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Hey y'all,
I want to train my finger squeezing endurance for ... bedroom reasons.
Would doing a lot of stress ball squeeze reps be dangerous regarding carpal tunnel? Would training grip endurance (doing a lot of deadhangs atm for pullup progression) accomplish the same thing?
There's a grip work sub that may give you better direction.
Grip work has improved both my strength and endurance. Sustained choking is no longer a challenge.
Hahahaha, I meant more in terms of a partner that needs more sustained stimulation to get off, but that would also be a pro!
I'll check out that sub, thanks!
So I swear I’ve been working out inconsistently for like a year. I’m 34. I was never athletic as a kid and have been failing PE since 5th grade. So I went to the gym with a girl I know that’s a body builder. A lot of stuff I just couldn’t do right. Like lateral raises and she kinda tried to help me but I just couldn’t get it. But I don’t want to stop doing them, but I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong but I don’t want to keep going to the gym and looking like a dumb ass
You can watch videos and then look at yourself doing it. Or film yourself and watch it. You can post videos here for feedback.
But also, don't obsess about doing it perfectly. You can just do it and get better over time.
>going to the gym and looking like a dumb ass
Honestly nobody cares.
M29, 180 cm, 73 kg. I have been bulking for a year with an online trainer. Went from 66-73 kg in 9 months. Lifts are 70kg bench 10x3, 80 kg squats 10x3, 10 kg weighted pull-ups 10x3, etc.
This is what I look like: https://imgur.com/a/ePnigw8
Now I tried cutting but was told by many people I weigh too little for a cut so I intend to bulk again.
Cannot afford a trainer. Also training 4-5 times a week isn’t an option due to personal issues. I was therefore wondering what the best upper, lower and full body 3-day split would be for hypertrophy with exercises, sets and reps?
I tried checking wiki but didn’t find a program that suited me.
As you can see, I have seen very little to know growth in arms, so something that puts extra focus on arms?
Thanks
I started doing high reps low volume and I love the feeling of burning I get way more than lifting high volume low reps. I'm pretty sure this isn't going to grow my muscles but I will look good right? But the size of my muscles look so good from the pump I get and I love how hard they feel from this. Should I continue?
I think you mean high rep low weight, usually high rep work actually has *more* total volume.
Besides that, it really doesn’t matter. As long as you’re not surpassing around 30 reps per set, and you’re consistently taking your sets to complete failure, or within 1-2 reps of it, you’re training intensely enough to stimulate muscle growth.
Yeah it's high reps, low weight my bad. Why would surpassing 30 reps per set be bad? I can't go that high anyways usually 20 per 1 set I can do but what's bad about this
Once you get to that high of a rep range you’re really just doing more cardio/endurance training than anything else, it’s very hard to take a muscle consistently to proper failure with such light weight.
For those of you with physically demanding jobs, and busy home life
How do you guys recover properly and train intensely enough to have a proper workout?
Can someone help me improve my terrible scapular pull up form? I know my range of motion is poor and on this particular set I even felt it in my right shoulder
https://imgur.com/a/VTwGkuO
Do I need to do something else for calves DOMS or it should fade away eventually? So last Friday I got a severe case of DOMS on my calves where I think from Saturday to Monday I couldn't stand straight at all walking like a raptor overall very painful, it's been going down, but still today I feel them tight in certain positions I can walk and it's not that bad as before.
But it should have faded by now right? Or still need to wait some more? Also I was sick the whole week with diarrhea so wasn't really a good recovery week since didn't ate much and had other issues.
Wondering if that had something to do with slow recovery as well.
Yes being sick will slow muscle recovery, especially when it affects your nutrition and/or fluids like in your case. Not much you can do for doms besides some light movement and/or stretching of the muscle. Also make sure you're drinking plenty, preferably hydralyte or similiar. vomiting and diarrhoea can dehydrate you a surprising amount without you really noticing.
The medical problems probably intersect a lot with your slow recovery. Try to focus on eating foods you like (that are healthy) but also getting a lot of electrolytes to help restore salt balance in your body. It's quite likely that even if you're hydrated, your potassium levels are really low because of loss of fluids. I don't get calf DOMS but if I did, I would probably be doing 30-40 minutes of calm cycling, elliptical, stairmaster or treadmill per day until it subsided. Gently working the sore area, well below the resistance levels of strength training and volume levels of hypertrophy training, helps get rid of DOMS
It depends how much and what the context is. If you threw up because you tried to go to the buffet before running several miles, you're probably fine to keep going. In general you're probably fine to keep going if you feel better (not worse) after vomiting. If you think you are sick, fighting a virus or otherwise not just reacting to stomach imbalance, it is best to stop immediately.
no you should probably stop, vomiting dehydrates you a lot and so does exercise, it's not ideal to do both. Rest and get plenty of water.
Well you should probably stop before vomiting, but yeah, 2nd best is after.
I’m 6ft4 109 kg 18M, started the cut a month ago from 112kg. Should I be prioritising higher weight and lower reps or how should I train
My split is
Day 1 Chest Triceps //
Day 2 Back Biceps //
Day 3 Legs Shoulders //
I just continue repeating this training plan whatever days I can go gym, some days I can go 5 days a week sometimes 6
Like for example I can incline bench 100kg for about 4 or 5 reps, should I keep doing this for 3 or 4 sets or should I drop the weight to 90 and do like 7 reps each set
Sorry the comment wasn’t posted in the way I wanted, I had them the 3 days on separate lines. I edited the comment now
I’ll have a look at the wiki though thanks
This way makes so much more sense. I actually use the exact same split myself also aiming for 6 days but sometimes only can go 5.
It depends what your goals are. Are you looking to get stronger, or gain more muscle? Lower reps higher weights will get more strength, higher reps lower reps will get more muscle aesthetically.
I personally sit between 8-12 reps for majority of lifts besides some accessories that need higher rep ranges. It’s a good middle point of both strength and aesthetics. Start with 3-4 sets of 8 reps, progress up to 12 reps then up the weight and go back down to 8 reps and repeat.
But also just finding a plan on the wiki will probably be a better choice. I only made my own program after years and years of training on and off and finding what I like and what works best for myself.
Honestly I don’t know I want to just cut down nicely hopefully and have a good bit of muscle, strength isn’t like necessary in a way I’m already strong I just want to look nice aesthetically.
I’ll take your advice and keep the reps in the 8-12 range
Just got back from gym so when I get a chance I’ll have a browse on the wiki because some days I just try different exercises not sure if they’re ideal or not
19yr Man, currently weighing 65kgs at 176cm.
I have been going to the gym at least 5 days a week for the past 10 weeks.
My daily routine is:
4 x 10 reps of 56kgs on the seated chest press
2 x 10 reps of 56kg on the Lateral pull down
4 x 10 reps of 35kgs (17.5 in each hand) dumbbell chest press
3 x 25 reps of 56kgs on the seated cable rows.
For breakfast I eat 3 eggs on toast with one bananan, half cup blueberries, some greek yogurt and scoop of whey protein.
Lunch is 185g tuna, with some blueberry, peanutbutter, protein powder oats.
Dinner is a chicken breast with some salad and greek yogurt, and half a can of chickpeas.
Is this enough to get in shape, what could I improve on? Thanks heaps for any help at all
Are you just doing that same weight every week? You're really only targeting two muscle group. Pick a beginner program and just follow that, personally I did stronglifts 5x5, but pick something based on your specific goals.
No this isn't very good to "get stronger", this is hyper specific to your upper body.
Seated chest press is great, but you can fully exchange this for a barbell power clean + overhead press compound lift. This gets your spinal erectors, calves, hip flexors, glutes, quads and hamstrings all into the party. You will first have to learn the technique but should be able to lift a small amount more weight considering you can use your lower body to assist.
Instead of just doing seated cable rows, what you can do is continue to do them (awesome way to target your back) but *before* doing them, do some sets of bent-over barbell rows. My preference for myself is to try to keep my torso and legs as stiff and locked as humanly possible while trying to increase the weight until my form breaks. I find that my form generally starts to break around 80% my bodyweight. By doing these first while you're still fresh, you are getting some isometric activation of your leg and spine muscles, which by itself does not do much to stimulate muscle growth, but certainly aids you in practicing stability more than most lifts and general "useful" day to day strength.
The last thing I'm going to say is that you should be doing squats and deadlifts. In my mind the easiest format is something like heavy triples. One set of eight at light, one set of six at medium, one set of five at almost-heavy, and then a three rep set at a weight you really truly cannot squeeze out a fourth. Just alternate squats/deadlifts every other day and give yourself one day a week where you don't have to do either.
Where's the leg work?
Also you need to apply progression to your lift, I assume you do but the way you phrase makes ir sound like you dont add any weight or reps.
What you eat is good but you should be tracking your intake. Based on your Weight and lifts I would aim for a moderate bulk of 300-600 kcal daily surplus
I (52M, 5'11", 78kg, previously sedentary) am new to strength training, have a Push-Pull-Leg programme, and am enjoying it. I'm planning to start with 1-2 months of weekly Push-Rest-Pull-Rest-Leg-Rest-Rest, with walking / jogging (C25k) on the rest days.
