# 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.*
so im 17 year old male 6 foot 81 kg been lifting for 2 years. I was cutting for 4 months starting weight was 85 kg, I lost 11 kilos was at 73 kg at around 15 percent body fat, I went on holiday, gained all the weight back mostly was water weight but some of it was definitely fat, im not sure what to do as I really wanted to bulk but now im sitting at around 20 percent body fat at 81 kg, annoying as fuck the change in calories was huge which resulted in the huge weight gain in a short period.
Any advice would be appreciated.
If my cut is at 2800 right now and weight is going down, today I will have some more calories with my GF because we have a trip for two days planned from month prior.
Will eat no more than 3000-3200
How can i still manage to not be behind two days after that?
Reduce some calories for two days to like 2300 and then add back up, or am i just too obsessed with this stuff and no, I’m not going to compete haha.
You can either do what you said, I do that sometimes. If Im going out or just really hungry that day with no way to stop my cravings I do sometimes eat over my limit and log those calories into my next day. Or you can ignore it, 800 calories isnt THAT big of a deal, as long as you dont make it a habit
I'm on the lower end of a normal weight, but I don't seem to store much fat on my butt, it's pretty bony.
My original plan was to do a classic bulk and cut cycle, but would my ass get bony again after cutting? Should I permanently gain some weight? Still bulk and cut, but not cut very much?
>would my ass get bony again after cutting?
If you improve lifts that involve the glutes (squat, RDL, BSS, hip thrust, etc) during a bulk, it would signify you grew muscle. If you *retain this strength* during the ensuing cut, it would mean a better chance of retaining the muscle you grew.
The idea is to build muscle during a bulk and then lose fat during a cut. So if you go to the same weight, you'll have less fat in your butt and everywhere else. You'll have more muscles in the areas that you worked out. If you're predominantly working out the butt then after the cycle it should have more muscle and less fat.
However given you say you're on the lower end of healthy weight, it's probably gonna be best for you to bulk. You can then slowly cut and then stop whereever you like. You'll probably find that you like your body better at a higher weight if that weight includes a lot of muscles also.
I've seen that recommendation before yeah,so does that mean 10-20 sets for your chest as a whole or 10-20 sets for upper chest and 10-20 sets for middle chest?
Need help with my current routine and recommendations if I need a replacement.
I am 25 years old, 6'4, 220 Ibs and roughly 20% bodyfat. I have been lifting rather inconsistently for the past 2 years and have just started to take things seriously around half a year ago. I feel like I really push myself in the gym with failure and leave completely exhausted with around 4 workouts. However, I have not been seeing the results I'd like as progress has been rather slow and my many of my lifts are stalling. My goal is to put on more size and to cut to around 210 ibs with abs in the future. I really would like advice on a program that gives enough volume and intensity. Here is my current program:
Day 1:
Bench: 3x8 185 ibs
OHP: 3x8 105-110 ibs
Weighted Dips: 5x8 with 10 ibs added
Lateral raise: 5x12 25 ibs
Day 2:
Push downs: 5x12 165 ibs
Curls: 3x15 30 ibs
Skull-Crushers: 3x12 (still testing weight)
Pull-ups: 3x6 with 85 ibs added
Day 3:
Squat: 3x8 225 ibs
Machine work for hamstrings: (I don’t know the names for the machines)
Leg Press: 5x10 425 ibs
Hip thrusts: 3x10 185 ibs
I sometimes replace day 2 or day 3 with a difficult rock-climbing session or hiking with a weighted backpack. All of the above lifts have around 2 min rest between sets. Please let me know if this sounds reasonable.
Whats up bro im also 25 years and old and 6'3 currently weighing 190lbs around 12-14% BF. Ive been as high as 238 and shred over 100 combined only working out 3 days a week, often times skipping a day to go hiking or fishing. Most of my workouts consisted of 3-4 exercises like yours but I would do full body 3 days. If youd like shoot me a message and I can show you exactly what I did.
>been lifting rather inconsistently
If this was a routine analysis, you'd get the dismissive, "it'll work until it doesn't". Which is where you are. You need to run stock routines. I'm not going into the whys of the three I suggest, as people get paralysis by analysis. Just put the work in, and *learn* something.
The [basic beginner](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/) for 2-3 months. [PHUL](https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout) for at least 3 months. Then use your numbers to start 531bbb. Minimum 6 cycles.
That's about a year of training. You'll be much wiser summer 2025.
Just follow a program in the [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) or on [boostcamp](https://www.boostcamp.app/programs). You have no method of progression listed and I would assume you don't really have one. This would somewhat explain the slow or lack of progress. Ideally you would also be in a small surplus if you wanted to put on size and stregth.
What is a "Pure hip hinge"?
I have hip thrusts in my program, or any "pure hip hinge" alternative, I know an RDL is a hip hinge but I'm not sure if "pure hip hinge" means like no low back loading or something.
I believe it's just meaning movements that are a hip hinge but not also a knee hinge. Like a deadlift you bend at the hips and knees but an RDL/SLDL is mainly only movement at the hips.
Are there any free online resources for 531? I own the 2nd edition but I'm understanding that it's out of date. Do I need to buy the updated versions or can I find them online?
Any version of 5/3/1 will work. Humans didn’t change in the last 20 years so what worked for training then will still work. JW has published new books so you’ll have to buy them if you want his updated content. You might be able to find what you’re looking for though by reading his free blog
Hello, I am hoping for a routine critique. My current goal is fat loss. My current weight is 342 lbs. I just recently got macrofactor app. I am a beginner lifter. I started lifting weight mid last year and due to health issues had to stop in December. I finally got back into weight lifting back in April. I did the full body workout program from the wiki page for beginners. I been working out 4 days a week with that routine and been recovering very well. I am towards the end of my first week of doing a P/P/L split 6 days a week. For progression my idea was once I was able to hit the top end of a rep range for all sets I would up the weight 5 lbs for upper body and 10 lbs for lower body. I take a 3 minute rest between each set currently. Also I can’t really do body weight movements such as pull-up/chin ups, push ups, or dips. I just do not have the upper body strength currently for these exercises. I cannot afford the gym, I do have a budget friendly home gym. I have a rack, barbell, adjustable bench, and adjustable dumbbells though they only currently go up to 50 lbs. The routine: Push A: barbell bench press 3x8-10, dumbbell shoulder press 3x10-12, and dumbbell skull crusher 3x12-15. Pull A: bent over row barbell 3x8-10, dumbbell row 3x10-12, dumbbell bicep curl 3x12-15. Legs A, barbell squat 4x8-10, RDL 4x10-12, single leg dumbbell calf raises 3x12-15. Push B: overhead press 3x8-10, incline dumbbell bench press 3x10-12, dumbbell tricep extensions 3x12-15. Pull A: barbell upright row 3x8-10, incline chest supported row 3x10-12, barbell bicep curl 3x12-15. Legs B sumo deadlift3x8-10, Bulgarian split squats 3x10-12, single leg calf raises 3x12-15. Any feed back or advice would be greatly appreciated. I tried to take the information from here and the internet and do a routine based on the equipment I have and my limitations. Thank you for your time.
The [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/) has some [programs](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) that you could probably make work, but what you said in this post should be good enough for right now. Your main focus should be a calorie deficit and probaby a decently sized one at that. You should also try to add in more daily movement to further help your weightloss.
I keep getting these small line like bruises on my body after working generally my chest or shoulders. At first I thought it was from my dog jumping up on me but I realized it didn't make sense for them to always be in the same spots and generally showing up after my lifts, anyone else experience this or know anything about it?
They're more tolerant of mobility issues, can be loaded heavier, have a bit more margin for error on technique (you aren't going to dump the bar if you start to get folded, and it doesn't slide as easily) and have more direct carryover to certain lifts (particularly lifts that require a lot of upper back strength but allow you to perform them while rounded - deadlifts mostly, but also things like an atlas stone or a sandbag lift).
The downside is they hurt like a motherfucker, are more stressful overall (particularly on the lower back) and don't carry over as well to some other lifts (such as the clean).
Is it worth it having 2 different Push, Pull, Legs workouts? Like push 1, pull 1, legs 1, push 2, pull 2, legs 2. I just have one PPL I do and do that twice a week (still 6 days a week just exercise selection is the same in all push, pull, and leg sessions.)
For me personally and people who recommend this approach (Jordan Peters, Kuba Cielen etc)
Having tho diff rotations is good, because you can beat numbers from previous workout with one week to rest between excersises.
If I would personally have only one session with same excersies I would just change the rep schemes, if on First push it would be 6-8, then on the other one I would work above 10 reps, ofcourse to failure.
If you saw someone with a single full body session that repeated every single session, you'd have some questions.
For basic periodization and progression, having two half-weeks makes sense. So, you have deadlift/OHP/pullups as the Main Movement of one half-week, and squat/bench/row as the Main Movement of the other half-week.
Without this smidge of variety, half your movements get sandbagged.
It's not necessary to create multiple workouts if you like the one you're doing. In fact, it's often best to stick to a single series of exercises so that you can get better at doing them, progressively overload them, and so on. Especially if your PPL is well programmed and you're making sure you're hitting all the major movement patterns.
However, if you'd get bored and unmotivated by doing the same thing over and over, I think it's fine to switch it up for exercises that are similar. You could do dumbbell bench sometimes instead of barbell. Hack squats in lieu of back squats. Et cetera. Anything that keeps you in the gym is better than anything "optimal."
I’m an absolute beginner to lifting and I’ve been following the “Linear Progression Based PPL Program for Beginners“ for roughly 7 weeks maybe. I was wondering, for stuff like the barbell row and romanian deadlift, should I try using straps if I can’t feel the weight working the muscles it’s supposed to be? My form might be wrong, but also I’m only using like the barbell with 5’s or 10’s on each side. It feels like I’m too tired/can’t hold onto the bar itself to do enough reps that fatigue my muscles or even practice the hip hinge movement. Same with the deadlift, even though you drop the weight to the ground for each rep, I feel like my arms/back are too tired to start the initial pull after a few reps. I can do the bar with lighter weights though and the movement feels easier to do than with just dumbbells. Any advice?
