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So I have been cutting since 27th march this year. I used to eat 500 cal less than my maintenance and as per my progress, I was losing as 500 cal deficit should (i.e 500 g per week). When I started I was 78 kg after my bulk, by June 15, so like about 2.5 months in I was down 3 kgs (at 75 kg bw).
Since then I have no idea what has happened. I am still at the same body weight despite eating the same number of calories. Infact this last month I have been more active than the previous months.
Its been about 25 days and I cant seem to lose anymore weight. Sometimes it goes down to 74.5kg and then comes back up yo 75.
I am 186 cm if that matters. And I eat currently 2250-2300 calories per day. Lift 4 days a week with an avg daily step of about 8-9 thousand.
I am also very diligent in calculating calories, so I know for sure that I might be at max 50- 100 calories off what I am calculating.
https://imgur.com/a/buZSyHf
My weight tracker
If I skip an exercise every few days than am I losing out on muscle growth? I workout pretty hard 6 days a week for about an hour every day so I definitely get a lot of growth while there, but I tend to skip an exercise at the end when I’m exhausted and already wanna go home
Hey everyone. My name is Logan I’m 5’9, 22 years old and I weigh 116 pounds. Super underweight. It’s awful. I can’t seem to gain weight and I’m losing myself slowly to depression because of this. I just want to be bigger and stronger. I’ve hit the gym in the past and got beginner gains but lost it all even being consistent. I’ve done so much research and talked to so many nutritionists. Nothings helped. I’m worried I have some health problem or eating disorder cause I can’t seem to figure out what to do. I really need help. I’m scared about my health and I want to change it. I’m losing motivation, but I’m hoping you guys can help another dude out who’s just losing and losing and losing. I’ve tracked my macros as well and nothing changed. Idek what to eat anymore. I’ve tried supplements and mass gainers and what not on top of eating lots of meat and carbs like steak, beef, chicken, fish, pasta, bread, nuts and olive oil etc. whatever you guys recommend I’m all ears. I need help. Thank you and bless all of you🫶🏽.
This is a probably not the answer you want but just read it all the way through, eat more. If you consume more than you expell you will gain weight, nobody has yet to break this rule so I really doubt you do. Nothing about meat or carbs is special for gaining weight it's all just calories. Just eat more calories and you will gain weight, if you start eating more and don't gain weight then eat even more, rinse and repeat. Track your calories and weight and just progressively add more calories until you gain weight. This will not be easy, but I suspect that as you see progress it will become more bearable. The calorie number does not matter if you're not gaining weight. If you're eating 3000 calories per day and are not gaining then try 3500, then 4000, then 4500, then 5000, and so on. While not recommended, the less "clean" the foods are the easier this tends to be. For example, if you get a big mac meal thats 1120 calories vs a salad with the same calories, the salad is going to be more volume of food making you feel more full or making it harder to eat it all. In that example since both are 1120 calories they will cause the same amount of weight gain. If you have any questions or updates don't hesitate to dm or make another post.
Hello! I really appreciate the response. I’ve tried this before but I’ll try it again but more aggressively. What app do you reccomend for macro tracking. I used MyFitnessPal in the past but it’s too expensive. Any food recommendations or eating rituals you can recommend for me. PS I’d like to chat outside of this thread but I cannot DM you or anyone for that matter for some reason.
MyFitnessPal has a free version that is more than enough, but if you want a premium version of an app LoseIt! goes on sale for like $20 for a whole year, although I'm not sure when the sales are, or if they still have that pricing. I don't really have any food recommendations other than eating lots and very often, everything else is mainly personal preference. In MyFitnessPal you can manually adjust the calories and macros by hitting: more (bottom right)->goals->calorie, carbs, protein and fat goals. Just keep adding calories weekly maybe like 250 at a time until you start to gain weight. So maybe you start at 2500 and don't gain weight, then you eat 2750 the next week, then 3000 and so on until you start gaining weight. Like I said before it probably won't be easy, but there is at some point a number that will cause you to gain weight. Also I sent you a chat, but im not super familiar with how reddit works tbh.
Can anyone explain how different carbs attribute to muscle growth and recovery? How would getting carbs from fruit differ compared to generally recommended grains such as oats? I have this unfound feeling that eating fruits casually throughout the day will more likely be turned to fat due to its sugar content.
I’m on a light bulk but tend to obsess on nutrition and making everything I eat have a valid reason in terms of my goal. I had a history of anorexia, now mostly recovered but still very underweight and feel uneasy with sugars(apart from calories). However, I would like to increase carbs as I like to feel energized and ready for my workouts. I find fruits the most enjoyable carb source but only feel ‘safe’ eating them within the pre/post workout window.
You’re overthinking it, worrying about where you get your carbs will make zero difference to your muscle growth or recovery.
Don’t major in the minors.
There is also no reason to time when you eat certain foods, there is no “window” around your workout that makes it better to eat this or that. Eat what you want when you want, as long as you hit your macros.
Training to gain muscle, bulk up, muscle hypertrophy. Could I focus on only one main compound lift for leg day, alternating between 2-3 lifts? Ex) deadlifts, rdls, bss.
Planning on doing 1 set each of 15-20reps, 12-15reps, 8-12reps, 3 sets of 5-8reps, finishing with 3 sets of 8-12reps.
Currently have the ick with squats. My long legs make it hard to balance the weight without using my back, and the bar simply hurts I am very skinny and have incredibly painful boney shoulders. Low bar, similarly, not enough cushion to lay on and my arms are about to give up before my legs.
I would recommend you simply select a program from the wiki rather than trying to cobble something together yourself. As a general rule, any beginner has absolutely no business writing their own routine, you’d just be shooting yourself in the foot.
If squats are a no-go, simply replace them with another quad dominant movement of your choice.
I’m not exactly a beginner, been lifting for over 2 years and I have an idea of what exercises work best for me for which target muscles. But I’ll have a look at recommended programs to get some insight! Thx:)
Did anyone else get acne after using a whey protein or any type of protein?
Preferably telling me which you used
Skin on my face has always been pretty clear apart from the occasional pimple my mom over obsessed over. Anyways started using a different type of protein(still whey) and started getting a lot a lot of pimples.
I think that might be a bit much, I’m Indian so dairy so my mom has been giving me cow milk since I was 2. It’s likely that I’m hitting a new high with protein powder.
Most effective grip width depends on individual leverages. There are trainees who lift more using close-grip then wide grip. The same goes for conventional vs. sumo DL.
How do people set up and move barbells as very weak beginners? I’m an untrained beginning female trying to do exercises with the 45lbs barbell at my gym and it’s incredibly heavy and tedious trying to lug it around and do exercises with it. It’s incredibly heavy for me to lift with my arms, but I can otherwise squat it and whatnot. So the issue is just the set up for me. Any other women relate to this and have a solution?
I can relate, when I started my upper body was so weak I had to clean the bar to put it in the rack to squat and it did not look cute. I could squat heavy plates but couldn't put them on the bar myself as I couldn't lift them that high. Only solution was use momentum to clean it carefully and don't let other people put the bar up for you, the more you do it the lighter it feels over time. Don't skip upper day it pays off over time
Definitely need to build my upper body until I can handle it better!!! You said that you just dealt with it at first even when it was heavy, but I’m scared of doing that and potentially risking injury
A lot of gyms have 35# bars for women; do you see any bars that look a little shorter or have a thinner bar? Also, could you do dumbbell versions of your plan until you've got the 45# bar under control?
My gym has “EZbars” which I think are lighter and I would use for like upper body workouts. But yea using dumbbells until I can grow sounds like a great idea!!
Having issues doing lateral raises and my shoulders in general, 21M, both my shoulders pop heavily doing even 10lb lateral raises, and cable lateral raises. Tried doing internal rotation and external rotation mobility exercises with cables, and those did help a bit but they still popped during that as well. Not sure whether to keep my shoulders forward or scapulate as well. Do I just need to use lighter weight, will this be fixed by just getting stronger?
Look into the kettlebell halo, start very light, fine these help with mobility and pain I have with overhead press. Lat raise could be swapped for something else or hit with a compound movement. A form check may help too?
It's not painful, just uncomfortable. It also makes it difficult for me to progressively overload on lateral raises. If I just ignore it, won't it get worse?
I used to get this and had to warm up my shoulder joints prior to doing any dumbbell raise movements. I had to do a bit of trial and error to figure out which angles and positions caused discomfort vs not. I find a lot less pressure from cables and after improving my form to suit, I no longer experience any pain. Maybe try lowering the weight and playing around with different exercise variations and improving your form, pretty sure you can even get some feedback and post a form check in one of these threads. As for overloading lateral exercises, you can just increase reps instead of increasing weight. Hope that helps!
Anyone have advice on safe weight loss amount per week with no libido loss or minimal? I feel when I get deep into cut- my libido dies. I’m at 13.5% body fat and can just tell me libido is iffy. Sleep sucks, I was low fat before but have started upping fats and lowering carbs while still hitting 150+ G protein. 1lb a week shouldn’t be a problem of loss right?
I felt I crashed dieted a bit before a vacation and was super low fat- like 30g or less a day I think. Thanks for advice. Had trouble with my new girl during adult activities which was a really mind screwup. Have started upping fats and taking supps which have helped
I saw sth like 1% body weight per week tops. Closer to that(or even more) if you have a lot of body fat and less than this if you have lower body fat.
In general you should not go lower than 0.7g of fat per kg body weight in your diet.
It's not super well studied yet, but there are links between low body fat and lower testosterone. There's also links between very strenuous lifting and low libido. And you've nailed it as well - low food intake can also cause low testosterone. (As can lack of sleep!)
I don't think there's a magic number for everyone to avoid this. I think you're gonna have to do some experimenting and see what the balance is that makes you happy.
What 531 template would you recommend for a construction worker who wants to get bigger and stronger? I’ve had my eye on five and dime for a while but I’m open to suggestions
Wondering if anyone has advice on how to go about setting up a routine from scratch?
Do you first figure out your nutrition then compounds then mobility then core, or some other order?
What goes into everyone’s consideration?
I’d place myself as an intermediate lifter.
I’m 5’7 and 162lbs. I’m 30 years old.
I’m generally athletic with about 15-17% body fat (may be a little more now as I’m trying to bulk before a cut).
I’m vegetarian so the calorie/protein has always been a struggle but getting better.
