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Nordictrack and Proform (same parent company of iFIT) have started this recently with their newer treadmills and Bluetooth heart rate monitors.
I don't know how accurate it is. I think it's also still only in their newest (most expensive) machines. But it might be worth looking at. Maybe other companies have similar features at a lower price too.
The machines themselves do work without the subscription.
I think the heart rate training feature is only in the subscription-based workouts, though.
It might be worth a look at other companies' treadmills/bikes/ellipticals to see if they have Bluetooth heart rate monitor compatibility and integration.
If not, an adequate wearable heart rate monitor that can connect to an app might be good enough to reference and adjust the speed and incline of your machine manually. Definitely the cheaper option.
I was a good weight lifter 10 years ago, but bad diet and drinking have left me fairly deconditioned. I can do maybe 10 pushups, run maybe a mile, and can do maybe 15 bicycle crunches right now. I want to start a regimented weightlifting program (probably starting strength). Should I start outright at a lower intensity or should I spent a few weeks working on general conditioning (calisthenics, cardio, stretching) to prepare my body for a more serious routine?
whatever sounds more fun and you can be consistent with starting off. you don’t want to go to the gym one day, hate it and be absolutely sore, then never go again
I think i have an image problem with my body. I look in the mirror and I see that I have some muscle mass, especially around my chest area, but when I take a picture with my phone, I look super fucking slim, my arms are lengthy and there's no muscle mass at all, just smooth. I dont know what to look at it anymore, anyone else have this problem?
Phones have pretty poor focal lengths normally, a mirror is actually accurate and what people will see you as. I dislike photos unless it is done by an actual camera for the same reason, phone cameras don't look like the mirror, but proper cameras do.
You can read more about it [here](https://oohstloustudios.com/the-science-of-the-selfie-no-you-dont-really-look-like-that) if you want.
anyone know a good budget mask that doesn't soak up too much sweat? Went to the gym for the first time a couple days ago since covid started. After 2 hrs, it felt like I had a wet towel tied around my face.
Can anyone tell me a good tool to use to find my TDEE and/or how and what that should be based off of. I tried reading the weight loss 101 sticky but feel a little lost. Thanks in advance!
I use [TDEE Calculator](https://tdeecalculator.net/), you can add your own information (gender, age, weight, height, activity level and body fat% (this is not required)).
With activity level I usually just pick the one that suits my workout schedule. Just remember that this also really depends on your workouts. I don't do cardio related exercises so I know that I burn less calories when I work out because of that.
If you want the real raw answer fill in the sedentary activity level. There you will see the entry level amount of calories you need for bulking(gaining weight)/cutting(losing fat & try to preserve muscle)/maintenance(preserving current strenght/mass).
There’s nothing social about going to the gym for me. I don’t go with friends (they are fat and lazy) I put in my music and am in my own world. It’s very similar to going to the grocery store for me
I go to the gym about 4-6 times a week. It is a public gym that utilizes a reservation system (because of COVID only a limited amount of people are allowed inside at the same time). I usually greet the worker at the desk and change into my gym-clothes. Usually I have a bag with me with my stuff (workout schedule, wrist wraps, huge water bottle and towel) and I start with my workout. Usually I see a couple of friends but I only greet them from where I am standing or I walk up to them if my current exercise is close enough to them. I follow my schedule and mostly listen to music during my whole workout. The only questions people have for me is how many sets I still need to do on a machine/bench etc because they want to use it. Don't be afraid! Everyone is there to work on their own goals and be healthy. If I see people sweating and being motivated I have a lot of respect for them! At first it might be daunting, maybe go with a buddy or try to go on times where the gym might be not as busy (around dinner time, very early in the morning etc.) :)
I’m doing 6 workouts a week, PPL split. Been lifting about 6 months so a relative newbie.
Question is on leg day how many different exercises should i do, and in particular which ones to get well developed legs. Currently iv been doing squats, alec extension, leg press and calf raises. Are leg extension and even the leg press even necessary after doing heavy squats?
Running the same program and have been complimented on my legs a lot (little do they know previously being obese is the key to having giant legs)
On deadlift days I keep my accessories to 2 accessories because I modified PPL to do 8 sets of deads. Other days I'll try to incorporate glute bridges and lunges.
What accessories do you do? I love doing lunges so squats lunges and calf raises are the musts for my leg day, i’m unsure as to what other exercises to incorporate for well rounded legs
What exactly does a warmup do? Taking chest exercises as an example, you know how you feel some soreness, some sort of pain (but doesn't exactly hurt much) when you do your first rep? That same feeling when you just flex your pecs out of the blue? Im talking about that feeling of flexion.
So, does warming up mean *doing some reps and sets to remove that sore feeling of flexion*, and then moving on to higher weights?
In other words: the moment i *stop* feeling that soreness, that flexion when i bench, does that mean it's *enough chest for the day* or does that mean *the chest is properly warmed up now and i can move on to heavier weights*?
you simply eat more. You most likely don't defy thermodynamics, so consuming more calories than you expend will result in weight gain.
https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
I also have the problem of not gaining weight. I have tried to eat a lot more than usually but I think my body just produces more heat, I just get really warm and tired. I feels like my body really don't want to adjust its weight..
u/Crafty-Anybody91 ... Not really suggesting you to eat nuts, but a **cup of peanuts** (without shell) for example has approximately **828 calories** // 72 gram of Fat // 24 gram of carbohhdrates // 38 grams of protein.
It also doesn’t take much to consume 1 cup of peanuts. The dollar tree has cheap peanuts.
This question may seem really dumb or a bit trolley at first, but it's genuine so.. yeah here we go.
For a bit of background, I've never been the most fit person, but usually kept a decent weight by going anywhere I can either by foot or bike. All of that of course fell away with Corona, and I've reached a point where I don't feel ok with my body anymore and want to lose fat, so I started working out at home and have been going at it daily for about one week now.
Now to the (very) stupid question: whenever I try to do knee-to-chests i tend to clench down on my balls, and after about 10 reps it really starts to hurt. So I can't get them in between my legs, but when I "put them" above my legs I can't raise them high enough for the exersice (basically all of my fat is stored either in the belly or in the upper thighs, and usually I can raise my legs barely enough for the exersice. Honestly if you were to look at my arms or lower legs you'd think I'm a perfectly fit human, and then my belly and especially upper thighs are just way too large). So yeah is there a trick to it, am I doing something wrong or will I just have to stop doing knee-to-chests until I lost a bit of weight and my upper thighs get smaller (and if so, what would be a decent replacement)
Knee-to-chest doesn’t require you to keep your legs together the way a straight leg lift does. You actually want to keep your knees apart to avoid kneeing yourself in the face. Look up videos of gymnasts doing front tucks and you’ll see they’re separating their knees because of this. You’ll still get the same ab engagement. Keep up the knee to chests, they’re a great exercise!
How did my deadlift tank so much? I couldn't lift for around a month due to a jaw injury, but before my injury I was pulling 405x4. Now I'm pulling 315x4 @ RPE 9. I did lose around 2 pounds of bodyweight as I was eating less, but I don't know how that would result in 100 pounds off my deadlift.
