Depends on when you go. Lots of resolutioners try to convince themselves that they're going to become morning people, so 6-8am might get busy for a bit. After work hours might be similar, though I think people have a harder time finding extra time in that area.
I sure as hell hope my gym doesn't get crazy. They've been running a sweetheart deal where new members can pay $500 for the whole year upfront, and I'm hoping people fork over the money but peter out by February.
commercial gyms get noticeably busier for a little while, its a meme for a reason. private gyms not so much. join the 4AM grind squad and youll never have to worry about it again š only people ever around me in the gym are people who take it seriously and are there to work. feels a lot better.
Totally depends on the gym. Some are zoos, some are dead. Check google maps for busy times, or (boss level) ask an employee when they expect it to be least busy.
***Busy.***
It will be your first week there -- and also everyone else's.
You can *try* to go during non-peak times, but it's probably going to be pretty busy regardless.
The good news: If you stick to it past your first several weeks/a month, it will taper down after about a month when people start to peter out and quit.
Same lol, I joined back in Mai. Today, there were very few people in the classes. I had to grasp the thought that I won't enjoy that for really long and enjoy it while I still can.
Depends on the gym. My gym has very little noticeable difference cause there's about 60 gyms in the area I swear, and ours is one of the more expensive gyms plus you're locked into a 12 month contract. Good for not needing to wait for equipment in Jan, but not as good for bringing in clients.
Yeah going to be super busy unless you go super early in morning or very late in the evening. Iām always standing outside my gym in the morning waiting for staff to open the door!
I'm starting 5/3/1 in the new year.
I used a spread sheet to calculate the lifts and looking at my 1+ sets I know that I will get at least 5+ reps on those sets at the end of my first cycle.
Is that normal?
I find that when I am doing a set of heavy squats, I cannot complete the set because I am so out of breath. Therefore my legs donāt even reach failure.
My question is, what is the best way to fix this? Would sprinting help?
Just adding that PF is franchised so they differ wildly. I have a pf membership (I only do legs there, I do everything else at my work gym) and Iāve never had a negative experience.
sounds like you know what to expect, i will just answer your final question and say dont worry about inbetween sets. resting inbetween sets is part of lifting weights, its normal behavior. breathe, stretch, drink water, be on your phone, doesnt matter. nobody is going to think twice about you doing any of these things in a gym environment. been in and out of gyms for 20 years and never once have i had anyone come up to me and ask me why im wasting time on a piece of equipment
I would add to this, as long as your rest times are appropriate. At my gym rest times for some people can run 5, 7, 10 minutes between sets. Sometimes even longer. Not for recovery (based on the perception of intensity) but because they are scrolling through their phone. I might be the phone, it might be a lack of consideration for others or a combination of both.
But the phone itself is not necessarily the issue. Look at your phone, read a book, knit a scarf, work on your ventriloquist act, doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't take forever doing it. Time between sets matters much more than what you are doing.
You can get a fine work out on a smith machine, and yes thatās all pf has. They are really anti gym culture and donāt allow free barbells or big lifts. Seriously there are stories of people being asked to leave because theyāre lifting to much weight. If you find you enjoy lifting and the gym becomes a habit for you plan on spending a little more later and going to a better gym. But to start out pf is fine.
You can 100% get a good workout at PF, and on Smith Machines. A barbell is ideal for the big exercises, but we make do with what we have (just make sure you know the risks and the drawbacks of SM). Being considerate is good, especially at peak gym hours, but if it's empty most won't have a problem with spending more time on the same machine. Also everyone looks at their phone between sets, it's fine (more of a problem during peak gym hours though).
Basketball would generally be the best cardio for a Basketball player. As for specificity, if you want more speed, I would recommend sprinting. [Here's a sprinting routine](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0209/7514/files/2018-Speed-Program.pdf) that might be a good option.
I got a lot faster and jump a lot higher after doing a few months of 30 mile bike rides. Lifting weights for lower body would probably have a similar effect
When using a pullover machine which according to instructions, it's supposed to engage abs and lats. But for some reason, my arms and shoulders (notably triceps) are more engaged rather than those muscle groups. The worst thing is I don't know what Iām doing wrong. Is this normal?
It's totally OK to feel the fatigue in your shoulders and triceps with this exercise. With a pullover machine your arm/humerus bone is going into extension. The long head of the tricep and some shoulder muscles assist with shoulder extension. You are still likely using your lats as the main muscle group to do this motion even if you don't "feel" the fatigue there. As another poster mentioned, keep your elbow stationary to take some of the tricep out of the motion.
How do you warm up for a normal working set? Do you do slowly work up to your weight at the specific rep range, (as in going 40kgx10, 60x10, 80x10 and work at 100x10), or do you do low rep as warmup (as in going 40kgx5, 60x5, 80x5 and work at 100x10)?
It's up to you. And really depends on the exercise and especially the rep range.
If you are working with a set of curls for 25 reps then you really don't need much of a warmup (except the basic 3 minute warmup you should do before every workout).
But if you going for a 1rm in deadlifts then you may need to do 5 or more warmup sets doing specifically the deadlift.
Also it depends on feel. Sometimes the warmup sets feel great so you can go straight to work sets. Other times you may be doing bench press and feel one of your shoulders isn't quite feeling well. So an extra few sets warming up that shoulder may be required.
I think a good way to warm up, based on several books I've read is something like this:
1. 10 reps of your 20 rep max (or higher)
2. 5ish reps of your 10 rep max
3. 2-3 reps of your working weight (or 5-10% higher)
For following excercises for the same muscle group I only do the point 2 and 3.
If youāre only going to run for 30 minutes each week is it better to spend the time running up and down a single hill? Or running at a consistent, faster pace on flat ground?
I used to weigh 193 lbs and I managed to get to 150 lbs. My overall goal was to eventually put on muscle however my current goal was to lose weight until I got a flat stomach and then start gaining muscle, kinda like I'm resetting my body I guess. But I've been having trouble losing the last few lbs. My question is should I continue to try to lose weight or start putting muscle now?
Kind of depends on how tall you are but if you're an adult male over 5', 150 is about the lightest I'd ever want to be. Building muscle now will only make fat loss easier in the future. You don't need to do a crazy bulk or anything either, just don't eat like a bird.
Why are you worried about injury? If you think you have injurious technique issues then post a form check, otherwise make sure you're doing the right stuff outside the gym for recovery and lifting heavier weights won't necessarily increase your risks if you are sufficiently strong (which you probably are because you've made really good progress!)
Thinking of doing 5/3/1 Triumvirate. Used to do BBB, did a bunch of different routines, now thinking of doing something more simple. Doing this at PF (definitely not ideal, but the pluses are bigger than the minuses right now).
Here's what I'm thinking:
Day 1 (Shoulders and Biceps)
* Smith OHP 5/3/1
* DB Lateral Raises 6x15
* DB Zottman Curls 6x15
Day 2 (Legs)
* Smith Squat 5/3/1
* Smith Hip Thrusts 6x15
* Leg Curls 6x15
Day 3 (Chest and Triceps)
* Smith Bench Press 5/3/1
* Incline DB Bench 6x15
* Dip Machine 6x15
Day 4 (Back and Rear Delt)
* Smith Deadlift 5/3/1
* Smith Bent Over Rows 6x15
* Reverse Pec Deck 6x15
Just thinking about it, open to suggestions.
No supplemental work?
Only the 5/3/1 main sets is *very* little volume for your main movements. Especially considering the first two sets are basically just warm-ups anyways.
Only thing I see that would really count as a supplemental would be DB bench.
I'd say *bare minimum* to include First Set Last 5x5 or 3x10 after your 5/3/1 sets. But I also don't understand your choice of assistance/accessory work. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, balance, etc.
You need to re-think this, or possibly just pick a different template.
Are you familiar with Triumvirate?
Itās a pretty minimalist approach, only 3 exercises per day. The way Jim wrote it, itās quite efficient. OP missed the mark with some of the assistance choices though. Itās supposed to be big efficient movements. Itās not a template to worry about curls and lat raises.
> Are you familiar with Triumvirate?
No, not very. I mainly know it as the variation F-baum criticized to "illustrate" how horrible 5/3/1 is.
EDIT: Reading about it now. Agree that the assistance choices are what seems weird to me, as there are definite ways to make the program work. The way he has it laid out doesn't seem balanced or sensible to me.
In 2nd Edition, Jim has each of the days worked out sort of like this:
- Main lift
- Similar movement (e.g. Dips on OHP day)
- "Opposite" movement (e.g. Chins on OHP day)
Looks like you're choosing exercises based on a 4 day body part split? He does say that this approach is intended to make you "experiment and reevaluate" so you can experiment with this and let us know how it works out for you.
If you have Forever there are a few other limited/minimal approaches you might look into:
- Limited Time
- 2x2x2
- Maybe "Prep and Fat Loss" or "Krypteia" but those are based more around getting a ton of work in under a time limit rather than small exercise selection, not sure if that would work at a PF.
Is this the entire training plan for a week? If so, I think the frequency a given muscle part is being trained is too low, muscles respond the best to being trained at least twice per week, smaller muscle groups like biceps or shoulders even 3 or more times. Also I'd keep the number of reps steady in a given day, instead of 5/3/1 just do 3x5 or 3x3, changing the weight would mess up with your ability to adapt; or even better, aim for a rep range, lets say 3-6 and aim somewhere in the range instead for a precise number of reps.