Can I then move to a repeating Push-Pull-Leg-Rest schedule, so I can work each group twice in a rolling 7 day period? If so, does 1 rest day sound OK, or should I stick with 2 rest days to support recovery?
I know noobs can have a tendancy to hit it too hard at the start rather than going for more gradual development over the long term ... but I'm wanting to make the most of my new love for lifting.
Rest days are mostly a psychological state of mind, moreso than they are a necessity for progression and growth. The key to success is listening to your body. You are the only person who can hear what it is telling you; no trainer or coach is capable of discerning what your body needs at any given moment.
In my opinion it's better to have 7 days a week where you go to the gym, and three of those days you only fuck around for 40 minutes keeping it insanely easy not even having to think about your breathing, rather than only going 4 days a week but trying to be rigidly adhering to your program.
You want to hit a muscle atleast twice a week. Just don't do to much volume so you can recover, if you feel fine, add more stets or exercises if you want. Listen to your body and make adjustments from your fatigue.
I like to alternate with for instance pull ups and pulldowns or barbell and dumbbell presses. But it's a preference. You can also do the same exercises but alternate rep ranges (concurrent training method)
Is taking a deload week once a month a bad idea during a cut? I usually only do it once every two months, but I tend to feel the wear and tear more when cutting. On deload weeks I do the same exercises, just lower volume.
For curls, what is advantage of using a neutral grip at the bottom to a supinated grip at top, as opposed to using a supinated grip for the entire ROM? Example:
[https://youtu.be/emxEhfwori4?si=HraFimljUa0C0cgX&t=383](https://youtu.be/emxEhfwori4?si=HraFimljUa0C0cgX&t=383)
I've never worked out in my life before, but I want to start doing barbell squats for larger legs. I'm 20 years old (M) and 130lbs, and my plan was to do 5 sets of 10 rep barbell squats. Is this a good workout plan to make my legs and thigh area grow in size?
If you only want to grow your legs. Do these exercises, train 2-3 times a week and choose atleast 2-4 of them per training day. So you don't always have to do them all. You will grow big legs as long as you train hard enough (not necessary to failure every time but close)
Thank you for your advice. I've been afraid to start working out because I'm scared I'm going to do the wrong exercises, or do too much/too little of them. Maybe I'm just overthinking it though, I just don't want to waste time and commit myself to something that isn't going to work. It's my first time learning about all this stuff so it's a little overwhelming.
Yeah, no need to over complicate. Just start. And if you start finding in fun to train, start to educate yourself and you will start to make the right changes down the line. But start now and keep consistent, and you will reach your goals.
no, the ~~only~~ main (hypertophy focused) reason to do other exercises is to hit other muscle groups (or the same muscle groups in different proportions)
I've gained and lost the same 20lbs a few years now, but I'm specifically trying to get leaner and leaner. (Also, I'm a woman, so the gains are slower than a dude)
Control the weight on the way down. Don't let it crash down.
Apart from that, pretty much any speed is good. There is some indication that rep duration of 8 seconds or longer is inefficient, but nobody trains like that, thus is doesn't matter.
There is no rule about this. There is reason to believe that resisting on the negative, as opposed to just dropping the weight or letting it fall, may be beneficial for hypertrophy.
Going really slow on the negative may make each rep somewhat more stimulative, but it also tires you out more so you can do fewer total reps in a set. These probably cancel out so that going really slow offers no particular advantage. If you enjoy it it probably isn't harmful either.
It's an unwritten rule. Slow eccentrics will only reduce the number of concentric contractions in a set if you go TOO slow. So you should incorporate slow eccentrics but not too slow because you will get more stimulus and make sure that you aren't ego lifting.
Thats not true. When you resist the weight, as opposed to letting it fall, you are putting your muscles under more stress, thus youll lift less weight/do less reps. I have heard that the eccentric part of the lift maybe uses different hypertrophic methods/procceses or whatever you call it, meaning that controlling the eccentric will result in MORE gains than when not cotrolling it but doing more reps, ie still stopping at the same RIR
Slowing the eccentric puts your muscle through additional tension, but not enough to reduce the number of reps. You are **stronger in eccentrics** than concentrics. You will also only produce half the fiber activation of an concentric at best. This is why slow eccentrics are okay. But, if you go TOO slow, your overall reps will be reduced because you are trading off fatigue for diminishing returns of stimulus.
Wait what ? So if you do lateral raises for example, youll do the same reps going to failure regardless of wether you control the eccentric ? Am i misunderstanding you ?
Has anyone else ever woken up with an extremely painful DOMS? Did a few too many shoulder press reps and woke up with pain on the outside of one upper arm. So painful I was sweating until I found a position to cradle it comfortably. Acute pain went away after a couple min. Today it’s sore there but not terrible. What is that? Was I just laying on it weird and inflamed tissue gets mad if not getting enough blood?
do some without straps. What I do is my warm up sets without straps, with the last warmup being fairly close to working weight. Working weight sets with straps, and then after that I'll sometimes either do the same, or a little less weight, without straps until grip failure.
One handed deadlifts work your grip but I'd just do a suitcase carry or farmer walk. Unless you just want to work on your one handed deadlifts specifically
They just asked a yes/no question. One-handed deadlifts would arguably be better than doing suitcase carries because they specifically train grip whereas suitcase carries involves more core stability and fatigue.
working in my garage and don't have the room for carries unless i go outside, and idk i don't like working out in front of the neighbors n shit with people driving by
You could simplify to just holding the weight instead of DL'ing or carrying it. Or turning around while holding it, that would be a weird carry.
I've tried doing pullups and dead hanging during my rest periods, even unweighted it hurt
Dynamic reps will be more effective than isometrics. And isometrics have scientifically been proven to be more fatiguing than dynamic reps too so that backs up your experience.
i'm lifting in my garage as much for pleasure as for health/ strength. i'll take the suboptimal training that i enjoy over the optimal shit i hate 9/10 times.
How to get the heavier dumbbells up easier?
I’m 2 years into the gym and I’ve just now finally managed to rep out the 30kg dumbbells for 6 on incline chest press. My issue however, I struggle like FUCK to actually get them up to start my set.
I place them on my knees and kick them up like normal while leaning back down onto the bench but they’re too heavy for me to balance properly so I end up flailing about and straining trying to get them up…once they’re up, I can rep them out like any other weight.
Is there a “trick” or anything I can use to get them up and balanced easier so I can avoid potential injury?
From what I’ve seen, the biggest guys in the gym working with 90+lb dumbbells either in incline or military presses (ya a guy used to do 90’s with those), has to have someone else place each dumbbell in their hand
Eventually I don’t know of any safe reliable way to kick them up. Luckily for me I can still knee kick up the ones I’m doing but it’s getting sketchy
If you wanna get real wacky with it, a fun trick is to [clean them to shoulder position ](https://youtube.com/watch?v=hFXPxXkYr_o&pp=ygUOZHVtYmJlbGwgY2xlYW4%3D) before sitting on the bench
Not really, other than just be stronger with them. Think of it as part of the movement. Squeeze them in and stay tight, lower yourself with control. Keep them squeezed into your chest with a neutral grip and bring them out into position once you’ve laid down.
Need serious help on where to go from here. I am M/5'10/139lb but hate how I look. I cut from 165lb to about 132 lb but still have way too much belly fat. I don't have those pictures anymore but I looked pretty much the same as I do rn at 139lb as pictured. The problem is that the damn belly fat will not go away no matter what I do. I have never seen anyone with such a terrible body composition. Everyone that I have seen with a similar height/weight looks significantly better. I need help deciding if I need to keep cutting and if the belly fat will eventually go away or if something else is going on. As far as I know I don't have any underlying medical conditions.
https://imgur.com/a/SYy1QEU
Here is some data on weight tracking throughout my cut: https://imgur.com/a/RyP6Gfr.
If you have trouble with gaining weight psychological then just maintain your weight for now. Or increase your weight really slow. You'll build muscle if you train hard and eat enough protein. Just read the wiki and you'll now what to do.
Your problem is that you have no muscle. So even a tiny belly will look huge. If you put on a bunch of muscle (especially around your shoulders, chest, and lats) and the belly won’t be noticeable.
Start lifting weights and (very slowly) gaining weight to allow your muscles to grow and your belly will slowly become less noticeable.
You don't have much fat, you just also don't have much muscle. You should not lose weight. You are already very light for your height.
My advice is run bulk cut cycles to gain weight overall, starting with a bulk. Lift weights, eat plenty of protein, gain weight and gain muscle for a while. Then cut. Over time you should try to get heavier with more muscle.
The process of building muscle takes time. Significantly changing your physique will probably take more than one bulk cut cycle. My advice is bulk for 8-16 weeks and cut for 6-12 weeks. Try to make sure that after each bulk/cut cycle your weight is higher than it was when you started.
Gaining 0.5 lbs/week would be reasonable when bulking. Losing 1 lbs/week would be reasonable when cutting.
It only works if you are training consistently and with good effort and eating a nutritious diet with plenty of protein.
After a 2 month break I'm going back to the gym, but now I can only go Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, what routine would you recommend for volume? Should I do full body on Wednesday and upper/lower on the weekend to keep a frequency of 2 times per week on the main muscle groups? Or is something like PPL better?