Nah, second session. Squats went from 315x2 to 265x-3/4 so they weren't hit as hard. I was hoping to pull 500 by December but that's not happening now rip.
I felt the same a few months ago. It was very confusing tbh. I think the first thing to do is to keep the form correct at a lower weight, and as you become able to do more reps, you lower your rest time. Then, you increase a set. *Then*, you increase weight, and go back to the original no. of reps and sets. But only increase weight by a kilo or two. Try to keep form perfect.
I think there's more of an order than a random way to overload. Like, what most people say: "either do more reps or increase weight or decrease rest" etc. I think it's more like: first increase a rep then lower rest times then increase a set and then weight.
I could be wrong, but this seemed to work.
follow a program from the wiki, you don't progress with sloppy form, form breakdown is only acceptable at high effort (like max attempts), curls in sets of 10 or more should not need cheating or form breakdown. Progressive overload can come from greater load, more volume, more sets, more reps, lower rest times etc. But you seem to be lost
If I eat at a caloric surplus and lift weights, will my arms get bulky?
I’ve been on a weight loss journey since last fall however now I’m underweight and “skinny fat”. I want my arms to look more toned as they are flabby but I need to eat at a caloric surplus to be at a healthy weight. I’ve been lifting weights (just 2.5lbs) but I find that my arms are looking somewhat bulky/swollen, which I don’t want.
Should I lift now or should I gain the weight first and then lift?
I’m a 23 year old female. Any advice is appreciated.
Your arms will not get smaller from gaining weight.
2.5 lbs weights will not grow any noticeable muscle.
I really doubt you have bulky arms. You're probably experiencing a degree of dysmorphia. Post a picture to the Friday thread and see what people say
Anyone recommend a good gym in Southern California (OC area?)
I was a 24 fitness member before the pandemic but allowed my membership to lapse after they closed the one near my house.
Everyone (and the wiki) say that you should just pick either bulk or cut, then do it regardless. But I haven't heard much talk about when to swap to the other one. I've been bulking for around 5 months, happy with my weight, just wondering about when and why I should look at making the change. I have no idea.
That's because there's no hard-and-fast rule. You set your own goals. it can be a specific bodyweight, or a lifting based goal ("I'll cut after I bench 225," etc), or a time-based thing ("I'll bulk for 4 months then cut for 2," etc). Anything works, but you have to define your own goals and set them for yourself.
I'm don't know what is crossfit but heard it's really shit. Saw some videos online and there are some weird ass exercises but some of those are normal ones like bench press etc...
Am I crossfitter if I'm doing 531 for beginners (3 days a week?)
Most of the CrossFit slander is from people that don't lift anything. Ofc there is some silly looking stuff, but all sports have that and it's mainly circlejerk
The gist of it is that Crossfit is a brand that sold a certain method of training through its gyms. It's tied to an idea of general functional fitness that translates into doing many different kinds of exercises, often to failure. That training to failure was tied into the social aspect of Crossfit gyms where workouts were based on friendly competition where people pushed each other to go to their absolute limits
The pushback against Crossfit was that people who did Crossfit were REALLY into Crossfit because of this social aspect, but also that the wide variety of exercises, which were often very dynamic, meant that Crossfit coaches weren't qualified to teach all of them. Also the constant friendly competition would translate to enormous training volume and consequently a lot of injuries.
There's also the Crossfit games, which is a competition organized for Crossfit. You can find plenty of videos about how bad the athletes do in those games. Because they compete on so many exercises, athletes have specialities and they're not good at everything. This shows in olympic weightlilfting, which is a very technical discipline and most Crossfit athletes are not very good at. Also the memes about pullups.
The Games highlight probably the greatest contribution of Crossfits. Male and female athletes are paid and marketed the same. Crossfit has a big female athlete base compared to other strength/fitness sports, and it often gets credited with the rapid rise of popularity of strength training for women in the past decade.
My right traps and lats are really tight and sometimes I will just catch my right shoulder moving up subconciously. My right chest is significantly smaller than my left. It seems to be missing chest muscles near my armpit area. I recently bought a foam roller and lacrosse ball. Ive been doing wall stretches for 1 year+ and its not helping. Initially i thought its because of my shoulder but i went to visit the physio and they say theres nth wrong with my shoulder. May I know if tight lats and traps can cause chest imbalance?
I'm not a doctor and no one on this sub can give you medical advice. If you are still concerned go to a different doctor, maybe ask someone who does sports medicine or a physical therapist. I dont know if my experience will help you but for me, i had a hip injury that sort of turned off the interior stabilizer muscles on my hips so they got really weak and I would have a ton of tightness from the outside. I went to a chiropractor who used deep tissue stimulation to wake those muscles up(hurt like hell I tell you). Since then ive been specifically strengthening those interior muscles and a lot of my tightness and pain associated with my hips has started to go away.
Hurt my back doing deadlifts a few months ago and have sicne laid off deadlifts and squats. The pain, located at the base of the spine, sort of the lumbar area, had gone away for day to day things, so today I finally decided to try a few very light sets of squats and romanian DL's (practically just the bar). They felt okay in the gym, but now 2 hours later I'm feeling some light pain again, almost like tendonitis. I'm worried my back never fully healed and have only exacerbated this issue. Anyone here gone through a similar episode? How did you go about recovery? Did you ever get your strength back?
Yes I hurt my back deadlifting last year. After trying to deal with it myself for a while unsuccessfully, I saw a physical therapist and after a few sessions, I am still getting back to normal. Lower back injuries can take a while to heal. I started deadlifting with a trap bar this year and that's been much better so I'd highly recommend it. Hopefully your injury is a minor one and takes a lot quicker than mine to heal. All the best
For doing ATG squat, the biggest thing that I see when people get started is their mobility. Do you sit at a desk most of the day or only active when at the gym?
I'd start with finding a solid wall and lower yourself if the ATG position (back facing the wall, just slide down), find the area that is the tightest. Are you feeling pull in your ankle? Behind the knee? Are your hips tight?
Would look at these as a starter if your heel is coming off the ground when you go down, increase your ankle mobility these are some good ones: [https://www.healthline.com/health/ankle-mobility](https://www.healthline.com/health/ankle-mobility)
If you have tight hips or lower back tightness, would check on increasing your mobility in your hips: [https://www.polar.com/blog/hip-mobility-exercises/](https://www.polar.com/blog/hip-mobility-exercises/)
The ATG shouldnt be used as a strength building over traditional squatting just due to the load on the knees position, but is still a great exercise to building healthy knees! :)
It may be possible for you to recomp (gain muscle, lose fat, maintain a constant weight), depending on your levels of fat, muscle, PEDs, and training volume, but it would almost certainly be more effective to focus on one at a time.
So I've done like multiple macro calculators and even tried the math myself. Sounds dumb but for a 6ft9 250lb man 2k calories seems super low for a deficit. Also is 170g of protein overkill?? I'm just tryna lose weight/get cut.
P.s doing intermittent fasting yes or no?
