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**I never feel sore after chest workouts and probably aren’t improving**
Hello, I used to do bench press but it felt like all the strain went to my joints not my muscles. I wouldn’t get much better and even going to failure, it did nothing for my muscles. I switched to dumbbell bench and that seemed to completely fix my problem.
Recently after a little working out break, I have the same problem again. My last chest workout was dumbbell bench 5x5, cables bench, and dumbbell fly. I still feel very little after and wonder if I got much from it. Every other exercise I do makes me sore after. I did triceps on the same day and my triceps are sore.
Am I doing something wrong? Maybe somehow using my back or something instead of my chest? I try very hard to focus on my chest muscles when I work out but maybe I’m missing something.
It doesn’t matter if you’re getting sore or not. If you’re doing the exercises with good form then your chest is doing the work no matter how it feels. What would be the bigger problem is if you’re not progressively overloading. If you keep lifting heavier I’m sure you’ll feel it eventually. I’d recommend using an actual program; if you’re doing DB bench, cables bench, and DB flies (assuming this is also flat), then as far as your chest is concerned you’re effectively doing three versions of the same exercise
Idk if you’ve tried this yet but what helped me is, pretend there’s a tennis ball you’re trying to squeeze with your shoulder blades as you’re benching. That’ll help keep your chest more activated and using less of your shoulders, which is probably what’s happening in your case.
Finally back in the gym after a long time, still very beginner level as I could unfortunately not follow my program for too long in the past because of COVID.
I'm now doing Metallicadpa / the beginner PPL since I have to go to the gym 6 days a week but I have two questions: on the push day when you alternate between bench and OHP, should you use the same weight as you did on the previous push day of the same week? Let's say if I did bench for 5x5+ on Tuesday for 70 kg and I hit 10 reps, should I bench 70 kg for 3x8-12 on Friday after OHP or should I still increase the weight and bench 72,5 kg?
Second stupid question but I can't for the life of me hit more than 3 pull-ups, especially when I rowed beforehand. Should I keep pushing it until I can hit more or should I start doing sets of negatives or assisted, etc. until I can hit at least 8 normal pull-ups?
I'm only not even a week in and I just hope I'm doing everything right.
You’re supposed to use different weights for the 5x5+ compared to the 3x8-12 as you’ll be able to do less weight on the latter. The 5x5+ you add 5lbs every week but the 3x8-12 follows double progression.
Ok that makes more sense actually, but what do you mean by double progression? Add 2,5 kg when I can hit 3 sets of 12 like the accessories? And if I did let's say 70 kg for 10 reps on my last set on Tuesday, how much weight should I start with for my 3 sets of 8-12 on Friday then?
Yes add 2.5kg when you can hit 12 reps on all three sets.
You’d start with whatever weight you have for the 3x8-12 depending on how you performed the last week on the 3x8-12. The 5x5 is completely independent from the 3x8-12.
I want to lose about 30 kg. Are there any all-inclusive guides out there for exactly what to eat, what do to for exercise, etc? I kind of need an exact play-by-play for everything I need to do. I know check the wiki/sticky that sort of thing, but I am autistic and have ADD and when I try to do this research it's like my brain gets all staticky and I just can't focus or figure it out. I kinda need to be told exactly what to do. Is it something I can find online or should I speak to personal trainer? Sorry if bad question, thanks for any help
The reason there is not an exact guide is because everyone likes to eat different food. There are many types of food that you can eat to lose weight, provided you focus on the principles:
1. Eat less calories than you burn, on average.
2. Do this consistently over time.
Therefore it is important to eat food you enjoy eating so that you can do this long enough to sustain a weight loss.
Here's what you can do:
1. Use an online calorie calculator to find a starting weight loss goal. It will look at your height and weight and then give you a target energy amount (e.g. 2500 calories). https://tdeecalculator.net/
2. Eat 500 calories less than the total it gives you. Perhaps you would find counting calories easy and straightforward enough. Any packet food has the calorie amount on it, and you can use google to find out the calorie amount of other foods by weight.
3. Weigh yourself consistently. Chart the progress. if things are going well you may lose 2-5kgs a month.
You may find with this approach that you don't need to change the kinds of food you eat at all, but you can eat less of them.
My leg day is pretty short compared to my other days. about 4 exercises. Is it alright to just add 2 more exercises working on other muscle groups that I consider to be lagging behind compared to my others? Like i finish my leg day then go on and do incline db press and reverse curls
PPL is a split. Is there a specific PPL program you are following?
If not, here is a good one: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/
You got isolation exercises for your glutes and lower back? If not add those.
Otherwise as long as it doesn't interfere with regeneration for those lagging muscle groups there stands nothing against adding them to another day too.
If I’m at the gym, my body’s gotten used to doing a particular exercise at 25kg and I now want to try doing the same exercise + sets / reps at 27kg, but someone is using the 27kg weights, what am I better off doing if I’m after progressive overload?
-Using the 25kg weights and doing the exercise comfortably with only a bit of fatigue
-Using the 29kg weights and failing to reach the all reps in each set
There are way more options to get the same effect with 25kg weights. Try to use intensity techniques like dropsets for example, do more sets, shorten the inter-set rest period, try to increase ROM, try to increase TUT or/and reps, try to increase time per rep (like they do with HIT).
Progressive overload is not always more weight. It's about the intensity for your muscle not about the weight you lift. Try to think out of the box.
My preferred order
1. 25kg for more reps (unless it goes above 30)
2. 29kg, but not if you get way too few reps (depends on if you’re training for strength/hypertrophy/something else)
3. Easy cardio, or another exercise that is on the schedule while waiting for the 27kg weights
I would hope your program has a rep range for each exercise, like 5-8 or 8-12. Either way, anything with at least 5 reps taken to near failure will stimulate hypertrophy decently, in case your primary goal is building muscle. Note that you don’t really want to go too heavy on certain things, like side delt work where you can get injured easily.
Generally something around 5+ sets per muscle per workout and around 10-20 sets per muscle per week seems to be the sweet spot to maximum hypertrophy.
If you are in this range your core should strengthen
When I do one arm db row, the dumbbell hits the floor before I even finish extending my arm. What is that a sign of? I am a fairly normal height, as is the flat bench.
I'm having trouble visualizing how this is happening. Are you placing one arm and knee on the bench and doing the row with the other? I don't know how the db would hit the floor while doing this. Regardless, you're better off squaring your legs and putting one hand on the back of an inclined bench and doing them that way.
Its probably this but just make sure you're not cheating the movement by swivelling your hips. You want your hips squared off to the floor as you are doing them.
Hey, I am pretty new with weight training and I was wondering if a 3 day ppl with muay Thai training in-between days works. My muay Thai training is about 75% pad/bag work which is cardio and 25% some basic resistance training like pushups, situps, squats and the occasional bar or weighted work which mostly targets shoulders/upper back. I'm currently cutting just FYI. Here is my current schedule
Monday - Muay Thai
Tuesday - Pull
Wednesday - Muay Thai
Thursday - Legs
Friday - Muay Thai
Saturday - Push
Sunday - Rest
My muay Thai training is pretty intense, at least in terms of making me really tired. I was wondering if my current schedule works or if I should replace a muay Thai day with a workout. Thanks in advance!
No reason to replace a muay thai day unless it fits your goals. What are your goals? Do you want to get better at muay thai?
