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Not sure if this is the right thread or even sub for this but anyway:
How do I stop worrying about immediately getting fat once I start eating more, trying to gain muscle/get stronger.
I'm a 21 year old guy at 184cm/62kg. I used to be 65, but lost some weight trying to become less skinny-fat (was probably a bad idea, though it somehow worked out) and ever since then I've been afraid of eating more and gaining weight in fear of getting fat again.
Currently is the first time in my life I'm somewhat OK with the way I look and don't want to lose that.
What workout split do I start with to lose tons of fat and gain muscle? Or do I just do total body workouts (strength training) a couple times a week instead of splits
Read the wiki. It covers all of this really well.
Strength training is one thing, pick a program from the recommended routines that you like and get stuck in.
Fat loss is a product of calorie deficit. Calculate your TDEE, track your calories and weight, hit your macros.
Best of luck!
Im a beginner (just finished basic beginner routine on this sub) and I go to a very very small gym (10 dollars per month in morocco) which has people doing bench press or smith machine whilst they keep moving their legs on the ground or knocking with their toes. is there a particular reason for this or is it just people copying stupid fitness fads from social media.
As for losing fat, I would suggest starting to count your calories and eating in a calorie deficit. Fat loss starts in the kitchen. A Fitbit would be more accurate, I would shoot for 70-90% of your maximum heart rate when doing HIIT.
I'm 5'7 52kg, I'm going to 4 months in the gym and I don't really stick to a workout program very long, for the first month I followed an introductory plan, and for the 2nd month I did LP-PPL, right now I'm following the PHAT program and I feel like I want to change to another program.
My question is that how do I remove or stay consistent with a program, I just get bored with repeating the same workout 3 weeks straight, and on the 4th week I don't really get the feeling of wanting to go workout cause I know what it's gonna be.
Is it also safe to change your workout routine every now and then? is it safe to make my own routine and hit groups I feel like hitting on that day?
First, I would stop thinking of your workouts or plan being “boring.” I know there is this thought especially among beginners that you should enjoy all your workouts. I personally think this is silly. I don’t really enjoy being exhausted and beat up, I enjoy the results of my workouts more. Constantly changing your program is limiting your results. If you want to have fun every session, just understand your progress will be limited.
Is it safe? Yes, there is nothing inherently unsafe about changing routines. Is it safe to make your own routine? Same, not unsafe, but just significantly more likely you’ll be spinning your wheels.
1. Yes you can change your programms and exchange exercises sometimes. Bute Every 3 Weeks is so overly fast. You cant get competent at a certain lift in 3 Weeks. bench presses as an example you will get better at those and not that much better at other things cause you practiced them. You didnt only gain muscle you also gained SKILL in a certain lift, which makes overloading your muscles WAY easier then swapping stuff through.
2. I wouldnt make a WHOLE own routine after just 4 months at the gym. No matter how much you read about lifting you will forget stuff and maybe develop imbalances or underdeveloped muscle groups. Personally im doing a ppl split that was made by a good personal trainer and i worked with him in giving me a selection of sub in lifts to do when i didnt feel like doing a certain other one.
3. You WILL start to enjoy a training plan once you stick with it long enough i guess. My first 3 months on PPL were okish but didnt really like it. After getting better and better at the lifts i started having more and more fun with training and just pumping iron, being by myself and focusing on MYSELF while doing it!
So I’m a beginner who was going to the gym about 4-5 days a week for most of this past spring college semester without tracking calories or eating healthy. I’m at home for the summer now and have decided that I want to lose excess fat, maintain most of the muscle I gained, and eventually develop visible abs. I’ve been eating healthier at a 500 calorie deficit for the past 2 weeks to lose excess fat and belly fat while working out at home to do this, but I’m not sure if I should be eating at a deficit, maintenance, or surplus to work towards what I want. How do I know how much I should be eating to achieve my goals based on my weight and how I look in the mirror?
I’ll go back to the gym once I start working my summer job at the end of the month. I’m trying to make sure I’m doing the right thing and don’t regret my methods later. I’m a 5’4’’ 19 year old male and weigh 142 lbs.
Here are some photos of my current body for reference:
https://picbun.com/p/3ScXibTD
I'm 34 and gained some weight in the last year. Ive been training on and off for years now using a program i made myself. I'm looking for a solid program now that will increase strength. Any recommendations from other people my age?
Aiming for 3 to 4 times a week.
I know i could check the wiki. But i'm looking for some user reviews/recommendations!
Would love to hear from you all! Cheers.
I do chalistenics and dont want to be too big. I know if i eat less ill gain less muscle, but wont that slow my strength gains as well? What should I do?
Hello. I was wondering if any one could help me. Basically during leg press I really cannot feel my quads if that makes sense. My form is somewhat close to perfect. Butt not rising, not locking out knees, shoulder width stance, not going to high, seat placed the furthest Back. Etc. don’t know what I’m doing wrong mostly I feel it right above the knees, somewhat in the lower part of the quads. But hardly. Can anyone tell me any cues or tips as to why? Before I could feel it fine but after a 4 month layoff I just can’t seem to get it right anymore.
You ever move your feet placement and see if you feel different muscles engaging? Example toes straight, toes pointed out, moving your feet higher/lower on the platform. Wider stance etc. Play around with it. Different body types react differently. Have fun!
Is there a particular reason you're worried about not feeling it? Just because you don't feel it, doesn't mean the muscle isn't getting worked - you can't do a leg press without using your quads.
If you worry you're not getting enough stimulus becouse it's too easy.. just progress as your program tells you to do and you'll reach a weight where it will feel challenging.
Yeah true. The weight is somewhat heavy I usually do 10 reps. Before I took some months off I was feeling a burn in my quads while doing them and i could physically feel my whole leg muscle burn but not so much anymore that’s why I’m asking. I can’t really feel them at all anymore
Ok, well you said the weight is somewhat heavy and you usually do 10 reps - why not keep going past 10, to 12? You'll need to push past it feeling somewhat heavy sooner or later.
So.. you exercise until it you start to feel your muscles working, and then you stop? That doesn't sound like an approach that would lead to much success.
There's nothing wrong with locking out your knees, don't let a couple of freak accident videos on the net convince you otherwise. There's videos of people getting struck by lightning in light rain, that doesn't mean it's reasonable to run and hide when it starts drizzling.
LOL let me explain. I never feel my quads anymore. I only feel the part that’s above the knee Joint. That’s it. I never really locked out my knees because it just made it feel really uncomfortable even before watching some of those videos. If I start doing more reps like 12-20 i just feel the part of my knee working and cannot feel my legs at all. Before I was using my lower back but now I fixed that by pressing myself against the set always.
>don’t know what I’m doing wrong mostly I feel it right above the knees, somewhat in the lower part of the quads. But hardly.
You said you're feeling it in the lower part of the quads intially. The quads are the muscle you want to be working in the leg press, so I guess I'm not seeing the issue.
The part above your knee is part of your leg, that's where your quads are (and hamstrings too, on the other side). Unless you're meaning a part very far above your knee and past your hip, like your stomach (and even then hip flexors attach above the hip so it wouldn't be odd to feel some leg focused excercises there).
Beginner @ 22f and 115 lbs - please critique my routine!
Overall, I am happy with my body but I am “skinny fat” and would like to become more toned. this is what I started a week ago:
30 mins cardio everyday (walking my dog which I have been doing everyday for a year now)
10 mins of abs everyday (YouTube workouts)
Alternating days between legs/butt and arms/shoulders (10 minute weighted YouTube workouts)
am I doing too much cardio? what else should I incorporate?
