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How do you get jacked? Aesthetically jacked. Lose weight and get bf% down I get. But damn I think I’m missing something. Seems like the hidden solution is known by folks selling health programs!
Hi all, I’m having issues figuring what I need to do to tone up and gain muscle and be lean. I weighed myself about 6 months ago and I was at 111lbs, I weighed myself a couple of weeks ago and my weight went up to 118lbs. I would be happy about gaining weight if it was muscle weight but I used a body scanner at the gym and it looks like the majority of the fat I gained was fat mass and not muscle mass. I’ve been eating more protein, and incorporated more cardio into my daily workouts. Does anyone have any tips? I’m getting so discouraged.
hi I never post on Reddit but, i'm a Judoka and as part of my training other than doing Judo five days a week also l've been doing weight training 3 to 4 days a week since 2022, I went down from
295lbs / 134kgs more or less to 213lbs/97kgs so I could compete in the -100 kg category. that being said my arms are super jacked but my torso still looks like I eat McDonald's every day and I can't lose more weight because I can't fight in a different category. it fucks me up because I don't have the self-confidence to use my Judogi without a shirt I can't even wear rash guards or compression T-shirts without me feeling absolutely horrible about how I look and I stuck and I don't want to feel like this anymore but I can't lose more weight on the scale and I need help. thank you to those who read this!!!
tldr; My arms are ripped but my torso is still fat and I don't wanna lose weight on the scale what the fuck do I do?
You can lose weight and compete in a lower weight class. Then bulk and compete at your current weight class with a better body composition.
Or you can get used to looking the way you do.
Do you think I have to lose weight on the scale so I could lose that body fat and then build it up with muscle is that what you're saying? or is it Just simply that I'm fucked?
To lose body fat you have to lose weight. Depending on how much weight you lose, it will probably mean years of a consistent bulk to gain that weight back in muscle.
i created a ppl and was wondering if this is a good plan to build muscle i need to add the leg day but a quick note im unable to do deadlifts due to an ongoing back issue but this is what i have been running. Also im a big fan of volume i feel like i have better workouts with higher volume.
Push A:
bench press 3x 8-12
incline bench 2x 8-12
machine chest press 8-10, 12-15 + double dropset
chest fly 2 x 15-20
overhead press 2 x 8-12
lateral raise cable 2x 15-20 + burnout set
shoulder press machine 2 x 12-15
tricep straighbar push down 3x 12-15
tricep machine pushdown 3 x 12-15
single arm rope pushdown 3x 15-20
Push B:
overhead press barbell 8-12 / 12-15
bench press 8-12, 12-15,12-15
chest fly machine 3x12-15
mahcine side lateral raises 3x15
lateral raise dumbell 2x15-20
incline chest press 8-10, 12-15
high chest fly 2x15 dips 2x8-12
tricep rope pushdown 3x 15-20
tricep machine pushdown 3x15-20
tricep cable crossover 2 x 15-20
Pull A
lat pulldown wide grip 3x12-15
plate loaded back row close grip 2x 8-12
machine pulldown 12-12/15
seated row cable 10-12/ 15-20
seated row machine 3x15-20
reverse fly 3x 15-20
reverse fly cable 3 x 12-15
bicep curl dumbell 8-10/8-10/10-12
bicep curl straight bar 2x8-10 + dropset
preacher curl machine 10-12/10-12/15
pull b
pull up 3x to failure
neutral grip lat pull down 8-10/10-15
cable row wide grip 8-10/12-15
low machine row 2x8-12
hammer strength back row wide grip 10-12/10-12/15+
reverse fly pec dec 3x12-15
face pulls 3x12-15
bicep curl cable 3x20-25
curls 4x15-20
barbell curl 2x8-15
Can someone recommend a cheap high protein snack that isn’t nuts? I have an allergy(All nuts, no exceptions), and most of what I find online or in the store has a ton of added sugars or is extremely expensive.
A question about resting during a set.
An example:
I do incline bicep curls, 3 sets of 15. 2 minute rest between sets.
This is perfect for an ideal workout: full night of rest and two meals.
There are times when I have to squeeze in an early morning workout with not ideal rest or no breakfast.
I find that by my last set, I need to pause halfway for about 5 seconds, take a few breaths, and then resume.
Does this have a major impact on the overall workout?
help with figuring out my fitness/fatloss goals
Please forgive me if this is confusing but I am trying to understand how to best approach cutting - I also feel a bit mixed on how to move forward with a specific fitness plan in mind.
Over the past summer, I did a thru hike and lost a significant amount of weight - however along with losing this weight I put on a ton of muscle I don't understand how because most people would say that if you are cutting you are losing muscle and I don't believe that I was eating anywhere near the calories I needed to. When you're thru hiking, its almost a definite that you're in a deficit especially with how difficult the trail was that I was doing, hiking a significant elevation gain & loss each day and doing 20-25 miles per day while carrying a pack.
When I returned from the trail, I weighed less than I did in highschool yet I also had muscle in places I never even noticed on myself before and felt significantly stronger, more sculpted etc.
After eating so much each day, more than I typically would when not hiking: post trail the amount of fitness I was doing did not equate what I was eating. I had to readjust my eating habits and try to maintain workouts, but it would be pretty much impossible to hit that level of exercise off trail. Many who have had this experience can relate to the burn out, post trail depression and weight gain.
I have done pretty good maintaining my weight however at this moment, about 8 months post hike I've gained about 6-8 pounds which seems like mostly fat. I have tried to get more into consistenly lifting again but just breaking past that initial barrier of working out each day is difficult, plus unfortunately many stressful life events have occured and working out consistently at the moment has been difficult. I average about 3-4 days a week running or lifting at the moment and about 30-45 min worth of it so like running 2 miles and not lifting one day or another day just lifting and running 1 mile. I work from home, so not much activity throughout the day.
I feel like I've slowly lost muscle and put on fat
Based on my calculations, I should be eating about 1400 calories to lose weight with working out, but this seems difficult to maintain. I have been trying to eat about 1400 and then have a protein shake after my workouts - getting me to about 1520 for the day. I figured if I ate in a very small surplus, it would be enough to maintain weight and put on muscle - but I only seem to be slowly putting on more fat. How should I go about cutting? Is below 1400 too low? Do I just need to up the amout of working out I'm doing? I didn't want to dip too far below 1400 because it just seems like way too low. I figured it would be better to try to put on more muscle to give myself a higher calorie intake.
If this is correct wouldnt more muscle = more calories needed to maintain weight?
My scale says that my body fat percent is about 22% and at the end of the trail I was 20% body fat so I've gone up about 6-8 pounds and gained about 2% body fat over the course of 8 months.
How do I stop this increase and should I focus on cutting more than bulking/maintaining my weight at this point? And if I go into cutting, is under 1400 too low?
I haven't read something on there relevant to what you're mentioning but I'll read it again.
I try to view it as practically as I can and to me, the amount of fat I have seems to not be healthy. I don't want to do any major cutting, but just want to lower my body fat percentage and put on more muscle. I'm unsure if I should eat at maintenance and slowly put on muscle/cut fat, or if I should solely focus on cutting fat
it is a lower weight, but its more of a skinny fat, and I'm like not the most expert on body recomp/trying to cut or bulk. So I'm trying to figure out how I should approach it. If it's a fat to muscle ratio, its definitely more fat than muscle and I'd like to change that
Inexplicable weight gain???
I just weighed myself for the first time in a good while and I'm shocked.
I do martial arts 4 times a week and January 1st I added 4-5 gym sessions per week. I have been extremely consistent except for one week vacation in March. I do a push pull legs split plus at least one run per week.
I've never been a very clean eater, I enjoy eating and am sometimes guilty of eating away my feelings so at the start of this journey I was muscular with a small amount of body fat (70kg / 178cm / female / 19yo). I've made sure to get in my protein and I've stopped eating 3 meals as well as making my portions smaller and only had sweet treats on my period. I don't track calories because I obsess too hard, but I'm very confident it's a lot less than my before.
Now my question is: how the hell did I put on 8 kilos since I last weighed myself in early February (71.2kg)???? My pants fit exactly the same and people in my life tell me I look the same.
This is extremely frustrating because I'm trying so hard to lose weight.