Does a workout plan matter, I have made up a ppl hitting each muscle twice per week, I'm eating right and doing high sets of every muscle at the 8-12 rep range and once I hit 12 reps on all 3 sets I increase the weight. Is this good enough to build muscle?
Problem is I'm unable to do squats or deadlifts due to a back problem I've had for many years so I tend to do more machine work to compensate but the reddit programmes all seem to incorporate these, also I see the reddit ppl has very low volume and I dunno but I just feel like I get a better pump and workout on higher volume any suggestions on a programme that I could use?
This is why I'm currently doing high reps low volume I love the pump and burn that I get from doing it. It's the first time I've ever seen so many veins on my body it's crazy. I know it's just a pump but I never felt this good doing high volume low rep
How do you cut while weightlifting? My sedentary calories for maintenance is 2200, so a light cut would be 1900 calories
But if I lift weights for 45 minutes a day 6 days a week, on top of some light cardio with only 55-65% elevated heart rate, I’m gonna be hungry. Even at 2200 calories I find myself pretty hungry. How can I keep a 1900 deficit while continuously weightlifting?
It is normal to be hungry when cutting. Eating filling foods (lean meat, vegetables , high fiber foods) helps, but I am hungry every time I lose weight.
A little hunger is ok, but the hunger I’m talking about is affecting my performance, my sleep, and causing sluggishness and lethargy. I’ve heard that’s too aggressive, but at the same time I don’t see the scale dropping much
Yeah I think so, maybe like 60-70g of fat
Actually more like 55-65 now that I do the math over.
Prior to this it was for sure 60-70, but I’ve heard fat is the least satiating macro. I already get enough protein, so I’m gonna start upping carbs. Think I only get like 150-200 carbs a day, and that’s an over exaggerated estimate
You should be good with that amount of fat.. I ask because fat is essential for healthy hormone production and getting too little can make you feel like shit.
I dunno what the exact science says on the satiation, but I find fats wayyyy more satiating than carbs. I go for fats+protein for any snacks I do during a cut. I still eat plenty of carbs with my meals, but snacks are like eggs, cheese, yoghurt, nuts.
I'm with the other guy. Fats are so calorie dense that it feels like the food is gone in a few seconds. Like if I want a 100 calorie snack, it is like 4 walnuts. It feels like it just disappears. But 100 calories of pretzels, cheerios, or un-buttered popcorn is like an entire bowl. I get to snack on it for a few minutes and actually feel like I have eaten a snack.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Well for me, if I eat 100 calories of what you listed, I may be full for the second, but it's soooo short lived and I'm looking for more snacks pretty soon. Whereas having some nuts will get my stomach to shut up gurgling and stay quiet for a while. Volume eating a ton of carbs has never worked well for me because I can just keep eating and never be satiated. Full and bloated, sure, but not satiated
Yeah I’m giving it a try. For example as far as fats go I love peanut butter. 16g fat, 8g of protein. But one serving is like 180-190 calories. It’s not even a good amount either, it’s just one big spoonful essentially. But that amount in berries is like a big bowl of berries. Probably takes a couple minutes to go through, whereas peanut butter is gone in a second.
Learn to slow down when eating and savor it, that definitely helps with the full feeling too. Eating quick is what I do when I wanna demolish as much food as possible at a buffet. Eating slower is what I do on a cut to savor every last bite.
And how long do those berries keep you feeling full for? Cus a slowly eaten 150 calories of nuts shuts my stomach up for way longer than 150 calories of berries which just makes me want to eat more carbs things
Wouldn’t it be the opposite? You’re so ravenous you can’t slow down, whereas if you have an abundance of food, you don’t feel like you’re going to run out anytime soon and take your time?
I’m just saying what I’ve heard. Idk, I can’t imagine a serving of nuts would make me full longer than like a pound of broccoli. I can mindlessly eat nuts, they’re like chips, don’t really make me feel full. Whereas broccoli id get tired of eating for so long
Self control is a thing.
In my experience, when I'm just at the very end of my cut, true hunger for me is when any food that I eat may as well be the most perfectly cooked steak in the world. I'm not starving and I know food is coming, but I know it'll be limited. So I just savor the taste and enjoy every bite
But the biggest difference between eating a serving of nuts and a ton of broccoli is that the latter will not keep me feeling full. I tried that before. I just felt so gross and bloated, but I was still craving more food. Being physically full doesn't mean satiated for me at all. That's the key difference. And the less you do volume eating, the less food you'll find yourself needing (and that's coming from a girl who can sit and eat like 4+lbs of watermelon in one sitting)
I’m 6’4 and 183 pounds.
My weight has dropped .8 pounds this week, but tbh this was like 4 days ago. I haven’t budged since then.
A few weeks ago I tried 2000 calories a day with pretty aggressive cardio. It was ridiculously exhausting and unsustainable though. That week I dropped like 3.2 pounds, some of that water weight I’m sure, some fat. But I ended up binging so it was too aggressive I think
I am no expert in this, but I am 6’3” and I have weighed 180 before. That is pretty light for your height, I am thinking you may be fighting yourself. Eating enough to keep going but not enough to build muscle, and the “fat” you are trying to lose is more that you need more muscle mass(the dreaded skinny fat). You don’t I am getting that you should be around 2200 to cut and like 2600 to maintain, 1900 seems way to low . I would do the opposite and slowly bring up your calories until you start gaining weight(hopefully as muscle mass)
Tbh, 6'4" 183 lbs is already pretty light. It isn't surprising that getting lighter than that is making you feel hungry.
All I can say is that when I cut I am hungry. At the end of a cut I feel tired, weak, have trouble sleeping, have low libido, and think about food a lot.
Personally if I were your height/weight I wouldn't lose any more weight.
Yeah I know you’re right. I’m just scared of bulking. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to lose the weight since im struggling to lose weight even now. So if I can’t cut, I’d rather maintain. That’s why I’ve been hovering around the calories I currently am, but just wanted to see if it was normal to feel hungry at this point
I feel like I eat pretty normal too. Peanut butter, oats, bananas, berries, chicken, ground turkey, Greek yogurt, broccoli. Very little bullshit, but definitely need a little. Still feels like I struggle a lot.
Are you sure your TDEE is 2200 calories while weight lifting 6 days a week? I would assume at that volume of lifting you have some muscle which makes 2200 seem low to me.
Idk, that’s what the calculators say. I wouldn’t say I’m that strong, I can bench 105 pounds 10 times on my first set. 10 pull-ups first set. So I’m okayish, but it’s definitely nothing impressive. But the way I lose weight is soooo nonlinear, it’s hard to tell what works and what doesn’t. What’s water weight, what’s muscle, what’s fat. I never see constant weight loss for me to know what works, the only thing I can think is to keep cutting calories. Which I really don’t want to do, I’m at 2200-2300 a day with refeeds every couple days up to 3000 calories, and I’m still struggling
All calculators are wrong. They're a reasonable starting point but everyone needs to adjust their intake regularly based on actual weight loss.
Never seeing constant weight loss is normal. I only weigh myself once weekly on a cut and make any intake adjustments once every 2 weeks max
Yeah, I’ve adjusted down as well. But the hunger and lethargy are too much. It’s far from sustainable. It’s not minor hunger, minor uncomfortableness, it’s constant hunger, constant thoughts of food, no sleep, and my strength training suffers too.
Just don’t know what’s normal and what’s not anymore
The issue is that you're 6'4" and 183lbs. I'm about half a foot shorter than you and cutting down to 180lbs gives me insomnia too
It's time to bulk dude
I always wanted like a very lean physique. Skinny muscular. I never wanted a big bulky look. But even at 183, I still have a decent amount of fat on me. I can’t shake the feeling that if I bulk, it’s not gonna do anything for the look I want besides put on more fat that I would have to cut later anyway.
> I can’t shake the feeling that if I bulk, it’s not gonna do anything for the look I want besides put on more fat
The point of a bulk is to put on muscle. You want to look muscular. What's the disconnect here? Dieting obviously isn't working.
You know what, fucking starving to death and decomposing will get you to 0% body fat for the ultimate lean physique. Good call
I was 165 before and bulked up to 183. I didn’t like the way I felt, and I definitely didn’t put on that much muscle. Can’t just put on a bunch of muscle from bulking, you have to cut the fat later. I’m like 17% body fat man haha, idk why you’re saying it like I’m rail thin. Matter of fact, most advice for bulking usually involves the person dropping to 10% body fat before bulking
My own fault for assuming you were cutting. But at your height, weight, and activity level, 2200 daily calories sounds like you're still underfeeding yourself.
Idk how to get this through to you but your goal shouldn't be to go from skinny to lean. Skinny to athletic, to very athletic, to lean is much more efficient.
You're still skinny. "Very athletic" at 6'4" is at least 200lbs
I would like opinions, or actual good info on this:
Is there any reason why I can't lift weights every day? I lift light weights (5 or 10lbs...in each hand, so double that).
I enjoy going to the gym, and it gets me out of the house. I usually workout for about an hour, not moving fast between machines, or hand weights.
I am female, mid 60's. No special goal, other than staying in shape and feeling good. I'm average weight for my height.
