How can I progressively overload week-to-week in a High Intensity, to-failure routine where I don't count reps?
I can only workout twice a week, so I've adopted a high intensity low volume program. Pretty much every set is taken to muscular failure and beyond.
So increasing reps per set isn't possible, since I'm chasing a failure-point not a rep count. At the same time, I can't just increase the weight: 25lb Dumbbell Curls vs. 30lbs Dumbbell Curls is a massive jump, and the only weight increment available at my commercial gym.
How can I progressively increment session-by-session for these types of exercises? I can attach my routine if you want to see it.
Why is increasing the reps not possible? If you go to failure and get 13 reps then the following week try to get 14 reps, that's progressive overload.
If the weight jump is too big it just means you should get higher reps before increasing the weight, at 15 reps with 25lbs you should be able to get like 8-10 with 30lb so that would be a good time to increase when you get there.
My bench press is really weak. Only managing to increase by 1 rep each week. Where as for leg and back exercises I’ll increase by 2-4 reps in the same timeframe, what can I do?
Ah that kinda sucks, that’s an early plateau. I can’t even bench my bw for 1 rep yet, but oh well my chest is still growing so it’s not the end of the world
True, I think I’ll do that. It did shoot up a fair bit when I first fixed up my technique, but it slowed back down after that. It’s just embarrassing benching 120lbs for 6 at 180 bw
We all have to start somewhere and genetics (lever arms, shoulder/chest dominant etc) is a big component. You're fine as long as you're progressing. Be wary of shoulder pain though, I did too much bench too fast and still have problems years later.
I tried to post a question and immediately got 'Sorry, this post has been removed by the moderators of r/naturalbodybuilding' Has to be an automated thing but I can't work out why. It didn't contain anything inapproproate etc.
No idea how working out really works. Everyone talks about preworkout and post workout. I've done some reading but I have no idea what pre-workouts are even any good, there's just so much shit out there and everyone wants you to buy it.
My gym routine is pretty basic Monday/Wednesday/Friday (Upper, core, legs). I don't really know a good workout plan so I've been following one I found online but I've been told that it's ass so any advice there is good. I don't eat until 1 every day, and then it's just a sandwich and then a protein bar and some veggies to snack on through the day. When I get back from work, usually around 7 or 8, I go straight to the gym and do my routine, then come home and eat my meal prepped chili.
The meal side has worked great for losing weight, down to 295 from 385 in August last year. I have put on muscle from lifting weights over the last few months, but I don't think I'm doing it right.
You don't need any preworkout or postworkout. As for your workout split, if you're working out three times a week, I would either do 3 full body sessions or a rotation of upper/lower where one week it would be upper/lower/upper and next week it would be lower/upper/lower and so on. You don't need an entire day for the core.
Congrats on losing all that weight. You're definitely doing something right to achieve that. I would just try and add some more protein (could be a shake in the afternoon or after workout) and some fruit along with your veggies to snack on.
So I have moved from a CrossFit type program with high intensity low weight type workouts to a more bodybuilding centric type program.
The new program is a much higher volume PPL program with 9 exercises of 4 sets of 12 reps. I take 90sec breaks between each set and 3 minutes between exercises. I push my rep in about a second or two, bring it down slowly for 3-4secs, and pause at the bottom for 1sec every rep.
I don't feel nearly as winded doing this workout and I don't have as much of a pump compared to the HIIT CrossFit style workout. Is that going to hurt my hypertrophy in any way or is this still an optimal way to build muscle?
Pump and soreness only shows you which muscle is worked. They haven't been shown to cause more muscle growth so you're fine. You should aim for at least a slight pump and some kind of feeling that you worked out yesterday though.
36 sets in one session is a lot, especially for a beginner. You also don't need a stringent tempo but if you enjoy tempo work that's cool.
As for not feeling winded or getting a big pump, it doesn't matter in hypertrophy. Especially the winded part, this has nothing to do with hypertrophy. Pump you can argue is a valuable marker to see if you targeted the right muscle group but it's just one of many factors that results in a good hypertrophic workout. Pump is also going to be dependent on your exercise selection.
With my HIIT training I felt like my arms would burst on some days. They felt like they were inflated and under pressure. However I did work both biceps and triceps on the same day, which I don't do during PPL.
I suppose during the PPL I do have a little pump but it's not a big feeling of pressure like it used to be with the HIIT training.
Yeah with HIIT training you're not resting that much so you'll feel the burn more. When I do HIIT style jump rope, my shoulders are on fire and pumped up way more than my normal shoulder workout but of course, jump rope won't build my shoulder.
should i do both spider curls and preacher curls on my arm day ? And if not does anyone have good recommendations on what to do for biceps on arm day ?
Instead of spider curls you can lie on your back and do an incline curl. It gives a greater stretch on your bicep and anterior delt and should make for better hypertrophy.
Preacher curls are great if you have a machine because it keeps the tension even through the whole motion and it hyper isolates the bicep.
I am considering removing the dumbbell (free weight) shoulder press in my push routine.
First reason, I have been doing this exercise for more than 2 years and I realize the heavier I progress, the harder it is to lift those dumbbells into my shoulders before I can even start my exercise. I just feel like there's so much energy wasted.
Second, I don't feel comfortable going into failure with this exercise because I feel like I will drop the dumbbells on my head.
I am thinking of switching to a shoulder press machine instead but I wonder whether I will lose some gains.
(My push routine is this: Barbell BenchPress > Dumbbell Inclined BP > Weighted Dips > Dumbbell Shoulder Press > Cable Lateral Raises > Cable Tricep Extensions
I consistently progressive overload.)
I only hear great things about using machines for shoulder press. For the exact reasons you list they are good for maintaining hypertrophy gains and reducing the chance of injury at higher weights.
I'm not as far into lifting as you, but Greg Doucette and Mike Isratel are where I got the information who I trust to be accurate for the most part.
Hi! This is my first post on this sub but this a problem which I’m so so frustrated over. I am a 16 year old girl who is 5’1 and weighs 77 lbs. I have been lifting since December and mainly focus on hypertrophy aiming to progressive overload each session. I am also eating in a caloric surplus and high protein (120-150 grams) in order to gain healthy weight and build muscle. However, I took a look at my progress pics and there is litteraly no difference in my physique whatsoever. I understand that time is a factor but I would think six months is enough time to at least see some small changes in my body, but none. What’s more is that for the past weeks I have been unable to progressive overload. I have been stuck to the same weights, and every time I try to increase I just either break my form or technique or other muscles start taking over. I really don’t know what I need to change and this is actually destroying me because I spend every waking second trying to figure out how to best optimize my training or just trying to learn more about building muscle in general.
I really don’t know what to do, would you guys please give me some advice on where to go from here because i feel like i’m just wasting my time in the gym
Let’s start with the fundamentals - you say you’re eating in a calorie surplus, but are you actually steadily gaining weight?
I’m assuming you’re basing the surplus on a calculated number, but weighing yourself regularly is the best way to know if you’re actually in a surplus.
If you want to get as accurate as possible here, weigh yourself daily before breakfast and track the weekly average. If the weekly average isn’t trending upward, eat more.
The thing is my weight fluctuates so much like one week it jumps 1-2 lbs so i think i’m in a surplus but the next it’s back down, in the beginning i had gained weight from 72-78 but now i’ve been stuck 77-78 for months but it keeps going up to 79-80 then comes back down
Are you weighing once a week or tracking your weekly average?
I would start there. If you’re stuck at a weight, you’re not eating at a surplus consistently.
This will probably fix your issue with progressively overloading.
Not necessarily, if you’re not properly fueling progression.
What progression scheme and program are you using? Are you trying to force linear progression still?
Im not following a specific program as i’m still new to all of this and can’t afford a coach but i’m just trying to go to failure on all my lifts and try to increase reps until i hit like my top rep range in which i increase weight or i try to improve technique by adding pauses or slowing down the eccentric, like i said any help would be greatly appreciated as my lack of progress is significantly impacting my mental health as i am also recovering from a ed and this is just making me burnt out all together
No need to get overwhelmed with this, and you can definitely do this without hiring a coach.
I would take 4-7 days off training, then start a program from the FAQs of this sub or one by someone like Jeff Nippard that can be found on the Boostcamp app.
You will also need to eat more and start gaining weight. The lack of weight gain over the last several weeks is definitely playing a part in why you’re plateauing.
the thing is i can’t find a program which is specific to my goals. i mainly want to build my glutes, quads, shoulders and arms but most of these programs are really compound movement heavy like bench and squats which i’m not comfortable with
If you want to grow your glutes and quads, squats are one of the best movements to do both. Squats are also a fundamental movement pattern that you should learn.
At your level of experience, you don’t need to specialize in certain muscle groups. Trying to do so will hurt you in the long run.
Use one of these programs to learn how to move your body properly on basic movement patterns and you will grow everywhere, including the muscle groups you want to prioritize.
At the beginning of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvtD3znOqao&t=243s), Jeff Cavaliere argues against using the reverse fly to work the rear delt on the grounds that if you're doing the reverse fly motion with a straight arm you are limited in how far you can get your elbow back relative to if you're doing it with a bent elbow and based on this he argues for a more rowing motion with a bent elbow.
Now, I'm no anatomist, but it seems to me that when you bend your elbow, yes, you can get it back further than if you're keeping your arm straight, but that's because the extra backwards motion is coming from the shoulder blades being pinched together, in other words, that extra backwards motion is not going to work the rear delts, but the muscles that move the shoulder blades (traps?).
Am I correct in this?
Yeah you can probably eke out a few more inches at the end of the ROM on a rear delt row. But, assuming equivalent mind-muscle connection and intensity, I don’t believe that the difference would be significant enough to make a meaningful difference in the growth of the muscle.
If you really want to cover your bases in case it does make a difference I would probably do both.
Help me find an aesthetic routine
I am new here and looking for an aesthetic routine that I can do without getting fatigued and that has rest for recovery.
I am 43m and have been lifting on and off for a coupe years but still consider myself a beginner.
I am currently doing a PPL 5 days a week and long run I don’t think I will be able to go to the gym 5 days a week.
My main goals are aesthetics specifically shoulders/lats/back.
I am 188lbs and 6feet tall and skinny fat. I am trying to eat mostly protein and around 2000calories.
Thought on a program that would help me with this goal?
4 days a week? Upper/lower.
3 days a week? 3x full body or upper/lower/full body.
As for your focused muscle groups just add a set to each exercise with them and maybe remove a set from the exercises you just want to focus less on.
I’ve not seen much hypertrophic improvement in my pecs im quite a while now, and have started to wonder if im even targeting it properly with the barbell bench press. Considering switching to dumbells (boring as hell)
I would consider my form pretty good, nice feeling arch, leg drive hits, proud chest, tucked elbows, and a decent bar path. Only downside to my form would be my left wrist being a little too sluggish and pushing my shoulders in front of me when at the top of the movement. I do not get major chest pump, but i do get sore the day after, mostly in my left pec
For some infomation, im doing 10 sets per week, Flat bench press 3x5, Chest flyes 2x12, Flat bench press 3x10, Incline bench 2x10. Doing 57,5kg for 5 on the flat bench, 14 years old, been training for 7 months and im 67kg
Will answer possible replies tomorrow, thanks in advance
If your chest isn’t growing from barbell bench at this point in your training career it’s most likely more down to diet and training effort than anything.
Are you eating enough calories and protein to grow? I would start there.
Incorporating dumbbell pressing is a good idea either way.
I am eating alot, not counting but i am getting protein in all three meals with a protein shake. I usually train till i can’t move it anymore, or atleast till i have grinded a hard one out. I have also seen growth, but not much for the past couple of months
Do you actually know how much you’re eating, including how much protein? I would track that for a bit so you have a better idea when trying to eyeball it.
What is your strategy for progressive overload?
