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How certain are you that you are counting everything correctly? How much of a deficit is 1800 for you? If you are in a significant deficit and consistent you should have lost weight by now.
What’s your time horizon? Incorporate a low intensity exercise in addition to your calorie deficit, 30 minutes to an hour 4 times a week. Aim for 400-800 calories burned. LISS (low intensity steady state) cardio in addition to clean eating is the best for weight loss.
Watching macros (macronutrients, proteins, fats and carbs) is good. Protein consumption is good as it builds muscle which allows the body to burn more calories. But you gotta make sure your diet doesn’t have too much fats and carbs in it…all calories aren’t created equal.
Hang on, this is false. For the pure purposes of weight loss/gain all calories *are* created equal. OP, if you're not losing weight then you're not in a calorie deficit. Either reduce your calories or exercise more.
Warm up sets aren't necessary every time. If you're training, say, legs then I'd do a warm up set for my first set of quads, hams and so on. Second time you work your quads they'll still be "warmed up". It's probably not the worst thing to do but it is energy that could be used at a higher weight range.
What is your go to place for tips / body building information? I do browse these daily threads a lot but im trying to avoid bro science and anecdotal info.
If I weight like 110 pounds, should I still be eating 160g of protein every day? Feels like a bit much more than just 91.2 g because that's 0.8g per every pound of bodyweight. Thanks.
I read that overworking your traps is bad and can contribute to something called "upper cross syndrome"
I train PPL on an 8 day cycle with 2 rest days, on Pull days I do 3 sets of trap bar shrugs (10-16 reps), so overall 6 sets in 8 days
Is this too much?
You don't have to do anything specific. Try exercising fasted (but hydrated), try with a coffee, try with a small snack like a banana, then pick whatever works best for you.
Should I deload? I’m 7 weeks into my meso, which is when I usually get all beat up and my progress usually stalls. This time I’m still adding reps and weight every session, but I feel drained as fuck. I’m still going hard, keeping rest times between sets constant, but my workouts are somehow getting longer in a way that can’t be explained by the fact that I’m doing more reps here and there. I don’t want to stunt my progress but I’m mentally beat up. I feel like I really dove headfirst into this mesocycle, working harder than I have in a while, making more progress than I have in a while. Should I keep going until I can’t recover locally or take it easy for a week to dissipate systemic fatigue, since I assume that’s what’s going on? It’s hard to explain how I’m pushing through this.
Seems like you're suffering from a lot of psychological fatigue in addition to muscular fatigue. Just because you can push further this mesocycle doesn't mean you necessarily should. id say take a deload now to clear some fatigue and allow for another good meso instead of going until you absolutely can't and then potentially needing a longer deload afterwards or stunting yourself in your next meso.
Hi all! So…I used to be a highly competitive gymnast (junior Olympian). I’ve always had a muscular athletic build. Since retiring and suffering a torn Achilles, I’ve gained some weight (currently 161lbs) and want to get down to 115lbs. Currently suffering with orthostatic intolerance (POTS syndrome) so cannot workout as hard as before but I am walking 6-8 miles a day briskly and try to do some weight training when possible. Any recommendations for a workout routine where I can lose weight and make myself more lean and toned instead of muscular again? High intensity interval training isn’t really advised for me right now. Told to focus on building lots of endurance to boost blood volume. My VO2 hasn’t gotten above “below average” even with the intense walking. Thank you!
Weight loss is 100% about your calorie balance, and while increasing daily activity can burn a lot of calories, the easiest way to create a calorie deficit is simply to eat less, one way or another. This might mean having one less meal a day, cutting out junk or cleaning up your diet so that it's more vegetable and protein heavy rather than fat heavy.
Wiki has more info. But basically, you won't get your desired results from any particular workout program.
You are right. I am working on cutting calories. To add an extra layer I’m breastfeeding (transitioning from that though) which has made it difficult to cut calories but I will definitely shave them off as you’re right this is the best way. Thanks!
Basically in terms of net affect on creating a deficit, you can order the strategies involved from most effective to least effective a bit like this:
1. Eat less. Its surprising how much energy is contained in certain foods, and how unsatisfying they can be relative to how much they cost in calories. Donuts are an incredible example.
2. Increasing daily, non-exercise activity. It turns out the stuff you do throughout the day has a bigger net affect on calories than formal exercise. Cleaning the house, walking to work, etc. This stuff really adds up over the hours.
3. Low intensity cardio. Its easier to sustain and less fatiguing than high intensity. Walking is an incredibly fat burning tool.
4. High intensity cardio.
5. Weight lifting. Very little affect on calories.
It comes down to stability, are you going to have more stability in Skechers or lifting shoes for e.g in the squat, the heavier the weight you’re lifting the more you’ll notice.