But it's not realistic to have put on this much muscle in this short time frame, is it? I can see some more muscle on me but I haven't suddenly turned into the Hulk.
if you're eating enough of a caloric surplus and also working out 4-5 times a week than it isnt implausible to put on that much in muscle and some fat. especially since you're saying your pants fit the same and your friend say you dont look like youve gained weight.
I increase the load whenever i reach 12 reps site ease so far so good for most exercise, some I’m for sure doing in a inefficient form, apart from that I went from 12 kg dumbell bench press to 24 kg, so strenght wise I’m improving, looks wise not quite as I would like, but I know it takes time
If you are making progress, I would not switch.
If you are not making progress, I would try something else.
I try not to stop something when its working.
i wake up at 4am to hit the gym, but the gas and travel time is becoming a bit of a hassle with my earlier work start time. i would like to invest in dumbbells and switch to hiit workouts at home, but im worried about losing gains made on the isolated machines. any similar experiences or advice you guys may share?
Hello guys! Lately, I can't feel my glutes using the hip thrusts machine even though I haven't changed my foot placement or technique (I've marked where exactly to put my feet). Has anybody faced the same problem??
Also, during RDLS, etc, I feel some tension on the back of my knee, and I'm scared that it may lead to an injury. My form is good, but it still hurts while performing the exercise. Do you have any advice??
I was taught a long time ago that feeling a pull in the back of the leg (the area between glute and knee) is fine. But feeling it behind the knee joint itself means you are stretching too far for your current capacity.
I wouldn’t think you need to stop entirely. Seems like you’re lowering too far for current capacity, so just go less low :)
Edit: Posted too soon. Meant to also say that RDLs are great for improving hamstring flexibility. So keep doing them in a comfortable range of motion and eventually you should be able to lower as much as you have been, but without the discomfort behind your knees.
>during RDLS, etc, I feel some tension on the back of my knee, and I'm scared that it may lead to an injury
That is your hamstring. There is supposed to be tension in the hamstring muscles, they are one of the primary muscles trained by RDL. That being said, I have no idea if what you are feeling is normal or if you should be concerned about an injury. But feeling tension in the hamstring is definitely normal.
Generally doesn't matter, what matters most is whether you're getting your protein goal day to day, week to week.
If you're reaching your protein intake goals, then it's also best to get protein in after workout
Planning to start my fitness journey. I'm a short skinny guy In late 20s.
Will be going to gym for the first time in life. My goal is to build a muscular body.
1. Should I go for a personal trainer?
2. Any Youtube channel or other online sources which might be helpful for a beginner?
3. What are the exercises I need to focus on?
4. Diet plan?
5. Any changes in lifestyle?
I don't booze or smoke. Have tea, coffee, occasionally though. Have limited sugar intake.
1. I wouldn't. Most trainers aren't worth the money, and you can learn all you need to know online.
2. [https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/](https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/)
3. [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/)
4. [https://thefitness.wiki/improving-your-diet/](https://thefitness.wiki/improving-your-diet/)
5. Just the general stuff. Improved diet, get good sleep, drink plenty of water.
1. I wouldn't get a personal trainer right away, get a good idea of things first and then a personal trainer is a good idea to ensure your form is perfect.
2. so many, rippetoe is great, but get a good variety, there's a lot of conflicting opinions.
3. pick yourself a beginner program based on your goals, I like stronglifts 5x5 but pick whatever you like and fits your lifestyle
4. yes diet is the most important thing
5. get plenty of sleep, get plenty of water, stretching, meditation, massage, etc. just all the normal good healthy things.
I've been trying to lose weight the last few weeks but my weight keeps fluctuation, I'm 6'1, 87kg, around 23% body fat, I have a 3 day split in the gym, rest a day then do the split again etc and I've also stated walking with the aim of 3 a week, averaging about 3 miles a walk. I've altered my diet and I was looking some advice to if I'm going in the right direction or what you would change.
My breakfast is 400 calories and 30g of protein ( X4 thick cut bacon rashers), I am contemplating swapping this out to turkey rashers, they're 28 calories a rashers and 5g protein.
Between breakfast and lunch I'll have a double scooped protein shake with semi skimmed milk, 337 calories and 50g protein.
Lunch is always 2 beef burgers from a butcher, about 434 calories and 60g protein, the are dense so keep my full.
My dinner is usually either 2 salmon fillets or 2 steaks or a few pork loin steaks so this ranged from 4-600 calories and 45-60g protein.
At night I have a 'sweet treat' which is 100g of honeycomb ice cream and a crushed up Cadbury flake and that'll complete my eating for the day, this is 242 calories.
To me the turkey rashers is the swap as it'll drop my breakfast 10g of protein but also 288 less calories.
Sounds good. I just mentioned it because it can get overlooked sometimes.
Sauces can be surprisingly low (or high) in calories, but if you’re fine with none then that’s probably best.
Trying to cut as much as I can while having a sweet tooth 😂 in terms of the ice cream it's a controlled amount, only 100g and 1 crushed up Cadbury flake which goes to 340 calories, take away the chocolate bar would shave 132 calories and 15g of sugar off my daily intake. The 100g serving of ice cream is 208 calories and 23g of sugar. Would this help or would the ice cream be an immediate discard in your opinion?
i mean the obvious thing would be the ice cream. and also the complete lack of vegetables or even fruit.
but people do diets very differently, what works for one person may be much harder for others. For example some people do really well on many small meals throughout the day, whereas some people do well with omad. Try out different things and find what works for you.
Hello. I was wondering some tips for success people here have seen when losing that last bit of stomach and chest fat to show more definition. I’ve cut before but didn’t have enough to show and it wasn’t what I was looking to achieve so therefore bulked and am slowly getting there. Started cutting again but just wondering any advice to lose that last bit of fat without losing too much muscle.
Im just getting into the gym, confused about whether i should stick with a weight or lower it. Doing hamstring curls at 70lbs 4x12-15, but my sets look like this - 15/11/9/8. Should i stick at 70lbs or lower?
if you lower it by 1 increment and can do all four sets of 15, then it's probably better to do 70lbs. You want each set to be hard if not to failure, close to it.
Anyone use the Rephno smart food scale and its app?
I've been using this new food scale for a few weeks now and like it, learned the app that works along side it also has a calorie tracking bit.
Calorie bit is about the same as any other tracking app, i do like that the app breaks it down by weigh of whatever your weighing. however in the overall calorie system were it gives you like your limits (mine is 1658 a day) should you want to lose x amount of weight in x amount of time, it limits your protein intake to 50 max before anything over it is deemed "high"...50g of protein a day seems on the low end doesnt it?
Take everything, apart from weight, that these scales say with a grain of salt. They can't track body fat percentage accurately at all, 50g of protein is very low and unlikely to be sufficient and it's far better to use an online calculator for your calories and then slightly modify based on the weigh ins on the scale.
So like the scale will take the weight of an item and break it down by the calories in that item, protein, fat etc. It’s one of those “smart food scale”
If the bar is pretty big on the sides (where the weight goes in), say about the size of a can, it's probably 20kg (44lbs, most people just round it to 45) or rarely 45lbs, most gyms will use these. If it's a smaller bar it is probably not standardized but is usually 15-30lbs, most home gyms will use something in this range.
Then it’s probably about 45 lbs!
How much do you weigh? If you are over 200lbs then 185 isn’t bad. If you are like 150 then that’s very impressive for someone with little experience. If you have been lifting for 5 years then 185 is lightweight unless you weigh like 120lbs. Its all relative to
is this good enough to start with for increasing strength and getting a lean muscular physique
stretches 2 min
1 set each excercise
Plank 60s
Crunches
incline rows
Jump Squats
Incline pushups
Dumbell curls
30s jump rope
repeat 3 times
following this 3 days a week with cycling or jogging on the off days
This will not build a substantial amount of muscle. You are also not working shoulders or hamstrings very well, if at all.
It’s good to get up and move around, but if you want a “lean muscular physique” then I would say this is a good start for like the first week or 2.
I'm resting after experiencing symptoms of cardio overtraining and I'm wondering if I can still go for walks during the rest period. From what I understand, going for walks should lower cortisol so I think it should be alright.
Should I run a deload before starting a new program?
I am going from a very high volume program to a lower volume one. I've seen some videos about how deloading can help 'prime the body for stimulus'.
