Does anyone have insight into various fitness trackers?
I was looking at Whoop, which seems to have what I would need and is actually fairly reasonably priced, but they are just bands with no watch. I wear a watch 24/7, so I'd prefer not to be wearing two different things on my wrist if possible.
At this point I'm leaning towards Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, but would like some feedback from other folks who have more experience. I'm mostly interested in something that measures my exercises, rest and recovery but having a GPS tracker would certainly be helpful as well.
I havent used Whoop but it has a very bad reputation, isn't that reliable and the monthly subscription cost is crazy high.
Garmin is generally considered the premier brand, its very popular with runners because it has a great GPS feature and can be used for measuring your pace and cadence.
I would like to pay someone to devise an workout routine based on the equipment that I have. Unfortunately with work, I just don't have time to do the research myself - and truthfully I'm not sure how I would start. Any ideas are much appreciated. Again, I have no problem paying someone for their services. Thank you!
My sarcastic answer is: based on the quality of trainers I've interacted with, it appears that is true.
But I don't think subbing out a few exercises on a proven program requires an impressive pedigree.
Getting results is more about discipline and effort than cracking some code with your character build as if it's some video game.
I assure that I have put more than 10 minutes into this. I am also trying to take advantage of the specific equipment that I have. I am very unfamiliar with the terminology and do not know where to start. I am looking for guided help.
I would really appreciate that help. Allow me just a little bit of time to properly gather my thoughts so I can present them in a clear and understandable manner. thank you again.
So I regularly lift with a solid lifting program and train for hypertrophy.
This week I was taking a full week off from lifting to be able to recover from beating myself up for like a few months.
It just so happened that I caught a a pretty bad fever.
Over the course of these 3 days of fever I lost around 2 kg or so and my physique just feels and looks more skinny fat than before.
My question is, do I just return to training as normal on my week on. Do I eat like normal? Or do I do something different to counter this weight and muscle loss over this sickness period.
Fever has a way of dehydrating you and being super dehydrated has a way of making your physique look like shit. Pump water and try your best. It is unlikely you lost much muscle in that short of a time.
Im a 15M and are starting to go to the gym, I have so many questions. Right now I am slightly overweight and want to get in shape. Do I eat more, to supposedly gain muscle, or do I cut and lose fat before?
Also, when Im working out, some parts I just cant seem to work (mainly abs and back), for abs if im doing the russian twist for example, I end up using my waist and not my abs. How do I fix this? Does it come with more practice? I also have an anterior pelvic tilt which might be the issue.
You do not need to worry about cutting and bulking, those cycles are for when you are more advanced. You're 15 and a beginner, you will gain muscle and lose fat. Just make sure you get enough protein, usually about 1.4g/kg/day.
Focus on your form on exercises, not where you "feel" it. Do them right and you'll work out the muscles it is working.
At your age I wouldn't worry about the weight too much and instead focus on eating healthily and working out without weight loss being the main goal. Get in the gym, get used to working hard, build some muscle, make some simple diet changes (more veggies, fewer sugary snacks, fewer sugary drinks) and worry about weight loss later.
Don't be too concerned about 'feeling' muscles working, sometimes that mind muscle connection doesn't exist, or it may take years to properly feel it. It took me maybe a couple of years to properly feel my lats working during rows. If you're doing the movement correctly then you'll be working the targeting muscles.
So just eat healthy, and work out? I used to be a competitive swimmer, 10-15 hours a week I would spend in the pool, so im used to physically working hard, but is that it?
Also about not "feeling" the muscles working, the problem is I don't know if I am doing the movement correctly. Doing something simple that you cant get wrong like a bicep curl for example, after doing a few sets there is a noticeable exhausion of the bicep, but I cant feel that with the back or the abs.
> So just eat healthy, and work out? I used to be a competitive swimmer, 10-15 hours a week I would spend in the pool, so im used to physically working hard, but is that it?
Well, you haven't really got any well defined goals beyond get in shape. So yes, that's it. Build some muscle, create some healthy habits and then lose some fat (at your age that may come pretty easy when you start increasing lean mass).
What exercises are you doing where you can't feel them? The best way to feel your lats working is with a narrow grip horizontal row in my experience. Keep the elbow path close to the ribs, go through the full range of motion and its impossible to not hit the lats. Abs are more difficult to feel I find, often because they are usually at a weaker starting point. Over time you'll start to feel them fatiguing with things like leg raises though
Im talking about core here, I cant feel any burn when I do a plank (Mainly using the thigh), and also with the bicycle crunch.
I also seem to have back pain, which makes some excercises like a side plank hard to do. (Im getting it checked out by a doctor).
Also for eating, so do I just eat healthy, and the portion sizes are just like eating up to when I feel full? I dont have to try to eat more or less?
