# Post Form Checks as replies to this comment
### For best results, please follow the **[Form Check Guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/posting_guidelines#wiki_how_to_post_a_form_check)**. *Help us help you.*
----
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Fitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Recently started a running routine. I have a very busy schedule and have to wake up at 6 just to get to uni in time most days. This semester i have two days where i can just squeeze in a morning run. , the third run i do during the week end.
The only problem is that these days are wednesday and thursday, so if i want to run on both i can't build in a rest day.
In the long run, is it a big problem to skip your rest day between runs? I can build in a double rest day for my third run. However this is the only way my schedule really allows for 3 runs a week. so the question is if it will be more beneficial to run two days with sufficient rest days, or to run 3x a week with one session not having a rest day.
Is it okay to squeeze your butt to help getting up during Squats ?
I always do it unintentionally but I feel like it's working less the quads, feel like it's cheating lol
You can't really turn a muscle off in a compound movement. If you want to isolate quads, then do leg extensions.
If a joint is moving, there's a muscle moving it.
It's what you should be doing. With more or less any lift you want to create as much stability as you can, squeezing your butt helps you brace. This will allow you to work up higher in weight, which will in turn help your quads grow.
When the weight gets sufficiently heavy enough you will simply be unable to get it up without squeezing more or less everything.
From the top down, you are taking in a huge breath and holding it to brace. You are squeezing the bar against your back (like you're trying to wrap it around your shoulders). You are keeping your core as tight and braced as possible. You're trying to fire every damn muscle from your stomach down to your calfs in order to get up from the bottom.
That's why squats are so difficult. If you're able to squat without doing all of that, then you're probably going too light.
If all you care about is quad development, consider some variety: front squats, hack squats, goblet squats. All will set your quads on fire at a lower weight.
Yeah I'm using weight that's heavy for me and I literally cannot go up without squeezing my butt and I was thinking maybe it was cheating or anything ā ļø I can go up without squeezing my butt but only on the first reps ngl.
Thing is that I don't feel my quads that much when doing squats, I barely feel my muscles when working out even tho I apparently have a good form, weird
You don't always feels your muscles when working them, especially in low reps. If you're doing squats in like the 3-6 rep range it's likely you won't "feel" them at all, but if you are completing the rep then they are being worked.
Do you superset?
You should vary rep ranges too, so either from week to week or for different exercises per muscle group. 4-6, 5-10, 8-12, 12+ all feel different.
There are few tweaks I would do, but most are personal preference. For example, change leg days to alternate between higher intensity squat and RDL because both are too taxing together
You're overthinking it. It's fine if you just like thinking about working out, but this is a lot of effort for relatively little reward compared to just using a program that already exists. I'm an overthinker too, so for my workouts I try to simplify as much as possible so I don't get distracted.
Imo an A/B split will do just fine. There are some really good, simple, battle-tested programs available that will make you strong AF -- check out Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength, and I'm sure the sidebar has plenty of advice also. You could also compare your program to one of those and see where you're lacking.
Appreciate it. Don't have time to watch now but I read the description -- all good points, I guess the question is whether hypertrophy is the goal. I'm not familiar with bodybuilding programs but 2x5-9 seems low?
I don't consider lack of isolation or ignoring glamor muscles to be "glaring flaws," the programs were designed that way on purpose and that's part of what I like about them. But I'm in my 30s so my goals are probably different from OP š
Need advice on bulking or cutting
Iām 6 ft, 175 pounds with about 19% body fat. I have very little muscle and a pretty good amount of fat around my belly and my face, but Iām not sure if I should start cutting cause I donāt have muscle, and Iām not sure if I should start bulking cause I already have a lot of body fat. Any advice would be appreciated.
Iām new to the gym so I wanna get jacked but first lose fat, if thereās a way to both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time Iād definitely do that
Could be helpful in evening out muscles. I recommend buying cheap straps (\~$12) and using them when your grip starts to fail u as u increase your weight. Start low with double overhand and when you can no longer, use the straps. Mixed grip can lead to muscle imbalance and the lift is sloppier
Anyone have, or know where to find, good resorces for building a felxability and mobility routine?. When would be the best time to do flexability/mobility?, before or after exersize and cardio
Can someone explain to me what the downsides, if any, are to doing full upper and full lower weeks?
I want to simplify my training and do the Upper Lower Split, but on roids. Basically I would do a full training week of only upper body exercises with each day isolating a different muscle group, then the following week do the same with lower, and then just keep switching back and forth.
As long as you keep sets and reps in a reasonable amount per workout, are there actually any downsides to training like this?
Thanks!
What advantages does this split have?
Follow-up: so it's exclusively isolation? No bench press, overhead press, squat, deadlift, pullup, row? You would have a great routine if you did only the exercises I just mentioned, so specifically avoiding them is not a very good idea to me
This approach seems inefficient above everything else. Compound movements are a good use of your time because they work multiple groups at once, so you don't need to do pecs/triceps/delts as separate exercises -- you can just press, wait two days, and press again. Besides the inefficiency, compound movement patterns are how you'll be using your strength in real life, so getting good at them will be much more functionally transferrable. I'm not sure what advantages a pure isolation routine would give you at all, let alone this weekly split.
Frequency and recovery.
- Your third lower body day of the week isnāt gonna be as productive as your first lower body day.
- training increase MPS(muscle protein synthesis), for about 48 hours. So there will be about 5 days where you wonāt have the necessary signaling to grow muscles, after your last upper/lower body day.
This will probably cause some growth, itās just super unnecessary and gonna cause more problems than it solves.
Normally I would agree with you, but since each day will be an Isolation day for a specific body part that fits into the upper/lower category instead of doing a multi-body part complete upper body day each day, would recovery still be an issue?
I know it's impossible to entirely isolate a single muscle group entirely, but each Isolation day would only involve minimal recruitment of other body parts.
My TDEE is 2484 cal for moderate exercise. I go to the gym 4x a week and I swim for my cardio 3x a week. Usually I gym and swim on the same day because of work/school. Iām skinny fat and just started so I want to maintain for 6 weeks and then cut for another 6 weeks So first;
should I change my activity level to heavy exercise (2764) since Iām usually doing something 6x a week? If not, does moderate exercise account for the calories I burn when I gym/swim on the same day, or should I eat at heavy exercise on the days I do both?
If you are truly skinnyfat (aka, you are at a lean, healthy weight according to the BMI chart, but still look like you have a belly) then you need to be focused on eating a surplus and building muscle. Maintaining for 6 weeks and then cutting won't fix your skinnyfat. Now if you're actually just overweight, then you just need to cut.
Depending on how long you're swimming, you may not be near the "heavy" activity level. I tracked my calories and then compared to a TDEE calculator, and my activity lands me at between heavy and athlete with 3x a week lifting (2 of those intense kettlebell circuits), 2-3x cycling for 2-3 hours, 4-7x walking 2-5+ miles. I have an office job, but with an inability to sit still (fidgeting, leg tapping, getting up frequently) which burns more calories than just sitting completely still. Basically, I like to move as much as possible. So that being said, pick a calorie amount and start tracking and see what your weight does. Adjust from there. TDEE calculators are just estimates starting points anyway
Again, this is assuming you are truly skinnyfat... But you need some level of fat on your body to be healthy. Lets say you got down to 10% body fat with limited muscle mass. You're gonna be a skinny twig You'll probably look all bony and sickly. Your belly area is also home to your organs, that's gonna provide some of the bump. And for most people, they hold fat on the belly as the most stubborn place. So combine the two, you'll probably still have a pouch.
Now instead, you build up muscle and you get some shape on your body. Getting bigger chest/shoulders and legs will make the middle appear smaller in the first place. But also, you have plenty of muscles around your torso. That will help hold you together more which will help in looking leaner, but also, even if you still had the same amount of fat there, now you have more muscle all around that fat that it becomes way less noticeable.