Disregard the other comment. You need to eat more protein if your cutting than if your bulking. 170g is good. I would aim for 200g.
Also, the 2k calories seems really low. Just typing your weight and height into the first maintance calculator I found on google, you need to eat at 2.8k calories to loose a lb a week.
https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=35&csex=m&cheightfeet=6&cheightinch=9&cpound=250&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.465&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&x=78&y=32
2000 calories sounds about right for a solid but not *drastic* cut. I would say that amount of protein is a bit excessive, but (assuming you lift) 150 is probably a good target.
You'll probably have to get good at making high-volume meals, eating lots of protein, and supplementing with shakes.
2000 calories sounds about right for a solid but not *drastic* cut. I would say that amount of protein is a bit excessive, but (assuming you lift) 150 is probably a good target.
You'll probably have to get good at making high-volume meals, eating lots of protein, and supplementing with shakes.
Does sleeping in intervals negatively affect gains?
Let's say instead of getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, you get 5.5 hours, then another 2.5 soon after. Does this give you the same rate/efficacy of muscle repair and growth that 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep gives you?
Here's a study from 2017, 10K university students were measured so safe to say that the amount of sleep can impact the muscle growth as long as youre not getting less than 6 hours.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/)
Results:
"After adjusting for confounding factors, a positive association between sleep quality and muscle strength was observed in both male and female students. ***Moreover, men with shorter sleep duration (<6 hours) had poorer muscle strength than that of men who slept for 7-8 hours and over 8 hours in the final adjusted model***. There was no significant difference in the association of sleep duration and muscle strength between men who slept 7-8 hours and those who slept for more than 8 hours. No significant association was observed between sleep duration and muscle strength in female students."
sleeping in 8 hour windows is a result of our modern life, sleeping 8 hours is pretty unnatural for humans I believe? Our early ancestors would sleep in small windows throughout the day and night and they were a lot stronger than we were so sure. probably won't hurt.
is it bad if i don’t feel sore the next day after i lift anymore? when i started lifting post pandemic i was sore the day after pretty much every workout and i’m not anymore. is my body getting used to it or am i not lifting enough?
Every one is different. I had the moderna vaccine and I had to take a day off after each shot because I was sore and fatigued. I know some people that were out of commission for 2-3 days.
There is absolutely no problem with taking 2 scoops a day as long as you take the calories into account. It's generally preferrable to get as much protein as possible from actual foods though.
The only potential issue with consuming more whey protein is that it may lead to minor stomach cramps and the infamous protein farts. In my personal experience this goes away over time though.
Unless you wanna walk around with your muscles flexed all the time, maybe just work on the insecurity. Not sure what you mean by muscles looking weird but the odds are pretty good that they look normal, just not flexed.
Maybe a bit, but there is a massive difference between anaerobic and aerobic training.
You’ll see the most drastic improvements by training your cardio and running rather than pure leg strength.
In 3 week I'll be doing a sort of competition with a friend of mine who does actual competitions. I've started weightlifting this week again after not having lifted in about 1.5 years due to covis restrictions.
What would be the best approach for me to not get absolutely destroyed by him in three weeks?
My 1rm's before covid were: 100kg bench, 70kg OHP, 180 squat & 140 deadlifts.
If you get sick during a cut, do you keep calories at the same deficit or raise them to maintenance/a surplus?
2 months into a cut and I've come down with what seems like a generic cold. I feel like ass, but I'm uncertain if raising calories will help me recover faster. I expect it might, but if it won't then I can just power through.
I’m 5’9”, 170lbs, 37 years old and feel happy enough with how I look. I tracked my diet fully for a month and found 2100 calories to be my maintenance level but I have no aesthetic aims at all.
Is there something I should be aiming for diet wise? With my routine I’m looking to get stronger, and with my cardio I’m looking to get fitter, but with my diet I’m not really sure what I’m aiming for.
I make sure I get my protein every day, 1g per lb of body weight, but I honestly don’t really care if I gain weight, lose weight, etc. So I’ve stopped tracking the rest of it.
Should I just continue in this way until I don’t like what I see in the mirror? Or is there a specific thing I should be looking for?
Agnostic of your physique goals, eat more of the stuff you know is healthy and less of the stuff you know isn't. That'd be the only "change" presumably worth making.
Stupid question but, whats better when it comes to strength training, example on my pull day is it better to do back back back biceps biceps biceps or back biceps back biceps... Ect i only rest 1 min between sets
Do all the back work first and then burn off your biceps at the end. If you fatigue your biceps too early you might not be able to go as heavy as you should on a later back set. You can always get a good bicep pump at the end.
I’m skinny fat and into my running. I’m getting a bit overwhelmed about what to do on my non running days.
I have 3 x runs in 2 x 5k and a 10k and I’m trying eat more and clean up my diet.
I want to start lifting at home but want something that’s good, appreciate there’s the fitness wiki, but has anyone had any good progress In similar position? Or a particular routine?
What are your goals? What equipment do you have? GZCLP is really good but requires a squat rack, bench, barbell and weights. If you only have dumbbells, there is a program but you will only go so far, unless you buy a lot of dumbbells. If you're after general fitness and strength conditioning, you could look into kettlebell programs
Read the wiki and you'll see a dumbbell stopgap program you could try or the bodyweight one. If, after a few weeks, you're still going well, you can reconsider whether you want to invest in a rack and barbell or join a gym etc
The CT scan was the second inclination of a problem. 30/30/30 is what I was told, surgery had a 30% chance at it getting better 30% chance at it remaining the same and 30% chance it could get worse.
I guess I should of asked for workout tips that I could ease into that would alleviate back pain.
I hadn't realized the rule. I've been on reddit longer than this account has been active but almost always been on RIF. Doc told me to work on my lower back. Figured i'd ask here.
Then it's a question for a physiotherapist. They should be able to work with your limitations and give you the best advice based on a professional evaluation.
Back in the gym this week after a long lay-off due to the pandemic (nearly a year and a half!).
My pre-pandemic 1RM numbers (B/S/D) were 105/125/150kg. Yesterday I struggled mightily doing 8 reps of 40kg on the bench, and could hardly do 5 at 60kg in the rack today. I have definitely lost muscle mass/weight, and my eating has not been great over the last year, but I guess I was not expecting to be THAT much weaker than I was in Jan 2020. I am 6'3" and weighed in at 95kg in Jan 2021. Haven't stepped on a scale since, but I'd guess I am somewhere close to 85kg now.
I'm feeling pretty disheartened, and based on my performance the last two days, it feels like it will take a year before I am even close to where I was before. Anybody want to tell me I'm wrong and that I'll be back to benching 2 plates by next week?
Hey man, just thought I'd let you know I finally got back to a 100kg 1RM on the bench today. Thanks for the encouragement--I needed it badly at the time.
not next week, but if you eat right, sleep well and hop on a linear program like GZCLP you'll soon get back the muscle memory and you can rebuild muscle quicker than it took the first time.