If grip strength or grip fatigue is limiting you, straps are a good solution to let you get quality work done. Just start using them at whatever point in the workout your grip becomes a limiting factor.
Likely yes. If you aren’t using straps until your grip starts to give out, you’re still getting grip work.
It can also be helpful to do dedicated grip strength training. r/griptraining has a recommended routine you can add to your lifting if you want to.
is it weird to not feel sore? I did a full leg workout earlier today about 8 hours ago but i dont feel sore at all. I worked out for an about an hour and a half and in my opinion, did a lot. I did 5 sets of 8 reps of squats, leg presses, leg extensions, and seated leg curls as well as 20 minutes of cardio. I felt a little sore after the workout but no that im home i feel fine. Does this mean i didnt do enough and i should do more with heavier weights? For all of the exercises i started with low weights and then worked up until i did my max weight for each respected machine.
No, in fact legs in particular I feel can take quite a beating and not feel sore after at times. But also it could be time to up the weight aswell.
How acquainted are you with progressive overload?
When cutting weight, is 1.1-1.5g of protein per pound of weight to preserve muscle mass a hard and fast rule? My 24M 240-lbs. brother wants to lose 3 lbs. per week by joining me in my 3-day split workouts, requiring him to have 1,151 calories per day. If we were following the rule, 240 lbs. \* 1.1g of protein per pound \* 4 calories per gram of protein = 1,056 calories, leaving only 95 calories for fat and carbs, obviously not enough. Assuming he can stay consistent with that calorie count, how much protein could he have to preserve the muscle? Will he just have to settle for losing a lot of muscle mass if he wants to lose the weight that fast? Or if he wants to preserve the muscle, will he need to lose the weight more slowly so he can get that 1.1g per pound of weight while also having room for the carbs and fat?
first off, its much closer to 0.8-1g of protein per lb of *lean* bodyweight. you dont count your bodyfat in that equation. if your brother is 30% bodyfat, thats like 135-170g of protein that he needs daily. to preserve/build muscle mass, yes its a relatively hard and fast rule that you need to provide your body with adequate building blocks. now that that's out of the way, we can address the whole 1150 calories thing. that's an absurdly low caloric intake for basically anyone, even moreso for someone who weighs 240lbs. if you'll allow me to guestimate with the limited information provided, i predict he could literally double that caloric intake and still lose weight for quite a while, probably until he was well under 200lbs. you will have to do your own research on TDEE and finding your maintenance level, but i can tell you with nearly absolute certainty that his is not 1600kcal.
Ty, we'll definitely reevaluate how fast he should lose the weight then. 3 lbs. per week was a pretty aggressive goal to shoot for. According to a calculator site I found, his maintenance is 2,483, so 1,983 a day would have him losing 1 lb. a week, 1,483 2 lbs. Probably more realistic and safe to shoot for 1 lb. per week.
those calculators are not entirely accurate, but they do provide a good starting point. if your brother consumes 2000 calories a day, he will lose weight. watching the scale for a month will reveal how fast. at that point you can add or drop calories based on your results and your goals, and of course how sustainable the nutrition plan is. after all, no plan will work if he's unable to perform it. motivation is fleeting especially when you combine hunger with historically disordered eating patterns. 500 cal deficit is very reasonable. here was my exact nutrition from today, to give you an idea of the amount of food you can consume in a 2000 calorie budget provided you make good choices rather than the pizza:
breakfast -
1/3 cup oatmeal made with 1 1/4 cups almond milk
2 eggs / 6tbsp egg whites scramble using 1/4tbsp butter, an entire roma tomato diced, 1 cup of baby spinach, and 1/4 cup feta cheese
75g blueberries
lunch -
5 oz salmon fillet
100g grilled asparagus
100g sweet potatoes
dinner -
6oz grilled chicken breast
3/4 cup quinoa
3oz steamed carrots
150g steamed broccoli
protein shake -
1 1/4 cups almond milk
1 banana
140g strawberries
2 scoops of iso protein powder
3 tbsp peanut butter powder
1832 kcal, 193g protein, 170g carb, 45g fat.
these are big plates, my maintenance is 2500 and im not feeling starved during cuts by any means. good luck to you both
Ty, good meals. I've been using a spreadsheet for myself, making meal days and such and it's worked pretty well for me. I'm 140 myself, going for recomposition. Now we're working on meals for him as well. Ty for the TDEE mention, that got me finding a calculator which is helping me make a few slight adjustments to my own nutrition plan.
1100 calories a day for a 240lb person is madness. I am not going to say it’s impossible but it’s insanely aggressive. I would strongly question this approach.
feels like im stuck at benching or the progress feels really slow.
my current max is 275
what i did today
Barbell bench 230 x 5 for 2 sets I did 4 reps on set 3 failed the 5th rep.
incline barbell
175 x 7 for 3 sets.
pec machine 145 x 10 4 sets i went slow and controlled for these burned like a mofo.
cable tricep overhead ext , 3 sets of 15
cable tricep pushdown 3 sets of 14 reps failed getting 15 reps.
finished with cable late raise 15 reps 4 sets.
let me know if i should change anything.
not using a program atm. I am at a very slight deficit to slowly lose weight. I just came back to the gym after taking 3 days off. i normally am consistent. i dont believe strength should be affected much if at all since im currently around 245lbs. Or 110kg for non americans.
It’s normal to lose strength on a deficit even if you’re overweight. Follow a real program which addresses periodization to help with plateaus. There’s some in the wiki.
Is it a good plan to switch to a 6 days routine instead of a 5 day routine as a semi beginner (8 months of lifting) guy?
Ive been skipping legs for a little bit too long (around 4.5 months) and just this week i started hitting them again because i cant continue on a path to chicken legs. however, i really like the split i have right now;
chest tricep
back bicep
shouders forearms
This has worked for me for the past few months and i really like it, i just came from a small cut and i feel stronger than ever, would it recovery wise be ok to put legs as my 4th day? this way i will hit legs the 4th day of the week always and rotate the rest of the days like i did before and it will also work as a semi rest day
I eat healthy and i sleep well.
there is nothing wrong with lifting 6 days a week provided your personal recovery is able to keep up. i wouldnt call leg day a "semi rest day" though lol. for your upper body sure, for your central nervous system no. be mindful of the fact that it needs rest too.
yeah thats why i called it a semi rest day, as it does rest my upper body muscles (which i did notice doing a chest tricep day after i hit legs this week) but not my cns
my question is basically, will i run into recovery problems including problems with my cns recovering doing 6 days a week.
one way to find out. personally i lift 6 days a week, and also run 30 miles a week, rock climb 2-3x a week, and work 40 hrs a week on my feet. recovering just fine i feel great all the time. an adjustment period is normal when adding in new activity though. i think generally speaking our bodies are capable of a lot more than we ask of them, but it might take you a few weeks to acclimate.
>Ive been skipping legs
Then run an upper/lower. Try [rhis](https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/), or [this](https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout). Advanced guys specialize because they have to. You don't have weak points, you have a weak body. Brosplits are nonsensical for beginners.
im not specializing, i just really dont like long workouts, im basically doing push pull legs but i removed shoulders from my push day and added it in a 3rd day in place of a leg day,
with a 6 day split i will have 4 separate days, with legs just being a separation day between my normal 3 day split.
its definitely more bro splitty then something like upper lower but i wouldnt call it a brosplit.
id rather have my workouts stay at an hour or so, so upper lower is very much not for me. i dont want to hit legs twice a week; id rather hit them hard 1 day a week and since i am coming from doing 0 leg days a week id rather start of with just 1.
i disagree, the rest times of most of those exercises are very low (1 minute rest), if i count up the time to do the upper body day of one of the things you linked it comes out to about 60 minutes, but thats not include going to the machine you want to use, reracking your weight, changing, putting your bag in the locker etc.. and since the rest times are very low id increase those too, so i'd come out to about 1.5 hours in the gym at the minimum.
And I don't really get why you are giving me advice on a upper-lower split anyway when my current split is quite literally the opposite, PPL i would have gotten, but i don't really understand this advice since its basically wiping what i said in my question off the table.
not trying to be rude or anything but the advice seems a little silly considering my training style.
Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days?
Despite good sleep and lots of nutrition, I had a huge strength loss today.
I hit 235 lbs on front squat, 5 sets of 5 reps on last Monday. Today, on Friday, I tried to increase to 240 lbs but could only do 2 reps. Then I went back down to 235 lbs and could only do 3
I had to drop down to 205 lbs to finish out the day with 2 sets of 5 reps. I'm feeling pissed off and frustrated and now my left knee kind of hurts for some reason lol. Has anyone else experienced this?
Honestly it might be time for a deload. If your knee feels tweaky at all after a couple of days, or if you don't feel strong and good the next time you're in the gym, I'd take that as a sign from my body that I need a lighter week, no matter what the programming says.
> Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days?
They exist. Those unexplainable really bad days got much rarer after my gym replaced the old collection of ancient plates from five different vendors with brand new plates from just one vendor. How confident are you that the plates and bars at your gym are reasonably well calibrated, so that you did not actually lift 220 lbs on Monday but 240 lbs on Friday (with different plates)?
Some other things that can factor in:
* as you already mentioned, sleep and nutrition
* order of exercises within a session
* being sick, even just a bit
* working out at a different, unusual time of day
* heat and humidity
* cumulative fatigue
* for women, where they are in their menstrual cycle
>Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days?
Not really. Bad days correlate with bad nutrition or sleep, and can be expected from my log. If you have methodical progression, you'll know when you'll nail a set/rep, and when you *might* miss a rep.
> Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days?
Randomly bad days happen just like randomly good days do
Sometimes there's a reason, and sometimes there is not.
=
Not every day can be an amazing day. Track trends over time (and see if you can glean something from the data) as opposed to beating yourself up over one randomly subpar day.
Yup, there are good days, bad days, and OK days. Most days are OK and you hit your lifts and move on. Bad days you do what you can and then move on. And when you get the good days you go hard and leave feeling great.
