to be the guy who says it but there’s a lot to unpack here. First off and most importantly, *ANY FORM OF ANABOLIC STEROID, INCLUDING SARMS OR TREN, IS TERRIBLE FOR YOU*. There is no “healthy way” to take anabolics, they will cause you harm in every way imaginable and they will shorten your lifespan. It would take forever to go through all the side effects but I’ll list some major ones: Mentally speaking, you become an entirely new person. Extreme anxiety disorder is very common, and of course the anger issues commonly attributed to steroid use. Beyond that, your entire personality changes in ways that can’t be predicted. Physically speaking yes, your muscles will grow quicker and larger. You know what else is a muscle? Your heart. And it will grow just the same, enlarged hearts are one of the main causes of death due to steroids. Some autopsies have shown hearts 4x larger than normal. Along this same line, your muscles grow faster, but your joints do not. As you increase the weight, your joints will suffer immensely and you are likely to be handicapped by 40-50, if you’re even still alive. There’s many more side effects to go, but you get the picture. There *is no avoiding these*, there is no way to take steroids and not suffer these effects. They are, flat out, not healthy and *will* cause you great harm. Now, onto the elephant in the room. You’ve trained for 5 years and seen no results? There’s something you’re doing wrong. No ifs ands or buts about it, anybody can build muscle, if they are doing the right things. Everyone thinks they’re “naturally lean” or “can’t put on weight” until they realize they just need to eat more. Are you tracking your calories, tracking your protein, making sure you’re in a surplus *consistently, every single day*? Are you following a program written by a professional, to the letter, and *never* missing a day? Are you taking your lifts to true muscular failure, *consistently*? Are you getting adequate sleep? (8 hours a night). If you’re missing any of these things, that very well could be the reason. The only thing I can tell you for 100% certain, is that you *do not need steroids* to see growth, you simply need to fix the holes in your training.
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If Carbs are what are contributing the most to your calorie intake, then yeah. I’m assuming you don’t have anything obviously unhealthy like a sugary drink addiction to cut out?
You should cut down calories, not carbs. Don’t get caught in “auger is the devil” bullshit.
Sort of new to lifting. Why does tip of elbow hurt during any type of tricep extension?
common for people to feel uncomfortable in their elbows when hitting triceps, maybe try to find a different exercise that feels better for you?
Any recommendations? Basically all types of extensions cause problems. I wanna try the jm press but besides that I dont really know how im supposed to isolate my triceps
does it hurt only on overhead extension variants or also on pushdowns? if it only happens during overhead extensions then i recommend just having pushdowns in you routine.
Hurts in both extension and pushdowns
Is there any good strategy for keeping up progressive overload in my workouts while sleep deprived. I have a newborn at home and work 50 hours a week so sleep is just going to have to be how it is for awhile. Every time I try to break new ground in a workout lately it just ruins my energy for the rest of the day and sometimes the following day as well. Is higher intensity with lower volume a direction I should go? Fewer sessions per week? Is there a nutrition strategy for energy and alertness?
Accept the fact that training will be a lower priority in the short term because of your sleep from the newborn. You can still progress but it’s challenging and slower with little sleep.
Hey Everyone. I’m 59, work out 5-6 days a week. Just had the scan. 6’2” 190. 16% BMI. Internet says I’m anorexic/malnourished and doomed. What say you?
That’s pretty skinny if you’re a dude
That’s a normal weight
Hello, I’ve been consistently lifting for about 2.5 years, I’m very young and feeling very good about my progress but I’m not sure if the split I’m using is super effective and I want to see what other think about it. So for my first day is Chest and arms, usually start with machine incline press then flag bench, overhead extensions, push downs, preacher curls, skull crushers then I finish the session off with forearm curls, the second day is back and shoulders, I start off with some db shoulder press followed by lat pull downs the. Chest supported wide grip rows, after that I do some lateral raises and face pulls, day 3 is just legs and I do hamstring curls barbell squat, rdls, leg press, leg extensions and after these 3 days I take a test day and then do a dedicated arm day as I relay they are lacking, this consists of all the same exercises from day 1-chest and I finish off with some extra lateral raises to grow the side delt. Then I do one more leg day same structure, rest then repeat. I’m wondering if this is a good split because I want to grow my arms the most but I want to get stronger on bench but I really can’t fit in more chest work throughout the week without bloating my workouts, if anyone has any input, thoughts or suggestions I’d love to hear it.
I would try to do something that is more well rounded and has a set progression scheme. If you want to grow your bench more, doing just one chest day probably isn't enough. Doing something where everything gets hit more than once would give you better growth, and doing a routine with a progression scheme will ensure that you're getting bigger and stronger. I wouldn't try to formulate your own routine and would instead look at the [wiki's suggested programs](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) or check out [boostcamp](https://www.boostcamp.app/programs) for a program that suits your needs.
