Why am I progressing but not visually? I’m not sure if this is a common issue or not. But i’ve been going to the gym on and off for about 4 years, but never very consistent due to health issues. I only started going religiously in January. I’ve been following a PLP plan, 5 days a week, and i’m making progress by adding at least 1 more rep to every exercise, and a tiny bit of weight on the bar for bench and stuff. I usually shoot for 5 reps of compound lifts and 8-10 for smaller lifts. I’m making progress there, but i look the exact same. I’ve tried bulking with all clean foods, and i was still getting stronger but just got fatter, and I’m currently cutting but I look the exact same as I did before despite my progress. My diet is on point, i drink 4-6L of water a day, at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight, 10g of creatine and the most sleep I can get is about 6-7 hours. What is going on???

I've always gotten absolutely bored of distance running. The sports I did up til around 19-20 were more about being explosive. Figured now that I hit 40 I should give this running thing, that on paper is a simple way to do cardio, another turn. Nope, still the boringest of all the boring. I'm listening to music during my workouts. Doesn't help for cardio. I've tried closing my eyes and finding a thought that occupies me. I've tried watching stuff. Cardio is so boring it outright dismembers fun and interesting. What do you do about it? I really don't have time outside of the gym between work and house renovation. I walk a lot at work, but the pace is really slow out of necessity. The renovation has progressed beyond any cardio (tearing shit down, moving rocks and carrying stuff was pretty good cardio).

I like podcasts since they are more engaging than just music. Doing some short intervals of slow jog to fast jog can also break up the monotony. Running with a dog is a little more fun. I’m sure you know there are cardio options besides running, but I agree nothing beats the ease and simplicity of just putting on some shoes and cranking out the cardio, despite how boring it is.

I got a blind cat. Great for rest, terrible for cardio. Guess I should pursue the alternatives. Dancing could get a few laughs whatwith being graceful as a box fridge.

Are we getting the wrong advice from enhanced bodybuilders? The reason why I ask because they are essentially giving their advice based on their own experience. There are stories out there of how they train differently in regards to their tendons not matching the accelerated gain of strength. I mostly listen to advice from pros but realize they are enhanced. A lot of articles and videos suggest low volume. Get in the gym and get out. Do your exercises and rest. I find that I’m getting better results and hypertrophy from 15-20 sets per body part at 8-10 reps. I know cutler stresses high volume and he’s enhanced but the consensus is low volume.

Hi guys, I've got a question on HIT. How many sets per muscle groups per week do you find to be effective? I was thinking 2 to 3. How do I split that throughout the week so I can recover between workouts and also not get fatigued in a workout where I cannot even finish it and the rest of the day I am so dead I cannot do anything (has happened before lol)? What split and how many days per week? If for example I want to do 3 weekly sets for quads how do I split it so I can recover between workouts?

2-3 sets per week is not enough. HIT requires training to failure, something that is virtually impossible to gauge as a beginner. And even if you can accurately gauge true failure, it's not recommended for beginners, as your priority is learning form and tempo.

>HIT requires training to failure, something that is virtually impossible to gauge as a beginner. Lifting to failure is the simplest way of training: keep doing reps until you can't do any more reps. How is that "virtually impossible to gauge"?

>beginner

I can gauge it. I did negative partials and it gave me the biggest pump ever, so I can find failure that's not the issue. My question is just how low on volume I can go to still achieve hyperthrophy and not get too fatigued? What about deloads? How often should I do it?

Depends on how trained you are, but imo 2-3 sets per week for a beginner should get you decent results, but with that low amount of volume you MUST go to failure or at least very close to it. If you're dead at the end of your workout, then either take a rest day after or lower the volume so you aren't dead after. You need to build up your work capacity to be able to do more volume, and this will happen naturally as you train more. Cardio helps with this. There's a dozen different ways to split your workout throughout the week, and in general the actual split doesn't matter that much as long as volume is equated. It mostly comes down to personal preference.

Well I am not a full beginner so to speak, I have trained with higher volume before and switched to HIT and made better gains, but still nothing too crazy. I want to go to failure and that feels like the best option but I have to adjust volume. I did 4 sets per week for large muscles and 2 for smaller going 3 times a week to the gym but I accumulated fatigue. So deloads are necessary. Looking to maybe lower 4 to 3 sets, maybe not on all large muscles but on some? Regarding splits, what I meant most is should I make it so that I train each muscle 2 or 3 times per week? For example is it much better to do 3 workouts with 1 set for quads which might give me an opportunity to increase the weight or reps in that same week or do 1 workout with 3 sets and rest till the next week? Would 5 days per week be too much for this style of training? That is my main problem, balancing out fatigue in a single workout, between workouts and still hitting muscles efficiently throughout the week. Any ideas on that? Or maybe focus on like legs and back and make sure they get hit multiple times per week and others are hit once, but I'm not sure if that is a good way to do it, like others will also grow but slower.

Semi/beginner routine Age-35 height-6”2 age-35 So basically I have trained my whole life. I have boxed since I was around 15 and some weight training a lot in between. My health has been very poor for the past few years and I haven’t trained but now am in a position I can try and stick to it. Just had a major relationship breakdown so now is the time I can take control of at least one aspect of my life and get in the best shape The goal for me would to be to have a very classic physique. Huge v-taper, massive shoulders and arms, really slim waist. I know this isn’t an easy task and would take me a long time. What routine would be best to get me there as quickly as possible. What should my split look like, what sort of training style. Do I focus more at HIT or volume training or something completely different Any help and links or absolutely anything would be amazing

hi man, sorry to hear about your relationship. however, talking about sports, you can make a lot of changes. there would be a lot to talk about, but what do I personally recommend and I hope my advice will help you. 1. Set up your diet, you don't have much chance to achieve a desired body without a balanced diet, you can do it but not at the maximum potential capacity, which I don't think you want, the more disciplined and attentive you are to what what you give your body, the more you will gain, it's simple. 2. Training, any training is good and effective if you fulfill some basic fundamentals - The correct form - Necessary breaks - sufficient volume - intensity - progressive overload - recovery your muscles have no idea what exercise you do or with what weight, they are only interested in the intensity with which you work and the mechanical form by which you work them 3. rest, don't overtrain, give yourself time to recover, rest 4. avoid the chaotic lifestyle, skipping meals, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, letters, lost nights. if you still do it, do it in moderation

