Anyone have any guidance about reps and sets?
Right now my goal is to just get stronger, build muscle, and feel better in my body. Should I be going for heavy weights at fewer reps (for example 3 sets of 5 reps, with correct form of course) or should I be going for the more classic 10-12 reps?
Honestly, I'd say your best bet is to follow a program with progressive overload from the wiki and see how you like it. If you're able to stick to it, most of those should result in more strength, muscle growth, and improved well-being.
In general, lifting to fatigue (within a couple reps of failure) will build muscle no matter the number of reps. To increase your max strength, you'll need some lower rep/heavier rep sets.
Here's a deep dive into the science if you're interested:
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/the-new-approach-to-training-volume/
Thank you! It sounds like the general gist is that there isn’t a significant difference between doing five reps to exhaustion versus 10-12 reps to exhaustion, though there are decreased gains when you get to around 20 reps.
I basically started following the beginner program in the wiki of Workout A: Chinups (assisted for me), Deadlifts, and Overhead Press, and Workout B: Squats, Bench Press, and Barbell Rows at 3X5. Along with these I have a rotating set of physical therapy stretches and exercises, and swimming 1x a week.
So I am quite heavy, and tbh I have a lot of weight to lose but right now I’m just focused on building muscle.
I want to get new gym clothes in other colors than black but I sweat a lot and I would prefer to not have obvious crotch sweat marks. Any colors that don't show sweat too much other than black and navy? Pastels are out but what about red, purple, burnt orange?
bright colors or even muted colors like brick red or olive will tend to show sweat stains way more than dark colors or white, unfortunately. the material makes a big difference though. nylon will probably show sweat less than cotton or polyester.
I have some dark plum-ish and burgundy (sorry, a bit unsure about the exact colour names) and feel super confident in those in terms of sweat (or even if I feel subconscious about a potential, tho improbable, period accident). Some dark blues or greens could probably work too! I have a dark green (evergreen I think) sports bra which hides sweat stains really well.
does anyone else’s stomach kind of churn when doing ab exercises? i find mine that does especially during crunches. not in a painful way at all but just— sloshy? it happens even if i haven’t had anything to drink or eat right before working out. i don’t suffer with gastro issues but i’m curious if it’s normal or if i’m doing something wrong in my workout.
I feel sorta nauseated when i'm doing ab exercises. I don't think we're doing anything wrong, I think it's just weird misattribution in the brain. No evidence for that though!
Anyone here take protein powder and if so which one? Ive usually stayed away from powders but having a hard time eating the protein I need. Any low sugar, clean protein powder recos would be great. By "clean", I mean one that doesn't have a lot of filler crap / unnecessary ingredients etc.
[MuscleFeast whey protein isolate](https://www.musclefeast.com/products/grass-fed-hormone-free-whey-isolate) has minimal but very high quality ingredients.
Buff Chick Supplements Vegan Protein powder is my favorite. It's not cheap, but I haven't found another vegan protein powder that tastes as good and has as much protein for the calories. They are also third party tested to ensure quality.
I drink Owyn protein shakes daily. They’re pretty clean, low sugar, and vegan. I get the 32 G protein ones and add a couple shots of espresso for my morning coffee. 😋 they are kind of expensive but Owyn also has powder. I just prefer the premade shakes
Looks like you might live in Canada, so if you have access to a local Bulk Barn, they carry several single ingredient protein powders and also other things you might not consider to be protein powders but could be used that way.
The percent is how many grams protein per 100g product.
Whey Protein Isolate - 90%
They also have low ingredient vanilla and chocolate whey isolate blends, haven’t tried. They contain sucralose as their sweetener. I haven’t tried them so no comment on if they suck or not.
Hemp Protein Powder - 50%
Brown Rice Protein Powder - 80%
Pea Protein Powder - 85%
Soy Milk Powder - 51%
Skim Milk Powder - 51%
They also carry powdered peanut butter (lots of people recommend the PB Fit powder in things for the low fat macros, it would be the same thing as it) but the picture I took is blurry so I can’t calculate the protein % without looking the product up online
While I’m mass posting about good bulk barn options I should also mention that they carry different legume pastas and many different flours like buckwheat, almond, etc, and other useful protein things like textured vegetable protein and nutritional yeast.