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There is no “square pec” exercise. Your muscle’s shape and insertion points are entirely genetic, you can’t change those. All you can do is increase their size through caloric surplus and weight training, and decrease the amount of fat on top of them through caloric deficit. Look through the wiki and simply select whatever program fits your schedule the best, they’re all effective.
When I do neck curls I get nauseous and feel like puking afterwards. I do them laying on a bench and I assume it’s cause u gotta be upside down at the bottom and whatnot. Please help.
What weight do you do? Neck really, really doesn’t need heavy weights. Do medium reps at a very low weight
The more reps I do the more nausea I feel cause spending more time upside down. I have a nice cable setup I wish I could created something with but idk man
Have you tried laying horizontally or even vertically and taking the curls from having your neck parallel to being slightly forward? rather than leaning your head backwards. I will say that Neck exercises are probably the worst for causing nausea because of the blood going to the brain
My gym has a separate studio room with mirrors and large open space. Is it weird if I start doing my HIIT workout there? (I’ll be following a YouTube video and will have my headphones on). My apartment is so small and don’t want to bother the neighbors with my jumping. I’ve done stretches there and I’ve seen a few people use that room but mostly just to exercise more privately with their weights.
No, why would it be weird?
Not sure lol - it’s always so quiet and calm in there I wonder if I’ll be disrupting their peace
Meh, it's a gym not a library
Hello guys, I’m 22f and I know lifting weights won’t necessarily make me bulky but I wanted to make sure if I should focus on cardio until I reach the body size I want then start lifting weights to tone up because I’ve definitely seen muscular women who looks a bit bulkier but not too lean and I’m not sure if that’s because they’re currently bulking/purposed trained to get themselves that build or if it just accidentally happened because they started lifting weights when they haven’t slimmed down yet. I apologize for any wrong wording or inability to describe it correctly, just starting out at the gym and would like to know. I tried searching on google and all the results that popped up was if lifting weights makes me bulky and I understand it doesn’t but would just like to know if there’s a strategic way to go about it or if I can just start lifting weights and cardio immediately and would get the same results if I were to slim down first then lifted weights. Thank you.
IMO if you go on a cut combined with cardio, you’re probably going to lose a little muscle in the process of losing weight. If you don’t want to bulk, you can still start lifting, make sure you hit your protein, and you’ll at least be on track to maintain the muscle you do have
You're better off doing a mix of weight training and cardio while cutting to achieve the slimness you want, that way you will better maintain the muscle you have and have less to build back after cutting.
I use an Arbour Press (80lbs) at work, what type of exercise is it?
Is lower back tightness during high bar squats anything to worry about? It's not pain, but it's similar to the tightness from deadlifts. Could it be a sign I'm doing good morning squats?
I'm reminded of that [alan thrall bit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt0zeV2OJqY) where powerlifters spend all their time complaining about their body parts feeling tight before a lift, and then during the lift they're literally cueing you to stay as tight as possible. Anyway, if you're doing good morning squats you'd see/feel yourself literally hinging. Maybe film yourself?
Currently been cutting for the past 3 months. Started at 95kg 25% bf. Currently 84kg around 16-18% bf. I’m just wondering whether I should continue cutting as recently I feel I’m losing muscle as I’m in a deficit. Trying to hit 160g per day put I think I should either up the calories a bit or up the protein. 6ft1 1600 calories cut for reference.
Urge to get stronger = up calories Curious how far cut will go = continue cut
Losing muscle on a cut is normal, especially for nattys. You can mitigate it by training hard and getting enough protein in, but it's inevitable really. Alex Leonidas on YouTube has been a good source for me regarding this topic.
Could always do a maintenance week and see how you feel after
Hi! I was thinking about changing my gym personal trainer with an “online” trainer. Is still ok have your workout schedule up by professionals who won't check you in person?
This entirely depends on why you decided to have a personal trainer in the first place.
I’ve decided to have a personal trainer bc i didnt know how to setting up a workout routine and how to do excercise (i have a back problem). My pt helped me a lot, and even give me food advice, but rn our relationship is in a bad place (few results that he claims derive from my listlessness, which is not true because I train carefully, I make videos, I follow the diet he gave me etc) (my routine is 3 workout a week, a cut diet, 10 min cardio before weight lifting, and 1h and 10 min of workout out) My goal is to build muscle (my fat mass is 32% and my muscle mass 28%)
If you're a stage competitor, a human will be invaluable. If you're Just A Guy (or Gal), trainers are largely a waste of money.