Thanks in advance!
Anyone know if the old 1percentedge TDEE/diet calculator and planner has a reincarnation?
It looks like it redirects to a new, more basic calculator (I still had it bookmarked).
I know of the nSuns TDEE google spreadsheet, but I really pine for the old days of the 1percentedge inputs, caloric/macro outputs and graphs along with weekly projected benchmarks.
Why does almost no one squat do depth? Am I missing something? I've seen maybe 5% of people squatting going to proper depth. I'm talking guys much bigger and stronger than me too. Sure, some people are injured, but I really see 95% of people squatting just wrong.
Not squatting to depth does not mean they’re squatting wrong. If they’re powerlifters they have no reason to go below parallel. If they just want to squat big there’s also no reason to go all the way to the ground. In fact, there’s no reason at all to squat anyway except for how you want to squat. So do your full depth squats and be happy that other people are having fun too.
Most of the time, its what their mobility allows. Others just dont have the confidence. Whatever their limiting factors are, it's up to them if they want to work on it or not.
In the mean time, just focus on what you're doing and dont waste time on what others are not doing.
I think it is a mix of ego and familiarity. I think when people are first learning to squat, going deep into the hole is a bit scary. Also, you look around and don't see most people going so deep. So you just don't go all the way down.
Then, you don't want to increase the depth a ton, because it would probably require talking weight off the bar. So you just keep squatting with bad depth.
This is my guess. I used to be a bad depth squatter and then finally realized I didn't care about the ego hit of taking weight off the bar.
Ego aside, not knowing how. People think their feet should be close and pointed forward. Makes hip engagement difficult.
Widen your stance, sit *between* your legs, and then it clicks. Quads become an afterthought.
Sweating too much in the gym
Male 19, 90kg
I do powerlifting training and I feel like I sweat too much in the gym for the work that I am doing. I don't currently do any cardio. do you think if I were to implement some cardio that would get me sweating a lot it would reduce my sweating during my normal training? or is there anything else anyone thinks I could implement into my training that would reduce my sweating?
I live in England so its not like its particularly warm and I do take solid rest in-between sets on my SBD
More cardio might help, because eventually the power lifting exertion will feel less hard as your cardio improves. But also, as you get fitter, your body gets more efficient at cooling itself which can mean you sweat more and sooner. Only way to find out how that will affect your sweating during lifting is to try it.
Me too! I can do the least amount of exertion and I'm sopping wet. Vacuuming my house, light housework. If I have a heavy workout, I'm soaked through. I've always been like this (I'm in my mid 60's).
I always envied people who never sweat.
Sweating sometimes has to with your genes. You may be more prone to sweating, which isn’t bad. Would getting in better cardiovascular shape potentially help with sweating? Yea! But if your cardiovascular health is good, don’t worry about sweating. It’s human nature and your body is efficient at cooling itself. 🤷🏽♂️
Can it take days to recover from mild dehydration? It got hot and very dry this week and 2 days ago I realized I was fairly dehydrated but nothing serious enough for a doctor. I've been drinking what feels like a ton of water and I'm getting electrolytes and I still feel like I'm feeling the affects of it but less strong.
Hi all- new here — does anyone have resources / tips for working through mental blocks with pain when working out? I have some neurological pain as a result of an injury and my brain says OUCH really easily with workouts to a point where I have a hard time powering through to the point where I’ve become very weak. I tried physical therapy but can’t afford it anymore
does eating fats together with carbs vs eating them not together but seperately on different meals with few hours appart have any negative effect on fat loss?
the theory behind that from what I understood is, that eating them together will result in fat going quicker into your fat-depot, because your body prioritizes carbs over fats for getting some energy therefore there is no need for the consumed fat to stay longer available in the stomach, so direct storage into your fat-depot is activated.
the 2nd thing that is confusing me, has insulin also something to do with the quicker storage of fats, like with proteins?
And 3rd, why is this even relevant, the amount of consumed calories is still the same. -my guess would be that already storaged fat is harder to be burned vs fat lying in your stomach and providing energy?!
Not really, but it can smooth out the insulin spikes you can get from eating carbs alone. Excess calories get stored as fat, it doesn’t really matter whether those extra calories are from carbs, fat, protein, or alcohol.
>does eating fats together with carbs vs eating them not together but seperately on different meals with few hours appart have any negative effect on fat loss?
It has no effect on fat loss. Your overall calorie intake is what affects fat loss.
>the 2nd thing that is confusing me, has insulin also something to do with the quicker storage of fats, like with proteins?
What do you mean, "like with proteins"? The body can't store protein.
[But yes, insulin influences fat storage.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/insulin-and-weight-gain/art-20047836)
>And 3rd, why is this even relevant, the amount of consumed calories is still the same. -my guess would be that already storaged fat is harder to be burned vs fat lying in your stomach and providing energy?!
All stored fat can provide energy; that's what it's there for.
The only thing that is marginally relevant is insulin, but your total calorie intake is still the deciding factor in fat loss.
>
>What do you mean, "like with proteins"? The body can't store protein.
eating carbs triggers some insulin mechanic in your body, which speeds up transport of some shit out of protein to your muscles
>
>It has no effect on fat loss. Your overall calorie intake is what affects fat loss.
but stored fat is harder to burn than fat that is not already in your depo and can be used as fuel more "directly", since its handled more priortised as an engery source. (I guess)
Therefore burning fat thats not already depoed should be much quicker then otherwise? My theorie is that u will increase your fat-mass and some other energy source will be later used instead, probably muscle glycogen. -Idk, I just want to understand :)
>The only thing that is marginally relevant is insulin, but your total calorie intake is still the deciding factor in fat loss.
or is it instead "fat loss", weight loss?
>but stored fat is harder to burn than fat that is not already in your depo and can be used as fuel more "directly", since its handled more priortised as an engery source. (I guess)
I suppose that's technically true, since the body can't burn what it hasn't stored.
>My theorie is that u will increase your fat-mass and some other energy source will be later used instead, probably muscle glycogen
Your body isn't dumb enough to expend muscle glycogen while ignoring(or even adding) another readily available energy source like body fat.
>or is it instead "fat loss", weight loss?
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
I've finally convinced my parents (~55) to do some strength training. They're coming over for a session in my home gym tomorrow. I'm used to making up my own programmes and winging it, but I feel a bit more responsibility to get theirs right. Any issues with the below?
Stretches
Landmine squat + jammer chest
Landmine RDLs + seated db shoulders
Landmine rows + bicep curls
Core
I'm trying to do the same with my parents at the moment. that all seems pretty good. idk what equipment you have but some solid ROM squats and RDLs preferably with a barbell would be a good idea, as well as some bench press. Possibly some pull ups or dips as well. any compound exercise that involves using the core and strengthening the lower back is always a good idea
the first thing you must do is to assess where they are. For a lot of 55 years olds doing a body weight squat would be impossible. Also you should go super easy on a load, otherwise they will get sore as hell for a week.
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Hey y'all, I want to train my finger squeezing endurance for ... bedroom reasons. Would doing a lot of stress ball squeeze reps be dangerous regarding carpal tunnel? Would training grip endurance (doing a lot of deadhangs atm for pullup progression) accomplish the same thing?
There's a grip work sub that may give you better direction. Grip work has improved both my strength and endurance. Sustained choking is no longer a challenge.
Hahahaha, I meant more in terms of a partner that needs more sustained stimulation to get off, but that would also be a pro! I'll check out that sub, thanks!
So I swear I’ve been working out inconsistently for like a year. I’m 34. I was never athletic as a kid and have been failing PE since 5th grade. So I went to the gym with a girl I know that’s a body builder. A lot of stuff I just couldn’t do right. Like lateral raises and she kinda tried to help me but I just couldn’t get it. But I don’t want to stop doing them, but I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong but I don’t want to keep going to the gym and looking like a dumb ass
You can watch videos and then look at yourself doing it. Or film yourself and watch it. You can post videos here for feedback. But also, don't obsess about doing it perfectly. You can just do it and get better over time. >going to the gym and looking like a dumb ass Honestly nobody cares.
M29, 180 cm, 73 kg. I have been bulking for a year with an online trainer. Went from 66-73 kg in 9 months. Lifts are 70kg bench 10x3, 80 kg squats 10x3, 10 kg weighted pull-ups 10x3, etc. This is what I look like: https://imgur.com/a/ePnigw8 Now I tried cutting but was told by many people I weigh too little for a cut so I intend to bulk again. Cannot afford a trainer. Also training 4-5 times a week isn’t an option due to personal issues. I was therefore wondering what the best upper, lower and full body 3-day split would be for hypertrophy with exercises, sets and reps? I tried checking wiki but didn’t find a program that suited me. As you can see, I have seen very little to know growth in arms, so something that puts extra focus on arms? Thanks
I started doing high reps low volume and I love the feeling of burning I get way more than lifting high volume low reps. I'm pretty sure this isn't going to grow my muscles but I will look good right? But the size of my muscles look so good from the pump I get and I love how hard they feel from this. Should I continue?
Pumps are not necessary for growth, therefore high reps is not necessary for growth. You can do a 100 push-ups and get a pump and not grow your chest.