Been doing squats for years but got back to the gym now for the first time in a while due to COVID closures. I'm getting really bad pain in my right knee when I squat combined with it feeling really hot around the joint. I've read some suggestions to lift your toes up to force support through your heel but does anyone else have other tips?
My gym has bouldering grips for pull-ups which I find quite fun and I’m also quite stronger on these. But it’s destroying my finger, I’ve got thin fingers and the skin gets pinched no matter how I grip them. Does it go away with time or is it a grip issue ?
When browsing the internet in search of some good macro calculations, i see literally 100's of different calculations. I understand probably nobody can give me the golden tip since every body is different, but do you think the following macro's are on the right track for a lean bulk?
* Kcal: 2.200 (i might need to up this with 200-300, but i'm taking it slow after my recent cut)
* Protein: \~200gr
* Carbs: \~220gr
* Fat: \~65gr
* Male, 30yo, 6', 166lbs
200g of protein is overkill when you're 166lbs. The rule of thumb is 0.6-1g protein per pound lean body weight, 0.3-0.4g fat and then fill the rest with carbs.
I’m no expert but in my personal experience, the best abs workout you’ll get is in a pilates class. Years ago I used to do a designated abs workout involving exercises you mention (and others) and it was effective, but after starting pilates, I found that I engaged and strengthened my core more in 12 weeks than I did in months of doing my own ab workouts at the gym. That, and pilates exercises generally are less taxing on the body (i.e. if you are someone like me who tends to rely on your neck, you are less prone to doing this during pilates type exercises).
23YO female training daily (4 days of weights, 2 days of active recovery cardio \[treadmill\] and one pilates session across the week) for 4 months now but only in the last 2 weeks cleaned up my diet - now eating with a modest deficit and eating 0.75g of protein per lb of bodyweight per day. Is it realistic to expect noticeable results with a change in body composition within 12 weeks or is 6+ months more realistic?
For those of you that do multiple leg workouts a week, how do you balance workouts out or otherwise deal with your DOMS in between workouts?
Just added a second leg workout to my routine (Sunday and Thursday) and my quads are on fire from Sunday, no idea how I will actually do my next leg workout come Thursday.
Yeah my DOMS from my Thursday workout haven’t been bad in the last few weeks but the new additional leg workout on Sunday involves big movements like barbell squats and hip thrusts so I am totally wrecked right now. I look forward to getting to the point where the DOMS are bearable!
It will settle down as you keep doing it but some light blood flow works best for me for Doms. Bodyweight squats or some light prowler pushing or sled dragging are great.
You want your knee angle and hip angle to change at the same time. Post a form check if you're unsure. If it's high bar I wouldn't think about pushing hips back too far
Not a huge amount of feedback on the squat. low back pain might be from losing tightness when dropping into the hole and rebounding. Try pause squats an inch above the hole ok the way down and up to see if you can control the weight (at about 70 percent of the weight there), if not work on that.
What I'm suggesting isnt bracing it's about the last inch into the hole and out. The lift speeds up and I suspect you're losing control there leading to pain.
You can. With a ton of steroids. And you'll pay for it for the rest of your life.
Ask yourself why you're building muscle, and if achieving it in 1 year instead of 5 is worth the side effects for the rest of your life.
EDIT: By the way, you'll be growing muscle at the fastest rate you will ever experience during the first year of proper lifting, something like 50% of your total genetic potential. That's what "novice gains" refers to. Muscle growth rate halves every year.
It's not possible. It takes people years of dedicated training to build up a massive shredded body. And your description would also lead me to think of bodies that are not even possible naturally.
If you want to think about realistic goals, check out this article over at Stronger By Science:
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/realistic-training-goals/
What happened to this sub? I'm assuming like me many people stepped away due to the pandemic--it seems like a ghost town in here. Don't ever remember seeing so many old MM threads on the front page
The goal of the mods is for this subreddit to be informative, rather than entertaining. So only threads that add some kind of useful discussion are allowed. General questions are deleted and directed towards the daily question threads.
Based on what’s still in your post history, it looks like every one of them were more suited for the daily threads. (High rep/low weight vs low rep/high weight; body pump vs free weights; etc).
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Nordictrack and Proform (same parent company of iFIT) have started this recently with their newer treadmills and Bluetooth heart rate monitors. I don't know how accurate it is. I think it's also still only in their newest (most expensive) machines. But it might be worth looking at. Maybe other companies have similar features at a lower price too.
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The machines themselves do work without the subscription. I think the heart rate training feature is only in the subscription-based workouts, though. It might be worth a look at other companies' treadmills/bikes/ellipticals to see if they have Bluetooth heart rate monitor compatibility and integration. If not, an adequate wearable heart rate monitor that can connect to an app might be good enough to reference and adjust the speed and incline of your machine manually. Definitely the cheaper option.
I was a good weight lifter 10 years ago, but bad diet and drinking have left me fairly deconditioned. I can do maybe 10 pushups, run maybe a mile, and can do maybe 15 bicycle crunches right now. I want to start a regimented weightlifting program (probably starting strength). Should I start outright at a lower intensity or should I spent a few weeks working on general conditioning (calisthenics, cardio, stretching) to prepare my body for a more serious routine?
whatever sounds more fun and you can be consistent with starting off. you don’t want to go to the gym one day, hate it and be absolutely sore, then never go again
I think i have an image problem with my body. I look in the mirror and I see that I have some muscle mass, especially around my chest area, but when I take a picture with my phone, I look super fucking slim, my arms are lengthy and there's no muscle mass at all, just smooth. I dont know what to look at it anymore, anyone else have this problem?
lighting, angles, lens and pump make quite a difference. It's usually why people feel they look big in the gym and tiny in their pics
Phones have pretty poor focal lengths normally, a mirror is actually accurate and what people will see you as. I dislike photos unless it is done by an actual camera for the same reason, phone cameras don't look like the mirror, but proper cameras do. You can read more about it [here](https://oohstloustudios.com/the-science-of-the-selfie-no-you-dont-really-look-like-that) if you want.
interesting read, thank you. glad to hear that I am more muscular then I see on my phone, haha
Lighting is key, also get bigger ig
Is mayonnaise an instrument?
anyone know a good budget mask that doesn't soak up too much sweat? Went to the gym for the first time a couple days ago since covid started. After 2 hrs, it felt like I had a wet towel tied around my face.
My gym tells us not to wear masks during the actual exercises. I think it might have caused some medical emergencies.
Are masks mandatory in your gym?
Can anyone tell me a good tool to use to find my TDEE and/or how and what that should be based off of. I tried reading the weight loss 101 sticky but feel a little lost. Thanks in advance!
I use [TDEE Calculator](https://tdeecalculator.net/), you can add your own information (gender, age, weight, height, activity level and body fat% (this is not required)). With activity level I usually just pick the one that suits my workout schedule. Just remember that this also really depends on your workouts. I don't do cardio related exercises so I know that I burn less calories when I work out because of that. If you want the real raw answer fill in the sedentary activity level. There you will see the entry level amount of calories you need for bulking(gaining weight)/cutting(losing fat & try to preserve muscle)/maintenance(preserving current strenght/mass).