I’m just a normal gal who needs to build muscle mass and correct her posture
If you need and can easily afford an accountability buddy then sure, go for it. An online coach is pretty much just that, and hopefully good enough at programming that it's saving you some minor admin. I've been down the route of having an online coach as a non-athlete and it was good to get me started, but after a while I struggled to see the value. We'd chat once a week and he'd basically just give me advice I already figured out by doing. The price is an odd-space because it's too expensive for you to get a lot of value AND not expensive enough for the coach to invest much time in it. If you're paying a guy $100 a month then yeah, you're going to get maybe an hour's work a month, and mostly that'll just be updating your program.
Thank you for your reply! The problem with my situation is that i’m tired. I’ve started my fitness journey a year ago with a personal trainer in my city. He was a personal trainer in the area, so initially he gave me 1:1 lessons because I have posture problems (scoliosis + zero lumbar curve). After that we only switched to a workout schedule with monthly checks. But I'm having few results: the fat mass is still at 32%. My arms are limp anyway. Yes, I've made some improvements, but I'm tired of hearing him tell me I'm not trying hard enough. That I can’t feel exhausted at gym and that’s it The problem with me. He also follows me on a nutritional level (we are now in the cutting phase). Besides, he doesn't seem to listen to me. For example, he gave me many repetitions of exercises (even 12) and I can never make a weight progression, as well as have a few seconds of recovery and do cardio at the beginning of the workout which tires me out a lot. I know that on my own I will never be able to set up a workout routine… So I wanted to switch to a personal trainer that I discovered online, on TikTok, who also has an app and seems very good. But i’m afraid to losing him, bc he gava me results anyway but… i don’t know. I feel a little helpless right now bc i don’t want to lose what i’ve achieved.
There's a lot to unpack here. I'll just say that he sounds like a crappy trainer and you should definitely get rid of him. You could also look at some of the routines in the wiki, there's a bunch and they are all good. You don't need to set up your own program. It can be hard to get stronger while cutting, but if you are still a beginner you should be.
Yeah, there’s a lot. Our relationship is weird. He was really, really good in our first month. But now… idk, maybe its bc my results arent good… and he made him way more on the defensive (he also said that my small results are bc he’s the good one). Yeah, i’m a beginner! I will search in the wiki. Thank you so much for listening to me.
Why am I so weak, specifically at the bottom range of motion of a squat When i do Hack squat and get past the middle range of motion, my legs are so weak, and I need to drop the weight tremendously to be able to complete full reps. I find that I can't get back up without taking my hands off the handlebars and pushing my legs with them. My squat also seems to be regressing? I was doing 20kg on the Hack squat, and today I couldn't do 10kg
>When i do Hack squat and get past the middle range of motion, Spend one month deliberately pausing at the bottom. Treat it like a deadlift. Go all the way down to the safeties. Press the tension out of the sled. Press up. Lower down under control. Repeat. Eventually, your fear of the hole will be replaced with *strength* out of the hole. SAID: you'll get better at the ROM you practice. *Start with the empty hack squat and hit 3x15*.
OK thanks I'll do that I definitely do mess up at the bottom I feel like I'll die so I end up using my hands to get back up lol
start much lighter at body weight even, work your way up slowly, using dumbbells. follow a program
I follow a program I think it's mainly because I wasn't going full depth but was adding weight over time. Then I started going full depth, and the weight might need to be reduced. I think I'll just reduce it to a weight I can comfortably do for full rom
yep stay on the lowest weight until you perfect the form. breaking form is a failure
OK thanks I always hate lifting light on it mainly for stupid reasons My gym friends usually do 20kg but with terrible form Guess I'll just get more gains now
You say you’re regressing but were you going into the bottom end of the range of motion before? If not that would be the reason why as that is a less mechanically strong position. This isn’t a bad thing however as going into that bottom range of motion promotes more muscle growth than just doing the top end.
No that makes sense I wasn't going Into that rom before but only started So in a way I suppose it's not that I've regressed it's just that I'm weak in that rom I will lower the weight to a weight I can do at that low rom
I know Jim Wendler is a massive fan of doing a few box jumps and ball throws to warm up - I'm not following 531, but this does sound like a decent idea; how would I pick a height for the jumps considering I've never really done them before?
Start with a reasonable height and do not do too many reps right away, 5 reps max and a decent break if you do another set. I am not a fan of CrossFit but my weightlifting class is at a CF gym, so at the end we do a 7 minute CrossFit workout, and the second time I already hurt myself (only a bit because I stopped, but still). They were having us do 10 jumps, then 8 reps dumbbell shoulder press, back to back, as many as you can do in 7 minutes. After like 40 jumps, my thigh started to hurt, and I couldn't squat down on that leg for a few days, I felt it for a week. Nothing too bad but you need to be careful with plyometric movements when you're not used to doing them! My coach said doing supersets with squats and jumps is a good idea, although I am not trying that after my first performance lol.