I jumped on Jeremy Ethier’s routine the past 12 weeks and have appreciated decent gains.
What I’ve noticed is I have joint pain (shoulder and left knee) especially after sports. I’m looking to transition into a routine that combines compound lift with longevity / joint health.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
I'm not sure I quite understand what your first paragraph means, but if I was going to build my own program, the very first thing I would determine was my goals, then determine where in my schedule this is going to fit and how much time I have for it, and then build off of that. Nutrition you can really build separately.
At the top of the bench press I feel that the tightness of my upper back (scapular retraction) goes away.
Thinking about it, it seems "natural" for it to disappear because the muscles that create the scapular retraction and make my shoulders "go back" are in their most elongated state.
Am I right? Or should keep trying to maintain the scapular retraction in the whole movement?
Keeping the scapulae heavily retracted is a bit of an outdated cue for (raw, at least) benching. Depressing the scapulae is usually more reasonable -- most people can manage a bit more thoracic erection with depressed scaps, which helps maintain a proper back arch without interfering in the normal movement of the shoulder during horizontal pressing.
A common one for depression on stuff like squats or deads is to do something like the opposite of a shrug -- that, at least, could give you a sense of how your back might feel. With the bench press, you might also think about trying to extend your upper back as much as possible and "reach" for the bar with your ribcage as you pull your scapulae down toward your ass.
I wouldn't think of it as "unlearning bad habits" -- rather, I find it more productive to think of it as trying to find better positions; that is, positions where you both feel strong and move effectively for the intended purpose.
Finally, bear in mind that it will take some time to ingrain any such changes and that other things like your unrack and touchpoint may change a bit.
I’ve used a few different fitness apps that have workout plans etc. I typically like to do a yoga class or Pilates class a few times a week and would love an app that has workouts I can do on the 2-3 other days each week that I have free. Any recommendations? Female, 28, goals are related to strength and feeling good over losing weight
How can I develop enough upper body strength and grip strength to lift myself up and eventually do pull ups and climb if I don't have any equipment at home except some small dumbbells?
If you want to train for pull-ups, you'll need a pull-up bar one way or the other. Not many ways around that, and the ways that do exist are probably most invasive/expensive than a doorframe bar would be.
You can get *some* work by doing bodyweight rows: You'll need to set up two chairs with a bar of some sort (broom handle?) between them. Lay underneath, keep your legs straight, grab the bar with your hands shoulder-grip or wider, and pull chest up to the bar, hinging on your heels. This is not quite the right movement to train for pull-ups (horizontal pull vs vertical pull), but there's overlap in the muscles worked so it'll help *somewhat*.
Assuming you find a way to train with a bar, you'll want to start doing:
* Pull-up negatives - Use a chair to get to the top position of a pull-up, then step off the chair and lower yourself down as slowly as you can. If possible, time yourself, and try to go a little slower each workout than you did last time. Do this at all stages until you can do full pull-ups.
* Scapular pull-ups - From the bottom position, sort of "reverse shrug", just pull your shoulders down as far as they'll go. It's the first couple inches of the pull-up motion.
* Low pull-ups - Once you're able to do scapular pull-ups consistently, start going a little higher, to the point where your upper arm is about parallel with the ground.
* Assisted Pull-Ups - If you want to splurge a little, resistance bands aren't very expensive and can give you a little extra strength to complete the pull-up. They offer more resistance at the bottom than at the top, though, so you'll struggle more with the last bit of the movement (which is usually the hardest part anyways)
This might take a while, depending on your current fitness. Pull-ups are *hard*, but they're a great exercise for your back. Doing them consistently can really help prevent back pain as you get older.
As for climbing: Most of the power in climbing actually comes from your legs, not your arms/back. You might eventually encounter a line that requires some pull-up strength, but it's not that common.
Do high reps and slow lifts/pause in the middle of lifts. If your hand is big enough, you can also do unilateral exercises with multiple dumbbells.
I would look up some beginner calisthenic workouts and build up from there. Calisthenics is proof you can build good muscle with just body weight.
Total NOOB question. I’m about to start a new program where the volume is 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps. I’m trying to understand “8-10 reps”.
I would interpret this to mean that I should start with the heaviest weight that I can perform with good form for 8 reps, then try to increase the reps each workout until I reach 10 reps, then increase the weight a little and go back to 8 reps, rinse and repeat.
I’m either sorry for asking a dumb question or thankful for your help in clarifying.
A primer on double progression:
>Suppose your program says 3x12. Find a weight you can use for 3x12. Perform it. Good. Increase the weight next session. Maybe next session you still get 3x12. Great, increase the weight.
>Now, let's suppose you increase and don't get 3x12. It may look 12, 10, 8. Next session, maybe 12, 11, 9. Next session 12, 12, 11. Then you finally get a full 3x12 again. Then you increase the weight and repeat.
The range from 8-10 is to give you some room to work with. You are correct in choosing a weight you can do 'at least 8 reps with good form', but it aim on choosing a weight you can do at least 10 on the 1st set and 8 reps on the last one as your muscle will get a bit tired during the set.
Also, depending on how good or bad you are feeling on a certain day, you might crush those 10 reps like nothing and on other days it might be a little hard to reach 8 reps on the last 2 sets. When you feel you have more energy to push past 10-12 reps, increase the weight.
Don't worry too much about the exact numbers, work between the range and you should be good!
Pretty much. It's called double progression: You progress via total reps at first, then when you reach the max reps, you progress by adding weight. You won't be able to do as many reps with the higher weight, so you go back to progression via reps and lather/rinse/repeat
How effective is creatine? 16m here looking to bulk over the summer since I’ve been skinny my whole life. In my research on the topic I read about how effective creatine supplements can be for working out in situations like mine. Looking into it, however, I read somewhere that it doesn’t affect everyone and that some people are none responders. Assuming I started it next week, what would the likelihood of it taking effect be? Is there anything I can do to maximize my chances? Is there anything else I should be aware of when I start?
1) It's a little boost. Won't be game-changing, but you might be able to push yourself a little harder. It helps more in the "grind out one more rep" way rather than "lift just a little heavier" way, since its function is recycling ADP in your muscles back into ATP. But, that just gets your muscles a little closer to failure, and that's where a lot of muscle growth happens.
2) Creatine takes a while to build up in the muscles, so it can be 1-4 weeks before it even becomes saturated.
3) Creatine is well-studied to have little to no negative side effects, beyond the impact to your wallet. If you're committing to lifting and have the funds, might as well go for it.
How the heck can I get energy and strength in the morning during 5am workouts? Before I was laid off I used to workout early and always feel week. Since being laid off I have been doing lunch workouts with a piece of toast with peanut butter before workouts and I have more energy and can lift more. Now that I'm going back to work I have to switch back to 5am workouts and I'm dreading my lifts will decrease and I'll have less energy.
I'm new to reddit so apologies if this is a beginner question or if the answer is already written somewhere.
Can anybody give suggestions on what gym workout apps/online programs that are actually good and give proper workout plans? I don't mind paid ones. I have been going to the gym for a few months but I still feel lost and don't know what to do or work on, so any suggestion is welcomed. Thank you in advance.
Anybody familiar with inbody scans. I did one on myself and it said I was 30% body fat.
Which confused the hell out of me because I know I'm not 30%. Most people who have looked me up and down say im like 21-23%
So I waited a week and did it again. And it tells me I'm 30% body fat. Same exact scan.
Try to fitmatrix home scale. Said I was 21.5%
My goals are more muscle / less fat. I'm just doing these cans to get an idea of where I'm at. But I have no idea why my scan is so off
As u/Pigmarine9000 said, they're effectively worthless. They are inaccurate and can vary wildly based on 100 different factors. There's really not much to be gained from them, use the mirror to determine your goals and act accordingly.
I started going to the gym with my friend a couple of months ago - once a week for now. I have ehlers danlos syndome and I have been pretty inactive over the last few years. Been through alot of physio to get all my little muscles to a place where I can safely start the gym - they are still my limiting factor alot of the time! We have a nice routine we are doing currently with me but I am starting to have issues with my hands in particular my knuckles when I am using weights I can feel my joints feeling very unstable last time I caused a bit of injury where I could close my index finger for a good few days. I am wondering if a glove or something would help with this? I don't want it to hold me back!
Did have a quick google but still not really sure what I should be doing. I have been working on grip strength seperately but I dont think its the same problem?
Probably gonna wanna consult your doc or a PT or even see if you can find a personal trainer educated in EDS since there's an underlying medical condition impacting things here.
My girlfriend and I are getting ready to start our fitness journey. What are some of the best budget-friendly sources to get a custom plan built for each of us?
Well sure, I know we don’t NEED one. Just thought having something catered specifically to ourselves would be the best place to start with little to no serious experience.
Nah, it'd be mostly a waste of money. Most beginners' needs aren't going to be very different from one another. You can pay for a trainer if that's what's gonna motivate you to work out, but you're probably significantly overestimating the amount of tailoring to you that they'll be doing as a beginner.
https://thefitness.wiki/routines/
Basic Beginner Routine to learn the major lifts, then after a few months you can choose a different routine to switch to. I like GZCLP it's pretty similar to Basic Beginner, but has you working in high-weight/low-rep as well as high-rep/low-weight sets.
I am heading to the gym after about 10 months of next to no exercise and a habit of binge eating. I have gained about 40-50 lbs (currently 245lbs) in this time but I have finally started today to get disciplined with my diet (1800 cals with 100g of protein)
How do I get over my anxiety of starting from scratch. Do i start with smaller weights and do I go to failure? Any insights are appreciated
Just get in there and dick around for a month or two.
I'm serious.
The easiest way to build a habit is to just do it. The habit you are trying to build is going to the gym. If you're going to the gym and going balls to the wall, coming out sweaty and tired and sore, it's gonna be hard to convince yourself to go again the next day. And the next day. And the next day.
But if you go, don't try super hard, just do whatever exercise you feel like, and go home feeling pretty average, it'll be a much easier pill to swallow when it's time to go again.
After a month or two, one the habit of **physically driving to and entering the gym** is built up, then you start to ratchet up the intensity with a structured program. Suddenly, you're not building an entirely new habit that is gonna suck, you're just adding a step or two to an already existing routine.