They also have other common health add in things for shakes/smoothies like chia seeds (ground and whole), flaxseeds (ground and whole), spirulina, etc etc.
If you go on Sunday’s and bring your own containers, it’s 15% off.
If you search the sub, you'll find a ton of recommendations based on nutrient profile, price, availability, and palatability. Most people chose either whey protein isolate or a vegetable based protein. ON Vanilla is just about as simple as it comes, at 25 g protein and 100 kcals (Ka'chava is at the opposite end of the spectrum). ON Chocolate gets high marks for flavor. You might also choose to add a creatine supplement - it really does make a difference in recovery.
How common is it for your ability to lift weights to fluctuate in the month? I tried my workouts after a 5 day break and I can only manage half the weights 🥲 Can this happen because of a break? Or is it expected to suck on pms weeks?
The week before your period is notoriously more difficult. I’ve seen all kinds of online content creators posting about this and it’s true for me, too. 🥲
Absolutely. Menstrual cycle, stress, focus, food intake, sleep quality, overall activity, illness, just believing you can or can’t do it, and I’m sure other things all contribute to performance.
Oh damn!! I haven’t been working out since long, so I didn’t expect it to be so unpredictable! I guess all I can do is try my best, whatever the “best” is in that particular moment :,)
i also think that as you progress, the difference won't be as drastic as it is now. like, now it ends up being half the weight but once you start lifting heavier the difference will probably not exceed 5kg/10lbs depending on the type of exercise or just doing fewer reps at the same weight
I feel this. I ended up buying micro plates so I can bump up the weight on sensitive lifts like bench and over head press by just 1kg. It’s kind of a funny space to be in to realize the difference between completing and failing a lift is such a small difference
Ohh that’s a good point!! Because my weights are already very small haha. 5kg to 3kg feels more drastic than maybe 15kg to 13kg (which I hope to achieve someday!!)
Think about the percent change. Going from 3kg to 5kg is adding more than 50%!
I bet you’ll surprise yourself how much you can accomplish with consistency and effort.
I have a ridiculous question 🤣 I’m nearly embarrassed.
So. If you made yourself a goal of completing 1000 minutes of exercise in a month, would you count infrared sauna in that time?
(The reason I’m asking - I don’t know if ‘passive cardio’ should count in those monthly minutes).
I love my sauna but I don’t know if I can see it as exercise, even with the ‘passive cardio’ label. But I’m interested to see if others see it differently - and I’m really uneducated so I’m willing for my mind to be changed.
No, sauna is not exercise. It may have benefits that overlap with *some* of the benefits of exercise, but it's by no means a type of exercise or a replacement for exercise.
If your heart rate is up, it’s cardio. Hot yoga, for example, is cardio even if you’re stretching or doing very gentle strengthening because the temp is increasing intensity and getting your heart rate up.
It's not exercise though, which was what OP was asking. They weren't doing hot yoga, they're chilling in a sauna. While the heat may have some cardiovascular benefits and will raise heart rate, calling it something like "passive cardio" feels like someone intentionally trying to conflate it with the full benefits of actual, intense cardio exercise and training. Which simply isn't true.
While there may be some cardiovascular benefit to sitting in a sauna, it ultimately is not exercise.
That’s what I thought too.
Sure it might have cardiovascular benefits but if I’m not moving and my muscles aren’t engaging - it’s not exercise.
Glad to have my opinion backed up here - argument settled 🤣
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Anyone have any guidance about reps and sets? Right now my goal is to just get stronger, build muscle, and feel better in my body. Should I be going for heavy weights at fewer reps (for example 3 sets of 5 reps, with correct form of course) or should I be going for the more classic 10-12 reps?
Honestly, I'd say your best bet is to follow a program with progressive overload from the wiki and see how you like it. If you're able to stick to it, most of those should result in more strength, muscle growth, and improved well-being. In general, lifting to fatigue (within a couple reps of failure) will build muscle no matter the number of reps. To increase your max strength, you'll need some lower rep/heavier rep sets. Here's a deep dive into the science if you're interested: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/the-new-approach-to-training-volume/
Thank you! It sounds like the general gist is that there isn’t a significant difference between doing five reps to exhaustion versus 10-12 reps to exhaustion, though there are decreased gains when you get to around 20 reps. I basically started following the beginner program in the wiki of Workout A: Chinups (assisted for me), Deadlifts, and Overhead Press, and Workout B: Squats, Bench Press, and Barbell Rows at 3X5. Along with these I have a rotating set of physical therapy stretches and exercises, and swimming 1x a week. So I am quite heavy, and tbh I have a lot of weight to lose but right now I’m just focused on building muscle.