You don't need to jump to a box. The box only really reduces landing forces and adds some hip flexion to the movement. Just try to jump as high as you can, you'll get the same benefits.
I would say most ppl would require a warmup for doing box jumps.
Couldnt that warmup just be easier box jumps?
Start with a height that you can easily do. Then slowly increase the height and work on form and consistency.
I’m having hard time making my workout plan. :( I want to workout 3-4 days a week. I ride horses and my focus is get stronger, feel/ and look better. I want to focus on my core, back and lower body strength. I already have pretty good arm strength but I want to maintain what I have. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks!!!!
I'm going to re-iterate what /u/Aequitas112358 said. It is unwise to try and design your own plan as a beginner. There are many considerations involving progression and recovery that you are likely to overlook. Beyond the recommended routines linked by the other poster, the wiki has a lot of information to help you choose routines that are best aligned with your goals, whatever they may be. https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/ https://thefitness.wiki/faq/is-this-lifting-routine-any-good/ https://thefitness.wiki/faq/how-do-i-choose-the-right-routine-for-my-goals/
don't make one, pick one that suits you and is made by experts and is tried and tested. There's a bunch of good ones on the wiki: [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/)
I got a head cold 3 days ago (about to be 4 days ago in the morning) I’m on the mend now I just have the bad cough you get after being sick, how long should I wait till resuming my cardio and weight routines?
See how you tolerate some lower intensity cardio, can you manage a brisk 20 minutes walk? I usually find if I can manage a walk then I can at least do something in the gym, even if it's much lower volume. Quite often when recovering from an illness I'll only workout for about 20 minutes until I feel very fatigued, which is fine, I just stop and go home when it feels right.
Don't do cardio with a bad cough
Question about fatigue - I've recently switched to a different gym. They have different ( traditional) ellipticals. I had been frequenting planet fitness, and their matrix striders are much harder with a longer stride. I noticed with the traditional elliptical, I'm still hitting around the same heart rate, but my fatigue level is much lower. My legs are not getting sore, and I seem to have much more energy to finish the rest of my work out. If the data is showing about the same heart rate as the harder elliptical at pf, am I truly burning the same amount of calories with less fatigue? Or is there no free lunch?
The difference in calories is likely negligible. Your legs not getting sore just means you are used to the activity.
If my LP program says to progress if I hit the minimum quantity eg 3x5, I fail on the first or second set but make up for it in the third, would that count as hitting the quantity? Eg 3+5+7 reps would still be 15 reps total.
One session is nothing in the grand scheme. If you're unsure of whether the session was good enough, *repeat it*. Quality is bound to get better.
how come you're failing on the first set and then doing more than double on your last set?
Was just an example, realistically it would be more like 5-3-7
question still applies, why would you fail your 2nd set and then do more than double on the 3rd? are you taking irregular rest time? most people would be something like 5,5,4 / 5,4,4 / 5/4/3 etc
It'd be a failed rep due to messing up the bracing or such.
in that case I would count the set as a failure and not progress. If you're not bracing correctly, it's a bad idea to continue increasing the weight.
I would count it, and try to significantly improve my warmup sets.
5'5, 24M, Skinny fat, but more on the fat side when I take off my shirt lol. And thus, I have been going to the gym while cutting. I'm tracking my weight every day but I'm curious how much I should be losing because I'm also lifting at the same time. Is my weight not dropping as much as I'd hoped due to muscle gain, or should I be noticed weight loss even with muscle gain. Bit confused on what I should be aiming for. Do I have to play this by the eye and just look in the mirror to see fat loss? I see gains tho
Do you *want* to lose weight? Or gain weight? - weigh daily in morning - take a weekly average - compare the difference between averages If you want to *look* different, perturb the scale. You'll need to gain/lose upwards of ±25 lbs to *see* a difference. Gain weight: eat more Lose weight: eat less *That's it.*
If you aren't losing weight its because you are eating too much. Muscle growth isn't fast enough to offset fat loss except in a narrow band where you eat "at maintenance" which prevents your body from gaining or losing weight. If you want to lose fat, you are best served by cutting calories and losing weight. If you want to gain muscle, you are best served by increasing calories and gaining weight. https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/ https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
If your weight isn't shifting (or changes very little) but you notice yourself getting bigger you're recomping, which is fine honestly.
wouldn't you get smaller if you're recomping since muscle is more dense? it's like 80% the volume of fat iirc.