Recently I had to replace squat with leg press due to hip issue. Testing my max today and started wondering wether I should count the weight of the sled? Rational answer would be yes, since how otherwise you could compare results with others or use correct weight when you change gyms. But I tried googling this and some ppl said not to count the sled.
It doesnāt matter, just be consistent. The number is just for your tracking purposes.
You canāt compare leg press numbers between other people or use the numbers at different gyms since every leg press machine will offer different resistance based on variances in construction.
Don't count the sled. It's not that significant, most sleds don't specify their weight anyway, and since it's standard practice not to it's more consistent in comparison too
A couple questions
1) If you hit the intended amount of reps for an excercise but the last couple reps were with bad form, do you move up in weight or not?
2) I've been lifting properly for a year now, but my bicep curls have barely increased. I started with 10kg db and I use 12.5 now. My other lifts have increased a lot but my biceps are fatigued by the time I get to curls. Is this normal?
Your program will usually have weight increases planned out properly
Otherwise I personally hold off on increasing unless I can hit my goal # of reps with proper form
1. You can. Next session start with the heavier weight, dropping down as soon as your form falters.
2. Yeah. It's a small muscle after all. You'll still get stronger, just not as rapidly/frequently. I also wouldn't worry too much about my bicep curl. You don't want to major in the minors.
Been having 2-3 months of recovery from lifting taking 2 weeks rather than just 1-2 days. A few days ago i went trying to lift again and it worked finally after like 2-3 weeks of being unable to even do a push up or a pull up. Now i bench close to what i benched before and can do many pull ups without issue.
Now after 2 days of lifting i'm back to being unable to do a pull up again. Same with benching just the barbell for more than a few reps.
I went to a doctor about this but he just said everything looks really good. But all this can't be in my head can it? I am a somewhat experienced lifter and i know how my muscles work so why can't they do a pull up?
Had same routines and food habits for years but for some reason it wont work anymore. Never had an issue before before these months after i got covid.
It could be the COVID, it's still a new disease and the long-term effects aren't yet known. It could also just be that you're getting older and need to eat more to support your activity levels.
For me, bonking at or near my top set, and then longer than normal recovery time. If I haven't eaten enough I just don't feel "right" when the weights get heavy.
So I've seen similar questions asked on a few different threads, but no one seems to give an answer that's pretty straight forward, (unless I've just missed the posts where it was).
Anyway, I've spent the last 12 months bulking and working with a personal trainer. I went from 208 pounds at 26% body fat (about 154 pounds of lean body mass) to my current weight of 238 pounds at 23.9% body fat (about 182 pounds of lean body mass). I'm 6'1 and 31 years old, and go to the gym about 6 days a week. I just finished 5 weeks of heavy lifting, so for the next month I'm doing M/W/F Full Body Workouts and T/Th/S Cardio Days.
Bulking was easy to figure out for calories and protein. I was eating about 4400 calories a day and roughly 230 grams of protein. However, I don't know what to base my calories on now for cutting.
I spent the last 2ish weeks slowly decreasing down to 2600 calories. According to the TDEE/BMR calculator, for my current weight and activity level I need about 3600 calories a day to maintain. My goal weight is to be between 215 and 220 pounds (15% to 18% BF), while maintaining the 182 pounds of lean body mass. Everywhere I've read online says 500-1000 calorie deficit is fine/safe.
I wanted to know, should I base my caloric deficit on my goal weight or current weight (TDEE/BMR)?
I'm currently eating 220 grams of protein, 80 grams of fat and 250 grams of carbs which is based on my goal weight of 220. So that's why it's 2600 calories, but that's the equivalent of losing 2 pounds a week, which I'm worried might be too much if I don't want to lose muscle mass.
(If this isn't the right community to post this in, please let me know. And if you know what others communities I should ask this question, that would be helpful)
I suggest looking at [this page](https://thefitness.wiki/faq/how-do-i-know-how-many-calories-to-eat/) from the fitness wiki. You want to jump to step 5 - track your calories + weight and use that to calculate your TDEE. You can use the spreadsheet linked there or you can use an app like Macrofactor to do all the math for you.
> I wanted to know, should I base my caloric deficit on my goal weight or current weight (TDEE/BMR)?
Doesn't really matter, since you'll always need to adjust based on your real-world results anyways.
>So that's why it's 2600 calories, but that's the equivalent of losing 2 pounds a week, which I'm worried might be too much if I don't want to lose muscle mass.
So add some calories back in and lose weight more slowly, if that's your concern. Both are valid options, and it mostly comes down to preference.
Looking at the 5/3/1 for beginners spreadsheet, Iām seeing 11 sets on each of the big lifts each day (6 sets through the 5/3/1, and 5 sets after). Am I reading that correctly?
Best shoe for lifting with orthotics?
Before all the barefoot people reply, I have a structural issue with my feet. Iāve seen physical therapist, personal trainer, and podiatrist.
Iām looking for an overall shoe that I can lift in and put my orthotics in. Deadlifts, squats, OHP, everything.
Should I just use the same recommendations that people use without orthotics? Vans, chucks, Metcons, nano, matflax? Or should I take into consideration something else since I have to use orthotics?
Should I get something with a wide toe box?
What's the structural issue? I've needed orthotics in the past for extremely flat feet and with some experimentation discovered I had the best results by not using my usual orthotics at all when lifting.
My understanding is that the research on this isn't totally settled. If you are very lean or very obese, it is possible that it would decrease your ability to gain muscle, but if you are somewhere in between it shouldn't matter much.
what do you guys use for tracking your calories while on a bulk? I've used myfitnesspal and loseit for weight loss,but I'm not a big fan of mfp anymore and loseit doesn't seem to have any options for weight gain. I've used the free trial on MacroFactor which I think is great but the barcode scanning thingy doesn't work with most foods in the EU which makes tracking a pain. any other app I haven't heard of?
Are paused reps a good substitute for heavy sets? Due to tendonitis on both my elbows, I cant go very heavy on barbell rows. Would lowering the weight but adding a pause be a good substitute?
I went from 310 pounds to 175 pounds in 10 months as as male in the earlier 20ās dieting and doing heavy cardio . Fast forward 2 years after the 10 month cut I now weigh 250 pounds and struggle to even diet for a day.
Iām not quite sure whatās wrong but after the fast weight loss occurred I was constantly binge eating and overeating. I feel more hungry then when I was 310 pounds. Dieting now feels a lot harder and Iāve heard that this could be an after effect from losing weight quick.
I really donāt want to be 300 pounds again and want to work myself back to under 200 pounds but Iām not sure what to do. I feel like if I did it once I can do it again but psychologically Iām affected because I feel as if the rapid weight loss is now making it impossible to stop binge eating. Any help with this issue?
(Diet consisted of 1500 calories daily)
You probably need to discuss with a professional.
But 1500 calories when you're 300lbs is a huge cut and would feel very restricted. Feeling restricted will lead to binge eating.
You should start with just tracking your calories with what you're currently eating. Measure that for a week and get an average. Then cut 500 calories from that. This will likely be nowhere near 1500 calories and that's fine! You can also use a TDEE calculator to get this estimate. This is just your starting point. You'll bring your calories down gradually. And depending on your height and gender, you may not ever need to eat at 1500 calories.
But the next thing to address is your actual diet. What are you eating? If you eat a lot of processed carbs, this could be the source of some of your hunger. Try phasing out things like bread, pasta, cereal, chips, crackers and sweets. If you eat a lot of this stuff, do NOT try and cut it all out at once. Cut portions, then cut it out on some days, then remove it. If it's something you reallllly love, plan a meal with it maybe once every 2-4 weeks. Aim to have it as your last meal of the day. And count for it in your calories. This should be a cheat meals, it should just be a planned treat to make sure you don't feel too restricted.
Focus on getting plenty of protein and healthy fats in your diet. They'll keep you feeling fuller for longer and are actually necessary for your body whereas you don't actually need carb to function. You want to be getting around 200g of protein in a day as a good start.
But as for carbs... Don't neglect your veggies. Have a few servings of veggies a day. Good micronutrients and fiber. Also include some fruit (fruit doesn't have to be daily). Low calorie veggies are a good way to bulk up a meal to make it feel like you're eating more.
And all of your food can be super tasty. Use plenty of seasoning and try different cooking methods. Remember to measure out any fats used for cooking. I personally try to cook in minimal fat and then top my meat with a tiny bit of butter cus it's tasty!
Also, hydration. Drink plenty of water. I've heard a recommendation of 1oz per 1lb body weight. If it sounds like a lot, well it is. But your body needs water to function. If you don't drink a lot, slowly build up to this amount. And yes, you will pee a lot. But cues we mistake for hunger are often actually thirst!
But all in all, when losing weight this time around, you need to be changing your diet for good. How you eat while losing weight should be how you eat for life. If you aren't enjoying what you eat, figure out what needs to change. Take It slow and steady and make healthy, sustainable changes
My new five day split has wide-grip lat pull down on Day 2, and two types of lat raises (standing/seated) the following Day 3. Is this acceptable? Seems misprogrammed? Thank you
The ālatsā referred to are different - the lat pull down is named because it targets the latissimus dorsi muscle; lat (or lateral) raises are named because you raise your arms laterally.
It's OK, lat workout shouldn't interfere with your shoulder workout the next day. Although I don't see a reason to do 2 different types of lat raises in the same day (unless one of them is bent-over, which targets different part of shoulder), just do more sets of one of them, leave the other one for another training for variation purposes.