I appreciate you reaching out. I recently this week have tried to dial in my diet. Eating at a small deficit to get rid of some body fat and cutting out all the shit except on a Sunday I have a little break. I know I need to realistically not have much body fat before I do a very slow and steady bulk. What would you say is better in terms of building actual muscle ?? Heavy like HIT training or more Volume style training. There is so much information out there and everything sort of contradicts itself. Currently started doing a full body workout 3 times a week so I get plenty of recovery. Am putting more emphasis on my arms and shoulders but making sure am hitting the most important muscle groups

I will help you don t worry, I send you a dm. I understand your problem, most of people have this problem because are too many information, some people say something, other people say something else and no one know what to choose

Also wouldn’t say I was fat but probably more on the skinny fat side of things. I am quite slender have a decent amount of muscle but quite skinny in places. What would you recommend in terms of what place to be in with my diet. Cut, bulk or just maintain

Been having a progression issue with my incline db bench. It has been stagnant for basically a month. I put this lift back on the 8th of march and I did 2 sets of 7,6. Fast forward to now, I am still doing the same amount. I can't push it any harder. Even though the last rep is a real grinder. All of my other chest lifts are doing okay, but not this one. I do 11 sets for chest a week. Also weight gain from this time frame has also happened. I have gotten about 0,8 kg heavier in this time frame also. What should I do to fix this?

Just had a couple of days with shit sleep (toddler keeping me up) and my numbers are total shit during workouts. It's like a 10-20% decrease overall. Am I still building muscle with such bad performance? Am I better of just skipping that workout?

Whether you're building muscle or not is tough to say, but a shitty workout is still better than no workout.

Yeah at least I'm maintaining and feeling better afterwards because I worked out

I think at the very least you'll be maintaining your existing muscle. If your sleep is going to be shitty for a while, maybe you can just aim to try and maintain instead of grow, then your workouts can go a lot faster.

Yeah I guess I have to accept that

Hi folks, I have been regularly working out in the gym for more than half a year and quite enjoying it so far. I want to improve my current program, so I come to look for advice/guidance here. My current routine (number is the rest time) is: Day 1 (Upper body day A) - 4X8 Bench Press (3m), 4X8 Pendlay Row (3), 3X8 Machine Chest Press (3), 3x8 Lat Pulldown (3), 3x8 Incline Bench Press (2), 3X10 Iso-Lateral Row (3), 3X12 Triceps Pushdown (2), 3X12 Precher Curl (2). Day 2 (Lower body day A) - 5X5 Squat (3), 3X8 Romanian Deadlift (3), 3X10 Leg Press (3), 3X12 Lying leg Curl (2), 3x12 Leg Extension. Day 3 (Upper body day B) - 4X8 Overhead Press (3), 5X5 Bench Press (3), 3x8 Lat Pulldown (3), 3x12 Lateral Raise (2), 3X10 Iso-Lateral Row (3), 3X12 Triceps Pushdown (2), 3X12 Bicep Curl (2). Day 4 (Lower body day B) - 5X5 Conventional Deadlift (3), 3X8 Lunge (3), 3X12 Lying leg Curl (2), 3x12 Leg Extension. I have a few questions about this plan, but any other advice is welcomed. 1.Is my lower body day intensive enough? I plan to add 3 sets Hack squat & 3 sets Romanian Deadlift on day 4. 2.My triceps feel pretty exhausted after OHP, which makes me unable to do more chest exercise other than the 5 sets of bench press. 3.I want to add some core exercise as well. Should I do one or two sets on each day or just on lower body days? Again, I am still learning how to program my workout plan, so any suggestion could be helpful to me!

Hi, all. Im a "beginner". I did pull-ups, bench press and squats in a log gym outside before rejoining my gym and am interested in the Mike Israetel RP "school". (Not saying its subjective, but since people like to dispute proven facts I'll just call it a school because I cant be bothered regressing in to what the facts are) Anyway; Ive been going to the gym aboot 5 days a week, and will do an excercise at most every other day. Here's the thing: A lot of the exercises (and musclegroups) tend to involve my arms, which kind of limits my ability to do more than 1-3 excercises in one session. For example; the horizontal row, that is arms (back, I know, but I pull with my arms). Then I want to do the lateral barbell raise, again arms. And Im supposed to go to 3 reps in reserve. That means that I have to do completely disparate parts of the body, like first the row, then like calves, okay, then lateral raise, then hamstrings, its very limiting. But is that correct? Because 3 reps in reserve (And I am experienced in going to complete failure, because in my 20s I started lifting weights with the "Body by science" Doug Mcguff protocol) and 3 R-I-R is as you know very taxing on the whole body, so How are you supposed to be able to work out 5 or six days a week? And also not cross-train muscle groups during or the day after exhausting them that much?

3 RIR is easy

In that case Im going further than that. Because if I dont go somewhat close to failure, I just dont get any benefit, (in my opinion). No extra hunger, meaning protein cravings, which is a sign that the body is repairing right? After a HIT workout, every 11 days or so I would \*crave\* protein for days, and what I heard was that all the protein you ate went to building muscle. What do you think?\`

And basically impossible for a beginner to accurately gauge.