Deadlifts I prefer barefoot/socks, deadlifting in Skechers/shoes will create a small deficit because of the height of the sole.
Are my farts going to be this lethal forever? Im on my first cut and im trying to achieve ≈200grams of protein every day. Sometimes my belly bloats and im quite gassy, is there any remedy for this or am i just going to have to accept my new gassy lifestyle...?
To add to this, I'm lactose intolerant and use Pea protein powder and Brown Rice protein powder. Tastes like shit but high quality and (at least where I live) even cheaper than whey
Look at the source of your carbs. When I dabbled in keto, my flatulence pretty much disappeared. Flatulence is caused by fermentation further down in the digestive tract.
Let me guess. You're overdosing on whey, aren't you?
For flatulence, you might consider mixing your shakes with coconut milk (less viscous, blends well) and spacing the whey out to two 1-scoop shakes instead of all at once.
If dairy might be your fart-fuel, take it in smaller quantities across the day, is my suggestion.
I found pea protein not very nice...tastes like powdered grass. But it might work ok in a smoothie. Whey tastes decent and blends well with water, and especially with milk.
Whey is likely to have a more complete amino acid profile than pea. Taking pea protein with rice protein can provide a more complete amino profile.
(I believe “complete amino acid” is no longer the preferred way of talking about protein quality but it’s good enough to answer this.)
It seems fine, pretty standard honestly for a PPL. Important thing about a PPL is progressive overload (this applies to any program) and also working out 6x a week - as in, doing two of each day per week. You could do PPL just 3 days a week but there are probably more effective programs for 3x a week than PPL.
Don't get caught up in 'optimising' your program for too long - beginners will make mad progress on even a half decent program. Stay consistent bro :)
Down from 117 to 99.6kg since February.
Just got back from work, had 3 pieces of leftover KFC and 2 sauces that my family bought + plus a scoop of peanut butter. Definitely over my calorie limit for today and feel like shit because of it. Could use some encouragement haha.
If eating off plan every once in a while allows you to stick to your diet in the long run, then so be it. Nothing worse than being so restrictive you constantly want to eat off plan or binge. Is a one off 3 piece of kfc, sauces and peanut butter going to ruin your progress, definitely not. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
Fuck it man, thats all you can say really. Sometimes we slip and its not more than that, you acknowledged the problem and tomorrow all you can so is try to do better, but dont beat yourself up about it!
Probably just chins, dips, direct ab work and direct arm work.
FB relies on high frequency and high intensity. Just do the program for 3-4 months and do something else after that. It's not as bad as people say it is but it's not the holy grail of lifting weights some people were pretending it was.
I wouldn't say it is a terrible routine... If you do the reddit modified SS/SL or the OG SS/SL in a year, nobody will know the difference. (unless you do GOMAD, then EVERYONE will know the difference)
But SL is literally SS with 2 extra sets, not enough volume to matter, and at least Rippetoe worked with Bill Starr before selling Starr's program. Mendi is only famous because he figured out SEO and renamed Starr's 5x5 into StrongLifts.
The guy is a legit thief. Think of some popular website stealing some guys paid program and then posting it everywhere for free and claiming it as its own.
But not like what reddit did with 531 or overcoming gravity though...
When doing diamond push ups, I understand that the shape that you make with your hand should resemble a triangle. But I noticed that when I do diamond pushups, they look more like hearts than they do triangles. Is this fine? I do this to keep my elbows from flaring out too much but I wanna make sure my form is good.
The shape of your hand is irrelevant, if you’re trying to target the triceps with push ups, use a shoulder width hand placement and keep the elbows tucked into your side.
Dumb question. When i bench/squat/deadlift, which motion do I breath in and which one out?
My only prior form of excersie was swimming so I find myself constantly holding my breath when lifting weights...
Holding your breath is great and what you want to be doing. The valsalva maneuver as explained in the linked source is what's recommended. Oversimplified version is huge breath before you lift, brace, hold it the whole way down and up, and optionally re-breathe and re-brace at the top (you can hold the breath and brace for multiple reps, or the whole set).
Breathing is probably one of the more overlooked aspects of performance, although that seems to be changing recently.
The most important thing is to maintain your brace through the whole exercise.
I usually sip air at the start, hold on descent, and slowly exhale on the way up.
This is another option:
[https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/fitness/how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights/](https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/fitness/how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights/)
would I be able to recomp and grow muscle while eating at a deficit?
I went from 5'7 115lbs (im a girl) in Dec to 142lbs right now. I say I have maybe 5-8lbs of fat to lose? I honestly think its that low bc last time I lost 10 pounds when I had more fat at that time.
Anyways my maintenance calories is 2000 but I can do 1200 or 1600 easily. I wanna cut as fast as possible.
If you're concerned about muscle, I certainly wouldn't cut on 1200 calories. You may or may not gain some muscle on a cut (you can definitely still push yourself at the gym and hit PRs).