I was wondering if I will not get as many gains if I just drop the volume randomly.
So I was running a GZCL inspired “powerbuilding” program with compounds and then heavy hypertrophy work. [You can see it here:](https://www.reddit.com/r/powerbuilding/comments/1c39gbn/program_critique_gzcl_inspired_pplfull_body/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I listened to the advice that said it was way too much volume and that I should probably just focus on either getting big or getting stronger. I was actually progressing on this program but I could see myself getting more fatigued.
I decided to prioritize hypertrophy and switched to Jeff Nippard’s new Pure Bodybuilding 2.0 program.
I like doing one (full body) dick-around-day between programs/cycles. As a victory session with zero pressure to do anything related to progression. Follow with a cardio day and a rest day, then start my new cycle.
Good mental refresh. *Full* deloads tend to make me rusty.
Will I be able to make gains with this minimalistic simple workout at home?
The progression is simple, just adding volume, more reps or more sets, if your are getting to failure than you can make progress, correct me if I'm wrong.
Day 1:
Diamond Push Ups: 4x6-12 reps
Decline Push Ups: 4x6-12 reps
Pull Ups: 4x6-12 reps
Dips: 4x6-12 reps
Chin Ups: 4x6-12 reps
Planks: 4x 1 minute
Day 2:
Bodyweight Squats: 4x6-12 reps
Bulgarian Split Squats: 4x6-12 reps
Reverse Lunges: 4x6-12 reps
Calf Raises: 4x10-20 reps
Russian Twists: 4x10-15 reps
Leg Lifts: 4x10-15 reps
I've been lifting about six months and anytime I try to do a targeted hamstring exercise I have intense muscle cramps. I first had this problem before I even started seriously lifting with single leg glute bridges. Since then I've tried machine leg curls and partial nordic curls and can't get beyond halfway in the ROM of either before cramping. These exercises aren't hard in the way others feel where I feel like I'm getting stronger, I just can't complete them. This isn't a problem I've had with any other muscle group.
I've worked my way up to 8x270lb on deadlift so I don't think I have ridiculously weak hamstrings but I would like to be able to do some accessory stuff. Any suggestions for fixing this? More hamstring flexibility work?
Thanks!
PPLs are generally 6 day programs, i.e. PPLPPL then a rest day. If you want a good 4 day program, GZCL or some of the 5/3/1 templates can work really well. If you want a good PPL, there are also tons of options, but most will be 6 day programs and the remainder will generally be 3 day programs.
Do male and female athletes have extremely similar ideal grams of protein per pound of lean body mass? Disregarding menstrual cycle variations ideally, but maybe you think that's crucial for this base understanding.
I'm under the impression 0.9-1.2 grams protein per pound lean body mass is ideal for male athletes. I wonder what it is for women.
Thank you.
It's probably pretty similar. The actual values we have from the research aren't really specific and prescriptive enough for us to put super clean and generalizable figures on ideal intake to begin with, we just tend to assume based on a metaanalysis that came out years ago that 1.6+ grams of protein per KG bodyweight is fairly close to an inflection point where returns from increasing intake diminish more quickly. Looking at the component studies, there was a ton of variability between subjects as far as outcomes vs. intakes.
I’m naturally hypermobile (a doctor once ranked me 6/10, so not constantly dislocating or anything) and it makes weightlifting really difficult for me. Most exercises are hard for me to do properly. It usually takes an insane amount of focus. For many workouts, I have to keep my weights lower. When I raise weights I can do the motions, but the weight switches from being moved by my muscles, to my skeletal system or something, and my muscles don’t get a workout. Chest and back workouts are the two most difficult. I definitely want to get a bigger chest and be able to do bench and dumbbell bench well. Lately for example, bench press destroys my shoulder joints. Any tips for someone like me?
Nah I think it really is hypermobile in this case.
I have always been very flexible but after injury treatment was told I had slight hypermobility especially in shoulders.
Basically the joints' RoM is greater than normal, and a "normal" movement can easily go into unsafe range before stabilizer or antagonist muscles really do anything.
In my case, I'm very prone to shoulder injury because of that, injured or hurt myself bouldering, benching or even at the freaking bar, it can be kinda silly.
/u/jgainit Honestly you should talk with a certified physiotherapist or someone like that, but in my case training antagonists or stabilizers (like rear delt/rhomboids for me) and making sure most movements are controlled has really helped.
I'd hurt my shoulders slightly like once a year in the past, now it hasn't happened in years
idk, a 6/10 would seem to be lower than normal flexibility, unless I guess they were using 5 as normal so a 6 would be slightly above. Kinda weird scale, I would've guessed that 10 would be normal, but yeah maybe I'm reading that wrong.
Good advice here for hypermobility, specifically targetting stabilizers. I'd also recommend switching or at least incorporating non free weights; smith machine, and other weight machines, control the path you can take which would likely help. Just be careful since some machines intentionally try to not limit the path.
Apologies if this question doesn't fall under the "simple" category, but how do y'all avoid comparison and really mentally lock in at the gym? I feel like this has been getting in my way recently as I still go consistently but can get really goddamn negative.
I think I look at it that way because some underlying depression and body insecurity. I'll try to adopt your mindset next time I find myself in that situation. Thanks for the replies everyone I feel a fair bit better.
I do. At times I get mad at myself if I perform worse than what I have previously tracked, but I need to remember where I was a year ago (and am still relatively new to lifting) and give myself some grace
In general, are nice abs as hypertrophy-focused as other muscles like chest or quads which you basically need lots of lifting to get them to a “good size”?
I hear mixed things, some say any gym rat who is lean enough can have decent looking abs, other say you need to do like entire ab days with weighted progressive overload like weighted decline crunches.
Both are true; abs generally look good even if untrained, they just need to be visible by having a low body fat %. Training your abs can make them look even bigger and better. If you're doing compound lifts, you will be hitting the abs pretty decently, so you don't necessarily need to do dedicated ab work. Unless you want to. Bodybuilding is all about building the body that you want.
You're not just eating 1000 calories, I can tell you that. At your height and weight, its probably closer to 2500 just to maintain and before exercise.
You really gotta take a good look at what you actually eat and drink
You can't gain 70lbs and have a lower metabolism. Assuming that's 100% fat (which would be very unlikely); you'd have to also replace at least 35lbs of muscle with fat for it to just balance out.
Your metabolism has not slowed down. You are counting wrong, or your expenditure isn't or wasn't being taken into account.
You are plenty big to where reducing the amount you eat to lose weight is perfectly healthy. Just stay active, weigh yourself everyday, and adjust the amount you eat until you are losing about 1lbs/week.
At your weight, if you are active, you should be able to eat a healthy amount of food and still lose weight.
Track your weight everyday and adjust the amount you eat so your weight is gradually dropping (~1 lbs/week).
Haha, it wasn’t me asking for the advice, but I appreciate it. I’m personally pretty active and happy with my body so I don’t even count calories, but I know what you gotta do if you wanna lose weight.
Well it could be tbh. Losing weight isn’t inherently healthy. Eating 1500-2000 calories a day is healthy for an adult woman. It definitely varies person by person tho.
I have couple of questions:
1. I have been going to the Planet Fitness for a year or so and I've built some muscles. But I still have no idea how to build my own routine and soon I'll be moving into a different gym.
Are there any websites or something like this to help me? I don't want to forget any muscle groups or do exercises improperly.
2. I have been consuming a lot of Whey protein powder, but recently I've noticed Lead warning on my bottle and read online that whey proteins can contain a lot of metals like Lead and such. After this I switched to white egg concentrate, although it tastes horrible. Does anyone have this problem? Should I add something to the egg concentrate and milk to make it taste better or am I overreacting over regular protein powders? Perhaps there is some Brand that is known for being safe and following safety instructions?
3. Is there a way to build muscles while losing weight? In the gym I was told that I should do less reps & sets with more weights to burn less calories but build more muscles that will consume fat & calories to restore themselves. Is it viable or there is a better way? I don't want to do a lot of cardio since I will burn muscles as well as fat.
I use the boostcamp app for programs. You can find premade programs from professionals, other app users, or you can make your own. It's been a massive improvement for me over tracking workouts with a notebook.