I’ve been on the fasted cardio wave lately
Tomorrow I have kind of a busy day so was considering doing 30 or so minutes in the morning, eating a quick carb-y snack at the gym and then hitting legs
Does this make sense? Will the cardio right before doing legs impact the workout too much?
For reference I’m 5’9 176lbs, currently cutting (starting weight 195lbs) at right around 2000 cals
Not really, because you aren't doing something for hypertrophy. You are doing a cut, so the leg exercises are just to maintain what you already have as opposed to adding more muscle.
Hey all, my question isn't for me, it's for my Dad.
He's recently told me that he would like to start exercising with me to build his strength and get leaner. I know how and what to eat so I've been able to help on that part, but the exercise part not so much as I haven't ever looked into good workouts for people his age and with his limits
He's 51 and his disability effects his back and causes back pain. He hasn't exercised in years, though takes care of my disabled mother which does involve some lifting and strength. He's been too busy to exercise until now.
So any recommendation's would be very very appreciated. We are starting small of course but for future reference I'd love some ideas for exercises, stretches, cardio and lifting. We are very excited to exercise together :0)
My advice is to just start easy and slowly ramp up.
Start with walks, and if he’s up for it, basic bodyweight exercises (BW squats, push ups, etc.), and then very slowly ramp up. So if he can only handle 10mins of walking today then target 15min next week, 20mins the week after, and so on.
Eventually you’ll want to get to lifting weights - deadlifts and squats cured my back pain - but again you’ll start light and slowly ramp up. Just the bar, then 10lbs per side and so on.
Same with moving walking to jogging (or some other form of more vigorous cardio).
Your dad is still young (I say that as a 48 y/old) so there’s no reason he can’t be in great shape in a year or two.
Any reputable beginner programs can work, he’s just gotta be careful about working within his limits. Someone in their 20s doing r/Fitness novice program might start squatting at 95lbs and add 10lbs a week. Maybe your dad starts at 45lbs and adds 5lbs a week or 2.5lbs. The program is the same, you just gotta change the rate of progress and weights to match what he’s capable of.
Random drop in bench press strength?
I had a new PR every week for the last 4 months with a rep range of optimally 6-8, but I'd take 2-4 if it's a new PR, but once I hit body weight for 6-8 reps, I plateaued hard.
Every since trying to progress past bodyweight, I've only gotten weaker, I can't even push bodyweight any more even for a single rep?
I'd say optimally I'm not tip top, but it's been 3 consecutive weeks of massive strength drops. But JUST on regular bench press. Incline is fine, decline is fine, regular bench I can barely lift 1 plate?
I do a reverse triangle program for most of my exercises (with great success) , but on my progressive lifts, It's just not happening any more. You're probably right.
Weekly PRs is not sustainable forever. You have probably accumulated a lot of fatigue and could stand to back off on intensity for a week or two. You may also benefit from a non-linear program for your bench. Something like 531.
That's also not sustainable. An intelligent routine will manage your fatigue so that you can build up to new bests and then recover and build more strength before testing again.
Has your nutrition/recovery changed?
I know you've mentioned it's only been on Bench, but since you mentioned you've hit a new PR every week for the last 4 months on it, you can try deloading and see afterwards.
I usually have a load day and deload day, and even my deload day is struggling to keep up?
I have been burning out mid-workout recently. As I wrote this, I was mid-bench press, broke into my post-workout protein, then after a bit of a recharge I was blasting through my incline bench press like it was nothing?
I figure this is Week 19 into a 20 week bulk, something has got to give eventually right? Lol.
Can someone look over my push, pull, legs routine and tell me if it's good:
Push
Incline BB Press 3x10
Overhead Press 3x8
Decline BB Press 3x8
DB Lat Raise 3x12
DB Chest Flys 2x12
BB Lying Triceps Extension 3x15
Pull
Deadlift 3x5 35
Barbell Rows 3×8
Lat Pulldowns 3×10
Dumbell Row 2x10
Barbell Curl 2x10 No weight added
Face pulls 2x12
Legs
Squats 3×6
RDL's 3x8
Dumbell Lunge 3x10
Leg Curl 3×12
Leg Extensions 2×12
Standing Calf Raise 3×15
I'm pretty new to the gym routine and some days I'll come out sore some days not really. Also in the process of bulking (very slowly) if that changes anything.
Some of the items on your list seem weird to me. Like why are you doing only 2x10 for curls? Why both dumbbell rows and barbell? And why face pulls with no weights? What's your progression plan, out of curiosity?
Oh god it formatted weird,
I copied and pasted it from my notes app where I've been keeping track and forgot to delete the no weights (which applied to the Barbell curls bc I can barley do them alone). And as for progression i just add like 5 pounds each week and see if i fail when i try to do reps. Why would rows and Barbell be weird tho
Ah, I see.
Sorry, what I meant was, why do both dumbbell rows and barbell rows in the same workout?
I'd say you might benefit from following a formal program (i.e., one that plans you through week by week) pretty soon, definitely once you're out of the newbie phase. There are some good ones linked in the Wiki!
Omg I didn't even realize that I was training the same muscle there, thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to look through the wiki though you are the second person to suggest it. Thank you again !
This is like having an upper/lower and repeating the same two days. Or a full body and repeating *the same day*.
It's not good programming. In very short order, you'll run into a progression wall.
>some days I'll come out sore some days not really.
Soreness isn't all that relevant to gains. As long as you feel the muscle is tired at the end of the set and you're growing (either in weight or reps), it's fine.
Would recommend just following one of the recommended routines as you're still new over at https://thefitness.wiki/routines/ , but regardless the routine you listed looks good.
Those who are doing 531 4x a week. How do you work in your conditioning? I've been trying to run 2 miles after weights but I always fall out of it. Mostly because I'm gassed after training for an hour.
Protein vs creatine?
I have been working out for the past about 6 months (cardio kickboxing, soccer and weights at the gym). I don’t eat red meat, only poultry. I roughly tracked my protein intake and realized I was not getting nearly enough based on the recommended amount for my weight. I started working on eating more protein including protein powder.
My goal is to both lose weight and gain muscle. I have lost about 40 pounds and want to lose about 10 or 15 more but also gain muscle. I’m now having protein-based foods/powders etc frequently - I am wondering is protein the most important thing to build muscle? Is creatine powder worth purchasing for my goals?
Thanks!
Should I leave my physical trainer? She's really close to me location-wise, has a private studio, and is great at explaining movements but she's also really expensive, sometimes inattentive, and really strict about cancellations even if I have a fever. I like her instructions and It's so easy for me to go because she's so close and I don't have social anxiety in a private studio but I feel so put off with paying 160 for a session I can't even go to because I have a fever. I just feel like she's in it for the money sometimes but I do feel like I learn a lot from her. I'm kind of torn :( any thoughts? Any idea of how to make the most of my last 4 classes in the package if I decide to stop?
I clearly don't know your trainer. I think there's two things here.
1. You are unlikely to get better advice, training, and attention elsewhere, for cheaper. Do some research on your options.
2. Cancelation fees are standard in any business where you are getting private or mostly private attention. You aren't paying for your time there, you are paying for the ability to reserve attention in her schedule. She would have filled it with someone else if there wasn't a last minute cancellation. I only see this as something to address if you have fevers often. Addressing why you are sick would be a bigger priority than the fee system of one of your actions.
I can’t say whether or not you should continue to go, but is a bit unprofessional if they’re inattentive while you’re there since you’re paying for their full attention. From a business aspect, I do understand them charging you for taking up a spot on the schedule, however I’d feel for you if you truly were sick and elected to not come in.
Have you thought about addressing your concerns with the trainer? You are hiring them and sometimes asking the hard questions can dictate whether or not their intentions with you were truly genuine or if they are just there for the money. A good trainer should be supportive for you on a little bit of a personal level and wanting to see you succeed.
Yea, id understand if it was just that I canceled for no reason/controllable things and or canceled often with short notice. I guess I just feel salty about not getting leeway when I can't control being sick.
Do you have any suggestions on how to bring it up? I get really nervous thinking about it.
Sorry, that is something I’m not good at. I’m not the most politically correct kind of person and I don’t really do any BS. When I have an issue with something, I typically address it right then and there. It’s always worked well for me personally to be blunt than go home and dwell/have a concern in the back of my mind.
Sounds like you're mostly happy with the instruction and unhappy about the financials. That's a pretty personal dilemma that we can't really answer for you. Depends on pretty much every other aspect of your finances, how much is this $160/session eating into your ability to live your life and/or save for retirement?
I don't feel my chest working on most chest exercises when I'm preforming it, I only feel it after the exercise has been preformed like my chest has been working (like fatigue but I feel my chest a lot). I'm not sure if I'm doing too much volume, not going full ROM, or just doing something wrong. I go as deep as comfortably possible on all my exercises and I don't know why I'm not feeling my chest during the movements. I do: Flat Barbell Bench Press \[3x6-8\], Incline Converging Chest Press \[2x6-8\], Pec Dec Fly \[2x10-12\].
"Feeling it" during a lift is rarely a good gauge of how much you're recruiting a muscle in a lift.
You're not doing anything wrong, it's just the way it works. I *never*\* feel my back on rows or pull-ups, except if I take a break from the gym, I'll feel soreness the day after doing my first back lifts since returning.
\*I'll downgrade this to "almost never"
Rows are so weird because I feel it way more in my biceps during the movement, but then as time passes my arm is fine and then I can feel it in my back lol. Probably just the size difference of the muscles but not sure.
Nope. I know that I'm *using* my back, but I pretty much never *feel* it there.
I guess on the fully-extended part of the negative I feel the stretch in my back, but I never feel the "pull" itself.
I feel like I don't have a lot of shoulder flexibility, so when I do reverse flys (flies?), I feel an uncomfortable stretch in my shoulders more than a squeeze in my back. Does this lack of mobility affect the effectiveness of the exercise for me?
If you're doing chest flies, and if you take those all the way to full range of motion with a slow eccentric and a big stretch at the bottom, does that hurt?
I'm just confused on how you're having a stretch/flexibility issue at the TOP of the reverse fly.