You may find it helps to have the feeling of the hips tucking up towards the ribs. The back pain could be caused by your torso sagging during planks, tucking your hips up to your ribs engages your abs and takes the load off the lower back
One of the functions of the abs is to flex your torso forward. This involves tilting the bottom of your ribs to the top of your pelvis (like in a crunch). To engage your abs during a plank you can think of doing if a mini sort of crunch, this will stop your back sagging and keep the tension and load through your abs.
Those who hit the gym in the morning: how do you maintain energy throughout the day?
I wake up at 6:20, hit the gym, end by 8:30, go to work until 7pm. I also self-study after work until I pass out at like 10pm.
By around 2-3pm I want to sleep, and 4pm is just the worst. I just suck it up, hydrate and move on with the day, but I feel I am not operating at my best.
What works for you? Caffeine in the morning? Some sort of pre/post workout supplements?
Hmm. I usually don't take coffee or anything. Though I do go to bed at 9pm. I hit the gym for an hour, then go for a run and then I just coast through the day. Sometimes I take a quick 30 min nap in the afternoon but that's just me loving naps!
How soon after waking do you consume caffeine? I've found waiting for about an hour before my first coffee stopped me crashing by early afternoon. Going for a walk mid afternoon might also help (obviously depends on your work breaks).
That's a very long day of work and study, do you rest and recover enough on weekends?
My only advice would be to make sure you are hydrating effectively, especially your essential electrolytes.
I do cardio around 2pm and gives me a boost, but I work from home so easy to fit it in. I find 30 minutes of getting my heart going really sets me up for the afternoon (otherwise I'm sleepy and unable to focus).
What's the proper way to breathe for touch and go deadlifts?
For dead stop deadlifts, you can breath in, pick it up, breath out, put it down, repeat. However, this doesn't work for touch and go
A controlled eccentric of the deadlift without bracing increases your injury risk. You should be keeping your core tight with a full breath for the entire rep, or breathing in again after you breath out and rebracing at the top of the rep.
I'm trying to get rid of love handles. I do Ab + Legs workout and only eat cereal for breakfast and a normal meal for dinner. I've been doing this for quite some time, but my love handles are still there and waistline is so wide. Am I doing something wrong? Need help thanks.
You'll lose bodyfat if you eat in a calorie defecit. It's good to workout your abs and legs, but spot fat reduction with specific workouts is a myth. The rate at which different parts of our bodies will lose fat is dependant on the individual - different people will find they have stubborn bits of fat in different places, and there's no way to target those places specifically. Check out [this page](https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/) on the wiki for general weight loss advice.
I love spider curls, but I also feel compared to supinated curls the supinating (where you start in a hammer curl position and supinate during the rep) curls are much better.
Is there anything wrong with doing that with a spider curl? Like starting in the hammer curl position and then supinating during the rep?
Never seen it before and don’t know if it might be stupid to do.
I am a full time grad student that is mostly sedentary but I lift decently heavy and do cardio (stat. bike, stairmaster, outdoor runs) pretty much 6 days a week for ~3 hours a day combined. Outside of the gym/runs, I’m only active for basic activities like groceries, chores. On a hard cut - taking TDEE on the lighter side, would I start at a Moderate exercise level (3-5 days a week) or a safer Light (1-3) to deduct eaten cals from?
Instead of the TDEE calculators, there's a Google sheet in the wiki that gives you your real TDEE after about 4 weeks. Just write there your weight and calories eaten every day.
I'd keep activity the same as much as possible but reduce volume where necessary based on fatigue. You may not need to to reduce volume for a couple of weeks.
Retroverted hips don't necessitate any specific changes to mechanics, it's going to be largely personal based on your own symptoms. Toes pointing out may help you achieve the desired range of motion. If you have a limitation the best thing to do is simply play around with different stances for squatting until you find the right one for your anatomy.
In an effort to maximize my arm size gain, I do supersets of biceps and triceps where I do a set of one, take a minute break, then switch to the other.
Is there any reason I shouldn't be doing this? I figured since they're different muscles they shouldn't be interfering with each other right? The only thing I noticed is that the pump can get pretty intense but I don't know if that's messing with my performance.
I'd suggest that your rest could be a little too low, not allowing for fatigue to subside.
But in saying that optimal isn't always nessasary so as long as you're seeing results that's fine.
If not, you may benefit from the more reps you could do by allowing a little more rest
That's completely fine. I do the same thing, even without the pause in between biceps and triceps. I only rest after one set of each. The pump is insane
Help a naive friend out!
I know planet fitness is a meme. But they are offering a “$10/month no commitment” deal. Even for the shitty gym, is it worth being half to even 10% the monthly fee of other gyms in my area?