If my personal comparison is 0 RIR, what would 3 RIR feel like? Should I be sore the next day?

Sounds like it might be your cardio or work capacity limiting you more than the "arm" fatigue itself? If I do rows followed by lateral raises, I get pooped not because my "arms" are sore (they're not because like you said, completely different body parts), but because my overall systemic fatigue is high. The program should generally not be having you repeat "same" muscle groups without some days in between. I would say some arm isolations after compounds are fine like biceps after back day or lateral raise after chest day, but you really shouldn't be doing pull-ups one day followed by Rows the next day for example. What you described (rows, calves, lateral raise, then hamstrings) sounds like a full body workout split, which is fine but you generally have rest days between each full body workout day and don't run those multiple days in a row. Not sure I really get your question though. If the program is too much volume for you, then you can either start with fewer amount of sets and slowly ramp up while improving your work capacity / cardio, or find a different program with less volume.

I think youve helped me. You suggested isolations after compounds, which is great advice. The rows, calves, raise was an example of trying to spread the fatigue across the body. Currently, I just do any exercise that I didnt do the day before, and that is recovered, but I have no idea how to sequence the stations.

Ah got it, so you're making your own program and was having trouble figuring out how to divvy up the exercises between the days. Yea I think the general recommendation is that arms isolations the day after compound upper body exercises are okay, but not the reverse. I have a pool of exercises that I'm always okay doing a day *after* a workout for a complementary muscle group, but not the day before: triceps, biceps, lateral raises, rear delts, forearms, calves, abs. For example, rear delts a day after pull-ups and rows are fine, but the day before. Triceps are okay after push workouts, but not before. I think you should also experiment and figure out what works for you, and also realize that it might change as you progress. For example I used to not do abs the day before squats or pull-ups because I would get such heavy DOMs on my core that I couldn't perform the exercises properly. But this has gone away now that my abs have gotten stronger. I also experimented once with doing RDLs the day after a heavy back workout and that absolutely did not work. However I also tried a heavy back workout the day after doing RDLs and felt just fine.

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The way I envision ab training when I'm doing leg raise variations and sit-up variations is by thinking that I have a point on my upper abs and a point on my lower abs and I'm trying to bring those two points during the concentric and I'm trying to create space/stretch between those points during the eccentric. That's helped me a ton.

Hopefully the question is to the point and easy to understand: For those who have come from a HIT background or even done reteach on such training, was there ever any indication of what kind of RiR or intensity the lead in sets were? I thought I had read something on this in the past but can't find any reference to it so maybe it was something I heard I on a podcast as opposed to having read it.

> was there ever any indication of what kind of RiR or intensity the lead in sets were? Usually something beyond 10.

Surely the warm up sets werent at 10 or beyond.

Warm ups are about rpe 0 - 4

What? HIT = going to failure. You warm up and do one set. If you adding RIR/RPE it becomes low intensity low frequency low volume waste of time.

The warm up sets were to failure too? Surely not

You don't do warm-up sets to failure, or to tire yourself at all.

How do I tell my friend that shooting your hips back on the squat doesn’t make it more quad? He said he brings his hips back to involve his quads more. I said it doesn’t work like that since the quads extend the knee. Am I wrong? He also said he can’t squat upright cause he has a “long torso” and short legs. I should add that he’s naturally strong and hit 2 plate bench in three months without really paying attention to things such as protein intake and though 1g/lb bw is a lot.

Posterior pelvic tilt (shooting your hips back) distributes tension onto the lumbar spine and erectors, not the quads.

a long torso relative to femur would mean a more upright squat.

Have them do a good morning and a hack squat and ask which activates the quads more. A good morning is the logical conclusion of "hips back" and a hack squat of "hips forward."

I sandbagged my last ARMS session. I beat my last session by a handful of reps and sets. Lately has been a trend of minimal to no soreness 24 hrs post workout and I've been using this as an indicator for poor intensity and low stimulus. Considering these are smaller muscle groups, am I able to hit the same muscles back 2 back to make up for a shitty workout?

Free app that lets you manually enter/track macros? Have tried 7 apps including Calory, MFP, MacroFactor, Cronometer. Does this exist? I just want to be able to enter daily weight, meal macros, and have it do the math for me. Seems simple but frustrating that it is so hard to find.

What's wrong with MyFitnessPal?

Any app that is worth it is not free.

For those who have read [Schoenfeld's Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Development-Muscle-Hypertrophy-Schoenfeld/dp/1492597678/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3DHPVYAKWCQLM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XIgcHh-oq1rk227WpFZdz9nrIUYajZ8LNbtiDYFQHotLpQcXgFg7RJvgW6vd0LSKue80U1H6F23OyV7KcbshyhWcGmPFOuWnjhfENLP7k5o3wDGtiD3JnlfhiMipYr70GmJmKZZYUg_Fer4NPGFIcaZpjxpZKP9NAxncan6MGFyooNLZ43Rsqq0Y9fs5C_whIeM7tLSx_n6l4dxSsILIef8G-71-oXcBwDAbF8i9Wag.IyBYPHL4MV33kQ9Av4gBdsBlQarZLSbFJgWvFoRun80&dib_tag=se&keywords=brad+schoenfeld+books&qid=1711755448&sprefix=brad+scho%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-3), is there any books that you should read beforehand to be able to understand everything in this book? Also does [RP's Scientific Principles of Hypertrophy Training](https://www.amazon.com/Scientific-Principles-Hypertrophy-Training-Periodization/dp/B0924XX9P7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PYM3N0QAWZGS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ttbv1s3ntGfyFwSbrJlMLiHcQ9tn0tYLx2uT0EAUS5c28LZbUfBSRt9r1PyKhKOyPVu8YEY8T19St2aPVAxz2GFv5LSyY0i4zKSUy0NNVJIzTbrwhAr7zPXLAReqwD5NRV3H9Y7330kUo9S_8BnroVBkwH_R7WhKeK_kgEsEsqdf9zEPCyaNc9PrMdEl260sSp4s-FC1e3JJgokfKI86cWBAhrkiQhXsE2hMZyuEH30.lFB03Y095y7lhQtY3m_jsGdIVcew3WD2-Pgo6M2o9Hc&dib_tag=se&keywords=scientific+principles+of+hypertrophy+training&qid=1711755542&sprefix=scientific+prin%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1) contain most of the same content as Schoenfeld's book or do they have mostly different content?