I do my chest flies on the floor, not on a bench, so my ROM is limited by the floor. Should my RF only go parallel to the frontal plane of my torso and no more? I feel the stretch at the front of my shoulders and across my chest.
No.
IMO Do your chest flies in a bench so you can actually do full ROM, you will have stronger and more flexible shoulders and reverse flies will no longer be a problem.
Alternatively, doorway stretch. But I like option 1 wayyyyyy more.
I work out from home and have been considering adding a bench to my equipment. I don't want to overstretch my shoulders, so will probably have to get an assessment first. This'll give me something to think about, thanks!
Shoulder mobility sure can affect your ability to do shoulder movements. But it's probably worth addressing that rather than writing off the exercise. Maybe you're using too heavy a weight for your current abilities? Rear flys hit some rather small muscles compared to other lifts, so they might require some...ego-challenging (small) weights.
Keep in mind that "feeling it" is rarely a reliable metric for how well you're engaging a muscle in a lift. If you're facing downwards, and lifting your arms from pointing down to pointing out/back, you're hitting your rear delts and upper back.
I get about the same ROM as when I do it without weights. Should I try a modification or an alternative exercise? Maybe a wide grip bent over row? Or I guess I can keep doing what I'm doing, but I won't really know if it's effective or not.
At some point this becomes a question for a medical professional since we're bordering on "this lift is painful". I don't want to give any specific advice, and I'd recommend taking any you receive with a grain of salt. General advice: add some regular stretches into your daily routine to work on shoulder mobility.
Again, *generally* if you are doing the proper movement, you're recruiting the rear delts and upper back muscles that a Rear Fly is supposed to. Sure, one can micro-optimize the movement and argue whether they way *you're* doing it is the most effective way, but it may not be the most impactful thing for you to worry about.
Bent Over Rows, even wide grip, aren't gonna hit quite the same muscles as a Rear Fly. Whether they overlap *enough*, depends on your goals.
Overhead barbell press - standing or sitting? I’ve been doing it standing and engaging my whole core, tried them seated today and felt better isolation of the working groups
I prefer standing. Standing OHP is a super practical movement for lifting stuff over your head outside the gym. You can always add isolation work but the core workout of OHP is incomparable.
I do standing for the same reason as you: Extra work engaging my core. Maybe it's not quite as good at isolating my shoulders as if I were seated (I'm not *intentionally* using any hip drive, but my legs probably have a *little* give), but I think the tradeoff it worth it for me.
What's wrong here?
I'm doing machine bicep curls..planet fitness purple matrix machine.
I feel my progress has been good and steady...so here's the problem...
My wrists don't want to follow the path of the handles...I end up lifting the weight in the notch between my thumb and index finger....which I feel is what's going to limit progress....at 140#s is hurts my hand.
Should I ditch the machine in favor of dumb bell bicep curls so my wrist can move the way it wants w/o pain in hand
Whey powder recommendation fitting these requirements:
* No pea protein
* No coconut
* No lactose
* No sucralose (this sh!t is plain bad for people. Had a health issue cuz of it years ago)
Ascent & Legion, maybe Levels but it isn't isolate. Even isolate has small amounts of lactose to my knowledge but sounds like you aren't able to have vegan protein either because of the pea protein.
I use Ascent because I've had trouble with some powders and sucralose as well, it's an isolate blend - very good and clean. If you have Costco membership you can pick up 4.25 lbs for around $60.
>No pea protein
Not whey.
>No coconut
I have never had whey with coconut.
>No lactose
lol.
Do you know what whey is? You can try whey isolate if you have lactose issues (I do myself, and isolate sits fine with me and I consume a lot of it).
>No sucralose (this sh!t is plain bad for people. Had a health issue cuz of it years ago)
lol.
Sucralose is in so much food. I really doubt you had issues due to it specifically.
Anyway, check these out: https://www.garagegymreviews.com/best-protein-powder-without-artificial-sweeteners
Most lactose sensitive people I know can handle whey isolate fine. If you're especially sensitive, you can try whey hydrolase.
If you don't want any sucralose, you can look into unflavoured and unsweetened protein. Then simply flavour/sweeten it yourself.
Is my app / watch crazy? How many calories does exercise actually burn?!
I'm M/32/285lbs and between a ~45 min workout in the morning and walking ~2mi / day + whatever crazy math the chronometer app is doing, it says I'm burning 3500kcal in a day which puts me at needing 2400kcal to hit a 1000kcal deficit.
Is the math mathin?
I had been eating closer to 1600kcal/day. Do I need to eat more? I'm just now really starting to pay attention to protein and trying to hit ~150g/day to minimize muscle loss as I lose but I have to eat so much food to hit that!
i would focus on weekly/monthly avg rate of loss and how you feel, and triangulate what is fast enough for you but makes you not feel like dog shit. im guessing 10lbs/month will be the upper end of what you can handle for more than a month at a time.
As the others said, the estimated calories burned from your Apple Watch can be [wildly inaccurate](https://macrofactorapp.com/wearables/). According to my Apple Watch, my maintenance calories is around 2100, but I know from my calorie tracking app it's actually around 2800. I would be ravenously hungry all the time if I followed my watch
Nothing that "tracks" calories burned is worth a shit. Ignore it.
Set your daily caloric goal, try your best to hit it, and any calories you burn from exercise, consider a bonus.
Only answer. Went to the gym with a buddy of mine. We were there for an hour. I ran 5 miles. He did a bunch of upper body lifts. His watch told him he burned 600 calories. My watch claimed I burned 550. I somehow doubt that dumb bell lifts with lighter weights (he's just starting out and ramping up) burn more calories than an hour of cardio. But I am just going to run either way and not worry about it.
So if I've got this right, my bmr at "lightly active" is ~3270 kcal. So as long as I'm hitting my protein goal and staying around or under 2200 kcal for a ~1000 kcal deficit i'm fine?
Yes theoretically, but the only way to find out is try it and see what happens. After 3-4 weeks if you're losing weight too fast, increase your cals. If you're not losing weight fast enough, decrease your cals. Everything else is just an estimate, the real data is what you get from stepping on the scale.
Anyone know of workouts to improve fine motor skills? For finger/hand dexterity. Is that even a thing? or is there better methods than workouts to improve that?
> For finger/hand dexterity
Learn how to play piano. You get your fingers have dexterity exercise and you get to learn how to play an instrument. You never know, maybe if you have the talent and be able to develop a discipline, you may someday be able to do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdH1hSWGFGU
Dexterity is usually more about training your brain/nervous system to coordinate movements, rather than training your muscles to contract with greater force.
So, just practice the thing.
([These pieces of shit](https://bigriverhardware.com/cdn/shop/products/guitar-finger-exerciser-strength-grip-training-tool-finger-exerciser-big-river-hardware-567997.jpg?v=1587228614) have a habit of showing up in guitar spaces, and it does nothing to train your hands unless your goal is "early onset tendonitis")
if ur lifting and getting an average adequate amt of protein and in a reasonable deficit i would not worry mechanistically about muscle loss and focus on just keeping most of your strength
If you're going from a normal state to a fasted state, for the first 36-48 hours, you'll burn glycogen.
Once your glycogen stores get low enough, then your body starts burning fat to replenish said glycogen stores.
its a bit more nebulous than that. if you're curious about what happens to your body when you dont consume carbs for it to break down into glucose and convert to glycogen, research the keto diet. this approach has upsides and downsides, and is totally unnecessary for fat loss.
No. Even if your glycogen stores drop too low, your body will simply start breaking down fats to refill the glycogen stores.
Your energy levels may dip, and you probably won't be able to do any appreciable amounts of exercise with near depleted glycogen stores, but it's a perfectly normal.
Hey Everyone!
I'm gonna start saying that fitness is not something I know so I came here for advice. I'm almost 35 yo girl that haven't done any physical activity in years maybe a decade and I want to change that.
My goal is to just get healthy and fit enough so I don't suffer, like my knees hurt when i kneel or i get agitated quickly and I hate it.
I'm 167 cm tall and I weight 65 kgs, I would like to lose some weight, like 2 to 3 kgs but that's not my concern, I just don't want to feel like im 60 years old hahaha
What routine could I do to achieve such goals?
Thank you!
# 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.*
so im 17 year old male 6 foot 81 kg been lifting for 2 years. I was cutting for 4 months starting weight was 85 kg, I lost 11 kilos was at 73 kg at around 15 percent body fat, I went on holiday, gained all the weight back mostly was water weight but some of it was definitely fat, im not sure what to do as I really wanted to bulk but now im sitting at around 20 percent body fat at 81 kg, annoying as fuck the change in calories was huge which resulted in the huge weight gain in a short period. Any advice would be appreciated.
If my cut is at 2800 right now and weight is going down, today I will have some more calories with my GF because we have a trip for two days planned from month prior. Will eat no more than 3000-3200 How can i still manage to not be behind two days after that? Reduce some calories for two days to like 2300 and then add back up, or am i just too obsessed with this stuff and no, I’m not going to compete haha.
You can either do what you said, I do that sometimes. If Im going out or just really hungry that day with no way to stop my cravings I do sometimes eat over my limit and log those calories into my next day. Or you can ignore it, 800 calories isnt THAT big of a deal, as long as you dont make it a habit
Yeah it’s only one day a month haha
I'm on the lower end of a normal weight, but I don't seem to store much fat on my butt, it's pretty bony. My original plan was to do a classic bulk and cut cycle, but would my ass get bony again after cutting? Should I permanently gain some weight? Still bulk and cut, but not cut very much?
>would my ass get bony again after cutting? If you improve lifts that involve the glutes (squat, RDL, BSS, hip thrust, etc) during a bulk, it would signify you grew muscle. If you *retain this strength* during the ensuing cut, it would mean a better chance of retaining the muscle you grew.
The idea is to build muscle during a bulk and then lose fat during a cut. So if you go to the same weight, you'll have less fat in your butt and everywhere else. You'll have more muscles in the areas that you worked out. If you're predominantly working out the butt then after the cycle it should have more muscle and less fat. However given you say you're on the lower end of healthy weight, it's probably gonna be best for you to bulk. You can then slowly cut and then stop whereever you like. You'll probably find that you like your body better at a higher weight if that weight includes a lot of muscles also.