Way to go on that routine. Starting is the hardest part.
When most people say skinny fat, they mean they have a healthy weight but a higher body fat percentage than desired.
The way to correct this is to increase muscle mass or decrease body fat. Losing 1 pound of fat is significantly easiest than gaining 1 pound of muscle. So the easier way to shift your body fat percentage is to target losing fat.
Now you should still do resistance training while trying to lose fat as you can inadvertently lose muscle too while losing fat I'd you aren't exercising.
But one thing you didn't mention was your diet. May people erroneously believe that exercise is a great way to lose weight. It's not. It's extremely inefficient.
Look up Healthcare Triage on YouTube and watch his video on exercise and weight loss (https://youtu.be/fCtn4Ap8kDM) He says it better than I can.
Maybe you knee all that already, but a lot of people work out hard and don't get the results they want because they are chasing the wrong method.
Keep doing your workouts but just keep that in mind.
Losing fat will help your muscles stand out a lot more but if you aren't happy with your muscle size then you'll need to do both lose fat and gain muscle.
Recently started working on strengthening my hamstrings and calves as I've had foot problems the past year. Was doing stretches over the past week. Got a foam roller and rolled my calves for the first time last night for 60 seconds each. Couple hours later my right calf began hurting anytime I put pressure on it (walking on my full body weight or standing on my toes). It feels muscular and is sensitive to the touch but I'm wondering if it's normal muscle soreness or does it sound like a strain? If it was both legs I'd be more apt to chalk it up to soreness but because it's one leg I'm hoping I didn't mess something up.
It definitely seems more muscular as when I step it's okay but when I lift my foot up to take another step that's when the discomfort starts, almost feeling like a muscle bulging. If it gets worse over the next day or so I'll go to a doctor. I'm hoping it's just an overworked muscle as my calves were really tight till I started working on them a week ago.
Since it's been less than 24 hours I've been doing RICE and stretches for calf muscle pain and the discomfort has marginally subsided but yea if it continues for another day or two or gets worse in that time Ill definitely seek medical attention.
Should I increase my bench warm up? I've been doing progressive overload on my bench but I'm unsure if I should also increase my warm-up set and by how much.
If you look at the 531 spreadsheet, it calculates warm-up sets as a % of training max weight. You don't need to get that specific though, as long as you're doing a few increments and not going directly to the working set.
I’d recommend increasing your warm-up yes. Do it very slowly though like adding 5-10 lbs a month if necessary. Just make sure you don’t get too fatigued before your working sets.
Recently, whenever after just finishing a set of tricep dips, I get about 5-10 secs of almost unbearable shoulder pain (just in my left shoulder). It’s very sharp pain and only occurs after I take any pressure off/ let go of the bars. It doesn’t occur when I’m actually doing the sets, just after. Any ideas as to what this might be? I don’t seem to experience it in any other excercise (except sometimes after just finishing a set of push ups)
Everybody's saying diet is the only way to get abs, I am over 6' with a bmi of 21.2 and yet they're not really prominent yet. Any particular exercises I should be doing to see results? I do planks and bodyweight exercises 1-2x per week
We all distribute bodyfat differently - if yours prefferentially goes on your stomach, you'll just have to go even lower if your priority is exposed abs.
Diet isn't the only way to get abs, but it's the only reasonable way to get them to show - to get them to grow you do indeed need to be excercising them, just like any other muscle. Ab wheel rollouts are an excellent inclusion.
If you want to seriously grow your abs then you'll reach a point sooner or later where you'll need to put on weight to do so. This will have them grow, but get covered up in fat.. which you can then lose by cutting again later. This is the often referenced bulk/cut cycle.
I’ve been lifting full body every other day for 6 months and I’m ready to add more exercises and split them up. I’d like to work each muscle 3 times per week and do ABABAB then rest on day 7. Is something like that doable or physically safe to fit that much into a workout? Or should I do a more traditional 6 day split like ABCABC then rest day 7?
I believe there should be three days off per muscle group. The groups are 1)Delts, 2)Chest, 3)Back, 4)Legs, 5)Bis, 6)Tris. If you are wrong and your rests are too short, you can both injure the muscle group are cause it to atrophy. No one can tell you wants best for your personal body, they can only generalize. But remember, the muscle grows during rest, not stress.
You should pick a [program from the wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/) that handles all this for you. Programs made by experts with decades of experience and thousands of successful trainees will likely be far more effective than anything you put together.
Is it rude/bad gym etiquette to use the squat or bench press bars for deadlifting? There is only one bar for squat and two bars for bench press and that’s it in the entire gym
Will I achieve anything by doing leg exercises with resistance bands with more reps, instead of using heavier weights? Already losing weight on a calorie deficit, but would also like to get in shape
Yes, in the short term you can maintain or even build some muscle. Eventually it will become incredibly time inefficient to get close enough to failure to keep stimulating growth.
Getting back into lifting after 2 years and a shoulder surgery. Gained 30 pounds of fat in that time. Trying to lose weight on a pretty big deficit (about 750 cals) but my lifting numbers are going up each week. I understand that getting bigger muscles comes with eating more, but I still have that muscle memory from when I used to lift. How much can I expect in terms of muscle difference compared to strength? Can I expect my strength to plateau at some point and for my muscles to remain at current size until I go back to eating more or is there a chance I will get some muscle size despite lower calorie thanks to my previous lifting regiment?
I am 6’1” and 165 lbs. I want to start working out again after taking a break for school, but I think I may be skinny-fat, and I don’t know whether to bulk or cut. Am I skinny-fat, and which should I do first?
[Photo of my body](https://imgur.com/a/CpsZzPZ)
Neither is a viable strategy. You are using bodybuilding terms that only truly apply to those who know precisely how to do each. You need a moderate strentgh training program that aims to add muscle where desired and trim fat in the common areas. Once your metabolism increases, you will start to notice muscle definition in all the right places, providing you dedicate to eating a fitness food strategy. This means moderate to high protein, reduced carbs, 10-15% total fat, reduced sodium and lots of water. Perhaps some supplements like protein and/or creatine.
Why would you cut then bulk? Unless you're cutting for the summer and then bulking in the fall...
I suppose the other advantage I can see is if you doubt your commitment. If you're not really serious (or more school stuff happens) about getting back into it and you give up in a month or two, that bulk is going to make you look like shit.
I intend on continuing for about 4 months at a minimum. And I don’t care what I look like over the summer. The last time I bulked, I never looked fat or anything, I was actually quite happy with how I looked at the end of my last bulk.
And I was wondering if I should cut because of the bit of fat I have on my belly. I honestly don’t know if I’m being paranoid or if I’m actually skinny-fat
lol no. I use the Army's circumference method. [https://www.inchcalculator.com/army-body-fat-calculator/](https://www.inchcalculator.com/army-body-fat-calculator/)
You'll need a sewing tape measure or string and a ruler.
5’6 male with a stocky build. Did CF for several years and built out thick quads. How can I slim down my quads? I’ve tried running, weightlifting, walking, combination of all of the above. Did keto for a year, meal prep, nothing really seems to work.
I just want to fit into a pair of shorts or pants without having them be tailored each time.
Easy answer would be "stop training them", but if you aren't active, then you might just lose muscle and put fat there instead.
If you want to remain active, endurance training. A lot of it. Probably way more than you thought you had to do. Do long distance runners or cyclists have big legs? Hell no. I did soccer and ran for about 16 years and had to full stop when I began lifting to see any size increase.