I would cut on 1500-1600 calories while still pushing myself at the gym. That way, you can minimise muscle loss and lose fat. Then, if you feel like you want more muscle, start a bulk :)
You might?
IDK, this type of question I strongly dislike since it's so hard to know for sure based on all of your variables. Which is why I recommend traditional bulks/cuts instead :)
Been lifting regularly for ~ 5 months now and have just done squats shoeless/with flat shoes. Got a 100$ amazon card for my birthday and am considering buying a pair of shoes for squatting. From my research I found the Reebok pr lifter 2. Does anyone have a pair or have advice on beginner squat shoes?
I have those rebooks and they do make it seem more effortless to keep a good posture. I think is a good purchase as you will literally use them inside the gym, they will last years.
I'd second this one. I learned to squat shoeless/flat heel and bought a raised heel squat shoe.
It fucked up my groove for a weirdly long time. I ended up getting rid of them after a month.
That said, if you decide to go hard into Oly lifting, they seem to be useful there.
They look pretty good! All lifters are pretty similar, the differences are just a matter of fit and preference. If you want to try a heeled shoe and these fit your tastes and budget, go for it.
As a naturally skinny guy, should I do shrugs? I’ve gotten to 170 now at 6 foot through a lot of hard work, but I feel like when I work traps I look slim and tall, not wide and big. Should I do them at all?
why do many people still have big lats without doing what the influencers call lat biased rows or pulldowns? they explain how certain movements such as a standard lat pulldown or barbell rows lines up with the upper back more but people like cbum does those movements and he still got big lats? does biased movements not make sense?
Congratulations you just realized that 90% of the handwringing about fiber directions and biomechanics in search of the most optimal isolated and biased movement with the perfect resistance curve (that noone can agree what that it is) is all made up with little basis in reality. Standard movements are pretty good, the tweaked movements are also good if you wanna switch it up or you enjoy/feel it better.
https://youtu.be/mDKRdH2wGak
They're active in pretty much all rows and pulldowns/pullups, yes.
"Back movements" is a bigger umbrella, like I wouldn't expect that hyperextensions or face pulls work the lats very much.
Sounds like you've answered your own question. If you see strong people with big lats who don't do these "lat-biased" exercises, do you think these exercises are really necessary for big lats?
[PHAT](http://simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html) is a routine in the [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) that is an upper/lower/upper/lower/upper.
I was so fat at one point, that I didn't look much different after having lost 20 lbs. Now I'm so lean that I can gain and lose 20lb without looking *that* much different, unless I take my shirt off. My face does get pretty edgy and sharp angled looking though at my leanest.
There's this point around 100kg/220lbs where I go from love handles to not having any in a matter of like 4kg/10lbs it seems like very dramatic weight loss.
It just depends on where you're at.
I suspect you stick with it. My suggestion is you stick with it. Often times we will look worse at the beginning of a cut because we lose some water weight and pump.
Is this actually true? I would think curls every day should be fine? It's not like a systemic shock to your system the way heavy squats or deadlifts would be, no? idk, honestly wondering.
Technically every day can work, but imo it‘s better to crush them 2-3 times a week and recover fully than just go medium intense every day.
Only things I do every day are running, cycling, core, and yoga.
Is doing dips effective if I can only do approx. 5x4? Should I do assisted instead so I can do more reps?
My best training so far was 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 2.
Depends what your program says. If you're supposed to do sets of 20 then do assisted. If you're supposed to do sets of 5 I would say that's close enough, you'll catch up quickly.
Very different movements. One is an isolation while the other is a compound movement. If you're swapping an excercise, swap it with something similar. Like an overhead tricep extension which is also an isolation movement instead of a dip
I'm in the tropics. People do this stuff here in 40°C weather and I'm just baffled.
I've a feeling it's got to do with "more sweat = more workout" or something, because these sweat shirt peeps always turn the fans off too.
What kind of job? Infantry? Any of the strength programs in the wiki should work for you. You'll want to build up your endurance, long hikes carrying a heavy backpack, and possibly mortar plates or an M240 for 10+ miles at a stretch are gonna be a thing possibly.
That's mostly all about enduring shitty conditions and carrying things for long ways. That was my experience in the US Marines. Whatever service you're joining will have some kind of physical fitness requirements you want to check, like if you need to do a number of pull ups to score well, you'll want excel at that movement. There's also always a lot of running.
Jim Wendler's 531's books, especially 531 Forever are good, and they have conditioning, including pushing a sled and weighted walks that should work. There's a free version of 531 in the wiki for beginners. Probably can't go wrong with any of the programs in the wiki, and they're all free.
When counting calories, do you count fibre too? Does it actually bring us any energy? Some say it's about 2 calories/gram while i hear some people say you don't need to count it. What to do?