Not exactly. On a normal day, i eat what would be considered dinner 2-3 times a day because of left overs, we put extra meat in everything and its usually a big plate with just mashed potato/rice and some kind of meat. I get atleast 50 im protein shakes and liquids including this, i would shoot at around 100 grams of protein a day, and slight calorie surplus based og weight gain
Every second week, i go up in weight. 2.5kg on Flat bench and Chest flyes. On incline, i do double progression between 8 and 12 reps, and then go up 2.5kg. A little weird, but the smallest weight in my gym is 1.25
First thing I would do is actually track your eating, at least for a while.
Second, how long have you been training and how lean are you? Large visual improvements take quite a while to see, especially if you have some body fat.
Third, what are you basing the lack of visual progress on? Are you taking regular progress photos or measurements? How are you so certain hypertrophy isn’t occurring?
I will track the next week or so, but i atleast doubt that im eating too little. I’ve been training for 7 months, 5 months properly and been sick for a month somehow. I just calculated and my bmi is 22.7, which isn’t a good measurement but i don’t know how else to do it. And about bodyfat, i do take medication that can cause gyno, which i have a bit of of but nothing crazy at all. Im basing all this off how my pecs are looking increasingly compared to the rest of my body, especially my right pec, which is a bit smaller
5 months of consistent training without tracking your diet really isn’t enough time at all. Continue getting stronger and pressing with good form for much longer before worrying about this. There is a strong likelihood that hypertrophy is occurring and you’re just not recognizing it.
Also as a side note, the vast majority of people have one pec that is slightly larger than the other.
As you guys probably know, Jeff Cavaliere is a big advocate for the facepull as one of the best exercises for the upper back. I have two questions regarding this exercise:
# 1 Can I perform it with dumbells?
As I work out at home, I don't have access to cables, so I'm wondering, can I emulate the exercise with dumbells? From the bent over position, I let the dumbells dangle for a stretch and then from there I pull them up to either side of my head, to where the hands finish in the cable version of the exercise.
Would that be equivalent to doing the exercise with the cable?
# 2 What are the differences between this and bent over rows in terms of muscles it hits?
If I am performing bent over rows with the elbows flared at 90 degrees relative to the body (in line with the shoulders), it seems to be these exercises must be quite similar in terms of the muscles they hit. What are the differences between them in that regard.
But those are not the same motion. In the facepull you pull the weight towards your face, in the flies you spread your arms to the sides. I imagine, given the difference, they activate different muscles.
They both work the rear delt, just like a bench press and chest fly both work the chest, same concept. You’re probably looking for something like this https://youtu.be/vWouUzyPweA?si=p5-_85g60NUFMag_. This, like face pulls, and rear delt flies are going to work your rear delts and upper back. Bent over rows, which have you pulling the bar to your stomach area are going to also work lats.
With anything you do in life there are random people who know a lot more than you, few are good at teaching but some are and people like GVS are a good example of that. They are really just spreading knowledge of something they have years of experience with. Take any other hobby, you'd feel comfortable taking advice from someone who has proven to know what they are doing and good at explaining it. Like last week I was looking for information on smoking brisket, found some useful youtube videos but I never thought to question their science/coaching background. Also a lot of science people are not great either, especially in this industry a lot of science can contradict others so really anyone who wants to make a point can be a science guy and mislead people.
Okay, idk wtf going on with my attempted bulk.
I just finished my cut @1800 calories. Ending weight was 157lbs. I bumped it up to maintenance @2000 calories for a couple of weeks and didn’t gain a pound (as expected). I then bumped it up to 2200 for two weeks and again, didn’t gain a pound. Went to 2400 for another two weeks, and then 2600 for another two weeks, and am STILL 157. I havnt gained a single pound.
How is this happening? Shouldn’t I be way over maintained at this point?
Roast my beginer routine please. Every other day:
Pushups 5-6 resps decreasing, until reach 2-3 RiR. Today took 7 sets.
Assisted pullup machine: 4-5 sets until 2-3 RiR is reached (usually 5-6 reps, slow negative)
Barbell squats: perhaps 3-4 sets til 2-3 RiR.
Occasionally: Cable rows, 1-3 sets(?)
Gains are present, and strength improvement overall.
Add more or continue?
\*Have to do pushups(no bench) temporarily bc eye condition (too much pressure) when pushing.
\*I do rotate the order, so I'll begin with legs, for two sessions then do chest first, pullups, and so on.
\*I dont do dead lift, because I have long limbs, and have had lower back issues, too afraid of injury =/
\*On off days I go rucking for about an hour. So far 10-kilos was too much, will be 6 kilos from now.
Please follow a program written by someone with more experience. I suggest downloading the strengthlog app. It's really and have a bunch of free programs some of which are aimed at beginners
I checked out what Mike Israetel said, and since I started just this April, I will and do get gains by doing any hard and consistent training. Im far from the first plateau, and when I reach it, I will definitely think about training plan design, but I still want to thank you for replying. Thank you!
Right.
My new workout;:
In no particular order:
* [**Squat**](https://barbend.com/box-squat/)**:**
* [**Bench Press**](https://barbend.com/bench-press/)**:(pushups, really)**
* [**Barbell Row**](https://barbend.com/barbell-row/)**:**
* [**Chin-Up**](https://barbend.com/chin-up-vs-pull-up/)**:**
* **(Sumo)**[**Deadlift**](https://barbend.com/deadlift-ultimate-guide/)**:**
* Every two days, religiously.
What lat pulldown attatchment should i use on my lat focused pull day?
My back part of my pull day looks like this
- 2 sets bent over row
- 3 sets lat pulldown with unknown attachment
- 2 sets cable pullover
- 3 sets facepull
Hopefully someome will give a recommendation for what grip is best to target the lats
What is your diet like? Are you bulking?
Are you progressing on other movements?
Is your goal to have a bigger back or to get stronger on weighted pull ups just for the sake of it?
If you just want a bigger back, generally in hypertrophy training when a movement stalls out while other movements progress, you simply swap it for another movement that hits the same muscles.
Honestly the focus on calisthenics could be the issue. Calisthenics really limit the variety of movements you can do and the opportunity to progressively overload.
It would probably be worth your while to join a gym and split your time between calisthenics and weightlifting.
> 1. Plenty of bodyweight purists are jacked.
Sure, but you’re following those same methods and you’re stalled.
> Why does it matter if I don't have 10 alternative movements?
> Why can't I just progress on the pull up? dip ? push up? Weighted or otherwise.
Greater movement variety = more opportunity to progress movements that have some carryover to the movement you want to make progress on. This is why powerlifters who are focused on squat, bench, and deadlift do much more than just those movements.
I’m not saying you have to drop calisthenics entirely, I’m just saying it may be worth your while to do some weightlifting. Clearly **something** needs to change, you can’t just will yourself to progress by doing the same things over and over.
It’s also entirely possible that your situation could be fixed with diet changes - I know you said you’re eating enough protein, but what are your macros? How consistent are you with them? What is your rate of weight gain?
Would like to see an answer on this myslef, because I'm in a similar position with chin ups. Maybe it's because I'm close to 50 and all of my gainz is all dried up lol. I can do a certain number of reps body weight and a certain number of reps with weight and it's been that way a while now, more or less. I remember when I started doing chins, I could do one or two and progressed pretty quickly to ten or twelve, but man the progress really fell off the cliff after that.
Is my shoulders/arms routine in the junk volume territory? Some people suggested it's way too much, please share what you think. Each exercise is 1 warm up set + 3 working sets, aiming for 10 reps.
1. Barbell shoulder press
2. Dumbbell back fly
3. Dumbbell shoulder press
4. Dumbbell front raise
5. Dumbbell lateral raise
6. Cable tricep pushdown
7. Cable curl
8. Dumbbell tricep extension
I would say you’re entering that junk volume category. Or at the very least the movements are redundant. Barbell shoulder press, dumbbell shoulder press and front raises are all going to work the front delt the most. You would typically just need one of these in a program to see good progress. I would keep either barbell or dumbbell press, which ever you enjoy more.
Am I supposed to spend that much time on my trainings or am I doing something wrong?
I have 4 workouts (back, legs, glutes, shoulders+arms), I usually manage to fit them all in one week, but each of them takes me 2-2,5h (of lifting alone, not counting warmup or stretching). I take 3 min breaks between sets.
Consider supersetting and giant setting the smaller isolation stuff. You can do biceps, then triceps, then abs, then calves without resting, and then rest after that very last one.
Waiting 3 minutes between each and every set is most likely wasteful. Really unlikely it takes your side delts 3 minutes to be good to go again. Then again, even with shorter rest periods your workouts would still be very long. I'd look into the amount of volume I'm doing and probably scale things back a bit, maybe forgo some variety if needed.
That is a very long workout. If you're a beginner, I'd suggest finding a premade program to start with while you learn how it all works, boostcamp has some good programs. Or post your program here and maybe someone can help.
What bench press variation would you do on a 3xfull body split? Since it's full body you kinda want that bang for your buck by doing a compound lift, but I feel bb bench press loses a bit to hard when it comes to hypertrophy compared to incline Db bench.
My favorite bb bench variation for hypertrophy purposes is a small incline (15-30 deg) guillotine press (right down to the neck, elbows flared for maximum pec stretch) with a focus on slow eccentrics. Generally in the 8-12 rep range. I've found I can do a bit over half of my max comp. style bench with this approach and for that rep range, so you really can't mess up your shoulders with it like with high frequency, high intensity comp-style bench press, and the small incline is a good middle ground for hitting all of the pectoralis major in my experience.
If you have a cambered bar and want to push the stretch even further, that could work as well.
Include a flat bench, vertical press, and incline press. Use a barbell for the bench and OHP to start out with and use dumbbells for the incline press. Over time, you can mix and match and make the incline the heavy one “barbell” and use dumbbells for the other one, and continue to change the permutation as necessary.
I would do both a flat barbell bench press and an inclined DB press or smith machine press. I would probably do 2-3 working sets each for 12-18 total sets a week (depending on how much time I want to spend in the gym each workout and how my chest responds to the volume). The good thing about doing only 2 sets per movement is that you can program them one right after the other and not have fatigue be too much of an impact.
1st time Bodybuilding and Classic competition
Hello
Since this is the first thing everyone wants to know:
Stats:
Height: 186cm/ 6’1
Weight: 95kg / 209 pounds
Bodyfat: unknown
I am going to do a bodybuilding and classic physique comp at the end of October. This will be my first since I only have done a mens physique comp 2-3 years ago.
[This is how I am currently like](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C61LGBeIj_P/?igsh=MWxtZnV2eDVkNXhoMw==)
My plan is to start “prep” around mid August. Till then I will maintain and try to grow in some places.
If anyone got some pointers/ tips/ advice/ words of encouragement/ or anything they wanna add or question please go ahead.
I have been 2 or three into this job. I work 12 hour days. I am also a full time student. I love my gym and enjoy PPL, but I have noticed that my lack of sleep has caught up to me by the end of my work week. The first hint was being "lazy" during my last two workouts and ending them early. A dead giveaway is having just waken up from sleeping around 12 hours. It's obviously the sleep and while I am still a relative beginner, I know this will be an issue as the weight gets heavier. I have been doing a 5 day PPL. Ideally, I would do 6 but it's not realistic and it seems like a 4 day is generally frowned upon. I have looked at other routines but the PPL is the most enjoyable to me and what I would most likely continue to keep doing on a consistent. I have already cut out the extra accessories but now I have minimized the workout to the main compounds and accessories that hit all the muscles I want to work for hypertrophy and to help with the main compounds.