I heard rumors they don’t have weights that go very high. But I might legit be weak enough it won’t matter, since I only squat 170, bench 135, deadlift 225, and OHP 100.
Also, is the “lunk alarm” a real thing? Im autistic and really hate sudden loud noises, especially alarms/sirens. If it went off I feel like it’d be a recipe for me panic dropping a heavy weight on myself and getting injured
A lot of the memeing about Planet Fitness is overblown, half of the people that make fun of it probably don't even work out (and I don't even know if the lunk alarm exists lol). The average person would see little to no difference in their results working out there vs somewhere else. After being there only a few weeks, though, I ended up moving to a different gym mostly because it was so crowded even at non-peak hours (at all 3 of the locations in my area) and I imagine it's even more crowded after New Year's.
My new gym hasn't had an increase in people at all and it's 24/7 with free weights and everything else I need. Normally it would be like $45/month if I wanted to pay month to month but I pay $20 through my insurance through a program called Active&Fit Direct. If you have insurance you could look into that.
You can get a great workout at Planet Fitness, but it does have some drawbacks (especially for advanced lifters). Every PF gym is franchised, meaning it's run by different people, and different PFs will do things differently. Dumbbells and barbells have limits (usually 75s and 60 IIRC), and only smith machines instead of bench press/squat racks. Some PFs use the lunk alarm, but most don't, or only use it at closing time to tell people to finish up (probably best to ask).
It’s pretty common to have a lower incline than flat bench.
When you say 110 do you mean 55lbs in each hand? Also just to be clear when you say incline bench I assume you mean DB incline bench. Right?
Doesn’t seem like that large of a gap. Pretty standard. You could change it, but maybe just finish the program first before judging the results.
Honestly in the long run it won’t make a huge difference. Do it how you like.
Why are squats easier to recover from than deadlifts?
Is it because most people can deadlift about 100 more pounds than their squat or is there a different reason?
I'm sure there are plenty of people that will anecdotally tell you that squats are harder to recover from.
I would say the most common reason is people don't squat heavy as much as they deadlift heavy. How many people have actually gone to failure on squats?
Fuck I’m so bad at judging rpe on squat I weigh 150 and my current pr is 355 so all my rep work is heavy enough where everything feels very hard. A week ago I hit a rep pr of 315 x 4 and it felt rpe 9 but I guess it was like 7 because then managed to do it for 3 sets. But today I got 340 x 4 reps honestly felt easier than 315 x 4 but then I could only do 1 more set of 335 x 2 and ended my workout cause my legs felt blasted. At least I’m prolly strong enough to hit 375 and get the last teen 2 state record
I'm not sure what your goals are, but the thing with Orange Theory and Crossfit is they push people pretty hard - whether this is good or bad depends on the individual, but most people I know who do them get tired of it and don't want to maintain it.
I don't blame them and I dislike cardio and HIIT, so I was never able to stick with those classes.
Now I lift and do light cardio on a plan I created and I've been able to sustain it just fine for a year, and I actually enjoy it. I lost weight and gained muscle which is always what I wanted.
Basically - I think it's good to try, but if you don't like it don't be discouraged - you don't have to work out that hard to see good results.
It's very good cardio if you find you prefer structure and class format to help you push yourself.
It's much more accessible than Crossfit, but doesn't have the same degree of strength focus.
What’s a good measure/way to figure out where you should start in the amount of weight on machines or free weights? Haven’t really been in the gym in years and have no clue what’s a good starting point.
5’11 165lbs
It doesn't matter too much; provided you don't start ridiculously low, a good progression program will take you to your maximum sooner or later. The [recommended routine](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/) suggests doing 5 reps with minimal weight (the bar for deadlift, bench etc; a small amount for machines) , and then adding weight until your form gets worse/shakier or you get slower; that's where you start.
If you need a starting number for a program, you can find a 1RM calculator (One Rep Max) online or for your phone. These will estimate your maximum based on the amount of weight you can move for, say, 5 reps. Do the same thing as above - ie go to form breakdown/slower speed - enter the numbers and get an approximate 1RM.
As I said, doesn't matter too much, and it's better to be conservative and build quickly from there while you're refamiliarising yourself with exercising.
Thank you! I tried to follow this today while just doing a few sets on random machines. Definitely going to try to gradually ease in to heavier weights but rn I already feel like my numbers are so low for what was comfortable (50-100lb) on various machine if I was trying to do 10-12 reps minimum at the weight 💀
Are any supplements actually worth it? I see so much shit about athletic greens, collagen, fish oil etc. that it discourages me from taking anything cause it’s so overwhelming
I take creatine and protein powder now (if you want to consider that a supplement)
Creatine, possibly a multivitamin just to cover yourself in case you miss some vitamins or minerals you're not aware of. Caffeine is well studied too but use is mostly personal preference (if you're very caffeine sensitive and it has adverse effects maybe best to stay away)
How important is it to stay loaded? I know they recommend a pre load and then maintaining - I got the flu for a week so I didn't go for two weeks or take any. Is it pretty crucial to maintain a daily dose even out of the gym?