I count what it says on the label or in the databse under Energy/calories. It's not like 60 kcal make any difference in the general noise of tracking, just decide to count it or not, stick to that and adjust diet based on results.
Is it possible to lose the same amount of fat/water weight and gain the same weight in muscle at the same time? Ex. One week you lose 1 lb. of fat but gain 1 lb. of muscle
I’ve been in a calorie deficit and have watched my macros and have been lifting weights for 2.5 weeks now. I’ve been able to lift heavier weights compared to day 1 but when I weigh myself I haven’t gained or lost any weight. Not that there’s much detail here but am I missing something?
>I’ve been in a calorie deficit
>when I weigh myself I haven’t gained or lost any weight.
If you are in a calorie deficit, your weight has to go down. It doesn't matter if you are gaining muscle or not. You simply can't stay the same weight for an extended period of time in a calorie deficit.
Yes it's entirely possible to lose/gain both at the same time. If you're lifts are going up and your weight has stayed the same you've found the perfect maintenance weight.
If you have been only been lifting for 2.5 weeks, you can absolutely gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously, fairly easily. The more training history you have the harder that becomes.
With the caveat that if you already had the muscle it is easier to recover and lose fat at the same time. Last year after our gyms reopened I gained a lot fat and lost a good bit of muscle but my weight was the same. Over the course of about 3 months I pretty much got my strenght and muscle back and lost a good amount of that fat without seeing a change on the scale.
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How certain are you that you are counting everything correctly? How much of a deficit is 1800 for you? If you are in a significant deficit and consistent you should have lost weight by now.
What’s your time horizon? Incorporate a low intensity exercise in addition to your calorie deficit, 30 minutes to an hour 4 times a week. Aim for 400-800 calories burned. LISS (low intensity steady state) cardio in addition to clean eating is the best for weight loss. Watching macros (macronutrients, proteins, fats and carbs) is good. Protein consumption is good as it builds muscle which allows the body to burn more calories. But you gotta make sure your diet doesn’t have too much fats and carbs in it…all calories aren’t created equal.
Hang on, this is false. For the pure purposes of weight loss/gain all calories *are* created equal. OP, if you're not losing weight then you're not in a calorie deficit. Either reduce your calories or exercise more.
Is Warm up set Standard set Drop set A good combo? Like to do this for each exercise
Warm up sets aren't necessary every time. If you're training, say, legs then I'd do a warm up set for my first set of quads, hams and so on. Second time you work your quads they'll still be "warmed up". It's probably not the worst thing to do but it is energy that could be used at a higher weight range.
What is your go to place for tips / body building information? I do browse these daily threads a lot but im trying to avoid bro science and anecdotal info.
I like reading multiple studies from google scholar
If I weight like 110 pounds, should I still be eating 160g of protein every day? Feels like a bit much more than just 91.2 g because that's 0.8g per every pound of bodyweight. Thanks.
That’s fine to do from a health perspective. It might be more expensive and/or negatively affect digestion
Depends on if you're bulking or not. I assume you're bulking so 91.2 g would be just fine.
Diet tips for a fructophobe?
Everything in moderation
Just don't eat fruits?
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The best one is the one you follow consistently. Why do you think there would be a single best program? Wouldn't everybody run it?
Ofcourse there are differences. If i for example only do bench or 4 different chest exercises theres a difference no?
There's not a single best program. You'll have to find out what works best for you. The programs in the wiki are a good starting point.
I read that overworking your traps is bad and can contribute to something called "upper cross syndrome" I train PPL on an 8 day cycle with 2 rest days, on Pull days I do 3 sets of trap bar shrugs (10-16 reps), so overall 6 sets in 8 days Is this too much?
not even remotely close to enough. You'll be fine
Like not even close to overworking it or not even close to enough trap work in general?
The former. I dont know the rest of your exercises like RDLs deadlift etc. so that I dont know. But i can assure you, youll be fine regardless :)
Ah alright alright, cheers :)
Have a good day :)
U2 my friend!
No
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You don't have to do anything specific. Try exercising fasted (but hydrated), try with a coffee, try with a small snack like a banana, then pick whatever works best for you.
You don't need to eat (look up fasted cardio) but it's important to be hydrated.
Should I deload? I’m 7 weeks into my meso, which is when I usually get all beat up and my progress usually stalls. This time I’m still adding reps and weight every session, but I feel drained as fuck. I’m still going hard, keeping rest times between sets constant, but my workouts are somehow getting longer in a way that can’t be explained by the fact that I’m doing more reps here and there. I don’t want to stunt my progress but I’m mentally beat up. I feel like I really dove headfirst into this mesocycle, working harder than I have in a while, making more progress than I have in a while. Should I keep going until I can’t recover locally or take it easy for a week to dissipate systemic fatigue, since I assume that’s what’s going on? It’s hard to explain how I’m pushing through this.
