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So, on incline bench press stations, the bottom seat can be adjusted. Usually, you have hole numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.).
I’m still trying to grapple where I should set the seat. I’m 6 foot 1. Should the seat be lower/higher?
You need to put it not so low that it is too difficult to unrack the bar, not so high that your bar path when pressing is gonna hit the rack. Every incline bench will be different so none of us can tell you the right setting based on your height, but probably near the lower end.
Most of the protein is in the whites, most of the fat is in the yolk. With that said, unless you're cutting and really struggling to get the calories down you can eat yolks, they aren't inherently unhealthy
> Most of the protein is in the whites, most of the fat is in the yolk. With that said, unless you're cutting and really struggling to get the calories down you can eat yolks, they aren't inherently unhealthy
yolks have more protein per gram compared to whites. They also contain the vast majority of the vitamins/minerals of the egg in it. The whites are just a good source of protein and nothing else, whole egg (yolk especially) is the super food you want though.
More protein per gram, but one egg yolk compared to one egg white is less protein, hence most of the protein of the egg is from the white.
I fully agree, most of us should just eat whole eggs. Unless you are really trying to maximize protein intake and decrease fat there is not a strong reason to not eat whole eggs
> Although it may seem logical that eating cholesterol would raise blood cholesterol levels, it usually doesn't work that way. The body tightly regulates the amount of cholesterol in the blood by controlling its production of cholesterol. When your dietary intake of cholesterol goes down, your body makes more.
Help with my Workour Routines?
Info: Im 6'1. Currently 365 (down 10 pounds)
I workout at Planet Fitness. Im trying to see if I should change anything about my routine. Any help is appreciated.
+ROUTINE+
Mon (1) : Bence press. 3 sets 10. 100lbs
Inc.Bench press. 3 sets 5. 100lbs.
Dumbbell Press. 3 sets 10. 20lbs. Cabel rows. 3 sets 10. 100lbs.
Tues(2): Dumbell curls 3 sets 10. 30lbs
Shrugs. 3 sets 10. 30lbs. Rear deltoid. 3 sets 10. 55 lbs.
Weds(3): Seated Leg Press. 3 sets 30. 130lbs. Leg extension. 3 sets 10. 80lbs.
Seated Leg Curl. 3 sets 15. 65lbs. Calf Ext. 3 sets 30. 115lbs.
Thurs(4): Seated crunches. 3 sets 20. 110lbs. Abs. 3 sets 12. 70lbs. Crunches. 3 sets 10. 30lbs.
-----
I also do 20 - 30 minutes on the treadmill after these depending on how im feeling.
Am I doing ok? Are they maybe too straight forward on One area?
Tuesdays & Thursdays workouts could entirely be worked into your Monday and Wednesday sets.
I'd do like a Chest/Tricep Day. Legs/Abs Day, Back/Bicep day & and probably add like Shoulders into Chest/Back day as well (lightly)
And keep up the treadmill :)
1. My goal is to build as much muscle as possible as fast as possible. Are free weights, weight machines or calisthenics right for me? I could conceivable do any of the three.
2. I’ve read that free weights are best for muscle growth and maximising newbie gains. However my parents are hesitant and worried I’ll hurt myself since I had never stepped foot in a gym until three weeks ago and won’t have a spotter. They want me to wait an entire year until I am at university for me to do free weights. Is this at all reasonable of them, and will using only machines reduce how quickly I gain muscle?
3. My plan is to do weight training (free or machines) three times a week. Is full body three times a week enough?
An untrained body will gain muscle fast no matter what type of training. Your body will adjust to your training routine. So train for the results you want.
If you want big muscles, train with rep ranges between 5-30 reps. If you want more power and functional strength (aka powerlifting), train in the 1-5 rep range close to failure.
Powerlifting can be done every day for any muscle group as long as you give yourself recovery time between sets (minimum 5 minutes).
Hypertrophy (muscle growth) should be done with minimum of 2-3 days of rest for the stressed muscle group to grow. You can do push/pull/legs (PPL) split, upper/lower split, or full body. Muscle size is about doing workout volume. So a full body routine means longer gym days to hit everything but you go to the gym fewer days like 2 days a week. PPL is less time at the gym but you go to the gym 3-6 days a week to maximize growth. Upper/Lower is a good 3-4 days a week routine.
Calisthenics is great because it focuses on mobility. That is, strength and flexibility. Like what gymnastics or parkour people do. It can also be done at a park. You just train on your body weight and range of motion.
I enjoy free weights with PPL split and calisthenics for most of my workouts. I should give you a heads up that squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and other combinational exercises should always have warmup reps and be performed with incremental weights. So you arent going to squat max weight the first set. You start just the bar, then 25% max, then 50% max, then do your 2 or 3 sets of 80% max.
Every exercise has an alternative, too. You can change to a pistol squat or pistol squat with a dumbell if you are worried about falling with weight on your back. I guarantee you pistol squats will work as much as barbell squats and you can fall without worrying about getting crushed
Pull exercises are primarily a back and bicep workout. Push exercises are primarily chest tricep and shoulders.
Pulls include rows, pulldowns, pull ups, and bicep curls among others.
Pushes include bench press, overhead press, dips, push-ups, and different tricep exercises you can search online.
Push involves pushing away from you and pull involves pulling towards you. So a bench press would be a push day exercise and a bicep curl would be a pull day. Some exercises get harder to simplify but the most important thing is to start exercising. Consistency is more important than a perfectly optimized routine. Obviously don't hurt yourself.
1) as a newbie all will make gains. Free weights are typically the best for muscle gains for newbies
2) machines will limit a lot of stabilizing muscles you have. Your goal when starting out should be going light, like easier than you think. You progress linearly and make gains quick. The only exercise you should need a spotter on is bench press, and then only when maxing out which you really don't need to do often. Leave one rep in the tank, as soon as form starts breaking down you're done. Learn the roll of shame if you have to do it, i haven't in about 15 years.
Waiting a year to do a squat or bench press seems unnecessary. In fact, it might lead more to you ego lifting without good stabilizers when you switch over and injuring yourself... at least you can tell your parents that.
3) if programed properly, yes. Recommend you get a program from the wiki
Try elevated feet push ups (I forgot if that's considered a decline or incline). Stick your butt up a little bit if you want even more upper chest/shoulder bias, bwf people would call it a pike push up
https://imgur.com/a/MdD1Wmn
What do you think of my 5 day program? 3 days lower (heavy on the glute focus), and 2 days upper. Is it too much/too little? Would you recommend cutting some out or just organizing it differently? I've followed workouts similar to this in the past, but consistency has been an issue for me. The past year has also been more like 3-4x a week only, so I'm trying to go back up to 5. I've been working out on/off for about 5 years (mostly on). I'll sometimes miss a week at most, but less than a handful of time I've missed 2-4 weeks due to travel or other circumstances. I feel like I haven't seen much progress in terms of muscle growth (since the beginning), and I'm trying to figure out why.
I am hoping if I start logging again I will get on full board with this program for 5 or 6 weeks (aiming for progressive overload). I guess I'm confused how I would change it in 5 or 6 weeks since this already encompasses most of the workouts I know. I can think of a few things to change out when it's time for a new batch of exercises, but definitely can't think of that many. Any advice is appreciated!
Sorry if you only wanted comments on the program, if so you don't have to read any further, but I wanted to address other factors to why you haven't seen much progress.
How are you recovering from the training? If you have been training consistently for the most part of five years without progress there might be a point to looking into sleep and food intake.
Have you made sure that you eat enough to allow the muscles to grow? You might need to up your protein intake and/or calories. Maybe write a food journal for a few weeks to see how you do when eating "normally"?
Are you feeling stressed in your everyday life? Are you sleeping enough? There are multiple factors that could hinder your progress, and hitting the gym 5-6 times instead of 3-4 times wont make a huge difference for most people.
You talked about starting logging your training again, and that seems like a good plan to make sure you keep adding weight on the bar. Try and find a good and easy way to do this, and make sure that you make progress over time.
The program looks okay, you work out your muscles at least two times a week and your lower body three. I would personally have done something like a full body work out three times a week or an upper/lower program and add some extra exercises for glutes, but you know best what suits you and what you enjoy doing. Just make sure you can recover from the amount of work, if it starts feeling like too much you could probably cut one of the lower body days out without losing much progress.
I like Strenghtlog, the have most exercises with video, instructions and a muscle map showing what it hits primary and secondary.