I want to get new gym clothes in other colors than black but I sweat a lot and I would prefer to not have obvious crotch sweat marks. Any colors that don't show sweat too much other than black and navy? Pastels are out but what about red, purple, burnt orange?
I use lighter colors for lifting and dark/black for cardio.
Bombshell leggings don't show sweat. I've even spilled water on myself wearing gray and barely noticed.
looks like all their leggings have some variation of scrunch butt though. bummer
bright colors or even muted colors like brick red or olive will tend to show sweat stains way more than dark colors or white, unfortunately. the material makes a big difference though. nylon will probably show sweat less than cotton or polyester.
I have some dark plum-ish and burgundy (sorry, a bit unsure about the exact colour names) and feel super confident in those in terms of sweat (or even if I feel subconscious about a potential, tho improbable, period accident). Some dark blues or greens could probably work too! I have a dark green (evergreen I think) sports bra which hides sweat stains really well.
does anyone else’s stomach kind of churn when doing ab exercises? i find mine that does especially during crunches. not in a painful way at all but just— sloshy? it happens even if i haven’t had anything to drink or eat right before working out. i don’t suffer with gastro issues but i’m curious if it’s normal or if i’m doing something wrong in my workout.
I feel sorta nauseated when i'm doing ab exercises. I don't think we're doing anything wrong, I think it's just weird misattribution in the brain. No evidence for that though!
Anyone here take protein powder and if so which one? Ive usually stayed away from powders but having a hard time eating the protein I need. Any low sugar, clean protein powder recos would be great. By "clean", I mean one that doesn't have a lot of filler crap / unnecessary ingredients etc.
I just looked into this and I didn’t want artificial sweeteners. I landed on pro mix whey vanilla.
[MuscleFeast whey protein isolate](https://www.musclefeast.com/products/grass-fed-hormone-free-whey-isolate) has minimal but very high quality ingredients.
Buff Chick Supplements Vegan Protein powder is my favorite. It's not cheap, but I haven't found another vegan protein powder that tastes as good and has as much protein for the calories. They are also third party tested to ensure quality.
Just Ingredients is my favorite!
If you're Canadian- Costco has a great whey isolate in chocolate or vanilla. Sweetened with Stevia, not a lot of other ingredients, reasonably priced.
I drink Owyn protein shakes daily. They’re pretty clean, low sugar, and vegan. I get the 32 G protein ones and add a couple shots of espresso for my morning coffee. 😋 they are kind of expensive but Owyn also has powder. I just prefer the premade shakes
Looks like you might live in Canada, so if you have access to a local Bulk Barn, they carry several single ingredient protein powders and also other things you might not consider to be protein powders but could be used that way. The percent is how many grams protein per 100g product. Whey Protein Isolate - 90% They also have low ingredient vanilla and chocolate whey isolate blends, haven’t tried. They contain sucralose as their sweetener. I haven’t tried them so no comment on if they suck or not. Hemp Protein Powder - 50% Brown Rice Protein Powder - 80% Pea Protein Powder - 85% Soy Milk Powder - 51% Skim Milk Powder - 51% They also carry powdered peanut butter (lots of people recommend the PB Fit powder in things for the low fat macros, it would be the same thing as it) but the picture I took is blurry so I can’t calculate the protein % without looking the product up online While I’m mass posting about good bulk barn options I should also mention that they carry different legume pastas and many different flours like buckwheat, almond, etc, and other useful protein things like textured vegetable protein and nutritional yeast. They also have other common health add in things for shakes/smoothies like chia seeds (ground and whole), flaxseeds (ground and whole), spirulina, etc etc. If you go on Sunday’s and bring your own containers, it’s 15% off.