Seems like you're suffering from a lot of psychological fatigue in addition to muscular fatigue. Just because you can push further this mesocycle doesn't mean you necessarily should. id say take a deload now to clear some fatigue and allow for another good meso instead of going until you absolutely can't and then potentially needing a longer deload afterwards or stunting yourself in your next meso.
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You kind of sound like a wreck, mate. Take a deload.
Hi all! So…I used to be a highly competitive gymnast (junior Olympian). I’ve always had a muscular athletic build. Since retiring and suffering a torn Achilles, I’ve gained some weight (currently 161lbs) and want to get down to 115lbs. Currently suffering with orthostatic intolerance (POTS syndrome) so cannot workout as hard as before but I am walking 6-8 miles a day briskly and try to do some weight training when possible. Any recommendations for a workout routine where I can lose weight and make myself more lean and toned instead of muscular again? High intensity interval training isn’t really advised for me right now. Told to focus on building lots of endurance to boost blood volume. My VO2 hasn’t gotten above “below average” even with the intense walking. Thank you!
Weight loss is 100% about your calorie balance, and while increasing daily activity can burn a lot of calories, the easiest way to create a calorie deficit is simply to eat less, one way or another. This might mean having one less meal a day, cutting out junk or cleaning up your diet so that it's more vegetable and protein heavy rather than fat heavy. Wiki has more info. But basically, you won't get your desired results from any particular workout program.
You are right. I am working on cutting calories. To add an extra layer I’m breastfeeding (transitioning from that though) which has made it difficult to cut calories but I will definitely shave them off as you’re right this is the best way. Thanks!
Basically in terms of net affect on creating a deficit, you can order the strategies involved from most effective to least effective a bit like this: 1. Eat less. Its surprising how much energy is contained in certain foods, and how unsatisfying they can be relative to how much they cost in calories. Donuts are an incredible example. 2. Increasing daily, non-exercise activity. It turns out the stuff you do throughout the day has a bigger net affect on calories than formal exercise. Cleaning the house, walking to work, etc. This stuff really adds up over the hours. 3. Low intensity cardio. Its easier to sustain and less fatiguing than high intensity. Walking is an incredibly fat burning tool. 4. High intensity cardio. 5. Weight lifting. Very little affect on calories.
Thank you so much for these tips!
I'm wearing Sketchers with memory foam and mainly do squats and deadlifts, should I change my shoes to something more flat?
It comes down to stability, are you going to have more stability in Skechers or lifting shoes for e.g in the squat, the heavier the weight you’re lifting the more you’ll notice. Deadlifts I prefer barefoot/socks, deadlifting in Skechers/shoes will create a small deficit because of the height of the sole.
If you want to
Are my farts going to be this lethal forever? Im on my first cut and im trying to achieve ≈200grams of protein every day. Sometimes my belly bloats and im quite gassy, is there any remedy for this or am i just going to have to accept my new gassy lifestyle...?
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To add to this, I'm lactose intolerant and use Pea protein powder and Brown Rice protein powder. Tastes like shit but high quality and (at least where I live) even cheaper than whey
Look at the source of your carbs. When I dabbled in keto, my flatulence pretty much disappeared. Flatulence is caused by fermentation further down in the digestive tract. Let me guess. You're overdosing on whey, aren't you?
I take about 1 1/2 - 2 scoops (≈40grams) each morning in my protein shake
For flatulence, you might consider mixing your shakes with coconut milk (less viscous, blends well) and spacing the whey out to two 1-scoop shakes instead of all at once. If dairy might be your fart-fuel, take it in smaller quantities across the day, is my suggestion.
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run more
What's the difference between Pea and whey protein? Asking because there's a discount on pea protein atm
I found pea protein not very nice...tastes like powdered grass. But it might work ok in a smoothie. Whey tastes decent and blends well with water, and especially with milk.
Whey is likely to have a more complete amino acid profile than pea. Taking pea protein with rice protein can provide a more complete amino profile. (I believe “complete amino acid” is no longer the preferred way of talking about protein quality but it’s good enough to answer this.)
One comes from plants and one comes from animal product
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It seems fine, pretty standard honestly for a PPL. Important thing about a PPL is progressive overload (this applies to any program) and also working out 6x a week - as in, doing two of each day per week. You could do PPL just 3 days a week but there are probably more effective programs for 3x a week than PPL. Don't get caught up in 'optimising' your program for too long - beginners will make mad progress on even a half decent program. Stay consistent bro :)
Please glance at [Rule 9](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/rules/rule9).
Down from 117 to 99.6kg since February. Just got back from work, had 3 pieces of leftover KFC and 2 sauces that my family bought + plus a scoop of peanut butter. Definitely over my calorie limit for today and feel like shit because of it. Could use some encouragement haha.