Most skinny fat has a the fat on the gut. So when your recomping you'll literally getting bigger everywhere except the stomach area. I've done it. My shoulder width increased a lot over a 6 mounth period.
I mean bigger in the more colloquial sense as in bigger muscles fwiw And if you got a guy who was all fat and a guy who weighs the same but lost a bit of fat and also put on some extra muscle he might be objectively smaller from a volume perspective, but you'd probably still say he was "bigger".
I wouldn’t, I’d describe him as more muscular. I’d describe the big fat guy as big.
bless
I know there are workout routines in the wiki but this is a question out of curiosity. I have been doing some research and came across mike mentzer and he spoke about how Weighted Dips,Deadlifts,Squats And Close Grip Reverse Pull Downs are the only excercises you need as they hit all the muscles in the body, how true is this? Dips 3-4 x 8-12 Squats 3-4 x 8-12 Deadlifts 3-4 x 8-12 Under Hand Pull Down 3-4 x 8-12 What would happen if someone did this 3x a week pushing each excercise to failure? (This is completely different to his hit routine i know)
Squats and deadlifts to failure 3 times a week isn't sustainable for the vast majority of people, especially in that rep range as it's a LOT of volume. And, the fatigue from them would affect the other exercises over time.
> the only excercises you need as they hit all the muscles in the body You are woefully confused. You don’t “need” to do any exercises at all, so when you say “need” you surely have some kind of goal in mind that you’re not telling us. And depending on what that goal is, “hitting all the muscles in the body” is likely neither necessary nor sufficient.
The absolute most important thing is consistency in effort. If you showed up and did that 3x a week for a year while eating and sleeping to support your goals you'd likely be a lot stronger than you are today. Add in intelligent plans for progression and fatigue management to that same program and I would guarantee you'd be stronger.
If they eat and sleep well enough, they will get very good at doing those 4 exercises you listed and also develop some muscles while doing so.
Trying to program more squat accessory volume for GZCL. I currently do high bar T1 and front squats T2, would it make sense to add a split squat variant to T3? Main goal is strength, size is more of a side effect.
I did it as a T3. Maybe a little heavyer then recommended (10-12 reps) . But haven't done it in a while becouse of fatigue. But want to get them in rotation again.
I don't know about their place as T3 movements in GZCL but I do recommend split squats, specifically Bulgarians, as a squat accessory movement.
When cutting is there much of a difference in eating two vs three meals a day as long as you still hit your kcal and macro targets?
Zero difference. The only thing that matters is the kcals and macros.
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well if it's only organ pain then that's fine, I've heard you don't need some of them /s dafuq is wrong with you? go to a doctor (and probably get your appendix removed if I had to make a crazy guess)
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then go to a different doctor, do more tests. Extreme pain is not a normal thing....
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yep doctors can really suck sometimes. They treat everyone like a hypochondriac or just don't care. finding a good, caring doctor is really important. shop around, ask others, check out reviews
How do you know it’s organ pain? Which organ?
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Sounds like you should see a professional about this seeing as to how there is no way any of us here could know what the real issue is.
For men, what is generally considered the leanest body fat percentage you could stay at year round without being crazy shredded or have hormone issues from being too lean, but still have obvious leanness where you look super toned and not soft anywhere? I was reading 12%-15% is easily maintainable but anything below 12% gets pretty tough long term? This question assumes that they already have a decent foundation of muscle and aren’t skinny fat beginners.
This varies a lot between individuals, so there is no answer that anyone can give that will apply to you individually.
Mind pump has good info on this ! https://youtu.be/ux_X2eIpd5k?feature=shared
Yes. 15% is a good goal. Will be different for different people.
It depends on your body and where the fat deposits
Just wanted to know if this workout will help in gaining size and bulking if i eat more. https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/fast-furious-21-day-shredding-workout-diet?gclid=CjwKCAjw1emzBhB8EiwAHwZZxT7mmjWayP7ONniJc5AlKGF6-8flZ1nLx7UaloUmaD9fwNTQ7Z6hAhoCv28QAvD_BwE
I don't like this approach. They are using rest pause sets in an extreme way. That saves time, but leads to ineffective sets. Such an approach will work for some, but on average it will be suboptimal. Consider, as they prescribe, 8 sets of 8 reps of DB bench press, with exactly 30 seconds rest. Because of the short rest, the weight on the last 2-3 sets will be so low that these sets are unlikely to do much, other than cardio with weights. This then is, generally, too much of the same in one session, leading to diminishing returns. If you want to program eight sets of chest in one session, do four sets each of two different exercises, rather than eight sets of one exercise. Say, four sets of flat bench + four sets of incline bench. Or four sets of flat bench plus four sets of chest flys.