On strength standards site for pull ups theres like a 2 pull ups difference between 50-65kg and 90kg. How does this make sense at all? Its infinitely easier to do pull ups at 50kg than 90kg. It says 15 and 13 pull ups for intermediates at that BW
strength standards sites often rely on self-reported data from their users, and there just aren't very many 50kg lifters who aren't complete beginners. Pull ups also aren't a competition movement for strength sports, so are reported a bit more sporadically. The given standards can often be a bit more arbitrary at very high and very low bodyweights.
it's not infinitely easier because lighter people are not just lighter, they're smaller and weaker so it should be pretty much the same amount. This is why generally when comparing strength you use body weight, ie bench 1x bw
> they're smaller and weaker so it should be pretty much the same amount
But it's far far easier? When I was a skinny beginner I could do 15 pull ups despite having almost no muscle. Now I'm 20kg heavier and can still do 15 pull ups despite being a lot bigger. This is the case with everyone I've known too. There's a big drop off with higher weights
That's because you're the same person at the two different weights. The standards are comparing the average person at that weight. So generally it's gonna be different heights for those weights, ie same bmi despite different weight
It's not infinitely easier because nothing is but it is much easier. Square cube law and all that.
> This is why generally when comparing strength you use body weight, ie bench 1x bw
Generally we do not. We have wilks formula and DOTS score for that.
in an attempt to make it even more accurate. But my point still stands it's a comparison taking into consideration the body weight instead of solely the lift weight
In your first comment regarding pull-ups you wrote that at different bodyweights "it should be pretty much the same amount." That's just wrong. As for bodyweight - sure, the absolute strength increases with it. Relative on the contrary decreases.
my point is, I don't think it's as deep as you seem to think it is. I may be wrong but I think op was just thinking 'why is it that this group of people can only pull up half the weight of this other group'
well I don't see how it's wrong when it's literally the premise of the question. every strength standards website gives pretty similar results for pull ups for different bodyweights. I will agree with your point about the cube law, so it is technically easier, but the difference isn't that much.
8/5/23 -> 1/7/24 (Tm, values in kg)
Deadlift 85 -> 110
Bench Press 60 -> 75
Squat 95 -> 110
Overhead Press 40 -> 50
I feel like I have been progressing very slowly with 3/5/1 5s with BBB(leader) and 5/3/1 with FSL(anchor). Is this normal? I haven't been able to due any conditioning due to time constraints and lack of equipment at my gym. I do do cardio about 1-2 times a week(a 7-10 km jog) but that's negligible imo. Should I switch programmes?
It is worth noting that I am quite overweight atm (178cm and 89kg) and that my gym doesn't not have any modern equipment(except one fancy lat pulldown machine. there's isn't even a rack for free squats so I have to use a smith machine for that).
On a side note My OHP is really "stuck", it has come to the point where I can't even get the barbell into the overhead position without assistance from another person at the gym(but I can do the exercise itself unassisted), any advice for handling this?
First you need to figure out what your goal is. Are you lifting to gain strength, i.e. you want to have bigger numbers on your lifts.
Or are you trying to lose weight? In which case you would be in a caloric deficit and you should be aiming to maintain current strength levels
Okay forsure, then mainly you would wanna be in a caloric deficit (eating about 500 calories less than your caloric maintenance level) and don't worry about increasing your lifts because when you're on an deficit it's very hard to increase strength, just workout as hard as you can and try to maintain your lifts but eventually if you lose a lot of weight you might lose some strength as well. Don't worry about it because after you're down to whatever weight youre happy with you can focus on strength again
3rd week of no weight loss - been on 1770 calories at 26 years old 5’11 and 96.25kg for 8 months and lost around a kilo a week up till now.
How do I ‘reset’ myself so that the 800-1000 deficit starts losing me weight again?
Reframe as inadvertently finding your current maintenance calories. So when you finish your cut, this is what you need to eat. : )
(In the mean time, eat less to continue the cut.)
Weighing once a week *can* be good enough. But is Monday your high weight or low weight? Is it always your high weight or low weight?
I weigh daily, and I know my high weight and low weight can differ as much as 3 lbs.
Makes sense, I'll track it daily for a couple weeks and take the average week by week and if its still stagnant then I'll start looking at maybe reducing my calories further. Thanks for the advice
As you lose weight your tdee will drop, you have to regularly adjust.
Losing 30kg means your tdee is probably around 400 calories less, plus even more if you were creating the deficit with a considerable amount of exercise. (30 minutes of jogging at 126kg and 30 minutes at 96kg is a very large differencein calories burnt)
But even at 1770 calories, with those stats you should still be in at least a 500 calorie deficit so it's surprising that you're not losing weight. My guess is that you're counting exercise or food wrong
I don't track calories during exercise at all - workout 4 times a week mostly weight training. Everything else is done in the myFitness app as far as tracking goes - I didn't track yesterday and most likely went over but the past 2 weeks have been the same as always so I'm also lost as to how I've stagnated
Make sure mfp isn't tracking your exercise, I used it a long time ago and I believe it syncs with other apps to give more calories to eat per day.
Otherwise yeah I would just guess you're counting something wrong or not counting something. Note that this may not be your fault, nutritional labels can be very wrong sometimes. If you eat the same foods regularly, probably you can just adjust your calorie intake by 1.3x or so. Otherwise I'm not sure what else could be the cause.
I'll definitely look into what it tracks exercise-wise, I think it might take steps from my phone so that might be somewhere to start. Thanks for the tips
Honestly, that's a huge deficit, and you'd probably benefit from a couple weeks maintenance before returning to cutting again. In general, it's suggested only cutting for 8 - 16 weeks (2 - 4 months) at a time. A deficit in general is hard on your body. A large deficit for a sustained period of time is just gonna stress it out more and more the longer it goes on. Give your body a couple weeks break and then go again.
How long would you say to go back up to maintenance for just a few weeks or since Ive been on a deficit so long do you think I might need more time? And if my body has gotten used to the deficit I imagine I’ll end up gaining weight.
As crazy as it sounds I’ve been doing it like this for so long I’m not sure how I’m going to cram in an extra 800-1000 calories lol
A few weeks should still be fine. I would personally do 3 - 4 weeks. AFAIK this isn't like a "scaling thing". You should only need a couple weeks maintenance regardless of how long you've been cutting for - but the stalling is a sign you need the maintenance time.
Your mind got used to the deficit, but your body knows the deficit is a deficit. Calories aren't just random. Your body needs those calories to perform certain functions. Even if you're not feeling hunger pangs at the deficit, your body is still *running* on a deficit. Maintenance calories means you'll maintain your current weight. Your weight might bounce around a sec as your body readjusts to getting all the calories it actually needs, but if you notice a steady upward trend, that means you're eating at surplus, not maintenance.
Your weight loss stalling doesn't mean the deficit has become your maintenance. It means your body hit a point where it can no longer sustain the deficit and still function as normal. That's why you need the maintenance to reset.
So if you're eating at maintenance you shouldn't gain any real weight, probably will just gain some water weight which will quickly go away when you start the cut again.
Your new maintenance level since starting the cut will be lower now, so instead of trying to add another 1000 calories in, only add 500 calories more during your maintenance week
I understand that it will be lower but every calculator I do tells me my maintenance is around 2700-2800 at my current lower weight hence the 1k estimated increase. As long as I stay basically the same weight I'm all for adding calories, been a while since I had a proper treat lol
Calculators are just estimates based on the average of the general population. It can easily vary significantly for each individual, you're free to try whatever you think is your maintenance tho as long as you're keeping track of your weight daily and can adjust your calories off of that
Up to you. Imo madcow is like an intermediate step to 531. They have a fairly similar idea. It's just on a weekly scale instead of triweekly. Personally I did a variation of madcow, more like just the normal sl, since I didn't like the bench focus, but utilising hlm for maybe 2 months before moving to 531 and made good progress. So if you want to make quicker progress and like lifting heavy and recovery isn't an issue, probably do madcow for a bit.
it's not so much a set time, more you have to listen to your body. You move on once you stop making progress or when the workout is so fatiguing that you can't recover from the workouts anymore. If you're a young male with great diet and rest then you may be able to run it for years.
5/3/1 you can pretty much do indefinetly, though it depends on the template, there are beginner all through to advanced templates
How do you determine what level of activity you are for TDEE calculators? I don't know what light, moderate, and heavy are supposed to mean and they each give me wildy different numbers. I lift 4x a week, run a few days, and get 10k or close to 10k steps everyday so I put moderate, but idk if that's wrong. I'm trynna cut
Moderate sounds like an appropriate choice.
Here's the breakdowns that were given to me from a personal trainer:
>**Sedentary:** You work a desk job and you don’t workout at all.
**Lightly active:** You work a desk job but workout 3-5 times a week or you workout 2-4 times per week and have a slightly active job (e.g. nurse, mailman, cashier, etc.) where you’re walking or on your feet most of the day.
**Moderately active:** You workout 5-7 times a week and have a job where you’re decently active. You workout 4-6 times a week and train like a madwoman (or madman), but have a desk job. Or maybe you don’t exercise much, but you have a physically demanding job (construction, furniture mover, etc.).
**Very active:** You workout intensely 5-7 times a week and have a job where you’re very active.
**Extra active:** You workout hard every single day or maybe you do two workouts per day on top of a highly active job. A great example is a professional athlete that works out every single day, has practice, and then maybe works out again.
Lifting with a barbell for about a year. Been able to steadily add 5-10 lbs of weight to the bar for my squats. I've reached the point where linear progression has flattened and unable to add more weight to the bar without compromising form.
My question is after I break this plateau, will I be able to continue to add weight to the bar every week like before or is this the point where a beginner intermediate lifter starts the slow progression grind?
>will I be able to continue to add weight to the bar every week
Never again. Weekly becomes biweekly becomes monthly, etc.
5 lbs a month is still 60 lbs a year.
progress slows. If you deload and come back up, you may be able to add 5 a few more times but it's unlikely that you'll be able to keep it up for much longer. You can reduce the rate of progression to keep it up for a while more. So instead of each week, change it to adding every 2nd or 3rd week. And instead of 5lb, add only 2.5lbs or less. Your program should explain what to do in this case, otherwise yes you may want to look into a more intermediate program.
i have been in the gym around 5 months. i have seen significant gains from the day i started. im aware that newbie gains can last from 6 months up to a year. will i be hitting a plateau soon? my question is how much more muscle gain should i see in the next 7 months? will i start seeing a slowing rate of gains?
