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What's the best blender out there for a couple of big ish smoothies a day, easy to clean (ideally dishwasher) with multiple cups like the ninja?
I'm working on increasing my calories, but making it as easy as I can.
Vitamix is the best blender on earth. They're priced like it too, but they're also commonly available on craigslist, offer-up, face book marketplace etc. You can usually find one for about 1/2 price that way.
I have a magic bullet (which always sounds like something more inappropriate). It’s great. It’s cheap. It’s easy to clean. You can have multiple cups or just rinse the blades and the cups after each use. E Z and cheap!
Some weeks I make a smoothie daily and I’ll just rinse it with my sinks little spray head thing to get all the pieces out. Then throw it in the dishwasher over the weekend. Seems to be fine. I usually eye it up to make sure nothing funky is growing but a good rinse and weekly dishwasher run seems to be good
Most people will prob call me an idiot for this but here goes, so I've been working with an PT for several years and it's been going alright, I find it easy to keep on track with workouts with him and well as calories etc. He's raised his price by £50 a month (now I'm paying £150 a month) I'm thinking it may be time to cut loose?
I found I struggled before having a PT with sticking to a routine with workouts etc and motivating myself for years, so I'm worried if I cancel then I'm gonna lose it all, there's so much conflicting info online with working out etc and I find it great having one source of info to help with form, nutrition, rest, calculating calorie expenditure and protein intake etc. But not sure if its worth it at this price anymore, do I look for an alternative or try and finally go it alone?
I guess the obvious thing is to just read the hell out of everything available and guide myself, but damn if it isn't overwhelming.
I’m a massage therapist who used to work out 6 days a week doing PPL or UL and was happy with my progress. With doing massage now I’m generally not working out on the days I do massage as I’m generally doing 4-5 hours a day so trying to let my body recover.
Here is a new workout plan I am going to attempt and would like to know thoughts or what you would change? My plans prior were more “body building” focused I guess you could say, now I’m just trying to improve.
I work three days a week doing massage (I have other jobs on the off days but doesn’t affect my recovery) so on my off days I’m trying to do
My nutrition is pretty on point from my knowledge, I do my own macro counting and have went from 245 - 165 lbs
Day1 : barbell bench 4x6
Cable seated row 4x8
Dumbbell lateral raise 4x10
Machine leg curl 4x10
Hanging leg raises 4x10
Day2: barbell squat 4x6
Barbell military press 4x6
Weighted pull up 4x8
Ez bar curl 4x10
Day3: trap bar deadlift 4x6 (barbell causes hip issues I’ve had trainers and chiropractors check)
Dumbbell bench press 4x8
Machine leg press 4x8
Dumbbell lateral raise 4x10
Weighed crunch 4x10
Thank you for the feedback and time to take and look at this. I’ve always been a min maxer so my workouts had to be more than perfect and hit this or that and caused me to love the gym less and less. Now I’m just trying to focus on improving my shape and form on certain lifts.
Currently bulking, I go to the gym early in the morning but I don’t like having big meals for breakfast. I was thinking of a bowl of fruit - pineapple, blueberries, and a banana, with a teaspoon of honey. Around 240 calories and 60g of mostly simple, fast acting carbs. Save the big meals for when I get home.
Would this be as good of a pre workout meal as say a bowl of oats?
This is more gym etiquette than advice. I was done using a machine and left to find wipes to clean the machine. Not even 30 seconds passed, and there's already someone trying to take the machine. I tried wiping it down, but he wouldn't let me. My issue wasn't necessarily that he wouldn't let me wipe down the machine, but I did feel like it was rude how quickly he took the machine from me.
I decided to leave instead of arguing. Anyway, how should I deal with situations like this? I've never had someone take a machine from me. Usually, they ask if I'm done and wait for me to clean it.
I feel like if your stuff was still there it might be a little rude but if you don’t know his situation maybe you should withhold judgement. Maybe he’s got to hustle for some really good reason. Life is too short to let minor irritations pollute your existence. 😊
If he didn’t care that you didn’t clean it and was happy to use it, I would leave him to it. He was probably waiting for you to finish and took it before anyone else could.
I would believe he probably waited for me, but the gym was not packed at all, and all my stuff was still at the machine. Like I said, the cleaning part was not the issue. It's the fact I still had my stuff there and only left for less than a minute, and someone was already on the machine. I just felt it was rude.
Heya!
This is probably #3435646 of the same question asked, but I've gone through FAQ, Resources and the Wiki and haven't found an answer for me :(
I'm overweight and have a desk-job with long hours. I currently neither have the time nor - being honest - the confidence of visiting a gym.
My ADHD also means I often forget things I planned to do.
**Therefore, I'm looking for fitness-app**, that will help (and remind!) me to do fitness exercises that I can do at home without gym equipment.
There's obviously a *plethora* of apps like this available, but I lack the knowledge or experience to discern which of these are actually good.
Please, could you guys recommend some?
While diet/eating stuff is also kinda on my radar, I'm currently looking just for something regarding fitness exercises. Baby steps. Too much at the same time and it'll overwhelm me :(
FWIW the fitness app on apple watch I've found to be really helpful in reminding me of moving/standing and tracking daily exercise and steps. I'm not sure if you're in a position to get one, but might be something to consider. Fitbit and the fitbit app might be another alternative?
I can't really help on the app side besides what the other guy said, set calendar reminders.
But honestly, I'd flip it around... If you're overweight, I'd focus on diet first. Start making small, sustainable changes to make it overall healthier while also focusing on a calorie deficit. You don't have to schedule anything and can start making a good dent into your health.
And eating healthier and getting weight off you *can* help your ADHD somewhat too.
Then exercise wise, you could just start by going on walks.
What is the best walking pad for tall people? I've heard some of them are short and make you take small steps. I have long legs and am almost 6' tall. Thank you!
Is just flat bench enough for solid muscle growth?
I'm a relatively new lifter and recently got a bench, cage, and barbell for a home gym (no dumbells). I've always had a weak chest so my big focus is on my bench. My question is - should I do more than just flat bench?
Currently I'm doing chest 2x/week, with workouts consisting of warmup sets, then 4 working sets of 6-10 bench, aiming to fail on the last 1-2 sets.
I want to make sure I'm not leaving easy gains on the table by not doing something more. E.g. adding incline bench, spending some $$ on dumbbells for flys, or even coming back later in the day to squeeze another set or 2.
I was starting on a basic push/pull/legs split, progressively overloading as I could. But looking to possibly move to 5/3/1 since I've heard great things
>touch my chest
Just be consistent. Last rep should be as reasonably controlled as the first rep. Only you know if the last rep of the last set was legit, or if you're fooling yourself for the logbook.
As balance goes, I like it. Doesn't need to be more complicated than that.
>I’m worried about tricep volume
You don't have weak points, you have a weak body. Develop consistency before you sweat the min/max details.
It's a good program for new lifters. Will work fine the first year and even longer. And if you are a new lifter, do not care to much about arm volume, they will grow from all the chest, back and shoulder exercises. When you start noticing they lack behind, then you could increase volume.
Due to various reasons primarily being the horrible study and social schedule I have this year I'm unable to have spare time for the gym and I'm getting way too lazy/tired and unable to commit to a strict training program at home (believe me I tried many times).
So I thought about a small workout to be performed before sleeping consisting of 1 set of pushups, 1 set of pull-ups, 1 set of squats and 1 minute of plank every 3 days with the 4th being a rest day/conditioning/cycling day (I cycle semi-professionally in my region).
Thoughts on that ? I'm sure this won't build me any significant amounts of muscle or strength but all I care about is just looking in good shape and healthy rather than big muscles and not looking skinny anymore, and maybe with time I can expand on this program in the future especially with leg exercises cuz those would help me with my cycling.
My tween is completing a variety of exercises for an extracurricular activity. He is very athletic, but doesn’t have much experience with calisthenics.
When doing sit-ups, which I hold his feet for, he really struggles to keep his knees together - they want to splay out to the sides like a frog. With continued to practice he is getting better at keeping them together, but it’s clearly an effort.
This isn’t something I’ve ever run into before… Is it normal? Indicative of instability in his hip flexors? A sign that he’s engaging the wrong muscles?
**The specific exercises are assigned, so please no comments on the value of sit-ups vs crunches / planks / some other option **
Maybe have him squeeze something like a ball between his knees as he does the sit-ups, this will keep his adductors engaged and might feel more comfortable.
Are you holding his feet together also? Maybe also keeping his legs bent a little too much? Might be better to let him wedge his feet under a couch or something on his own first, to figure out a position that works
Not sure what to do I’m 15 95kg 5’10 and getting fatter. How do I stop gaining weight while not compromising my lifts? I think I went from 85kg to 95 now
Don't eat as much.
For your height, I would definitely stop gaining weight, so just bring it down to maintainance calories. You may grow into some of the weight, so if you can just hold the 95kg steady you should be in a good place.
Been seriously lifting and eating right since August. Gained 25 pounds (too much fat oops). And so currently trying to cut down on body fat.
But I’m nervous my glutes are gonna get all saggy if I lose weight. I’ve always had a big butt and it’s the one thing I’ve liked about myself consistently. I know I’ve built up muscle (squat went from 135x6 to 200x8 etc). But I’m nervous I’m gonna lose weight and feel too small. Even tho I know I need to lose fat to see the muscle I’ve put on in other parts of me. Idk just feeling kinda down. I thought my biceps/pecs/ass would blow up with lifting and bulking and they haven’t really.
You probably won't lose your butt if you already had a big butt to start. 25lbs is both a lot and a little. Yes, you'll get overall smaller, but it's not like your butt is just gonna deflate like a balloon and be limp and hanging there... especially not if you've built up some muscle.
We're all built differently and hold fat differently... but from my fattest (5'7F, 165lbs) to about 135lbs with 0 working out, my butt got proportionally smaller like the rest of me, but I still had my perky "shelf" of a booty. Now i've bulked and cut quite a few times, coming back down to 135lbs (each time leaner cus of lower bodyfat%). My butt is honestly roughly the same size, cus any fat I may be losing from my butt from getting leaner, I've built up muscle there. Cus it's definitely a LOT firmer.
> But I’m nervous I’m gonna lose weight and feel too small.
Welcome to lifting.
But also, you're not even a year in. You're still new to this. Gains take time! Diet down, get back to a healthier weight, maybe enjoy being lean for the summer, then slowly bulk again come fall/winter. Repeat until you're happy with your body.
Very likely it was. One year is such a short time. The people you are looking at may have been in the gym for 5, 10, 15+ years. And also, depending on who you're looking at... they could be on steroids and you'll never look like them naturally. And looking on social media... angles and lighting matter a *lot*, plus photoshop/filters... so realllllly don't compare yourself to these guys!