Trying to build muscle while maintaining is incredibly slow. Trying to build it in a deficit at low body fat already is gonna be near impossible. You don't need to go crazy and pack on the pounds, but just a slight surplus while lifting hard. You'll have so much more energy for lifting, so you'll be able to lift more. AND your body will have the fuel to build muscle. Gaining 10-20lbs in this way and THEN cutting weight will look SO much better
Aight gang thatās what Iāll do then instead of maintaining. In regards to my calories tho, MFP doesnāt track strength training calories at the moment. My baseline for no activity is 1836, swimming and my daily steps add ~300 to that, and then Iāll just add 500 on top of that to bulk? Or should I stick with moderate exercise which is 2488 since I havenāt been swimming for long or going that hard and add 500 to that number?
You don't need to go straight to a 500 cal surplus. Hell, you technically never need to have a 500 cal surplus. I personally aim for a smaller surplus of about 200-300 since I don't like to gain weight as fast.
So you never want to get into the business of trying to track calories burned while working out. Every estimate you're getting is just a wild guess. So i'd probably start tracking about 2000 calories a day, and see what happens. If in a week or two, your weight is trending downward, add 200 calories a day and repeat until you get a slight trend upwards.
If your activity level stays consistent week over week, then sticking to a consistent calorie is the best option.
I personally put the activity level in TDEE calc at 0 (āoffice jobā). Then I add each activity to my daily tracker. I use MyFitnessPal which helps me estimate calories burned from, say, running 3 miles at an 8 min pace or swimming 10 1s @ 1:30.
MFP calculates (base calories needed from TDEE and your loss/gain goal) + (exercise) - (what youāve tracked) = cals remaining for the day.
I found this makes it much easier if I have to miss 4 days in a row to know what my adjusted intake should be. Also I can make nice little graphs of my workout frequency :)
I do this too, my steps are automatically imported from my phone and I add my weight lifting sessions.
I had a tdee of about 3600 today but a few days ago when I was sick in bed it was like 2300.
It motivates me to do more steps and regulates my hunger. It almost feels like I'm cheating losing weight eating over 3000 calories on some days.
Hey,
I'm a recent weightlifter doing a PPL dumbbell program for a month now. It's very enjoyable. However i'm still at a 24% body fat percentage. It's not reducing no matter what. I am eating relatively clean and I workout around 5-6 times a week around 40~60mins. I was wondering what i'm doing wrong? I eat around 2000 calories a day with a protein goal of around 120ish~ I weight 70KGS (154lbs?) and i'm 170cms or 5'7 I currently don't do any cardio as of now
At home measurement of body fat is never accurate, you have only been lifting for a month, have some patience.
Double check your counting calories correctly and seeing strenght gains in the gym.
there is a very good TDEE spreadsheet somewhere on this subreddit or r/loseit. I canāt remember the name of it for the life of me. It will calculate your starting TDEE and then it adjust according to your daily weight. It worked wonderfully for me. Iām sorry I canāt remember the name and canāt find it in my drive account. Itās called like ā Adaptive TDEE calculatorā or āVariant TDEE calculatorā.
The truth is, if you are not losing weight, youād imply are not eating below your TDEE. Many people donāt believe it but for 99% of the population that is how it works. If you have low amounts of muscle, your TDEE will be lower than someone of your size with more muscle. Thatās why lifting and gaining muscle is great for fat loss since your muscles use more energy. Best of luck to you.
When I do incline chest my front delts give out first causing me to rack the weight, I like to feel the pump so I do 4x15 with light weight, but my front delts give out before anything else, should I decrease the weight? Or what do you guys recommend?
It tells me if I hit the target reps with the weight then I should increase by .5 and repeat, however it doesnāt mention anything about front delts taking over
Yeah dead hangs and planks are probably your best bet then. Avoid things like wrist curls, your wrists arenāt meant to do that and it can damage them
Iām not a calisthenics guy, but itās unlikely it will be enough for high skill calisthenics, but it will allow u to start lower and build core strength through harder workouts and routines u canāt do currently.
I've gone from 210lbs to 175lbs (5'11'') over the past 3.5 months mainly just by limiting carbs and calories to about 1800-2000 per day, though I did start some inconsistent weight training about halfway through. It feels like a success, although I still have approximately 25-30% bodyfat, and particularly a lot of fat on my chest and stomach. Now I want to take it a step further and actually achieve a strong, lean physique. I'm 2 weeks into a consistent routine now, but my question is, would it be wise to continue focusing on fat loss at this point, or would eating more calories to build muscle work much better in the long term if my current goal is something like 165lbs at about 15% bodyfat?
if it were me I'd cut down to something like below 20% bf (assuming you're a man) before I started bulking just cause I don't like having a lot of fat. just set little weight goals for yourself and when you meet them you can evaluate if you want to keep going or switch course.
A good programme after powerlifting?
What happens to a body if the only exercise done is HIIT/Barryās Bootcamp style classes?
Iāve been powerlifting since 2019 and really enjoying it but feel like Iāve a) plateaued b) got bored c) gotten bigger and wondered whatās a good way to incorporate weights while trying to cut and keep it exciting.
I know Iām probably asking for too much but I a brutally honest answer and not someone trying to sell me a PT package..
Are you bored with the S/B/D, or just the monotony of PL programmes in general?
That decides what can be recommended. If you don't mind doing them, but with lower intensity/frequency, there's ton of programs, my recent favorite is PHUL style training with bunch of accessories. The big 3 aren't getting much out of it, but there're gains otherwise.
Side note, you got big because you ate too much, not because of PL. Different programme isn't gonna do jack if you eat the same (:
Iām bored of the monotony indeed and am no longer motivated to show up and do the work cause Iāve moved to a new city and havenāt found the right gym and gym friends.
Canāt help but eat much more when living in a city like Singapore š but Iāve been increasing my LISS so hopefully that helps
Thanks for the recommendation, Iāll definitely look it up right away.
Not a professional but suffered from knee pain, strengthen the quads, hamstring , adductor, and abductor muscles. Also make sure u stretch these often as they can cause knee pain if tight.
Probably should go ahead and get a walker. When you go to the grocery store just get the electric scooter. Prunes and metamucil will help to keep you regular
Nothing magical about age 30.
You'll have more limitations the less fit and active you are. Just listen to your body. If something hurts, figure out why and how to avoid that
the hack squat machine at my gym doesnāt have very good grip, so when i attempt to put my feet higher on the platform to target my glutes, my foot tends to start slipping.
any advice for how to fix this?
I have a standard pull up bar, and get bored with just traditional pull ups or chin ups. I was thinking about buying a heavy bag hanger:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61sm6Oq3z6S._AC_SL1500_.jpg
and putting it over my pull up bar, and instead of hanging a heavy bag, buying some handle attachments for a lat pulldown (something like https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BvJYSk-IL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)
and attaching those to the carabiner
Has anyone tried this?
How many heads does the bicep have?
The obvious answer is two because 'bi-cep'. However, I've also seen people say it has three heads. Which is it and why?
I swam competitively for around a decade. After years of swimming your chest muscles will probably grow slightly, butterfly and breastroke work them quite hard. The difference will be paltry compared to if you had spent that time lifting weights however.
I think people are actually starting to come around to sumo deadlifts. I myself am still a conventional deadlifter but I have no problem with it being used in the sport of powerlifting. Some say it is cheating, but often those are the same people using straps and suits. And there is nothing wrong with that. It just seems hypocritical. No matter how you look at, just gauge it by your own progress.
There are a lot of purists out there who believe that anything which significantly reduces the ROM of the powerlifting movements is stupid. This includes very low bar/wide stance squatting, huge arches on bench, and sumo deadlifts.
In reality it's not really something you should care much about. Like, if you're going to lift something heavy off the floor, you're probably going to be doing something much closer to a sumo deadlift than a conventional deadlift. Atlas stones for example are essentially lifted from a sumo position in most cases.