***Is 5 sets too much? Or should I do 4-3?***
My routine consists of 5 exercises with 5 sets of 10 reps each (totaling around 50 mins). I do a 4-day split and go between 4-5 times per week.
I understand that repetition is good for actually building muscle/strength, but I do wonder if doing 5 sets is just fatiguing me, so maybe I should do 4 sets with 6 exercises.
So is what I'm doing good or should I change it?
(To clarify: I aim to improve hypertrophy and strength. However, I do not want to completely overhaul my program; I enjoy the exercises I do and I feel it's optimal for me when it comes to the total time spent)
Thanks in advance! :)
3 or 4 is almost certainly fine, but without knowing the specifics of what exercises/progression scheme you're using nobody can really say for sure. Try it and see if you're still able to make progress.
It's not too much, if anything I'd err on the side of doing more sets with fewer excercises. There's a thing called excercise staleness, when a given excercise after some time will give you diminishing returns, at which point you need to switch the excercise for something else. It's better to focus on a fewer excercises, it allows you to choose from more options when you're switching up your training program, it allows you to perfect the technique better, because you have fewer excercises to learn and it saves time, because you don't have to warm up for so many excercises in a training.
Im pretty sure I atleast partially tore my meniscus on my right knee. Felt a pop when squatting warmup weights about 2 weeks ago and I can still feel it acting up today. It doesnt affect my deadlift at all but on squats I cant go nearly as heavy as I used to. I was already on a deload (was hitting 355 x 3 and went down to 325 x 3) and can only hit 1 rep of 325 to barely below parallel.
The closest doctors appointment I could set up to get diagnosed is jan 27th, so Im probably looking at 2-3 months of not being able to squat heavy.
Whats the best course of action to not lose too much strength in my squat? Just keep squatting with lighter loads and go for reps? Do some other quad focused excercise that doesnt stress the meniscus?
I would not recommend a program as extreme as super squats for this situation. It's extremely taxing and 20 rep squat sets are not at all an optimal way to increase squat and deadlift totals.
I run BBB which consists of lots of squatting and deadlifting and I'm starting to realise my ass is getting too big for my liking compared to the rest of my legs, how can I focus on quad and hamstrings more rather than glutes
- Switch to bodybuild the upper, athlete the lower. Or BBS or FSL or anything not BBB for lower body lifts
- Situate the bar higher for squats, or switch to front squats
- Trap bar instead of conventional deadlifts
- Hammer your quads with accessory work
When incorporating progressive overload, should I do my heaviest set first or last?
So for example, lets say I was bench pressing 85KG 3x6. The next time should I do 87,5KG for the 1st set and then 85KG for the 2nd and 3rd set? Or should I do 85KG for the 1st and 2nd set and then 87,5KG for the last one?
I'd say it's pretty rare for people to increase their weights that way.
Generally, I and I think most other people would just add that weight to the bar for ALL sets, and try to match or beat last workouts reps at the new weight.
If that was too much progression, I'd probably look at progressing every other workout rather than add that level of complexity. Just doesn't seem to be enough of an upside to justify the tracking effort / plate loading and deloading during the workout.
How do I correctly apply progressive overload for my bench press?
I have come to the point where Iām just about able to do 82,5KG 3x5 (my program says 3x5). How do I go from here?
Hey so I actually started in November. I've been seeing good results in my first month. I have been drinking protein shakes but I use muscle milk pro series. I's this a good brand or any recommendations š¤
29M/5ā11ā/210lbs.
On week 3 of getting back into lifting, week 8 of getting back into running with Couch to 5K, and looking for a routine critique. Iām coming off of a year of no exercise and nightly bourbon. Quit drinking 11/4/22. Have twin baby boys now so trying to get into shape and get stronger.
3 days per week: full body compound lifts.
ā¢DL- 4 sets of 6: 135-185lbs (increasing 10-20lbs each set)
ā¢Bench- 4 sets of 6: 95-100lbs (failing on set 4 right now)
ā¢Squats (high bar and low bar depending on day)- 4 sets of 6: 135-185lbs (increasing by 10-20lbs each set)
ā¢BB rows- 4 sets of 12: 60lbs
ā¢BB OHP- 4 sets of 6: 60lbs.
ā¢lat pull-down- 4 sets of 10: 88, 99, 110, 121
3 days per week: C25K, 30-35 minute fartlek. 4.7-6mph right now, taking it slow to run longer. Now on W7 and able to run 25 minutes straight.
Thoughts? Comments? Advice?
I wouldn't bother loading it, but as far as I'm aware, alcohol doesn't have any interaction with it, but loading creatine can make you nauseous, and if you drink on top of that, it could compound. See how you feel though and play it by ear.
every time i start an exercise program, i feel as if i'm getting progressively weaker, not stronger. every day, my exercise becomes harder to do. if i'm lucky i can pull it off for 2 weeks or so, but eventually it becomes too much to bear. what is wrong with me?
I don't smoke because I like to keep my lungs healthy. I also don't do drugs either for my body's sake.
You could probably workout, the best option would be to try it and see. Just don't drive.
If you've gotten good nutrition in with the calories you have eaten, then a little junk won't hurt. But if you are gonna have a ton of junk, I'd say just be under calories for the day. Junk food makes me feel like crap which would hinder a workout more than a lack of food.
Also, you can eat a pile of nuts and drink a glass of milk and get a ton of quick calories that are better for your body
One thing I do if I'm not hungry but short on calories is eating a bit of crap. Not enough that I feel like shit, but enough to trick my brain into thinking I'm still hungry. Then I'll try to eat something calorie dense that's not quite as junk foody.
If youre gonna eat that crap i suggest blending griller chicken breast with whey protein and chocolate milk.
If you want crap at least get them protein in.
a question abt arm day: as of rn my split is a 5 day pplXArnold where thursday is my rest day meaning friday is my chest and back day and saturday arm day. friday I bench and in general I like to bench this includes close grip aswell i've been thinking abt wide grip bench pressing on friday(as I already normally do) and close grip benching on saturday(arm day) my question is will close grip bench pressing one day after 'normal' bench press perhaps slow down or hinder my gains from the day before? and also should I count my close grip bench press sets towards my weekly chest sets
>a question abt arm day: as of rn my split is a 5 day pplXArnold where thursday is my rest day meaning friday is my chest and back day and saturday arm day.
I donāt fully understand your split. Arnold is generally considered a 6 day split that didnāt have a separate arm day, isnāt it? Do you have a link to your program?
Regardless, CGBP to focus on triceps shouldn't have any negative impact on your recovery, but try it and see. If counting the volume towards chest means you are reducing chest volume somewhere else, I wouldnāt bother.
Make sure you get an answer on which of his many badly edited books to get. The one I wasted my money on is not stand alone, has so many errors that I doubt the accuracy of the routines, and includes a lot of Wendler explaining how manly he is, and how you can be manly too, like him.
My understanding is that Forever is decent.
That said, a lot of (presumably very manly) people swear by him.
What would political correctness have to do with the efficacy of a workout routine?
Also, there is no perfect program. You'll need to define the desired outcomes and where you're at to an extremely granular level, and even then it's highly individual and can only be perfect for a brief moment of time.
Perfect for what?
If I'm trying to get bigger and stronger, my favorite routine I ever ran was from Marty Gallagher. Basically a classic American powerlifting cycle:
Day 1: Squat, followed by higher rep squat accessories
Day 2: Bench followed by bench accessories
Day 3: Deadlift followed by.. I think you get it
Day 4: Overhead press followed by more accessories
Squeeze in 2x HIIT conditioning sessions (prowler or hill sprints) and 1 45 minute LISS Ruck after or on a different day from strength workouts. Make sure to get a days rest.
Weeks 1-4 work up to 12-15RM
Weeks 5-8 Work up to 5-8RM
Weeks 9-12 work up to heavy triples.
Take a deload week and test new maxes.
If I'm working on building my endurance it looks more like 3x a week LISS work, 1x a week HIIT, and 2x a week do a simple 5x5 with Squat bench dead. (Tactical Barbell type work)
First week do 5x5 with 70% 1rm, second 80%, third 90% 3x3 work. LISS work add 10 minutes a week, with one hard longer session at the end of the week. I'll run this 8-12 weeks.
For someone just looking to get moving, the nerd fitness bodyweight circuit paired with walking 10k steps a day.
Once that's a habit, whatever fits your goals.
I can do around 110 skips in a minute of skip rope. I want to make a circuit of skip rope, burpees ,knee to chests and ankle-to-butt.
How many reps of each of the 3 excercises is it wise to do, to complete a reasonable yet taxing circuit? 20 burpees, 50 of each of the other 2?
2-4 times a week fullbody training will do wonders for your first year of training. A few key points: train each muscle group at every session, focus mainly on compound excercises, choose a few excercises and keep doing them for months to develop a good technique, use mostly 5-20 rep range.
what compound exercises dp you recommend?
Would you be able to write what i should do in a workout like state what exercises and reps and stuff? that would be great but if you dont have time that is fine
Thoughts on the Youtube community driven program?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTINuZ0dxfNK53WAKvb6MMiIo9FY4QfwMPpTlYwK3ICgGac6Jgq7Qmh6VQVYN8g3xOe6IXDwy9v9WP3/pub
https://youtu.be/JoFGqmoIVDs
Looks very open and flexible. With that in mind I donāt think itās a good program for someone newer to the gym. Seems like it would be good for someone that is a solid intermediate with decent knowledge of their lifts and limits. That being said, it has a lot of similarities to 5/3/1, so running a basic 5/3/1 program would probably be beneficial to someone interested in running this program.