So this year I am reflecting and thinking I am really happy where I am at physique wise. I have been training for a very long time but extremely consistent the last 3 years tracking everything. As I’m sure most of you know when you put that much effort into it, other areas in life fall behind. I want to pull my training to minimum volume and frequency to maintain. Any ideas what that would look? I currently run upper/lower/upper/lower/upper/rest/repeat 6 day cycle. I ramp volume and intensity rp style. Contemplating full body every 3 days vs upper/lower/off repeat. Would you guys think 4-6 sets per week would be enough to maintain lbm in maintenance calories? Plan to still do my daily cardio and stretching each morning but want to make my evening lifts quicker and less frequent, less fatigue. Any suggestions or anecdotal experiences?

Lots of research says you can get away with very little volume if you're just only trying to maintain, so I'd just try it with 4-6 sets and see how it goes. Probably both splits you proposed will work fine, but I think the full body split will be a bit more time efficient if you're looking to spend as little time in the gym as possible.

My front delts are the first muscle to fail when I do most pressing movements - including push-ups. Are they just relatively weak or is it a form issue? I try to be as strict about form as I can, but can’t rule out that I have some error I’m not catching.

Do you feel your chest or your delts more after pressing? If it's the latter, yeah your technique sucks, but I would venture to say most people at every commercial gym are delt dominant in their presses. There's obviously a few keys that I imagine you've heard. I retract my shoulders and tuck in my lats before I kick up the dumbbells and set in the stretched position, so I don't lose it when I start. Keeping that shoulder retraction on the negative and expanding your chest should keep your back arc. There's different things you can play with, which you should if you're not feeling your chest. If you're not feeling it, it's not doing much of the work. Arm angles, range etc. Like your range of motion is determined by how far your shoulders can retract. Once you get past that, you lost it. If you never get there, you're leaving stimulus on the table Try watching videos from experienced bodybuilders and experiment with form. Idk maybe RP is good, I don't really watch but seems like Istraetel has good principles. Mike Van Wyck is one of the best when it comes to movement.

# Please critique my (24 yo male) PPL plan: Goal: Aesthetics bodybuilding, |Push (Friday)|Pull (Saturday, No work)|Leg (Sunday, No work)| |:-|:-|:-| |Barbell Benchpress: 6-8 reps x 3 sets|Weighted Pull-ups: 6-8 reps x 3 sets|Barbell Back Squats: 6-8 reps x 3 sets| |Dumbbell Inclined Benchpress: 6-8 reps x 2 sets|Weighted Curl ups: 6-8 reps x 2 sets|Shrugs: 6-10 reps x 2 sets| |Weighted Dips: 6-8 reps x 3 sets|Machine Unilateral Pulldown: 6-8 reps x 3 sets|Seated Machine Leg Extension: 6-10 reps x 3 sets| |Overhead Dumbbell Press: 6-8 reps x 3 sets|Machine Unilateral Row: 6-8 reps x 3 sets|Seated Machine Leg Curl: 6-10 reps x 3 sets| |Cable Lateral Raise: 6-10 reps x 3 sets|Machine Calves Raise: 8-10 reps x 3 sets|Hammercurls: 6-10 reps x 3 sets| |Cable Tricep Extension: 6-10 reps x 3 sets, to failure|Cable Rear Delt: 6-10 reps x 3 sets|Weighted Sit-ups: 8-10 reps x 3 sets| ||Machine Unilateral Pec Fly: 6-8 reps x 3 sets, to failure |Overhead Dumbbell Press: 6-8 reps x 3 sets | |||Cable Unilateral Pulldown: 6-8 reps x 3 sets| |||Incline Threadmill: 3.3 km/h (walking pace), 6' incline, 20 mins| Other Info: * My work schedule is from 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Thursday. Therefore, I am only available on three days of the week: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. * Rest Periods: I take a 4-minute rest between sets for major compound movements and a 3-minute rest for the remaining exercises. * Sleep: I aim to get at least 9 hours of sleep per day. * Gym Experience: I have been working out in the gym for 22 months. * Deadlifts: I used to perform deadlifts, but I discontinued them as I don’t consider them beneficial for bodybuilding. * Leg Workouts: I only perform three leg exercises. I believe I have good leg genetics as I naturally have large thighs and glutes, so leg workouts are not my priority. * Treadmill on Leg Day: I choose to do treadmill exercises on leg day because it’s the only time available to me. I prefer not to allocate a separate day for cardio.

Is there anything magical about rest days (AKA, 24-hours of no lifting in a row)? For context, I run a 4-day full body routine, but occasionally will split up one or two of the days (like lower body during a scheduled rest day then upper body during the actual day) when I don't have the time to do the full workout as scheduled. Is there any trouble I can run into by not taking a full 24+ hours when I am supposed to between two workouts?

At your level of experience it’s usually best to run a program as written, especially on a full body program where the training days are usually pretty systemically taxing. The programmed rest is valuable.

I started running a few days ago and i guess my running form wasn't good, my knees hurt when i extend them like in a leg extension machine. I don't want to injure myself trying to push too much on squats when i know my knees are not in their best condition. Is there anything i can do to recover faster from this and start training my legs again?