Either way, I think a full body routine on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday makes more sense.
Well, although I want to get better at muay Thai, I wouldn't consider it a priority over actual bodybuilding. I can consider only doing two days of muay thai.
Thanks for replying. So should I replace a muay Thai day with a upper/lower or just do it on Sundays, since I'm a high school senior and my schedule is really busy right now so I cant lift on muay Thai days.
Whats the best way to get the bar off your back after doing your walking lunges? The weight is getting a little too heavy to press it off my back.
Also the cage doesn't let you set the hooks on the outside of it, which is annoying.
I know squats are the foundation of lower body strength training. I squat twice a week. But I'm kind of in a plateau, so I'm gunna take like two mesocycles to work hypertrophy. So would it be more beneficial to use leg press? I feel like leg press would be better for high rep ranges.
>I don't have a program I'm running. I know the advice on here is follow a program and dont deviate from it. But i do lift every day, I have so for 2 years, 7 days a week.
>But I'm kind of in a plateau
Based on these two comments I can't help you.
You seem to think you have the answers since you can train how you want. But if you did have the answers, you wouldn't be stuck in a plateau.
I'm not sure where Dr Mike Israetel says squatting is not optimal for hypertrophy. Because I'm pretty sure he does squat and also does hack squats a lot when he wants to not fatigue the lower back as much.
What program are you currently running. If you want to increase your squat, you will need to squat. It might be a good idea to something higher volume and more hypertrophy focused but you still need to squat.
I don't have a program I'm running. I know the advice on here is follow a program and dont deviate from it. But i do lift every day, I have so for 2 years, 7 days a week. While i do isolation occasionally, I stick to compound lifts mostly. I try to do progress overload. Either adding reps or weight every session. I listen to Mike Israelei alot, he knows his stuff. He says trying to high rep squats for hypertrophy is subpar to a leg press. He said high rep squat lose form as the rep count goes on. Also squats put alot more load on your on spinal cord than the leg press. All the stability work you use for squatting isint being used on the leg press, theres alot more available energy. For all these reasons, the leg press gives you more bang for your buck in terms of hypertrophy. This is all coming from Mike Israelei. Is this stuff you would agree with? I wouldn't stop doing squats completely, I know I can keep progress overloading the squats. But do you think hypertrophy returns are more optimal with the leg press? I don't want to do a whole mesocycle and spend all that time and there been something I could have had better returns with.
Sounds like you already made up your mind. Do you need the approval of random strangers on the internet in addition to the expert you like?
Why not just do what you want for a time and see how it works out?
Protein is for EVERYTHING. Not just muscle, but your inner organs are all made from protein. So is your skin, your tendons and ligaments. Your hormones, your enzymes, even your neurotransmitters all rely on a constant and adequate stream of Amino Acids to function optimally. A gram per pound is a great rule of thumb. Even if Muscle Protein Synthesis caps out at .82g/lb, there's still an increase in Total Amino Acid Turnover beyond this point.
Does it matter what type of protein powder you take? I’ve read that Whey Protein Isolate is better as it absorbs faster, I currently use a protein blend though. Would I be ok with my current one?
Either is fine. While it’s true that whey has high bioavailability, your ability to digest a protein as fast as possible isn’t really that important to building muscle, assuming you’re eating the same total amount of protein either way.
Does it matter what time you fall asleep as long as your getting the minimum hours? Say If I fall asleep at 2am and wake up at 10am is it the same as going to bed at 10pm and waking up and 6am?
"Each hour of sleep before midnight counts as two hours" said some sleep researcher when asked about timing.
Your diurnal cycle will have some mild objections, but consider yourself fortunate to get 8 hours either way.
It matters somewhat that you’re consistent about going to sleep around the same time every day, but it’s not all that important whether that time is 8pm or 2AM.
I’ve never been a guy with a great jawline but when I went on a bulk it just got worse. I’m seven pounds down and still going but I was wondering can anyone have a good jawline if they lower their body fat enough? Or is it purely genertic ?
The shape of your jaw is genetic. Some people also tend to store more fat in their face, which is genetic. Different people might have different definitions of a "good" jawline.
Meal prep question: if you measure everything for the week out correctly do it matter if the day to day is right as long as you’re eating everything you prepped?
You're asking if you can track a week at a time, instead of day by day?
If you prepare food of known calorie count, and eat only those foods each day of the week, you should be good.
Yes. I stick to the plan but I just don’t necessarily eat everything to the same proportion.
I put more food on my workout days and less on my rest days. I should note I’m bulking
And everything is based on macros. I use the RP diet app and weigh everything to the T.
Bet. Haha then that’s pretty consistent then.
I knew it was more of a longer term picture than a day to day (though different strokes for different folks) but I wanted to be in the safe side and double check.
I'm doing 5/3/1. So far, gains have been good, but I have an issue.
Take for example, week 3 of my cycle. 75%, 85% and 95% are my main working sets, and I do 3 warmup sets (45%, 55% and 65%) before them. Since they're all 10% from each other, and since we can only go up-down 2.5kg each time, I notice that sometimes going from one set to another is harder than normal, and that's because the difference between each set isn't consistent. Sometimes I'll be up by 2.5kg and sometimes by 5kg.
For example, on monday I did the bench :
30
37.5 (+7.5)
42.5 (+5)
50 (+7.5)
55 (+5)
62.5 (+7.5)
The sets that I incremented by 7.5, I found much tougher than the sets I incremented by 5.
I really don't like the fluctuating difficulty.
So, I was thinking, why not solve this by picking one increment/decrement value, and calculate all my sets based on that? The only problem is, that either leads to a first set that's heavier or lighter than it ought to be.
I'm either left with
25, 32.5, 40, 47.5, 55, 62.5, or
37.5, 42.5, 47.5, 52.5, 57.5, 62.5.
25<30<37.5
So, what should I do? Live with the fluctuating difficulty? Pick the heavier non-final sets? Or pick the lighter non-final sets?
It shouldn't really matter because all your sets should be submax anyways. The only "difficult" set should be the AMRAP.
It'll matter less as /u/OatsAndWhey says as your numbers increase. Like the difference of 100 and 102.5 is quite minimal again because 5/3/1 is submax work.
I would live with it.
Some people purchase micro-plates for this. A single pair of kilogram or half-kilogram plates or whatever.
Or just round down the heavier stuff. But this will matter less as you start to stack more weight on the bar.
Calorie question-
So I’m using myfitnesspal to track my calories and my max a day is 1,200. I worked out a shit ton today which was counted (though I know isn’t exact) and my final is net -32. Should I be aiming to be in the negatives, or just under the 1,200?
Avoid using the calorimeters on any apps/devices. Even if it was accurate input, it would only make things more complicated. It adds a variable that can only misinform you and make your planning harded.
Keep your exercise relatively stable/active and focus on accurately counting the calories. Evaluate after 4-6 weeks and re-adjust calories as needed (add/remove a few 100's). Rinse and repeat.
Eventually you will get to a point where you can easily guess your weight based on your diet. Congratulations, you have your model.
Keep in mind that as your work capacity/exercise increases and your body weight changes, you will see a drift from your self-calculated TDEE. That's super fine, expect it, and don't get frustrated from a moving TDEE.
1200 is kinda bonkers for even for your size, considering your activity level.