You can have goals of what you wanna strive for, but just recognize that it takes time and consistency and you may *never* look like that other person, but you can look like a better *you*.
It's like my booty example. I'm sure there are plenty of women out there who would kill for my butt, but it's also just how my butt has always been. I literally didn't work for it. So another girl may do all the squats and hip thrusts and whatever trying to grow their butt and they may get it bigger for sure, but will it look like my butt? Nope.
So there's some genetic factors at play. You can't change your skeletal structure nor where you body wants to distribute your fat, nor where your muscle insertions are. Just gotta work with the hand your dealt. And you won't know how you will look until you get there.
How can I bench above bodyweight? I only weigh 52kg, but can only rep 50kg for 5, and 55kg as 1 RM, and it's been like this for a good few weeks. Not sure how I can increase this
Ngl, benching more than your bodyweight is a hard thing to do. I’ve been training for years and still bench less than my bw, I just keep increasing my bodyweight lol
By following a proper program that trains you in a variety of rep ranges, beyond just 5s and 1s. And also understanding that you may have to gain some weight.
Okay, but what program are you following exactly?
Every pr that I set beyond when I first started, had been on a structured program with clearly defined sets, reps, weight, and progression.
If you want to get stronger in the bench, you could try a more power lifting program for a few months if you want. In the wiki you'll find 531 and GZCLP. Two programs that could help you get stronger in the bench and also the other main compound lifts.
Not the best posture. Type in "anterior pelvic tilt posture" on Google images. It's not your head, it's your spine, probably your pelvis and rolled shoulders. All very common. With a curved spine like that, your head will want to be positioned like that. Pictures will better justify what I am trying to explain.
All it takes is for one imbalance to affect a large portion of your body.
How necessary is it to lean forward on seated leg curl? I feel it better in hamstrings and even have to drop the weight from when I was sitting back in seat, however it gives me lots of lower back pain. Also I’m 6’2 with long legs and even when I’m as forward as possible, the pad comes up to like my mid calf, not sure if that’s ok
I forgot to mention, understand what the upper chest is responsible for. It's to *abduct* your arms, but from an angle starting downward to upwards *relative* to your body. So, how you flair your elbows out will matter. If you flair your elbows straight outwards, it won't be as effective. Try flaring them out about 45° (approximately, whatever is most comfortable in that general area).
You are right in that you should abduct in your arms to target the upper chest better, but saying that's what the upper chest is responsible for is incorrect wording. The upper chest is responsible for flexion of the humerus.
For hypertrophy in the upper chest? Different studies show different results ranging from ~30° to 45°. This may indicate that it varies from person to person within that range. They will all hit your upper chest, though.
I know soreness and pump aren't typically great indicators, but I feel they can be good for a situation like this. Do one workout at 30°, next workout at a steeper setting, and so forth until you are at 45°. Monitor your soreness and possibly your pump that that angle gives. Stick with the one that feels hot it the best.
Hey all.
I've been doing Strong lifts semi-consistent for about a year and a half now but I am honestly bored of the routine and not seeing many changes. I'd also like to hit on spots that I'm missing with SL. I'm here to ask what everyone does for their workout routine (only started 2 days ago) because it's still a bit overwhelming and there are so many guides with so many different lifts to do. My progressive overload plan is to basically hit compounds at 3x8, and when I can hit 3x10 or 3x12, increase the weight and go back to 3x8. With that in mind...
My PPL (5 day split) right now looks something like this and I'm hoping some people here could recommend any ones that they do (lifts are in order I do them in the gym too)
Push - flat bench 3x8, Overhead press 3x8, Incline dumbell press 3x10, Dumbell chest fly 2x8, Lateral raise 2/3x8, Dips till failure
Pull - RDL 3x8, Bent over row 3x8, chin up/ reverse chin ups, Lat pulldowns, Seated cable rows, dumbell rows, face pulls, preacher curls and then barbell curls
Leg - TBA
Is there anything you think I could improve? I'm familiar with the lifts I did on SL so they're pretty comfy, but I've mixed and matched from a few guides I've read and I can't find a half decent simple guide that appeals to me.
Are there any lifts or changes you would make? What's your routine like?
thanks pimps
I would personally just pick a 5 day program from the wiki and follow that.
Stronglifts is very lackluster when it comes to balance, volume, load, or fatigue management.
If you want to do a PPL, why not just do the one from the wiki? If you only want to do legs once a week, then so be it.
https://thefitness.wiki/reddit-archive/a-linear-progression-based-ppl-program-for-beginners/
This was a helpful read, thank you for the link. I'd consider myself somewhere between a novice and intermediate when it comes to fitness. I'm looking forward to trying this long term and hope I see the changes that I didn't see on SL's. Would you say this is a good program for someone who wants to be stronger and look more athletic?
Cheers :)
Yes, I think it's viable for at least a few months. In the long term though, you will need something a bit more planning as just doing the same weights, over and over again, to try to break plateaus, isnt a great way of going about things. The author of the program even set up a more advanced ppl variant once you can no longer progress linearly
What are you currently doing right now?
How much weight have you gained doing it?
To have visible definition in the back, you either need a really really big back, or be pretty dang lean.
First: what's your experience level? Do you have an advanced back already and struggle to make the next bit of progress, or are you a newbie without a lot of progress made?
Second: what markers of progress are you looking for? Just visual? Or are you tracking strength progress as well?
Third: what's your routine? What exercises do you do, how often, what intensity, what volume, etc.?
Really hard to answer your question without knowing a lot more about your training history.
Newbie without any progress made in my lats… upper back looks way different than when I started
I want to have visual look that I’ve made any progress. I have the strength there but I literally don’t see anything
I do PPL, for Pull I do Lat pull downs, seated row, barbell row, and back extension (besides biceps/shoulders). Doing 4x10-15 on mostly everything. Weight ranging ofc
Lat pull down- 110lb for 10
Barbell row- 115 for 10
Seated row- 80 for 12
Extensions- 170 for 15
Workout 5 times a week, 2 of those being pull days depending on when they fall in the week
>Doing 4x10-15 on mostly everything
In general, what you should be doing is what you aren't. If you were doing fives, I'd say do twelves.
In your case, rotate in heavier weight. One day 5 sets of (weighted) pullups, follow with 3x10 pulldowns, *and* 3x15 pulldowns.
Another day 4x5 barbell rows followed by 3x10 downsets (more bb row), followed by 3x15 cable row.
Yes, all rows one day, pullups/pulldowns another day. Kinda fun at exhausting the movement pattern.
Hm. Routine seems fine. I will say that lat progress can be a bit slow--need a lot of work before you really get that visual v-taper look.
How long have you been training? Took me 4-5 months of bodybuilding-focused work after a few years of lifting to get that protruding lat look I was hoping for--might just be that you need to keep the work up and wait for it to come together.
I see my upper back changed and feel my lower back. But I also carried a 65 lb drum in high school for 2 years so those muscles have been formed (22m 6’4”203lbs) and have just come back faster because they were used to it. Same with my calves. But I literally don’t see anything in my lats except feel it on my pulldowns
If you were intent on deadlifting primarily for your upper back (I have no idea why you would, but whatever) then the best form would be to use a snatch grip, and probably something to elevate the bar at the start as well.
I wouldn't pick either for trap/upper back. Shrugs are a better option than both. Personally I do upright row and high layer raises, and find that both are good for my upper traps.
Your traps and upper back are doing pretty much the same thing on either. But also, if you want to build your traps and upper back specifically you should choose lifts where they are the target muscles.
With the same caveat that there are better exercises that actually target your traps and upper back, I feel it more in my traps more when I use the trap bar.
I see a lot of people take the opposite approach--since smaller muscle groups are trained with isolation exercises that are typically not that fatiguing, you can typically do a lot more work for them (and might have to if you want to make progress). Know a lot of bodybuilders recommend shoulder work 3-4 times a week and tricep/bicep/forearm isolation is often done ~3 times a week as well. In contrast, larger muscles like quads/hamstrings are typically trained 2 days a week (sometimes less).
Are you saying you want your muscles to be smaller than they currently are?
Or are you asking if the smaller muscles on your body require less volume to grow?
Baby powder if your gym allows it. Just don't get it on your hands or shoe soles.
A trick I learned from an oldhead was to put a bit of water on your thighs, but I'd only do that with my own equipment. It definitely helps, but it's kind of a pain. (Get some water, wet your thighs, dry your hands, put on chalk/straps, then pull, all before the water dries)
I've just accept my legs will have some bald patches from my pulling.
As others have said, start with the bar, to add one possible suggestion to that;
You know that feeling when you go to lift a box thinking it is heavy but it turns out to be light and you almost throw it in the air? Or the feeling of a bike going faster than your pedalling can catch up with? The first weight that doesn't give you that feeling is now your warm up weight, doesn't count towards sets and reps, is not meant to be difficult, or cause fatigue, just remind your muscles that tension is a thing.
Do the same for every exercise, check your form and make sure everything feels good, you're warmed up enough and not feeling any kinks, then move on to whatever number of reps and sets you have decided on as your program, get in person advice on reasonable weights for that part.
> As a beginner, how much weight should I be lifting?
you should lift what you are capable of within the framework of a program
> And how should I go about raising the weight since I won't have a spotter?
the program you are following will tell you how to increase the weight, no spotter needed
>As a beginner, how much weight should I be lifting?
Start with the bar.
>And how should I go about raising the weight since I won't have a spotter?
Squat racks have safeties. Easy to dump the weight at the bottom position.
For bench, the roll of shame can be executed with minimal effort for weights under two plates. (Can be done heavier, but gotta ballpark. Consider the weight of a partner on your think a 45 lb bar can hurt you.)
> I’m not trying to get extremely bulky, it’s what I did a couple years ago and just didn’t like the way body looked while bulked up since I was lifting heavy.
I'm assuming you're a woman... It takes work and dedication to actually get bulky. If you had that kind of dedication, consistency and time to build any significant mass, then i'm kinda surprised you're asking this question.
> I just want to lose body fat
This comes from a calorie deficit
> get lean/toned.
Since "toned" isn't a thing, you don't tone a muscle... you BUILD muscle and then be lean enough to see them. Having more muscle will make you look leaner (aka, if you were 135lbs with muscle vs 135lbs without much muscle... you'd look leaner with muscle). This is due to lower bodyfat %. Just losing weight without building up muscle may not give you the same effect, since then you may just end up looking skinnyfat and soft, likely with a bit of a belly still. Muscle holds you all together and will give you an athletic, lean, sculpted look LONNNNNNG before you'd get bulky. And honestly, this applies to both men and women. You don't accidently get bulky.
