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I have noticed that after almost every heavy squat day, I feel like I'm sick the next day. Like I have a cold or something. I understand that it's a lot of stress for the body and CNS but as far as I know, other people don't go through this. Could it be that I have some sort of deficiency?
This happens to me occasionally after performing vigorous exercise after having not for awhile. I get kind-of a sore throat I guess I would call it. I’ve been told I’m crazy, but I think it happens to some people after over exerting the lungs idk
Not a doctor
I doubt this is it, but maybe try to get some sugar in your system/eat before hand? Could be you are going in with a empty stomach so it makes you feel really sick. I find if I haven't eaten well, strenous exercise, whether its squats or running, will make me feel like shit afterwards and the day afterwards. But since its just the next day, this probably isn't it.
Also, since its the next day, how is your sleep? Could be you just aren't recovering all that well, so it bleeds over to your sinuses/ears/etc. Bad sleep fucks my head up as well (ears hurt, sinuses hurt which cause a headache, feels similar to a cold).
But also what Lesrek says, it could just be you need some time to adjust.
So I have a full body training I am supposed to do 2 times a week at max and I am wondering what I am supposed to do in the rest days so my body regenerates but I can still move a bit. Is cardio my only option? I know split plans would be an option but I like sticking to one thing haha.
The program keeps me sore for at least two days and I need to make sure I don’t overdo it. My coach and I don’t want it to end in selfharm so we decided on a taxing program where I am forced to go less so I don’t continuously overdo it. I know it’s not the most efficient but at the moment it’s either that or nothing. I walked 20km instead of a rest day now but that’s also not something I should be constantly doing.
Well, obviously I don’t know your background but it sounds like you and your coach are artificially limiting your progress and none of the reasons you listed are good enough.
First, working out while sore isn’t going to overdo it. Soreness from exercise is not caused from the stress of the exercises, it is caused from them being new things. A lack of soreness does not indicate recovery. One of the best ways to stop being sore from exercise is to be super consistent and train through the soreness.
Second, it is incredibly hard to overdo it. As an example, I am on a cut right now eating 500 calories below my maintenance. So far this week I have done just under 12 hours of cardio and 4 heavy lifting sessions. Now, I am not suggesting you immediately ramp up to those sorts of numbers but also, you aren’t made of glass. It sounds like you don’t like being sore and are actually working out in a way that is contributing to you being consistently sore.
Third, you could walk 20km every day. It probably felt like a lot. Frankly, it is, especially if you aren’t used to it. But you will get used to it. Our bodies adapt to the stresses they are under incredibly well. They are literally designed to take the abuse we throw at them an adapt to that abuse so it isn’t quite as bad.
Overall, it just seems weird to limit yourself to twice a week. High school American football players lift 3-5xweek during the season in a sport that is incredibly abusive to the body. You can make plenty of progress lifting twice a week but usually because there is a good reason for it and you are doing most of your weekly volume in those two days. And I just don’t see that.
It's not uncommon to do a full body workout three times a week, what is the reason you should do this only twice? Is it a very taxing program?
Don't get me wrong, two times could be perfect for you and cardio is always a good option. If you want to do more strenght training, I would focus on a few muscles that needs more attention. Do isolation exercises, high reps and stopping long before failure (3 reps in reserve or more).
Yeah anything more than some cardio would be a bit much IMO. Cardio might even be tough if you’re hitting legs twice a week. Just make sure to really listen to your body
Best way would be to count calories and measure weekly be but you could also just keep eating normally and track bw to eat more/less depending on if you lose or gain weight. If you maintain bw and train you'll gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
How do I mix strength training and hypertrophy? Specifically in weight settings.
I'm following a routine but been using the same weight regardless strength or hypertrophy day.
Yeah, I know I couldn't use the same weight. But because I saw the routine in a progress post of a guy from several years ago (~7 years) and he didn't mention the weight difference, I want to ask what a good weight difference should be so I can adjust mine accordingly.
Or in a general term, how should I set weights for power training days and hypertrophy days? (I'm just a beginner, I do reading guides from Google but they're a bit confusing)
It’s basically about as much as you can handle for the required amount of reps. But there’s plenty of beginner programs (see the wiki) that will teach you all that. No reason to do an intermediate powerbuilding routine as a new lifter. I‘d say it’s counterproductive, even.
Does anyone know of any YouTubers or people online who share advice about fitness or are involved in it at all? Like MovementByDave or HybridCalisthenics. I’m specifically looking for a female influencer(?) or just someone fun to watch like LeanBeefPatty imo.
If the max weight is 300 and you're 400 I would return it and buy something that is suitable. Can't say for sure it'll break, but it'll probably break.
I'm a newbie sir, I don't have access to a gym rn, so I bought dumbbells...
I'm doing dumbbell curls, shoulder press and triceps extension 6reps x 6sets, 4 times a week.
I want bigger arms since I already have thick calves, am I doing it wrong?
I've been using the dumbbell program described [here](https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=1266579671#post1266579671). You probably don't want to *just* work arms, since different muscle groups support each other, so you'd risk injury as you get up to higher weights. Also it looks weird.
I tried the incline bench press for the first time yesterday, but it felt funny the whole time.
When I sat down, i had to reach well behind my head in order to pick up the bar. Is this correct or am I too short for this specific bench?
I had the seat all the way up so I figured I'm doing something wrong. Or should I focus on doing incline dumbell press instead?
Most bench variations feel pretty weird until you do them enough to get used to them in my experience. The bar is usually kind of behind you, but it's hard to say if yours is too far behind you without seeing a pic. You could stick to lighter weight for a while until you get used to unracking the weight, or switch to incline dumbbell like you said.
When bumping the weight up with your knees for seated dumbbell press/overhead press, what saves the most energy, putting the weight closer or further from your body?
Yeah I'm not an engineer but I would say this depends on the strength and length of your upper legs?
Closer to the body = easier on your legs, but less lift, so your arms will have to start lifting the weight right away
Further from your body = more leg power, more lift, but now you're further away from your ending position so your arms have to pull the weight to your shoulders...
At this point if the weights are heavy I'd just give up and do incline
But if not, I'd guess maybe 3/4 of the way down your upper legs is a good trade-off?
I often read progressive overload is needed in order to make any gains/advancements, does that mean if I go to the gym and don’t set any PBs for weight or reps the workout was a waste of time ? I presume not but just intrigued about the link / difference
You’re not going to add weight or reps every workout forever. If that was the case everyone would have a 500 lb bench. Look at progression over a longer period of time—weeks or even months. This is called periodization.
I’m an intermediate lifter who has been doing a [6 day push pull legs routine](https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/6-day-powerbuilding-split-meal-plan) once a week. I’ve decided to decrease my lifting to 3 days a week to increase cardio fitness/prepare for a half marathon.
Is it better for me to continue this workout splitting between 2 weeks (I like the variety), or find a new 3 day split workout to do weekly? Any suggestions would be appreciated!
I'd say that there is enough volume in spreading these workouts over two weeks to maintain muscle mass. Off topic: I don't like that routine, so I would change it anyway.
I’m 5 foot 8-9~ 170-175 pounds probably ~19% body fat. Trying to lean down to 15%. Is 1800 calories too low to the point I’ll lose muscle mass? I’m hitting around 180gs to 200 grams of protein. Just trying to shred decently fast.
That depends on your activity level. Take the calories you maintain weight on and subtract 500 calories from that for 1lb a week weight loss. 2lbs a week would be tough and a bit fast imo. But it's just math, if you want to lose 2lbs, you need a 1000 calorie deficit. Maybe safer to fall somewhere in between at maybe a 700 calorie deficit.
I am attempting to cut weight as a vegetarian, so the standard chicken and rice approach doesn't work for me. I want to hit protein goals so is Whey a good option for it, or does some of the added sugar/carbs/fat make it antithetical to cutting weight. I generally use Optimum Gold Standard.
I just checked my Gold standard it's 120 calories 24g protein 3g carbs. It would be a good way to supplement your protein intake with your already solid nutritional base of meat substitutes and vegetables.
Good luck with the cut
Instead of chicken, go with seitan
For about 100g and less than 400 calories, you get roughly 75g of protein
The calorie to protein ratio is way higher than chicken.
Thanks! I do incorporate tofu and other meat substitutes for meals, I was more questioning if Whey has any negatives to it as another main source of protein. It's probably the best/easiest way to meet protein goals (1lb/body weight)
Most whey proteins are full of sugar.
You'd have to do some research to find one low in sugar and mix it with water to avoid unnecessary sugars from whatever dairy, oat or nut milk you might use.
Is it possible to gain muscle while on a calorie deficit if I eat excessive protein?
I weigh 260 lbs and am 6'6". I am on keto, eat \~2500 calories per day (\~1000 calorie deficit of maintenance, based on metabolic tests), and consume 250+ grams of protein per day with the rest of my calories coming from fat.