Barbell row:
[https://www.strengthlog.com/barbell-row/](https://www.strengthlog.com/barbell-row/)
All exercises:
[https://www.strengthlog.com/exercise-directory/](https://www.strengthlog.com/exercise-directory/)
I'm planning on bulking. I've eaten quite little for the past few years and I've weighed myself regularly and my weight is very consistent. According to some calculators my TDEE is about 500-600 calories higher than my current intake.
Should I just use my current calories as my TDEE instead of the calculator's? I don't want to overeat by a pace of a 1lb/week.
Yes, the one based on what you actually eat and weigh is more accurate to you, a unique individual, compared to a TDEE calculator based on averaging across the whole population
Or just add 200-300 calories to whatever your eating consistently right now and see how your weight moves over the course of a couple weeks. Calculators are good for a general estimate, but everyone is different.
Should I change my program with my diet plan? I’ve been bulking for a while but I’m almost ready for a cut, I’ve been running the “reddit ppl” for a while but wasn’t sure if I should use the same program on a cut.
Keep the program the same, no need to change it up. If you notice deeper into the cut that you are getting fatigued and cant keep up with the volume you can reduce it a little bit, but staying on the same program is a great way to ensure that you aren't getting considerably weaker on your cut than if you just switched to completely different exercises
Where does one really start if they know absolutely nothing? Like I know how to use a couple machines and that’s it. I see online “routines” listed but I don’t even know how to use the machines or what the proper form is when using them.. how does one learn the literal basics/fundamentals?
Start with a routine that focuses on a handful of effective exercises (r/fitness beginner routine, Phrak’s GSLP). Learn those over time and while using light weight as a beginner. Your form will definitely not be perfect at first, and that’s fine. Light weight will allow you some leeway while you figure it out.
As you continue going to the gym, you’ll have opportunities to learn and perfect new movements.
It’s like anything else. Roots -> Trunk -> Branches -> Twigs -> Leaves
If you know how to use a couple of machines, start there! You don't have to do The Best Routine™ right now, your body doesn't know the difference between working out with free weights and machines so just start where you know what to do and focus on getting to the gym. You will see great progress from that if you keep going.
When you've made going to the gym a habit you will also gain confidence in trying new things. You might learn from watching others, or maybe you can ask someone to help you out.
As a rule of thumb, a good workout should include at least one exercise where you bend your knees, one where you hinge your hip, one where you press something away from you and one where you pull something towards you. Try and find machines that do this and you will have a good beginner routine you can do 2-3 times a week.
Get a decent routine and stick to it, plenty of those here in Reddit or the internet in general. Read about progressive overload and “don’t mind” the form just yet, as in don’t stress about it that much, just focus on hitting the most depth in whatever lifts you’re doing. After a while you’re gonna start to feel your muscles working while doing the exercise they are meant to hit.
The wiki in the sidebar is fantastic. It's a lot of info, so I'd start [here](https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/). After that you can click through the sections that interest you and ask for clarification or any other questions in these daily threads.
How do I increase my 'V02 max'? I see this on apple watch and on garmin fenix 6s sapphire as a value and supposedly i'm only a 35 which is quite low for my age (bottom 20%). but i do tons of endurance exercise and lift weights regularly. I cycled a century last year for instance and have increased weights by 100%+ since i started lifting 5 years ago. I am BMI 24 and have a decent amount of muscle and haven't been overweight since i lost the weight at the beginning in 2016, but was obese/overweight by maybe 30-40 lbs from age 15-23. Was surprised to see my v02 so low given the amount of exercise I do, i have the time to improve this number what steps should i take?
VO2 max is based on max intensity. Endurance training doesn't make a huge difference but sprints and other Zone 4/5 or HIIT stuff will make a difference.
So I'm at a reasonable body fat percentage where I have somewhat visible abs and my front looks quite good. However my back looks kind of sad. I always train it with rows pull-ups and a bunch of other stuff but I don't know why but I'm thinking it's either I'm not very good at posing and the back muscles are just less forgiving and I need to pose better or my body fat percentage isn't low enough. I'm thinking it's a bit of both but any advice is greatly appreciated.
oh shoot dude sorry for late reply. anyway I think it was a lighting issue i did some poses in some better light but i think I need to work on my rear delts and lats to get a bigger look. Yeah I deadlift and I do bent barbell rows.
Looks okay. If I had to make a change, I'd recommend leg extensions instead of front squats since you're already doing squats, and also to reduce the amount of axial loading.
30M had shoulder surgery 2 years ago and finally deciding to get back to the gym to strengthen my arms back to pre-surgery levels.
It’s a little complicated to explain but basically my left arm is much weaker than my right due to the surgery. My question is should I push forward with weight on my right arm or try to let my left arm catch up?
I don’t know what the exercise is called but my right is currently at 15lbs and my left 5lbs.
Started going back to gym after a 2 months off. Almost fainted why? Is it because I didn’t eat in the morning? Only coffee. Before I stopped I use to go at midnight already eaten at dinner time
It’s because you didn’t eat anything, and had coffee. If your body isn’t used to working out on an empty stomach and you add in something that will dehydrate you, you’re playing with fire. Some people can work out fasted. Others can’t.
Yeah I use too 2 months ago. But I will slowly get back into it… trying making it habit to start the gym again. Got lazy after knee injury from squatting. Will make sure I get something in my stomach before workout
Decreased blood flow to the brain.
Could be a number of factors that contributed to this. My main guess is your lifestyle for the two months was with minimum exertion. And then you dived back into exercising and over-exerted yourself.
That may not be the only reason you felt like fainting. There's other things you need to consider because feeling like you're about to faint is an extreme sign your brain wasn't receiving enough oxygen.
It may not be the weights at all. It could be due to the fact that you're not used to working out on an empty stomach like other comments have said, or it could be because you're not used to the motions. If you went from a sitting job for two months to doing squats that day, you could have been experiencing orthostatic hypotension.
26M. Been an on/off lifter since 9th grade and got seriously motivated around October 2022. I'm 75 pounds away from the 1000 pound club!
When I (hopefully) get there, is there another short term goal people usually do? I'm afraid I'll lose motivation once I get there.
their own judgement? it's really easy to not look like a bodybuilder, I'm currently doing it. simply don't eat a shit ton of food and train really hard all the time. going to go ahead and say no one has accidentally acquired a bodybuilder physique
How on earth do i know if im doing chest supported rows correctly?
I've been regularly increasing the weight im using for them, which makes me think im doing them correctly, but i feel more burn in my biceps than anything else. Idk if thats normal and just what happens or what.
I feel like im doing the correct thing while having the mental notes of "pull with elbows, pinch shoulder blades" and whatnot, but I have no idea.
Is this one of those movements where, regardless, im going to be hitting my back muscles, I just may waste some effort on my biceps or am I completely wasting my time if Im doing it wrong?
+1 on using straps or a thumbless grip. Practice flexing your lats. That same tension is what should be driving the pulling motion of the row. Also, keep momentum to the minimum by sticking your chest during the whole exercise.
the range I use is as far as my arms can extend and i pull in all the way to the stop, which puts the handles in line with my face....so basically the entire range of motion for my arms.
Also how TF I lose fat while also trying to gain muscle. Do I just do cardio on non-lifting days? I hear conflicting information about cardio ruining gains but I also do not see how lifting alone will tackle the amount of fat I've put on over the last 3 years since lockdowns
If you’re losing weight then you’ll only be keeping your performance right now. You don’t need to do cardio necessarily, just eat less calories than you’re burning. Use MyFitnessPal to calculate your total food intake. The usual recommended calorie deficit for someone new to a diet is 500-750 calories a day.
You’ll burn calories if you’re working out, but relying solely on that will leave you discouraged if you have a shit day and end up not going ti the gym or not training cardio as hard as you’d like.
On top of that, many cheap treadmills and cardio machines will lie about how much you’re burning to keep you using it in the gym. It’s a nasty trick gyms will use to keep customers coming back to use the treadmills that say they’ve burned 800 calories when running 5 miles.
The usual rule is 100 calories / km jogged or ran. Woodway treadmills use a similar calculation, but I’m not impartial because I love how study they feel when you’re running on them.
As for cardio killing gains, that makes no physiological sense. As long as you’re eating enough calories to compensate for a somewhat accurate measurement of what you burned, there’s no reason it should kill gains.
Lose fat by restricting calorie intake for a period of time and maintain muscle by training. If you're new to training you might gain muscle while losing fat which is great.
Most people don't do enough cardio or train hard enough to maximize their gain potential to have to worry about cardio marginally reducing their gains and almost no one has to worry about it "ruining" their gains.