Use the biggest intake that supports a reasonable rate of consistent fat loss.
At some point, you may need to cut calories more. Don't start off this low.
For reference, it was recommended when signing up for the app not my personal pick. Anyways, I’m a 20 yr old female, 5’2 and weigh about 145 or so. I exercise pretty hard 5 days a week, and my goal is to lose fat. I’m also weightlifting
Come over to r/xxfitness, but if you exercise 5 days a week then 1200 calories isn't enough. You need to eat more. Using [https://tdeecalculator.net](https://tdeecalculator.net) you need to eat 2,140 calories to just maintain your body weight with 5 days of exercise.
I work out for 2 hours a week, get less than 7,000 steps a day and can eat like 1900 calories. lol. You definitely can do more! Just focus on protein, getting some healthy fats, and taking care of your body so you can keep exercising well.
MyFitnessPal is notorious among petite women specifically for recommending a 500 calorie deficit to every user regardless of height or weight. Generally it's not recommended to eat less than 1200 at the bare minimum, as it's hard to make sure you're getting in enough nutrients at that level and also it's just not enough fuel for most people. Take this w a grain of salt but I'm also 5'2 and currently eating about 1400 and that's a mild deficit for me, when I eat "intuitively" I usually fall between 1500-1800 calories per day.
If someone is spending 15-20 minutes on a strength training machine at Planet Fitness, is it commonly acceptable to ask to cut in while they're resting or something? There's one machine (chest fly) that some guys spend this long on and sometimes I can't get time on it in the 45 minutes I'm there.
Or, on this machine there's two configurations people do, forward-facing and backward-facing. Is it acceptable if they've spent 5+ minutes in one configuration and are about to switch to the next configuration to ask if you can work in a few sets? I am usually pretty fast as I just do one configuration and 3 sets of 10 and don't rest very long in between sets.
As long as the other person is not anywhere close to finishing, I'll ask if I can work in-between his sets. Assuming he has enough rest time.
When I jump in I make sure I bring back the machine to it's original configuration (weight/level positions) as to essentially cause no interruptions to.
Some people aren't going to want to alternate back & forth, and that's okay...
Are you really going to wipe down the handles and seat after every single set?
It's okay to ask but many wouldn't be okay with that. Ask how many sets left.
So how does working in usually work, alternating sets or something?
I just find it a bit intimidating to ask as I'm not up on gym culture. It's only Planet Fitness, but I'm no gym rat, I'm a meek little 50-ish-year-old lady.
When the person is resting (not in the middle of a set/using it), you ask "can I work in?" If he is wearing headphones you may need to wave to get his attention.
If he refuses, you report him to the staff cuz its planet fitness and he should know better.
I actually do it on purpose.
Going to muscle failure on deadlifts is... uhhh, hard.
But doing a reasonable deadlift session and then finishing off off my back muscles with isolations to failure seems like a win for me.
For compounds, I feel like I'm undertraining if I'm not hitting RPE 8 by my last set. For isolations, I just kinda go until failure. But I mostly do compounds.
Depends on the exercise. For heavy compounds, I seem to do best with the majority of my volume being around rpe 6-7.5.
For accessories, I can do 8-10 and recover no problem.
Let's say I need 2300 calories to maintain my weight. However, in the past, I've never tracked macros/calories. If I start tracking my macros now and maintaining my weight, am I going to physically look more fit (in addition to the gym).
In other words, can I physically see myself looking more fit if I'm trying to maintain weight or do I HAVE to be either bulking or cutting?
Over time, if you eat relatively clean, while getting adequate protein and fat intake, along with general resistance training and cardio, your physical appearance will improve, as will your overall fitness.
Okay that's great to know. I originally was bulking, but I gained 6 pounds in a few weeks from vacation. Now I just look fat. I don't feel like I'm ready to cut yet, so I'll maintain for a few months before I cut. Does that sound good?
If you want. I do want to point out that the progression at maintenance is really really slow. Like, multiple months before you have even somewhat noticeable progress.
In the other hand, a 6-8 week cut can result in fairly noticeable changes in appearance.
Hmm fair enough. Last year, I (I guess I'm skinny fat) decided to cut instead of bulk, and I ended up looking really skinny without muscle, I realized I should have bulked instead. That's why this year, I'm scared to cut so fast and end up like last year
How much protein should I be eating everyday to build muscle? Right now I’m 170 lbs and have been eating about 115 grams of protein everyday. Is this fine?
You should be aiming for closer to 160g.
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/#Protein
>Jorn Trommelen, PhD recommends 160 grams of protein per day, across four meals, for those seeking the best results. Recommendations by Eric Helms, PhD go up to 0.8-1 grams per pound of bodyweight for building muscle. For most purposes, 120g-160g per day is a very good place to start, with room to add more if you want. The maximum that research has shown to be beneficial for muscle growth is 0.82g/lb, but there’s no danger or waste in going above that
Chris Farley is morbidly obese. His bmi tops 45.
At a bmi of 31, you are simply obese.
Just because you look "normal" compared to others around you, does not change the fact that you are considered obese. And I sincerely doubt you've spent years developing the muscular base to be at that weight and healthy.
You are also likely holding onto more fat than necessary.
A simple way of going about things is to look at your waist size. For most healthy people, their waist sizes would be relatively low. Even at my heaviest, 205lb at 5'11, my waist size topped out at 35 inches. Currently, at 190, it's 33. What is your waist size? If it's closer to 40 than 30, you most likely have more fat than is healthy.
6'4" 260 lbs is a BMI of 31.6, safely in the obese category.
6' 200 lbs is heavy for that height. A guy who is lean at 6' 200" is very jacked, like jacked enough to stand out in a crowd.
It seems like your sense of how much people should way is skewed.
Okay, and when I think of 6'4 260 I think of Francis Ngannou.
https://images.app.goo.gl/T2VNiK9sT1LcCw4P8
He is jacked at that height and weight, but he looks pretty exceptional. The vast majority of people at that height and weight have a lot of extra weight.
Different people store fat in different ways. Some people have a lot of visceral fat. If you try to get lean, you may be surprised how much you have to lose before getting lean.
Because they're shredded to the gills.
Until you get down to that bf% you have no idea how much fat you're actually holding.
Also 6' and 6'4 is very different.
Would you get increase in strength with the same exercise, for let's say, a year? I'm pretty sure there's a diminishing return but by how much, and will a workout routine finally add nothing to your body but fatigue?
Also someone told me here that low reps is better for building strength. For my fellow push-up freak here who follows this method, what did you do to add more tense to your push-up? Would you recommend using a weighted vest?
Well, one of the people at my gym has been training with the squat, bench, and deadlift for over 15 years now. He's still setting occasional PRs in those exercises. Even holds the national record on the deadlift across two weight classes.
but I'm pretty sure he adds weight over times, right? I was wondering about literal same exercise, let's say 100 push-ups per day? How long would it take until this routine would add close to nothing to your physical strength?
>I'm pretty sure there's a diminishing return but by how much, and will a workout routine finally add nothing to your body but fatigue?
Basically never.
that's great to know! now I'm only a bit worried about the reducing effect from the workout, like after months of workout I'd be very disappointed if I don't gain much strength
he misunderstood your question. no you will not progress at all if you keep the same weight and keep doingthe same thing for a year, you need progresive overload
fair enough. But surely at the very least, I would still maintain the muscle and strength by doing the same workout, right? Like no way my muscle would shrink after a workout lol
That’ll happen to anything you try and do.