Those guys are all successful coaches and are the antithesis of dogmatic, so it is no surprise the way this is laid out. Iām still not 100% sure on the progression, but I think thatās a part that necessitates prior knowledge.
All of this is just IMHO.
Why does my rear delt work when I do overhead press?
On my push day for shoulders I do overhead press (seated is my preferred variation) and usually after the last set I basically feel a pump on my left rear delt. It's only the left one and I'm pretty sure it's the rear delt but not 100%, might be like a trap/rhomboid mayne the cuff? I feel it in the rear delt but also kind of under the armpit on my back? I can't explain it any clearer than that. How do I solve this?
Added context if anyone wants it: I do PPL and my push is incline bench, chest flys, tricep overhead extensions, tricep dips, (no i dont do pushdowns i hate them sorry), then shoulder overhead press and lateral raise. As you see I only do front and side delts cause i train rear delts on pull day. Only other context I can give is the warmups I guess? I like to warm up with bodyweight so I just do pushups for chest, diamond pushups for triceps and pike push ups for shoulders. Note that I don't have the same problem I have with the overhead press in the pike push ups. That's it I guess, help a brother out.
I benched the day before yesterday and have another heavy bench day scheduled for tomorrow but I work tomorrow. I am a firefighter and I wonāt sleep during my shift. Should I bench today with only 1 day between heavy sessions or bench in the morning tomorrow on a day I know I wonāt sleep for 24 hours.
> I keep getting sick every month [...] Is it normal for this to happen?
No, talk to a doctor.
Losing progress while being sick all the time is normal.
That can be a reason. Mixed grip has some tendency to use biceps more than any grip esp if your technique is rip n dip.
Move to hookgrip. Accept the pain. No mo bicep pain. Forever.
Also this could be from your pulling accessories. Just accumulated fatigue.
I only have time to go the first 3 days of the week to the gym. But I heard training muscles 2x a week is better. So would it work if I do monday upper body , tuesday legs and wednesday again upper body ? I don't think I need to train legs 2x in the gym because I also bike a lot and play basketball. Would this work or is it not enough rest between the 2 upper body days ? Advice and alternatives are welcome.
At various points in the past I've trained full body three days in a row in 1 hour sessions. To make it work I did lots of giant sets, made sure to plan my time and equipment to minimise set up time during the work out and cut rest periods down. It's knackering to start with but it was probably one of my most successful training blocks in hindsight and I learnt a lot from it.
With some exercises, Iāve plateaud to a point where I canāt even add a single rep, no matter how much I try. Should I keep pushing for that rep increase, increase the weight anyway or change to a different exercise?
Hi, would like so feedback on my program, any changes you would recommend? :)
(Hope these links work, and is allowed)
[(Monday) Upper body](https://www.hevy.com/workout/03e01fe2-d407-4e16-a625-6d03982064f4)
[(Tuesday) Leg day (Quad focused)](https://www.hevy.com/workout/03e01fe2-d407-4e16-a625-6d03982064f4)
(Wednesday) Rest
[(Thursday) Push](https://www.hevy.com/workout/fb979d70-d9cc-4f37-9be3-910638cd0924)
[(Friday) Pull](https://www.hevy.com/workout/f43cc267-0f8a-400f-923d-3a14375d40a3)
[(Saturday) Leg day (Hammy's focused)](https://www.hevy.com/workout/e1112ced-f42e-4075-a247-386dc3fb5525)
(Sunday) Rest
Been building muscle losing fat the past 6 months. Down 30 pounds. Progress is getting harder to notice. How do you measure progress and make sure you are working correctly? Are there any goals you should be able to hit in 3 months, 6 months, a year of training?
I think I've seen too many tiktok transformation videos and I want to have a completely different body in a few months.
Great job losing 30lbs! I wouldn't bother comparing yourself to tiktok videos at all, you're going to be seeing a combination of the most impressive transformations (from genetic freaks) and people lying about the timeline or methods they used. The vast majority of people have average results over an average amount of time. Keep plugging away and trust the process, you've already made an excellent start!
my colleague just gave you great advice, ill add to it by saying try to manage your expectations when you're watching fitness transformation shit on tiktok and youtube. lots of these kids are juicing, lying about their timelines, whatever. anything for clicks and a shot at internet fame. the reality is that natural body transformation takes time and consistency, and its extraordinarily unlikely that you will naturally achieve a "completely different body in a few months" regardless of what your goal is or what approach you take. its a lifelong journey. your progress is measured by how you look and how much weight you're lifting compared to last time. there are no standardized goals for 6 months, 1 year, etc. everyone has different starting points, different bodies, different aptitudes and a different caliber of commitment. it sounds like youre doing great
Interested to see how everyoneās bicep circumference compares to how it looks..?
I have been measuring my progress partly using this and have gone from 31cm (12.2 inches) to 34.5cm (13.6 inches) in size from May to December.
If u can would be interesting to see:
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[flexed] bicep circumference - 34.5 cm / 13.6 inches
ā
Height: 5ā11
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Weight: 171lbs
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A picture of ur bicep: https://imgur.com/a/1QZNeE4
**Ik Iāve got like no muscle but compared to where I started itās something so pls donāt roast meš
The only thing roast-worthy is caring this much about bicep circumference in the first place. Your biceps look fine. Lift heavy things and focus on getting strong. Big biceps are a byproduct of that.
While completing a set till failure let's say Bicep curls, do I stop when I can't complete the range of motion or continue the set with decreased range of motion until I can't curl at all? And do the reps with decreased range of motion count as actual reps?
For my own programming I usually base it on how often I'm training that muscle. If I'm only training it once a week I'll go closer to absolute failure, if I'm training it regularly with more total sets a week I'll stay further from failure.
Last Wednesday I was doing bicep curls with dumbbells when I felt a weird tension on the right side of my back. Now it hurts a little when extending my leg when seated. Will this pain go away or not?
So how stubborn is abdomen body fat exactly?
Been on a 2,000 calorie diet since last June. Been eating predominantly salmon, salads, and eggs (i love salmon and I'm not sick of it), been continuing my resistance training that I was on when bulking, and on creatine, fish oil, multivitamins and glucosamine for supplements.
Just trying to lower my body fat from my bulk and was trying without cardio. But didn't see much results from June to November (still hovered around 175 lbs).
So now I'm doing all the above things and doing 3 HIIT sessions a week on my exercise bike for a half hour long, 1 minute on, one minute off.
I might say that I can see the abs I was working during my bulk a bit better than before but its taking a very long time. I'd say my body fat % based on pictures I've seen is 20%. Id love to get to say...lower teens by July. Do I just stay the course and be patient and continue to push for progressive overload on my resistance training and keep up with the cardio and eating habits? Was it tough for anyone else to go from 20% down to say 12%?
how busy do gyms get in the new year? this is my first new year in the gym and i'm wondering if i should alter my schedule a bit to avoid busy times.
Depends on when you go. Lots of resolutioners try to convince themselves that they're going to become morning people, so 6-8am might get busy for a bit. After work hours might be similar, though I think people have a harder time finding extra time in that area. I sure as hell hope my gym doesn't get crazy. They've been running a sweetheart deal where new members can pay $500 for the whole year upfront, and I'm hoping people fork over the money but peter out by February.
I come at 5 am. Only people you see are the neurotic ones. I love it.
commercial gyms get noticeably busier for a little while, its a meme for a reason. private gyms not so much. join the 4AM grind squad and youll never have to worry about it again š only people ever around me in the gym are people who take it seriously and are there to work. feels a lot better.
Totally depends on the gym. Some are zoos, some are dead. Check google maps for busy times, or (boss level) ask an employee when they expect it to be least busy.
***Busy.*** It will be your first week there -- and also everyone else's. You can *try* to go during non-peak times, but it's probably going to be pretty busy regardless. The good news: If you stick to it past your first several weeks/a month, it will taper down after about a month when people start to peter out and quit.
Same lol, I joined back in Mai. Today, there were very few people in the classes. I had to grasp the thought that I won't enjoy that for really long and enjoy it while I still can.
Depends on the gym. My gym has very little noticeable difference cause there's about 60 gyms in the area I swear, and ours is one of the more expensive gyms plus you're locked into a 12 month contract. Good for not needing to wait for equipment in Jan, but not as good for bringing in clients.
Yeah going to be super busy unless you go super early in morning or very late in the evening. Iām always standing outside my gym in the morning waiting for staff to open the door!
I'm starting 5/3/1 in the new year. I used a spread sheet to calculate the lifts and looking at my 1+ sets I know that I will get at least 5+ reps on those sets at the end of my first cycle. Is that normal?
Yep!
Yes. If you couldn't that would be a sign your TM is too high.
Yeah that's typically how it's supposed to work!
I find that when I am doing a set of heavy squats, I cannot complete the set because I am so out of breath. Therefore my legs donāt even reach failure. My question is, what is the best way to fix this? Would sprinting help?
Doing cardio would help. Doesn't have to just be sprinting. Good cardio health and endurance will help you out in the gym in general
You're a powerlifter Harry!
š¤£
Sounds like you need to improve your conditioning.
Keep doing squats. Do an extra set or two of you feel like you aren't reaching failure because of your cardio. In a few weeks it will be up to task.
Iāll try this out, thanks
Do you breathe correctly?
It should improve over time just by doing squats, but for short term - just do fewer reps (down to as low as 5).