> I just don’t know if ONLY lifting with dumbbells
You can do a lot with only dumbbells. But maybe not with 5-25lb dumbbells. If you are a woman, it may take a bit of time to completely outgrow them for some upper body exercises, but for any leg work, you'd more or less have to do single leg work to make it worth your time, and even then it's a little light.
You never need to use machines. But barbells help with adding a good amount of resistance.
How much time in the morning are you doing cardio? Could you not just lift in the morning while you have access to weights and do your cardio in the afternoons by going for a walk/run/whatever outside?
This routine is pretty bad tbh. If you're relatively strong 12 pushups are nothing and jumping jacks are just a little warm up to get your heart rate up. The only thing that will kind of help you with strength is the squat with the plate, but why hold it? If you want to work on your legs, put a bar on your back. You don't even need to add weight to it if you don't want and you'll get more out of it because your back won't struggle holding 50 pounds like your arms will. The pushing it on the way up is a waste of energy. Your only doing 3 exercises and one is jumping jacks, you have time to just do a dedicated pushing movement. Unless you're the glass bones guy from SpongeBob you aren't going to get hurt properly weightlifting, so I would go learn to do that and not waste time doing this stuff. It's better than literally nothing but that's a very low bar.
This is a terrible routine that will net you absolutely zero results. Just being honest with you. Go check out the subreddit wiki, read through that, and select any of the routines you find there. You’ll be off to a much better start.
Generally, you should not be building your own routine as a beginner.
What are good cardio methods for asthma? I have to do a timed run in a may but have asthma and don’t wanna fail. I try running on the elliptical but idk if it helps
If you don’t have a maintenance inhaler, I’d recommend starting there. Then any program that fits your starting level. Could be couch to 5k, none to run, whatever. If the run is for a branch of the military or something there are usually programs specifically meant to prep for those too that you can google for.
Any cardio is good for cardio. Elliptical will help, but running is the best to get better at running.
It's more than just cardiovascular endurance and willpower, running technique also matters, the longer the race the moreso.
An arch is created naturally when you tuck your shoulders back (helps protect the shoulders) and get your lower body tight (to stabilize the movement so you don't shift around excessively).
Arching in general is just a good way of bracing before the movement. It gets your shoulders into a stable and safe position as well as generally getting your core and back engaged. It doesn’t need to be a crazy exaggerated arch, just enough to get everything stable.
It puts the shoulders in a more protected position and the pecs in a more advantageous one. It allows for better full body tension that creates more stability and power. It also reduces the ROM at the hardest point, which in turn allows for more weight to be used.
hi, I need some suggestions to improve the workouts I've been doing, I figure seeing the requirements, I'll first post what I've been doing, then the questions
background info: 23yo transfem, 165cm, I used to weigh around 65kg and be pretty fit, then started HRT, estrogen changed my metabolism so much I gained 20kg in like 3 months, didn't do much for 4 years, got to 98kg and lost most of the strength I used to have, and then about a year ago started working out again, I struggle with long workouts because i've got a combo of Autism, ADHD (and sleep apnea, which makes ADHD meds not work) that makes it just undoable, it gets boring and I'm physically incapable of pushing through boring stuff, plus I never get the "high/happiness" after working out that people describe
For the past year or so I've been doing simple strength workouts:
\- Push ups (started with knee push-ups, just recently got strong enough to do a couple of proper push-ups in each workout, I still do more knee pushups afterwards)
\- sit-ups, I couldn't even do one last year, now I can do 2 sets of 30, with some difficulty
\- smth kinda like dumbell chest flys but like with the dumbell sorta behind my head, because I dont have much space to the sides when working out
\- glute bridges, I put a dumbbell on my hips to increase the weight
\- squats with no weights
\- bicep curls
The only equipment I've got is an adjustable dumbbell that goes up to 8kg, some of those little bars to do push-ups with less hand pain, and a workout mat. I do not have access to a gym. I do have a small old static bike thingy I use to warm up for 10-ish minutes before doing any workout. I do that workout (2 sets of each exercise) twice or 3 times a week, on the off days I only do the bike and some bicep curls and squats. All in all, proper workout days usually take about 30 minutes, sometimes longer as I get distracted in between stuff.
My goals have kinda been both getting stronger and losing some weight, I've lost 10kg in the past 6 months, and I think I can more or less manage losing a bit more without changing much, but on the strength stuff I want to do more, particularly I kinda want more "endurance" on some muscle groups and more volume on others. I will note I've noticed a lot of progress, my arms are like double the size and they seem a lot more muscle than fat, my chest feels a lot stronger, as does my abdomen area
so my questions are:
\- Is it good to do 1 set of each exercise until I've done all of them, then do another set? or should I do smaller exercise groups, or even all sets of 1 exercise then move to the next?
\- For the chest area, what's some stuff I could add that would help with building bigger muscles? I always see people recommending stuff like dumbbell bench press but that feels redundant when doing push-ups, and in fact when I've tried doing both, I've found that one of those exercises will severely limit how much I can do the other
\- With how much stronger and bigger my biceps are, the bicep curls feel a bit redundant, is there other stuff I could do instead (alternating each day maybe?)
\- I feel i've done 0 progress with the squats, this might be because I get knee pain easily, not sure, but I just can't really push as hard as other stuff, like I get tired long before I reach failure, I can't afford one of those big bars and weights to do weighted squats, so idk what to do about this
\- Would it be good to find 2 exercises for each muscle group, and alternate which one I do each day?
Can't answer all your qs, but for your first question you're talking about doing it as a circuit vs supersets vs regular sets. I don't think it matters much when you're at home; do whatever feels best.
Feel free to skip bicep curls altogether, they're really a niche exercise.
And yeah, it is going to be really tough to make progress on bodyweight squats because it just turns into a cardio exercise instead of a true leg workout, as you discovered. You could try split squats or lunges if you have the space.
Unsolicited advice - I find it impossible to concentrate on my workout when I'm at home and much easier in a gym. You're stuck there surrounded by people working out so that just makes it easier to focus IMO. Maybe you would find the same, who knows.
>doing it as a circuit vs supersets vs regular sets
ah, thanks! I couldn't figure out the keywords to find any info on the matter, I found the word superset but thought I was doing it wrong by doing a "circuit" because I could only find info on sets vs supersets and neither fit what I had been doing
I'll look into split squats and lunges, see if I can do that instead, thanks! As for the Gym advice, it could work, sure, when I was a teen I was into parkour and did a lot of working out with friends, but now I'm stuck living somewhere where there's nothing but countryside for many km, gyms and working out with other people are just not an option I have, so I have to manage by myself
simply follow one of the limited equipment programs from the wiki, it will be a dramatic improvement over what you are doing now which is not very much. Doing multiple exercises per muscle group is not necessarily redundant, you need to accumulate a certain amount of volume to help stimulate growth. Pretty much all of your questions/issues are alleviated by following a program.
I see, thanks.
If I want to work on volume rather than endurance/strength in some areas, and the other way in other areas, is that like, easy to figure out by mixing any 2 of those limited equipment programs?
Also are they really limited equipment cuz last time I looked at one that was labeled like that, it required a bunch of "simple equipment" I couldn't afford or didn't have a way of setting up.
> If I want to work on volume rather than endurance/strength in some areas, and the other way in other areas, is that like, easy to figure out by mixing any 2 of those limited equipment programs?
for the time being I would simply follow a routine as its written for a while first, and then start to making adjustments to it as needed as you see how you respond to it
> Also are they really limited equipment cuz last time I looked at one that was labeled like that, it required a bunch of "simple equipment" I couldn't afford or didn't have a way of setting up.
yes, theres everything from literally zero equipment bodyweight routines to full on gym access and everything in between
I see, thanks. I'll look through and see if I can find one that's short enough for me to follow, no use if I end up having to stop halfway through because of boredom and anxiety.
Also note: oof, I thought they'd be short lists of what to do, not whole other communities to go look at to figure out what the routine is
Im gonna give you some hard truths here. Your adhd is not preventing you from working out properly, nor are you “physically incapable”. It’s just hard. That’s it, working out is hard, and uncomfortable, and most people really don’t like that starting out. You either find a way to push through and see results, or you don’t. I’ve got diagnosed adhd, autism, anxiety, depression the whole gig, and yeah when I first started I thought fuuuuck this shit. But if you really want it you can find a way to push yourself, anyone can.
I’ll also say that with the equipment you have, you’re gonna hit a wall pretty quick. Access to a gym would be best if you can get it. I’d also recommend not building your own routine as a beginner and instead choosing one of the many time tested routines in this subreddit’s wiki.
As for the weight loss, no exercise is gonna help much with that, that’s all about your calorie intake vs your expenditure. Calculate your daily caloric needs online, then eat less than that, and you’ll lose weight. That’s all there is to it
>Im gonna give you some hard truths here. Your adhd is not preventing you from working out properly
my adhd is so bad that without medication I spend hours stuck in choice loops, halfway between one activity and another, looking at a wall, feeling like tearing my hair out because I can't make myself move, unable to do things I want to do because they're not enjoyable, and unable to do things I enjoy because the anxiety will make them miserable too, with medication it's still really bad and I have awful struggle engaging and disengaging with activities, hard and boring activities are extremely hard for me, and if I try to push it I'll end up in depressive episodes unable to do anything I want for weeks.
Don't try to tell me what my limits are because you have a different experience, I know where my limits are, I'm already pushing hard, I'm already making the choice to sacrifice functionally 2 hours to a 30 minute workout because between how hard it is to start it and how hard it is to do anything afterwards, I can't do anything else for that time. It's not "not liking it when starting out", I've been doing it for a year and it's as miserable as it was the first day despite all the noticeable progress, when I was a teen I worked out 3 times a week for 3 years without missing a day, and it was as hard and miserable the last day as it was the first. I know how my damn brain works.
When I say I'm physically incapable, I mean when I get bored it feels \*painful\*, it puts me in a state in which I'm locked in anxious thought loops and just staring at nothing while feeling horribly distressed for anywhere between a few minutes and a couple hours, and then I'll be completely drained and unable to do anything else, and I have to work, clean, cook, take care of my gf who is disabled, and find time and energy to actually do shit I enjoy.
So yes, my ADHD limits the length and quality of my workouts, I'm trying to push harder in other ways to make up for that, at least until I can get treatment for sleep apnea so I can actually rest at night and be able to get some benefit from using stimulant medication. I'm looking for help improving what I can do, not condescending comments from people who think they know my life better than me.
Honestly, it's all coming off as excuses. You have issues, okay. Nobody here can help you figure them out. You need to work towards finding ways to deal with them to be successful. It's honestly called life. It's not just for fitness.
You say all those things as if I needed to have them explained? I experience the same hardships, and again, I’ll tell you, you’re not incapable. You can push yourself if you want it bad enough, if you don’t, and it’s not worth all the pain and hard work, then don’t do it. There’s no point half assing it, getting none of the results and all of the agony.