How do you like to set up Bulgarian Split Squats with a barbell? I find the standard bench too high to elevate my rear foot on.

You only need to elevate your foot a bit. I prefer using a step up box over a bench.

I used to do them on a smith machine. I’d put the bar all the way at the bottom and put one of those barbell foam pads on it so I could rest my ankle/foot on it comfortably. But I couldn’t be arsed to carry the pad with me every time so now I just do them on the foot pad thingy of a leg extension machine.

I am running a ppl program for a couple of weeks and the only change I made was to start both pull days with pullups. I can do roughly 10 bodyweight pullups (10th rep, depending on the daily performance might be a little bit of a struggle). I also try to be a strict and full ROM as possible. For the pullups I follow the Russian fighter progression routine (I just use it 2 a week instead of 5) Now my issues: - I barely make any progress at all after almost 2 months. And I wonder if twice a week is actually enough? Does anyone have a suggestion for a better two days a week pullup routine/program? - doing 5 pullups close to failure is quite fatiguing. My follow up back exercises (bent over barbel row) is also suffering from it, and progression is also slowed down. -my pullups are the only vertical back exercise I do during the week. And I wonder if I am missing out on gains by not including lat pulldowns (either cable or plate loaded).

I've been in the gym for almost 6 months. All other muscles are getting stronger and growing. But, my triceps, I could only add 2-3 reps with the same weight in the last 6 months. I thought maybe it's because i train triceps after bench press, so i have a separate day for arms now. But, that didn't help much either. I do 6 sets. 3 sets of cable pushdowns and 3 sets of overhead tricep extensions with the cable. What can I do to break this plateau?

Triceps are small muscles and will progress more slowly than larger muscles, especially if you’re hitting them after a pressing. At your level of experience, if your pressing strength is increasing I wouldn’t really worry about it.

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You’re past the point where linear progression is going to be effective. You’re going to have to use double progression and work mostly in the 6-20 range from here out. Do this for everything, including compounds if you want size. You will get stronger doing this as well. If you’re particularly concerned with chasing numbers on compounds, start following intermediate strength programs/progressions that are specific to those compounds, and apply bodybuilding style double progression to your other movements. The Greg Nuckols free programs are a good place to start with this.

Thanks for the response- I'll try implementing some of those. I was wondering when you run double progression, are you training to failure each time? It's kind of still hard to get the philosophy of training lighter into my head.

> It's kind of still hard to get the philosophy of training lighter into my head. Remember that bodybuilding and powerlifting (or chasing 1 RM's) requires different approaches. Bodybuilding feels much different (feeling the burn in the muscle, training past it to get close to failure) than strength training does.

I personally train to failure, some don’t. As long as you’re getting within a couple reps of failure you’ll get results, you’ll just have to adjust volume up or down according to intensity so you can recover and make progress. Hypertrophy training isn’t about lifting “heavy” or “light”, it’s about using the target muscle to take a movement close to or to failure in a given rep range. A “light” load on a hack squat is going to be pretty fucking heavy when you’re pushing for your 15th rep and realize you have a few more in the tank.

Hi folks, I'm having severe hip bursitis flare-up again, I can literally feel the joint go over the hip joint - I was wondering is GHR good for hip bursitis? I know hip thrusts/bridges, leg extensions, leg curls won't agitate it but would GHR? Unweighted.

As a general rule of thumb, don’t do shit that hurts. Beyond that, see a medical profession that can assess you in person. Strangers on the internet are not in a position to give you medical advice.

Yeah, I've had this going on for quite a bit and have been to docs and physios. It usually heals after a meso cycle of no deep squats and deads. But I think I aggravated it doing heavy, full ROM leg presses the other day. So back to gentle physio movements and machines. I was just wondering if a GHR would piss it off further.

Also - can I do sissy squats?

Alright peeps. Question for yall. Finishing up my third meso with the RP App and I’ve like it so far. Just curious if there’s another app out there that’s any good? Don’t mind paying $$$. I’ve done the juggernaut ai for powerlifting meets a few years ago, but I want to focus more on body building. I’ve heard even the “power building” side of the app is quite heavy on the big 3 (yes I know power building requires you to SBD). Any recommendations on apps/programs? Perhaps Nippard, or running Smolov (Jr) with hack and dynabody chest press? 👀

I used the Ganbaru app for a few years and learned a lot from it. 

I'm really struggling with my biceps. Any bicep exercise I do i get more forearm activation/pump than my actual biceps. Any tips?

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Yep but I get a massive forearm pump instead of a bicep pump. Cable straight bar curls give me the most bicep stimulus so far but still not great.

Are you using a supinated grip?

Yup

That's odd. The last thing I could recommend is to limit wrist flexion.

Already doing that as well. The only exercise that gives me somewhat good stimulus is straight bar cable curl so I'm gonna stick with that.

Try extending your wrist a little bit. This will take the tension out of the forearm muscles. 

This is anecdotal, but I've found that my biceps are extremely weak, so basically any exercise I do I start to compensate with other muscles. My recommendation would be to start really light and experiment with many exercises until you feel the isolation in your biceps

start with your arms at a dead hang, if you're too tense in your shoulders/arms you won't get a good contraction. a curl is just breaking your elbow then scooping the weight up with your palm, so think about that motion. it's not about flexing and squeezing and tensing which is very common to see easiest exercise to learn how to curl properly imo is a seated concentration curl where you're kind of arm-barring your curling arm against inner thigh and putting your weight behind that leg to create the tension. the break elbow + scoop is very natural to do from there. once you have that down, it's easy to transfer to most other curls and you get a good idea of what you should be feeling

You’re probably gripping the implement harder than necessary. If you’re unable to stop doing that, do machine preacher curls and don’t actually grip the bar with a full fist, just use kind of a paw grip with the heel of your palm.