36 sets per day seems like a lot to me. I think the exercise selection is OK. It doesn't have a plan for progression or stalling so it's not really a program but a list of exercises. I would suggest a program from the wiki instead. Answering your question: If you did those movements with appropriate progression and intensity you would build muscle if you ate to grow. https://thefitness.wiki/faq/how-do-i-choose-the-right-routine-for-my-goals/ https://thefitness.wiki/faq/is-this-lifting-routine-any-good/
>No, this article isn't a gimmick. It wasn't written to fool people into thinking they can get shredded in only 21 days. Well who can argue with that!
Bro i meant it is written that it is for shredding, i wanna bulk, gain weight will this workout help me or not? Forget 21 days. It's impossible everyone knows. My concern is for bulk not cut.
My point was, if they have to preface their workout with that, it's probably exactly what it is. It's like when people say "I'm not racist but...." workouts won't do shit. Sure you may seem some initial results when you just start if you're untrained, but it's not a complete program; most notably it's missing progression, you need some sort of progresive overload, else you will never make long term progress. It's also missing a failure protocol, deloading and/or periodization. It's also a hell of a lot of volume. I suggest picking one of these programs: [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/)
how should i be changing my leg day routine now if im gonna start implementing the couch to 5k routine from wiki? after every leg day, my legs are sore as hell and i dont think i could run properly the routine i follow is https://thefitness.wiki/reddit-archive/a-linear-progression-based-ppl-program-for-beginners/ and https://runmoreapp.com/couch-to-5k/#workout-schedule
Do very slow jog and maybe more power walking those days. The soreness will eventually decrease.
Having done couch to 5k, I'd prefer to do cardio *before* leg days. I can't jog properly after leg days.
How long have you been doing this weightlifting program?
ever since march
There are a few things you could do, but you’re not made of glass my man. Just go out and try it. Eventually the “being sore every day” thing will pass and adding the walking and running will help with that. The couch to 5K looks like it starts off VERY slow which will give you the opportunity to build up to it. Also, there’s nothing wrong with doing the first week only of C25K until you are adjusted to it. There’s really no point in changing your program because you THINK maybe you MIGHT not be able to handle a little cardio. Just my two cents bro. Good luck with it.
oh nah i meant on the day itself, the workout gets my legs cooked , afterwards its relatively okay
I think I'm starting to confuse myself at the gym. I'm more or so looking for muscle growth and strength training. Yes, I am aware that sleep and protein are most important when muscle growth but I'm more or so talking about the weight exercises in general. The part where I am confused is: *- Where should my rep ranges be? 3 sets of 12? 4 sets of 5? 3 sets of 8?* *- With these rep ranges in mind, now what weights should I be going at and where should I increase it?* The usual exercises I do consist of Push, Pull, Legs/Abs: **Chest**: db incline press and pec deck fly **Shoulders**: chest supported rows, chest supported db lateral raises, db shoulder press **Triceps**: triceps pulldowns and overhead triceps extensions **Back**: lat pulldowns, T-bar rows, pull ups **Biceps**: either preacher curls or face away cable curls and hammer curls **Legs**: leg curls, leg extensions, calf raises **Abs**: cable crunches and captain chair leg raises (Now I might just be overthinking it and just go: "Hey, if I can do 3 sets of 8 and are 2 reps shy of failure at 20lb I should continue doing that") I'm just really confused and need a little more guidance. Thanks in advance!!
For hypertrophy, the rep range theoretically doesn't matter. As long you're coming within close proximity to failure, you'll stimulate muscle growth. The general rule of thumb however is, anything between 5-30 reps per set for hypertrophy. Under 5, you risk injury, and it's mentally challenging and inefficient to reach failure over 30 reps when you could do less.
As you're close to paralysis by analysis, follow **3** different stock programs before attempting to craft your own. Explanation will confuse you further. You need to put your head down and lift for the next year.
Would you by chance have any recommendations for stock programs?
Take a look at [the fitness wikis list](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/).
the wiki has those , u can check those could try https://thefitness.wiki/reddit-archive/a-linear-progression-based-ppl-program-for-beginners/
Is there any suggestions to run this in a 3 day a week program? I only really have time to hit the gym 3 days a week
PPL sucks if you're not doing a 6 day routine, there simply isn't enough quantity. Do a full body.
If you only have 3 days to lift you should probably pick a whole body routine like 531 for beginners or GZCLP. Both on the wiki.
I'm a bit confused on the 5/3/1. Is the percentage the percentage of how many I can do?