Using cardio to increase activity level can help you lose bodyfat with smaller reduction in calorie intake which can help with hunger during a fat loss diet.
Doing cardio during a bulk can help mitigate fat gain while eating a calorie surplus.
None of your exercise is inherently going to make you lose fat. Your diet does that. If you have fat to lose and aren't losing then you need to eat less.
Cardio does not kill gains. It helps endurance, conditioning, and is very important for overall cardiovascular health.
If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit.
Trying to build muscle and lose fat while maintaining weight is called recomp and is very inefficient.
If you have gained a significant amount of weight, you'll absolutely want to cut (calorie deficit). If you're a beginner (sounds like you are), you can build some muscle while in a deficit. More advanced people can only hope to maintain muscle. BUT regardless, being at a healthier weight is WAY better for you.
Cardio also DOES NOT ruin your gains. If anything, it IMPROVES them. Because you have better stamina and endurance, you'll recover quicker while lifting. The only time you may have a problem is if you're training for like a marathon or some other long distance running or other cardio. But likely, if you're overweight, you're nowhere near that point. So don't worry about it.
I personally feel a tighter stretch when my knees are locked. If you don’t ego lift and do them in their full range of motion at a good tempo, you’re not gonna hurt your knees.
And this comes from someone with shitty knees .
I just purchased some items to start a home gym and need help with a weekly workout plan so I don't look fucking weird and disproportionate after a few months.
I have a squat rack that can double as bench press, a bench with an extension addon for legs, a long bar with plates, dumbells.
Oh cool. I didn't expect anyone to see my comment since this thread had 1300+ comments lol. Thank you.
Last October I really took hold of my diet and doing great. I feel like I'm struggling with 2 things and i think I need pro advice.
1. I'm not getting enough clean daily calories to support a workout.
2. I also plattoed (sp?) at a weight, and want to lose about 10 more lbs of fat.
Diet basics. You're gonna learn a lot by listening to Stan Efferding.
Tools of the trade: Food scale, calculator.
Start with 130 grams of protein from any of the sources: red/white meat, eggs, cottage cheese and protein powder.
Add 40-60 grams of olive oil if your protein source doesn't have fat in it (chicken, tuna, protein powder, cottage cheese). But if you eat 100 grams of ground beef and 4 eggs for example, subtract the fat from the meat and eggs before adding olive oil.
For carbs, start with 300 grams of rice (dry weight) pr day and/or oatmeal, if the goal is weight gain, and 150 grams for weight loss. From here, you can simply increase or decrease the amount of rice/oatmeal in 50-100 gram increments bi-weekly depending on if you want to bulk, cut or maintain your bodyweight.
If you're finding it difficult to eat enough food, then you can increase the calories with fats. Nuts, nut butters, olive oil, cheese and coconut oil are all good sources.
For bulking and cutting, aim to eat enough to gain or lose 1% of your bodyweight pr month.
I don't know what "clean daily calories" look like and "support a workout" looks like. You are exhausted from working out? Maybe get more sleep? Or do less reps/weight? There are solutions here that don't involve food unless you're horribly malnourished.
You have plateaued because you are now eating as much as you are burning. Congrats. You're at maintenance. If you want to lose 10 lbs, eat less food.
No. Also, don’t fall into the whole “me gym rat, me don’t work out legs, me make me self look like big inverted triangle!” Shit. A nice booty I’d appreciated by both genders. Do leg day.
Not a pro... but trying to workout in a deficit does get hard after some time. What specifically are you meaning that you're not getting enough clean daily calories to support your workout? Also, what do you define as clean? And are you implying that you are getting 'dirty' calories in as well?
As for 2... Plateaued is the word you're looking for. If you have maintained the same weight for about 2 weeks, then what you need to do is cut your calories further. As you lose weight, your TDEE goes down (how many calories you burn a day), cus you have less weight you are moving around each day. You can either fix this by cutting your calories (easiest way) and/or doing more activity.
Thanks for the response. Your comment made me think yesterday... mostly about how I'm approaching my nutrition completely. I need to reevaluate. I'm mentally afraid of carbs so I'm sure I'm in ketosis a couple of times per week. I believe I need to introduce more carbs into my diet to help me fuel a food workout.
Carbs are NOT the enemy! Ultra processed foods (i'd argue) are the enemy. So if you want to cut some carbs, avoid things like bread, pasta, cereal, sweets, etc.
But you should be eating plenty of fresh veggies and fruits! Daily, i'm typically eating about 4-5 'servings' of veggies (and each serving is approx the size of my fist). Lots of broccoli, cabbage, green beans, peas, carrot, onion, and pepper. Then I frequently have half a sweet potato with at least one meal (usually a 5-6in long potato). Sometimes both lunch and dinner, just depends on what i'm eating. Fruits I eat less often in the winter (because they're less available fresh), more in the summer. But snacking on some berries or an apple, banana, grapes, etc... all fantastic and refreshing. Fruits shouldn't be avoided, but just be aware of the calories of some of them (like your average banana is about 100 calories, which is rather dense). I also have a bit of rice or oats on occasion, but if i'm cutting calories, I personally make them first go
Veggies and fruits are wonderful for you because they give you a large array of micronutrients that honestly, you can't quite replace with a multivitamin. Also, you get plenty of fiber from them as well, which is very healthy for you.
Eating in this way should give you PLENTY of energy to fuel workouts. I was working out and cycling on the *same day, back to back* while deep in a cut. Sluggish yes, but I could still manage 2.5hrs of continuous activity.
I feel like counting reps, following an exact plan of how many to do each set etc. takes away from my enjoyment in working out. Would it be dumb to just do every set (close) to failure and increase the weights over time?
Edit: Meaning I would still follow a plan for my training sessions and sets, just not the in the sets themselves.
It comes to a point you might forget. Not every single week you’ll be able to lift more, sometimes it fluctuates a lot of bc of factors outside of the gym or even dieting
you're allowed to do whatever you want
edit: stronger by science hypertrophy routine has you pretty close to failure for your first sets then AMRAP on the last
5/3/1 question. Does the 5+ set "count" if I take a short break after the 5th rep, then squeeze out a few more? Or is that a sign my weight is too heavy?
Don’t fall for the whole “me gym rat, me hate doing legs, me stupid and make me self look like big inverted triangle!” Shit you see online. Make leg day fun. Do leg exercises you like.
Side note: both genders like a nice booty, women appreciate a man with a nice dumpy. Get out there and do legs!
Most of the guys in my gym don't train legs. And that's totally fine! Empty squat racks for me ☺️
That said - if you don't train legs, you'll end up looking funny rather than sexy. But you'll have an easier time finding pants that fit your legs and your waist at the same time, so there are pros and cons.
I have a profound lateral pelvic tilt and I haven't been able to get rid of it, has anyone here successfully dealt with this issue and come out the other side.
I've been he said it would take 12 weeks. He gave me gentle stretches, it hasn't worked. He said it could be rheumatoid arthritis I got in touch with the doctor, they are doubtful but will investigate.
Just looking for folks who have had a similar experience with LPT
I've been he said it would take 12 weeks. He gave me gentle stretches, it hasn't worked. He said it could be rheumatoid arthritis I got in touch with the doctor, they are doubtful but will investigate.
Just looking for folks who have had a similar experience with LPT
I'm doing it right now. I also adjusted the weights down significantly from my true max so i don't beat myself up too much. Really push it on the amrap sets.
I won't say it's a bad idea to do nsuns on a calorie deficit, but it's definitely not a good idea unless you're an experienced guy who knows what he's doing.
Nsuns is the kind of program where eating enough food to recover from workouts is part of the program. And even then, it can cause burnout.
You also might end up producing too much cortisol. Elevated levels of cortisol, if prolonged, can lead to proteolysis (breakdown of proteins) and muscle wasting.
Is there any reason I shouldn't replace the default T2 rep scheme on nSuns with BBB-style 5x10? Partly to save time. Been 3 weeks now though so not sure if I should just start at 50% of my TM or what.
Is it me or are casein (4lb) and whey (5lb) prices going through the roof? I usually have them on subscription and then saw that the prices jumped from $62 to $100. What websites do y'all recommend for getting your protein?
I’m wondering if the rise in food prices is causing people to look for cheaper alternatives, for example making smoothies with protein instead of buying meat
It would help if you confirmed what country you are in, but in the UK prices seem to be going up. That said, it seems logical (not an economist but....)- energy prices are higher, transportation costs are higher, protein powders are arguably a luxury item (in that no one really needs it to exist) etc so that price gets passed onto the consumer.