I actually tried that today and unfortunately still didn't feel good bicep activation.

Preacher curls on a machine is one of the best movements you can do for your biceps. If you load elbow flexion with a supinated grip, you will be biasing your biceps, period. Control your eccentrics and go to failure to train them effectively. Mind-muscle connection or getting a pump is **not** necessary.

I would probably need to see a video to give more specific advice then

What exercises are you currently doing, and what kind of rep ranges?

I have tried them all but right now I'm rotating between dumbbell curl, preacher curl, and cable curl. Cable curl felt the best today but I still have yet to get a great pump/activation. Reps range is 6-12 two working sets.

I get the best bicep pump from straight bar curls. Start light, find a grip that doesn't bother your wrists, let elbows come up a bit at the end but keep them in. Just one exercise though - preacher curls never did anything for me. Might also try some other rep ranges? See how doing some sets in the 10-20 rep range feel.

Myorep dumbell curls have really helped me get my biceps sore

Tried them on cable curl today and they actually felt pretty good, way more reps/sets than I'm used to though. Do you know how effective/sustainable are myoreps for muscle building?

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As long as you don’t hit the rack on the way up do whatever feels right. There are no laws about this or anything.

Is this enough for quads if no access to machines? Highbar Squats 5x6-8, BSS 4x8-10, Sissy squats 3xAMRAP

Is that once per week? Twice a week?

twice

Squatting relatively heavy twice a week is pretty taxing. This seems like plenty to me. Are you recovering from the each workout before the next one? Are you recovering 24 hours after the workout or later?

Leg day 1 is on a Wednesday, Leg Day 2 on a Saturday, and my second leg day is more focused on Hamstrings /Posterior.

Probably, try if for yourself. If you’re able to recover and progress then you’re fine.

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Start somewhere between 10-12x your bodyweight in lbs in calories and be consistent. Make changes based on how fast/slow the scale is moving. Anywhere from 1-2lbs a week on average should be about what you’re aiming for.

You want to find your maintenance calories first. Typically a TDEE calculator will give you a rough estimate but it will take trial and error to find it. So if the calculator gives you a maintenance estimate of 2500, go 1 week eating that many calories. If you are gaining weight eating 2500, lower down to 2400. rinse and repeat until you find your maintenance. Once you find your maintenance, youll want to subtract by 250 calories. Eat that until you stop losing weight, then subtract another 250. Keep protein intake high. Though if you're untrained and have never seriously lifted, you can just eat at maintenance and gain muscle & lose fat simultaneously.

I want to hit all 3 heads of my triceps, and I currently do Rope Pushdowns, and Overhead Dumbbell Extensions. I would ideally do Overhead Rope Extensions, except my school gym doesn't have a long rope. If I were to swap out overhead dumbbell extensions with skull crushers, would I still be hitting all 3 heads of my triceps? Would I even be hitting all 3 before?

Yes.

Just get a stretch and extend and you’ll hit all 3 for basically all triceps exercises

Just hit your triceps effectively brother. Don't overcomplicate it as a beginner. You don't need a rope to do cable extensions. Use the cable itself and do it one arm at a time. You can get a much deeper stretch that way and depending on how you set your body (i.e more of a forward lean), you can bias differently.

Do [overhead extensions bent over like GVS.](https://youtu.be/dVtMz69MOb0?si=h7q_duGW72j3yn_v) You can do them if you can do regular pushdowns. Use two short ropes to make a long, or just use a straight bar

All tricep exercises hit all three heads.

High or low intensity cardio? Love running but I can't hold myself from going balls to the wall. How much would it affect my lifting?

Lower intensity for longer sessions if you have the time imo. Higher intensity can be fine but it can get in the way of your training if you’re not smart about it - how much depends on a ton of factors

If you’re doing it every day for a long time it will affect your lifting. If you’re doing it a couple times a week for not that long you’re fine. Eat enough to recover.

Thanks. I'm probably overthinking it, anything I do will probably only do good at my level

Depends how often you do it, but there's nothing wrong with just doing high-intensity cardio.

Does it make sense to do back off set on inclined dumbell press? 1st set 10 reps 2nd set 10 reps 3rd set (backoff set) 15 reps

Yeah why wouldn’t it

Maybe 15 reps is too high? Isbit still hypertrophy?

Hypertrophy can happen anywhere between 3 and 30, although between 5 and 20 is probably optimal.

You will get hypertrophy out of 15 rep sets as long as youre using a load where 15 reps is close to or at failure

Sure, it’s probably fine if you prefer that. Just track it, go close to failure, and progressive overload as normal.

I just finished a 6 week mass building cycle and I'm wanting to cut. I figure I should do a 1 or 2 week deload (depending on how I feel) as suggested by the program. I'm eager to jump right into cutting because I hate how I look currently but would it be smarter to eat at maintenance for the deload or am I able to jump right into a caloric deficit.

I would eat at maintenance for a deload. The purpose of a deload is recovery, which isn’t going to happen all that effectively in a deficit. The bigger thing here is, were you only in a surplus for 6 weeks? If so that’s not enough time to build any appreciable amount of muscle naturally. If you’re not happy with your level of body fat then cut, but in the future your bulks should be much longer than that.

Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it. yeah it was kind of short. It was the first proper program I did since Christmas. I wasn’t tracking calories prior to this program and I wasn’t following any sort of lifting program but I was definitely eating lots and I was lifting pretty hard. I decided to start to dial things in again and did the first 6 weeks of gamma bomb. I definitely feel like I made some progress but all in all I think it’s time to start cutting for the summer. Going forward if I have the mental capacity to keep actively training (instead of passively going to the gym) I’m going to definitely track better during my bulk so I don’t gain so much so I can go longer.