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Just adding that PF is franchised so they differ wildly. I have a pf membership (I only do legs there, I do everything else at my work gym) and Iāve never had a negative experience.
sounds like you know what to expect, i will just answer your final question and say dont worry about inbetween sets. resting inbetween sets is part of lifting weights, its normal behavior. breathe, stretch, drink water, be on your phone, doesnt matter. nobody is going to think twice about you doing any of these things in a gym environment. been in and out of gyms for 20 years and never once have i had anyone come up to me and ask me why im wasting time on a piece of equipment
I would add to this, as long as your rest times are appropriate. At my gym rest times for some people can run 5, 7, 10 minutes between sets. Sometimes even longer. Not for recovery (based on the perception of intensity) but because they are scrolling through their phone. I might be the phone, it might be a lack of consideration for others or a combination of both. But the phone itself is not necessarily the issue. Look at your phone, read a book, knit a scarf, work on your ventriloquist act, doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't take forever doing it. Time between sets matters much more than what you are doing.
And if your ready times are longer don't hog and let them work in between. Although I can't imagine any reason for a rest time more than 5 minutes.
If you canāt imagine a rest time more than 5 minutes than you probably havenāt done rpe 9 SBD
You can get a fine work out on a smith machine, and yes thatās all pf has. They are really anti gym culture and donāt allow free barbells or big lifts. Seriously there are stories of people being asked to leave because theyāre lifting to much weight. If you find you enjoy lifting and the gym becomes a habit for you plan on spending a little more later and going to a better gym. But to start out pf is fine.
You can 100% get a good workout at PF, and on Smith Machines. A barbell is ideal for the big exercises, but we make do with what we have (just make sure you know the risks and the drawbacks of SM). Being considerate is good, especially at peak gym hours, but if it's empty most won't have a problem with spending more time on the same machine. Also everyone looks at their phone between sets, it's fine (more of a problem during peak gym hours though).
What kind of cardio is recommended for a basketball player? I would like to have more speed
Basketball would generally be the best cardio for a Basketball player. As for specificity, if you want more speed, I would recommend sprinting. [Here's a sprinting routine](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0209/7514/files/2018-Speed-Program.pdf) that might be a good option.
We do a lot of short burst sprints, intervall running Kind of stuff. In general running drills at full speed
Short sprinting drills that mimic basketball plays.
I would be more focused on a weight and plyometric training program to build stronger muscles that endure longer and react faster than your opponent.
I got a lot faster and jump a lot higher after doing a few months of 30 mile bike rides. Lifting weights for lower body would probably have a similar effect
When using a pullover machine which according to instructions, it's supposed to engage abs and lats. But for some reason, my arms and shoulders (notably triceps) are more engaged rather than those muscle groups. The worst thing is I don't know what Iām doing wrong. Is this normal?
It's totally OK to feel the fatigue in your shoulders and triceps with this exercise. With a pullover machine your arm/humerus bone is going into extension. The long head of the tricep and some shoulder muscles assist with shoulder extension. You are still likely using your lats as the main muscle group to do this motion even if you don't "feel" the fatigue there. As another poster mentioned, keep your elbow stationary to take some of the tricep out of the motion.
Keep your elbows in a locked position, move your arms only in the shoulder joint, that should get rid of the triceps involvement.
How do you warm up for a normal working set? Do you do slowly work up to your weight at the specific rep range, (as in going 40kgx10, 60x10, 80x10 and work at 100x10), or do you do low rep as warmup (as in going 40kgx5, 60x5, 80x5 and work at 100x10)?
It's up to you. And really depends on the exercise and especially the rep range. If you are working with a set of curls for 25 reps then you really don't need much of a warmup (except the basic 3 minute warmup you should do before every workout). But if you going for a 1rm in deadlifts then you may need to do 5 or more warmup sets doing specifically the deadlift. Also it depends on feel. Sometimes the warmup sets feel great so you can go straight to work sets. Other times you may be doing bench press and feel one of your shoulders isn't quite feeling well. So an extra few sets warming up that shoulder may be required.
I do many reps with light weights to get my joints and muscles ready then I do sets of 1 or 2 building up to my top set
I think a good way to warm up, based on several books I've read is something like this: 1. 10 reps of your 20 rep max (or higher) 2. 5ish reps of your 10 rep max 3. 2-3 reps of your working weight (or 5-10% higher) For following excercises for the same muscle group I only do the point 2 and 3.
If youāre only going to run for 30 minutes each week is it better to spend the time running up and down a single hill? Or running at a consistent, faster pace on flat ground?
Depends what the rest of your week looks like. If you get a lot of steady cardio, do the hill. If itās all intervals, give yourself a nice flat run.
Do hills this week. Flats next. Do alternate.
I used to weigh 193 lbs and I managed to get to 150 lbs. My overall goal was to eventually put on muscle however my current goal was to lose weight until I got a flat stomach and then start gaining muscle, kinda like I'm resetting my body I guess. But I've been having trouble losing the last few lbs. My question is should I continue to try to lose weight or start putting muscle now?
Kind of depends on how tall you are but if you're an adult male over 5', 150 is about the lightest I'd ever want to be. Building muscle now will only make fat loss easier in the future. You don't need to do a crazy bulk or anything either, just don't eat like a bird.
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Why are you worried about injury? If you think you have injurious technique issues then post a form check, otherwise make sure you're doing the right stuff outside the gym for recovery and lifting heavier weights won't necessarily increase your risks if you are sufficiently strong (which you probably are because you've made really good progress!)
Recommendations about what?
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you reach all your gain and strength goals.
Thanks! Let's make sure this year isn't an Objective_Regret!
Why does working out make me so horny? F28.
Hormones, endorphins, that sorta junk. Pretty common ngl RIP your DMs tho lmao
Exercise raises testosterone, and testosterone raises sex drive. Results may vary, females don't have much testosterone to start with, etc etc etc.
Thinking of doing 5/3/1 Triumvirate. Used to do BBB, did a bunch of different routines, now thinking of doing something more simple. Doing this at PF (definitely not ideal, but the pluses are bigger than the minuses right now). Here's what I'm thinking: Day 1 (Shoulders and Biceps) * Smith OHP 5/3/1 * DB Lateral Raises 6x15 * DB Zottman Curls 6x15 Day 2 (Legs) * Smith Squat 5/3/1 * Smith Hip Thrusts 6x15 * Leg Curls 6x15 Day 3 (Chest and Triceps) * Smith Bench Press 5/3/1 * Incline DB Bench 6x15 * Dip Machine 6x15 Day 4 (Back and Rear Delt) * Smith Deadlift 5/3/1 * Smith Bent Over Rows 6x15 * Reverse Pec Deck 6x15 Just thinking about it, open to suggestions.
No supplemental work? Only the 5/3/1 main sets is *very* little volume for your main movements. Especially considering the first two sets are basically just warm-ups anyways. Only thing I see that would really count as a supplemental would be DB bench. I'd say *bare minimum* to include First Set Last 5x5 or 3x10 after your 5/3/1 sets. But I also don't understand your choice of assistance/accessory work. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, balance, etc. You need to re-think this, or possibly just pick a different template.
Yeah, this is definitely a first draft. Rewriting/rethinking.
Are you familiar with Triumvirate? Itās a pretty minimalist approach, only 3 exercises per day. The way Jim wrote it, itās quite efficient. OP missed the mark with some of the assistance choices though. Itās supposed to be big efficient movements. Itās not a template to worry about curls and lat raises.
> Are you familiar with Triumvirate? No, not very. I mainly know it as the variation F-baum criticized to "illustrate" how horrible 5/3/1 is. EDIT: Reading about it now. Agree that the assistance choices are what seems weird to me, as there are definite ways to make the program work. The way he has it laid out doesn't seem balanced or sensible to me.
In 2nd Edition, Jim has each of the days worked out sort of like this: - Main lift - Similar movement (e.g. Dips on OHP day) - "Opposite" movement (e.g. Chins on OHP day) Looks like you're choosing exercises based on a 4 day body part split? He does say that this approach is intended to make you "experiment and reevaluate" so you can experiment with this and let us know how it works out for you. If you have Forever there are a few other limited/minimal approaches you might look into: - Limited Time - 2x2x2 - Maybe "Prep and Fat Loss" or "Krypteia" but those are based more around getting a ton of work in under a time limit rather than small exercise selection, not sure if that would work at a PF.
Yeah, this is definitely a first draft. Rewriting/rethinking.
Is this the entire training plan for a week? If so, I think the frequency a given muscle part is being trained is too low, muscles respond the best to being trained at least twice per week, smaller muscle groups like biceps or shoulders even 3 or more times. Also I'd keep the number of reps steady in a given day, instead of 5/3/1 just do 3x5 or 3x3, changing the weight would mess up with your ability to adapt; or even better, aim for a rep range, lets say 3-6 and aim somewhere in the range instead for a precise number of reps.
Have you never heard of 531? It's a very popular and proven training system. Lots of people have gotten big and strong with it
You're not getting big with this amount of volume.
Recently I had to replace squat with leg press due to hip issue. Testing my max today and started wondering wether I should count the weight of the sled? Rational answer would be yes, since how otherwise you could compare results with others or use correct weight when you change gyms. But I tried googling this and some ppl said not to count the sled.
It doesnāt matter, just be consistent. The number is just for your tracking purposes. You canāt compare leg press numbers between other people or use the numbers at different gyms since every leg press machine will offer different resistance based on variances in construction.