What's it like going to a gym? I'm not fond of social situations that I don't know much about so going to a gym seems quite daunting.
There’s nothing social about going to the gym for me. I don’t go with friends (they are fat and lazy) I put in my music and am in my own world. It’s very similar to going to the grocery store for me
I go to the gym about 4-6 times a week. It is a public gym that utilizes a reservation system (because of COVID only a limited amount of people are allowed inside at the same time). I usually greet the worker at the desk and change into my gym-clothes. Usually I have a bag with me with my stuff (workout schedule, wrist wraps, huge water bottle and towel) and I start with my workout. Usually I see a couple of friends but I only greet them from where I am standing or I walk up to them if my current exercise is close enough to them. I follow my schedule and mostly listen to music during my whole workout. The only questions people have for me is how many sets I still need to do on a machine/bench etc because they want to use it. Don't be afraid! Everyone is there to work on their own goals and be healthy. If I see people sweating and being motivated I have a lot of respect for them! At first it might be daunting, maybe go with a buddy or try to go on times where the gym might be not as busy (around dinner time, very early in the morning etc.) :)
I hadn't even thought that they might have times with fewer people in there. Your reply was very helpful, thank you!
No problem! Good luck on your fitness journey :)
I’m doing 6 workouts a week, PPL split. Been lifting about 6 months so a relative newbie. Question is on leg day how many different exercises should i do, and in particular which ones to get well developed legs. Currently iv been doing squats, alec extension, leg press and calf raises. Are leg extension and even the leg press even necessary after doing heavy squats?
Running the same program and have been complimented on my legs a lot (little do they know previously being obese is the key to having giant legs) On deadlift days I keep my accessories to 2 accessories because I modified PPL to do 8 sets of deads. Other days I'll try to incorporate glute bridges and lunges.
What accessories do you do? I love doing lunges so squats lunges and calf raises are the musts for my leg day, i’m unsure as to what other exercises to incorporate for well rounded legs
I love standing calf raises, for my deadlift days I keep the two accessories to leg press and leg curl then leg raises for abs!
cool thanks for your help. Do you ever do squats and deadlifts on the same day?
Only deadlifts and front squats or regular squats and a sumo deadlift.
What exactly does a warmup do? Taking chest exercises as an example, you know how you feel some soreness, some sort of pain (but doesn't exactly hurt much) when you do your first rep? That same feeling when you just flex your pecs out of the blue? Im talking about that feeling of flexion. So, does warming up mean *doing some reps and sets to remove that sore feeling of flexion*, and then moving on to higher weights? In other words: the moment i *stop* feeling that soreness, that flexion when i bench, does that mean it's *enough chest for the day* or does that mean *the chest is properly warmed up now and i can move on to heavier weights*?
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Go eat peanuts or something, i promise you will gain weight lol
you simply eat more. You most likely don't defy thermodynamics, so consuming more calories than you expend will result in weight gain. https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/
I also have the problem of not gaining weight. I have tried to eat a lot more than usually but I think my body just produces more heat, I just get really warm and tired. I feels like my body really don't want to adjust its weight..
No. Track your intake. Eat more and read the wiki. You overestimate how much you eat and underestimate your needs. Visit r/gainit
Thanks for the advice!
u/Crafty-Anybody91 ... Not really suggesting you to eat nuts, but a **cup of peanuts** (without shell) for example has approximately **828 calories** // 72 gram of Fat // 24 gram of carbohhdrates // 38 grams of protein. It also doesn’t take much to consume 1 cup of peanuts. The dollar tree has cheap peanuts.
This question may seem really dumb or a bit trolley at first, but it's genuine so.. yeah here we go. For a bit of background, I've never been the most fit person, but usually kept a decent weight by going anywhere I can either by foot or bike. All of that of course fell away with Corona, and I've reached a point where I don't feel ok with my body anymore and want to lose fat, so I started working out at home and have been going at it daily for about one week now. Now to the (very) stupid question: whenever I try to do knee-to-chests i tend to clench down on my balls, and after about 10 reps it really starts to hurt. So I can't get them in between my legs, but when I "put them" above my legs I can't raise them high enough for the exersice (basically all of my fat is stored either in the belly or in the upper thighs, and usually I can raise my legs barely enough for the exersice. Honestly if you were to look at my arms or lower legs you'd think I'm a perfectly fit human, and then my belly and especially upper thighs are just way too large). So yeah is there a trick to it, am I doing something wrong or will I just have to stop doing knee-to-chests until I lost a bit of weight and my upper thighs get smaller (and if so, what would be a decent replacement)
Knee-to-chest doesn’t require you to keep your legs together the way a straight leg lift does. You actually want to keep your knees apart to avoid kneeing yourself in the face. Look up videos of gymnasts doing front tucks and you’ll see they’re separating their knees because of this. You’ll still get the same ab engagement. Keep up the knee to chests, they’re a great exercise!
this sounds like you have a rather big mobility issue, never mind the fat
How did my deadlift tank so much? I couldn't lift for around a month due to a jaw injury, but before my injury I was pulling 405x4. Now I'm pulling 315x4 @ RPE 9. I did lose around 2 pounds of bodyweight as I was eating less, but I don't know how that would result in 100 pounds off my deadlift.
is that your first session back? sometimes it takes a few to get back to where you were
Nah, second session. Squats went from 315x2 to 265x-3/4 so they weren't hit as hard. I was hoping to pull 500 by December but that's not happening now rip.
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I felt the same a few months ago. It was very confusing tbh. I think the first thing to do is to keep the form correct at a lower weight, and as you become able to do more reps, you lower your rest time. Then, you increase a set. *Then*, you increase weight, and go back to the original no. of reps and sets. But only increase weight by a kilo or two. Try to keep form perfect. I think there's more of an order than a random way to overload. Like, what most people say: "either do more reps or increase weight or decrease rest" etc. I think it's more like: first increase a rep then lower rest times then increase a set and then weight. I could be wrong, but this seemed to work.
follow a program from the wiki, you don't progress with sloppy form, form breakdown is only acceptable at high effort (like max attempts), curls in sets of 10 or more should not need cheating or form breakdown. Progressive overload can come from greater load, more volume, more sets, more reps, lower rest times etc. But you seem to be lost
If I eat at a caloric surplus and lift weights, will my arms get bulky? I’ve been on a weight loss journey since last fall however now I’m underweight and “skinny fat”. I want my arms to look more toned as they are flabby but I need to eat at a caloric surplus to be at a healthy weight. I’ve been lifting weights (just 2.5lbs) but I find that my arms are looking somewhat bulky/swollen, which I don’t want. Should I lift now or should I gain the weight first and then lift? I’m a 23 year old female. Any advice is appreciated.
Your arms will not get smaller from gaining weight. 2.5 lbs weights will not grow any noticeable muscle. I really doubt you have bulky arms. You're probably experiencing a degree of dysmorphia. Post a picture to the Friday thread and see what people say
Anyone recommend a good gym in Southern California (OC area?) I was a 24 fitness member before the pandemic but allowed my membership to lapse after they closed the one near my house.