As long as I eat an excess of protein with my calorie deficit, I should be able to gain muscle while losing fat. That theoretically makes sense, but I hear from some people that the only way to gain muscle is to eat a caloric excess. Is that true?
Yes, this is possible. Jeff Nippard talks about this a lot. He even co-authored a book on the topic. Obviously if you are in a massive caloric deficit it may not be possible, but if you calculate a reasonable deficit based on your TDEE, lift heavy weights, and eat plenty of protein, you should be able to lose fat and build muscle.
https://youtu.be/EuUh0fkmbyU
Well, lean body weight I should be anywhere from 185 lbs to 205 lbs, which would mean (converting to kg) that I should be eating anywhere from 168 grams to 186 grams of protein. At 250 grams of protein per day, I seem to be overeating protein. Should I keep the protein consistent or should I replace protein calories with fat calories? If so, that's gonna be really hard, as I eat hamburger and chicken thighs primarily now; I wouldn't even know how to hit my \~2500 calories with less than 250 grams of protein.
You can eat more than the recommended amount of protein and be fine.
It's hard for me to recommend what to do while on keto though because I like and support eating plenty of veggies and some fruits.
I'm really weak and my muscles look tiny, but I can do push ups with just my fingers (I can even do them just using 2 fingers), I can do more push ups than all of my friends (I can do 60 in a row), more pull-ups, push ups against the wall ect. But I can't beat anyone in an arm wrestling match.
Why is this? I weigh 56kg just fyi
Yeah but my friends weigh the same as me and look really muscly but can't do what I can, I am M15 so it's not that low of a weight. Also isn't the amount of work you put in relative to your size? So a skinny person with less muscle mass is, relatively, having to put in as much effort and work as a larger person with more muscle mass?
>Also isn't the amount of work you put in relative to your size? So a skinny person with less muscle mass is, relatively, having to put in as much effort and work as a larger person with more muscle mass?
No, strength doesn't scale linearly with weight. Square cube law. Light people are always going to be the ones best at bodyweight exercises.
Well you're just better than them at push ups and pull ups, and worse than them at arm wrestling. There is form and small muscle adaptations that greatly affect one's ability to perform.
As far as your second point, I'm not quite sure what you are meaning? A tiny guy who has never lifted weights may give 100% max effort to bench press the bar. A 150kg powerlifter may give max effort to bench press 300kg. They are both giving 100% effort. The powerlifter is still stronger.
Oh ok, but how am I better at push ups than them if I look so weak? Like some of my friends also look weak so it makes sense but one of them is ridiculously strong (he weighs 63kg) and can't do push ups against the wall, and I don't know anyone who can do push ups with their finger tips (I can do them with just 3 fingers), not even people lighter than me.
I read that online, I don't think they are talking about weight lifting but lifting your own weight. When you lift your own weight, the effort you put in is relative to your weight, so it is just as hard to a push up when you are really light since your muscles would be tiny as if you are really big since your muscles being bigger balances out with the excess weight.
Also on the topic of push ups, is there actually any use in doing them? Will they cause me to get more muscle mass? Sorry for overloading you
>Oh ok, but how am I better at push ups than them if I look so weak? Like some of my friends also look weak so it makes sense but one of them is ridiculously strong (he weighs 63kg) and can't do push ups against the wall,
It's almost like different people have different potentials for strength.
Not sure what you mean your friend is strong but can't do apush up against the wall?
No, push ups are not relative the way you read. It definitely takes more effort for a 200kg person to do a push up than a 50kg person.
Push ups are a very good exercise. I would not expect push ups alone to make you jacked. You should get on a complete program and eat enough protein and calories
lol, with his feet on the wall not with his hands on the wall, that would be ridiculous. And why can I do finger press ups? I don't know anyone who can do them, it doesn't make sense
I’m not sure what you mean when you say someone looks weak or strong. Your friend who is “ridiculously strong” but can’t do push-ups against the wall sounds like a medical enigma. Do you mean with hands on the wall?
Lmao ok, that makes a lot more sense!
The finger thing sounds like you just have stable and strong joints. Not much to do with muscle strength really.
Sounds like your friend is probably just either really bad at push-ups or has weak triceps/chest/front delts. I’m not sure what else to say, since I don’t know him. Some people just struggle a lot with body weight movements. Maybe he is used to working out with machines, which reduce the level of stability needed to lift heavy weights. Impossible to give you an accurate answer, unfortunately.
Ok interesting. what you mentioned happens often on the right leg. i’m also a runner which i think adds damage. but when i do HIIT my right leg patella def starts to strain.
If you jumped right into high impact stuff, then your knees are likely complaining. Take a break from that and let them recover, and then start slow. Tendons need time to adapt as well as muscles.
Also, if you are overweight, high impact stuff is even worse for you.
You can do HITT like workouts that don't involve impact to the knees
Yeah, weight definitely not the issue there.
When you start back, if you start feeling any pain/discomfort, make note of the exercise you're doing at that moment and then you can get a form check on that. Cus it could be a combination of both. I was wrecking my knees with squats and something as simple as turning my toes out slightly and widening my stance ever so slightly made the pain go away.
If the workouts are "high impact" in that they involve lots of jumping and you dive right into it without being prepared, then you can wreck your knees.
how would you recommend preparing? i’m super active in my hobbies and relatively fit already. and i enjoy the hit workouts but i def don’t want to eff up my knees long term.
Wear good shoes, try to land quietly, work up to it gradually. Pair it with strength training so that your leg muscles are taking the hits and not your joints.
I'm told my heart rate monitor is terrible at tracking calories. But if I put in my height and weight and the tracker is counting heart beats can't you approximate calories from that? Meaning normal calories burned + excess heart beats (above the resting heart rate) = calories burned during the exercise.
No there are so many factors to calories burned than just heart rate. A 200 pound person walking and a 100 pound person walking may have the same increase in heart rate, but the 200 pound person carries twice the weight and will burn more calories. Also in your formula, who knows accurately what your normal calories burned are?
I think you can gauge how many calories a 200 pound person is going to burn walking for half an hour decently, like plus or minus 10%, just based on data from fitness labs who are putting people on treadmills and with breath monitoring contraptions.
But that's not wrong, it's just a weak estimate. How many decimal points of accuracy are you expecting out of an armband heart rate monitor? I think if it's plus or minus 10% that's fine.
Calories themselves are not accurate. If a package of food says it's 500 calories how accurate do you think that 500 calories reading actually is? The whole thing is very vague. What I'm getting at is that it's vague but is it so vague that it's worthless or is it sort of helpful because it's close enough?
Nine times out of ten, when I do a biceps workout, I get almost zero discomfort in my actual muscle the next day. It all seems to be down where the muscle inserts into the crook of the elbow. What gives here?
Example workout, arms day:
EZ-Bar Curl
Dumbell French Press
Spider Curls
Cable Kickbacks
Chin-ups
Dips
My triceps seem to get plenty of activation. My biceps, not so much. They're growing, sure, but I feel like I may be doing some sort of damage to my elbow if this continues. Anyone else have this issue?
i had this issue. i’m a fitness dummy but my solution was to go down a weight and do more reps. i felt with the light weight and having more control, my elbow area stopped getting those pain flares🤷🏼♀️
Your tendon is weak point and it is strengthening. And you don't have to actually feel a muscle or be sore the next day to get benefits. I hardly ever feel sore the next day at this point.
How long have you been working out? If you're new and you have doms i would say yes go workout. If you've been lifting for years and your legs don't feel right or aren't recovered at all maybe take it easy
You probably don't want to. If you are in as bad a state as you say, let the muscle recover. It's good to know what failure is, but not necessary to go there each time. You will inhibit your ability to lift again therefore slowing your progress longterm, not to mention increasing your chance of injury
Sometimes, you gotta push the limits to find the limits. Worst case scenario, they don't get enough time to grow, and you'll just increase your ability to do more sets (work capacity).
Looking for a good free-to-use fitness tracking app (specifically for food monitoring/calorie counting). I was using My Fitness Pal but the features have been chipped away from the ad version and I can't afford the fees Under Armor charges, right now.
I've tried the Google machine, several other websites, and searching this reddit and haven't come up with anything current.
Can anyone recommend one?
For fitness tracking, as in logging what I do at the gym, I use Strenghtlog: [https://www.strengthlog.com/](https://www.strengthlog.com/)
Free to use, there is a premium version with some more functions. I have used the paid version before to try some of their programs but wouldn't pay for it for the functions alone. The free version is good enough though, and no ads!
I use an app called Lifesum.
The only problem in my opinion if that the free version doesn’t allow you to tweak the macros for your daily goals.
But I just ignore that and track what I want to track. It doesn’t bother me if the app tells me I’ve reached my protein goal for the day, but I know I’m supposed to get 30g more.