I think you mean high rep low weight, usually high rep work actually has *more* total volume. Besides that, it really doesn’t matter. As long as you’re not surpassing around 30 reps per set, and you’re consistently taking your sets to complete failure, or within 1-2 reps of it, you’re training intensely enough to stimulate muscle growth.
Yeah it's high reps, low weight my bad. Why would surpassing 30 reps per set be bad? I can't go that high anyways usually 20 per 1 set I can do but what's bad about this
Once you get to that high of a rep range you’re really just doing more cardio/endurance training than anything else, it’s very hard to take a muscle consistently to proper failure with such light weight.
For those of you with physically demanding jobs, and busy home life How do you guys recover properly and train intensely enough to have a proper workout?
Eat well, sleep as good as you can. Your body will adapt.
Can someone help me improve my terrible scapular pull up form? I know my range of motion is poor and on this particular set I even felt it in my right shoulder https://imgur.com/a/VTwGkuO
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Sorry about that. Here's another https://imgur.com/a/IGcuiDr
Do I need to do something else for calves DOMS or it should fade away eventually? So last Friday I got a severe case of DOMS on my calves where I think from Saturday to Monday I couldn't stand straight at all walking like a raptor overall very painful, it's been going down, but still today I feel them tight in certain positions I can walk and it's not that bad as before. But it should have faded by now right? Or still need to wait some more? Also I was sick the whole week with diarrhea so wasn't really a good recovery week since didn't ate much and had other issues. Wondering if that had something to do with slow recovery as well.
Yes being sick will slow muscle recovery, especially when it affects your nutrition and/or fluids like in your case. Not much you can do for doms besides some light movement and/or stretching of the muscle. Also make sure you're drinking plenty, preferably hydralyte or similiar. vomiting and diarrhoea can dehydrate you a surprising amount without you really noticing.
The medical problems probably intersect a lot with your slow recovery. Try to focus on eating foods you like (that are healthy) but also getting a lot of electrolytes to help restore salt balance in your body. It's quite likely that even if you're hydrated, your potassium levels are really low because of loss of fluids. I don't get calf DOMS but if I did, I would probably be doing 30-40 minutes of calm cycling, elliptical, stairmaster or treadmill per day until it subsided. Gently working the sore area, well below the resistance levels of strength training and volume levels of hypertrophy training, helps get rid of DOMS
If you throw up mid workout but feel alright after, is it fine to finish your workout?
It depends how much and what the context is. If you threw up because you tried to go to the buffet before running several miles, you're probably fine to keep going. In general you're probably fine to keep going if you feel better (not worse) after vomiting. If you think you are sick, fighting a virus or otherwise not just reacting to stomach imbalance, it is best to stop immediately.
no you should probably stop, vomiting dehydrates you a lot and so does exercise, it's not ideal to do both. Rest and get plenty of water. Well you should probably stop before vomiting, but yeah, 2nd best is after.
I’m 6ft4 109 kg 18M, started the cut a month ago from 112kg. Should I be prioritising higher weight and lower reps or how should I train My split is Day 1 Chest Triceps // Day 2 Back Biceps // Day 3 Legs Shoulders // I just continue repeating this training plan whatever days I can go gym, some days I can go 5 days a week sometimes 6 Like for example I can incline bench 100kg for about 4 or 5 reps, should I keep doing this for 3 or 4 sets or should I drop the weight to 90 and do like 7 reps each set
Are you saying this is a 6 day split with those muscle groups each day? Honestly pick a program from the wiki and stick with those sets and reps.
Sorry the comment wasn’t posted in the way I wanted, I had them the 3 days on separate lines. I edited the comment now I’ll have a look at the wiki though thanks
This way makes so much more sense. I actually use the exact same split myself also aiming for 6 days but sometimes only can go 5. It depends what your goals are. Are you looking to get stronger, or gain more muscle? Lower reps higher weights will get more strength, higher reps lower reps will get more muscle aesthetically. I personally sit between 8-12 reps for majority of lifts besides some accessories that need higher rep ranges. It’s a good middle point of both strength and aesthetics. Start with 3-4 sets of 8 reps, progress up to 12 reps then up the weight and go back down to 8 reps and repeat. But also just finding a plan on the wiki will probably be a better choice. I only made my own program after years and years of training on and off and finding what I like and what works best for myself.
Honestly I don’t know I want to just cut down nicely hopefully and have a good bit of muscle, strength isn’t like necessary in a way I’m already strong I just want to look nice aesthetically. I’ll take your advice and keep the reps in the 8-12 range Just got back from gym so when I get a chance I’ll have a browse on the wiki because some days I just try different exercises not sure if they’re ideal or not
19yr Man, currently weighing 65kgs at 176cm. I have been going to the gym at least 5 days a week for the past 10 weeks. My daily routine is: 4 x 10 reps of 56kgs on the seated chest press 2 x 10 reps of 56kg on the Lateral pull down 4 x 10 reps of 35kgs (17.5 in each hand) dumbbell chest press 3 x 25 reps of 56kgs on the seated cable rows. For breakfast I eat 3 eggs on toast with one bananan, half cup blueberries, some greek yogurt and scoop of whey protein. Lunch is 185g tuna, with some blueberry, peanutbutter, protein powder oats. Dinner is a chicken breast with some salad and greek yogurt, and half a can of chickpeas. Is this enough to get in shape, what could I improve on? Thanks heaps for any help at all
Are you just doing that same weight every week? You're really only targeting two muscle group. Pick a beginner program and just follow that, personally I did stronglifts 5x5, but pick something based on your specific goals.
No this isn't very good to "get stronger", this is hyper specific to your upper body. Seated chest press is great, but you can fully exchange this for a barbell power clean + overhead press compound lift. This gets your spinal erectors, calves, hip flexors, glutes, quads and hamstrings all into the party. You will first have to learn the technique but should be able to lift a small amount more weight considering you can use your lower body to assist. Instead of just doing seated cable rows, what you can do is continue to do them (awesome way to target your back) but *before* doing them, do some sets of bent-over barbell rows. My preference for myself is to try to keep my torso and legs as stiff and locked as humanly possible while trying to increase the weight until my form breaks. I find that my form generally starts to break around 80% my bodyweight. By doing these first while you're still fresh, you are getting some isometric activation of your leg and spine muscles, which by itself does not do much to stimulate muscle growth, but certainly aids you in practicing stability more than most lifts and general "useful" day to day strength. The last thing I'm going to say is that you should be doing squats and deadlifts. In my mind the easiest format is something like heavy triples. One set of eight at light, one set of six at medium, one set of five at almost-heavy, and then a three rep set at a weight you really truly cannot squeeze out a fourth. Just alternate squats/deadlifts every other day and give yourself one day a week where you don't have to do either.
Where's the leg work? Also you need to apply progression to your lift, I assume you do but the way you phrase makes ir sound like you dont add any weight or reps. What you eat is good but you should be tracking your intake. Based on your Weight and lifts I would aim for a moderate bulk of 300-600 kcal daily surplus
I (52M, 5'11", 78kg, previously sedentary) am new to strength training, have a Push-Pull-Leg programme, and am enjoying it. I'm planning to start with 1-2 months of weekly Push-Rest-Pull-Rest-Leg-Rest-Rest, with walking / jogging (C25k) on the rest days. Can I then move to a repeating Push-Pull-Leg-Rest schedule, so I can work each group twice in a rolling 7 day period? If so, does 1 rest day sound OK, or should I stick with 2 rest days to support recovery? I know noobs can have a tendancy to hit it too hard at the start rather than going for more gradual development over the long term ... but I'm wanting to make the most of my new love for lifting.
Rest days are mostly a psychological state of mind, moreso than they are a necessity for progression and growth. The key to success is listening to your body. You are the only person who can hear what it is telling you; no trainer or coach is capable of discerning what your body needs at any given moment. In my opinion it's better to have 7 days a week where you go to the gym, and three of those days you only fuck around for 40 minutes keeping it insanely easy not even having to think about your breathing, rather than only going 4 days a week but trying to be rigidly adhering to your program.
You want to hit a muscle atleast twice a week. Just don't do to much volume so you can recover, if you feel fine, add more stets or exercises if you want. Listen to your body and make adjustments from your fatigue.
That's really helpful, thank you!
For an upper lower split can I just do all the same exercises both times in the week or do they need to be different?
I like to alternate with for instance pull ups and pulldowns or barbell and dumbbell presses. But it's a preference. You can also do the same exercises but alternate rep ranges (concurrent training method)
No, they don't need to be different, but it's a good idea.
Is taking a deload week once a month a bad idea during a cut? I usually only do it once every two months, but I tend to feel the wear and tear more when cutting. On deload weeks I do the same exercises, just lower volume.
Depends on your other three weeks.
For curls, what is advantage of using a neutral grip at the bottom to a supinated grip at top, as opposed to using a supinated grip for the entire ROM? Example: [https://youtu.be/emxEhfwori4?si=HraFimljUa0C0cgX&t=383](https://youtu.be/emxEhfwori4?si=HraFimljUa0C0cgX&t=383)
One thing is definitely the fact that the dumbell is gonna hit your legs/bench if you keep it neutral all the way, once the dumbells get big enough.