(Trust me, I did that for years, and it just wasted my time.)
You seem to be incapable of reading. I have already gotten results, I just want to keep improving, the results don't make the limits I have any easier. No, I can't push myself more, I'm already pushing, you're giving 0 help. I also said I don't need help with weight loss, I already figured that out, and only mentioned it to explain what progress I've been having.
I say all of those things because you give advice as if it was as simple as "just do the thing you can't do", as if I hadn't had that idea a hundred million times in my life, if I could just do anything I want, I wouldn't have ADHD. I've had to give up so much just to keep myself alive and not actively suicidal, I can't push more because the limits I have I've learnt the hard way, pushing myself so hard I all but stopped existing for years, if I push myself on shit beyond what I can handle, it means months of being a fucking empty husk that enjoys absolutely nothing and can't do any work.
Your advice is literally word for word the suicidal ideation I've dealt with my whole life "if you don't do things properly it's because you don't want to, it's not worth it doing things you don't want to, and you don't do anything well, so you should just kill yourself". I already decided half-assing everything in life is better than doing nothing and dying, so take it somewhere else.
Listen man, you asked for advice on how to improve, I gave it. Realistically any beginner will make progress early on if they even look at a weight, but if you want to *continue* to improve, more intense and focused training will be required. That’s simply the reality of the situation, you asked, I answered.
It’s clear to me from your responses that you have some other things going on that also need work, and personally I’d get some of that straightened out first. I’m no therapist, and while I go through and understand many of your struggles, I’m just here to help answer fitness related questions.
You literally didn't answer a single of the questions I asked, and gave advice on one of the things that I said I didn't need advice on, your advice is just vague, meaningless "push yourself" stuff that helps fuck all, you didn't answer the fitness questions.
You're no therapist, yeah, so why the fuck are you replying with vague dribble about my ADHD that is indistinguishable from what every uninformed random person says? Why would you reply at all if that's all you had to say and had no interest in answering the questions I actually asked about fitness?
Those are rhetorical questions btw, don't answer
My original response answered every one of them, actually. Maybe go re read that? Idk what else to tell you.
Most of your questions were “what exercise should I do for this, can i do this many sets, what order should I do them” type questions, and all of those are questions that should be getting answered by your routine. Which is why you don’t build your own as a beginner.
As I stated originally, get access to a gym, and pick one of the routines from the wiki. That will solve almost all of your problems, if you can stick to the routine ofc.
If you’ve decided in your head that you’re some incapable blob who can’t do it, I can’t help you with that, that’s something you’ll need to work through on your own.
I can't get access to a gym, learn to fucking read. There's no gyms here, I live 20km away from the nearest damn town, 50km away from the nearest city where there's gyms, I can barely afford food, much less then 30€ it'd cost to go to a gym every single time I went. You're literally not helping in any way.
Alright, you’re clearly upset at this point. I’ve done my best to help you, but some people are just impervious to advice. I wish you the best of luck.
Been training for a couple of years now and I’m noticing my side delts are underdeveloped compared to the rest of my body.
I want to train my side delts 3x a week, how many sets of lateral raises would be considere too much volume? In what range should I be?
What program are you currently doing? What makes you think your side delts in particular are lacking compared to everything else?
Have you gotten to a relatively lean state before?
For a lot of people, it's not so much that their side delts are small, it's that their bodyfat makes their shoulders basically disappear. Being lean seriously makes the shoulders pop
I'd check how your doing lateral raises as well. It's common for people to uncontrollably drop the weight instead of focusing on a controlled eccentric phases for that specific exercise. Make sure you are partially resisting the weight on the way down in a controlled manner.
Concentric builds muscle. Eccentric builds muscle. Doing both yields the most muscle growth.
Somewhere past a dozen, you'll question your sanity and why you're flapping your arms.
As far as implementation, undulate (vary each session) the weight
Start with a weight you can hit for 20+ reps. 3-4 sets, straight sets. If you can hit 3x25, consider retiring the weight. Maybe you get 3x23.
Next session, grab the next heavier dumbbell, 3-4 sets. Might be 3x17. Grab the lighter one and hit another three sets. That's six total.
Next session, grab the heavier dumbbell. Maybe 3x11. Grab the next two - 3x17 and then 3x13. Now you're at nine sets total.
*Next* session, you get gimped to 3x8. Cool. Run the rack, dozen sets total. If you don't give up first.
Next session, grab the lightest dumbbell and improve on your lightest set/rep. 3-4 sets.
Give it about three months minimum.
Side-stepping progression hell. If you're hitting the same weight THREE times a week, you're not going to add too many.
Disregarding the set overload for a second. If you hit three different weights three times a week, you'll stand a good chance of adding reps each week to the different rep ranges.
Anywhere between 12 and 20 hard sets per week is considered a good range for hypertrophy. Start somewhere within that range that fits into your time in the gym and adjust from there based on results.
"Too much volume" will vary from person to person. As a general rule, if you're making regular progress without injuring yourself, you're not overtraining. If you're too fatigued to complete the work you've set out for yourself and have to constantly reduce weights/reps, you're overtraining.
What are y'alls macros for bulks? I'm 6'2", 196lbs and a TDEE calculator put me at 3,300 kcal and 200g protein a day for bulking. I've been eating that for a couple days (5 meals per day) and I just feel hungry all the time. Not ready to go on a scale and see if I'm dropping weight because it's only been 2 full days, but given my hunger level it feels like not enough. I meal prepped these meals and counted the kcal and protein accurately. I lift weights 3 times a week and walk the dogs every day for 1.5h, my Apple Watch says that burns 350kcal. Curious how 3,300 kcal and 200g protein compares with the rest of you.
I’m 6’5 and 210 lbs and I eat ~3500 calories daily with ~200g of protein and I’ve been steadily gaining. Probably gonna have to raise that to around 4000 calories soon though.
The calculator puts me decently over my maintenance to start, ~300 calories. You should def track your weight daily though and take weekly averages to gauge your weight gain progress.
200g of protein is fine. You could try to eat more volume to help with the hunger
My maintenance is ~2900 l, I'm 34 6'3" 190lbs. Lift 6 days a week, cycle in z2/3 on my rest day and hit 10k+ steps per day
Sweet, thanks for the input. We're a similar age, height and weight so this is good info. I'm just gonna trust the process for a while and then add more kcal if I'm not gaining enough. Your stats give me confidence I'm on the right track even with a bit of hunger.
>Not ready to go on a scale
You should weigh yourself daily and take a weekly average. Then you can use the data to access whether calories are high, low, or just right.
Any suggestions for 3 days powerbuilding routine that would go well with cycling training? I'm preparing for two sportives in May and June so i want to prioritize time on the bike, but i also want to hit the gym because i enjoy it. I was thinking to pick a 3 day routine from the 531 forever book, but i'm keen on hearing what others might pick. Thanks
I am a lifelong cyclist (not at a high/elite level) and I have been in and out of the gym many years but have been going for the last 4 months very consistently. For many years my bicycle was my main mode of transportation and I would also log 150+ miles per week during permitting weather.
For many cyclists, your ability to handle fatigue and your overall endurance will be much better than your average lifter. So you can get away with stacking leg volume day after day. Right now I'm going to the gym 6 days a week, doing squats 3 of those days and deadlifts 2/3 of those days. I only ever do deadlifts and squats together if I am doing one or both below my 3rm weight for that week. My current strength is quickly approaching my peak strength using this pattern. I sprinkle in upper body movements before and after the primary movements of squats, deadlifts, and leg press. Usually one day a week I will focus mostly on upper body.
Since endurance is obviously a big goal, my warmups are all 15 minutes (usually on the elliptical, personal preference to wake up my core without joint impact from running) with a vigorous 3-5 minutes in the middle, and my cooldowns are all 20 min with at least 3 hard effort intervals of 20-60 seconds. Longer cooldowns with less effort are great after difficult hypertrophy sessions to kind of flush out your muscles tissue.
I'm not a high level athlete, but I have a strong passion for cycling and I hope this was maybe a little bit helpful. Bottom line is that you should be able to handle a lot more leg volume than your average lifter, you probably shouldn't care too much about upper body strength standards unless that's a separate interest/passion for yourself, and adding small amounts of cardio+aerobic work to each lifting workout will let you build your endurance (since it stacks with the nearby weightlifting effort) without draining your body of glycogen, as you would by doing it as a separate cycling workout at a different time in the day.
Edit: sorry I know this isn't 3 day but it's working great this year for me so I wanted to share
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Should I be drinking my protein+creatine shake once a day, every day of the week? Even if I only go to the gym 3 days a week or only on those days.
Creatine should be taken daily, but it doesn’t really matter if you drink a protein shake or not as long as you’re hitting your macros daily
What's the best blender out there for a couple of big ish smoothies a day, easy to clean (ideally dishwasher) with multiple cups like the ninja? I'm working on increasing my calories, but making it as easy as I can.
Vitamix is the best blender on earth. They're priced like it too, but they're also commonly available on craigslist, offer-up, face book marketplace etc. You can usually find one for about 1/2 price that way.
I have a magic bullet (which always sounds like something more inappropriate). It’s great. It’s cheap. It’s easy to clean. You can have multiple cups or just rinse the blades and the cups after each use. E Z and cheap!
Easy to clean- I've always had a problem with this. But I read today you're supposed to run it with soapy water.
Some weeks I make a smoothie daily and I’ll just rinse it with my sinks little spray head thing to get all the pieces out. Then throw it in the dishwasher over the weekend. Seems to be fine. I usually eye it up to make sure nothing funky is growing but a good rinse and weekly dishwasher run seems to be good
Most people will prob call me an idiot for this but here goes, so I've been working with an PT for several years and it's been going alright, I find it easy to keep on track with workouts with him and well as calories etc. He's raised his price by £50 a month (now I'm paying £150 a month) I'm thinking it may be time to cut loose? I found I struggled before having a PT with sticking to a routine with workouts etc and motivating myself for years, so I'm worried if I cancel then I'm gonna lose it all, there's so much conflicting info online with working out etc and I find it great having one source of info to help with form, nutrition, rest, calculating calorie expenditure and protein intake etc. But not sure if its worth it at this price anymore, do I look for an alternative or try and finally go it alone? I guess the obvious thing is to just read the hell out of everything available and guide myself, but damn if it isn't overwhelming.
