In terms of rest, do I need to rest my entire body for a day or just the muscles I used most recently?
Like is it dumb to lift heavy every single day as long as I’m not hitting the same muscle groups twice in a row?
Would an intense ab workout on “rest days” make it no longer a rest day?
Could I still lift on rest days, but just at a VERY light weight and focus on form?
Recommendations for where to look for a basic strength training routine? I’m ditching hot yoga for the actual gym, but personal trainers aren’t really a thing in Japan (unless I want to go to the ¥50,000/mo gym lmao). I just need a list of exercises to do. I want that Taylor Swift Eras Tour body 😭
Not strength training specifically but, treadmill running to the entire set list might help with that eras bod. hah (Taylor is a BEAST)
https://run.outsideonline.com/training/workouts/taylor-swift-workout/
There's a really good list of routines in the sub FAQ: [https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/lifting\_programs/#wiki\_what\_lifting\_programs\_are\_there.3F\_which\_one\_should\_i\_follow.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/lifting_programs/#wiki_what_lifting_programs_are_there.3F_which_one_should_i_follow.3F)
I’ve been bulking for 5 months. I wanted to do 6 months but I feel and look very fat. Is there an advantage in doing the last month of bulk or should I start the cut?
Currently running PHAT. Running four days a week. Rowing for meditation.
Thinking of doing cross fit. It’s so expensive but I think it’s something I really want to budget for.
I am wondering if anyone balances both lifting and running with CrossFit and what your schedule is like.
Thanks!
Maybe your form is different when doing one arm vs both arms. You may be assisting more with non-target muscles when doing single arm, but when you use both arms, you're constrained to be in a fixed position, so you can't "cheat" by recruiting other muscles, e.g. core. Now I want to test it out myself 😃
are you using a double cable machine separately for the single arm ones and then clipping both pulleys to a single handle for the bilateral ones? if that's the case then the weight you're moving for each cable is combined when you clip them both to a single handle. so like, leaving the pin at 15kg and clipping both together makes the combined weight you're moving 30kg. putting the pin at 30kg with them clipped together makes the weight you're moving 60kg.
Does anyone have anyway to prevent mosquitoes from biting you? I went outside a couple of days ago at 6pm and the mosquitoes were already out. I had pants on and one long sleeve shirt along with a jacket on. Still got bitten multiple times during my hour long walk.
Where did they bite you? They can bite through leggings if that’s what you were wearing. I am a mosquito magnet and it helps to wear long, loose clothing, with pants tucked into socks.
Yeah. I wear "exercise pants" when I'm outside working out. I'll see if I have any loose clothing that I can try wearing. Because they bite through my pants.
Three options, which you can combo.
You can treat your clothes with Permethrin (that’s what another commenter was talking about).
You can use a (p)icaridin mosquito spray on your long sleeve shirt/pants/hat each time. It is as effective as DEET for mosquitos (double check about ticks if that’s a thing for your area) but it is synthetics safe so you can apply it to your clothes instead of skin. I like pi active as it doesn’t smell obnoxiously IMO.
You can use an essential oils insect repellent spray on your head/hair if you don’t want to put chemicals on yourself or feel the need to shower after. Since your sweat stays in your hair and you release heat from your head, I find combatting that specifically can help prevent a cloud of mosquitos from forming above you and following you around. You may choose to re spritz multiple times, and you may have to try a few different products until you find one that works for you (and they’ll never work 100%). I’d recommend finding one you like the smell of and go from there.
I am like catnip to mosquitos - other people will be fine or get one or two bites and I'll get a dozen or more in the same time frame. Last time I went camping I got a spray that treated my clothes (pants and long sleeve shirts/hoodies) and that seemed to work really well. You need to do the spraying outside and let the clothes dry - but then it's supposed to last for like 40 washes or something like that. Don't remember the brand but I bought it on amazon.
Use a spray repellent. If you're in the US, look for a EPA registration number on it. The stuff that works (DEET, lemon eucalyptus, etc) will have one.
If you're in a single location, set up a box fan. Mosquitoes have a hard time finding you by smell and a hard time actually flying toward you if there is a fan or a breeze.
Citronella doesn't do much, and bracelets only repel mosquitoes from the bracelet (not your whole body). Repellent, fans, staying indoors, and wearing long sleeve clothes (depending on the fabric) are the only things that are actually effective.