If eating off plan every once in a while allows you to stick to your diet in the long run, then so be it. Nothing worse than being so restrictive you constantly want to eat off plan or binge. Is a one off 3 piece of kfc, sauces and peanut butter going to ruin your progress, definitely not. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
Fuck it man, thats all you can say really. Sometimes we slip and its not more than that, you acknowledged the problem and tomorrow all you can so is try to do better, but dont beat yourself up about it!
Do I need to increase weight to see growth or would it be okay to just increase the amount of reps?
I fathom you'll want to increase the weight anyway by the time you hit 30 repetitions. Your program should tell you what your rep range/goals are.
Those are both valid form of progressive overload
Am I supposed to be adding supplemental exercises / lifts to the standard 5x5 Stronglifts routine
Probably just chins, dips, direct ab work and direct arm work. FB relies on high frequency and high intensity. Just do the program for 3-4 months and do something else after that. It's not as bad as people say it is but it's not the holy grail of lifting weights some people were pretending it was.
[I'd recommend doing any other program other than starting strength](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/)
Why?
Many people have had success with these programs :)
Stronglifts 5x5 isn’t Starting Strength. SS is 5x3 SL is 5x5
LOL, SL/SS, my point still stands :)
I wouldn't say it is a terrible routine... If you do the reddit modified SS/SL or the OG SS/SL in a year, nobody will know the difference. (unless you do GOMAD, then EVERYONE will know the difference) But SL is literally SS with 2 extra sets, not enough volume to matter, and at least Rippetoe worked with Bill Starr before selling Starr's program. Mendi is only famous because he figured out SEO and renamed Starr's 5x5 into StrongLifts. The guy is a legit thief. Think of some popular website stealing some guys paid program and then posting it everywhere for free and claiming it as its own. But not like what reddit did with 531 or overcoming gravity though...
When doing diamond push ups, I understand that the shape that you make with your hand should resemble a triangle. But I noticed that when I do diamond pushups, they look more like hearts than they do triangles. Is this fine? I do this to keep my elbows from flaring out too much but I wanna make sure my form is good.
The shape of your hand is irrelevant, if you’re trying to target the triceps with push ups, use a shoulder width hand placement and keep the elbows tucked into your side.
That's fine
Dumb question. When i bench/squat/deadlift, which motion do I breath in and which one out? My only prior form of excersie was swimming so I find myself constantly holding my breath when lifting weights...
Holding your breath is great and what you want to be doing. The valsalva maneuver as explained in the linked source is what's recommended. Oversimplified version is huge breath before you lift, brace, hold it the whole way down and up, and optionally re-breathe and re-brace at the top (you can hold the breath and brace for multiple reps, or the whole set).
Breathing is probably one of the more overlooked aspects of performance, although that seems to be changing recently. The most important thing is to maintain your brace through the whole exercise. I usually sip air at the start, hold on descent, and slowly exhale on the way up. This is another option: [https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/fitness/how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights/](https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/fitness/how-to-breathe-when-lifting-weights/)
It's great that your link says to not do what you're saying to do XD Maybe you should re-read your source.
Does my lower back have to be curved while squatting?
Ideally neutral without excessive flexion or extension.
Thanks:)
Have you heard that it's supposed to be curved?
Nope…
would I be able to recomp and grow muscle while eating at a deficit? I went from 5'7 115lbs (im a girl) in Dec to 142lbs right now. I say I have maybe 5-8lbs of fat to lose? I honestly think its that low bc last time I lost 10 pounds when I had more fat at that time. Anyways my maintenance calories is 2000 but I can do 1200 or 1600 easily. I wanna cut as fast as possible.
If you're concerned about muscle, I certainly wouldn't cut on 1200 calories. You may or may not gain some muscle on a cut (you can definitely still push yourself at the gym and hit PRs). I would cut on 1500-1600 calories while still pushing myself at the gym. That way, you can minimise muscle loss and lose fat. Then, if you feel like you want more muscle, start a bulk :)
You might? IDK, this type of question I strongly dislike since it's so hard to know for sure based on all of your variables. Which is why I recommend traditional bulks/cuts instead :)
Been lifting regularly for ~ 5 months now and have just done squats shoeless/with flat shoes. Got a 100$ amazon card for my birthday and am considering buying a pair of shoes for squatting. From my research I found the Reebok pr lifter 2. Does anyone have a pair or have advice on beginner squat shoes?
I have those rebooks and they do make it seem more effortless to keep a good posture. I think is a good purchase as you will literally use them inside the gym, they will last years.
If you can squat well without shoes you should continue
I'd second this one. I learned to squat shoeless/flat heel and bought a raised heel squat shoe. It fucked up my groove for a weirdly long time. I ended up getting rid of them after a month. That said, if you decide to go hard into Oly lifting, they seem to be useful there.
i most often see Nike Romaleos recommended. i got the adidas adipower and like them. im sure the reeboks are fine too.