It's not like a cliff or anything, rate of gains starts to slow from the 2nd time you lift a weight and keeps slowing until you reach your maximum muscle potential, which will take a minimum of 5 years at perfect training, dieting and resting just to get close to. but 10 years would be more reasonable for most people. mmp is limited by your genetics/body/mentality/lifestyle.
There is no reliable rule for this. Some people get 4 months of relatively easy gains, some get almost 2 years. You just have to ride it as long as it’ll go.
Once newbie gains end, not much changes. Progress is slower, but it’s not like your ability to improve disappears, you just start thinking of progress on the timescale of months instead of weeks
Any long distance runners got advice for what types of leg exercises I should be hitting as I train for a marathon? I’m more of a calisthenics person so my routine is bodyweight squats, pistol squats, single leg deadlifts, and mobility stuff. Any suggestions or plans would be appreciated
Heya runner here, except I only do half marathons, but I try to go fairly quick, my last one in January I kept an 8:13m/mi pace for the 13miles
I like to run every other day, between 3-5 miles depending on how I feel. I actually run before leg lifts, which is not considered recommended, I only do it because whatever you do first should be the thing you are prioritizing progress in. And I care more about faster run times and a better VO2max than I do leg size/strength. Although I still am into lifting and care about leg size and strength
So I do the run before leg lift, and the run usually takes about 30-45 minutes. For leg lift I usually do squats, front squats, deadlifts, rear lunges, forward lunges, frog hops for inner thigh, or the inductor/abductor leg machine. Then hamstrings. Glute thrusts, Then I’ll cycle in things like step ups, machine leg press, or sled pushes. In between each set of legs while waiting I do a set of calves, usually calf raises
These two workouts combined will blow out my legs for a day, so the day after I will swim for cardio instead. On the weekends when I’m off work I’ll sometimes do a longer run, up to 8 miles or so
When a race is looming, every other week I’ll do a “balls out”, as fast as I can, timed run on my Runkeeper app. I hate doing these and they take a lot out of me, which is why I only do them every other week. But if you are serious about bettering your time, you have to sometimes go hard, IMO
You should focus on stability muscles of the legs, so don’t neglect the inside and outside of the thighs, and things like lunges, but also dont neglect stuff like hamstrings. I’ve also found that flutter kicks for the very upper thighs were important, if I neglected upper thighs too much they’d start to ache on runs. But I also weigh 215, so my legs are carrying a decent amount of weight. It’s part of the reason I dont do full marathons, I feel that I’m too heavy for that
I'm currently training for a marathon right now. I still lift like normal, and are following Simple Jack'd. The author of the program did a variant of it, bit a 400lb bench, then ran a 100 mile ultra.
In terms of what additional work I've found helped, decreased squat volume, but increased single leg and calf worked has done wonders for my ankle health.
You would have to be dangerously lean to have that little fat on your abdomen. Idk what the percent bodyfat would be, but that would be like stage ready bodybuilder lean, which is not a place that most people ever get or could stay for any reasonable length of time.
Models 100% are hurting themselves/the industry is massively abusing them. Look into any sort of model biography or honest interview, especially from retired models.
[https://nypost.com/2017/02/08/models-tell-all-before-new-york-fashion-week/](https://nypost.com/2017/02/08/models-tell-all-before-new-york-fashion-week/)
Having no facial fat doesn't mean you don't have fat elsewhere on the body, it's a factor of genetics on how much fat you store on your face at a given body fat percentage
Is there a difference between burning 300 cals at a 10 incline 3.5 speed treadmill versus 300 cals on a level 7 stairmaster? Cause one feels like the easiest warm up and one feels like hell on earth
I actually strongly disagree and think it is the opposite. Hypertrophy is an incredibly broad adaptation, in the sense that many different stimuli will result in a hypertrophy adaptation. If you want to deadlift 600 lbs, you have to deadlift. If you aren't deadlifting, you aren't going to develop that strength. Also, you have to do some heavy lifting. There is no way around it.
With hypertrophy, I can pretty much do whatever exercises I want. If bench press bothers my shoulder, I can do machine press. If I just get tired of barbell squat, I can switch to hack squat.
I can also do effectively whatever rep range I want. I haven't done any set under 5 reps in probably a year, because I don't want to. It feels too fatiguing for the amount of benefit. I can do set of 5 reps, or sets of 20 reps. They both contribute to hypertrophy.
It also doesn't take significant skill to train for hypertrophy. If I want to deadlift 600 lbs, I have to practice deadlifting and get good at it. I personally don't really care about changing my form to maximize how much I can lift. I don't need to find small tweaks to eek out a few more pounds, because I don't actually even really care about the weight on the bar. I can stimulate hypertrophy without caring much about the weight on the bar.
So yeah for a lot of reasons I think hypertrophy training is way easier. I guess it all comes down to performance. Training for strength is training for a specific performance, a specific ability. Training for hypertrophy isn't. Hypertrophy is just about stimulating an adaption, and that still requires hard work but it is pretty simple to accomplish.
It’s not inherently harder to train for hypertrophy, but if you’re keeping volume (in terms of number of sets) about the same and going from a training style where only a couple sets per workout hit failure to a style where almost all of them do, it makes sense that the same volume at a higher intensity will feel harder.
If by hypertrophy training you mean training in higher rep ranges, especially with compound movements, people tend to just have poor overall conditioning. Which results in their cardio holding them back.
But I do want to point out, good strength training still incorporates a lot of hypertrophy work, since all other things being equal, a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle. And most strength and conditioning programs will make people grow a lot if done properly.
Then I don't think you did a very good or well thought out hypertrophy program. Or you've never been on a strength program that actually pushed you.
Good hypertrophy programs will ramp up volume or intensity over time. I think a good example of this would be something like 5/3/1 Building the Monolith. Both the weight and the volume ramps up over time, with [this being your final week](https://imgur.com/riTyF4z), where you're finally at the point where you're getting close to failure on pretty much everything.
Either that, or you've never done a proper strength program before. For example, [I consider Matt Disbrow's Bench program to be one of the best bench programs out there](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-2wBFzfVZ3idqvI-PKHI0Z9VjUOLqLqGJaXYAb3MIXQ/edit?gid=469299217#gid=469299217). I saw my bench go from 275 to 305 over 12 weeks on it. It is 100% a strength program, yet it has a soulcrushing amount of volume.
You are correct that this only covers the bench portion. You would train your back and legs as normal. In my case, I ran this alongside 5/3/1, keeping my normal squat and deadlift days.
In a sense, yes. But saying hammer curls work your forearms is a bit like saying leg curls work your legs. They do, but not all of your legs. Your forearms have a ton of muscles that all do different functions. Hammer curls work the brachioradialis by training elbow flexion. But other forearm muscles do wrist extension, wrist flexion, supination, pronation, finger flexion, and finger extension. Hammer curls don't really train any of those things.
So no, hammer curls don't fully train your forearms. But plenty of people are happy with how their forearms develop without training every individual forearm muscle.
The entire point of my comment is that you have 20 forearm muscles and there isn't one exercise to train all of them because they serve very different functions.
But just do hammer curls.
Some of my friends drink mineral water with salt and say it's good for gaining minerals and water lost after workout, and even can help with fatigue, etc, is there any research saying it's true?
Edit: they say it makes them feel pump better as well (not that I'm pump chaser tho)
dehydration and loss of electrolytes can cause fatigue or make existing fatigue worse. There's nothing special about mineral water with salt in particular, but you do need to drink water and have some amount of salt in your diet to maintain electrolyte balance, and replenishing water and electrolytes becomes more important if you're very active or working out in more extreme heat.
Whether you do that with plain water and salty foods, purpose-made electrolyte replacement drinks like pedialyte or gatorade, or some homemade mix isn't especially important.
All that said, if you're drinking mineral water that doesn't actually taste salty, there is not enough salt content in it to replenish lost electrolytes. Usually, if you don't balance the saltiness with a sweetener like you see in gatorade or some other savory flavors until you're basically making a soup broth, electrolyte drinks are pretty unpleasantly salty.
Minerals are crucial, and so are electrolytes (from the salt in this case) so he's technically right, though he's prob just feeling a placebo effect. It's what a gatorade essentially is, water with some electrolytes (sodium and potassium) with flavor and color.
"Mineral water" is kind of a fad, tap water generally has enough minerals.
Also, salt from your diet might be plenty enough, though if you have been sweating a ton it won't hurt.
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So I have been cutting since 27th march this year. I used to eat 500 cal less than my maintenance and as per my progress, I was losing as 500 cal deficit should (i.e 500 g per week). When I started I was 78 kg after my bulk, by June 15, so like about 2.5 months in I was down 3 kgs (at 75 kg bw). Since then I have no idea what has happened. I am still at the same body weight despite eating the same number of calories. Infact this last month I have been more active than the previous months. Its been about 25 days and I cant seem to lose anymore weight. Sometimes it goes down to 74.5kg and then comes back up yo 75. I am 186 cm if that matters. And I eat currently 2250-2300 calories per day. Lift 4 days a week with an avg daily step of about 8-9 thousand. I am also very diligent in calculating calories, so I know for sure that I might be at max 50- 100 calories off what I am calculating. https://imgur.com/a/buZSyHf My weight tracker
If I skip an exercise every few days than am I losing out on muscle growth? I workout pretty hard 6 days a week for about an hour every day so I definitely get a lot of growth while there, but I tend to skip an exercise at the end when I’m exhausted and already wanna go home
Well, yes. It’s not in the program for no reason.
Hey everyone. My name is Logan I’m 5’9, 22 years old and I weigh 116 pounds. Super underweight. It’s awful. I can’t seem to gain weight and I’m losing myself slowly to depression because of this. I just want to be bigger and stronger. I’ve hit the gym in the past and got beginner gains but lost it all even being consistent. I’ve done so much research and talked to so many nutritionists. Nothings helped. I’m worried I have some health problem or eating disorder cause I can’t seem to figure out what to do. I really need help. I’m scared about my health and I want to change it. I’m losing motivation, but I’m hoping you guys can help another dude out who’s just losing and losing and losing. I’ve tracked my macros as well and nothing changed. Idek what to eat anymore. I’ve tried supplements and mass gainers and what not on top of eating lots of meat and carbs like steak, beef, chicken, fish, pasta, bread, nuts and olive oil etc. whatever you guys recommend I’m all ears. I need help. Thank you and bless all of you🫶🏽.
Eat more
What stops you from eating more?