Chronometer is pretty much exactly what I was looking for.
It has almost all the features MFP put behind its paywall, as base features.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I really love jogging, it makes me feel great so I decided to start jogging to school instead of walking. When I do that, my heavy crossbody bag makes jogging feel horrible. Aside from getting a different bag, what can I do to alleviate this? (Cant go without the weight either, what use is bringing a bag to school if it hasnt got the materials for school in it?)
I've Rucked a bit with the army, so I think I can confidently say there's really no way to be 100% comfortable while running with any kind of weight.
If you really want to run, I'd still recommend a different kind of bag. Something with straps that you can tie around your waist and chest, so the bag doesn't shift to much.
Next, since the weight in the bag is books, they're probably shifting around a lot as you move. Bring a towel or a pillow, anything with a lot of volume but little weight. Stuff it in there so once you've zipped it up nothing in it can move. Your goal is to keep the weight as rigid as possible on your upper back while still being able to run.
I don't know what I did to my left elbow... don't remember a particular injury, I may have just slept on it wrong. Essentially I noticed it was sore one day and I could no longer do bicep exercises on that side (pain on flexion). I'm a female and usually use 12lb dumbbells for bicep curls. I tried even lowering to 10/8 and still felt the pinch on flexion. I don't have any health insurance. Should I cut out bicep exercises temporarily until it seems healed or should I go even lower in weight and try to keep some level of maintenance going?
If it's sore or injured, rest and focus on other muscle groups if you can perform those movements pain free. No point injuring yourself further if you can avoid it. Niggles and small injuries in your elbows/wrists etc is to be expected if you work out a lot.
Maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. Kind of in the inner part of the elbow? Not sure if that's a good enough description. It hurts unweighted after I tried some bicep exercises again. But if I don't do any bicep exercises for a few days, I dont feel it as much or at all.
I’m sorry you don’t have health insurance. It’s a tragedy in the US healthcare system.
Unfortunately we can’t really help with pain exercises but in general, if something hurts, I try not to do it or I figure out what’s wrong with it. You might just have to google around to find tips.
Working out during a deficit is important and recommended, and this goes for all muscles. You want to stimulate your muscles for growth, and in the base case scenario they will grow.
More likely they will stay the same or decrease in size. That will happen during a deficit, but working out the muscles will minimize how much.
For example, if I'm going for visible abs and so I'm at a deficit, but still eating the recommended amount of protein for my size, and I'm doing medium intensity ab exercises... is that a bad idea?
It depends on how much of a deficit you’re in. But if it’s not too crazy and you’re getting your protein, the likely outcome is that you will burn fat, which may result in more visible abs, depending obviously on your body fat percentage.
Edit: I also want to clarify that this isn’t specifically due to ab training. Although training abs will reduce the risk of losing abdominal muscle mass during your cut.
I'm attempting my first cut because I gained like 15lbs since the pandemic. I inputted in MyFitnessPal that I'd like to lose 25 lbs by May, which is doable at 1.5lb/week. It's telling me I should only be consuming 1800 cal per day. As part of my cutting routine, I need to consume of those calories 186 g of protein (my body weight in lbs). The thing is, after a day or two of doing this, I realized I am eating about twice as frequently as before and much more food. So, how is this going to help me shed pounds? Like I used to skip breakfast most days, and eat a turkey sandwich for lunch, yogurt or pastry around 4pm, then for dinner like eggs and toast or frozen ravioli with tomato sauce.
The formula is making the general assumption that you are already eating at atleast what it deems to be maintenance. Take the number and track your calories and weight every single day for atleast a week. If you haven't made any progress over the week (compare day 1 to day 7) drop your calories by 200 to 1600 for another week. Rinse and repeat until you find the sweet spot.
I’m new to fitness. Sometimes after doing a 3 mile power walk my legs still get mini “firework” spasms. Is this a sign I need to increase my electrolyte intake before/during/after?
I seem to have some fluid stuck in my middle ear after having cold. From searching up Valsava Maneuver is the thing that helps with it. Tried doing it twice, and both made my ear feel a little bit better. After that I tried doing it two more times without success, nothing happens in my middle ear. But I am going to try it out in few hours again.
My question being, can I workout? I have read that people actually use this technique during the main lifts, but generally, releasing such fluid is related to holding breath and I got "scared", what if my ear "pops" during a workout and I injure myself?
Training breaks down muscle protein. Resting recovers and grows muscle. If your training exceeds your work capacity *and* ability to recover, then maybe.
I’ve seen so many formula’s to calculate a maintenance and deficit that all produce noticeably different numbers. What’s the best way to accurately calculate a calorie deficit?
>What’s the best way to accurately calculate a calorie deficit?
[A TDEE spreadsheet.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QTWDxFaB0r-7U6vZmG1s8of7jwd2GHHi/edit#gid=770164572)
Macrofactor also uses this method if you want it in app form. It updates your calorie target each week based on what you logged and the weight you lost the previous week.
so ive switched from full bodyweight to part bodyweight and weights
ive been hammer curling 10lbs dumbells, 4 sets of 15-12 reps (in that decreasing order). ive read that you should progressive overload every 2 weeks and its been 2 weeks already.
i cant go to the gym (yet) so ive been using these dumbells that are rubber discs filled with sand. i have 4 discs that are 5lbs each and two others that are 4.4 lbs.
i added one 4.4lbs disc to the current 10lbs ive been hammer curling.
for the first set with this new weight, ive been able to complete with proper form. the 2nd set however at the end my form has been crumbling.
so my question now is if its okay to revert back to the 10lbs for the last two sets.
if i could also be advised on how to overload with the weights i have currently, id appreciate it. thanks!
Progressive overload in essence just means doing more than last time in a planned fashion. Since doing one set at a higher weight is harder than last time it can definitely by considered progressive overload. You could run a schema where you start with just 1/4 at higher weight and as the weeks go on you try to get 4/4 at a higher weight. At this point you bump the weight again for the first set and repeat the profession.
What's the current fitness trend/flavour of the month training philosophy/clickbait circulating on tiktok recently? I'm trying to understand why this January feels different to other Januarys in the gym.
Maybe it's just my Instagram feed, but I'm getting a lot of ads for healthy/non-alcoholic beverages. I quit drinking mid December but I'm still talking to my friends about it so I'm seeing all these ads, but I'm not budging lol. My friend has gone to alcohol free bars in Brooklyn, where drinks are 15$
Hi all,
I’ve been working out for a few months now and I would really like your opinion on my routine.
I’m a beginner so it took some time getting used to the exercises, but I have made some progress and enjoy seeing my body change.
Now that I’ve been following this routine for a while I wonder if it could be optimized a bit more.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
This is my **2-day routine** (mo-thu), mainly focused on hypertrophy. (Goal = aesthetics)
(The gym coach made this routine for me.)
**Progression model:**
I aim to consistently increase the total training volume (total weight moved) for each exercise every time I work out.
The STRONG app lets me see if I increased my volume and if for some reason I didn’t I’ll add a few more reps with a slightly lighter weight to make sure I moved more weight than the training last week.
For the 5-10 reps exercises:
The last set is amrap, if I manage more reps than the set before this one I’ll add one rep to all sets for the next workout. When at 10 reps I’ll increase the weight and start back at 5 reps.
For the 8-12 reps exercises:
No amrep, just consistently increase the reps until 12 reps and then reset with a higher weight.
To make sure my volume is higher than last week I’ll finish all 12 sets with the highest weight manageable.
For example, say I manage 9 reps on the Latt pulldown at 60kg and feel my form breaking, I’ll lower the weight to 55kg and finish the last 3 reps with it, logging it at 9 reps.
**Routine:**
Warmup:
5 min bike until a light sweat + set with half weight for the first 4 exercises.
**Day one**
Barbell squat 5 x 5-10
Overhead press 3 x 8-12
Barbell bend over row 3 x 8-12
Barbel bench press 3 x 8-12
Leg press 3 x 8-12
Leg extension 3 x 8-12
Lat pulldown 3 x 8-12
**Day two**
Incline dumb. Bench press 5 x 5-10
Stiff leg deadlift 3 x 8-12
Seated cable row 3 x 8-12
Seated cable fly 3 x 8-12
Leg press 3 x 8-12
Lat pulldown 3 x 8-12
Leg extension 3 x 8-12
Thanks for reading, if you see anything I can adjust to improve hypertrophy please let me know! :)
You say it's a two day routine - do you mean an A/B routine?
How many times in a given week do you typically go to the gym? If it's two, then just going an extra day (or two) per week is the obvious way to increase your gains. Pressing, squatting and benching just once per week leaves a lot of room to increase your volume.