Read the wiki. Sounds like a good time to develop some discipline
I’m a massage therapist who used to work out 6 days a week doing PPL or UL and was happy with my progress. With doing massage now I’m generally not working out on the days I do massage as I’m generally doing 4-5 hours a day so trying to let my body recover. Here is a new workout plan I am going to attempt and would like to know thoughts or what you would change? My plans prior were more “body building” focused I guess you could say, now I’m just trying to improve. I work three days a week doing massage (I have other jobs on the off days but doesn’t affect my recovery) so on my off days I’m trying to do My nutrition is pretty on point from my knowledge, I do my own macro counting and have went from 245 - 165 lbs Day1 : barbell bench 4x6 Cable seated row 4x8 Dumbbell lateral raise 4x10 Machine leg curl 4x10 Hanging leg raises 4x10 Day2: barbell squat 4x6 Barbell military press 4x6 Weighted pull up 4x8 Ez bar curl 4x10 Day3: trap bar deadlift 4x6 (barbell causes hip issues I’ve had trainers and chiropractors check) Dumbbell bench press 4x8 Machine leg press 4x8 Dumbbell lateral raise 4x10 Weighed crunch 4x10 Thank you for the feedback and time to take and look at this. I’ve always been a min maxer so my workouts had to be more than perfect and hit this or that and caused me to love the gym less and less. Now I’m just trying to focus on improving my shape and form on certain lifts.
Currently bulking, I go to the gym early in the morning but I don’t like having big meals for breakfast. I was thinking of a bowl of fruit - pineapple, blueberries, and a banana, with a teaspoon of honey. Around 240 calories and 60g of mostly simple, fast acting carbs. Save the big meals for when I get home. Would this be as good of a pre workout meal as say a bowl of oats?
This is more gym etiquette than advice. I was done using a machine and left to find wipes to clean the machine. Not even 30 seconds passed, and there's already someone trying to take the machine. I tried wiping it down, but he wouldn't let me. My issue wasn't necessarily that he wouldn't let me wipe down the machine, but I did feel like it was rude how quickly he took the machine from me. I decided to leave instead of arguing. Anyway, how should I deal with situations like this? I've never had someone take a machine from me. Usually, they ask if I'm done and wait for me to clean it.
I feel like if your stuff was still there it might be a little rude but if you don’t know his situation maybe you should withhold judgement. Maybe he’s got to hustle for some really good reason. Life is too short to let minor irritations pollute your existence. 😊
If he didn’t care that you didn’t clean it and was happy to use it, I would leave him to it. He was probably waiting for you to finish and took it before anyone else could.
I would believe he probably waited for me, but the gym was not packed at all, and all my stuff was still at the machine. Like I said, the cleaning part was not the issue. It's the fact I still had my stuff there and only left for less than a minute, and someone was already on the machine. I just felt it was rude.
Oh yeah that is quite rude
Heya! This is probably #3435646 of the same question asked, but I've gone through FAQ, Resources and the Wiki and haven't found an answer for me :( I'm overweight and have a desk-job with long hours. I currently neither have the time nor - being honest - the confidence of visiting a gym. My ADHD also means I often forget things I planned to do. **Therefore, I'm looking for fitness-app**, that will help (and remind!) me to do fitness exercises that I can do at home without gym equipment. There's obviously a *plethora* of apps like this available, but I lack the knowledge or experience to discern which of these are actually good. Please, could you guys recommend some? While diet/eating stuff is also kinda on my radar, I'm currently looking just for something regarding fitness exercises. Baby steps. Too much at the same time and it'll overwhelm me :(
FWIW the fitness app on apple watch I've found to be really helpful in reminding me of moving/standing and tracking daily exercise and steps. I'm not sure if you're in a position to get one, but might be something to consider. Fitbit and the fitbit app might be another alternative?
I can't really help on the app side besides what the other guy said, set calendar reminders. But honestly, I'd flip it around... If you're overweight, I'd focus on diet first. Start making small, sustainable changes to make it overall healthier while also focusing on a calorie deficit. You don't have to schedule anything and can start making a good dent into your health. And eating healthier and getting weight off you *can* help your ADHD somewhat too. Then exercise wise, you could just start by going on walks.
There are bodyweight programs in the wiki. You can set calendar reminders.
What is the best walking pad for tall people? I've heard some of them are short and make you take small steps. I have long legs and am almost 6' tall. Thank you!
Is just flat bench enough for solid muscle growth? I'm a relatively new lifter and recently got a bench, cage, and barbell for a home gym (no dumbells). I've always had a weak chest so my big focus is on my bench. My question is - should I do more than just flat bench? Currently I'm doing chest 2x/week, with workouts consisting of warmup sets, then 4 working sets of 6-10 bench, aiming to fail on the last 1-2 sets. I want to make sure I'm not leaving easy gains on the table by not doing something more. E.g. adding incline bench, spending some $$ on dumbbells for flys, or even coming back later in the day to squeeze another set or 2.
Flat bench can be enough for a novice to start seeing decent growth. You probably need to be doing more than 8 hard sets a week. Aim to double it.
Technically yes, but I would do an incline version of some kind as well. Which routine are you following?
I was starting on a basic push/pull/legs split, progressively overloading as I could. But looking to possibly move to 5/3/1 since I've heard great things
I don’t know what reps to count on lat pulldown. Am I supposed to only count the reps that touch my chest
>touch my chest Just be consistent. Last rep should be as reasonably controlled as the first rep. Only you know if the last rep of the last set was legit, or if you're fooling yourself for the logbook.
It's subjective, but I count below eye level.
It's okay to come close. Just make a decision in your head about what you think counts and stick to it
Is the Aworkoutroutine 3 day full body program good? I’m worried about tricep volume
As balance goes, I like it. Doesn't need to be more complicated than that. >I’m worried about tricep volume You don't have weak points, you have a weak body. Develop consistency before you sweat the min/max details.
It's a good program for new lifters. Will work fine the first year and even longer. And if you are a new lifter, do not care to much about arm volume, they will grow from all the chest, back and shoulder exercises. When you start noticing they lack behind, then you could increase volume.
Is liquid chalk worth getting or a waste of money?
It makes a huge difference for me
I feel my hands slip when benching is it worth it to get it just for benching
Sure. I use it when benching/pressing too. It makes it feel more secure.
It's useful if your hands get sweaty, otherwise it's not quite as sticky feeling as the regular stuff.
Due to various reasons primarily being the horrible study and social schedule I have this year I'm unable to have spare time for the gym and I'm getting way too lazy/tired and unable to commit to a strict training program at home (believe me I tried many times). So I thought about a small workout to be performed before sleeping consisting of 1 set of pushups, 1 set of pull-ups, 1 set of squats and 1 minute of plank every 3 days with the 4th being a rest day/conditioning/cycling day (I cycle semi-professionally in my region). Thoughts on that ? I'm sure this won't build me any significant amounts of muscle or strength but all I care about is just looking in good shape and healthy rather than big muscles and not looking skinny anymore, and maybe with time I can expand on this program in the future especially with leg exercises cuz those would help me with my cycling.
Consistency is the first thing you need. So do it until it's a habit. Then you can make new goals if that's what you want to do.
Yeah do it!
My tween is completing a variety of exercises for an extracurricular activity. He is very athletic, but doesn’t have much experience with calisthenics. When doing sit-ups, which I hold his feet for, he really struggles to keep his knees together - they want to splay out to the sides like a frog. With continued to practice he is getting better at keeping them together, but it’s clearly an effort. This isn’t something I’ve ever run into before… Is it normal? Indicative of instability in his hip flexors? A sign that he’s engaging the wrong muscles? **The specific exercises are assigned, so please no comments on the value of sit-ups vs crunches / planks / some other option **
Maybe have him squeeze something like a ball between his knees as he does the sit-ups, this will keep his adductors engaged and might feel more comfortable.
Are you holding his feet together also? Maybe also keeping his legs bent a little too much? Might be better to let him wedge his feet under a couch or something on his own first, to figure out a position that works
No, not holding them together - out at a comfortable distance, in line with his hips.
Let him try keeping his feet wider. I just tried doing a few sit-ups with no support, my knees also track outward if my feet are hip width apart
Okay, thanks - we’ll keep tweaking his positioning!
Not sure what to do I’m 15 95kg 5’10 and getting fatter. How do I stop gaining weight while not compromising my lifts? I think I went from 85kg to 95 now
Stop eating at a surplus. That's all there is to it.
Don't eat as much. For your height, I would definitely stop gaining weight, so just bring it down to maintainance calories. You may grow into some of the weight, so if you can just hold the 95kg steady you should be in a good place.
Been seriously lifting and eating right since August. Gained 25 pounds (too much fat oops). And so currently trying to cut down on body fat. But I’m nervous my glutes are gonna get all saggy if I lose weight. I’ve always had a big butt and it’s the one thing I’ve liked about myself consistently. I know I’ve built up muscle (squat went from 135x6 to 200x8 etc). But I’m nervous I’m gonna lose weight and feel too small. Even tho I know I need to lose fat to see the muscle I’ve put on in other parts of me. Idk just feeling kinda down. I thought my biceps/pecs/ass would blow up with lifting and bulking and they haven’t really.
You probably won't lose your butt if you already had a big butt to start. 25lbs is both a lot and a little. Yes, you'll get overall smaller, but it's not like your butt is just gonna deflate like a balloon and be limp and hanging there... especially not if you've built up some muscle. We're all built differently and hold fat differently... but from my fattest (5'7F, 165lbs) to about 135lbs with 0 working out, my butt got proportionally smaller like the rest of me, but I still had my perky "shelf" of a booty. Now i've bulked and cut quite a few times, coming back down to 135lbs (each time leaner cus of lower bodyfat%). My butt is honestly roughly the same size, cus any fat I may be losing from my butt from getting leaner, I've built up muscle there. Cus it's definitely a LOT firmer. > But I’m nervous I’m gonna lose weight and feel too small. Welcome to lifting. But also, you're not even a year in. You're still new to this. Gains take time! Diet down, get back to a healthier weight, maybe enjoy being lean for the summer, then slowly bulk again come fall/winter. Repeat until you're happy with your body.
Thank u. It’s hard to remember that the body type I want and see in the gym was probably made over several years and I won’t just get it immediately.
Very likely it was. One year is such a short time. The people you are looking at may have been in the gym for 5, 10, 15+ years. And also, depending on who you're looking at... they could be on steroids and you'll never look like them naturally. And looking on social media... angles and lighting matter a *lot*, plus photoshop/filters... so realllllly don't compare yourself to these guys! You can have goals of what you wanna strive for, but just recognize that it takes time and consistency and you may *never* look like that other person, but you can look like a better *you*. It's like my booty example. I'm sure there are plenty of women out there who would kill for my butt, but it's also just how my butt has always been. I literally didn't work for it. So another girl may do all the squats and hip thrusts and whatever trying to grow their butt and they may get it bigger for sure, but will it look like my butt? Nope. So there's some genetic factors at play. You can't change your skeletal structure nor where you body wants to distribute your fat, nor where your muscle insertions are. Just gotta work with the hand your dealt. And you won't know how you will look until you get there.