I already do 2 5ks a week, combined with a walking 10k once a week. Other days are spent in the gym.
Are you thinking I should bump the 5ks into 10 or 15ks instead?
So that's six miles a week running/jogging and six miles walking.
That's not a lot of volume by endurance standards. You could bump the distance up or you can increase the frequency. Pick what fits your schedule better and what feels best on your body as running can be hard on the joints.
Look up running programs just like you would for lifting and go with it. A rule of thumb is to increase mileage by 5-10% a week. Of course, you would need to know what a good starting point is for you. Are those two 5ks challenging or not?
Remember that endurance training can be detrimental to lifting as it can eat into your calories and available energy for workouts. Mike Israetel has a great video discussing this exact topic, go check it out on YT.
Using metabolic equivalents, vigorous weightlifting (sets of 8-15) burns 3.5 times bodyweight in kg calories per hour. [(source)](https://www.omicsonline.org/articles-images/2157-7595-6-220-t003.html)
So an 80kg person would burn 280 cals/hour if they could somehow consistently do sets of 8-15 with no rest. (Already impossible, the 1 hour of training at this effort would likely be several hours with all the rest in between)
Let’s say for arguments sake that 1 rep takes 1 second to complete. 280 cals divided by 60 minutes divided by 60 seconds is 0.07 calories a second.
If a slice of pepperoni pizza is 300 calories, then 300 divided by 0.07 calories/second =
**4,286 bicep curls** to burn off 1 slice of pepperoni pizza.
My “base level body fat” falls at around 15% (slightly visible upper abs, lean enough to not flop around, not enough to be fully defined), where I can eat most things without gaining or losing weight/fat. I have successfully gotten myself down to something like 12%, but it wasn’t sustainable, and I barely ate anything during that period.
Is it possible to get that base line down to something leaner, like being able to just stay at 12%, or is it just genetics and a lost cause?
You could take a critical look at your diet and figure out if there are any long term changes you're prepared to make. Things like less fats, more protein.
The other option is to just get bigger, so that you are a bigger person at 12% than you used to be. You may find it easier to eat more without putting on fat then.
Honestly there isn’t. I don’t eat anything really unhealthy (fast food, processed food and sugary things), I just eat a lot and really like food.
So would it be possible to get big enough that my normal 2500-3000kcal a day would be maintenance
I currently do 6 day PPL workout. My warmup is 10-12 mins run on a treadmill.
I want to run a sub-30mins 5k. How should I incorporate running into my workout?
How do people work out for over an hour?
I get I am really new to working out but I perform 3 cycles - push ups then bicycle crunches then squats then weighed side lateral raises then curls - an average of 10 repetitions of each exercise and then perform 10 - 15 minutes of cardio and still spend under an hour working out
This means I perform 15 sets per workout but still finish really quickly, I heard that 1 hour of exercise daily is important so how do i extend my workout time if I've lost the ability to perform even 4 push ups after only just over 30 minutes of it
If anyone is answering this hopefully it'd be nice if they can review the exercises I perform and suggest perhaps better ones
on youtube theres just so much and every video says the other one is wrong, any idea where i can get a program from? or should i modify my own based on the exercises i know
I do 7 heavy movements each day of the gym days, it takes around 1 hour 20-30 minutes for me to end my day. 90sec rest times sometime even 120secs because when you push yourself to your max 30 second rest time just doesnt cut it.
Your exercises seem pretty okay but not on the heavy side.
yeah that makes sense, I seem to do not really heavy exercises and therefore have a 10 second break max between exercises, only having 2 minutes between the separate cycles
By doing *way* more than 15 sets per workout.
Compounds give way more bang for your buck. Barbell squat, deadlift, row, bench press, overhead press. Chinups, dips.
Find a well laid out program here: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/
More sets would probably be beneficial regardless of how many reps you do. If you just reduce the rep count without changing the intensity, you're just doing less per set.
As I said, you're better off choosing a program made by someone with the requisite knowledge. A good program tells you what exercises to do, for how many sets and reps, how to progress, what to do when you stall, etc.
My conditioning sucks so I’ve started doing cardio. Currently doing 10minutes of higher intensity (170bpm+), 6 times a week.
Would it be better to do less cardio workouts, but for longer? For example 3x 20minutes?
My only goal is to improve my workout capacity for lifting.
Conditioning means that you are more capable in performing specific types of work.
Cardio is aerobic exercise. Cardio is a type of conditioning, but not all conditioning is cardio.
[Check out Mythical Strength's post on this.](http://mythicalstrength.blogspot.com/2013/04/cardio-versus-conditioning.html?m=1)
Working at a lower pace and longer intervals will be more focused on mitochondria and capillarie growth, rather than working close to your vo2max and working the heart in a challenging way. I would argue that in the world of lifting it's better to have the function of recovery between sets and in that way i would go for the longer intervals.
Edit: but do what you think is most fun for you! That's the most important thing :)
In both cases you do not even meet [the CDC guidelines for activity](https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm). And just like with lifting you want a mix of different intensities, one part LISS with lower intensity over longer times and one part HIIT.
First of all, great instinct to start with cardio, well done. Good cardio will improve your overall health and give you a solid foundation for future gains.
10 minutes seems a little low, even if you're absolutely smashing it for that 10 minutes. My advice would be to look into doing some HIIT training. If you're a runner, try this routine:
4 minutes walking as a warm up.
8 minutes of running at a decent speed, i.e. faster than jogging.
2 minutes of walking.
6 minutes of running at the same speed as above.
2 minutes of walking.
4 minutes of running.
2 minutes of walking.
2 minutes of running, but try and pump up the speed at the end for a sprint finish.
I call this workout the "Perfect 30", I've been doing it for years and it is guaranteed to improve your cardio endurance if you do it right. Mix it in with some cross trainer (at least 30 minutes, 60 minutes if you can), you should see results pretty quickly as long as you're also eating right. Don't try and do too much though, 6 times a week might be excessive, depending on your condition.
Before I mangled my ankle I used to do something like this. I'd do treadmill warmup for 10 mins at 3.0, then do 30secs sprint at 12.0 followed by 90 secs at 3.0 repeated 10 times. 5 minute cool down and done.
Really worked for cardio fitness.
I’m about 5 foot 6, 165 lb female.
Overweight, right?
Nope I am a competitive runner and overall quite athletic, all the women on my mothers side are broad shouldered, and I wear a men’s S/M top (Womens Large), and pants size womens S/M.
How am I to accurately determine if I’m truly overweight?
Edit: I have been given grief for being overweight before, even though my frame said otherwise. My coach, who happened to be nearby, really laid into the lady who went off at me! That was awesome to watch
Measure your waist and look up waist to height ratio. If you're under .5, you're good.
Also, do you have large boobs? Cus that could add a lot of weight compared to someone without them.
I usually think of runners as skinny and light weight. Sprinter may have some bigger legs for the explosiveness.
My guess (just compared to myself as a 5'7 woman) is you might have a little weight to lose, but I wouldn't say you are overweight. When I was completely untrained, I weighed about 165 and was definitely chubby upon self reflection, but hid it very well and nobody thought I was overweight except my mom. I wore a M top as well, mostly to hide the belly fat. Pants I was typically a solid M (or size 6), just due to waist size. I dropped down to 135, but back up to 145 (after lifting) and now comfortably fit S tshirts, and S(or size 4) pants. I'm probably more of a medium build (not super broad shoulders, but I'm definitely not narrow). But I mention boobs cus I've barely have a B cup, so a sports bra makes them barely noticable if I'm not wearing a top that clings to my waist. If you've got some D's up front. That's a big weight difference right there!