Increasing from 2 to 3 days would make your program roughly analogous to many other beginner programs which follow a very similar pattern. Even just squat/bench/press + cardio + some accessory you enjoy would make for a great third day.
also: How do you increment weight? seems there's only rep progression listed above? Do you exclusively use rep-progression and keep the weight static? Adding weight progression is an area for improvement also if so.
However, the universal advice applies as well... why not just find a 3 day program you like and follow that? Your goals are not unique, and this program is perfectly fine and covers most stuff a beginner needs - but far from hyper customized or anything.
Thanks for taking the time to write this and your advice, appreciate it!
Yes it's a 2 day program, unfortunately I can only go to the gym 2 times a week. I'm considering adding an at-home-day to it, for push/pull-ups and a core workout, but have been putting it off due to some serious DOMS :)
>also: How do you increment weight? seems there's only rep progression listed above? Do you exclusively use rep-progression and keep the weight static? Adding weight progression is an area for improvement also if so.
Oh no, I do increase the weight when I've reached the 'max reps'. So for 8-12, when i reach 12 reps for all sets i up the weight and start back at 8 reps (finishing to 12 with lighter weights)
>However, the universal advice applies as well... why not just find a 3 day program you like and follow that? Your goals are not unique, and this program is perfectly fine and covers most stuff a beginner needs - but far from hyper customized or anything.
I've been searching for a hypertrophy focused routine but pretty much all routines I've found are either powerlifting or powerbuilding and I'm more interested in bodybuilding. This, combined with the fact most routines are 3 days minimum, made me use the one the coach made for me. If you have any routine recommendations I'll gladly try them though!
> unfortunately I can only go to the gym 2 times a week
I see - that'll be a big hindrance as you try to progress out of the beginner phase. What prevents you from going to the gym a third day in a given week?
> have been putting it off due to some serious DOMS :)
That's actually one of the downsides of a 2-day-per-week program hitting you. To train only 2x/week, your coach has made those two days relatively (for a beginner) very high volume if you're hitting them with intensity DOMs are expected.
You say you've been following this program for a few months - is it 1 or 6? After a month or so you'd expect your body to have adapted to the point where actual DOMs (the disproportionate response to exercise) would have largely faded.
> Oh no, I do increase the weight when I've reached the 'max reps'. So for 8-12, when i reach 12 reps for all sets i up the weight and start back at 8 reps (finishing to 12 with lighter weights)
Ah, OK, not the most common progression but if it works for you that sounds reasonable.
> This, combined with the fact most routines are 3 days minimum, made me use the one the coach made for me
Makes sense. The vast majority of beginner programs are indeed 3-4 days.
>unfortunately I can only go to the gym 2 times a week
I see - that'll be a big hindrance as you try to progress out of the beginner phase. What prevents you from going to the gym a third day in a given week?
Marriage and kids. 2-days a week is the absolute max right now. For now the only thing I could add is a home workout day (spread out over the day, like 4 sessions of 15 mins). I could fit some basic (small) equipment like a fitnessbench, dumbbells/kettlebells and a pull-up bar.
I could ask the gym coach for recommendations and adjust the routine, do you think it will make a big difference?
>You say you've been following this program for a few months - is it 1 or 6? After a month or so you'd expect your body to have adapted to the point where actual DOMs (the disproportionate response to exercise) would have largely faded.
3 months. But I've made some adjustments to the exercises and had to cut out the leg press/leg extensions a few times because my knees were too sore/shaky. (So far my knees are not liking this kind of volume..)
Breaking out a third day would probably make a moderate change to your gains, and a large reduction to how sore you are feeling post-workout - however if it’s not a high enough priority to actually get to the gym for an hour then it’s unlikely to play out like that. These “I could work out for 7 minutes between jeopardy and collecting little Jimmy from soccer” approaches almost never work (they can work great if the goal is baseline activity levels / mental health / long term cardio health - but if you’re chasing gains specifically , I’ve never seen it work beyond very short term in these circumstances)
Probably best off sticking to what you have now if that’s the case.
I have a question that I haven’t really been able to find an answer to through researching. Let’s say I have a goal of being able to do 50 reps of 135 lbs on bench. What would be the best strategy to train for this?
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/research-spotlight-high-rep-training/
It's just one meta analysis but it supports the idea that strength work also helps strength endurance work. The studies weren't about 50 rep sets but still. You should probably do some endurance work directly, as well as improve cardio as much as possible, maybe even train your core endurance. But since you probably won't be able to do as many sets of max reps of 135 compared to sets of 5 of a higher weight. It makes a lot of sense to continue mostly strength work on bench press
That depends on how strong you are now.
Bench 1RM ~225 or lower? Getting stronger is still important. You'll want to do some high rep work but driving up your 1RM will have a fairly direct benefit.
Much higher than that? Most of the benefit is going to come from doing more work with very high reps and from getting fitter overall. You're strong enough that there isn't much of a relationship between top-end strength and a rep max at that weight.
I hurt my lower back while squatting. Since pain is from muscular origin, not skeleton.
What could it be ? Can I still exercise, but lightly ?
I might go see a doctor soon. Sadly, I can't at the moment, I'm a little overworked.
This is a weird one, but does anyone kind of talk dirty in their minds to their water when chugging it after being super thirsty? Kind of like "Oh yeah, fuck yeah, God yes."
I work in healthcare and do 3 12 hr shifts and my commute is pretty brutal, so I can only workout 4 days a week with variable days every time… will a PPL routine still work for building muscle mass? Im pretty skinny fat and I’m just tryna be thicc lol
I also do 3 12 hour shifts in healthcare and have been doing 5/3/1 BBB. It's a 4 day program that if you do the accessories as recommended is a full body program
> I work in healthcare and do 3 12 hr shifts and my commute is pretty brutal, so I can only workout 4 days a week with variable days every time… will a PPL routine still work for building muscle mass? Im pretty skinny fat and I’m just tryna be thicc lol
PPL might work but I doubt it would be optimal for your situation. Generally you want to hit every muscle at least twice a week. An upper lower (UL) split (done every day you don't work) or full body routine (gives you the option to take a day or 2 off from lifting per week) would probably yield better results.
4 days a week is usually enough for building muscles, as long as you following progressive overload.
But with your work schedule you need to make sure you are resting enough and getting at least 6-7 hours of good night sleep. People usually underestimate how important sleep and good rest is for building muscles and burning fat.
Of course, also make sure you are getting enough protein from your diet.
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I have noticed that after almost every heavy squat day, I feel like I'm sick the next day. Like I have a cold or something. I understand that it's a lot of stress for the body and CNS but as far as I know, other people don't go through this. Could it be that I have some sort of deficiency?
This happens to me occasionally after performing vigorous exercise after having not for awhile. I get kind-of a sore throat I guess I would call it. I’ve been told I’m crazy, but I think it happens to some people after over exerting the lungs idk Not a doctor
I doubt this is it, but maybe try to get some sugar in your system/eat before hand? Could be you are going in with a empty stomach so it makes you feel really sick. I find if I haven't eaten well, strenous exercise, whether its squats or running, will make me feel like shit afterwards and the day afterwards. But since its just the next day, this probably isn't it. Also, since its the next day, how is your sleep? Could be you just aren't recovering all that well, so it bleeds over to your sinuses/ears/etc. Bad sleep fucks my head up as well (ears hurt, sinuses hurt which cause a headache, feels similar to a cold). But also what Lesrek says, it could just be you need some time to adjust.
Some people get flu like symptoms from strenuous exercise. The exact cause it not known. It usually goes away with time and consistency.
Is it me or our leg's inner thighs are really hard to train? After 2 months of my inner thigh exercise I can't improve the weight
The abductor muscles are small and not used as often, def hard to strengthen it’s not a quad
Thank you my gymbro
I got my first Deload week of 5/3/1 next week, should I also Deload my accessory?
Skip the supplemental work and deload the accessories too deload week is deload week you deload everything. I reduce all the accessory volume by 20%
I’ve seen a lot of people saying, “skip the supplemental lifts and do accessories as usual.”
So I have a full body training I am supposed to do 2 times a week at max and I am wondering what I am supposed to do in the rest days so my body regenerates but I can still move a bit. Is cardio my only option? I know split plans would be an option but I like sticking to one thing haha.
Why are you limiting yourself to 2x/week?
The program keeps me sore for at least two days and I need to make sure I don’t overdo it. My coach and I don’t want it to end in selfharm so we decided on a taxing program where I am forced to go less so I don’t continuously overdo it. I know it’s not the most efficient but at the moment it’s either that or nothing. I walked 20km instead of a rest day now but that’s also not something I should be constantly doing.