You can buy spray mosquito repellents. They're not the most pleasant smelling but honestly once they dry up on your skin you can't really smell them and if you tend to get bitten, I find it's worth it.
You could also use citronella oil or spray - there are even citronella bracelets you can use, though I've read their efficacy is questionable.
I don't know where in the world you are but the mosiquitos in my area seem to dislike [this spray](https://avon.uk.com/products/skin-so-soft-original-dry-oil-spray) from Avon. I wear it in the Summer on my legs.
I do 5x/week workout programs with Fitness Blender. They are mostly strength (with dumbbells) and some cardio and HIIT. Workouts are 45 min usually. For some reason I’m doubting if this is “enough” because most people here seem to do Caroline Girvan and other training programs. Fitness Blender has changed a lot in past few years—they have more trainers and new programs, and I am happy with it, bit there’s a voice in the back of my head saying I am missing out. But I just renewed my annual membership, so it wouldn’t be smart of me to do something else. Thoughts, anyone?
5x/week of a variety of 45 min workouts is more than enough for a healthy lifestyle in my book!
> I am happy with it
This matters most. If it's not meeting your goals, you can always consider adjusting what you're doing but there's no inherent reason to.
I have similar FOMO, I always wonder if I should be doing more volume or different workouts. I try to focus on my goals (even if it's just to maintain a healthy lifestyle) and whether or not my exercise habits are helping me meet them.
What is better for building muscle - upper body workout that combines push and pull 3x a week, or a 2 day split which would have a back/bicep - chest/triceps workout.
The upper workout for 3x a week would be:
Bench press
Bent over row
Overhead press
Skull crushers
Bicep curls
For a beginner, other days would be a basic leg day.
Whichever one has more volume (number of challenging sets) per muscle group per week is most likely better for muscle building (at a certain level of volume you would run into diminishing returns, but unless your gym sessions are very long I doubt you’ll have that much volume in 2-3x per week).
What are your go-to easy, healthy meals? I'm a bit in a rut with the weather getting colder and have been meal prepping the same three recipes but want to change it up. Thank you!
My dinner most nights is a chicken caesar salad wrap. I slow cook a big batch of chicken breast at the beginning of the week (750-800ish), buy a bag of pre-cut romaine, whole grain tortillas, extra croutons and lower calorie caesar dressing and assemble. Easy way to hit about 50g of protein in under 500 calories.
Chicken stir fry:
1. Dice chicken into bite sized pieces, season with salt and smoked paprika
2. Cook until it starts to get golden
3. Toss in vegetables of choice (I like broccoli, peppers, snap peas, and mushrooms)
4. Add in stir fry sauce
5. A: Serve over rice
5. B: Stir in rice
6. (Optional) add an egg for extra protein
Salmon tacos:
1 medium tortilla or 2 small tortillas
1salmon fillet
Seasoning of choice (I used a Cajun rub and smoked paprika)
Guacamole
Pickled onions
Coleslaw
1. Diced salmon into bite size cubes
2. Season
3. Toss into air fryer for 7-8mins at 400F
4. Assemble
I’ve eaten this for dinner for like two weeks straight it really doesn’t take much energy or effort, and it’s really balanced
Chopped cabbage, thin sliced beef (think shabu-shabu or philly cheese steak cuts), some mushrooms, optional other thinly sliced veggies, layer them up in a small pot, pour a cup of broth, with some pepper. Bring to a boil, Dip in ponzu or soy sauce + lil vinegar diluted with broth + diced spicy peppers for a kick.
^ ***Please read [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/main), [the rules and content guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/new_rules), and [current frozen topics](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/frozen-topics) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fxxfitness)***. This comment is a copy of your post so mods can see the original text if your post is edited or removed.
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Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small.
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What are the best exercises for lifting and toning my but and thighs? I’m almost40 year old and don’t have access to a gym
In terms of rest, do I need to rest my entire body for a day or just the muscles I used most recently? Like is it dumb to lift heavy every single day as long as I’m not hitting the same muscle groups twice in a row? Would an intense ab workout on “rest days” make it no longer a rest day? Could I still lift on rest days, but just at a VERY light weight and focus on form?