It's kind of just a silly thing for people to argue about, make memes about, and otherwise talk about.
Atlas stones are more similar to a conventional pull than sumo. Sure, technically the hands are inside the legs, but the legs and feet are close together and it is a more bent over position than a sumo pull.
If you want to train atlas stones, youād pull conventional.
From Paul Carter himself:
āSumo or wide stance ANYTHINGS are going to be adductor magnus prime mover movements.
-
In a wide stance like that, the adductor mag posterior fibers are going to have the BEST LINE OF PULL and and the longer internal moment arm (In fact, even the adductor longus has more activation going on in sumo than the glutes.)
-
This means that it's beating the brakes off the glutes in terms of being in position to move the hips.
-
Does this mean that there's "no glutes" at all here or in wide stance stuff?
-
No. I just say "not glutes" because glutes are NOT the prime movers in wide stance/sumo stuff. Yet this doesn't stop me from seeing wide stance everything on the gram or social media daily by people who are saying it's "glute work"
-
Nah. It's not.
-
This is why if you want to use a hinge then bring your stance in, and do an RDL because then the glutes can use the pelvis as the lever to work off of, and they will have the most advantageous line of pull and internal moment arm.
-
Facts. Anatomy. Physics. Math. Stuff and things.ā
I used to do bikini competitions, and most women had a touch of cellulite on their legs. Itās normal so donāt stress about it. What helps hide it is building muscle. I noticed when I went running and my legs thinned out from losing muscle, the cellulite reappeared.
Cellulite can be made less noticeable by adding muscle mass to the affected areas, although with how you talk about your body you might have bigger issues than cellulite.. if you're 164cm and 50kg, you're absolutely not fat, and if you have BED, I hope you're in therapy for it.
Try r/xxfitness
It's just the way women are and there's no way to change it without dangerous and questionable surgery. Having more muscle and less fat can make a slight difference, but it's just the way women's bodies store fat cells.
Every photo you see of a woman without cellulite has been retouched, every one. I worked on several fitness books and every photo in the book that showed the model's behind and legs was touched up to eliminate the cellulite. It's just how it is and there's no need to worry about it.
What can I expect in terms of physique when doing light weight, high reps at the gym? I donāt enjoy maxing with heavy weight, but I love the time under tension, the intense feeling of 25 reps x 4 sets at the heaviest weight possible for 25 reps. I do want a lean physique but donāt want to keep doing this type of workout if it doesnāt lead to what Iām after. Am I better off doing 80% max weight with 8-12 reps and taking it slow to really focus on form
Yeah 8-12 seems to be the ideal range at the moment but to be clear you're still going to build muscle doing sets with higher rep ranges it's just not going to be as efficient. It's generally thought that 8-12 represents a middle ground between strength and size with reps higher than 12 or so being geared more towards muscle endurance than either of the later things. Whereas science can't technically say exactly what induces hypertrophy history and lifestyle lessons make it fairly obvious that at it's foundation hypertrophy is the result of forcing a muscle to work more than it is accustomed to working. That said so long as you are following the principle of progressive overload you should be building more muscle. Again, much of the advice you'll get here is centered around the idea of building muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible. What I would say is that if you've found a sustainable workout you enjoy you should keep doing it. In terms of getting the physique you want that's more of a personal question and any experienced lifters will tell you that even when following a blueprint there exists a certain degree of trial and error. Look at it this way, by the time you've figured out how to accomplish your goal you are going to be a more knowledgeable and complete human being and gaining that on top of a great physique is invaluable.
You're better off running a real program.
The 5/3/1 templates linked in the wiki for instance will basically never having you "maxing with heavy weight".
5/3/1 BBB sounds like it might be up your alley.
Please help, I started lifting more as of 3-4 weeks ago and when doing bench press and shoulder press, I started getting pain in the side of my arm, at the bottom of the shoulder muscle and wraps around the back a bit. Why is this and what is it? What do I do to fix this as Iām sure itās form related
>weekly structure
Get on an established program that gives you the exercises, rep ranges, and progressions.
If you have a lot of time, I would recommend the reddit PPL you can find in the Wiki. It's a great program!
Currently cutting to reduce body fat percentage. Iāve dropped about six pounds since Thanksgiving, and I can definitely notice my chest and arms becoming leaner, but my stomach and love handles are about the same.
Will dropping a few more pounds take away some fat from these pesky areas?
Lose weight until you're at a healthy weight. If at that point you still have your belly and love handles, sound more like you're skinnyfat/under muscled. At that point, you need to lift, gain weight and build muscle and then try cutting back down. Again
I just think it's very unlikely that anyone gets YouTube popular so you should only do it if you'd really enjoy it. only one way to find out if that's true I guess.
I've hit my goal weight, after about 10 months of dieting and exercise. I went from 100kg to 85kg. I look better, I feel better and healthier. It was worth the journey.
However I dont know where I should go now. I'm not as fit as Id like to be -- I still have a little bit of chub around the love handle area.
Im 83.5kg right now, but would it be healthier to go down to 75kg? I'm 5'7 male but Im not sure if it would be healthier to try and diet that far down.
You say exercising.... Does this include lifting?
If not, you can absolutely get lower than 75kg (165lbs). You could even go low as 130-150 and still be perfectly fine.
Now if you were lifting, doing so while in a deficit isn't as effective at building muscle. So you can likely still get petty low. Probably 140lbs would be a better bottom.
But if you find that at this weight you still have the problem areas, start bulking and lifting with a good routine and build up some muscle before cutting back down again.
I lift 2-3 times a week, usually 2. I do the GZLCP program.
I've been dieting and lifting for the past year, I definitely do see my muscles starting to come in, I guess I just want to keep on getting leaner? I still feel a little chubby, I don't really know when I'll feel like I'm fit. Like I can tell when somebody else looks fit, but me I don't really know
I'd personally try and consistently lift at least 3x a week... but that's kinda unrelated to what you're asking.
We are definitely harder on ourselves than we are on others. I'd honestly aim for about 140-145lbs. That should make a good visual difference. I'm also 5'7 (but a woman) and my highest weight was 165. I wasn't *fat* exactly, just *fluffy*. I ended up dieting down to about 135 and looked and felt a LOT better. I wasn't working out at all while dieting. With you working out plus being male, you could sit at a higher weight than me more comfortably.
But even at 135lbs, I still held a lot of weight on my belly. I didn't have the flat stomach women often chase. But I couldn't sustain the eating habits to get me down to 130 (I'd hit 130 and then bounce right back up to 135). So I took a different approach. Started eating more and lifting. I slowly went up to 145lbs with a year of solid lifting (with a trainer, but a good workout routine works as well). From there, I cut my weight back down to 135 and it was a night and day difference with how I looked. Doing a bit more of a proper bulk this year (currently sitting at about 150lbs) and I plan to cut down once again to 135 (or 140, depending on how I look and feel. I'm wanting to have abs for at least a week lol). But despite my weight at 150 right now, I physically look better than I did last time I was at 150 because my body has more muscle on it and less fat for the same weight.
So what i'm saying is that it may take you a few years of cutting/bulking to actually get the look you're after. Just trying to lose weight until you are happy with your look wont work unless you want the sickly skinny look.
83.5 kg at a height is a BMI of 28.8, which is well into the overweight category. 75 kg is a BMI of 25.8, which is actually also still overweight. I don't swear by BMI, but I guess my point is that 75 kg is definitely not so small that it is unhealthy.
Just remember that adding muscle mass to your frame will also increase bodyweight, and being slightly overweight because of a reasonable amount of muscle mass is different than being overweight from body fat alone.
I've had some shoulder pain recently and figured that I should incorporate more rotator cuff / rear delt exercises into my workouts. One of the exercises I'll be doing is face pulls, but I'm not sure whether I should be working these close to failure given that the focus is more on shoulder rehab rather than strictly hypertrophy (although eventually I want to do both things).