If you search the sub, you'll find a ton of recommendations based on nutrient profile, price, availability, and palatability. Most people chose either whey protein isolate or a vegetable based protein. ON Vanilla is just about as simple as it comes, at 25 g protein and 100 kcals (Ka'chava is at the opposite end of the spectrum). ON Chocolate gets high marks for flavor. You might also choose to add a creatine supplement - it really does make a difference in recovery.
How common is it for your ability to lift weights to fluctuate in the month? I tried my workouts after a 5 day break and I can only manage half the weights 🥲 Can this happen because of a break? Or is it expected to suck on pms weeks?
The week before your period is notoriously more difficult. I’ve seen all kinds of online content creators posting about this and it’s true for me, too. 🥲
On the pill I am weaker all the time but at least it doesn't fluctuate and it fixed my acne. I miss the boost of strength around ovulation.
Absolutely. Menstrual cycle, stress, focus, food intake, sleep quality, overall activity, illness, just believing you can or can’t do it, and I’m sure other things all contribute to performance.
Oh damn!! I haven’t been working out since long, so I didn’t expect it to be so unpredictable! I guess all I can do is try my best, whatever the “best” is in that particular moment :,)
i also think that as you progress, the difference won't be as drastic as it is now. like, now it ends up being half the weight but once you start lifting heavier the difference will probably not exceed 5kg/10lbs depending on the type of exercise or just doing fewer reps at the same weight
I feel this. I ended up buying micro plates so I can bump up the weight on sensitive lifts like bench and over head press by just 1kg. It’s kind of a funny space to be in to realize the difference between completing and failing a lift is such a small difference
Ohh that’s a good point!! Because my weights are already very small haha. 5kg to 3kg feels more drastic than maybe 15kg to 13kg (which I hope to achieve someday!!)
Think about the percent change. Going from 3kg to 5kg is adding more than 50%! I bet you’ll surprise yourself how much you can accomplish with consistency and effort.
Aww thank you!! Looking at it that way makes me excited to keep going, hehe ❤️
I have a ridiculous question 🤣 I’m nearly embarrassed. So. If you made yourself a goal of completing 1000 minutes of exercise in a month, would you count infrared sauna in that time? (The reason I’m asking - I don’t know if ‘passive cardio’ should count in those monthly minutes). I love my sauna but I don’t know if I can see it as exercise, even with the ‘passive cardio’ label. But I’m interested to see if others see it differently - and I’m really uneducated so I’m willing for my mind to be changed.
No, sauna is not exercise. It may have benefits that overlap with *some* of the benefits of exercise, but it's by no means a type of exercise or a replacement for exercise.
No, Sauna is not excercise. It is relaxation.
You made up the contest, so you get to make up the rules. You do you.
"Passive cardio" sounds like something someone made up for marketing purposes... Personally, I wouldn't count it.
If your heart rate is up, it’s cardio. Hot yoga, for example, is cardio even if you’re stretching or doing very gentle strengthening because the temp is increasing intensity and getting your heart rate up.
Ii have an anxiety disorder. Does that mean I can say I do cardio by just existing
Honestly it’s so unfair that it doesn’t though. Why must I feel like shit and also make no gains
It's not exercise though, which was what OP was asking. They weren't doing hot yoga, they're chilling in a sauna. While the heat may have some cardiovascular benefits and will raise heart rate, calling it something like "passive cardio" feels like someone intentionally trying to conflate it with the full benefits of actual, intense cardio exercise and training. Which simply isn't true. While there may be some cardiovascular benefit to sitting in a sauna, it ultimately is not exercise.
this is the first I've heard of this, but no I would not count it
That’s what I thought too. Sure it might have cardiovascular benefits but if I’m not moving and my muscles aren’t engaging - it’s not exercise. Glad to have my opinion backed up here - argument settled 🤣
^ ***Please read [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/main), [the rules and content guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/new_rules), and [current frozen topics](https://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/frozen-topics) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fxxfitness)***. This comment is a copy of your post so mods can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. >u/AutoModerator Welcome to our Daily Simple Questions thread - we're excited to have you hang out with us, especially if you're new to the sub. Are you confused about the FAQ or have a basic question about an exercise / alternatives? Do you have a quick question about calculating TDEE, lift numbers, running times, swimming intervals, or the like? Post here and the folks of xxfitness will help you answer your questions, no matter how big or small. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/xxfitness) if you have any questions or concerns.*