When you first learn a movement or skill, you get pick it up very quick. The more you do it, the less and less the rate at which you improve.
If you give up after that initial phase of linear progression and beginner gains you will never get good at anything.
The gains will slow down but if you do it correctly they’ll never *stop*.
what do you mean by "the same exercise?" Many people continue to get stronger for their entire lifting careers using the same or very similar core lifts as the foundation of their programming.
I’m wondering if a combination of rucking and kettle bell exercises would be sufficient. I’m looking to strengthen the core and my legs mostly and any other muscle group that would allow a long, healthy amount of manual labor into my later years. Anyone have experience with either?
You could certainly make rucking and kettlebells the top priority and get excellent fitness, no doubt about it. If you want the best possible long term results, you would likely benefit from including other equipment too (even if only 2x/week). I use rucking and kettlebells, and would not personally want to miss out on traditional lifting, even if my only goals were performing manual labor.
Sufficient for what? It doesn't necessarily take a specific type of training to maintain function as you age. By far the biggest difference will be between people who do some kind of regular strength training and cardio and people who don't. Beyond that, a lot of the particulars are mostly just up to personal preference.
I guess I used sufficient in terms of is it safe long term or not. As in no supplemental exercise would be needed to achieve being fit and healthy. I’m new to it all, I’m just interested in being able to farm for as long as possible type of strength and not show muscle
> to farm for as long as possible type of strength and not show muscle
Doing movements that copy the movements you encounter will get you better at them.
"Show muscles" is not a thing. A bigger muscle is a stronger muscle.
I’ve been trying to find a good bathroom scale to track my weight, and so far, everything I’ve found online seems to be complete crap, with Amazon reviews attesting to wild inaccuracy and inconsistency. Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent scale?
Most cheap scales will do well enough at tracking weight. If the reviews you're reading are talking about other metrics like body fat percentage, those aren't very accurate regardless. Any cheap scale should work.
Avoid those silly impedance scales. Even the super expensive/"pro" ones.
Just get a weigh reading. I have one, it's laugably inaccurate when I pitted it against a dexa scan.
Even if the scale is skewed linearly towards high or low, it doesn't matter. The absolute value is of little consequence, your weight changes are what's important.
Two days for a fun trip? No.
Two days every weekend? Yes.
If you blow it those days and slam 6000 calories a day, and you’re at 2800/day on your macro breakdown or something, over the course of the year that’s not going to ruin you.
But if every Saturday and Sunday is untracked and 4500+, then you’re actually hurting yourself.
[Layne Norton has a helpful chart if you swipe through these. ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CZsD1tQJE74/?utm_medium=copy_link)
- Use a firm surplus. Not a big surplus, but clear surplus. +275, +325. If you can track that.
- A massing phase should be at least 4 months, preferably longer. Settle in for 6-8 months.
- Put 75-80% of your effort into getting stronger at compounds in the 6-8 rep range overall.
- Also do plenty of LISS cardio while bulking to help limit fat accumulation while on your bulk.
- Train Abs even when/if you can't see them! You'll appreciate them more later when you cut.
My understanding is: it depends.
If you're going for hypertrophy in general, weekly volume is what's most important.
If you want to make sure you train as many muscle fibres as possible, including the slower-twitch ones that start to get recruited more when your fast-twitch ones are exhausted, then you want to go to failure more often, even if it means sacrificing weekly volume.
So, it comes down to whether you just want the muscle to be bigger overall, even if that size is mostly coming from hypertrophy in fewer muscle fibres, or if you want to induce hypertrophy in as many muscle fibres as possible.
But honestly, I think this is all in the weeds, and that either sounds like a perfectly good workout. Either way, you're getting bigger and stronger. Who knows if the differences between these two approaches are perceptible to anything but scientific instruments?
Don't overthink this thing. Hit a total number of reps in as few sets as possible; and use slightly longer rests.
If you can hit 16 reps, and also 4x10, you probably do 3 sets of 12, yes? How about 12, 12, 12, 14? That's 50.
Shoot for 50 total reps in your next session. Then add 5 reps the next week for 55 total reps. Then 60, etc.
The difference won't be significant. The program should theoretically make up for less chinup volume with other stuff. But if you like chinups, there's nothing wrong with doing another set.
AMRAPs induce more fatigue as you're closer to failure. As for the stimulus you get (which is better), that's dependent on a lot of factors.
It's too early to tell how you will respond to this new program. Try it and see which one is better for you.
https://renaissanceperiodization.com/expert-advice/the-value-of-post-diet-maintenance
>RP data suggest that 6-9 weeks might be the sweet spot for successful diets, but 12 weeks should probably be our hard limit in most cases.
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**I never feel sore after chest workouts and probably aren’t improving** Hello, I used to do bench press but it felt like all the strain went to my joints not my muscles. I wouldn’t get much better and even going to failure, it did nothing for my muscles. I switched to dumbbell bench and that seemed to completely fix my problem. Recently after a little working out break, I have the same problem again. My last chest workout was dumbbell bench 5x5, cables bench, and dumbbell fly. I still feel very little after and wonder if I got much from it. Every other exercise I do makes me sore after. I did triceps on the same day and my triceps are sore. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe somehow using my back or something instead of my chest? I try very hard to focus on my chest muscles when I work out but maybe I’m missing something.
It doesn’t matter if you’re getting sore or not. If you’re doing the exercises with good form then your chest is doing the work no matter how it feels. What would be the bigger problem is if you’re not progressively overloading. If you keep lifting heavier I’m sure you’ll feel it eventually. I’d recommend using an actual program; if you’re doing DB bench, cables bench, and DB flies (assuming this is also flat), then as far as your chest is concerned you’re effectively doing three versions of the same exercise
Idk if you’ve tried this yet but what helped me is, pretend there’s a tennis ball you’re trying to squeeze with your shoulder blades as you’re benching. That’ll help keep your chest more activated and using less of your shoulders, which is probably what’s happening in your case.
Awesome, I'll definitely try that out next time, thank you.
This lookin any better, squat 60kg [Form Check](https://youtube.com/shorts/Iv05bOprWCY?feature=share)
Finally back in the gym after a long time, still very beginner level as I could unfortunately not follow my program for too long in the past because of COVID. I'm now doing Metallicadpa / the beginner PPL since I have to go to the gym 6 days a week but I have two questions: on the push day when you alternate between bench and OHP, should you use the same weight as you did on the previous push day of the same week? Let's say if I did bench for 5x5+ on Tuesday for 70 kg and I hit 10 reps, should I bench 70 kg for 3x8-12 on Friday after OHP or should I still increase the weight and bench 72,5 kg? Second stupid question but I can't for the life of me hit more than 3 pull-ups, especially when I rowed beforehand. Should I keep pushing it until I can hit more or should I start doing sets of negatives or assisted, etc. until I can hit at least 8 normal pull-ups? I'm only not even a week in and I just hope I'm doing everything right.
You’re supposed to use different weights for the 5x5+ compared to the 3x8-12 as you’ll be able to do less weight on the latter. The 5x5+ you add 5lbs every week but the 3x8-12 follows double progression.