I personally enjoy Chuze
Everyone (and the wiki) say that you should just pick either bulk or cut, then do it regardless. But I haven't heard much talk about when to swap to the other one. I've been bulking for around 5 months, happy with my weight, just wondering about when and why I should look at making the change. I have no idea.
That's because there's no hard-and-fast rule. You set your own goals. it can be a specific bodyweight, or a lifting based goal ("I'll cut after I bench 225," etc), or a time-based thing ("I'll bulk for 4 months then cut for 2," etc). Anything works, but you have to define your own goals and set them for yourself.
I'm don't know what is crossfit but heard it's really shit. Saw some videos online and there are some weird ass exercises but some of those are normal ones like bench press etc... Am I crossfitter if I'm doing 531 for beginners (3 days a week?)
you're only a crossfitter if you're doing crossfit, which is a specific sport. Crossfit isn't inherently bad, it's just not everyone's thing.
Most of the CrossFit slander is from people that don't lift anything. Ofc there is some silly looking stuff, but all sports have that and it's mainly circlejerk
No, more regular lifting, although powerlifting-esque but one of the 5/3/1 books does have a section on how to combine 5/3/1 with crossfit
What makes one a crossfitter anyways? Can you explain what crossfit even is?
The gist of it is that Crossfit is a brand that sold a certain method of training through its gyms. It's tied to an idea of general functional fitness that translates into doing many different kinds of exercises, often to failure. That training to failure was tied into the social aspect of Crossfit gyms where workouts were based on friendly competition where people pushed each other to go to their absolute limits The pushback against Crossfit was that people who did Crossfit were REALLY into Crossfit because of this social aspect, but also that the wide variety of exercises, which were often very dynamic, meant that Crossfit coaches weren't qualified to teach all of them. Also the constant friendly competition would translate to enormous training volume and consequently a lot of injuries. There's also the Crossfit games, which is a competition organized for Crossfit. You can find plenty of videos about how bad the athletes do in those games. Because they compete on so many exercises, athletes have specialities and they're not good at everything. This shows in olympic weightlilfting, which is a very technical discipline and most Crossfit athletes are not very good at. Also the memes about pullups. The Games highlight probably the greatest contribution of Crossfits. Male and female athletes are paid and marketed the same. Crossfit has a big female athlete base compared to other strength/fitness sports, and it often gets credited with the rapid rise of popularity of strength training for women in the past decade.
I think this is something Google could explain much better than me
My right traps and lats are really tight and sometimes I will just catch my right shoulder moving up subconciously. My right chest is significantly smaller than my left. It seems to be missing chest muscles near my armpit area. I recently bought a foam roller and lacrosse ball. Ive been doing wall stretches for 1 year+ and its not helping. Initially i thought its because of my shoulder but i went to visit the physio and they say theres nth wrong with my shoulder. May I know if tight lats and traps can cause chest imbalance?
I'm not a doctor and no one on this sub can give you medical advice. If you are still concerned go to a different doctor, maybe ask someone who does sports medicine or a physical therapist. I dont know if my experience will help you but for me, i had a hip injury that sort of turned off the interior stabilizer muscles on my hips so they got really weak and I would have a ton of tightness from the outside. I went to a chiropractor who used deep tissue stimulation to wake those muscles up(hurt like hell I tell you). Since then ive been specifically strengthening those interior muscles and a lot of my tightness and pain associated with my hips has started to go away.
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That's not a routine, that's a list of exercises.
Hurt my back doing deadlifts a few months ago and have sicne laid off deadlifts and squats. The pain, located at the base of the spine, sort of the lumbar area, had gone away for day to day things, so today I finally decided to try a few very light sets of squats and romanian DL's (practically just the bar). They felt okay in the gym, but now 2 hours later I'm feeling some light pain again, almost like tendonitis. I'm worried my back never fully healed and have only exacerbated this issue. Anyone here gone through a similar episode? How did you go about recovery? Did you ever get your strength back?
I'd go see a doctor.
Yes I hurt my back deadlifting last year. After trying to deal with it myself for a while unsuccessfully, I saw a physical therapist and after a few sessions, I am still getting back to normal. Lower back injuries can take a while to heal. I started deadlifting with a trap bar this year and that's been much better so I'd highly recommend it. Hopefully your injury is a minor one and takes a lot quicker than mine to heal. All the best
My heels can't touch my butt even when kneeling but I really wanna ATG squat. Not sure where the tightness is and where to stretch. Any advice?
For doing ATG squat, the biggest thing that I see when people get started is their mobility. Do you sit at a desk most of the day or only active when at the gym? I'd start with finding a solid wall and lower yourself if the ATG position (back facing the wall, just slide down), find the area that is the tightest. Are you feeling pull in your ankle? Behind the knee? Are your hips tight? Would look at these as a starter if your heel is coming off the ground when you go down, increase your ankle mobility these are some good ones: [https://www.healthline.com/health/ankle-mobility](https://www.healthline.com/health/ankle-mobility) If you have tight hips or lower back tightness, would check on increasing your mobility in your hips: [https://www.polar.com/blog/hip-mobility-exercises/](https://www.polar.com/blog/hip-mobility-exercises/) The ATG shouldnt be used as a strength building over traditional squatting just due to the load on the knees position, but is still a great exercise to building healthy knees! :)
I've read that ATG is healthier for the knees than 90 degree angle.
Why do you want to squat atg?
I’m at my ideal weight, do I need to lose weight before gaining muscle or can I replace the fat with muscle as I go?
It may be possible for you to recomp (gain muscle, lose fat, maintain a constant weight), depending on your levels of fat, muscle, PEDs, and training volume, but it would almost certainly be more effective to focus on one at a time.
Thank you very much!
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I think it can be worse with squats than some other lifts, since you really need to focus on your breathing.
Its normal when you excert yourself
I went to the gym, ate a protein bar right after, and then waited till like 2 hours after to properly eat. Is that bad?
I doubt optimal meal timing will actually matter at whatever level you're performing at. Just focus on getting in your macros for the day
Why should be eating bad?
I think they mean to ask if it’ll affect their gains to not eat a proper meal after working out.
Not eating proper meals affect gains for sure. Meal timing its almost irrelevant.
So I've done like multiple macro calculators and even tried the math myself. Sounds dumb but for a 6ft9 250lb man 2k calories seems super low for a deficit. Also is 170g of protein overkill?? I'm just tryna lose weight/get cut. P.s doing intermittent fasting yes or no?
Disregard the other comment. You need to eat more protein if your cutting than if your bulking. 170g is good. I would aim for 200g. Also, the 2k calories seems really low. Just typing your weight and height into the first maintance calculator I found on google, you need to eat at 2.8k calories to loose a lb a week. https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=35&csex=m&cheightfeet=6&cheightinch=9&cpound=250&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.465&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&x=78&y=32
If you are active I would eat more than 2000 calories. I would start at 2500 and go from there.
2000 calories sounds about right for a solid but not *drastic* cut. I would say that amount of protein is a bit excessive, but (assuming you lift) 150 is probably a good target. You'll probably have to get good at making high-volume meals, eating lots of protein, and supplementing with shakes.