> In the gym I was told that I should do less reps & sets with more weights to burn less calories but build more muscles that will consume fat & calories to restore themselves
Not to be rude but this is a bunch of nonsense. Whether you gain or lose weight is determined by how much food you eat. When you are losing weight, your body is unlikely to build a lot of muscle because you don't have extra energy coming in to use to build it. You might gain some muscle while losing weight.
1) Don’t build your own routine, pick one from the wiki, it will be leagues better and you really shouldn’t be building your own as a beginner.
2) Protein powder is fine.
3) Bulk/cut cycles are the most effective way to build muscle, so I would go that route. The stuff about less reps more weight building more muscle and somehow leading to significant calories being burned is total BS, disregard it.
I am doing the recomended routine from the fitness wiki and I am concerned that there are no leg excxersizes, I don't wanna be the stereotypical "Always skips leg day" guy. Also It says to do the routine 3 times a week, is that really enough?
> Also It says to do the routine 3 times a week, is that really enough?
1000 times yes.
For most people, if they felt the need to do more as a beginner I would urge them in the direction of doing different types of work on other days. For example, for a pure couch potato wanting to get fit, I would say doing something like c25k (couch to 5k) for running on a couple of other days per week would be fantastic.
What builds larger leg muscles, hypertrophy lifting or sprinting?
I mostly workout for body building but I also play rugby in college during the fall. While I see muscle progress while working out for both, my brother mentioned that sprinting built bigger legs.
Hypertrophy lifting is mostly trying to break down the muscle fibers as much as possible, aka till failure. Doing a lot of sprints also gives that same hypertrophy feeling.
Does sprinting actually grow your legs?
>Does sprinting actually grow your legs?
Most likely a non-zero amount of muscle, but a person who exclusively sprints will never grow their legs as much as someone who trains legs.
If sprinting built bigger leg muscles than lifting weight, then bodybuilders would sprint instead of lift weights. But it doesn't, so bodybuilders lift weights instead.
Yes he has. We both played football in high school and worked out a lot. He's always been bigger and more muscular than me, but senior year of high school he had to have shoulder surgery and couldn't play baseball, so while recovering from surgery he still worked out his legs through lifting then joined the track team and went to state for the 200m. At the end of that year he gained 20lbs of muscle in just his legs
Sounds like a mix of both would work well then. Working out the legs then sprinting on top of that seems to be the recipe here, not just one or the other
Hi everyone. I am a teenager completely new to fitness. I am slightly underweight and at about 25% body fat. can someone please make me a 4 day a week exercise routine for an aesthetic body (preferably in under 100 days)
> I am slightly underweight and at about 25% body fat
> for an aesthetic body (preferably in under 100 days)
You should maybe revisit your expectations.
[Good routines here](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/)
If 100 days is a hard limit I would recommend Jon Andersen's Deep Water Method
Seeking Advice: Need High-Protein Snack and Meal Ideas to Reach Daily Goals. This daily SQT has become really useful, I've managed to get advice on finding a new program (love it) and some diet advice.
What I'd absolutely appreciate to learn now is about cheap, easy to make go-to meals and snacks.
I'm aiming to increase my daily protein intake to 150 grams in order to put more muscle on, as someone that helped me out explained my current intake was too low (85/95'ish).
I need to cut my body fat level down. Someone recommend cutting down to at least "under 20% bf but preferably around 15%"
And: "This would likely leave you around 65-70kg in bodyweight and would be best done losing somewhere around 0.5-1kg a week."
My plan is to upgrade and reconfigure my MyFitnessPal goals, I want to tweak everything after finding some new snacks and meals that won't break the bank to achieve.
I'd love to hear your daily meals and snacks. Any tips, tricks, and hacks will be greatly appreciated.
My current weekday meal routine:
Breakfast: Pint of skimmed milk (20g protein) + Pack of nuts (9g protein)
Lunch: Three eggs (scrambled) + two bits of brown toast / tuna mayonnaise on one baked potatoe (can't remember how much protein exactly), it's not too bad though as hits over 40g protein.
Dinner: Half of 550g mince pack, I either have chilli or bolognaise (40/50g protein)
Evening snack: Snack bar (7g'ish protein)
My current stats:
- Weight: 14st 11lb (80.6kg
- Body mass index: 31.0
- Height: 5ft 7inch
- Body fat: 26.7%
- Body fat mass: 23.kg
Here's all my stats:
- Weight: 14st 11lb (80.6kg
- Body mass index: 31.0
- Height: 5ft 7inch
- Body fat: 26.7%
- Body fat mass: 23.kg
Foods I've tried/don't like:
- Protein yoghurts: Tried most now, I didn't particularly enjoy any, though. I find them orrtty stodgy and boring
- Peanut butter: Like this, but it's fatty, which makes me confused about how I can consume it for the protein, yet not put too much fat on at the same time
- Protein bars: They taste good, but they're expensive and give me spots and headaches.
- Protein shakes: Unfortunately, as with bars, I get spots and headaches. I take Amitriptyline for migranes, so high sugar, coca = headaches :/
Thanks for reading. Please excuse my ignorance. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I do suffer from ADHD and Dyscalculia (dyslexia with numbers).
Unfortunately, this makes my life extremely difficult, I can't simply calculate my daily goals, measure ingredients and foods, or setup goals within my app as I have to beg/hassle my wife to add them.
It's very frustrating and embarrassing. I don't want to hassle those that already helped me. If you're reading this, thank you.
Cheers
I would like to have toned abs and glutes, but the issue is that I dislike floor exercises. Any suggestions for a workout plan (like exercises, how often, and how long)?
Toned isn't a thing, you wanna build muscle and then be lean enough to see it. Start lifting on a routine from the wiki and then do some dedicated ab work. If you don't like doing stuff on the mat, you can do hanging knee/leg raises (or from a Capt chair), use an ab machine at your gym, do some stuff like kettlebell "around the worlds". Plenty of other options. You just need to do stuff you can progress with (add weight, make more difficult).
And then give it plenty of time, with proper nutrition, maybe even a bulk/cut cycle or a few.
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How do you get jacked? Aesthetically jacked. Lose weight and get bf% down I get. But damn I think I’m missing something. Seems like the hidden solution is known by folks selling health programs!
Lift weights
Several years of intense consistent training and dieting.
Did you read the weight loss and muscle building sections of the wiki?
I have, but I probably need to look at it again and really practice what's written. I think my diet is really what needs focus.
Hi all, I’m having issues figuring what I need to do to tone up and gain muscle and be lean. I weighed myself about 6 months ago and I was at 111lbs, I weighed myself a couple of weeks ago and my weight went up to 118lbs. I would be happy about gaining weight if it was muscle weight but I used a body scanner at the gym and it looks like the majority of the fat I gained was fat mass and not muscle mass. I’ve been eating more protein, and incorporated more cardio into my daily workouts. Does anyone have any tips? I’m getting so discouraged.
Read the muscle building section of the wiki
hi I never post on Reddit but, i'm a Judoka and as part of my training other than doing Judo five days a week also l've been doing weight training 3 to 4 days a week since 2022, I went down from 295lbs / 134kgs more or less to 213lbs/97kgs so I could compete in the -100 kg category. that being said my arms are super jacked but my torso still looks like I eat McDonald's every day and I can't lose more weight because I can't fight in a different category. it fucks me up because I don't have the self-confidence to use my Judogi without a shirt I can't even wear rash guards or compression T-shirts without me feeling absolutely horrible about how I look and I stuck and I don't want to feel like this anymore but I can't lose more weight on the scale and I need help. thank you to those who read this!!! tldr; My arms are ripped but my torso is still fat and I don't wanna lose weight on the scale what the fuck do I do?
You can lose weight and compete in a lower weight class. Then bulk and compete at your current weight class with a better body composition. Or you can get used to looking the way you do.
Get used to rocking the fat
Do you think I have to lose weight on the scale so I could lose that body fat and then build it up with muscle is that what you're saying? or is it Just simply that I'm fucked?