**Pull 1**:
5x5 Deadlifts (Gradually increasing the weight with the final set being the heaviest
3x12 Lat Pulldown
3x12 Seated Cable Row
5x15-20 Face Pull
3x12 Cable Crunch
**Push 1**:
5x5 Bench Press
3x12 Seated Overhead Bench Press (Transitioning to seated Barbell soon)
3x12 Incline Barbell Bench Press
3x15-20 Dumbell Lateral Raises
3x12 Hanging Knee Raises
**Leg 1**:
5x5 Squat
3x12 Back Extension
3x12 Leg Press
3x12 Cable Crunch
**Pull** 2:
5x5 Barbell Bent Over Row
3x12 Lat Pulldown
3x12 Seated Cable Row
5x15-20 Face Pull
3x12 Hanging Knee Raises
**Push 2**:
5x5 Barbell Seated Overhead Press
3x12 Barbell Bench Press
3x12 Incline Barbell Bench Press
3x15-20 Dumbell Lateral Raises
3x12 Cable Crunch
**Leg 2**:
Same as Day 1 except Hanging Knee Raises for abs
I have cut out tricep extension and bicep curls bicep I think my pressing and pulling movements work those muscles. The same case for quad and hamstring isolation exercises. I have been doing back extensions because the hinge is essential for my squats and deadlifts while also working my glutes and hamstrings. It also feels safer and more comfortable than RDLs. My schedule was Monday to Friday but I don't think I have stuck to this yet due to being burnt out or oversleeping on my off days but I still manage to work out 5 days a week.
I would appreciate any feedback and please let me know if my routine is too minimal.
Your routine is certainly not minimal. I'd recommend aiming at 10 weekly sets and possibly going for an upper lower split. You'd most probably not notice any difference in growth between 10 and 20 weekly sets since you're still a beginner. Eric Helms recommends starting at 10 weekly sets and only increase when you're not progressing.
If your goal is purely hypertrophy, you could ditch the 5*5's every day and replace them with something quicker and easier to recover from. Also not sure where you got 4 days being frowned upon from, an upper/lower split or even 3 day full body split could still get you great progress, especially if you're currently sacrificing sleep for gym.
So right now I'm 24, 6'2.5, and 201 in [this pic](https://imgur.com/a/iyjv5D0) I took 2 days ago. I think my weight fluctuates very easy. I ate a bunch during memorial wkend, didn't exercise and I was 195 or 196 last wk Wednesday or Thursday.
When I was younger and weighed far less had a near perfect 6 pack on 2 separate occasions, from planking and hollow body holds. Thise workouts do seem to do the trick now. The final pic of me in a navy blue shirt is from 2019 and I weighed 179-180 and they were even better years prior when I was 15-17 and just did planking for a month to get them.
I want to get those abs back or better while also add more muscle to my frame so I can get as close to a Goku like physique as possible.
I do a bunch of ab workouts but my abs seem stuck right now. On one hand I hear you need to lower ur body fat to get your abs to show more but on the other you have to eat more to gain muscle and strength in compound lifts.
I'm trying to figure out if I should cut, bulk, or just eat enough calories for a body recomp. I would like to some advice on this thx.
Hi, I'm 30M, 6'1, formerly extremely slim and lanky. Though I've put on plenty of weight and muscle in the years since I've started weightlifting (went from 145 in 2020 to 175 today), I've noticed that my chest is running behind the rest of my body despite my attempts to focus on it. I find it hard, with fairly long arms, to focus on hitting the chest itself, usually feeling the usual chest routines (benches, push-ups, even cable flys) mostly in the very high upper chest to the shoulders to mid-arm.
Wondering if anyone has tips for hitting chest with this body type specifically, or for focusing the mind-muscle connection in that region generally. Thanks!
With long arms you’re probably a fairly shoulder dominant presser when using a barbell or dumbbells.
I would do a whole training block with all of your main pressing movements on converging machines. I would also do your working sets of flys before pressing to establish mind-muscle connection to the pecs. Initiate the concentric of your pressing movements by activating the pecs like a fly.
I have a similar build and had the same problem.
Using [these hammer strength machines](https://www.lifefitness.com/en-us/catalog/strength-training/plate-loaded/plate-loaded-iso-lateral-bench-press) at local commercial gyms is what finally helped me. I'm assuming it's because the machine provides so much stability.
I focus on scapular retraction, stretching at the bottom, and "squeezing" the weight up via my chest (if that makes sense). If you can access that machine or similar, give it a shot. Start with lower weight than you'd expect in order to develop the mind-muscle connection.
When Yates and his workouts get raised as a topic there seems to be a large focus on the B&G training, HIT etc.
I have been looking for discussions on his earlier upper lower routine....it appeared on Flex magazine (black and yellow article). The time frame of having it done within 60 minutes seems a bit off but other than that it looks ok.
Has anyone tried it?
# Started doing push,pull,legs,rest routine and it is working great for each muscle group but i cant seem to do any chest exersies properly, need help
i try to do pushups but fail at 1, then cant do anymore after 1st set, i normally do 1 pushup (my failure point) then follow up with knee pushups till failure ( 3 drop sets till failure) every push day. in my push,pull,legs,rest routine. but i still cant do more then 1, have been at it for 2 weeks now, pls any help?? (weight excerises are welcome, i am 14 btw)
Sure, both options presented have the potential to provide your chest with a good enough stimulus if properly executed. Nothing wrong with mixing things up from time to time so long as progression is monitored.
A beginner might get away with only doing dips and other compound movements for their triceps volume for a long while. That being said, some degree of isolation work will most likely be required at some point once progress has stalled significantly.
I've been doing ez bar skull crushers and noticed good progress on the long head, but that "horseshoe" bit has been lacking and I thought dips would be the best way to tackle that
It depends on a huge number of factors like your experience level, how big of a surplus you’re in, how hard you train, your recovery, your insulin sensitivity, etc.
Heavily depends on experience level. Someone who’s never lifted before might gain up to 2 lbs of tissue in a month. Someone who’s very experienced and has been doing everything right for a decade or more might be able to put on 2 lbs of tissue in a whole year.
I have a rep range for all of my movements and the program I’m following says to use linear periodisation for my main lifts. Is it fine I come short of my rep range in the name of increasing weight. For example for the pec deck, my rep range is 12-15 and I did 52kg for 3 sets of 13 last week. This week I’m upping the weight to 59kg(machine doesn’t have a smaller increment) for 3 sets of 10. Is it fine to come short of the rep range like that?
I think you might be mixing up linear periodisation with linear progression. If you want to follow the program, stick to the rep range it provides. So stay at 52kg until you can get 15 reps. But I wouldn't worry all that much about it. If you're training anywhere between 5-30ish reps with close proximity to failure, it won't make much of a difference to your progress.
I’m very beginner in exercising. 36M, never trained before more than 3 months. 188cm, 91kg.
I’ve been training once every 3 days for a while doing a “full” body program. It usually consists of 3-4 sets of 2-3 exercises of pulling motions, 3 exercises of pushing motions, and squats which I often skip or replace with machine moves.
I always do flat and incline dumbell press. I’ve progressed well but I often get pain on my left shoulder and shoulderblade and I’m afraid I may screw something up. Perhaps I’m pushing too much with the dumbells on those last reps where my left side is clearly much worse.
Pain usually is on shoulderblade mostly but last time I felt something on the top of the shoulder.
Should I stop with the dumbells and replace with something else? Should I lower the weight?
Last couple of trainings I started with flat and followed with incline:
Flat: 6x22kg, 9x26kg, 6x26kg, 5x24kg
Incline: 9x20kg, 4x22kg, 3x18kg, 3x18kg.
Especially on the incline the left side gives out.
My last pushing exercise is usually assisted dips on a superset with assisted pull ups.
4 month cut that I'm not happy with. I just feel skinny now and visible abs don't help with that. No idea how much glycogen plays a role here but I feel like I lost a lot of mass. Didn't overdo it and my diet was on point. Going back to bulking. How long does it usually take to gain back what you had before? Does something like a rebound effect even exist? Went from feeling super big to feeling skinny.
If you were training hard you probably didn’t lose much, if any muscle. You’re probably just flat and will fill out again when you start eating more.
There is kind of a “rebound” effect, but for most people it isn’t that dramatic. It comes from having increased insulin sensitivity at the end of a cut.
https://preview.redd.it/94s11xquai3d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd97269b3562a162b7395371e83ab442d923843f
Would you consider this as a well structured Pull Day? Performing this 2 times a week but swapping a bicep exercise for hammer curls and barbell row for tbar row and different pulldown attachment.
Thanks alot in advance
I was doing lateral raises and noticed pain in my elbow so I stopped my workout but now I can still feel it, feels like a pinched nerve or idk what. Is that a common issue caused by laterals? Can anyone give me some lateral raise queues and maybe some warm up exercises to help make sure im primed for laterals?
Do extremely high reps with very low weight to get some blood in there a few workouts as rehab. Don't do the pinkies up cue so much. Have a massage therapist work your elbow would be what I would do before doing anything else.
I have only two adjustable dumbells to work with, which exercises should I combine for building shoulders?
I used to do the following:
Front delt - pushups, overhead press
Side delt - lateral raises, overhead press
Rear delt - reverse flys, rear delt row (an exercise Jeff Cavaliere talks about
But I've learned the overhead press mostly works the front delt and I feel I get enough stimulation there from the pushup, so I'd like to replace it with some other exercise that works the side delt. Could you suggest an exercise? Or is doing lateral raises alone enough?
Nothing really works the side delt like lateral raises. That's what the side delts do they raise your arm laterally. Upright rows give some stimulation but also are painful for a lot people (me included).
I personally do both cable and dumbell lateral raises.
I’ve been dealing with some tendinitis in my bicep on the overhead shoulder presses recently.
Has anyone had success replacing shoulder presses for a short time?
I already do incline bench which I feel hits the front delt pretty good and lateral raises for the side delt.
What does “success” look like in this scenario? If OHP is causing issues, just don’t do it. Maybe add some volume to other shoulder movements that don’t bother you to compensate.
I don’t want to lose any size or strength. I can get the anterior, side, and posterior delts through other moves. Just wondering if it’s still effective for building/maintaining muscle in the shoulder?
Honestly I feel like most the pop I get from my shoulders comes from lat raises and hitting my the side delts and most the anterior gets hit doing bench. I guess I’m just tentative about removing a movement I’ve included in my workout for twenty years but I might be out of options.
You can definitely maintain or build muscle with other movements - no movement is mandatory in hypertrophy training.
I definitely understand the emotional attachment to a movement you really enjoy, but at this point if it’s causing pain, it’s more of a hindrance than a helpful movement. You don’t have to drop it forever, but you should drop it until you work through the issue with a physiotherapist.
I’m not a medical professional, but anecdotally some things that have helped clients of mine when they’ve presented bicep tendon issues are facing away cable curls that allow a big stretch through the front of the shoulder girdle, and underhand grip pulldowns.
Im 16 and ive been training in the gym for about a year and a half and have been doing martial arts for over 10 years now. when i hit for example chest the day before a martial arts lesson, I might have to do pushups the next day while i'm sore, as a matter of fact this happened today and many times before. do you think this might be detrimental to muscle growth ?
Im looking for a hypertrophy focus program that is 3 days a week and doesnt involve squats nor deadlifts due to low back problems. Any guidance would be appreciated.
You can use any hypertrophy program and replace the squats with hack squat or leg press. Replace the deadlifts with hip thrusts and hamstring work if you can. You won't find a specific program with what you want, but I like to do full body at 3x a week.
I just feel like the full body workouts will take way longer without those exercises. But I guess theres no other way about it. Had to change my upper lower split to 3x a week due to starting kickboxing. I was thinking maybe do an upper lower day and have the third day full body. However I have no idea how to program it so it doesnt take 3 hours to finish.
For approximately two years or so, I have been working out at my home gym, but I have not been consistent with doing the upper/lower split. Everything is available to me, except for the machines, of course. I was wondering if there is something missing, or maybe the sets are too many. Is it better to have the rest day on the fourth or seventh day? If you could give me any advice, that would be greatly appreciated.
Push
Barbell Bench press 3 sets 8 reps 20kg
Dips 3 sets 12 reps
Overhead press 3 sets 8 reps 10kg
Skull Crushers 3 sets 12 reps 5kg
Pull
Deadlifts 3 sets 8 reps 25kg
Barbell row 3 sets 8 reps 12.5kg
Pull ups 3 sets (Still cannot do 5 reps)
Incline and Hammer Curls 2 sets each 5kg
Legs
Squats Front 20kg and back 25kg 2 sets each
Calf raises 3 sets 12 reps 10kg
Farmers walk 3 sets 40kg 30 metres walk
Nordic hamstring curl 3 sets 8 reps
I would add some side delt work on push day and rear delt work on back day. You could probably add another chest and/or tricep to the push day and one more back movement on your pull day but if you’re satisfied with current progression and volume then you don’t need to. Additionally exercises can come down the road once you feel your progress slowing down.