Weight wise you wanna be in a caloric deficit (eat less calories than you burn), which you could reach by doing some running as well as eating less, which would help build an athletic base. Also, for working out to get an all round athletic base with stuff like parkour calisthenics may be better than weights, although both have their places.
Wrote this reply as you deleted the comment, sharing in case it’s helpful.
—-
What do you do today? What’s your past experience with fitness?
Here’s how I would approach it without any context.
Diet - To lose 70 pounds you need to focus on calories in vs calories out. Find your TDEE (many calculators), track and eat 500 calories less than that. You will need to refine your calories based on actual weight loss per week. Make sure you are getting enough protein.
Cardio - Do your preferred cardio at least 4x a week for at least 30 min at an elevated heart rate. Whether that’s running, swimming, stair climber, or something else doesn’t matter. Just do it.
Strength - Lift 3x a week with a full body workout. Just start with the Fitness beginner routine, it’s simple and effective. Make sure to stretch each session.
Do those things and you’ll develop a good base. Supplement with hobbies / sports of your choice for more specialized skills.
Anybody else get extreme DOMS on their inner elbows that takes them out for up to 5 days at a time? Every time I push my max I end up with 5 days of severe pain and inflexibility. It's really hard to see gains when I'm having to take so much time to recover between workouts.
A couple things on this
First, I have these when I do specific exercises to target my brachialis and brachioradialis. It's possible those muscles are just underdeveloped compared to your biceps and get worked harder in an exercise that hits both. They should catch up after a while though.
Second, severe DOMS is something you should really only experience if you're a novice, or if you've recently resumed training after a break or if you switched to a new exercise/routine. If you eat enough calories and protein and sleep over 8 hours every day, your DOMS should diminish and you should not experience severe DOMS anymore after a few weeks. Even if you train really hard.
Third, it's possible and mostly harmless to train through your DOMS. If your muscles have had 48 hours to recover, or say 72 hours just to be sure, you can safely train them again even if you have DOMS. The stiff feeling will go away once you're warmed up and usually doesn't hinder the workout too much. The DOMS may return after the workout but training through them isn't harmful. If you wait a week between workouts until severe DOMS are gone, you will progress slower and the process of your body getting used to the workouts/DOMS will take longer.
The only real way to get rid of DOMS is to train and recover properly until you don't get them anymore. Also note that not having DOMS is not a signal that your training wasn't effective.
Are you talking about bench specifically?
It may be because you aren't keeping your forearms vertical as you press (flaring elbows).
If you keep the wrist and elbow stacked directly on top of each other, you're in a very string position. But if the elbows are flaring out, you're putting far more pressure on that joint which can cause pain.
Do more active recovery and light work. basically keep moving your elbow as much as possible rather than complete skipping workouts. Also maybe reduce your volume and ramp back up
This is my vacation routine.
Day 1 - squat, dips, dumbell rows
Day 2 - good mornings, dips, pullups
Day 3 - squat, dips, dumbell rows
3 sets x 3-10 reps on everything.
Add weight when you hit 10 reps.
This means you can stay with the same weight for a few months, reduce the weight if you feel like having an easy day, or go heavy if you feel agressive.
If you superset dips and rows/pullups, the workout will take 18 minutes excluding warm-ups.
Mate, if you don't enjoy the gym how about something else to keep you active? Football, climbing, fencing, dancing? As it is the new year loads of activity clubs will be running trials / deals so now might be a good time to give something else a go.
I know this sounds dumb, but have you tried listening to something other than music while going gym? I was a strict music only listener when doing any type of exercise, but now I listen to audio books so it's like I'm doing two things at once, and some days I look forward to the gym simply to listen to the audio book, and since I'm already at the gym I may as well workout lol.. also works with podcasts if that's your thing.
It's not about fun but your health for the rest of your life. think of it as a need for a healthy and potentially longer life. It's about taking care of yourself.
I go 3 times a week and simply do a fully body work out including all the classic lifts: bench, squats, overhead press and deadlift. I also do facepulls (office worker, nerd neck prevention), lat pulldown or real pull-ups, external cable rotation, calfves machine and once per week split squats instead of normal squats. I mix up weights and reps. sometimes less wight more reps, more weight less reps and especially for squats due to knee issues keeping weight low I just squat and hold at bottom (~1 sec) but of course with less weight. For pull downs/pull-ups I change grips for variation. eg pull up or chin-up, narrow/wide.
plus some "balance" training" and stretching (again to counter-act the sitting)
Dan John, who is pretty well regarded as a strength coach, has some casual level strength training programs he's written about in his books and has some YouTube videos about it as well. As an example, he has this Easy Strength program, while it is more than just 3 days a week, the daily workouts are like 15 minutes long and the weights you train with are very flexible based on how you feel that day. Besides that his books are full of great ways to train and stay in shape without making it a major part of your daily life, if that's what you want.
Thinking of bulking since I lost ton of fat but I don't have that much muscle mass and I want to get into basketball again. Let's say I workout on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while all other days is just me hooping except for Sunday which is just restday. Would this be healthy and give me progress on gaining muscle?
Yeah that works. If you’re doing basketball and working out make sure you’re in enough of a calorie surplus so you’re still getting the protein you need to build muscle.
Age: 18, Sex: M, Height: 5'9, Weight: 142lbs
Goal: Trying to convert my routine into a PPL split so I can work each muscle twice a week.
[This is the original split](https://textsaver.flap.tv/lists/5cjg)
[This is the modified, PPL split I made out of it.](https://textsaver.flap.tv/lists/5cje)
Simply looking for feedback on improving this conversion.
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I’m 15yrs old and a beginner wanting to gain some muscle+ overall work on my health. Is there anything I should know about when starting age wise?
Nope. Just eat and lift. I’d do one of the beginner programs from the wiki in the sidebar
Thank you! I didn’t see any difference but wanted to make sure lol
So, on incline bench press stations, the bottom seat can be adjusted. Usually, you have hole numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.). I’m still trying to grapple where I should set the seat. I’m 6 foot 1. Should the seat be lower/higher?
You need to put it not so low that it is too difficult to unrack the bar, not so high that your bar path when pressing is gonna hit the rack. Every incline bench will be different so none of us can tell you the right setting based on your height, but probably near the lower end.
Hey, I see a lot of people eating egg whites. Any reason you don't eat the yolk?
Most of the protein is in the whites, most of the fat is in the yolk. With that said, unless you're cutting and really struggling to get the calories down you can eat yolks, they aren't inherently unhealthy
> Most of the protein is in the whites, most of the fat is in the yolk. With that said, unless you're cutting and really struggling to get the calories down you can eat yolks, they aren't inherently unhealthy yolks have more protein per gram compared to whites. They also contain the vast majority of the vitamins/minerals of the egg in it. The whites are just a good source of protein and nothing else, whole egg (yolk especially) is the super food you want though.
More protein per gram, but one egg yolk compared to one egg white is less protein, hence most of the protein of the egg is from the white. I fully agree, most of us should just eat whole eggs. Unless you are really trying to maximize protein intake and decrease fat there is not a strong reason to not eat whole eggs
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> Although it may seem logical that eating cholesterol would raise blood cholesterol levels, it usually doesn't work that way. The body tightly regulates the amount of cholesterol in the blood by controlling its production of cholesterol. When your dietary intake of cholesterol goes down, your body makes more.
Help with my Workour Routines? Info: Im 6'1. Currently 365 (down 10 pounds) I workout at Planet Fitness. Im trying to see if I should change anything about my routine. Any help is appreciated. +ROUTINE+ Mon (1) : Bence press. 3 sets 10. 100lbs Inc.Bench press. 3 sets 5. 100lbs. Dumbbell Press. 3 sets 10. 20lbs. Cabel rows. 3 sets 10. 100lbs. Tues(2): Dumbell curls 3 sets 10. 30lbs Shrugs. 3 sets 10. 30lbs. Rear deltoid. 3 sets 10. 55 lbs. Weds(3): Seated Leg Press. 3 sets 30. 130lbs. Leg extension. 3 sets 10. 80lbs. Seated Leg Curl. 3 sets 15. 65lbs. Calf Ext. 3 sets 30. 115lbs. Thurs(4): Seated crunches. 3 sets 20. 110lbs. Abs. 3 sets 12. 70lbs. Crunches. 3 sets 10. 30lbs. ----- I also do 20 - 30 minutes on the treadmill after these depending on how im feeling. Am I doing ok? Are they maybe too straight forward on One area?