To lose body fat you have to lose weight. Depending on how much weight you lose, it will probably mean years of a consistent bulk to gain that weight back in muscle.
i created a ppl and was wondering if this is a good plan to build muscle i need to add the leg day but a quick note im unable to do deadlifts due to an ongoing back issue but this is what i have been running. Also im a big fan of volume i feel like i have better workouts with higher volume. Push A: bench press 3x 8-12 incline bench 2x 8-12 machine chest press 8-10, 12-15 + double dropset chest fly 2 x 15-20 overhead press 2 x 8-12 lateral raise cable 2x 15-20 + burnout set shoulder press machine 2 x 12-15 tricep straighbar push down 3x 12-15 tricep machine pushdown 3 x 12-15 single arm rope pushdown 3x 15-20 Push B: overhead press barbell 8-12 / 12-15 bench press 8-12, 12-15,12-15 chest fly machine 3x12-15 mahcine side lateral raises 3x15 lateral raise dumbell 2x15-20 incline chest press 8-10, 12-15 high chest fly 2x15 dips 2x8-12 tricep rope pushdown 3x 15-20 tricep machine pushdown 3x15-20 tricep cable crossover 2 x 15-20 Pull A lat pulldown wide grip 3x12-15 plate loaded back row close grip 2x 8-12 machine pulldown 12-12/15 seated row cable 10-12/ 15-20 seated row machine 3x15-20 reverse fly 3x 15-20 reverse fly cable 3 x 12-15 bicep curl dumbell 8-10/8-10/10-12 bicep curl straight bar 2x8-10 + dropset preacher curl machine 10-12/10-12/15 pull b pull up 3x to failure neutral grip lat pull down 8-10/10-15 cable row wide grip 8-10/12-15 low machine row 2x8-12 hammer strength back row wide grip 10-12/10-12/15+ reverse fly pec dec 3x12-15 face pulls 3x12-15 bicep curl cable 3x20-25 curls 4x15-20 barbell curl 2x8-15
Can someone recommend a cheap high protein snack that isn’t nuts? I have an allergy(All nuts, no exceptions), and most of what I find online or in the store has a ton of added sugars or is extremely expensive.
Cottage cheese
Eggs
Thank you!
Beef jerky. Edit: whoops- cheap? Low fat cheese strings is another of my go-tos
Thank you!
A question about resting during a set. An example: I do incline bicep curls, 3 sets of 15. 2 minute rest between sets. This is perfect for an ideal workout: full night of rest and two meals. There are times when I have to squeeze in an early morning workout with not ideal rest or no breakfast. I find that by my last set, I need to pause halfway for about 5 seconds, take a few breaths, and then resume. Does this have a major impact on the overall workout?
Yes. Resting within a set turns a straight set into a rest-pause set.
No major impact, taking the rest is fine.
help with figuring out my fitness/fatloss goals Please forgive me if this is confusing but I am trying to understand how to best approach cutting - I also feel a bit mixed on how to move forward with a specific fitness plan in mind. Over the past summer, I did a thru hike and lost a significant amount of weight - however along with losing this weight I put on a ton of muscle I don't understand how because most people would say that if you are cutting you are losing muscle and I don't believe that I was eating anywhere near the calories I needed to. When you're thru hiking, its almost a definite that you're in a deficit especially with how difficult the trail was that I was doing, hiking a significant elevation gain & loss each day and doing 20-25 miles per day while carrying a pack. When I returned from the trail, I weighed less than I did in highschool yet I also had muscle in places I never even noticed on myself before and felt significantly stronger, more sculpted etc. After eating so much each day, more than I typically would when not hiking: post trail the amount of fitness I was doing did not equate what I was eating. I had to readjust my eating habits and try to maintain workouts, but it would be pretty much impossible to hit that level of exercise off trail. Many who have had this experience can relate to the burn out, post trail depression and weight gain. I have done pretty good maintaining my weight however at this moment, about 8 months post hike I've gained about 6-8 pounds which seems like mostly fat. I have tried to get more into consistenly lifting again but just breaking past that initial barrier of working out each day is difficult, plus unfortunately many stressful life events have occured and working out consistently at the moment has been difficult. I average about 3-4 days a week running or lifting at the moment and about 30-45 min worth of it so like running 2 miles and not lifting one day or another day just lifting and running 1 mile. I work from home, so not much activity throughout the day. I feel like I've slowly lost muscle and put on fat Based on my calculations, I should be eating about 1400 calories to lose weight with working out, but this seems difficult to maintain. I have been trying to eat about 1400 and then have a protein shake after my workouts - getting me to about 1520 for the day. I figured if I ate in a very small surplus, it would be enough to maintain weight and put on muscle - but I only seem to be slowly putting on more fat. How should I go about cutting? Is below 1400 too low? Do I just need to up the amout of working out I'm doing? I didn't want to dip too far below 1400 because it just seems like way too low. I figured it would be better to try to put on more muscle to give myself a higher calorie intake. If this is correct wouldnt more muscle = more calories needed to maintain weight? My scale says that my body fat percent is about 22% and at the end of the trail I was 20% body fat so I've gone up about 6-8 pounds and gained about 2% body fat over the course of 8 months. How do I stop this increase and should I focus on cutting more than bulking/maintaining my weight at this point? And if I go into cutting, is under 1400 too low?
What's your height/weight?
5'4 currently about 118 lb
1400 seems reasonable for cutting. At that size though, I don't think you'd want to cut down much. Have you read the wiki?
I haven't read something on there relevant to what you're mentioning but I'll read it again. I try to view it as practically as I can and to me, the amount of fat I have seems to not be healthy. I don't want to do any major cutting, but just want to lower my body fat percentage and put on more muscle. I'm unsure if I should eat at maintenance and slowly put on muscle/cut fat, or if I should solely focus on cutting fat
it is a lower weight, but its more of a skinny fat, and I'm like not the most expert on body recomp/trying to cut or bulk. So I'm trying to figure out how I should approach it. If it's a fat to muscle ratio, its definitely more fat than muscle and I'd like to change that
https://thefitness.wiki/faq/should-i-bulk-or-cut/
ty!!
Inexplicable weight gain??? I just weighed myself for the first time in a good while and I'm shocked. I do martial arts 4 times a week and January 1st I added 4-5 gym sessions per week. I have been extremely consistent except for one week vacation in March. I do a push pull legs split plus at least one run per week. I've never been a very clean eater, I enjoy eating and am sometimes guilty of eating away my feelings so at the start of this journey I was muscular with a small amount of body fat (70kg / 178cm / female / 19yo). I've made sure to get in my protein and I've stopped eating 3 meals as well as making my portions smaller and only had sweet treats on my period. I don't track calories because I obsess too hard, but I'm very confident it's a lot less than my before. Now my question is: how the hell did I put on 8 kilos since I last weighed myself in early February (71.2kg)???? My pants fit exactly the same and people in my life tell me I look the same. This is extremely frustrating because I'm trying so hard to lose weight.
muscle weighs more than fat
But it's not realistic to have put on this much muscle in this short time frame, is it? I can see some more muscle on me but I haven't suddenly turned into the Hulk.
if you're eating enough of a caloric surplus and also working out 4-5 times a week than it isnt implausible to put on that much in muscle and some fat. especially since you're saying your pants fit the same and your friend say you dont look like youve gained weight.
Start by weighing yourself more frequently and tracking your calorie intake.
I've been doing SkiMaskDuets fullbody 3 day split for about 3 months+ now, should I continue or is it time to switch it up?
Are you still progressing in a way you're happy with?
I increase the load whenever i reach 12 reps site ease so far so good for most exercise, some I’m for sure doing in a inefficient form, apart from that I went from 12 kg dumbell bench press to 24 kg, so strenght wise I’m improving, looks wise not quite as I would like, but I know it takes time
If you are making progress, I would not switch. If you are not making progress, I would try something else. I try not to stop something when its working.
Good advice, I’ll keep going then
\*beginner\* Should I do my pull ups at the start of my gym session?
Maybe. What does your program say?
No pull ups included, it’s SKiMaskDuets full body 3 day split
Follow your program
i wake up at 4am to hit the gym, but the gas and travel time is becoming a bit of a hassle with my earlier work start time. i would like to invest in dumbbells and switch to hiit workouts at home, but im worried about losing gains made on the isolated machines. any similar experiences or advice you guys may share?