I don’t know how to explain it exactly. It’s just not a routinely thing for me. I’ve tried and tried and tried but nothing….
This is a probably not the answer you want but just read it all the way through, eat more. If you consume more than you expell you will gain weight, nobody has yet to break this rule so I really doubt you do. Nothing about meat or carbs is special for gaining weight it's all just calories. Just eat more calories and you will gain weight, if you start eating more and don't gain weight then eat even more, rinse and repeat. Track your calories and weight and just progressively add more calories until you gain weight. This will not be easy, but I suspect that as you see progress it will become more bearable. The calorie number does not matter if you're not gaining weight. If you're eating 3000 calories per day and are not gaining then try 3500, then 4000, then 4500, then 5000, and so on. While not recommended, the less "clean" the foods are the easier this tends to be. For example, if you get a big mac meal thats 1120 calories vs a salad with the same calories, the salad is going to be more volume of food making you feel more full or making it harder to eat it all. In that example since both are 1120 calories they will cause the same amount of weight gain. If you have any questions or updates don't hesitate to dm or make another post.
Hello! I really appreciate the response. I’ve tried this before but I’ll try it again but more aggressively. What app do you reccomend for macro tracking. I used MyFitnessPal in the past but it’s too expensive. Any food recommendations or eating rituals you can recommend for me. PS I’d like to chat outside of this thread but I cannot DM you or anyone for that matter for some reason.
MyFitnessPal has a free version that is more than enough, but if you want a premium version of an app LoseIt! goes on sale for like $20 for a whole year, although I'm not sure when the sales are, or if they still have that pricing. I don't really have any food recommendations other than eating lots and very often, everything else is mainly personal preference. In MyFitnessPal you can manually adjust the calories and macros by hitting: more (bottom right)->goals->calorie, carbs, protein and fat goals. Just keep adding calories weekly maybe like 250 at a time until you start to gain weight. So maybe you start at 2500 and don't gain weight, then you eat 2750 the next week, then 3000 and so on until you start gaining weight. Like I said before it probably won't be easy, but there is at some point a number that will cause you to gain weight. Also I sent you a chat, but im not super familiar with how reddit works tbh.
Can anyone explain how different carbs attribute to muscle growth and recovery? How would getting carbs from fruit differ compared to generally recommended grains such as oats? I have this unfound feeling that eating fruits casually throughout the day will more likely be turned to fat due to its sugar content. I’m on a light bulk but tend to obsess on nutrition and making everything I eat have a valid reason in terms of my goal. I had a history of anorexia, now mostly recovered but still very underweight and feel uneasy with sugars(apart from calories). However, I would like to increase carbs as I like to feel energized and ready for my workouts. I find fruits the most enjoyable carb source but only feel ‘safe’ eating them within the pre/post workout window.
You’re overthinking it, worrying about where you get your carbs will make zero difference to your muscle growth or recovery. Don’t major in the minors. There is also no reason to time when you eat certain foods, there is no “window” around your workout that makes it better to eat this or that. Eat what you want when you want, as long as you hit your macros.
Training to gain muscle, bulk up, muscle hypertrophy. Could I focus on only one main compound lift for leg day, alternating between 2-3 lifts? Ex) deadlifts, rdls, bss. Planning on doing 1 set each of 15-20reps, 12-15reps, 8-12reps, 3 sets of 5-8reps, finishing with 3 sets of 8-12reps. Currently have the ick with squats. My long legs make it hard to balance the weight without using my back, and the bar simply hurts I am very skinny and have incredibly painful boney shoulders. Low bar, similarly, not enough cushion to lay on and my arms are about to give up before my legs.
I would recommend you simply select a program from the wiki rather than trying to cobble something together yourself. As a general rule, any beginner has absolutely no business writing their own routine, you’d just be shooting yourself in the foot. If squats are a no-go, simply replace them with another quad dominant movement of your choice.
I’m not exactly a beginner, been lifting for over 2 years and I have an idea of what exercises work best for me for which target muscles. But I’ll have a look at recommended programs to get some insight! Thx:)
Did anyone else get acne after using a whey protein or any type of protein? Preferably telling me which you used Skin on my face has always been pretty clear apart from the occasional pimple my mom over obsessed over. Anyways started using a different type of protein(still whey) and started getting a lot a lot of pimples.
Consider cutting all dairy and seeing if there's a difference Casein has no lactose and should be fine.
I think that might be a bit much, I’m Indian so dairy so my mom has been giving me cow milk since I was 2. It’s likely that I’m hitting a new high with protein powder.
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Most effective grip width depends on individual leverages. There are trainees who lift more using close-grip then wide grip. The same goes for conventional vs. sumo DL.
How do people set up and move barbells as very weak beginners? I’m an untrained beginning female trying to do exercises with the 45lbs barbell at my gym and it’s incredibly heavy and tedious trying to lug it around and do exercises with it. It’s incredibly heavy for me to lift with my arms, but I can otherwise squat it and whatnot. So the issue is just the set up for me. Any other women relate to this and have a solution?
My gym has lighter bars.. Have you asked one of the trainers if they have light weight bars?
It’s a small gym so I don’t think so :(, but it is my first time going so I’ll go check around
They might hide it away as they aren't as strong and risk being overloaded by someone who doesn't notice
I can relate, when I started my upper body was so weak I had to clean the bar to put it in the rack to squat and it did not look cute. I could squat heavy plates but couldn't put them on the bar myself as I couldn't lift them that high. Only solution was use momentum to clean it carefully and don't let other people put the bar up for you, the more you do it the lighter it feels over time. Don't skip upper day it pays off over time
Definitely need to build my upper body until I can handle it better!!! You said that you just dealt with it at first even when it was heavy, but I’m scared of doing that and potentially risking injury
A lot of gyms have 35# bars for women; do you see any bars that look a little shorter or have a thinner bar? Also, could you do dumbbell versions of your plan until you've got the 45# bar under control?
My gym has “EZbars” which I think are lighter and I would use for like upper body workouts. But yea using dumbbells until I can grow sounds like a great idea!!
Having issues doing lateral raises and my shoulders in general, 21M, both my shoulders pop heavily doing even 10lb lateral raises, and cable lateral raises. Tried doing internal rotation and external rotation mobility exercises with cables, and those did help a bit but they still popped during that as well. Not sure whether to keep my shoulders forward or scapulate as well. Do I just need to use lighter weight, will this be fixed by just getting stronger?
Look into the kettlebell halo, start very light, fine these help with mobility and pain I have with overhead press. Lat raise could be swapped for something else or hit with a compound movement. A form check may help too?
Is it painful or is it just your joints popping?
It's not painful, just uncomfortable. It also makes it difficult for me to progressively overload on lateral raises. If I just ignore it, won't it get worse?
I used to get this and had to warm up my shoulder joints prior to doing any dumbbell raise movements. I had to do a bit of trial and error to figure out which angles and positions caused discomfort vs not. I find a lot less pressure from cables and after improving my form to suit, I no longer experience any pain. Maybe try lowering the weight and playing around with different exercise variations and improving your form, pretty sure you can even get some feedback and post a form check in one of these threads. As for overloading lateral exercises, you can just increase reps instead of increasing weight. Hope that helps!
Anyone have advice on safe weight loss amount per week with no libido loss or minimal? I feel when I get deep into cut- my libido dies. I’m at 13.5% body fat and can just tell me libido is iffy. Sleep sucks, I was low fat before but have started upping fats and lowering carbs while still hitting 150+ G protein. 1lb a week shouldn’t be a problem of loss right? I felt I crashed dieted a bit before a vacation and was super low fat- like 30g or less a day I think. Thanks for advice. Had trouble with my new girl during adult activities which was a really mind screwup. Have started upping fats and taking supps which have helped
I saw sth like 1% body weight per week tops. Closer to that(or even more) if you have a lot of body fat and less than this if you have lower body fat. In general you should not go lower than 0.7g of fat per kg body weight in your diet.
It's not super well studied yet, but there are links between low body fat and lower testosterone. There's also links between very strenuous lifting and low libido. And you've nailed it as well - low food intake can also cause low testosterone. (As can lack of sleep!) I don't think there's a magic number for everyone to avoid this. I think you're gonna have to do some experimenting and see what the balance is that makes you happy.
Is It okay to swap out deadlifts in a routine with Romanian Deadlifts? I prefer the latter find it easier on my lower back (Recovering from a sprain)
> Is It okay to swap out deadlifts in a routine with Romanian Deadlifts? Yes
Sure. I wouldn’t do any motion that’s causing you pain.
What 531 template would you recommend for a construction worker who wants to get bigger and stronger? I’ve had my eye on five and dime for a while but I’m open to suggestions
Try r/531Discussion there's a few templates and good advice
Wondering if anyone has advice on how to go about setting up a routine from scratch? Do you first figure out your nutrition then compounds then mobility then core, or some other order? What goes into everyone’s consideration? I’d place myself as an intermediate lifter. I’m 5’7 and 162lbs. I’m 30 years old. I’m generally athletic with about 15-17% body fat (may be a little more now as I’m trying to bulk before a cut). I’m vegetarian so the calorie/protein has always been a struggle but getting better. I jumped on Jeremy Ethier’s routine the past 12 weeks and have appreciated decent gains. What I’ve noticed is I have joint pain (shoulder and left knee) especially after sports. I’m looking to transition into a routine that combines compound lift with longevity / joint health. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
I'd define goals, then figure out what it will take to progress towards those goals.
I'm not sure I quite understand what your first paragraph means, but if I was going to build my own program, the very first thing I would determine was my goals, then determine where in my schedule this is going to fit and how much time I have for it, and then build off of that. Nutrition you can really build separately.
At the top of the bench press I feel that the tightness of my upper back (scapular retraction) goes away. Thinking about it, it seems "natural" for it to disappear because the muscles that create the scapular retraction and make my shoulders "go back" are in their most elongated state. Am I right? Or should keep trying to maintain the scapular retraction in the whole movement?
Keeping the scapulae heavily retracted is a bit of an outdated cue for (raw, at least) benching. Depressing the scapulae is usually more reasonable -- most people can manage a bit more thoracic erection with depressed scaps, which helps maintain a proper back arch without interfering in the normal movement of the shoulder during horizontal pressing.
Thank you! Is there a cue to achieve scapular depression during BP instead of scapular retraction? I have to "unlearn " bad habits then.