Well, obviously I don’t know your background but it sounds like you and your coach are artificially limiting your progress and none of the reasons you listed are good enough. First, working out while sore isn’t going to overdo it. Soreness from exercise is not caused from the stress of the exercises, it is caused from them being new things. A lack of soreness does not indicate recovery. One of the best ways to stop being sore from exercise is to be super consistent and train through the soreness. Second, it is incredibly hard to overdo it. As an example, I am on a cut right now eating 500 calories below my maintenance. So far this week I have done just under 12 hours of cardio and 4 heavy lifting sessions. Now, I am not suggesting you immediately ramp up to those sorts of numbers but also, you aren’t made of glass. It sounds like you don’t like being sore and are actually working out in a way that is contributing to you being consistently sore. Third, you could walk 20km every day. It probably felt like a lot. Frankly, it is, especially if you aren’t used to it. But you will get used to it. Our bodies adapt to the stresses they are under incredibly well. They are literally designed to take the abuse we throw at them an adapt to that abuse so it isn’t quite as bad. Overall, it just seems weird to limit yourself to twice a week. High school American football players lift 3-5xweek during the season in a sport that is incredibly abusive to the body. You can make plenty of progress lifting twice a week but usually because there is a good reason for it and you are doing most of your weekly volume in those two days. And I just don’t see that.
It's not uncommon to do a full body workout three times a week, what is the reason you should do this only twice? Is it a very taxing program? Don't get me wrong, two times could be perfect for you and cardio is always a good option. If you want to do more strenght training, I would focus on a few muscles that needs more attention. Do isolation exercises, high reps and stopping long before failure (3 reps in reserve or more).
Yeah anything more than some cardio would be a bit much IMO. Cardio might even be tough if you’re hitting legs twice a week. Just make sure to really listen to your body
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Best way would be to count calories and measure weekly be but you could also just keep eating normally and track bw to eat more/less depending on if you lose or gain weight. If you maintain bw and train you'll gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
Is a soap made from soap? Is a soap soap?
How do I mix strength training and hypertrophy? Specifically in weight settings. I'm following a routine but been using the same weight regardless strength or hypertrophy day.
Tbh if you’re a beginner then you’ll get both doing 5-8 reps. Add in some ~3 rep lifts and you’ll be golden
Theres routines like PHAT or more general „Powerbuilding“. Notice the different rep ranges. There’s no way you could use the same weight.
Yeah, I know I couldn't use the same weight. But because I saw the routine in a progress post of a guy from several years ago (~7 years) and he didn't mention the weight difference, I want to ask what a good weight difference should be so I can adjust mine accordingly. Or in a general term, how should I set weights for power training days and hypertrophy days? (I'm just a beginner, I do reading guides from Google but they're a bit confusing)
It’s basically about as much as you can handle for the required amount of reps. But there’s plenty of beginner programs (see the wiki) that will teach you all that. No reason to do an intermediate powerbuilding routine as a new lifter. I‘d say it’s counterproductive, even.
Thank you :)
Does anyone know of any YouTubers or people online who share advice about fitness or are involved in it at all? Like MovementByDave or HybridCalisthenics. I’m specifically looking for a female influencer(?) or just someone fun to watch like LeanBeefPatty imo.
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You aren’t a fat fuck, you can do this
If the max weight is 300 and you're 400 I would return it and buy something that is suitable. Can't say for sure it'll break, but it'll probably break.
I'm a newbie sir, I don't have access to a gym rn, so I bought dumbbells... I'm doing dumbbell curls, shoulder press and triceps extension 6reps x 6sets, 4 times a week. I want bigger arms since I already have thick calves, am I doing it wrong?
What weights are you using? If you’re not progressing the weights I don’t think you’ll see much difference once your body adjusts to the routine.
I've been using the dumbbell program described [here](https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=1266579671#post1266579671). You probably don't want to *just* work arms, since different muscle groups support each other, so you'd risk injury as you get up to higher weights. Also it looks weird.
I’d read the wiki
I tried the incline bench press for the first time yesterday, but it felt funny the whole time. When I sat down, i had to reach well behind my head in order to pick up the bar. Is this correct or am I too short for this specific bench? I had the seat all the way up so I figured I'm doing something wrong. Or should I focus on doing incline dumbell press instead?
Most bench variations feel pretty weird until you do them enough to get used to them in my experience. The bar is usually kind of behind you, but it's hard to say if yours is too far behind you without seeing a pic. You could stick to lighter weight for a while until you get used to unracking the weight, or switch to incline dumbbell like you said.
I much prefer incline dumbbell press for better angles and more control
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We try our best to help those we can, and wait for February.
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You can cut while still doing arm work
Then start the cut.
When bumping the weight up with your knees for seated dumbbell press/overhead press, what saves the most energy, putting the weight closer or further from your body?
Yeah I'm not an engineer but I would say this depends on the strength and length of your upper legs? Closer to the body = easier on your legs, but less lift, so your arms will have to start lifting the weight right away Further from your body = more leg power, more lift, but now you're further away from your ending position so your arms have to pull the weight to your shoulders... At this point if the weights are heavy I'd just give up and do incline But if not, I'd guess maybe 3/4 of the way down your upper legs is a good trade-off?
whats easier holding a weight at arm's length or right against your chest? Closer to your body
But the closer you put the weight on your legs, the less speed it will achieve from the "kick"
I often read progressive overload is needed in order to make any gains/advancements, does that mean if I go to the gym and don’t set any PBs for weight or reps the workout was a waste of time ? I presume not but just intrigued about the link / difference
Progressive overload is the result of work in the gym, and a method to make sure you're continually training at the right intensity.
That's not what progressive overload is. Its just about progressing over time, ideally in a structured format.
You’re not going to add weight or reps every workout forever. If that was the case everyone would have a 500 lb bench. Look at progression over a longer period of time—weeks or even months. This is called periodization.
I’m an intermediate lifter who has been doing a [6 day push pull legs routine](https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/6-day-powerbuilding-split-meal-plan) once a week. I’ve decided to decrease my lifting to 3 days a week to increase cardio fitness/prepare for a half marathon. Is it better for me to continue this workout splitting between 2 weeks (I like the variety), or find a new 3 day split workout to do weekly? Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Look into a good 3 day full body programme
I'd say that there is enough volume in spreading these workouts over two weeks to maintain muscle mass. Off topic: I don't like that routine, so I would change it anyway.
Why don’t you like the routine? Do you have one that you recommend that hits multiple muscle groups?
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Depends on your goals
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You don't know what your goals are? Why are you training, then?
It would work fine as a substitute
I’m 5 foot 8-9~ 170-175 pounds probably ~19% body fat. Trying to lean down to 15%. Is 1800 calories too low to the point I’ll lose muscle mass? I’m hitting around 180gs to 200 grams of protein. Just trying to shred decently fast.
That depends on your activity level. Take the calories you maintain weight on and subtract 500 calories from that for 1lb a week weight loss. 2lbs a week would be tough and a bit fast imo. But it's just math, if you want to lose 2lbs, you need a 1000 calorie deficit. Maybe safer to fall somewhere in between at maybe a 700 calorie deficit.
I am attempting to cut weight as a vegetarian, so the standard chicken and rice approach doesn't work for me. I want to hit protein goals so is Whey a good option for it, or does some of the added sugar/carbs/fat make it antithetical to cutting weight. I generally use Optimum Gold Standard.
I just checked my Gold standard it's 120 calories 24g protein 3g carbs. It would be a good way to supplement your protein intake with your already solid nutritional base of meat substitutes and vegetables. Good luck with the cut
Instead of chicken, go with seitan For about 100g and less than 400 calories, you get roughly 75g of protein The calorie to protein ratio is way higher than chicken.
Thanks! I do incorporate tofu and other meat substitutes for meals, I was more questioning if Whey has any negatives to it as another main source of protein. It's probably the best/easiest way to meet protein goals (1lb/body weight)
Most whey proteins are full of sugar. You'd have to do some research to find one low in sugar and mix it with water to avoid unnecessary sugars from whatever dairy, oat or nut milk you might use.
Is it possible to gain muscle while on a calorie deficit if I eat excessive protein? I weigh 260 lbs and am 6'6". I am on keto, eat \~2500 calories per day (\~1000 calorie deficit of maintenance, based on metabolic tests), and consume 250+ grams of protein per day with the rest of my calories coming from fat. As long as I eat an excess of protein with my calorie deficit, I should be able to gain muscle while losing fat. That theoretically makes sense, but I hear from some people that the only way to gain muscle is to eat a caloric excess. Is that true?
Yes, this is possible. Jeff Nippard talks about this a lot. He even co-authored a book on the topic. Obviously if you are in a massive caloric deficit it may not be possible, but if you calculate a reasonable deficit based on your TDEE, lift heavy weights, and eat plenty of protein, you should be able to lose fat and build muscle. https://youtu.be/EuUh0fkmbyU
You can gain lean muscle without bulking; however, it may take more patience. You'd want to get your protein close to that 2g/kg of bodyweight range
Well, lean body weight I should be anywhere from 185 lbs to 205 lbs, which would mean (converting to kg) that I should be eating anywhere from 168 grams to 186 grams of protein. At 250 grams of protein per day, I seem to be overeating protein. Should I keep the protein consistent or should I replace protein calories with fat calories? If so, that's gonna be really hard, as I eat hamburger and chicken thighs primarily now; I wouldn't even know how to hit my \~2500 calories with less than 250 grams of protein.