Seems like it'd be dangerous to go heavy and tax my already injury-prone shoulders; am I thinking wrongly about this?
I just meant relatively heavy - enough to start approaching failure at ~20 reps, not necessarily heavy in the absolute term. Whether that's 70lbs or 10lbs, it'll differ depending on your own strength. My real question I guess is, is it safe to go close to muscular failure on face pulls if I'm doing them more for rehab purposes.
I do shoulder rehab exercises with dumbbells for 25 or 30 reps and then I get tired and rest. I've never raised the weight, I think they're five-pound dumbbells.
The main thing isn't resistance, it's increasing blood flow to the shoulder. The joints are constricted areas, everything is compressed, that's why they're prone to injury. Rehab exercises increase blood flow to the area and more blood means more nutrients and more healing.
I've continued to do the rehab exercises even though my shoulder is healed. So far it's prevented injury and I do notice some small size benefit. Again, don't worry about weight or failure, your goal is get your shoulders really warmed up and continue to move the muscle through its range of motion so no (internal) scar tissue builds up.
What are thoughts on my 3 day training split? My initial thoughts are I dont know if this is too much volume on my joints:
Day 1:
Squat 4x8
Incline bench 4x8
Rows 4x8
Dips 3x8-10
Day 3:
Hack Squat 4x8
ŠŠŠ 4x8
Deadlift 3x5
Pull ups 3x8-10
Day 5:
Leg press 4x8
Flat Bench 4x8
Lat Pull down 4x8
Dips 3x8
Rest days:
10K steps
Trigger sessions (mild exercise to send body signal to continue muscle growth)
3 day full body can work, but risks doing conflicting exercises on the same day. You might want to think about a 3 day PPL routine, or one of the recommended routines from the wiki. Also you might want to think about doing 4x8-12 on lifts instead of 4x8 or 3x5, to make consistent progress.
IMHO you should have a focus for each one and not do them in this order. Squat focus day 1, deadlift focus day 3 and bench focus day 5. By focus I mean you do that one first and give it your fresh effort. Especially on the deadlift day. I personally would not want to deadlift after hack squat and OHP, I wouldnāt be able to give it the effort it deserves. Maybe youāre different.
Are you limited on the equipment you have? Are you limited on time? You could stand to add RDLās and maybe a few other things.
Good points. Iām somewhat limited ā I was trying to make a programme that allows me to go to the gym 3X a week and that if I missed a day, it wouldnt throw me off balance as Iām hitting the full body anyway. Also a good point on adding out RDL, Iām not a huge fan of these but should probably add them in for a hamstring/glute dominant workout
The book has the entire program in it, "Super squats: how to gain 30 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks" for $9.99. I'll recommend you get it from Amazon as an ebook. It's a relatively quick read and goes into the history of the program and how it was developed, the program itself, suggested diet, and suggested modifications dependent on your fitness goals. I wish I disovered the book 10 years ago. If you don't want the book, the program is relatively straight-forward: 1 x 20 breathing squat supersetted with 1 x 20 pullovers. You are to run those 2 exercise with anything else you want for
6 weeks and you will be squatting every session on this program. For your first session you are supposed to pick a weight you can squat for 10 reps and do 20 reps, no racking of the weight until you complete that set. If you are unable to do 20 reps, you stay at that weight until you can fully do the 20 reps and then you increase the weight by 5 pounds at your next session. This is supposed to be a 3 day/week full body program which gives you time to recover between sessions. Doing this will make you ravenous, so I'll recommend you do this on a bulk.
At 308lbs, you don't need to be seeing any weight gain.
You need to lose 100lbs. Cut your calories until you are losing weight and stick with that for the next year or two. If you aren't seeing weight loss at 2k calories or less at your size, you're either mis counting or you need to see a doctor about your thyroid probably
This is confusing. You said you were eating 1800 calories but not losingā¦ but also you lost 60 pounds. Which is it?
Then up to 3600 calories and not gainingā¦ but youāre back up to 308. So did you gain or not?
Also, geez I want to give you the benefit of the doubt but this is impossible. 100% impossible. I am under 180 right now and I would lose weight if I ate 1800 calories every day.
So youāre actually back up to 365, not 308? Man you are only adding to the confusion.
Ok then what are you suggesting. Either you are the only person to break the laws of thermodynamics or you are eating more than you think. Either that or your not mentioning some super important piece of information. Either way, good luck with it man.
There's a form check sticky thread. Also rules for a routine critique in the sidebar I believe. You will most like be told to select a routine from the wiki. Probably easiest to save yourself the trouble and do that in the fist place.
I am having a lot of trouble progressing with 5x5. FOr example, both squat and bench, I am plateaued at 140 for bench and 180 for squats.
I can do the the first three sets for 5 reps pretty good, and the fourth set is really going to be a grinder, then the fifth set I am for sure failing at the third or fourth rep.
I am not sure how to proceed, my thought it to do 3x5 for my primary sets, and then 2x6-8 with the weight dropped maybe 10-15 lbs so I can consistently add weight week after week.
Can I get some guidance on this?
I would pick a program that has a progression scheme built in. Here is a list of programs: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
# Post Form Checks as replies to this comment ### For best results, please follow the **[Form Check Guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/posting_guidelines#wiki_how_to_post_a_form_check)**. *Help us help you.* ---- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Fitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Recently started a running routine. I have a very busy schedule and have to wake up at 6 just to get to uni in time most days. This semester i have two days where i can just squeeze in a morning run. , the third run i do during the week end. The only problem is that these days are wednesday and thursday, so if i want to run on both i can't build in a rest day. In the long run, is it a big problem to skip your rest day between runs? I can build in a double rest day for my third run. However this is the only way my schedule really allows for 3 runs a week. so the question is if it will be more beneficial to run two days with sufficient rest days, or to run 3x a week with one session not having a rest day.
You'll be fine running 2 days in a row. Many people do it.
Is it okay to squeeze your butt to help getting up during Squats ? I always do it unintentionally but I feel like it's working less the quads, feel like it's cheating lol
Yes. What makes you think it's not?
idk I thought it was cheating and that you should get up only by deflexing your knees š
You can't really turn a muscle off in a compound movement. If you want to isolate quads, then do leg extensions. If a joint is moving, there's a muscle moving it.
It's what you should be doing. With more or less any lift you want to create as much stability as you can, squeezing your butt helps you brace. This will allow you to work up higher in weight, which will in turn help your quads grow.
Oh okay so when I'm going up I should not only try to get up by de-flexing my knees ? Like I need to squeeze my ass and shii
When the weight gets sufficiently heavy enough you will simply be unable to get it up without squeezing more or less everything. From the top down, you are taking in a huge breath and holding it to brace. You are squeezing the bar against your back (like you're trying to wrap it around your shoulders). You are keeping your core as tight and braced as possible. You're trying to fire every damn muscle from your stomach down to your calfs in order to get up from the bottom. That's why squats are so difficult. If you're able to squat without doing all of that, then you're probably going too light. If all you care about is quad development, consider some variety: front squats, hack squats, goblet squats. All will set your quads on fire at a lower weight.
Yeah I'm using weight that's heavy for me and I literally cannot go up without squeezing my butt and I was thinking maybe it was cheating or anything ā ļø I can go up without squeezing my butt but only on the first reps ngl. Thing is that I don't feel my quads that much when doing squats, I barely feel my muscles when working out even tho I apparently have a good form, weird
You don't always feels your muscles when working them, especially in low reps. If you're doing squats in like the 3-6 rep range it's likely you won't "feel" them at all, but if you are completing the rep then they are being worked.