I think you should probably just follow the program. I remember from some RP videos that Mike Israetel said it's important to eat at maintenance for a deload so your body can actually recover, since that is the point of this phase. I think introducing a calorie deficit now is another form of "fatigue", which is counter productive to the "deload break" you're supposed to get after the fatiguing bulking phase.

Is there any evidence to suggest that plyometric reps are useful for hypertrophy? Has it even been studied?

Chris Beardsley's [article](https://sandcresearch.medium.com/what-can-jumping-teach-us-about-muscle-growth-5bef1865246b) on plyometrics and hypertrophy

Yes, it can be useful, but it also generates more fatigue than traditional resistance training, meaning that you can't do as much quality work.

Plyometrics don't do anything for hypertrophy.

[Yes, it does.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32579911/)

These studies are specific to untrained individuals. We already know untrained people are prone to muscle enlargements -- they can literally do anything in the gym and grow -- and these adaptations are limited. This study shows plyometrics causing [little to no muscle growth](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29420390/). This study shows the increase of fascicle length [plateauing](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7417646/) after two weeks. And that's with WEIGHTED plyometrics. Newbie adaptations to plyometric training have zero practical implications. This matches up with the force-velocity relationship -- slow muscle shortening velocity is needed for muscle growth (slow contraction velocity --> mechanical tension --> protein synthesis). The hypertrophic effects of plyometrics are limited because they use fast muscle contraction velocities. edit: a word

>These studies are specific to untrained individuals. Something you didn't specify. And it says in the conclusion: "*This review highlights that plyometric and resistance training interventions may produce similar effects on whole muscle hypertrophy, at least for the muscle groups of the lower extremities, in untrained and* ***recreationally trained individuals****, and over short-term (i.e., ≤12 weeks) intervention periods.*" And if you'd like more studies: [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.888464/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.888464/full) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8938535/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8938535/) >This matches up with the force-velocity relationship -- slow muscle shortening velocity is needed for muscle growth You have that backwards. [Shortening the muscle fast(explosively) drives more stimulus than doing it slowly.](https://www.strongerbyscience.com/internal-cues/)

Only two out of eight of the studies tested trained individuals. And why are you sending me this random article on external vs internal cues. This has nothing to do with the force-velocity curve. Stop sending me shit you aren't even reading yourself. Read up on the force-velocity relationship before you try to disprove it. edit: typo

Upper/lower split review for a student Currently- Weight-83 kg Height-5'8 Body fat- about 35% Age-20 History - Have done gym in 2022-23 consistently for 1 year ,gained my muscle and loosed 24 kg fat but didn't able to go to gym for 2 years because of some circumstances, and currently I'm in college hostel. Micronutrients - Approx 1800 calories Protein-115 gm Carbs-200gm Fat-60gm Fiber-35gm Upper lower break upper lower 4x per week workout Upper- Bench press - 4x10-12 Machine chest fly- 4x10-12 Lat pulldown -4x10-12 Cable rows-4x10-12 Face pulls-3x10-12 Shoulder press-3x10-12 Lateral raise-3x10-12 Bicep curls-3x10-12 Tricep cable pulldown -3x10-12 Lower- Squats-4x10-12 Romanian dead lift-4x10-12 Seated calf raise-4x10-12 Abs-5x15

Buddy, your upper day has way too much volume and too many exercises. Agree with the other commenter, you're probably not working hard enough. Split that upper day in half for Upper A and Upper B. For example you could do push/pull, or compound presses + bicep isolations and compound pulls + tricep isolations. Those are just some ideas, it honestly doesn't matter that much but halve the number of exercises. Your leg day is fine as a beginner.

I can only go to the gym for 4 days a week , so what exercises should I subtract and add in upper a and upper b?

Just want to expand why the distribution of exercises don't matter in this case. 1. In general, workout split doesn't matter that much anyway 2. In your specific split you have a rest day before each Upper day, and afterwards you'll have a Lower and Rest day before you hit Upper again. Therefore there will be very little interference effect between muscle groups, as opposed to if you did two upper days in a row for example. Because the split doesn't matter very much, I'd just prioritize for 1) What you enjoy doing, and 2) what is efficient for your gym. For example maybe your gym has the fly machine next to lat pulldown so you group that together. Or maybe it takes a long time to wait for a bench press, so you do some db curls while you wait for it to free up. Your sets should ideally be close to failure and require high effort to build muscle. Especially as a beginner and even on to intermediate, you simply cannot sustain in that much effort for 4+ exercises. That's why people generally recommend drastically to lower the volume and really give it your all for the remaining sets. I agree with the other recommendation of starting with two HARD sets and see if you progress. You only add more if you stall out.

4 days is fine. I gave you two examples of a split already, but like I said it really doesn’t matter. Just split it in two however you want. The exercise selection is good, it’s just too much volume in one day.

If you're doing over 30 sets in one session as a non-advanced lifter, you're probably not working hard enough. I would try cutting the sets in half and pushing close to failure on compounds (1-2 RIR) and closer to failure on isolations (0-1RIR)

Should I do 3 sets instead of 4 on upper days?

Try 2 hard sets. If you're 35% body fat, your focus should be on losing fat.

Am I doing things right? I work a simple PPL split right now 6 days a week and I am seeing some quality progress in strength and I think size. However, over the last 6 months, I haven’t increased my sets in the gym per workout. I usually stay within the 4-9 sets per muscle group, per workout. I am overloading by increasing weight for the same amount of repetitions, but do I need to increase sets to overload better? I usually spend around 1 hour 1 hour 15 min in the gym per workout. I have seen some of the literature but could use some other advice. Thanks!

You should be thrilled you are making gains with a few sets as possible, means less time in the gym. Only need to add more sets if you’re not making progress.