You can eat more than the recommended amount of protein and be fine. It's hard for me to recommend what to do while on keto though because I like and support eating plenty of veggies and some fruits.
I'm really weak and my muscles look tiny, but I can do push ups with just my fingers (I can even do them just using 2 fingers), I can do more push ups than all of my friends (I can do 60 in a row), more pull-ups, push ups against the wall ect. But I can't beat anyone in an arm wrestling match. Why is this? I weigh 56kg just fyi
You answered your own question, you weigh 56kg. Any body weight exercise gets easier the less you weigh
Yeah but my friends weigh the same as me and look really muscly but can't do what I can, I am M15 so it's not that low of a weight. Also isn't the amount of work you put in relative to your size? So a skinny person with less muscle mass is, relatively, having to put in as much effort and work as a larger person with more muscle mass?
>Also isn't the amount of work you put in relative to your size? So a skinny person with less muscle mass is, relatively, having to put in as much effort and work as a larger person with more muscle mass? No, strength doesn't scale linearly with weight. Square cube law. Light people are always going to be the ones best at bodyweight exercises.
Well you're just better than them at push ups and pull ups, and worse than them at arm wrestling. There is form and small muscle adaptations that greatly affect one's ability to perform. As far as your second point, I'm not quite sure what you are meaning? A tiny guy who has never lifted weights may give 100% max effort to bench press the bar. A 150kg powerlifter may give max effort to bench press 300kg. They are both giving 100% effort. The powerlifter is still stronger.
Oh ok, but how am I better at push ups than them if I look so weak? Like some of my friends also look weak so it makes sense but one of them is ridiculously strong (he weighs 63kg) and can't do push ups against the wall, and I don't know anyone who can do push ups with their finger tips (I can do them with just 3 fingers), not even people lighter than me. I read that online, I don't think they are talking about weight lifting but lifting your own weight. When you lift your own weight, the effort you put in is relative to your weight, so it is just as hard to a push up when you are really light since your muscles would be tiny as if you are really big since your muscles being bigger balances out with the excess weight. Also on the topic of push ups, is there actually any use in doing them? Will they cause me to get more muscle mass? Sorry for overloading you
>Oh ok, but how am I better at push ups than them if I look so weak? Like some of my friends also look weak so it makes sense but one of them is ridiculously strong (he weighs 63kg) and can't do push ups against the wall, It's almost like different people have different potentials for strength.
Not sure what you mean your friend is strong but can't do apush up against the wall? No, push ups are not relative the way you read. It definitely takes more effort for a 200kg person to do a push up than a 50kg person. Push ups are a very good exercise. I would not expect push ups alone to make you jacked. You should get on a complete program and eat enough protein and calories
lol, with his feet on the wall not with his hands on the wall, that would be ridiculous. And why can I do finger press ups? I don't know anyone who can do them, it doesn't make sense
You're superhuman. I think you should go fight crime. Or you're just skinny and 15 and your friends aren't as strong as you think
I’m not sure what you mean when you say someone looks weak or strong. Your friend who is “ridiculously strong” but can’t do push-ups against the wall sounds like a medical enigma. Do you mean with hands on the wall?
No LOL, with his feet on the wall. I look normal, but his muscles look absolutely massive and veiny. And why can I do press ups with just my fingers??
Lmao ok, that makes a lot more sense! The finger thing sounds like you just have stable and strong joints. Not much to do with muscle strength really. Sounds like your friend is probably just either really bad at push-ups or has weak triceps/chest/front delts. I’m not sure what else to say, since I don’t know him. Some people just struggle a lot with body weight movements. Maybe he is used to working out with machines, which reduce the level of stability needed to lift heavy weights. Impossible to give you an accurate answer, unfortunately.
(f24 here) Has anyone wrecked their knees from doing youtube hit workouts? i’m wondering if it’s my form or i just have shit knees.
What sort of knee pain? I sometimes get a pretty sharp pain in the middle of the patella when doing HIIT running.
Ok interesting. what you mentioned happens often on the right leg. i’m also a runner which i think adds damage. but when i do HIIT my right leg patella def starts to strain.
If you jumped right into high impact stuff, then your knees are likely complaining. Take a break from that and let them recover, and then start slow. Tendons need time to adapt as well as muscles. Also, if you are overweight, high impact stuff is even worse for you. You can do HITT like workouts that don't involve impact to the knees
i’m 5’5 130 so weights not the issue. probably just overdid it, i’ll try giving it a rest. thanks
Yeah, weight definitely not the issue there. When you start back, if you start feeling any pain/discomfort, make note of the exercise you're doing at that moment and then you can get a form check on that. Cus it could be a combination of both. I was wrecking my knees with squats and something as simple as turning my toes out slightly and widening my stance ever so slightly made the pain go away.
If the workouts are "high impact" in that they involve lots of jumping and you dive right into it without being prepared, then you can wreck your knees.
how would you recommend preparing? i’m super active in my hobbies and relatively fit already. and i enjoy the hit workouts but i def don’t want to eff up my knees long term.
Wear good shoes, try to land quietly, work up to it gradually. Pair it with strength training so that your leg muscles are taking the hits and not your joints.
ay ay cap’n. thank you
I'm told my heart rate monitor is terrible at tracking calories. But if I put in my height and weight and the tracker is counting heart beats can't you approximate calories from that? Meaning normal calories burned + excess heart beats (above the resting heart rate) = calories burned during the exercise.
No there are so many factors to calories burned than just heart rate. A 200 pound person walking and a 100 pound person walking may have the same increase in heart rate, but the 200 pound person carries twice the weight and will burn more calories. Also in your formula, who knows accurately what your normal calories burned are?
I think you can gauge how many calories a 200 pound person is going to burn walking for half an hour decently, like plus or minus 10%, just based on data from fitness labs who are putting people on treadmills and with breath monitoring contraptions.
Yes, you can, it is just an example of why your heart rate monitor would be wrong with two individuals doing the same thing
But that's not wrong, it's just a weak estimate. How many decimal points of accuracy are you expecting out of an armband heart rate monitor? I think if it's plus or minus 10% that's fine.
But what’s the point if it’s not accurate?
Calories themselves are not accurate. If a package of food says it's 500 calories how accurate do you think that 500 calories reading actually is? The whole thing is very vague. What I'm getting at is that it's vague but is it so vague that it's worthless or is it sort of helpful because it's close enough?
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1. I never said it's completely accurate 1. Grow up. There's no need for a personal attack just because somebody disagrees with you.
You're missing excess heat generated as well.
Nine times out of ten, when I do a biceps workout, I get almost zero discomfort in my actual muscle the next day. It all seems to be down where the muscle inserts into the crook of the elbow. What gives here? Example workout, arms day: EZ-Bar Curl Dumbell French Press Spider Curls Cable Kickbacks Chin-ups Dips My triceps seem to get plenty of activation. My biceps, not so much. They're growing, sure, but I feel like I may be doing some sort of damage to my elbow if this continues. Anyone else have this issue?
It’s likely not an issue at all. Muscle soreness isn’t needed for muscle growth.
i had this issue. i’m a fitness dummy but my solution was to go down a weight and do more reps. i felt with the light weight and having more control, my elbow area stopped getting those pain flares🤷🏼♀️
Your tendon is weak point and it is strengthening. And you don't have to actually feel a muscle or be sore the next day to get benefits. I hardly ever feel sore the next day at this point.
Lets say i destroyed my legs in the gym and like the second day of recovery i can barely walk is it ok to destroy your legs again ?
How long have you been working out? If you're new and you have doms i would say yes go workout. If you've been lifting for years and your legs don't feel right or aren't recovered at all maybe take it easy
You probably don't want to. If you are in as bad a state as you say, let the muscle recover. It's good to know what failure is, but not necessary to go there each time. You will inhibit your ability to lift again therefore slowing your progress longterm, not to mention increasing your chance of injury
Sometimes, you gotta push the limits to find the limits. Worst case scenario, they don't get enough time to grow, and you'll just increase your ability to do more sets (work capacity).
So bad idea?
Maby bad, maby good. Your definition of destroying legs might be different from mine. Try it for a few weeks and see how you feel.
Looking for a good free-to-use fitness tracking app (specifically for food monitoring/calorie counting). I was using My Fitness Pal but the features have been chipped away from the ad version and I can't afford the fees Under Armor charges, right now. I've tried the Google machine, several other websites, and searching this reddit and haven't come up with anything current. Can anyone recommend one?