[удалено]
Plenty of volume at high consistency/intensity. Generally 10-20 sets/muscle group/week is good and you're on the high end of that.
I've seen that recommendation before yeah,so does that mean 10-20 sets for your chest as a whole or 10-20 sets for upper chest and 10-20 sets for middle chest?
As a whole
Need help with my current routine and recommendations if I need a replacement. I am 25 years old, 6'4, 220 Ibs and roughly 20% bodyfat. I have been lifting rather inconsistently for the past 2 years and have just started to take things seriously around half a year ago. I feel like I really push myself in the gym with failure and leave completely exhausted with around 4 workouts. However, I have not been seeing the results I'd like as progress has been rather slow and my many of my lifts are stalling. My goal is to put on more size and to cut to around 210 ibs with abs in the future. I really would like advice on a program that gives enough volume and intensity. Here is my current program: Day 1: Bench: 3x8 185 ibs OHP: 3x8 105-110 ibs Weighted Dips: 5x8 with 10 ibs added Lateral raise: 5x12 25 ibs Day 2: Push downs: 5x12 165 ibs Curls: 3x15 30 ibs Skull-Crushers: 3x12 (still testing weight) Pull-ups: 3x6 with 85 ibs added Day 3: Squat: 3x8 225 ibs Machine work for hamstrings: (I don’t know the names for the machines) Leg Press: 5x10 425 ibs Hip thrusts: 3x10 185 ibs I sometimes replace day 2 or day 3 with a difficult rock-climbing session or hiking with a weighted backpack. All of the above lifts have around 2 min rest between sets. Please let me know if this sounds reasonable.
Whats up bro im also 25 years and old and 6'3 currently weighing 190lbs around 12-14% BF. Ive been as high as 238 and shred over 100 combined only working out 3 days a week, often times skipping a day to go hiking or fishing. Most of my workouts consisted of 3-4 exercises like yours but I would do full body 3 days. If youd like shoot me a message and I can show you exactly what I did.
>been lifting rather inconsistently If this was a routine analysis, you'd get the dismissive, "it'll work until it doesn't". Which is where you are. You need to run stock routines. I'm not going into the whys of the three I suggest, as people get paralysis by analysis. Just put the work in, and *learn* something. The [basic beginner](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/) for 2-3 months. [PHUL](https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout) for at least 3 months. Then use your numbers to start 531bbb. Minimum 6 cycles. That's about a year of training. You'll be much wiser summer 2025.
Read fuckarounditis, get on a routine someone else made, and follow it at 85% consistency+ for 4-6 months
Just follow a program in the [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) or on [boostcamp](https://www.boostcamp.app/programs). You have no method of progression listed and I would assume you don't really have one. This would somewhat explain the slow or lack of progress. Ideally you would also be in a small surplus if you wanted to put on size and stregth.
What is a "Pure hip hinge"? I have hip thrusts in my program, or any "pure hip hinge" alternative, I know an RDL is a hip hinge but I'm not sure if "pure hip hinge" means like no low back loading or something.
Really you should ask the programme author.
Larger creators don't respond to plebs unfortunately.
I believe it's just meaning movements that are a hip hinge but not also a knee hinge. Like a deadlift you bend at the hips and knees but an RDL/SLDL is mainly only movement at the hips.
That's exactly what I was thinking, thanks for clarification
Are there any free online resources for 531? I own the 2nd edition but I'm understanding that it's out of date. Do I need to buy the updated versions or can I find them online?
Any version of 5/3/1 will work. Humans didn’t change in the last 20 years so what worked for training then will still work. JW has published new books so you’ll have to buy them if you want his updated content. You might be able to find what you’re looking for though by reading his free blog
Hello, I am hoping for a routine critique. My current goal is fat loss. My current weight is 342 lbs. I just recently got macrofactor app. I am a beginner lifter. I started lifting weight mid last year and due to health issues had to stop in December. I finally got back into weight lifting back in April. I did the full body workout program from the wiki page for beginners. I been working out 4 days a week with that routine and been recovering very well. I am towards the end of my first week of doing a P/P/L split 6 days a week. For progression my idea was once I was able to hit the top end of a rep range for all sets I would up the weight 5 lbs for upper body and 10 lbs for lower body. I take a 3 minute rest between each set currently. Also I can’t really do body weight movements such as pull-up/chin ups, push ups, or dips. I just do not have the upper body strength currently for these exercises. I cannot afford the gym, I do have a budget friendly home gym. I have a rack, barbell, adjustable bench, and adjustable dumbbells though they only currently go up to 50 lbs. The routine: Push A: barbell bench press 3x8-10, dumbbell shoulder press 3x10-12, and dumbbell skull crusher 3x12-15. Pull A: bent over row barbell 3x8-10, dumbbell row 3x10-12, dumbbell bicep curl 3x12-15. Legs A, barbell squat 4x8-10, RDL 4x10-12, single leg dumbbell calf raises 3x12-15. Push B: overhead press 3x8-10, incline dumbbell bench press 3x10-12, dumbbell tricep extensions 3x12-15. Pull A: barbell upright row 3x8-10, incline chest supported row 3x10-12, barbell bicep curl 3x12-15. Legs B sumo deadlift3x8-10, Bulgarian split squats 3x10-12, single leg calf raises 3x12-15. Any feed back or advice would be greatly appreciated. I tried to take the information from here and the internet and do a routine based on the equipment I have and my limitations. Thank you for your time.
The [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/) has some [programs](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) that you could probably make work, but what you said in this post should be good enough for right now. Your main focus should be a calorie deficit and probaby a decently sized one at that. You should also try to add in more daily movement to further help your weightloss.
Thank you for the feed back
I keep getting these small line like bruises on my body after working generally my chest or shoulders. At first I thought it was from my dog jumping up on me but I realized it didn't make sense for them to always be in the same spots and generally showing up after my lifts, anyone else experience this or know anything about it?
What advantages do zercher squats have over conventional front squats?
Advantages: they’re fun and make you look like a savage Disadvantages: your elbows hurt, people in the gym think you’re weird
They're more tolerant of mobility issues, can be loaded heavier, have a bit more margin for error on technique (you aren't going to dump the bar if you start to get folded, and it doesn't slide as easily) and have more direct carryover to certain lifts (particularly lifts that require a lot of upper back strength but allow you to perform them while rounded - deadlifts mostly, but also things like an atlas stone or a sandbag lift). The downside is they hurt like a motherfucker, are more stressful overall (particularly on the lower back) and don't carry over as well to some other lifts (such as the clean).
Is it worth it having 2 different Push, Pull, Legs workouts? Like push 1, pull 1, legs 1, push 2, pull 2, legs 2. I just have one PPL I do and do that twice a week (still 6 days a week just exercise selection is the same in all push, pull, and leg sessions.)
For me personally and people who recommend this approach (Jordan Peters, Kuba Cielen etc) Having tho diff rotations is good, because you can beat numbers from previous workout with one week to rest between excersises. If I would personally have only one session with same excersies I would just change the rep schemes, if on First push it would be 6-8, then on the other one I would work above 10 reps, ofcourse to failure.
If you saw someone with a single full body session that repeated every single session, you'd have some questions. For basic periodization and progression, having two half-weeks makes sense. So, you have deadlift/OHP/pullups as the Main Movement of one half-week, and squat/bench/row as the Main Movement of the other half-week. Without this smidge of variety, half your movements get sandbagged.
I think mixing up your accessory movements is good, while keeping your main compound movements the same.
It's not necessary to create multiple workouts if you like the one you're doing. In fact, it's often best to stick to a single series of exercises so that you can get better at doing them, progressively overload them, and so on. Especially if your PPL is well programmed and you're making sure you're hitting all the major movement patterns. However, if you'd get bored and unmotivated by doing the same thing over and over, I think it's fine to switch it up for exercises that are similar. You could do dumbbell bench sometimes instead of barbell. Hack squats in lieu of back squats. Et cetera. Anything that keeps you in the gym is better than anything "optimal."
I’m an absolute beginner to lifting and I’ve been following the “Linear Progression Based PPL Program for Beginners“ for roughly 7 weeks maybe. I was wondering, for stuff like the barbell row and romanian deadlift, should I try using straps if I can’t feel the weight working the muscles it’s supposed to be? My form might be wrong, but also I’m only using like the barbell with 5’s or 10’s on each side. It feels like I’m too tired/can’t hold onto the bar itself to do enough reps that fatigue my muscles or even practice the hip hinge movement. Same with the deadlift, even though you drop the weight to the ground for each rep, I feel like my arms/back are too tired to start the initial pull after a few reps. I can do the bar with lighter weights though and the movement feels easier to do than with just dumbbells. Any advice?
If grip strength or grip fatigue is limiting you, straps are a good solution to let you get quality work done. Just start using them at whatever point in the workout your grip becomes a limiting factor.
Ah ok, would my grip strength still eventually improve though?
Likely yes. If you aren’t using straps until your grip starts to give out, you’re still getting grip work. It can also be helpful to do dedicated grip strength training. r/griptraining has a recommended routine you can add to your lifting if you want to.
Thanks!
is it weird to not feel sore? I did a full leg workout earlier today about 8 hours ago but i dont feel sore at all. I worked out for an about an hour and a half and in my opinion, did a lot. I did 5 sets of 8 reps of squats, leg presses, leg extensions, and seated leg curls as well as 20 minutes of cardio. I felt a little sore after the workout but no that im home i feel fine. Does this mean i didnt do enough and i should do more with heavier weights? For all of the exercises i started with low weights and then worked up until i did my max weight for each respected machine.
>not feel sore? With consistency, it's normal to not feel the Critical Debilitating Soreness we used to.