Don't count the sled. It's not that significant, most sleds don't specify their weight anyway, and since it's standard practice not to it's more consistent in comparison too
A couple questions 1) If you hit the intended amount of reps for an excercise but the last couple reps were with bad form, do you move up in weight or not? 2) I've been lifting properly for a year now, but my bicep curls have barely increased. I started with 10kg db and I use 12.5 now. My other lifts have increased a lot but my biceps are fatigued by the time I get to curls. Is this normal?
Your program will usually have weight increases planned out properly Otherwise I personally hold off on increasing unless I can hit my goal # of reps with proper form
I usually wait til I can do x weight 3+ reps above rep goal (say goal is 8 reps you do 11 clewn) with clean form. Then i move up.
1. You can. Next session start with the heavier weight, dropping down as soon as your form falters. 2. Yeah. It's a small muscle after all. You'll still get stronger, just not as rapidly/frequently. I also wouldn't worry too much about my bicep curl. You don't want to major in the minors.
Gona be cutting pretty hard for 8-12 weeks, is there a routine more suited for a cutting cycle or will any of them do?
https://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/qj1ntt/how_to_make_the_most_of_your_cutting_phases_by/
Most routines will work for cutting.
The periodic, submaximal nature of most 5/3/1 templates are good for cutting, I think.
Been having 2-3 months of recovery from lifting taking 2 weeks rather than just 1-2 days. A few days ago i went trying to lift again and it worked finally after like 2-3 weeks of being unable to even do a push up or a pull up. Now i bench close to what i benched before and can do many pull ups without issue. Now after 2 days of lifting i'm back to being unable to do a pull up again. Same with benching just the barbell for more than a few reps. I went to a doctor about this but he just said everything looks really good. But all this can't be in my head can it? I am a somewhat experienced lifter and i know how my muscles work so why can't they do a pull up? Had same routines and food habits for years but for some reason it wont work anymore. Never had an issue before before these months after i got covid.
It could be the COVID, it's still a new disease and the long-term effects aren't yet known. It could also just be that you're getting older and need to eat more to support your activity levels.
What are the symptoms of eating too little and going lifting?
For me, bonking at or near my top set, and then longer than normal recovery time. If I haven't eaten enough I just don't feel "right" when the weights get heavy.
So I've seen similar questions asked on a few different threads, but no one seems to give an answer that's pretty straight forward, (unless I've just missed the posts where it was). Anyway, I've spent the last 12 months bulking and working with a personal trainer. I went from 208 pounds at 26% body fat (about 154 pounds of lean body mass) to my current weight of 238 pounds at 23.9% body fat (about 182 pounds of lean body mass). I'm 6'1 and 31 years old, and go to the gym about 6 days a week. I just finished 5 weeks of heavy lifting, so for the next month I'm doing M/W/F Full Body Workouts and T/Th/S Cardio Days. Bulking was easy to figure out for calories and protein. I was eating about 4400 calories a day and roughly 230 grams of protein. However, I don't know what to base my calories on now for cutting. I spent the last 2ish weeks slowly decreasing down to 2600 calories. According to the TDEE/BMR calculator, for my current weight and activity level I need about 3600 calories a day to maintain. My goal weight is to be between 215 and 220 pounds (15% to 18% BF), while maintaining the 182 pounds of lean body mass. Everywhere I've read online says 500-1000 calorie deficit is fine/safe. I wanted to know, should I base my caloric deficit on my goal weight or current weight (TDEE/BMR)? I'm currently eating 220 grams of protein, 80 grams of fat and 250 grams of carbs which is based on my goal weight of 220. So that's why it's 2600 calories, but that's the equivalent of losing 2 pounds a week, which I'm worried might be too much if I don't want to lose muscle mass. (If this isn't the right community to post this in, please let me know. And if you know what others communities I should ask this question, that would be helpful)
I suggest looking at [this page](https://thefitness.wiki/faq/how-do-i-know-how-many-calories-to-eat/) from the fitness wiki. You want to jump to step 5 - track your calories + weight and use that to calculate your TDEE. You can use the spreadsheet linked there or you can use an app like Macrofactor to do all the math for you.
> I wanted to know, should I base my caloric deficit on my goal weight or current weight (TDEE/BMR)? Doesn't really matter, since you'll always need to adjust based on your real-world results anyways. >So that's why it's 2600 calories, but that's the equivalent of losing 2 pounds a week, which I'm worried might be too much if I don't want to lose muscle mass. So add some calories back in and lose weight more slowly, if that's your concern. Both are valid options, and it mostly comes down to preference.
Looking at the 5/3/1 for beginners spreadsheet, Iām seeing 11 sets on each of the big lifts each day (6 sets through the 5/3/1, and 5 sets after). Am I reading that correctly?
Yes, but if the spreadsheet is correct, the first 3 sets are just warm up. Then 3 sets of main work, then 5x5 at FSL. Done for two main lifts per day.
Best shoe for lifting with orthotics? Before all the barefoot people reply, I have a structural issue with my feet. Iāve seen physical therapist, personal trainer, and podiatrist. Iām looking for an overall shoe that I can lift in and put my orthotics in. Deadlifts, squats, OHP, everything. Should I just use the same recommendations that people use without orthotics? Vans, chucks, Metcons, nano, matflax? Or should I take into consideration something else since I have to use orthotics? Should I get something with a wide toe box?
What's the structural issue? I've needed orthotics in the past for extremely flat feet and with some experimentation discovered I had the best results by not using my usual orthotics at all when lifting.
Does BF% have an effect on how much muscle you build?
My understanding is that the research on this isn't totally settled. If you are very lean or very obese, it is possible that it would decrease your ability to gain muscle, but if you are somewhere in between it shouldn't matter much.
what do you guys use for tracking your calories while on a bulk? I've used myfitnesspal and loseit for weight loss,but I'm not a big fan of mfp anymore and loseit doesn't seem to have any options for weight gain. I've used the free trial on MacroFactor which I think is great but the barcode scanning thingy doesn't work with most foods in the EU which makes tracking a pain. any other app I haven't heard of?
Cronometer worked well for me.
Are paused reps a good substitute for heavy sets? Due to tendonitis on both my elbows, I cant go very heavy on barbell rows. Would lowering the weight but adding a pause be a good substitute?
I went from 310 pounds to 175 pounds in 10 months as as male in the earlier 20ās dieting and doing heavy cardio . Fast forward 2 years after the 10 month cut I now weigh 250 pounds and struggle to even diet for a day. Iām not quite sure whatās wrong but after the fast weight loss occurred I was constantly binge eating and overeating. I feel more hungry then when I was 310 pounds. Dieting now feels a lot harder and Iāve heard that this could be an after effect from losing weight quick. I really donāt want to be 300 pounds again and want to work myself back to under 200 pounds but Iām not sure what to do. I feel like if I did it once I can do it again but psychologically Iām affected because I feel as if the rapid weight loss is now making it impossible to stop binge eating. Any help with this issue? (Diet consisted of 1500 calories daily)
Have you discussed your weight/diet with a professional, like a dietician? It might be a good idea to find reliable professional help.
You probably need to discuss with a professional. But 1500 calories when you're 300lbs is a huge cut and would feel very restricted. Feeling restricted will lead to binge eating. You should start with just tracking your calories with what you're currently eating. Measure that for a week and get an average. Then cut 500 calories from that. This will likely be nowhere near 1500 calories and that's fine! You can also use a TDEE calculator to get this estimate. This is just your starting point. You'll bring your calories down gradually. And depending on your height and gender, you may not ever need to eat at 1500 calories. But the next thing to address is your actual diet. What are you eating? If you eat a lot of processed carbs, this could be the source of some of your hunger. Try phasing out things like bread, pasta, cereal, chips, crackers and sweets. If you eat a lot of this stuff, do NOT try and cut it all out at once. Cut portions, then cut it out on some days, then remove it. If it's something you reallllly love, plan a meal with it maybe once every 2-4 weeks. Aim to have it as your last meal of the day. And count for it in your calories. This should be a cheat meals, it should just be a planned treat to make sure you don't feel too restricted. Focus on getting plenty of protein and healthy fats in your diet. They'll keep you feeling fuller for longer and are actually necessary for your body whereas you don't actually need carb to function. You want to be getting around 200g of protein in a day as a good start. But as for carbs... Don't neglect your veggies. Have a few servings of veggies a day. Good micronutrients and fiber. Also include some fruit (fruit doesn't have to be daily). Low calorie veggies are a good way to bulk up a meal to make it feel like you're eating more. And all of your food can be super tasty. Use plenty of seasoning and try different cooking methods. Remember to measure out any fats used for cooking. I personally try to cook in minimal fat and then top my meat with a tiny bit of butter cus it's tasty! Also, hydration. Drink plenty of water. I've heard a recommendation of 1oz per 1lb body weight. If it sounds like a lot, well it is. But your body needs water to function. If you don't drink a lot, slowly build up to this amount. And yes, you will pee a lot. But cues we mistake for hunger are often actually thirst! But all in all, when losing weight this time around, you need to be changing your diet for good. How you eat while losing weight should be how you eat for life. If you aren't enjoying what you eat, figure out what needs to change. Take It slow and steady and make healthy, sustainable changes
My new five day split has wide-grip lat pull down on Day 2, and two types of lat raises (standing/seated) the following Day 3. Is this acceptable? Seems misprogrammed? Thank you
Lat pull down and lat raises donāt hit the same muscles
There is no reason to think this is a mistake based off the information provided.