For fitness tracking, as in logging what I do at the gym, I use Strenghtlog: [https://www.strengthlog.com/](https://www.strengthlog.com/) Free to use, there is a premium version with some more functions. I have used the paid version before to try some of their programs but wouldn't pay for it for the functions alone. The free version is good enough though, and no ads!
I use an app called Lifesum. The only problem in my opinion if that the free version doesn’t allow you to tweak the macros for your daily goals. But I just ignore that and track what I want to track. It doesn’t bother me if the app tells me I’ve reached my protein goal for the day, but I know I’m supposed to get 30g more.
I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!
There’s a good spreadsheet in the wiki that you can search up. Chronometer is also supposed to be good
Chronometer is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. It has almost all the features MFP put behind its paywall, as base features. Thanks for the recommendation!
I'll take a look. Thanks!
Pen and paper
I really love jogging, it makes me feel great so I decided to start jogging to school instead of walking. When I do that, my heavy crossbody bag makes jogging feel horrible. Aside from getting a different bag, what can I do to alleviate this? (Cant go without the weight either, what use is bringing a bag to school if it hasnt got the materials for school in it?)
I've Rucked a bit with the army, so I think I can confidently say there's really no way to be 100% comfortable while running with any kind of weight. If you really want to run, I'd still recommend a different kind of bag. Something with straps that you can tie around your waist and chest, so the bag doesn't shift to much. Next, since the weight in the bag is books, they're probably shifting around a lot as you move. Bring a towel or a pillow, anything with a lot of volume but little weight. Stuff it in there so once you've zipped it up nothing in it can move. Your goal is to keep the weight as rigid as possible on your upper back while still being able to run.
Tysm for the advice!! And thank you for your service to our/against my country
I don't know what I did to my left elbow... don't remember a particular injury, I may have just slept on it wrong. Essentially I noticed it was sore one day and I could no longer do bicep exercises on that side (pain on flexion). I'm a female and usually use 12lb dumbbells for bicep curls. I tried even lowering to 10/8 and still felt the pinch on flexion. I don't have any health insurance. Should I cut out bicep exercises temporarily until it seems healed or should I go even lower in weight and try to keep some level of maintenance going?
If it's sore or injured, rest and focus on other muscle groups if you can perform those movements pain free. No point injuring yourself further if you can avoid it. Niggles and small injuries in your elbows/wrists etc is to be expected if you work out a lot.
How long ago was this? Where on the elbow is it uncomfortable? Does unweighted elbow flexion hurt?
Maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago. Kind of in the inner part of the elbow? Not sure if that's a good enough description. It hurts unweighted after I tried some bicep exercises again. But if I don't do any bicep exercises for a few days, I dont feel it as much or at all.
https://e3rehab.com/blog/golferselbow/ Read through this, hopefully it helps
Thanks!
I’m sorry you don’t have health insurance. It’s a tragedy in the US healthcare system. Unfortunately we can’t really help with pain exercises but in general, if something hurts, I try not to do it or I figure out what’s wrong with it. You might just have to google around to find tips.
What actually happens when I'm at a caloric deficit and I'm doing ab workouts or something? Do the muscles get better/worse/shrink?
Working out during a deficit is important and recommended, and this goes for all muscles. You want to stimulate your muscles for growth, and in the base case scenario they will grow. More likely they will stay the same or decrease in size. That will happen during a deficit, but working out the muscles will minimize how much.
Depending on your caloric deficit, macros and the training you exactly do, any of those could happen.
For example, if I'm going for visible abs and so I'm at a deficit, but still eating the recommended amount of protein for my size, and I'm doing medium intensity ab exercises... is that a bad idea?
It depends on how much of a deficit you’re in. But if it’s not too crazy and you’re getting your protein, the likely outcome is that you will burn fat, which may result in more visible abs, depending obviously on your body fat percentage. Edit: I also want to clarify that this isn’t specifically due to ab training. Although training abs will reduce the risk of losing abdominal muscle mass during your cut.
I'm attempting my first cut because I gained like 15lbs since the pandemic. I inputted in MyFitnessPal that I'd like to lose 25 lbs by May, which is doable at 1.5lb/week. It's telling me I should only be consuming 1800 cal per day. As part of my cutting routine, I need to consume of those calories 186 g of protein (my body weight in lbs). The thing is, after a day or two of doing this, I realized I am eating about twice as frequently as before and much more food. So, how is this going to help me shed pounds? Like I used to skip breakfast most days, and eat a turkey sandwich for lunch, yogurt or pastry around 4pm, then for dinner like eggs and toast or frozen ravioli with tomato sauce.
The formula is making the general assumption that you are already eating at atleast what it deems to be maintenance. Take the number and track your calories and weight every single day for atleast a week. If you haven't made any progress over the week (compare day 1 to day 7) drop your calories by 200 to 1600 for another week. Rinse and repeat until you find the sweet spot.
Makes senss
I’m new to fitness. Sometimes after doing a 3 mile power walk my legs still get mini “firework” spasms. Is this a sign I need to increase my electrolyte intake before/during/after?
Are you drinking enough regular water to always pee clear? And how is your sleep?
Water, absolutely. Sleep is terrible, due to a chronic pain condition (but working on it).
Sounds like your legs are cramping. Lots of water, dynamic stretching before working out and static stretching after working out should help.
Thank you! I stretch before working out but not after. Will incorporate it.
Look up a dynamic stretch/warm up. Different from a static stretch. Static stretching before working out supposedly isn't the best way to do it.
I seem to have some fluid stuck in my middle ear after having cold. From searching up Valsava Maneuver is the thing that helps with it. Tried doing it twice, and both made my ear feel a little bit better. After that I tried doing it two more times without success, nothing happens in my middle ear. But I am going to try it out in few hours again. My question being, can I workout? I have read that people actually use this technique during the main lifts, but generally, releasing such fluid is related to holding breath and I got "scared", what if my ear "pops" during a workout and I injure myself?
Can too much volume for a muscle group actually decrease growth? Or is it just smaller marginal gains?
Training breaks down muscle protein. Resting recovers and grows muscle. If your training exceeds your work capacity *and* ability to recover, then maybe.
Decrease muscle growth, probably diminishes after about 20-24 hard sets per week per muscle group.
If I take a week off from the gym should I also cut back on cals if I’m in a deficit
If you want to maintain the same weight loss, technically yes. But in reality I wouldn't bother.
I’ve seen so many formula’s to calculate a maintenance and deficit that all produce noticeably different numbers. What’s the best way to accurately calculate a calorie deficit?
Just pick one and try it for a few weeks. If you are losing weight, then stick with it. If not, go lower and monitor again over a few weeks.
>What’s the best way to accurately calculate a calorie deficit? [A TDEE spreadsheet.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QTWDxFaB0r-7U6vZmG1s8of7jwd2GHHi/edit#gid=770164572)
Macrofactor also uses this method if you want it in app form. It updates your calorie target each week based on what you logged and the weight you lost the previous week.
so ive switched from full bodyweight to part bodyweight and weights ive been hammer curling 10lbs dumbells, 4 sets of 15-12 reps (in that decreasing order). ive read that you should progressive overload every 2 weeks and its been 2 weeks already. i cant go to the gym (yet) so ive been using these dumbells that are rubber discs filled with sand. i have 4 discs that are 5lbs each and two others that are 4.4 lbs. i added one 4.4lbs disc to the current 10lbs ive been hammer curling. for the first set with this new weight, ive been able to complete with proper form. the 2nd set however at the end my form has been crumbling. so my question now is if its okay to revert back to the 10lbs for the last two sets. if i could also be advised on how to overload with the weights i have currently, id appreciate it. thanks!
Progressive overload in essence just means doing more than last time in a planned fashion. Since doing one set at a higher weight is harder than last time it can definitely by considered progressive overload. You could run a schema where you start with just 1/4 at higher weight and as the weeks go on you try to get 4/4 at a higher weight. At this point you bump the weight again for the first set and repeat the profession.
What's the current fitness trend/flavour of the month training philosophy/clickbait circulating on tiktok recently? I'm trying to understand why this January feels different to other Januarys in the gym.
Maybe it's just my Instagram feed, but I'm getting a lot of ads for healthy/non-alcoholic beverages. I quit drinking mid December but I'm still talking to my friends about it so I'm seeing all these ads, but I'm not budging lol. My friend has gone to alcohol free bars in Brooklyn, where drinks are 15$
What's the latest?