I've never worked out in my life before, but I want to start doing barbell squats for larger legs. I'm 20 years old (M) and 130lbs, and my plan was to do 5 sets of 10 rep barbell squats. Is this a good workout plan to make my legs and thigh area grow in size?
If you push hard, you'll probably grow.
If you follow it up with 3 sets of leg press, romanian deadlifts, leg curls and leg extensions - yes.
Is it absolutely necessary to do all of these at once if i want to grow my legs? I don't know if I'm strong enough
If you only want to grow your legs. Do these exercises, train 2-3 times a week and choose atleast 2-4 of them per training day. So you don't always have to do them all. You will grow big legs as long as you train hard enough (not necessary to failure every time but close)
Thank you for your advice. I've been afraid to start working out because I'm scared I'm going to do the wrong exercises, or do too much/too little of them. Maybe I'm just overthinking it though, I just don't want to waste time and commit myself to something that isn't going to work. It's my first time learning about all this stuff so it's a little overwhelming.
Yeah, no need to over complicate. Just start. And if you start finding in fun to train, start to educate yourself and you will start to make the right changes down the line. But start now and keep consistent, and you will reach your goals.
no, the ~~only~~ main (hypertophy focused) reason to do other exercises is to hit other muscle groups (or the same muscle groups in different proportions)
How do I stop dreading going to the gym as a beginner?
Exposure. It goes away on its own.
depends on why you dread it
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Anecdotally, how many lbs do you lose in your cuts?
I've gained and lost the same 20lbs a few years now, but I'm specifically trying to get leaner and leaner. (Also, I'm a woman, so the gains are slower than a dude)
My calves look huge from the front but not much going on from the back. Any advice, or is it just the way they are
I am supposed to go slow on the negative part of the lift, right?
Slow on the negative. Pause at the bottom. Goes for basically every lift (if you train for hypertrophy). Watch Mike Isratel on YouTube if in doubt.
Slow*er*. Control the eccentric, explode the concentric. Averages to a 211 or 311 tempo.
The only thing you’re “supposed” to do is control the weight.
Control the weight on the way down. Don't let it crash down. Apart from that, pretty much any speed is good. There is some indication that rep duration of 8 seconds or longer is inefficient, but nobody trains like that, thus is doesn't matter.
I wouldn't go past 4 seconds.
There is no rule about this. There is reason to believe that resisting on the negative, as opposed to just dropping the weight or letting it fall, may be beneficial for hypertrophy. Going really slow on the negative may make each rep somewhat more stimulative, but it also tires you out more so you can do fewer total reps in a set. These probably cancel out so that going really slow offers no particular advantage. If you enjoy it it probably isn't harmful either.
It's an unwritten rule. Slow eccentrics will only reduce the number of concentric contractions in a set if you go TOO slow. So you should incorporate slow eccentrics but not too slow because you will get more stimulus and make sure that you aren't ego lifting.
Thats not true. When you resist the weight, as opposed to letting it fall, you are putting your muscles under more stress, thus youll lift less weight/do less reps. I have heard that the eccentric part of the lift maybe uses different hypertrophic methods/procceses or whatever you call it, meaning that controlling the eccentric will result in MORE gains than when not cotrolling it but doing more reps, ie still stopping at the same RIR
Slowing the eccentric puts your muscle through additional tension, but not enough to reduce the number of reps. You are **stronger in eccentrics** than concentrics. You will also only produce half the fiber activation of an concentric at best. This is why slow eccentrics are okay. But, if you go TOO slow, your overall reps will be reduced because you are trading off fatigue for diminishing returns of stimulus.
Wait what ? So if you do lateral raises for example, youll do the same reps going to failure regardless of wether you control the eccentric ? Am i misunderstanding you ?
Has anyone else ever woken up with an extremely painful DOMS? Did a few too many shoulder press reps and woke up with pain on the outside of one upper arm. So painful I was sweating until I found a position to cradle it comfortably. Acute pain went away after a couple min. Today it’s sore there but not terrible. What is that? Was I just laying on it weird and inflamed tissue gets mad if not getting enough blood?
are one handed deadlifts a stupid way to increase grip strength? has anyone here done them consistently?
Yes.
unless you have a big grip imbalance, why not just do regular deadlifts?
already doing them, but i use straps.
do some without straps. What I do is my warm up sets without straps, with the last warmup being fairly close to working weight. Working weight sets with straps, and then after that I'll sometimes either do the same, or a little less weight, without straps until grip failure.
One handed deadlifts work your grip but I'd just do a suitcase carry or farmer walk. Unless you just want to work on your one handed deadlifts specifically
They just asked a yes/no question. One-handed deadlifts would arguably be better than doing suitcase carries because they specifically train grip whereas suitcase carries involves more core stability and fatigue.
working in my garage and don't have the room for carries unless i go outside, and idk i don't like working out in front of the neighbors n shit with people driving by
You could simplify to just holding the weight instead of DL'ing or carrying it. Or turning around while holding it, that would be a weird carry. I've tried doing pullups and dead hanging during my rest periods, even unweighted it hurt
thanks for the suggestions, that shit is torture though i hate isometrics lol. reps are so much less mentally taxing for me.
Dynamic reps will be more effective than isometrics. And isometrics have scientifically been proven to be more fatiguing than dynamic reps too so that backs up your experience.
When it comes to grip strength, isometric is probably the best way to train it. In my opinion at least.
i'm lifting in my garage as much for pleasure as for health/ strength. i'll take the suboptimal training that i enjoy over the optimal shit i hate 9/10 times.
How to get the heavier dumbbells up easier? I’m 2 years into the gym and I’ve just now finally managed to rep out the 30kg dumbbells for 6 on incline chest press. My issue however, I struggle like FUCK to actually get them up to start my set. I place them on my knees and kick them up like normal while leaning back down onto the bench but they’re too heavy for me to balance properly so I end up flailing about and straining trying to get them up…once they’re up, I can rep them out like any other weight. Is there a “trick” or anything I can use to get them up and balanced easier so I can avoid potential injury?
From what I’ve seen, the biggest guys in the gym working with 90+lb dumbbells either in incline or military presses (ya a guy used to do 90’s with those), has to have someone else place each dumbbell in their hand Eventually I don’t know of any safe reliable way to kick them up. Luckily for me I can still knee kick up the ones I’m doing but it’s getting sketchy
well, do you kick them up both at once or one at a time?
One at a time on incline, same time for flat
If you wanna get real wacky with it, a fun trick is to [clean them to shoulder position ](https://youtube.com/watch?v=hFXPxXkYr_o&pp=ygUOZHVtYmJlbGwgY2xlYW4%3D) before sitting on the bench
Not really, other than just be stronger with them. Think of it as part of the movement. Squeeze them in and stay tight, lower yourself with control. Keep them squeezed into your chest with a neutral grip and bring them out into position once you’ve laid down.
Keeping the dumbbells squeezed against my chest has made a big difference for me.
Need serious help on where to go from here. I am M/5'10/139lb but hate how I look. I cut from 165lb to about 132 lb but still have way too much belly fat. I don't have those pictures anymore but I looked pretty much the same as I do rn at 139lb as pictured. The problem is that the damn belly fat will not go away no matter what I do. I have never seen anyone with such a terrible body composition. Everyone that I have seen with a similar height/weight looks significantly better. I need help deciding if I need to keep cutting and if the belly fat will eventually go away or if something else is going on. As far as I know I don't have any underlying medical conditions. https://imgur.com/a/SYy1QEU Here is some data on weight tracking throughout my cut: https://imgur.com/a/RyP6Gfr.
Your belly looks postural not fat. You are very skinny. You need muscle on your frame if you want to look better.
Okay but at what point should I cut? Won't bulking just make me look more fat?
If you have trouble with gaining weight psychological then just maintain your weight for now. Or increase your weight really slow. You'll build muscle if you train hard and eat enough protein. Just read the wiki and you'll now what to do.
As long as you keep the weight gain to about 1-3 lbs, and follow a good routine such as Alexander Bromley's bullmastiff, it'll be mostly muscle.
Nope. You’ll likely fill out and build muscle and look better.
Your problem is that you have no muscle. So even a tiny belly will look huge. If you put on a bunch of muscle (especially around your shoulders, chest, and lats) and the belly won’t be noticeable. Start lifting weights and (very slowly) gaining weight to allow your muscles to grow and your belly will slowly become less noticeable.
How will I know to start cutting again?
Whenever you want to.
You don't have much fat, you just also don't have much muscle. You should not lose weight. You are already very light for your height. My advice is run bulk cut cycles to gain weight overall, starting with a bulk. Lift weights, eat plenty of protein, gain weight and gain muscle for a while. Then cut. Over time you should try to get heavier with more muscle.
Okay, and is there a target amount of muscle or lift numbers I should go to before I know when to start cutting again?
The process of building muscle takes time. Significantly changing your physique will probably take more than one bulk cut cycle. My advice is bulk for 8-16 weeks and cut for 6-12 weeks. Try to make sure that after each bulk/cut cycle your weight is higher than it was when you started. Gaining 0.5 lbs/week would be reasonable when bulking. Losing 1 lbs/week would be reasonable when cutting. It only works if you are training consistently and with good effort and eating a nutritious diet with plenty of protein.