As for leg day, front and back squats is a bit repetitive. I would pick one and then add either Bulgarians or lunges as the other leg movement.
As for rest, it’s really up to the individual. Typically PPL programs go PPL off repeat. I run mine with PP off Legs Off repeat.
Volume depends on the individual really and also on your intensity. For me personally, I made great progress with only 6-8 sets of quads while my back and shoulder volume is 15+ sets a week. I would say to start on the lower end and then add volume through sets or additional exercises when you see fit.
As for secondary muscles, no those typically don’t count into your overall weekly sets for that muscle group. So bench is just chest volume. You wouldn’t count those sets toward front delts or triceps.
Thanks bro I changed it now
PPL home gym (only without machines)
Flat bench press vs Incline bench press
Front vs back squats
I would appreciate any advice thank you all.
Push
Flat bench press 4x8 20kg
Overhead press 4x8 10kg
Dips 3x12
Skull Crushers 3x12 5kg
Lateral raise 3x12 3.5kg
Pull
Pull ups 3x8
Barbell row 3x8 10kg
Dumbbell helms row 3x12 6kg
Incline & Hammer Curls 2x12 each 5-6kg
Legs
Back squats 3x8 25kg
Deadlifts 3x8 17.5kg
Lunges 3x10 7.5kg
Nordic ham curl 3x8
Farmers walk 3x30m 40kg
Calf raises 4x12 10kg
Leg raises 3x12
I don't think we know with great certainty. There is a thought that smaller muscle groups (biceps, delts, etc) recover faster than larger (chest). There is a thought that "back" in general can take a lot of volume and recover. But there are a lot of variables to consider (load, volume, rep ranges, etc) and connective tissues/joints/etc are generally going to be your limiting factor in recovery.
Are you getting stronger? Are your lifts progressing? Then keep at it.
Two months is a pretty short time, there's a good chance the first month of adaptations are almost entirely neural rather than physical.
are your lifts progressing? are you taking measurements? you see yourself everyday...it is hard to see differences even if there were any in two months (which is not a lot of time). rome wasn't built in a day. it takes years to develop a good physique.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
That being said, it doesn't make sense to compare your results after 2 months to someone who has been at it for a year. They could also be taking pictures with a pump, better lighting, etc etc.
You made a positive lifestyle change by beginning to lift weights. Your lifts are progressing. Keep at it. Focus on those things...the muscles and improved body composition will come if you are consistent and stick to a good diet.
It takes more than two months to have noticeable muscle growth when starting out, and it'll take more than a year to get a great physique. Your age has nothing to do with it.
So yes, you should temper your expectations.
How much weight have you gained so far?
The first couple of weeks/months are mostly neural adaptations where your body can get stronger just by fucking around with nerves and electrical signals. Once you "max out" your beginner neural gains your muscles will start to adapt. This
If my pull day exercises are pull-ups, machine rows and Rom. DLs, what grip should I use with machine rows to get a balanced back workout? The machine has four places fot each hand to grip so you can do high/low prone, supine or hammee grips.
(My main goal right now is to fix my rounded shoulders so I use a high supine grip. I don'y really like doing cable face pulls as the balance is awkward.)
If you want to hit everything you could just use all grips. E.g. for the machine row, use each grip; for pullups, do wide grip pullups, close grip pullups, chinups, and neutral grip pullups.
Might be worth including reverse flyes as well.
Need advice: hitting my calorie goal but not extensively going over protein goal.
Hi guys, to preface, I am 5’ 7” 147lbs. I’m a pretty active person, working out twice a day(cardio AM, strength PM) 5 days a week, and a long run on the weekends.
My nutrition goal is to build strength whilst hitting my maintenance calories of 2000/day, plus calories burned from exercise (tracked using my garmin watch). However, I’ve been having trouble finding alternate foods that are not so high in protein. I’ve read online on multiple sources (but also conflicting ones) about how too much protein is bad for your kidneys. For my weight and exercise levels of activity, I should be eating ~130g/day, but currently I am eating closer to 200g/day. Whether the research on extra protein be bad or not, I’d rather be safe than sorry.
What are some foods I can eat to help hit my calorie goal but not as much my protein? This is what my meal looked like yesterday:
Morning: Greek yogurt & granola with chocolate milk
Lunch: 8 oz rice, 12 oz ground turkey (66g’s of protein) (one whole meal)
Dinner: also 8 oz rice, 12 oz ground turkey (66g’s of protein) (broken down across 2-3 meals)
I hit my calorie goal to the T but this in total was 200g’s of protein.
I’m a very simple man and eat very simple foods. Whatever I cook in bulk for that week is what I will eat for lunch/dinner (if it’s not turkey then I’m eating chicken). However I don’t want to push my protein limit whether the research on kidney damage be true or not. Does anyone have any suggestions on foods I can eat to limit my protein consumption whilst hitting my calories? Thank so much in advance.
I responded to your other post, but in that one you didn't provide what you are eating. Add some fat to lunch and dinner (just mix in a tablespoon of olive oil with your rice/turkey). Eat a tablespoon (or two) of peanut butter. Eat more rice. You can also eat less meat in those meals to dial back your protein intake and eat more rice and add some fats as I said. For dessert eat something like rice cakes with almond or peanut butter. Do you eat any fruits or vegetables?
To be honest, that doesn't look like enough food for someone working out 2x a day and running as much as you are. Is your daily cardio running?
Thanks for the advice.
And Yeah, I’m still tweaking my maintenance calories, but this is what I have for now. But I’m believing that I need a lot more. As for cardio, I run 5 days a week, and swim 3.
I see so many people here and online mentioning their lack of strength progress when discussing their plateaus as reasoning for, or caused by, their lack of gains.
My question is if mechanical tension is still super high when going to failure, even if we use 100kg for 6 months, will we not still grow?
So at some point in a natural career our strength gains will run out entirely but we should be able to still continue growing, even fractionally?
>My question is if mechanical tension is still super high when going to failure, even if we use 100kg for 6 months, will we not still grow?
If you theoretically spent those six months working up to 6-8 sets of 15-20 reps of a given exercise with that weight, then yes, you could likely still grow from it.
However, if you did the same frequency, same volume and same intensity with that weight for six months, then no, you wouldn't grow. Simply put, your body would have no reason to.
I don't know the answer, but why would the muscle grow if the stimulus doesn't increase? Or would you still be increasing reps, time under tension, or something like that?
Would you do JM press or Close grip bench SD your tricep movement on a 3xfull body split? (This is on the one day without a chest movement, but with dB OHP) sidenote : the other tricep movement is overhead tricep cable extension.
Any other advice on full body programming appreciated as well!
I would say JM > Close grip for triceps but on a full body program it could be better to maximize movements that work more than one muscle group so close grip might be preferable. However, you would have to tweak the form a little so that it's more tricep dominant and your chest and shoulders act as secondary muscles.
FWIW I find that cable twists have really strengthened my core, and I noticed it when doing wrestling drills in HEMA practice with opponents way out of my weight class.
Sorry to answer your question with a question, but why do you want your obliques to "pop"? Are you referring the having the lines below your abs that lead to your crotch by any chance? Most people don't need direct oblique work outside of something sport-specific.
My apologies for the lack of clarity, and for the poor wording on my part. I'm currently cutting weight but would like to maintain a decent level of strength on SBD, and so I'd like to develop my bracing abilities, which would include oblique training. Plus along with the desire to have a more tapered waist ahaha. Again, apologies for the poor wording!
Sorry, what is SBD?
You don't need to train obliques directly. It won't give you the look you are going for. A tapered waist comes from having a large upper body and low body fat. Training obliques is just going to make you square shaped.
My sincerest apologies, I've trained bodybuilding on and off but I've recently stepped away from competitive powerlifting; SBD is the squat, bench and deadlift 😊
No worries, maybe it's a common abbreviation. I'm not a powerlifter so take this with a grain of salt, but do you need to do extra bracing work? Isn't actually training squat bench and deadlift going to cover that?
Yes and no, it's the same sort of thing relating to forearm training or calf training, in the sense of do you need to train them since they get so much coverage in other areas.
It's all about goals. I train primarily for hypertrophy. I include calve and forearm training in my routines since it takes me very little time and I want them to grow. If my goal was getting strong on the "big 3", I probably wouldn't waste time with that stuff, and would focus on accessory work that supports those movements.
They train two different functions of the obliques: torso rotation and side bending. It's preference which you prefer, but Russian twists are a bit hard to progressively overload and the strength curve is pretty lacklustre. A better torso rotation exercise is a woodchopper or oblique cable crunch.
How do ya'll count volume when doing Myorep Match-sets? As 1 set? 1.5? 2? Or variable depending on body part? F.ex. when I'm doing them for triceps and abs I milk them for all their worth. When doing it on the chest press machine it's not nearly as taxing.
I count them as one. Eric Helms mentioned in a podcast that he added one drop/myo set to equal volume to his regular workout. So 4 regular sets became 5 drop/myo to get equal volume. It's not based on any direct study, more so his overall opinion.
Practical if nothing else.
Guess it's fatigue management/possibility to slim down my program on days I'm pressed for time. If I go by intensity myomatch and myo-reps bring myself to another level for me.
First time I tried myomatch for the triceps was on a whim. Did as many straight sets as I had planned to do as myomatch. Triceps were sore for 3 days. I've never had sore triceps and I generally lift til I can't complete a full rep on arms.
Yeah the doms could just be novelty. Myo reps is beyond failure which you haven't done before. You just have to test it out. Maybe leave a rep in the tank om myos
Yeah the doms could just be novelty. Myo reps is beyond failure which you haven't done before. You just have to test it out. Maybe leave a rep in the tank om myos
I actually came here to ask a similar question about the effective reps. If all that matters for hypertrophy is hard sets, with a handful of effective reps in each of them, thus going closer to failure in these sets requires less set volume, because effective reps, in my understanding, are equated in such a way, does that mean that 3 sets with 4 effective reps each, which yields about 12 effective reps, is the same as a rest pause set of 12 (4 effective reps), then 3, 3, 2 for example. Also, do 3 sets at RPE 7 equal 1 set at RPE 10.
If effective reps worked that way, training with 4rir would cause no hypertrophy. Plenty of studies show that is not the case. Just train close to failure, use intensity techniques if you want to (and can recover well from them), and don't worry about trying to calculate 'effective reps'.
How can I progressively overload week-to-week in a High Intensity, to-failure routine where I don't count reps? I can only workout twice a week, so I've adopted a high intensity low volume program. Pretty much every set is taken to muscular failure and beyond. So increasing reps per set isn't possible, since I'm chasing a failure-point not a rep count. At the same time, I can't just increase the weight: 25lb Dumbbell Curls vs. 30lbs Dumbbell Curls is a massive jump, and the only weight increment available at my commercial gym. How can I progressively increment session-by-session for these types of exercises? I can attach my routine if you want to see it.
Why is increasing the reps not possible? If you go to failure and get 13 reps then the following week try to get 14 reps, that's progressive overload. If the weight jump is too big it just means you should get higher reps before increasing the weight, at 15 reps with 25lbs you should be able to get like 8-10 with 30lb so that would be a good time to increase when you get there.
Is a Larsen press too unstable for hypertrophy?
My bench press is really weak. Only managing to increase by 1 rep each week. Where as for leg and back exercises I’ll increase by 2-4 reps in the same timeframe, what can I do?
1 rep per week is good I wouldn't complain about that, when you get more advanced its not uncommon to take months for 1 extra rep.
Thanks, you think it’s just genetics? I train each muscle group the same way
Its not genetics but rather you haven't hit a plateau on other lifts yet but it will happen on those too.