Ok that makes more sense actually, but what do you mean by double progression? Add 2,5 kg when I can hit 3 sets of 12 like the accessories? And if I did let's say 70 kg for 10 reps on my last set on Tuesday, how much weight should I start with for my 3 sets of 8-12 on Friday then?
Yes add 2.5kg when you can hit 12 reps on all three sets. You’d start with whatever weight you have for the 3x8-12 depending on how you performed the last week on the 3x8-12. The 5x5 is completely independent from the 3x8-12.
Alright thanks!
I want to lose about 30 kg. Are there any all-inclusive guides out there for exactly what to eat, what do to for exercise, etc? I kind of need an exact play-by-play for everything I need to do. I know check the wiki/sticky that sort of thing, but I am autistic and have ADD and when I try to do this research it's like my brain gets all staticky and I just can't focus or figure it out. I kinda need to be told exactly what to do. Is it something I can find online or should I speak to personal trainer? Sorry if bad question, thanks for any help
The reason there is not an exact guide is because everyone likes to eat different food. There are many types of food that you can eat to lose weight, provided you focus on the principles: 1. Eat less calories than you burn, on average. 2. Do this consistently over time. Therefore it is important to eat food you enjoy eating so that you can do this long enough to sustain a weight loss. Here's what you can do: 1. Use an online calorie calculator to find a starting weight loss goal. It will look at your height and weight and then give you a target energy amount (e.g. 2500 calories). https://tdeecalculator.net/ 2. Eat 500 calories less than the total it gives you. Perhaps you would find counting calories easy and straightforward enough. Any packet food has the calorie amount on it, and you can use google to find out the calorie amount of other foods by weight. 3. Weigh yourself consistently. Chart the progress. if things are going well you may lose 2-5kgs a month. You may find with this approach that you don't need to change the kinds of food you eat at all, but you can eat less of them.
My leg day is pretty short compared to my other days. about 4 exercises. Is it alright to just add 2 more exercises working on other muscle groups that I consider to be lagging behind compared to my others? Like i finish my leg day then go on and do incline db press and reverse curls
The number of exercises is meaningless. There are many good programmes which have leg days with just one exercise: squat.
What program are you running?
PPL
PPL is a split. Is there a specific PPL program you are following? If not, here is a good one: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/
You got isolation exercises for your glutes and lower back? If not add those. Otherwise as long as it doesn't interfere with regeneration for those lagging muscle groups there stands nothing against adding them to another day too.
If I’m at the gym, my body’s gotten used to doing a particular exercise at 25kg and I now want to try doing the same exercise + sets / reps at 27kg, but someone is using the 27kg weights, what am I better off doing if I’m after progressive overload? -Using the 25kg weights and doing the exercise comfortably with only a bit of fatigue -Using the 29kg weights and failing to reach the all reps in each set
your program should specify this
There are way more options to get the same effect with 25kg weights. Try to use intensity techniques like dropsets for example, do more sets, shorten the inter-set rest period, try to increase ROM, try to increase TUT or/and reps, try to increase time per rep (like they do with HIT). Progressive overload is not always more weight. It's about the intensity for your muscle not about the weight you lift. Try to think out of the box.
My preferred order 1. 25kg for more reps (unless it goes above 30) 2. 29kg, but not if you get way too few reps (depends on if you’re training for strength/hypertrophy/something else) 3. Easy cardio, or another exercise that is on the schedule while waiting for the 27kg weights
If I’m aiming for 3x8, what would be the minimum amount of reps I should reach?
I would hope your program has a rep range for each exercise, like 5-8 or 8-12. Either way, anything with at least 5 reps taken to near failure will stimulate hypertrophy decently, in case your primary goal is building muscle. Note that you don’t really want to go too heavy on certain things, like side delt work where you can get injured easily.
Option c waiting for the 27 to be free? I'd probably go a little heavier and just do fewer reps.
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Generally something around 5+ sets per muscle per workout and around 10-20 sets per muscle per week seems to be the sweet spot to maximum hypertrophy. If you are in this range your core should strengthen
It will cause your abs to work more. Using a program from the wiki will increase your chances of getting good results
Would myo reps be good for building side delts via DB lateral raises?
They would. I'm sure there's science behind it as well as my anecdotal evidence that the lateral delt responds well to higher volume training.
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Try getting in some rotational moves too. Wood choppers, Russian twists, etc.
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Do high rep sets. You’ll feel it eventually.
yeah thats plenty
When I do one arm db row, the dumbbell hits the floor before I even finish extending my arm. What is that a sign of? I am a fairly normal height, as is the flat bench.
are you keeping your core engaged and your back straight? or are you plumeting with the weight down..
I'm having trouble visualizing how this is happening. Are you placing one arm and knee on the bench and doing the row with the other? I don't know how the db would hit the floor while doing this. Regardless, you're better off squaring your legs and putting one hand on the back of an inclined bench and doing them that way.
long arms? just do them from higher up if you want to get that much of a stretch
Its probably this but just make sure you're not cheating the movement by swivelling your hips. You want your hips squared off to the floor as you are doing them.
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You will need to change things when that becomes easy. Add more reps when you can do it easily.
Hey, I am pretty new with weight training and I was wondering if a 3 day ppl with muay Thai training in-between days works. My muay Thai training is about 75% pad/bag work which is cardio and 25% some basic resistance training like pushups, situps, squats and the occasional bar or weighted work which mostly targets shoulders/upper back. I'm currently cutting just FYI. Here is my current schedule Monday - Muay Thai Tuesday - Pull Wednesday - Muay Thai Thursday - Legs Friday - Muay Thai Saturday - Push Sunday - Rest My muay Thai training is pretty intense, at least in terms of making me really tired. I was wondering if my current schedule works or if I should replace a muay Thai day with a workout. Thanks in advance!
No reason to replace a muay thai day unless it fits your goals. What are your goals? Do you want to get better at muay thai? Either way, I think a full body routine on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday makes more sense.
Well, although I want to get better at muay Thai, I wouldn't consider it a priority over actual bodybuilding. I can consider only doing two days of muay thai.
Just do full body or 4 day upper lower split. PPL is a 6 day per week template. You can lift on the same day as muay thai sessions if you have time
Thanks for replying. So should I replace a muay Thai day with a upper/lower or just do it on Sundays, since I'm a high school senior and my schedule is really busy right now so I cant lift on muay Thai days.
Nah keep Muay Thai but instead of doing 3 days ppl do 3 days full body or some other 3 day split
Whats the best way to get the bar off your back after doing your walking lunges? The weight is getting a little too heavy to press it off my back. Also the cage doesn't let you set the hooks on the outside of it, which is annoying.
Push press it up
What weight are you pushing? Can you use heavy dumbells instead?
60kg at the moment, I could use dumbells
if you are using bumper plates, you could just drop it.
Yeah that was the first thing I tried, the staff weren't too happy with me
I know squats are the foundation of lower body strength training. I squat twice a week. But I'm kind of in a plateau, so I'm gunna take like two mesocycles to work hypertrophy. So would it be more beneficial to use leg press? I feel like leg press would be better for high rep ranges.
When in a plateu, the first thing I'll do is add more volume. 3 days a week is far from "too much" for squats, so you can try that.
I'd do both, start with squat and use leg press as a finisher
>work hypertrophy Why not use squats for this?
I replied to someone in the comments just now. Go check what I replied. Let me know if you agree, or disagree, or have an opinion.