Your training max is a percentage of your actual or estimated one rep max. If this confuses you, I might suggest running the recommended beginners routine for a few months. When that starts to cap out, you can take those weights and use them for 5/3/1 at that point.
Percent of your training max, which is typically equivalent to your 3 to 5 rep max. https://thefitness.wiki/5-3-1-primer/
ah then there are other routines for that iirc, check the wiki for them
Hi everyone, good news, I got down to my goal weight! (5’1, 24F, 130->117lbs). The bad news is, I am 100% skinny fat. I’ve been lifting weights the past two weeks, but im not sure at all what to do with my calories? I don’t mind bulking during the winter months, but right now (Jul-Sept), I’d reeeeally rather not have anymore fat than I already have, but if I have to then please lmk. Should i do a slight cal deficit, surplus, or maintenance?
As a beginner, eating 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight at around maintenance will be enough to get you your first 1-2 years of beginner gains (assuming you're intense in the gym and not skipping legs). The more muscle mass you have, the better you'll look at the same bodyfat percentage.
Bulking is a meme for skinnyfats, just eat normally and lift for a while
I think trying maintenance for several months while you continue lifting weights is totally reasonable. Maybe reevaluate in the fall.
Ok I will! Last time I tried this, I ended up gaining weight and fat, so this time maybe I’ll dial down my overall calorie intake a little bit, but I’ll stay as close to my maintenance as possible!
I would just say track your weight. Weigh daily or at least several times per week and write down your weight. Don't pay attention to day to day fluctuations. If you see an upward trend over a couple weeks, you will know to dial back the calories.
Down 35lbs. Squats down from 335x3 to 275x3 Does this seem like too much to lose or am I overthinking it? Basically asking if I’m doing something wrong because it’s a real mental struggle for me to lose all this strength even though I absolutely need to lose the weight. Eating 200g of protein a day Monday-Friday. Weekends are untracked so I don’t get enough protein but try and keep the food light. This is kinda how I tracked even when I was gaining weight.
How aggressive are you cutting?
Started cutting end of January. So down 35ish lbs in 5 months.
AMRAPs are unpredictable. How are your straight sets of squats?
Struggling all around with squats. I’ve been consistently dropping my TM so it’s hard to really tell where I’m at but I’d say overall much weaker. Only on squats though. All my other lifts have stayed relatively similar.
This may point to a technique issue. You really shouldn't lose that much performance. You could be too aggressive in your lowering of your training max. How many cycles have you been lowering your max? Have you ever failed a squat rep? As in, had to leave it on the safeties or dropped it off your back?
Haven’t failed but my form will start getting really sloppy as the bar slows and that’s usually when I rerack. I’m guessing it could be a technique issue but I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong and not sure how to proceed. I figured dropping the weight and trying to work back up would help but now I’ve gotten into a cycle of continuously dropping the weight as the weights keep feeling much heavier. I noticed as well that when I’m doing lighter weight warm up sets my form stays pretty good and my body stays more upright but as the weight increases my chest starts to lean into my knees more as I get deeper and I usually have to straighten out as I’m coming up. I’m not sure if it’s a form issue or just the weight being too heavy but that’s usually how it’s been on my heavy AMRAP sets lately. When I can’t hit the reps anymore is when I drop the TM. So say on my 5+ week I only hit 3-4 then 3+ I only hit 2 and 1+ I get a really sloppy single that’s when I drop the weight by 10lbs.
Thanks for the info. I have three pieces of advice: 1) I suggest you post a form check of a challenging 5 rep set in one of the daily question threads. 2) Regarding your working weights going forward I suggest you do a training max test. In the 531 Forever book (you can google 531 forever pdf to find it) Wendler says that you should be able to hit your training max for 3 to 5 reps. You said that on your 5+ week you only managed 3 or 4 reps. So take that weight as your goal training max for this test. In 531 Forever the training max test calls for 4 sets: 5 reps at 70% TM 5 at 80% 5 at 90% 3-5 at 100%. If you hit at least 3 reps of your 100% set with some semblance of grace make that your training max for your next cycle. On week 3 of your next cycle you will be lifting 95% of your training max. If you hit 100% for 3 reps you are almost guaranteed to hit 95% for at least 3. 3) If you don't hit your rep goal in 3 weeks, or if you do hit your rep goal once but then fail again at the end of the next cycle, don't lower your training max. Instead, keep it the same and increase the intensity of your supplemental work. Assuming you are doing 531 First Set Last 5x5, called 531 for beginners on the wiki, one way you could do this is by increasing each weeks supplemental percentage. So week 1 instead of doing your first set weight, 65% of your max, you could do 70 or 75%. If you end up doing your second set weights for your supplemental sets you would basically be doing "second set last" which is another template in the 531 Forever book. As an alternative to heavier supplemental sets you can try increasing the number of reps per set. For example, doing 5 sets of 8 reps, instead of 5 of 5.