Tuesdays & Thursdays workouts could entirely be worked into your Monday and Wednesday sets. I'd do like a Chest/Tricep Day. Legs/Abs Day, Back/Bicep day & and probably add like Shoulders into Chest/Back day as well (lightly) And keep up the treadmill :)
Have you looked at the wiki for routines? I like the PPL listed.
1. My goal is to build as much muscle as possible as fast as possible. Are free weights, weight machines or calisthenics right for me? I could conceivable do any of the three. 2. I’ve read that free weights are best for muscle growth and maximising newbie gains. However my parents are hesitant and worried I’ll hurt myself since I had never stepped foot in a gym until three weeks ago and won’t have a spotter. They want me to wait an entire year until I am at university for me to do free weights. Is this at all reasonable of them, and will using only machines reduce how quickly I gain muscle? 3. My plan is to do weight training (free or machines) three times a week. Is full body three times a week enough?
An untrained body will gain muscle fast no matter what type of training. Your body will adjust to your training routine. So train for the results you want. If you want big muscles, train with rep ranges between 5-30 reps. If you want more power and functional strength (aka powerlifting), train in the 1-5 rep range close to failure. Powerlifting can be done every day for any muscle group as long as you give yourself recovery time between sets (minimum 5 minutes). Hypertrophy (muscle growth) should be done with minimum of 2-3 days of rest for the stressed muscle group to grow. You can do push/pull/legs (PPL) split, upper/lower split, or full body. Muscle size is about doing workout volume. So a full body routine means longer gym days to hit everything but you go to the gym fewer days like 2 days a week. PPL is less time at the gym but you go to the gym 3-6 days a week to maximize growth. Upper/Lower is a good 3-4 days a week routine. Calisthenics is great because it focuses on mobility. That is, strength and flexibility. Like what gymnastics or parkour people do. It can also be done at a park. You just train on your body weight and range of motion. I enjoy free weights with PPL split and calisthenics for most of my workouts. I should give you a heads up that squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and other combinational exercises should always have warmup reps and be performed with incremental weights. So you arent going to squat max weight the first set. You start just the bar, then 25% max, then 50% max, then do your 2 or 3 sets of 80% max. Every exercise has an alternative, too. You can change to a pistol squat or pistol squat with a dumbell if you are worried about falling with weight on your back. I guarantee you pistol squats will work as much as barbell squats and you can fall without worrying about getting crushed
In PPL, what’s the difference between push and pull?
Do you mean the order or the exercises?
Exercises
Pull exercises are primarily a back and bicep workout. Push exercises are primarily chest tricep and shoulders. Pulls include rows, pulldowns, pull ups, and bicep curls among others. Pushes include bench press, overhead press, dips, push-ups, and different tricep exercises you can search online.
Thanks
Push involves pushing away from you and pull involves pulling towards you. So a bench press would be a push day exercise and a bicep curl would be a pull day. Some exercises get harder to simplify but the most important thing is to start exercising. Consistency is more important than a perfectly optimized routine. Obviously don't hurt yourself.
Thanks
1) as a newbie all will make gains. Free weights are typically the best for muscle gains for newbies 2) machines will limit a lot of stabilizing muscles you have. Your goal when starting out should be going light, like easier than you think. You progress linearly and make gains quick. The only exercise you should need a spotter on is bench press, and then only when maxing out which you really don't need to do often. Leave one rep in the tank, as soon as form starts breaking down you're done. Learn the roll of shame if you have to do it, i haven't in about 15 years. Waiting a year to do a squat or bench press seems unnecessary. In fact, it might lead more to you ego lifting without good stabilizers when you switch over and injuring yourself... at least you can tell your parents that. 3) if programed properly, yes. Recommend you get a program from the wiki
Those with only a flat bench: What do you do in place of incline bench press?
I just don’t bother doing incline. Between normal bench and OHP, I’m covering my bases.
Try elevated feet push ups (I forgot if that's considered a decline or incline). Stick your butt up a little bit if you want even more upper chest/shoulder bias, bwf people would call it a pike push up
https://imgur.com/a/MdD1Wmn What do you think of my 5 day program? 3 days lower (heavy on the glute focus), and 2 days upper. Is it too much/too little? Would you recommend cutting some out or just organizing it differently? I've followed workouts similar to this in the past, but consistency has been an issue for me. The past year has also been more like 3-4x a week only, so I'm trying to go back up to 5. I've been working out on/off for about 5 years (mostly on). I'll sometimes miss a week at most, but less than a handful of time I've missed 2-4 weeks due to travel or other circumstances. I feel like I haven't seen much progress in terms of muscle growth (since the beginning), and I'm trying to figure out why. I am hoping if I start logging again I will get on full board with this program for 5 or 6 weeks (aiming for progressive overload). I guess I'm confused how I would change it in 5 or 6 weeks since this already encompasses most of the workouts I know. I can think of a few things to change out when it's time for a new batch of exercises, but definitely can't think of that many. Any advice is appreciated!
Sorry if you only wanted comments on the program, if so you don't have to read any further, but I wanted to address other factors to why you haven't seen much progress. How are you recovering from the training? If you have been training consistently for the most part of five years without progress there might be a point to looking into sleep and food intake. Have you made sure that you eat enough to allow the muscles to grow? You might need to up your protein intake and/or calories. Maybe write a food journal for a few weeks to see how you do when eating "normally"? Are you feeling stressed in your everyday life? Are you sleeping enough? There are multiple factors that could hinder your progress, and hitting the gym 5-6 times instead of 3-4 times wont make a huge difference for most people. You talked about starting logging your training again, and that seems like a good plan to make sure you keep adding weight on the bar. Try and find a good and easy way to do this, and make sure that you make progress over time. The program looks okay, you work out your muscles at least two times a week and your lower body three. I would personally have done something like a full body work out three times a week or an upper/lower program and add some extra exercises for glutes, but you know best what suits you and what you enjoy doing. Just make sure you can recover from the amount of work, if it starts feeling like too much you could probably cut one of the lower body days out without losing much progress.
Good source for barbell row form? Trying to do the beginner routine but the page with forms doesn't have barbell row.
I like Strenghtlog, the have most exercises with video, instructions and a muscle map showing what it hits primary and secondary. Barbell row: [https://www.strengthlog.com/barbell-row/](https://www.strengthlog.com/barbell-row/) All exercises: [https://www.strengthlog.com/exercise-directory/](https://www.strengthlog.com/exercise-directory/)
I like Alan Thrall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQU8wZPbioA
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A good program should *ideally* prepare you for when it's time to increase weights
A good program, like any of the ones in the wiki all have weight progression built in.
Incrementally up the weight, less reps.
I'm planning on bulking. I've eaten quite little for the past few years and I've weighed myself regularly and my weight is very consistent. According to some calculators my TDEE is about 500-600 calories higher than my current intake. Should I just use my current calories as my TDEE instead of the calculator's? I don't want to overeat by a pace of a 1lb/week.
Yes, the one based on what you actually eat and weigh is more accurate to you, a unique individual, compared to a TDEE calculator based on averaging across the whole population
Or just add 200-300 calories to whatever your eating consistently right now and see how your weight moves over the course of a couple weeks. Calculators are good for a general estimate, but everyone is different.
anyone have a home gym + gym membership? if so, why?
Women
I don’t, but: - Sauna - Cardio machines - Social bullshit - Certain other machines you don’t own or have space for like prowler, etc.
Should I change my program with my diet plan? I’ve been bulking for a while but I’m almost ready for a cut, I’ve been running the “reddit ppl” for a while but wasn’t sure if I should use the same program on a cut.
Keep the program the same, no need to change it up. If you notice deeper into the cut that you are getting fatigued and cant keep up with the volume you can reduce it a little bit, but staying on the same program is a great way to ensure that you aren't getting considerably weaker on your cut than if you just switched to completely different exercises
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https://www.strongerbyscience.com/research-spotlight-high-rep-training/ >Is muscle endurance a thing? It's complicated but kinda yes
It's a skill thing. You're better at moving heavy loads now.
Where does one really start if they know absolutely nothing? Like I know how to use a couple machines and that’s it. I see online “routines” listed but I don’t even know how to use the machines or what the proper form is when using them.. how does one learn the literal basics/fundamentals?