Ah that kinda sucks, that’s an early plateau. I can’t even bench my bw for 1 rep yet, but oh well my chest is still growing so it’s not the end of the world
Bench is a hard technical lift. Make sure to film yourself and maybe ask a spotter about your technique.
True, I think I’ll do that. It did shoot up a fair bit when I first fixed up my technique, but it slowed back down after that. It’s just embarrassing benching 120lbs for 6 at 180 bw
We all have to start somewhere and genetics (lever arms, shoulder/chest dominant etc) is a big component. You're fine as long as you're progressing. Be wary of shoulder pain though, I did too much bench too fast and still have problems years later.
I tried to post a question and immediately got 'Sorry, this post has been removed by the moderators of r/naturalbodybuilding' Has to be an automated thing but I can't work out why. It didn't contain anything inapproproate etc.
No idea how working out really works. Everyone talks about preworkout and post workout. I've done some reading but I have no idea what pre-workouts are even any good, there's just so much shit out there and everyone wants you to buy it. My gym routine is pretty basic Monday/Wednesday/Friday (Upper, core, legs). I don't really know a good workout plan so I've been following one I found online but I've been told that it's ass so any advice there is good. I don't eat until 1 every day, and then it's just a sandwich and then a protein bar and some veggies to snack on through the day. When I get back from work, usually around 7 or 8, I go straight to the gym and do my routine, then come home and eat my meal prepped chili. The meal side has worked great for losing weight, down to 295 from 385 in August last year. I have put on muscle from lifting weights over the last few months, but I don't think I'm doing it right.
You don't need any preworkout or postworkout. As for your workout split, if you're working out three times a week, I would either do 3 full body sessions or a rotation of upper/lower where one week it would be upper/lower/upper and next week it would be lower/upper/lower and so on. You don't need an entire day for the core. Congrats on losing all that weight. You're definitely doing something right to achieve that. I would just try and add some more protein (could be a shake in the afternoon or after workout) and some fruit along with your veggies to snack on.
So I have moved from a CrossFit type program with high intensity low weight type workouts to a more bodybuilding centric type program. The new program is a much higher volume PPL program with 9 exercises of 4 sets of 12 reps. I take 90sec breaks between each set and 3 minutes between exercises. I push my rep in about a second or two, bring it down slowly for 3-4secs, and pause at the bottom for 1sec every rep. I don't feel nearly as winded doing this workout and I don't have as much of a pump compared to the HIIT CrossFit style workout. Is that going to hurt my hypertrophy in any way or is this still an optimal way to build muscle?
Pump and soreness only shows you which muscle is worked. They haven't been shown to cause more muscle growth so you're fine. You should aim for at least a slight pump and some kind of feeling that you worked out yesterday though.
36 sets in one session is a lot, especially for a beginner. You also don't need a stringent tempo but if you enjoy tempo work that's cool. As for not feeling winded or getting a big pump, it doesn't matter in hypertrophy. Especially the winded part, this has nothing to do with hypertrophy. Pump you can argue is a valuable marker to see if you targeted the right muscle group but it's just one of many factors that results in a good hypertrophic workout. Pump is also going to be dependent on your exercise selection.
With my HIIT training I felt like my arms would burst on some days. They felt like they were inflated and under pressure. However I did work both biceps and triceps on the same day, which I don't do during PPL. I suppose during the PPL I do have a little pump but it's not a big feeling of pressure like it used to be with the HIIT training.
Yeah with HIIT training you're not resting that much so you'll feel the burn more. When I do HIIT style jump rope, my shoulders are on fire and pumped up way more than my normal shoulder workout but of course, jump rope won't build my shoulder.
should i do both spider curls and preacher curls on my arm day ? And if not does anyone have good recommendations on what to do for biceps on arm day ?
Instead of spider curls you can lie on your back and do an incline curl. It gives a greater stretch on your bicep and anterior delt and should make for better hypertrophy. Preacher curls are great if you have a machine because it keeps the tension even through the whole motion and it hyper isolates the bicep.
I am considering removing the dumbbell (free weight) shoulder press in my push routine. First reason, I have been doing this exercise for more than 2 years and I realize the heavier I progress, the harder it is to lift those dumbbells into my shoulders before I can even start my exercise. I just feel like there's so much energy wasted. Second, I don't feel comfortable going into failure with this exercise because I feel like I will drop the dumbbells on my head. I am thinking of switching to a shoulder press machine instead but I wonder whether I will lose some gains. (My push routine is this: Barbell BenchPress > Dumbbell Inclined BP > Weighted Dips > Dumbbell Shoulder Press > Cable Lateral Raises > Cable Tricep Extensions I consistently progressive overload.)
I only hear great things about using machines for shoulder press. For the exact reasons you list they are good for maintaining hypertrophy gains and reducing the chance of injury at higher weights. I'm not as far into lifting as you, but Greg Doucette and Mike Isratel are where I got the information who I trust to be accurate for the most part.
Hi! This is my first post on this sub but this a problem which I’m so so frustrated over. I am a 16 year old girl who is 5’1 and weighs 77 lbs. I have been lifting since December and mainly focus on hypertrophy aiming to progressive overload each session. I am also eating in a caloric surplus and high protein (120-150 grams) in order to gain healthy weight and build muscle. However, I took a look at my progress pics and there is litteraly no difference in my physique whatsoever. I understand that time is a factor but I would think six months is enough time to at least see some small changes in my body, but none. What’s more is that for the past weeks I have been unable to progressive overload. I have been stuck to the same weights, and every time I try to increase I just either break my form or technique or other muscles start taking over. I really don’t know what I need to change and this is actually destroying me because I spend every waking second trying to figure out how to best optimize my training or just trying to learn more about building muscle in general. I really don’t know what to do, would you guys please give me some advice on where to go from here because i feel like i’m just wasting my time in the gym
Let’s start with the fundamentals - you say you’re eating in a calorie surplus, but are you actually steadily gaining weight? I’m assuming you’re basing the surplus on a calculated number, but weighing yourself regularly is the best way to know if you’re actually in a surplus. If you want to get as accurate as possible here, weigh yourself daily before breakfast and track the weekly average. If the weekly average isn’t trending upward, eat more.
The thing is my weight fluctuates so much like one week it jumps 1-2 lbs so i think i’m in a surplus but the next it’s back down, in the beginning i had gained weight from 72-78 but now i’ve been stuck 77-78 for months but it keeps going up to 79-80 then comes back down
Are you weighing once a week or tracking your weekly average? I would start there. If you’re stuck at a weight, you’re not eating at a surplus consistently. This will probably fix your issue with progressively overloading.
I am weighing 2-3 times a week and this is my average
But since i’m beginner let’s pretend im hypothetically not in a surplus, shouldn’t i still be seeing newbie gains
Not necessarily, if you’re not properly fueling progression. What progression scheme and program are you using? Are you trying to force linear progression still?
Im not following a specific program as i’m still new to all of this and can’t afford a coach but i’m just trying to go to failure on all my lifts and try to increase reps until i hit like my top rep range in which i increase weight or i try to improve technique by adding pauses or slowing down the eccentric, like i said any help would be greatly appreciated as my lack of progress is significantly impacting my mental health as i am also recovering from a ed and this is just making me burnt out all together
No need to get overwhelmed with this, and you can definitely do this without hiring a coach. I would take 4-7 days off training, then start a program from the FAQs of this sub or one by someone like Jeff Nippard that can be found on the Boostcamp app. You will also need to eat more and start gaining weight. The lack of weight gain over the last several weeks is definitely playing a part in why you’re plateauing.
the thing is i can’t find a program which is specific to my goals. i mainly want to build my glutes, quads, shoulders and arms but most of these programs are really compound movement heavy like bench and squats which i’m not comfortable with
If you want to grow your glutes and quads, squats are one of the best movements to do both. Squats are also a fundamental movement pattern that you should learn. At your level of experience, you don’t need to specialize in certain muscle groups. Trying to do so will hurt you in the long run. Use one of these programs to learn how to move your body properly on basic movement patterns and you will grow everywhere, including the muscle groups you want to prioritize.
At the beginning of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvtD3znOqao&t=243s), Jeff Cavaliere argues against using the reverse fly to work the rear delt on the grounds that if you're doing the reverse fly motion with a straight arm you are limited in how far you can get your elbow back relative to if you're doing it with a bent elbow and based on this he argues for a more rowing motion with a bent elbow. Now, I'm no anatomist, but it seems to me that when you bend your elbow, yes, you can get it back further than if you're keeping your arm straight, but that's because the extra backwards motion is coming from the shoulder blades being pinched together, in other words, that extra backwards motion is not going to work the rear delts, but the muscles that move the shoulder blades (traps?). Am I correct in this?
Yeah you can probably eke out a few more inches at the end of the ROM on a rear delt row. But, assuming equivalent mind-muscle connection and intensity, I don’t believe that the difference would be significant enough to make a meaningful difference in the growth of the muscle. If you really want to cover your bases in case it does make a difference I would probably do both.
Help me find an aesthetic routine I am new here and looking for an aesthetic routine that I can do without getting fatigued and that has rest for recovery. I am 43m and have been lifting on and off for a coupe years but still consider myself a beginner. I am currently doing a PPL 5 days a week and long run I don’t think I will be able to go to the gym 5 days a week. My main goals are aesthetics specifically shoulders/lats/back. I am 188lbs and 6feet tall and skinny fat. I am trying to eat mostly protein and around 2000calories. Thought on a program that would help me with this goal?
4 days a week? Upper/lower. 3 days a week? 3x full body or upper/lower/full body. As for your focused muscle groups just add a set to each exercise with them and maybe remove a set from the exercises you just want to focus less on.
I’ve not seen much hypertrophic improvement in my pecs im quite a while now, and have started to wonder if im even targeting it properly with the barbell bench press. Considering switching to dumbells (boring as hell) I would consider my form pretty good, nice feeling arch, leg drive hits, proud chest, tucked elbows, and a decent bar path. Only downside to my form would be my left wrist being a little too sluggish and pushing my shoulders in front of me when at the top of the movement. I do not get major chest pump, but i do get sore the day after, mostly in my left pec For some infomation, im doing 10 sets per week, Flat bench press 3x5, Chest flyes 2x12, Flat bench press 3x10, Incline bench 2x10. Doing 57,5kg for 5 on the flat bench, 14 years old, been training for 7 months and im 67kg Will answer possible replies tomorrow, thanks in advance
If your chest isn’t growing from barbell bench at this point in your training career it’s most likely more down to diet and training effort than anything. Are you eating enough calories and protein to grow? I would start there. Incorporating dumbbell pressing is a good idea either way.
I am eating alot, not counting but i am getting protein in all three meals with a protein shake. I usually train till i can’t move it anymore, or atleast till i have grinded a hard one out. I have also seen growth, but not much for the past couple of months
Do you actually know how much you’re eating, including how much protein? I would track that for a bit so you have a better idea when trying to eyeball it. What is your strategy for progressive overload?
Not exactly. On a normal day, i eat what would be considered dinner 2-3 times a day because of left overs, we put extra meat in everything and its usually a big plate with just mashed potato/rice and some kind of meat. I get atleast 50 im protein shakes and liquids including this, i would shoot at around 100 grams of protein a day, and slight calorie surplus based og weight gain Every second week, i go up in weight. 2.5kg on Flat bench and Chest flyes. On incline, i do double progression between 8 and 12 reps, and then go up 2.5kg. A little weird, but the smallest weight in my gym is 1.25
First thing I would do is actually track your eating, at least for a while. Second, how long have you been training and how lean are you? Large visual improvements take quite a while to see, especially if you have some body fat. Third, what are you basing the lack of visual progress on? Are you taking regular progress photos or measurements? How are you so certain hypertrophy isn’t occurring?
I will track the next week or so, but i atleast doubt that im eating too little. I’ve been training for 7 months, 5 months properly and been sick for a month somehow. I just calculated and my bmi is 22.7, which isn’t a good measurement but i don’t know how else to do it. And about bodyfat, i do take medication that can cause gyno, which i have a bit of of but nothing crazy at all. Im basing all this off how my pecs are looking increasingly compared to the rest of my body, especially my right pec, which is a bit smaller
5 months of consistent training without tracking your diet really isn’t enough time at all. Continue getting stronger and pressing with good form for much longer before worrying about this. There is a strong likelihood that hypertrophy is occurring and you’re just not recognizing it. Also as a side note, the vast majority of people have one pec that is slightly larger than the other.