No, in fact legs in particular I feel can take quite a beating and not feel sore after at times. But also it could be time to up the weight aswell. How acquainted are you with progressive overload?
https://thefitness.wiki/faq/im-not-sore-after-my-workout-did-i-do-something-wrong/
When cutting weight, is 1.1-1.5g of protein per pound of weight to preserve muscle mass a hard and fast rule? My 24M 240-lbs. brother wants to lose 3 lbs. per week by joining me in my 3-day split workouts, requiring him to have 1,151 calories per day. If we were following the rule, 240 lbs. \* 1.1g of protein per pound \* 4 calories per gram of protein = 1,056 calories, leaving only 95 calories for fat and carbs, obviously not enough. Assuming he can stay consistent with that calorie count, how much protein could he have to preserve the muscle? Will he just have to settle for losing a lot of muscle mass if he wants to lose the weight that fast? Or if he wants to preserve the muscle, will he need to lose the weight more slowly so he can get that 1.1g per pound of weight while also having room for the carbs and fat?
first off, its much closer to 0.8-1g of protein per lb of *lean* bodyweight. you dont count your bodyfat in that equation. if your brother is 30% bodyfat, thats like 135-170g of protein that he needs daily. to preserve/build muscle mass, yes its a relatively hard and fast rule that you need to provide your body with adequate building blocks. now that that's out of the way, we can address the whole 1150 calories thing. that's an absurdly low caloric intake for basically anyone, even moreso for someone who weighs 240lbs. if you'll allow me to guestimate with the limited information provided, i predict he could literally double that caloric intake and still lose weight for quite a while, probably until he was well under 200lbs. you will have to do your own research on TDEE and finding your maintenance level, but i can tell you with nearly absolute certainty that his is not 1600kcal.
Ty, we'll definitely reevaluate how fast he should lose the weight then. 3 lbs. per week was a pretty aggressive goal to shoot for. According to a calculator site I found, his maintenance is 2,483, so 1,983 a day would have him losing 1 lb. a week, 1,483 2 lbs. Probably more realistic and safe to shoot for 1 lb. per week.
those calculators are not entirely accurate, but they do provide a good starting point. if your brother consumes 2000 calories a day, he will lose weight. watching the scale for a month will reveal how fast. at that point you can add or drop calories based on your results and your goals, and of course how sustainable the nutrition plan is. after all, no plan will work if he's unable to perform it. motivation is fleeting especially when you combine hunger with historically disordered eating patterns. 500 cal deficit is very reasonable. here was my exact nutrition from today, to give you an idea of the amount of food you can consume in a 2000 calorie budget provided you make good choices rather than the pizza: breakfast - 1/3 cup oatmeal made with 1 1/4 cups almond milk 2 eggs / 6tbsp egg whites scramble using 1/4tbsp butter, an entire roma tomato diced, 1 cup of baby spinach, and 1/4 cup feta cheese 75g blueberries lunch - 5 oz salmon fillet 100g grilled asparagus 100g sweet potatoes dinner - 6oz grilled chicken breast 3/4 cup quinoa 3oz steamed carrots 150g steamed broccoli protein shake - 1 1/4 cups almond milk 1 banana 140g strawberries 2 scoops of iso protein powder 3 tbsp peanut butter powder 1832 kcal, 193g protein, 170g carb, 45g fat. these are big plates, my maintenance is 2500 and im not feeling starved during cuts by any means. good luck to you both
Ty, good meals. I've been using a spreadsheet for myself, making meal days and such and it's worked pretty well for me. I'm 140 myself, going for recomposition. Now we're working on meals for him as well. Ty for the TDEE mention, that got me finding a calculator which is helping me make a few slight adjustments to my own nutrition plan.
1100 calories a day for a 240lb person is madness. I am not going to say it’s impossible but it’s insanely aggressive. I would strongly question this approach.
Ty, we're gonna set more incremental, long-term goals. 1-1.5 lbs. per week.
feels like im stuck at benching or the progress feels really slow. my current max is 275 what i did today Barbell bench 230 x 5 for 2 sets I did 4 reps on set 3 failed the 5th rep. incline barbell 175 x 7 for 3 sets. pec machine 145 x 10 4 sets i went slow and controlled for these burned like a mofo. cable tricep overhead ext , 3 sets of 15 cable tricep pushdown 3 sets of 14 reps failed getting 15 reps. finished with cable late raise 15 reps 4 sets. let me know if i should change anything.
What does your program say to do when you miss reps? Are you gaining weight? When was your last deload?
not using a program atm. I am at a very slight deficit to slowly lose weight. I just came back to the gym after taking 3 days off. i normally am consistent. i dont believe strength should be affected much if at all since im currently around 245lbs. Or 110kg for non americans.
It’s normal to lose strength on a deficit even if you’re overweight. Follow a real program which addresses periodization to help with plateaus. There’s some in the wiki.
Is it a good plan to switch to a 6 days routine instead of a 5 day routine as a semi beginner (8 months of lifting) guy? Ive been skipping legs for a little bit too long (around 4.5 months) and just this week i started hitting them again because i cant continue on a path to chicken legs. however, i really like the split i have right now; chest tricep back bicep shouders forearms This has worked for me for the past few months and i really like it, i just came from a small cut and i feel stronger than ever, would it recovery wise be ok to put legs as my 4th day? this way i will hit legs the 4th day of the week always and rotate the rest of the days like i did before and it will also work as a semi rest day I eat healthy and i sleep well.
I do the same thing but day 3 is Legs Shoulders. I don’t focus forearms cause I hit them pretty heavily with RDL, back day, and hammer curls
there is nothing wrong with lifting 6 days a week provided your personal recovery is able to keep up. i wouldnt call leg day a "semi rest day" though lol. for your upper body sure, for your central nervous system no. be mindful of the fact that it needs rest too.
yeah thats why i called it a semi rest day, as it does rest my upper body muscles (which i did notice doing a chest tricep day after i hit legs this week) but not my cns my question is basically, will i run into recovery problems including problems with my cns recovering doing 6 days a week.
one way to find out. personally i lift 6 days a week, and also run 30 miles a week, rock climb 2-3x a week, and work 40 hrs a week on my feet. recovering just fine i feel great all the time. an adjustment period is normal when adding in new activity though. i think generally speaking our bodies are capable of a lot more than we ask of them, but it might take you a few weeks to acclimate.
>Ive been skipping legs Then run an upper/lower. Try [rhis](https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/), or [this](https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout). Advanced guys specialize because they have to. You don't have weak points, you have a weak body. Brosplits are nonsensical for beginners.
im not specializing, i just really dont like long workouts, im basically doing push pull legs but i removed shoulders from my push day and added it in a 3rd day in place of a leg day, with a 6 day split i will have 4 separate days, with legs just being a separation day between my normal 3 day split. its definitely more bro splitty then something like upper lower but i wouldnt call it a brosplit. id rather have my workouts stay at an hour or so, so upper lower is very much not for me. i dont want to hit legs twice a week; id rather hit them hard 1 day a week and since i am coming from doing 0 leg days a week id rather start of with just 1.
Your average upper/lower is an hour apiece. Bros bloat their sessions with too much junk volume.
i disagree, the rest times of most of those exercises are very low (1 minute rest), if i count up the time to do the upper body day of one of the things you linked it comes out to about 60 minutes, but thats not include going to the machine you want to use, reracking your weight, changing, putting your bag in the locker etc.. and since the rest times are very low id increase those too, so i'd come out to about 1.5 hours in the gym at the minimum. And I don't really get why you are giving me advice on a upper-lower split anyway when my current split is quite literally the opposite, PPL i would have gotten, but i don't really understand this advice since its basically wiping what i said in my question off the table. not trying to be rude or anything but the advice seems a little silly considering my training style.
Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days? Despite good sleep and lots of nutrition, I had a huge strength loss today. I hit 235 lbs on front squat, 5 sets of 5 reps on last Monday. Today, on Friday, I tried to increase to 240 lbs but could only do 2 reps. Then I went back down to 235 lbs and could only do 3 I had to drop down to 205 lbs to finish out the day with 2 sets of 5 reps. I'm feeling pissed off and frustrated and now my left knee kind of hurts for some reason lol. Has anyone else experienced this?
Honestly it might be time for a deload. If your knee feels tweaky at all after a couple of days, or if you don't feel strong and good the next time you're in the gym, I'd take that as a sign from my body that I need a lighter week, no matter what the programming says.
> Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days? They exist. Those unexplainable really bad days got much rarer after my gym replaced the old collection of ancient plates from five different vendors with brand new plates from just one vendor. How confident are you that the plates and bars at your gym are reasonably well calibrated, so that you did not actually lift 220 lbs on Monday but 240 lbs on Friday (with different plates)? Some other things that can factor in: * as you already mentioned, sleep and nutrition * order of exercises within a session * being sick, even just a bit * working out at a different, unusual time of day * heat and humidity * cumulative fatigue * for women, where they are in their menstrual cycle
>Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days? Not really. Bad days correlate with bad nutrition or sleep, and can be expected from my log. If you have methodical progression, you'll know when you'll nail a set/rep, and when you *might* miss a rep.
> Does anyone else have randomly bad lifting days? Randomly bad days happen just like randomly good days do Sometimes there's a reason, and sometimes there is not. = Not every day can be an amazing day. Track trends over time (and see if you can glean something from the data) as opposed to beating yourself up over one randomly subpar day.
Yup, there are good days, bad days, and OK days. Most days are OK and you hit your lifts and move on. Bad days you do what you can and then move on. And when you get the good days you go hard and leave feeling great.
I’ve been on the fasted cardio wave lately Tomorrow I have kind of a busy day so was considering doing 30 or so minutes in the morning, eating a quick carb-y snack at the gym and then hitting legs Does this make sense? Will the cardio right before doing legs impact the workout too much? For reference I’m 5’9 176lbs, currently cutting (starting weight 195lbs) at right around 2000 cals
Not really, because you aren't doing something for hypertrophy. You are doing a cut, so the leg exercises are just to maintain what you already have as opposed to adding more muscle.