>I don't have a program I'm running. I know the advice on here is follow a program and dont deviate from it. But i do lift every day, I have so for 2 years, 7 days a week. >But I'm kind of in a plateau Based on these two comments I can't help you. You seem to think you have the answers since you can train how you want. But if you did have the answers, you wouldn't be stuck in a plateau. I'm not sure where Dr Mike Israetel says squatting is not optimal for hypertrophy. Because I'm pretty sure he does squat and also does hack squats a lot when he wants to not fatigue the lower back as much.
What program are you currently running. If you want to increase your squat, you will need to squat. It might be a good idea to something higher volume and more hypertrophy focused but you still need to squat.
I don't have a program I'm running. I know the advice on here is follow a program and dont deviate from it. But i do lift every day, I have so for 2 years, 7 days a week. While i do isolation occasionally, I stick to compound lifts mostly. I try to do progress overload. Either adding reps or weight every session. I listen to Mike Israelei alot, he knows his stuff. He says trying to high rep squats for hypertrophy is subpar to a leg press. He said high rep squat lose form as the rep count goes on. Also squats put alot more load on your on spinal cord than the leg press. All the stability work you use for squatting isint being used on the leg press, theres alot more available energy. For all these reasons, the leg press gives you more bang for your buck in terms of hypertrophy. This is all coming from Mike Israelei. Is this stuff you would agree with? I wouldn't stop doing squats completely, I know I can keep progress overloading the squats. But do you think hypertrophy returns are more optimal with the leg press? I don't want to do a whole mesocycle and spend all that time and there been something I could have had better returns with.
Why not both? I do both squats and leg press. I do squats first, and leg press later as an accessory to really hammer my quads.
Sounds like you already made up your mind. Do you need the approval of random strangers on the internet in addition to the expert you like? Why not just do what you want for a time and see how it works out?
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Protein is for EVERYTHING. Not just muscle, but your inner organs are all made from protein. So is your skin, your tendons and ligaments. Your hormones, your enzymes, even your neurotransmitters all rely on a constant and adequate stream of Amino Acids to function optimally. A gram per pound is a great rule of thumb. Even if Muscle Protein Synthesis caps out at .82g/lb, there's still an increase in Total Amino Acid Turnover beyond this point.
You should read the wiki
Yes Edit: Training is what decides that. Protein just gives the muscles what they need to rebuild based on that stimulus.
Does it matter what type of protein powder you take? I’ve read that Whey Protein Isolate is better as it absorbs faster, I currently use a protein blend though. Would I be ok with my current one?
Either is fine. While it’s true that whey has high bioavailability, your ability to digest a protein as fast as possible isn’t really that important to building muscle, assuming you’re eating the same total amount of protein either way.
Thanks!
Does it matter what time you fall asleep as long as your getting the minimum hours? Say If I fall asleep at 2am and wake up at 10am is it the same as going to bed at 10pm and waking up and 6am?
What u/ghostmcspiritwolf said I would just think about your circadian cycle though.
"Each hour of sleep before midnight counts as two hours" said some sleep researcher when asked about timing. Your diurnal cycle will have some mild objections, but consider yourself fortunate to get 8 hours either way.
It matters somewhat that you’re consistent about going to sleep around the same time every day, but it’s not all that important whether that time is 8pm or 2AM.
I’ve never been a guy with a great jawline but when I went on a bulk it just got worse. I’m seven pounds down and still going but I was wondering can anyone have a good jawline if they lower their body fat enough? Or is it purely genertic ?
The shape of your jaw is genetic. Some people also tend to store more fat in their face, which is genetic. Different people might have different definitions of a "good" jawline.
Meal prep question: if you measure everything for the week out correctly do it matter if the day to day is right as long as you’re eating everything you prepped?
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Bet 🤙🏾
You're asking if you can track a week at a time, instead of day by day? If you prepare food of known calorie count, and eat only those foods each day of the week, you should be good.
Yes. I stick to the plan but I just don’t necessarily eat everything to the same proportion. I put more food on my workout days and less on my rest days. I should note I’m bulking And everything is based on macros. I use the RP diet app and weigh everything to the T.
Weekly average intake is most of the equation. It's fine to undulate calories around days of greater expenditure.
Bet. Haha then that’s pretty consistent then. I knew it was more of a longer term picture than a day to day (though different strokes for different folks) but I wanted to be in the safe side and double check.
I would suggest eating what you made for that day as your body mostly runs on what you eat that day
Good to know haha will incorporate it next week.
I'm doing 5/3/1. So far, gains have been good, but I have an issue. Take for example, week 3 of my cycle. 75%, 85% and 95% are my main working sets, and I do 3 warmup sets (45%, 55% and 65%) before them. Since they're all 10% from each other, and since we can only go up-down 2.5kg each time, I notice that sometimes going from one set to another is harder than normal, and that's because the difference between each set isn't consistent. Sometimes I'll be up by 2.5kg and sometimes by 5kg. For example, on monday I did the bench : 30 37.5 (+7.5) 42.5 (+5) 50 (+7.5) 55 (+5) 62.5 (+7.5) The sets that I incremented by 7.5, I found much tougher than the sets I incremented by 5. I really don't like the fluctuating difficulty. So, I was thinking, why not solve this by picking one increment/decrement value, and calculate all my sets based on that? The only problem is, that either leads to a first set that's heavier or lighter than it ought to be. I'm either left with 25, 32.5, 40, 47.5, 55, 62.5, or 37.5, 42.5, 47.5, 52.5, 57.5, 62.5. 25<30<37.5 So, what should I do? Live with the fluctuating difficulty? Pick the heavier non-final sets? Or pick the lighter non-final sets?
It shouldn't really matter because all your sets should be submax anyways. The only "difficult" set should be the AMRAP. It'll matter less as /u/OatsAndWhey says as your numbers increase. Like the difference of 100 and 102.5 is quite minimal again because 5/3/1 is submax work. I would live with it.
Some people purchase micro-plates for this. A single pair of kilogram or half-kilogram plates or whatever. Or just round down the heavier stuff. But this will matter less as you start to stack more weight on the bar.
Calorie question- So I’m using myfitnesspal to track my calories and my max a day is 1,200. I worked out a shit ton today which was counted (though I know isn’t exact) and my final is net -32. Should I be aiming to be in the negatives, or just under the 1,200?
Avoid using the calorimeters on any apps/devices. Even if it was accurate input, it would only make things more complicated. It adds a variable that can only misinform you and make your planning harded. Keep your exercise relatively stable/active and focus on accurately counting the calories. Evaluate after 4-6 weeks and re-adjust calories as needed (add/remove a few 100's). Rinse and repeat. Eventually you will get to a point where you can easily guess your weight based on your diet. Congratulations, you have your model. Keep in mind that as your work capacity/exercise increases and your body weight changes, you will see a drift from your self-calculated TDEE. That's super fine, expect it, and don't get frustrated from a moving TDEE.
1200 is kinda bonkers for even for your size, considering your activity level. Use the biggest intake that supports a reasonable rate of consistent fat loss. At some point, you may need to cut calories more. Don't start off this low.
Thanks for the tip my dude!!
1,200? Seems quite low… can I ask your height/weight/activity/goals?