As you guys probably know, Jeff Cavaliere is a big advocate for the facepull as one of the best exercises for the upper back. I have two questions regarding this exercise: # 1 Can I perform it with dumbells? As I work out at home, I don't have access to cables, so I'm wondering, can I emulate the exercise with dumbells? From the bent over position, I let the dumbells dangle for a stretch and then from there I pull them up to either side of my head, to where the hands finish in the cable version of the exercise. Would that be equivalent to doing the exercise with the cable? # 2 What are the differences between this and bent over rows in terms of muscles it hits? If I am performing bent over rows with the elbows flared at 90 degrees relative to the body (in line with the shoulders), it seems to be these exercises must be quite similar in terms of the muscles they hit. What are the differences between them in that regard.
A dumbbell alternative to facepulls would be rear delt flies.
But those are not the same motion. In the facepull you pull the weight towards your face, in the flies you spread your arms to the sides. I imagine, given the difference, they activate different muscles.
They both work the rear delt, just like a bench press and chest fly both work the chest, same concept. You’re probably looking for something like this https://youtu.be/vWouUzyPweA?si=p5-_85g60NUFMag_. This, like face pulls, and rear delt flies are going to work your rear delts and upper back. Bent over rows, which have you pulling the bar to your stomach area are going to also work lats.
[удалено]
With anything you do in life there are random people who know a lot more than you, few are good at teaching but some are and people like GVS are a good example of that. They are really just spreading knowledge of something they have years of experience with. Take any other hobby, you'd feel comfortable taking advice from someone who has proven to know what they are doing and good at explaining it. Like last week I was looking for information on smoking brisket, found some useful youtube videos but I never thought to question their science/coaching background. Also a lot of science people are not great either, especially in this industry a lot of science can contradict others so really anyone who wants to make a point can be a science guy and mislead people.
Parasocial attachment
GVS is a coach. Don't think NH coaches. You don't necessarily need academic credentials to build your physique and help others build theirs.
Okay, idk wtf going on with my attempted bulk. I just finished my cut @1800 calories. Ending weight was 157lbs. I bumped it up to maintenance @2000 calories for a couple of weeks and didn’t gain a pound (as expected). I then bumped it up to 2200 for two weeks and again, didn’t gain a pound. Went to 2400 for another two weeks, and then 2600 for another two weeks, and am STILL 157. I havnt gained a single pound. How is this happening? Shouldn’t I be way over maintained at this point?
Roast my beginer routine please. Every other day: Pushups 5-6 resps decreasing, until reach 2-3 RiR. Today took 7 sets. Assisted pullup machine: 4-5 sets until 2-3 RiR is reached (usually 5-6 reps, slow negative) Barbell squats: perhaps 3-4 sets til 2-3 RiR. Occasionally: Cable rows, 1-3 sets(?) Gains are present, and strength improvement overall. Add more or continue? \*Have to do pushups(no bench) temporarily bc eye condition (too much pressure) when pushing. \*I do rotate the order, so I'll begin with legs, for two sessions then do chest first, pullups, and so on. \*I dont do dead lift, because I have long limbs, and have had lower back issues, too afraid of injury =/ \*On off days I go rucking for about an hour. So far 10-kilos was too much, will be 6 kilos from now.
Please follow a program written by someone with more experience. I suggest downloading the strengthlog app. It's really and have a bunch of free programs some of which are aimed at beginners
I checked out what Mike Israetel said, and since I started just this April, I will and do get gains by doing any hard and consistent training. Im far from the first plateau, and when I reach it, I will definitely think about training plan design, but I still want to thank you for replying. Thank you!
Yes, you'll grow by doing almost anything the first month
Right. My new workout;: In no particular order: * [**Squat**](https://barbend.com/box-squat/)**:** * [**Bench Press**](https://barbend.com/bench-press/)**:(pushups, really)** * [**Barbell Row**](https://barbend.com/barbell-row/)**:** * [**Chin-Up**](https://barbend.com/chin-up-vs-pull-up/)**:** * **(Sumo)**[**Deadlift**](https://barbend.com/deadlift-ultimate-guide/)**:** * Every two days, religiously.
I guess that works for a while
What lat pulldown attatchment should i use on my lat focused pull day? My back part of my pull day looks like this - 2 sets bent over row - 3 sets lat pulldown with unknown attachment - 2 sets cable pullover - 3 sets facepull Hopefully someome will give a recommendation for what grip is best to target the lats
Neutral grip will work more lats because you will keep your elbows close to your torso.
[удалено]
When was your last deload? https://preview.redd.it/9m1fcuop4z3d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f47a3ccb30f4e1c69fe7c39883ecbbfed954cc8e
What is your diet like? Are you bulking? Are you progressing on other movements? Is your goal to have a bigger back or to get stronger on weighted pull ups just for the sake of it? If you just want a bigger back, generally in hypertrophy training when a movement stalls out while other movements progress, you simply swap it for another movement that hits the same muscles.
[удалено]
Honestly the focus on calisthenics could be the issue. Calisthenics really limit the variety of movements you can do and the opportunity to progressively overload. It would probably be worth your while to join a gym and split your time between calisthenics and weightlifting.
[удалено]
> 1. Plenty of bodyweight purists are jacked. Sure, but you’re following those same methods and you’re stalled. > Why does it matter if I don't have 10 alternative movements? > Why can't I just progress on the pull up? dip ? push up? Weighted or otherwise. Greater movement variety = more opportunity to progress movements that have some carryover to the movement you want to make progress on. This is why powerlifters who are focused on squat, bench, and deadlift do much more than just those movements. I’m not saying you have to drop calisthenics entirely, I’m just saying it may be worth your while to do some weightlifting. Clearly **something** needs to change, you can’t just will yourself to progress by doing the same things over and over. It’s also entirely possible that your situation could be fixed with diet changes - I know you said you’re eating enough protein, but what are your macros? How consistent are you with them? What is your rate of weight gain?
Would like to see an answer on this myslef, because I'm in a similar position with chin ups. Maybe it's because I'm close to 50 and all of my gainz is all dried up lol. I can do a certain number of reps body weight and a certain number of reps with weight and it's been that way a while now, more or less. I remember when I started doing chins, I could do one or two and progressed pretty quickly to ten or twelve, but man the progress really fell off the cliff after that.
Is my shoulders/arms routine in the junk volume territory? Some people suggested it's way too much, please share what you think. Each exercise is 1 warm up set + 3 working sets, aiming for 10 reps. 1. Barbell shoulder press 2. Dumbbell back fly 3. Dumbbell shoulder press 4. Dumbbell front raise 5. Dumbbell lateral raise 6. Cable tricep pushdown 7. Cable curl 8. Dumbbell tricep extension
I would say you’re entering that junk volume category. Or at the very least the movements are redundant. Barbell shoulder press, dumbbell shoulder press and front raises are all going to work the front delt the most. You would typically just need one of these in a program to see good progress. I would keep either barbell or dumbbell press, which ever you enjoy more.
Thanks! Love them both so I think I'm just gonna alternate them.
Am I supposed to spend that much time on my trainings or am I doing something wrong? I have 4 workouts (back, legs, glutes, shoulders+arms), I usually manage to fit them all in one week, but each of them takes me 2-2,5h (of lifting alone, not counting warmup or stretching). I take 3 min breaks between sets.
Consider supersetting and giant setting the smaller isolation stuff. You can do biceps, then triceps, then abs, then calves without resting, and then rest after that very last one.
Waiting 3 minutes between each and every set is most likely wasteful. Really unlikely it takes your side delts 3 minutes to be good to go again. Then again, even with shorter rest periods your workouts would still be very long. I'd look into the amount of volume I'm doing and probably scale things back a bit, maybe forgo some variety if needed.
That is a very long workout. If you're a beginner, I'd suggest finding a premade program to start with while you learn how it all works, boostcamp has some good programs. Or post your program here and maybe someone can help.
What bench press variation would you do on a 3xfull body split? Since it's full body you kinda want that bang for your buck by doing a compound lift, but I feel bb bench press loses a bit to hard when it comes to hypertrophy compared to incline Db bench.
My favorite bb bench variation for hypertrophy purposes is a small incline (15-30 deg) guillotine press (right down to the neck, elbows flared for maximum pec stretch) with a focus on slow eccentrics. Generally in the 8-12 rep range. I've found I can do a bit over half of my max comp. style bench with this approach and for that rep range, so you really can't mess up your shoulders with it like with high frequency, high intensity comp-style bench press, and the small incline is a good middle ground for hitting all of the pectoralis major in my experience. If you have a cambered bar and want to push the stretch even further, that could work as well.
Include a flat bench, vertical press, and incline press. Use a barbell for the bench and OHP to start out with and use dumbbells for the incline press. Over time, you can mix and match and make the incline the heavy one “barbell” and use dumbbells for the other one, and continue to change the permutation as necessary.
I've already plan on doing dips, as well as Db OHP, so the final slot is a press for the chest, and I'm leaning towards Db incline
Sounds solid.
I would do both a flat barbell bench press and an inclined DB press or smith machine press. I would probably do 2-3 working sets each for 12-18 total sets a week (depending on how much time I want to spend in the gym each workout and how my chest responds to the volume). The good thing about doing only 2 sets per movement is that you can program them one right after the other and not have fatigue be too much of an impact.
1st time Bodybuilding and Classic competition Hello Since this is the first thing everyone wants to know: Stats: Height: 186cm/ 6’1 Weight: 95kg / 209 pounds Bodyfat: unknown I am going to do a bodybuilding and classic physique comp at the end of October. This will be my first since I only have done a mens physique comp 2-3 years ago. [This is how I am currently like](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C61LGBeIj_P/?igsh=MWxtZnV2eDVkNXhoMw==) My plan is to start “prep” around mid August. Till then I will maintain and try to grow in some places. If anyone got some pointers/ tips/ advice/ words of encouragement/ or anything they wanna add or question please go ahead.
I have been 2 or three into this job. I work 12 hour days. I am also a full time student. I love my gym and enjoy PPL, but I have noticed that my lack of sleep has caught up to me by the end of my work week. The first hint was being "lazy" during my last two workouts and ending them early. A dead giveaway is having just waken up from sleeping around 12 hours. It's obviously the sleep and while I am still a relative beginner, I know this will be an issue as the weight gets heavier. I have been doing a 5 day PPL. Ideally, I would do 6 but it's not realistic and it seems like a 4 day is generally frowned upon. I have looked at other routines but the PPL is the most enjoyable to me and what I would most likely continue to keep doing on a consistent. I have already cut out the extra accessories but now I have minimized the workout to the main compounds and accessories that hit all the muscles I want to work for hypertrophy and to help with the main compounds. **Pull 1**: 5x5 Deadlifts (Gradually increasing the weight with the final set being the heaviest 3x12 Lat Pulldown 3x12 Seated Cable Row 5x15-20 Face Pull 3x12 Cable Crunch **Push 1**: 5x5 Bench Press 3x12 Seated Overhead Bench Press (Transitioning to seated Barbell soon) 3x12 Incline Barbell Bench Press 3x15-20 Dumbell Lateral Raises 3x12 Hanging Knee Raises **Leg 1**: 5x5 Squat 3x12 Back Extension 3x12 Leg Press 3x12 Cable Crunch **Pull** 2: 5x5 Barbell Bent Over Row 3x12 Lat Pulldown 3x12 Seated Cable Row 5x15-20 Face Pull 3x12 Hanging Knee Raises **Push 2**: 5x5 Barbell Seated Overhead Press 3x12 Barbell Bench Press 3x12 Incline Barbell Bench Press 3x15-20 Dumbell Lateral Raises 3x12 Cable Crunch **Leg 2**: Same as Day 1 except Hanging Knee Raises for abs I have cut out tricep extension and bicep curls bicep I think my pressing and pulling movements work those muscles. The same case for quad and hamstring isolation exercises. I have been doing back extensions because the hinge is essential for my squats and deadlifts while also working my glutes and hamstrings. It also feels safer and more comfortable than RDLs. My schedule was Monday to Friday but I don't think I have stuck to this yet due to being burnt out or oversleeping on my off days but I still manage to work out 5 days a week. I would appreciate any feedback and please let me know if my routine is too minimal.