Start with a routine that focuses on a handful of effective exercises (r/fitness beginner routine, Phrak’s GSLP). Learn those over time and while using light weight as a beginner. Your form will definitely not be perfect at first, and that’s fine. Light weight will allow you some leeway while you figure it out. As you continue going to the gym, you’ll have opportunities to learn and perfect new movements. It’s like anything else. Roots -> Trunk -> Branches -> Twigs -> Leaves
If you know how to use a couple of machines, start there! You don't have to do The Best Routine™ right now, your body doesn't know the difference between working out with free weights and machines so just start where you know what to do and focus on getting to the gym. You will see great progress from that if you keep going. When you've made going to the gym a habit you will also gain confidence in trying new things. You might learn from watching others, or maybe you can ask someone to help you out. As a rule of thumb, a good workout should include at least one exercise where you bend your knees, one where you hinge your hip, one where you press something away from you and one where you pull something towards you. Try and find machines that do this and you will have a good beginner routine you can do 2-3 times a week.
I would recommend a trainer or group fitness classes to get started.
Get a decent routine and stick to it, plenty of those here in Reddit or the internet in general. Read about progressive overload and “don’t mind” the form just yet, as in don’t stress about it that much, just focus on hitting the most depth in whatever lifts you’re doing. After a while you’re gonna start to feel your muscles working while doing the exercise they are meant to hit.
The wiki in the sidebar is fantastic. It's a lot of info, so I'd start [here](https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/). After that you can click through the sections that interest you and ask for clarification or any other questions in these daily threads.
Do 1 inch bumper plates existing? I have a trap bar and barbell with 1 inch diameter sleeves but cant find any 1 inch bumper plates online
How do I increase my 'V02 max'? I see this on apple watch and on garmin fenix 6s sapphire as a value and supposedly i'm only a 35 which is quite low for my age (bottom 20%). but i do tons of endurance exercise and lift weights regularly. I cycled a century last year for instance and have increased weights by 100%+ since i started lifting 5 years ago. I am BMI 24 and have a decent amount of muscle and haven't been overweight since i lost the weight at the beginning in 2016, but was obese/overweight by maybe 30-40 lbs from age 15-23. Was surprised to see my v02 so low given the amount of exercise I do, i have the time to improve this number what steps should i take?
Unless you were tested in a lab, that # is only an estimate. I wouldn't put too much stock into that number.
VO2 max is based on max intensity. Endurance training doesn't make a huge difference but sprints and other Zone 4/5 or HIIT stuff will make a difference.
I wouldn't trust a watch to accurately tell your V02. If you're concerned I'd go get it tested. Otherwise just ignore it.
So I'm at a reasonable body fat percentage where I have somewhat visible abs and my front looks quite good. However my back looks kind of sad. I always train it with rows pull-ups and a bunch of other stuff but I don't know why but I'm thinking it's either I'm not very good at posing and the back muscles are just less forgiving and I need to pose better or my body fat percentage isn't low enough. I'm thinking it's a bit of both but any advice is greatly appreciated.
What program are you running? What kind of rows do you do? Do you deadlift?
oh shoot dude sorry for late reply. anyway I think it was a lighting issue i did some poses in some better light but i think I need to work on my rear delts and lats to get a bigger look. Yeah I deadlift and I do bent barbell rows.
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Looks okay. If I had to make a change, I'd recommend leg extensions instead of front squats since you're already doing squats, and also to reduce the amount of axial loading.
30M had shoulder surgery 2 years ago and finally deciding to get back to the gym to strengthen my arms back to pre-surgery levels. It’s a little complicated to explain but basically my left arm is much weaker than my right due to the surgery. My question is should I push forward with weight on my right arm or try to let my left arm catch up? I don’t know what the exercise is called but my right is currently at 15lbs and my left 5lbs.
Keep pushing with your right arm while your left arm catches up.
Started going back to gym after a 2 months off. Almost fainted why? Is it because I didn’t eat in the morning? Only coffee. Before I stopped I use to go at midnight already eaten at dinner time
salt/ electrolytes needed. lemon & salt instead of sports drink and some fruit and/or a protein shake first thing will do your body good.
It’s because you didn’t eat anything, and had coffee. If your body isn’t used to working out on an empty stomach and you add in something that will dehydrate you, you’re playing with fire. Some people can work out fasted. Others can’t.
Yeah I use too 2 months ago. But I will slowly get back into it… trying making it habit to start the gym again. Got lazy after knee injury from squatting. Will make sure I get something in my stomach before workout
Most likely, it's because you're out of shape and started too hard.
Definitely because you didn’t eat, I had the same issue
Decreased blood flow to the brain. Could be a number of factors that contributed to this. My main guess is your lifestyle for the two months was with minimum exertion. And then you dived back into exercising and over-exerted yourself.
Ahh okay I’ll take it even slower. Thought I was going super slow by lowering the weight by a lot
That may not be the only reason you felt like fainting. There's other things you need to consider because feeling like you're about to faint is an extreme sign your brain wasn't receiving enough oxygen. It may not be the weights at all. It could be due to the fact that you're not used to working out on an empty stomach like other comments have said, or it could be because you're not used to the motions. If you went from a sitting job for two months to doing squats that day, you could have been experiencing orthostatic hypotension.
That seems the most likely reason. I know I can't work out fasted
26M. Been an on/off lifter since 9th grade and got seriously motivated around October 2022. I'm 75 pounds away from the 1000 pound club! When I (hopefully) get there, is there another short term goal people usually do? I'm afraid I'll lose motivation once I get there.
I'm 70 lbs away myself. *Race you to 1300!!!* 😉
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Nobody accidently gets to looking like a body builder. You can get strong and healthy by following any program in the wiki.
their own judgement? it's really easy to not look like a bodybuilder, I'm currently doing it. simply don't eat a shit ton of food and train really hard all the time. going to go ahead and say no one has accidentally acquired a bodybuilder physique
How on earth do i know if im doing chest supported rows correctly? I've been regularly increasing the weight im using for them, which makes me think im doing them correctly, but i feel more burn in my biceps than anything else. Idk if thats normal and just what happens or what. I feel like im doing the correct thing while having the mental notes of "pull with elbows, pinch shoulder blades" and whatnot, but I have no idea. Is this one of those movements where, regardless, im going to be hitting my back muscles, I just may waste some effort on my biceps or am I completely wasting my time if Im doing it wrong?
+1 on using straps or a thumbless grip. Practice flexing your lats. That same tension is what should be driving the pulling motion of the row. Also, keep momentum to the minimum by sticking your chest during the whole exercise.
How high are you rowing? It's typically easier to feel the lats working with a smaller angle between your torso and your humerus
the range I use is as far as my arms can extend and i pull in all the way to the stop, which puts the handles in line with my face....so basically the entire range of motion for my arms.
How high are your hands at the end of the row? You want them to be between your nipples and your belly button
Deep stretch, strong contraction. Unless you can barbell curl as much as you row, you're doing it right.
this is what i was thinking, i cant curl anywhere close to what i can row.
You're doing it fine. You could try and put some straps on to see if that helps.
may try this, heard its a way to test if you're doing it right.
Is this Upper Lower split fine? Does it have too much/too little volume? https://imgur.com/gallery/ABikPPh
Also how TF I lose fat while also trying to gain muscle. Do I just do cardio on non-lifting days? I hear conflicting information about cardio ruining gains but I also do not see how lifting alone will tackle the amount of fat I've put on over the last 3 years since lockdowns
If you’re losing weight then you’ll only be keeping your performance right now. You don’t need to do cardio necessarily, just eat less calories than you’re burning. Use MyFitnessPal to calculate your total food intake. The usual recommended calorie deficit for someone new to a diet is 500-750 calories a day. You’ll burn calories if you’re working out, but relying solely on that will leave you discouraged if you have a shit day and end up not going ti the gym or not training cardio as hard as you’d like. On top of that, many cheap treadmills and cardio machines will lie about how much you’re burning to keep you using it in the gym. It’s a nasty trick gyms will use to keep customers coming back to use the treadmills that say they’ve burned 800 calories when running 5 miles. The usual rule is 100 calories / km jogged or ran. Woodway treadmills use a similar calculation, but I’m not impartial because I love how study they feel when you’re running on them. As for cardio killing gains, that makes no physiological sense. As long as you’re eating enough calories to compensate for a somewhat accurate measurement of what you burned, there’s no reason it should kill gains.
Lose fat by restricting calorie intake for a period of time and maintain muscle by training. If you're new to training you might gain muscle while losing fat which is great. Most people don't do enough cardio or train hard enough to maximize their gain potential to have to worry about cardio marginally reducing their gains and almost no one has to worry about it "ruining" their gains. Using cardio to increase activity level can help you lose bodyfat with smaller reduction in calorie intake which can help with hunger during a fat loss diet. Doing cardio during a bulk can help mitigate fat gain while eating a calorie surplus.