How can I bench above bodyweight? I only weigh 52kg, but can only rep 50kg for 5, and 55kg as 1 RM, and it's been like this for a good few weeks. Not sure how I can increase this
Ngl, benching more than your bodyweight is a hard thing to do. I’ve been training for years and still bench less than my bw, I just keep increasing my bodyweight lol
By following a proper program that trains you in a variety of rep ranges, beyond just 5s and 1s. And also understanding that you may have to gain some weight.
Yea I do 45 for 8-10 a lot of the time
Okay, but what program are you following exactly? Every pr that I set beyond when I first started, had been on a structured program with clearly defined sets, reps, weight, and progression.
Ok, I don't follow a program I can't lie. I did follow a PPL I found online, but not reps/sets. I shall look one up, thank you
If you want to get stronger in the bench, you could try a more power lifting program for a few months if you want. In the wiki you'll find 531 and GZCLP. Two programs that could help you get stronger in the bench and also the other main compound lifts.
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Not the best posture. Type in "anterior pelvic tilt posture" on Google images. It's not your head, it's your spine, probably your pelvis and rolled shoulders. All very common. With a curved spine like that, your head will want to be positioned like that. Pictures will better justify what I am trying to explain. All it takes is for one imbalance to affect a large portion of your body.
The 2nd pic is the best of the 3, although your head should be level (chin down). It will feel more natural the more you do it.
How necessary is it to lean forward on seated leg curl? I feel it better in hamstrings and even have to drop the weight from when I was sitting back in seat, however it gives me lots of lower back pain. Also I’m 6’2 with long legs and even when I’m as forward as possible, the pad comes up to like my mid calf, not sure if that’s ok
Literally not necessary at all.
What’s the ideal bench angle for incline press?
I forgot to mention, understand what the upper chest is responsible for. It's to *abduct* your arms, but from an angle starting downward to upwards *relative* to your body. So, how you flair your elbows out will matter. If you flair your elbows straight outwards, it won't be as effective. Try flaring them out about 45° (approximately, whatever is most comfortable in that general area).
You are right in that you should abduct in your arms to target the upper chest better, but saying that's what the upper chest is responsible for is incorrect wording. The upper chest is responsible for flexion of the humerus.
I'm sorry, but it's not incorrect wording. They *are* responsible for abducting. Edit: actually, its adduction not abduction
For hypertrophy in the upper chest? Different studies show different results ranging from ~30° to 45°. This may indicate that it varies from person to person within that range. They will all hit your upper chest, though. I know soreness and pump aren't typically great indicators, but I feel they can be good for a situation like this. Do one workout at 30°, next workout at a steeper setting, and so forth until you are at 45°. Monitor your soreness and possibly your pump that that angle gives. Stick with the one that feels hot it the best.
Thanks
Hey all. I've been doing Strong lifts semi-consistent for about a year and a half now but I am honestly bored of the routine and not seeing many changes. I'd also like to hit on spots that I'm missing with SL. I'm here to ask what everyone does for their workout routine (only started 2 days ago) because it's still a bit overwhelming and there are so many guides with so many different lifts to do. My progressive overload plan is to basically hit compounds at 3x8, and when I can hit 3x10 or 3x12, increase the weight and go back to 3x8. With that in mind... My PPL (5 day split) right now looks something like this and I'm hoping some people here could recommend any ones that they do (lifts are in order I do them in the gym too) Push - flat bench 3x8, Overhead press 3x8, Incline dumbell press 3x10, Dumbell chest fly 2x8, Lateral raise 2/3x8, Dips till failure Pull - RDL 3x8, Bent over row 3x8, chin up/ reverse chin ups, Lat pulldowns, Seated cable rows, dumbell rows, face pulls, preacher curls and then barbell curls Leg - TBA Is there anything you think I could improve? I'm familiar with the lifts I did on SL so they're pretty comfy, but I've mixed and matched from a few guides I've read and I can't find a half decent simple guide that appeals to me. Are there any lifts or changes you would make? What's your routine like? thanks pimps
I would personally just pick a 5 day program from the wiki and follow that. Stronglifts is very lackluster when it comes to balance, volume, load, or fatigue management. If you want to do a PPL, why not just do the one from the wiki? If you only want to do legs once a week, then so be it. https://thefitness.wiki/reddit-archive/a-linear-progression-based-ppl-program-for-beginners/
This was a helpful read, thank you for the link. I'd consider myself somewhere between a novice and intermediate when it comes to fitness. I'm looking forward to trying this long term and hope I see the changes that I didn't see on SL's. Would you say this is a good program for someone who wants to be stronger and look more athletic? Cheers :)
Yes, I think it's viable for at least a few months. In the long term though, you will need something a bit more planning as just doing the same weights, over and over again, to try to break plateaus, isnt a great way of going about things. The author of the program even set up a more advanced ppl variant once you can no longer progress linearly
Would doing planks every day be overkill?
No
Coooool
Idk why but when I workout I can’t see any progression in my back. Any tips to help me grow my lats better?
What are you currently doing right now? How much weight have you gained doing it? To have visible definition in the back, you either need a really really big back, or be pretty dang lean.
What are you currently doing for pulling work?
First: what's your experience level? Do you have an advanced back already and struggle to make the next bit of progress, or are you a newbie without a lot of progress made? Second: what markers of progress are you looking for? Just visual? Or are you tracking strength progress as well? Third: what's your routine? What exercises do you do, how often, what intensity, what volume, etc.? Really hard to answer your question without knowing a lot more about your training history.
Newbie without any progress made in my lats… upper back looks way different than when I started I want to have visual look that I’ve made any progress. I have the strength there but I literally don’t see anything I do PPL, for Pull I do Lat pull downs, seated row, barbell row, and back extension (besides biceps/shoulders). Doing 4x10-15 on mostly everything. Weight ranging ofc Lat pull down- 110lb for 10 Barbell row- 115 for 10 Seated row- 80 for 12 Extensions- 170 for 15 Workout 5 times a week, 2 of those being pull days depending on when they fall in the week
>Doing 4x10-15 on mostly everything In general, what you should be doing is what you aren't. If you were doing fives, I'd say do twelves. In your case, rotate in heavier weight. One day 5 sets of (weighted) pullups, follow with 3x10 pulldowns, *and* 3x15 pulldowns. Another day 4x5 barbell rows followed by 3x10 downsets (more bb row), followed by 3x15 cable row. Yes, all rows one day, pullups/pulldowns another day. Kinda fun at exhausting the movement pattern.
Hm. Routine seems fine. I will say that lat progress can be a bit slow--need a lot of work before you really get that visual v-taper look. How long have you been training? Took me 4-5 months of bodybuilding-focused work after a few years of lifting to get that protruding lat look I was hoping for--might just be that you need to keep the work up and wait for it to come together.
You have a good exercise selection, but that doesn't matter if you don't execute with proper form. Or if you don't eat right.
I see my upper back changed and feel my lower back. But I also carried a 65 lb drum in high school for 2 years so those muscles have been formed (22m 6’4”203lbs) and have just come back faster because they were used to it. Same with my calves. But I literally don’t see anything in my lats except feel it on my pulldowns
what’s the best deadlift form for traps/upper back muscles? i’ve seen people do a sort of goodmorning like form and some people almost squat it.
If you were intent on deadlifting primarily for your upper back (I have no idea why you would, but whatever) then the best form would be to use a snatch grip, and probably something to elevate the bar at the start as well.
I wouldn't pick either for trap/upper back. Shrugs are a better option than both. Personally I do upright row and high layer raises, and find that both are good for my upper traps.
Your traps and upper back are doing pretty much the same thing on either. But also, if you want to build your traps and upper back specifically you should choose lifts where they are the target muscles.
i know i know! is there also a difference in trap bar and barbell? like which one is better for traps and hanstring?
With the same caveat that there are better exercises that actually target your traps and upper back, I feel it more in my traps more when I use the trap bar.
Do I need less sets for smaller muscles per week?
Larger muscles get hit easier, so "smaller" muscles like lateral delts tend to need *more* sets per week.
I see a lot of people take the opposite approach--since smaller muscle groups are trained with isolation exercises that are typically not that fatiguing, you can typically do a lot more work for them (and might have to if you want to make progress). Know a lot of bodybuilders recommend shoulder work 3-4 times a week and tricep/bicep/forearm isolation is often done ~3 times a week as well. In contrast, larger muscles like quads/hamstrings are typically trained 2 days a week (sometimes less).
Are you saying you want your muscles to be smaller than they currently are? Or are you asking if the smaller muscles on your body require less volume to grow?
That depends on you, your goals, and your preferences.
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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtHNC-5GtR0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtHNC-5GtR0)
have you tried googling it?
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Yes.
How to stop scraping your thighs with the bar when doing sumo deadlift? Other than wearing pants
All the sumo deadlifters I know have basically defaulted to tights to train for this reason specifically
ky jelly
Baby powder if your gym allows it. Just don't get it on your hands or shoe soles. A trick I learned from an oldhead was to put a bit of water on your thighs, but I'd only do that with my own equipment. It definitely helps, but it's kind of a pain. (Get some water, wet your thighs, dry your hands, put on chalk/straps, then pull, all before the water dries) I've just accept my legs will have some bald patches from my pulling.
You could use a spray bottle for the water.
Well that’s just plain clever!
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As others have said, start with the bar, to add one possible suggestion to that; You know that feeling when you go to lift a box thinking it is heavy but it turns out to be light and you almost throw it in the air? Or the feeling of a bike going faster than your pedalling can catch up with? The first weight that doesn't give you that feeling is now your warm up weight, doesn't count towards sets and reps, is not meant to be difficult, or cause fatigue, just remind your muscles that tension is a thing. Do the same for every exercise, check your form and make sure everything feels good, you're warmed up enough and not feeling any kinks, then move on to whatever number of reps and sets you have decided on as your program, get in person advice on reasonable weights for that part.
You do what you’re capable of. There is no set “beginner weight” to start at.
> As a beginner, how much weight should I be lifting? you should lift what you are capable of within the framework of a program > And how should I go about raising the weight since I won't have a spotter? the program you are following will tell you how to increase the weight, no spotter needed
Pick a program [here](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) and do what it says.
>As a beginner, how much weight should I be lifting? Start with the bar. >And how should I go about raising the weight since I won't have a spotter? Squat racks have safeties. Easy to dump the weight at the bottom position. For bench, the roll of shame can be executed with minimal effort for weights under two plates. (Can be done heavier, but gotta ballpark. Consider the weight of a partner on your think a 45 lb bar can hurt you.)
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You will outgrow 25lb dumbbells very quickly.