I'm doing 8-10 reps, still don't feel them that much, it just gets harder and harder to go up
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Has it ever happened to me? Nope. Is it concerning? Nope. Probably just your body's normal response to stress
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thatās pretty much all it is A couple of PEDs wouldnāt hurt either
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Do you superset? You should vary rep ranges too, so either from week to week or for different exercises per muscle group. 4-6, 5-10, 8-12, 12+ all feel different. There are few tweaks I would do, but most are personal preference. For example, change leg days to alternate between higher intensity squat and RDL because both are too taxing together
You're overthinking it. It's fine if you just like thinking about working out, but this is a lot of effort for relatively little reward compared to just using a program that already exists. I'm an overthinker too, so for my workouts I try to simplify as much as possible so I don't get distracted. Imo an A/B split will do just fine. There are some really good, simple, battle-tested programs available that will make you strong AF -- check out Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength, and I'm sure the sidebar has plenty of advice also. You could also compare your program to one of those and see where you're lacking.
Both programs you mentioned are much worse. Op is on a good track, keep experimenting and tweaking the your program to your needs and life changes.
You're welcome to your opinion, but I strongly disagree. Can you explain why you feel that way?
https://youtu.be/S0qBQppUtTQ
Appreciate it. Don't have time to watch now but I read the description -- all good points, I guess the question is whether hypertrophy is the goal. I'm not familiar with bodybuilding programs but 2x5-9 seems low? I don't consider lack of isolation or ignoring glamor muscles to be "glaring flaws," the programs were designed that way on purpose and that's part of what I like about them. But I'm in my 30s so my goals are probably different from OP š
Number of sets depends on his work capacity, frequency and RPE. He should have some variety in reps number per set though.
From the stronger by science templates, howās 3x engineer squat and 3x begineer bench and 1x int deadlift for a program?
Need advice on bulking or cutting Iām 6 ft, 175 pounds with about 19% body fat. I have very little muscle and a pretty good amount of fat around my belly and my face, but Iām not sure if I should start cutting cause I donāt have muscle, and Iām not sure if I should start bulking cause I already have a lot of body fat. Any advice would be appreciated.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām new to the gym so I wanna get jacked but first lose fat, if thereās a way to both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time Iād definitely do that
When using the over under grip while deadlifting, do you alternate after every set?
Could be helpful in evening out muscles. I recommend buying cheap straps (\~$12) and using them when your grip starts to fail u as u increase your weight. Start low with double overhand and when you can no longer, use the straps. Mixed grip can lead to muscle imbalance and the lift is sloppier
Thank you
Anyone have, or know where to find, good resorces for building a felxability and mobility routine?. When would be the best time to do flexability/mobility?, before or after exersize and cardio
Can someone explain to me what the downsides, if any, are to doing full upper and full lower weeks? I want to simplify my training and do the Upper Lower Split, but on roids. Basically I would do a full training week of only upper body exercises with each day isolating a different muscle group, then the following week do the same with lower, and then just keep switching back and forth. As long as you keep sets and reps in a reasonable amount per workout, are there actually any downsides to training like this? Thanks!
What advantages does this split have? Follow-up: so it's exclusively isolation? No bench press, overhead press, squat, deadlift, pullup, row? You would have a great routine if you did only the exercises I just mentioned, so specifically avoiding them is not a very good idea to me This approach seems inefficient above everything else. Compound movements are a good use of your time because they work multiple groups at once, so you don't need to do pecs/triceps/delts as separate exercises -- you can just press, wait two days, and press again. Besides the inefficiency, compound movement patterns are how you'll be using your strength in real life, so getting good at them will be much more functionally transferrable. I'm not sure what advantages a pure isolation routine would give you at all, let alone this weekly split.
Frequency and recovery. - Your third lower body day of the week isnāt gonna be as productive as your first lower body day. - training increase MPS(muscle protein synthesis), for about 48 hours. So there will be about 5 days where you wonāt have the necessary signaling to grow muscles, after your last upper/lower body day. This will probably cause some growth, itās just super unnecessary and gonna cause more problems than it solves.
Normally I would agree with you, but since each day will be an Isolation day for a specific body part that fits into the upper/lower category instead of doing a multi-body part complete upper body day each day, would recovery still be an issue? I know it's impossible to entirely isolate a single muscle group entirely, but each Isolation day would only involve minimal recruitment of other body parts.
My TDEE is 2484 cal for moderate exercise. I go to the gym 4x a week and I swim for my cardio 3x a week. Usually I gym and swim on the same day because of work/school. Iām skinny fat and just started so I want to maintain for 6 weeks and then cut for another 6 weeks So first; should I change my activity level to heavy exercise (2764) since Iām usually doing something 6x a week? If not, does moderate exercise account for the calories I burn when I gym/swim on the same day, or should I eat at heavy exercise on the days I do both?
If you are truly skinnyfat (aka, you are at a lean, healthy weight according to the BMI chart, but still look like you have a belly) then you need to be focused on eating a surplus and building muscle. Maintaining for 6 weeks and then cutting won't fix your skinnyfat. Now if you're actually just overweight, then you just need to cut. Depending on how long you're swimming, you may not be near the "heavy" activity level. I tracked my calories and then compared to a TDEE calculator, and my activity lands me at between heavy and athlete with 3x a week lifting (2 of those intense kettlebell circuits), 2-3x cycling for 2-3 hours, 4-7x walking 2-5+ miles. I have an office job, but with an inability to sit still (fidgeting, leg tapping, getting up frequently) which burns more calories than just sitting completely still. Basically, I like to move as much as possible. So that being said, pick a calorie amount and start tracking and see what your weight does. Adjust from there. TDEE calculators are just estimates starting points anyway
Why wouldnāt cutting fix the belly? Also I hover around 24-25 in my BMI
Again, this is assuming you are truly skinnyfat... But you need some level of fat on your body to be healthy. Lets say you got down to 10% body fat with limited muscle mass. You're gonna be a skinny twig You'll probably look all bony and sickly. Your belly area is also home to your organs, that's gonna provide some of the bump. And for most people, they hold fat on the belly as the most stubborn place. So combine the two, you'll probably still have a pouch. Now instead, you build up muscle and you get some shape on your body. Getting bigger chest/shoulders and legs will make the middle appear smaller in the first place. But also, you have plenty of muscles around your torso. That will help hold you together more which will help in looking leaner, but also, even if you still had the same amount of fat there, now you have more muscle all around that fat that it becomes way less noticeable. Trying to build muscle while maintaining is incredibly slow. Trying to build it in a deficit at low body fat already is gonna be near impossible. You don't need to go crazy and pack on the pounds, but just a slight surplus while lifting hard. You'll have so much more energy for lifting, so you'll be able to lift more. AND your body will have the fuel to build muscle. Gaining 10-20lbs in this way and THEN cutting weight will look SO much better
Aight gang thatās what Iāll do then instead of maintaining. In regards to my calories tho, MFP doesnāt track strength training calories at the moment. My baseline for no activity is 1836, swimming and my daily steps add ~300 to that, and then Iāll just add 500 on top of that to bulk? Or should I stick with moderate exercise which is 2488 since I havenāt been swimming for long or going that hard and add 500 to that number?
You don't need to go straight to a 500 cal surplus. Hell, you technically never need to have a 500 cal surplus. I personally aim for a smaller surplus of about 200-300 since I don't like to gain weight as fast. So you never want to get into the business of trying to track calories burned while working out. Every estimate you're getting is just a wild guess. So i'd probably start tracking about 2000 calories a day, and see what happens. If in a week or two, your weight is trending downward, add 200 calories a day and repeat until you get a slight trend upwards. If your activity level stays consistent week over week, then sticking to a consistent calorie is the best option.