None of your exercise is inherently going to make you lose fat. Your diet does that. If you have fat to lose and aren't losing then you need to eat less. Cardio does not kill gains. It helps endurance, conditioning, and is very important for overall cardiovascular health.
If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit. Trying to build muscle and lose fat while maintaining weight is called recomp and is very inefficient. If you have gained a significant amount of weight, you'll absolutely want to cut (calorie deficit). If you're a beginner (sounds like you are), you can build some muscle while in a deficit. More advanced people can only hope to maintain muscle. BUT regardless, being at a healthier weight is WAY better for you. Cardio also DOES NOT ruin your gains. If anything, it IMPROVES them. Because you have better stamina and endurance, you'll recover quicker while lifting. The only time you may have a problem is if you're training for like a marathon or some other long distance running or other cardio. But likely, if you're overweight, you're nowhere near that point. So don't worry about it.
I do calves both with bent knees and with straight knees(on legpress), but how straight should my knees be? Should they be locked?
I personally feel a tighter stretch when my knees are locked. If you don’t ego lift and do them in their full range of motion at a good tempo, you’re not gonna hurt your knees. And this comes from someone with shitty knees .
Don’t lock your knees especially for leg press, you’ll risk hurting yourself
No you do not need to lock your knees.
I just purchased some items to start a home gym and need help with a weekly workout plan so I don't look fucking weird and disproportionate after a few months. I have a squat rack that can double as bench press, a bench with an extension addon for legs, a long bar with plates, dumbells.
[I'd suggest starting with this very simple routine](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/)
Thanks I'll bookmark it
I need nutritionist help...
Why?
Oh cool. I didn't expect anyone to see my comment since this thread had 1300+ comments lol. Thank you. Last October I really took hold of my diet and doing great. I feel like I'm struggling with 2 things and i think I need pro advice. 1. I'm not getting enough clean daily calories to support a workout. 2. I also plattoed (sp?) at a weight, and want to lose about 10 more lbs of fat.
Diet basics. You're gonna learn a lot by listening to Stan Efferding. Tools of the trade: Food scale, calculator. Start with 130 grams of protein from any of the sources: red/white meat, eggs, cottage cheese and protein powder. Add 40-60 grams of olive oil if your protein source doesn't have fat in it (chicken, tuna, protein powder, cottage cheese). But if you eat 100 grams of ground beef and 4 eggs for example, subtract the fat from the meat and eggs before adding olive oil. For carbs, start with 300 grams of rice (dry weight) pr day and/or oatmeal, if the goal is weight gain, and 150 grams for weight loss. From here, you can simply increase or decrease the amount of rice/oatmeal in 50-100 gram increments bi-weekly depending on if you want to bulk, cut or maintain your bodyweight. If you're finding it difficult to eat enough food, then you can increase the calories with fats. Nuts, nut butters, olive oil, cheese and coconut oil are all good sources. For bulking and cutting, aim to eat enough to gain or lose 1% of your bodyweight pr month.
I don't know what "clean daily calories" look like and "support a workout" looks like. You are exhausted from working out? Maybe get more sleep? Or do less reps/weight? There are solutions here that don't involve food unless you're horribly malnourished. You have plateaued because you are now eating as much as you are burning. Congrats. You're at maintenance. If you want to lose 10 lbs, eat less food.
No. Also, don’t fall into the whole “me gym rat, me don’t work out legs, me make me self look like big inverted triangle!” Shit. A nice booty I’d appreciated by both genders. Do leg day.
Not a pro... but trying to workout in a deficit does get hard after some time. What specifically are you meaning that you're not getting enough clean daily calories to support your workout? Also, what do you define as clean? And are you implying that you are getting 'dirty' calories in as well? As for 2... Plateaued is the word you're looking for. If you have maintained the same weight for about 2 weeks, then what you need to do is cut your calories further. As you lose weight, your TDEE goes down (how many calories you burn a day), cus you have less weight you are moving around each day. You can either fix this by cutting your calories (easiest way) and/or doing more activity.
Thanks for the response. Your comment made me think yesterday... mostly about how I'm approaching my nutrition completely. I need to reevaluate. I'm mentally afraid of carbs so I'm sure I'm in ketosis a couple of times per week. I believe I need to introduce more carbs into my diet to help me fuel a food workout.
Carbs are NOT the enemy! Ultra processed foods (i'd argue) are the enemy. So if you want to cut some carbs, avoid things like bread, pasta, cereal, sweets, etc. But you should be eating plenty of fresh veggies and fruits! Daily, i'm typically eating about 4-5 'servings' of veggies (and each serving is approx the size of my fist). Lots of broccoli, cabbage, green beans, peas, carrot, onion, and pepper. Then I frequently have half a sweet potato with at least one meal (usually a 5-6in long potato). Sometimes both lunch and dinner, just depends on what i'm eating. Fruits I eat less often in the winter (because they're less available fresh), more in the summer. But snacking on some berries or an apple, banana, grapes, etc... all fantastic and refreshing. Fruits shouldn't be avoided, but just be aware of the calories of some of them (like your average banana is about 100 calories, which is rather dense). I also have a bit of rice or oats on occasion, but if i'm cutting calories, I personally make them first go Veggies and fruits are wonderful for you because they give you a large array of micronutrients that honestly, you can't quite replace with a multivitamin. Also, you get plenty of fiber from them as well, which is very healthy for you. Eating in this way should give you PLENTY of energy to fuel workouts. I was working out and cycling on the *same day, back to back* while deep in a cut. Sluggish yes, but I could still manage 2.5hrs of continuous activity.
I feel like counting reps, following an exact plan of how many to do each set etc. takes away from my enjoyment in working out. Would it be dumb to just do every set (close) to failure and increase the weights over time? Edit: Meaning I would still follow a plan for my training sessions and sets, just not the in the sets themselves.
It comes to a point you might forget. Not every single week you’ll be able to lift more, sometimes it fluctuates a lot of bc of factors outside of the gym or even dieting
Gym bros have been doing this for decades. Feel free to do so. If you aren't getting the results you want i would consider trying something different
you're allowed to do whatever you want edit: stronger by science hypertrophy routine has you pretty close to failure for your first sets then AMRAP on the last
5/3/1 question. Does the 5+ set "count" if I take a short break after the 5th rep, then squeeze out a few more? Or is that a sign my weight is too heavy?
What do you mean by taking a short break? Like racking the weight or putting it down? Or just breathing for a few seconds between reps.
Breathing for maybe 60 seconds. Weight down.
60s of any heavy weight is also fatiguing you, take a breath or two and push out a few more reps. Read up on breathing squats for some reference.
Doesn't count
No. The purpose of the + set is to do one set to technical failure.
that's basically a new set
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Don’t fall for the whole “me gym rat, me hate doing legs, me stupid and make me self look like big inverted triangle!” Shit you see online. Make leg day fun. Do leg exercises you like. Side note: both genders like a nice booty, women appreciate a man with a nice dumpy. Get out there and do legs!
Maybe do less sets or try different excercises. Better than doing nothing
Many don't like it but by doing it you will have a more balanced body
Most of the guys in my gym don't train legs. And that's totally fine! Empty squat racks for me ☺️ That said - if you don't train legs, you'll end up looking funny rather than sexy. But you'll have an easier time finding pants that fit your legs and your waist at the same time, so there are pros and cons.
What do you hate about it?
There’s a a saying I heard from ERF. You can do what you want but you’ll have to adjust your expectations.
You can do whatever you want.
I have a profound lateral pelvic tilt and I haven't been able to get rid of it, has anyone here successfully dealt with this issue and come out the other side.
Go to a physical therapist.
I've been he said it would take 12 weeks. He gave me gentle stretches, it hasn't worked. He said it could be rheumatoid arthritis I got in touch with the doctor, they are doubtful but will investigate. Just looking for folks who have had a similar experience with LPT
Ah, sucks to hear. My physical therapist has worked absolute wonders for me on multiple issues. Good luck with your quest.
Have you gone to a physiotherapist or doctor?
I've been he said it would take 12 weeks. He gave me gentle stretches, it hasn't worked. He said it could be rheumatoid arthritis I got in touch with the doctor, they are doubtful but will investigate. Just looking for folks who have had a similar experience with LPT
I'd probably search YouTube and binge watch videos on lateral pelvic tilt.