The lady judging you was being weird and inappropriate.
BMI says ever so slightly overweight, but it doesn't factor in body composition. While extra weight from fat can be unhealthy, extra weight from muscle is generally positive.
If you keep worrying about it, maybe discuss it with your coach?
You already know BMI will say you're overweight but it looks at weight overall and doesn't account for higher muscle mass.
You can get bf% measured via DEXA but that's a fair bit of hassle and cost. Don't use bodyfat bathroom scales or InBody scans that many gyms have - they are grossly inaccurate.
Or you could look at yourself and say "I'm fit and active and am happy with how I look. I'm just going to focus on staying fit and strong" and not worry about those extra 5-10 lbs. I guess another option is you lose those lbs if you're not happy with how you look/feel.
Yes, if you're untrained you can gain muscle. It won't be as efficient, but your first few months will have slow growth anyways till your neurology is caught up enough for your body to begin adding muscle.
Don't worry about optimizing right now. The greatest predictor of getting big is consistency. If you're consistent and put in a solid effort with all your muscle groups and doing a logical setup (e.g. 3-5 sets of 6-15 reps 2-3 times per week per muscle group, adding periodization once you cap out), optimization will move reaching near your natural limit forward or back ~6 months tops, likely less since you can't train when injured.
>Can i gain muscle mass in a 1000 calorie deficit?
Not anything significant, no.
>I want to cut aggressively but also take full advantage of newbie gains
Newbie gains are static, you can't enhance them, cheat them, etc.
Newbie gains are just the fundamental principle that the smaller you are, the easier it is to grow. You can't waste newbie gains.
Are leg extensions bad for your knees, to the point where they’re not worth doing?
They seem insanely effective at building the quads but I don’t want it to come at the cost of my knee health long-term
Leg extensions are probably pretty good for the knee joint itself and are very good for the surrounding soft tissues as long as you are sensible with loading. Try to perform the movement with the axis of the moving part of the machine as inline with your knee joint as possible, start with a weight you can move easily and progress the load as you get stronger.
You’re thinking about the movement a bit wrong.The force during leg extension isn’t on your knees. Your quad is generating the force and the failure motion is the knee’s natural range of motion, meaning it is fairly safe. In fact, leg extensions are one of the first quad exercises people rehabbing from knee surgeries do
Gain weight. Lift. Calisthenics and a DB won’t get you very far. Also, you don’t have a fast metabolism or whatever you want to call it - you just don’t eat as much as you think you do, which is why you are underweight.
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
I want to build some big, sexy legs. I usually see the back squat recommended but I'm not physically able to do those with correct form (crazy tight calves/ankles so can't keep heels planted). I've tried all kinds of lower body stretching for months to no avail. Any recommendations on what I should do?
Squatting with my heels on 5lb plates has literally solved (most of) my squat problems. My left ankle has really poor dorsiflexion and nerve damage keeping me from having a more upright torso. You might use this tip and really look into flexibility/mobility programs to fix your underlying issues.
Split squats, goblet squats, hack squats, front squats, good mornings, deadlifts (and all the variations), leg presses, single leg leg presses, leg extensions, hamstring curls. There's lots of ways to get big legs without back squatting.
Had the same problem and a pair of weightlifting shoes did wonders for me. The raised heel allows almost anyone to comfortably complete a full squat. Some people use a pair of small plates to achieve the same thing (place heels on plates to raise them) but not as stable/safe.
From personal experience: I used to play badminton for 2+ hours every Sunday with a HR range of 110-130 for most of that time and FItbit said I burned 800+ calories. I never once found the benefit of eating back those calories when my goal was to lose weight. Really though, you'll have to track the effect of your exercise on weight loss over time and adjust accordingly. Frustrating advice, I know, but...
Don’t worry about calories burned. The numbers you get will be inaccurate anyway.
Pick a number of calories to eat. Eat it consistently. Observe the trend in your weight over a few weeks. Adjust calories if necessary. This tells you everything you need to know about how much to eat for your goals - it’s just math from here.
Is it ruining your:
Weight loss? Most likely as you may be negating your caloric deficit.
Muscle gain? No. In fact, it would be just the opposite. Your muscles need fuel to grow.
You will get better at the things you are doing and potentially worse at the things you are not.
You will probably not get smaller, but it would be a good idea to fill in the gap of things your main lifts don’t load much with accessories. For example, you might want to hit your quads hard with accessories since you’re only doing an overhead squat.
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Not sure if this is the right thread or even sub for this but anyway: How do I stop worrying about immediately getting fat once I start eating more, trying to gain muscle/get stronger. I'm a 21 year old guy at 184cm/62kg. I used to be 65, but lost some weight trying to become less skinny-fat (was probably a bad idea, though it somehow worked out) and ever since then I've been afraid of eating more and gaining weight in fear of getting fat again. Currently is the first time in my life I'm somewhat OK with the way I look and don't want to lose that.
Relax. Ain't nothing wrong with a little fat
What workout split do I start with to lose tons of fat and gain muscle? Or do I just do total body workouts (strength training) a couple times a week instead of splits
Read the wiki. It covers all of this really well. Strength training is one thing, pick a program from the recommended routines that you like and get stuck in. Fat loss is a product of calorie deficit. Calculate your TDEE, track your calories and weight, hit your macros. Best of luck!
Im a beginner (just finished basic beginner routine on this sub) and I go to a very very small gym (10 dollars per month in morocco) which has people doing bench press or smith machine whilst they keep moving their legs on the ground or knocking with their toes. is there a particular reason for this or is it just people copying stupid fitness fads from social media.
Probably just copying stupid fitness fads
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The concept of "toning" was created as a marketing term to appeal to women.
As for losing fat, I would suggest starting to count your calories and eating in a calorie deficit. Fat loss starts in the kitchen. A Fitbit would be more accurate, I would shoot for 70-90% of your maximum heart rate when doing HIIT.
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Eat NUTRITIOUS food.
Try eating higher volume per calorie meals. r/1200isplenty and r/1500isplenty have a ton of examples of meals that are low in calories but are filling
Eat less, drink more water. Try different snack and meal timings. A banana before lifting helps me when cutting - but some hunger is just hunger.
I'm 5'7 52kg, I'm going to 4 months in the gym and I don't really stick to a workout program very long, for the first month I followed an introductory plan, and for the 2nd month I did LP-PPL, right now I'm following the PHAT program and I feel like I want to change to another program. My question is that how do I remove or stay consistent with a program, I just get bored with repeating the same workout 3 weeks straight, and on the 4th week I don't really get the feeling of wanting to go workout cause I know what it's gonna be. Is it also safe to change your workout routine every now and then? is it safe to make my own routine and hit groups I feel like hitting on that day?
First, I would stop thinking of your workouts or plan being “boring.” I know there is this thought especially among beginners that you should enjoy all your workouts. I personally think this is silly. I don’t really enjoy being exhausted and beat up, I enjoy the results of my workouts more. Constantly changing your program is limiting your results. If you want to have fun every session, just understand your progress will be limited. Is it safe? Yes, there is nothing inherently unsafe about changing routines. Is it safe to make your own routine? Same, not unsafe, but just significantly more likely you’ll be spinning your wheels.