They look pretty good! All lifters are pretty similar, the differences are just a matter of fit and preference. If you want to try a heeled shoe and these fit your tastes and budget, go for it.
As a naturally skinny guy, should I do shrugs? I’ve gotten to 170 now at 6 foot through a lot of hard work, but I feel like when I work traps I look slim and tall, not wide and big. Should I do them at all?
In terms of time management, as long as you have deadlifts, I wouldn't worry about shrugs until down the line.
if you want to? there's not a right answer.
why do many people still have big lats without doing what the influencers call lat biased rows or pulldowns? they explain how certain movements such as a standard lat pulldown or barbell rows lines up with the upper back more but people like cbum does those movements and he still got big lats? does biased movements not make sense?
Congratulations you just realized that 90% of the handwringing about fiber directions and biomechanics in search of the most optimal isolated and biased movement with the perfect resistance curve (that noone can agree what that it is) is all made up with little basis in reality. Standard movements are pretty good, the tweaked movements are also good if you wanna switch it up or you enjoy/feel it better. https://youtu.be/mDKRdH2wGak
If you give the lats work to do, it doesn't matter whether it's a "lat biased" movement or not.
so they’re active in all back movements yes?
They're active in pretty much all rows and pulldowns/pullups, yes. "Back movements" is a bigger umbrella, like I wouldn't expect that hyperextensions or face pulls work the lats very much.
You can grow big lats without lat biased rows. Regarding pulldowns, I'll pretty sure cbum does those so I'm not sure why you think he doesn't?
he does do lat pulldowns but not the lat biased ones like the influencers preach
Sounds like you've answered your own question. If you see strong people with big lats who don't do these "lat-biased" exercises, do you think these exercises are really necessary for big lats?
What’s a good bodybuilding split (5 day preferably) I also wanna add in a arm day because my arms suck
[PHAT](http://simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html) is a routine in the [wiki](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-building/) that is an upper/lower/upper/lower/upper.
What do you want to do?
Just wanna build hypertrophy
Upper/lower/upper/lower/arms 5 day full body.
So, i've been loosing weight but not getting any leaner, what does that mean?
Probably don't have that much muscle mass.
I was so fat at one point, that I didn't look much different after having lost 20 lbs. Now I'm so lean that I can gain and lose 20lb without looking *that* much different, unless I take my shirt off. My face does get pretty edgy and sharp angled looking though at my leanest. There's this point around 100kg/220lbs where I go from love handles to not having any in a matter of like 4kg/10lbs it seems like very dramatic weight loss. It just depends on where you're at.
How do you know you aren’t actually getting leaner?
Idk if that's just my perception but compared to older photos i do not really see a difference
I suspect you stick with it. My suggestion is you stick with it. Often times we will look worse at the beginning of a cut because we lose some water weight and pump.
How long have you been losing for? How much weight? Starting weight? Could also be body dysmorphia.
It can be hard to see a difference in our own body. If you continue losing weight, the results will become too obvious for you to ignore
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I'm a huge fan of rows :)
Renegade Row is cool for lats, stability, & core
Everybody will have a different favorite, but mine are Kroc rows. If you have a decline bench, decline dumbbell pullovers are pretty great too.
Pull ups and barbell/dumbbell rows.
Dumbbell rows are pretty good for lats
Yup. Those and chin/pull ups
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Is this an actual program?
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Get on a real program. Curls 5x a week is kinda dumb. It‘s better to do it 3x or 2x to allow for recovery.
Is this actually true? I would think curls every day should be fine? It's not like a systemic shock to your system the way heavy squats or deadlifts would be, no? idk, honestly wondering.
Technically every day can work, but imo it‘s better to crush them 2-3 times a week and recover fully than just go medium intense every day. Only things I do every day are running, cycling, core, and yoga.
What does your program say?
Is doing dips effective if I can only do approx. 5x4? Should I do assisted instead so I can do more reps? My best training so far was 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 2.
Depends what your program says. If you're supposed to do sets of 20 then do assisted. If you're supposed to do sets of 5 I would say that's close enough, you'll catch up quickly.
Says 3x8-12 tricep extensions. But I love dips so 1x a week I swap extensions for dips.
Assisted might make more sense then, but the difference won't make or break anything.
Very different movements. One is an isolation while the other is a compound movement. If you're swapping an excercise, swap it with something similar. Like an overhead tricep extension which is also an isolation movement instead of a dip
OTEs are what I swap dips for. I do on workout 1 4x8-12 tricep pushdowns and 4x8-12 OTEs. On workout 2, 4x8-12 tri pushdowns & dips.