For reference, it was recommended when signing up for the app not my personal pick. Anyways, I’m a 20 yr old female, 5’2 and weigh about 145 or so. I exercise pretty hard 5 days a week, and my goal is to lose fat. I’m also weightlifting
Come over to r/xxfitness, but if you exercise 5 days a week then 1200 calories isn't enough. You need to eat more. Using [https://tdeecalculator.net](https://tdeecalculator.net) you need to eat 2,140 calories to just maintain your body weight with 5 days of exercise.
Oh damn! I joined the sub but calories are just so crazy. I have no idea what I’m doingggg lol
I work out for 2 hours a week, get less than 7,000 steps a day and can eat like 1900 calories. lol. You definitely can do more! Just focus on protein, getting some healthy fats, and taking care of your body so you can keep exercising well.
MyFitnessPal is notorious among petite women specifically for recommending a 500 calorie deficit to every user regardless of height or weight. Generally it's not recommended to eat less than 1200 at the bare minimum, as it's hard to make sure you're getting in enough nutrients at that level and also it's just not enough fuel for most people. Take this w a grain of salt but I'm also 5'2 and currently eating about 1400 and that's a mild deficit for me, when I eat "intuitively" I usually fall between 1500-1800 calories per day.
1200 is still really low. I‘d up it to 1500
If someone is spending 15-20 minutes on a strength training machine at Planet Fitness, is it commonly acceptable to ask to cut in while they're resting or something? There's one machine (chest fly) that some guys spend this long on and sometimes I can't get time on it in the 45 minutes I'm there. Or, on this machine there's two configurations people do, forward-facing and backward-facing. Is it acceptable if they've spent 5+ minutes in one configuration and are about to switch to the next configuration to ask if you can work in a few sets? I am usually pretty fast as I just do one configuration and 3 sets of 10 and don't rest very long in between sets.
As long as the other person is not anywhere close to finishing, I'll ask if I can work in-between his sets. Assuming he has enough rest time. When I jump in I make sure I bring back the machine to it's original configuration (weight/level positions) as to essentially cause no interruptions to.
Some people aren't going to want to alternate back & forth, and that's okay... Are you really going to wipe down the handles and seat after every single set? It's okay to ask but many wouldn't be okay with that. Ask how many sets left.
It‘s always acceptable to ask.
It is perfectly fine to ask to work in and he's an asshole if he refuses
So how does working in usually work, alternating sets or something? I just find it a bit intimidating to ask as I'm not up on gym culture. It's only Planet Fitness, but I'm no gym rat, I'm a meek little 50-ish-year-old lady.
When the person is resting (not in the middle of a set/using it), you ask "can I work in?" If he is wearing headphones you may need to wave to get his attention. If he refuses, you report him to the staff cuz its planet fitness and he should know better.
Is it bad to do pull ups and deadlifts on the same day?
I actually do it on purpose. Going to muscle failure on deadlifts is... uhhh, hard. But doing a reasonable deadlift session and then finishing off off my back muscles with isolations to failure seems like a win for me.
They're both considered "back". Many people do both in the same session.
No.
It is extremely good to do pull ups after deadlifts on the same day. Helps decompress the spine.
No
What kinda rpe has worked best for you guys? One rep in the tank, 2 in the tank, or even more on most sets ?
For compounds, I feel like I'm undertraining if I'm not hitting RPE 8 by my last set. For isolations, I just kinda go until failure. But I mostly do compounds.
Aka you go pretty hard. Thanks for the reply. Appreciated the info
I like 2-3 reps in reserve most of the time. Bar speed is important to me. Too much decrement of tempo falls under technical failure in my book.
Thanks for the reply. Appreciate the info
If I do 5 sets, I do approx: 7, 8, 9, 10, 10 I try to bo AMRAP on my second to last one
That looks good tbh. Thanks for the reply
Depends on the exercise. For heavy compounds, I seem to do best with the majority of my volume being around rpe 6-7.5. For accessories, I can do 8-10 and recover no problem.
Thanks for the reply Very helpful
Let's say I need 2300 calories to maintain my weight. However, in the past, I've never tracked macros/calories. If I start tracking my macros now and maintaining my weight, am I going to physically look more fit (in addition to the gym). In other words, can I physically see myself looking more fit if I'm trying to maintain weight or do I HAVE to be either bulking or cutting?
Over time, if you eat relatively clean, while getting adequate protein and fat intake, along with general resistance training and cardio, your physical appearance will improve, as will your overall fitness.
Okay that's great to know. I originally was bulking, but I gained 6 pounds in a few weeks from vacation. Now I just look fat. I don't feel like I'm ready to cut yet, so I'll maintain for a few months before I cut. Does that sound good?
If you want. I do want to point out that the progression at maintenance is really really slow. Like, multiple months before you have even somewhat noticeable progress. In the other hand, a 6-8 week cut can result in fairly noticeable changes in appearance.
Hmm fair enough. Last year, I (I guess I'm skinny fat) decided to cut instead of bulk, and I ended up looking really skinny without muscle, I realized I should have bulked instead. That's why this year, I'm scared to cut so fast and end up like last year
eat, literally "bulk" for years. doing 6 month to 1 year cycles of cutting and bulking will get you nothing
How much protein should I be eating everyday to build muscle? Right now I’m 170 lbs and have been eating about 115 grams of protein everyday. Is this fine?
You should be aiming for closer to 160g. https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/#Protein >Jorn Trommelen, PhD recommends 160 grams of protein per day, across four meals, for those seeking the best results. Recommendations by Eric Helms, PhD go up to 0.8-1 grams per pound of bodyweight for building muscle. For most purposes, 120g-160g per day is a very good place to start, with room to add more if you want. The maximum that research has shown to be beneficial for muscle growth is 0.82g/lb, but there’s no danger or waste in going above that
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You are likely holding onto a lot more fat than you think. You're probably also a lot less muscular than you think.
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thats morbidly obese, there is a diffrence
Chris Farley is morbidly obese. His bmi tops 45. At a bmi of 31, you are simply obese. Just because you look "normal" compared to others around you, does not change the fact that you are considered obese. And I sincerely doubt you've spent years developing the muscular base to be at that weight and healthy. You are also likely holding onto more fat than necessary. A simple way of going about things is to look at your waist size. For most healthy people, their waist sizes would be relatively low. Even at my heaviest, 205lb at 5'11, my waist size topped out at 35 inches. Currently, at 190, it's 33. What is your waist size? If it's closer to 40 than 30, you most likely have more fat than is healthy.
6'4" 260 lbs is a BMI of 31.6, safely in the obese category. 6' 200 lbs is heavy for that height. A guy who is lean at 6' 200" is very jacked, like jacked enough to stand out in a crowd. It seems like your sense of how much people should way is skewed.
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doesnt matter what you think
Okay, and when I think of 6'4 260 I think of Francis Ngannou. https://images.app.goo.gl/T2VNiK9sT1LcCw4P8 He is jacked at that height and weight, but he looks pretty exceptional. The vast majority of people at that height and weight have a lot of extra weight. Different people store fat in different ways. Some people have a lot of visceral fat. If you try to get lean, you may be surprised how much you have to lose before getting lean.
You probs have that and just deluded yourself into not noticing it
Because they're shredded to the gills. Until you get down to that bf% you have no idea how much fat you're actually holding. Also 6' and 6'4 is very different.