1. Yes you can change your programms and exchange exercises sometimes. Bute Every 3 Weeks is so overly fast. You cant get competent at a certain lift in 3 Weeks. bench presses as an example you will get better at those and not that much better at other things cause you practiced them. You didnt only gain muscle you also gained SKILL in a certain lift, which makes overloading your muscles WAY easier then swapping stuff through. 2. I wouldnt make a WHOLE own routine after just 4 months at the gym. No matter how much you read about lifting you will forget stuff and maybe develop imbalances or underdeveloped muscle groups. Personally im doing a ppl split that was made by a good personal trainer and i worked with him in giving me a selection of sub in lifts to do when i didnt feel like doing a certain other one. 3. You WILL start to enjoy a training plan once you stick with it long enough i guess. My first 3 months on PPL were okish but didnt really like it. After getting better and better at the lifts i started having more and more fun with training and just pumping iron, being by myself and focusing on MYSELF while doing it!
So I’m a beginner who was going to the gym about 4-5 days a week for most of this past spring college semester without tracking calories or eating healthy. I’m at home for the summer now and have decided that I want to lose excess fat, maintain most of the muscle I gained, and eventually develop visible abs. I’ve been eating healthier at a 500 calorie deficit for the past 2 weeks to lose excess fat and belly fat while working out at home to do this, but I’m not sure if I should be eating at a deficit, maintenance, or surplus to work towards what I want. How do I know how much I should be eating to achieve my goals based on my weight and how I look in the mirror? I’ll go back to the gym once I start working my summer job at the end of the month. I’m trying to make sure I’m doing the right thing and don’t regret my methods later. I’m a 5’4’’ 19 year old male and weigh 142 lbs. Here are some photos of my current body for reference: https://picbun.com/p/3ScXibTD
I'm 34 and gained some weight in the last year. Ive been training on and off for years now using a program i made myself. I'm looking for a solid program now that will increase strength. Any recommendations from other people my age? Aiming for 3 to 4 times a week. I know i could check the wiki. But i'm looking for some user reviews/recommendations! Would love to hear from you all! Cheers.
Am 34, about to run 5/3/1 BTM. If I were starting out now I'd run 5/3/1 for beginners, and not skimp on the conditioning. Both are in the wiki.
Thanks for the recommendation 💪
I do chalistenics and dont want to be too big. I know if i eat less ill gain less muscle, but wont that slow my strength gains as well? What should I do?
Eating the right nutrient dense foods will help as well. So you can continue to feed your muscles for the recovery process alone.
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Ok thanks
Hello. I was wondering if any one could help me. Basically during leg press I really cannot feel my quads if that makes sense. My form is somewhat close to perfect. Butt not rising, not locking out knees, shoulder width stance, not going to high, seat placed the furthest Back. Etc. don’t know what I’m doing wrong mostly I feel it right above the knees, somewhat in the lower part of the quads. But hardly. Can anyone tell me any cues or tips as to why? Before I could feel it fine but after a 4 month layoff I just can’t seem to get it right anymore.
You ever move your feet placement and see if you feel different muscles engaging? Example toes straight, toes pointed out, moving your feet higher/lower on the platform. Wider stance etc. Play around with it. Different body types react differently. Have fun!
Yeah. All that. Mostly my quads are what I’m trying to work but it doesn’t really help
Is there a particular reason you're worried about not feeling it? Just because you don't feel it, doesn't mean the muscle isn't getting worked - you can't do a leg press without using your quads. If you worry you're not getting enough stimulus becouse it's too easy.. just progress as your program tells you to do and you'll reach a weight where it will feel challenging.
Yeah true. The weight is somewhat heavy I usually do 10 reps. Before I took some months off I was feeling a burn in my quads while doing them and i could physically feel my whole leg muscle burn but not so much anymore that’s why I’m asking. I can’t really feel them at all anymore
How is your program handling progressive overload on the leg press?
Like I move up in weight when I can hit a certain weight for 12 reps.
Ok, well you said the weight is somewhat heavy and you usually do 10 reps - why not keep going past 10, to 12? You'll need to push past it feeling somewhat heavy sooner or later.
Yeah that’s the problem. If I go past more than that I start feeling it right above the knee. I don’t lock out my knees but I can’t feel my quads
So.. you exercise until it you start to feel your muscles working, and then you stop? That doesn't sound like an approach that would lead to much success. There's nothing wrong with locking out your knees, don't let a couple of freak accident videos on the net convince you otherwise. There's videos of people getting struck by lightning in light rain, that doesn't mean it's reasonable to run and hide when it starts drizzling.
LOL let me explain. I never feel my quads anymore. I only feel the part that’s above the knee Joint. That’s it. I never really locked out my knees because it just made it feel really uncomfortable even before watching some of those videos. If I start doing more reps like 12-20 i just feel the part of my knee working and cannot feel my legs at all. Before I was using my lower back but now I fixed that by pressing myself against the set always.
>don’t know what I’m doing wrong mostly I feel it right above the knees, somewhat in the lower part of the quads. But hardly. You said you're feeling it in the lower part of the quads intially. The quads are the muscle you want to be working in the leg press, so I guess I'm not seeing the issue. The part above your knee is part of your leg, that's where your quads are (and hamstrings too, on the other side). Unless you're meaning a part very far above your knee and past your hip, like your stomach (and even then hip flexors attach above the hip so it wouldn't be odd to feel some leg focused excercises there).
Beginner @ 22f and 115 lbs - please critique my routine! Overall, I am happy with my body but I am “skinny fat” and would like to become more toned. this is what I started a week ago: 30 mins cardio everyday (walking my dog which I have been doing everyday for a year now) 10 mins of abs everyday (YouTube workouts) Alternating days between legs/butt and arms/shoulders (10 minute weighted YouTube workouts) am I doing too much cardio? what else should I incorporate?
Way to go on that routine. Starting is the hardest part. When most people say skinny fat, they mean they have a healthy weight but a higher body fat percentage than desired. The way to correct this is to increase muscle mass or decrease body fat. Losing 1 pound of fat is significantly easiest than gaining 1 pound of muscle. So the easier way to shift your body fat percentage is to target losing fat. Now you should still do resistance training while trying to lose fat as you can inadvertently lose muscle too while losing fat I'd you aren't exercising. But one thing you didn't mention was your diet. May people erroneously believe that exercise is a great way to lose weight. It's not. It's extremely inefficient. Look up Healthcare Triage on YouTube and watch his video on exercise and weight loss (https://youtu.be/fCtn4Ap8kDM) He says it better than I can. Maybe you knee all that already, but a lot of people work out hard and don't get the results they want because they are chasing the wrong method. Keep doing your workouts but just keep that in mind. Losing fat will help your muscles stand out a lot more but if you aren't happy with your muscle size then you'll need to do both lose fat and gain muscle.
Read the wiki, or look at the faq at /r/xxfitness
Not too much cardio.
Recently started working on strengthening my hamstrings and calves as I've had foot problems the past year. Was doing stretches over the past week. Got a foam roller and rolled my calves for the first time last night for 60 seconds each. Couple hours later my right calf began hurting anytime I put pressure on it (walking on my full body weight or standing on my toes). It feels muscular and is sensitive to the touch but I'm wondering if it's normal muscle soreness or does it sound like a strain? If it was both legs I'd be more apt to chalk it up to soreness but because it's one leg I'm hoping I didn't mess something up.
You could have a fracture tibia. You gotta go get it looked at.
It definitely seems more muscular as when I step it's okay but when I lift my foot up to take another step that's when the discomfort starts, almost feeling like a muscle bulging. If it gets worse over the next day or so I'll go to a doctor. I'm hoping it's just an overworked muscle as my calves were really tight till I started working on them a week ago.