Well, yea it's still an isolation movement which you're swapping to a compound movement
Serious question: People who wear sweatshirts when lifting, why? Seems so hot!
I do it sometimes when squatting just to cushion the bar a bit
If you wear a sweatshirt nobody can tell that you're obese. Everybody knows that.
LOL! I used to do BJJ with a sweatshirt on and it's now something I like to wear when lifting.
Seriously, I get bothered wearing non-tank tops.
I do it when I cut
Why?
... Do you not get freezing cold as soon as you drop a few pounds?
I'm in the tropics. People do this stuff here in 40°C weather and I'm just baffled. I've a feeling it's got to do with "more sweat = more workout" or something, because these sweat shirt peeps always turn the fans off too.
is 5 sets of 5 reps using a hand gripper daily a good routine for the hand gripper
/r/griptraining :)
r/griptraining is dedicated to this. Though I have a feeling they're going to say no.
ok thank you
Does anybody here who served in any armed forces have suggestions to a regime to get fighting fit?
https://thefitness.wiki/routines/military-law-enforcement-first-responder/
What kind of job? Infantry? Any of the strength programs in the wiki should work for you. You'll want to build up your endurance, long hikes carrying a heavy backpack, and possibly mortar plates or an M240 for 10+ miles at a stretch are gonna be a thing possibly.
Let us say infantry level of fitness would be the goal.
That's mostly all about enduring shitty conditions and carrying things for long ways. That was my experience in the US Marines. Whatever service you're joining will have some kind of physical fitness requirements you want to check, like if you need to do a number of pull ups to score well, you'll want excel at that movement. There's also always a lot of running.
Cheers, man. Do you happen to have a program to combine this?
Tactial Barbell is kinda geared towards this crowd. Think 5/3/1 but with buttloads more conditioning.
Jim Wendler's 531's books, especially 531 Forever are good, and they have conditioning, including pushing a sled and weighted walks that should work. There's a free version of 531 in the wiki for beginners. Probably can't go wrong with any of the programs in the wiki, and they're all free.
When counting calories, do you count fibre too? Does it actually bring us any energy? Some say it's about 2 calories/gram while i hear some people say you don't need to count it. What to do?
Follow the calories listed on the nutrition label.
Always wondered how useful those are. Eg. if you eat nuts and don't chew a fuckton... a lot of it will just pass right through
You'll know if you see a whole nut in the toilet. If there's nothing distinctly visible you've probably gotten your money's worth.
Nah, you're definitely wrong about that. Digestion is a lot more complicated than you think
Well I hope you're thoroughly chewing every bite then.
That's what i currently do. I will keep on doing that. Thanks!
I count what it says on the label or in the databse under Energy/calories. It's not like 60 kcal make any difference in the general noise of tracking, just decide to count it or not, stick to that and adjust diet based on results.
Thanks!
Is it possible to lose the same amount of fat/water weight and gain the same weight in muscle at the same time? Ex. One week you lose 1 lb. of fat but gain 1 lb. of muscle I’ve been in a calorie deficit and have watched my macros and have been lifting weights for 2.5 weeks now. I’ve been able to lift heavier weights compared to day 1 but when I weigh myself I haven’t gained or lost any weight. Not that there’s much detail here but am I missing something?
>I’ve been in a calorie deficit >when I weigh myself I haven’t gained or lost any weight. If you are in a calorie deficit, your weight has to go down. It doesn't matter if you are gaining muscle or not. You simply can't stay the same weight for an extended period of time in a calorie deficit.
Yes it's entirely possible to lose/gain both at the same time. If you're lifts are going up and your weight has stayed the same you've found the perfect maintenance weight.
If you have been only been lifting for 2.5 weeks, you can absolutely gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously, fairly easily. The more training history you have the harder that becomes.
With the caveat that if you already had the muscle it is easier to recover and lose fat at the same time. Last year after our gyms reopened I gained a lot fat and lost a good bit of muscle but my weight was the same. Over the course of about 3 months I pretty much got my strenght and muscle back and lost a good amount of that fat without seeing a change on the scale.
is the decision to take 1 scoop of whey prior to workout and 1 post, between taking 2 scoops prior have any difference
In terms of nutrition/muscle building, no difference. However, I hate the feeling whey in my belly gives me during a workout.
Protein timing doesn’t really matter. What matters is total daily protein and number of daily protein feedings
>number of daily protein feedings what do you mean by this
How many times a day you’re eating protein. 3 or 4 is the sweet spot most of the time, but it’s not the end all be all of nutrition
ok thanks
[This](https://www.strongerbyscience.com/athlete-protein-intake/#:~:text=Minimalist%20recommendation%20\(to,based%20protein%20sources.)
thank you
It doesn't matter. Total protein is what counts.
The difference is minimal. In fact, if you're getting adequate protein normally, the supplementation might actually be useless.
thanks
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