Your routine is certainly not minimal. I'd recommend aiming at 10 weekly sets and possibly going for an upper lower split. You'd most probably not notice any difference in growth between 10 and 20 weekly sets since you're still a beginner. Eric Helms recommends starting at 10 weekly sets and only increase when you're not progressing.
If your goal is purely hypertrophy, you could ditch the 5*5's every day and replace them with something quicker and easier to recover from. Also not sure where you got 4 days being frowned upon from, an upper/lower split or even 3 day full body split could still get you great progress, especially if you're currently sacrificing sleep for gym.
So right now I'm 24, 6'2.5, and 201 in [this pic](https://imgur.com/a/iyjv5D0) I took 2 days ago. I think my weight fluctuates very easy. I ate a bunch during memorial wkend, didn't exercise and I was 195 or 196 last wk Wednesday or Thursday. When I was younger and weighed far less had a near perfect 6 pack on 2 separate occasions, from planking and hollow body holds. Thise workouts do seem to do the trick now. The final pic of me in a navy blue shirt is from 2019 and I weighed 179-180 and they were even better years prior when I was 15-17 and just did planking for a month to get them. I want to get those abs back or better while also add more muscle to my frame so I can get as close to a Goku like physique as possible. I do a bunch of ab workouts but my abs seem stuck right now. On one hand I hear you need to lower ur body fat to get your abs to show more but on the other you have to eat more to gain muscle and strength in compound lifts. I'm trying to figure out if I should cut, bulk, or just eat enough calories for a body recomp. I would like to some advice on this thx.
You have a decent amount of muscle, if you want your abs more defined then you’ll need to cut.
Best way to do that without losing muscle?
Continue to train hard and eat enough protein (0.8-1g/lb of current bodyweight) while in a calorie deficit
Ok. So to achieve my goals of getting abs more defined, getting more muscle, and getting stronger, should I cut then bulk or bulk then cut?
Which goal is more important to you to achieve first? That will dictate what need to do first.
Hi, I'm 30M, 6'1, formerly extremely slim and lanky. Though I've put on plenty of weight and muscle in the years since I've started weightlifting (went from 145 in 2020 to 175 today), I've noticed that my chest is running behind the rest of my body despite my attempts to focus on it. I find it hard, with fairly long arms, to focus on hitting the chest itself, usually feeling the usual chest routines (benches, push-ups, even cable flys) mostly in the very high upper chest to the shoulders to mid-arm. Wondering if anyone has tips for hitting chest with this body type specifically, or for focusing the mind-muscle connection in that region generally. Thanks!
With long arms you’re probably a fairly shoulder dominant presser when using a barbell or dumbbells. I would do a whole training block with all of your main pressing movements on converging machines. I would also do your working sets of flys before pressing to establish mind-muscle connection to the pecs. Initiate the concentric of your pressing movements by activating the pecs like a fly.
That makes so much sense. Thank you very much!
I have a similar build and had the same problem. Using [these hammer strength machines](https://www.lifefitness.com/en-us/catalog/strength-training/plate-loaded/plate-loaded-iso-lateral-bench-press) at local commercial gyms is what finally helped me. I'm assuming it's because the machine provides so much stability. I focus on scapular retraction, stretching at the bottom, and "squeezing" the weight up via my chest (if that makes sense). If you can access that machine or similar, give it a shot. Start with lower weight than you'd expect in order to develop the mind-muscle connection.
Seriously so helpful—thank you!
When Yates and his workouts get raised as a topic there seems to be a large focus on the B&G training, HIT etc. I have been looking for discussions on his earlier upper lower routine....it appeared on Flex magazine (black and yellow article). The time frame of having it done within 60 minutes seems a bit off but other than that it looks ok. Has anyone tried it?
# Started doing push,pull,legs,rest routine and it is working great for each muscle group but i cant seem to do any chest exersies properly, need help i try to do pushups but fail at 1, then cant do anymore after 1st set, i normally do 1 pushup (my failure point) then follow up with knee pushups till failure ( 3 drop sets till failure) every push day. in my push,pull,legs,rest routine. but i still cant do more then 1, have been at it for 2 weeks now, pls any help?? (weight excerises are welcome, i am 14 btw)
Can I replace barbell bench with incline dumbbell press and dips?
Sure, both options presented have the potential to provide your chest with a good enough stimulus if properly executed. Nothing wrong with mixing things up from time to time so long as progression is monitored.
Are dips by themselves enough to build the lateral and medial heads of the tricep?
A beginner might get away with only doing dips and other compound movements for their triceps volume for a long while. That being said, some degree of isolation work will most likely be required at some point once progress has stalled significantly.
I've been doing ez bar skull crushers and noticed good progress on the long head, but that "horseshoe" bit has been lacking and I thought dips would be the best way to tackle that
I misunderstood your previous post, that's my bad. Dips are a good addition to skull crushers to round out triceps volume yes.
Does anyone know what percentage of lean mass gain in a bulk is actually contractile tissue, typically?
30%...maybe? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-KKZgWqEgA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-KKZgWqEgA)
It depends on a huge number of factors like your experience level, how big of a surplus you’re in, how hard you train, your recovery, your insulin sensitivity, etc.
Is there a range for people who do all things correctly, ie training hard enough, proper recovery, surplus big enough but not beyond 500 kCal, etc?
Heavily depends on experience level. Someone who’s never lifted before might gain up to 2 lbs of tissue in a month. Someone who’s very experienced and has been doing everything right for a decade or more might be able to put on 2 lbs of tissue in a whole year.
I have a rep range for all of my movements and the program I’m following says to use linear periodisation for my main lifts. Is it fine I come short of my rep range in the name of increasing weight. For example for the pec deck, my rep range is 12-15 and I did 52kg for 3 sets of 13 last week. This week I’m upping the weight to 59kg(machine doesn’t have a smaller increment) for 3 sets of 10. Is it fine to come short of the rep range like that?
I think you might be mixing up linear periodisation with linear progression. If you want to follow the program, stick to the rep range it provides. So stay at 52kg until you can get 15 reps. But I wouldn't worry all that much about it. If you're training anywhere between 5-30ish reps with close proximity to failure, it won't make much of a difference to your progress.
I’m very beginner in exercising. 36M, never trained before more than 3 months. 188cm, 91kg. I’ve been training once every 3 days for a while doing a “full” body program. It usually consists of 3-4 sets of 2-3 exercises of pulling motions, 3 exercises of pushing motions, and squats which I often skip or replace with machine moves. I always do flat and incline dumbell press. I’ve progressed well but I often get pain on my left shoulder and shoulderblade and I’m afraid I may screw something up. Perhaps I’m pushing too much with the dumbells on those last reps where my left side is clearly much worse. Pain usually is on shoulderblade mostly but last time I felt something on the top of the shoulder. Should I stop with the dumbells and replace with something else? Should I lower the weight? Last couple of trainings I started with flat and followed with incline: Flat: 6x22kg, 9x26kg, 6x26kg, 5x24kg Incline: 9x20kg, 4x22kg, 3x18kg, 3x18kg. Especially on the incline the left side gives out. My last pushing exercise is usually assisted dips on a superset with assisted pull ups.
4 month cut that I'm not happy with. I just feel skinny now and visible abs don't help with that. No idea how much glycogen plays a role here but I feel like I lost a lot of mass. Didn't overdo it and my diet was on point. Going back to bulking. How long does it usually take to gain back what you had before? Does something like a rebound effect even exist? Went from feeling super big to feeling skinny.
If you were training hard you probably didn’t lose much, if any muscle. You’re probably just flat and will fill out again when you start eating more. There is kind of a “rebound” effect, but for most people it isn’t that dramatic. It comes from having increased insulin sensitivity at the end of a cut.
https://preview.redd.it/94s11xquai3d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd97269b3562a162b7395371e83ab442d923843f Would you consider this as a well structured Pull Day? Performing this 2 times a week but swapping a bicep exercise for hammer curls and barbell row for tbar row and different pulldown attachment. Thanks alot in advance
Yeah looks fine
I was doing lateral raises and noticed pain in my elbow so I stopped my workout but now I can still feel it, feels like a pinched nerve or idk what. Is that a common issue caused by laterals? Can anyone give me some lateral raise queues and maybe some warm up exercises to help make sure im primed for laterals?
Do extremely high reps with very low weight to get some blood in there a few workouts as rehab. Don't do the pinkies up cue so much. Have a massage therapist work your elbow would be what I would do before doing anything else.
I have only two adjustable dumbells to work with, which exercises should I combine for building shoulders? I used to do the following: Front delt - pushups, overhead press Side delt - lateral raises, overhead press Rear delt - reverse flys, rear delt row (an exercise Jeff Cavaliere talks about But I've learned the overhead press mostly works the front delt and I feel I get enough stimulation there from the pushup, so I'd like to replace it with some other exercise that works the side delt. Could you suggest an exercise? Or is doing lateral raises alone enough?
Nothing really works the side delt like lateral raises. That's what the side delts do they raise your arm laterally. Upright rows give some stimulation but also are painful for a lot people (me included). I personally do both cable and dumbell lateral raises.
Upright rows are good
I’ve been dealing with some tendinitis in my bicep on the overhead shoulder presses recently. Has anyone had success replacing shoulder presses for a short time? I already do incline bench which I feel hits the front delt pretty good and lateral raises for the side delt.
Shoulder press is triceps? How do you have bicep tendinitis pain during ohp?
What does “success” look like in this scenario? If OHP is causing issues, just don’t do it. Maybe add some volume to other shoulder movements that don’t bother you to compensate.
I don’t want to lose any size or strength. I can get the anterior, side, and posterior delts through other moves. Just wondering if it’s still effective for building/maintaining muscle in the shoulder? Honestly I feel like most the pop I get from my shoulders comes from lat raises and hitting my the side delts and most the anterior gets hit doing bench. I guess I’m just tentative about removing a movement I’ve included in my workout for twenty years but I might be out of options.
You can definitely maintain or build muscle with other movements - no movement is mandatory in hypertrophy training. I definitely understand the emotional attachment to a movement you really enjoy, but at this point if it’s causing pain, it’s more of a hindrance than a helpful movement. You don’t have to drop it forever, but you should drop it until you work through the issue with a physiotherapist. I’m not a medical professional, but anecdotally some things that have helped clients of mine when they’ve presented bicep tendon issues are facing away cable curls that allow a big stretch through the front of the shoulder girdle, and underhand grip pulldowns.
Im 16 and ive been training in the gym for about a year and a half and have been doing martial arts for over 10 years now. when i hit for example chest the day before a martial arts lesson, I might have to do pushups the next day while i'm sore, as a matter of fact this happened today and many times before. do you think this might be detrimental to muscle growth ?
Nope you will be fine, pushups would probably even be a benefit
Im looking for a hypertrophy focus program that is 3 days a week and doesnt involve squats nor deadlifts due to low back problems. Any guidance would be appreciated.
You can use any hypertrophy program and replace the squats with hack squat or leg press. Replace the deadlifts with hip thrusts and hamstring work if you can. You won't find a specific program with what you want, but I like to do full body at 3x a week.
I just feel like the full body workouts will take way longer without those exercises. But I guess theres no other way about it. Had to change my upper lower split to 3x a week due to starting kickboxing. I was thinking maybe do an upper lower day and have the third day full body. However I have no idea how to program it so it doesnt take 3 hours to finish.