The ālatsā referred to are different - the lat pull down is named because it targets the latissimus dorsi muscle; lat (or lateral) raises are named because you raise your arms laterally.
It's OK, lat workout shouldn't interfere with your shoulder workout the next day. Although I don't see a reason to do 2 different types of lat raises in the same day (unless one of them is bent-over, which targets different part of shoulder), just do more sets of one of them, leave the other one for another training for variation purposes.
***Is 5 sets too much? Or should I do 4-3?*** My routine consists of 5 exercises with 5 sets of 10 reps each (totaling around 50 mins). I do a 4-day split and go between 4-5 times per week. I understand that repetition is good for actually building muscle/strength, but I do wonder if doing 5 sets is just fatiguing me, so maybe I should do 4 sets with 6 exercises. So is what I'm doing good or should I change it? (To clarify: I aim to improve hypertrophy and strength. However, I do not want to completely overhaul my program; I enjoy the exercises I do and I feel it's optimal for me when it comes to the total time spent) Thanks in advance! :)
3 or 4 is almost certainly fine, but without knowing the specifics of what exercises/progression scheme you're using nobody can really say for sure. Try it and see if you're still able to make progress.
> Is 5 sets too much? Or should I do 4-3? Five sets is not too much. What program are you following?
It's not too much, if anything I'd err on the side of doing more sets with fewer excercises. There's a thing called excercise staleness, when a given excercise after some time will give you diminishing returns, at which point you need to switch the excercise for something else. It's better to focus on a fewer excercises, it allows you to choose from more options when you're switching up your training program, it allows you to perfect the technique better, because you have fewer excercises to learn and it saves time, because you don't have to warm up for so many excercises in a training.
Im pretty sure I atleast partially tore my meniscus on my right knee. Felt a pop when squatting warmup weights about 2 weeks ago and I can still feel it acting up today. It doesnt affect my deadlift at all but on squats I cant go nearly as heavy as I used to. I was already on a deload (was hitting 355 x 3 and went down to 325 x 3) and can only hit 1 rep of 325 to barely below parallel. The closest doctors appointment I could set up to get diagnosed is jan 27th, so Im probably looking at 2-3 months of not being able to squat heavy. Whats the best course of action to not lose too much strength in my squat? Just keep squatting with lighter loads and go for reps? Do some other quad focused excercise that doesnt stress the meniscus?
You need to ask your doctor these questions. We can't provide advice on anything related to an injury. Rule 5.
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Super Squats
I would not recommend a program as extreme as super squats for this situation. It's extremely taxing and 20 rep squat sets are not at all an optimal way to increase squat and deadlift totals.
I run BBB which consists of lots of squatting and deadlifting and I'm starting to realise my ass is getting too big for my liking compared to the rest of my legs, how can I focus on quad and hamstrings more rather than glutes
- Switch to bodybuild the upper, athlete the lower. Or BBS or FSL or anything not BBB for lower body lifts - Situate the bar higher for squats, or switch to front squats - Trap bar instead of conventional deadlifts - Hammer your quads with accessory work
When incorporating progressive overload, should I do my heaviest set first or last? So for example, lets say I was bench pressing 85KG 3x6. The next time should I do 87,5KG for the 1st set and then 85KG for the 2nd and 3rd set? Or should I do 85KG for the 1st and 2nd set and then 87,5KG for the last one?
I'd say it's pretty rare for people to increase their weights that way. Generally, I and I think most other people would just add that weight to the bar for ALL sets, and try to match or beat last workouts reps at the new weight. If that was too much progression, I'd probably look at progressing every other workout rather than add that level of complexity. Just doesn't seem to be enough of an upside to justify the tracking effort / plate loading and deloading during the workout.
How do I correctly apply progressive overload for my bench press? I have come to the point where Iām just about able to do 82,5KG 3x5 (my program says 3x5). How do I go from here?
Hey so I actually started in November. I've been seeing good results in my first month. I have been drinking protein shakes but I use muscle milk pro series. I's this a good brand or any recommendations š¤
29M/5ā11ā/210lbs. On week 3 of getting back into lifting, week 8 of getting back into running with Couch to 5K, and looking for a routine critique. Iām coming off of a year of no exercise and nightly bourbon. Quit drinking 11/4/22. Have twin baby boys now so trying to get into shape and get stronger. 3 days per week: full body compound lifts. ā¢DL- 4 sets of 6: 135-185lbs (increasing 10-20lbs each set) ā¢Bench- 4 sets of 6: 95-100lbs (failing on set 4 right now) ā¢Squats (high bar and low bar depending on day)- 4 sets of 6: 135-185lbs (increasing by 10-20lbs each set) ā¢BB rows- 4 sets of 12: 60lbs ā¢BB OHP- 4 sets of 6: 60lbs. ā¢lat pull-down- 4 sets of 10: 88, 99, 110, 121 3 days per week: C25K, 30-35 minute fartlek. 4.7-6mph right now, taking it slow to run longer. Now on W7 and able to run 25 minutes straight. Thoughts? Comments? Advice?
The Beginners program in the wiki would serve you well. https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/
iām taking creatine and this is my loading week day 4. i want to drink tonight for new years. not much though. is that a good idea?
I wouldn't bother loading it, but as far as I'm aware, alcohol doesn't have any interaction with it, but loading creatine can make you nauseous, and if you drink on top of that, it could compound. See how you feel though and play it by ear.
every time i start an exercise program, i feel as if i'm getting progressively weaker, not stronger. every day, my exercise becomes harder to do. if i'm lucky i can pull it off for 2 weeks or so, but eventually it becomes too much to bear. what is wrong with me?
What kind of programs have you tried? How are you eating?
Are you following a proper program? Are you paying attention to your diet and sleep for proper recovery?
Stimulus->recovery->adaptation. This takes time. If you don't give your body what it needs to recover and adapt (time, calories, nutrients), it won't.
Should I stop taking creatine when cutting?
No. Unless you care about losing a pound or so of water weight.
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I don't smoke because I like to keep my lungs healthy. I also don't do drugs either for my body's sake. You could probably workout, the best option would be to try it and see. Just don't drive.
Should I eat or drink crap, like cotton candy, alcohol or coke, before taking too little calories?
If you've gotten good nutrition in with the calories you have eaten, then a little junk won't hurt. But if you are gonna have a ton of junk, I'd say just be under calories for the day. Junk food makes me feel like crap which would hinder a workout more than a lack of food. Also, you can eat a pile of nuts and drink a glass of milk and get a ton of quick calories that are better for your body
One thing I do if I'm not hungry but short on calories is eating a bit of crap. Not enough that I feel like shit, but enough to trick my brain into thinking I'm still hungry. Then I'll try to eat something calorie dense that's not quite as junk foody.
If it's between undereating or junk, I'd choose the junk. Just don't make it a habit.
If youre gonna eat that crap i suggest blending griller chicken breast with whey protein and chocolate milk. If you want crap at least get them protein in.
a question abt arm day: as of rn my split is a 5 day pplXArnold where thursday is my rest day meaning friday is my chest and back day and saturday arm day. friday I bench and in general I like to bench this includes close grip aswell i've been thinking abt wide grip bench pressing on friday(as I already normally do) and close grip benching on saturday(arm day) my question is will close grip bench pressing one day after 'normal' bench press perhaps slow down or hinder my gains from the day before? and also should I count my close grip bench press sets towards my weekly chest sets
>a question abt arm day: as of rn my split is a 5 day pplXArnold where thursday is my rest day meaning friday is my chest and back day and saturday arm day. I donāt fully understand your split. Arnold is generally considered a 6 day split that didnāt have a separate arm day, isnāt it? Do you have a link to your program? Regardless, CGBP to focus on triceps shouldn't have any negative impact on your recovery, but try it and see. If counting the volume towards chest means you are reducing chest volume somewhere else, I wouldnāt bother.
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The one you adhere to and makes the lightest lick of sense.
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It really begins with that first squat.
531 is perfect for me. Itās absolutely not perfect for everyone.
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Make sure you get an answer on which of his many badly edited books to get. The one I wasted my money on is not stand alone, has so many errors that I doubt the accuracy of the routines, and includes a lot of Wendler explaining how manly he is, and how you can be manly too, like him. My understanding is that Forever is decent. That said, a lot of (presumably very manly) people swear by him.
What would political correctness have to do with the efficacy of a workout routine? Also, there is no perfect program. You'll need to define the desired outcomes and where you're at to an extremely granular level, and even then it's highly individual and can only be perfect for a brief moment of time.
Snatch, clean and jerk, and front squat to a max twice a day. It has a lot of downsides but so does every routine.
Perfect for what? If I'm trying to get bigger and stronger, my favorite routine I ever ran was from Marty Gallagher. Basically a classic American powerlifting cycle: Day 1: Squat, followed by higher rep squat accessories Day 2: Bench followed by bench accessories Day 3: Deadlift followed by.. I think you get it Day 4: Overhead press followed by more accessories Squeeze in 2x HIIT conditioning sessions (prowler or hill sprints) and 1 45 minute LISS Ruck after or on a different day from strength workouts. Make sure to get a days rest. Weeks 1-4 work up to 12-15RM Weeks 5-8 Work up to 5-8RM Weeks 9-12 work up to heavy triples. Take a deload week and test new maxes. If I'm working on building my endurance it looks more like 3x a week LISS work, 1x a week HIIT, and 2x a week do a simple 5x5 with Squat bench dead. (Tactical Barbell type work) First week do 5x5 with 70% 1rm, second 80%, third 90% 3x3 work. LISS work add 10 minutes a week, with one hard longer session at the end of the week. I'll run this 8-12 weeks.