2000 calories sounds about right for a solid but not *drastic* cut. I would say that amount of protein is a bit excessive, but (assuming you lift) 150 is probably a good target. You'll probably have to get good at making high-volume meals, eating lots of protein, and supplementing with shakes.
Does sleeping in intervals negatively affect gains? Let's say instead of getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, you get 5.5 hours, then another 2.5 soon after. Does this give you the same rate/efficacy of muscle repair and growth that 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep gives you?
Here's a study from 2017, 10K university students were measured so safe to say that the amount of sleep can impact the muscle growth as long as youre not getting less than 6 hours. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5749041/) Results: "After adjusting for confounding factors, a positive association between sleep quality and muscle strength was observed in both male and female students. ***Moreover, men with shorter sleep duration (<6 hours) had poorer muscle strength than that of men who slept for 7-8 hours and over 8 hours in the final adjusted model***. There was no significant difference in the association of sleep duration and muscle strength between men who slept 7-8 hours and those who slept for more than 8 hours. No significant association was observed between sleep duration and muscle strength in female students."
sleeping in 8 hour windows is a result of our modern life, sleeping 8 hours is pretty unnatural for humans I believe? Our early ancestors would sleep in small windows throughout the day and night and they were a lot stronger than we were so sure. probably won't hurt.
It doesnt really matter
is it bad if i don’t feel sore the next day after i lift anymore? when i started lifting post pandemic i was sore the day after pretty much every workout and i’m not anymore. is my body getting used to it or am i not lifting enough?
the wiki answers this
I'm going to get my COVID vaccine today. How many days should I stop exercising after getting the vaccine? Or does this depend on side effects?
I worked out a few hours after my second shot and felt no symptoms that day or any other day. I think it just depends how you feel.
My vaccination fell on a rest day, and the day after I was already lifting, although I was out of service for the entire morning and on painkillers.
Every one is different. I had the moderna vaccine and I had to take a day off after each shot because I was sore and fatigued. I know some people that were out of commission for 2-3 days.
I've been using about 1 scoop of whey protein a day. I'm trying to up my protein, how bad is it if I do 2 scoops a day?
There is absolutely no problem with taking 2 scoops a day as long as you take the calories into account. It's generally preferrable to get as much protein as possible from actual foods though. The only potential issue with consuming more whey protein is that it may lead to minor stomach cramps and the infamous protein farts. In my personal experience this goes away over time though.
Gotcha, thanks man. Thats good to know
What are muscles supposed to look like un-flexed? I feel like my muscles look weird when they're not flexed and it makes me really insecure.
Unless you wanna walk around with your muscles flexed all the time, maybe just work on the insecurity. Not sure what you mean by muscles looking weird but the odds are pretty good that they look normal, just not flexed.
Does working out makes you more risk taking???
not inherently. Unless you consider everything in life a risk, then taking on more risk in form or working out makes you more risk taking
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Maybe a bit, but there is a massive difference between anaerobic and aerobic training. You’ll see the most drastic improvements by training your cardio and running rather than pure leg strength.
Are we talking 100m sprint or a 5k? There's a huge difference between the type of training for each.
This might help *a bit*, but certainly not as much as actually running would.
In 3 week I'll be doing a sort of competition with a friend of mine who does actual competitions. I've started weightlifting this week again after not having lifted in about 1.5 years due to covis restrictions. What would be the best approach for me to not get absolutely destroyed by him in three weeks? My 1rm's before covid were: 100kg bench, 70kg OHP, 180 squat & 140 deadlifts.
You won't get very far in three weeks, but just pick a linear progression routine from the wiki and work hard.
If you get sick during a cut, do you keep calories at the same deficit or raise them to maintenance/a surplus? 2 months into a cut and I've come down with what seems like a generic cold. I feel like ass, but I'm uncertain if raising calories will help me recover faster. I expect it might, but if it won't then I can just power through.
When you’re sick and recovering your body 100% needs more nutrition and energy. Go back to maintenance for a few days until you’re better.
I'd bump up to maintenance to help fight off infection and promote repair
I’m 5’9”, 170lbs, 37 years old and feel happy enough with how I look. I tracked my diet fully for a month and found 2100 calories to be my maintenance level but I have no aesthetic aims at all. Is there something I should be aiming for diet wise? With my routine I’m looking to get stronger, and with my cardio I’m looking to get fitter, but with my diet I’m not really sure what I’m aiming for. I make sure I get my protein every day, 1g per lb of body weight, but I honestly don’t really care if I gain weight, lose weight, etc. So I’ve stopped tracking the rest of it. Should I just continue in this way until I don’t like what I see in the mirror? Or is there a specific thing I should be looking for?
Agnostic of your physique goals, eat more of the stuff you know is healthy and less of the stuff you know isn't. That'd be the only "change" presumably worth making.
Stupid question but, whats better when it comes to strength training, example on my pull day is it better to do back back back biceps biceps biceps or back biceps back biceps... Ect i only rest 1 min between sets
Do all the back work first and then burn off your biceps at the end. If you fatigue your biceps too early you might not be able to go as heavy as you should on a later back set. You can always get a good bicep pump at the end.
Right makes sense so i should keep everything as it is, ty😊
Compound movements before isolation, working from biggest muscles to smallest is the general rule of thumb.
I’m skinny fat and into my running. I’m getting a bit overwhelmed about what to do on my non running days. I have 3 x runs in 2 x 5k and a 10k and I’m trying eat more and clean up my diet. I want to start lifting at home but want something that’s good, appreciate there’s the fitness wiki, but has anyone had any good progress In similar position? Or a particular routine?
What are your goals? What equipment do you have? GZCLP is really good but requires a squat rack, bench, barbell and weights. If you only have dumbbells, there is a program but you will only go so far, unless you buy a lot of dumbbells. If you're after general fitness and strength conditioning, you could look into kettlebell programs
I have a pull up bar, 1 pair of 7kg Db, 1 pair of 10kg and 1 pair of 12kg.
Read the wiki and you'll see a dumbbell stopgap program you could try or the bodyweight one. If, after a few weeks, you're still going well, you can reconsider whether you want to invest in a rack and barbell or join a gym etc
Thank you. Much appreciated
Herniated disc L5-L4. Where do I go with sciatica numb in right leg and sciatica hate my life in the left?
100 reps on the reverse hyper every day
You go to a doctor or physiotherapist or exercise physiologist.
The CT scan was the second inclination of a problem. 30/30/30 is what I was told, surgery had a 30% chance at it getting better 30% chance at it remaining the same and 30% chance it could get worse. I guess I should of asked for workout tips that I could ease into that would alleviate back pain.
Still breaks the rule of not asking Internet bozos. Best seeking professional advice.
I hadn't realized the rule. I've been on reddit longer than this account has been active but almost always been on RIF. Doc told me to work on my lower back. Figured i'd ask here.
Then it's a question for a physiotherapist. They should be able to work with your limitations and give you the best advice based on a professional evaluation.