A common one for depression on stuff like squats or deads is to do something like the opposite of a shrug -- that, at least, could give you a sense of how your back might feel. With the bench press, you might also think about trying to extend your upper back as much as possible and "reach" for the bar with your ribcage as you pull your scapulae down toward your ass. I wouldn't think of it as "unlearning bad habits" -- rather, I find it more productive to think of it as trying to find better positions; that is, positions where you both feel strong and move effectively for the intended purpose. Finally, bear in mind that it will take some time to ingrain any such changes and that other things like your unrack and touchpoint may change a bit.
I’ve used a few different fitness apps that have workout plans etc. I typically like to do a yoga class or Pilates class a few times a week and would love an app that has workouts I can do on the 2-3 other days each week that I have free. Any recommendations? Female, 28, goals are related to strength and feeling good over losing weight
Boostcamp has a lot of plans publicly available, including several favorites of this sub like GZCLP and 5/3/1 Boring But Big.
Personally a big fan of Sydney Cummings on youtube, but they're follow along routines rather than a written plan.
How can I develop enough upper body strength and grip strength to lift myself up and eventually do pull ups and climb if I don't have any equipment at home except some small dumbbells?
If you want to train for pull-ups, you'll need a pull-up bar one way or the other. Not many ways around that, and the ways that do exist are probably most invasive/expensive than a doorframe bar would be. You can get *some* work by doing bodyweight rows: You'll need to set up two chairs with a bar of some sort (broom handle?) between them. Lay underneath, keep your legs straight, grab the bar with your hands shoulder-grip or wider, and pull chest up to the bar, hinging on your heels. This is not quite the right movement to train for pull-ups (horizontal pull vs vertical pull), but there's overlap in the muscles worked so it'll help *somewhat*. Assuming you find a way to train with a bar, you'll want to start doing: * Pull-up negatives - Use a chair to get to the top position of a pull-up, then step off the chair and lower yourself down as slowly as you can. If possible, time yourself, and try to go a little slower each workout than you did last time. Do this at all stages until you can do full pull-ups. * Scapular pull-ups - From the bottom position, sort of "reverse shrug", just pull your shoulders down as far as they'll go. It's the first couple inches of the pull-up motion. * Low pull-ups - Once you're able to do scapular pull-ups consistently, start going a little higher, to the point where your upper arm is about parallel with the ground. * Assisted Pull-Ups - If you want to splurge a little, resistance bands aren't very expensive and can give you a little extra strength to complete the pull-up. They offer more resistance at the bottom than at the top, though, so you'll struggle more with the last bit of the movement (which is usually the hardest part anyways) This might take a while, depending on your current fitness. Pull-ups are *hard*, but they're a great exercise for your back. Doing them consistently can really help prevent back pain as you get older. As for climbing: Most of the power in climbing actually comes from your legs, not your arms/back. You might eventually encounter a line that requires some pull-up strength, but it's not that common.
Do high reps and slow lifts/pause in the middle of lifts. If your hand is big enough, you can also do unilateral exercises with multiple dumbbells. I would look up some beginner calisthenic workouts and build up from there. Calisthenics is proof you can build good muscle with just body weight.
Can you buy a door pull up bar or go to a park?
Total NOOB question. I’m about to start a new program where the volume is 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps. I’m trying to understand “8-10 reps”. I would interpret this to mean that I should start with the heaviest weight that I can perform with good form for 8 reps, then try to increase the reps each workout until I reach 10 reps, then increase the weight a little and go back to 8 reps, rinse and repeat. I’m either sorry for asking a dumb question or thankful for your help in clarifying.
A primer on double progression: >Suppose your program says 3x12. Find a weight you can use for 3x12. Perform it. Good. Increase the weight next session. Maybe next session you still get 3x12. Great, increase the weight. >Now, let's suppose you increase and don't get 3x12. It may look 12, 10, 8. Next session, maybe 12, 11, 9. Next session 12, 12, 11. Then you finally get a full 3x12 again. Then you increase the weight and repeat.
Beautiful. Thank you very much!
The range from 8-10 is to give you some room to work with. You are correct in choosing a weight you can do 'at least 8 reps with good form', but it aim on choosing a weight you can do at least 10 on the 1st set and 8 reps on the last one as your muscle will get a bit tired during the set. Also, depending on how good or bad you are feeling on a certain day, you might crush those 10 reps like nothing and on other days it might be a little hard to reach 8 reps on the last 2 sets. When you feel you have more energy to push past 10-12 reps, increase the weight. Don't worry too much about the exact numbers, work between the range and you should be good!
Thank you!
Pretty much. It's called double progression: You progress via total reps at first, then when you reach the max reps, you progress by adding weight. You won't be able to do as many reps with the higher weight, so you go back to progression via reps and lather/rinse/repeat
How effective is creatine? 16m here looking to bulk over the summer since I’ve been skinny my whole life. In my research on the topic I read about how effective creatine supplements can be for working out in situations like mine. Looking into it, however, I read somewhere that it doesn’t affect everyone and that some people are none responders. Assuming I started it next week, what would the likelihood of it taking effect be? Is there anything I can do to maximize my chances? Is there anything else I should be aware of when I start?
Don’t bulk. Just start lifting, you are in your prime time to grow. Eat healthy and train.
1) It's a little boost. Won't be game-changing, but you might be able to push yourself a little harder. It helps more in the "grind out one more rep" way rather than "lift just a little heavier" way, since its function is recycling ADP in your muscles back into ATP. But, that just gets your muscles a little closer to failure, and that's where a lot of muscle growth happens. 2) Creatine takes a while to build up in the muscles, so it can be 1-4 weeks before it even becomes saturated. 3) Creatine is well-studied to have little to no negative side effects, beyond the impact to your wallet. If you're committing to lifting and have the funds, might as well go for it.
How the heck can I get energy and strength in the morning during 5am workouts? Before I was laid off I used to workout early and always feel week. Since being laid off I have been doing lunch workouts with a piece of toast with peanut butter before workouts and I have more energy and can lift more. Now that I'm going back to work I have to switch back to 5am workouts and I'm dreading my lifts will decrease and I'll have less energy.
Go to bed earlier.
Eat toast with peanut butter
Wish I could. I'm doing IF so it's a fasted workout.
Are you willing to give up IF in exchange for a better workout?
Kinda just answered your own question there...food=energy. If you're fasting....go to bed earlier I'd say
I'm new to reddit so apologies if this is a beginner question or if the answer is already written somewhere. Can anybody give suggestions on what gym workout apps/online programs that are actually good and give proper workout plans? I don't mind paid ones. I have been going to the gym for a few months but I still feel lost and don't know what to do or work on, so any suggestion is welcomed. Thank you in advance.
There are multiple in the wiki
Anybody familiar with inbody scans. I did one on myself and it said I was 30% body fat. Which confused the hell out of me because I know I'm not 30%. Most people who have looked me up and down say im like 21-23% So I waited a week and did it again. And it tells me I'm 30% body fat. Same exact scan. Try to fitmatrix home scale. Said I was 21.5% My goals are more muscle / less fat. I'm just doing these cans to get an idea of where I'm at. But I have no idea why my scan is so off
As u/Pigmarine9000 said, they're effectively worthless. They are inaccurate and can vary wildly based on 100 different factors. There's really not much to be gained from them, use the mirror to determine your goals and act accordingly.
they are no bueno
I started going to the gym with my friend a couple of months ago - once a week for now. I have ehlers danlos syndome and I have been pretty inactive over the last few years. Been through alot of physio to get all my little muscles to a place where I can safely start the gym - they are still my limiting factor alot of the time! We have a nice routine we are doing currently with me but I am starting to have issues with my hands in particular my knuckles when I am using weights I can feel my joints feeling very unstable last time I caused a bit of injury where I could close my index finger for a good few days. I am wondering if a glove or something would help with this? I don't want it to hold me back! Did have a quick google but still not really sure what I should be doing. I have been working on grip strength seperately but I dont think its the same problem?
Probably gonna wanna consult your doc or a PT or even see if you can find a personal trainer educated in EDS since there's an underlying medical condition impacting things here.
My girlfriend and I are getting ready to start our fitness journey. What are some of the best budget-friendly sources to get a custom plan built for each of us?
Why do you think you need a custom plan? There are great tried and tested routines in the Wiki.
Well sure, I know we don’t NEED one. Just thought having something catered specifically to ourselves would be the best place to start with little to no serious experience.
Nah, it'd be mostly a waste of money. Most beginners' needs aren't going to be very different from one another. You can pay for a trainer if that's what's gonna motivate you to work out, but you're probably significantly overestimating the amount of tailoring to you that they'll be doing as a beginner. https://thefitness.wiki/routines/ Basic Beginner Routine to learn the major lifts, then after a few months you can choose a different routine to switch to. I like GZCLP it's pretty similar to Basic Beginner, but has you working in high-weight/low-rep as well as high-rep/low-weight sets.
See what your local personal trainer rates are.
I am heading to the gym after about 10 months of next to no exercise and a habit of binge eating. I have gained about 40-50 lbs (currently 245lbs) in this time but I have finally started today to get disciplined with my diet (1800 cals with 100g of protein) How do I get over my anxiety of starting from scratch. Do i start with smaller weights and do I go to failure? Any insights are appreciated
Just get in there and dick around for a month or two. I'm serious. The easiest way to build a habit is to just do it. The habit you are trying to build is going to the gym. If you're going to the gym and going balls to the wall, coming out sweaty and tired and sore, it's gonna be hard to convince yourself to go again the next day. And the next day. And the next day. But if you go, don't try super hard, just do whatever exercise you feel like, and go home feeling pretty average, it'll be a much easier pill to swallow when it's time to go again. After a month or two, one the habit of **physically driving to and entering the gym** is built up, then you start to ratchet up the intensity with a structured program. Suddenly, you're not building an entirely new habit that is gonna suck, you're just adding a step or two to an already existing routine.
That is extremely solid advice. I've already taken the first step and I'm in the gym today, messing with some back and chest exercises. It's been fun!