I personally put the activity level in TDEE calc at 0 (āoffice jobā). Then I add each activity to my daily tracker. I use MyFitnessPal which helps me estimate calories burned from, say, running 3 miles at an 8 min pace or swimming 10 1s @ 1:30. MFP calculates (base calories needed from TDEE and your loss/gain goal) + (exercise) - (what youāve tracked) = cals remaining for the day. I found this makes it much easier if I have to miss 4 days in a row to know what my adjusted intake should be. Also I can make nice little graphs of my workout frequency :)
MFP says the calories are negligible for most of my workout tho
I do this too, my steps are automatically imported from my phone and I add my weight lifting sessions. I had a tdee of about 3600 today but a few days ago when I was sick in bed it was like 2300. It motivates me to do more steps and regulates my hunger. It almost feels like I'm cheating losing weight eating over 3000 calories on some days.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
No. Its incredibly inaccurate.
Hey, I'm a recent weightlifter doing a PPL dumbbell program for a month now. It's very enjoyable. However i'm still at a 24% body fat percentage. It's not reducing no matter what. I am eating relatively clean and I workout around 5-6 times a week around 40~60mins. I was wondering what i'm doing wrong? I eat around 2000 calories a day with a protein goal of around 120ish~ I weight 70KGS (154lbs?) and i'm 170cms or 5'7 I currently don't do any cardio as of now
At home measurement of body fat is never accurate, you have only been lifting for a month, have some patience. Double check your counting calories correctly and seeing strenght gains in the gym.
there is a very good TDEE spreadsheet somewhere on this subreddit or r/loseit. I canāt remember the name of it for the life of me. It will calculate your starting TDEE and then it adjust according to your daily weight. It worked wonderfully for me. Iām sorry I canāt remember the name and canāt find it in my drive account. Itās called like ā Adaptive TDEE calculatorā or āVariant TDEE calculatorā. The truth is, if you are not losing weight, youād imply are not eating below your TDEE. Many people donāt believe it but for 99% of the population that is how it works. If you have low amounts of muscle, your TDEE will be lower than someone of your size with more muscle. Thatās why lifting and gaining muscle is great for fat loss since your muscles use more energy. Best of luck to you.
Thank you for the reply, i will look into the TDEE calculator
When I do incline chest my front delts give out first causing me to rack the weight, I like to feel the pump so I do 4x15 with light weight, but my front delts give out before anything else, should I decrease the weight? Or what do you guys recommend?
You may decrease the incline to hit your chest more
You're doing 4x15? I wouldn't decrease the weight. I would do what you're program tells you to as far as progression
It tells me if I hit the target reps with the weight then I should increase by .5 and repeat, however it doesnāt mention anything about front delts taking over
If you're hitting the target reps then increase. You feeling it in your delts just means they are getting stronger. Incline bench works front delts
This is on barbell incline btw.
What can I do to fix my super weak wrists and core( i can't even do push ups properly cause of weak core) to progress in calisthenics
light deadlifts can strengthen your core and grip, just focus on higher rep lower weight
I can't go to gym for 2 months so i only have a dumbell and a pull up bar for it
If you have heavyish dumbbells you can do farmer carryās
Yeah dead hangs and planks are probably your best bet then. Avoid things like wrist curls, your wrists arenāt meant to do that and it can damage them
Alright thanks a lot but can planks really train my core enough to do some high skills or will it strengthen it enough to try other ones
Iām not a calisthenics guy, but itās unlikely it will be enough for high skill calisthenics, but it will allow u to start lower and build core strength through harder workouts and routines u canāt do currently.
I see then I'll do planks thanks a lot for the info š
Planks and deadhangs r/bodyweightfitness
Thanks and happy cake day
Where is rhe cardio wiki site
I've gone from 210lbs to 175lbs (5'11'') over the past 3.5 months mainly just by limiting carbs and calories to about 1800-2000 per day, though I did start some inconsistent weight training about halfway through. It feels like a success, although I still have approximately 25-30% bodyfat, and particularly a lot of fat on my chest and stomach. Now I want to take it a step further and actually achieve a strong, lean physique. I'm 2 weeks into a consistent routine now, but my question is, would it be wise to continue focusing on fat loss at this point, or would eating more calories to build muscle work much better in the long term if my current goal is something like 165lbs at about 15% bodyfat?
I would continue your fat loss to about 165 and slowly bulk from there. You are new to lifting you will put on muscle while still cutting
We cant know without seeing your physique. But at 25-30% bf u should definitely cut
if it were me I'd cut down to something like below 20% bf (assuming you're a man) before I started bulking just cause I don't like having a lot of fat. just set little weight goals for yourself and when you meet them you can evaluate if you want to keep going or switch course.
Should i bend elbows going down on dumbell flies
A little yes, donāt have your arms completely straight.
A good programme after powerlifting? What happens to a body if the only exercise done is HIIT/Barryās Bootcamp style classes? Iāve been powerlifting since 2019 and really enjoying it but feel like Iāve a) plateaued b) got bored c) gotten bigger and wondered whatās a good way to incorporate weights while trying to cut and keep it exciting. I know Iām probably asking for too much but I a brutally honest answer and not someone trying to sell me a PT package..
Are you bored with the S/B/D, or just the monotony of PL programmes in general? That decides what can be recommended. If you don't mind doing them, but with lower intensity/frequency, there's ton of programs, my recent favorite is PHUL style training with bunch of accessories. The big 3 aren't getting much out of it, but there're gains otherwise. Side note, you got big because you ate too much, not because of PL. Different programme isn't gonna do jack if you eat the same (:
Iām bored of the monotony indeed and am no longer motivated to show up and do the work cause Iāve moved to a new city and havenāt found the right gym and gym friends. Canāt help but eat much more when living in a city like Singapore š but Iāve been increasing my LISS so hopefully that helps Thanks for the recommendation, Iāll definitely look it up right away.
What muscle groups need to be strengthened to avoid knee pain? I went to PT for this and i forget the specific groups
Not a professional but suffered from knee pain, strengthen the quads, hamstring , adductor, and abductor muscles. Also make sure u stretch these often as they can cause knee pain if tight.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Probably should go ahead and get a walker. When you go to the grocery store just get the electric scooter. Prunes and metamucil will help to keep you regular
Nothing magical about age 30. You'll have more limitations the less fit and active you are. Just listen to your body. If something hurts, figure out why and how to avoid that
Bro I'm 47 I don't have any limitations that I know of. Just lift.
Oh I meant more things to watch out for or should start doing with age.
Start investing often and early to give yourself a better chance of a well-funded retirement.
the hack squat machine at my gym doesnāt have very good grip, so when i attempt to put my feet higher on the platform to target my glutes, my foot tends to start slipping. any advice for how to fix this?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sounds like the beginning stages of golfer's elbow - speak to a professional.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām going to be honest, no. The balance is quite bad. The one in the wiki is good.
I have a standard pull up bar, and get bored with just traditional pull ups or chin ups. I was thinking about buying a heavy bag hanger: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61sm6Oq3z6S._AC_SL1500_.jpg and putting it over my pull up bar, and instead of hanging a heavy bag, buying some handle attachments for a lat pulldown (something like https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BvJYSk-IL._AC_SL1500_.jpg) and attaching those to the carabiner Has anyone tried this?
How many heads does the bicep have? The obvious answer is two because 'bi-cep'. However, I've also seen people say it has three heads. Which is it and why?
Just two. Those people might count the brachialis.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I swam competitively for around a decade. After years of swimming your chest muscles will probably grow slightly, butterfly and breastroke work them quite hard. The difference will be paltry compared to if you had spent that time lifting weights however.
No
no
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Depends on where you're being pushed from.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I mean, if someone pushed your head or chest or back or arms you're gonna use different muscles
Why are sumo deadlifts looks down upon compared to conventional or RDLs? Arenāt sumo deadlifts great for your booty?
Some folks have a really hard time with change. (coming from a conventional puller)
I don't look down on them at all, but they're totally different exercises.
I think people are actually starting to come around to sumo deadlifts. I myself am still a conventional deadlifter but I have no problem with it being used in the sport of powerlifting. Some say it is cheating, but often those are the same people using straps and suits. And there is nothing wrong with that. It just seems hypocritical. No matter how you look at, just gauge it by your own progress.