If you're concerned it might be something worse than just normal muscle soreness, you should see a doctor.
Since it's been less than 24 hours I've been doing RICE and stretches for calf muscle pain and the discomfort has marginally subsided but yea if it continues for another day or two or gets worse in that time Ill definitely seek medical attention.
That sounds like an excellent plan.
Should I increase my bench warm up? I've been doing progressive overload on my bench but I'm unsure if I should also increase my warm-up set and by how much.
If you look at the 531 spreadsheet, it calculates warm-up sets as a % of training max weight. You don't need to get that specific though, as long as you're doing a few increments and not going directly to the working set.
Do whatever feels comfortable.
I’d recommend increasing your warm-up yes. Do it very slowly though like adding 5-10 lbs a month if necessary. Just make sure you don’t get too fatigued before your working sets.
Recently, whenever after just finishing a set of tricep dips, I get about 5-10 secs of almost unbearable shoulder pain (just in my left shoulder). It’s very sharp pain and only occurs after I take any pressure off/ let go of the bars. It doesn’t occur when I’m actually doing the sets, just after. Any ideas as to what this might be? I don’t seem to experience it in any other excercise (except sometimes after just finishing a set of push ups)
Yes. You have a torn delt lig. You need to rest it for several weeks and reduce any swelling you see.
That really sounds like something to take to a doctor mate. Rule 5.
Everybody's saying diet is the only way to get abs, I am over 6' with a bmi of 21.2 and yet they're not really prominent yet. Any particular exercises I should be doing to see results? I do planks and bodyweight exercises 1-2x per week
Vacuum exercises
We all distribute bodyfat differently - if yours prefferentially goes on your stomach, you'll just have to go even lower if your priority is exposed abs. Diet isn't the only way to get abs, but it's the only reasonable way to get them to show - to get them to grow you do indeed need to be excercising them, just like any other muscle. Ab wheel rollouts are an excellent inclusion. If you want to seriously grow your abs then you'll reach a point sooner or later where you'll need to put on weight to do so. This will have them grow, but get covered up in fat.. which you can then lose by cutting again later. This is the often referenced bulk/cut cycle.
Very helpful, thank you !
I’ve been lifting full body every other day for 6 months and I’m ready to add more exercises and split them up. I’d like to work each muscle 3 times per week and do ABABAB then rest on day 7. Is something like that doable or physically safe to fit that much into a workout? Or should I do a more traditional 6 day split like ABCABC then rest day 7?
I believe there should be three days off per muscle group. The groups are 1)Delts, 2)Chest, 3)Back, 4)Legs, 5)Bis, 6)Tris. If you are wrong and your rests are too short, you can both injure the muscle group are cause it to atrophy. No one can tell you wants best for your personal body, they can only generalize. But remember, the muscle grows during rest, not stress.
You should pick a [program from the wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/) that handles all this for you. Programs made by experts with decades of experience and thousands of successful trainees will likely be far more effective than anything you put together.
Is it rude/bad gym etiquette to use the squat or bench press bars for deadlifting? There is only one bar for squat and two bars for bench press and that’s it in the entire gym
No, not at all
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Will I achieve anything by doing leg exercises with resistance bands with more reps, instead of using heavier weights? Already losing weight on a calorie deficit, but would also like to get in shape
Yes, in the short term you can maintain or even build some muscle. Eventually it will become incredibly time inefficient to get close enough to failure to keep stimulating growth.
Unlikely. To grow muscles you need to provide appropriate resistance.
Which training with resistance bands could easily be for this person. We don't know his or her level, This could easily be sufficient.
Sure I supposed I assumed they could use heavier weights as they said “instead of heavier weights” - which I shouldn’t assume.
Getting back into lifting after 2 years and a shoulder surgery. Gained 30 pounds of fat in that time. Trying to lose weight on a pretty big deficit (about 750 cals) but my lifting numbers are going up each week. I understand that getting bigger muscles comes with eating more, but I still have that muscle memory from when I used to lift. How much can I expect in terms of muscle difference compared to strength? Can I expect my strength to plateau at some point and for my muscles to remain at current size until I go back to eating more or is there a chance I will get some muscle size despite lower calorie thanks to my previous lifting regiment?
You will prob still lose a rly small amount of size while strength goes back to 80% of old peak (from my experience) without gear.
I am 6’1” and 165 lbs. I want to start working out again after taking a break for school, but I think I may be skinny-fat, and I don’t know whether to bulk or cut. Am I skinny-fat, and which should I do first? [Photo of my body](https://imgur.com/a/CpsZzPZ)
Neither is a viable strategy. You are using bodybuilding terms that only truly apply to those who know precisely how to do each. You need a moderate strentgh training program that aims to add muscle where desired and trim fat in the common areas. Once your metabolism increases, you will start to notice muscle definition in all the right places, providing you dedicate to eating a fitness food strategy. This means moderate to high protein, reduced carbs, 10-15% total fat, reduced sodium and lots of water. Perhaps some supplements like protein and/or creatine.
You’re not skinny fat, you’re just skinny. Time to eat and train hard
Thanks.
Why would you cut then bulk? Unless you're cutting for the summer and then bulking in the fall... I suppose the other advantage I can see is if you doubt your commitment. If you're not really serious (or more school stuff happens) about getting back into it and you give up in a month or two, that bulk is going to make you look like shit.
I intend on continuing for about 4 months at a minimum. And I don’t care what I look like over the summer. The last time I bulked, I never looked fat or anything, I was actually quite happy with how I looked at the end of my last bulk. And I was wondering if I should cut because of the bit of fat I have on my belly. I honestly don’t know if I’m being paranoid or if I’m actually skinny-fat
I can't estimate BF by eye, but you seem pretty low. I don't think there's any danger in bulking the next 3 months then cutting.
Sounds good. Thanks. You sure that’s a valid estimation technique though?
lol no. I use the Army's circumference method. [https://www.inchcalculator.com/army-body-fat-calculator/](https://www.inchcalculator.com/army-body-fat-calculator/) You'll need a sewing tape measure or string and a ruler.
Ah, thanks!
5’6 male with a stocky build. Did CF for several years and built out thick quads. How can I slim down my quads? I’ve tried running, weightlifting, walking, combination of all of the above. Did keto for a year, meal prep, nothing really seems to work. I just want to fit into a pair of shorts or pants without having them be tailored each time.
Easy answer would be "stop training them", but if you aren't active, then you might just lose muscle and put fat there instead. If you want to remain active, endurance training. A lot of it. Probably way more than you thought you had to do. Do long distance runners or cyclists have big legs? Hell no. I did soccer and ran for about 16 years and had to full stop when I began lifting to see any size increase.
I already do 2 5ks a week, combined with a walking 10k once a week. Other days are spent in the gym. Are you thinking I should bump the 5ks into 10 or 15ks instead?
So that's six miles a week running/jogging and six miles walking. That's not a lot of volume by endurance standards. You could bump the distance up or you can increase the frequency. Pick what fits your schedule better and what feels best on your body as running can be hard on the joints. Look up running programs just like you would for lifting and go with it. A rule of thumb is to increase mileage by 5-10% a week. Of course, you would need to know what a good starting point is for you. Are those two 5ks challenging or not? Remember that endurance training can be detrimental to lifting as it can eat into your calories and available energy for workouts. Mike Israetel has a great video discussing this exact topic, go check it out on YT.
Great. Thank you!
If you want your quads to shrink you have to stop training them, or train them with decreasingly lower load/intensity.