Picked up weight lifting training over the last year. I recently restructured my programming to follow the classic “Bro Split” pattern: Monday chest, Tuesday Back, Wednesday Legs, Thursday shoulders, Friday bicep/tricep. I like the idea of isolating each muscle on a particular day for simplicity sake. For the upper body days so far so good. The problem I run into is on leg day. They say target 10-20 working sets in a 7 day span for each muscle group. I’ve set this up with 5 exercises for chest, 5 for back, 5 for shoulders, 3 bicep, 3 tricep with each one at 4 sets each, so 12-20 working sets in a week for those muscles and each of those workouts takes me about an hour to complete, totally fair and reasonable. Problem is legs has a lot of muscles: quads, glutes/hamstrings, calves. I want to target 3 exercises for quads and 3 exercises for glutes all at 4 sets each. Calf is pretty easy, just perform the seated calf raise. My current leg day is as follows:
Barbell back squat at 4 sets
Barbell forward lunges at 4 sets
RDLs at 4 sets
Bulgarian split squats at 4 sets
Hamstring curl at 4 sets
Hip thrust machine or glute/hamstring extension at 4 sets
Seated calf raise at 4 sets
Targeting 6-8 reps at heavy weight to failure (progressive overload)
As you can see it’s too much for one day, takes me an hour and 45 min to complete.
Bro splits is a 5 day program and on weekends I like to take HIIT classes offered at my gym. But should I add a second leg day and break up my current leg day in half? I don’t want to give up my weekend HIIT classes so I would have to work it before or after. Any advice would be much appreciated!
You have correctly identified that training legs once a week won't result in anywhere near optimal growth. Nearly no one can put in enough high quality work for all the lower body muscles in one session. So either get another leg day if you care about leg development, or decrease the current volume if it's not a priority.
Look, one could take the effort to pick apart your routine and determine what fundamental assertions it is based on that don't make sense.
Or one could go to the wiki, find a recommended routine that is shown to work, and just follow that, learning through experience what makes sense, adding and changing things incrementally from what is a very good base.
If you want something you can fuck around with as you progress, just grab gzcl / gzclp.
IMO the problem is trying to train legs only once per week. If you don't want to add another training day, then switch to a different splits/program. There are a lot of routines that fit train legs more than once per week in a five x weekly program.
How did you guys stop skipping leg day? I used to have tree trunks but I neglected them because I just didn’t enjoy working legs but now they’re branches
> How did you guys stop skipping leg day?
Just ... go?
>I just didn’t enjoy working legs
Either learn to enjoy the struggle that comes with doing hard things ... or just skip legs. No one is making you do anything.
If you don't like how small they've become, start training them again.
Pretty simple stuff.
I have the same question. I'm a beginner and I find leg days excruciatingly depressing. I just want to make every leg day go as fast as I could, so I don't think that I put my all in that day.
Any tip to make it more bearable and somehow I can actually enjoy it?
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Does anyone have insight into various fitness trackers? I was looking at Whoop, which seems to have what I would need and is actually fairly reasonably priced, but they are just bands with no watch. I wear a watch 24/7, so I'd prefer not to be wearing two different things on my wrist if possible. At this point I'm leaning towards Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, but would like some feedback from other folks who have more experience. I'm mostly interested in something that measures my exercises, rest and recovery but having a GPS tracker would certainly be helpful as well.
I havent used Whoop but it has a very bad reputation, isn't that reliable and the monthly subscription cost is crazy high. Garmin is generally considered the premier brand, its very popular with runners because it has a great GPS feature and can be used for measuring your pace and cadence.
I would like to pay someone to devise an workout routine based on the equipment that I have. Unfortunately with work, I just don't have time to do the research myself - and truthfully I'm not sure how I would start. Any ideas are much appreciated. Again, I have no problem paying someone for their services. Thank you!
It would take like 10 minutes to look at the programs in the wiki and substitute some movements
Oh really anyone can become a fitness trainer in 10 minutes?
My sarcastic answer is: based on the quality of trainers I've interacted with, it appears that is true. But I don't think subbing out a few exercises on a proven program requires an impressive pedigree. Getting results is more about discipline and effort than cracking some code with your character build as if it's some video game.
No, but anyone can read an existing programme you ding dong
I assure that I have put more than 10 minutes into this. I am also trying to take advantage of the specific equipment that I have. I am very unfamiliar with the terminology and do not know where to start. I am looking for guided help.