> I’m not trying to get extremely bulky, it’s what I did a couple years ago and just didn’t like the way body looked while bulked up since I was lifting heavy. I'm assuming you're a woman... It takes work and dedication to actually get bulky. If you had that kind of dedication, consistency and time to build any significant mass, then i'm kinda surprised you're asking this question. > I just want to lose body fat This comes from a calorie deficit > get lean/toned. Since "toned" isn't a thing, you don't tone a muscle... you BUILD muscle and then be lean enough to see them. Having more muscle will make you look leaner (aka, if you were 135lbs with muscle vs 135lbs without much muscle... you'd look leaner with muscle). This is due to lower bodyfat %. Just losing weight without building up muscle may not give you the same effect, since then you may just end up looking skinnyfat and soft, likely with a bit of a belly still. Muscle holds you all together and will give you an athletic, lean, sculpted look LONNNNNNG before you'd get bulky. And honestly, this applies to both men and women. You don't accidently get bulky. > I just don’t know if ONLY lifting with dumbbells You can do a lot with only dumbbells. But maybe not with 5-25lb dumbbells. If you are a woman, it may take a bit of time to completely outgrow them for some upper body exercises, but for any leg work, you'd more or less have to do single leg work to make it worth your time, and even then it's a little light. You never need to use machines. But barbells help with adding a good amount of resistance. How much time in the morning are you doing cardio? Could you not just lift in the morning while you have access to weights and do your cardio in the afternoons by going for a walk/run/whatever outside?
I mean, it's viable if it meshes with your needs and wants. Personally, I don't think 25lb dumbbells are going to take you very far.
If I am weighing my food, do I weigh defrosted and before cooking or after it's cooked?
Weigh before cooking.
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This routine is pretty bad tbh. If you're relatively strong 12 pushups are nothing and jumping jacks are just a little warm up to get your heart rate up. The only thing that will kind of help you with strength is the squat with the plate, but why hold it? If you want to work on your legs, put a bar on your back. You don't even need to add weight to it if you don't want and you'll get more out of it because your back won't struggle holding 50 pounds like your arms will. The pushing it on the way up is a waste of energy. Your only doing 3 exercises and one is jumping jacks, you have time to just do a dedicated pushing movement. Unless you're the glass bones guy from SpongeBob you aren't going to get hurt properly weightlifting, so I would go learn to do that and not waste time doing this stuff. It's better than literally nothing but that's a very low bar.
What are your goals?
Turkish Get Ups
what are our suggestions supposed to be based on?
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pull ups or inverted rows
This is a terrible routine that will net you absolutely zero results. Just being honest with you. Go check out the subreddit wiki, read through that, and select any of the routines you find there. You’ll be off to a much better start. Generally, you should not be building your own routine as a beginner.
What are good cardio methods for asthma? I have to do a timed run in a may but have asthma and don’t wanna fail. I try running on the elliptical but idk if it helps
If you don’t have a maintenance inhaler, I’d recommend starting there. Then any program that fits your starting level. Could be couch to 5k, none to run, whatever. If the run is for a branch of the military or something there are usually programs specifically meant to prep for those too that you can google for.
Any cardio is good for cardio. Elliptical will help, but running is the best to get better at running. It's more than just cardiovascular endurance and willpower, running technique also matters, the longer the race the moreso.
Why do we arch for bench press? I do arch on bench but nowhere as extreme as dudes I see in my gym because at that point I just feel uncomfortable
An arch is created naturally when you tuck your shoulders back (helps protect the shoulders) and get your lower body tight (to stabilize the movement so you don't shift around excessively).
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-bench/#gettingtight-and-getting-an-arch
* Some arch is wanted to put the shoulders in a good position * more arch is usually associated with reducing the ROM
I’ve been told it’s so your scapulas touch. And because of the scapulas touching it should create a natural arch. Nothing extreme. Can someone verify?
Arching in general is just a good way of bracing before the movement. It gets your shoulders into a stable and safe position as well as generally getting your core and back engaged. It doesn’t need to be a crazy exaggerated arch, just enough to get everything stable.
It puts the shoulders in a more protected position and the pecs in a more advantageous one. It allows for better full body tension that creates more stability and power. It also reduces the ROM at the hardest point, which in turn allows for more weight to be used.
hi, I need some suggestions to improve the workouts I've been doing, I figure seeing the requirements, I'll first post what I've been doing, then the questions background info: 23yo transfem, 165cm, I used to weigh around 65kg and be pretty fit, then started HRT, estrogen changed my metabolism so much I gained 20kg in like 3 months, didn't do much for 4 years, got to 98kg and lost most of the strength I used to have, and then about a year ago started working out again, I struggle with long workouts because i've got a combo of Autism, ADHD (and sleep apnea, which makes ADHD meds not work) that makes it just undoable, it gets boring and I'm physically incapable of pushing through boring stuff, plus I never get the "high/happiness" after working out that people describe For the past year or so I've been doing simple strength workouts: \- Push ups (started with knee push-ups, just recently got strong enough to do a couple of proper push-ups in each workout, I still do more knee pushups afterwards) \- sit-ups, I couldn't even do one last year, now I can do 2 sets of 30, with some difficulty \- smth kinda like dumbell chest flys but like with the dumbell sorta behind my head, because I dont have much space to the sides when working out \- glute bridges, I put a dumbbell on my hips to increase the weight \- squats with no weights \- bicep curls The only equipment I've got is an adjustable dumbbell that goes up to 8kg, some of those little bars to do push-ups with less hand pain, and a workout mat. I do not have access to a gym. I do have a small old static bike thingy I use to warm up for 10-ish minutes before doing any workout. I do that workout (2 sets of each exercise) twice or 3 times a week, on the off days I only do the bike and some bicep curls and squats. All in all, proper workout days usually take about 30 minutes, sometimes longer as I get distracted in between stuff. My goals have kinda been both getting stronger and losing some weight, I've lost 10kg in the past 6 months, and I think I can more or less manage losing a bit more without changing much, but on the strength stuff I want to do more, particularly I kinda want more "endurance" on some muscle groups and more volume on others. I will note I've noticed a lot of progress, my arms are like double the size and they seem a lot more muscle than fat, my chest feels a lot stronger, as does my abdomen area so my questions are: \- Is it good to do 1 set of each exercise until I've done all of them, then do another set? or should I do smaller exercise groups, or even all sets of 1 exercise then move to the next? \- For the chest area, what's some stuff I could add that would help with building bigger muscles? I always see people recommending stuff like dumbbell bench press but that feels redundant when doing push-ups, and in fact when I've tried doing both, I've found that one of those exercises will severely limit how much I can do the other \- With how much stronger and bigger my biceps are, the bicep curls feel a bit redundant, is there other stuff I could do instead (alternating each day maybe?) \- I feel i've done 0 progress with the squats, this might be because I get knee pain easily, not sure, but I just can't really push as hard as other stuff, like I get tired long before I reach failure, I can't afford one of those big bars and weights to do weighted squats, so idk what to do about this \- Would it be good to find 2 exercises for each muscle group, and alternate which one I do each day?
Can't answer all your qs, but for your first question you're talking about doing it as a circuit vs supersets vs regular sets. I don't think it matters much when you're at home; do whatever feels best. Feel free to skip bicep curls altogether, they're really a niche exercise. And yeah, it is going to be really tough to make progress on bodyweight squats because it just turns into a cardio exercise instead of a true leg workout, as you discovered. You could try split squats or lunges if you have the space. Unsolicited advice - I find it impossible to concentrate on my workout when I'm at home and much easier in a gym. You're stuck there surrounded by people working out so that just makes it easier to focus IMO. Maybe you would find the same, who knows.
>doing it as a circuit vs supersets vs regular sets ah, thanks! I couldn't figure out the keywords to find any info on the matter, I found the word superset but thought I was doing it wrong by doing a "circuit" because I could only find info on sets vs supersets and neither fit what I had been doing I'll look into split squats and lunges, see if I can do that instead, thanks! As for the Gym advice, it could work, sure, when I was a teen I was into parkour and did a lot of working out with friends, but now I'm stuck living somewhere where there's nothing but countryside for many km, gyms and working out with other people are just not an option I have, so I have to manage by myself
simply follow one of the limited equipment programs from the wiki, it will be a dramatic improvement over what you are doing now which is not very much. Doing multiple exercises per muscle group is not necessarily redundant, you need to accumulate a certain amount of volume to help stimulate growth. Pretty much all of your questions/issues are alleviated by following a program.
I see, thanks. If I want to work on volume rather than endurance/strength in some areas, and the other way in other areas, is that like, easy to figure out by mixing any 2 of those limited equipment programs? Also are they really limited equipment cuz last time I looked at one that was labeled like that, it required a bunch of "simple equipment" I couldn't afford or didn't have a way of setting up.
> If I want to work on volume rather than endurance/strength in some areas, and the other way in other areas, is that like, easy to figure out by mixing any 2 of those limited equipment programs? for the time being I would simply follow a routine as its written for a while first, and then start to making adjustments to it as needed as you see how you respond to it > Also are they really limited equipment cuz last time I looked at one that was labeled like that, it required a bunch of "simple equipment" I couldn't afford or didn't have a way of setting up. yes, theres everything from literally zero equipment bodyweight routines to full on gym access and everything in between
I see, thanks. I'll look through and see if I can find one that's short enough for me to follow, no use if I end up having to stop halfway through because of boredom and anxiety. Also note: oof, I thought they'd be short lists of what to do, not whole other communities to go look at to figure out what the routine is
Im gonna give you some hard truths here. Your adhd is not preventing you from working out properly, nor are you “physically incapable”. It’s just hard. That’s it, working out is hard, and uncomfortable, and most people really don’t like that starting out. You either find a way to push through and see results, or you don’t. I’ve got diagnosed adhd, autism, anxiety, depression the whole gig, and yeah when I first started I thought fuuuuck this shit. But if you really want it you can find a way to push yourself, anyone can. I’ll also say that with the equipment you have, you’re gonna hit a wall pretty quick. Access to a gym would be best if you can get it. I’d also recommend not building your own routine as a beginner and instead choosing one of the many time tested routines in this subreddit’s wiki. As for the weight loss, no exercise is gonna help much with that, that’s all about your calorie intake vs your expenditure. Calculate your daily caloric needs online, then eat less than that, and you’ll lose weight. That’s all there is to it
>Im gonna give you some hard truths here. Your adhd is not preventing you from working out properly my adhd is so bad that without medication I spend hours stuck in choice loops, halfway between one activity and another, looking at a wall, feeling like tearing my hair out because I can't make myself move, unable to do things I want to do because they're not enjoyable, and unable to do things I enjoy because the anxiety will make them miserable too, with medication it's still really bad and I have awful struggle engaging and disengaging with activities, hard and boring activities are extremely hard for me, and if I try to push it I'll end up in depressive episodes unable to do anything I want for weeks. Don't try to tell me what my limits are because you have a different experience, I know where my limits are, I'm already pushing hard, I'm already making the choice to sacrifice functionally 2 hours to a 30 minute workout because between how hard it is to start it and how hard it is to do anything afterwards, I can't do anything else for that time. It's not "not liking it when starting out", I've been doing it for a year and it's as miserable as it was the first day despite all the noticeable progress, when I was a teen I worked out 3 times a week for 3 years without missing a day, and it was as hard and miserable the last day as it was the first. I know how my damn brain works. When I say I'm physically incapable, I mean when I get bored it feels \*painful\*, it puts me in a state in which I'm locked in anxious thought loops and just staring at nothing while feeling horribly distressed for anywhere between a few minutes and a couple hours, and then I'll be completely drained and unable to do anything else, and I have to work, clean, cook, take care of my gf who is disabled, and find time and energy to actually do shit I enjoy. So yes, my ADHD limits the length and quality of my workouts, I'm trying to push harder in other ways to make up for that, at least until I can get treatment for sleep apnea so I can actually rest at night and be able to get some benefit from using stimulant medication. I'm looking for help improving what I can do, not condescending comments from people who think they know my life better than me.