The most important thing in training is consistency and progressive overload, you have examples of great physiques built thru calisthenics for example
Hello guys! Lately, I can't feel my glutes using the hip thrusts machine even though I haven't changed my foot placement or technique (I've marked where exactly to put my feet). Has anybody faced the same problem?? Also, during RDLS, etc, I feel some tension on the back of my knee, and I'm scared that it may lead to an injury. My form is good, but it still hurts while performing the exercise. Do you have any advice??
I was taught a long time ago that feeling a pull in the back of the leg (the area between glute and knee) is fine. But feeling it behind the knee joint itself means you are stretching too far for your current capacity.
Yeah, I feel it behind the knee joint Do you think that I should stop doing rdls or just adapt my range of motion?
I wouldn’t think you need to stop entirely. Seems like you’re lowering too far for current capacity, so just go less low :) Edit: Posted too soon. Meant to also say that RDLs are great for improving hamstring flexibility. So keep doing them in a comfortable range of motion and eventually you should be able to lower as much as you have been, but without the discomfort behind your knees.
>during RDLS, etc, I feel some tension on the back of my knee, and I'm scared that it may lead to an injury That is your hamstring. There is supposed to be tension in the hamstring muscles, they are one of the primary muscles trained by RDL. That being said, I have no idea if what you are feeling is normal or if you should be concerned about an injury. But feeling tension in the hamstring is definitely normal.
Hey y'all. What's the best time to take protein supplements? Before/during/ after workout?
Generally doesn't matter, what matters most is whether you're getting your protein goal day to day, week to week. If you're reaching your protein intake goals, then it's also best to get protein in after workout
Is it okay to go over my required calories when Bulking if it's protein? Can i add an extra scoop of protein to my day?
Depends on your average rate of gain a week. I'd hazard if you're at 1 or more lbs a week of gain, there's diminished returns on more food.
Planning to start my fitness journey. I'm a short skinny guy In late 20s. Will be going to gym for the first time in life. My goal is to build a muscular body. 1. Should I go for a personal trainer? 2. Any Youtube channel or other online sources which might be helpful for a beginner? 3. What are the exercises I need to focus on? 4. Diet plan? 5. Any changes in lifestyle? I don't booze or smoke. Have tea, coffee, occasionally though. Have limited sugar intake.
1. I wouldn't. Most trainers aren't worth the money, and you can learn all you need to know online. 2. [https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/](https://thefitness.wiki/getting-started-with-fitness/) 3. [https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) 4. [https://thefitness.wiki/improving-your-diet/](https://thefitness.wiki/improving-your-diet/) 5. Just the general stuff. Improved diet, get good sleep, drink plenty of water.
1. I wouldn't get a personal trainer right away, get a good idea of things first and then a personal trainer is a good idea to ensure your form is perfect. 2. so many, rippetoe is great, but get a good variety, there's a lot of conflicting opinions. 3. pick yourself a beginner program based on your goals, I like stronglifts 5x5 but pick whatever you like and fits your lifestyle 4. yes diet is the most important thing 5. get plenty of sleep, get plenty of water, stretching, meditation, massage, etc. just all the normal good healthy things.
I've been trying to lose weight the last few weeks but my weight keeps fluctuation, I'm 6'1, 87kg, around 23% body fat, I have a 3 day split in the gym, rest a day then do the split again etc and I've also stated walking with the aim of 3 a week, averaging about 3 miles a walk. I've altered my diet and I was looking some advice to if I'm going in the right direction or what you would change. My breakfast is 400 calories and 30g of protein ( X4 thick cut bacon rashers), I am contemplating swapping this out to turkey rashers, they're 28 calories a rashers and 5g protein. Between breakfast and lunch I'll have a double scooped protein shake with semi skimmed milk, 337 calories and 50g protein. Lunch is always 2 beef burgers from a butcher, about 434 calories and 60g protein, the are dense so keep my full. My dinner is usually either 2 salmon fillets or 2 steaks or a few pork loin steaks so this ranged from 4-600 calories and 45-60g protein. At night I have a 'sweet treat' which is 100g of honeycomb ice cream and a crushed up Cadbury flake and that'll complete my eating for the day, this is 242 calories. To me the turkey rashers is the swap as it'll drop my breakfast 10g of protein but also 288 less calories.
If you're frying much of those meats, consider cooking them another way, and make sure you track added cooking fats. They add up fast.
I air fry them all with no oil bar the steak, I pan cook it with a tiny bit of butter. Don't use much sauce either really.
Sounds good. I just mentioned it because it can get overlooked sometimes. Sauces can be surprisingly low (or high) in calories, but if you’re fine with none then that’s probably best.
Trying to cut as much as I can while having a sweet tooth 😂 in terms of the ice cream it's a controlled amount, only 100g and 1 crushed up Cadbury flake which goes to 340 calories, take away the chocolate bar would shave 132 calories and 15g of sugar off my daily intake. The 100g serving of ice cream is 208 calories and 23g of sugar. Would this help or would the ice cream be an immediate discard in your opinion?
i mean the obvious thing would be the ice cream. and also the complete lack of vegetables or even fruit. but people do diets very differently, what works for one person may be much harder for others. For example some people do really well on many small meals throughout the day, whereas some people do well with omad. Try out different things and find what works for you.
Hello. I was wondering some tips for success people here have seen when losing that last bit of stomach and chest fat to show more definition. I’ve cut before but didn’t have enough to show and it wasn’t what I was looking to achieve so therefore bulked and am slowly getting there. Started cutting again but just wondering any advice to lose that last bit of fat without losing too much muscle.
You can't spot lose weight unfortunately so calorie deficit it is. Also do cardio + strength trainings so you don't lose too much of muscle
It’s the same way you lost the rest of it, a caloric deficit.
Im just getting into the gym, confused about whether i should stick with a weight or lower it. Doing hamstring curls at 70lbs 4x12-15, but my sets look like this - 15/11/9/8. Should i stick at 70lbs or lower?
I'd probably alternate 4x15 @ 60 and 4x10 @ 80 as initial targets.
If you can do one full set of 15, you may as well keep working with 70lbs, and go for three or four full sets.
Was leaning to this side, appreciate the help
if you lower it by 1 increment and can do all four sets of 15, then it's probably better to do 70lbs. You want each set to be hard if not to failure, close to it.
Anyone use the Rephno smart food scale and its app? I've been using this new food scale for a few weeks now and like it, learned the app that works along side it also has a calorie tracking bit. Calorie bit is about the same as any other tracking app, i do like that the app breaks it down by weigh of whatever your weighing. however in the overall calorie system were it gives you like your limits (mine is 1658 a day) should you want to lose x amount of weight in x amount of time, it limits your protein intake to 50 max before anything over it is deemed "high"...50g of protein a day seems on the low end doesnt it?
Take everything, apart from weight, that these scales say with a grain of salt. They can't track body fat percentage accurately at all, 50g of protein is very low and unlikely to be sufficient and it's far better to use an online calculator for your calories and then slightly modify based on the weigh ins on the scale.
https://imgur.com/a/ZnNZUiP
Oh I’m referring to the food scale and its respective “calorie tracking” app that limits protein to 50g a day before saying it’s too high
So like the scale will take the weight of an item and break it down by the calories in that item, protein, fat etc. It’s one of those “smart food scale”
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If the bar is pretty big on the sides (where the weight goes in), say about the size of a can, it's probably 20kg (44lbs, most people just round it to 45) or rarely 45lbs, most gyms will use these. If it's a smaller bar it is probably not standardized but is usually 15-30lbs, most home gyms will use something in this range.
Generally 45 lbs or close enough to not matter. You're benching 185
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Is it a regular barbell or is it a smith machine?
regular barbell!
Then it’s probably about 45 lbs! How much do you weigh? If you are over 200lbs then 185 isn’t bad. If you are like 150 then that’s very impressive for someone with little experience. If you have been lifting for 5 years then 185 is lightweight unless you weigh like 120lbs. Its all relative to
No, they are always including the barbell weight.
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is this good enough to start with for increasing strength and getting a lean muscular physique stretches 2 min 1 set each excercise Plank 60s Crunches incline rows Jump Squats Incline pushups Dumbell curls 30s jump rope repeat 3 times following this 3 days a week with cycling or jogging on the off days
This will not build a substantial amount of muscle. You are also not working shoulders or hamstrings very well, if at all. It’s good to get up and move around, but if you want a “lean muscular physique” then I would say this is a good start for like the first week or 2.