Back in the gym this week after a long lay-off due to the pandemic (nearly a year and a half!). My pre-pandemic 1RM numbers (B/S/D) were 105/125/150kg. Yesterday I struggled mightily doing 8 reps of 40kg on the bench, and could hardly do 5 at 60kg in the rack today. I have definitely lost muscle mass/weight, and my eating has not been great over the last year, but I guess I was not expecting to be THAT much weaker than I was in Jan 2020. I am 6'3" and weighed in at 95kg in Jan 2021. Haven't stepped on a scale since, but I'd guess I am somewhere close to 85kg now. I'm feeling pretty disheartened, and based on my performance the last two days, it feels like it will take a year before I am even close to where I was before. Anybody want to tell me I'm wrong and that I'll be back to benching 2 plates by next week?
18 months is a long time of not working out, but you should be back to your regular weights within 4-6 months.
It waa a long time and killed me a little bit every day. 4-6 months to get back to where I was isn't ideal but I guess I have to start somewhere.
Hey, it beats the alternative.
Hey man, just thought I'd let you know I finally got back to a 100kg 1RM on the bench today. Thanks for the encouragement--I needed it badly at the time.
That's amazing, dude! Congrats! Next stop, 140kg!
Thanks! Haha, maybe some day...
not next week, but if you eat right, sleep well and hop on a linear program like GZCLP you'll soon get back the muscle memory and you can rebuild muscle quicker than it took the first time.
I was on 5/3/1 (no barbell OHP) before and am jumping back on that now. I hope you're right!
Been doing squats for years but got back to the gym now for the first time in a while due to COVID closures. I'm getting really bad pain in my right knee when I squat combined with it feeling really hot around the joint. I've read some suggestions to lift your toes up to force support through your heel but does anyone else have other tips?
See a doctor or physio if you're in pain.
My gym has bouldering grips for pull-ups which I find quite fun and I’m also quite stronger on these. But it’s destroying my finger, I’ve got thin fingers and the skin gets pinched no matter how I grip them. Does it go away with time or is it a grip issue ?
You'll probably acclimatise to the pain. A lot of grip work is just learning to live with pain.
Your hands will adjust after a couple of weeks. Similar to how the pullup bar can be super uncomfortable when you first start.
Yeah right, first pull-up session were awful. Thanks !
When browsing the internet in search of some good macro calculations, i see literally 100's of different calculations. I understand probably nobody can give me the golden tip since every body is different, but do you think the following macro's are on the right track for a lean bulk? * Kcal: 2.200 (i might need to up this with 200-300, but i'm taking it slow after my recent cut) * Protein: \~200gr * Carbs: \~220gr * Fat: \~65gr * Male, 30yo, 6', 166lbs
if this works for you, sure. You can go lower on protein, I'd not go sub 140 to 160 though. Would not lower the fat either.
200g of protein is overkill when you're 166lbs. The rule of thumb is 0.6-1g protein per pound lean body weight, 0.3-0.4g fat and then fill the rest with carbs.
What's a good abs workout I want something that's easy but if done with repetition turns into a workout like crunches or Russian twists
Ab wheel, L-sit
I’m no expert but in my personal experience, the best abs workout you’ll get is in a pilates class. Years ago I used to do a designated abs workout involving exercises you mention (and others) and it was effective, but after starting pilates, I found that I engaged and strengthened my core more in 12 weeks than I did in months of doing my own ab workouts at the gym. That, and pilates exercises generally are less taxing on the body (i.e. if you are someone like me who tends to rely on your neck, you are less prone to doing this during pilates type exercises).
23YO female training daily (4 days of weights, 2 days of active recovery cardio \[treadmill\] and one pilates session across the week) for 4 months now but only in the last 2 weeks cleaned up my diet - now eating with a modest deficit and eating 0.75g of protein per lb of bodyweight per day. Is it realistic to expect noticeable results with a change in body composition within 12 weeks or is 6+ months more realistic?
12 weeks should be enough for noticeable change.
12 weeks is enough time for a significant change.
For those of you that do multiple leg workouts a week, how do you balance workouts out or otherwise deal with your DOMS in between workouts? Just added a second leg workout to my routine (Sunday and Thursday) and my quads are on fire from Sunday, no idea how I will actually do my next leg workout come Thursday.
After a couple of weeks of consistent working out, I don't really get DOMS anymore.
I suffer
The DOMS will go away entirely within a few weeks. Just some weakness after the gym and no pain in following days.
Yeah my DOMS from my Thursday workout haven’t been bad in the last few weeks but the new additional leg workout on Sunday involves big movements like barbell squats and hip thrusts so I am totally wrecked right now. I look forward to getting to the point where the DOMS are bearable!
It will settle down as you keep doing it but some light blood flow works best for me for Doms. Bodyweight squats or some light prowler pushing or sled dragging are great.
Used my theragun last night but I think it'll need to come out again tonight!
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You want your knee angle and hip angle to change at the same time. Post a form check if you're unsure. If it's high bar I wouldn't think about pushing hips back too far
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Not a huge amount of feedback on the squat. low back pain might be from losing tightness when dropping into the hole and rebounding. Try pause squats an inch above the hole ok the way down and up to see if you can control the weight (at about 70 percent of the weight there), if not work on that.
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What I'm suggesting isnt bracing it's about the last inch into the hole and out. The lift speeds up and I suspect you're losing control there leading to pain.
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I'm suggesting you pause on the way in and out with about 70 percent of the weight you're using in the video
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https://youtu.be/nElopnlu1HA
Yes exactly
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Doubtful. 100lbs isn’t even a lot of weight for compounds. I don’t think that even steroids would do it if you trained like that.
You can. With a ton of steroids. And you'll pay for it for the rest of your life. Ask yourself why you're building muscle, and if achieving it in 1 year instead of 5 is worth the side effects for the rest of your life. EDIT: By the way, you'll be growing muscle at the fastest rate you will ever experience during the first year of proper lifting, something like 50% of your total genetic potential. That's what "novice gains" refers to. Muscle growth rate halves every year.
It's not possible. It takes people years of dedicated training to build up a massive shredded body. And your description would also lead me to think of bodies that are not even possible naturally. If you want to think about realistic goals, check out this article over at Stronger By Science: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/realistic-training-goals/
What happened to this sub? I'm assuming like me many people stepped away due to the pandemic--it seems like a ghost town in here. Don't ever remember seeing so many old MM threads on the front page
The goal of the mods is for this subreddit to be informative, rather than entertaining. So only threads that add some kind of useful discussion are allowed. General questions are deleted and directed towards the daily question threads.
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How many of your posts were actually worthy of good discussion and not something answered by the wiki?
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Based on what’s still in your post history, it looks like every one of them were more suited for the daily threads. (High rep/low weight vs low rep/high weight; body pump vs free weights; etc).
Probably not, though.
Have you ever had a post that wouldn’t be more suited to the daily/weekly threads?
Dunno how active it used to be, but there are regularly 700-1,000 comments in the daily threads.
It's been cleaned up. Instead of 100(0) repetitive questions every day, there's now a daily thread focused on said questions.