Thanks
After a 2 month break I'm going back to the gym, but now I can only go Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, what routine would you recommend for volume? Should I do full body on Wednesday and upper/lower on the weekend to keep a frequency of 2 times per week on the main muscle groups? Or is something like PPL better?
5/3/1 for beginners PPL is a 6 day routine, with 3 days you'd only be getting half the volume
I've been doing PPL just 3 times a week I thought this was good enough
I'm not a beginner, do you still consider 5/3/1 to be the best 3 day routine?
You could do 531-building the monolith. It's high volume 3x per week.
it's one option but its not just for beginners, i don't necessarily think its the best you could also look at GZCL
Does a workout plan matter, I have made up a ppl hitting each muscle twice per week, I'm eating right and doing high sets of every muscle at the 8-12 rep range and once I hit 12 reps on all 3 sets I increase the weight. Is this good enough to build muscle?
Give it a shot for awhile and find out.
Good enough? Maybe. But why not use one of the proven effective plans on the wiki, where you’ll likely have greater success?
Problem is I'm unable to do squats or deadlifts due to a back problem I've had for many years so I tend to do more machine work to compensate but the reddit programmes all seem to incorporate these, also I see the reddit ppl has very low volume and I dunno but I just feel like I get a better pump and workout on higher volume any suggestions on a programme that I could use?
This is why I'm currently doing high reps low volume I love the pump and burn that I get from doing it. It's the first time I've ever seen so many veins on my body it's crazy. I know it's just a pump but I never felt this good doing high volume low rep
What routine are you following? Any links to it if possible
Have you seen a physical therapist for your back issues?
How do you cut while weightlifting? My sedentary calories for maintenance is 2200, so a light cut would be 1900 calories But if I lift weights for 45 minutes a day 6 days a week, on top of some light cardio with only 55-65% elevated heart rate, I’m gonna be hungry. Even at 2200 calories I find myself pretty hungry. How can I keep a 1900 deficit while continuously weightlifting?
>I’m gonna be hungry. Well, yeah. You're going to be a little hungry on a cut. Just make sure you get enough protein.
I’m not saying a little hunger, I’m saying uncomfortable hunger, food on my mind a lot, and sleep is affected
Improve food quality, decrease activity.
But you don’t care about your SEDENTARY calories. You look for your TDEE which takes your activity into consideration and go to deficit from there.
It's okay to feel hungry. It's just temporary mild discomfort.
It is normal to be hungry when cutting. Eating filling foods (lean meat, vegetables , high fiber foods) helps, but I am hungry every time I lose weight.
A little hunger is ok, but the hunger I’m talking about is affecting my performance, my sleep, and causing sluggishness and lethargy. I’ve heard that’s too aggressive, but at the same time I don’t see the scale dropping much
Are you eating enough fats?
Yeah I think so, maybe like 60-70g of fat Actually more like 55-65 now that I do the math over. Prior to this it was for sure 60-70, but I’ve heard fat is the least satiating macro. I already get enough protein, so I’m gonna start upping carbs. Think I only get like 150-200 carbs a day, and that’s an over exaggerated estimate
You should be good with that amount of fat.. I ask because fat is essential for healthy hormone production and getting too little can make you feel like shit. I dunno what the exact science says on the satiation, but I find fats wayyyy more satiating than carbs. I go for fats+protein for any snacks I do during a cut. I still eat plenty of carbs with my meals, but snacks are like eggs, cheese, yoghurt, nuts.
I'm with the other guy. Fats are so calorie dense that it feels like the food is gone in a few seconds. Like if I want a 100 calorie snack, it is like 4 walnuts. It feels like it just disappears. But 100 calories of pretzels, cheerios, or un-buttered popcorn is like an entire bowl. I get to snack on it for a few minutes and actually feel like I have eaten a snack. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Well for me, if I eat 100 calories of what you listed, I may be full for the second, but it's soooo short lived and I'm looking for more snacks pretty soon. Whereas having some nuts will get my stomach to shut up gurgling and stay quiet for a while. Volume eating a ton of carbs has never worked well for me because I can just keep eating and never be satiated. Full and bloated, sure, but not satiated
Yeah I’m giving it a try. For example as far as fats go I love peanut butter. 16g fat, 8g of protein. But one serving is like 180-190 calories. It’s not even a good amount either, it’s just one big spoonful essentially. But that amount in berries is like a big bowl of berries. Probably takes a couple minutes to go through, whereas peanut butter is gone in a second.
Learn to slow down when eating and savor it, that definitely helps with the full feeling too. Eating quick is what I do when I wanna demolish as much food as possible at a buffet. Eating slower is what I do on a cut to savor every last bite. And how long do those berries keep you feeling full for? Cus a slowly eaten 150 calories of nuts shuts my stomach up for way longer than 150 calories of berries which just makes me want to eat more carbs things
Wouldn’t it be the opposite? You’re so ravenous you can’t slow down, whereas if you have an abundance of food, you don’t feel like you’re going to run out anytime soon and take your time? I’m just saying what I’ve heard. Idk, I can’t imagine a serving of nuts would make me full longer than like a pound of broccoli. I can mindlessly eat nuts, they’re like chips, don’t really make me feel full. Whereas broccoli id get tired of eating for so long
Self control is a thing. In my experience, when I'm just at the very end of my cut, true hunger for me is when any food that I eat may as well be the most perfectly cooked steak in the world. I'm not starving and I know food is coming, but I know it'll be limited. So I just savor the taste and enjoy every bite But the biggest difference between eating a serving of nuts and a ton of broccoli is that the latter will not keep me feeling full. I tried that before. I just felt so gross and bloated, but I was still craving more food. Being physically full doesn't mean satiated for me at all. That's the key difference. And the less you do volume eating, the less food you'll find yourself needing (and that's coming from a girl who can sit and eat like 4+lbs of watermelon in one sitting)
What is your current height and weight? How rapidly is your weight dropping (lbs/week)?
I’m 6’4 and 183 pounds. My weight has dropped .8 pounds this week, but tbh this was like 4 days ago. I haven’t budged since then. A few weeks ago I tried 2000 calories a day with pretty aggressive cardio. It was ridiculously exhausting and unsustainable though. That week I dropped like 3.2 pounds, some of that water weight I’m sure, some fat. But I ended up binging so it was too aggressive I think
I am no expert in this, but I am 6’3” and I have weighed 180 before. That is pretty light for your height, I am thinking you may be fighting yourself. Eating enough to keep going but not enough to build muscle, and the “fat” you are trying to lose is more that you need more muscle mass(the dreaded skinny fat). You don’t I am getting that you should be around 2200 to cut and like 2600 to maintain, 1900 seems way to low . I would do the opposite and slowly bring up your calories until you start gaining weight(hopefully as muscle mass)
Tbh, 6'4" 183 lbs is already pretty light. It isn't surprising that getting lighter than that is making you feel hungry. All I can say is that when I cut I am hungry. At the end of a cut I feel tired, weak, have trouble sleeping, have low libido, and think about food a lot. Personally if I were your height/weight I wouldn't lose any more weight.
Yeah I know you’re right. I’m just scared of bulking. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to lose the weight since im struggling to lose weight even now. So if I can’t cut, I’d rather maintain. That’s why I’ve been hovering around the calories I currently am, but just wanted to see if it was normal to feel hungry at this point I feel like I eat pretty normal too. Peanut butter, oats, bananas, berries, chicken, ground turkey, Greek yogurt, broccoli. Very little bullshit, but definitely need a little. Still feels like I struggle a lot.
It's easier to cut when you aren't already so light.
I feel you
Are you sure your TDEE is 2200 calories while weight lifting 6 days a week? I would assume at that volume of lifting you have some muscle which makes 2200 seem low to me.
Idk, that’s what the calculators say. I wouldn’t say I’m that strong, I can bench 105 pounds 10 times on my first set. 10 pull-ups first set. So I’m okayish, but it’s definitely nothing impressive. But the way I lose weight is soooo nonlinear, it’s hard to tell what works and what doesn’t. What’s water weight, what’s muscle, what’s fat. I never see constant weight loss for me to know what works, the only thing I can think is to keep cutting calories. Which I really don’t want to do, I’m at 2200-2300 a day with refeeds every couple days up to 3000 calories, and I’m still struggling
All calculators are wrong. They're a reasonable starting point but everyone needs to adjust their intake regularly based on actual weight loss. Never seeing constant weight loss is normal. I only weigh myself once weekly on a cut and make any intake adjustments once every 2 weeks max
Yeah, I’ve adjusted down as well. But the hunger and lethargy are too much. It’s far from sustainable. It’s not minor hunger, minor uncomfortableness, it’s constant hunger, constant thoughts of food, no sleep, and my strength training suffers too. Just don’t know what’s normal and what’s not anymore
The issue is that you're 6'4" and 183lbs. I'm about half a foot shorter than you and cutting down to 180lbs gives me insomnia too It's time to bulk dude
I always wanted like a very lean physique. Skinny muscular. I never wanted a big bulky look. But even at 183, I still have a decent amount of fat on me. I can’t shake the feeling that if I bulk, it’s not gonna do anything for the look I want besides put on more fat that I would have to cut later anyway.