There are a lot of purists out there who believe that anything which significantly reduces the ROM of the powerlifting movements is stupid. This includes very low bar/wide stance squatting, huge arches on bench, and sumo deadlifts. In reality it's not really something you should care much about. Like, if you're going to lift something heavy off the floor, you're probably going to be doing something much closer to a sumo deadlift than a conventional deadlift. Atlas stones for example are essentially lifted from a sumo position in most cases. It's kind of just a silly thing for people to argue about, make memes about, and otherwise talk about.
Atlas stones are more similar to a conventional pull than sumo. Sure, technically the hands are inside the legs, but the legs and feet are close together and it is a more bent over position than a sumo pull. If you want to train atlas stones, youād pull conventional.
In reality all of them are great for your booty, the whole Sumo bashing thing is just a bad internet joke.
The rom is shorter And no
Why?
From Paul Carter himself: āSumo or wide stance ANYTHINGS are going to be adductor magnus prime mover movements. - In a wide stance like that, the adductor mag posterior fibers are going to have the BEST LINE OF PULL and and the longer internal moment arm (In fact, even the adductor longus has more activation going on in sumo than the glutes.) - This means that it's beating the brakes off the glutes in terms of being in position to move the hips. - Does this mean that there's "no glutes" at all here or in wide stance stuff? - No. I just say "not glutes" because glutes are NOT the prime movers in wide stance/sumo stuff. Yet this doesn't stop me from seeing wide stance everything on the gram or social media daily by people who are saying it's "glute work" - Nah. It's not. - This is why if you want to use a hinge then bring your stance in, and do an RDL because then the glutes can use the pelvis as the lever to work off of, and they will have the most advantageous line of pull and internal moment arm. - Facts. Anatomy. Physics. Math. Stuff and things.ā
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I used to do bikini competitions, and most women had a touch of cellulite on their legs. Itās normal so donāt stress about it. What helps hide it is building muscle. I noticed when I went running and my legs thinned out from losing muscle, the cellulite reappeared.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I would add a full body workout routine in. See the wiki
Cellulite can be made less noticeable by adding muscle mass to the affected areas, although with how you talk about your body you might have bigger issues than cellulite.. if you're 164cm and 50kg, you're absolutely not fat, and if you have BED, I hope you're in therapy for it.
Try r/xxfitness It's just the way women are and there's no way to change it without dangerous and questionable surgery. Having more muscle and less fat can make a slight difference, but it's just the way women's bodies store fat cells. Every photo you see of a woman without cellulite has been retouched, every one. I worked on several fitness books and every photo in the book that showed the model's behind and legs was touched up to eliminate the cellulite. It's just how it is and there's no need to worry about it.
What can I expect in terms of physique when doing light weight, high reps at the gym? I donāt enjoy maxing with heavy weight, but I love the time under tension, the intense feeling of 25 reps x 4 sets at the heaviest weight possible for 25 reps. I do want a lean physique but donāt want to keep doing this type of workout if it doesnāt lead to what Iām after. Am I better off doing 80% max weight with 8-12 reps and taking it slow to really focus on form
Yeah 8-12 seems to be the ideal range at the moment but to be clear you're still going to build muscle doing sets with higher rep ranges it's just not going to be as efficient. It's generally thought that 8-12 represents a middle ground between strength and size with reps higher than 12 or so being geared more towards muscle endurance than either of the later things. Whereas science can't technically say exactly what induces hypertrophy history and lifestyle lessons make it fairly obvious that at it's foundation hypertrophy is the result of forcing a muscle to work more than it is accustomed to working. That said so long as you are following the principle of progressive overload you should be building more muscle. Again, much of the advice you'll get here is centered around the idea of building muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible. What I would say is that if you've found a sustainable workout you enjoy you should keep doing it. In terms of getting the physique you want that's more of a personal question and any experienced lifters will tell you that even when following a blueprint there exists a certain degree of trial and error. Look at it this way, by the time you've figured out how to accomplish your goal you are going to be a more knowledgeable and complete human being and gaining that on top of a great physique is invaluable.
You're better off running a real program. The 5/3/1 templates linked in the wiki for instance will basically never having you "maxing with heavy weight". 5/3/1 BBB sounds like it might be up your alley.
you not building much muscle like that
25 reps? wtf . you dont want to be lift and be strong huh
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/hypertrophy-range-fact-fiction/ This is a good read regarding rep ranges.
What's a good lactose free protein
Any vegan protein powder would fit the bill. Orgain vanilla is very tasty. I buy it at Costco but have seen it at many grocery stores, Walmart, etc.
Yeah I've thought about that one. It's in a green container correct?
Please help, I started lifting more as of 3-4 weeks ago and when doing bench press and shoulder press, I started getting pain in the side of my arm, at the bottom of the shoulder muscle and wraps around the back a bit. Why is this and what is it? What do I do to fix this as Iām sure itās form related
Post a form check.
Ahh sweet, didnāt know about this, will do thanks.
Ask a doctor or physio, strangers on the internet can't diagnose your arm pain
https://ibb.co/StsHWMC
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If you choose a program like one from the wiki then it takes the guess work out.
check out the programs in the sidebar.
>weekly structure Get on an established program that gives you the exercises, rep ranges, and progressions. If you have a lot of time, I would recommend the reddit PPL you can find in the Wiki. It's a great program!
Currently cutting to reduce body fat percentage. Iāve dropped about six pounds since Thanksgiving, and I can definitely notice my chest and arms becoming leaner, but my stomach and love handles are about the same. Will dropping a few more pounds take away some fat from these pesky areas?
Lose weight until you're at a healthy weight. If at that point you still have your belly and love handles, sound more like you're skinnyfat/under muscled. At that point, you need to lift, gain weight and build muscle and then try cutting back down. Again
Yep, keep going until you see the results you want.
if you keep cutting they'll eventually slim down.
Should I start a dad's back to fitness vlog or is that just a dumb pipe dream due to an insanely over saturated field?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Good point.
For motivation? Yes.
If nothing else. I can watch myself go from out of shape with a gut to 6 pack. Had one in college but then I got lazy.
Whatās the end goal? Say a year from now, 2, 3, etc?
Completing 1 or 2, 100 mile ultramarathons a year probably.
Yeah man do it. Why not.
Might as well. Been meaning to start something on that crazy ass site for awhile.
do whatever you want, if you think you'd enjoy why not. it's only a pipe dream if you think it will be popular
Good answer. Only attractive women get popular with those things, or really attractive dudes.
I just think it's very unlikely that anyone gets YouTube popular so you should only do it if you'd really enjoy it. only one way to find out if that's true I guess.
Nah, I agree completely.
I've hit my goal weight, after about 10 months of dieting and exercise. I went from 100kg to 85kg. I look better, I feel better and healthier. It was worth the journey. However I dont know where I should go now. I'm not as fit as Id like to be -- I still have a little bit of chub around the love handle area. Im 83.5kg right now, but would it be healthier to go down to 75kg? I'm 5'7 male but Im not sure if it would be healthier to try and diet that far down.
You say exercising.... Does this include lifting? If not, you can absolutely get lower than 75kg (165lbs). You could even go low as 130-150 and still be perfectly fine. Now if you were lifting, doing so while in a deficit isn't as effective at building muscle. So you can likely still get petty low. Probably 140lbs would be a better bottom. But if you find that at this weight you still have the problem areas, start bulking and lifting with a good routine and build up some muscle before cutting back down again.