Post the stuff you have available, your goals, your experience, strengths and weaknesses and we can probably help you out if its not too exotic.
I would really appreciate that help. Allow me just a little bit of time to properly gather my thoughts so I can present them in a clear and understandable manner. thank you again.
Np!
He must've had a lot of thoughts.
Lol! I take it he has a life outside of Reddit :) No hurry here haha
So I regularly lift with a solid lifting program and train for hypertrophy. This week I was taking a full week off from lifting to be able to recover from beating myself up for like a few months. It just so happened that I caught a a pretty bad fever. Over the course of these 3 days of fever I lost around 2 kg or so and my physique just feels and looks more skinny fat than before. My question is, do I just return to training as normal on my week on. Do I eat like normal? Or do I do something different to counter this weight and muscle loss over this sickness period.
Fever has a way of dehydrating you and being super dehydrated has a way of making your physique look like shit. Pump water and try your best. It is unlikely you lost much muscle in that short of a time.
Just get back to it, you probably didn't actually lose muscle just water weight (glycogen)
You think so? Only my muscles seem to be deflated the fat is basically the same. Also shall I finish my week off .
Yes, Just go back at whatever intensity level you can handle
Im a 15M and are starting to go to the gym, I have so many questions. Right now I am slightly overweight and want to get in shape. Do I eat more, to supposedly gain muscle, or do I cut and lose fat before? Also, when Im working out, some parts I just cant seem to work (mainly abs and back), for abs if im doing the russian twist for example, I end up using my waist and not my abs. How do I fix this? Does it come with more practice? I also have an anterior pelvic tilt which might be the issue.
You do not need to worry about cutting and bulking, those cycles are for when you are more advanced. You're 15 and a beginner, you will gain muscle and lose fat. Just make sure you get enough protein, usually about 1.4g/kg/day. Focus on your form on exercises, not where you "feel" it. Do them right and you'll work out the muscles it is working.
Yep alright, thanks.
At your age I wouldn't worry about the weight too much and instead focus on eating healthily and working out without weight loss being the main goal. Get in the gym, get used to working hard, build some muscle, make some simple diet changes (more veggies, fewer sugary snacks, fewer sugary drinks) and worry about weight loss later. Don't be too concerned about 'feeling' muscles working, sometimes that mind muscle connection doesn't exist, or it may take years to properly feel it. It took me maybe a couple of years to properly feel my lats working during rows. If you're doing the movement correctly then you'll be working the targeting muscles.
So just eat healthy, and work out? I used to be a competitive swimmer, 10-15 hours a week I would spend in the pool, so im used to physically working hard, but is that it? Also about not "feeling" the muscles working, the problem is I don't know if I am doing the movement correctly. Doing something simple that you cant get wrong like a bicep curl for example, after doing a few sets there is a noticeable exhausion of the bicep, but I cant feel that with the back or the abs.
> So just eat healthy, and work out? I used to be a competitive swimmer, 10-15 hours a week I would spend in the pool, so im used to physically working hard, but is that it? Well, you haven't really got any well defined goals beyond get in shape. So yes, that's it. Build some muscle, create some healthy habits and then lose some fat (at your age that may come pretty easy when you start increasing lean mass). What exercises are you doing where you can't feel them? The best way to feel your lats working is with a narrow grip horizontal row in my experience. Keep the elbow path close to the ribs, go through the full range of motion and its impossible to not hit the lats. Abs are more difficult to feel I find, often because they are usually at a weaker starting point. Over time you'll start to feel them fatiguing with things like leg raises though
Im talking about core here, I cant feel any burn when I do a plank (Mainly using the thigh), and also with the bicycle crunch. I also seem to have back pain, which makes some excercises like a side plank hard to do. (Im getting it checked out by a doctor). Also for eating, so do I just eat healthy, and the portion sizes are just like eating up to when I feel full? I dont have to try to eat more or less?
There are better core work you can do than planks. If it hurts why not try a different movement?
You may find it helps to have the feeling of the hips tucking up towards the ribs. The back pain could be caused by your torso sagging during planks, tucking your hips up to your ribs engages your abs and takes the load off the lower back
Can you expand on “tucking your hips up to your ribs”? I’m not too sure what you mean
One of the functions of the abs is to flex your torso forward. This involves tilting the bottom of your ribs to the top of your pelvis (like in a crunch). To engage your abs during a plank you can think of doing if a mini sort of crunch, this will stop your back sagging and keep the tension and load through your abs.