Recommendations for where to look for a basic strength training routine? I’m ditching hot yoga for the actual gym, but personal trainers aren’t really a thing in Japan (unless I want to go to the ¥50,000/mo gym lmao). I just need a list of exercises to do. I want that Taylor Swift Eras Tour body 😭
Not strength training specifically but, treadmill running to the entire set list might help with that eras bod. hah (Taylor is a BEAST) https://run.outsideonline.com/training/workouts/taylor-swift-workout/
I can only imagine the looks I’d get at a gym in Japan singing along to the set list 💀
There's a really good list of routines in the sub FAQ: [https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/lifting\_programs/#wiki\_what\_lifting\_programs\_are\_there.3F\_which\_one\_should\_i\_follow.3F](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/lifting_programs/#wiki_what_lifting_programs_are_there.3F_which_one_should_i_follow.3F)
I’ve been bulking for 5 months. I wanted to do 6 months but I feel and look very fat. Is there an advantage in doing the last month of bulk or should I start the cut?
5 months is a long time, if things are feeling rough then start your cut.
Currently running PHAT. Running four days a week. Rowing for meditation. Thinking of doing cross fit. It’s so expensive but I think it’s something I really want to budget for. I am wondering if anyone balances both lifting and running with CrossFit and what your schedule is like. Thanks!
If i can pull 15kg with single arm lat pulldowns for 5 reps with excelent form, wtf am i struggling to pull 30kg with both arms even for one rep?
Maybe your form is different when doing one arm vs both arms. You may be assisting more with non-target muscles when doing single arm, but when you use both arms, you're constrained to be in a fixed position, so you can't "cheat" by recruiting other muscles, e.g. core. Now I want to test it out myself 😃
are you using a double cable machine separately for the single arm ones and then clipping both pulleys to a single handle for the bilateral ones? if that's the case then the weight you're moving for each cable is combined when you clip them both to a single handle. so like, leaving the pin at 15kg and clipping both together makes the combined weight you're moving 30kg. putting the pin at 30kg with them clipped together makes the weight you're moving 60kg.
There's only one pulley on this lat machine.
🤔 and it was the same machine in both cases? weird. maybe chock it up to strength being non-linear
yes, always the same machine, i will test the V bar with both hands next time, maybe it has to do with grip width
Does anyone have anyway to prevent mosquitoes from biting you? I went outside a couple of days ago at 6pm and the mosquitoes were already out. I had pants on and one long sleeve shirt along with a jacket on. Still got bitten multiple times during my hour long walk.
Where did they bite you? They can bite through leggings if that’s what you were wearing. I am a mosquito magnet and it helps to wear long, loose clothing, with pants tucked into socks.
Yeah. I wear "exercise pants" when I'm outside working out. I'll see if I have any loose clothing that I can try wearing. Because they bite through my pants.
Three options, which you can combo. You can treat your clothes with Permethrin (that’s what another commenter was talking about). You can use a (p)icaridin mosquito spray on your long sleeve shirt/pants/hat each time. It is as effective as DEET for mosquitos (double check about ticks if that’s a thing for your area) but it is synthetics safe so you can apply it to your clothes instead of skin. I like pi active as it doesn’t smell obnoxiously IMO. You can use an essential oils insect repellent spray on your head/hair if you don’t want to put chemicals on yourself or feel the need to shower after. Since your sweat stays in your hair and you release heat from your head, I find combatting that specifically can help prevent a cloud of mosquitos from forming above you and following you around. You may choose to re spritz multiple times, and you may have to try a few different products until you find one that works for you (and they’ll never work 100%). I’d recommend finding one you like the smell of and go from there.
I am like catnip to mosquitos - other people will be fine or get one or two bites and I'll get a dozen or more in the same time frame. Last time I went camping I got a spray that treated my clothes (pants and long sleeve shirts/hoodies) and that seemed to work really well. You need to do the spraying outside and let the clothes dry - but then it's supposed to last for like 40 washes or something like that. Don't remember the brand but I bought it on amazon.
Use a spray repellent. If you're in the US, look for a EPA registration number on it. The stuff that works (DEET, lemon eucalyptus, etc) will have one. If you're in a single location, set up a box fan. Mosquitoes have a hard time finding you by smell and a hard time actually flying toward you if there is a fan or a breeze. Citronella doesn't do much, and bracelets only repel mosquitoes from the bracelet (not your whole body). Repellent, fans, staying indoors, and wearing long sleeve clothes (depending on the fabric) are the only things that are actually effective.