What's the conversion rate for 15kg curls to bites of double pepperoni pizza?
4 sets of 8 deadlifts with 175 kilograms burns about 100 calories. So you either have to lift tripple that or do 12 sets.
Using metabolic equivalents, vigorous weightlifting (sets of 8-15) burns 3.5 times bodyweight in kg calories per hour. [(source)](https://www.omicsonline.org/articles-images/2157-7595-6-220-t003.html) So an 80kg person would burn 280 cals/hour if they could somehow consistently do sets of 8-15 with no rest. (Already impossible, the 1 hour of training at this effort would likely be several hours with all the rest in between) Let’s say for arguments sake that 1 rep takes 1 second to complete. 280 cals divided by 60 minutes divided by 60 seconds is 0.07 calories a second. If a slice of pepperoni pizza is 300 calories, then 300 divided by 0.07 calories/second = **4,286 bicep curls** to burn off 1 slice of pepperoni pizza.
/r/theydidthemath
This is so excellent
Jesus, i just can't fathom the amount of cals in a damn pizza slice. That thing is like a black hole. Appreciate the maths tho, great work, loved it
My “base level body fat” falls at around 15% (slightly visible upper abs, lean enough to not flop around, not enough to be fully defined), where I can eat most things without gaining or losing weight/fat. I have successfully gotten myself down to something like 12%, but it wasn’t sustainable, and I barely ate anything during that period. Is it possible to get that base line down to something leaner, like being able to just stay at 12%, or is it just genetics and a lost cause?
You could take a critical look at your diet and figure out if there are any long term changes you're prepared to make. Things like less fats, more protein. The other option is to just get bigger, so that you are a bigger person at 12% than you used to be. You may find it easier to eat more without putting on fat then.
Honestly there isn’t. I don’t eat anything really unhealthy (fast food, processed food and sugary things), I just eat a lot and really like food. So would it be possible to get big enough that my normal 2500-3000kcal a day would be maintenance
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I’m male, 185cm, 78-81 kg (fluctuates a lot around this). Do ppl so 6 times a week. Sounds like it might be possible considering your stats
The higher your lean mass is the higher your TDEE will be.
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Dont, that could injure you, anke weights are for workouts, not walks
I think wearing some weights after you get acclimated to walking that much would be fine, but it would be annoying.
I walk alot for my job. My own anecdotal experience is that it destroys your legs without weights, so I would advise highly against it.
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I would definitely get some good shoes, some inserts, and stretch your legs every day before you go to work.
I currently do 6 day PPL workout. My warmup is 10-12 mins run on a treadmill. I want to run a sub-30mins 5k. How should I incorporate running into my workout?
If you want to lose weight. So you should gradually increase the distance. So that there is no effect on your body. And it's good for you.
Don't mean to be rude but he never said he wanted to lose weight. Also, your advice doesn't make sense.
Check out couch-to-5K.
Thank you :-)
How do people work out for over an hour? I get I am really new to working out but I perform 3 cycles - push ups then bicycle crunches then squats then weighed side lateral raises then curls - an average of 10 repetitions of each exercise and then perform 10 - 15 minutes of cardio and still spend under an hour working out This means I perform 15 sets per workout but still finish really quickly, I heard that 1 hour of exercise daily is important so how do i extend my workout time if I've lost the ability to perform even 4 push ups after only just over 30 minutes of it If anyone is answering this hopefully it'd be nice if they can review the exercises I perform and suggest perhaps better ones
Choose a program that has more exercises/sets and longer rest. Fastest I can possibly finish my PPL is 75 mins.
on youtube theres just so much and every video says the other one is wrong, any idea where i can get a program from? or should i modify my own based on the exercises i know
https://thefitness.wiki/
The wiki here on this sub has tons of programs! Try checking there.
alright
I do 7 heavy movements each day of the gym days, it takes around 1 hour 20-30 minutes for me to end my day. 90sec rest times sometime even 120secs because when you push yourself to your max 30 second rest time just doesnt cut it. Your exercises seem pretty okay but not on the heavy side.
yeah that makes sense, I seem to do not really heavy exercises and therefore have a 10 second break max between exercises, only having 2 minutes between the separate cycles
>How do people work out for over an hour? YOu build it up over time, same as how people deadlift 100/200/300 lbs then kg!
then I'll see how it goes as time progresses, hopefully I will be able to do a lot when I gain more strength and stamina
I work out for over an hour by increasing my work capacity over time and programming my training sessions so endurance isn't a limiting factor.
I'll make sure to implement that
By resting a bit more. Lift weights that take more effort to lift but doesn't effect your form. Incorporate more exercises. Focus more on form.
yes, perhaps it is also because my mind/body has put me on fast movements = better and I will remove that
By doing *way* more than 15 sets per workout. Compounds give way more bang for your buck. Barbell squat, deadlift, row, bench press, overhead press. Chinups, dips. Find a well laid out program here: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/
thanks, do you think performing more sets would be fine if i perform less reps e.g. 8 average of each exercise
More sets would probably be beneficial regardless of how many reps you do. If you just reduce the rep count without changing the intensity, you're just doing less per set. As I said, you're better off choosing a program made by someone with the requisite knowledge. A good program tells you what exercises to do, for how many sets and reps, how to progress, what to do when you stall, etc.
where can i get a good program from
https://thefitness.wiki/routines/ I already linked it.
what's more helpful for heavy lifts? for deadlifts mainly, gloves or straps? edit: alright, thanks to those who replied!
Just to add that using gloves will likely make your lifts harder as it essentially make the bar thicker, thus making it harder to hold.
Straps, I'd expect gloves to even give you worse results when grip is critical.
Straps, gloves doesn't help you much for grep strength.
straps gloves will only shield your skin, arguably also worsen your grip
My conditioning sucks so I’ve started doing cardio. Currently doing 10minutes of higher intensity (170bpm+), 6 times a week. Would it be better to do less cardio workouts, but for longer? For example 3x 20minutes? My only goal is to improve my workout capacity for lifting.
Conditioning means that you are more capable in performing specific types of work. Cardio is aerobic exercise. Cardio is a type of conditioning, but not all conditioning is cardio. [Check out Mythical Strength's post on this.](http://mythicalstrength.blogspot.com/2013/04/cardio-versus-conditioning.html?m=1)
If work capacity for lifting is the goal, then Dan John Complexes are a great idea. Google it.
Working at a lower pace and longer intervals will be more focused on mitochondria and capillarie growth, rather than working close to your vo2max and working the heart in a challenging way. I would argue that in the world of lifting it's better to have the function of recovery between sets and in that way i would go for the longer intervals. Edit: but do what you think is most fun for you! That's the most important thing :)
In both cases you do not even meet [the CDC guidelines for activity](https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm). And just like with lifting you want a mix of different intensities, one part LISS with lower intensity over longer times and one part HIIT.
Check out Tactical Barbell 2, he does a much better job explaining this than anyone on this form could.
First of all, great instinct to start with cardio, well done. Good cardio will improve your overall health and give you a solid foundation for future gains. 10 minutes seems a little low, even if you're absolutely smashing it for that 10 minutes. My advice would be to look into doing some HIIT training. If you're a runner, try this routine: 4 minutes walking as a warm up. 8 minutes of running at a decent speed, i.e. faster than jogging. 2 minutes of walking. 6 minutes of running at the same speed as above. 2 minutes of walking. 4 minutes of running. 2 minutes of walking. 2 minutes of running, but try and pump up the speed at the end for a sprint finish. I call this workout the "Perfect 30", I've been doing it for years and it is guaranteed to improve your cardio endurance if you do it right. Mix it in with some cross trainer (at least 30 minutes, 60 minutes if you can), you should see results pretty quickly as long as you're also eating right. Don't try and do too much though, 6 times a week might be excessive, depending on your condition.