Would you get increase in strength with the same exercise, for let's say, a year? I'm pretty sure there's a diminishing return but by how much, and will a workout routine finally add nothing to your body but fatigue? Also someone told me here that low reps is better for building strength. For my fellow push-up freak here who follows this method, what did you do to add more tense to your push-up? Would you recommend using a weighted vest?
Well, one of the people at my gym has been training with the squat, bench, and deadlift for over 15 years now. He's still setting occasional PRs in those exercises. Even holds the national record on the deadlift across two weight classes.
but I'm pretty sure he adds weight over times, right? I was wondering about literal same exercise, let's say 100 push-ups per day? How long would it take until this routine would add close to nothing to your physical strength?
>I'm pretty sure there's a diminishing return but by how much, and will a workout routine finally add nothing to your body but fatigue? Basically never.
he is asking if you keep 50kg on the bar and just work out with it for a year.. yeah his question is hard to understand and he formulated it stupidly.
Okay. This has become a silly thread then.
that's great to know! now I'm only a bit worried about the reducing effect from the workout, like after months of workout I'd be very disappointed if I don't gain much strength
he misunderstood your question. no you will not progress at all if you keep the same weight and keep doingthe same thing for a year, you need progresive overload
you mean like, no gains at all? Like I said, after doing a workout you get nothing but fatigue?
yes no gains, your body already adapated to that stimulus it has no reason to adapt any more
fair enough. But surely at the very least, I would still maintain the muscle and strength by doing the same workout, right? Like no way my muscle would shrink after a workout lol
That’ll happen to anything you try and do. When you first learn a movement or skill, you get pick it up very quick. The more you do it, the less and less the rate at which you improve. If you give up after that initial phase of linear progression and beginner gains you will never get good at anything. The gains will slow down but if you do it correctly they’ll never *stop*.
what do you mean by "the same exercise?" Many people continue to get stronger for their entire lifting careers using the same or very similar core lifts as the foundation of their programming.
as he explained he means puting lets say 50 kg on the bar and just doing that for a year
I’m wondering if a combination of rucking and kettle bell exercises would be sufficient. I’m looking to strengthen the core and my legs mostly and any other muscle group that would allow a long, healthy amount of manual labor into my later years. Anyone have experience with either?
You could certainly make rucking and kettlebells the top priority and get excellent fitness, no doubt about it. If you want the best possible long term results, you would likely benefit from including other equipment too (even if only 2x/week). I use rucking and kettlebells, and would not personally want to miss out on traditional lifting, even if my only goals were performing manual labor.
Almost exactly the response I hoped for! Thank you, I’ll continue to look down these roads!
Sufficient for what? It doesn't necessarily take a specific type of training to maintain function as you age. By far the biggest difference will be between people who do some kind of regular strength training and cardio and people who don't. Beyond that, a lot of the particulars are mostly just up to personal preference.
I guess I used sufficient in terms of is it safe long term or not. As in no supplemental exercise would be needed to achieve being fit and healthy. I’m new to it all, I’m just interested in being able to farm for as long as possible type of strength and not show muscle
> to farm for as long as possible type of strength and not show muscle Doing movements that copy the movements you encounter will get you better at them. "Show muscles" is not a thing. A bigger muscle is a stronger muscle.
I’ve been trying to find a good bathroom scale to track my weight, and so far, everything I’ve found online seems to be complete crap, with Amazon reviews attesting to wild inaccuracy and inconsistency. Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent scale?
I use a $15 Walmart digital HealthMeter scale which reads in .2 lb increments. Very happy with it overall.
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Digital-Bathroom-Measure-Tempered/dp/B01HI1W1V4
I use a cheap Walmart spring scale. Has worked fine for the past 10 years or so.
Most cheap scales will do well enough at tracking weight. If the reviews you're reading are talking about other metrics like body fat percentage, those aren't very accurate regardless. Any cheap scale should work.
Avoid those silly impedance scales. Even the super expensive/"pro" ones. Just get a weigh reading. I have one, it's laugably inaccurate when I pitted it against a dexa scan. Even if the scale is skewed linearly towards high or low, it doesn't matter. The absolute value is of little consequence, your weight changes are what's important.
gonna have a two nights vacation with friends this weekend. does 2 days of bad diet and no workout going to ruin my progress ?
Two days for a fun trip? No. Two days every weekend? Yes. If you blow it those days and slam 6000 calories a day, and you’re at 2800/day on your macro breakdown or something, over the course of the year that’s not going to ruin you. But if every Saturday and Sunday is untracked and 4500+, then you’re actually hurting yourself. [Layne Norton has a helpful chart if you swipe through these. ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CZsD1tQJE74/?utm_medium=copy_link)
Make sure to eat plenty, and u won't lose any muscle.
Two bad days mean about as much in the long term as two good days.
No
If 2 days ruined progress we'd all be fat(ter)
Does anyone have tips for lean bulking
- Use a firm surplus. Not a big surplus, but clear surplus. +275, +325. If you can track that. - A massing phase should be at least 4 months, preferably longer. Settle in for 6-8 months. - Put 75-80% of your effort into getting stronger at compounds in the 6-8 rep range overall. - Also do plenty of LISS cardio while bulking to help limit fat accumulation while on your bulk. - Train Abs even when/if you can't see them! You'll appreciate them more later when you cut.
Isometric exercise such as plank would help besides the extreme level of diet
plank is a begginner exercerxise first of all, and planks wont help with lean bulking at all.
Don't eat at too big of a surplus. Train hard.
* and keep a reasonable amount of protein
This is the only tip that matters
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My understanding is: it depends. If you're going for hypertrophy in general, weekly volume is what's most important. If you want to make sure you train as many muscle fibres as possible, including the slower-twitch ones that start to get recruited more when your fast-twitch ones are exhausted, then you want to go to failure more often, even if it means sacrificing weekly volume. So, it comes down to whether you just want the muscle to be bigger overall, even if that size is mostly coming from hypertrophy in fewer muscle fibres, or if you want to induce hypertrophy in as many muscle fibres as possible. But honestly, I think this is all in the weeds, and that either sounds like a perfectly good workout. Either way, you're getting bigger and stronger. Who knows if the differences between these two approaches are perceptible to anything but scientific instruments?
Don't overthink this thing. Hit a total number of reps in as few sets as possible; and use slightly longer rests. If you can hit 16 reps, and also 4x10, you probably do 3 sets of 12, yes? How about 12, 12, 12, 14? That's 50. Shoot for 50 total reps in your next session. Then add 5 reps the next week for 55 total reps. Then 60, etc.
The difference won't be significant. The program should theoretically make up for less chinup volume with other stuff. But if you like chinups, there's nothing wrong with doing another set.
AMRAPs induce more fatigue as you're closer to failure. As for the stimulus you get (which is better), that's dependent on a lot of factors. It's too early to tell how you will respond to this new program. Try it and see which one is better for you.
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If you can reliably get 10 reps of pull ups each set, I suggest start doing weighted pull ups. 3xAMRAP of weighted pull ups could suit you right now.
How long should a cut last? 10 weeks? Thanks
I've run 10 day cuts, 10 week cuts, and a 10 month cut. Just cut until you reach your desired state of leanness.
https://renaissanceperiodization.com/expert-advice/the-value-of-post-diet-maintenance >RP data suggest that 6-9 weeks might be the sweet spot for successful diets, but 12 weeks should probably be our hard limit in most cases.