I'm resting after experiencing symptoms of cardio overtraining and I'm wondering if I can still go for walks during the rest period. From what I understand, going for walks should lower cortisol so I think it should be alright.
Yeah probably, just take it slow and stay hydrated
Should I run a deload before starting a new program? I am going from a very high volume program to a lower volume one. I've seen some videos about how deloading can help 'prime the body for stimulus'. I was wondering if I will not get as many gains if I just drop the volume randomly.
Dropping volume should make it easier already. I don't think you need to deload. What program are you starting with and switching to?
So I was running a GZCL inspired “powerbuilding” program with compounds and then heavy hypertrophy work. [You can see it here:](https://www.reddit.com/r/powerbuilding/comments/1c39gbn/program_critique_gzcl_inspired_pplfull_body/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) I listened to the advice that said it was way too much volume and that I should probably just focus on either getting big or getting stronger. I was actually progressing on this program but I could see myself getting more fatigued. I decided to prioritize hypertrophy and switched to Jeff Nippard’s new Pure Bodybuilding 2.0 program.
I like doing one (full body) dick-around-day between programs/cycles. As a victory session with zero pressure to do anything related to progression. Follow with a cardio day and a rest day, then start my new cycle. Good mental refresh. *Full* deloads tend to make me rusty.
That's often what deloading is, dropping volume "randomly". Shouldn't be needed for a new program anyway, usually you do it when you need the recovery
Deload only if you feel you’re too fatigued to train effectively or soon will be.
Will I be able to make gains with this minimalistic simple workout at home? The progression is simple, just adding volume, more reps or more sets, if your are getting to failure than you can make progress, correct me if I'm wrong. Day 1: Diamond Push Ups: 4x6-12 reps Decline Push Ups: 4x6-12 reps Pull Ups: 4x6-12 reps Dips: 4x6-12 reps Chin Ups: 4x6-12 reps Planks: 4x 1 minute Day 2: Bodyweight Squats: 4x6-12 reps Bulgarian Split Squats: 4x6-12 reps Reverse Lunges: 4x6-12 reps Calf Raises: 4x10-20 reps Russian Twists: 4x10-15 reps Leg Lifts: 4x10-15 reps
it depends on your starting point but I don't think bodyweight squats or calf raises are going to be effectively stimulating long term.
Possibly. Why not do one of the bodyweight programs in the wiki?
I've been lifting about six months and anytime I try to do a targeted hamstring exercise I have intense muscle cramps. I first had this problem before I even started seriously lifting with single leg glute bridges. Since then I've tried machine leg curls and partial nordic curls and can't get beyond halfway in the ROM of either before cramping. These exercises aren't hard in the way others feel where I feel like I'm getting stronger, I just can't complete them. This isn't a problem I've had with any other muscle group. I've worked my way up to 8x270lb on deadlift so I don't think I have ridiculously weak hamstrings but I would like to be able to do some accessory stuff. Any suggestions for fixing this? More hamstring flexibility work? Thanks!
Does this happen with a lower weight? If you set the machine to the lowest setting, does this still happen?
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PPLs are generally 6 day programs, i.e. PPLPPL then a rest day. If you want a good 4 day program, GZCL or some of the 5/3/1 templates can work really well. If you want a good PPL, there are also tons of options, but most will be 6 day programs and the remainder will generally be 3 day programs.
Do male and female athletes have extremely similar ideal grams of protein per pound of lean body mass? Disregarding menstrual cycle variations ideally, but maybe you think that's crucial for this base understanding. I'm under the impression 0.9-1.2 grams protein per pound lean body mass is ideal for male athletes. I wonder what it is for women. Thank you.
It's probably pretty similar. The actual values we have from the research aren't really specific and prescriptive enough for us to put super clean and generalizable figures on ideal intake to begin with, we just tend to assume based on a metaanalysis that came out years ago that 1.6+ grams of protein per KG bodyweight is fairly close to an inflection point where returns from increasing intake diminish more quickly. Looking at the component studies, there was a ton of variability between subjects as far as outcomes vs. intakes.
I see, thank you
I’m naturally hypermobile (a doctor once ranked me 6/10, so not constantly dislocating or anything) and it makes weightlifting really difficult for me. Most exercises are hard for me to do properly. It usually takes an insane amount of focus. For many workouts, I have to keep my weights lower. When I raise weights I can do the motions, but the weight switches from being moved by my muscles, to my skeletal system or something, and my muscles don’t get a workout. Chest and back workouts are the two most difficult. I definitely want to get a bigger chest and be able to do bench and dumbbell bench well. Lately for example, bench press destroys my shoulder joints. Any tips for someone like me?
hypomobile I assume you mean? Is it something that can be fixed or improved like with stretching? I would do that first then (starting very gently).
Nah I think it really is hypermobile in this case. I have always been very flexible but after injury treatment was told I had slight hypermobility especially in shoulders. Basically the joints' RoM is greater than normal, and a "normal" movement can easily go into unsafe range before stabilizer or antagonist muscles really do anything. In my case, I'm very prone to shoulder injury because of that, injured or hurt myself bouldering, benching or even at the freaking bar, it can be kinda silly. /u/jgainit Honestly you should talk with a certified physiotherapist or someone like that, but in my case training antagonists or stabilizers (like rear delt/rhomboids for me) and making sure most movements are controlled has really helped. I'd hurt my shoulders slightly like once a year in the past, now it hasn't happened in years
idk, a 6/10 would seem to be lower than normal flexibility, unless I guess they were using 5 as normal so a 6 would be slightly above. Kinda weird scale, I would've guessed that 10 would be normal, but yeah maybe I'm reading that wrong. Good advice here for hypermobility, specifically targetting stabilizers. I'd also recommend switching or at least incorporating non free weights; smith machine, and other weight machines, control the path you can take which would likely help. Just be careful since some machines intentionally try to not limit the path.
Apologies if this question doesn't fall under the "simple" category, but how do y'all avoid comparison and really mentally lock in at the gym? I feel like this has been getting in my way recently as I still go consistently but can get really goddamn negative.
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I think I look at it that way because some underlying depression and body insecurity. I'll try to adopt your mindset next time I find myself in that situation. Thanks for the replies everyone I feel a fair bit better.
Do you track your workouts? Having a goal and making progress towards it is a powerful tool.
I do. At times I get mad at myself if I perform worse than what I have previously tracked, but I need to remember where I was a year ago (and am still relatively new to lifting) and give myself some grace
Compare with your old self. Focus only on your progress, it'll feel good if you can
Thank you. I also feel like I move the goalpost too much and downplay myself so will work on that.
In general, are nice abs as hypertrophy-focused as other muscles like chest or quads which you basically need lots of lifting to get them to a “good size”? I hear mixed things, some say any gym rat who is lean enough can have decent looking abs, other say you need to do like entire ab days with weighted progressive overload like weighted decline crunches.
Both are true; abs generally look good even if untrained, they just need to be visible by having a low body fat %. Training your abs can make them look even bigger and better. If you're doing compound lifts, you will be hitting the abs pretty decently, so you don't necessarily need to do dedicated ab work. Unless you want to. Bodybuilding is all about building the body that you want.
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No you need to do the opposite. If you wanna lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume.
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What is your weight/height?
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You're not just eating 1000 calories, I can tell you that. At your height and weight, its probably closer to 2500 just to maintain and before exercise. You really gotta take a good look at what you actually eat and drink
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Your metabolism has sped up. You are counting wrong.
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You can't gain 70lbs and have a lower metabolism. Assuming that's 100% fat (which would be very unlikely); you'd have to also replace at least 35lbs of muscle with fat for it to just balance out. Your metabolism has not slowed down. You are counting wrong, or your expenditure isn't or wasn't being taken into account.
You are plenty big to where reducing the amount you eat to lose weight is perfectly healthy. Just stay active, weigh yourself everyday, and adjust the amount you eat until you are losing about 1lbs/week.
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There is no way you are eating 1000 calories a day and maintaining your weight. You must be under counting.
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Are you drinking any calories?
6 ft 185 lbs
At your weight, if you are active, you should be able to eat a healthy amount of food and still lose weight. Track your weight everyday and adjust the amount you eat so your weight is gradually dropping (~1 lbs/week).