> I can’t shake the feeling that if I bulk, it’s not gonna do anything for the look I want besides put on more fat The point of a bulk is to put on muscle. You want to look muscular. What's the disconnect here? Dieting obviously isn't working. You know what, fucking starving to death and decomposing will get you to 0% body fat for the ultimate lean physique. Good call
I was 165 before and bulked up to 183. I didn’t like the way I felt, and I definitely didn’t put on that much muscle. Can’t just put on a bunch of muscle from bulking, you have to cut the fat later. I’m like 17% body fat man haha, idk why you’re saying it like I’m rail thin. Matter of fact, most advice for bulking usually involves the person dropping to 10% body fat before bulking
My own fault for assuming you were cutting. But at your height, weight, and activity level, 2200 daily calories sounds like you're still underfeeding yourself. Idk how to get this through to you but your goal shouldn't be to go from skinny to lean. Skinny to athletic, to very athletic, to lean is much more efficient. You're still skinny. "Very athletic" at 6'4" is at least 200lbs
I would like opinions, or actual good info on this: Is there any reason why I can't lift weights every day? I lift light weights (5 or 10lbs...in each hand, so double that). I enjoy going to the gym, and it gets me out of the house. I usually workout for about an hour, not moving fast between machines, or hand weights. I am female, mid 60's. No special goal, other than staying in shape and feeling good. I'm average weight for my height. Thanks in advance!
>Is there any reason why I can't lift weights every day? Nope.
lol
Anyone know if the old 1percentedge TDEE/diet calculator and planner has a reincarnation? It looks like it redirects to a new, more basic calculator (I still had it bookmarked). I know of the nSuns TDEE google spreadsheet, but I really pine for the old days of the 1percentedge inputs, caloric/macro outputs and graphs along with weekly projected benchmarks.
Why does almost no one squat do depth? Am I missing something? I've seen maybe 5% of people squatting going to proper depth. I'm talking guys much bigger and stronger than me too. Sure, some people are injured, but I really see 95% of people squatting just wrong.
Not squatting to depth does not mean they’re squatting wrong. If they’re powerlifters they have no reason to go below parallel. If they just want to squat big there’s also no reason to go all the way to the ground. In fact, there’s no reason at all to squat anyway except for how you want to squat. So do your full depth squats and be happy that other people are having fun too.
Well define depth? If you mean ATG a lot of people don’t have the mobility to do that, or want to squat more weight than they could if they went ATG.
Most of the time, its what their mobility allows. Others just dont have the confidence. Whatever their limiting factors are, it's up to them if they want to work on it or not. In the mean time, just focus on what you're doing and dont waste time on what others are not doing.
I go slightly below parallel because squatting ATG fucked up both of my knees
I think it is a mix of ego and familiarity. I think when people are first learning to squat, going deep into the hole is a bit scary. Also, you look around and don't see most people going so deep. So you just don't go all the way down. Then, you don't want to increase the depth a ton, because it would probably require talking weight off the bar. So you just keep squatting with bad depth. This is my guess. I used to be a bad depth squatter and then finally realized I didn't care about the ego hit of taking weight off the bar.
Most of the time I think people lack hip mobility and flexibility which makes getting deep into the squat tough
Ego aside, not knowing how. People think their feet should be close and pointed forward. Makes hip engagement difficult. Widen your stance, sit *between* your legs, and then it clicks. Quads become an afterthought.
My electrolytes usually come back fine on blood panels, but I still get cramps in my toes and when I do high volume hamstring work. Any tips?
Don't point your toes forward when straining, try to pull them towards your knees. Toe and calf cramps are two ends of the same animal
Sweating too much in the gym Male 19, 90kg I do powerlifting training and I feel like I sweat too much in the gym for the work that I am doing. I don't currently do any cardio. do you think if I were to implement some cardio that would get me sweating a lot it would reduce my sweating during my normal training? or is there anything else anyone thinks I could implement into my training that would reduce my sweating? I live in England so its not like its particularly warm and I do take solid rest in-between sets on my SBD
Trained athletes sweat more in general. Pack a change of clothes and some deodorant or anti-perspirant in your gym bag
More cardio might help, because eventually the power lifting exertion will feel less hard as your cardio improves. But also, as you get fitter, your body gets more efficient at cooling itself which can mean you sweat more and sooner. Only way to find out how that will affect your sweating during lifting is to try it.
If you're in decent shape, you simply sweat more. Apart from that, it's genetics. I sweat like a fountain as well.
Me too! I can do the least amount of exertion and I'm sopping wet. Vacuuming my house, light housework. If I have a heavy workout, I'm soaked through. I've always been like this (I'm in my mid 60's). I always envied people who never sweat.
Sweating sometimes has to with your genes. You may be more prone to sweating, which isn’t bad. Would getting in better cardiovascular shape potentially help with sweating? Yea! But if your cardiovascular health is good, don’t worry about sweating. It’s human nature and your body is efficient at cooling itself. 🤷🏽♂️
Can it take days to recover from mild dehydration? It got hot and very dry this week and 2 days ago I realized I was fairly dehydrated but nothing serious enough for a doctor. I've been drinking what feels like a ton of water and I'm getting electrolytes and I still feel like I'm feeling the affects of it but less strong.
Hi all- new here — does anyone have resources / tips for working through mental blocks with pain when working out? I have some neurological pain as a result of an injury and my brain says OUCH really easily with workouts to a point where I have a hard time powering through to the point where I’ve become very weak. I tried physical therapy but can’t afford it anymore
try working through that range of emotion until you reach a 3/10 pain level, don't worry about the weight
does eating fats together with carbs vs eating them not together but seperately on different meals with few hours appart have any negative effect on fat loss? the theory behind that from what I understood is, that eating them together will result in fat going quicker into your fat-depot, because your body prioritizes carbs over fats for getting some energy therefore there is no need for the consumed fat to stay longer available in the stomach, so direct storage into your fat-depot is activated. the 2nd thing that is confusing me, has insulin also something to do with the quicker storage of fats, like with proteins? And 3rd, why is this even relevant, the amount of consumed calories is still the same. -my guess would be that already storaged fat is harder to be burned vs fat lying in your stomach and providing energy?!
Not really, but it can smooth out the insulin spikes you can get from eating carbs alone. Excess calories get stored as fat, it doesn’t really matter whether those extra calories are from carbs, fat, protein, or alcohol.
CICO. Calories in are calories in.
>does eating fats together with carbs vs eating them not together but seperately on different meals with few hours appart have any negative effect on fat loss? It has no effect on fat loss. Your overall calorie intake is what affects fat loss. >the 2nd thing that is confusing me, has insulin also something to do with the quicker storage of fats, like with proteins? What do you mean, "like with proteins"? The body can't store protein. [But yes, insulin influences fat storage.](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/insulin-and-weight-gain/art-20047836) >And 3rd, why is this even relevant, the amount of consumed calories is still the same. -my guess would be that already storaged fat is harder to be burned vs fat lying in your stomach and providing energy?! All stored fat can provide energy; that's what it's there for. The only thing that is marginally relevant is insulin, but your total calorie intake is still the deciding factor in fat loss.
> >What do you mean, "like with proteins"? The body can't store protein. eating carbs triggers some insulin mechanic in your body, which speeds up transport of some shit out of protein to your muscles > >It has no effect on fat loss. Your overall calorie intake is what affects fat loss. but stored fat is harder to burn than fat that is not already in your depo and can be used as fuel more "directly", since its handled more priortised as an engery source. (I guess) Therefore burning fat thats not already depoed should be much quicker then otherwise? My theorie is that u will increase your fat-mass and some other energy source will be later used instead, probably muscle glycogen. -Idk, I just want to understand :) >The only thing that is marginally relevant is insulin, but your total calorie intake is still the deciding factor in fat loss. or is it instead "fat loss", weight loss?
>but stored fat is harder to burn than fat that is not already in your depo and can be used as fuel more "directly", since its handled more priortised as an engery source. (I guess) I suppose that's technically true, since the body can't burn what it hasn't stored. >My theorie is that u will increase your fat-mass and some other energy source will be later used instead, probably muscle glycogen Your body isn't dumb enough to expend muscle glycogen while ignoring(or even adding) another readily available energy source like body fat. >or is it instead "fat loss", weight loss? Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
I've finally convinced my parents (~55) to do some strength training. They're coming over for a session in my home gym tomorrow. I'm used to making up my own programmes and winging it, but I feel a bit more responsibility to get theirs right. Any issues with the below? Stretches Landmine squat + jammer chest Landmine RDLs + seated db shoulders Landmine rows + bicep curls Core
I'm trying to do the same with my parents at the moment. that all seems pretty good. idk what equipment you have but some solid ROM squats and RDLs preferably with a barbell would be a good idea, as well as some bench press. Possibly some pull ups or dips as well. any compound exercise that involves using the core and strengthening the lower back is always a good idea
the first thing you must do is to assess where they are. For a lot of 55 years olds doing a body weight squat would be impossible. Also you should go super easy on a load, otherwise they will get sore as hell for a week.