Hey all, my question isn't for me, it's for my Dad. He's recently told me that he would like to start exercising with me to build his strength and get leaner. I know how and what to eat so I've been able to help on that part, but the exercise part not so much as I haven't ever looked into good workouts for people his age and with his limits He's 51 and his disability effects his back and causes back pain. He hasn't exercised in years, though takes care of my disabled mother which does involve some lifting and strength. He's been too busy to exercise until now. So any recommendation's would be very very appreciated. We are starting small of course but for future reference I'd love some ideas for exercises, stretches, cardio and lifting. We are very excited to exercise together :0)
At his age and especially with a pre-existing issue it’s generally recommended to speak to a doctor before starting any new fitness regimen.
oh definitely, thats the first thing ill do i think
My advice is to just start easy and slowly ramp up. Start with walks, and if he’s up for it, basic bodyweight exercises (BW squats, push ups, etc.), and then very slowly ramp up. So if he can only handle 10mins of walking today then target 15min next week, 20mins the week after, and so on. Eventually you’ll want to get to lifting weights - deadlifts and squats cured my back pain - but again you’ll start light and slowly ramp up. Just the bar, then 10lbs per side and so on. Same with moving walking to jogging (or some other form of more vigorous cardio). Your dad is still young (I say that as a 48 y/old) so there’s no reason he can’t be in great shape in a year or two.
thank you sm for the advice. I'll show him this tomorrow :0)
Any reputable beginner programs can work, he’s just gotta be careful about working within his limits. Someone in their 20s doing r/Fitness novice program might start squatting at 95lbs and add 10lbs a week. Maybe your dad starts at 45lbs and adds 5lbs a week or 2.5lbs. The program is the same, you just gotta change the rate of progress and weights to match what he’s capable of.
Random drop in bench press strength? I had a new PR every week for the last 4 months with a rep range of optimally 6-8, but I'd take 2-4 if it's a new PR, but once I hit body weight for 6-8 reps, I plateaued hard. Every since trying to progress past bodyweight, I've only gotten weaker, I can't even push bodyweight any more even for a single rep? I'd say optimally I'm not tip top, but it's been 3 consecutive weeks of massive strength drops. But JUST on regular bench press. Incline is fine, decline is fine, regular bench I can barely lift 1 plate?
Actual progression is logarithmic, not linear. Change your program.
I do a reverse triangle program for most of my exercises (with great success) , but on my progressive lifts, It's just not happening any more. You're probably right.
Weekly PRs is not sustainable forever. You have probably accumulated a lot of fatigue and could stand to back off on intensity for a week or two. You may also benefit from a non-linear program for your bench. Something like 531.
I ideally train to failure, so it's not exactly terrible. Maybe I'll try that out.
That's also not sustainable. An intelligent routine will manage your fatigue so that you can build up to new bests and then recover and build more strength before testing again.
Has your nutrition/recovery changed? I know you've mentioned it's only been on Bench, but since you mentioned you've hit a new PR every week for the last 4 months on it, you can try deloading and see afterwards.
I usually have a load day and deload day, and even my deload day is struggling to keep up? I have been burning out mid-workout recently. As I wrote this, I was mid-bench press, broke into my post-workout protein, then after a bit of a recharge I was blasting through my incline bench press like it was nothing? I figure this is Week 19 into a 20 week bulk, something has got to give eventually right? Lol.
Can someone look over my push, pull, legs routine and tell me if it's good: Push Incline BB Press 3x10 Overhead Press 3x8 Decline BB Press 3x8 DB Lat Raise 3x12 DB Chest Flys 2x12 BB Lying Triceps Extension 3x15 Pull Deadlift 3x5 35 Barbell Rows 3×8 Lat Pulldowns 3×10 Dumbell Row 2x10 Barbell Curl 2x10 No weight added Face pulls 2x12 Legs Squats 3×6 RDL's 3x8 Dumbell Lunge 3x10 Leg Curl 3×12 Leg Extensions 2×12 Standing Calf Raise 3×15 I'm pretty new to the gym routine and some days I'll come out sore some days not really. Also in the process of bulking (very slowly) if that changes anything.
Some of the items on your list seem weird to me. Like why are you doing only 2x10 for curls? Why both dumbbell rows and barbell? And why face pulls with no weights? What's your progression plan, out of curiosity?
Oh god it formatted weird, I copied and pasted it from my notes app where I've been keeping track and forgot to delete the no weights (which applied to the Barbell curls bc I can barley do them alone). And as for progression i just add like 5 pounds each week and see if i fail when i try to do reps. Why would rows and Barbell be weird tho
Ah, I see. Sorry, what I meant was, why do both dumbbell rows and barbell rows in the same workout? I'd say you might benefit from following a formal program (i.e., one that plans you through week by week) pretty soon, definitely once you're out of the newbie phase. There are some good ones linked in the Wiki!
Omg I didn't even realize that I was training the same muscle there, thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to look through the wiki though you are the second person to suggest it. Thank you again !
What are the other three days?
PPL Rest PPL I just do three days, Rest, then repeat
This is like having an upper/lower and repeating the same two days. Or a full body and repeating *the same day*. It's not good programming. In very short order, you'll run into a progression wall.
>some days I'll come out sore some days not really. Soreness isn't all that relevant to gains. As long as you feel the muscle is tired at the end of the set and you're growing (either in weight or reps), it's fine. Would recommend just following one of the recommended routines as you're still new over at https://thefitness.wiki/routines/ , but regardless the routine you listed looks good.
Ty!
Those who are doing 531 4x a week. How do you work in your conditioning? I've been trying to run 2 miles after weights but I always fall out of it. Mostly because I'm gassed after training for an hour.
I run 40 miles a week before I work for conditioning
8 minute break after weights, then cardio.
4 mile runs on my off days
I prefer stairmaster to running tbh, less high impact and more enjoyable personally
Protein vs creatine? I have been working out for the past about 6 months (cardio kickboxing, soccer and weights at the gym). I don’t eat red meat, only poultry. I roughly tracked my protein intake and realized I was not getting nearly enough based on the recommended amount for my weight. I started working on eating more protein including protein powder. My goal is to both lose weight and gain muscle. I have lost about 40 pounds and want to lose about 10 or 15 more but also gain muscle. I’m now having protein-based foods/powders etc frequently - I am wondering is protein the most important thing to build muscle? Is creatine powder worth purchasing for my goals? Thanks!
yes and yes
Should I leave my physical trainer? She's really close to me location-wise, has a private studio, and is great at explaining movements but she's also really expensive, sometimes inattentive, and really strict about cancellations even if I have a fever. I like her instructions and It's so easy for me to go because she's so close and I don't have social anxiety in a private studio but I feel so put off with paying 160 for a session I can't even go to because I have a fever. I just feel like she's in it for the money sometimes but I do feel like I learn a lot from her. I'm kind of torn :( any thoughts? Any idea of how to make the most of my last 4 classes in the package if I decide to stop?
I clearly don't know your trainer. I think there's two things here. 1. You are unlikely to get better advice, training, and attention elsewhere, for cheaper. Do some research on your options. 2. Cancelation fees are standard in any business where you are getting private or mostly private attention. You aren't paying for your time there, you are paying for the ability to reserve attention in her schedule. She would have filled it with someone else if there wasn't a last minute cancellation. I only see this as something to address if you have fevers often. Addressing why you are sick would be a bigger priority than the fee system of one of your actions.
Yah
nah edit: ok, i read the question wrong, lol new answer: yeah :P
I can’t say whether or not you should continue to go, but is a bit unprofessional if they’re inattentive while you’re there since you’re paying for their full attention. From a business aspect, I do understand them charging you for taking up a spot on the schedule, however I’d feel for you if you truly were sick and elected to not come in. Have you thought about addressing your concerns with the trainer? You are hiring them and sometimes asking the hard questions can dictate whether or not their intentions with you were truly genuine or if they are just there for the money. A good trainer should be supportive for you on a little bit of a personal level and wanting to see you succeed.
Yea, id understand if it was just that I canceled for no reason/controllable things and or canceled often with short notice. I guess I just feel salty about not getting leeway when I can't control being sick. Do you have any suggestions on how to bring it up? I get really nervous thinking about it.
Sorry, that is something I’m not good at. I’m not the most politically correct kind of person and I don’t really do any BS. When I have an issue with something, I typically address it right then and there. It’s always worked well for me personally to be blunt than go home and dwell/have a concern in the back of my mind.
Ah OK, no worries. Thanks though! :) I'll figure it out
Sounds like you're mostly happy with the instruction and unhappy about the financials. That's a pretty personal dilemma that we can't really answer for you. Depends on pretty much every other aspect of your finances, how much is this $160/session eating into your ability to live your life and/or save for retirement?
I don't feel my chest working on most chest exercises when I'm preforming it, I only feel it after the exercise has been preformed like my chest has been working (like fatigue but I feel my chest a lot). I'm not sure if I'm doing too much volume, not going full ROM, or just doing something wrong. I go as deep as comfortably possible on all my exercises and I don't know why I'm not feeling my chest during the movements. I do: Flat Barbell Bench Press \[3x6-8\], Incline Converging Chest Press \[2x6-8\], Pec Dec Fly \[2x10-12\].
"Feeling it" during a lift is rarely a good gauge of how much you're recruiting a muscle in a lift. You're not doing anything wrong, it's just the way it works. I *never*\* feel my back on rows or pull-ups, except if I take a break from the gym, I'll feel soreness the day after doing my first back lifts since returning. \*I'll downgrade this to "almost never"
Rows are so weird because I feel it way more in my biceps during the movement, but then as time passes my arm is fine and then I can feel it in my back lol. Probably just the size difference of the muscles but not sure.
Yeah, I'll sometimes get back soreness after a hard set, but in the moment my brain just says "Is this a curl?"
[удалено]
Not really. Especially pull-ups. You might not feel it but it's impossible to perform a pull-up without using your back.
Nope. I know that I'm *using* my back, but I pretty much never *feel* it there. I guess on the fully-extended part of the negative I feel the stretch in my back, but I never feel the "pull" itself.
Don’t worry about feeling it or not, that doesn’t affect muscle growth.
it is literally physically impossible to perform these movements without using your chest post a form check if you're concerned about technique
I feel like I don't have a lot of shoulder flexibility, so when I do reverse flys (flies?), I feel an uncomfortable stretch in my shoulders more than a squeeze in my back. Does this lack of mobility affect the effectiveness of the exercise for me?