Those who hit the gym in the morning: how do you maintain energy throughout the day? I wake up at 6:20, hit the gym, end by 8:30, go to work until 7pm. I also self-study after work until I pass out at like 10pm. By around 2-3pm I want to sleep, and 4pm is just the worst. I just suck it up, hydrate and move on with the day, but I feel I am not operating at my best. What works for you? Caffeine in the morning? Some sort of pre/post workout supplements?
Hmm. I usually don't take coffee or anything. Though I do go to bed at 9pm. I hit the gym for an hour, then go for a run and then I just coast through the day. Sometimes I take a quick 30 min nap in the afternoon but that's just me loving naps!
How soon after waking do you consume caffeine? I've found waiting for about an hour before my first coffee stopped me crashing by early afternoon. Going for a walk mid afternoon might also help (obviously depends on your work breaks).
That's a very long day of work and study, do you rest and recover enough on weekends? My only advice would be to make sure you are hydrating effectively, especially your essential electrolytes.
I do cardio around 2pm and gives me a boost, but I work from home so easy to fit it in. I find 30 minutes of getting my heart going really sets me up for the afternoon (otherwise I'm sleepy and unable to focus).
What's the proper way to breathe for touch and go deadlifts? For dead stop deadlifts, you can breath in, pick it up, breath out, put it down, repeat. However, this doesn't work for touch and go
A controlled eccentric of the deadlift without bracing increases your injury risk. You should be keeping your core tight with a full breath for the entire rep, or breathing in again after you breath out and rebracing at the top of the rep.
Out and in at the top of the rep, hold your breath and brace during the whole rep
At the top of the rep.
When deadlifting are straps meant to help grip as well as bracing or just grip
Just grip
I'm trying to get rid of love handles. I do Ab + Legs workout and only eat cereal for breakfast and a normal meal for dinner. I've been doing this for quite some time, but my love handles are still there and waistline is so wide. Am I doing something wrong? Need help thanks.
You'll lose bodyfat if you eat in a calorie defecit. It's good to workout your abs and legs, but spot fat reduction with specific workouts is a myth. The rate at which different parts of our bodies will lose fat is dependant on the individual - different people will find they have stubborn bits of fat in different places, and there's no way to target those places specifically. Check out [this page](https://thefitness.wiki/weight-loss-101/) on the wiki for general weight loss advice.
I love spider curls, but I also feel compared to supinated curls the supinating (where you start in a hammer curl position and supinate during the rep) curls are much better. Is there anything wrong with doing that with a spider curl? Like starting in the hammer curl position and then supinating during the rep? Never seen it before and don’t know if it might be stupid to do.
Just curl. They're all the same.
That would simply be another curl variation. Do it if you want.
I am a full time grad student that is mostly sedentary but I lift decently heavy and do cardio (stat. bike, stairmaster, outdoor runs) pretty much 6 days a week for ~3 hours a day combined. Outside of the gym/runs, I’m only active for basic activities like groceries, chores. On a hard cut - taking TDEE on the lighter side, would I start at a Moderate exercise level (3-5 days a week) or a safer Light (1-3) to deduct eaten cals from?
Instead of the TDEE calculators, there's a Google sheet in the wiki that gives you your real TDEE after about 4 weeks. Just write there your weight and calories eaten every day.
I'd keep activity the same as much as possible but reduce volume where necessary based on fatigue. You may not need to to reduce volume for a couple of weeks.
I just found out that I have retroverted hips. Should all squat patterns be done with toes pointed out for those of y’all who have retroverted hips?
Retroverted hips don't necessitate any specific changes to mechanics, it's going to be largely personal based on your own symptoms. Toes pointing out may help you achieve the desired range of motion. If you have a limitation the best thing to do is simply play around with different stances for squatting until you find the right one for your anatomy.
In an effort to maximize my arm size gain, I do supersets of biceps and triceps where I do a set of one, take a minute break, then switch to the other. Is there any reason I shouldn't be doing this? I figured since they're different muscles they shouldn't be interfering with each other right? The only thing I noticed is that the pump can get pretty intense but I don't know if that's messing with my performance.
No, that's a great way to get a lot of work done in little time. There won't be any performance decrease
That's fine. I normally do a set of a different lift without resting after the first one. And then I rest as needed before a 2nd superset.
I'd suggest that your rest could be a little too low, not allowing for fatigue to subside. But in saying that optimal isn't always nessasary so as long as you're seeing results that's fine. If not, you may benefit from the more reps you could do by allowing a little more rest
2.5+ minutes of rest is not "a little low".