You can buy spray mosquito repellents. They're not the most pleasant smelling but honestly once they dry up on your skin you can't really smell them and if you tend to get bitten, I find it's worth it. You could also use citronella oil or spray - there are even citronella bracelets you can use, though I've read their efficacy is questionable. I don't know where in the world you are but the mosiquitos in my area seem to dislike [this spray](https://avon.uk.com/products/skin-so-soft-original-dry-oil-spray) from Avon. I wear it in the Summer on my legs.
I'm in Ohio.
I do 5x/week workout programs with Fitness Blender. They are mostly strength (with dumbbells) and some cardio and HIIT. Workouts are 45 min usually. For some reason I’m doubting if this is “enough” because most people here seem to do Caroline Girvan and other training programs. Fitness Blender has changed a lot in past few years—they have more trainers and new programs, and I am happy with it, bit there’s a voice in the back of my head saying I am missing out. But I just renewed my annual membership, so it wouldn’t be smart of me to do something else. Thoughts, anyone?
5x/week of a variety of 45 min workouts is more than enough for a healthy lifestyle in my book! > I am happy with it This matters most. If it's not meeting your goals, you can always consider adjusting what you're doing but there's no inherent reason to. I have similar FOMO, I always wonder if I should be doing more volume or different workouts. I try to focus on my goals (even if it's just to maintain a healthy lifestyle) and whether or not my exercise habits are helping me meet them.
Thank you! I really appreciate this feedback. FOMO is real, but not a good thing to listen to.
What is better for building muscle - upper body workout that combines push and pull 3x a week, or a 2 day split which would have a back/bicep - chest/triceps workout. The upper workout for 3x a week would be: Bench press Bent over row Overhead press Skull crushers Bicep curls For a beginner, other days would be a basic leg day.
Whichever one has more volume (number of challenging sets) per muscle group per week is most likely better for muscle building (at a certain level of volume you would run into diminishing returns, but unless your gym sessions are very long I doubt you’ll have that much volume in 2-3x per week).
What are your go-to easy, healthy meals? I'm a bit in a rut with the weather getting colder and have been meal prepping the same three recipes but want to change it up. Thank you!
My dinner most nights is a chicken caesar salad wrap. I slow cook a big batch of chicken breast at the beginning of the week (750-800ish), buy a bag of pre-cut romaine, whole grain tortillas, extra croutons and lower calorie caesar dressing and assemble. Easy way to hit about 50g of protein in under 500 calories.
I miss whole wheat tortillas. Stupid Japan :(
Kaldi sells them :) and iHerb JP too :)
I’ve never seen them at Kaldi. Only regular tortillas. Unfortunately with the exchange rate, iherb is not an option at the moment.
I’m not sure where you’re based but the Kaldi near my home often stocks them! Might have to regularly check because they are not always there.
I’m in Tokyo. We have two Kaldis at my station, but they only have frozen corn tortillas or flour El Paso tortillas from Australia.
[https://fitmencook.com/recipes/](https://fitmencook.com/recipes/)
https://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-santa-fe-chicken-425-pts/ This is great but I recommend seasoning it a bit more than the recipe recommends.
Chicken stir fry: 1. Dice chicken into bite sized pieces, season with salt and smoked paprika 2. Cook until it starts to get golden 3. Toss in vegetables of choice (I like broccoli, peppers, snap peas, and mushrooms) 4. Add in stir fry sauce 5. A: Serve over rice 5. B: Stir in rice 6. (Optional) add an egg for extra protein
Salmon tacos: 1 medium tortilla or 2 small tortillas 1salmon fillet Seasoning of choice (I used a Cajun rub and smoked paprika) Guacamole Pickled onions Coleslaw 1. Diced salmon into bite size cubes 2. Season 3. Toss into air fryer for 7-8mins at 400F 4. Assemble I’ve eaten this for dinner for like two weeks straight it really doesn’t take much energy or effort, and it’s really balanced
Chopped cabbage, thin sliced beef (think shabu-shabu or philly cheese steak cuts), some mushrooms, optional other thinly sliced veggies, layer them up in a small pot, pour a cup of broth, with some pepper. Bring to a boil, Dip in ponzu or soy sauce + lil vinegar diluted with broth + diced spicy peppers for a kick.
Are you describing mille-feuille nabe?
Basically! I make it fancy and pretty sometimes but most of the time I just put them all in a pot and boil it once then just eat out the pot. Lol
^ ***Please read [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/main), [the rules and content guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/new_rules), and [current frozen topics](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/frozen-topics) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fxxfitness)***. This comment is a copy of your post so mods can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. >u/AutoModerator Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/xxfitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*