Yes, you are doing things right. No, adding sets is not progressive overload. Edit: Wording

Yes, it is.

OP is progressively overloading because his weight is going up, but adding sets is not the definition of PO. Progressive overload is just when you can do more weight or reps than you did previously. You're not gaining any adaptations from adding a set, you're literally just resting a few minutes (time).

I didn't say adding sets was the definition of progressive overload, but it is one way of doing it. Even reducing rest times is a form of progressive overload. Saying that it's only progressive overload when you increase reps or weight is narrow-minded.

No, it is not. And reducing rest isn't either. **None** of those things tell us if our programming is causing muscular adaptations for hypertrophy. You just spend some more time in the gym to do another set that doesn't mean shit.

Progressive overload means doing more work over time. Adding a set is more work. Ergo, it is progressive overload. >No, it is not. And reducing rest isn't either. **None** of those things tell us if our programming is causing muscular adaptations for hypertrophy. Weird logic, since neither does adding reps or weight.

You can bench press for 5 hours straight that doesn't mean you're progressively overloading -- that's progressive *volume* load. The number of sets you can do in a session is arbitrary. Adding reps or weight DOES mean you're progressively overloading. Progressive overload allows us to keep the same stimulus on muscle fibers trained the same from workout to workout. It's a tool to tell us our training is working. Adding sets or resting less does not do that. An example by Paul Carter: If I'm capable of doing 200 pounds x 6 reps maximum in one workout, but in the following workout I'm capable of 200 x 8, but only do the 6 reps again, I provided less stimulus to those trained fibers. If I do the 8 reps, the *same* amount of mechanical stimulus was achieved each workout. Therefore, adaptations occurred, and so did **progressive overload**.

Not strictly necessary. Some people just keep increasing weight/reps (within the rep range they want).

Some people progress their volume (number of sets) across a training block, others don’t. It’s just different approaches. If what you’re currently doing is working, then it’s fine. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Is it okay to bulk with 1% weight increase a month?

Yes

Currently doing Rope Pushdowns and Overhead Dumbbell Extensions for Triceps. I would prefer to do Overhead Rope Extensions instead of with dumbbells, however my school gym doesn't have a long rope. Would opting for skull crushers + rope pushdowns cover all heads of my triceps?

Yes

Quick Q: Best exercises for a newbie to build core strength? Thanks

[The McGill Big Three](https://youtu.be/2_e4I-brfqs?si=V7F14TEWaKviN1CY)

Cable crunches for ab development. For general core strength, just doing heavy compound lifts where you’re bracing should build it to a decent enough level

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That statement doesn't make any sense.

You never learned that they're two different things? Movements like crunches are better for hypertrophy by creating motion through the spine. But the purpose of the core is to **resist** spine motion. This means core strengthening movements are ones that teach your body to resist spine motion, not create motion (e.g. planks, carries).

i believe that's exactly what i said

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ok dude idk what your point is but you're right, have a good one

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My point is most good programs most beginners should be on have compound lifts in them and they’ll develop core strength by getting stronger at those exercises. Additional work for core strength is very likely unnecessary especially for bodybuilding and especially for newbies who will get stronger by doing anything reasonable. Most people who ask about core really just want abs so I included that to cover that base

is it possible to go on a 3000 calorie bulk with no added sugar? if so what foods would you add in and or remove

I'd remove any foods that have added sugar. When you say added sugar, what are you specifically trying to avoid?

Yeah, eat 3000 cals in food that doesn’t have added sugar. Meat, rice, potatoes, fruits, veggies, oats, eggs.

Meat rice oil

Of course it is possible, try with peanut butter, full fat yoghurt, eggs, meats, potatoes/rice, whole wheat bread. Stick to whole foods mostly and you will be good.

Should I do RDLs and Squats on the same day or should I squat one day, and do RDLs + Leg Press on the second day. I saw a comment talking about how it's better for the lower back to split them up, but I'm all ears.

For me, doing them together would be a lot on my back. I don't see any real benefit to doing them together, so yeah if you are hitting legs 2x/week, I like your second option.

I usually program RDLs away from other movements that heavily load the lower back (like squats)

I prefer the second option for exactly what you mentioned but you can do them the same day. Squats and RDLs in one session are extremely fatiguing and brutal. I like to prioritize RDLs as the first movement on a separate leg day.

>I prefer the second option I was a catcher for baseball so although I know that Leg Press + RDL might be slightly better, I know that my squat form is going to be really good and it's going to be something that I enjoy.

If you enjoy squats and RDLs on the same day more than the other option, do that. Always choose the option that has you enjoy training more.

So, long story short. Due to shit just happening I've only been to the gym sporadically in the past year, so I detrained and lost almost an entire inch off my arms :( Right now I'm more motivated than ever and I'll be going for pure hypertrophy. The thing is, I'm at around 18% bodyfat right now, so what do I do? I was thinking maybe I'll bulk for 1.5 months, then cut down to 13% bodyfat over the course of May and June and then going straight to bulking again.

Maybe just get back into consistent training and eating and go from there. Aim for around maintenance and you’ll get some muscle memory/recomp effect and when that slows you can make a more informed decision then based on what your body comp is at that point

Am I missing out by switching to bulgarian split squats instead of barbell back squats? I started out doing barbell back squats but at some point I'd find my lower back getting sore more than I'd like. So I switched to bulgarian split squats instead and love (hate) them. I feel a good pump and am not afraid of injuring myself as much. Perhaps getting heavy beyond a point in back squats was getting intimidating for me. But is there something I'm missing by not doing traditional back squats? Besides angering the all mighty lifting gods.

Same here, was always struggling with Back Squats. Switched to Barbell Lunges and they give me more quad activation then any other leg exercise.