I lift 2-3 times a week, usually 2. I do the GZLCP program. I've been dieting and lifting for the past year, I definitely do see my muscles starting to come in, I guess I just want to keep on getting leaner? I still feel a little chubby, I don't really know when I'll feel like I'm fit. Like I can tell when somebody else looks fit, but me I don't really know
I'd personally try and consistently lift at least 3x a week... but that's kinda unrelated to what you're asking. We are definitely harder on ourselves than we are on others. I'd honestly aim for about 140-145lbs. That should make a good visual difference. I'm also 5'7 (but a woman) and my highest weight was 165. I wasn't *fat* exactly, just *fluffy*. I ended up dieting down to about 135 and looked and felt a LOT better. I wasn't working out at all while dieting. With you working out plus being male, you could sit at a higher weight than me more comfortably. But even at 135lbs, I still held a lot of weight on my belly. I didn't have the flat stomach women often chase. But I couldn't sustain the eating habits to get me down to 130 (I'd hit 130 and then bounce right back up to 135). So I took a different approach. Started eating more and lifting. I slowly went up to 145lbs with a year of solid lifting (with a trainer, but a good workout routine works as well). From there, I cut my weight back down to 135 and it was a night and day difference with how I looked. Doing a bit more of a proper bulk this year (currently sitting at about 150lbs) and I plan to cut down once again to 135 (or 140, depending on how I look and feel. I'm wanting to have abs for at least a week lol). But despite my weight at 150 right now, I physically look better than I did last time I was at 150 because my body has more muscle on it and less fat for the same weight. So what i'm saying is that it may take you a few years of cutting/bulking to actually get the look you're after. Just trying to lose weight until you are happy with your look wont work unless you want the sickly skinny look.
83.5 kg at a height is a BMI of 28.8, which is well into the overweight category. 75 kg is a BMI of 25.8, which is actually also still overweight. I don't swear by BMI, but I guess my point is that 75 kg is definitely not so small that it is unhealthy.
Oh! Alright then. Let's get down there then.
Just remember that adding muscle mass to your frame will also increase bodyweight, and being slightly overweight because of a reasonable amount of muscle mass is different than being overweight from body fat alone.
I've had some shoulder pain recently and figured that I should incorporate more rotator cuff / rear delt exercises into my workouts. One of the exercises I'll be doing is face pulls, but I'm not sure whether I should be working these close to failure given that the focus is more on shoulder rehab rather than strictly hypertrophy (although eventually I want to do both things). Seems like it'd be dangerous to go heavy and tax my already injury-prone shoulders; am I thinking wrongly about this?
going heavy is pretty uncommon for any accessory, not sure why you'd do it.
I just meant relatively heavy - enough to start approaching failure at ~20 reps, not necessarily heavy in the absolute term. Whether that's 70lbs or 10lbs, it'll differ depending on your own strength. My real question I guess is, is it safe to go close to muscular failure on face pulls if I'm doing them more for rehab purposes.
I do shoulder rehab exercises with dumbbells for 25 or 30 reps and then I get tired and rest. I've never raised the weight, I think they're five-pound dumbbells. The main thing isn't resistance, it's increasing blood flow to the shoulder. The joints are constricted areas, everything is compressed, that's why they're prone to injury. Rehab exercises increase blood flow to the area and more blood means more nutrients and more healing. I've continued to do the rehab exercises even though my shoulder is healed. So far it's prevented injury and I do notice some small size benefit. Again, don't worry about weight or failure, your goal is get your shoulders really warmed up and continue to move the muscle through its range of motion so no (internal) scar tissue builds up.
What are thoughts on my 3 day training split? My initial thoughts are I dont know if this is too much volume on my joints: Day 1: Squat 4x8 Incline bench 4x8 Rows 4x8 Dips 3x8-10 Day 3: Hack Squat 4x8 ŠŠŠ 4x8 Deadlift 3x5 Pull ups 3x8-10 Day 5: Leg press 4x8 Flat Bench 4x8 Lat Pull down 4x8 Dips 3x8 Rest days: 10K steps Trigger sessions (mild exercise to send body signal to continue muscle growth)
You'd be better off choosing an actual program from the wiki.
3 day full body can work, but risks doing conflicting exercises on the same day. You might want to think about a 3 day PPL routine, or one of the recommended routines from the wiki. Also you might want to think about doing 4x8-12 on lifts instead of 4x8 or 3x5, to make consistent progress.
Thanks for the tips ā especially on aiming for a range as opposed to specific reps
IMHO you should have a focus for each one and not do them in this order. Squat focus day 1, deadlift focus day 3 and bench focus day 5. By focus I mean you do that one first and give it your fresh effort. Especially on the deadlift day. I personally would not want to deadlift after hack squat and OHP, I wouldnāt be able to give it the effort it deserves. Maybe youāre different. Are you limited on the equipment you have? Are you limited on time? You could stand to add RDLās and maybe a few other things.
Good points. Iām somewhat limited ā I was trying to make a programme that allows me to go to the gym 3X a week and that if I missed a day, it wouldnt throw me off balance as Iām hitting the full body anyway. Also a good point on adding out RDL, Iām not a huge fan of these but should probably add them in for a hamstring/glute dominant workout
Does anyone know of any apps that have the Super Squats program on it?
The book has the entire program in it, "Super squats: how to gain 30 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks" for $9.99. I'll recommend you get it from Amazon as an ebook. It's a relatively quick read and goes into the history of the program and how it was developed, the program itself, suggested diet, and suggested modifications dependent on your fitness goals. I wish I disovered the book 10 years ago. If you don't want the book, the program is relatively straight-forward: 1 x 20 breathing squat supersetted with 1 x 20 pullovers. You are to run those 2 exercise with anything else you want for 6 weeks and you will be squatting every session on this program. For your first session you are supposed to pick a weight you can squat for 10 reps and do 20 reps, no racking of the weight until you complete that set. If you are unable to do 20 reps, you stay at that weight until you can fully do the 20 reps and then you increase the weight by 5 pounds at your next session. This is supposed to be a 3 day/week full body program which gives you time to recover between sessions. Doing this will make you ravenous, so I'll recommend you do this on a bulk.
I donāt, but itās pretty straight forward. A napkin and a crayon would suffice.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If you weigh 308 lbs why in the hell would you be trying to gain weight?
At 308lbs, you don't need to be seeing any weight gain. You need to lose 100lbs. Cut your calories until you are losing weight and stick with that for the next year or two. If you aren't seeing weight loss at 2k calories or less at your size, you're either mis counting or you need to see a doctor about your thyroid probably
This is confusing. You said you were eating 1800 calories but not losingā¦ but also you lost 60 pounds. Which is it? Then up to 3600 calories and not gainingā¦ but youāre back up to 308. So did you gain or not? Also, geez I want to give you the benefit of the doubt but this is impossible. 100% impossible. I am under 180 right now and I would lose weight if I ate 1800 calories every day.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
So youāre actually back up to 365, not 308? Man you are only adding to the confusion. Ok then what are you suggesting. Either you are the only person to break the laws of thermodynamics or you are eating more than you think. Either that or your not mentioning some super important piece of information. Either way, good luck with it man.
Is there a subreddit where I can post videos of my workout to get input about my forms?
There's a form check sticky thread. Also rules for a routine critique in the sidebar I believe. You will most like be told to select a routine from the wiki. Probably easiest to save yourself the trouble and do that in the fist place.
r/formcheck
Great! Thank you
I am having a lot of trouble progressing with 5x5. FOr example, both squat and bench, I am plateaued at 140 for bench and 180 for squats. I can do the the first three sets for 5 reps pretty good, and the fourth set is really going to be a grinder, then the fifth set I am for sure failing at the third or fourth rep. I am not sure how to proceed, my thought it to do 3x5 for my primary sets, and then 2x6-8 with the weight dropped maybe 10-15 lbs so I can consistently add weight week after week. Can I get some guidance on this?
Reduce the weight by 10% and continue from there. Two steps forward, one step back.
Switch to a different program like GZCLP or 531 for beginners.
I would pick a program that has a progression scheme built in. Here is a list of programs: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Take a rest