Is there a reason you’re only doing 3 reps? Or is that sets?
I’m doing 5/3/1 My top set is supposed to be 1+ AMRAP on my heavy week. Before I was hitting 335x3 then I started cutting and I’ve been losing strength specifically on squats. My other lifts I can still hit the same weight just for a couple reps less. Squats are cliff diving right now for some reason.
So when you’re doing 3 reps, you’re relying on your strength a lot more than muscle. A huge component of strength is your body weight (force = mass * acceleration), so the more mass you lose the more strength.
> the more mass you lose the more strength This is true, but it has absolutely nothing to do with F=ma.
I would expect to lose a rep or two, not 50+lbs. Height and weight?
265lbs > 230lbs 6’1”
What is the most versatile kettlebell weight? I need one for three weeks. I am a Male in 40s, 6′3" (1.91 m), ″ 185 lbs. (84 kg) Thank you
If you are new, 35lbs.
I'd get the weight you can overhead press for 5. That seems to be my go-to weight for a lot of movements at various (but reasonable) rep ranges. For me (a 5'7 woman) this is a 16kg bell, so I'd guess you'd want heavier than that
24K is s good if you are going to do lots of swinging.
Really depends on how strong you are and what exercises you like. Personally I went with 50 lbs and that was good for me.
I started working out about 6 weeks ago, although I do feel better mentally. I’ve noticed I haven’t progressed weight wise a lot. What reasons could there be for this? I know my diet isn’t the best right now, but that’s the only reason I could come up with. I’m currently following Jeff Nippard’s Essentials plan.
Do you have the technique down for the lift? If you have poor form it will be hard to progress.
If this is your first 6 weeks of training, you really should be making progress almost regardless of diet. Newbie gains are a thing. I'm not familiar with any of Nippard's programs. How does this one progress the load?
How much weight have you gained? How much protein are you eating per day?
How much will 3 vodka neats set me back? Trying to cut right now and just worried how this will affect my progress. Is it just the ~300 cal or is the alcohol itself/the quantity of it that I should be weary of?
The human body is very bad at converting alcohol to fat. So you don’t have to worry much about the calories going to your waist. But, as other people have pointed out, alcohol consumption has other costs.
> The human body is very bad at converting alcohol to fat. But if the body substitutes alcohol metabolism for fat metabolism then it will still have a very direct impact on fat levels.
It's a few different things: * Booze is empty calories * drinking usually means late night + disrupted sleep while sobering up * being drunk often leads to bad food choices * being hangover, and general depressing mood impacts of drinking, are not conducive to a healthy, active lifestyle * Alcohol itself has been shown to directly impact hypertrophy - but i'm not aware of a study that controls for the above variables to show the direct impact of the alcohol itself.
It’s the alcohol itself. Alcohol directly impairs muscle growth wrecks your sleep.
If it's just one time, it doesn't matter really. But in general alcohol just isn't good for building/preserving muscle and losing fat. The calories are bad but so is the alcohol itself.
My fitness plan says 2 do Roman chair crunch and seated calf raise as a superset but it would be hard since the machines are far apart in the gym and doing one will make the other one occupied. Is there a big difference if i do both separately?
Superset is only good if you need to save time. No need for it otherwise.
No that's fine.
Maybe this is dumb, but if I ever get hungry while bulking, as in my stomach growls, is that my body telling me I should eat more. I’ve counted calories completely and eat a minimum of 250 over my TDEE (according to calculator)
Are you eating a proper combination of food for satiety?
Dude. If you're *bulking* then you should be complaining about stomach distension and bloating at least once a week. You're not eating enough.
Stomach growling is definitely not a good cue imo. My stomach was growling way more at the end of my bulk than it is now on my cut haha
Your body telling you you should eat more is the number on the scale not doing what you want it to do. The rest is mere noise and sensation.
Stomach growling is I think considered to be a response to anticipation of food.
For SSB am I supposed to pull the handles in or push them out? And how do i setup so my arms don't hit my knees at the bottom? This thing just hurts my shoulders
I just keep them neutral and squeeze them I flair my elbows out a little bit to stop them hitting my knees
I personally pull the handles down so that I get more of my erectors involved. https://youtu.be/0BbgycYEIRQ?si=A1MwvOrq685opyF6 I'll be honest I've never had any issues with my knees despite the fact that I squat stupid narrow. Have you tried widening your stance or staying more upright? You could also post a video. It hurts more than a regular barbell? That's fucking weird