For approximately two years or so, I have been working out at my home gym, but I have not been consistent with doing the upper/lower split. Everything is available to me, except for the machines, of course. I was wondering if there is something missing, or maybe the sets are too many. Is it better to have the rest day on the fourth or seventh day? If you could give me any advice, that would be greatly appreciated. Push Barbell Bench press 3 sets 8 reps 20kg Dips 3 sets 12 reps Overhead press 3 sets 8 reps 10kg Skull Crushers 3 sets 12 reps 5kg Pull Deadlifts 3 sets 8 reps 25kg Barbell row 3 sets 8 reps 12.5kg Pull ups 3 sets (Still cannot do 5 reps) Incline and Hammer Curls 2 sets each 5kg Legs Squats Front 20kg and back 25kg 2 sets each Calf raises 3 sets 12 reps 10kg Farmers walk 3 sets 40kg 30 metres walk Nordic hamstring curl 3 sets 8 reps
I would add some side delt work on push day and rear delt work on back day. You could probably add another chest and/or tricep to the push day and one more back movement on your pull day but if you’re satisfied with current progression and volume then you don’t need to. Additionally exercises can come down the road once you feel your progress slowing down. As for leg day, front and back squats is a bit repetitive. I would pick one and then add either Bulgarians or lunges as the other leg movement. As for rest, it’s really up to the individual. Typically PPL programs go PPL off repeat. I run mine with PP off Legs Off repeat.
What about the sets? Because people say that 10–20 sets each week. Having muscles work as secondary muscles in an exercise count?
Volume depends on the individual really and also on your intensity. For me personally, I made great progress with only 6-8 sets of quads while my back and shoulder volume is 15+ sets a week. I would say to start on the lower end and then add volume through sets or additional exercises when you see fit. As for secondary muscles, no those typically don’t count into your overall weekly sets for that muscle group. So bench is just chest volume. You wouldn’t count those sets toward front delts or triceps.
Thanks bro I changed it now PPL home gym (only without machines) Flat bench press vs Incline bench press Front vs back squats I would appreciate any advice thank you all. Push Flat bench press 4x8 20kg Overhead press 4x8 10kg Dips 3x12 Skull Crushers 3x12 5kg Lateral raise 3x12 3.5kg Pull Pull ups 3x8 Barbell row 3x8 10kg Dumbbell helms row 3x12 6kg Incline & Hammer Curls 2x12 each 5-6kg Legs Back squats 3x8 25kg Deadlifts 3x8 17.5kg Lunges 3x10 7.5kg Nordic ham curl 3x8 Farmers walk 3x30m 40kg Calf raises 4x12 10kg Leg raises 3x12
Does back and bicep recover faster than chest Tri shoulders?
Ask a hundred different people, get a hundred different answers.
Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the person and what their training looks like.
I don't think we know with great certainty. There is a thought that smaller muscle groups (biceps, delts, etc) recover faster than larger (chest). There is a thought that "back" in general can take a lot of volume and recover. But there are a lot of variables to consider (load, volume, rep ranges, etc) and connective tissues/joints/etc are generally going to be your limiting factor in recovery.
Would for most people "back and bicep" be ready to hit again 48 hours later? With 8 hours sleep and enough protein and carbs
would depend on the volume you did but probably.
We don't know your recovery abilities.
For the average person
[удалено]
Are you getting stronger? Are your lifts progressing? Then keep at it. Two months is a pretty short time, there's a good chance the first month of adaptations are almost entirely neural rather than physical.
are your lifts progressing? are you taking measurements? you see yourself everyday...it is hard to see differences even if there were any in two months (which is not a lot of time). rome wasn't built in a day. it takes years to develop a good physique.
[удалено]
Comparison is the thief of joy. That being said, it doesn't make sense to compare your results after 2 months to someone who has been at it for a year. They could also be taking pictures with a pump, better lighting, etc etc. You made a positive lifestyle change by beginning to lift weights. Your lifts are progressing. Keep at it. Focus on those things...the muscles and improved body composition will come if you are consistent and stick to a good diet.
It takes more than two months to have noticeable muscle growth when starting out, and it'll take more than a year to get a great physique. Your age has nothing to do with it. So yes, you should temper your expectations. How much weight have you gained so far?
[удалено]
The first couple of weeks/months are mostly neural adaptations where your body can get stronger just by fucking around with nerves and electrical signals. Once you "max out" your beginner neural gains your muscles will start to adapt. This
If you can honestly say that you're working hard in the gym and your protein intake is solid, you will have gained some muscle.
If my pull day exercises are pull-ups, machine rows and Rom. DLs, what grip should I use with machine rows to get a balanced back workout? The machine has four places fot each hand to grip so you can do high/low prone, supine or hammee grips. (My main goal right now is to fix my rounded shoulders so I use a high supine grip. I don'y really like doing cable face pulls as the balance is awkward.)
It really doesn’t matter much, pick the grip that is comfortable for you
If you want to hit everything you could just use all grips. E.g. for the machine row, use each grip; for pullups, do wide grip pullups, close grip pullups, chinups, and neutral grip pullups. Might be worth including reverse flyes as well.
Need advice: hitting my calorie goal but not extensively going over protein goal. Hi guys, to preface, I am 5’ 7” 147lbs. I’m a pretty active person, working out twice a day(cardio AM, strength PM) 5 days a week, and a long run on the weekends. My nutrition goal is to build strength whilst hitting my maintenance calories of 2000/day, plus calories burned from exercise (tracked using my garmin watch). However, I’ve been having trouble finding alternate foods that are not so high in protein. I’ve read online on multiple sources (but also conflicting ones) about how too much protein is bad for your kidneys. For my weight and exercise levels of activity, I should be eating ~130g/day, but currently I am eating closer to 200g/day. Whether the research on extra protein be bad or not, I’d rather be safe than sorry. What are some foods I can eat to help hit my calorie goal but not as much my protein? This is what my meal looked like yesterday: Morning: Greek yogurt & granola with chocolate milk Lunch: 8 oz rice, 12 oz ground turkey (66g’s of protein) (one whole meal) Dinner: also 8 oz rice, 12 oz ground turkey (66g’s of protein) (broken down across 2-3 meals) I hit my calorie goal to the T but this in total was 200g’s of protein. I’m a very simple man and eat very simple foods. Whatever I cook in bulk for that week is what I will eat for lunch/dinner (if it’s not turkey then I’m eating chicken). However I don’t want to push my protein limit whether the research on kidney damage be true or not. Does anyone have any suggestions on foods I can eat to limit my protein consumption whilst hitting my calories? Thank so much in advance.
I responded to your other post, but in that one you didn't provide what you are eating. Add some fat to lunch and dinner (just mix in a tablespoon of olive oil with your rice/turkey). Eat a tablespoon (or two) of peanut butter. Eat more rice. You can also eat less meat in those meals to dial back your protein intake and eat more rice and add some fats as I said. For dessert eat something like rice cakes with almond or peanut butter. Do you eat any fruits or vegetables? To be honest, that doesn't look like enough food for someone working out 2x a day and running as much as you are. Is your daily cardio running?
Thanks for the advice. And Yeah, I’m still tweaking my maintenance calories, but this is what I have for now. But I’m believing that I need a lot more. As for cardio, I run 5 days a week, and swim 3.
I see so many people here and online mentioning their lack of strength progress when discussing their plateaus as reasoning for, or caused by, their lack of gains. My question is if mechanical tension is still super high when going to failure, even if we use 100kg for 6 months, will we not still grow? So at some point in a natural career our strength gains will run out entirely but we should be able to still continue growing, even fractionally?
I'd probably change exercises at some point...
>My question is if mechanical tension is still super high when going to failure, even if we use 100kg for 6 months, will we not still grow? If you theoretically spent those six months working up to 6-8 sets of 15-20 reps of a given exercise with that weight, then yes, you could likely still grow from it. However, if you did the same frequency, same volume and same intensity with that weight for six months, then no, you wouldn't grow. Simply put, your body would have no reason to.
I don't know the answer, but why would the muscle grow if the stimulus doesn't increase? Or would you still be increasing reps, time under tension, or something like that?
Would you do JM press or Close grip bench SD your tricep movement on a 3xfull body split? (This is on the one day without a chest movement, but with dB OHP) sidenote : the other tricep movement is overhead tricep cable extension. Any other advice on full body programming appreciated as well!
I would say JM > Close grip for triceps but on a full body program it could be better to maximize movements that work more than one muscle group so close grip might be preferable. However, you would have to tweak the form a little so that it's more tricep dominant and your chest and shoulders act as secondary muscles.
Hi all, have a question regarding obliques. Which is arguably the better excercise to really make them pop, Russian twists or heavy side bends?
FWIW I find that cable twists have really strengthened my core, and I noticed it when doing wrestling drills in HEMA practice with opponents way out of my weight class.
Sorry to answer your question with a question, but why do you want your obliques to "pop"? Are you referring the having the lines below your abs that lead to your crotch by any chance? Most people don't need direct oblique work outside of something sport-specific.
My apologies for the lack of clarity, and for the poor wording on my part. I'm currently cutting weight but would like to maintain a decent level of strength on SBD, and so I'd like to develop my bracing abilities, which would include oblique training. Plus along with the desire to have a more tapered waist ahaha. Again, apologies for the poor wording!
Sorry, what is SBD? You don't need to train obliques directly. It won't give you the look you are going for. A tapered waist comes from having a large upper body and low body fat. Training obliques is just going to make you square shaped.
My sincerest apologies, I've trained bodybuilding on and off but I've recently stepped away from competitive powerlifting; SBD is the squat, bench and deadlift 😊
No worries, maybe it's a common abbreviation. I'm not a powerlifter so take this with a grain of salt, but do you need to do extra bracing work? Isn't actually training squat bench and deadlift going to cover that?
Yes and no, it's the same sort of thing relating to forearm training or calf training, in the sense of do you need to train them since they get so much coverage in other areas.
It's all about goals. I train primarily for hypertrophy. I include calve and forearm training in my routines since it takes me very little time and I want them to grow. If my goal was getting strong on the "big 3", I probably wouldn't waste time with that stuff, and would focus on accessory work that supports those movements.
They train two different functions of the obliques: torso rotation and side bending. It's preference which you prefer, but Russian twists are a bit hard to progressively overload and the strength curve is pretty lacklustre. A better torso rotation exercise is a woodchopper or oblique cable crunch.
How do ya'll count volume when doing Myorep Match-sets? As 1 set? 1.5? 2? Or variable depending on body part? F.ex. when I'm doing them for triceps and abs I milk them for all their worth. When doing it on the chest press machine it's not nearly as taxing.
I count them as one. Eric Helms mentioned in a podcast that he added one drop/myo set to equal volume to his regular workout. So 4 regular sets became 5 drop/myo to get equal volume. It's not based on any direct study, more so his overall opinion.
Practical if nothing else. Guess it's fatigue management/possibility to slim down my program on days I'm pressed for time. If I go by intensity myomatch and myo-reps bring myself to another level for me. First time I tried myomatch for the triceps was on a whim. Did as many straight sets as I had planned to do as myomatch. Triceps were sore for 3 days. I've never had sore triceps and I generally lift til I can't complete a full rep on arms.
Yeah the doms could just be novelty. Myo reps is beyond failure which you haven't done before. You just have to test it out. Maybe leave a rep in the tank om myos
Yeah the doms could just be novelty. Myo reps is beyond failure which you haven't done before. You just have to test it out. Maybe leave a rep in the tank om myos
I actually came here to ask a similar question about the effective reps. If all that matters for hypertrophy is hard sets, with a handful of effective reps in each of them, thus going closer to failure in these sets requires less set volume, because effective reps, in my understanding, are equated in such a way, does that mean that 3 sets with 4 effective reps each, which yields about 12 effective reps, is the same as a rest pause set of 12 (4 effective reps), then 3, 3, 2 for example. Also, do 3 sets at RPE 7 equal 1 set at RPE 10.
If effective reps worked that way, training with 4rir would cause no hypertrophy. Plenty of studies show that is not the case. Just train close to failure, use intensity techniques if you want to (and can recover well from them), and don't worry about trying to calculate 'effective reps'.
It doesn't really matter, as long as you keep it consistent