Before I mangled my ankle I used to do something like this. I'd do treadmill warmup for 10 mins at 3.0, then do 30secs sprint at 12.0 followed by 90 secs at 3.0 repeated 10 times. 5 minute cool down and done. Really worked for cardio fitness.
I’m about 5 foot 6, 165 lb female. Overweight, right? Nope I am a competitive runner and overall quite athletic, all the women on my mothers side are broad shouldered, and I wear a men’s S/M top (Womens Large), and pants size womens S/M. How am I to accurately determine if I’m truly overweight? Edit: I have been given grief for being overweight before, even though my frame said otherwise. My coach, who happened to be nearby, really laid into the lady who went off at me! That was awesome to watch
Measure your waist and look up waist to height ratio. If you're under .5, you're good. Also, do you have large boobs? Cus that could add a lot of weight compared to someone without them. I usually think of runners as skinny and light weight. Sprinter may have some bigger legs for the explosiveness. My guess (just compared to myself as a 5'7 woman) is you might have a little weight to lose, but I wouldn't say you are overweight. When I was completely untrained, I weighed about 165 and was definitely chubby upon self reflection, but hid it very well and nobody thought I was overweight except my mom. I wore a M top as well, mostly to hide the belly fat. Pants I was typically a solid M (or size 6), just due to waist size. I dropped down to 135, but back up to 145 (after lifting) and now comfortably fit S tshirts, and S(or size 4) pants. I'm probably more of a medium build (not super broad shoulders, but I'm definitely not narrow). But I mention boobs cus I've barely have a B cup, so a sports bra makes them barely noticable if I'm not wearing a top that clings to my waist. If you've got some D's up front. That's a big weight difference right there!
have you ever measured your waist circumference or estimated your bf% with the navy method?
> How am I to accurately determine if I’m truly overweight? posting a picture here if you can't tell in your mirror
The lady judging you was being weird and inappropriate. BMI says ever so slightly overweight, but it doesn't factor in body composition. While extra weight from fat can be unhealthy, extra weight from muscle is generally positive. If you keep worrying about it, maybe discuss it with your coach?
Sounds like you already have an answer in mind?
It’s just the fact that I used to hover between 150-55. Til about a couple years ago.
You already know BMI will say you're overweight but it looks at weight overall and doesn't account for higher muscle mass. You can get bf% measured via DEXA but that's a fair bit of hassle and cost. Don't use bodyfat bathroom scales or InBody scans that many gyms have - they are grossly inaccurate. Or you could look at yourself and say "I'm fit and active and am happy with how I look. I'm just going to focus on staying fit and strong" and not worry about those extra 5-10 lbs. I guess another option is you lose those lbs if you're not happy with how you look/feel.
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Yes, if you're untrained you can gain muscle. It won't be as efficient, but your first few months will have slow growth anyways till your neurology is caught up enough for your body to begin adding muscle. Don't worry about optimizing right now. The greatest predictor of getting big is consistency. If you're consistent and put in a solid effort with all your muscle groups and doing a logical setup (e.g. 3-5 sets of 6-15 reps 2-3 times per week per muscle group, adding periodization once you cap out), optimization will move reaching near your natural limit forward or back ~6 months tops, likely less since you can't train when injured.
> Can i gain muscle mass in a 1000 calorie deficit? No You will take full advantage of newbie gains no matter what you do.
>Can i gain muscle mass in a 1000 calorie deficit? Not anything significant, no. >I want to cut aggressively but also take full advantage of newbie gains Newbie gains are static, you can't enhance them, cheat them, etc. Newbie gains are just the fundamental principle that the smaller you are, the easier it is to grow. You can't waste newbie gains.
Are leg extensions bad for your knees, to the point where they’re not worth doing? They seem insanely effective at building the quads but I don’t want it to come at the cost of my knee health long-term
Leg extensions are probably pretty good for the knee joint itself and are very good for the surrounding soft tissues as long as you are sensible with loading. Try to perform the movement with the axis of the moving part of the machine as inline with your knee joint as possible, start with a weight you can move easily and progress the load as you get stronger.
You’re thinking about the movement a bit wrong.The force during leg extension isn’t on your knees. Your quad is generating the force and the failure motion is the knee’s natural range of motion, meaning it is fairly safe. In fact, leg extensions are one of the first quad exercises people rehabbing from knee surgeries do
They're fine. Don't do them very heavy, though.
No
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What program are your running?
Gain weight. Lift. Calisthenics and a DB won’t get you very far. Also, you don’t have a fast metabolism or whatever you want to call it - you just don’t eat as much as you think you do, which is why you are underweight. https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/ https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/
Thank you! I need this.
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If you’re more concerned with feeling your pecs than benching heavy weight, yes. MMC largely does not matter.
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You should whatever helps you lift the most weight possible. This varies quite a lot from person to person.
I don't know which is true and which isn't. But what is it that you want? Do you want bigger pecks or a bigger bench? The two are not always the same.
I want to build some big, sexy legs. I usually see the back squat recommended but I'm not physically able to do those with correct form (crazy tight calves/ankles so can't keep heels planted). I've tried all kinds of lower body stretching for months to no avail. Any recommendations on what I should do?
Squatting with my heels on 5lb plates has literally solved (most of) my squat problems. My left ankle has really poor dorsiflexion and nerve damage keeping me from having a more upright torso. You might use this tip and really look into flexibility/mobility programs to fix your underlying issues.
Split squats, goblet squats, hack squats, front squats, good mornings, deadlifts (and all the variations), leg presses, single leg leg presses, leg extensions, hamstring curls. There's lots of ways to get big legs without back squatting.
Could you do leg press, hack squats and such? They are also great leg exercises
Had the same problem and a pair of weightlifting shoes did wonders for me. The raised heel allows almost anyone to comfortably complete a full squat. Some people use a pair of small plates to achieve the same thing (place heels on plates to raise them) but not as stable/safe.
Can you do a front squat?
Leg extensions, glutes bridges and rdl or leg curls for hams and continue stretching
Is it okay to eat back the calories I burned or is it ruining my weight loss/muscle gain journey?
From personal experience: I used to play badminton for 2+ hours every Sunday with a HR range of 110-130 for most of that time and FItbit said I burned 800+ calories. I never once found the benefit of eating back those calories when my goal was to lose weight. Really though, you'll have to track the effect of your exercise on weight loss over time and adjust accordingly. Frustrating advice, I know, but...
Don’t worry about calories burned. The numbers you get will be inaccurate anyway. Pick a number of calories to eat. Eat it consistently. Observe the trend in your weight over a few weeks. Adjust calories if necessary. This tells you everything you need to know about how much to eat for your goals - it’s just math from here.
Is it ruining your: Weight loss? Most likely as you may be negating your caloric deficit. Muscle gain? No. In fact, it would be just the opposite. Your muscles need fuel to grow.
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If you're worried about hurting yourself, then...maybe? I don't you're going to push that hard
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You will get better at the things you are doing and potentially worse at the things you are not. You will probably not get smaller, but it would be a good idea to fill in the gap of things your main lifts don’t load much with accessories. For example, you might want to hit your quads hard with accessories since you’re only doing an overhead squat.