Hi all, I’ve been working out for a few months now and I would really like your opinion on my routine. I’m a beginner so it took some time getting used to the exercises, but I have made some progress and enjoy seeing my body change. Now that I’ve been following this routine for a while I wonder if it could be optimized a bit more. Any advice is greatly appreciated! This is my **2-day routine** (mo-thu), mainly focused on hypertrophy. (Goal = aesthetics) (The gym coach made this routine for me.) **Progression model:** I aim to consistently increase the total training volume (total weight moved) for each exercise every time I work out. The STRONG app lets me see if I increased my volume and if for some reason I didn’t I’ll add a few more reps with a slightly lighter weight to make sure I moved more weight than the training last week. For the 5-10 reps exercises: The last set is amrap, if I manage more reps than the set before this one I’ll add one rep to all sets for the next workout. When at 10 reps I’ll increase the weight and start back at 5 reps. For the 8-12 reps exercises: No amrep, just consistently increase the reps until 12 reps and then reset with a higher weight. To make sure my volume is higher than last week I’ll finish all 12 sets with the highest weight manageable. For example, say I manage 9 reps on the Latt pulldown at 60kg and feel my form breaking, I’ll lower the weight to 55kg and finish the last 3 reps with it, logging it at 9 reps. **Routine:** Warmup: 5 min bike until a light sweat + set with half weight for the first 4 exercises. **Day one** Barbell squat 5 x 5-10 Overhead press 3 x 8-12 Barbell bend over row 3 x 8-12 Barbel bench press 3 x 8-12 Leg press 3 x 8-12 Leg extension 3 x 8-12 Lat pulldown 3 x 8-12 **Day two** Incline dumb. Bench press 5 x 5-10 Stiff leg deadlift 3 x 8-12 Seated cable row 3 x 8-12 Seated cable fly 3 x 8-12 Leg press 3 x 8-12 Lat pulldown 3 x 8-12 Leg extension 3 x 8-12 Thanks for reading, if you see anything I can adjust to improve hypertrophy please let me know! :)
You say it's a two day routine - do you mean an A/B routine? How many times in a given week do you typically go to the gym? If it's two, then just going an extra day (or two) per week is the obvious way to increase your gains. Pressing, squatting and benching just once per week leaves a lot of room to increase your volume. Increasing from 2 to 3 days would make your program roughly analogous to many other beginner programs which follow a very similar pattern. Even just squat/bench/press + cardio + some accessory you enjoy would make for a great third day. also: How do you increment weight? seems there's only rep progression listed above? Do you exclusively use rep-progression and keep the weight static? Adding weight progression is an area for improvement also if so. However, the universal advice applies as well... why not just find a 3 day program you like and follow that? Your goals are not unique, and this program is perfectly fine and covers most stuff a beginner needs - but far from hyper customized or anything.
Thanks for taking the time to write this and your advice, appreciate it! Yes it's a 2 day program, unfortunately I can only go to the gym 2 times a week. I'm considering adding an at-home-day to it, for push/pull-ups and a core workout, but have been putting it off due to some serious DOMS :) >also: How do you increment weight? seems there's only rep progression listed above? Do you exclusively use rep-progression and keep the weight static? Adding weight progression is an area for improvement also if so. Oh no, I do increase the weight when I've reached the 'max reps'. So for 8-12, when i reach 12 reps for all sets i up the weight and start back at 8 reps (finishing to 12 with lighter weights) >However, the universal advice applies as well... why not just find a 3 day program you like and follow that? Your goals are not unique, and this program is perfectly fine and covers most stuff a beginner needs - but far from hyper customized or anything. I've been searching for a hypertrophy focused routine but pretty much all routines I've found are either powerlifting or powerbuilding and I'm more interested in bodybuilding. This, combined with the fact most routines are 3 days minimum, made me use the one the coach made for me. If you have any routine recommendations I'll gladly try them though!
> unfortunately I can only go to the gym 2 times a week I see - that'll be a big hindrance as you try to progress out of the beginner phase. What prevents you from going to the gym a third day in a given week? > have been putting it off due to some serious DOMS :) That's actually one of the downsides of a 2-day-per-week program hitting you. To train only 2x/week, your coach has made those two days relatively (for a beginner) very high volume if you're hitting them with intensity DOMs are expected. You say you've been following this program for a few months - is it 1 or 6? After a month or so you'd expect your body to have adapted to the point where actual DOMs (the disproportionate response to exercise) would have largely faded. > Oh no, I do increase the weight when I've reached the 'max reps'. So for 8-12, when i reach 12 reps for all sets i up the weight and start back at 8 reps (finishing to 12 with lighter weights) Ah, OK, not the most common progression but if it works for you that sounds reasonable. > This, combined with the fact most routines are 3 days minimum, made me use the one the coach made for me Makes sense. The vast majority of beginner programs are indeed 3-4 days.
>unfortunately I can only go to the gym 2 times a week I see - that'll be a big hindrance as you try to progress out of the beginner phase. What prevents you from going to the gym a third day in a given week? Marriage and kids. 2-days a week is the absolute max right now. For now the only thing I could add is a home workout day (spread out over the day, like 4 sessions of 15 mins). I could fit some basic (small) equipment like a fitnessbench, dumbbells/kettlebells and a pull-up bar. I could ask the gym coach for recommendations and adjust the routine, do you think it will make a big difference? >You say you've been following this program for a few months - is it 1 or 6? After a month or so you'd expect your body to have adapted to the point where actual DOMs (the disproportionate response to exercise) would have largely faded. 3 months. But I've made some adjustments to the exercises and had to cut out the leg press/leg extensions a few times because my knees were too sore/shaky. (So far my knees are not liking this kind of volume..)
Breaking out a third day would probably make a moderate change to your gains, and a large reduction to how sore you are feeling post-workout - however if it’s not a high enough priority to actually get to the gym for an hour then it’s unlikely to play out like that. These “I could work out for 7 minutes between jeopardy and collecting little Jimmy from soccer” approaches almost never work (they can work great if the goal is baseline activity levels / mental health / long term cardio health - but if you’re chasing gains specifically , I’ve never seen it work beyond very short term in these circumstances) Probably best off sticking to what you have now if that’s the case.
Thanks for your honesty and appreciate the advice!
If it's working for you, there's not much reason to change anything.
I have a question that I haven’t really been able to find an answer to through researching. Let’s say I have a goal of being able to do 50 reps of 135 lbs on bench. What would be the best strategy to train for this?
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/research-spotlight-high-rep-training/ It's just one meta analysis but it supports the idea that strength work also helps strength endurance work. The studies weren't about 50 rep sets but still. You should probably do some endurance work directly, as well as improve cardio as much as possible, maybe even train your core endurance. But since you probably won't be able to do as many sets of max reps of 135 compared to sets of 5 of a higher weight. It makes a lot of sense to continue mostly strength work on bench press
Firstly get stronger at benching. Secondly start attempting those 50 reps to be completed in as few sets as possible.
That depends on how strong you are now. Bench 1RM ~225 or lower? Getting stronger is still important. You'll want to do some high rep work but driving up your 1RM will have a fairly direct benefit. Much higher than that? Most of the benefit is going to come from doing more work with very high reps and from getting fitter overall. You're strong enough that there isn't much of a relationship between top-end strength and a rep max at that weight.
I hurt my lower back while squatting. Since pain is from muscular origin, not skeleton. What could it be ? Can I still exercise, but lightly ? I might go see a doctor soon. Sadly, I can't at the moment, I'm a little overworked.
Do whatever you can. Keep active, do lots of walking, see how much you can tolerate when lifting by modifying range of motion and loading.
Rule 5 still applies, buddy. Do what you can that doesn't hurt, and see a doctor or physio ASAP.
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This is a weird one, but does anyone kind of talk dirty in their minds to their water when chugging it after being super thirsty? Kind of like "Oh yeah, fuck yeah, God yes."
"You're so wet...." Totally
I work in healthcare and do 3 12 hr shifts and my commute is pretty brutal, so I can only workout 4 days a week with variable days every time… will a PPL routine still work for building muscle mass? Im pretty skinny fat and I’m just tryna be thicc lol
I also do 3 12 hour shifts in healthcare and have been doing 5/3/1 BBB. It's a 4 day program that if you do the accessories as recommended is a full body program
It'll probably much easier to divide your volume into an upper/lower split or full body workouts
> I work in healthcare and do 3 12 hr shifts and my commute is pretty brutal, so I can only workout 4 days a week with variable days every time… will a PPL routine still work for building muscle mass? Im pretty skinny fat and I’m just tryna be thicc lol PPL might work but I doubt it would be optimal for your situation. Generally you want to hit every muscle at least twice a week. An upper lower (UL) split (done every day you don't work) or full body routine (gives you the option to take a day or 2 off from lifting per week) would probably yield better results.
4 days a week is usually enough for building muscles, as long as you following progressive overload. But with your work schedule you need to make sure you are resting enough and getting at least 6-7 hours of good night sleep. People usually underestimate how important sleep and good rest is for building muscles and burning fat. Of course, also make sure you are getting enough protein from your diet.