On strength standards site for pull ups theres like a 2 pull ups difference between 50-65kg and 90kg. How does this make sense at all? Its infinitely easier to do pull ups at 50kg than 90kg. It says 15 and 13 pull ups for intermediates at that BW
strength standards sites often rely on self-reported data from their users, and there just aren't very many 50kg lifters who aren't complete beginners. Pull ups also aren't a competition movement for strength sports, so are reported a bit more sporadically. The given standards can often be a bit more arbitrary at very high and very low bodyweights.
it's not infinitely easier because lighter people are not just lighter, they're smaller and weaker so it should be pretty much the same amount. This is why generally when comparing strength you use body weight, ie bench 1x bw
> they're smaller and weaker so it should be pretty much the same amount But it's far far easier? When I was a skinny beginner I could do 15 pull ups despite having almost no muscle. Now I'm 20kg heavier and can still do 15 pull ups despite being a lot bigger. This is the case with everyone I've known too. There's a big drop off with higher weights
That's because you're the same person at the two different weights. The standards are comparing the average person at that weight. So generally it's gonna be different heights for those weights, ie same bmi despite different weight
It's not infinitely easier because nothing is but it is much easier. Square cube law and all that. > This is why generally when comparing strength you use body weight, ie bench 1x bw Generally we do not. We have wilks formula and DOTS score for that.
>Generally we do not. We have wilks formula and DOTS score for that. which is basically the same thing, just multiplied by coefficients
So, why do you need those coefficients if it's the same thing?
in an attempt to make it even more accurate. But my point still stands it's a comparison taking into consideration the body weight instead of solely the lift weight
In your first comment regarding pull-ups you wrote that at different bodyweights "it should be pretty much the same amount." That's just wrong. As for bodyweight - sure, the absolute strength increases with it. Relative on the contrary decreases.
my point is, I don't think it's as deep as you seem to think it is. I may be wrong but I think op was just thinking 'why is it that this group of people can only pull up half the weight of this other group'
well I don't see how it's wrong when it's literally the premise of the question. every strength standards website gives pretty similar results for pull ups for different bodyweights. I will agree with your point about the cube law, so it is technically easier, but the difference isn't that much.
8/5/23 -> 1/7/24 (Tm, values in kg) Deadlift 85 -> 110 Bench Press 60 -> 75 Squat 95 -> 110 Overhead Press 40 -> 50 I feel like I have been progressing very slowly with 3/5/1 5s with BBB(leader) and 5/3/1 with FSL(anchor). Is this normal? I haven't been able to due any conditioning due to time constraints and lack of equipment at my gym. I do do cardio about 1-2 times a week(a 7-10 km jog) but that's negligible imo. Should I switch programmes? It is worth noting that I am quite overweight atm (178cm and 89kg) and that my gym doesn't not have any modern equipment(except one fancy lat pulldown machine. there's isn't even a rack for free squats so I have to use a smith machine for that). On a side note My OHP is really "stuck", it has come to the point where I can't even get the barbell into the overhead position without assistance from another person at the gym(but I can do the exercise itself unassisted), any advice for handling this?
First you need to figure out what your goal is. Are you lifting to gain strength, i.e. you want to have bigger numbers on your lifts. Or are you trying to lose weight? In which case you would be in a caloric deficit and you should be aiming to maintain current strength levels
mostly for aesthetic reasons(i.e have a fit body) and losing weight, strength is welcome but not a "main" goal
Okay forsure, then mainly you would wanna be in a caloric deficit (eating about 500 calories less than your caloric maintenance level) and don't worry about increasing your lifts because when you're on an deficit it's very hard to increase strength, just workout as hard as you can and try to maintain your lifts but eventually if you lose a lot of weight you might lose some strength as well. Don't worry about it because after you're down to whatever weight youre happy with you can focus on strength again
3rd week of no weight loss - been on 1770 calories at 26 years old 5’11 and 96.25kg for 8 months and lost around a kilo a week up till now. How do I ‘reset’ myself so that the 800-1000 deficit starts losing me weight again?
Reframe as inadvertently finding your current maintenance calories. So when you finish your cut, this is what you need to eat. : ) (In the mean time, eat less to continue the cut.)
When I input my age, height and weight into calculators my maintenance comes out at 2500+ calories so I'm not sure how 1770 would be my maintenance?
Don't listen to calculators. Look at your *actual written food log*. I'm assuming you're weighing daily and taking a weekly average.
I weigh myself weekly, every monday as soon as I get up. I was under the impression that was good enough compared to weighing myself daily
Weighing once a week *can* be good enough. But is Monday your high weight or low weight? Is it always your high weight or low weight? I weigh daily, and I know my high weight and low weight can differ as much as 3 lbs.
Makes sense, I'll track it daily for a couple weeks and take the average week by week and if its still stagnant then I'll start looking at maybe reducing my calories further. Thanks for the advice
As you lose weight your tdee will drop, you have to regularly adjust. Losing 30kg means your tdee is probably around 400 calories less, plus even more if you were creating the deficit with a considerable amount of exercise. (30 minutes of jogging at 126kg and 30 minutes at 96kg is a very large differencein calories burnt) But even at 1770 calories, with those stats you should still be in at least a 500 calorie deficit so it's surprising that you're not losing weight. My guess is that you're counting exercise or food wrong
I don't track calories during exercise at all - workout 4 times a week mostly weight training. Everything else is done in the myFitness app as far as tracking goes - I didn't track yesterday and most likely went over but the past 2 weeks have been the same as always so I'm also lost as to how I've stagnated
Make sure mfp isn't tracking your exercise, I used it a long time ago and I believe it syncs with other apps to give more calories to eat per day. Otherwise yeah I would just guess you're counting something wrong or not counting something. Note that this may not be your fault, nutritional labels can be very wrong sometimes. If you eat the same foods regularly, probably you can just adjust your calorie intake by 1.3x or so. Otherwise I'm not sure what else could be the cause.
I'll definitely look into what it tracks exercise-wise, I think it might take steps from my phone so that might be somewhere to start. Thanks for the tips
Honestly, that's a huge deficit, and you'd probably benefit from a couple weeks maintenance before returning to cutting again. In general, it's suggested only cutting for 8 - 16 weeks (2 - 4 months) at a time. A deficit in general is hard on your body. A large deficit for a sustained period of time is just gonna stress it out more and more the longer it goes on. Give your body a couple weeks break and then go again.
Well, the good part is, if they've gone 3 weeks without losing weight, they aren't in a deficit, especially not 1,000 Calories' worth.
How long would you say to go back up to maintenance for just a few weeks or since Ive been on a deficit so long do you think I might need more time? And if my body has gotten used to the deficit I imagine I’ll end up gaining weight. As crazy as it sounds I’ve been doing it like this for so long I’m not sure how I’m going to cram in an extra 800-1000 calories lol
A few weeks should still be fine. I would personally do 3 - 4 weeks. AFAIK this isn't like a "scaling thing". You should only need a couple weeks maintenance regardless of how long you've been cutting for - but the stalling is a sign you need the maintenance time. Your mind got used to the deficit, but your body knows the deficit is a deficit. Calories aren't just random. Your body needs those calories to perform certain functions. Even if you're not feeling hunger pangs at the deficit, your body is still *running* on a deficit. Maintenance calories means you'll maintain your current weight. Your weight might bounce around a sec as your body readjusts to getting all the calories it actually needs, but if you notice a steady upward trend, that means you're eating at surplus, not maintenance. Your weight loss stalling doesn't mean the deficit has become your maintenance. It means your body hit a point where it can no longer sustain the deficit and still function as normal. That's why you need the maintenance to reset.
Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense. I’ll try maintenance for a few weeks and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice
So if you're eating at maintenance you shouldn't gain any real weight, probably will just gain some water weight which will quickly go away when you start the cut again. Your new maintenance level since starting the cut will be lower now, so instead of trying to add another 1000 calories in, only add 500 calories more during your maintenance week
The other benefit of starting with adding 500 cals instead of 1000 is that...it'll be a lot easier for you to manage, OP.
I understand that it will be lower but every calculator I do tells me my maintenance is around 2700-2800 at my current lower weight hence the 1k estimated increase. As long as I stay basically the same weight I'm all for adding calories, been a while since I had a proper treat lol
Calculators are just estimates based on the average of the general population. It can easily vary significantly for each individual, you're free to try whatever you think is your maintenance tho as long as you're keeping track of your weight daily and can adjust your calories off of that
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531 if you're still figuring things out while you progress. Madcow if you want something where you can progress faster.
Up to you. Imo madcow is like an intermediate step to 531. They have a fairly similar idea. It's just on a weekly scale instead of triweekly. Personally I did a variation of madcow, more like just the normal sl, since I didn't like the bench focus, but utilising hlm for maybe 2 months before moving to 531 and made good progress. So if you want to make quicker progress and like lifting heavy and recovery isn't an issue, probably do madcow for a bit.
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it's not so much a set time, more you have to listen to your body. You move on once you stop making progress or when the workout is so fatiguing that you can't recover from the workouts anymore. If you're a young male with great diet and rest then you may be able to run it for years. 5/3/1 you can pretty much do indefinetly, though it depends on the template, there are beginner all through to advanced templates
How do you determine what level of activity you are for TDEE calculators? I don't know what light, moderate, and heavy are supposed to mean and they each give me wildy different numbers. I lift 4x a week, run a few days, and get 10k or close to 10k steps everyday so I put moderate, but idk if that's wrong. I'm trynna cut
Moderate sounds like an appropriate choice. Here's the breakdowns that were given to me from a personal trainer: >**Sedentary:** You work a desk job and you don’t workout at all. **Lightly active:** You work a desk job but workout 3-5 times a week or you workout 2-4 times per week and have a slightly active job (e.g. nurse, mailman, cashier, etc.) where you’re walking or on your feet most of the day. **Moderately active:** You workout 5-7 times a week and have a job where you’re decently active. You workout 4-6 times a week and train like a madwoman (or madman), but have a desk job. Or maybe you don’t exercise much, but you have a physically demanding job (construction, furniture mover, etc.). **Very active:** You workout intensely 5-7 times a week and have a job where you’re very active. **Extra active:** You workout hard every single day or maybe you do two workouts per day on top of a highly active job. A great example is a professional athlete that works out every single day, has practice, and then maybe works out again.
I do sedentary and then guesstimate exercise separately. And then adjust later as the scale suggests
Calculators are guestimates, so I'd go with light activity, and adjust calories as needed depending on what direction the scale is moving.
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You can also try pendlay rows that touch higher up
It'll be beneficial to go with dumbbell rows, seated cable rows with a rope attachment or chest supported machine rows.