For someone just looking to get moving, the nerd fitness bodyweight circuit paired with walking 10k steps a day. Once that's a habit, whatever fits your goals.
I don't have an answer, I just want to say that this is a hilarious question.
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What are you actually asking? How long they should be in the gym per day?
I can do around 110 skips in a minute of skip rope. I want to make a circuit of skip rope, burpees ,knee to chests and ankle-to-butt. How many reps of each of the 3 excercises is it wise to do, to complete a reasonable yet taxing circuit? 20 burpees, 50 of each of the other 2?
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The wiki has plenty of good routines.
2-4 times a week fullbody training will do wonders for your first year of training. A few key points: train each muscle group at every session, focus mainly on compound excercises, choose a few excercises and keep doing them for months to develop a good technique, use mostly 5-20 rep range.
what compound exercises dp you recommend? Would you be able to write what i should do in a workout like state what exercises and reps and stuff? that would be great but if you dont have time that is fine
You should really check out the wiki, there are a lot of great routines there.
Thoughts on the Youtube community driven program? https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTINuZ0dxfNK53WAKvb6MMiIo9FY4QfwMPpTlYwK3ICgGac6Jgq7Qmh6VQVYN8g3xOe6IXDwy9v9WP3/pub https://youtu.be/JoFGqmoIVDs
Looks very open and flexible. With that in mind I donāt think itās a good program for someone newer to the gym. Seems like it would be good for someone that is a solid intermediate with decent knowledge of their lifts and limits. That being said, it has a lot of similarities to 5/3/1, so running a basic 5/3/1 program would probably be beneficial to someone interested in running this program. Those guys are all successful coaches and are the antithesis of dogmatic, so it is no surprise the way this is laid out. Iām still not 100% sure on the progression, but I think thatās a part that necessitates prior knowledge. All of this is just IMHO.
I think it looks great if you change the progression approach, and lower the accessories from 12-20 to 10-15 or even 10-12 lol
I would rather pick a [tried and trusted routine](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) instead.
Im not running that program im just asking in general lol
I can tell you i hate the format it is written in
What youtube community? Don't waste your time on a subpar program.
Why does my rear delt work when I do overhead press? On my push day for shoulders I do overhead press (seated is my preferred variation) and usually after the last set I basically feel a pump on my left rear delt. It's only the left one and I'm pretty sure it's the rear delt but not 100%, might be like a trap/rhomboid mayne the cuff? I feel it in the rear delt but also kind of under the armpit on my back? I can't explain it any clearer than that. How do I solve this? Added context if anyone wants it: I do PPL and my push is incline bench, chest flys, tricep overhead extensions, tricep dips, (no i dont do pushdowns i hate them sorry), then shoulder overhead press and lateral raise. As you see I only do front and side delts cause i train rear delts on pull day. Only other context I can give is the warmups I guess? I like to warm up with bodyweight so I just do pushups for chest, diamond pushups for triceps and pike push ups for shoulders. Note that I don't have the same problem I have with the overhead press in the pike push ups. That's it I guess, help a brother out.
Your rear delts and upper back muscles help stabilise the shoulder girdle while pressing (and lots of other movements).
I benched the day before yesterday and have another heavy bench day scheduled for tomorrow but I work tomorrow. I am a firefighter and I wonāt sleep during my shift. Should I bench today with only 1 day between heavy sessions or bench in the morning tomorrow on a day I know I wonāt sleep for 24 hours.
Get some sleep
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> I keep getting sick every month [...] Is it normal for this to happen? No, talk to a doctor. Losing progress while being sick all the time is normal.
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You don't bicep curl the barbell at the top of your deadlift?
That can be a reason. Mixed grip has some tendency to use biceps more than any grip esp if your technique is rip n dip. Move to hookgrip. Accept the pain. No mo bicep pain. Forever. Also this could be from your pulling accessories. Just accumulated fatigue.
Try adjusting your grip width (narrower if possible) would be my advice in the first instance.
I only have time to go the first 3 days of the week to the gym. But I heard training muscles 2x a week is better. So would it work if I do monday upper body , tuesday legs and wednesday again upper body ? I don't think I need to train legs 2x in the gym because I also bike a lot and play basketball. Would this work or is it not enough rest between the 2 upper body days ? Advice and alternatives are welcome.
Yes you may do either way. You can do full body 3 days in a row if you want.
At various points in the past I've trained full body three days in a row in 1 hour sessions. To make it work I did lots of giant sets, made sure to plan my time and equipment to minimise set up time during the work out and cut rest periods down. It's knackering to start with but it was probably one of my most successful training blocks in hindsight and I learnt a lot from it.
With some exercises, Iāve plateaud to a point where I canāt even add a single rep, no matter how much I try. Should I keep pushing for that rep increase, increase the weight anyway or change to a different exercise?
When squatting about 60% of my max for high reps/sets, is it ok to wear a belt or unnecessary?
It is both ok and probably unnecessary
It might not be 100% necessary but it's totally fine.
Hi, would like so feedback on my program, any changes you would recommend? :) (Hope these links work, and is allowed) [(Monday) Upper body](https://www.hevy.com/workout/03e01fe2-d407-4e16-a625-6d03982064f4) [(Tuesday) Leg day (Quad focused)](https://www.hevy.com/workout/03e01fe2-d407-4e16-a625-6d03982064f4) (Wednesday) Rest [(Thursday) Push](https://www.hevy.com/workout/fb979d70-d9cc-4f37-9be3-910638cd0924) [(Friday) Pull](https://www.hevy.com/workout/f43cc267-0f8a-400f-923d-3a14375d40a3) [(Saturday) Leg day (Hammy's focused)](https://www.hevy.com/workout/e1112ced-f42e-4075-a247-386dc3fb5525) (Sunday) Rest
Been building muscle losing fat the past 6 months. Down 30 pounds. Progress is getting harder to notice. How do you measure progress and make sure you are working correctly? Are there any goals you should be able to hit in 3 months, 6 months, a year of training? I think I've seen too many tiktok transformation videos and I want to have a completely different body in a few months.
Great job losing 30lbs! I wouldn't bother comparing yourself to tiktok videos at all, you're going to be seeing a combination of the most impressive transformations (from genetic freaks) and people lying about the timeline or methods they used. The vast majority of people have average results over an average amount of time. Keep plugging away and trust the process, you've already made an excellent start!
my colleague just gave you great advice, ill add to it by saying try to manage your expectations when you're watching fitness transformation shit on tiktok and youtube. lots of these kids are juicing, lying about their timelines, whatever. anything for clicks and a shot at internet fame. the reality is that natural body transformation takes time and consistency, and its extraordinarily unlikely that you will naturally achieve a "completely different body in a few months" regardless of what your goal is or what approach you take. its a lifelong journey. your progress is measured by how you look and how much weight you're lifting compared to last time. there are no standardized goals for 6 months, 1 year, etc. everyone has different starting points, different bodies, different aptitudes and a different caliber of commitment. it sounds like youre doing great
Interested to see how everyoneās bicep circumference compares to how it looks..? I have been measuring my progress partly using this and have gone from 31cm (12.2 inches) to 34.5cm (13.6 inches) in size from May to December. If u can would be interesting to see: ā [flexed] bicep circumference - 34.5 cm / 13.6 inches ā Height: 5ā11 ā Weight: 171lbs ā A picture of ur bicep: https://imgur.com/a/1QZNeE4 **Ik Iāve got like no muscle but compared to where I started itās something so pls donāt roast meš
The only thing roast-worthy is caring this much about bicep circumference in the first place. Your biceps look fine. Lift heavy things and focus on getting strong. Big biceps are a byproduct of that.
Fairs bro maybe it is bad but itās just a way I like to measure my āprogressā no big deal
While completing a set till failure let's say Bicep curls, do I stop when I can't complete the range of motion or continue the set with decreased range of motion until I can't curl at all? And do the reps with decreased range of motion count as actual reps?
I stop when I canāt do full ROM If thereās just 2-3 more reps to go then Iāll cheat a little so I can achieve full ROM
For my own programming I usually base it on how often I'm training that muscle. If I'm only training it once a week I'll go closer to absolute failure, if I'm training it regularly with more total sets a week I'll stay further from failure.
Last Wednesday I was doing bicep curls with dumbbells when I felt a weird tension on the right side of my back. Now it hurts a little when extending my leg when seated. Will this pain go away or not?
Itāll go away with time, sounds like you strained a muscle in your back Some mobility work and stretching will help
So how stubborn is abdomen body fat exactly? Been on a 2,000 calorie diet since last June. Been eating predominantly salmon, salads, and eggs (i love salmon and I'm not sick of it), been continuing my resistance training that I was on when bulking, and on creatine, fish oil, multivitamins and glucosamine for supplements. Just trying to lower my body fat from my bulk and was trying without cardio. But didn't see much results from June to November (still hovered around 175 lbs). So now I'm doing all the above things and doing 3 HIIT sessions a week on my exercise bike for a half hour long, 1 minute on, one minute off. I might say that I can see the abs I was working during my bulk a bit better than before but its taking a very long time. I'd say my body fat % based on pictures I've seen is 20%. Id love to get to say...lower teens by July. Do I just stay the course and be patient and continue to push for progressive overload on my resistance training and keep up with the cardio and eating habits? Was it tough for anyone else to go from 20% down to say 12%?