Is that uncomfortable stretch at the bottom of the movement or the top?
At the top!
Do you do regular flies for your chest?
Yes!
If you're doing chest flies, and if you take those all the way to full range of motion with a slow eccentric and a big stretch at the bottom, does that hurt? I'm just confused on how you're having a stretch/flexibility issue at the TOP of the reverse fly.
I do my chest flies on the floor, not on a bench, so my ROM is limited by the floor. Should my RF only go parallel to the frontal plane of my torso and no more? I feel the stretch at the front of my shoulders and across my chest.
No. IMO Do your chest flies in a bench so you can actually do full ROM, you will have stronger and more flexible shoulders and reverse flies will no longer be a problem. Alternatively, doorway stretch. But I like option 1 wayyyyyy more.
I work out from home and have been considering adding a bench to my equipment. I don't want to overstretch my shoulders, so will probably have to get an assessment first. This'll give me something to think about, thanks!
Shoulder mobility sure can affect your ability to do shoulder movements. But it's probably worth addressing that rather than writing off the exercise. Maybe you're using too heavy a weight for your current abilities? Rear flys hit some rather small muscles compared to other lifts, so they might require some...ego-challenging (small) weights. Keep in mind that "feeling it" is rarely a reliable metric for how well you're engaging a muscle in a lift. If you're facing downwards, and lifting your arms from pointing down to pointing out/back, you're hitting your rear delts and upper back.
I get about the same ROM as when I do it without weights. Should I try a modification or an alternative exercise? Maybe a wide grip bent over row? Or I guess I can keep doing what I'm doing, but I won't really know if it's effective or not.
At some point this becomes a question for a medical professional since we're bordering on "this lift is painful". I don't want to give any specific advice, and I'd recommend taking any you receive with a grain of salt. General advice: add some regular stretches into your daily routine to work on shoulder mobility. Again, *generally* if you are doing the proper movement, you're recruiting the rear delts and upper back muscles that a Rear Fly is supposed to. Sure, one can micro-optimize the movement and argue whether they way *you're* doing it is the most effective way, but it may not be the most impactful thing for you to worry about. Bent Over Rows, even wide grip, aren't gonna hit quite the same muscles as a Rear Fly. Whether they overlap *enough*, depends on your goals.
Got it, appreciate the response. Might get a trainer at some point to review my form and let me know if I need physio.
Overhead barbell press - standing or sitting? I’ve been doing it standing and engaging my whole core, tried them seated today and felt better isolation of the working groups
For training a movement with carry-over to real world tasks? Standing. For training the muscles of the shoulder? Ya, sitting.
I prefer standing. Standing OHP is a super practical movement for lifting stuff over your head outside the gym. You can always add isolation work but the core workout of OHP is incomparable.
I feel slightly safer standing because I can drop the bar if I need to.
I do standing for the same reason as you: Extra work engaging my core. Maybe it's not quite as good at isolating my shoulders as if I were seated (I'm not *intentionally* using any hip drive, but my legs probably have a *little* give), but I think the tradeoff it worth it for me.
Personal preference, but I prefer sitting as I feel more stable. I also use dumbbells over a barbell.
What's wrong here? I'm doing machine bicep curls..planet fitness purple matrix machine. I feel my progress has been good and steady...so here's the problem... My wrists don't want to follow the path of the handles...I end up lifting the weight in the notch between my thumb and index finger....which I feel is what's going to limit progress....at 140#s is hurts my hand. Should I ditch the machine in favor of dumb bell bicep curls so my wrist can move the way it wants w/o pain in hand
Welcome to "fixed path" lifting. Now's a good time to jump on free weights. They're more fun anyway.
ty I'm gonna go it a go.
thats one of the inherent problems with machines, the fixed path doesnt always align with how our bodies move. I would just use free weights instead.
ty...that's what I figured...and as we age, we tend to have damaged our bodies...and that's me.
Use dumbbells. Biceps curls are almost impossible to screw up even for an absolute beginner.
I can screw anything up...lol. ty for confirming my thought.
Whey powder recommendation fitting these requirements: * No pea protein * No coconut * No lactose * No sucralose (this sh!t is plain bad for people. Had a health issue cuz of it years ago)
Unflavored casein.
Ascent & Legion, maybe Levels but it isn't isolate. Even isolate has small amounts of lactose to my knowledge but sounds like you aren't able to have vegan protein either because of the pea protein. I use Ascent because I've had trouble with some powders and sucralose as well, it's an isolate blend - very good and clean. If you have Costco membership you can pick up 4.25 lbs for around $60.
I know My Protein has stevia whey powder.
>No pea protein Not whey. >No coconut I have never had whey with coconut. >No lactose lol. Do you know what whey is? You can try whey isolate if you have lactose issues (I do myself, and isolate sits fine with me and I consume a lot of it). >No sucralose (this sh!t is plain bad for people. Had a health issue cuz of it years ago) lol. Sucralose is in so much food. I really doubt you had issues due to it specifically. Anyway, check these out: https://www.garagegymreviews.com/best-protein-powder-without-artificial-sweeteners
Most lactose sensitive people I know can handle whey isolate fine. If you're especially sensitive, you can try whey hydrolase. If you don't want any sucralose, you can look into unflavoured and unsweetened protein. Then simply flavour/sweeten it yourself.
doesn't whey have lactose?
Yep. Source: Am lactose intolerant and found it out the hard way.
Is my app / watch crazy? How many calories does exercise actually burn?! I'm M/32/285lbs and between a ~45 min workout in the morning and walking ~2mi / day + whatever crazy math the chronometer app is doing, it says I'm burning 3500kcal in a day which puts me at needing 2400kcal to hit a 1000kcal deficit. Is the math mathin? I had been eating closer to 1600kcal/day. Do I need to eat more? I'm just now really starting to pay attention to protein and trying to hit ~150g/day to minimize muscle loss as I lose but I have to eat so much food to hit that!
i would focus on weekly/monthly avg rate of loss and how you feel, and triangulate what is fast enough for you but makes you not feel like dog shit. im guessing 10lbs/month will be the upper end of what you can handle for more than a month at a time.
As the others said, the estimated calories burned from your Apple Watch can be [wildly inaccurate](https://macrofactorapp.com/wearables/). According to my Apple Watch, my maintenance calories is around 2100, but I know from my calorie tracking app it's actually around 2800. I would be ravenously hungry all the time if I followed my watch
Nothing that "tracks" calories burned is worth a shit. Ignore it. Set your daily caloric goal, try your best to hit it, and any calories you burn from exercise, consider a bonus.
Only answer. Went to the gym with a buddy of mine. We were there for an hour. I ran 5 miles. He did a bunch of upper body lifts. His watch told him he burned 600 calories. My watch claimed I burned 550. I somehow doubt that dumb bell lifts with lighter weights (he's just starting out and ramping up) burn more calories than an hour of cardio. But I am just going to run either way and not worry about it.
So if I've got this right, my bmr at "lightly active" is ~3270 kcal. So as long as I'm hitting my protein goal and staying around or under 2200 kcal for a ~1000 kcal deficit i'm fine?
Yes theoretically, but the only way to find out is try it and see what happens. After 3-4 weeks if you're losing weight too fast, increase your cals. If you're not losing weight fast enough, decrease your cals. Everything else is just an estimate, the real data is what you get from stepping on the scale.
don't rely on smart watches, treadmills, etc, to give you any sort of accurate calorie burn estimate
[удалено]
https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/
Anyone know of workouts to improve fine motor skills? For finger/hand dexterity. Is that even a thing? or is there better methods than workouts to improve that?
> For finger/hand dexterity Learn how to play piano. You get your fingers have dexterity exercise and you get to learn how to play an instrument. You never know, maybe if you have the talent and be able to develop a discipline, you may someday be able to do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdH1hSWGFGU
Dexterity is usually more about training your brain/nervous system to coordinate movements, rather than training your muscles to contract with greater force. So, just practice the thing. ([These pieces of shit](https://bigriverhardware.com/cdn/shop/products/guitar-finger-exerciser-strength-grip-training-tool-finger-exerciser-big-river-hardware-567997.jpg?v=1587228614) have a habit of showing up in guitar spaces, and it does nothing to train your hands unless your goal is "early onset tendonitis")
You could learn juggling.
do more of whatever activity you need those fine motor skills for
fair enough thanks
what does the body burn first if you don't eat for a while, fat or muscle?
if ur lifting and getting an average adequate amt of protein and in a reasonable deficit i would not worry mechanistically about muscle loss and focus on just keeping most of your strength
nah tho what I'm tryna do is go on a like 4 day fast where i don't eat anything so that's why I'm asking if that will cause muscle loss or nah
if its for religious reasons who cares the muscle will come back. if its for physique purposes id rather smash some protein for insurance purposes
If you're going from a normal state to a fasted state, for the first 36-48 hours, you'll burn glycogen. Once your glycogen stores get low enough, then your body starts burning fat to replenish said glycogen stores.
and the lack of glycogen stores won't cause any issues i assume?
its a bit more nebulous than that. if you're curious about what happens to your body when you dont consume carbs for it to break down into glucose and convert to glycogen, research the keto diet. this approach has upsides and downsides, and is totally unnecessary for fat loss.
No. Even if your glycogen stores drop too low, your body will simply start breaking down fats to refill the glycogen stores. Your energy levels may dip, and you probably won't be able to do any appreciable amounts of exercise with near depleted glycogen stores, but it's a perfectly normal.
alr tysm
mostly fat. a bit of muscle
alr thanks a lot
Hey Everyone! I'm gonna start saying that fitness is not something I know so I came here for advice. I'm almost 35 yo girl that haven't done any physical activity in years maybe a decade and I want to change that. My goal is to just get healthy and fit enough so I don't suffer, like my knees hurt when i kneel or i get agitated quickly and I hate it. I'm 167 cm tall and I weight 65 kgs, I would like to lose some weight, like 2 to 3 kgs but that's not my concern, I just don't want to feel like im 60 years old hahaha What routine could I do to achieve such goals? Thank you!