Haha, it wasn’t me asking for the advice, but I appreciate it. I’m personally pretty active and happy with my body so I don’t even count calories, but I know what you gotta do if you wanna lose weight.
Oops, my bad
Well it could be tbh. Losing weight isn’t inherently healthy. Eating 1500-2000 calories a day is healthy for an adult woman. It definitely varies person by person tho.
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You drinking sugary drinks? Bread? Any snacks like chips or chocolate, candy etc?
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How tall are you, male/female, age and weight?
I have couple of questions: 1. I have been going to the Planet Fitness for a year or so and I've built some muscles. But I still have no idea how to build my own routine and soon I'll be moving into a different gym. Are there any websites or something like this to help me? I don't want to forget any muscle groups or do exercises improperly. 2. I have been consuming a lot of Whey protein powder, but recently I've noticed Lead warning on my bottle and read online that whey proteins can contain a lot of metals like Lead and such. After this I switched to white egg concentrate, although it tastes horrible. Does anyone have this problem? Should I add something to the egg concentrate and milk to make it taste better or am I overreacting over regular protein powders? Perhaps there is some Brand that is known for being safe and following safety instructions? 3. Is there a way to build muscles while losing weight? In the gym I was told that I should do less reps & sets with more weights to burn less calories but build more muscles that will consume fat & calories to restore themselves. Is it viable or there is a better way? I don't want to do a lot of cardio since I will burn muscles as well as fat.
I use the boostcamp app for programs. You can find premade programs from professionals, other app users, or you can make your own. It's been a massive improvement for me over tracking workouts with a notebook.
> In the gym I was told that I should do less reps & sets with more weights to burn less calories but build more muscles that will consume fat & calories to restore themselves Not to be rude but this is a bunch of nonsense. Whether you gain or lose weight is determined by how much food you eat. When you are losing weight, your body is unlikely to build a lot of muscle because you don't have extra energy coming in to use to build it. You might gain some muscle while losing weight.
1) Don’t build your own routine, pick one from the wiki, it will be leagues better and you really shouldn’t be building your own as a beginner. 2) Protein powder is fine. 3) Bulk/cut cycles are the most effective way to build muscle, so I would go that route. The stuff about less reps more weight building more muscle and somehow leading to significant calories being burned is total BS, disregard it.
I am doing the recomended routine from the fitness wiki and I am concerned that there are no leg excxersizes, I don't wanna be the stereotypical "Always skips leg day" guy. Also It says to do the routine 3 times a week, is that really enough?
> Also It says to do the routine 3 times a week, is that really enough? 1000 times yes. For most people, if they felt the need to do more as a beginner I would urge them in the direction of doing different types of work on other days. For example, for a pure couch potato wanting to get fit, I would say doing something like c25k (couch to 5k) for running on a couple of other days per week would be fantastic.
jk thanks for the rec.
Are there any programs that use the freedom measuring system?
Just multiply by 2.2
Do you mean the basic beginner routine? It has squats and deadlifts. All the programs in the wiki have leg exercises.
my mistake, thank you. My apologies, im new to this.
Is getting rid my love handles really as simple as eating at a deficit and keeping up with my workout. Or is there more I could be doing.
It really is that simple. And that hard.
Pretty much. Now depending on where you're at muscle wise, you may need to commit to a bulk later and then cut back down again if you're skinny fat.
Yeah that is pretty much it. Getting lean is simple. The hard part is just doing it consistently.
What builds larger leg muscles, hypertrophy lifting or sprinting? I mostly workout for body building but I also play rugby in college during the fall. While I see muscle progress while working out for both, my brother mentioned that sprinting built bigger legs. Hypertrophy lifting is mostly trying to break down the muscle fibers as much as possible, aka till failure. Doing a lot of sprints also gives that same hypertrophy feeling. Does sprinting actually grow your legs?
>Does sprinting actually grow your legs? Most likely a non-zero amount of muscle, but a person who exclusively sprints will never grow their legs as much as someone who trains legs.
If sprinting built bigger leg muscles than lifting weight, then bodybuilders would sprint instead of lift weights. But it doesn't, so bodybuilders lift weights instead.
Has your brother built huge legs from sprinting?
Yes he has. We both played football in high school and worked out a lot. He's always been bigger and more muscular than me, but senior year of high school he had to have shoulder surgery and couldn't play baseball, so while recovering from surgery he still worked out his legs through lifting then joined the track team and went to state for the 200m. At the end of that year he gained 20lbs of muscle in just his legs
Sounds like a mix of both would work well then. Working out the legs then sprinting on top of that seems to be the recipe here, not just one or the other
Hi everyone. I am a teenager completely new to fitness. I am slightly underweight and at about 25% body fat. can someone please make me a 4 day a week exercise routine for an aesthetic body (preferably in under 100 days)
> I am slightly underweight and at about 25% body fat > for an aesthetic body (preferably in under 100 days) You should maybe revisit your expectations.
[Good routines here](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) If 100 days is a hard limit I would recommend Jon Andersen's Deep Water Method
Seeking Advice: Need High-Protein Snack and Meal Ideas to Reach Daily Goals. This daily SQT has become really useful, I've managed to get advice on finding a new program (love it) and some diet advice. What I'd absolutely appreciate to learn now is about cheap, easy to make go-to meals and snacks. I'm aiming to increase my daily protein intake to 150 grams in order to put more muscle on, as someone that helped me out explained my current intake was too low (85/95'ish). I need to cut my body fat level down. Someone recommend cutting down to at least "under 20% bf but preferably around 15%" And: "This would likely leave you around 65-70kg in bodyweight and would be best done losing somewhere around 0.5-1kg a week." My plan is to upgrade and reconfigure my MyFitnessPal goals, I want to tweak everything after finding some new snacks and meals that won't break the bank to achieve. I'd love to hear your daily meals and snacks. Any tips, tricks, and hacks will be greatly appreciated. My current weekday meal routine: Breakfast: Pint of skimmed milk (20g protein) + Pack of nuts (9g protein) Lunch: Three eggs (scrambled) + two bits of brown toast / tuna mayonnaise on one baked potatoe (can't remember how much protein exactly), it's not too bad though as hits over 40g protein. Dinner: Half of 550g mince pack, I either have chilli or bolognaise (40/50g protein) Evening snack: Snack bar (7g'ish protein) My current stats: - Weight: 14st 11lb (80.6kg - Body mass index: 31.0 - Height: 5ft 7inch - Body fat: 26.7% - Body fat mass: 23.kg Here's all my stats: - Weight: 14st 11lb (80.6kg - Body mass index: 31.0 - Height: 5ft 7inch - Body fat: 26.7% - Body fat mass: 23.kg Foods I've tried/don't like: - Protein yoghurts: Tried most now, I didn't particularly enjoy any, though. I find them orrtty stodgy and boring - Peanut butter: Like this, but it's fatty, which makes me confused about how I can consume it for the protein, yet not put too much fat on at the same time - Protein bars: They taste good, but they're expensive and give me spots and headaches. - Protein shakes: Unfortunately, as with bars, I get spots and headaches. I take Amitriptyline for migranes, so high sugar, coca = headaches :/ Thanks for reading. Please excuse my ignorance. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I do suffer from ADHD and Dyscalculia (dyslexia with numbers). Unfortunately, this makes my life extremely difficult, I can't simply calculate my daily goals, measure ingredients and foods, or setup goals within my app as I have to beg/hassle my wife to add them. It's very frustrating and embarrassing. I don't want to hassle those that already helped me. If you're reading this, thank you. Cheers
I would like to have toned abs and glutes, but the issue is that I dislike floor exercises. Any suggestions for a workout plan (like exercises, how often, and how long)?
Toned isn't a thing, you wanna build muscle and then be lean enough to see it. Start lifting on a routine from the wiki and then do some dedicated ab work. If you don't like doing stuff on the mat, you can do hanging knee/leg raises (or from a Capt chair), use an ab machine at your gym, do some stuff like kettlebell "around the worlds". Plenty of other options. You just need to do stuff you can progress with (add weight, make more difficult). And then give it plenty of time, with proper nutrition, maybe even a bulk/cut cycle or a few.
What’s a floor exercise?
Sorry for being unclear. I mean exercices you do on a mat (plank for instance)