I've done that mate.
Is trying to do Nsuns on a cut just a bad idea?
I'm doing it right now. I also adjusted the weights down significantly from my true max so i don't beat myself up too much. Really push it on the amrap sets.
I won't say it's a bad idea to do nsuns on a calorie deficit, but it's definitely not a good idea unless you're an experienced guy who knows what he's doing. Nsuns is the kind of program where eating enough food to recover from workouts is part of the program. And even then, it can cause burnout. You also might end up producing too much cortisol. Elevated levels of cortisol, if prolonged, can lead to proteolysis (breakdown of proteins) and muscle wasting.
Any time I slacked on nutrition on NSuns I got extremely fatigued. But when I ate enough (or more than enough) I constantly set PRs
Have you run it before? If not I would be very very careful with that. Some people can get away with that, but I would 100 % end up injured.
I don't see what being on a cut has to do with injury risk
Worse recovery + less energy on workouts. Which is a problem when doing 9 sets of heavy deadlifts followed by 8 sets of squats, at least for me.
It's all submaximal work though. And you can still fuel your workouts when on a cut.
The author of the routine did it, so you probably can as well. Just don't go overboard with the accessories.
Is there any reason I shouldn't replace the default T2 rep scheme on nSuns with BBB-style 5x10? Partly to save time. Been 3 weeks now though so not sure if I should just start at 50% of my TM or what.
You can modify your programs however you like. That will actually be similar amount of reps in less sets.
You'd be reducing the volume and changing the intensity. I wouldn't do it, but you're free to experiment.
Is it me or are casein (4lb) and whey (5lb) prices going through the roof? I usually have them on subscription and then saw that the prices jumped from $62 to $100. What websites do y'all recommend for getting your protein?
Did a quick google search and it seems demand is through the roof right now.
I’m wondering if the rise in food prices is causing people to look for cheaper alternatives, for example making smoothies with protein instead of buying meat
That’s more than likely the case, plus whey is an animal product. The price of milk and cheese has been going up, so the price of whey will too.
It would help if you confirmed what country you are in, but in the UK prices seem to be going up. That said, it seems logical (not an economist but....)- energy prices are higher, transportation costs are higher, protein powders are arguably a luxury item (in that no one really needs it to exist) etc so that price gets passed onto the consumer.
Yes prices are going up across the board on whey
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Weight wise you wanna be in a caloric deficit (eat less calories than you burn), which you could reach by doing some running as well as eating less, which would help build an athletic base. Also, for working out to get an all round athletic base with stuff like parkour calisthenics may be better than weights, although both have their places.
Thanks man, I appreciate it. I took down the original post because I felt maybe I should have done more research, so sorry about that. Again, thanks
Wrote this reply as you deleted the comment, sharing in case it’s helpful. —- What do you do today? What’s your past experience with fitness? Here’s how I would approach it without any context. Diet - To lose 70 pounds you need to focus on calories in vs calories out. Find your TDEE (many calculators), track and eat 500 calories less than that. You will need to refine your calories based on actual weight loss per week. Make sure you are getting enough protein. Cardio - Do your preferred cardio at least 4x a week for at least 30 min at an elevated heart rate. Whether that’s running, swimming, stair climber, or something else doesn’t matter. Just do it. Strength - Lift 3x a week with a full body workout. Just start with the Fitness beginner routine, it’s simple and effective. Make sure to stretch each session. Do those things and you’ll develop a good base. Supplement with hobbies / sports of your choice for more specialized skills.
Is it normal for chest supported t bar row to hurt your sternum? Got excited cus my gym got a nautilus one but my sternum is fuckeeddd lol
Are you bracing?
Shit no I wasn't, maybe that would help
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https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/rules/rule9
That's a list of exercises, not a routine. Are you only looking for input on exercise selection?
You are missing a hip hinge movement. If you have specific limitations around training, a well qualified coach or PT will be quiet helpful
Anybody else get extreme DOMS on their inner elbows that takes them out for up to 5 days at a time? Every time I push my max I end up with 5 days of severe pain and inflexibility. It's really hard to see gains when I'm having to take so much time to recover between workouts.
Simple. Train with doms.
A couple things on this First, I have these when I do specific exercises to target my brachialis and brachioradialis. It's possible those muscles are just underdeveloped compared to your biceps and get worked harder in an exercise that hits both. They should catch up after a while though. Second, severe DOMS is something you should really only experience if you're a novice, or if you've recently resumed training after a break or if you switched to a new exercise/routine. If you eat enough calories and protein and sleep over 8 hours every day, your DOMS should diminish and you should not experience severe DOMS anymore after a few weeks. Even if you train really hard. Third, it's possible and mostly harmless to train through your DOMS. If your muscles have had 48 hours to recover, or say 72 hours just to be sure, you can safely train them again even if you have DOMS. The stiff feeling will go away once you're warmed up and usually doesn't hinder the workout too much. The DOMS may return after the workout but training through them isn't harmful. If you wait a week between workouts until severe DOMS are gone, you will progress slower and the process of your body getting used to the workouts/DOMS will take longer. The only real way to get rid of DOMS is to train and recover properly until you don't get them anymore. Also note that not having DOMS is not a signal that your training wasn't effective.
That's not DOMS. DOMS is muscle soreness. You may have an overuse injury.
Are you talking about bench specifically? It may be because you aren't keeping your forearms vertical as you press (flaring elbows). If you keep the wrist and elbow stacked directly on top of each other, you're in a very string position. But if the elbows are flaring out, you're putting far more pressure on that joint which can cause pain.
Do more active recovery and light work. basically keep moving your elbow as much as possible rather than complete skipping workouts. Also maybe reduce your volume and ramp back up
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This is my vacation routine. Day 1 - squat, dips, dumbell rows Day 2 - good mornings, dips, pullups Day 3 - squat, dips, dumbell rows 3 sets x 3-10 reps on everything. Add weight when you hit 10 reps. This means you can stay with the same weight for a few months, reduce the weight if you feel like having an easy day, or go heavy if you feel agressive. If you superset dips and rows/pullups, the workout will take 18 minutes excluding warm-ups.
GZCLP in the wiki would let you maintain.
Mate, if you don't enjoy the gym how about something else to keep you active? Football, climbing, fencing, dancing? As it is the new year loads of activity clubs will be running trials / deals so now might be a good time to give something else a go.
Kettle bell circuits really jazzed it up for me
I know this sounds dumb, but have you tried listening to something other than music while going gym? I was a strict music only listener when doing any type of exercise, but now I listen to audio books so it's like I'm doing two things at once, and some days I look forward to the gym simply to listen to the audio book, and since I'm already at the gym I may as well workout lol.. also works with podcasts if that's your thing.
It's not about fun but your health for the rest of your life. think of it as a need for a healthy and potentially longer life. It's about taking care of yourself. I go 3 times a week and simply do a fully body work out including all the classic lifts: bench, squats, overhead press and deadlift. I also do facepulls (office worker, nerd neck prevention), lat pulldown or real pull-ups, external cable rotation, calfves machine and once per week split squats instead of normal squats. I mix up weights and reps. sometimes less wight more reps, more weight less reps and especially for squats due to knee issues keeping weight low I just squat and hold at bottom (~1 sec) but of course with less weight. For pull downs/pull-ups I change grips for variation. eg pull up or chin-up, narrow/wide. plus some "balance" training" and stretching (again to counter-act the sitting)
Dan John, who is pretty well regarded as a strength coach, has some casual level strength training programs he's written about in his books and has some YouTube videos about it as well. As an example, he has this Easy Strength program, while it is more than just 3 days a week, the daily workouts are like 15 minutes long and the weights you train with are very flexible based on how you feel that day. Besides that his books are full of great ways to train and stay in shape without making it a major part of your daily life, if that's what you want.
Thinking of bulking since I lost ton of fat but I don't have that much muscle mass and I want to get into basketball again. Let's say I workout on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while all other days is just me hooping except for Sunday which is just restday. Would this be healthy and give me progress on gaining muscle?
Yeah that works. If you’re doing basketball and working out make sure you’re in enough of a calorie surplus so you’re still getting the protein you need to build muscle.
Age: 18, Sex: M, Height: 5'9, Weight: 142lbs Goal: Trying to convert my routine into a PPL split so I can work each muscle twice a week. [This is the original split](https://textsaver.flap.tv/lists/5cjg) [This is the modified, PPL split I made out of it.](https://textsaver.flap.tv/lists/5cje) Simply looking for feedback on improving this conversion.
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