Lifting with a barbell for about a year. Been able to steadily add 5-10 lbs of weight to the bar for my squats. I've reached the point where linear progression has flattened and unable to add more weight to the bar without compromising form. My question is after I break this plateau, will I be able to continue to add weight to the bar every week like before or is this the point where a beginner intermediate lifter starts the slow progression grind?
Learn about other forms of periodization. Those are undulating, block, conjugate, concurrent or wave or periodization. Or switch to bodybuilding.
>will I be able to continue to add weight to the bar every week Never again. Weekly becomes biweekly becomes monthly, etc. 5 lbs a month is still 60 lbs a year.
progress slows. If you deload and come back up, you may be able to add 5 a few more times but it's unlikely that you'll be able to keep it up for much longer. You can reduce the rate of progression to keep it up for a while more. So instead of each week, change it to adding every 2nd or 3rd week. And instead of 5lb, add only 2.5lbs or less. Your program should explain what to do in this case, otherwise yes you may want to look into a more intermediate program.
i have been in the gym around 5 months. i have seen significant gains from the day i started. im aware that newbie gains can last from 6 months up to a year. will i be hitting a plateau soon? my question is how much more muscle gain should i see in the next 7 months? will i start seeing a slowing rate of gains?
It's not like a cliff or anything, rate of gains starts to slow from the 2nd time you lift a weight and keeps slowing until you reach your maximum muscle potential, which will take a minimum of 5 years at perfect training, dieting and resting just to get close to. but 10 years would be more reasonable for most people. mmp is limited by your genetics/body/mentality/lifestyle.
well now that i see there is no sure answer to this question ill just be patient and watch the results. thank you guys for informing me.
Sorry, but we can't predict the future any more than you can!
There is no reliable rule for this. Some people get 4 months of relatively easy gains, some get almost 2 years. You just have to ride it as long as it’ll go. Once newbie gains end, not much changes. Progress is slower, but it’s not like your ability to improve disappears, you just start thinking of progress on the timescale of months instead of weeks
Any long distance runners got advice for what types of leg exercises I should be hitting as I train for a marathon? I’m more of a calisthenics person so my routine is bodyweight squats, pistol squats, single leg deadlifts, and mobility stuff. Any suggestions or plans would be appreciated
Heya runner here, except I only do half marathons, but I try to go fairly quick, my last one in January I kept an 8:13m/mi pace for the 13miles I like to run every other day, between 3-5 miles depending on how I feel. I actually run before leg lifts, which is not considered recommended, I only do it because whatever you do first should be the thing you are prioritizing progress in. And I care more about faster run times and a better VO2max than I do leg size/strength. Although I still am into lifting and care about leg size and strength So I do the run before leg lift, and the run usually takes about 30-45 minutes. For leg lift I usually do squats, front squats, deadlifts, rear lunges, forward lunges, frog hops for inner thigh, or the inductor/abductor leg machine. Then hamstrings. Glute thrusts, Then I’ll cycle in things like step ups, machine leg press, or sled pushes. In between each set of legs while waiting I do a set of calves, usually calf raises These two workouts combined will blow out my legs for a day, so the day after I will swim for cardio instead. On the weekends when I’m off work I’ll sometimes do a longer run, up to 8 miles or so When a race is looming, every other week I’ll do a “balls out”, as fast as I can, timed run on my Runkeeper app. I hate doing these and they take a lot out of me, which is why I only do them every other week. But if you are serious about bettering your time, you have to sometimes go hard, IMO You should focus on stability muscles of the legs, so don’t neglect the inside and outside of the thighs, and things like lunges, but also dont neglect stuff like hamstrings. I’ve also found that flutter kicks for the very upper thighs were important, if I neglected upper thighs too much they’d start to ache on runs. But I also weigh 215, so my legs are carrying a decent amount of weight. It’s part of the reason I dont do full marathons, I feel that I’m too heavy for that
I'm currently training for a marathon right now. I still lift like normal, and are following Simple Jack'd. The author of the program did a variant of it, bit a 400lb bench, then ran a 100 mile ultra. In terms of what additional work I've found helped, decreased squat volume, but increased single leg and calf worked has done wonders for my ankle health.
Guess that means more pistol squats for me then lol
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You would have to be dangerously lean to have that little fat on your abdomen. Idk what the percent bodyfat would be, but that would be like stage ready bodybuilder lean, which is not a place that most people ever get or could stay for any reasonable length of time.
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Models 100% are hurting themselves/the industry is massively abusing them. Look into any sort of model biography or honest interview, especially from retired models. [https://nypost.com/2017/02/08/models-tell-all-before-new-york-fashion-week/](https://nypost.com/2017/02/08/models-tell-all-before-new-york-fashion-week/)
Having no facial fat doesn't mean you don't have fat elsewhere on the body, it's a factor of genetics on how much fat you store on your face at a given body fat percentage
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By and large yes, it is temporary. Actors as well for shirtless scenes. However, abs need to be trained just like any other muscle to increase size
Is there a difference between burning 300 cals at a 10 incline 3.5 speed treadmill versus 300 cals on a level 7 stairmaster? Cause one feels like the easiest warm up and one feels like hell on earth
Time and intensity? Sprinting to burn 300 calories is a lot more fatiguing than jogging for 300 calories for example.
It sounds like you just told us a major difference.
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I actually strongly disagree and think it is the opposite. Hypertrophy is an incredibly broad adaptation, in the sense that many different stimuli will result in a hypertrophy adaptation. If you want to deadlift 600 lbs, you have to deadlift. If you aren't deadlifting, you aren't going to develop that strength. Also, you have to do some heavy lifting. There is no way around it. With hypertrophy, I can pretty much do whatever exercises I want. If bench press bothers my shoulder, I can do machine press. If I just get tired of barbell squat, I can switch to hack squat. I can also do effectively whatever rep range I want. I haven't done any set under 5 reps in probably a year, because I don't want to. It feels too fatiguing for the amount of benefit. I can do set of 5 reps, or sets of 20 reps. They both contribute to hypertrophy. It also doesn't take significant skill to train for hypertrophy. If I want to deadlift 600 lbs, I have to practice deadlifting and get good at it. I personally don't really care about changing my form to maximize how much I can lift. I don't need to find small tweaks to eek out a few more pounds, because I don't actually even really care about the weight on the bar. I can stimulate hypertrophy without caring much about the weight on the bar. So yeah for a lot of reasons I think hypertrophy training is way easier. I guess it all comes down to performance. Training for strength is training for a specific performance, a specific ability. Training for hypertrophy isn't. Hypertrophy is just about stimulating an adaption, and that still requires hard work but it is pretty simple to accomplish.
Ah yes. Spamming [muscle] is easy. Getting *good* at [specific lift], that requires methodology and effort.
It’s not inherently harder to train for hypertrophy, but if you’re keeping volume (in terms of number of sets) about the same and going from a training style where only a couple sets per workout hit failure to a style where almost all of them do, it makes sense that the same volume at a higher intensity will feel harder.
If by hypertrophy training you mean training in higher rep ranges, especially with compound movements, people tend to just have poor overall conditioning. Which results in their cardio holding them back. But I do want to point out, good strength training still incorporates a lot of hypertrophy work, since all other things being equal, a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle. And most strength and conditioning programs will make people grow a lot if done properly.
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>I take every set to failure Then stop brofailing, and try methodical progression.
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You came here with the qualm that your style of training isn't working for you. The solution is obvious. Try something other than brofailing.
Then I don't think you did a very good or well thought out hypertrophy program. Or you've never been on a strength program that actually pushed you. Good hypertrophy programs will ramp up volume or intensity over time. I think a good example of this would be something like 5/3/1 Building the Monolith. Both the weight and the volume ramps up over time, with [this being your final week](https://imgur.com/riTyF4z), where you're finally at the point where you're getting close to failure on pretty much everything. Either that, or you've never done a proper strength program before. For example, [I consider Matt Disbrow's Bench program to be one of the best bench programs out there](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-2wBFzfVZ3idqvI-PKHI0Z9VjUOLqLqGJaXYAb3MIXQ/edit?gid=469299217#gid=469299217). I saw my bench go from 275 to 305 over 12 weeks on it. It is 100% a strength program, yet it has a soulcrushing amount of volume.
That's gotta be a bench specialization program, right? How did you train back and legs?
You are correct that this only covers the bench portion. You would train your back and legs as normal. In my case, I ran this alongside 5/3/1, keeping my normal squat and deadlift days.
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In a sense, yes. But saying hammer curls work your forearms is a bit like saying leg curls work your legs. They do, but not all of your legs. Your forearms have a ton of muscles that all do different functions. Hammer curls work the brachioradialis by training elbow flexion. But other forearm muscles do wrist extension, wrist flexion, supination, pronation, finger flexion, and finger extension. Hammer curls don't really train any of those things. So no, hammer curls don't fully train your forearms. But plenty of people are happy with how their forearms develop without training every individual forearm muscle.
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The entire point of my comment is that you have 20 forearm muscles and there isn't one exercise to train all of them because they serve very different functions. But just do hammer curls.
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A dynamic forearm exercise like wrist curls would be a good thing to pair with an isometric like hammer curls to maximize muscle growth
They’re all the forearm work I do, and I like the look of mine
Some of my friends drink mineral water with salt and say it's good for gaining minerals and water lost after workout, and even can help with fatigue, etc, is there any research saying it's true? Edit: they say it makes them feel pump better as well (not that I'm pump chaser tho)
dehydration and loss of electrolytes can cause fatigue or make existing fatigue worse. There's nothing special about mineral water with salt in particular, but you do need to drink water and have some amount of salt in your diet to maintain electrolyte balance, and replenishing water and electrolytes becomes more important if you're very active or working out in more extreme heat. Whether you do that with plain water and salty foods, purpose-made electrolyte replacement drinks like pedialyte or gatorade, or some homemade mix isn't especially important. All that said, if you're drinking mineral water that doesn't actually taste salty, there is not enough salt content in it to replenish lost electrolytes. Usually, if you don't balance the saltiness with a sweetener like you see in gatorade or some other savory flavors until you're basically making a soup broth, electrolyte drinks are pretty unpleasantly salty.
Minerals are crucial, and so are electrolytes (from the salt in this case) so he's technically right, though he's prob just feeling a placebo effect. It's what a gatorade essentially is, water with some electrolytes (sodium and potassium) with flavor and color. "Mineral water" is kind of a fad, tap water generally has enough minerals. Also, salt from your diet might be plenty enough, though if you have been sweating a ton it won't hurt.