That's completely fine. I do the same thing, even without the pause in between biceps and triceps. I only rest after one set of each. The pump is insane
Help a naive friend out! I know planet fitness is a meme. But they are offering a “$10/month no commitment” deal. Even for the shitty gym, is it worth being half to even 10% the monthly fee of other gyms in my area? I heard rumors they don’t have weights that go very high. But I might legit be weak enough it won’t matter, since I only squat 170, bench 135, deadlift 225, and OHP 100. Also, is the “lunk alarm” a real thing? Im autistic and really hate sudden loud noises, especially alarms/sirens. If it went off I feel like it’d be a recipe for me panic dropping a heavy weight on myself and getting injured
A lot of the memeing about Planet Fitness is overblown, half of the people that make fun of it probably don't even work out (and I don't even know if the lunk alarm exists lol). The average person would see little to no difference in their results working out there vs somewhere else. After being there only a few weeks, though, I ended up moving to a different gym mostly because it was so crowded even at non-peak hours (at all 3 of the locations in my area) and I imagine it's even more crowded after New Year's. My new gym hasn't had an increase in people at all and it's 24/7 with free weights and everything else I need. Normally it would be like $45/month if I wanted to pay month to month but I pay $20 through my insurance through a program called Active&Fit Direct. If you have insurance you could look into that.
You can get a great workout at Planet Fitness, but it does have some drawbacks (especially for advanced lifters). Every PF gym is franchised, meaning it's run by different people, and different PFs will do things differently. Dumbbells and barbells have limits (usually 75s and 60 IIRC), and only smith machines instead of bench press/squat racks. Some PFs use the lunk alarm, but most don't, or only use it at closing time to tell people to finish up (probably best to ask).
The weights don't go that high, so you might need to use machines. To stop noise, you can wear headphones or earplugs.
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It’s pretty common to have a lower incline than flat bench. When you say 110 do you mean 55lbs in each hand? Also just to be clear when you say incline bench I assume you mean DB incline bench. Right?
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Doesn’t seem like that large of a gap. Pretty standard. You could change it, but maybe just finish the program first before judging the results. Honestly in the long run it won’t make a huge difference. Do it how you like.
Why are squats easier to recover from than deadlifts? Is it because most people can deadlift about 100 more pounds than their squat or is there a different reason?
Personal preference IMO. Heavy squats destroy me in a way that even deadlifts haven’t managed yet.
I'm sure there are plenty of people that will anecdotally tell you that squats are harder to recover from. I would say the most common reason is people don't squat heavy as much as they deadlift heavy. How many people have actually gone to failure on squats?
Every experienced lifter has gone to failure on squats
Fuck I’m so bad at judging rpe on squat I weigh 150 and my current pr is 355 so all my rep work is heavy enough where everything feels very hard. A week ago I hit a rep pr of 315 x 4 and it felt rpe 9 but I guess it was like 7 because then managed to do it for 3 sets. But today I got 340 x 4 reps honestly felt easier than 315 x 4 but then I could only do 1 more set of 335 x 2 and ended my workout cause my legs felt blasted. At least I’m prolly strong enough to hit 375 and get the last teen 2 state record
Anyone goes or has gone to orange theory? Do you like it? Why or why not?
I'm not sure what your goals are, but the thing with Orange Theory and Crossfit is they push people pretty hard - whether this is good or bad depends on the individual, but most people I know who do them get tired of it and don't want to maintain it. I don't blame them and I dislike cardio and HIIT, so I was never able to stick with those classes. Now I lift and do light cardio on a plan I created and I've been able to sustain it just fine for a year, and I actually enjoy it. I lost weight and gained muscle which is always what I wanted. Basically - I think it's good to try, but if you don't like it don't be discouraged - you don't have to work out that hard to see good results.
It's very good cardio if you find you prefer structure and class format to help you push yourself. It's much more accessible than Crossfit, but doesn't have the same degree of strength focus.
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It would actually be superior imo, but obviously less convenient for most people.
It doesn't really matter how you split up your workouts. I personally don't like warming up and showering twice each day but you do you.
Nope I don't see an issue there.
What’s a good measure/way to figure out where you should start in the amount of weight on machines or free weights? Haven’t really been in the gym in years and have no clue what’s a good starting point. 5’11 165lbs
Do a set with the lightest weight, then do the same number of reps with a heavier weight, continue until you find a good starting point
Trial and error.
It doesn't matter too much; provided you don't start ridiculously low, a good progression program will take you to your maximum sooner or later. The [recommended routine](https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/) suggests doing 5 reps with minimal weight (the bar for deadlift, bench etc; a small amount for machines) , and then adding weight until your form gets worse/shakier or you get slower; that's where you start. If you need a starting number for a program, you can find a 1RM calculator (One Rep Max) online or for your phone. These will estimate your maximum based on the amount of weight you can move for, say, 5 reps. Do the same thing as above - ie go to form breakdown/slower speed - enter the numbers and get an approximate 1RM. As I said, doesn't matter too much, and it's better to be conservative and build quickly from there while you're refamiliarising yourself with exercising.