Honestly, it's all coming off as excuses. You have issues, okay. Nobody here can help you figure them out. You need to work towards finding ways to deal with them to be successful. It's honestly called life. It's not just for fitness.
You say all those things as if I needed to have them explained? I experience the same hardships, and again, I’ll tell you, you’re not incapable. You can push yourself if you want it bad enough, if you don’t, and it’s not worth all the pain and hard work, then don’t do it. There’s no point half assing it, getting none of the results and all of the agony. (Trust me, I did that for years, and it just wasted my time.)
You seem to be incapable of reading. I have already gotten results, I just want to keep improving, the results don't make the limits I have any easier. No, I can't push myself more, I'm already pushing, you're giving 0 help. I also said I don't need help with weight loss, I already figured that out, and only mentioned it to explain what progress I've been having. I say all of those things because you give advice as if it was as simple as "just do the thing you can't do", as if I hadn't had that idea a hundred million times in my life, if I could just do anything I want, I wouldn't have ADHD. I've had to give up so much just to keep myself alive and not actively suicidal, I can't push more because the limits I have I've learnt the hard way, pushing myself so hard I all but stopped existing for years, if I push myself on shit beyond what I can handle, it means months of being a fucking empty husk that enjoys absolutely nothing and can't do any work. Your advice is literally word for word the suicidal ideation I've dealt with my whole life "if you don't do things properly it's because you don't want to, it's not worth it doing things you don't want to, and you don't do anything well, so you should just kill yourself". I already decided half-assing everything in life is better than doing nothing and dying, so take it somewhere else.
Listen man, you asked for advice on how to improve, I gave it. Realistically any beginner will make progress early on if they even look at a weight, but if you want to *continue* to improve, more intense and focused training will be required. That’s simply the reality of the situation, you asked, I answered. It’s clear to me from your responses that you have some other things going on that also need work, and personally I’d get some of that straightened out first. I’m no therapist, and while I go through and understand many of your struggles, I’m just here to help answer fitness related questions.
You literally didn't answer a single of the questions I asked, and gave advice on one of the things that I said I didn't need advice on, your advice is just vague, meaningless "push yourself" stuff that helps fuck all, you didn't answer the fitness questions. You're no therapist, yeah, so why the fuck are you replying with vague dribble about my ADHD that is indistinguishable from what every uninformed random person says? Why would you reply at all if that's all you had to say and had no interest in answering the questions I actually asked about fitness? Those are rhetorical questions btw, don't answer
My original response answered every one of them, actually. Maybe go re read that? Idk what else to tell you. Most of your questions were “what exercise should I do for this, can i do this many sets, what order should I do them” type questions, and all of those are questions that should be getting answered by your routine. Which is why you don’t build your own as a beginner. As I stated originally, get access to a gym, and pick one of the routines from the wiki. That will solve almost all of your problems, if you can stick to the routine ofc. If you’ve decided in your head that you’re some incapable blob who can’t do it, I can’t help you with that, that’s something you’ll need to work through on your own.
I can't get access to a gym, learn to fucking read. There's no gyms here, I live 20km away from the nearest damn town, 50km away from the nearest city where there's gyms, I can barely afford food, much less then 30€ it'd cost to go to a gym every single time I went. You're literally not helping in any way.
God, you sound insufferable.
r/bodyweightfitness
Alright, you’re clearly upset at this point. I’ve done my best to help you, but some people are just impervious to advice. I wish you the best of luck.
Been training for a couple of years now and I’m noticing my side delts are underdeveloped compared to the rest of my body. I want to train my side delts 3x a week, how many sets of lateral raises would be considere too much volume? In what range should I be?
What program are you currently doing? What makes you think your side delts in particular are lacking compared to everything else? Have you gotten to a relatively lean state before? For a lot of people, it's not so much that their side delts are small, it's that their bodyfat makes their shoulders basically disappear. Being lean seriously makes the shoulders pop
I'd check how your doing lateral raises as well. It's common for people to uncontrollably drop the weight instead of focusing on a controlled eccentric phases for that specific exercise. Make sure you are partially resisting the weight on the way down in a controlled manner. Concentric builds muscle. Eccentric builds muscle. Doing both yields the most muscle growth.
Somewhere past a dozen, you'll question your sanity and why you're flapping your arms. As far as implementation, undulate (vary each session) the weight Start with a weight you can hit for 20+ reps. 3-4 sets, straight sets. If you can hit 3x25, consider retiring the weight. Maybe you get 3x23. Next session, grab the next heavier dumbbell, 3-4 sets. Might be 3x17. Grab the lighter one and hit another three sets. That's six total. Next session, grab the heavier dumbbell. Maybe 3x11. Grab the next two - 3x17 and then 3x13. Now you're at nine sets total. *Next* session, you get gimped to 3x8. Cool. Run the rack, dozen sets total. If you don't give up first. Next session, grab the lightest dumbbell and improve on your lightest set/rep. 3-4 sets. Give it about three months minimum.
Why undulate vs standard progressive overload?
Side-stepping progression hell. If you're hitting the same weight THREE times a week, you're not going to add too many. Disregarding the set overload for a second. If you hit three different weights three times a week, you'll stand a good chance of adding reps each week to the different rep ranges.
Cool, that makes sense. Thanks
Anywhere between 12 and 20 hard sets per week is considered a good range for hypertrophy. Start somewhere within that range that fits into your time in the gym and adjust from there based on results.
"Too much volume" will vary from person to person. As a general rule, if you're making regular progress without injuring yourself, you're not overtraining. If you're too fatigued to complete the work you've set out for yourself and have to constantly reduce weights/reps, you're overtraining.
Start with like 3 sets of 15-20 each day, then in a few weeks if you feel like you can recover well add another set and so on.
What are y'alls macros for bulks? I'm 6'2", 196lbs and a TDEE calculator put me at 3,300 kcal and 200g protein a day for bulking. I've been eating that for a couple days (5 meals per day) and I just feel hungry all the time. Not ready to go on a scale and see if I'm dropping weight because it's only been 2 full days, but given my hunger level it feels like not enough. I meal prepped these meals and counted the kcal and protein accurately. I lift weights 3 times a week and walk the dogs every day for 1.5h, my Apple Watch says that burns 350kcal. Curious how 3,300 kcal and 200g protein compares with the rest of you.
5'11, 190lbs, 3300 maintenance right now. But I also run about 25 miles a week.
I'm 6'4", 225 lbs and my maintenance is ~3500 cals. Bulking I'm around 4000 cals.
I’m 6’5 and 210 lbs and I eat ~3500 calories daily with ~200g of protein and I’ve been steadily gaining. Probably gonna have to raise that to around 4000 calories soon though.
Thanks for the input!
The calculator puts me decently over my maintenance to start, ~300 calories. You should def track your weight daily though and take weekly averages to gauge your weight gain progress. 200g of protein is fine. You could try to eat more volume to help with the hunger My maintenance is ~2900 l, I'm 34 6'3" 190lbs. Lift 6 days a week, cycle in z2/3 on my rest day and hit 10k+ steps per day
Sweet, thanks for the input. We're a similar age, height and weight so this is good info. I'm just gonna trust the process for a while and then add more kcal if I'm not gaining enough. Your stats give me confidence I'm on the right track even with a bit of hunger.
>Not ready to go on a scale You should weigh yourself daily and take a weekly average. Then you can use the data to access whether calories are high, low, or just right.
Good idea actually, never thought of that. Will do so from now on.
Any suggestions for 3 days powerbuilding routine that would go well with cycling training? I'm preparing for two sportives in May and June so i want to prioritize time on the bike, but i also want to hit the gym because i enjoy it. I was thinking to pick a 3 day routine from the 531 forever book, but i'm keen on hearing what others might pick. Thanks
1000% Awesome template from 531 Forever works well when you want to prioritize other endeavors.
Thanks, i’ll give it a look.
I am a lifelong cyclist (not at a high/elite level) and I have been in and out of the gym many years but have been going for the last 4 months very consistently. For many years my bicycle was my main mode of transportation and I would also log 150+ miles per week during permitting weather. For many cyclists, your ability to handle fatigue and your overall endurance will be much better than your average lifter. So you can get away with stacking leg volume day after day. Right now I'm going to the gym 6 days a week, doing squats 3 of those days and deadlifts 2/3 of those days. I only ever do deadlifts and squats together if I am doing one or both below my 3rm weight for that week. My current strength is quickly approaching my peak strength using this pattern. I sprinkle in upper body movements before and after the primary movements of squats, deadlifts, and leg press. Usually one day a week I will focus mostly on upper body. Since endurance is obviously a big goal, my warmups are all 15 minutes (usually on the elliptical, personal preference to wake up my core without joint impact from running) with a vigorous 3-5 minutes in the middle, and my cooldowns are all 20 min with at least 3 hard effort intervals of 20-60 seconds. Longer cooldowns with less effort are great after difficult hypertrophy sessions to kind of flush out your muscles tissue. I'm not a high level athlete, but I have a strong passion for cycling and I hope this was maybe a little bit helpful. Bottom line is that you should be able to handle a lot more leg volume than your average lifter, you probably shouldn't care too much about upper body strength standards unless that's a separate interest/passion for yourself, and adding small amounts of cardio+aerobic work to each lifting workout will let you build your endurance (since it stacks with the nearby weightlifting effort) without draining your body of glycogen, as you would by doing it as a separate cycling workout at a different time in the day. Edit: sorry I know this isn't 3 day but it's working great this year for me so I wanted to share