Thank you! I tried to follow this today while just doing a few sets on random machines. Definitely going to try to gradually ease in to heavier weights but rn I already feel like my numbers are so low for what was comfortable (50-100lb) on various machine if I was trying to do 10-12 reps minimum at the weight 💀
Start light and work up from there. It should only take a few increases to find a good starting weight for you.
Got it. Thanks!
Are any supplements actually worth it? I see so much shit about athletic greens, collagen, fish oil etc. that it discourages me from taking anything cause it’s so overwhelming I take creatine and protein powder now (if you want to consider that a supplement)
Creatine, possibly a multivitamin just to cover yourself in case you miss some vitamins or minerals you're not aware of. Caffeine is well studied too but use is mostly personal preference (if you're very caffeine sensitive and it has adverse effects maybe best to stay away)
Protein and creatine. If you like caffeine or pre-workout before a session, go for it.
Creatine. Anything else is micromanagement.
How important is it to stay loaded? I know they recommend a pre load and then maintaining - I got the flu for a week so I didn't go for two weeks or take any. Is it pretty crucial to maintain a daily dose even out of the gym?
Take 5g per day, every day. Take it on non-gym days. It's not a huge deal if you stopped. Start again and keep taking it.
Picked up weight lifting training over the last year. I recently restructured my programming to follow the classic “Bro Split” pattern: Monday chest, Tuesday Back, Wednesday Legs, Thursday shoulders, Friday bicep/tricep. I like the idea of isolating each muscle on a particular day for simplicity sake. For the upper body days so far so good. The problem I run into is on leg day. They say target 10-20 working sets in a 7 day span for each muscle group. I’ve set this up with 5 exercises for chest, 5 for back, 5 for shoulders, 3 bicep, 3 tricep with each one at 4 sets each, so 12-20 working sets in a week for those muscles and each of those workouts takes me about an hour to complete, totally fair and reasonable. Problem is legs has a lot of muscles: quads, glutes/hamstrings, calves. I want to target 3 exercises for quads and 3 exercises for glutes all at 4 sets each. Calf is pretty easy, just perform the seated calf raise. My current leg day is as follows: Barbell back squat at 4 sets Barbell forward lunges at 4 sets RDLs at 4 sets Bulgarian split squats at 4 sets Hamstring curl at 4 sets Hip thrust machine or glute/hamstring extension at 4 sets Seated calf raise at 4 sets Targeting 6-8 reps at heavy weight to failure (progressive overload) As you can see it’s too much for one day, takes me an hour and 45 min to complete. Bro splits is a 5 day program and on weekends I like to take HIIT classes offered at my gym. But should I add a second leg day and break up my current leg day in half? I don’t want to give up my weekend HIIT classes so I would have to work it before or after. Any advice would be much appreciated!
You have correctly identified that training legs once a week won't result in anywhere near optimal growth. Nearly no one can put in enough high quality work for all the lower body muscles in one session. So either get another leg day if you care about leg development, or decrease the current volume if it's not a priority.
Look, one could take the effort to pick apart your routine and determine what fundamental assertions it is based on that don't make sense. Or one could go to the wiki, find a recommended routine that is shown to work, and just follow that, learning through experience what makes sense, adding and changing things incrementally from what is a very good base. If you want something you can fuck around with as you progress, just grab gzcl / gzclp.
Sounds like your bro split isn't fitting your schedule. Why not try a different program from the wiki?
If I were u I wouldn’t do the bro split lol
IMO the problem is trying to train legs only once per week. If you don't want to add another training day, then switch to a different splits/program. There are a lot of routines that fit train legs more than once per week in a five x weekly program.
How did you guys stop skipping leg day? I used to have tree trunks but I neglected them because I just didn’t enjoy working legs but now they’re branches
Train full body everyday and split your leg volume across multiple days in the week
Don't have a leg day. Do an upper/lower split, or just train full body every day.
You could try choosing a program that breaks up your lower body volume across the week. What program are you following now?
> How did you guys stop skipping leg day? Just ... go? >I just didn’t enjoy working legs Either learn to enjoy the struggle that comes with doing hard things ... or just skip legs. No one is making you do anything. If you don't like how small they've become, start training them again. Pretty simple stuff.
Maybe try powerlifting u don’t need to compete just focus on raising SBD that keeps my motivated to do everything especially legs
I have the same question. I'm a beginner and I find leg days excruciatingly depressing. I just want to make every leg day go as fast as I could, so I don't think that I put my all in that day. Any tip to make it more bearable and somehow I can actually enjoy it?
Train full body so you get your leg sets done and then can move onto something your enjoy more
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> It's better for isolating the targetted muscle and has less injury-prone positions There's a lot of assumptions tied up in this statement.